tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76352781606567886672024-03-13T13:43:34.148-07:00A Wizard's KissWill B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.comBlogger131125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-7377015063650207432023-02-01T21:15:00.003-08:002023-02-01T21:15:28.245-08:00I have a new blog about weird old SFF novels<p> Well, as you can see I haven't updated this blog in many years.
I still play D&D but I don't get creative ideas for it in the same
way that I used to. Instead I have started a new blog where I review
classic sci-fi and fantasy novels, focusing on the strange and the
obscure.<br /></p><p>There is obviously a lot of crossover in interest
between this and old-school D&D. Old-school players will
particularly enjoy my writeups of Roger Zelazny's <i>The Changing Land </i>(a psychedelic wizard novel that seems to have drawn directly on D&D 1e) and Jack L. Chalker's <i>Midnight at the Well of Souls </i>(a
bizarre sci-fi-fantasy-fetish mashup that manages to be videogame-like
despite being written before videogames were really invented).</p><p>Check it out here: <a href="https://paperback-picnic.ghost.io/">https://paperback-picnic.ghost.io/</a></p>You can even subscribe and have it delivered straight to your inbox, as is the new fashion! Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-37100205783693820242015-09-22T23:31:00.003-07:002015-09-22T23:31:41.934-07:00Weird Camelot Campaign - Sessions 1-3After about a year's hiatus from RPGs I've started a new campaign with D&D 5th edition. The setting is a weird, sci-fi-tinged take on Arthur's Camelot. This is my latest attempt at a sandbox campaign, something that has always eluded me in the past. The last time I tried it was with DCC, which I found a little too loose and unbalanced for it to really work in long-term play. 5th edition seems to hit the sweet spot between B/X's simplicity and 4E's tactical crunch.<br />
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I generally find session reports pretty boring so I won't go through a blow-by-blow account of everything that's been happening. I'll just point out some things I've been learning about the craft of DMing:<br />
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- My players like fiddling with mechanical widgets if they're there, but they don't really miss them if they aren't. Nobody cares that they don't have the "shift 1 square, 3 temp hp" type powers from 4E. Even when the fights devolve down into "I roll attack, you roll attack" they are still engaging, though eventually this might change.<br />
- Random wilderness encounters take up a lot of time and are a bigger deal than I had anticipated. The second session consisted entirely of a single random encounter with some Space Vikings, after which the party had to go back to town and recuperate. However they did manage to score a sweet flying boat out of the deal.<br />
- Trying to predict everything mathematically like you can do in 4E does not really work in a sandbox environment. I had planned to build the adventures around 5E's target of 6-8 encounters between long rests. To do this I had houseruled that the PCs could only take a long rest when they're at Camelot or another large town. All my assumptions about this were thrown out the window when they got the flying boat which would allow them to bypass most wilderness encounters. Rather than trying to bring them back in line with my assumptions, I think I can just roll with it.<br />
- The deadliness of low-level 5E seems overstated. I fretted about accidentally TPKing them in a dumb way, but if anything I need to go harder on them.<br />
- Talking to the players about expectations is really useful. In the 3rd session they were raiding a castle and I told them straight up that if they didn't play strategically, they would have a much harder time of it. After they failed their stealth rolls early on, they wisely retreated rather than wading into battle.<br />
- I still wish there was a more formalised system for stealth rolls (and to a lesser extent, athletics rolls during chases). How many rolls they have to make is pretty much entirely up to me as a DM, so it feels a lot more arbitrary than combat. When I ran 4th edition I always used to heap shit on the skill challenge rules for being artificial and pointless. Ironically it's now that I'm running 5E that I want to use them for situations like the above.Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-31912025504150788872013-05-20T19:33:00.000-07:002013-05-20T19:33:16.052-07:00DCC Fimbulwinter - Session 5<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://education-portal.com/cimages/multimages/16/brutus_betrayal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://education-portal.com/cimages/multimages/16/brutus_betrayal.jpg" border="0" class="decoded" src="http://education-portal.com/cimages/multimages/16/brutus_betrayal.jpg" /></a></div>
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Once again the session revolved around Magnus McAnthony, the asshole wizard with the d30 choking cloud spell.<br />
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Eventually one of the level 0 characters tired of this and stabbed him in the back, ending his reign of dungeon genocide. Then he was stabbed in turn by the other PCs.<br />
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Meanwhile the players encountered two really cool villains I'd developed and killed them both before they got to do anything cool.<br />
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PC deaths: 5<br />
Treasure obtained: ~1500sp (that's silver standard mind you)<br />
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The high lethality has been fun but it's getting old. Only one character still survives from the 2nd session. Most of the deaths today could have been prevented if they hadn't fought each other and if they'd remembered to bring a cleric.Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-35095103455836124702013-05-04T00:20:00.001-07:002013-05-04T00:20:52.888-07:00DCC Fimbulwinter Session 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.significant-bits.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Dungeons_Dragons_Tower_of_Doom_3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://www.significant-bits.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Dungeons_Dragons_Tower_of_Doom_3.png" border="0" class="decoded" src="http://www.significant-bits.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Dungeons_Dragons_Tower_of_Doom_3.png" /> </a></div>
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"This choking cloud only lasts for another 2 minutes, so let's just run through the dungeon so we can clear as many rooms as possible before it expires!"</div>
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This was <i>after </i>the cloud had already killed three party members.</div>
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Three more PCs died before the session was over - the last of them by falling down a hole while fleeing from the dungeon.</div>
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No treasure acquired.</div>
Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-43987731495425205142013-04-15T17:01:00.000-07:002013-04-15T17:01:08.188-07:00Dead Company<i>(Wrote this post a looong time ago and never got round to publishing it, but Gus L's <a href="http://dungeonofsigns.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/further-thoughts-on-older-edition-of.html" target="_blank">latest post</a></i> <i>got me thinking about it again.)</i><br />
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One day, while arguing about different editions of D&D, somebody told me that frequent character death was antithetical to roleplaying or character development. The premise being that if characters don't have time to develop, they won't be interesting, and if characters are at constant risk of death then players won't get attached to them.<br />
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I figured this was bunk, because a) there is plenty of character development in "highly lethal" works of fiction like Game of Thrones or The Wire, and b) it's easy to roleplay and get attached to a character in, say, Fiasco, or any other one-shot for that matter, despite the fact that the character is certain to "die" (i.e. cease to be played) at the end of the session. While it's true that most old-school D&D games don't have a lot of character depth, that's more because killing monsters in a cave is a premise inherently lacking in opportunities for roleplaying*.<br />
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So I began to think about an RPG which revolves around an ensemble cast of characters with a high turnover rate - often, but not always, because of death. You could probably do this already with a collaborative story engine like Smallville or DramaSystem, but I'm aiming for something a little more traditional.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XqKt-yGUO2Q/UJyIBmorzxI/AAAAAAAAAxs/9jUgonCtu0M/s1600/5f33d2f29d77c6d090d9c397706105e2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XqKt-yGUO2Q/UJyIBmorzxI/AAAAAAAAAxs/9jUgonCtu0M/s320/5f33d2f29d77c6d090d9c397706105e2.jpeg" height="213" width="320" /></a>This is a game about the Dead Company - a renowned mercenary company in the midst of a brutal war. Individuals come and go, but the company remains. I'd say that it's like the Black Company, but I haven't actually read those books yet :( Of course that's just the default, and you could run a variety of different groups: revolutionaries, pirates, dungeon delvers, colonists, Jomsvikings, etc. However, the assumption is that the company will get mixed up in ongoing plots, deal with different factions, and influence the world around them. Fifteen guys crawling through a dungeon full of hostile, mute undead is not the goal here.<br />
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The game goes like this:<br />
- All players generate three PCs at the start of the game. These PCs then go into the pool of playable characters. They are not 'your' PCs because you made them; anyone can play any PC and the roles can change from session to session.<br />
- PCs don't have stats, at least not to begin with. They are primarily defined by their class and by their relationships. Each PC must have at least one relationship to another, which will be something like the relationships in Fiasco. All the PCs must be connected to each other at least indirectly. You will draw a chart of the relationships to make sure everyone is linked up to the 'web'.<br />
- Each session consists of a mission in which one PC will be selected for each player, while the other PCs stay at home or act off-screen.<br />
- The turnover rate is up to the group to decide, but by default you should expect 1-3 fatalities per session. There might also be rules for characters burning out and quitting the company.<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-knUIDubOXfw/UJyIAv2YRUI/AAAAAAAAAxk/lJTzVDmtpv0/s1600/514415-episode_08_11.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-knUIDubOXfw/UJyIAv2YRUI/AAAAAAAAAxk/lJTzVDmtpv0/s320/514415-episode_08_11.png" height="181" width="320" /></a>- New PCs can be brought in naturally through play, or through a mechanical device that generates them with new relationships to the existing PCs. It's possible to have relationships with deceased/retired PCs as well, e.g. a son who joins up after his father was killed.<br />
- PCs don't advance in the sense of growing stronger, but they do grow more complex. Each time a PC survives a mission, they get an extra bit of nuance added to their character, based off something they did that session. This might be an Attribute (e.g. Strong, Weak, Clever, Stupid - equivalent of D&D stats) a Trait (personality, unusual skill, etc.) a Background (think 13th Age) a Secret (flashback to past, possible plot hook) or a Link (gained an enemy, impressed the king, downloaded the crystal memories of an alien civilisation into your brain, etc.)<br />
- The Company as a whole advances by gaining money and renown. However, the major form of advancement in the game is simply the development of the plot towards a satisfying conclusion.<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-erBKeKQIVao/UJyICih2OCI/AAAAAAAAAx0/XiPrfJdizcY/s1600/Steelhead_Riflemen_by_cwalton73.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-erBKeKQIVao/UJyICih2OCI/AAAAAAAAAx0/XiPrfJdizcY/s320/Steelhead_Riflemen_by_cwalton73.jpeg" height="240" width="320" /></a>- The core resolution system needs to be simple and easy to use. I would probably use the chassis of Basic D&D since that's something that many players are already familiar with.<br />
- By default, the classes would not include spellcasters, since I'm going for a more down to earth sword & sorcery tone. Also, there would be no 'fighter' class since everyone in the Dead Company is expected to be a fighter. So you might have healers, minstrels, assassins, etc. but all of that goes on top of a basic proficiency in combat.<br />
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*hurdy dur, not real roleplaying, etc., what I here mean by roleplaying is acting and thinking as your character and developing a story about the characters. Much as I love old-school D&D, it doesn't make it easy to play the role of anything but a psychopathic murderer.<br />
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More inspirational imagery:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xAqav0Fcnj8/UJyPPkhboLI/AAAAAAAAAys/5qGb0FwmUwg/s1600/brotherhood-ezio-and-assassins.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xAqav0Fcnj8/UJyPPkhboLI/AAAAAAAAAys/5qGb0FwmUwg/s1600/brotherhood-ezio-and-assassins.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fKNN84iTiG0/UJyPRVzOeZI/AAAAAAAAAzA/FpX257IaiVU/s1600/mili+landsknechts+2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fKNN84iTiG0/UJyPRVzOeZI/AAAAAAAAAzA/FpX257IaiVU/s1600/mili+landsknechts+2.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RWpbWveCrWc/UJyPQ68_uQI/AAAAAAAAAy4/NvBm4j57q2M/s1600/les-miserables-trailer-8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RWpbWveCrWc/UJyPQ68_uQI/AAAAAAAAAy4/NvBm4j57q2M/s1600/les-miserables-trailer-8.jpeg" /></a><br />
& and meanwhile, in anime:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I6wYUROeoB0/UJyPPFGOKLI/AAAAAAAAAyk/nDK1VXlqYW4/s1600/16939.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I6wYUROeoB0/UJyPPFGOKLI/AAAAAAAAAyk/nDK1VXlqYW4/s1600/16939.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IwqtyPt4Orw/UJyPQXmxf3I/AAAAAAAAAy0/4uv_M_0X6hU/s1600/group_disgaea_pic_0001.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IwqtyPt4Orw/UJyPQXmxf3I/AAAAAAAAAy0/4uv_M_0X6hU/s1600/group_disgaea_pic_0001.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hXJKUC2kLL4/UJyQX_xGcOI/AAAAAAAAAzM/ej4DfJHv0wc/s1600/Greil.Mercenaries.full.998845.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hXJKUC2kLL4/UJyQX_xGcOI/AAAAAAAAAzM/ej4DfJHv0wc/s400/Greil.Mercenaries.full.998845.jpeg" height="310" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gDZnzLOFO6I/UJyQ9QtxfOI/AAAAAAAAAzU/761U2RUCXgY/s1600/1300.ValkyriaChronicles_5F00_Wallpaper2_2D00_HD.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gDZnzLOFO6I/UJyQ9QtxfOI/AAAAAAAAAzU/761U2RUCXgY/s640/1300.ValkyriaChronicles_5F00_Wallpaper2_2D00_HD.jpeg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-79150129461396834332013-04-14T05:24:00.001-07:002013-04-14T05:24:32.667-07:00DCC Fimbulwinter, Session 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/pix/adalstraeti_longhouse.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/pix/adalstraeti_longhouse.gif" border="0" class="decoded" src="http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/pix/adalstraeti_longhouse.gif" /></a></div>
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They finally got to level 1 and picked character classes.<br />
- One PC is an absolute monster with 18hp and +5+d3 attack bonus. But to get his full attack bonus he must wield a pitchfork.<br />
- A wizard PC rolled 98 for mercurial magic - can cast Choking Cloud with a d30 instead of d20.<br />
- Party was hired to carry out a blood feud assassination. Reminded not to kill too many people or the feud would only be perpetuated further.<br />
- Attack on the longhouse ended with the aforementioned wizard casting Choking Cloud, rolling a 30 on the d30 and slaughtering everyone in the building, men women children and slaves (but sparing the goat). No save - or rather, the save DC is equal to the spell check, so nobody short of a deity could have passed it.<br />
- Then they burned down the longhouse to 'hide the evidence'. Now they have to leave town in a hurry, but they did get paid.<br />
