Astonishing S&S of Hyperborea: This Gets Me Every Time...

"...and the spring years are remarkable for a species of fire beetles (oft called jigs) that cavort about the bogs, scores upon scores emitting their fulvous phosphorescence, as the standing males “jig” on their hind legs in most ostentatious displays."

Cracks me up every time I think of it, although I like to think that the displays are both ostentatious and impertinent.

BTW, AS&SOH has some of the best art I've seen in an OSR-ish product. It's metal as all hell without getting into gauche mohawk-y territory, and captures the cold, grim vibe of the setting as written. Plus that cover! It seems like a nice 0.75 ed. AD&D-ish system as well.

Cam From Red Box Vancouver is a Cool Dude

He brought TWENTY (20) TACOS to yesterday's D&D game, Power Down!

Taco Taco Man
Cam is the coolest Taco man...

[Ambiguous Villain NPC] Jewel Arrow

No one is sure who the ambiguous villain Jewel Villain truly is; by appearances he is a dashing aristocrat in luxurious hunting garb. He travels the borderlands upon a magnificent steed and is legendary for his golden gem encrusted arrows of amazing craftsmanship.

Tales speak of him encountering lone travellers and from long range firing his elegant hunters bow at them. Most are slain by one of his Jewel Arrows, but those who survive usually have a fortune embedded in their body.

F**k Yeah Geoffrey!!! Psychedelic Fantasies!

http://psychedelicfantasies.blogspot.ca/

I'm loving the brutal unrelenting D.I.Y. hippy D&D assault, so fucking punk! I'm just hoping that this flower child emails me the PDF I bought immediately.

"Exploding" D&D Wilderness Encounter Checks

In OD&D and B/XD&D you check once per day to see if there's a random wilderness encounters (Cook/Marsh Expert has allowances for multiple checks per day, buts it's kind of vague).

That's fine but what about in adventure stories where the encounters don't stop? One dude gets eaten by a giant snake, another gets a poison dart in his neck and a third drowns in quicksand. Before noon no less.

To account for this I've worked out an "exploding die" derived wilderness encounter check that uses the sum of an infinite series calculations to maintain roughly the same odds as the original check.

The idea is every day you roll a wilderness encounter check; if there is one, roll another wilderness encounter check and than roll again and so forth (don't worry, probabilities ensure that there won't be 154 encounters). This determines the total number of random wilderness encounters the party encounters over the course of that day.

Clear, Grasslands, Inhabited, City: Was a 6 on a d6, now 1-2 on a d12 or 14%.

Woods, River, Desert, Hills, Barren, Ocean, Aerial: was a 5-6 on a d6, now a 1-3 on a d12 or 25%.

Swamp, Mountains, Jungle: was a 4-6 on a d6, now a 1-4 on a d12 or 33%.

Random Magic Sword, Mercenary and Specialist Hireling Tables

Inspired by TOWERS OF KRSHAL.

Magic Swords d10
1. Lifecutter: +1 short sword, +1 initiative and armor class.
2. Frenzy: +2 bastard sword, +2 initiative and -1 armor class.
3. Gravehammer: +2 two-handed sword, drains 1 life level on a 20.
5. Amputator: +2 falchion, severs random extremity on a 20.
6. Poison Needle: +1 rapier, slays target on a 20 but also inflicts 1-6 points +1 point per level or hit dice of the target of damage to the wielder in such instances.
7. The Elephant Razor: +1 long sword, +2 to hit, +2 armor class, and 2-16+2 damage against larger-than-man-sized targets.
8. Breeze: +2 scimitar, wielder can leap 10' and takes half damage from falls.
9. Gorging Hound: long sword, +1 on to hit rolls and +1-4 damage.
10. Prismthorn: +1 shortsword, +2 on saves versus spells and magic items, on a successful save 50% chance of reflecting spells back upon the caster.

