lord-of-innistrad

[lord-of-innistrad]

Flavor Text Highlights Bonus - The Theriad

The Theriad is an in-universe epic that exists in Theros, an equivalent to the Illiad. Here are the cards and flavor texts for it, over three sets (with a line break because it's 15 cards and a lot of text:

It was in fields of grain, not fields of battle, that the Champion learned to bear the yoke of duty to the gods. She worked the land long before she was called on to defend it.

The girl who would become the Champion of the Sun hacked furiously at the practice dummy. At last she stopped, breathing heavily, and looked up at her instructor. "So much anger," said the centaur. "I will teach you the ways of war, child. But first you must make peace with yourself."

"Poets speak of your unrivaled speed," the Champion said to the assembled centaurs, "but it is plain to see that your true strength lies in your unwavering loyalty to one another."

After the Battle of Pharagax Bridge, the Champion spent many months among the leonin of Oreskos. She found that they were quick to take offense, not because they were thin-skinned, but because they were always eager for a fight.

On the fourth day they passed through a forest of immense stacked stones. Althemone, youngest of the companions, called these pillars the work of a god, but the Champion knew better. She quickened her pace.

Khestes the Adamant, the Champion's closest ally among the centaurs, took one stone to his shoulder and another to his flank. He held his stride and his aim, and let fly the arrow that killed the giant Grinthax.

The Champion armed herself to face the cyclops, heedless of her companions' despair. "How will you defeat it with only one spear?" asked young Althemone. The Champion raised her weapon. "It has but one eye."

The Champion and the philosopher Olexa returned from the opposing camp at dusk. Behind them, the enemy raised sail and departed, breaking the siege. When asked what the two had done, the Champion replied, "We spoke to them."

The Champion and her companions marched through the night, but the battle was over before they arrived. In the middle of the carnage sat a solitary minotaur, lost in what seemed to the Champion to be thought.

With spear held high, the Champion came to meet Thyrogog of the Ashlands, who wore the old king's skin as a cloak and fed on the flesh of innocents. The foul minotaur raised the great axe called Goremaster and charged.

You have led us to triumph over the forces of Mogis!" said Brygus the Brave, clapping the Champion on the back. The Champion wiped the sweat and blood from her brow. "I count eight graves," she said. "Too many to call this a victory."

At sunrise, the Champion and her companions awoke to find their supplies gone and Brygus, their sentry, dead. Carefully arranged piles of ornamental shells gave a clear warning: go no further.

The hulk rose from the sea and loomed over the Champion. Pinned beneath the twisting, rotted planks of wood was the body of Kaliaros, the helmsman of her former crew, and beside him the captain, Photine.

The Champion stood alone between the horde of the Returned and the shrine to Karametra, cutting down scores among hundreds. She would have been overcome if not for the aid of the temple guardians whom Karametra awakened.

The great hart stood like a statue, its hide painted gold by the dawn. The Champion laid down her weapons and stepped forward within an arm's length of the beast. The hart, sacred to Heliod and bathed in the god's own light, bowed to the Champion, marking her as the Chosen of the Sun God.

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Are there mechanics for Halo as a Phyrexian countermeasure?

Halo and hexgold jumpscared me with their existence midway through the writing process of Plane Shift: Mirrodin/New Phyrexia and I'd never anticipated adding items like them. I think I should, and I'm workshopping some ideas for hexgold, but Halo feels a bit more dubious because it's very much extraplanar and not "Mirrodin/New Phyrexia" content.

Hexgold Dust Potion, rare When you apply this fine golden powder to your wounds, you regain 6d4 + 6 hit points. You lose the poisoned condition, 1 phyresis level, and 1 level of exhaustion, if you have any.

Hexgold itself is probably going to be some kind of magic item type (kind of like "+1 weapon" that can be applied to any weapon) that deals extra damage or has a higher crit chance against Phyrexian creatures, or something. There are also items I want to be activatable to prevent or give advantage on phyresis saving throws for a time.

I'm also having to consider how hard it should be to remove levels of phyresis, since as it stands right now, only greater restoration and magic items like hexgold can remove one at a time, and greater restoration specifically stops working after level 5. (Melira also exists but she's a single NPC so I'm not counting her as a standard method of removing phyresis.)

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Is your Plane Shift supplement going to have tables for Phyrexian names? Or other random tables? I like random tables haha.

