The Dead Cultures Matrix

An update to yesterday's post on the Flare Children of the Imperial hinterland. I've long wondered how best to tackle writing about the scale of the Empire of the White City in less abstract terms, and think that the combinatorial logics in this Ultranat generator did quite a lot of work in this direction. 

After some chat with the lovely Sarcophagus on Phlox's discord, I realised that this would be a productive and appropriate place to scale up. Initially I though two d20 tables, then I thought fuck it, why not two d66 tables. Scale is the thing here. Maybe one day two d100 tables?! It's also a good template to do some Invisible Cities style fragmentary worldbuilding for this vast region of the paracosm.

As a general rule, only Ultranats can make use of the special abilities of their gear, unless this wouldn't make sense. Someone with Fighter templates could be taught these skills by a willing teacher. 

Without further ado, the Dead Cultures Matrix. Your Ultranats:

Gear

• 11: Wear heavy armour and fight with heavy bronze spears. If one of them is killed, other Ultranats in the combat get a second attack on their next turn. 
• 12: Hold iron muskets that fire poisonous, shattering bullets - 2d6 damage or 2d10 if unarmoured. If you take damage you must save CON or lose d3 CON and d3 INT. 
• 13: Shoot white longbows, and fletch their white arrows with peacock feathers. A critical hit from one of these pierces the heart and dispels all aggression: you cannot make an attack or an aggressive action until you save CHAR (you can save each turn). 
• 14: Wear thickly lacquered, layered, and brightly painted paper armour, surprisingly effective and very light. As heavy armour that degrades every time its wearer takes a hit, from heavy, to medium, to light, after which it is destroyed. No matter what condition it is in, it is as light as light armour. Destroyed immediately if it ever gets wet or catches fire. 
• 15: Carry barbed steel darts, which they throw at +1 to hit. 
• 16: Wear strange ceramic armour, which rings like a bell when struck. As medium armour that shatters if crit with a bludgeoning attack. 
• 21: Fight with huge and terrible bone shears: vorpal heavy weapons with -2 to hit. The vorpal effect removes a random limb, not necessarily the head. 
• 22: Each carry a pair of bronze pistols, in lacquered holsters worn beneath the shoulder. 
• 23: Hold blinding powder in their cheeks, and can expel it once per encounter in melee. Save DEX to avoid, or be blinded for the rest of the day. 
• 24: Fight with a long medium knife, and a thin doping needle loaded with sedatives. Roll to hit with the knife at +1, and on a crit test CON in addition to the extra damage. On a failure, suffer -4 to all checks and become unable to speak for one hour. 
• 25: Each fight alongside an effigy double, which each has sculpted from wax. The effigies are armed with improvised prop weapons, but otherwise fight as their creators do, moving with them, attacking the same enemies, etc. They have 1HD, are unarmoured, and are destroyed by any amount of fire damage. 
• 26: Wear glass armour and carry heavy glass swords. Glass armour counts as medium, and shatters if crit with a bludgeoning attack. It renders the wearer immune to radiant damage and gaze attacks, and refracts beams and other light-based weapons, nullifying them completely. Glass swords can be sundered to deal double damage to the target, and d3 damage to everything within 15ft, including the wielder. You may choose to sunder after rolling to hit. 
• 31: Carry heavy mechanical crossbows that fire twice per turn, with -1 to hit. 
• 32: Light burning tapers and incense sticks that they weave through hair, beards, and loops in their clothing, such that they travel wreathed in thick smoke. Ranged attacks against them roll to hit at disadvantage. 
• 33: Wear medium bronze armour decorated with tall, ornamental bronze wings. Allies test morale with advantage while they remain unbroken. 
