World of the Lost, Session One: Orogoro & Diamonds

There were 4 adventurers, and all were Germans. There was Heinrich, the lucky one, who was a Fighter. Everett, a Fighter, who spoke many languages. The stealthy Specialist Baldwin, and the Magic-User Dietrich.

They were now at the outskirts of Khirima, at long last delivered by a passing caravan. They had traveled with this caravan since arrival in Lagos, where they had arrived several days prior, having departed from Hamburg several weeks before that. They had heard rumors along their way. Stories of the brutally enforced taboos, and of some lost temple being restored to its former glory by another Outsider like themselves, a warrior of some kind, but they were mostly disinterested. They had come to Khirima only to acquire the fabled tribute of silver given to appease the demons who dwell upon the forbidden plateau, in the Temple of Ages That Are Not, and would not be distracted. For now, however, they had to contend with a terrific monsoon. The enormity of the earthen outer walls seen from a distance was disorienting. After a miserable two-mile march they finally entered the city itself, with stern and miserable guards still patrolling the walls and observing them wandering in the pissing rain. The strict layout of parallel streets and hard right angles was almost eerie in it's orderliness, but after persevering they discovered a somewhat decent tavern after passing on a much shabbier one. Everett acted as translator for the lot of them as they situated themselves, as he was the only one able to speak the Igbo language. Through him they rented beds, and a place to lay down their things. They bought a flavorful beef stew, and drank Orogoro (the distilled juice of the Raffia tree). The Orogoro they found quite palatable, and hoping to make a good impression on the locals decided to carouse and drink in earnest.

The four of them awoke the next morning with splitting headaches and few clear memories, beyond vague details and talk of diamonds. Heinrich awoke with a sore arm, and saw that he was clutching a rather large diamond in his hand. The soreness in his arm was caused by a fresh tattoo: a crude map, with the word GRUBE (a German word approximating the English "trove") beneath it.After belaboring the tavern-keeper for information about the hypothetical sale of said gemstone they were told they could only sell something like that at the merchants guild. They prepared a copy of the tattoo on parchment, while Heinrich carefully hid the original with his shirtsleeve.

A short march brought them out of the chaotic bustle of the Trade Square into the pretentious calm of the Noble Square, and after boldly walking into the courtyard of the Merchants Guild they simply requested assistance with their diamond from a nearby guard, demonstrating the characteristic Teutonic bluntness.A rather tense meeting with the disarmingly stoic Odafin, the Minister of Finance, who appeared flanked by a number of equally stern guards. A rather humorless man bedecked in symbolic snake jewelry, he demanded they tell him where they had gotten this diamond. Quickly translating as best he could between Igbo and German, Everett offered the claim that they had won the diamond in a simple game of chance. This was soundly rejected by Odafin, who explained that diamonds were only to be sold by guild members, and were not a thing to be gambled away to Outsiders. They must have been involved with smugglers, he said. The legal implications of this were obvious. Everett insisted that they were unsure of who they got it from due to the circumstances in which they met them, and they quickly showed Odafin the map to divert the conversation away from how they had no useful memories to defend themselves with. Odafin was quite interested in this map, noticing how it seemed to indicate a place across the great lake quite near where the annual silver tribute was to be taken, a place forbidden to outsiders and filled with royal guards.
Everett insisted that they were unsure of who they got it from due to the circumstances in which they met them, and they quickly showed Odafin the map to divert the conversation away from how they had no useful memories to defend themselves with. Odafin was quite interested in this map, noticing how it seemed to indicate a place across the great lake quite near where the annual silver tribute was to be taken, a place forbidden to outsiders and filled with royal guards.

Everett insisted that they were unsure of who they got it from due to the circumstances in which they met them, and they quickly showed Odafin the map to divert the conversation away from how they had no useful memories to defend themselves with. Odafin was quite interested in this map, noticing how it seemed to indicate a place across the great lake quite near where the annual silver tribute was to be taken, a place forbidden to outsiders and filled with royal guards. He seemed dismissive of the whole tribute business, but not directly so, oddly enough.

