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| Cú Chulainn in Warp-Spasm, by an artist who goes by the handle of Warpspasm |
The first warp-spasm seized Cúchulainn, and made him into a monstrous thing, hideous and shapeless, unheard of. His shanks and his joints, every knuckle and angle and organ from head to foot, shook like a tree in the flood or a reed in the stream. His body made a furious twist inside his skin, so that his feet and shins switched to the rear and his heels and calves switched to the front...
On his head the temple-sinews stretched to the nape of his neck, each mighty, immense, measureless knob as big as the head of a month-old child... he sucked one eye so deep into his head that a wild crane couldn't probe it onto his cheek out of the depths of his skull; the other eye fell out along his cheek.
His mouth weirdly distorted: his cheek peeled back from his jaws until the gullet appeared, his lungs and his liver flapped in his mouth and throat, his lower jaw struck the upper a lion-killing blow, and fiery flakes large as a ram's fleece reached his mouth from his throat...
The hair of his head twisted like the tange of a red thornbush stuck in a gap; if a royal apple tree with all its kingly fruit were shaken above him, scarce an apple would reach the ground but each would be spiked on a bristle of his hair as it stood up on his scalp with rage.
When a barbarian character is first created the DM will get the player to roll 3d6 (after the completion of basic character generation). If the dice come up as three sixes then the character is gifted/cursed with the power of the warp-spasm (or ríastrad, meaning "the act of contorting").
This is a kind of bizarre body-distorting battle frenzy that luckily only afflicts a few barbarians. Something in the manner or surroundings of their birth has connected them with the power of the earth and when they lose control (as barbarians are wont to do), this energy is channelled through their body in a truly unnerving manner.
When a person with this 'gift' goes into any form of combat, gets angry, hit with a 'fear' spell, is driven berserk etc then they roll a d10 and on a 10 they go into spasm.
The character transforms into a grotesque monster, increasing his height by about 30 per cent and weight by 60 per cent, rending his clothes and belongings.
If he is wearing non-magical armour when he goes into spasm it is ripped apart as he distorts causing him 1d2 damage for leather armour, 1d4 for ringmail, 1d6 for chain and 1d8 for plate (if the armour is magical, it doesn't tear off and the barbarian suffers twice the damage per armour type and his body somehow moulds itself around the armour). Shields are, of course, discarded - thrown (1d6 x unmodified STR) feet in a random direction.
The warrior will not break out of his spasm until all visible enemies are dead, then each round he must roll 4d6 under his adjusted WIS+LVL or turn on his comrades.
In spasm, the character's STR/CON are multiplied by 1.5 (with the attendant, relevant boni/increased HP etc; see below if STAT is now over 18) DEX is increased by three and INT/WIS are both lowered by six.
He doubles the number of attacks he can normally deliver in a round because of his mighty fury, but he also suffers a -3 penalty on Armour Class as he isn't paying attention to defending himself and cannot use any of his class skills.
Being in this state costs the barbarian 1HP per combat round (but only until all his HP are gone, he cannot lose CON this way).
First level (one hit die) or lower characters facing a warped warrior must save (versus magic) or be subject to 'fear'.
Once the character has exhausted all his Hit Points in combat and is taking damage from his CON, he does not need to check for unconsciousness (Crypts & Things, page 32), nor does he suffer the usual -2 penalty for being in this state.
He will only register death one round after all his adjusted CON points have gone.
Recovering from a spasm, the warrior automatically loses 90 per cent of his remaining hit points and collapses into an unconscious heap for a number of hours equal to the number of rounds he was in warp. His modified statistics also return to normal at this time and the mutations he underwent during spasm fade quickly.
If he took CON damage during this period the damage remains proportional when his CON returns to normal.
Exceptional Ability Score
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Bonus
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18-19
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+3
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20-21
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+4
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22-23
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+5
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24-25
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+6
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26-27
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+7
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28-29
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+8
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etc
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etc
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