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The group seems to love DCC. One player who started on 4th edition said he preferred this because he felt like he had "earned" the right to be 1st level (and have 18hp and a game-breaking perfect storm of attack bonuses.)Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-50202514393600783432013-04-07T02:14:00.000-07:002013-04-07T02:21:21.213-07:00DCC Fimbulwinter Session 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ozxlb7Jqxv8/T_nm5rXkHFI/AAAAAAAAAJA/EK7-RIp0ZLo/s1600/Snake+Demon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ozxlb7Jqxv8/T_nm5rXkHFI/AAAAAAAAAJA/EK7-RIp0ZLo/s1600/Snake+Demon.jpg" border="0" class="decoded" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ozxlb7Jqxv8/T_nm5rXkHFI/AAAAAAAAAJA/EK7-RIp0ZLo/s400/Snake+Demon.jpg" height="298" width="400" /> </a></div>
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- Reskinned 'Portal Under the Stars' as a buried longship</div>
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- A more balanced slaughterfest than last week: seven died and nine survived to reach level 1</div>
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- four PCs killed by the shitty sub-zero-level skull monsters; the giant snake miniboss was killed before he got a chance to act. Teamwork and planning made all the difference.</div>
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- The final fight is kind of a joke if the PCs do all the stuff that mitigates the threat: the clay soldiers all melted, the generals all turned to dust, so it was just the PCs against one lone warlord. A crit reduced his movement speed to 0 and they kicked him into the pool.</div>
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- When tallying up treasure I always think "I gave them way too much" and after it's divided between the party I always think "I gave them too little"</div>
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Also, though this may be of limited interest to those outside the game: a high score board for all characters living and dead: <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FCPeez2BHTqPh9wtb2DIY-dzRtPB3wAzRvrPWF9uNo0/edit">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FCPeez2BHTqPh9wtb2DIY-dzRtPB3wAzRvrPWF9uNo0/edit</a></div>
Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-72607137215129900892013-03-29T06:37:00.002-07:002013-03-29T06:37:30.776-07:00DCC Fimbulwinter - Session 1 reportI usually find play reports boring as hell so I will try to keep this snappy and interesting:<br />
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<a href="http://biobreak.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/evil-galadriel1.jpg?w=584&h=245" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://biobreak.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/evil-galadriel1.jpg?w=584&h=245" border="0" class="decoded" src="http://biobreak.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/evil-galadriel1.jpg?w=584&h=245" /></a></div>
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- 15 funnel PCs captured by anthropophagic elf sorceress<br />
- Me one hour into the session: "Shit, I pulled my punches too much on this dungeon, I'm not even going to kill any of them"<br />
- Sorceress critically fails two spell checks in a row, then rolls an enormous check and hypnotizes 5 PCs in one round<br />
- PCs murdering each other. Not because of the hypnosis thing, purely of their own volition.<br />
- Last PC flees for the exit. Grabbed by giant frog, shrugs off his backpack containing all the (meagre) treasure in order to escape.<br />
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I'm using an SP=XP system, with 0-level characters starting at -100xp. The sole survivor's only loot was a single silver spoon, so he is still 98xp away from acquiring a class.Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-10996868558402808592013-03-08T19:39:00.001-08:002013-03-08T19:39:24.734-08:00Chaos and LawHumans have an innate tendency towards both Law and Chaos. The former can be seen, for example, in the way they order bookshelves; the latter, in their desire to demolish buildings. In fact, the two tendencies are not at war but complementary. A chef arranges his work most beautifully on a plate precisely so that it may be chopped up, chewed, and reduced to scraps and acids by the customer. A house of cards is built not for the moment that it stands, but the moment it falls.<br />
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Some have conceived of a midpoint between Law and Chaos, a force that seeks Balance between the opposites. However, the vast majority of the human race is allied to neither Law nor Chaos nor Balance, but to the eternal Cycle of the three.Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-20165517087255046732013-02-23T23:41:00.000-08:002013-02-23T23:41:28.999-08:00The King of Birds' Daughter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s_KYYbl5rHg/USnDbMho9jI/AAAAAAAAA44/wv_wW6cXqpY/s1600/54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s_KYYbl5rHg/USnDbMho9jI/AAAAAAAAA44/wv_wW6cXqpY/s1600/54.jpg" /></a></div>
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Long ago, a prince went hunting and with his bow killed the daughter of the King of Birds. For this crime, the King of Birds chose to punish all mankind equally. He granted each of them gift of flight for a single day; now, forever after, they dream about the wings they once had.<br />
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<br />Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-57335177863516130222013-02-23T21:27:00.003-08:002013-02-23T21:27:43.023-08:00Gods of the Norsemen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<u style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Georg_von_Rosen_-_Oden_som_vandringsman,_1886_(Odin,_the_Wanderer).jpg/220px-Georg_von_Rosen_-_Oden_som_vandringsman,_1886_(Odin,_the_Wanderer).jpg" class="decoded" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Georg_von_Rosen_-_Oden_som_vandringsman,_1886_%28Odin,_the_Wanderer%29.jpg/220px-Georg_von_Rosen_-_Oden_som_vandringsman,_1886_%28Odin,_the_Wanderer%29.jpg" /> </u></div>
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<u>Odin</u><br />
Alignment: Lawful <br />
God of: Wisdom, Victory, Prophecy, Magic, The Hunt<br />
1st-level spells: <i>Detect Magic, Second Sight, Protection from Evil, Blessing</i><br />
Unholy creatures: undead, demons, chaotic spirits and beings, mundane animals<br />
Weapons: Spear, Sword, Staff, Sling<br />
Servants: Huginn and Muninn, ever-watchful ravens; Geri and Freki, ravenous wolves; Sleipnir, eight-legged horse.<br />
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<img alt="http://ifanboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/norsethor.jpg" class="decoded" height="320" src="http://ifanboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/norsethor.jpg" width="303" /></div>
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<u>Thor</u><br />
Alignment: Lawful<br />
God of: Thunder, Strength, Healing<br />
1st-level spells: <i>Word of Command, Protection from Evil, Resist Cold or Heat, Blessing</i><br />
Unholy creatures: undead, demons, elves, dwarves<br />
Weapons: Hammer, Staff, Mace<br />
Servants: Thjalfi, the world's fastest runner, and his wife Roskva; Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr, mighty goats.<br />
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<a href="http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/01219/Nrsmythpics/Njord/Njord7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/01219/Nrsmythpics/Njord/Njord7.jpg" border="0" class="decoded" height="221" src="http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/01219/Nrsmythpics/Njord/Njord7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<u>Njord</u><br />
Alignment: Neutral<br />
God of: Sea, Wind, Wealth<br />
1st-level spells: <i>Resist Cold or Heat, Holy Sanctuary, Food of the Gods, Blessing</i><br />
Unholy creatures: undead, demons, mundane animals, creatures of earth including dwarves<br />
Weapons: Axe, Bow, Spear<br />
Servants: Radveig and Kreppvor, his daughters.<br />
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<a href="http://api.ning.com/files/xQGj7rW60IBnZIZPmKOkxKb-A-YyGuYDTRxO6FBZi3l3fdKZZR-5svwe856kPgZ*04dftC-HWCgxb1Kw9P37Cv8mkzsnfoaVKipJ8LG8spc_/freyja_034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://api.ning.com/files/xQGj7rW60IBnZIZPmKOkxKb-A-YyGuYDTRxO6FBZi3l3fdKZZR-5svwe856kPgZ*04dftC-HWCgxb1Kw9P37Cv8mkzsnfoaVKipJ8LG8spc_/freyja_034.jpg" border="0" class="decoded" src="http://api.ning.com/files/xQGj7rW60IBnZIZPmKOkxKb-A-YyGuYDTRxO6FBZi3l3fdKZZR-5svwe856kPgZ*04dftC-HWCgxb1Kw9P37Cv8mkzsnfoaVKipJ8LG8spc_/freyja_034.jpg" /></a></div>
<u>Freyja</u><br />
Alignment: Neutral<br />
Goddess of: Love, Fertility, Gold<br />
1st-level spells: <i>Food of the Gods, Protection from Evil, Word of Command, Detect Evil</i><br />
Unholy creatures: undead, demons, non-living creatures, dwarves<br />
Weapons: Bow, Spear, Staff<br />
Servants: Hildisvini, a mighty boar; two cats, names unknown.<br />
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<a href="http://saxons.etrusia.co.uk/images/loki.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://saxons.etrusia.co.uk/images/loki.jpg" border="0" class="decoded" height="400" src="http://saxons.etrusia.co.uk/images/loki.jpg" width="251" /></a></div>
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<u>Loki</u><br />
Alignment: Chaotic<br />
God of: Trickery, Fire, Dishonour<br />
1st-level spells: <i>Darkness, Paralysis,</i> <i>Detect Magic, Word of Command</i><br />
Unholy creatures: undead, valkyries, einherjar, light elves<br />
Weapons: Sword, Dagger, Throwing Knife, Flail<br />
Servants: Sigyn, his faithful wife; Narfi, his son who became a wolf.<br />
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<u>Hel</u><br />
Alignment: Chaotic<br />
Goddess of: Death, the Underworld<br />
1st-level spells: <i>Darkness, Second Sight, Resist Cold or Heat, Word of Command</i><br />
Unholy creatures: undead, valkyries, einherjar, mundane animals<br />
Weapons: Axe, Scythe, Javelin.<br />
Servants: Dead souls of thieves, murderers and those without honour.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ymsSdOuC1Ys/TQ71B30RQqI/AAAAAAAAAEg/Rz9MIz3GlVw/s1600/god.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ymsSdOuC1Ys/TQ71B30RQqI/AAAAAAAAAEg/Rz9MIz3GlVw/s1600/god.jpg" border="0" class="decoded" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ymsSdOuC1Ys/TQ71B30RQqI/AAAAAAAAAEg/Rz9MIz3GlVw/s400/god.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<u>Jesus Christ</u><br />
Alignment: Lawful<br />
God of: Peace, Love, Charity<br />
1st-level spells: <i>Holy Sanctuary, Blessing, Protection from Evil, Detect Evil</i><br />
Unholy creatures: undead, demons, elves, dwarves, pagan spirits<br />
Weapons: Club, Mace, Hammer, Sling<br />
Servants: Cherubim and saints.Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-55201838679586616312013-02-21T21:25:00.002-08:002013-02-21T21:25:31.101-08:00FLAILSNAILS to DCC conversion (first draft)rules not as yet tested for swiftly converting FLAILSNAILS PCs to DCC games and/or using OSR-compatible homebrew classes in DCC.<br />
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First, determine your character's base class:<br />
If you fight good and do very little else, you are a <b>Fighter</b>.<br />
If you fight good but also have some extra abilities such as ranger, paladin or racial powers, you are a <b>Variant Fighter</b>.<br />
If you fight fairly well but have other abilities that make up at least 50% of your schtick, you are a <b>Cleric</b>.<br />
If you have skills, sneaky stuff or other utilities that aren't fighting or magic, you are a <b>Thief</b>.<br />
If casting spells is your primary thing, you are a <b>Wizard</b>.<br />
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Characters get attack bonus, action dice, critical tables and saving throws as per their base class.<br />
<b>Fighters </b>get the Deed Die and Mighty Deed of Arms.<br />
<b>Variant Fighters </b>don't get the Deed Die, and instead get an attack bonus equal to the average of the Deed Die they would have gotten, rounded down. (e.g. d3 = +1; d4 = +2; etc) They cannot perform Mighty Deeds of Arms.<br />
<b>Clerics </b>and <b>Wizards </b>still cast spells as per their original system; no rolling on tables for you.<br />
<b>Thieves </b>use whatever skills they had from their original system, but gain the ability to burn and regain Luck as a Thief.<br />
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Your DCC Strength, Agility, Stamina and Personality correspond to their equivalent stats in the original system. (Why they insisted on renaming Dex, Con and Cha I will never understand.) Your DCC Intelligence is the higher of your OSR Intelligence or Wisdom. Your Luck is rolled as you enter the DCC universe.Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-26777570270306233672013-02-18T21:16:00.002-08:002013-02-18T21:16:35.418-08:00FIMBULWINTER campaign primer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="st" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hOhq6wGVKZI/UP_9dqr5XmI/AAAAAAAAAzA/dAN8JsKA3ro/s1600/Odin_and_Fenris+Deborah+Hardy+1909.jpg" class="decoded" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hOhq6wGVKZI/UP_9dqr5XmI/AAAAAAAAAzA/dAN8JsKA3ro/s400/Odin_and_Fenris+Deborah+Hardy+1909.jpg" height="400" width="276" /> </span></div>
<i><span class="st">An axe-age, a sword-age, shields shall be cloven; a wind-age, a wolf-age, ere the world totters.</span></i><br />
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Cold, darkness, violence and betrayal are the hallmarks of the Fimbulwinter, the last great winter that heralds the end of the world. The end will approach gradually: the actual length of this last terrible season may be one year or it may be one hundred, depending on what happens during that time. Springs and summers will come and go for a while, but each will be less bright than the last. Although Ragnarok looms on the horizon, the PCs will have plenty of time to engage in low-level adventures and pursue their own personal goals. Nor is the apocalypse destined to play out in a particular manner, for the PCs may well have a hand in it before the dark season is over.<br />
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<span class="st"><b>Fighters </b>of Scandinavia are generally Vikings, those who sailed on longships to distant lands either as explorers, merchants or pirates. Other fighters might be <i>housecarls</i> who serve in a particular house, or mercenaries, wandering brigands, etc.</span><br />
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<span class="st"><b>Thieves </b>are much the same as they ever are, professional lawbreakers, footpads, pickpockets and con artists, whose trades are ubiquitous in time and place.</span><br />
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<a href="http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/c83.0.403.403/p403x403/735193_450375111683376_1744219363_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/c83.0.403.403/p403x403/735193_450375111683376_1744219363_n.jpg" border="0" class="decoded" src="http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/c83.0.403.403/p403x403/735193_450375111683376_1744219363_n.jpg" /></a></div>
<span class="st"><b>Clerics </b>will mostly be priests of the Norse pantheon, picking a specific god to whom they pay homage. The following gods are common, although others are also allowed.</span><br />
<span class="st"><i>Lawful: </i>The Aesir - Odin, Thor, Tyr, Bragi. </span><br />
<span class="st"><i>Neutral: </i>The Vanir - Njord, Freyr, Freyja, Heimdall.</span><br />
<span class="st"><i>Chaotic: </i>Loki, Hel.</span><br />
For foreigners, gods of other realms are also viable, e.g. Jesus, Allah, Lugh, Satan.<br />
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<span class="st"><b>Wizards </b>are those who shun the magic of the gods and seek power for men alone. Many strike bargains with powerful supernatural beings in order to gain greater power. Common patrons who offer bargains include Utgarda-Loki, the giant illusionist; Angrboda, mother of monsters; the Norns, who weave the threads of destiny; and the King of Alfheim, lord of the timeless elves.</span><br />
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<a href="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101111201961/monster/images/8/81/Norse_Elves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5096/5488042753_bfd17c9191_z.jpg" class="decoded" height="385" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5096/5488042753_bfd17c9191_z.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="st"><i>That which is called Álfheimr is one, where dwell the peoples called
Light-Elves; but the Dark-Elves dwell down in the earth, and they are
unlike in appearance, but by far more unlike in nature.</i><b> </b></span><br />
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<span class="st"><b>Elves </b>are long-lived, fair and cold-hearted. They care little for the struggles of mortal beings, but sometimes deign to venture abroad from their holts in Alfheim, playing for awhile at the games of humanity.<i><b> </b></i>Dark Elves dwell deep beneath the earth in Nidavellir; they are like their forest cousins, but with more of cruelty and less of playfulness.</span><br />
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<i>Many a likeness of men they made, the dwarfs in the earth, as Durin said.
