1 - Guide/tracker/hunter with a kukri-shortsword and bullwhip; full of attitude and one-liners.
2 - Tall, skinny, middle-aged bearer with a glum, drooping visage and persona; always chewing tobacco but never seems to spit.
3 - Brash, overbearing Sergeant with a mane of hair and an impressive mustache; bears a fancy saber; was an officer in a unit of lancers but resigned in disgrace. His shirts will tend to rip dramatically.
4 - Barefoot animal handler (mule, donkey, llama, pack horse, cart ox, monkey & dog); constantly plays simple tunes on a hand-carved wooden flute.
5 - Sailor/pilot/navigator, is always squinting, swears far too much; carries a morningstar made from a table-leg and nails.
6 - Water-finder ("Dowser") and forager; wears a wide brimmed, floppy, filthy,blackened, ancient, felt hat; hums tunelessly while engaged with duties.
7 - Towering (7'+) guard, dimwitted former athletics champion (discus,beam pitch, scrimmage and wrestling).
8 - Rowers/bearer/laborer with terrible teeth and is wiry instead of muscular; is a former petty criminal, has many sketchy connections and is always keen to offer unsolicited unscrupulous solutions to party dilemmas.
9 - A husky wrecker carrying a golf-bag like leathern container holding sledges, pickaxes, prybars, mallets, chisels, and the like. has enough knowledge of engineering and architecture (was a student before running out of money) to avoid bringing the roof down on the party while performing demolitions.
10 - Cook and provisioner with a sinister raspy voice that is always wearing a face-concealing hood; was disfigured in a fire; has a keen eye and nose for poisons and will attempt to subtly inspect fare that is offered to the party.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
d10 Random Mercenary Table
1 - 4d6 unarmored pygmy short-bow archers mounted upon muscular blind & deaf slaves; these mounts are directed by their riders via the agency of a variety of leg- and toe- clutches.
2 - 3d4 veiled, shirtless death-fanatics armed with poisoned scimitars and spiked shields.
3 - 4d6 stodgy, grumbling heavy footmen in mail hauberks and iron helms, armed with spears, maces and round-shields.
4 - 2d4 athletic, dashing charioteer-lancers clad in brass-scaled cuirass and lion-helms, with attendant squire-drivers.
5 - 3d6 sneering, fearless tribal nomad pony skirmishers, armed with javelins, lances and sword-knives; clad in studded furs and hides.
6 - 2d8 unemployed toughs and labourers armed with cudgels and hatchets.
7 - 3d4 towering barbarian maul-wielders clad in banded mail and full helms, also carries javelins and short-swords; trained in breaking enemy-formations.
8 - 6d4 pikemen in colorful quilted silk armor, secondary weapons are a mixture of war-hammers, shortswords, light maces and hand axes.
9 - 4d4 hard-bitten halabardiers in black-enameled scale mail and helms; also carry kite shields and broad swords.
10 - 6d6 adolescent spear-men from the hill clans, full of bravado yet inexperienced; also carrying round shields, javelins and axes or short swords.
2 - 3d4 veiled, shirtless death-fanatics armed with poisoned scimitars and spiked shields.
3 - 4d6 stodgy, grumbling heavy footmen in mail hauberks and iron helms, armed with spears, maces and round-shields.
4 - 2d4 athletic, dashing charioteer-lancers clad in brass-scaled cuirass and lion-helms, with attendant squire-drivers.
5 - 3d6 sneering, fearless tribal nomad pony skirmishers, armed with javelins, lances and sword-knives; clad in studded furs and hides.
6 - 2d8 unemployed toughs and labourers armed with cudgels and hatchets.
7 - 3d4 towering barbarian maul-wielders clad in banded mail and full helms, also carries javelins and short-swords; trained in breaking enemy-formations.
8 - 6d4 pikemen in colorful quilted silk armor, secondary weapons are a mixture of war-hammers, shortswords, light maces and hand axes.
9 - 4d4 hard-bitten halabardiers in black-enameled scale mail and helms; also carry kite shields and broad swords.