Mercenaries d20
1. Abromogdan the Serpent: lawful, 2 hp, very tall, forked tongue, lisps. Bull-headed mace, 6 javelins, plate mail, large rectangular demon-faced shield.
2. Balish Moaz: neutral, 6 hp, deep voice, missing fingers on left hand, greying beard. Battle axe, hand axe, short bow, rusty chain mail.
3. Domodon the Axe: neutral, 7 hp, fat, eschews pants in lie of a stained leather loinclout. Scimitar, spear, short bow, studded leather armor, small round shield.
4. Embrag Vril: chaotic, 4 hp, somewhat childlike, dances when happy, giant wolf tatto on chest. Mace, long sword, light crossbow, brass-plated banded mail, large round shield.
5. Falash Ashang: neutral, 3 hp, very long nose, greasy hair, amateur scholar. Spear, war hammer, sling, leather armor.
6. Herfaling Irax: chaotic, 6 hp, stuttering, balding, peeping tom. Broad sword, club, furs and chain mail, kite shield.
7. Jobo Mash: chaotic, 4 hp, short, prone to spouting impromptu verse, very talkative. Halberd, short sword, light crossbow, plate mail.
8. Kroak Ilking: lawful, 4 hp, excitable, waxed mustache, wears gaudy gold chains. Spear, shortsword, long bow, chain mail.
9. Lashtur Gond: chaotic, 4 hp, proud of never lying, lucky at gambling, exotic sexy accent. War hammer, spear, plate mail, large rectangular shield.
10. Oplinth Shen: neutral, 2 hp, incredibly handsome, obsessed with seafood, really wants a fancy dagger with a ruby pommel. Long sword, short bow, studded leather armor, buckler.
11. Promdalia Droarkang: neutral, 2 hp, lavishes attention upon his long oiled beard, laughter is booming, has a pet owl. Heavy flail, hand axe, chain mail.
12. Quizitch Walsht: neutral, 1 hp. Wears a monocle, beloved by animals, is convinced he will die soon. Long sword, flail, plate mail, shield.
13. Rom Keth: lawful, 1 hp, farts constantly, shaves head, carries a set of hand drums. Battle axe, spear, short sword, chain mail.
14. Surku Broag: neutral, 4 hp, wears an eyepatch and a doo rag, loves spicy food. Battle axe, war hammer, heavy crossbow, plate hail.
15. Tintur Kamelan: chaotic, 6 hp, unshaven antisocial alcoholic loner. Morningstar, short sword, light crossbow, plate mail, small battered wooden shield.
16. Ubt Ubtar: neutral, 4 hp, jolly, wears a fur hat, spits a lot, long sword, short bow, plate mail, large round shield.
17. Veykag Omeleg: neutral, 2 hp, middle-aged retired sailor, missing many teeth. ip, Harpoon, whip, short sword, studded leather armor.
18. Weshly the Grey: lawful, 4 hp, brooding teenager, grey haired. Fussart, 6 chakrams, chain mail.
19. Yalib Loamur: neutral, 8 hp, wears a large gold hoop earring and gaudy red silk pantaloons, wants to someday own an elephant. Spear, sling, studded leather armor.
20. Zaphalian Krunt: lawful, 3 hp, is always a perfect gentleman, can imitate any bird call, has a robotic leg. Hercules club, long sword, light crossbow, plate mail.

Specialist Hirelings d20
1. Boraz the Alchemist: neutral, 4 hp, constantly strutting and whistling.
2. Choak the Bearer: neutral, 6 hp, wears a jaunty cap, love skipping stones across water.
3. Forbu the Mule and Camel Wrangler: chaotic, 6 hp, once narrowly escaped being devoured by a swarm of lobsters, mother was a famous opera singer.
4. Hibble the Jester: chaotic, 1 hp, shaggy disheveled hair, is burdened by an unremovable cursed iron collar put on him by a witch.
5. Kantang the Snake Charmer: neutral, 5 hp, bad skin, wears patched hose.
6. Kingtu the Cook: chaotic, 2 hp, wears a ratty tunic and a wide brass studded leather belt, calls everyone champ.
7. Leshari the Linguist: neutral, 6 hp, champion shuttlecock player, always talking about wine.
8. Malboarth the Diver: lawful, 2 hp, considers himself to be a ladies’ man, isn’t.
9. Mustod the Engineer: chaotic, 4 hp, brash, talks loudly.
10. Narat the Champion Rider: neutral, 3 hp, winks to punctuate statements, unnecessarily sly.
11. Rangu the Quack: neutral, 1 hp, cracks knuckles, burps, pot belly.
12. Shemharad the "King" (insane): neutral, 3 hp, wears dirty robes of state and a dented tin crown, hook for a hand, waxed mustache, loves practical jokes.
13. Silvomar the Gypsy: chaotic, 5 hp, has a huge hooked nose, wears a fur vest.
14. Tunk the Hound Master: neutral, 1 hp, mumbles constantly making communication difficulty, flies into rages.
15. Ushtu the Labourer and Acupuncturist: lawful, 3 hp, makes inappropriate lewd quips, completely trustworthy.
16. Vortu the Forensicist: neutral, 6 hp, chews tobacco, has a pet pack pony “Cyril.”
17. Wort the Falconer: neutral, 1 hp, carries a gaudy ebony and ivory cane, prone to humming.
18. Wuxuan the Physician: chaotic, 1 hp, has huge feet, oversensitive about the subject, is always stubbing toes.
19. Xsargot the Venom Master: chaotic, 3 hp, tattoo of a snake on face, wears a kilt, has a goofy slobbering dog.
20. Yot the Torchbearer: neutral, 3 hp, wears all black, smokes aromatic blossoms in a pipe, is a pretentious poet.

Get TOWERS OF KRSHAL Now!

Written by Albert of Underworld Kingdom and Terminal Space; $3.50 32-page PDF from lulu.

Random tables for games in abominably ancient weird fantasy cities, it brings to my mind Vornheim; China Mieville; Arduin; CSIO; and supernatural Slavonic sardonicism.

It's only shortcoming is that it is not longer! I haven't posted any links due to writing this on my phone.