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<span class="st"><b>Dwarves </b>are also long-lived; they are cruel and capricious, and their hearts are warmed only by greed. In their secret halls beneath the mountains they craft magical artifacts of unparalleled quality. Those who go adventuring are usually outcasts from their home people, and usually have little love for men or gods. </span><br />
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<span class="st"><b>Halflings </b>are an obscure race, possibly descended from the union of men and elves. They live exclusively in Shetland, where they have been driven into the hills and hidden valleys by the arrival of Danish settlers. They generally lack a taste for adventure, but Halfling PCs will be the exceptions.</span><br />
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<span class="st"><a href="http://awizardskiss.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/flailsnails-compatible-race-class.html" target="_blank">Other races and classes</a> are available by negotiation. If the rules for it don't seem broken, and you can argue convincingly how it fits into the setting, then you can play it. </span><br />
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<span class="st"><img alt="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CNREPdvq7Cc/THfA5RmNRyI/AAAAAAAAAZs/WQBtw9yRR2M/s1600/%D0%9E%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB+-+Peter+Nicolai+Arbo+-+%C3%85sg%C3%A5rdsreien.jpg" class="decoded" height="432" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CNREPdvq7Cc/THfA5RmNRyI/AAAAAAAAAZs/WQBtw9yRR2M/s640/%D0%9E%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB+-+Peter+Nicolai+Arbo+-+%C3%85sg%C3%A5rdsreien.jpg" width="640" /> </span><br />
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<span class="st">The <b>Gods </b>of the Norsemen are somewhat different to the typical D&D depiction of deities; they are somewhat weaker, though still very powerful. The Aesir are not abstract conceptual entities and they are not sustained or created by belief in them. They have discrete physical forms and they are, theoretically at least, vulnerable to physical threats; but they all possess mighty magic, powerful artifacts and superhuman abilities. Nevertheless, one god has died in the past, and it may yet happen again.</span><br />
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<a href="http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs19/f/2007/249/b/8/Frost_Giant_by_boudicca.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs19/f/2007/249/b/8/Frost_Giant_by_boudicca.jpg" border="0" class="decoded" height="640" src="http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs19/f/2007/249/b/8/Frost_Giant_by_boudicca.jpg" width="476" /></a></div>
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<span class="st"><i>Out of the Ice-waves issued venom-drops,<b> </b>waxing until a giant was;<br />
Thence are our kindred come all together,-- so it is they are savage forever.</i></span></div>
<span class="st"><i> </i><b> </b></span><br />
<span class="st"><b>Giants</b>, by contrast, are considerably more powerful than the D&D depiction would have them. Rarely have mortals defeated giants in open combat, although trickery has sometimes served them better. The greatest giants are rivals to the gods themselves, and it is feared that when the gods and giants go to war it will signal the end of the world. Not all giants are evil or murderous, however; some, like Utgarda-Loki, simply keep to themselves, and in at least one case a giantess had a child by a human lover.</span><br />
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<i> Nine worlds I knew, the nine in the tree, with mighty roots beneath the mold.</i></div>
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<span class="st">The Nine Worlds<i>, </i>or <b>Nine Realms</b>, are not separate planes of existence, as in some conceptions of Norse mythology. Rather, they are for the most part separate terrestrial regions, although some are high in the sky or deep beneath the earth.<i> </i>The Nine Realms are as follows: Midgard, where men dwell; Asgard, home of the gods; Jotunheim, or Giantland; Alfheim, the secret realms of the elves; Nidavellir, subterranean home of the dark elves; Muspellheim, land of fire; Niflheim, land of ice; Hel, land of the dead; and Vanaheim, where once the Vanir dwelled.</span>Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-41920499289930863382013-02-08T06:19:00.000-08:002013-02-08T06:24:55.847-08:00Tourist class for DIY D&D<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/10/82/1082069024-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/10/82/1082069024-1.png" border="0" class="decoded" height="400" src="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/10/82/1082069024-1.png" width="289" /></a></div>
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Tourists are travellers from distant lands or possibly from the future. Wherever they come from they seem singularly unaware of the dangers that surround them. They consider everything that happens to them merely an exotic holiday. What they lack in guile they make up for in their bizarre, seemingly supernatural luck, and unusual technology.<br />
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Hit Die: d6<br />
Saves, XP and other faffery as Thief<br />
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<u>Weapons & Armour</u><br />
Tourists have a great deal of enthusiasm for combat but very little training. They are proficient only in weapons that are easy to use, mainly bludgeoning weapons, crossbows, slingshots and guns. Bladed weapons are beyond them, as are complicated missile weapons like slings and bows.<br />
Tourists will refuse to wear armour heavier than leather, considering it hot and stuffy. However they get a +4 bonus to AC and saves against any danger of which they are blithely unaware. In DCC, they add their Luck bonus to AC as well.<br />
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<u>Thief-like Skills</u><br />
<i>Go Unnoticed: </i>Tourists are often able to blunder through high-security checkpoints and well-defended guardposts without even realising they are going somewhere they shouldn't. They can 'Hide' and 'Move Silently' as a Thief of their level.<br />
<i>It Was Open, So I Came Inside: </i>Tourists can 'Pick Locks' as a Thief of their level. They don't actually pick the locks, they just find doors that happen to be left ajar. The DC is determined by how frequently the door is opened.<br />
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<u>Luck</u><br />
In DCC, the Tourist is able to spend and regain Luck just like a Thief.<br />
In other systems, the Tourist gains a limited number of points per day to spend on modifying rolls up or down. This number is equal to 2 times the Tourist's level. Each point modifies the roll by 1, just as in DCC. Or you could mod in the DCC Luck stat just for this one character, that would be a bit of a gas.<br />
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<u>Money</u><br />
Whatever class starts with the highest money in your game, the Tourist starts with twice that much. <br />
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<u>Foreign Gadgetry</u><br />
At 1st level the Tourist arrives with a single item of foreign provenance, perhaps magically enchanted or perhaps technology from the distant future. This item is chosen at random and once lost cannot be replaced.<br />
The Tourist receives a mail order package containing a new random item at every odd-numbered level. If it is the same as an item they have already got, they can send it back with a strongly-worded note demanding an exchange, but processing will take 4-6 weeks.<br />
Any non-Tourist trying to operate one of these gadgets has a 1 in 3 chance of it backfiring unpleasantly upon them. <br />
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1. Camera: Makes a flash of light that blinds all creatures in a 30' square in front of the user (DC 15 Ref save to avoid.) Also takes pictures. Can be used once per day.<br />
2. Animate Luggage: A large chest or backpack that walks around by itself and follows the Tourist faithfully. Carries twice as much as a normal human. Prefers to run from danger but if cornered will ram for 1d6 damage. If the Tourist is killed, there is a 50% chance the Luggage will imprint upon the nearest creature, and a 50% chance it will run off and go feral.<br />
3. Bug Repellent: Exceedingly strong spray for keeping off noxious insects. When used, all creatures who smell it must make a morale check or flee until out of the radius of 50'. Tourists are immune to the stuff and allies may plug their nostrils in advance. Each can contains 2d6 charges of spray.<br />
4. Sunblock: A mysterious unguent that provides DR 5 against fire and radiation attacks, and total immunity to sun scorch, light beams and other solar shenannigans. Lasts 6 hours but must be applied 20 minutes in advance. Each tube contains 6d6 doses for one person each.<br />
5. Everfull Lunchbox: Whenever you open this lunchbox, there will be a tuna & corn sandwich, a banana and a thermos full of tea.<br />
6. Travel Guide: A book containing many truths and several falsehoods about the local area. The Tourist may consult the book once for each area (town, dungeon, hex or zone, whatever). The DM will roll a secret die for the type of information found: 1-2: useful secret (hidden door, trap warning, saucy blackmail information, etc.) 3-5: useful information but not secret, 6: false and potentially dangerous information.<br />
7. Portable Jukebox: A small box containing several imps (or possibly 'computer chips') which can record and play back sounds with perfect fidelity. Also contains a variety of musical recordings of an utterly alien and shamelessly licentious style. This novelty confers a +2 bonus to reaction rolls for NPCs of Neutral or Chaotic alignment; Lawful characters will find the music crude and boorish.<br />
8. Universal Panacea: A bottle of pills that can heal just about any ailment, but not hit point loss. Minor ailments, including anything non-permanent, require 1 pill; major ailments, such as permanent blindness, disease or poisoning, require 2 pills; extreme ailments, such as dismemberment or a curse, require 4 pills. There are exactly 15 pills in each bottle. Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-21914769000613774832013-02-07T18:31:00.000-08:002013-07-30T02:14:28.748-07:00FLAILSNAILS-compatible race & class compendiumBored of yr. Fighter/Wizard/Cleric/Thief? Roll up and get your variant classes, sub classes and completely novel classes right here.<br />
Arranged sort of haphazardly from least gonzo to most.<br />
Will keep adding to this as I find them.<br />
<br />
My 4E-to-old-school conversions:<br />
<a href="http://awizardskiss.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/old-school-classes-from-4e-warlord.html" target="_blank">Warlord</a><br />
<a href="http://awizardskiss.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/converting-4e-classes-to-ad-ardent.html" target="_blank">Empath</a> (4E Ardent)<br />
<a href="http://awizardskiss.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/converting-4e-classes-to-ad-druid.html" target="_blank">Shapechanger</a> (4E Druid) <br />
<br />
Zak's alternate classes where you roll on a table for feats each time you level up:<br />
<a href="http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/alternate-fighter-for-like-d-and-stuff.html?zx=898c020fff42fe5" target="_blank">Random Fighter</a><br />
<a href="http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/thieves-thieves-thieves-and-liars.html" target="_blank">Random Thief</a><br />
<a href="http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/new-random-ranger-for-d-and-d-games.html?zx=7d8b1f0cf935aacc" target="_blank">Random Ranger</a><br />
<a href="http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/the-wizard.html" target="_blank">Random Wizard</a><br />
<a href="http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/bar-bar-bar-bar-bear-eee-ann.html?zx=26a7619a6b982ce5" target="_blank">Random Barbarian</a><br />
<br />
and Reynaldo's <a href="http://reynaldogamingsoap.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/the-paladin.html" target="_blank">Random Paladin</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://wondrousimaginings.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/blood-island-player-info-classes-races.html" target="_blank">Blood Island classes</a> - including Viking, Berserker Viking, Adventurer, Shaman<br />
<a href="http://bxblackrazor.blogspot.com.au/2010/04/bx-bounty-hunter.html" target="_blank">Bounty Hunter</a><br />
<a href="http://hillcantons.blogspot.com.au/2010/10/mountebank-class-take-two.html" target="_blank">Mountebank</a><br />
<a href="http://hillcantons.blogspot.com.au/2010/11/white-wizard-second-take-on-new-class.html" target="_blank">White Wizard</a><br />
<a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/on-blue-mage.html" target="_blank">Blue Wizard</a> ('copy wizard')<br />
<a href="http://rottenpulp.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/summoner.html" target="_blank">DCC Summoner</a><br />
<a href="http://hillcantons.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/half-ogre-classic-d-racial-class.html" target="_blank">Half-Ogre</a><br />
<a href="http://basicredrpg.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/arcis-enumre-rockpriest-cleric-and.html" target="_blank">Rockpriest</a> (Dwarf Cleric)<br />
<a href="http://lotbieth.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/freelanders.html" target="_blank">Freelander</a><br />
<a href="http://hillcantons.blogspot.com.au/2010/09/feral-dwarf-new-ll-class.html" target="_blank">Feral Dwarf</a><br />
<a href="http://www.rolang.com/archives/485" target="_blank">Illusionist as Specialist, not Magic-User</a><br />
<a href="http://talesofthegrotesqueanddungeonesque.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/new-class-dandy.html" target="_blank">Dandy</a><br />
<a href="http://bxblackrazor.blogspot.com.au/2010/04/bx-witch-hunter.html" target="_blank">Witch Hunter</a><br />
<a href="http://roguesandreavers.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/the-beast-master-ll-class.html" target="_blank">Beast Master</a><br />
<a href="http://gloomtrain.blogspot.fr/2013/04/druids.html" target="_blank">Druid</a> (blood & guts druid, sacrifices HP to summon spirits)<br />
<a href="http://basicredrpg.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/arcis-enumre-gnome-class.html" target="_blank">Gnome</a> (tiny fairy type)<br />
<a href="http://dungeonofsigns.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/passenger-class-characters.html" target="_blank">Passenger</a><br />
<a href="http://gamingithappens.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/bouncer-class.html" target="_blank">Bouncer</a><br />
<a href="http://basicredrpg.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/arcis-enumre-scrivener-magic-user.html" target="_blank">Scrivener</a><br />
<a href="http://basicredrpg.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/arcis-enumre-gentleman-thief-variant.html" target="_blank">Gentleman</a><br />
<a href="http://basicredrpg.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/arcis-enumre-pacifist-class-fighter.html" target="_blank">Pacifist</a><br />
<a href="http://untimately.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/war-dog-class.html" target="_blank">War Dog</a><br />
<a href="http://encritgaz.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/labyrinth-critical-class-lizardman.html" target="_blank">Lizardman</a><br />
<a href="http://metalvsskin.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/shardik-semi-random-bear-raceclass-for.html" target="_blank">Shardik</a> (bear people)<br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1WNwUruzoPvTfJUGP2l4cD1iKjuTAi3-tn3OaDXPMWms" target="_blank">Nordanbjorn</a> (sapient bear)<br />
<a href="http://inplacesdeep.blogspot.com.au/2010/12/froglings-for-labyrinth-lord.html" target="_blank">Frogling</a><br />
<a href="http://dungeonofsigns.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/froglings-as-character-class.html" target="_blank">Frogling</a> (HMS Apollyon)<br />
<a href="http://wampuscountry.blogspot.fr/2012/03/frogport.html" target="_blank">Frogman</a> (Wampus Country)<br />
<a href="http://vaultsofnagoh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/fungal-murderhobos-of-wilds.html" target="_blank">Myconid</a> (Mushroom Man)<br />
<a href="http://monstroustelevision.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/ad-character-class-annelidist.html" target="_blank">Annelidist</a> (infested with demon worms)<br />
<a href="http://bernietheflumph.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/moleman-osr-class.html" target="_blank">Moleman</a><br />
<a href="http://metalvsskin.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/blood-druid-npc-class-for-old-school-d.html" target="_blank">Blood Druid</a><br />
<a href="http://reynaldogamingsoap.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/queens-of-battle-monarchs-of-murder.html" target="_blank">Battle Princess/Murder Princess</a><br />
<a href="http://flamingoil.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/volume-1-princesses-powers-battle.html" target="_blank">Battle Princess</a> (yes, two people independently made their own Battle Princess class)<br />
<a href="http://roguesandreavers.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/sub-human-ll-class.html" target="_blank">Sub-Human</a><br />
<a href="http://tenfootpolemic.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/plant-goblins-for-lotfp.html" target="_blank">Plant Goblin</a><br />
<a href="http://roguesandreavers.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/the-fallarin-character-class-for-ll.html" target="_blank">Fallarin</a> (winged humanoid)<br />
<a href="http://basicredrpg.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/bx-selkie-class.html" target="_blank">Selkie</a><br />
<a href="http://hillcantons.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/black-hobbits-variant-classic-d-class.html" target="_blank">Black Hobbit</a><br />
<a href="http://trollsmyth.blogspot.com.au/2010/01/pixie-class.html" target="_blank">Pixie</a> <br />
<a href="http://awizardskiss.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/centaur-class-for-diy-d.html" target="_blank">Centaur</a><br />
<a href="http://migellito.blogspot.com.au/p/osr-eberron.html" target="_blank">Eberron Classes: Warforged, Shifter and Gnome Artificer</a><br />
<a href="http://carapaceking.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/wormhandlers.html" target="_blank">Wormhandler</a><br />
<a href="http://dungeonofsigns.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/hms-apollyon-merrowmwen-as-character.html" target="_blank">Merrowman</a><br />
<a href="http://basicredrpg.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/arcis-enumre-cuckoo-class.html" target="_blank">Cuckoo</a><br />
<a href="http://dungeonofsigns.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/flying-monkey-as-monstercharacter-class.html" target="_blank">Flying Monkey</a><br />