10 - 6d6 adolescent spear-men from the hill clans, full of bravado yet inexperienced; also carrying round shields, javelins and axes or short swords.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Sarkhang - The Master of Unclean Spirits; The Arkhekarcirst
The patron of Black Sorcery; Mental Control and Domination; Karcists; The Binding of Demons and Unclean Spirits; and those that practice acts of inmaterial projection in the Abyssal Realms, Sarkhang is invariably depicted as man-like figure, robed and hooded in rich, dark fabrics, wearing a skull-like metal mask and with one arm bare aside for wrappings, all the way from the shoulder down to the tips of the fingers, of metal foil bandages and bearing a wavy, double-edged, slender long knife or short sword. Conflicting legends abound about The Master of Unclean Spirits; some speak of him as having originally been one of the Lords of Light in aeons long past who was corrupted by the Lords of Change and performed a foul betrayal; others claim that Sarkhang was born of the Abyss and infiltrated the Lords of Light disguised as a foreign savant-deity before performing misdeeds. In both varieties, Sarkhang is captured by the Lawful Deities he betrays, who "shattered" him before scattering his "pieces" across the physical layers of the universe. Some tales claim that Sarkhang was horribly disfigured as a punishment for his crimes against the Lords of Light and thereby wears his mask to conceal his mutilation; others claim that the mask is a means of occulting the mind-blasting horror of Sakhang's true visage.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Magic Item - Vroat Vase
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
[non-Algol] The Boulder-Wives of the Dwarfs
Multiple theories, such as that Dwarf-Women were bearded and indistinguishable from the Dwarf-Men, or that Dwarf-Men kept the Dwarf-Women secluded in seraglios within secret Dwarf-Cities, have been advanced for the notable absence of Dwarf-Women; in actuality the answer is remarkably simple and could be considered to have been "right before our noses."
The Boulder-Wives of the Dwarf folk range from four to six feet in diameter, with a gray, stony, smooth body, featureless aside from the vague anatomical suggestion of some interior division into four lobes, with a small pore at one end, and a small tight-lipped, cross-shaped orifice at the opposite end.
Supposition holds that the Boulder-Wives are some form of mindless invertebrate, although Dwarf-Men insist that they communicate with and have a relationship with their "Mates." The Boulder-Wives have a n especially slow metabolism, respiring and absorbing moisture from the atmosphere via osmosis through microscopic organs in their tough cuticle in the fashion of many forms of vegetation; they excrete a tiny amount of crumbly, pebbly black matter from their pore, and receive nutrition and fertilization through their tetrameric orifice.
A Boulder-Wife become fertile for a short period of time once every hundred years or so; after a decade an un-fertilized Boulder-Wife excretes a fist-sized Boulder-Maid, whereas a Boulder-Wife that has been fertilized will instead excrete a tiny pebble-like egg.
The Dwarfs place these eggs in a golden tray containing a mixture of gold dust, manure and liquor, which eventually produces a Dwarf-Fingerling; a tiny, maggot-like creature with tiny hairy, bearded Dwarf-head which will live in the mixture within the tray for several years, gaining a significant amount of mass, before pupating and metamorphosing into a child-sized Dwarf-Man.
The Boulder-Wives of the Dwarf folk range from four to six feet in diameter, with a gray, stony, smooth body, featureless aside from the vague anatomical suggestion of some interior division into four lobes, with a small pore at one end, and a small tight-lipped, cross-shaped orifice at the opposite end.
Supposition holds that the Boulder-Wives are some form of mindless invertebrate, although Dwarf-Men insist that they communicate with and have a relationship with their "Mates." The Boulder-Wives have a n especially slow metabolism, respiring and absorbing moisture from the atmosphere via osmosis through microscopic organs in their tough cuticle in the fashion of many forms of vegetation; they excrete a tiny amount of crumbly, pebbly black matter from their pore, and receive nutrition and fertilization through their tetrameric orifice.
A Boulder-Wife become fertile for a short period of time once every hundred years or so; after a decade an un-fertilized Boulder-Wife excretes a fist-sized Boulder-Maid, whereas a Boulder-Wife that has been fertilized will instead excrete a tiny pebble-like egg.
The Dwarfs place these eggs in a golden tray containing a mixture of gold dust, manure and liquor, which eventually produces a Dwarf-Fingerling; a tiny, maggot-like creature with tiny hairy, bearded Dwarf-head which will live in the mixture within the tray for several years, gaining a significant amount of mass, before pupating and metamorphosing into a child-sized Dwarf-Man.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Every Monster Book Should Include Encounter Tables
By terrain type and dungeon level, utilizing all of and only the monsters contained in the book, and not those 2-20 tables - which are great for specialized tables, but the failure of the AD&D Monster Manual II is that it doesn't have the comprehensive d% encounter tables in the back like the Fiend Folio.
With the caveat that monsters books containing only a few monsters would be exempt.
With such a protocol in place a DM could easily make up encounter tables like:
d% --- Monster Book Encounter Table
01-24 Human - use Swords & Wizardry City Encounters or other resource
25-49 AD&D Fiend Folio
50 Random Esoteric Creature Generator
51-60 Arduin Trilogy
61-70 OSRIC Monsters of Myth
71-80 OSRIC Malevolent and Benign
81-90 Swords & Wizardry Monster Book
91-00 Tome of Horrors Complete
With the number of monsters listed in each book, an obsessive DM could easily assign d% probabilities according to monster book content quantities.
I think it's great that so many OSR monster books contain indexes with monster listings by dungeon level, terrain type, and so forth, I just wish that they'd take that extra step and tack some sort of arbitrary random table function onto these listings, just for "instant functionality."