• 34: Wear bulky 'Lens-Head' helms, giving them perfect vision at a range of 5 miles. 
• 35: Use heavy billhooks and ringmail coats. 
• 36: Hold bundles of medium javelins with tips of sharpened bone, carved with fluting and notches that shriek in the wind as they fly. When used during a surprise round, they deal critical damage. 
• 41: Wear bisque fired clay masks, sculpted into the faces of smiling children. Each absorbs a single critical hit (which does normal damage instead), and then breaks, dealing 1 psychic damage to the attacker. 
• 42: Never speak, and carry small, mechanical, single-shot dart guns in their mouths. The gun fires a single light dart at a range of 10ft, which can be done as a free action. 
• 43: Wield heavy lances and glider wings made from timber frame and lacquered-paper. They can use them to glide, but not to gain height. Their lances deal double damage when used swooping from the air. 
• 44: Fight with medium axes, shields, and blunderbusses, and wear heavy armour, brightly painted in bold primary colours.
• 45: Carry heavy mother-of-pearl macuahuitls, and paint their faces before battle to resemble the person in the world that they love. Never test morale under any circumstances, not just in combat with the military of the White City. 
• 46: Fight nude and oiled (disadvantage to grapple them), and are each 7 feet tall, with 2HD. 
• 51: Wear mirrored plate, as heavy armour and cannot be targeted by entities. Also -1 to hit with ranged weapons. 
• 52: Carry satchels of glass spheres full of caustic gas (d4 each), which they throw like grenades. The cloud is 10 ft across, deals d8 damage to those who begin their turn inside it (CON save for half), and remains for the rest of the combat unless dispersed by a strong wind. They are not immune to their own grenades. 
• 53: Carry long medium silver spears, dress in shining silver mail, and sing in clear, musical tones as they fight. 
• 54: Hold heavy wooden pavise shields that completely obscure their bodies, such that they cannot be targeted by ranged attacks. They move at half speed while carrying these, and the benefits of the cover can be extended to one other human. 
• 55: Carry large convex mirrors, 6 foot wide, strapped to their backs, and with collapsible wooden stands. On a sunny day, they can calibrate these to set wooden buildings and ship alight at a range of 1 mile.
• 56: Wield medium falx swords and round bronze shields, and have learned the technique of throwing their swords end over end, to a range of 15ft.
• 61: Carry a brace of light fighting knives, five apiece, and have a +1 expanded critical range while using them.
• 62: Wear sealed medium armour, made from brass, iron, and leather, with its own bulky oxygen supply, which allows them to breathe in a vacuum for up to one hour. 
• 63: Are clad in unbelievably heavy stone armour, with helmets carved into the faces of gargoyles. They move at half speed, but have an AC of 20. Their stone-gauntleted punches hit as light hammers. 
• 64: Wield medium meteor hammers, with leaden heads attached to thin steel wire. They can be used the strike at at range of 10ft, and also to entangle their target in place of a normal attack, as described in the Flare Children post. 
• 65: Wear heavy, form concealing cloaks, cloth facemasks, and carry long jezails, similar to those used by the volcano men. As a musket +1. 
• 66: Wear cloaks of white chiffon and lace that are never stained, bright steel plate armour, and carry beautiful golden medium +1 swords. They are HD1+1, and will do any favour that you ask of them, as long as it is asked in kindness and with charitable intent. If you abuse their trust, show cruelty, or say anything positive about the Empire, they will declare you Enemy, and fight you to the death with a fierce, steely, determination. They sing hymns and praise to the great beauty of this world, and to its great indifference. Once you have been declared Enemy, their swords deal double damage against you and glow with a golden radiance. 

