tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41125371829206019952024-03-27T08:54:53.953-05:00Ravenous AmbienceAmbnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-63163888305961869102024-03-27T08:54:00.000-05:002024-03-27T08:54:07.810-05:00Three Powers Behind The Gods<h2 style="text-align: left;"> </h2><div style="text-align: left;">These are things within mortal ken worshipped oft as gods. Rather than the inscrutable mind-warping unrealities of the darkness-beyond-stars, these are Three powers which exist in nature itself and respond to prayers - sometimes in the guise of gods, and always with the fickle randomness that religion often brings. To say they are older than humans is partially correct - for really, they are a part of Life itself. Perhaps they are kin to the Outer gods and Old Ones, but their proximity to us sets them apart, I think.<br />They are neither Good Nor Evil, Lawful Nor Chaotic - they are above such things.<br /><br />Worship these like gods, if you dare. They shall grant power in bargain, as gods often do. </div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;">The Prey</h2><h3 style="text-align: left;">Or: The Hivemind, The Stampede, The Runaway, The Moon, The Hunt, The Sacrifice, The Trickster/Liar/Thief</h3><div>The Prey is the body behind the mask of the Trickster gods in your world. It is the legs that Run, the all-consuming need to Flee, the panic of stillness that truly Hides. The Prey is often the gentle mouse. So too can it be the wildebeaste or elephante stampeding in storm, or a hoard of locusts. It is the march of ants and school of fish. It is the thing invoked in the Wilde Hunt - for what is there to Hunt without Prey? It is the first game caught in an open season, and every single small chattering wing and tooth in the wood. To pray to it, simply contemplate all the ways in which you could be killed. You will hear its answers soon enough, for It is the thing in all animals (man and elf, included) that screams to RUN and Hide.<br /><br /><b>MORTAL GODS WHOSE FACE IT WEARS: Tricksters, Harvest, Moon, Thieves, Insects, Messengers, Travel, Nature, Storms, Darkness<br /><br />MIRACLES IT MAY OR MAY NOT GRANT: </b>Spells to Hide and avoid detection, Spells to move quickly and escape containment, Spells to observe one's surroundings in the present<br /><br />Example Bonus Spells: 1. Pass Without Trace 2. Invisibility 3. Assume Animal form 4. Freedom of movement 5. Commune with Nature 6. Pass Tree<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/76d0529e9f4823f9b2f3446180804055/0988aa00739114be-1e/s1280x1920/988bef93c1a5dd7fc2fa11ee61314a5bdf8f1d89.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/76d0529e9f4823f9b2f3446180804055/0988aa00739114be-1e/s1280x1920/988bef93c1a5dd7fc2fa11ee61314a5bdf8f1d89.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://braveburattino.tumblr.com/post/702283275934253056/deer-deer-deer" target="_blank">Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><h2>The Unbroken</h2><h3>Or: The Foremost, The Dragon, The Monarch, The Sun, The Sword, The Strong, The Proud, The Hero</h3><div>The Unbroken is the light of the warm sun. It is the muscles of the "heroic demigod". It is the mightiest of Lions and the fox that taunts the hound. It is the uneaten zebra who breaks the lions jaw. It is the holiest stag in the woods, hunted by all kings and never once caught. It is the mighty beaver, who dams the river. To pray to it, steel your eyes, clench your fist, and swing into the face of danger. <br /><br /><b>MORTAL GODS WHOSE FACE IT WEARS: Rulers, Strength, Sun, War, Fire, Music, Celebration, Valor, Vengeance, Dragons, Fortifications, Community, Luck<br /><br />MIRACLES IT MAY OR MAY NOT GRANT: </b>Spells to Harm, Spells to grant physical boons, Spells to summon forth structures<br /><br /></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54243095e4b07ee637a9f812/1463952008127-VYTAXZ80BXUQ30BG34G8/samyaza_watchers_grigori_pride_angel_Mohrbacher?format=750w" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="573" height="400" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54243095e4b07ee637a9f812/1463952008127-VYTAXZ80BXUQ30BG34G8/samyaza_watchers_grigori_pride_angel_Mohrbacher?format=750w" width="286" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.angelarium.net/grigori#/samyaza-angel-of-pride/">Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><h2>The Past-In-Stone</h2><h3>Or: The Thing-In-Ice, The Mother-In-Tar, The Book, The Stars, The Instinct, The Teacher</h3><div>Frozen in stone and time are the things of the past. The Ancestors chosen by calamity to dwell below us in eternal slumber, their bones preserved in stony armor against decay. The Past-In-Stone is the Parent, that which teaches The Prey <i>how</i> to run and The Unbroken how to fight. It is the ghostly teacher who instructs the Spider how to weave and the Bird how to build. It is the ancient struggle preserved in Ice and Tar, and the ferocity of the Mother Bear. To pray to it, listen to your feral instinct, heed not the social contract of Man, and you, too, will feel its commands in your own bones.<br /><br /><b>MORTAL GODS WHOSE FACE IT WEARS: Knowledge, Love, Water and Ice, Death, Wisdom, Dinosaurs, Snakes, Poisons, Madness, Forge<br /><br />MIRACLES IT MAY OR MAY NOT GRANT: </b>Spells to heal and preserve, Spells to know the past, Spells to consult and raise the dead</div><div><br /><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://cards.scryfall.io/art_crop/front/6/6/66dd43d7-76a7-46ea-b431-097fcea417af.jpg?1699044521" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="626" height="292" src="https://cards.scryfall.io/art_crop/front/6/6/66dd43d7-76a7-46ea-b431-097fcea417af.jpg?1699044521" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scryfall.com/card/lci/222/the-ancient-one" target="_blank">Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-10170456439565852592022-01-14T11:25:00.000-06:002022-01-14T11:25:05.691-06:00META PROMPT - CITIES, NATURE, GLOG - Delta Templates for Animal Lord and Castle Lord<p><a href="https://crateredland.blogspot.com/2020/07/meta-prompt-generator.html">Prompt Generator by Lexi Here </a></p><p><a href="https://ravenousambience.blogspot.com/2019/09/runeforest-incursion-into-wyrd-wild_16.html">So I've written before about a "Noble/Wyld" Reaction affecting stat. It was one of those things that I thought sounded neat but then typically got forgotten about in the flow of play.</a> </p><p><a href="https://lapidaryossuary.blogspot.com/2020/08/glog-town-country-wizards.html">And someone has already done GLOG Wizards with a City/Nature dynamic better than I think I could.</a></p><p>So to preface this - I don't have much GLOG experience. I had a long stint where I played a GLOG Wizard named Firstborn in a Basic Fantasy campaign but I'm not sure if that counts, as that game ended at much higher level than a "normal" GLOG campaign I expect. I've written two classes for GLOG based on Social Parasites - <a href="https://ravenousambience.blogspot.com/2020/02/cuckoo-guild.html">This One is better I think</a>. And I've been playing GLOG wizards in a few "stress test" sessions for an upcoming Magic School campaign.</p><p>I share many of the tiny critiques <a href="http://themansegaming.blogspot.com/2020/08/small-glog-critique-20-glog-templates.html">Manse brings up here</a>. </p><p>Anyway delta templates seem cool. Here are two Δ Templates about Nature and Cities.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/568320c80e4c11c5f0eff115/1588547065711-F5ORCHER6H634TJSXY43/RavenWood%2CMitchFoust%2CRavens%2Cwitch%2Cshaman%2Ctrees%2CMitchFoust2019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="547" height="640" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/568320c80e4c11c5f0eff115/1588547065711-F5ORCHER6H634TJSXY43/RavenWood%2CMitchFoust%2CRavens%2Cwitch%2Cshaman%2Ctrees%2CMitchFoust2019.jpg" width="438" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An Aven Lord (<a href="http://mitchfoustart.com/ravenwood">Source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><b>(Δ) Animal Lord</b></p><p>Δ: Be Level 5. Defeat an Animal Lord in an Official Challenge.</p><p><i>You can turn into an Animal of your affinity at any time. You have all the benefits of both animal and man in either form and can use the best set of senses and appendages at any time. Lose this template if you lose an Official Challenge</i></p><p><br /></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Some Affinity examples are Canine, Feline, Piscis, Rodent, Serpent, Aven, and Equine</li><li>As Animal Lord you'll probably be expected to offer some amount of protection and problem-solving for those in your "Kingdom". Failure to rule adequately could mean an increasing number of Official Challengers.</li><li>"Benefits of Both Animal and Man" is broad on purpose and is dependent on Affinity. Canine Lords can smell as well as wolf or hunting hound at any time, can "dull" their smell to Human ability if it becomes inconvenient, and can see the entire color spectrum in the form of a dog. Aven Lords can sprout wings at a moments notice and might be mistaken for angels.</li><li>What constitutes an "Official Challenge" depends on the Affinity - an Official Challenge to the current Rodent Lord, a Beaver, might be to build a "better" dam. Serpent Lords love tests of wit, and Canine Lords love tests of Hunting and Tricks.</li></ul><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Fairly standard Druidy stuff.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54fc8146e4b02a22841f4df7/1569587949697-ND3YUXPIPYQFEBXYFE53/Art+of+Howl's+Moving+Castle+E+-+95.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="568" height="640" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54fc8146e4b02a22841f4df7/1569587949697-ND3YUXPIPYQFEBXYFE53/Art+of+Howl's+Moving+Castle+E+-+95.jpg" width="454" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://characterdesignreferences.com/art-of-animation-8/art-of-howls-moving-castle">Yep</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><p></p><p><b>(Δ) Castle Lord</b></p><div><p>Δ: Be Level 5. Defeat a CASTLE.</p><p><i>You have absolute awareness of all that takes place inside your castle. You can take your castle with you as long as you keep it fed and happy. </i></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>How to <a href="https://ravenousambience.blogspot.com/2019/12/secret-santicorn-2019-skyscraper-mimics.html">Defeat a Building</a></li></ul><div><br /></div><div>"How do I get to Level 5 if the GLOG system I'm in only goes to Level 4" is a good question.</div><p></p></div>Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-11241440728263324262022-01-08T15:58:00.001-06:002022-01-08T16:54:08.014-06:00Some FLAILSNAILS Observations - The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly<i></i><a href="http://jrients.blogspot.com/2011/08/flailsnails-conventions.html">For the unfamiliar.</a><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2022/01/esoteric-enterprises-is-great.html"> I've had an awesome time both being in and running several FLAILSNAILS type games in Wizzz's discord server.</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/001/127/937/large/oleg-fedorov-4.jpg?1440624394" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="800" height="551" src="https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/001/127/937/large/oleg-fedorov-4.jpg?1440624394" width="800" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some FLAILSNAILers getting into Fisticuffs over who gets the Book of Vile Darkness (<a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/GvW8N">Source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Basically there are two categories of games that get run-<br /><br />1) <b>"Hubworlds"</b> - These are fairly normal, comprehensive TTRPG games where interdimensional travel is something that is added on afterwards. You can make characters in them and have a bunch of sessions under the same GM and never interact with the FLAILSNAILS side of things, just like a "normal" game.