He then asked the adventurers how long they had been in Khirima, and after finding out they were fresh arrivals he intimated that if they were to assist him with discovering the meaning of this map he might be quite eager to assist them with something they might be interested in, such as seeing a forbidden Temple. He also offered the wayward Germans a fair reward for returning him the diamond they had found already, and told them they ought come to him again, should they learn more about the presumed diamond smugglers they had perhaps met.

Emboldened by their cash reward the adventurers returned to the tavern, and sternly questioned the tavern-keeper on the matter of who they had been drinking with last night. The tavern keeper, after being told about their involvement with the Minister, said in no uncertain terms that he had no desire to get involved in any political business whatsoever. He knew nothing about the men, only that he hadn't seen them before.

The adventurers consulted their map again, and saw they had a choice between a climb over mountains (near the Silver Tribute and it's guards), a path through the jungle, or a journey across the lake to reach their destination, which was further up another mountain still. They stocked up on rations and rope and went straight-away to the lake itself. They thought they would commission a boatman to take them more directly to where the map would lead them, rather than hack through overgrown jungle or risk being seen by those who deliver the silver.

At the lake shore a massive crowd of crocodiles roared in unison, and a raving Portuguese priestess spoke of bad omens. They made a quick arrangement with a nearby boatman, who had no desire to try and fish with all these bad omens afoot. He pointed out heaps of dead animals on the shoreline, and a blood-filled boat floating lonesomely in the waters. They came to a gore drenched beach, and he departed quickly once they disembarked. They paid him well enough that he promised to return the next day. The beach they stood on was scattered with weapons, which had seemingly be used to draw ornate designs in the sand. There was viscera and blood splattered across the rocks too. Strangely though, an book was lying in the sand, austere and untouched by any violence. Dietrich, the Magic-User, snatched this up after only a brief glance, planning to devote closer study to it later.

Now cautious but still determined they refocused on the map. They hacked their way through a patch of jungle, bringing them to mountainous terrain. They climbed this until night fell, and they set up camp in a place obscured by rocks and vegetation. Baldwin scouted further ahead in the growing darkness, and saw that there was indeed a camp where the map had indicated they should go.

When they awoke the next morning it was once again raining, though not as torrential as when they had arrived. A plan was formed: Baldwin and Everett would approach the camp to observe the men, and perhaps communicate with them. Heinrich and Dietrich would keep a bit of distance, but be nearby enough in case things went sour. Upon realizing that the men were keeping to their tents, on account of the rain, Baldwin and Everett thought they might try to commit arson on the campsite, and take advantage of the element of surprise. However, they had forgotten to being a tinderbox with them and cursed their unpreparedness. They instead lay in wait, while Heinrich and Dietrich crept closer.

Soon enough though a man emerged from the tent, as the rain broke slightly. He quickly saw the figures of Dietrich and Heinrich, but began to wave at them excitedly in a friendly manner. They hurried over, and Everett stepped out of cover to began acting as translator. Baldwin, meanwhile, stayed hidden with his sword drawn.

The smuggler was joined by a friend, who exclaimed that he thought they would never return as they had promised, and was so happy to see them now. He asked Heinrich how his arm was doing, and if he was craving any more of that sweet, sweet Orogoro. After some laughter the smugglers asked if they were ready to get down to business, and deliver the diamonds to Khirima as they had said they would before. They asked Everett where the diamond was that they had given them, as well.

They were incredibly unhappy to hear that it was gone, and after shouting at each other for several moments the smugglers seemed ready to commit violence on the Germans. They got right up in Everett's face, and asked him again where the diamond had gone while jabbing at his chest and face with their pointed fingers. Everett pleaded for calm fruitlessly.

Dietrich had neither interest nor empathy for the smugglers. As soon as trouble seemed imminent he uttered a magical incantation, so he might Summon a demonic creature to do his bidding. A levitating polyhedral shape suddenly existed then, impossibly floating in the air above all. Colorless and featureless, save for two pairs of ludicrous neon mouths across it's various triangular surfaces. For a moment it drifted lazily through the air, then exhaled a sound of supreme annoyance. It spoke to Dietrich in a chorus of infuriated voices, and demanded he offer a fleshy compensation for the insult of being brought forth into the ugly world of meat & matter unwilling. With very little hesitation, Dietrich pointed at the nearby Heinrich. The demon above Heinrich emanated a strange light onto him. The light bathed him wholly for one moment, then narrowed, and folded away into nothingness with Heinrich inside it. The demon vanished in this folding too, leaving nothing.