With the caveat that monsters books containing only a few monsters would be exempt.
With such a protocol in place a DM could easily make up encounter tables like:
d% --- Monster Book Encounter Table
01-24 Human - use Swords & Wizardry City Encounters or other resource
25-49 AD&D Fiend Folio
50 Random Esoteric Creature Generator
51-60 Arduin Trilogy
61-70 OSRIC Monsters of Myth
71-80 OSRIC Malevolent and Benign
81-90 Swords & Wizardry Monster Book
91-00 Tome of Horrors Complete
With the number of monsters listed in each book, an obsessive DM could easily assign d% probabilities according to monster book content quantities.
I think it's great that so many OSR monster books contain indexes with monster listings by dungeon level, terrain type, and so forth, I just wish that they'd take that extra step and tack some sort of arbitrary random table function onto these listings, just for "instant functionality."
Sunday, February 20, 2011
You Need a Wizards.com Account to Email WOTC?!?!
So I saw the column by Mike Mearls of WOTC that makes an appeal for unity among fans of the various editions of Dungeons & Dragons.
As so many other have noted, that's a great sentiment, but what would really make it shine would be making PDFs of legacy TSR products available for legal purchase...watermark them, POD only, I don't care, I just would like to own a legal copy of The Underworld & Wilderness Adventure without shelling out enough $$ to enrage the wifely creature.
"Well," I thought, "the right thing to do would be to drop WOTC a friendly email about Mike Mearls' column with a polite request for PDFs and/or POD of out-of-print D&D/TSR material." No nerd-rage, no brow-beating, just bit of consumer feedback.... (follow the links)
http://www.wizards.com/Company/Contact.aspx
No way bub...these colours don't run! Anytime some corporate entity tries to cajole me into "registering" they can kiss my butt; you suits can pry my date of birth, gender and zip code out of my cold dead hands!
As so many other have noted, that's a great sentiment, but what would really make it shine would be making PDFs of legacy TSR products available for legal purchase...watermark them, POD only, I don't care, I just would like to own a legal copy of The Underworld & Wilderness Adventure without shelling out enough $$ to enrage the wifely creature.
"Well," I thought, "the right thing to do would be to drop WOTC a friendly email about Mike Mearls' column with a polite request for PDFs and/or POD of out-of-print D&D/TSR material." No nerd-rage, no brow-beating, just bit of consumer feedback.... (follow the links)
http://www.wizards.com/Company/Contact.aspx
"...You’ve got a question for us, we’d love to answer it. Sure, we’ll have to take a break from whatever game it is we’re playing, but we don’t mind—that’s what we’re here for.
www.wizards.com/customerservice..."
"...Click the "Email Us" tab..."
"...Email Us..."
"Don't have an account?So it appears that in order to send WOTC an email I must jump through the hoops of creating a Wizards.com account? Is that really necessary? I'm sorry, but on my end it looks like WOTC is trying to strong-arm me into doing their data mining for them by putting email contact behind a registration wall.
To begin creating an account, please enter your date of birth.
Date of Birth:
month/
day/
year..."
No way bub...these colours don't run! Anytime some corporate entity tries to cajole me into "registering" they can kiss my butt; you suits can pry my date of birth, gender and zip code out of my cold dead hands!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Today's Print Shop PDF Digest-Sized Booklet Blowout
Bottom Row: Pas Fortuna Basic; LL Realms of Crawling Chaos; Kellri's GW Scavenger's Field Guide; Melan's Sword & Magic; Swords & Wizardry Complete; OD&D Terminal Space; Courtney Campbell's Treasure.
My next print shop digest-sized booklet blowout will probably involve The Esoteric Creature Generator; Adventure's Dark & Deep Gamemaster's Toolkit; Swords & Wizardry Whitebox; XRP Malevolent & Benign; Kellri's AD&D Old School Spell Reference; AEG Toolbox; Gamm World 1st ed; Empire of the Petal Throne; Stars Without Number (how am I going to staple that one?!?!); etc. etc.
I'll probably start collecting digest sized adventures next as well, such as The Temple of the Toad, The Dreadful Island, Gabor Lux's output, Castle of the Mad Archmage, and so forth, so as to have a nice, deep selection of pregenerated adventure fodder.
The goal of all this silliness is to have all of my reference material in handy, portable digest-sized format, not only for dungeonmastering but also for quick, convenient reference while writing or working on dungeons. The idea that one "griefcase" could contain a wide, deep library of gaming material is one that appeals to me.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Somewhat Relevant to the Sexualized RPG Art Debate
It is the only piece of RPG art I can think of that depicts a woman with "Junk in the Trunk." Now lots of women have big butts, and lots of guys find them an attractive feature, but in both RPG art and in pop culture in general, ladies with big butts are practically non-existent.