I don't generally make set name lists because I don't want to make certain names more commonly used than others just by virtue of being on the list (if that makes sense????) and also because I'd want a perfectly authentic-to-the-Phyrexian-language list that isn't possible with the information we have. That said, I know Phyrexian names can be difficult so I should probably add something. To be determined.

I also have certain headcanons like the idea that core-born Phyrexians do not tend to have names that end in vowel + glottal stop, at least as written in their native language (sometimes anglicization adds vowels at the end, as in Avaricta from Avarict). It's just a pattern I have noticed between all the named Phyrexians we got in the actual Phyrexian language.

That said there can definitely be random tables. Notably,

NEW PHYREXIA TRINKET TABLE!!!!

I am perhaps more excited about this than I should be.

The first 25 are Mirran, the second 25 are Phyrexian. Some of them are iconic cards from the setting 👀

I wonder if I can get to 100...

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Look at this lad

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Braids again!

[lord-of-innistrad]

How much of the D&D Phyrexia homebrew you are making is directly emulating canon compared to headcanons or new content? I imagine you tried to stick to things as closely as possible but I also don’t know how fleshed out and specific things about Phyrexians are through source materials.

I try to emulate canon as much as possible, but there are some aspects (like the fine points of Phyrexian biology and inheritance, the dissolving of compleation mind control, or the praetors' backstories) that I can't get from it. In that case I use headcanons that try to follow established rules and make sense with what we see in canon.

For example, we know that it's possible to remove the mind control that comes with compleation using high-level magic. The only example that we've seen of this in canon is Jace's mind magic, but since it is a supernatural control effect, I surmised that dispel magic or remove curse would also make sense for breaking it within the rules of D&D.

There has also been a recent marked refusal in canon to consider Phyrexians whose ideologies diverge from their empire, or who oppose the goal of the political(?) entity "Phyrexia" in general, despite that being in the text. As a result I've had to expand on it more, but I don't quite consider most of it headcanon, as it is canonical fact that 1) Phyrexians are sapient beings with the ability to make moral decisions and 2) not every Phyrexian believes in expansion. To write Phyrexians with diverse moral attitudes is simply the logical continuation of what we see and are explicitly shown in the text.

When I first started to write Plane Shift: Mirrodin/New Phyrexia, one of my starting conditions was that Phyrexians must be playable. The supplement must expand upon, and take into consideration, their internal lives. They must be considered every bit as nuanced and "human" (for lack of a better word) as any other D&D race. The supplement largely presumes a party made up of both Mirrans and Phyrexians.

Needless to say, I am abolishing racial alignment and have considered omitting it from stat blocks as well.

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what are the other praetors like in terms of statblock?

Note that every praetor's stat block is in progress, and the supplement is also constantly being developed and changed. That said, these are some main points of what I have had and largely used in my own campaign:

Praetors are the ancient dragons of the setting. Their power level reflects this. No praetor (or Atraxa) has a CR lower than 21.

Three of the praetors, Norn, Jin, and Sheoldred, have class types. Cleric, Wizard, and Bard respectively. These three are also the ones with full spellcasting abilities and prepared spell lists. I know that in recent publications D&D has started to move away from this, but the praetors were created long before that change and I prefer the flexibility of them anyway.

All praetors have 3 legendary saves, 3 legendary action options, and 3 lair action options.

Norn

Very strong and very resilient. Not very fast. Doesn't move in combat a huge amount, focuses more on commanding allies and putting down AoE. Unless she wants to hit something really hard with her sword.

Many mechanics focus on mass ally buffs or summoning; she'll probably also have a passive aura of some kind that benefits allies, reminiscent of her +2/+2 / -2/-2 original card

Incorporates the abilities we saw her use in A Garden of Flesh, so she has an aura of shards that do slashing damage that she can dismiss to merge the shards into a very, very large sword.

In general, lots of area effects whether that's auras, buffs, or AoE

Jin

Jin's statblock is a nightmare. His legacy version has Portent (which he never used in PC encounters), but I highly suspect I'll have to cut that for the final version because it's so obnoxious to play against.

So many counterspells.

Similar to Niv-Mizzet in flexibility with spells and ability to regain spell slots as a legendary action.

Surprisingly good mobility, with psychic teleports and the like. His first card did have flash!

A lot of spell control, psychic spells, save control.

Sheoldred

Her mechanic for mounting other creatures is very weird but interesting to design. They combine HP but largely use Sheoldred's own stats (except probably physicals) and any damage goes to the mount's HP first.