The smugglers shrieked in horror, distraught that a demon had somehow escaped the Temple, despite the Tribute. Clearly in the presence of monstrosity they begged Dietrich and Everett for their lives as they crawled away backwards. Baldwin then stepped out from his place behind them, and stuck his blade near their throats. The third smuggler, having witnessed this all from a nearby alcove surrendered as well, offering them a small box of uncut diamonds as payment in return for their mercy. Everett offered them all a choice: choose who would return with them as "evidence". Each chose the other, but then Everett said they would then have to be dealt with as an unwanted "witness". They all agreed to be evidence, at that point.

Dietrich, Everett, and Baldwin then tied the smugglers together, and marched their prisoners down the mountain and back to the mysterious shore. The boatman was there for them, as promised, and still eager to leave although the rain had washed away all the blood and occult detritus from the beach. They gave a cursory glance to the blood-filled boat on their way back towards Khirima, where the crocodiles still roared on the shore and Odafin awaited their return.

Images of the Lost World

Traditional African architecture probably isn't well represented in most players imaginations, at least compared to the more common euro-fantasy environment with castles, medieval villages, wizard towers, and so on. To help solve that problem here's an imgur album of visual references for Khirima and other locations in your World of the Lost games.

View post on imgur.com

Partial Failures

Failed saves can be divided into partial failures and full suffering, encouraging players to take more risks by making their saving throws be something besides a 25/75 between safety and doom.

“If the adventurers attempt to use the decrepit rope bridge during the windstorm they must Save vs. Paralysis.

If they succeed they are able to cross the bridge safely and without incident.
If they fail their saving throw with a 1-5 they have fallen from the bridge. They plummet to their death on the rocks below, and their body is eaten by jackals.
If their save is failed by rolling a 5 or higher the adventurer has nearly, but has not yet, fallen. They lose 1d8 items from their person, determined at random. These items have fallen into the canyon of jackals 270’ below, and will be incredibly difficult to retrieve.”

“If the adventurers are bitten by a two-headed baby cobra they must Save vs. Poison.

If they succeed the area of the wound is numb and inflamed, and they take 1d3 damage, but they otherwise suffer no ill effects.
If they fail their saving throw with a 1-4 they fall to the ground as their lungs and heart are paralyzed by the toxins. They are dead.
If they fail their saving throw with a 6 or above they lose function of the limb which was bitten (determined at random) for 1d12 hours, and suffer 1d3 damage”

“Goatmorph: This spell causes any human target within range to become a goat. Upon a successful casting the target must Save vs. Magic.
If they succeed they have resisted the effects of the spell and are unchanged.

If they fail their saving throw from 1-12 they are permanently transformed into a goat. Their items have vanished, returning into existence only upon restoration of the target to their previous form using Dispel Magic, or a similar method.
If they fail their saving throw with a 13 or higher roll 1d6.

1-2. They are still transformed into a goat as before, but for only 1d6 days.

3. They now have the legs of a goat, and will perceived by many as a mythical satyr. They move as if they had two more levels of Encumbrance at all times, as these legs are poorly suited for the rest of the body.

4. They have the arms and upper torso of a goat, which means they have goat legs for arms and cloven hooves for hands, making most hand based tasks impossible, or at best extremely difficult.
5. They have the head of a goat, and may only speak in strange monosyllabic bleats.

6. They have the mind and soul of a goat, and may only speak in goat-like noises, and will eat only plant matter such as hay or grass, unless provided with a large amount of more flavorful vegetable matter such as apples or carrots. Subsisting on grass and so on does not provide adequate nutrition despite the preference, and the target may suffer from starvation during this time.”

“If examined, there is a large guillotine style blade above the door. If the door is opened without the trap being disarmed the blade will fall. The adventurer who opened the door must Save vs. Devices.