</div><div><br /></div><div>2) <b>"DUNGEON"</b> - These are things like megadungeons or depthcrawls that, on their own, don't have comprehensive character generation rules with them. Both Gardens of Ynn and my own Stygian Library reskin (RUNEFOREST) were some examples for this, but one GM ran Castle Gargantua and another ran a sort of miniature Sky-Ship adventure.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And then there are three categories of FLAILSNAILS characters-</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>1) <b>Characters from campaigns that have ended. </b><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2021/04/four-more-campaign-worlds-and.html">Say you were stranded on a boat when the rest of your party was TPK'd by divine lions.</a> Maybe a campaign never quite got off the ground or ended suddenly, and you feel as though your character's story is not over quite yet, or that they were really fun to play. FLAILSNAILS can be an opportunity to accomplish old goals, discover new ones, and keep telling stories with those characters who's story never got a true ending. Or maybe they were banished or cursed to wander the multiverse and are just looking for a way home.</div><div><br /></div><div>2) <b>Characters from campaigns that are still going. </b>A bit more self-explanatory, this is when an active campaign subscribes to inter-campaign play and you can play your character from that campaign in any sessions that pop up. This can lead to more spotlight time for active characters to develop and also risk their lives for magic items and XP. </div><div><br /></div><div>3) <b>Characters specifically for FLAILSNAILS. </b> This one was the rarest category. Basically whenever someone didn't have a character they wanted to play for whatever reason - maybe they were worried about fatality or were just tired of their current characters or all their characters were in prison or recovering from poison gas - they could quickly roll up something from their system of choice. We usually used Basic Fantasy. This also works for when you find a funky OSR class or concept that doesn't match the aesthetics, setting, or balance of any of the active games but you still want to give it a try. One of my favorites was a player running an Extras class made up of All Star NBA players.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">THE GOOD - SOME REASONS WHY IT'S GREAT</h2><div><br /></div><div><br />1) <b><i>MOAR GAMES</i></b>. One of the jokes on the server is "<i>allthegamesallthedays</i>", but with the power of FLAILSNAILS we were actually able to have a serious game streak that lasted well before Thanksgiving and went all the way until the New Year. The ability to just sit down and <i>run</i> something like Stygian Library by going "I'm here to run a game whenever we get three players, bring any character you want" without having to worry about balance, systems, what character generation looks like, what are the answers to 20 questions for this setting etc, was SO liberating and allowed for GM's to just focus on the dungeon without worrying about things like "how much does a torch cost and what's the distal view of governance look like"</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>2) <b>NEW AND INTERESTING CHARACTER STORY MOMENTS.</b> This one surprised me a bit, but there were a good number of tender character moments in the DUNGEON type of games. At one point there were characters from three <i>separate</i> Wizzzargh campaigns that had a very cool interaction where they recapped all that had happened over a few hundred years to one another, being from the same setting. Beyond that there were hardships, friendships formed across the campaign-verse, and arguments over ethics. And none of this required input from NPC's, the players already had really solid ideas about how to roleplay their characters and could just react naturally to any strange situations that came about.</div><div><br /></div><div>3) <b>RUN NEW STUFF OR OLD STUFF WITHOUT WORRYING BOUT THE SMALL STUFF. </b>My Runeforest campaign ended up dwindling after 15 sessions or so, but I still had lots of my worldbuilding notes from it. I think I enjoyed running it as a modified FLAILSNAILS depthcrawl more than I enjoyed running it as it's own campaign premise, since it let the characters focus on the "spooky hostile magic forest" part without being muddled by things like Merchant factions as I had originally imagined. FLAILSNAILS protocols also let me hammer out my current "DUNGEON" - a <a href="http://throneofsalt.blogspot.com/2020/04/unicorn-meat-featurette-card-based.html">card crawl</a> with Dinosaurs and Pirates, in a single weekend. All I had to do was make an encounter table - I didnt have to think about a system or houserules or character generation or "what happens when the pc's get high level". There's alot of cool concepts, dungeons, and modules out there that would work well to run "off the cuff" without worrying about how they "fit" into a specific world.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgX_VKXaNykU4Ruh4mYlPzlK8qBl73ABCZGydJeiwEExp7sb-dfQ72EGLcpOClyRg6aIe6OWGt0jbF-UZc5CRfbgNZNTxj6Ly2nptQV6E3iGaM1-7gmVenEBOgy2m--0RdVw3E-I564ed1rZmRlNWm0jUG8v7FbaOp4Pi5kRAX_Da9RVGLdzAoYXNUZug=s833" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="211" data-original-width="833" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgX_VKXaNykU4Ruh4mYlPzlK8qBl73ABCZGydJeiwEExp7sb-dfQ72EGLcpOClyRg6aIe6OWGt0jbF-UZc5CRfbgNZNTxj6Ly2nptQV6E3iGaM1-7gmVenEBOgy2m--0RdVw3E-I564ed1rZmRlNWm0jUG8v7FbaOp4Pi5kRAX_Da9RVGLdzAoYXNUZug=w640-h162" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Xelor has been facilitating some cool GMless games set in the "Main" setting on the server</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">THE BAD - SOME CONCERNS</h2><div>To preface this, I do think most people should at least consider some FLAILSNAILS procedures if they play multiple OSR games on a server with multiple GM's, <i>but...</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b>1) TOO ADVANCED ADVANCING ADVANCEMENT. </b>A side effect of characters in more games where they came back with interdimensional <i>treasure</i> was that keeping track of the various characters drawbacks and capabilities could be a hassle. Sometimes character's would end up with wild magic items, mutations, or curses. For example, one of my character's in particular ended up with a curse preventing them from lying, which is the sort of drawback that can be planned around when you want to do undercity crime, <i>but only if everyone in your party knows about it. </i>Another example was the acquisition of more powerful items like cloaks of flying. I think some of this can be prevented with both post-session reports and a sort of standard server "no-fly" list on how powerful is too powerful both for curses and magic items. <a href="http://udan-adan.blogspot.com/2021/10/game-enhancing-powers-game-ruining.html">This might come in handy</a>. Alternatively, the old "+5 swords dont work here, sorry" is easy and has precedent in my opinion. There's no straightforward fix for level differences between heavily and rarely played characters though, and it can exacerbate problems for people who are only able to play more rarely, as games not even in the same setting as the campaign can start to bump up the average party level and start to leave people behind. This isn't as much of an issue as it would be in more "balanced" and less OSR systems, but I still think it's worth mentioning. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>2) TONAL MISMATCH.</b> I do think that some themes or campaign settings open themselves up to FLAILSNAILS campaign-hopping more than others. I've been running a game of <a href="https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/products/kingdoms?_pos=5&_sid=7263beee6&_ss=r">Kingdoms</a> (it's very cool) and while I had initially planned to open up the game to FLAILSNAILS protocols, the players opted out due to tonal concerns and how they wanted a more walled off, linear experience without any gonzo mismatched tone. I think you should consider what sorts of game experience you want, that not every world does well with the concept of inter-campaign play, and that that's ok. It's a serious decision.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>3) GRAPPLE RULES. </b>One GM on the server recently commented how it felt like "FLAILSNAILS characters tend to take half their ruleset with them". They talked about an experience having to adjudicate a grappling situation with a Godbound character, an Esoteric Enterprises character, and a Basic Fantasy statblocked monster (as if most grapple rules weren't enough of a headache already, amiright). I can absolutely sympathize with that feeling. Even with the normal authority as a GM to just make whatever ruling you want, there's still pressure to try and keep character's within their own ruleset bubbles as close as possible because your ruling can mean life or death to someone's character. I think part of this is the idea that these player characters are more "borrowed" in many ways. (Note: Many of the characters who FLAILSNAIL traveled to Runeforest ended up dead or maimed to the point where it grew something of a reputation, so I don't think it's that I went too easy on anyone)<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">THE UGLY - THINGS TO CONSIDER IF YOU WANT TO TRY</h2><div><br /></div><div>1) <b>TALKING </b>(<i>eugh)</i> to players and GM's beforehand about expectations is something I'd recommend, just like with any game. There were some <i>insane</i> XP haul sessions where clever uses of things like Invisible Servants ended up netting the characters huge amounts of XP in loot-for-xp systems, and I felt better after double checking with "home" GMs about the situation and how much XP characters from their world should expect. Also do your best to set expectations about the setting itself, particularly regarding lethality and hostility.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>2) CONVERSION. </b>Most FLAILSNAILS characters on the server have had Six Traditional Stats, Five Saving Throw Categories, Gold For XP, Ascending AC, and Rolls to Hit. Despite that there were still a surprising amount of niche situations (mostly involving things like Skills) where a GM would have to make a ruling, so having a rules reference YOU are comfortable with can help speed things along. I can't comment on more outlandish conversions like what Into the Odd characters might be like when thrown into the mix.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>3) START OF GAME PROCEDURES. </b>Anything that helps move the game along and prevent needless back and forth or recaps. We've done it enough that there's a bit of a rhythm now, but depending on the game mine is usually <br /><br />1) Who is Leader/Wearing the Captain's Hat - their stats and abilities modify reaction rolls and party initiative rolls, and their player gets to make final calls about things like "left vs right".<br /><br />2) Who is Mapper/Treasurer - Sometimes these are different but with non-standard dungeon formats like depthcrawls or cardcrawls we usually dont need a separate mapper.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And that's it! If you're interested, I run my Pirate/Dinosaur Card Crawl game Aduna Sea on the discord server you can find <a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com">here</a>. Happy SNAILING</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/uCbFko9.