EDSG Episode 154 - Ristul and Taint

* Our Horrors series continues with Named Horrors.

* Ristul

* Narrator Cymric and the novel Prophecy.

* More esoteric: no body, mind, or specific entity -- corruption itself.

* Most Lovecraftian, cosmic horror styled Horror.

* Implacable – nothing concrete to defeat. Might exist as long as magic and corruption exists.

* Subsumes minds and personalities of those it infects.

* Event Horizon

* “What Ristul corrupts, Ristul absorbs.”

* Manifestations of Ristul: Nightwists and Ristular

* Very few game statistics in Horrors book: Spellcasting, Mystic Armor, some Horror powers.

* You don’t defeat Ristul, you survive or escape it.

* Stories involving Ristul: Disrupting Horror cults and their machinations.

* Kaer Otosk, Aras Nehem, and the Mad Passions.

* Other inspirations: The Ring, The Wicker Man, Midsommar

* Tone for Ristul-related stories likely to be more traditional horror-genre rather than dark fantasy adventure.

* Taint

* Pictured on the cover of the original Horrors book.

* Essay by Vasdenjas.

* Taints and corrupts the magic used by adepts.

* Gradual, subtle, and by the time you realize you’ve been affected it’s too late.

* Purely astral Horror, very good at manipulating and hiding in corrupted space.

* Loves magicians – their use of magic gives Taint more opportunities to get its hooks in its prey.

* Must make multiple tests to successfully mark the target, but once marked it can manipulate the target’s use of magic.

* As an astral Horror, very difficult to deal with.

* Very patient – once spent 20 years working its way into a kaer.

* Manipulate Magic: Taint’s unique ability.

* If you are marked, it can turn your magical ability against you or your allies, making it even harder to fight.

* Feeds on the helplessness and self-doubt that comes about from knowing you can’t trust your abilities.

* Well suited as a long-term adversary for player characters.

* Caution and advice for gamemasters using Taint.

* More personal and direct a foe than Ristul.

* Sidebar about Josh’s thoughts on Blades related to players being cursed/affected by a Horror.

* Its astral nature and magic manipulation abilities make it tougher than its numbers might indicate.

* Suggestion as a foe for more experienced characters who might have seen it all.

* Ristul and Taint are good examples of Horrors as more than physically powerful monsters.

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