Now, I'm not a big ass fetishist or anything (although I find all sorts of body types attractive), but I find it indicative of how narrowly women are presented in RPG art and pop culture that such a common (and commonly found attractive) body type practically does not exist in the media.
Aside from that, regarding the Sexualized Women in RPG Art issue, Stefan Poag pretty much hits the nail right on the head as far as I'm concerned; my take is that I enjoy and appreciate cheesecake, IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE CHEESECAKE ALL OF THE GODDAMN TIME; I appreciate realistic depictions of all sorts of men and women (such as Trampiers and Sutherlands AD&D "adventuring dads with mustaches" and the LOTFP Flame Princess), and I'd like to see more of them instead of T&A ALL OF THE GODDAMN TIME.
I'm sure a big proportion of female adventurers would be pretty rugged and hard bitten; both Valeria from Conan the Barbarian and Grace Jones from Conan the Destroyer are some of my favorite depictions of female fantasy adventurers; they're tough, rugged, athletic and almost scary while being sexy in a "realistic" instead of idealized fashion...not that every depiction of a female adventurer has to be sexy for fuck's sake!
And no, even though I think the big butt issue in RPG art is a pertinent issue, it's not like I'm a giant ass fetishist or anything...no...not me...
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
GUG!
...the lack of Gugs is nearly as unforgivable as the lack of Ghoul PCs...
NO. APPEARING 1-3
ARMOR CLASS 2[17], 6[13] vs Ghouls
MOVE 150' (50')
HIT DICE 10
% IN LAIR 25%
ATTACKS 4 claws (1-6/1-6/1-6/1-6) and bite (1-10)
SPECIAL Rending; -4 on attacks vs Ghouls
SAVE Fighter 10[5]
SAVE Fighter 10[5]
MORALE 10, 4 vs Ghouls
INTELLIGENCE Average
ALIGNMENT Chaotic evil
SIZE L (20'+ tall)
If a gug strikes a single opponent with two or more of its claws, it deals addition damage dependent upon the number of successful claw attacks, 1-8 for two, 2-16 for three, and 3-24 if all four strike.
Stefan Poag - Pure Class!
I've made no secret of my admiration for Stefan Poag; I love his lurid artwork; I love Mines of Khunmar; I love his unabashed enthusiasm for gruesome, perverse and scatological subject matter; I love how he's kind of a dick (with a heart of gold) on his blog; I love Exquisite Corpses.
Anyways, when he first released Exquisite Corpses I immediately snagged the (temporarily) free PDF; my gaming group had a hardcopy as well. I had always meant to buy the print version, but like a chump there was always something else sucking up my $$.
Today I finally manned-up and bought a print copy from Lulu; afterwards I found the following message in my inbox:
This beer and this bong rip are a toast to Stefan Poag, one of the finest gentlemen of the OSR!
Anyways, when he first released Exquisite Corpses I immediately snagged the (temporarily) free PDF; my gaming group had a hardcopy as well. I had always meant to buy the print version, but like a chump there was always something else sucking up my $$.
Today I finally manned-up and bought a print copy from Lulu; afterwards I found the following message in my inbox:
"Thank you for your order. Your support is appreciated.Sure it's an automated message, but it's appreciated and is a testament to Stefan's character.
regards
stef"
This beer and this bong rip are a toast to Stefan Poag, one of the finest gentlemen of the OSR!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Sea of Spices - Location Influences Brainstorming
The Boats of the Glen Carrig Weed-Continent/Mini-R'lyeh
Mini Dreamtime Australia
Skull Island/Dino Island
Submerged Air-filled Dome City
Drowned City Ruins - visible from surface
Interzone
The Nameless City
A Black Ziggurat
Gigantic Jungle Cave System
Sorcerer's Tower
Ape Civilization
Scylla
Sea monster graveyard
Monstro - Giant whale that swallows vessels whole a la Pinocchio
Sinbad islands
Necromancer civilization
Miniature cyclops civilization island
Man eating homo floresiensis island
Ridiculously Tall Mountain/Volcano Island (possible landmark for navigation?)
Ancient Faux-Spaniard Ruins (although I originally imagined the Sea of Spices of being pre-Age of Exploration, it struck me to "invert time/history" with the Spaniard-analogue civilization, long since vanished from the world, having attempted to colonize the region in the far distant past)
Mini Dreamtime Australia
Skull Island/Dino Island
Submerged Air-filled Dome City
Drowned City Ruins - visible from surface
Interzone
The Nameless City
A Black Ziggurat
Gigantic Jungle Cave System
Sorcerer's Tower
Ape Civilization
Scylla
Sea monster graveyard
Monstro - Giant whale that swallows vessels whole a la Pinocchio
Sinbad islands
Necromancer civilization
Miniature cyclops civilization island
Man eating homo floresiensis island
Ridiculously Tall Mountain/Volcano Island (possible landmark for navigation?)