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="800" height="596" src="https://i.imgur.com/uCbFko9.jpeg" width="800" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://imgur.com/gallery/63bQ2lr/">Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>1d8 FLAILSNAIL "Justification"</div><div><br /></div><div><google-sheets-html-origin><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="100"></col><col width="350"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Astral Projection in Your Dreams, Wake Up with New Stuff"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Astral Projection in Your Dreams, Wake Up with New Stuff</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Diegetic Ancient Teleportation Portals"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Diegetic Ancient Teleportation Portals</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Cursed Parachute"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Cursed Parachute</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Wizard Enjoys Casting Gate"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Wizard Enjoys Casting Gate</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">5</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Cursed/Blessed By A God"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Cursed/Blessed By A God</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":6}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">6</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Its Just A Holodeck"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Its Just A Holodeck</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":7}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">7</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Randomly Fall From The Sky"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Randomly Fall From The Sky</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":8}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">8</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Shuffled Into The Deck Of Many Things"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Shuffled Into The Deck Of Many Things</td></tr></tbody></table></google-sheets-html-origin></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>EDIT: The GM from the "Three Grapple" Examples chimed in and corrected my misremembering the situation somewhat, see below</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhy4QJyQxn8r9RPFVPxuen7c37TTEaCU0H02MJolUuj5ZK93j5BARljf04NIAVFU4vVlc_RNO8Zw7aQZ39Sf9dIutx0Gs6ViWYZ_1n6dGxMYuI8aybY2OoJPCUK77hLUmmEcqQH55dsz0WlTsK9up9jPaKXCgQkGwCmtkcYn-E0InKWBcZj1BY0rrrJPg=s1425" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1103" data-original-width="1425" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhy4QJyQxn8r9RPFVPxuen7c37TTEaCU0H02MJolUuj5ZK93j5BARljf04NIAVFU4vVlc_RNO8Zw7aQZ39Sf9dIutx0Gs6ViWYZ_1n6dGxMYuI8aybY2OoJPCUK77hLUmmEcqQH55dsz0WlTsK9up9jPaKXCgQkGwCmtkcYn-E0InKWBcZj1BY0rrrJPg=w400-h310" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Nimue" was the Godbound PC, "Nerg" was my Esoteric Enterprises PC </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>I still think it remains a good example for my point about niche situations and rules headaches.</div><div><br /></div>Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-50935064312515889612021-01-13T11:30:00.001-06:002021-01-13T11:43:45.769-06:00Re-Imagined Monster Manual Challenge: Turbo Mode [A-B]<p> <a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com">Wizzzargh </a>did it first, and they have more in-depth takes on the original monster manual entries that I won't get into. Instead I'm just going to stat/flavor these somewhat quickly as an exercise and attempt to get this blog running again. I'll be linking their posts as I go through and would recommend checking out Wizzzargh's posts and cool art.<br /><br />All of these are based off of Centras, my ongoing setting containing Runeforest/Shell and Stone and the like.<br /><br />So without further ado:<br /><br /> <a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/07/aerial-servant.html">Aerial Servant</a> : Elementals come in all shapes and forms and you can hire them with a contract in the right language. All services are tit-for-tat. They are sometimes used as assassins by unscrupulous sorts, but <br />1) Their kills are fairly obvious, since they tend to just bludgeon someone to death (they hate getting wet and know that people have blood)<br />2) They are very gossipy, and elemental contracts require an exchange of True Names. <br /><br />Thus mages with Law Enforcement can <i>usually</i> consult elementals themselves to quickly discover the name of a killer. This has lead to some interesting cases of counterplay and lengthy investigations nonetheless.</p><p><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/07/anhkheg.html">Ankheg</a>: Insects of all sort live under the earth and sometimes come to the surface during the Spring and Summer seasons. Because the taxonomy of insects is so diverse compared to surface-dwelling humanoids (who barely survived the Great Fires), it's rare for anyone except experts to know their names. Instead, contracts get put out for "giant bug what' ate me' crops!" and some sword-swinger will come along and try to deal with it without dieing.</p><p><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/07/ant-giant.html">Ant (Giant)</a>: Ants are used as mounts by Antfolk, but they're pretty rare (the big ones at least). Sometimes a swarm of ants will gain sentience and take the form of a Giant Ant from latent Runeforest magics.</p><p><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/08/apes-gorilla-and-carnivorous.html">Apes (Gorilla/Carnivorous)</a> : Regular gorillas aren't around anymore, they were granted intelligence and wings or claws by a dead god. Pushed to the brink of extinction by the Godclaws forces. If they show up on a table, it'd be a feral tigorilla or derhii driven mad without it's wings. </p><p><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/08/axe-beak.html">Axe Beak</a>: A strange Runeforest creature. They can eat magic weapons to bestow it's latent enchantment on their beak. Intelligent weapons consumed can easily inflict their Ego upon their beastlike "wielder", leading to some frightening encounters with highly-intelligent and tactical minds inside a murderous giant bird. They also come in titanic varieties and are sometimes used as giant mounts. </p><p><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/08/baboon.html">Baboon</a>: These are just a type of small goblin that wear funny masks<br /><br /><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/08/badger-baluchitherium-barracuda.html">Badger</a>: Some are nice and some are very mean but they probably won't pose much of a threat. Unless they are enlarged by magic. Then you should probably run.<br /><br /><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/08/badger-baluchitherium-barracuda.html">Baluchitherium</a>: Nope</p><p><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/08/badger-baluchitherium-barracuda.html">Barracuda</a>: It's a fish with teeth<br /><br /><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/08/basilisk.html">Basilisk</a>: These were a bigger deal in the Age of Heroes, nowadays they are mostly a threat in wyld places like the Runeforest. They are symbiotic with <i>Silenced Flesh to Stone</i> spellwisps, which is the source of their petrification abilities. Most variants are snake-like except for some found in coastal regions which resemble large iguanas.</p><p><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/08/bears-and-beavers.html">Bears</a>: Common Runeforest threat. Rune-variants tend towards magical claws. One common subtype called "Skull Bears" are large and black with a white, skull-like pattern on their chest. Eating Skull Bear meat is known to bring about a dreaded "curse" (actually just really bad diarrhea, a common piece of apothecary advice is that if you have to eat any meat from a Skull beast you should cook it with an herb named after a Saint)<br /><br /><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/08/bears-and-beavers.html">Giant Beavers</a>: A rare Runeforest encounter. If you're lucky enough to find and parlay with some you could probably get a great deal on scrap lumber or dam construction costs. <br />Many summers ago, during a previous Runeforest incursion, a rune-pelted giant Beaver began constructing great castles in the woods. The Fae and Adventurers marveled at first..until the Beaver named itself "Kastor Khan", taught other beavers to carve spears from the Rune Trees, and began a war campaign that claimed several forts belonging to the Court of Summer. Kastor Khan was pushed back at great cost....but some say he lives on, sharpening the spears of his brethren as he plots his revenge against Man and Fae.</p><p><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/08/beetles-of-unusual-size.html">Beetles</a>: Beetlefolk and their Beetle Kin are hearty, unbothered creatures. They take the Summer Insect Pilgrimage quite seriously and have been known to simply wander through great battles, seemingly unaware or uncaring of their surroundings. Some take positions in the church of the insect-god Ka'Thon where they act as martial masters, showing students how to better use their shields and armor as an extension of their bodies.<br /><br /><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/08/beholder.html">Beholder</a>: Remnants of the nearly-extinct deep sea demons from Stone-And-Shell. Basically unheard of in the Runeforest, though the Rune Logicians of Polis would really like to collect one for better component study.<br /><br /><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/08/black-pudding.html">Black Pudding</a>: Mutated Ink Elementals who's stains just so happen to be a bit more permanent.<br /><br /><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/08/blink-dogs.html">Blink Dogs</a>: Are not traditionally sentient unless they are a blessed Cerberi. They are bred but not sold by the Hound Dealer's Guild of Polis, instead kept exclusively as companions for high-ranking members or friends of the Guild. Anyone can get a <a href="http://throneofsalt.blogspot.com/2017/08/dog-thisis-dog.html">Basset Hound of Tindalos</a> though, but those can only jump out of right angles (Available with Purchase!)<br /><br /><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/09/bores.html">Boars</a>: Another Common Runeforest threat, and similar to bears, rune-variants tend towards magical tusks. Unlike bears though, Boar meat actually tastes good.<br /><br /><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/09/brain-mole-buffalo.html">Brain Mole</a>: Nope<br /><br /><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/09/brain-mole-buffalo.html">"Buffalo" (actually Bisons/Yaks)</a>: So most gods like the smell of cows, and also cows are delicious. So humans domesticated them. But apparently The Wyld took offense to all this for some reason, and thus we have Bisons, which are extra tasty cows hiding behind a ton of muscle and aggression. Rune-Bison tend not towards magical horns but instead magical hooves, severe variations in size, and hive-minded tendencies. Stampedes are incredibly disastrous but thankfully rare. Yaks are an offshoot of bison and cow. They are sentient, hearty pack animals that gods and similar entities like to make pacts with, bestowing the yaks with the ability to cast spells.<br /><br /><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/09/brownies.html">Brownies</a>: A type of mischievous and occasionally helpful Fae fairy, able to remain invisible. Their helpfulness and tricks depend on their Court association, and they are a common boon or bane for those favored or unfavored by a particular Court. They are also incredibly shy and hate being discovered outright.<br /><br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Autumn Brownies: Aid by alerting you to pickpockets, thieves, and other ambushes. Trick by spying for your enemies, "stealing" coins and other treasures (really just burying them or hiding them somewhere else in your campsite), and tying knots in all your rope.