If they succeed they are narrowly missed by the razor sharp blade, which stuttered and stuck for a moment before falling down as it should have.
If they fail their save from 1-12 roll 1d4.
1-3 The lower half of their dominant arm, halfway to the elbow, is effortlessly sliced off by the blade. They suffer 1d8 damage.

4 Their dominant hand falls off, severed by the blade. They suffer 1d6 damage.

If they fail their save with a 13 or higher they are only barely sliced by the blade, and only lose the tips of some fingers on their dominant hand. They suffer 1d2 damage.”

In LotFP a level one Fighter has got a 16 save in Paralyze, Poison, and Breath, a 15 for Devices, and an 18 for magic.

So, on the rope bridge they would have a 25% chance of success, a 25% chance of death, and a 50% chance of losing something to the canyon below. Normally it would be 25% Life, 75% Death

If bitten by a two-headed baby Cobra they would have a 20% chance of death, a 25% chance of only taking 1d3 damage, and a 55% chance of painful limb paralysis and damage instead of a 25/75 with mortality.

If subjected to the Goatmorph they would have a 10% chance of resisting, a 60% chance of being fully and permanently engoated, and a 30% chance of something else: roughly 33% of the time temporarily being a goat, the other 66% a temporary partial transformation. A much wider spectrum of possibilities than the 10% or else they had before.

If they foolishly open the trapped door they will lose a limb or hand 60% of the time, just the tips of fingers 15%, and 25% of the time realize how foolish they were without suffering a scratch, giving them a bit more to avoid full mutilation than before without simply giving them a bonus to the save.

Medicine without the Church

Someone always wants to play a Cleric simply because they have healing spells, but no one should be forced into the clergy because of medical necessity. Here are 4 flavorful variations on the basic “healing spell” for Magic-Users instead.

This spell is almost exactly like Cure Light Wounds (pg. 98, Rules and Magic) except:

Roll 1d4

1. The Magic-User applies an herbal poultice created during the memorization process, using local plants gathered through intuition, to the wounds of the wounded, sealing up cuts and fading contusions. The character must wear the poultice for the next 24 hours, or the wounds will suddenly reappear when they remove it.
   
   The character exudes a powerful musk that animals find distasteful this whole time: dogs will bark at them, horses will whinny, and so on. The increased noise caused by fleeing birds and other creatures will make encounters in the wilderness much more likely, and the use of domestic animals will become much more difficult. (Roll for Reactions involving natural animals using only 1d6, automatically roll for a “Wilderness” encounter if applicable)
   
2. The Magic-User must prepare an astrological chart, under the open night sky, so as to better align the astral influences of the moons and planets in the favor of a subject, and also perform a particular incantation dependent upon the movements of the heavens at the time of casting. The spell can only be prepared or cast outdoors, at night, with the stars fully visible.
   
3. The Magic-User prepares a quaff of potion similar to “Dwale”, a hemlock-based and opioid based anesthetic, from local materials. After this vile, bitter liquid is drunk the spell takes effect, but the person who drunk it must Save vs. Poison immediately. If successful they fall unconscious for 1d6 rounds. If unsuccessful they must Save vs. Poison once again, if this roll is successful they fall unconscious for 1d6 turns. If that roll is also failed they must Save vs. Poison one final time or simply die, as their lungs fail to draw breath.
   
4. The Magic-User must have a ritual item available to cast this spell, one similar to what caused the initial wounds. A dull blade for cuts, a hammer for blunt traumas, and so on. This weapon is placed in, on, and near the wounds to be healed, causing them to be suddenly and miraculously cauterized by a searing, painless heat that nonetheless leaves distressing scars.
   
   These ritual items may be re-used, but they may be touched only by the magic user and the intended target of the spell, lest they lose their enchantment. They are “charged” during memorization, and each type of wound also requires a different memorization.
   
   (For healing temporary negative conditions a symbol of the Caduceus may be used.)

Cave Passages

For gaming purposes perfectly emulating mundane cave exploration would be unrewarding; An “adventure” cave needs somewhat larger chambers that are a bit more common than most of what nature provides, for example. The passages don’t have to be very different though, and they shouldn’t be. Navigation through a cave should not be a simple matter of walking through tunnels in the typical fashion. The whole appeal of using a cave instead of a castle is that it is dark, difficult, and confusing place.

