As servants of divinities, supernatural lords understand that the former can test their faithful. Still, lords grant powers and spells themselves too, and those who fail to abide can be punished in much the same manner. Whether such is done in an angelic, fey, demonic, or devilish way, those who deal with puppets shouldn't be fooled by their toylike appearance.
Puppet Tests
1-7. Who's pulling the strings? The puppeteer loses access to all his granted powers and spells (not just the puppet lord's ones). See what must be done to get them back.
Angelic: Give their puppet to a good person. It is then entirely up to the latter when they give it back to the puppeteer, if at all.
Fey: Win an argument with the puppet. An Intelligence check with a -5 penalty may be required (DC 20). Failed debates can be retried 1d6 hours later, though they'd likely be very trying.
Demonic: Engage in a horrific act of anarchic aggression, having the puppet seem to assist. It might even smile on its own.
Devilish: Promise one's soul, or trick another into doing so, using the puppet to seal the deal. Hopefully a kiss won't be required.
8-13. The puppeteer begins to become like one himself. Each time he experiences this test, he gains one of the following puppet immunities: sleep, charm, aging, hunger, thirst, poison, disease, blunt injury, or need for air. In return, he also suffers a cumulative -2 penalty to all Charisma rolls made to interact with those who aren't fond of puppets, gaining what seems to be such things as unmoving eyes, a growing nose, a ridiculous visage, or even a strange gait.
13-17. A pantomime of life can become all too real. The puppeteer's puppet takes on a life of its own for the next 1d100 hours. During this time, it will act according to its puppet lord's ways (see Part I for Things Done), having only some chance of obeying its puppeteer: Angelic: 85%, Fey: 66%, Demonic: 33%, Devilish: 50%. Disobeying puppets cannot be used to enable a puppeteer's powers or spells- the puppets are too busy using them themselves. Puppeteers who fail to exert control of their puppets will then motivate the puppet to prevent the puppeteer from being able to exert control again, typically by trying to silence them.
Animated Puppet
MV: 30’, AC 8, HD 1 per puppeteer's level, Atk: 1, Dmg: 1d4 (+1/2 per puppeteer's level, rounded down), SP: puppet immunities (see above), use of puppeteer's powers and spells, SV: F1 per puppeteer's level, Mor: 9, AL: per type
18+ Who is the dummy now? The puppeteer is essentially turned into one, acting only as his puppet lord directs for 2d6 hours per puppet test result over 17. He has a 50% chance of remaining in his usual form while this test occurs, otherwise he will assume an animated puppet version of himself (see above for stats).
Puppet Spells
Spellcasters who work with lords of puppets can exchange spells they know for puppet spells of the same level.
Spells marked "(AF)" are only available for those who work with Angelic or Fey Lords
Spells marked "(rev)" are always used in the normal way by those who work with Angelic Lords, are always reversed for those who work with Demonic Lords, and are reversible for workers with Fey or Devilish Lords.
Spells marked (*) are magic-user spells.
1st Level
1. Command: used in the same manner as their powers of puppets (see Part I)
2. Detect Evil: shows those who are directly oppositional to their supernatural lord (angelic vs. demonic; fey vs. devilish)
3. Detect Magic: also detects special items used by those work with supernatural lords, such as a puppeteer's puppet.
4. Sanctuary (AF)
5. Protection from Evil (rev)
6. Purify Food and Drink (rev)
7. Remove Fear (rev)
8. Charm Person*
9. Jarring Hand/ Push*
10. Ventriloquism*
2nd Level
1. Bless (rev)
2. Find Traps
3. Holy Chant
1. Bless (rev)
2. Find Traps
3. Holy Chant
4. Speak with Animal
5. Spiritual Weapon
5. Spiritual Weapon
6. Detect Invisible*
7. Knock*
8. Locate Object*
9. Rope Trick*
10. Scare*
3rd Level
1. Cure Disease
2. Dispel Magic
3. Feign Death
4. Glyph of Warding
5. Remove Curse (rev)
6. Speak with Dead
7. Striking
8. Infravision*
9. Protection from Normal Missiles*
10. Suggestion*
Next week: Lords of Puppets concludes with Puppet Divinities and Encounters!