<br /><br /></li><li>Winter Brownies: Aid by tending your fires and patching up holes in your clothes. Trick by putting out fires and biting holes in your clothes and sleeping bag.<br /><br /></li><li>Spring Brownies: Aid by helping prepare and cook your meals and cleaning your cooking and eating utensils. Trick by spoiling your food and ingredients.<br /><br /></li><li>Summer Brownies: Aid by polishing, sharpening, and helping care for your weapons and armor. Trick by dulling your blades, misplacing your ammunition, and dirtying your armor.</li></ul><p><br /></p><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/09/bugbear-bulette-bull.html">Bugbears</a>: Sea-Scorpion folk from the Land of Stone and Shell with a long and storied history. They enjoy but can't play music due to an ancestral curse, their blood is magic (+1 MD for drinking <i>all</i> of one's blood) and are generally gentle despite their size and appearance. <br /><br />For a "Bugbear" result on an encounter table, it's just a large martially competent goblin wearing an animal pelt.<br /><br /><a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2019/09/bugbear-bulette-bull.html">Bulette</a>: Sandsharks have been reported in the Southern Deserts and the occasional Island, but aren't particularly common. The Runeforest does occasionally make unique monsters though, which could certainly include a burying-shark monster with bulette stats. They might also just be a type of large, undiscovered bug.<br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p>Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-67778797366296790932020-08-03T15:27:00.001-05:002020-08-03T15:27:39.487-05:00Help I Accidentally Created a Fundamentally Imperfect Fallen Universe (Pantheon Generator Results and walkthrough)aaaaaAAAAAAA<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFrcXhO4zzNGCA_-TZwFenP5s1GzxW5lblzH_88CDziHZa2bSaoSbqr1YiU6JFLygLnseKWHKOaODJl6cyi61GPLuM2W75aAikhEg1-5qAq-rDRj7I-h_mTQW_clV6I3mCsLuxe60oeCGg/s515/google-hepiac-help-i-accidentally-created-a-fundamental-imperfect-fallen-11325228.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFrcXhO4zzNGCA_-TZwFenP5s1GzxW5lblzH_88CDziHZa2bSaoSbqr1YiU6JFLygLnseKWHKOaODJl6cyi61GPLuM2W75aAikhEg1-5qAq-rDRj7I-h_mTQW_clV6I3mCsLuxe60oeCGg/w622-h640/google-hepiac-help-i-accidentally-created-a-fundamental-imperfect-fallen-11325228.png" width="622" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This image is <a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com">Wizzzargh's</a> Fault</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>I generated a pantheon using the madness found <a href="https://malcolminspace.blogspot.com/2020/06/even-more-expanded-pantheon-generator.html">here</a>, with a bit of <a href="http://throneofsalt.blogspot.com/2020/05/expanded-pantheon-generator.html">this </a>and <a href="http://themansegaming.blogspot.com/2019/04/pantheon-generator.html">that</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's the insane result! Making it was fun!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7iQ0eI7oM7ta7phpgAixlWX7ocAFUNEi92aWHSAoblAUMsWar1pp8ey0bOZ5Xh3Otifcqqhx1LJQF8ZVOgrnJMEkyNWNvp1Q3KI14_DNoyY_zD6kk0fPHR-O8Ygv2z3IAouVuyKQ9qzaO/s960/8Fold+Pantheon+%25281%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7iQ0eI7oM7ta7phpgAixlWX7ocAFUNEi92aWHSAoblAUMsWar1pp8ey0bOZ5Xh3Otifcqqhx1LJQF8ZVOgrnJMEkyNWNvp1Q3KI14_DNoyY_zD6kk0fPHR-O8Ygv2z3IAouVuyKQ9qzaO/w640-h480/8Fold+Pantheon+%25281%2529.png" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I gave them names! And I've been playing lots of Cult Simulator so that inspired a lot of these. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Eightfold Goddess - </b>The Creator and Great Weaver of All. She who granted form to The Eight.<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>The First Wards: </b>Also called <i>Mud-To-Bricks. </i>Individually, they are called <b><i>Volcana</i> </b><i>the Hammer, <b>Hestia </b>the Forge, </i>and <i><b>Brigid</b> the Smith</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b>The Gates of Death: </b>Each Door is it's own Aspect:<b> Keidara </b>of the Lock and <b>Roshan </b>the Unbroken</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Dagr, The Noon-Blaze: </b>Eye of the Weaver, Hour of Life and Death</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Noxia, The Unceasing Wind: </b>She-Of-Calamities</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Lethe, The UnMind: </b>The Cave-dweller, The Blank Slate<br /><br /></div><div><b>Kleros, The Blindfolded Archer: </b>Who's Arrows Fall Where They Will</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Settu, The Stray: </b>The Darkened Claw, Dances-In-Shade<br /><br /><b>Euphos, The Guardian:</b> The Unbroken Shield, The Great Protector</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So breaking out the relationship dice rolls from <a href="https://malcolminspace.blogspot.com/2020/06/even-more-expanded-pantheon-generator.html">here</a> a bit more also gives some lore inspiration.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>The First Wards </b>and <b>Noxia</b> rolled an 11 on the relationship table, which is "A single designer child". It's obviously pretty interesting that Construction and Destruction got paired up in such a way, so I think the myth is something like this:<br /><i>"In the Earliest Days of the Eight, a Prophecy was whispered into the ears of Noxia and each Ward, promising them a Great Ally for their Aspect would be born by combining their essences. Each agreed, and Unceasing Wind fed part of herself willingly to the Wards, but not before her sharp winds cut each of those Three. The cuts from the Wards intermingled with the forge-worked Winds to create <b>Ickorus, The Blood of Gods<br /><br /></b></i></li><li><b>The Gates of Death </b>and <b>Lethe </b>rolled an 8, which is Unhappily Married. Despite that they rolled the maximum possible amount of offspring with each other and each have one Fling with a different god. I already had begun to think of Lethe as somewhat monstrous or dangerous, so perhaps their "Marriage" is actually that The Gates of Death also imprison Lethe in some sort of divine cave? Maybe there might be a sort-of Stockholm syndrome going on.<br /><br /></li><ul><li><b>The Gates of Death</b> had their affair with <b>Euphos</b>, the Soldier god. I think that <b>Euphos </b>and <b>Roshan </b>are attracted to each other's Fortitude and strength, but that their union creates <b>Xashur, </b>god of Pestilence, who is personified as a literal soldier of death.<br /><br /></li><li><b>Lethe </b>had their affair with <b>Dagr</b>, the Day god. I think their "affair" may be less a result of mutual attraction and more "One Time Lethe Left Her Cave Prison And Day Had To Put Her Back" and it probably involved Dagr burning Lethe to cause the Cave-dweller to shed her "Skin" and weaving two aspects of leadership. Those twins would become <b>Gwynvold and</b> <b>Nymenche, "The Crown and Sceptre" </b>and probably lead Lethe back to the Underworld somehow.<br /><br /></li><li>The "Children" of <b>The Gates of Death</b> and <b>Lethe</b> probably each have their own Myth but I'm guessing that they all involve some variation of Lethe having various accidents you might expect from a goddess of ignorance.<br /><br /></li></ul><li><b>Dagr </b>and <b>Settu </b>rolled a 4, which is "Bitter Rivals". Lore-wise, I think this might explain why so many animals are nocturnal in this setting. They had a single child despite their rivalry though, who is the triple-god of Charity of all things. I'll have to think about this one more later but I'll call them <b>Za-Ket<br /><br /></b></li><li>Finally, <b>Kleros </b>and <b>Euphos</b> rolled a 3, which is "Passionate Lovers". I think this may indicate that Soldiers tend to enjoy gambling quite a bit in this setting, and of course speaks to the inherent risk involved in each martial conflict a soldier takes part in. Also I'm going to give <b>Kleros</b> a bow made by Euphos as a gift, hence her moniker of "Blindfolded Archer". I'll call the bow <b><i>Skoletos</i>. </b>Their pairing results in four additional deities.</li></ul><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><div>So to wrap up this blog post, I'll summarize the second generation god names and maybe cover their relationships in a future post.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Xashur, Warrior of Decay: </b>Sword of Plague</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Gwynvold and Nymenche, "The Crown and Sceptre"</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Ickorus, Blood of the Gods</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Kalvores, The Riders</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Ferralocke, The Conception and Birth</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Sagaheim, The Book-Keeper</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Za-Ket, The Three Faces of Giving</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Nilarm and Baskarr, "The Flood and Blossom"</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Ursck - "The Mother's Rage"</b></div><div><br /></div><div><b>"______" - </b>(Nameless god of Silence)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Rag-Kios - "Justice of the Gods"</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div>Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-11252130934776290302020-07-24T10:20:00.002-05:002020-07-24T11:35:17.334-05:00Do a Fusion Dance and Turn Into A Crocodile (Styxian Pair: Jaws of Death and Quietus Oar Bonded Classes)<div>Biggest Inspirations for this were the <a href="http://cavegirlgames.blogspot.com/2020/06/class-amazon-pairs.html">Amazon Pairs by Cavegirl</a> and <a href="https://www.goatmansgoblet.com/2018/07/yoon-suinthousand-thousand-islands.html">Crocodile Class by Goatman's Goblet</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Sometimes the crocodiles who float the River Styx perish. When this happens, their souls split, reincarnating as two individual mortals. Coming together most commonly as twins or lovers, the split souls seek adventure and power before finally returning to their guardian forms. Together, they are known as Styxian Pairs.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljuni668fL1qhttpto1_1280.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljuni668fL1qhttpto1_1280.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A party member riding on a newly fused Styxian Pair (Art by Bram Sels)<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Both classes share the following abilities:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Natural Swimmer</b>: Can swim and make attacks underwater without penalty. Can hide in water and swamps on 3-in-6</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Bond of the Soul:</b> The Jaws of Death and Quietus Oar cannot recover hit points without the presence of the other. While they maintain their own HP pools, certain Soul-Effecting magics have the chance to harm both equally, forcing each individual to save against the effect even if only one would be a legal target.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>True Form: Guardian of the Styx: </b>At 9th Level, the Jaws of Death and Quietus Oar can physically combine to live as they did in a past life: as a massive, 40 foot long crocodile beast. They can also separate back into their humanoid forms, but can only either split or fuse once each day.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/bfd9bf42-afb1-4011-a1d4-b415dfc108d8/d5xubbq-829523f3-ed02-4ca9-ad74-ff0f55a3926c.