In a cave the passages from chamber to chamber are not designed by any mind, and human needs are not considered by the processes that do create them. The ceiling can be quite low, and the portals between chambers may be horribly narrow and small. If a hallway is even roughly emulated it’s a lucky event, but most of them are lengthy and uncomfortable if they are even navigable at all.

This system makes the following assumptions:

1. The rate of exploration is being tracked.
2. The passage of time is being tracked.
3. Encumbrance is being tracked, using the LotFP system (if you’re using any kind of “encumbrance levels” this will be adaptable)
4. The Players navigation is up to them. They can’t merely say “we go back the way we came”. They are making a map, or taking notes about which way to go where.
5. Marching order and position are important for encounters. (you're using a battle map of some kind)

If none of these things are true this method will not be very useful. If time and distance are not tracked in some way it doesn’t really matter if it takes longer to stoop instead of walk, and if there’s no encumbrance system in play the provided method for determining who gets stuck is also not of much consequence. If there are no time-based random encounters there isn’t a compelling reason to care about time, and if resources aren’t tracked the primary difficulties of exploring a cave are nonexistent. If the Players can merely state “we go back” none of this is very interesting because they won’t need to make choices about which passages to take, and so on. 

The numbers used are based on the LotFP movement rates.

This method does not attend to the three-dimensional features of caves (like passages into the floor or through the ceiling), or the various other features you find in cave chambers, or generating cave chambers at all. At least, not yet. We'll get to that later.

Anyways, with all that in mind, here is a method for describing cave passages.

Roll 1d12, 1d4, and 1d6

1d12: This passage has the following characteristics, and can be navigated as follows with the following effects:

1-4 The ceiling is high enough to allow for walking, each Player moves at the usual exploration rate.

5-7 The ceiling is lower than head-height, and the Players must stoop. Each Player moves with +1 Encumbrance. Melee attacks cannot be made with Large Weapons.

8-10 The ceiling is so low that Players must crawl on hands and knees. Each Player moves with +2 Encumbrance. Melee attacks can only be made with Small Weapons.

11 This passage is so small that Players may only navigate it by crawling while lying flat. Each Player moves with +3 Encumbrance. Melee attacks cannot be made.

12 This passage may only be squeezed though with effort due to its’ minute size. Ignore the rolled 1d6, Players may only pass through in single file. Each player moves with +3 Encumbrance. In addition, each player must roll 1d6 for every 30 feet they pass through. On a roll of a 1 (+1 for each level of encumbrance), the Player has become stuck. To become unstuck they may attempt a roll for Open Doors once per turn to attempt to free themselves. Melee attacks cannot be made.

(Ex: A player who has one point of encumbrance becomes stuck on a roll of 1 or 2)

The approximate distance for calculating travel time through this passage is equal to 1d4 x 30 feet.

D6: The passage is wide enough for

1-3 One

4-5 Two

6 Three

Players to pass through side by side

The Referee should never state a length for any passage before it is passed through, especially a difficult one such as a crawl. The party is not doing anything resembling precise measurement and has at best bad visibility; they will only have an approximate idea (one suitable enough for mapmaking on graph paper) once they have gone through, not before.

Examples:

d4: 1, d6: 3, d12: 8
This passage is about 30 feet long, must traveled single file, and must be crawled through on hands and knees. It adds +2 Encumbrance for calculating movement speed, meaning that only those who are Lightly Encumbered or Unencumbered may pass through at all. Attacks could only be made with Small Weapons.

d4: 2, d6: 4, d12: 6

A 60 foot passage that must be stooped in, with room for two to travel side-by-side. +1 Encumbrance for movement, meaning only those who are Heavily Encumbered or less may pass through. Large Weapons cannot be used.

d4: 4, d6: 6. d12: 12

A 120 foot passage that must be squeezed through. The d6 is ignored, it may only be traveled through single file. Only Players who are Unencumbered may pass through, and must roll 1d6 four times to determine if they have become stuck before they successfully navigate it.

d4: 2, d6 1, d12: 1

A 60 foot passage that is high enough to be walked through. There is only enough room to walk single-file.

