Lunar cycle and it's effect on spirit creatures.

[MonkeySage]

The world my campaign takes place in has two moons; the first is large, has a normal cycle, and no discernable effect on spirits(elementals, outsiders, ghosts, etc).

The second moon is much smaller... it has an 80 day cycle, and when it is full, it has some interesting effects on these creatures. They can be either harmful or helpful, but they're usually random.


I would determine whether they were harmful or helpful, and then roll percentile to determine in what way they cause harm or help the creature in question.

In this world, plane touched creatures also qualify as spirits.

So any ideas?

[Grinner]

What do the spirits do? What's their purpose within the setting?

[MonkeySage]

Well, to begin with, most of the player characters are spirits.

They pretty much serve as a focal point in this setting. Taint is causing evil spirits to emerge in places once considered safe, and most of the major npcs are at least in some way connected to the spirit world.

Most spirits, including most kinds of ghost, are corporeal in this world(i used a different type of ghost).

[Grinner]

So, from a psychological standpoint, they're not all that different from mortals?

I ask because I had been going to suggest a number of insanity effects, but it occurred to me that those sort of things might not be wholly applicable to an inhuman mindset.

[MonkeySage]

Some have a more human mindset than others, yes. Their mindsets are as varied as most monsters in the monster manual for d&d, and a lot of them are reskinned MM monsters. For example, the ogre mage is considered a spirit. Tieflings and aasimar would be as well.

[SiuiS]

Still not enough info on the milieu.

Is this, like, Celtic fairies spirits? Norse elemental spirits? Japanese Shinto spirits? What is the feel of the campaign world?

I take it spirits are not usually spiritual; they have solid bodies and do solid body things most of the time. So there isn't an overlapping spirit world that is the focus, along with times and places where crossover happens?

[AuraTwilight]

More importantly, why would the lunar cycle effect spirits in ways it doesn't effect other entities in the setting? What does the lunar cycle MEAN to spirits?

[MonkeySage]

The setting is heavily influenced by Chinese and Japanese culture, and the secondary moon is a genius loci, sentient. Perhaps itself a spirit.

[AuraTwilight]

The moon has always been connected to altered states of consciousness and insanity. If it's a genius loci, and a spirit, it's probably the biggest spirit (unless the earth and sun are also spirits). Perhaps the more visible the moon is, the more its madness infects spirits like a hivemind?

It's only on a new moon that spirits are 100% themselves.