From all of us at Goodman Games, we hope the year has been good to you and we wish you a happy holiday!
Just in case Santa stops by for a game today, here’s a special table of winter-themed corruptions for your favorite wizard character. Frosty the Snow Demon wasn’t always made of snow, you know!
When wizards and their demon-bound ilk fail in their attempts to warp reality, it always comes at a grievous cost. This is never truer than the weeks immediately preceding and following Winter Solstice. The nights grow long and the veil between worlds is worn thin, leaving little to protect spellcasters from their own failures.
Judges can consult the following table when rolling winter-time corruptions, or use them as inspiration for their own games. The table can also be used for ice and snow-themed incantations stolen from the frigid reaches of Hyperborea.
| Roll (1d8) | Corruption |
| 1 | The wizard instantly learns the alignments, secret lies, and misdeeds of all little children. The overwhelming crush of sadness threatens the sanity of even the most callous spellcaster. The character must succeed on a DC 25 Will save or sink into a catatonic state. |
| 2 | The caster grows a goat-head replete with ram’s horns, a coat of matted black fur, cloven hooves, and a forked red tongue. The character is now unholy, and is henceforth affected by banish, binding, and similar spell-like effects. |
| 3 | The caster is immediately encased a circular globe of force. Inside, a frigid, howling wind blows nonstop, swirling an endless mix of stinging snow and ice. The force globe lasts for 1d7 rounds; during this time the caster must make a DC 20 Fort save each round or suffer 1d5 Stamina dmg from hypothermia. If a character’s Stamina is reduced to 0 or less, the caster dies. |
| 4 | The wizard’s head is transformed into a bleached horse’s skull. The horrifying visage terrifies foes and allies alike; all NPCs must make morale checks to take any other action than attacking the caster. (Devils, demons and the like, are comfortable with such horrors and excluded from this list.) |
| 5 | The caster radiates an intense cold, and leaves a trail of frost and ice crystals wherever he goes. The caster is henceforth immune to ice or cold damage, and the freezing aura reduces fire or heat-related damage to the caster by -2d. Any character coming within 10’ of the caster must make a DC 10 Fort save each round or suffer 1d3 damage from frostbite. |
| 6 | The caster is transformed into a snowman. In his new form, the character is immune to cold but suffers triple damage from heat or flame-based attacks. The character ceases to age, but if the surrounding temperature is raised above freezing, the character slowly melts and dies in 1d3 hours. |
| 7 | Henceforth the caster can only cast or maintain spells by repeatedly shouting carols at the top of his lungs. Additionally, the caster reeks of baked ginger and pine, increasing the likelihood of wandering encounters by +1d. |
| 8 | Miraculously (albeit boringly) the caster suffers no corruption, save for a brief flurry of snowfall. Merry Christmas and happy holidays from all of us at Goodman Games. |