To Swing Back The Pendulum

To Swing Back The Pendulum

Magic-User Level 1

Duration: Permanent

Range: 0

From the perspective of the magic user this spell causes her to return to a prior moment she has just experienced, allowing her to witness a different outcome to a turbulent event which resolved in a way she found unsatisfying. Perhaps due to an influence radiated by her enlightened consciousness the course of probability itself is seemingly altered, and an alternative outcome occurs.

This spell allows the Magic-User to "redo" an event in the immediate past, erasing anything else that has happened since. The chosen die roll is performed again, and new results are determined. This spell may be used on any die rolled by any player or the Referee.
This spell may only be used to "redo" events that involved a die roll, such as saves, rolls to hit, and the products of randomized tables. The Magic-User may never use this spell to give themselves or another player a "redo" of a decision that they willfully made, only the randomized outcomes or arbitration of the consequences of that event can be tampered with.

To cast this spell the Magic-User must first nominate a particular die roll as the intended target of this spell the moment after the die roll is performed, that is, during a round before the spell is actually cast. This represents the intense meditative focus state a Magic-User must place themselves in to execute the maneuvers necessary for this spell to succeed, it also alerts the Referee and the other players to the possibility of many things soon needing to be "undone" if the spell is successful.

For each level of experience they posess the Magic-User has one round after the rolling of the chosen die to successfully cast the spell, and thus "undo" a greater number of things. The exact effects of the spell are determined by the procedures detailed below.
~
As mentioned above, from the perspective of the Magic-User this spell appears to cause them to leap backwards in time to a prior moment to see it happen differently. This is not the case. This spell instead simply moves the Magic-User into a duplication of reality, a nearly perfect copy of all existing instances of everything, at the moment just before the event described by the chosen die roll occurs. Infinitesimal imperfections in the replicated chain of causality that determine the outcome of events in the duplicate universe are what allow the alternative outcome to occur.

After the spell is cast, but before the chosen die is rolled again, it must first be determined which reality will be the subject of further game play, as there are now two competing instances: there is the duplicate reality the Magic-User has been transported to, and the original one that they have been removed from that contains the remaining party.
To determine which reality will be used the Magic-User first rolls a saving throw vs. Magic for each experience level she has, noting the total number of successful saving throws.

Then, every other member of the party rolls a saving throw vs. Magic (if additional Magic-Users, or Clerics, are present they must roll an additional saving throw vs. Magic for each level of experience they posses as well). The total number of successful saving throws is noted, and compared to the total rolled by the Magic-User.
If the total rolled by the party is less than the number of successful saving throws made by the Magic-User the narrative of game play is now focused on the duplicate reality where the Magic-User has taken the place of an exact duplicate of herself. She now witnesses the alternative outcome of the event granted to her by the spell. The chosen die is now rolled again (for the first time, strictly speaking) and the the game play narrative continues from this point. The Magic-User has no internal awareness of the truth of her metaphysical condition, or that of the duplicate party.
All players, except for the original Magic-User, now play as duplicates of their original characters in duplicate reality. Possessing copied memories existing only from the beginning of their original existence until the moment before the casting of this spell was complete, they have no internal awareness of the truth of their metaphysical condition, or that of the Magic-User.

If the Magic-User rolls the lower number of saves they must roll one final save vs. Magic. If this is unsuccessful they are perceived by the remaining party as suddenly vanishing from reality; they have merged with their duplicate reality self, instead of merely switching places with them. Play then continues with the narrative focusing on this reality. The die is not re-rolled, nothing is "undone", and the Magic-User no longer exists.
If this save is successful they have instead been instantaneously replaced by a duplication of themselves, but because the narration of play remains focused on this original reality the spell has effectively been a failure: the die is not rolled again, and nothing is "undone".

The duplicate of the Magic-User which has been placed into original reality with the remaining characters will have the memory of intending to cast this spell to view a different outcome of an event occurring before them, but is now perceiving that it has had no effect whatsoever.

The logical and reasonable conclusion is that this event was in fact an ironclad certainty from the first moments of the birth of the universe: probability was not a real factor in its occurrence, only prophecy. The memorized instance of this spell has also been expended, as successfully casting it to no effect is what has transported the duplicate into this reality. In all other respects the duplicate Magic-User is the same as the original, and the player formerly controlling the Magic-User has immediate control of them.