Has a reanimation aura, passively raising corpses that die near her into ghouls in 1d4 rounds

She is so incredibly bard.

She can turn into spiders and it's great

Urabrask

I really hate the D&D alignment system. That said, he is Chaotic Good.

Very fast, agile, and good at hiding.

A lot of draconic features, like Frightful Presence and a breath weapon. I've always really enjoyed the dragon parallels Urabrask has.

To be honest he is currently more or less an unusually stealthy Ancient Red Dragon without wings, but I do intend to make him more unique than that.

Thinking of adding minimal spellcasting, since we've seen that he is at least capable of ichor scrying and runic magic, as well as artifice. Probably "innate spells" style instead of the full lists Norn, Jin, and Sheoldred have.

Vorinclex

Very heavy on sheer strength and pure physical damage by hitting things and running over them very hard.

Powerful regeneration, can regain HP a bunch of different ways including digesting enemies. Relatively easy to hit but hard to kill.

Being grappled by him is very dangerous and immediately starts absorbing you.

Of note is that none of the praetors' attacks really deal a significant amount of necrotic damage (with the exception of some of Jin's needles or whatever). This is partly because core-born Phyrexians resist necrotic, and the praetors spend a good amount of time beating up their own people. Also, if you're fighting Elesh Norn, you have bigger problems than phyresis.

[lord-of-innistrad]

Plane Shift: New Phyrexia Phyresis Rules 1.0

Contact with Phyrexian creatures and glistening oil can lead to phyresis, a special condition tracked in ten stages. Phyresis is not a disease, so immunity to disease cannot prevent a creature from being afflicted. Phyrexian creatures are immune to this condition.

A creature infected by phyresis experiences the effects of its current level and all those below.

Until level 5, greater restoration may remove a phyresis level from a targeted creature in addition to its other effects.

Every 24 hours, a character who has at least 1 phyresis level must roll a d20. On a roll equal to or less than their current phyresis level, they gain one level.

Phyresis Level Effects

1: No effect 2: No effect 3: Disadvantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened by Phyrexian creatures 4: No new effect 5: Phyresis can no longer be removed by greater restoration 6: No new effect 7: Phyrexian language proficiency 8: Gain one augmentation for which you meet the prerequisites (detailed in a later installment) 9: No new effect 10: Incapacitated; begin compleation saving throws (see “A Sublime Transformation”) (Below the cut)

A Sublime Transformation

Most compleated adult Phyrexians, including player characters, are capable of compleating other creatures with sufficient ichor and time. A compleated creature retains its original type and racial features but gains the Phyrexian supertype. As a general rule, spells cast using Phyrexian mana that raise a target from the dead will return them compleated, if they were not already.

Much like being raised from the dead, the process of compleation is an exhausting ordeal that saps the energy of affected creatures. A newly compleated Phyrexian takes a -3 penalty to all attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks. Each time the creature finishes a long rest, the penalty is reduced by 1 until it disappears.

Often, compleation is a process of optimization, reinforcing a creature's existing strengths. In that spirit, compleated player characters may increase one ability score above 20 by subtracting 2 from another ability score for each increase by 1 to the target score, to a maximum of 22. In addition, the compleated character gains one Phyrexian augmentation for which they meet the prerequisite.

Compleation is a unique opportunity for a player to re-work their character, extending to even class and subclass choices. Additionally, the mnemonic nature of glistening oil means that genetic material is not the only thing passed down from a Phyrexian to a creature they compleat. A newly compleated creature gains one skill proficiency possessed by the Phyrexian who compleated them.

Glistening oil carries the voice of Yawgmoth, who seeks to bend all to his whims. When you reach 10 phyresis levels, you must make a DC 16 Wisdom or Charisma saving throw each turn (your choice). The Phyrexian compleating you may grant you advantage on these saving throws. Successes and failures don't need to be consecutive; keep track of both until you collect three of a kind. When you roll a 1 on the d20, it counts as two failures; likewise, a 20 on the d20 counts as two successes. On your third success, you become compleated while retaining your previous memories and convictions. On your third failure, your bonds are altered to serve Phyrexia. You retain your base alignment and personality, but may suffer memory loss. Either way, you lose all phyresis levels and their effects.