<a href="http://flamingoil.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/time-gnomes-new-raceclass-for-old.html" target="_blank">Time Gnome</a><br />
<a href="http://encritgaz.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/labyrinth-critical-class-planetary-ape.html" target="_blank">Planetary Ape</a><br />
<a href="http://basicredrpg.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/arcis-enumre-crocmen-class.html" target="_blank">Crocman</a><br />
<a href="http://basicredrpg.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/horde-trooper-bx-class.html" target="_blank">Horde Trooper</a> (I guess this is from a cartoon or something?)<br />
<a href="http://hillcantons.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/new-ll-class-chaos-monk.html" target="_blank">Chaos Monk</a><br />
<a href="http://grognardia.blogspot.com.au/2009/08/grognards-grimoire-stranger.html" target="_blank">Stranger</a> (John Carter type modern human gadding about in the fantasy world)<br />
<a href="http://roguesandreavers.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/fucking-tourists.html" target="_blank">Tourist</a> (also a John Carter, sort of)<br />
<a href="http://awizardskiss.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/tourist-class-for-diy-d.html" target="_blank">Tourist</a> (Discworld style)<br />
<a href="http://monstroustelevision.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/character-class-orangutannew-grapple.html" target="_blank">Orangutan</a><br />
<a href="http://monstroustelevision.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/character-class-ghoul.html" target="_blank">Bleaklands Ghoul</a><br />
<a href="http://metalvsskin.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/fire-lizards-of-kalak-nur-take-2.html" target="_blank">Fire Lizard of Kalak-Nur</a><br />
<a href="http://henchmanabuse.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/scientist.html" target="_blank">Scientist</a><br />
<a href="http://encritgaz.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/labyrinth-critical-class-amazon.html" target="_blank">Amazon</a><br />
<a href="http://roguesandreavers.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/sons-of-toad-character-class-for-ll.html" target="_blank">Son of the Toad</a><br />
<a href="http://lurkerablog.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/men-in-black-1-the-anti-druid/" target="_blank">Anti-Druid</a> (City/Machine Druid)<br />
<a href="http://dandy-in-the-underworld.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/secret-santicore-new-fantasy-race-vat.html" target="_blank">Vat Spawn</a><br />
<a href="http://tsojcanth.wordpress.com/2012/09/27/way-of-tinkering-engineer-a-new-class-for-afg-and-other-old-school-games/" target="_blank">Engineer</a><br />
<a href="http://reynaldogamingsoap.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/pioneers-of-distant-past-and-far-future.html" target="_blank">Magitek Engineer</a> <br />
<a href="http://lurkerablog.wordpress.com/2012/04/13/grease-monkey-a-lab-lord-class-for-carcosa-wacky-races/" target="_blank">Grease Monkey</a><br />
<a href="http://monstroustelevision.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/character-class-muscle-wizard.html" target="_blank">Muscle Wizard</a><br />
<a href="http://metalvsskin.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/machine-bonded-class-for-old-school-rpgs.html" target="_blank">Machine Bonded </a><br />
<a href="http://hillcantons.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/robo-dwarf-ll-and-bx-variant-class.html" target="_blank">Robo-Dwarf</a><br />
<a href="http://henchmanabuse.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/robots.html" target="_blank">Robot</a><br />
<a href="http://encritgaz.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/labyrinth-critical-class-robodroids.html" target="_blank">Robodroid</a><br />
<a href="http://encritgaz.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/labyrinth-critical-class-frankenstein.html" target="_blank">Frankenstein</a><br />
<a href="http://reynaldogamingsoap.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/cant-stop-octorok.html" target="_blank">Octorok</a><br />
<a href="http://awizardskiss.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/harry-potter-style-goblin-class.html" target="_blank">Harry Potter Goblin</a><br />
<a href="http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/the-alice-pc-class-for-any-kind-of-d.html" target="_blank">Alice</a><br />
<a href="http://betweengoodandawful.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/diving-belles-mermaid-class.html" target="_blank">Mermaid</a><br />
<a href="http://jammerhearts.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/gargoyles.html" target="_blank">Gargoyle</a><br />
<a href="http://wampuscountry.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/christmas-elves.html" target="_blank">Christmas Elf</a><br />
<a href="http://betweengoodandawful.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/luchadore-character-class.html" target="_blank">Luchador</a><br />
<a href="http://encritgaz.blogspot.fr/2012/09/luchador-v-325.html" target="_blank">Luchador</a> (sword & planet style)<br />
<a href="http://lurkerablog.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/green-martian-warrior-for-labyrinth-lord/" target="_blank">Barsoomian Green Man</a><br />
<a href="http://metalvsskin.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/ghost-in-machine-gonzo-gothmetal-race.html" target="_blank">Ghost in the Machine</a><br />
<a href="http://metalvsskin.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/hacker-class-for-old-school-d-games.html" target="_blank">Hacker</a><br />
<a href="http://metalvsskin.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/gadgeteer-class-for-science-fantasy-d.html" target="_blank">Gadgeteer</a><br />
<a href="http://dungeonofsigns.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/science-fantasy-racila-character-class.html" target="_blank">Vault Person</a><br />
<a href="http://encritgaz.blogspot.fr/2012/02/labyrinth-critical-class-doxy.html" target="_blank">Doxy</a><br />
<a href="http://metalvsskin.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/mechtaur-raceclass-for-sci-fantasy-rpg.html" target="_blank">Mechtaur</a><br />
<a href="http://strangemagic.robertsongames.com/2011/03/bene-gesserit-class-for-swords-and.html" target="_blank">Bene Gesserit</a><br />
<a href="http://lotbieth.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/ll-class-mega-robot.html" target="_blank">Mega Robot</a><br />
<a href="http://lurkerablog.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/3-variations-on-a-monster-in-your-pocket-trainer-for-llbx/" target="_blank">Pokemon Trainer</a><br />
<a href="http://basicredrpg.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/shyguy-bx-class.html" target="_blank">Shyguy</a><br />
<a href="http://monstroustelevision.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/character-class-godzilla-man.html" target="_blank">Godzilla-Man</a><br />
<a href="http://encritgaz.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/labyrinth-critical-class-klengon.html" target="_blank">'Klengon'</a><br />
<a href="http://encritgaz.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/labyrinth-critical-class-vulkin.html" target="_blank">'Vulkin'</a><br />
<a href="http://encritgaz.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/ability-requirement-str-9-con-9-ability.html" target="_blank">'Wooky'</a><br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2qlP_VOf718NFA4NU1PbFFUS3U4NHNxTGlYVno2UQ/edit" target="_blank">Jedi</a><br />
<a href="http://monstroustelevision.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/warpstar-knights.html" target="_blank">Warpstar Knight</a><br />
<br />
<u>Dust PC classes </u>(not actually gonzo if you happen to be playing 1920s dust bowl D&D)<br />
<a href="http://betweengoodandawful.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/athlete.html" target="_blank">Athlete</a><br />
<a href="http://betweengoodandawful.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/dancer-class.html" target="_blank">Dancer</a><br />
<a href="http://betweengoodandawful.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/carny-class.html" target="_blank">Carny</a><br />
<a href="http://betweengoodandawful.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/scrap-princess-class.html" target="_blank">Scrap Princess</a><br />
<a href="http://betweengoodandawful.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/midwife-class-1st-draft.html" target="_blank">Midwife</a><br />
<a href="http://betweengoodandawful.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/preacher-class.html" target="_blank">Preacher</a><br />
<a href="http://betweengoodandawful.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/activist-class-for-dust-first-draft.html" target="_blank">Activist</a><br />
<a href="http://betweengoodandawful.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/murder-ballad-boys-chracter-class.html" target="_blank">Murder Ballad Boy</a><br />
<br />
<u>Races</u><br />
(not many of these because most people seem to like doing race-as-class)<br />
<a href="http://warlockshomebrew.blogspot.com.au/2010/07/new-race-atlantean.html" target="_blank">Atlantean</a><br />
<a href="http://jammerhearts.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/new-race-dogfolk.html" target="_blank">Dogfolk</a><br />
<a href="http://lurkerablog.wordpress.com/2012/08/01/sky-man-for-lab-lord/" target="_blank">Sky-Man</a><br />
<a href="http://metalvsskin.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/in-vest-igator-race-for-old-school-games.html" target="_blank">In-vest-igator</a><br />
<a href="http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/hengeyokai-or-those-with-two-skins.html?zx=e1494d994d09ab36" target="_blank">Hengeyokai</a><br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qGCo3GB0b3MV4aTDQr_1s6t99tDiu_NCDfdiwt3G4Ng/edit" target="_blank">A shitload of races</a> including 'Void Elf', 'Deodand', 'Goblin from <i>Labyrinth</i>'<br />
<br />
<u>DCC Classes (not quite OSR-compatible)</u><br />
<a href="http://wrathofzombie.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/warforged-dccified/" target="_blank">Warforged</a><br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nqYsA98LU_L3lh0U-NW5mJeBNv1gI6NnxQbBTozYtsM/edit?hl=en-GB&forcehl=1" target="_blank">Dwarven Cleric</a><br />
<a href="http://www.goodman-games.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=74&t=42312" target="_blank">Gnome, Bard, Ranger and Paladin</a><br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kt7VpcPC981O99LF8tVf7zTBcjD0EX_VvS1O9ku6VwI/edit" target="_blank">Monk</a><br />
<a href="http://wrathofzombie.wordpress.com/2013/06/30/the-druid-dccified/" target="_blank">Druid</a><br />
<a href="http://wrathofzombie.wordpress.com/2013/07/05/the-muscle-wizard-dccified/" target="_blank">Muscle Wizard</a><br />
<a href="http://skylandgames.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/simply-barbaric-the-dcc-barbarian/#more-1743" target="_blank">Barbarian</a>Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-33841323583946235962013-01-31T03:24:00.000-08:002013-01-31T03:37:10.392-08:00More on Latin American Adventures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img alt="http://www.santa-marta-travel-guide.com/images/macondo-aracataca-church-4-l.jpg" class="decoded" src="http://www.santa-marta-travel-guide.com/images/macondo-aracataca-church-4-l.jpg" height="300" width="400" /> </div>
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The church at Macondo, an isolated frontier town, default starting location for PCs. (Squint and pretend the car isn't there. The bicycles can stay.) </div>
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<a href="http://www.galleryoftattoosnow.com/StefanostattoosHOSTED/images/gallery/medium/Sta%20Rosa1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="http://www.galleryoftattoosnow.com/StefanostattoosHOSTED/images/gallery/medium/Sta%20Rosa1.jpg" border="0" class="decoded" src="http://www.galleryoftattoosnow.com/StefanostattoosHOSTED/images/gallery/medium/Sta%20Rosa1.jpg" height="320" width="244" /></a><img alt="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--CLafLn4gDY/TWgsb869j8I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/A9b_ON_XQhY/s1600/sor_juana.jpeg" class="decoded" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--CLafLn4gDY/TWgsb869j8I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/A9b_ON_XQhY/s320/sor_juana.jpeg" height="320" width="233" /> </div>
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Instead of drawing spells from God directly, Catholic clerics adhere to particular saints. Popular saints include Santa Juana (left), a savant scholar, and Santa Rosa de Lima (right) who mercilessly tortured herself as part of her ascetic obsessions. Male saints include Saint Dominic, patron of astrologers and Hound of the Lord; Saint Francis, who commands the respect of all animals; and San Ignacio, the warrior-priest and founder of the Jesuits.</div>
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<a href="http://inside.sfuhs.org/dept/history/Mexicoreader/Chapter3/pic06.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://inside.sfuhs.org/dept/history/Mexicoreader/Chapter3/pic06.gif" border="0" class="decoded" src="http://inside.sfuhs.org/dept/history/Mexicoreader/Chapter3/pic06.gif" height="320" width="222" /></a></div>
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In this world, Europe does not seem to exist and white people are unknown. Everyone is varying shades of brown. Judaism & Christianity developed alongside Aztec and Mayan religions. Christ was born in Panama. If this doesn't make sense maybe you are thinking about it too hard!</div>
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/MoorishAmbassador_to_Elizabeth_I.jpg/220px-MoorishAmbassador_to_Elizabeth_I.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/MoorishAmbassador_to_Elizabeth_I.jpg/220px-MoorishAmbassador_to_Elizabeth_I.jpg" border="0" class="decoded" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/MoorishAmbassador_to_Elizabeth_I.jpg/220px-MoorishAmbassador_to_Elizabeth_I.jpg" /></a></div>
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Some Moors and Africans have arrived from the east to trade or settle the islands. It is said the Muslims have a vast desert empire across the ocean.</div>
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<a href="http://www.floating-world.org/images/nordic1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.floating-world.org/images/nordic1.jpg" height="320" width="216" /></a></div>
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Legends speak of people called 'The Pale Race' who existed before even the ancient Olmecs or Chavin. But few traces of them remain.</div>
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d0/Tmv-octahedron.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="File:Tmv-octahedron.jpg" border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d0/Tmv-octahedron.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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An example of an 'Elemental', a surreal monster composed of various unconnected elements. Some say they are a mobile breach in reality, others that they are another guise for demons.</div>
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Diego_de_Landa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="File:Diego de Landa.jpg" border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Diego_de_Landa.jpg" height="317" width="320" /> </a></div>
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Diego de Landa, foremost of the Inquisitors, a sect of Catholicism that seeks to destroy the rival religions and purge the Catholic faith of syncretic influences. Landa is currently overseeing the invasion of the Yucatan Peninsula and the eradication of Mayan scriptures.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.junostatic.com/full/CS1813431-02A-BIG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://images.junostatic.com/full/CS1813431-02A-BIG.jpg" border="0" class="decoded" src="http://images.junostatic.com/full/CS1813431-02A-BIG.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">deceptively innocent-looking seamstresses hunt giant cockroaches on the pampas plains</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/46366359/The+Bedlam+In+Goliath+Bonus+Tracks+The+Mars+Volta++The+Bedlam+In.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/46366359/The+Bedlam+In+Goliath+Bonus+Tracks+The+Mars+Volta++The+Bedlam+In.jpg" height="300" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 134px;" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">syncretist priests deconstruct their own bodies to fuel their postmodern magics</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://991.com/newGallery/The-Mars-Volta-The-Bedlam-In-Gol-433465.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://991.com/newGallery/The-Mars-Volta-The-Bedlam-In-Gol-433465.jpg" height="400" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 59px;" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a colony of serpent men lives high in the Mexican altiplano along with their mind-controlled human slaves</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qiL1VyeKZRM/TNOgkrmsyII/AAAAAAAAARo/mFISD1dQEqY/s1600/deloused.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qiL1VyeKZRM/TNOgkrmsyII/AAAAAAAAARo/mFISD1dQEqY/s1600/deloused.jpg" border="0" class="decoded" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qiL1VyeKZRM/TNOgkrmsyII/AAAAAAAAARo/mFISD1dQEqY/s400/deloused.jpg" height="400" width="397" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">giant jellyfish disguise themselves as giant heads above the water. Although it is unclear what they are disguising themselves from since a giant head is itself not a common sight in the Caribbean.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z_aCJJ_eiJI/TlSjBRjQfoI/AAAAAAAAA7o/ehjEjPNhKNg/s1600/220px-Jorge_Luis_Borges_Hotel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z_aCJJ_eiJI/TlSjBRjQfoI/AAAAAAAAA7o/ehjEjPNhKNg/s1600/220px-Jorge_Luis_Borges_Hotel.jpg" border="0" class="decoded" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z_aCJJ_eiJI/TlSjBRjQfoI/AAAAAAAAA7o/ehjEjPNhKNg/s1600/220px-Jorge_Luis_Borges_Hotel.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">known only as the labyrinth men, these individuals have strange powers and are probably not native to this dimension</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-57807424332892097442013-01-21T19:00:00.000-08:002013-01-24T04:46:05.534-08:00Using Magic: The Gathering creatures as wandering monsters<style type="text/css">
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So wow I have a
shitload of dusty old magic cards in this cardboard box. (note: thanks to <a href="http://betterlegends.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/old-magic-new-tricks.html" target="_blank">this blog post</a> for reminding me.) I don't even
want to calculate how much money I spent on these when I was 13 years
old. Hopefully I can put them to a new use for D&D. Here is a
system for using the creature cards to generate interesting wandering
monsters on the fly.