Ancient Faux-Spaniard Ruins (although I originally imagined the Sea of Spices of being pre-Age of Exploration, it struck me to "invert time/history" with the Spaniard-analogue civilization, long since vanished from the world, having attempted to colonize the region in the far distant past)
Fat Cotton Knocks Another One Out Of The Park & AD&D Spell Analysis Request
Also, does anyone know of any online analysis of AD&D spells and their casting times? With all the hobbyist Gygaxian research floating around on the net, someone must have done the number crunching regarding AD&D spells and how many segments it takes to cast them? The discussion regarding The Black Lasher made me realize that I need to include AD&D/OSRIC information with the Gramaree spells in order for full-universal-oldschool D&D utility.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Further OSR Adventure Path Brainstorming - The Sea of Spices & Napalm Death on Children's Programme
Influences:
Abraham Merritt
Age Of Fable
Barbary Corsairs
Cargo Cults
Clark Ashton Smith
Dream Park
The Dream Quest Of Unknown Kadath
Headhunting
Jack Vance
Kumari Kandam
Lemuria
Mu
Nidus !!! (funny how things come full circle..Ouroboros!)
The Odyssey
Orientalism !!!
Polynesia
Pre-Spanish Philippines
Sinbad the Sailor
Skull Island
Southeast Asia
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
You could use the same setting and materials for three very different experiences...you could run multiple parties through the different "paths" (or on the same path for some competition!) for a dynamic campaign experience.
Anyways, so The Sea of Spices is the location of this thought experiment; as I'm directly referencing many elements of our world's cultures in this, that means I get to use the classic rpg standby of "ham-handed interpretations of real life historical cultures with their serial numbers filed off."
I imagine the Sea of Spices being well-isolated from the continental landmasses; interlopers from these far away regions may be bold explorers, colonial powers, or merely those blown of course/very very lost. From my list of influences the following "faux-cultures" emerge as being non-indigenous people, with all of them being filtered through an inaccurate, Orientalist lens:
Faux-Ancient Greeks - WASP-ish dudes with British accents in fancy bronze armor that act like classical Greek heroes & philosophers.
Faux-Arab/Berbers - Dudes that wear giant turbans and eyeliner; upper class & sorcerer types have British accents.
Faux-Dravidians - Hindu mythological epic style warlords and priests.
Faux-Southeast Asian Types - Dudes with Ankhor Wat style architecture that ride elephants into war
I like this mix...four different cultural groups, four languages, a nice mix of ethnicities to keep things from being too whitebread. Now I need to come up with names for these peoples/cultures. (Iskanders, Sindhus, Kumarikantams & Ankhors?)
Also, this is PRETTY FREAKING AWESOME:
Abraham Merritt
Age Of Fable
Barbary Corsairs
Cargo Cults
Clark Ashton Smith
Dream Park
The Dream Quest Of Unknown Kadath
Headhunting
Jack Vance
Kumari Kandam
Lemuria
Mu
Nidus !!! (funny how things come full circle..Ouroboros!)
The Odyssey
Orientalism !!!
Polynesia
Pre-Spanish Philippines
Sinbad the Sailor
Skull Island
Southeast Asia
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
"The "Sea of Spices" may be considered a misnomer, as in actuality it consists of an uncounted legion of islands and islets, the remains of a submerged mountainous continent, in the cyclone lashed midst of the tropical region of the great ocean, isolated from the other continents of the world; legendary for its wealth in spices, fragrant gums, narcotics, feathers, furs, gems and precious metals."One though I've come up with in regards to a theorhetical OSR adventure path is that there could be multiple "paths"; you have the pulp fantasy, greed motivated Treasure Hunt; but you could also incorporate a "Save The Heir/Princess" as alternate or additional "path," one that could appeal to altruistic or roleplay motivations ("Dude...I'm going to make that princess fall in love with me!); and a third "evil" path such as "Summon mini-Cthulhu to serve the party as an empire building war beast."
You could use the same setting and materials for three very different experiences...you could run multiple parties through the different "paths" (or on the same path for some competition!) for a dynamic campaign experience.
Anyways, so The Sea of Spices is the location of this thought experiment; as I'm directly referencing many elements of our world's cultures in this, that means I get to use the classic rpg standby of "ham-handed interpretations of real life historical cultures with their serial numbers filed off."
I imagine the Sea of Spices being well-isolated from the continental landmasses; interlopers from these far away regions may be bold explorers, colonial powers, or merely those blown of course/very very lost. From my list of influences the following "faux-cultures" emerge as being non-indigenous people, with all of them being filtered through an inaccurate, Orientalist lens:
Faux-Ancient Greeks - WASP-ish dudes with British accents in fancy bronze armor that act like classical Greek heroes & philosophers.