If a duplicated Magic-User casts this spell they are made nonexistent the instant casting is complete, and the necessary saves vs. Magic are instead rolled by the original Magic-User, who is identical to the duplicate. The original party also rolls saves vs. Magic as above.
If the original Magic-User has more successful rolls than the party it indicates that the narrative of play will now shift to the duplicate reality containing the original Magic-User, where the chosen event is now occurring and the affected die is then re-rolled.

Play continues as normal from this point with the remaining party taking control of their duplicates and having no internal awareness of the truth of their metaphysical condition, but the Magic-User becomes fully aware of the true nature of this spell and of her metaphysical condition in a sudden moment of esoteric clarity and insight.
If the remaining original party is more successful with their saving throws vs. Magic the original Magic-User is returned to her original reality from the duplicate reality in the instant that the duplicate Magic-User ceases to exist. The narrative of play will now focus on the original reality.
The Magic-User has a memory of intending to cast this spell to view a different outcome of an event that occurred before them, but now are perceiving that it has had no effect whatsoever.

The logical and reasonable conclusion is that this event was in fact an ironclad certainty from the first moment of the birth of the universe: probability was not a real factor, only prophecy.

In all other respects the Magic-User is the same as the duplicate, and the player formerly controlling the duplicate Magic-User takes immediate control of the original Magic-User. Their memorized instance of this spell has been expended, however, as successfully casting it is what initially transported them into this reality.

The Magic-User has no inner awareness of the truth of her metaphysical condition or the true nature of this spell.
If cast again by the Magic-User this spell behaves in the usual manner.

If a Magic-User casts this spell while in a duplicate reality that reality is made nonexistent the instant the spell is complete. Any saves vs. Magic which would have been rolled by the duplicates are instead rolled by the original party, who are identical to the duplicates.

If the Magic-User is more successful with her saves vs. Magic than the original party she is transported back to her original reality, and the duplicate Magic-User is transported back to the now nonexistent duplicate reality, ceasing to exist. The narrative of game play will now focus on the original reality.
The Magic-User has a memory of intending to cast this spell to view a different outcome of an event the occurred before her, and is now perceiving that it has had no effect whatsoever. She then becomes fully aware of the true nature of this spell and of her metaphysical condition, as well as the duplicates, in a sudden moment of esoteric clarity and insight.
If cast again by the Magic-User this spell behaves in the usual manner.

If she is less successful than the original party at her saves vs. Magic, the original party is then transported to the nonexistent duplicate reality along with the duplicate Magic-User, who merges with the Magic-User, remaining with the original party in the nonexistent duplicate reality, all ceasing to exist.
The duplicates replace the original party in the original reality, the dice are not rolled again, and the narrative of play now focuses on the original reality now containing the duplicates of the original party.

The duplicates will be exact copies of the remaining party, who were exact copies of the duplicates. The original party becomes fully aware of the truth of their metaphysical condition, and the true nature of this spell, in a sudden moment of esoteric clarity and insight.

Note: in any situation, even if the exact same result as before is rolled it is still considered to be a "new result" in the terms of this spell, firstly because this is the first instance of this roll in the duplicate reality, and secondly because the die has physically followed a different path than the one it did before, despite ultimately arriving at the same number. 

To Summon a Belch of Hellfire

It's an RPG standard to have some kind of magical room clearing capability but generic fireball spells seem a bit dull for LotFP. They also lack a threat of unintended consequences, or even a decent chance to harm the caster or the other characters present unintentionally. Any Magic-User causing a strange detonation ought to at least be pushing their luck a tiny bit.

TO SUMMON A BELCH OF HELLFIRE

Magic-User Level 1

Range: 10 yards/level

Duration: Instant

This spell allows the Magic-User to create a destructive explosion at will.

Upon casting this spell a melange of infinitesimal particles of alkali metals such as lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, and cesium is summoned from a far-reaching sphere of influence around the caster, plucked out of the very air and soil by paranormal forces.