<br />
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<a href="http://magiccards.info/scans/en/chk/34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" id="il_fi" src="http://magiccards.info/scans/en/chk/34.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="224" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Instead of
having a wandering monster table, just have a deck of creature cards.
You could hand-select them for a particular area, but I think it
would be more fun just to shuffle them all together and see what
comes up. Or you could have a regular wandering monster table but one
entry in the table says “1d6 Magic cards”. Or you could divide
them by colour and draw them for different situations:</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
neutral
wilderness monster = draw green creature</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
neutral dungeon
monster = draw red creature</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
bad guy's
minions = draw black creature</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
johnny law =
draw white creature</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
wizard's summons
or extraplanar weirdness = draw blue creature</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
robots = draw
artifact creature</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Remember that
99% of creature cards in MTG only represent one creature. So you can
create groups of enemies by drawing, say, three cards and having 2d6
of the lowest cost creature, 1d4 of the middle cost, and 1 of the
highest cost as a leader. Or any other combination you can think of.
But if the card does happen to represent multiple creatures, it is
that many creatures based on the artwork. e.g. if the picture shows 3
goblins and you rolled 5, then there are 15 goblins total.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
If you have time
you could even divide the cards by cost as well as colour, then you
could pick out exactly what power level you like. Then you could have
a wandering monster table that just says like “2d6 1-mana creatures” or “1d4 5-mana green creatures”.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
attack bonus = creature's power<br />
AC = base AC of your game +/- creature's toughness<br />
hit dice = creature's mana cost<br />
BUT if it looks like some weedy ass wizard dude who costs a lot of mana for his special abilities, then his hit dice are d4s. If it is a creature whose mana cost has obviously been reduced because it has other drawbacks, then its hit dice are d10s.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Damage:<br />
Blue: 1d4<br />
White: 1d6<br />
Black: 1d8<br />
Red: 1d10<br />
Green: 1d10 unless a hippy elf, in which case 1d6 <br />
If power is 5 or more, double damage dice. If power is 8 or more, triple damage dice.<br />
<br /></div>
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As a general
rule, you can usually guess what the card is meant to represent based
on the picture, name and flavour text. Everything else is just the
particular mechanical expression of the concept. For many abilities
you will have to interpret them somewhat. Some MTG cards are very
flavourful and you can easily work out what they're supposed to be
doing, other times they are very vague; in the latter case just take
it as an opportunity to improvise, or ignore the mechanic entirely.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
A 'tap' ability
can be used as a standard action.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
A 'mana cost'
ability can only be used once every X rounds, where X is the mana
cost.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
A 'life cost'
ability drains the equivalent number of HP from the creature.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
'deal X damage'
= deal Xd6 damage</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
'+1/+1 counter'
= 1d6 temp HP</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
'-1/-1 counter'
= 1d6 permanent stat damage (choose stat based on relevance, if
unsure either STR or CON)</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
any ability that
generates mana = can send mana to allies to pay for their activated
abilities (don't worry about colour of mana), or heal 1d4 hp per
point of mana.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
'tap target
creature' = paralyze/stun for 1 round</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
'put into your
hand' = whatever was put into your hand will show up within 1d6
rounds</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
'return to hand'
= paralyze/stun for 1d6 rounds, or teleport target a short distance
away</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
'draw a card' =
draw a non-creature card, that is the spell that the creature can
cast; or just give it a random D&D spell appropriate to its level</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
'discard a card
from your hand' = save vs. spell or be driven insane</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
'destroy target artifact' = better make this 'destroy mundane object' because there are a shitload of cards like this and if you use them as-written then your players will soon have no magic item<br />
'can't block' = -4 AC. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Flying = flying,
duh</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Trample = on a
successful attack, the victim must make a CON check or be knocked
prone and trampled over, potentially opening up the squishies to
attack</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
First Strike =
+25% initiative (+5 on a d20, +2 on a d6...)</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Fear/Intimidate
= henchmen must make a morale check when first facing the monster</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Haste = double
regular move speed, always charges for +2 attack</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<a href="http://static.starcitygames.com/sales/cardscans/MAGCOK/hana_kami.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" id="il_fi" src="http://static.starcitygames.com/sales/cardscans/MAGCOK/hana_kami.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="234" /></a>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Morph = 3 in 6
chance of surprise</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Ninjutsu = draw
another creature, this is what the ninja is disguised as</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Deathtouch =
turn to stone as medusa (but check the artwork and flavour text for
details)</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Indestructible =
can't be damaged except by very powerful magic (9<sup>th</sup> level
spells, +5 weapons)</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Regeneration =
regenerates as troll. Mana cost is the number of rounds it takes to come back to life.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Phasing = can
turn ethereal, making it unable to attack or be attacked</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Phantom = can't
be hit except by magic and magic weapons</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Doublestrike =
attacks twice</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Landwalk = gets
+2 AC and attack when in its favoured element. Will hide in this
element and try to drag enemies in to fight on its own terms.
Islandwalk = water; Mountainwalk = very rugged terrain (can climb
sheer cliffs); Plainswalk = tall grass; Forestwalk = thick
undergrowth OR treetops; Swampwalk = swamp water/mud</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Bushido = gains
that bonus to attack and AC in melee only</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Double-sided
card = can shift between forms as a standard action</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
flip card = If
it survives this encounter with the PCs, it will reappear later as
the named NPC</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Threshold = can
trigger its ability by scrounging off/eating a corpse</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Kicker = when
appearing in a group, the leader will have the kicker ability</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Hexproof/Shroud
= immune to magic</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Vigilance = can
make opportunity attacks, or if opportunity attacks already exist in
your system, gets a +2 bonus to them</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Annihilator =
each round, that many enemies must make a save vs. death or be
fuckin' annihilated</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Shadow = can't
attack normal creatures and can't be attacked. Just does its own
little thing in its own shadow dimension. Might still be an enemy if
it's trying to steal your treasure or something.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Fading/Vanishing
= only appears for that many rounds before disappearing or melting or
something</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
(christ, there
are a lot of keyword abilities... the rest you can figure out for
yourself)</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Lastly (this is
a note to myself as much as to anyone else) remember that the best
thing about a monster is always the story behind it. And Magic cards
have a buttload of story packed into them just through the name,
artwork and maybe flavour text. (I'm not talking about the actual MTG
lore.)</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://magiccards.info/scans/en/uh/107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" id="il_fi" src="http://magiccards.info/scans/en/uh/107.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">even unglued cards work ok!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u>Using other MTG cards</u></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
You can also use
other MTG cards to generate things. You could draw a hand of 7 cards
to generate a wizard – instants and sorceries are his spells,
creatures are his minions, artifacts are his magic items and
enchantments are what he's placed upon himself or his creatures. But
non-creature cards are generally too different from D&D material
to be converted directly, you would have to just use them as vague
inspiration.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
Another thing
you could do is draw land cards to give a backdrop to a scene. Some
land artwork is really cool and just holding up the card and saying
“this is where you are” could add a bit of detail and interest to
the scene. Or you could shuffle all your land cards together and draw
them to generate hexcrawl (cardcrawl?) terrain. Would work best if
you had a fair amount of non-basic lands and an idea of what each one
represents.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
But I don't want
to go into it much further because, apart from the creatures, I don't
think there's much I can tell you besides "Use them as inspiration, dummy!"</div>
Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-42806617749984303532013-01-12T18:42:00.001-08:002013-01-12T18:42:57.643-08:00House Rule Trifecta: Stat Checks, Mass Melee, Lost at SeaSTAT CHECKS<br />
<br />
When rolling under your stat, a critical success is if you hit your stat exactly. This is purely a cosmetic change but I don't like the feeling of "Yay, I rolled a 1!"<br />
<br />
MASS MELEE<br />
<br />
When you have a bunch of allies and enemies fighting each other but it's not big enough to abstract as a battle - maybe it's a boarding action on a ship or an encounter between two large companies. And nobody wants to deal with all these nameless mooks instead of the cool PCs. And let's assume that because they're mooks they have no special abilities and are functionally equal to each other (e.g. all 1HD fighters).<br />
Have some of the enemy mooks engage the PCs, however many seems reasonable. Pair up the rest of the mooks against their opposing numbers. Each round, the players roll a D6 for each 'pair'. On a 1, the ally dies; on a 6, the enemy dies. If one side is strictly twice as superior (e.g. two onto one, or a 2HD orc onto a 1HD goblin) then double that side's chances of victory. As soon as the PCs engage with the mooks, they start running on the regular combat rules.<br />
This rule gives the mooks a fairly low chance of harming each other, and is based on the idea that in swashbuckling combat, the mooks should fight "in the background" while the PCs are the focus. Most of the mooks will keep hacking away ineffectively at each other until the PCs (or powerful NPCs) shift the tide of battle.<br />
<br />
LOST AT SEA<br />
<br />
Being lost at sea means you are lost with no ability to navigate and no means of propulsion, so maybe you got shipwrecked, marooned on a raft, fell off, etc. You have nothing you can do except sit around and wait. Make a save vs. death, fortitude save or luck check. If you fail, you die of thirst. What? You shouldn't have gotten lost at sea in the first place, dumbass. If you pass, you are washed up on a random island or fished out by a passing ship.Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-65850890012374928332013-01-02T20:14:00.000-08:002013-01-02T20:14:52.093-08:00Magic Weapon History TablesIn honour of Glamdring and Orcrist, two of my favourite characters in <i>The Hobbit</i>. To be used when identifying magic weapons, for a more interesting result than just "this is a +1 sword", also potentially providing future plot hooks. In my game, I plan to have identification be performed by sages, long-lived elves, dead spirits, ancient golems and other NPCs who are likely to know the history of such things.<br />
<br />
<u>1. The Weapon's Name</u><br />
1. Providence<br />
2. Calamity<br />
3. Eye-Gouger<br />
4. Freerazor<br />
5. Heartsblood<br />
6. Cruelty<br />
7. Usurper<br />
8. Grass-Cutter<br />
9. Gut-Render<br />
10. Limb-Eater<br />
11. Freedom<br />
12. Pallbearer<br />
13. Thrice<br />
14. Dreamer<br />
15. Marrow-Dancer<br />
16. Clamour<br />
17. Fang-Breaker<br />
18. Thunderhead<br />
19. Guts<br />
20. Antechamber<br />
21. Cumulonimbus<br />
22. Final Destination<br />
23. White Out<br />
24. Potato<br />
25. Cigar<br />
26. Hot Tramp<br />
27. Spiderface<br />
28. Real Horror Show<br />
29. Adam Kadmon<br />
30. Crying Game<br />
<br />
<u>1a. Paired Weapons</u><br />
1. Sunlight & Moonshadow<br />
2. Frenzy & Contemplation<br />
3. Northbite & Southfang<br />
4. Terror & Misery<br />
5. Wolf & Polecat<br />
6. Pox & Malefice<br />
7. Liver & Lung<br />
8. Youth & Beauty<br />
9. Seizure & Fugue<br />
10. Drunkard & Hierophant<br />
11. Rib-Chewer & Sphincter's Worm<br />
12. Death By Drowning & Life Behind Bars<br />
<u><br /></u><u>2. Its' Former Owner</u><br />
1. Drouse, a dwarf lord whose bloodline vanished under mysterious circumstances<br />
2. Rhiatha, a princess renowned as a master tactician<br />
3. Tanith of Llor, a prince exiled for terrible crimes<br />
4. Bloody Rose Kenneck, the pirate king's daughter<br />
5. The Boudixhain, ten generations of warrior-queens<br />
6. The Farnoes, three squabbling brothers<br />
7. Croab, the shaman of the renowned Golgangr Orcs<br />
8. Manos, a notorious bandit operating out of an abandoned keep<br />
9. Tremulere, an elvish king who fell in love with a human<br />
10. Homon, a monk who was spontaneously enlightened with a new form of weapon arts<br />
11. Vernoth, a weaponsmith who would not let his creations be given to anyone else<br />
12. Memodes, a ghost who guarded a remote tower<br />
13. Tryvarg, a viking seacaptain<br />
14. Qalloq, a paladin from a distant land who died without ever returning home<br />
15. The Blue Company, an anarcho-syndicalist mercenary band who shared their weapons equally<br />
16. Prelemor, a fat judge who was proud to hang the weapon on his wall and never use it<br />
17. Sturga, a widely loathed inquisitor for a violent regime<br />
18. Chasmesis, a spirit who possessed the weapon for a time before moving on<br />
19. Knobbs, a greasy peasant who found the weapon by accident<br />
20. Freya and Frenka, weapon-juggling ninja sisters extraordinaire<br />
21. Rathus, a mighty warrior who either died or ascended to another plane of existence<br />
22. Gharl III, undead king of the lowlands<br />
23. Asppago, ancient emperor of the serpent-men<br />
24. The Fighting Norns, who shared one eye, one tooth and one blade between them<br />
25. Theliel, an angel of vengeance sent to smite a wicked king<br />
26. Sebekim, a wandering golem created along with the weapon<br />
27. Atropos, a silver dragon whose hoard consisted exclusively of weapons<br />
28. Caulbach, a legendary assassin who possessed ninety-nine weapons that he referred to as his 'wives'<br />
29. Yrvander, a sentient mountain - what it was doing with a human-sized weapon is a mystery<br />
30. Satan<br />
<u><br /></u><u>3. Its' Past Deeds</u><br />
1. Shattered the gates of a besieged city<br />
2. Slaughtered dozens of orphans<br />
3. Lay dormant in an enchanted pool for decades<br />
4. Shattered a much older and more valuable magic weapon<br />
5. Assassinated a bridegroom on his wedding day<br />
6. Destroyed a bridge, turning the tide of a battle<br />
7. Wielded in the last great war fought by the owner's people<br />
8. Tempered in the blood of a dragon<br />
9. Concealed by refugees when their city was sacked<br />
10. Slew the last member of a now-extinct race<br />
11. Sacrificed victims to a dark god<br />
12. Lopped the left head of the Great Ettin, which turned out to be the voice-of-reason head<br />
13. Broke the first chains of a slave uprising<br />
14. Used to execute the King of Thieves<br />
15. Used to carve out a new barony in the depths of the wilds<br />
16. Associated symbolically with a certain city<br />
17. Buried with a knight who later emerged from his tomb<br />
18. Blessed by a saint just before she left this world<br />
19. Was married to a sentient sword to sate the sword's steely lust<br />
20. Turned upon its owner and devoured his/her soul<br />
21. Transformed into a fair maiden and then back again<br />
22. Wandered the land on its own two feet<br />
23. Slew one member of the toughest class of monsters in the campaign world (dragons, mecha, sorcerer-kings - depends on your setting)<br />
24. Cut off the hair or fingernail of a god, which became a powerful relic in its own right<br />
25. Arrived in this world from a parallel timeline<br />
26. Thrust into a dimensional breach to seal an eldritch abomination<br />
27. Divided into over a dozen copies due to time shenanigans<br />
28. Cut the chain that held the moon to the earth<br />
29. Cut off the eighth syllable of the second line of the haiku<br />
30. Smote a hole in the fabric of reality<br />
<br />
<u>4. Where It Was Last Seen</u><br />
1. Stolen by goblins<br />
2. Fell into a river<br />
3. Lost in a storeroom of a collapsed keep<br />
4. Teleported away to a random location<br />
5. Lost in a battle<br />
6. Hidden by the owner, who died before retrieving it<br />
7. Traded to the faeries in exchange for a lost hour<br />
8. Passed on to an heir of staunchly unadventurous character<br />
9. Pilfered by a burglar<br />
10. Paid in tribute to a giant king<br />
11. Swallowed by a whale<br />
12. Buried in the flesh of a beast that later escaped<br />
13. Sealed inside a pillar of a new building<br />
14. Hurled into a volcano<br />
15. Taken away across the sea by a fading race<br />
16. Deliberately dropped into the ocean<br />
17. Absorbed into a gelatinous cube<br />
18. Buried under a collapsing mountain<br />
19. Sealed in a temple that was never to be opened again<br />
20. Destroyed utterly, but prophesied to return<br />
21. Dropped into a crack that opens on the Underworld<br />
22. Carried away by a flight of ravens<br />
23. Lost in the frozen wastes of the south pole<br />
24. Turned to stone along with its owner<br />
25. Dropped through a crack between dimensions<br />
26. Lost in outer space<br />
27. Sent back in time<br />
28. Taken by a unicorn to replace its horn<br />
29. Sacrificed to a dark oracle<br />
30. Carried away by angels<br />
<br />
(Note: I'm trying a new thing here where each table gets more gonzo as it goes on, roughly divided into groups of 10, so you can roll a d10, a d20 or a d30 depending on how much variety you want. Or if you only want gonzo stuff you can roll d10+20 or whatever. In this case, higher numbers also generally correlate to more powerful magic weapons.)<br />
<br />
(Note #2: Some entries provided by the inestimable Shoe Skogen.)Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-86142814215711789242012-12-31T12:43:00.003-08:002012-12-31T12:43:37.054-08:00lazy wandering monster rulesOK, so wandering monsters are an integral part of old-school dungeoncrawling because they put a price on each unit of exploration/time spent in the dungeon; and mapping and movement rates are important because they relate to time in the dungeon, which relates to wandering monsters, and opening stuck doors is important because it uses up time in the dungeon which blah blah blah<br />
