I like the idea of magical barriers. But then there's actually something scary and I get really unimaginative about what works against what. Silver? You guys should have brought silver. Oh it's an angel dude I have like no idea here. So I decided to buck up and just do the dang work. Here's what's good against what, and an extra by alignment bit below, if you're the sort who likes that stuff.
Actually doing all of this work allowed me to make everything a solid metaphor. Salt preserves food; this is why it can fight off corruption and evil. Silver is solid light. This is why people BELIEVED these things to work against demons in the first place. I really like that kind of logic.
By
Creature
The Undead in general cannot cross salt: it protects against their rot.
Demons cannot tread upon holy ground, nor cross
silver. Those immune to sword and axe are not immune to silver, and lesser
beings take double damage from it.
Vampires share these weakness. In addition,
they cannot cross flowing water unless encased in grave earth. Garlic makes
them nauseous: the must overcome a DC 25 CON check to endure its presence.
Spirits of the Forest fear gunpowder and flame.
They are no friends of the wood cutter's axe.
Spirits of the Divine Bureaucracy cannot cross
a written insult; their pride will not permit it. A factually true insult
written on a blade is, both literally and metaphorically, a cutting blow: it
deals double damage.
Spirits of Filth (in both the moral and literal
sense) cannot abide salt: it is a pure
substance which destroys such corruption.
Lesser spirits cannot overcome a line of rose petals.
The Fey delight in being neither one thing nor
another. They fear cold iron in the same way demons fear silver. They are also
no more capable of breaking a promise then a man can lift himself up by his
hair: the Fey will never go back upon their word.
Ghosts who see their remains are either
mollified or terrified. In either case, a good deterrent from their interests.
Cthulloids vary in their forms and weaknesses
and are too varied to be covered here. If possible, run. If you cannot run,
slit your throat.
Angels (the loving, white washed
Judeo-Christian kind) weaken on blood soaked ground, losing half their powers
and HD. Steel quenched in the innocents' blood burns them: they cannot stand it's touch and take double damage from it.
Such nails are used to pin Angels by their wings upon the cross.
Angels (the horrific, Bayonetta kind) fear nothing: they are the masters of
reality. You cannot escape them, they cannot be fought. All will be subsumed
into the godhead.
By
Alignment
A variety of
substances are anathema to visitors to our world. It is important to
familiarize yourself with them if one plans on dealing with unwanted guests.
Silver is solid
light. All creatures who prefer the night to cover their foul deeds fear it's
bite. The bane of evil.
Cold Iron is mass
produced in great foundries and is quite cheap. It's orderliness and structure
make it a powerful symbol of civilization and conformity: beings which revel in
the chaos of the world find it loathsome. The bane of chaos.
Innocent's Blood is
horrific; all men of conscience are disgusted by it's implied crime. When the
souls of the damned are forged into howling steel, the effect is magnified ten
fold. The bane of good.
Rudeness, cussing,
and filth are the marks of idiocy and barbarity. Those who believe in
civilization cannot help but turn themselves away. The bane of law.
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