These particles are gathered around a fixed point in space as a loose mineral fog, along with a concentration of ambient humidity and environmental moisture. These two vapors are then compressed into the absolute center of this fixed point by a sudden and extreme force upon each individual particle, causing the two to combine. The exposure of volatile alkali metals to liquid water causes an immediate and violent release of hydrogen gas and thermal energy; an explosion.

Casting this spell requires three rounds of uninterrupted casting. The Magic-User first chooses a fixed point in space during the first round for the explosion to emanate from.

This point must be actually experienced by the Magic-User for at least a moment as she chooses it. For example: a fixed point seen beyond an open door as it closes may be chosen, while an assumed or merely remembered point beyond an obstruction may not. This point must be within 10 yards per level of the Magic-User.

In addition, this location must be exposed to the atmosphere of the surrounding environment. It may not be the interior area of a completely solid object, nor any space within a hermetically sealed vacuum. The interior of a structure or visible object can be a valid choice, as long as it adheres to the visibility standards described above. This location is never "attached" to an object moving through space, and this location cannot be changed once the spell casting process has begun; if the Magic-User wishes to nominate a new target she must restart the casting process entirely.

The force and size of the explosion is variable, and more powerful Magic-Users are able to conjure up larger quantities of explosive material if they wish to create larger explosions. This is chosen during the second round of the spell casting. At level one the Magic-User may create an explosion that causes up to 2d6 damage, adding an additonal 1d6 for each additional level of experience if they so wish.

During the third and final round of spell casting the size of the explosion is confirmed. The explosion shall be 3 yards in diameter for each d6 of damage it is intended to cause. Neither the Magic-User nor her allies are protected from the effects of the explosion in any way by this spell; at this point if the magic user wishes to alter the location or the force and size of the explosion in any way she must restart the casting process entirely from the first step the following round, even if intending to use the exact same point in space as before.

The round after the casting is complete, but before the effects of the explosion as it is intended are unleashed, the Magic-User rolls a number of d6 equal to what would be used for the damage of the explosion; noting any that roll 1 and ignoring all others. Any of these d6 that roll 1 are in turn rolled again, continuing this process until no further 1's are rolled.

For each 1 that is rolled during this process an additional 1d6 of damage, and 3 yards of diameter, are added to the final size and force of the explosion.

The explosion normally behaves as follows: it instantly fills an area roughly in the shape of a sphere within it's diameter of effect, leaving a thick plume of grey smoke in its' wake. The wind force produced by the explosion is enough to send small, light, and unrestrained objects flying out and away from the blast point.

While producing intense heat, only the most flammable objects are in danger of being ignited by the explosion. Everything within the diameter of the explosion receives full damage unless completely protected by very significant cover, as the sheer force of the blast is enough to cause profound damage due to burst eardrums, the trauma of sheer concussive force, and the propulsion of shrapnel and environmental detritus and debris into the bodies of those in its' area of effect.

If up to 3d6 of damage were added to the explosion it indicates that there was an excess of alkali metals present in the area used to fuel the explosion, or perhaps a truly minute instance of an unusually volatile material such as francium. If 4 or more d6's of damage were added to the explosion, however, it indicates that a significant portion of fissile nuclear material, such as plutonium or uranium, was intermixed with the cloud of alkali metals, instead of the usual negligible trace levels.

This material, when compressed under great pressure and subjected to an exothermic reaction, causes a nuclear explosion. These effects must be calculated using the following formulas, which supersede all the previous ones described.

The area affected will now be a number of yards larger equal to the casters level multiplied by 3, multiplied again by the casters level multiplied by 3, finally multiplied by 100. Damage will be a number of d6 equal to the casters level multiplied by 3, multiplied by that same number again. All objects and structures within this area except for the most heavily fortified will be toppled, crushed, blown over, torn apart, and destroyed.

In addition, anything flammable within a diameter of yards equal to the casters level multiplied by 3, then multiplied by 100 instantly bursts into flames, and all flammable objects outside of this area soon begin to burn as well, creating a massive and devastating inferno.

In most cases all leftover radioactive materials will be distributed through the atmosphere somewhat evenly over the surface of the earth, thereby preventing significant damage from fallout to the surrounding area.