Though powerful, the alteration of loyalties during compleation can be undone. Dispel magic or remove curse cast with a 7th-level slot or higher can restore one target creature to its former bonds if its mind had been altered in this way. You can target one additional creature for each slot level above 7th.

[lord-of-innistrad]

Been a bit since I’ve posted, have some Jaces 🩵

My battle with the art block continues, I trust in blorbo drawings to carry me through.

[lord-of-innistrad]

been fighting with homebrewery for a good portion of the day but I am finally transcribing Plane Shift: New Phyrexia onto a medium that resembles a D&D book

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Plane Shift: New Phyrexia Phyresis Rules 1.0

Contact with Phyrexian creatures and glistening oil can lead to phyresis, a special condition tracked in ten stages. Phyresis is not a disease, so immunity to disease cannot prevent a creature from being afflicted. Phyrexian creatures are immune to this condition.

A creature infected by phyresis experiences the effects of its current level and all those below.

Until level 5, greater restoration may remove a phyresis level from a targeted creature in addition to its other effects.

Every 24 hours, a character who has at least 1 phyresis level must roll a d20. On a roll equal to or less than their current phyresis level, they gain one level.

Phyresis Level Effects

1: No effect 2: No effect 3: Disadvantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened by Phyrexian creatures 4: No new effect 5: Phyresis can no longer be removed by greater restoration 6: No new effect 7: Phyrexian language proficiency 8: Gain one augmentation for which you meet the prerequisites (detailed in a later installment) 9: No new effect 10: Incapacitated; begin compleation saving throws (see “A Sublime Transformation”) (Below the cut)

A Sublime Transformation

Most compleated adult Phyrexians, including player characters, are capable of compleating other creatures with sufficient ichor and time. A compleated creature retains its original type and racial features but gains the Phyrexian supertype. As a general rule, spells cast using Phyrexian mana that raise a target from the dead will return them compleated, if they were not already.

Much like being raised from the dead, the process of compleation is an exhausting ordeal that saps the energy of affected creatures. A newly compleated Phyrexian takes a -3 penalty to all attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks. Each time the creature finishes a long rest, the penalty is reduced by 1 until it disappears.

Often, compleation is a process of optimization, reinforcing a creature's existing strengths. In that spirit, compleated player characters may increase one ability score above 20 by subtracting 2 from another ability score for each increase by 1 to the target score, to a maximum of 22. In addition, the compleated character gains one Phyrexian augmentation for which they meet the prerequisite.

Compleation is a unique opportunity for a player to re-work their character, extending to even class and subclass choices. Additionally, the mnemonic nature of glistening oil means that genetic material is not the only thing passed down from a Phyrexian to a creature they compleat. A newly compleated creature gains one skill proficiency possessed by the Phyrexian who compleated them.

Glistening oil carries the voice of Yawgmoth, who seeks to bend all to his whims. When you reach 10 phyresis levels, you must make a DC 16 Wisdom or Charisma saving throw each turn (your choice). The Phyrexian compleating you may grant you advantage on these saving throws. Successes and failures don't need to be consecutive; keep track of both until you collect three of a kind. When you roll a 1 on the d20, it counts as two failures; likewise, a 20 on the d20 counts as two successes. On your third success, you become compleated while retaining your previous memories and convictions. On your third failure, your bonds are altered to serve Phyrexia. You retain your base alignment and personality, but may suffer memory loss. Either way, you lose all phyresis levels and their effects.

Though powerful, the alteration of loyalties during compleation can be undone. Dispel magic or remove curse cast with a 7th-level slot or higher can restore one target creature to its former bonds if its mind had been altered in this way. You can target one additional creature for each slot level above 7th.

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What I imagine an Amalia card would've looked like in MKM.

Thoughts under the cut

So obviously whenever someone goes through an omenpath their color identity seems to change. First from Troyan in WOE who was a member of the Red/Blue Izzet League on Ravnica but is Green/Blue on Eldraine to Kellan who starts Red/White, then becomes Green/White, then Green/Blue, then Green/White/Blue changing colors each time he goes through an omenpath. The only exception to this rule seems to be the desparked planeswalkers, but I'd argue they'd have a stronger connection to their color identities than the random joe schmoes going through omenpaths.

This fueled my decision to change Amalia's color identity, but to what? Well the MKM story only barely mentions her, being investigating a ruin and investigating the plane's history. And then it hit me. What other group is interested in history in mtg lore? Lorehold College, Red/White, a color identity which also fits her vampire status, with most vampires being in red/white/black.