Faux-Arab/Berbers - Dudes that wear giant turbans and eyeliner; upper class & sorcerer types have British accents.
Faux-Dravidians - Hindu mythological epic style warlords and priests.
Faux-Southeast Asian Types - Dudes with Ankhor Wat style architecture that ride elephants into war
I like this mix...four different cultural groups, four languages, a nice mix of ethnicities to keep things from being too whitebread. Now I need to come up with names for these peoples/cultures. (Iskanders, Sindhus, Kumarikantams & Ankhors?)
Also, this is PRETTY FREAKING AWESOME:
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Jewel Throne Preview - The Black Lasher
Artwork by Johnathan Bingham
The Black Lasher
Level: Magic-User 3
Range: Caster
Duration: 10 minutes
The caster's left arm becomes a whip-like tentacle of thorny black rubbery flesh that can stretch out to a length of 30 feet. The caster may attack with this limb as a monster with as many Hit Dice as the caster's Levels, inflicting 1d8 points of damage on a hit and on an unadjusted attack roll of 20 the tentacle can wrap around and constrict the target, automatically inflicting 1d8 points of damage per round. The tentacle has an Armor Class of 3[16], with all successful attacks against it injuring the caster; it can take up to half the casters maximum hit points of damage before it is severed, dissolving into black slime and requiring the caster to make a successful Saving Throw vs. Death or lose their left arm.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Dungeon Tactics - "The Bathysphere"
A Bathysphere is a character with good armor class, hit points, and saving throws; a Dwarf with a few levels under their belt and magic armor is an excellent candidate, especially with their Infravision. If you have a 3rd level Magic-User, throw an Invisibility spell on the Bathysphere.
The function of the Bathysphere is to serve as an "Iron Scout"; whereas conventional dungeoneering scouting wisdom involves the use of a stealthy character, the problem with using a Thief for scouting is that they usually have crap hit points, leather armor, unreliable stealth skills, and usually require some form of light source - the result being that when a thief style scout inevitably encounters monsters or a trap they have a fair chance of ending up dead.
In contrast the Bathysphere is durable, a tough bugger that has a good chance of surviving traps and encounters; and if the monsters or trap are especially lethal, the Bathysphere dies instead of the entire party. Whereas the traditional Thief scout can be a tissue paper pinata, the Bathysphere is a freaking Bomb Disposal Robot.
While dungeoneering, the group that I play in has utilized Dwarven Bathyspheres to great effect...instead of a cowering, fragile Thief scout they're highly effective as bold, confident, durable scouts; whereas sending a Thief on a solo scouting mission can be a callous gamble, the Bathysphere has a damn good chance of making it back with the intel and/or loot in one piece.
The function of the Bathysphere is to serve as an "Iron Scout"; whereas conventional dungeoneering scouting wisdom involves the use of a stealthy character, the problem with using a Thief for scouting is that they usually have crap hit points, leather armor, unreliable stealth skills, and usually require some form of light source - the result being that when a thief style scout inevitably encounters monsters or a trap they have a fair chance of ending up dead.
In contrast the Bathysphere is durable, a tough bugger that has a good chance of surviving traps and encounters; and if the monsters or trap are especially lethal, the Bathysphere dies instead of the entire party. Whereas the traditional Thief scout can be a tissue paper pinata, the Bathysphere is a freaking Bomb Disposal Robot.
While dungeoneering, the group that I play in has utilized Dwarven Bathyspheres to great effect...instead of a cowering, fragile Thief scout they're highly effective as bold, confident, durable scouts; whereas sending a Thief on a solo scouting mission can be a callous gamble, the Bathysphere has a damn good chance of making it back with the intel and/or loot in one piece.
A Clarification re. the "OSR Adventure Path" and Other Flights of Fancy
Usually when I make a blog post along the lines of "Wouldn't it be cool if someone made a book of hexmap sandboxes" or "Someone should make a quality, non-railroady OSR Adventure Path," it is not a case of me coyly saying "I'm thinking about making the aforementioned product..hint...hint.." it's pretty much me saying "I wish someone would make this so I could buy and use it," or, to be pithy, "I hope someone takes this idea and Petty Gods it..."
I'm just pointing this, because with the comments left in some of my wishful thinking posts, some folks seem to be operating under the misapprehension that I am considering writing said wishful thinking products. When I win the lottery (which will never happen...) I'd love to ditch my day job and become a gentleman hobbyist publisher that throws money at fine folks to make my dream RPG products, but in the meantime, it's just a hobby :)
I'm just pointing this, because with the comments left in some of my wishful thinking posts, some folks seem to be operating under the misapprehension that I am considering writing said wishful thinking products. When I win the lottery (which will never happen...) I'd love to ditch my day job and become a gentleman hobbyist publisher that throws money at fine folks to make my dream RPG products, but in the meantime, it's just a hobby :)
Friday, February 4, 2011
The Dreaded Isle! and Further OSR Adventure Path Thoughts
Firstly: http://www.goblinoidgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=284 ; an Awesome-Awesome-Awesome tribute to the X1:Isle of Dread; holy crap, the 4th level chimpanzee thief!
