Ogilvy requests:12 things that happen when you pull something at random out of a six-demon bag.
by way of Egg Shen:
Jack Burton: Terrific, a six-demon bag. Sensational. What’s in it, Egg?
Egg Shen: Wind, fire, all that kind of thing!
The six demon bag is a mixed bag. It can hold up to six elemental demons, representing the five traditional Chinese elements plus wind, which is a western element. The holder of the bag reaches in and pulls out a demon, which appears as a glowing baseball-sized sphere. She then throws it. Then something happens. Roll dice to determine if it is major or minor.
If the demon is minor, it will be extremely helpful to whoever holds the bag. It will only effect the other side in a battle. If Wang Chi were to open the bag and throw out a demon, it would be minor. If it is a major demon, it will indiscriminately destroy as much as possible according to the table below. If Jack were to open the bag, the demon would of course be major.
How do you determine major or minor? Pick some odds beforehand and roll. Of course players might not know that there’s a good and bad side, so perhaps always make the first demon minor. Up to you, DM.
Six Demon Bag Contents
Roll | Demon | Minor | Major |
1 | Wood | Root Trap | Splintering Forest |
2 | Fire | Fireball | Firestorm |
3 | Earth | Fault Opens | Earthquake |
4 | Metal | Magnetic Storm | Lightning Storm |
5 | Water | Deluge | Storm or Tsunami |
6 | Wind | Gust of Wind | Tornado |
Deluge
A tremendous flood comes from nowhere, pushing the enemy as if from a fire hose, washing them away (if there is somewhere to drain).
Earthquake
A nasty earthquake effects the region. The center is where the bag is. There should be lots of property damage and hit points lost.
Fault Opens
A fissure opens in the ground, leading to the depths of the planet. It should be about 50 feet long and about 10 feet wide (see Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ending). It should be close to the enemy leader or the strongest enemy grouping.
Fireball
A fireball that damages only enemies. Roll damage as if cast by fifth level mage.
Firestorm
A giant firestorm hits, doing one die of damage to each creature in a one-mile radius according to the level/HD each creature has (much more damage to higher levels). All who survive have a sunburn that lasts 1d4 years.
Gust of Wind
Knocks down all enemies, disarming them and possibly doing damage or putting them in harm’s way.
Lightning Storm
All creatures within one mile are hit by lightning if they have any metal whatsoever on their person. No tesla cages allowed–these are demons, not science.
Magnetic Storm
All metal used or worn by anyone within 200 foot radius, even magical metals, fly off or away from their owner and form a large Katamari ball of scrap. This applies to magical and non-ferrous metal as well as steel.
Root Trap
Roots come from the ground and entangle all ‘enemy’ creatures.
Splintering Forest
A forest erupts from the ground/floor or ceiling. Branches and vines entangle and skewer every creature larger than a medium dog. Druids take 1/2 damage automatically and are not entangled. Tree-dwelling and sylvan creatures are not effected, nor are flying creatures. This works even in the desert or arctic, but the forest may die off if not in an appropriate climate.
Storm or Tsunami
A hurricane or tsunami occurs, centered on the bag holder.
Tornado
A tornado rips through the area, doing damage to random locations in the vicinity in addition to the immediate area of the bag holder.
I note in passing that these are all classic Pokemon attacks, right down to the names. If I ever get my reskinned, demonic, Dystopian Pokeverse game off the ground you’ve supplied a great idea for how demon-handling could most frequently go wrong – simply getting more of what you wanted than you wanted.
I love this one.
Just a passing comment that any post* inspired by Big Trouble In Little China is a good post.
* Or arena rock anthem, rhyming couplet, quilt pattern, football play, soliloquy, social studies essay, knock-knock joke, tire tread impression, t-shirt design, stump speech, graffiti, newly-discovered Elvis song, or object-left-in-abdominal-cavity after surgery.
Excellent.
PS to richard: if that isn’t inspired by Pokethulhu it’s a bizarre coincidence. But probably an inevitable one, given the kind of people in our hobby.
Although I do have a Pokemon fan in the house, this had nothing to do with the Pokemon attacks, except that Pokemon also derives from various alchemical and traditional elements from Chinese and western culture.
It literally was: look up the Chinese elements. Oh, yeah, add wind since Egg mentions wind. Then come up with something that helps and something disastrous.
No big whoop.