<br />
anyway, that may all be true but I just don't want to deal with all this movement rate bullshit or even drawing maps for the most part. And I know my players find it tedious to draw maps from my descriptions, so why would I bother?<br />
<br />
So I got to thinking that you could reverse engineer the risk/reward system of wandering monsters and then simplify it so it doesn't depend on precisely measuring the party's movement through the dungeon. Or on stuck doors, which are the most boring goddamn thing to waste your gaming time on. Or on stupid rules that nobody even remembers like how in LL and OSRIC you're supposed rest for one turn in every six.<br />
<br />
Basically the rules are so complicated and varied depending on the specific retroclone and the predilections of the DM that it's impossible to crunch the numbers on how often they are 'supposed' to turn up a wandering monster. Instead, it's easier to just put it in the hands of the individual DM, which makes sense because some DMs will run relatively small dungeons where every room is stocked with important stuff, while others will do big dungeons where half the rooms are empty.<br />
<br />
So here's how I want to do dungeons for my face-to-face group in the future:<br />
1. Instead of grid mapping, just draw rooms as nodes with lines connecting them for corridors. A long corridor can be a node, and a large room can contain multiple nodes.<br />
2. Assume that the PCs are mapping even if the players aren't. None of this "you drew the map wrong, so you get lost" bullshit. On the other hand, if the PCs are fleeing for their lives they don't get the privilege of full map directions.<br />
3. A wandering monster check is triggered every time the party moves from one node to another.<br />
4. Other things that also trigger a wandering monster check:<br />
- making loud noises or doing other things that attract monsters directly<br />
- searching a room<br />
- other time-consuming activities (excavating a hole, fiddling with a puzzle, etc.)<br />
- trying to open a stuck door, if you must insist on having stuck doors in your game<br />
5. This means that wandering monster checks are significantly more frequent than in B/X or AD&D. To offset this, they are rolled on a D10 by default. To increase or decrease the frequency of monsters, simply change the die size for the dungeon.<br />
6. If the party is heavily encumbered, reduce the encounter die size by one step.<br />
<br />
Why a D10? Well, by my calculations one room takes roughly 2 turns to explore, including the time for resting, stuck doors, and other fiddly little rules. If you check for monsters once every 3 turns, then 2 turns = 2/3 of a check. A check is 1/6 of an encounter, so a room is worth 2/3 * 1/6 = 2/18 = 1/9, so close enough to 1/10 (not totally sure about this math, I did drop out after 10th grade.)<br />
<br />
The advantages of this system are:<br />
- It's simple.<br />
- It's transparent to the DM. I know that the players will encounter a monster in 1 out of 10 rooms, not accounting for their other time-consuming activities.<br />
- It's transparent to the players. They'll see me rolling my D10 and know exactly when they're drawing heat. The options they have that trigger a roll, such as searching, are all strategic tradeoffs and not just busywork.<br />
- It's abstract. You <i>can </i>convert "rolls made" to "time spent in the dungeon" if you really need to know how long the PCs have been there, but generally it's a more nebulous measure of "how much danger are you in".<br />
<br />
The disadvantages are:<br />
- you don't get the tactile, objective feeling of actually drawing a map<br />
- you don't get the detailed tactical tradeoff of encumbrance vs. movement speed, but it's still there in some form in point #6.<br />
- It doesn't give you a precise measure of how much time has been spent in the dungeon. This means you can't have the players run out of torches/lantern oil, but that never happens anyway.<br />
<br />Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-20566684363120290782012-12-06T17:36:00.001-08:002013-01-26T18:29:17.172-08:00RPG.net Setting Riffs Compendium<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I wanted to make this a thread on RPGnet but for some reason they don't let you edit your posts after 24 hours. So here is a compilation of all the setting riffs recommended in <a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?666035-RPGnet-Setting-Riffs-Compendium-post-your-favourite-riff-threads">this thread</a>. This is in my opinion the cream of RPGnet's creative output. These threads are submitted by RPGnet posters and listed according to their length.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><u>RPGnet Riffs Compendium</u></b><br /><br /><u>Original Riffs</u><br /><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?391379-setting-riff-Voices-From-Below-and-the-Long-Stairs/page116" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">The Long Stairs</a> (143 pages)<br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?459204-setting-riff-The-Long-Stairs-Second-Landing/page26" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">(second thread)</a><br />In the 1960s, American scientists accidentally discover a portal to another dimension known as the Dungeon. It is an endless subterranean maze, filled with weird horrors and dangerous treasures. It is a dungeon crawl that makes Tomb of Horrors look like a walk to the shops. Naturally, we send soldiers down to colonise it. In the present day, numerous other nations have their own portals to the Dungeon and are fighting one another for control of it. A consistent theme throughout the riff is the danger of the Dungeon infecting and corrupting our world even as we try to invade the Dungeon.<br /><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?261519-D-amp-Dish-The-city-built-around-the-tarrasque" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The city built around the tarrasque</a> (70 pages)<br />A fantasy setting featuring a city whose entire economy and culture is built off the imprisonment and torture of the legendary monster.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?377740-Create-a-Setting-The-Twin-Cities-of-Glass" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">The Twin Cities of Glass</a> (38 pages)</span></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">To quote from the opening post, "In this world, the inhabitants are obsessed with aesthetics and themes." A fantasy world in which two primary cities are build of a single material each, one of obsidian and one of quartz. Each city takes the visual elements of their material as the basis for their culture, either opaqueness or transparency. Cultures of the wider world are similarly driven by metaphors and thematic purity.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?398547-necro-Mythos-Supers-Oh-what-may-be-wrought-with-this-hideous-might" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">[Mythos Supers] Oh, what may be wrought with this hideous might</a> (36 pages)<br />From the shining squeaky-clean paragons of the 70's with their costumes and catch-phrases to a lower profile super-humanity of the late oughties, living in a world which suddenly doesn't trust them anymore. Mix Cthulhu with spies with special ops with counter-culture revolutionaries with drug-culture with criminal enterprises with superhero mythology, blend, and serve.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?294175-Sci-Fi-Setting-Riff-Counting-to-Infinity/page33" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Counting to Infinity</a> (33 pages)<br />An enormous, mostly uninhabited starship named <i>Counting to Infinity</i> travels the trading lanes of interstellar space, manned by a tiny crew of outcasts and weirdos from the various planets that it stops in at. The universe is littered with the ruins of collapsed civilisations and failed singularities. Much of the technology used by the crew is no longer properly understood. The mechanics of the game revolve around the concept of <i>Damage</i>, whether to the ship or to the people aboard it.<br /><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?551895-Riff-Dreamers-in-the-Dark-HPL-Inception" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Dreamers in the Dark</a> (28 pages)<br />Inception-style dream divers exploring the collective unconscious, which resembles the Dreamlands of H. P. Lovecraft.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?407357-What-system-for-quot-subterranean-fantasy-fucking-Vietnam-quot" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Subterranean Fantasy Fucking Vietnam</a> (23 pages)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">This isn't a dungeon crawl, it's a dungeon war.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?654032-Riff-The-Secularist-Wars-Catholic-Universal-and-Interstellar" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Secularist Wars</a> (17 pages)<br />A sci-fi empire of humanity that is dominated by religion, but a religion that's progressive, tolerant and ecumenical. Judaism, Islam and Christianity have long since been absorbed under the one umbrella, although there is still the potential for doctrinal differences. The enemies of this benevolent society are the Secularists - nihilist renegades stretching the limits of transhumanism, attempting to bring down the religious order from the inside with terrorism and insurgency.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?297741-Setting-Riff-Superpowers-as-disease-and-deformity" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Superpowers as disease and deformity</a> (16 pages)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">We have seen the face of the superman, and it is scaled and elongated and has too many eyes. The fantasy of superpowers is real, but is a horror. With the power to do the impossible comes bodily distortion, mutation, corruption... no two freaks are alike, and even those who are in some way beautiful are still disturbing.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?367498-necro-Create-a-Setting-Retro-Fantasy" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Retro Metal S&S Fantasy</a> (12 pages)<br />A fantasy setting with an all-psychedelic rock soundtrack.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?547737-Setting-Riff-Creation-A-World-of-Gothic-Adventure!" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">A World of Gothic Adventure!</a> (10 pages)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">What happens when Ravenloft finally admits that it's not actually 'Gothic' in any but the most superficial sense.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?480387-setting-brainstorm-Kung-Fu-Transhumanism" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Kung-fu Transhumanism</a> (9 pages)<br />People have tried to append Transhumanism to a lot of genres; this one is definitely the most original I've ever seen. What if the skills and knowledge to become a wuxia Kung-fu master could be attained simply and easily by everyone? This setting is the result.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?374860-Create-a-setting-Glyph-writing" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Glyph Writing</a><span style="color: black;"> (9 pages)</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">In this world, magic is "cast" by carving, painting, engraving, or otherwise writing a glyph, or series of glyphs. These glyphs can be used by anyone with no special training...as long as you can draw the correct symbol, you can create a magic effect. </span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?409924-Create-a-Setting-Left-Wing-Military-Sci-fi" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Left-Wing Military Sci-fi </a>(9 pages)<br />The ever loveable Trotsky won out, and after the establishment of Socialism on earth, the supreme Soviet was faced with a decision of momentous importance: whether to stick with "Socialism on one planet", or to bring the Revolution to the stars. </span><span style="background-color: white;">It was decided that the erroneous ways of the traitor Stalin could never be repeated, and the Red Fleet embarked from earth to found the Soviet Socialist Republics of Space.</span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><br />And what they found only hardened their resolve. Decadent empires where bejewelled despots lorded over trillions of slaves; vile oligarchies where technology was ruthlessly harnessed to confirm their parochial superstitions of who was "inferior", plutocratic space-swine swindling entire civilisations. Comrades! The revolution is now! </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?610487-Setting-Riff-Webwork-Hexcrawl" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Webwork Hexcrawl</a> (9 pages)<br />A hexcrawl created with only one rule: every element proposed must connect to at least one other element proposed before it. Eventually migrated to Enworld and grew into a very large and complex setting called the Shrouded Lands... perhaps too complex to actually use. But the development of it was a fun game in itself.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?312055-Setting-Riff-Standard-Fantasy-in-20th-Century-America" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Standard Fantasy in 20th Century America</a> (8 pages)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Screw the standard WoD "normals must never know of the supernatural". I want New York to have huge temples to strange gods and dirty fast food restaurants and floating crystals and undead crack fiends and vast pillars and arches depicting ancient New Yorkian Emperors and bloodstained subways filled with ghosts of homeless people from the previous Age. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?672316-LotW-setting-riff-The-bright-clear-%28neon%29-light" target="_blank">Legends of the Wulin: The bright clear neon light</a> (7 pages) </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Continues RPGnet's tradition of mashing up transhumanism and cyberpunk
with wuxia, this time with a stronger mythological bent. Space is one of
the final frontiers, but humans are also exploring the mystical realms
of the asuras and rakshasas. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?112012-Necro-It-just-occured-to-me-what-might-make-a-neat-fantasy-setting" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Before the Flood</a> (7 pages)<br />The pre-Flood Earth as envisioned by Young Earth Creationists. Turns out to be a sword & sorcery setting with dinosaur riders and sky pirates, also for some reason everything is pink.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?309788-The-Venus-of-Willendorf-%28supers-alt-history%29" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">The Venus of Willendorf (supers/alt history) </a>(7 pages)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">In 1908 in Willendorf, Austria, an archaeologist by the name of Josef Szombathy uncovered a chamber in a cave while searching for neolithic artifacts. What he found was Venus. (Secret history revolving around a biological treasure.) </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?667000-Setting-Riff-Arthurian-Magical-Girls/page7" target="_blank">Arthurian Magical Girls</a> (7 pages) </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">A mashup of Arthurian legend with magical girl anime. Many different
approaches to the concept are proposed, drawing in elements of eldritch
fae, time travel, Evangelion, Guyver, Macbeth and others. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?451708-Run-with-it-Dimensional-shift-for-9-99" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank"> Dimensional shift for $9.99.</a> (7 pages)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Assume humankind never makes it past rockets, but some genius makes a conceptual leap in Brane-space dynamics or whathaveyou and - hey! presto!, anyone with a soldering iron, net access and a couple of hundred bucks can rig up a dimensional shifter.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?527465-riffy-a-military-espionage-game-without-killing-%28aka-Attack-of-the-hippie-ninjas%29" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">a military/espionage game without killing</a> (6 pages)<br />So, take all the hoo-haa these guy's were supposed to have been able to do, and make it explicit and effective rather than dubious probably delusional BS - remote viewing, phasing, invisibility, laying on hands, sparkly-eyes technique. Lots of psychic jedi shit. Lots of psychological warfare, 'hearts and minds', and non-violent co-opting.<br /><br />These guys really do have psychic powers, but it opens them up to all sorts of metaphysical maladies if they use them to do harm, or take life - even self defense would leave them spiritually dirtied and break their power until they could cleanse themselves mystically. If they use their powers to kill, it'll ruin them.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?667414-Setting-Riff-Worldbuilding-Brainstorming-Naruto-quot-Done-Right-quot/page6" target="_blank">Naruto done 'right'</a> (6 pages) <br />
An attempt to create a politically and sociologically "realistic"
version of Naruto, which leads to some interesting discussions about
power in fantasy/superhero settings. </span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?419076-Develop-Discuss-a-Setting-OldKentuckyShark-s-quot-Beltway-Lords-quot" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">OldKentuckyShark's "Beltway Lords"</a> (6 pages)<br />For those of you not of the Tangency-Persuasion, one of RPGnet's most gifted writers, one OldKentuckyShark has been entertaining us with his epic pulp political-parody fantasy saga, chronicling the Man Obama's ascent to the Oval Throne.<br /><br />The original source material is ongoing, and can be found in the fun, funny, and fucking epic stories "Barack Obama VS the Pirates of Wichita," "Barack Obama and the Thunder Zepplin," "Obama at the Gates of Detroit," and "Obamadämmerung."<br /><br />I was wondering, as was our good friend Vipergrrl, if this great setting could be used for gaming! Let's start off (of course) with the stories, and this New, Never-Before-Seen background information on the Fantastic America and its Beltway Lords...</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?602642-setting-riff-Behind-the-Curtain" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Behind the Curtain</a> (5 pages)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">A fantasy world where the secret major powers are actually the CIA and the KGB, travelling through portals from our world into the fantasy realm to vie for dominance.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?264745-Kung-Fu-New-York-City" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Kung Fu New York City</a> (5 pages)<br />For lack of a better term that's what I'm trying to come up with right now, a setting for a Last Dragon-esque Wushu game I plan on running on the PbP boards here. Basically I'm envisioning a 70's/80's pseudo look at New York City as the center of the martial arts world, ruled by feuding gangs of spectacular kung fu wielding masters and of course their armies of pointy weapon wielding mooks.<br /><br />My idea is that each of the Five Boroughs (Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island) has a Shogun, an idea I got from a poster on this board who had a lovely but never saw what came of it "Grimey Shadows of Shaolin" idea dealing with this sort of subject.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?665595-Setting-Riff-Empire-of-the-Wise" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Empire of the Wise</a> (4 pages)<br />Magical talent is not hereditary, but utterly random; however, making use of that talent requires education from a master mage. The result is a world where noble mages and prospective apprentices/heirs play a game of politics, marriage and power, all in the halls of the wizarding academies. Exalted meets Harry Potter?</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?592127-Setting-Riff-Horrible-Light" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Horrible Light</a> (4 pages)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Turns the most basic horror trope of "Light = good, Darkness = bad" on its head.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?386286-Create-A-Setting-The-World-is-Young" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">The World is Young</a><span style="color: black;"> (4 pages)</span><br />An antidote to "Ancient civilizations making things we can't hope to recreate"<br />
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?666104-Setting-Riff-World-city-Cartographers" target="_blank">World City Cartographers</a> (4 pages) </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The whole world is covered by a city, built by constructor golems whose
masters have long since vanished. Humans and other races survive between
the cracks of a city not built for them.