Secondly, the grumpy old man of the OSR, The Chicago Wizard, has some great feedback regarding my musing regarding a theoretical OSR Adventure Path:
However, what I would be interested in would be an Adventure Path without the "Paths"; an Adventure Path where "certain things do not have to happen," an Adventure Path that does promote out of the box thinking, original creativity and freedom.
That's why I think an archipelago treasure hunt could be a great framing device for a non-railroady, creative Adventure Path...one that encourages lateral thinking, originality, unconventional play. An Adventure Path that won't be broken if the players don't follow the script.
Secondly, the grumpy old man of the OSR, The Chicago Wizard, has some great feedback regarding my musing regarding a theoretical OSR Adventure Path:
"...Paths limit what a player can do. I'm not interested in appealing to mass market. If someone isn't going to "grok" out-of-the-box thinking, then probably old school gaming isn't what's going to appeal to them.Those are pertinent points; firstly, I think there is no shame in a railroad as long as that's what all of the participants expect and want (just as long as they are made aware of other options!); secondly, although I care little for mass market appeal, I think such an OSR Adventure Path could be a great way to bring folks that do not care for complex iterations of D&D into the OSR, you grab a copy of Swords & Wizardry or Labyrinth Lord and an Adventure Path and you've got a campaign, ready to use!
In those "paths", certain things "have to happen" just like in a computer game or our favorite later editions. How does that promote out of the box thinking, original creativity or freedom?"
However, what I would be interested in would be an Adventure Path without the "Paths"; an Adventure Path where "certain things do not have to happen," an Adventure Path that does promote out of the box thinking, original creativity and freedom.
That's why I think an archipelago treasure hunt could be a great framing device for a non-railroady, creative Adventure Path...one that encourages lateral thinking, originality, unconventional play. An Adventure Path that won't be broken if the players don't follow the script.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Random Thoughts - Does The OSR Need An Adventure Path?
Now we all know that Sandboxes are the one-true-way of the highest expressions of RPG mastery, but... not everyone wants the same thing. There's been discussion about what is needed as an introductory product to draw new players into oldschool D&D-ish games; what kind of experience do most contemporary (non-mmo) computer & console RPGs offer? What kind of expectations would some kid off the street have regarding fantasy adventure?
There's no reason that an Adventure Path has to be a tasteless save-the-world railroad. It can be a series of interconnected sandbox-ish environments with an overarching narrative. A picaresque pulp serial instead of Dragonlance.
Now, just as a thought experiment, imagine an Adventure Path released by a respectable, quality OSR publisher. An Adventure Path that has a grand caper as the overarching structure, a treasure hunt, perhaps the pieces of a treasure map need to be assembled; a series of MacGuffins that need to be collected before one can get their paws on the super-super MacGuffinf?
I'm imagining an Adventure Path in the vein of Ulysses, Odysseys, and Sinbad. A mysterious sea with a variety of fantastic and bizarre islands. As most published and homebrew campaign settings include oceans, and most also do not describe the entire world, such a setting should be easy to shoehorn into an established campaign world.
Imagine such a path with episodes written by Gabor Lux, Matt Finch, James Raggi, Geoffrey Mckinnley, etc...
There's no reason that an Adventure Path has to be a tasteless save-the-world railroad. It can be a series of interconnected sandbox-ish environments with an overarching narrative. A picaresque pulp serial instead of Dragonlance.
Now, just as a thought experiment, imagine an Adventure Path released by a respectable, quality OSR publisher. An Adventure Path that has a grand caper as the overarching structure, a treasure hunt, perhaps the pieces of a treasure map need to be assembled; a series of MacGuffins that need to be collected before one can get their paws on the super-super MacGuffinf?
I'm imagining an Adventure Path in the vein of Ulysses, Odysseys, and Sinbad. A mysterious sea with a variety of fantastic and bizarre islands. As most published and homebrew campaign settings include oceans, and most also do not describe the entire world, such a setting should be easy to shoehorn into an established campaign world.
Imagine such a path with episodes written by Gabor Lux, Matt Finch, James Raggi, Geoffrey Mckinnley, etc...
Screw Box Sets - I Want a Kard & Magica Ziplock Bag Set!
Ziplock bag sets? I remember them from the beginning of the eighties while sifting through the shelves of game stores. Cheaply printed booklets and sheets, in a dull, vaguely-transparent plastic sheath, usually with a dot-matrix printer sticker explaining the contents. Good lord, what a beautiful thing!