Abilities

• 11: Can spider climb with the aid of iron claws on their hands and feet. 
• 12: Can see in the dark, and sprint completely silently. 
• 13: Can speak with birds, and have allies among them. 
• 14: Have strange, nondescript faces, smiling eyes and grinning mouths. In melee, you roll to hit them with disadvantage. 
• 15: Can run all day and all night without tiring, and go one week without sleep without ill effect. 
• 16: Can regain d6 hp by drinking a litre of blood, once a day. 
• 21: Can whistle loudly enough at melee range to deafen a dog or a horse for day, and a human for an hour. CON save resists. 
• 22: Jump three times as high and far as a normal person, and take half the usual falling damage. 
• 23: Can kick as a medium weapon.
• 24: Cover themselves in tiny silver bells. The sound is soft and pleasant, and difficult to describe - listening to it feels a bit like falling asleep. Immune to psychic damage. 
• 25: Have chemically treated skin, stained a red so dark it is almost black, and take half damage from fire and acid. 
• 26: Have been surgically altered, with redundant organs and other biological modifications. Their bodies are heavily scarred. Double HP, cannot be crit. 
• 31: When they are slain, it takes an extra turn for them to realise this and die. 
• 32: Can smell and track like bloodhounds. 
• 33: Know the terrible secret of the Dim Mak - a vorpal unarmed attack, with the vorpal effect deferred for between one and five turns, chosen by the striker. The vorpal effect causes all major organs to fail simultaneously, and all arteries in the head and neck to explode.
• 34: Dog men, known as gnolls, gain +1 to damage and to-hit rolls against panicking opponents. Chatter, laugh, and howl among one another, and have a horrible joke for every occasion. 
• 35: Brew the best coffee in the world, and carry the makings and small silver pressure pots with them on campaign. No effect in combat, but if breakfasting with them as allies, everyone gets +1 temporary HP for the day, or +2 if you have a CHAR of 15 or higher. 
• 36: Can enter a battle trance, a state of supreme focus. This technique is associated with the terrible things at the centre of the planet, and is particularly hated by the soldiers of the White City. The warrior assumes a complicated postural stance. For every combat turn spent doing nothing but maintaining this stance, the next attack taken will be at +2 to hit, with a +2 critical range.  
• 41: Fish men, or mermaids. Can hold their breath for up to two hours, and swim twice as fast as a normal human. 
• 42: Have their souls linked to one another in marriage. Any damage is split evenly between all Ultranats in the combat. Off the battlefield they are lovers and life companions, and take care of one another as any loving married set. Their spats and fights are terrible to see.
• 43: Have a hypnotic gaze - if you meet their eyes, you must save CHAR or be rooted to the spot until you can break the gaze (test each turn). You can still defend yourself, but roll to hit at disadvantage.  
• 44: Serpent men, known as betrayers. Can change their faces with powders and cosmetics, and the effect is nearly supernaturally convincing. They also know your secrets somehow, and yell disgusting obscenities about your loved ones in combat. Serpent men deal fear damage equal to their other damage in combat. A very ancient race of people - they would tell you the first to descend from the sky, at the beginning of the world. 
• 45: Singers and dancers, dressed in beautiful finery, as though attending a ball. Their NPC allies never test morale while one of them lives. This effect pierces through and nullifies the battle drone of the White City military. 
• 46: Can predict the weather with a high degree of accuracy, up to a week in advance. 
• 51: Chew an addictive stimulant before battle, which stains their mouths and teeth red. They do not feel pain in combat, and take -1 damage from all physical sources. 
• 52: Believe themselves to be reincarnated souls of ancient heroes and saints. Perhaps they are. +1 HD, and a great serenity and tranquility, which gives allies a +2 to all morale rolls. 
• 53: Temporal partisans. Angels and demons who have refused to join with the White City, and who now fight alongside its enemies. Use the stats given at the bottom of this dungeon. 
• 54: Slug men, known as black puddings. Can contort and squeeze their bodies through any gap the size of their head. 
• 55: Slayers and reavers. They stain their hands in blood. +1 to hit and to damage rolls, and an additional +1 per enemy killed this combat. 
• 56: Know the country, and can each forage d10 rations a day that they spend doing so. They cannot be surprised in this terrain. 
• 61: Heal d6 when they critically hit an enemy. Their weapons are inscribed with hate poetry and ancient curses. 
• 62: Lens men, known as celestials. Take half damage under moonlight, and deal double damage under sunlight. There are many grand old tales of lens man knights coming to the aid of the weak and oppressed. 
• 63: Ghost men, known as psycho-killers and slashers. Wear iron masks, and do not speak. All carried weapons are invisible, which among other things means that that roll to hit at +1 in melee. 
• 64: Worm men, known as dwarfs or redcaps - the great hereditary foes of the Balistigae. Have an engineer's understanding of tunnelling and demolition works, can see in the dark, and double in size when unobserved (HD3, unarmed attacks as heavy, two attacks from surprise). Usually, attacking someone will mean that you are perceived and are immediately normal size again, but this is not necessarily the case, say, trapped in a pitch black tunnel somewhere buried under a million tonnes of bedrock. 
• 65: Celebrants, who wear wreathes of flowers and bring glad tidings. Enemies not from the White City must test CHAR to attack them. 
• 66: Void men, known as heralds of oblivion. Wear lead masks and lead jewels, and have faces that are terrible to look upon. Total and complete pacifists - will never attack anything for any reason. Also vegans. Anyone who kills a Void Man is themselves slain, and erased from the memories of the entire world. All adventurers know this. The White City has had to manufacture a special corps of fanatics to act as their executioners. If you roll this result, it indicates that the group is accompanied by a single Void Man, who does not recieve the equipment indicated by the equipment roll. Roll again to determine the mien of the other Ultranats in the party.