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?514824-Setting-Riff-21st-Century-Graverobber" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">21st Century Graverobber</a> (4 pages) </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Throughout recorded history, a secret elite have been borrowing the personal mojo of the good and the great by having their bodies sectioned up and parcelled out as a series of charms, amulets and decorative keychains.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?667876-Riff-Refuge-Sol" target="_blank">Refuge Sol</a> (3 pages)<br />
Aliens arrive, and they are refugees from an interstellar cataclysm.
Think District 9, but instead of one refugee ship there are two... then
three... then dozens... </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?667838-Brainstorming-Worldbuilding-The-Tyranny-of-the-Druids" target="_blank">The Tyranny of the Druids</a> (3 pages)<br />
A world ruled by mad druids imposing their stupid nature-protection
rules over everyone. A few renegades use forbidden wizard and cleric
magic to overthrow them. </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?603484-Riff-Starcana-Space-Fantasy-Tarot" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Starcana</a> (2 pages)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Epic space fantasy where each of the key players correspond to a different element of the Tarot deck. The heroes are the Knights, who have the choice between Pentacles, Staves, Cups or Swords. The Major Arcana are eldritch extradimensional entities against which the Arcana Knights struggle. </span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?609167-The-Chac-Mool-Mythos" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Chac Mool Mythos</a> (2 pages)</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">A "vastly more terrifying" take on the old belief-is-power trope.<br /><br /><u>Derivative Works</u><br /><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?647422-Princess-the-Hopeful-Thread-6-(Sailor)-Nothing-Can-Stop-Us-Now!" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Princess: The Hopeful</a> (link to 6th thread, which links in turn to other threads and wiki) (624 pages)<br />A New World of Darkness splat about magical girls and princesses who fight the darkness of the world with the power of hope.<br /><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?566161-Genius-the-Transgression-PhD" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Genius: The Transgression</a> (292 pages) (link to 3rd thread)<br />A several-thread-long exploration of Mad Scientists as a World-of-Darkness splat.<br /><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?372576-quot-Leviathan-the-Tempest-quot-Cooperative-Fan-Project" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Leviathan: the Tempest</a> (165 pages)<br />A nWoD fan project based on being a Lovecraftian water monster.<br />It has a spot on the rpgnet wiki <a href="http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/LeviathanTempest:Main_Page" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?438190-quot-Federal-Space-quot-%96-Shadowjack-s-alternative-Trek-setting-Image-Heavy" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Federal Space</a> (44 pages)<br />An alternate Star Trek universe.<br /><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?362498-NECRO-Hyboria-Mushroom-Kingdom-IT-WON-T-GET-OUT-OF-MY-HEAD!" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Hyboria+Mushroom Kingdom</a> (26 pages)<br />Grim 'n gritty Super Mario Brothers, viewed through the sword-and-sorcery lens of a Conan or John Carter. With a side journey into a Nintendo-franchise-shared-universe, but the meat of this one is the Mario The Barbarian aesthetic.<br /><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?393408-Muppet-The-Puppeting-(or-doing-something-stupid-with-a-straight-face)" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Muppet: The Puppeting</a> (24 pages)<br />The Muppets universe played straight.<br /><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?532433-Soo-Marvel-punk" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Marvel-punk</a> (21 pages)<br />Marvel comics in a cyberpunk universe? What's not to love?! It's a little more Shadowrun than Marvel 2099 in most of the posts, and there's the standard amount of debating over what makes a setting truly "punk," but this one has some real gems.<br /><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?430699-Setting-Riff-The-Seventh-Age-of-Middle-earth" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">The Seventh Age of Middle-Earth</a> (17 pages)<br />One of several similar such threads exploring the re-emergence of Middle-Earth in the modern era, this one is much better than most. The "found documents" expanding the setting are particularly cool (and I'm not just saying that because I contributed one!).<br /><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?657585-Brainstorming-Bogey-The-Labyrinthine" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Bogge: The Labyrinthine</a> (13 pages)<br />A New World of Darkness splat, based loosely on the concept of bogeymen. Bogges were once human beings who became lost in their dreams and entered into the Hallways - a world of nightmare unreality below the realm of dreams. Now, whenever a Bogge goes to sleep they are sent back to the Hallways and pursued by their Labyrinth: an entity of extradimensional horror that exists solely for them. Each Bogge has physical characteristics corresponding to one of the five senses, and they can join various social groups corresponding to the five stages of grief.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?326016-Setting-Ideas-Harry-Potter-American-Wizarding-Schools-(Long)" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Harry Potterverse in America</a> (13 pages)JK Rowling mentioned a few of the other schools of wizardry in Europe, but America goes completely unmentioned. This thread is fantastic and really long, looking into how the wizardry of the Old World would have changed as it came over to the New. IIRC, you've got people teleporting through telegraph wires instead of the Floo Network, you've got a Freemason-inspired school in New England, an Appalachia folksy school, an American Indian influenced school... a lot of great stuff in here. </span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?404565-Battlestar-Galactica-Build-me-a-second-fleet" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">[Battlestar Galactica] Build me a second fleet </a>(10 pages)<br />Most civilian craft that escaped the destruction of the Twelve Colonies were at the rally point set by President Roslin. However, out on the fringes of the colonies, another rally point was broadcast. The smugglers, pirates and fugitives that congregated in and around Hera and the outer reaches of the colonies maintained a certain ‘honour among thieves,’ and kept their own broadcast codes, which allowed those outside the law to communicate without the authorities being able to figure out what they were saying. Sure, the authorities would break every code eventually, but the codes changed every few months, often in ways that were designed to trick the authorities into believing that a previous code was still being used. It was in this smugglers’ code that the second rally point was broadcast.I want you to help me build the fleet of ships that responded to this broadcast. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?516616-nWoD-Exalted-the-Echoes" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Exalted: the Echoes</a> (9 pages)<br />A riff that attempts to take the myths of Exalted and create a nWoD game with them, much in the same way vampire and werewolf and wizard myths were the basis of the other games. Note: this is NOT Exalted in the modern world, it's thoroughly a nWoD game, with Exalted as it's inspiration. Towards the end of the thread, I point out how well this works with the Dark Hero archetype from Mirrors...</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?669854-riffy-What-if-Cthulhu-is-really-just-misunderstood-and-you-are-his-secret-agent" target="_blank">What if Cthulhu is really just misunderstood and you are his secret agent</a> (9 pages)<br />
"So, PC's do covert occult ops for Cthulhu because Big C wants a
post-roll-for-san-loss future for the species, a Humanity sufficiently
evolved so ordinary cosmic realities don't shatter our tiny minds
anymore.</span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The twist on this is that from the outside, what they're doing is <i>indistinguishable from delusional cultist Cthulhu worship</i>." </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br />
<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?277986-Otherpunk-Manifest-Destiny-Oz-%28or-Victoria-conquers-Wonderland%29" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Manifest Destiny+Oz (or: Victoria conquers Wonderland)</a> (7 pages)<br />What if the childhood discoveries of fantastic places lead to the rest of the earth getting in on it and conquering those places?What if Dorothy lead America to take over Oz and if Alice lead the British Empire to colonize Wonderland? </span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?227341-Reinterpreting-Cthulhu-Mythos-Cthulhu" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Reinterpreting Cthulhu Mythos: Cthulhu</a> (7 pages )<br />Inspired by the Ithaqua thread. How would you reinterpret/update the big guy Cthulhu?</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?616133-The-Battle-for-Neverland" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Battle for Neverland</a> (6 pages)<br />Where I get really inspired by the art of Jeffery Thomas' Twisted Disney Princess and try to make a setting out of it. Tinker Bell is the mad ruler of Neverland and she uses various fairy paths to other worlds, and other Disney Princess realms, to send armies of Lost Boys.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?303724-Transhuman-Space-Brainstorming-The-Robot-WhisperersHeres" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Transhuman Space Brainstorming: The Robot Whisperers</a> (5 pages)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The concept: A group of pansapient rights activists are funding an expedition to capture TSA AKVs that went rogue at the end of the Pacific War. Once a capture is accomplished, they plan to remove the AIs (the models TSA used were LAIs, but I figure a couple -- or, hell maybe even all of them -- could have evolved) and "resocialize them." </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?456778-Setting-Riff-Gotham-City-Inverted%21" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">Gotham City Inverted</a> (5 pages)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Fortunately,
the city is blessed with an abundance of crimefighters and vigilantes.
There's the Clown Detective, who brings his twisted insights to every
case, along with his balloon animals and squirting flower. There's
Black'n'White, who can switch from thinking like an honest man to
getting in the criminal's head as easily as flipping a coin. There's the
Puzzlemaster, who uses his enormous knowledge of trivia and logic to
unravel the most baffling crimes. And Shabazz, who came from distant
lands with his beloved daughter, and now protects his adopted hometown
with the ferocity of a mystical tiger. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?616022-Midichlorian-Outbreak" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Midichlorian Outbreak</a> (4 pages)<br />A cyberpunk-ish take on Star Wars where midichlorians are actually a virus. A small percentage of people who contract the disease survive and end up with Force powers.<br /><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?474758-Exalted-Alternate-Setting-1-000-000-BC-long" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Exalted: 1,000,000 BC </a>(4 pages)<br />A "naturalistic" take on Exalted, that supposes Exalted as the prehistory of our earth. It's... a little hard to explain, but I guess if one were to compare it to original Exalted, it'd be like comparing Science Fiction to "scifi," does that make sense?</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br />
<a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?209074-campaign-concept-G-I-Joe-deconstructed" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800;" target="_blank">G.I. Joe, deconstructed.</a> (4 pages)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Premise: After years of research and countless failed attempts, the finally found it: the formula to make a super-soldier. The details aren't important; maybe nanotech was involved, or perhaps quantum something-or-other, if you're feeling daring. The important part is, this procedure allows its subjects to bend reality in subtle but far-reaching ways. They aren't necessarily any stronger, faster, tougher, or smarter than their unenhanced peers; however, when they attempt something suicidally improbable, somehow, it usually works. Essentially, each and every subject becomes an action movie hero. </span></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="postcontent restore" style="margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?637320-My-Ideas-for-an-Inhumanoid-Campaign" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">My Ideas for an Inhumanoid Campaign</a> (2 pages)<br />Where I take the Inhumanoids cartoon from the 80s and turn it into a space opera.<br /><br /><br /><u>Collections</u><br /><br /><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?524028-Post-Your-Real-World-Campaign-Concepts" style="color: #563973; font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Real-World Campaign Concepts</a> (9 pages)<br />Campaign concepts that are set in the real world - no supernatural, fantastical or science fiction elements. Most of the concepts also stick roughly to the modern era, since historical concepts are a different matter again.</span></span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?667849-pitch-a-setting-Replace-the-word-superhero-with-another-word" target="_blank">Replace the word superhero with another word</a> (5 pages)<br />
One-post setting pitches where superpowers are tied to a particular class or profession, such as spies, drivers, or cowboys. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(more collections coming soon...)</span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-70674409208215134632012-10-31T09:03:00.001-07:002012-10-31T09:03:18.884-07:00The Wastes of Hellas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LfTaPit9T6o/UJFH7og6yoI/AAAAAAAAAwE/zWGDzcnkuLE/s1600/Henry-Cavill-Immortals-3-600x333.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LfTaPit9T6o/UJFH7og6yoI/AAAAAAAAAwE/zWGDzcnkuLE/s400/Henry-Cavill-Immortals-3-600x333.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Once, long ago, the world was good. The Hellenes lived under the protection of the Olympian gods, and made sacrifices in their honour. Life was not always easy, but it was right. Then came the opening of Tartarus, and the terrible Titans walked the earth once more. From that day forth, a dark cloud spread over humanity that has never yet lifted.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K8AD_zKExrU/UJFH8dsrfiI/AAAAAAAAAwM/LM3nZJ18Y48/s1600/Wrath-of-the-Titans-2012-Movie-Image-600x336.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K8AD_zKExrU/UJFH8dsrfiI/AAAAAAAAAwM/LM3nZJ18Y48/s400/Wrath-of-the-Titans-2012-Movie-Image-600x336.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Today, most of Hellas is a burning wasteland. The survivors of the human race dwell in a few isolated villages and walled city-states. The Olympian gods are all dead or missing, while the Titans roam the land committing random acts of destruction or extracting terrible tribute from the Hellenes. The wilderness is overrun with monsters - chimerae, cyclopes, sirens and hecatonchires. Only a few heroes, possessing the diluted bloodlines of the Olympians, can stand between these horrors and the last bastions of civilisation.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bslAfNx47wA/UJFH-kTybxI/AAAAAAAAAwc/zm7Xxyc5Yyk/s1600/Wrath_of_the_titans_chimera.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bslAfNx47wA/UJFH-kTybxI/AAAAAAAAAwc/zm7Xxyc5Yyk/s400/Wrath_of_the_titans_chimera.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Beyond the borders of Hellas are the lands of the barbarians, similarly devastated. There dwell a few uncivilised tribes, including the ferocious Amazons and the bestial Centaurs. Across the oceans lie the lost islands of Odysseus, the ruins of Troy, and the silent sands of Egypt.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZLQhQiviurE/UJFH7TSuyrI/AAAAAAAAAv8/iE_819SBEQQ/s1600/300FC-00013.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZLQhQiviurE/UJFH7TSuyrI/AAAAAAAAAv8/iE_819SBEQQ/s400/300FC-00013.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The Olympians are gone, but they left behind their ancient relics, the mysterious creations of Hephaestus and his craftsmen. Some adventurers seek to gain power and riches by excavating the works of the Olympians, while others aspire to discover Mount Olympus itself, which is rumoured to hold the secret of the Gods' destruction.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F2dqDoNhTMk/UJFH96ChvMI/AAAAAAAAAwU/zmybFCvXbZY/s1600/Wrath-of-the-Titans-2012-e1333284733658.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F2dqDoNhTMk/UJFH96ChvMI/AAAAAAAAAwU/zmybFCvXbZY/s400/Wrath-of-the-Titans-2012-e1333284733658.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
