GLOGmas 2025: Crafting the Gu-poison

Merry Christmas, Grace :)

I was looking through your class list and got struck by the Kodoku Master, who traps all manner of bugs in a jar and shakes them around until only one survives, containing the Vital Energy and also Poison of all those it defeated. Then, I saw you mention that you would have preferred to have a full bug-tormenting simulator to attach the class to.

grace says: i would love if the kodoku jar was like a little Battle Royale island where the bugs can hide, lay ambushes, and find weapons and shit. And the battle takes place over multiple days, with little battle reports when you take a rest

So, here's a full bug-tormenting simulator. 

The kodoku master owns a killing jar, where poisonous bugs are sent to war against each other. Each bug in the killing jar has a Rating, which determines its save DC and the damage of its poison, and a set of Traits.

A rating 1 bug has a poison save DC of 10, and deals 1d6 damage when killed and used as poison (by default, it must be eaten). For every 5 points of Rating (at 5, 10, etc) the DC increases by 2 (12, 14, 16) and the damage by 1d6. The maximum Rating for a mundane bug is 20.

Bugs are set into a Leaderboard, arranged from highest to lowest Rating. Each night, as you rest, they kill and die: roll twice on the Leaderboard and the stronger of the two kills the weaker, absorbing one of its traits (chosen at random) and half of its Rating. 

For each level in kodoku master, you may have 4 bugs active in your killing jar. Jar modifications can be bought for whatever "a lot of money" is in your system of choice, and consumables can be bought for "a little bit of money" except for the Black Lotus, which costs "a lot of money" again. At dusk and dawn, you collect a new bug with 1d6 Rating and one randomly-rolled trait. Specialized or multi-trait bugs can be purchased, earned, or stolen from other masters of the poisonous arts (or dungeons or something).

Traits

1. Ambusher - this poison can be applied to a weapon and applied to a target on a successful hit.
2. Armed - the bug gains +5 to its rating only for the purposes of combat between bugs.
3. Paralyzing - when this bug is defeated, its killer loses Rating equal to half of this bug's. When someone fails the save against this poison, they are immobilized for a number of minutes equal to the damage roll.
4. Hallucinogenic - this bug's opponents have their Ratings inverted while fighting it. When someone fails the save against this poison, they hallucinate for a number of minutes equal to the damage roll.
5. Inhaled - this poison may be turned into a dust, taking effect when breathed in. 
6. Predatory - if the bug fights and wins, it then immediately fights again. They will only do this once per night.
7. Shelled - if this bug would die, it survives but loses this trait. 
8. Fatal - this poison deals d10s instead of d6s.
9. Harmless - this poison deals d4s instead of d6s. If this bug would defeat another, 50% of the time it loses anyway.
10. Slow - this poison takes 5 minutes to take effect. If this bug would defeat another, 50% of the time nothing happens.
11. Obvious - this bug is forced to fight if the number above or below it on the leaderboard is rolled. Poison made from this bug has a strong scent and visible color when combined with food and drink.
12. Pacifist - if this bug would defeat another, nothing happens. The poison from this bug heals half the amount that it would otherwise harm.

Jar Modifications

1. Inverted - when two bugs fight, the one with the lower Rating kills the one with the higher.
2. Hiding Place - a bug of your choice is concealed. If it would be forced to fight, reroll. If the bug has the ambusher trait, it will still fight as normal but only if it would win.
3. Tag-Team Ring - roll 3 dice instead of 2 on the leaderboard; the first two rolled fight the third. If their total Rating is higher, they win, splitting the Rating and traits of their opponent between them. If their Rating is lower, they both lose, and the victor gains half the Rating of each and one trait from each.
4. Landmines - each round, before fights are rolled, the bug with the lowest Rating dies. 
5. Radioactive Pebble - each round, a randomly-chosen bug swaps one of its traits with a randomly-rolled trait from the list above.
6. Champion's Crown - the bug with the highest Rating gains an extra 3 Rating each night.

Consumables 

1. Poison Powder - flip a coin for each bug: on tails, it dies. On heads, its Rating increases by 5.
2. Target Dye - choose a bug, and only roll one die in later rounds to determine the targeted bug's opponent.
3. Mitosis Gel - a bug divides into two, each with the same traits but with half the Rating.
4. Tiny Sword - a chosen bug gains the armed trait.
5. Gene Needle - lets you pull a trait from a bug, and inject it into another.
6. Black Lotus - a chosen bug gains the otherwise inaccessible ontological trait - its poison affects ghosts, stones, and other nonliving things.