I love Gabor Lux's adventures for the Wilderlands and Fomalhaut; I love what has been translated (or I have translated myself) of the rules for his 3E/retro-clone hybrid Kard & Magica (Sword & Magic in English...but I prefer Kard & Magica!); I want them all, in digest-booklet form, with Gabor Lux generated artwork, in a greasy zip-lock set with a dot-matrix printer label!
I love Gabor Lux's adventures for the Wilderlands and Fomalhaut; I love what has been translated (or I have translated myself) of the rules for his 3E/retro-clone hybrid Kard & Magica (Sword & Magic in English...but I prefer Kard & Magica!); I want them all, in digest-booklet form, with Gabor Lux generated artwork, in a greasy zip-lock set with a dot-matrix printer label!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Jewel Throne Update & 'Catholic' Retro-Clone Stat Block
Firstly, I HAVE THE JOESKY BARBARIAN CLASS WRITE-UP ON MY COMPUTER!!1 It emulates the over-the-top cartoon shirtless cliche, and also has an Encounter Critical style level advancement scheme! Between this guy and the Netherwerks Robot Fighter, one of the themes of this issue will be "Comic Book Character Classes," which is pretty cool. I wish someone would make a retro-clone-ish RPG designed to emulate eighties fantasy comic books like THE WARLORD and ARION: LORD OF ATLANTIS...
Secondly, I have a rough assembled document of all of the material I have so far, and at digest-size with 10-point Arial type, it's over sixty pages.
Also, Red Box Vancouver stalwart Johnstone has a submission he's working on, "...a random technology generator for Planet Algol and other Swords & Saucers style games. Or Gamma World and post-apocalyptic settings. And Jack Kirby settings." Jack Kirby settings!
As I'm compiling and editing the material, I'm trying to make it as "catholic" as possible, with the goal of including the information needed to quickly use the material with a variety of retro-clones & D&Ds (without going overboard and bloating the text!).
Here's examples of a stat-block format I'm using:
The Armor Class value within the '< >' is the value for use with LOTFP WFRPG, with the preceding brackets containing the ascending Swords & Wizardry value. I find the standard Swords & Wizardry AC notation elegant, buy my "triple" version is pretty clunky. Movement is presented in B/X format to accommodate those of us with poor math skills. The Save entry includes both the standard D&D reference and the Swords & Wizardry value in brackets. I am considering including Fortitude/Reflex/Will values for compatibility with Kard & Magica/Swords & Magic and the forthcoming Goodman Games DCC RPG, but I don't want to bloat the stat-block. I'd like to include XP values for the different standard D&D variants, but again, I don't want to bloat the stat-block.
Secondly, I have a rough assembled document of all of the material I have so far, and at digest-size with 10-point Arial type, it's over sixty pages.
Also, Red Box Vancouver stalwart Johnstone has a submission he's working on, "...a random technology generator for Planet Algol and other Swords & Saucers style games. Or Gamma World and post-apocalyptic settings. And Jack Kirby settings." Jack Kirby settings!
As I'm compiling and editing the material, I'm trying to make it as "catholic" as possible, with the goal of including the information needed to quickly use the material with a variety of retro-clones & D&Ds (without going overboard and bloating the text!).
Here's examples of a stat-block format I'm using:
Bloakang Drongthur
AC 5[14]<16>, Fighter-1, HP 6, Move 90'(30'), Attack hooked pole-hatchet (1d10), Save Fighter-1[14], Morale 9, Alignment neutral (evil); chain mail, hooked pole-hatchet, dagger, 16 gp in a belt pouch.
Beslimed Moat Lurker
AC 6[13]<15>, HD 2+1, HP 9, Move 60'(20')/swim 120'(40'), Attack 2 suckered limbs (1d4/1d4 + attach and blood drain), Save Fighter-2[16], Morale 6, Alignment chaotic (evil), Special on an attack roll of 20 a suckered limb will attach and automatically inflict 1d4 points of damage through blood drain every round; a successful open door roll is required to pull an attached limb off, inflicting another 1d4 points of damage to the victim.
The Armor Class value within the '< >' is the value for use with LOTFP WFRPG, with the preceding brackets containing the ascending Swords & Wizardry value. I find the standard Swords & Wizardry AC notation elegant, buy my "triple" version is pretty clunky. Movement is presented in B/X format to accommodate those of us with poor math skills. The Save entry includes both the standard D&D reference and the Swords & Wizardry value in brackets. I am considering including Fortitude/Reflex/Will values for compatibility with Kard & Magica/Swords & Magic and the forthcoming Goodman Games DCC RPG, but I don't want to bloat the stat-block. I'd like to include XP values for the different standard D&D variants, but again, I don't want to bloat the stat-block.