Other locations of note:<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uY3hooi0q-A/UJFH_8Tn8DI/AAAAAAAAAw0/eawVrkd3aOo/s1600/immortals-movie-wallpaper-8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uY3hooi0q-A/UJFH_8Tn8DI/AAAAAAAAAw0/eawVrkd3aOo/s400/immortals-movie-wallpaper-8.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
- Thebes, a city formerly ruled by the wise Oedipus. After he exiled himself, the city was struck with a plague and today is inhabited only by the shambling undead.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JlxrUlEePIE/UJFIBBfQT1I/AAAAAAAAAw8/A51ynX0zJM4/s1600/typhon.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JlxrUlEePIE/UJFIBBfQT1I/AAAAAAAAAw8/A51ynX0zJM4/s400/typhon.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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- Crete, a dystopian island state where slaves from the mainland are routinely sacrificed in the depths of the Cretan Labyrinth. It is rumoured that a Titan dwells in this Labyrinth, and the constant sacrifices are the only thing keeping Crete from being destroyed.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u_OEJ-vVYUU/UJFH_c9s3GI/AAAAAAAAAws/xjnbaKScwh0/s1600/immortals-movie-photos-09.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u_OEJ-vVYUU/UJFH_c9s3GI/AAAAAAAAAws/xjnbaKScwh0/s400/immortals-movie-photos-09.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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- Sparta, a fascist military city-state whose people are renowned for their discipline and bloodlust. The Spartans have survived the inhospitable conditions of the new world by making themselves into inhuman killing machines.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mXOKwc8PmmM/UJFH-ybHTTI/AAAAAAAAAwk/_wRq8d7ShSg/s1600/god_of_war_ii_conceptart_4ZqnD.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mXOKwc8PmmM/UJFH-ybHTTI/AAAAAAAAAwk/_wRq8d7ShSg/s400/god_of_war_ii_conceptart_4ZqnD.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r05MF0asqak/UJFH6A-PkyI/AAAAAAAAAvs/wUQUKAngqE8/s1600/2011_immortals_044.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r05MF0asqak/UJFH6A-PkyI/AAAAAAAAAvs/wUQUKAngqE8/s400/2011_immortals_044.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-38465318525073541702012-10-15T09:33:00.002-07:002012-10-15T09:33:38.291-07:00100 districts for a fantasy city(probably fantasy London)<br />
<br />
1. Maggot's End<br />
2. Scullion Corner<br />
3. Crow<br />
4. Menagerie<br />
5. Guts<br />
6. Greater Clacking<br />
7. Holy Word<br />
8. Heavy Rocks<br />
9. Archetype<br />
10. Stupid Hedge<br />
11. Yeast-Infection<br />
12. Babbling Tower<br />
13. Keepsilent<br />
14. Freezy Narrows<br />
15. Blue Barge<br />
16. Harbardsljod<br />
17. Vixeny<br />
18. Ottoman<br />
19. Freakshoe<br />
20. Blackheart-by-the-Bay<br />
21. Scorn<br />
22. Flaxen Flats<br />
23. Scoddy Crossroads<br />
24. Harm-Path<br />
25. Herpes Ridge<br />
26. Escutcheon<br />
27. Tlaxcala<br />
28. Nevermore<br />
29. Gilgamesh Pike<br />
30. Whiskey Corner<br />
31. Herne Park<br />
32. Fig Town<br />
33. Nobody-Knows-Who<br />
34. Monarch's Sorrow<br />
35. Paladin & Shrub<br />
36. Demonology Campus<br />
37. Hate Mansion<br />
38. Reverend-Upon-Dream<br />
39. Thirty Fathoms<br />
40. Craven's Isle<br />
41. Pirate Heights<br />
42. Halloween<br />
43. Feldspar<br />
44. Procession<br />
45. Wyrd<br />
46. Ananse Row<br />
47. Hoppington Market<br />
48. Grumpkin & Snark<br />
49. Yellow Lane<br />
50. Babel Square<br />
51. Shahnahmeh<br />
52. Playhouse Court<br />
53. Ginger Grove<br />
54. The Mellows<br />
55. Seven Sisters<br />
56. St. Witchettins<br />
57. Cream Puff<br />
58. Barricade Road<br />
59. Wyrm Rock<br />
60. Triggsford<br />
61. Pebble Park<br />
62. Swampy Bottom<br />
63. Pie Avenue<br />
64. Urdsbridge<br />
65. Gallowsbridge<br />
66. The Shadow Market<br />
67. Hiddeny Hollow<br />
68. Hopscotch<br />
69. Tintagel Island<br />
70. Highroad's Edge<br />
71. Greed's End<br />
72. Goblin-Barrel<br />
73. Serpents Mill<br />
74. Lord's Redoubt<br />
75. Hunter Street<br />
76. Etchings<br />
77. St. Plover<br />
78. Ettin Hill<br />
79. Timpani<br />
80. Croak Hill<br />
81. Gehenny Waters<br />
82. Herpecide Moon<br />
83. Mount Beryond<br />
84. Thripsey Shee<br />
85. Bridge<span style="background-color: white;">town</span><br />
86. Thistle Park<br />
87. Merrow Point<br />
88. Harper's Estuary<br />
89. Lawyer's Lock<br />
90. Ransom Canal<br />
91. Quickling Pier<br />
92. Jerrow Downs<br />
93. Fort Urizen<br />
94. Typhon's Field<br />
95. Frotter's Corner<br />
96. The Pit of Licentiousness<br />
98. Hand-Me-Down Town<br />
99. Bezoar<br />
100. RadishscapeWill B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-36320182294142040172012-10-12T18:36:00.000-07:002012-10-12T18:37:00.653-07:00Five Ghouls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZcQYMF2d_A8/UHjEjlte9FI/AAAAAAAAAs4/zrXG6ErrTVY/s1600/Mistwatch+Ghoul+Final+Small.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZcQYMF2d_A8/UHjEjlte9FI/AAAAAAAAAs4/zrXG6ErrTVY/s1600/Mistwatch+Ghoul+Final+Small.jpeg" width="212" /></a></div>
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1.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Ghouls are people who have given up their mortality through the consumption of human flesh. While occasional cannibals are merely degraded in their soul, those who eat their kin constantly will be transformed bodily as well. They take on a grave-like pallor, grow long limbs and lose their hair. Such twisted creatures do not age, but they pay the price of being unable to stomach any food besides human flesh. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Some who fear death will deliberately make ghouls of themselves to live longer, although ironically most ghouls die fairly quickly because it is so difficult to keep up a steady source of human meat. Those few who find a way to feed regularly may live for centuries.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Ghouls do not lose any intelligence or speech when they are transformed, but they rarely have much to say to humans.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-obZba9nFZVE/UHjDBmoWKWI/AAAAAAAAAsg/DmIaL9leZZA/s1600/Ghouls_labyrinth_sm.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-obZba9nFZVE/UHjDBmoWKWI/AAAAAAAAAsg/DmIaL9leZZA/s1600/Ghouls_labyrinth_sm.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
2.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Ghuls are a race that have lived alongside humanity for as long as history has been recorded. They have long brown limbs, doglike snouts and leathery flapping tongues. They dwell mostly in the desert or other secluded places. Ghuls usually live in a single house with a single family, multiple generations living together. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
By all accounts ghuls are kind and loving to one another, and in most respects are neither evil nor aggressive. The one exception is that they have a taste for human flesh, and are psychologically incapable of feeling any sympathy for humans or recognising them as sentient beings.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EKILUlfNarE/UHjDCOwfcWI/AAAAAAAAAso/siTiNZqu5Yk/s1600/ghoul.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EKILUlfNarE/UHjDCOwfcWI/AAAAAAAAAso/siTiNZqu5Yk/s1600/ghoul.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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3.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Ghouls are stunted creatures, about 3 feet tall, that dwell in graveyards. They make their nests in mausoleums and burrow into the graves of the recently dead to devour the rotting corpses. They are not often aggressive toward living humans, though they can be difficult to eradicate once they take hold in an area.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There is a distant land where it is considered ill luck to leave corpses buried in the ground, perhaps because of a plague of undead in the distant past. The people of this land keep a colony of ghouls in each graveyard and even venerate the creatures. Some travellers come from this place, posing as tinkers or circus performers, and bring with them a secret collection of ghouls that they distribute to each community that they visit. From their point of view, they are bringing good luck to the uncivilised citizens of a foreign country.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vEhFL02Er5M/UHjDBApZWDI/AAAAAAAAAsY/-DOoZNvhMBQ/s1600/23_Vesper_Ghoul.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vEhFL02Er5M/UHjDBApZWDI/AAAAAAAAAsY/-DOoZNvhMBQ/s1600/23_Vesper_Ghoul.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
4.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Ghuls are demonic desert-dwelling spirits, each one a descendant of the great fire-demon Iblis. Eternal tricksters, they possess the ability to mimic the appearance of any animal, and to mimic the appearance of a particular person or creature if they have devoured that person's corpse. Their powers grow in proportion to the isolation of the location. A ghul in the pathless desert is fearsome to behold, but even a simple road is enough to weaken the ghul considerably. In a town or city, a ghul is reduced to a miserable trembling creature that is easily caged. To counteract these weaknesses, ghuls will use their powers of illusion to lure travellers away from the road and into uncharted lands.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Some ghuls are captured by wayfarers and trapped in the heart of a large city, where they are displayed for the edification of sultans and commoners alike. Each of these captives is considered a grave insult by the ghuls. Legend tells of a sultan who grew too greedy and kept too many ghuls captive in his marvellous zoo. As a result, a great fiery dust storm destroyed his city and his people were scattered across endless wastes.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zmOr6WdZqMo/UHjEi_5jmNI/AAAAAAAAAsw/yKhuQQYOYaw/s1600/Ghoul-With-A-Pearl-Earing-49190.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zmOr6WdZqMo/UHjEi_5jmNI/AAAAAAAAAsw/yKhuQQYOYaw/s1600/Ghoul-With-A-Pearl-Earing-49190.jpeg" width="258" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
5.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Ghouls are creatures of dreams that hail from the vicinity of the evil star Algol. There they dwell in astral darkness, far from any planet or moon, frozen and sleeping. They can only escape this place when a deranged dreamer looks up at Algol while they are dreaming, and thereafter a ghoul will enter the person's dreams. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Ghouls can leap from one dreamer to another by links of sympathetic association, and they do so in order to find an easy victim. When the victim's dreams are utterly overtaken by the ghoul, it will devour their soul and then emerge from their nose to feast on their body as well. Other than this, ghouls are loath to come into the physical realm unless they are chased out by an experienced dreamer.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
None can say what happens to a ghoul after it devours its host. However, a few witnesses claim to have seen the ghoul vanishing into the sky, perhaps to sleep in astral darkness somewhere in the vicinity of our own sun.</div>
Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7635278160656788667.post-52865520328971557492012-10-03T18:59:00.001-07:002012-10-03T19:00:39.384-07:00Dice Drop Terrain Tables for D&D4EOne of the complaints that people have about D&D 4th edition is that it encourages 'My Precious Encounter' style DMing. That is, you spend ages crafting a beautiful encounter with complex monster powers and dynamic terrain, so your players are damn well going to encounter this encounter, whether they like it or not, whether they come up with a clever way to bypass it or not! And thus, railroading.<br />
<br />
Here's a (partial) solution to this: instead of preparing distinct terrain setpieces for every encounter, just use a table of terrain features for each environment. Toss 2-4 dice onto the battlemat when the encounter begins, and draw in the terrain features wherever they land. Of course you can still override this system when you need to, but it's just a tool. It means not only that you don't have to put so much sweat into any one encounter, but also that you can easily relocate an encounter from one area to another if the need arises. This does have the side effect of creating a world where more or less every location is full of potentially deadly environmental hazards, but I don't see this as a bug.<br />
<br />
Examples:<br />
<br />
<u>City Streets (d8)</u><br />
1: Winding stairs down from terrace that divides the battle area in two. Fall 10'/1d10 damage.<br />
2: Deep ditch full of shit. DC 15 Athletics to climb out.<br />
3: Street vendor who is angry at the combatants for driving away business. 20% chance of throwing alchemical vials for 1d8+2 damage.<br />
4: Circular fountain 4x4.<br />
5: Large brazier - attack roll to kick over, 2d8 damage + ongoing 5.<br />
6: Thoroughfare 3 squares wide. Each round, 50% chance of a cart racing past at speed 8, dealing 2d8 damage to anyone it runs over.<br />
7: Huge dungheap - anyone knocked into it it slowed and grants combat advantage - standard action to try and wipe it off (saving throw).<br />
8: Rickety scaffolding up against a wall, with ladders. Poles have AC 15, 1hp. 20' off the ground.<br />
<br />
<u>Tomb (d6)</u><br />
1: 1d4 coffins; Athletics DC 17 to put a lid on the coffin, whereafter anyone trapped inside must make a DC 25 Athletics check to bust out.<br />
2: Large spikes along nearest wall - knocked into or thrown onto them, take 2d8 damage and be impaled (immobile, save ends).<br />
3: Dart trap, triggered by pressure plate, fires across room at +10 to hit for 2d6 damage.<br />
4: Hole to lower level 2x2, with a 1-square ring around it of unstable ground that will collapse under the weight of a person. Fall 20'/ 2d10 damage.<br />
5: Large statue, Athletics DC 12 to push over, 2d8 damage and 50% chance to pin down (save ends).<br />
6: Bone pile, 8-10 squares in irregular shape, difficult terrain.<br />
<br />
<u>Wild Forest (d6)</u><br />
1: Beehive hanging from tree. Can be grabbed & thrown, DC 13 Nature or Thievery to not get stung, if you hit them they get stung, stinging is ongoing 5 damage and grant combat advantage (save ends).<br />
2: Embankment dividing up the play area. When sliding down, DC 10 Acrobatics to not fall prone. When climbing up, DC 13 Acrobatics/Athletics.<br />
3: 2d4 thickets, 2x2 each, difficult terrain.<br />
4: Stream bisecting the play area. 3-4 squares wide, difficult terrain.<br />
5: 2 animate thorn bushes that get angry if anyone runs into them. 2x2, will attack at +6 for 1d8+5 damage.<br />
6: Tarn, takes up all the space from the die to the nearest side of the map; some banks are up to 5' high, can't be climbed out except with a DC 20 Athletics, so you're better off swimming around.<br />
<br />
Sadly, the damage expressions and hit bonii and the like are still going to become obsolete fairly quickly as the PCs' and monsters' stats inflate with every level. Sigh...Will B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08203472570108282161noreply@blogger.com2