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYmZkOWJmNDItYWZiMS00MDExLWExZDQtYjQxNWRmYzEwOGQ4XC9kNXh1YmJxLTgyOTUyM2YzLWVkMDItNGNhOS1hZDc0LWZmMGY1NWEzOTI2Yy5qcGcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.VAv83ncWWSkbTylhEfrthNHxWljwhOaE7_mNgjKNgNU" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1320" data-original-width="1020" height="640" src="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/bfd9bf42-afb1-4011-a1d4-b415dfc108d8/d5xubbq-829523f3-ed02-4ca9-ad74-ff0f55a3926c.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYmZkOWJmNDItYWZiMS00MDExLWExZDQtYjQxNWRmYzEwOGQ4XC9kNXh1YmJxLTgyOTUyM2YzLWVkMDItNGNhOS1hZDc0LWZmMGY1NWEzOTI2Yy5qcGcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.VAv83ncWWSkbTylhEfrthNHxWljwhOaE7_mNgjKNgNU" width="495" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.deviantart.com/crazymic/art/Swords-359172566">Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Jaws of Death</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>XP- Magic User</div><div>Hit Dice: D6</div><div>To Hit- As Thief</div><div>Saves- As Thief</div><div>Spellcasting- As Cleric, (but see below)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Fangs of the Beast: Can Dual-Wield bladed weapons without penalty. When successfully making two attacks against a single target in this way, the Jaws of Death can immediately attempt to grapple the target for free.</div><div><br /></div><div>Speaker of Ruin: <i>Jaws of Death</i> have no access to any spells innately and must learn them from other's spellbooks or similar sources. <i>Jaws of Death</i> can learn magic but must scrimshaw spells on bones or teeth. This usually means they are limited to access wizard spells due to the nature of spellbooks and scrolls, but if they find a scroll or learnable spell from a Cleric's spell list they can learn it as well (assuming whatever outside force grants the spell responds to the Jaws of Death's will). They can cast spells underwater without issue.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/f1cf27bb-fa8d-405f-99e1-aaa805dded72/d7yiyfw-4b10b7f5-e3c0-4e1d-87b4-f482d010ba4d.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvZjFjZjI3YmItZmE4ZC00MDVmLTk5ZTEtYWFhODA1ZGRlZDcyXC9kN3lpeWZ3LTRiMTBiN2Y1LWUzYzAtNGUxZC04N2I0LWY0ODJkMDEwYmE0ZC5qcGcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.0_2IzaFQ56yCbDabuPWMaY87Xhz_fs2V_l1Z_DU4J6w" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="1000" height="452" src="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/f1cf27bb-fa8d-405f-99e1-aaa805dded72/d7yiyfw-4b10b7f5-e3c0-4e1d-87b4-f482d010ba4d.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvZjFjZjI3YmItZmE4ZC00MDVmLTk5ZTEtYWFhODA1ZGRlZDcyXC9kN3lpeWZ3LTRiMTBiN2Y1LWUzYzAtNGUxZC04N2I0LWY0ODJkMDEwYmE0ZC5qcGcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.0_2IzaFQ56yCbDabuPWMaY87Xhz_fs2V_l1Z_DU4J6w" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.deviantart.com/poibuts/art/L5R-Hida-Gendi-481254620">Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Quietus Oar</b></div><div><br /></div><div>XP- Magic User</div><div>Hit Dice: D8</div><div>To Hit- As Fighter</div><div>Saves - As Fighter</div><div><br /></div><div><div><br /></div></div><div>Mighty Tail: Quietus Oars begin play with a special club that deals d12 damage. It deals max damage on grappled targets</div><div><br /></div><div>Rush: Quietus Oars can move at twice their normal speed in a round a number of times per day equal to their level.</div><div><br /></div><div>Navigate the River: Quietus Oars can navigate unerringly in water, swamp, or similar terrains</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.shannonassociates.com/copyrighted/artists/richardson/fs/KILLERspecies_FINAL_1_031317.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Art Source" border="0" data-original-height="1266" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://www.shannonassociates.com/copyrighted/artists/richardson/fs/KILLERspecies_FINAL_1_031317.jpg" width="284" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.shannonassociates.com/owenrichardson#url=13147">Art Source</a><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Design Notes: This is meant for something like B/X or Basic Fantasy and seems a bit more powerful than the standard classes. Having the bond be squishy (two adventurers are twice as likely to die as one, right?) might make up for it or maybe you should gate these classes behind stats or something.</div><div><br /></div><div>I haven't really written any classes like this before but it was sorta fun. Probably don't expect it to be balanced.</div><div><br /></div><div>Natural Swimmers' "Hiding" ability was originally just "hide as thief in swamp settings" but a half-chance seemed more straightforward- it should probably be an emergency thing rather than a reliable one. If characters take the time to hide smart then they usually aren't found but this would let the Styxian Pair supernaturally disappear, even if they would normally be in plain sight. Basically an elven cloak ability.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some of the balance probably depends on how reliable or dangerous Grappling is in your system, but trying to game the Mighty Tail's ability seems like a fun tactical hurdle to me. It might still be a bit too strong.</div><div><br /></div><div>Since I like progression in classes, I'd probably use <a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2020/06/standard-spell-list-as-fighter.html">Wizzargh's Fighter Techniques</a> with the Quietus Oar and let them access Fighter Techniques at either half or third of the base Fighter rates. Collecting wuxia techniques is just really fun and lines up nicely with Wizards getting new tricks from spells.</div><div><br /></div><div>The capstone doesn't have specifics but that's on purpose. For some things a "normal" super sized croc is fine, for my system I'd probably just let the players have the normal semi-demigod abilities that styxian crocodiles would have, like eating and controlling ghosts and total immunity to poisons.</div><div><br /></div><div>I also have some ideas about lore and having individual Jaws of Death from certain regions or backgrounds utilizing different styled weapons- in the first draft they used Shotel's specifically to emphasize a pincer/jaws motif. Maybe there are snake variant's who use whips and poison daggers for their jaws, or a variety of long and short blades to emulate different animal styles. I might follow up on a later post if I come back around to it.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-73802658397652649822020-05-28T15:14:00.002-05:002020-05-28T15:14:40.233-05:00Jojiro's Twenty Questions for Centras <a href="https://dungeonantology.com/2020/05/25/twenty-questions-reredux/" target="_blank">Here's the cool link!</a> I've done this once before but wanted to give another a try! In particular I've tailored answers to an area called <i>The Jeweled Coast</i>.<br />
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1. What is something that players can interact with that inspires wonder in your setting?<br />
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<li>Skylands! They are floating islands and dungeons and ruins of ages past that float through the sky before being shot with anchoring chains shot from giant ballista and raided by adventuring crews! They can be HUGE or TINY or anything in between! There are also BUG-CITIES that roam around mortal-engine style on the backs of giant beetles.</li>
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<a href="https://nerdreactor.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/ArtOfMagic-Zendikar-p92_93.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="358" src="https://nerdreactor.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/ArtOfMagic-Zendikar-p92_93.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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2. How does one religion in the world work? What rituals and observances are involved, and how does this religion play with other religions out there? Are gods real?</div>
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<li><i>The Godclaw</i> is more or less the "official" pantheon, made up of the five hero-gods who saved the realm. While each god maintains their own church with it's own power structure and rituals, overall the Godclaw Council works to maintain order amongst the larger cities and settlements in particular, acting as a social and military resource for citizens. However, the Godclaw does not tolerate open worship of other deific beings or cults - while there is no inquisitor-like force rooting out corruption, the Godclaw's resources are so ingrained in communities that they tend to self-enforce against anyone practicing heretical worship, as all the Godclaw would need to do is withdraw their resources once finding out about heretics to cause irrevocable harm. Gods might be real.</li>
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3.How does one get access to goods and services in the setting? Will items always be available, will trade routes be jammed up by bandits, are their commissions for things, are magic items sold in regular stores, are hirelings available for hire or do we have to find them in the world?</div>
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<li>There's a rather large variety of crafters and shops of all sorts. Both guild and non-guild businesses are in abundance, and enforcers of the church of Artosis called <i>The Invisible Hand</i> does a good job at rooting out anti-consumer practices and preventing complete monopolistic takeovers. Trade Routes can be jammed up by weather, monsters, or bandits as usual but these rarely prevent goods to be completely unavailable, as businesses tend to overstock. Prices still fluctuate though. Magic Items can be commissioned by Wizards or Wizard Academies, though they are quite expensive and typically require monster parts in addition to esoteric favors. Hirelings are usually available for hire, most commonly as guides, trackers, or the occasional out-of-work adventurer.</li>
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4. What are some examples of people and creatures a commoner would be wary of in-setting? What are some examples of people and creatures a commoner could trounce without worry? What are some examples of people and creatures a commoner would trust?</div>
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<li>Humans don't like Elves because of a long history including two apocalyptic events. In forested areas there's lots of fae, so strangers tend to be treated with a mix of caution and distant politeness. Wizards are rare and people treat spellbooks and wands/staves like modern people would treat bazookas. In general any creature with a skull-pattern on it can be killed without fear of any sort of reprisal. </li>
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5. Name a heroically slain dragon, or something comparable in threat. How was the creature slain, according to stories? How was it actually done? Was it a fluke or a well-executed slaying of a monster?</div>
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<li>The great dragon-tyrant WRECKNAUGHT was killed by a veritable army of heroes and sky-pirates in an epic battle that brought about the end of the Age of Weeping Oil and ushered in the Age of Heroes. According to stories it was a pair of roguish heroes named Mitsuu and Kaizoku, a birdfolk and fox-folk who organized the attack and dealt the killing blow. The exact tactics are lost in the two ages past but the mythos places a great emphasis on teamwork.</li>
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6. How do people who adventure (if there are even such people) get jobs and contracts in this setting?</div>