#mtg #custom mtg #custom card #custom magic card #magic the gathering #amalia benavides aguirre

[lord-of-innistrad]

Plane Shift: New Phyrexia Phyresis Rules 1.0

Contact with Phyrexian creatures and glistening oil can lead to phyresis, a special condition tracked in ten stages. Phyresis is not a disease, so immunity to disease cannot prevent a creature from being afflicted. Phyrexian creatures are immune to this condition.

A creature infected by phyresis experiences the effects of its current level and all those below.

Until level 5, greater restoration may remove a phyresis level from a targeted creature in addition to its other effects.

Every 24 hours, a character who has at least 1 phyresis level must roll a d20. On a roll equal to or less than their current phyresis level, they gain one level.

Phyresis Level Effects

1: No effect 2: No effect 3: Disadvantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened by Phyrexian creatures 4: No new effect 5: Phyresis can no longer be removed by greater restoration 6: No new effect 7: Phyrexian language proficiency 8: Gain one augmentation for which you meet the prerequisites (detailed in a later installment) 9: No new effect 10: Incapacitated; begin compleation saving throws (see “A Sublime Transformation”) (Below the cut)

A Sublime Transformation

Most compleated adult Phyrexians, including player characters, are capable of compleating other creatures with sufficient ichor and time. A compleated creature retains its original type and racial features but gains the Phyrexian supertype. As a general rule, spells cast using Phyrexian mana that raise a target from the dead will return them compleated, if they were not already.

Much like being raised from the dead, the process of compleation is an exhausting ordeal that saps the energy of affected creatures. A newly compleated Phyrexian takes a -3 penalty to all attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks. Each time the creature finishes a long rest, the penalty is reduced by 1 until it disappears.

Often, compleation is a process of optimization, reinforcing a creature's existing strengths. In that spirit, compleated player characters may increase one ability score above 20 by subtracting 2 from another ability score for each increase by 1 to the target score, to a maximum of 22. In addition, the compleated character gains one Phyrexian augmentation for which they meet the prerequisite.

Compleation is a unique opportunity for a player to re-work their character, extending to even class and subclass choices. Additionally, the mnemonic nature of glistening oil means that genetic material is not the only thing passed down from a Phyrexian to a creature they compleat. A newly compleated creature gains one skill proficiency possessed by the Phyrexian who compleated them.

Glistening oil carries the voice of Yawgmoth, who seeks to bend all to his whims. When you reach 10 phyresis levels, you must make a DC 16 Wisdom or Charisma saving throw each turn (your choice). The Phyrexian compleating you may grant you advantage on these saving throws. Successes and failures don't need to be consecutive; keep track of both until you collect three of a kind. When you roll a 1 on the d20, it counts as two failures; likewise, a 20 on the d20 counts as two successes. On your third success, you become compleated while retaining your previous memories and convictions. On your third failure, your bonds are altered to serve Phyrexia. You retain your base alignment and personality, but may suffer memory loss. Either way, you lose all phyresis levels and their effects.

Though powerful, the alteration of loyalties during compleation can be undone. Dispel magic or remove curse cast with a 7th-level slot or higher can restore one target creature to its former bonds if its mind had been altered in this way. You can target one additional creature for each slot level above 7th.

[lord-of-innistrad]

[lord-of-innistrad]

Mox Opal

Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement by a spellcaster)

While this opal is on your person, you can use an action to magically regain one expended spell slot. If the expended slot was of 6th level or higher, the new slot is 5th level. You can use the opal this way a number of times equal to the number of magic items you are currently attuned to, and it regains all expended uses daily at dawn.

Art by Volkan Baga

(This magic item is part of my in-progress supplement, Plane Shift: New Phyrexia)

[lord-of-innistrad]

A while back I conceived of a typal coupling called Militant for a few custom cards I was making for a book series I adore. However I wanted to see what it would look like at different rarities, so I made these four custom cards (Which have nothing to do with said book series).

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom mtg #custom magic card #custom card #typal coupling

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Art link

Card transcription

Captain Vraska 3B Legendary Creature- Gorgon Pirate [mythic] Menace, deathtouch If a creature an opponent controls would die, exile it instead. When you do, create a Treasure token. 1B, Sacrifice a Treasure: Create a 2/2 black Pirate creature token with menace. Activate only as a sorcery. 3/4

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