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<li>Nothing prevents four friends from just deciding to explore a dungeon or go try to hunt a big monster, but most either start or join an official Adventuring Company, complete with a sponsor. An Adventuring Company will have several adventuring members and handles the administrative tasks involved in sourcing and vetting profitable excursion. Open contracts still exist though, and <a href="https://ravenousambience.blogspot.com/2019/02/wytch-guard-contracts.html" target="_blank">Wytch-Guard Companies</a> in particular can only be joined after completing a Wytch-Guard contract.</li>
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7. How do people convey their station/caste if such things exist? In particular, what intersections do station/caste have with the adventuring lifestyle (whatever the players are in the setting…guards, tomb raiders, bounty hunters, etc.)?</div>
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<li>Lots of adventurers have some sort of noble or wealthy upbringing actually - station is usually conveyed through fancy clothes, etiquette, and displays of wealth.</li>
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8. What privileges and prejudices exist in your world, if any do at all? For example: How does the world view LGBTQ identities, ethnic identities within each fantasy “race”, and race relations?</div>
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<li>LGBTQ identities don't have any taboo attachment, Race relations between humans is strained a bit though, due to the complications of an ongoing Cold War and a refugee crisis. Elven families are rare and tend to just stay within their own communities, though there is tension between rare meetings of Elves from the <i>The Lineage of Days</i> and Elves from <i>The Lineage of Night.</i> Dwarves have subcultures but these aren't well understood by outsiders - in general they are quite collectivist in nature and this has suited them well.</li>
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9. Distal View of the Political System?</div>
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<ul>
<li>There is <i>technically</i> a monarchy, though it's somewhat removed. Elected City Councils, who tend to be representative of settlement populaces, take care of local laws and governance fairly well. Basically any given city might do things totally differently.</li>
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10. Proximal View of the Political System?</div>
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<li>King Markhus is well liked but elderly, and rumored to be in worsening condition. His three children include Lothric, Myrna, and Halfred, though his daughter Myrna is slated to next take the throne due to the ancient customs of the Monarch's Cycle. Lothric is talented with administration, Halfred is a somewhat famous and well-liked Naval hero who helped fight off some undead pirates, and Myrna is somewhat reclusive and lacks the charisma of her father. The Royal Family has a bloodline that traces back to the god Ka'Thon and his bride, Queen Night-Vale of the Summer Court.</li>
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11. Do your players even need their rations and torches?</div>
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<li>Yes, unless you want to starve or be eaten by things who can hunt in the dark.</li>
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12. How do you become a Ruler of Many?</div>
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<li>Being well-liked by a group of people, or be born into royal blood. Adventuring Companies can comprise "many" to the point of being small militaries, and their leaders are the most cunning and successful of adventurous types. If you want to lead an actual army or nation though, you'd have to go somewhere else or try to stage a coup.</li>
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13. Are there social consequences for necromancy or other forms of forbidden magic? Do these consequences differ in the view of the common man vs. other people?</div>
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<li>Necromancy is openly practiced by the church of the goddess Valora, but forbidden magic or worship that clearly is meant to cause harm is brought down with extreme prejudice</li>
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14. What is the common man’s capability to distinguish the following things: a werewolf’s tracks vs. wolf tracks, a manticore attack vs. a lion attack, a demon attack vs. a gargoyle attack?</div>
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<li>Any tracker could tell a wolf doesnt walk like a werewolf, but a non-hunter peasant wouldn't. Manticores leave spike wounds. Most people don't believe in demons and have never heard of gargoyles.</li>
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15. What is the social position of rogues, within both history and in the current day? Within both thieves’ guilds and within the world at large?</div>
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<ul>
<li>Thieves Guilds are winked at but not typically acknowledged (sometimes they even pay taxes!) and Assassin's Guilds are real but considered to be fake by most of the populace. Socially you would just introduce yourself as an adventurer or archaeologist since there's skill overlap and leave it there.</li>
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16. What is the role of dungeons within the world – are they a place where MacGuffins have been hidden, ruins of lost civilizations, unexplored caverns extending deep into the earth, Zelda-like puzzle dungeons that are more a player challenge than something that makes sense in-world, or something else entirely?</div>
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<ul>
<li>The three types of dungeons are Vaults, Skylands, and Ruin Bugs (fortress beetles who's population has been wiped out or moved). They are all actively sought out and competed over by rival adventuring guilds, and all tend to have some sort of treasure from either recent or ancient history. The challenge each can present vary wildly though.</li>
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17. How common are dungeons, how deep or large are they, and how much treasure might be expected within their depths?</div>
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<li>Dungeons of all three types are relatively common, but vary wildly in size and profitability.</li>
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18. Explain, if you could, the differences between magic-users in the world. For instance, how would wizards, sorcerers, miracle-workers, warlocks, witches, medicine-men, stage magicians, and the like differ from each other? Do all of those categories even exist?</div>
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<ul>
<li>"Wizard" is a term reserved for the officially sanctioned bunch who undergo training to learn how to read the arcane language and house spells in their brain. This takes most of their lifetime. "Witches" vary in reaction from village to village but petition nature spirits and the land itself for spells. </li>
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19. What are two examples of food culture in the world? Even if food isn’t a part of play, what dishes are people consuming in the world around the players, and what messages can be conveyed through food and drink?</div>
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<li>Dwarfs brew all sorts of exotic alcohol. "Shiner Flasks" are used as an all-purpose dont-ask-whats-in-it alcohol by adventurers. Cities tend to have food-markets and street stalls that serve culinary dishes from all over the world, including exotic cheeses, dumplings, noodles...you name it.</li>
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20. What is the internal logic of the game world you are running, as far as players are concerned? When the players act and the world reacts, what principles do you hold to?</div>
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<div>
<ul>
<li>I'm not actually sure I like this question, but is somewhere between 'maintaining realism' and 'rule of cool' on a sliding scale a proper answer?</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
Quick Review:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Overall I liked these and thought they were fine, I just don't quite like them as much as Jeff Rients? They seem more suited to a worldbuilding guide rather than a player guide which is less useful to me personally. A big thank you to Jojiro though for putting them together.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-58586097900396454712020-05-27T08:42:00.001-05:002020-05-27T08:42:39.021-05:00Playable Ancestries of CentrasI bounce between lots of systems and stuff but in general these are ancestries that you can pick if you're playing in one of my games. They go in conjunction with class choice and affect saving throws sometimes. This stuff is mostly based off of how Basic Fantasy does things but was also inspired by <a href="https://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Wizzzargh's</a> houserules for their open table games. DCC and other stuff was an inspiration as well.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Humans</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>10% reduction in amount of XP needed to level up. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Humans and <i>only</i> humans get to wield swords, which deal damage one step higher than whatever their normal damage dice would be. d6 becomes d8, d8 becomes d10, and so forth.</li>
</ul>
<div>
Most people you meet will be humans.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Elves</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Roll an extra 3d6 for an additional Luck stat. Luck can be tested (1d20+luck ≥ 20) or permanently spent to reroll dice after learning the result.<br /></li>
<li>Elves have "darkvision" but it's function depends on lineage:<br /></li>
<ul>
<li><i>The Lineage of Days </i>can see twice as far in low-light and can see as normal when underneath a starry sky. They can also see through smoke, ash, and flame as though it weren't there.<br /></li>
<li><i>The Lineage of Nights</i> have echolocation that works best in subterranean or forested environments. They can also see through non-magical fog, mist, and dirty water as if it were clear.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
Elves are rare to encounter outside their own small settlements.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Dwarves</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Don't have conventional names. They always seem to know which Dwarf you're referring to though. Trying to give them nicknames is unspeakably rude, but adventuring Dwarfs will allow friends to refer to them by the primary color of their clothing. Such dwarfs must be careful to change this color at least once a week.<br /></li>
<li>Have immunity against targeted magics and curses. This still leaves them vulnerable to area-of-effect spells like <i>fireball</i> but renders them immune to spells like <i>sleep.<br /></i></li>
<li>Dwarven "darkvision" is actually thermal vision. </li>
</ul>
<div>
It is common for Dwarfs to settle in enclaves within the settlements of other races, though they also have their own city-states. Dwarfs 'shed' their name in a coming of age ceremony called the ritual of mirrors, and any adult dwarf who becomes too attached to a name risks the wrath of a strange psychic-mirror-vampire-monster.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Halflings</h3>
<div>
There aren't any of the original hairy-footed agrarian types left in Centras, but for playable small-folk-</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Kestrels: </b>Resemble their more traditional halfling ancestors, but are born with feather birthmark "tattoos" that move and dance across their skin. Rarely, they will be born with bird-like features like talons, patches of actual feathers, or raptor eyes (but never wings). Kestrels can glide short distances.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><a href="https://www.incunabuli.com/2017/10/of-mice-and-humanity.html" target="_blank">Mice</a>: </b>Child-sized talking rodents. Mice can use sewing needles (stats as swords) or seam-rippers(stats as axes) as special weapons that can even harm spirit-beings. (Magic weapons without the bonuses, basically)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Kestrels tend to be nomadic, but couples will occasionally settle down among other populaces. Mice can be found wherever humans can be found.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Short post, but I just wanted to get something down. Hopefully someone finds it fun and gameable, or at least enjoyed the read. I love reading about unique twists to classic fantasy races so if you have some of your own you'd like to share please link it in the comments!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-59182026882352934322020-04-09T20:36:00.002-05:002020-04-09T20:36:42.397-05:00Secret Jackalope 2020: Magical Academic Book Generator Let's see.<br />
<br />
Kahva of <a href="https://madcartographer.com/" target="_blank">Mad Cartographer</a> has requested a generator on academic books on Magic.<br />
<br />
I decided to do some vaguely academic sounding verbs, then schools of magic, followed by a few extra words of title. I apologize if this is terrible but I had to dig deep for this one since it's been quite awhile since I've been part of academia.<br />
<google-sheets-html-origin></google-sheets-html-origin><br />
<google-sheets-html-origin><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="38"></col><col width="258"></col><col width="258"></col><col width="258"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Analyzing"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Analyzing</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Conjuration"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Conjuration</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":": A Manifesto"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">: A Manifesto</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Building"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Building</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Necromancy"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Necromancy</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":" For a New World Order"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">For a New World Order</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Calculating"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Calculating</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Evocation"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Evocation</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":", A Brief History"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">, A Brief History</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Coding"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Coding</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Abjuration"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Abjuration</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":": A Radical Perspective"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">: A Radical Perspective</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">5</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Comparing"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Comparing</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Transmutation"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Transmutation</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":": Origins and History"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">: Origins and History</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":6}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">6</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Composing"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Composing</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Divination"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Divination</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":": A Dwarven Perspective"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">: A Dwarven Perspective</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":7}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">7</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Criticizing"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Criticizing</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Enchantment"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Enchantment</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":": An Elven Perspective"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">: An Elven Perspective</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":8}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">8</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Deconstructing"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Deconstructing</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Illusion"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Illusion</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":": Declassifying the Myths"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">: Declassifying the Myths</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":9}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">9</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Determining"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Determining</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Polymorphism"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Polymorphism</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":": Understanding the Opposition"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">: Understanding the Opposition</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">10</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Dissecting"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Dissecting</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Teleportation"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Teleportation</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":": Common Untruths and Uncommon Truths"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">: Common Untruths and Uncommon Truths</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":11}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">11</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Examining"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Examining</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Scrying"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Scrying</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":": How I Lost My Tenure"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">: How I Lost My Tenure</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":12}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">12</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Revising"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Revising</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Healing"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Healing</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"is Easier than You Might Think"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">is Easier than You Might Think</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</google-sheets-html-origin><br />
<div>
<google-sheets-html-origin><br /></google-sheets-html-origin></div>
<div>
<google-sheets-html-origin>Here it is in button form:</google-sheets-html-origin></div>
<button onclick="document.getElementById("outputMjh").innerHTML = dI(mapMjh)" style="font-family: inherit;">Generate</button><br />
<div id="outputMjh">
</div>
<script>function rD(i){return i[Math.floor(Math.random()*i.length)];}function dI(d){o=rD(d['main']);k=Object.keys(d);j=0;while(j< 20){for(i=0;i< k.length;i++){o=o.replace('['+k[i]+']',rD(d[k[i]]));}j++;}return o;}
var mapMjh={"main":["[adjective] [magic] [title]"],"adjective":["Analyzing","Building","Calculating","Coding","Comparing","Composing","Criticizing","Deconstructing","Determining","Dissecting","Examining","Revising"],"magic":["Conjuration","Necromancy","Evocation","Abjuration","Transmutation","Divination","Enchantment","Illusion","Polymorphism","Teleportation","Scrying","Healing"],"title":[": A Manifesto"," For a New World Order",", A Brief History",": A Radical Perspective",": Origins and History",": A Dwarven Perspective",": An Elven Perspective",": Declassifying the Myths",": Understanding the Opposition",": Common Untruths and Uncommon Truths",": How I Lost My Tenure","is Easier than You Might Think"]};</script>
<br />
<div>
</div>
<br />
<br />
I hope that it's useful! And to supplement the table, since it's a bit shorter than my other blogpost, here's a skeleton for Magic Research of new spells for osr systems. Lots of bits are stolen. This is for both making up new spells or acquiring existing ones.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Magical Research</h2>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
- Cost is 500 gold per level of the spell (or silver/copper, for other standards) spent on reagents/sacrificed in holy bonfires/etc</div>
<div>
- Success chances begins at 1-in-6</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Chance of success is improved in the following ways:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
- Doubling the required price improves chances by 1-in-6</div>
<div>
- Theoretical research on magic, either through academic books on magic or through consulting knowledgeable people improves chances by 1-in-6</div>
<div>
- Having access to or consulting with a spell similar to the desired effect improves chances by 2-in-6. Examples might be <i>Levitation</i> or <i>Featherfall</i> for flight or <i>Dimension Door</i> for <i>Teleport</i>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-54424770876820312622020-03-23T10:12:00.001-05:002020-03-23T10:18:26.193-05:00Months of Centras and Their EffectsCentras has five months in it's calendar year, with each roughly related to a familiar season. Each month (except Flux) is holy to a member of the God-Claw, and each deity has their own sometimes tumultuous relationship with the various Fae Courts of Seasons who also have power during those times. Each month has 4 weeks and 28 days. There may be other modifiers or unique encounters associated with the months, but presented are the most common.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Menahim, the Month of Spring</span></b></h3>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Holy Month of:</b> Valora, goddess of Love, Death, and the Seas.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>- </b>Followers of Valora are actively at war with the fae of Spring</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Modifiers </span></b>(+1 to reactions/success) : </div>
<div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Seafaring</li>
<li>Marriage Proposals</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Unique Encounters:</span></b></div>
<div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Spring Revels and Bacchanals</li>
<li>Hungry Animals awakening from Hibernation</li>
<li>Non-Hostile Undead</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Elm, the Month of Summer</span></h3>
<div>
<b>Holy Month of: </b>Ka'Thon, god of the elements, insects, and fate</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
- Followers of Ka'Thon are allied with the fae of Summer, as Ka'Thon married a Queen of the Fae</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Modifiers</span>:</b></div>
<div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Duels and other Contests, especially Jousts (though the improved reception is sometimes from fear of being cursed by rebuffed, disguised fae moreso than good nature)</li>
<li>Storytelling (The Summer Court is also known as the Storybook Court)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Unique Encounters:</span></b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Heraldic Creatures</li>
<li>Bug and Insectfolk on a Holy Pilgrimage to the sacred burrows beneath the Earth</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Flux, the Month of Chaos</span></h3>
<div>
Not a Holy Month</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
- Flux is a special month where pretty much anything can happen. The effects can be relatively mild, like the sun never rising or setting during the whole period. They can be whimsical, like entire populations of animals switching size or places in the food chain-jokes are still made about the blight of horse-sized ducks many Flux's ago. They can also be rather severe, like gates to hell or elemental planes suddenly popping up across the landscape, or vile necromancers appearing from seemingly nowhere with an entire army of undead.</div>
<div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Harvest, the Month of Autumn</span></h3>
<div>
<b>Holy Month of: </b>Artosis, god of the Sun, Luck, and Wealth</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
- Followers of Artosis have a cordial relationship with the Autumn Court, sometimes forging short-term contracts with the Courts various mercenaries</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Modifiers</span>:</b></div>
<div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Business Proposals</li>
<li>Gambling Invitations</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Unique Encounters:</span></b></div>
<div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Cultists of the Wild Hunt</li>
<li>Rampaging Beasts gorging themselves in preparation for Winter</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Restmare, the Month of Winter</span></h3>
</div>
<div>
<b>Holy Month of</b>: Arcana, goddess of Madness, Music, Darkness, and Secrets</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
- Arcana is a secretive sort and it's unknown what sort of relationship, if any, her followers might have with the Winter Court</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Modifiers:</span></b></div>
<div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Research of all sorts</li>
<li>Music</li>
<li>Thievery</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Unique Encounters:</span></b></div>
<div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Hostile Undead, particularly Winter Spirits</li>
<li>Half-Starving or Frozen creatures</li>
<li>White-Stags of Winter</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Special</b></span>:<br />
<br />
<b>Xan, </b>the god of Justice, Vengeance, and Beasts has no holy month, but has his own holy day's.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>- Xan's Rain</b>, a single day of Flux on which Rain is guaranteed, is known to bless lawman and bounty hunters alike in seeking their targets, but only if the cause is truly just in the eyes of the law (those seeking the wrongly accused or innocent receive no divine aid)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
- <b>Xan's Sun, </b>a single comparatively hot day of Winter, during which criminals can plead for forgiveness for a lessened sentence and other ongoing disputes are traditionally atoned for and those who have wronged others can safely ask for forgiveness.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
- <b>Xan's Winds, </b>a single day of Autumn, during which bonds with animal companions are solidified and animals seem easier to rightly 'tame'.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-42247561420641216812020-02-03T14:09:00.003-06:002020-02-03T14:09:58.143-06:00Cuckoo Guild<a href="https://crateredland.blogspot.com/2020/02/thieves-guilds.html" target="_blank">Lexi over at her blog</a> has recently made a very solid template for extensible Thieves in the GLOG tradition, with the pitch that the unique thing for Thieves is skills so advance that they warp the game narrative.<br />
<br />
It reminds me alot of Blades in the Dark, and while I have some concerns about the applications, I overall really like the idea. Ultimately in my games, I think I prefer giving players a relatively small number of customizable classes rather than a lump sum of them.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I still like my <a href="http://ravenousambience.blogspot.com/2019/04/glog-parasite-race-as-class-challenge.html" target="_blank">Cuckoo Folk</a> idea but not so much the implementation so...here's another go at it.<br />
<br />
In this interpretation, rather than a unique species, Cuckoos are just masters of Confidence Scams of the highest level, using deception to blend into places and positions they aren't meant to be in. Then they just stick around and eat the food.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Cuckoo Guild</span></h2>
<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="https://i.redd.it/3w86v0gxzl141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="523" height="400" src="https://i.redd.it/3w86v0gxzl141.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is <i>not</i> a king</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
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<b>Starting Equipment:</b> 2 Sets of fancy clothes, a bottle of rare liquor, a (fake) noble's signet ring, an ornately decorated dueling sword<br />
<br />
<b>Skills (2, d6)</b>: 1. Military History 2. Law 3. Forgery 4. Connoisseur 5. Gambler 6. Music<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Abilities</span><br />
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<b>1. Brood-Mark</b><br />
✧: You can convince d4 people in close proximity that you are a close friend over the course of a few minutes, and they will treat you as if you were a beloved family member until you leave their presence.<br />
✧✧: 2d6 people in close proximity, and their positive feelings towards you last for d6 days.<br />
✧✧✧: You can Brood-Mark anyone with a written letter sent in advance.<br />
<b>2. Pull Rank</b><br />
✧: You can determine someone's relative position to authority through observation. Military Rank for soldiers, Court Position and general favor for courtiers, rank in the line of succession, etc; get overlapping results if they exist.<br />
✧✧: If you are aware of someone's position in an authority structure, you can appeal to it and act as their superior as long as one exists.<br />
✧✧✧: You can convince someone within an authority structure that you are their superior, even if one <i>*doesn't*</i> exist. ("I am the <i>real</i> king, and you are my pawn")<br />
<b>3. Mimicry</b><br />
✧: You can perform a technical skill once after witnessing it performed (anything from lockpicking to special fighting techniques).<br />
✧✧: You can perform a technical skill three times after witnessing it performed.<br />
✧✧✧: You can permanently learn a technical skill after witnessing it performed three times.<br />
<b>4. Act Like You Belong</b><br />
✧: You can avoid notice by slipping into a group of 4 or more. You are treated as if part of the group, and given access to any resources or restricted areas that they would normally have access to, as long as you accompany them.<br />
✧✧: You can avoid notice by accompanying even a single individual. After you leave, you are difficult to describe and your features can't be recollected if you choose.<br />
✧✧✧: You can get anywhere with confidence. No guard will halt your progress, though they may take notice. The most minor change in clothing can throw off pursuers.<br />
<b>5. Thick as Thieves</b><br />
✧: You can recruit d4 thugs in town who're loyal so long as they'll get a cut of the loot and are sure they'll make it out alive. They will flee, cheat, or betray you and each other if either of those conditions becomes sufficiently murky.<br />
✧✧: d6 thugs or d4 thieves, each with 1 rank in a random thief ability (besides this one).<br />
✧✧✧: 2d6 thugs or 2d4 thieves, each with 2 ranks in a random thief ability (besides this one).<br />
<b>6. Social Parasite</b><br />
✧: You live on someone else's property with their blessing. You don't have downtime costs. Begin each session with an extra ration, packed with care.<br />
✧✧: You live on a <i>nobles</i> property, with their blessing. Begin each session with a bottle of fine wine. When carousing, you can roll twice and take the preferred result.<br />
✧✧✧: You live on the royal estate or its equivalent in the area. Your friends can come along as well, but only you get the royal treatment. If an ally gets bonus XP through carousing, you get the same amount without having to spend the money.<br />
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<br />
<br />
Some design notes:<br />
<br />
- I'd probably have the Brood-Mark abilities only work once per person<br />
<br />
- For Pull Rank - Believing someone is your superior doesn't necessarily mean earning their respect, and sometimes it can mean them challenging you in a formal duel or test of strength for your position. "Aha, if you ARE the real king, what if I just <i>kill you and take your place for good!"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>- </i>For Mimicry it might be necessary to have certain things be witnessed in active use rather than in training (particularly fighting styles) but perhaps not.<br />
<br />
- Act Like You Belong is supposed to just be like blending into a crowd in the Assassins Creed games. The final ability might be a bit strong but I welcome any players who pushes its limits and want to walk past a pair of Frost Giant guards alone just to see what happens.<br />
<br />
- Social Parasite should probably be more active for games that don't have carousing or downtime. In those cases I'd just run it as a built-in safe haven, full of people who will protect you no matter what. It might need some further tweaks anyway.<br />
<br />Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-2543796782665835092019-12-23T10:25:00.001-06:002019-12-23T10:27:10.239-06:00Secret Santicorn 2019: Skyscraper Mimics (and other Structural Horrors)Lexi over at <a href="https://crateredland.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">A Blasted, Cratered Land</a> has requested the following prompt for her secret-santicorn:<br />
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<h3>
"Skyscraper Mimics (and other Structural Horrors)"</h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Rampaging Structure</td></tr>
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<div>
Mimics are pretty much just traps-as-monster. They most iconically take the shape of treasure chests and subsist on a diet of greedy adventurers. They can be dealt with through caution, thorough checking with a long pole, or through tell-tale signs and prior experience.<br />
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<br />
So if you just took that concept and made a classic mimic HUGE- say, skyscraper-sized - and gave it the form of a tower or other vertical building, it might just eat anything greedy enough to go inside.<br />
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There are two paths here I could think of. Either a long drawn out existential horror version of a sphere of annihilation at the end of a hallway with no save and just eventual death that will <i>definitely</i> make players hate you~<br />
"You've reached the top! The treasure you find within is...A FLESHY STOMACH THAT IMMEDIATELY FINISHES THE DIGESTION PROCESS! GAME OVER, SUCKERZ!"<br />
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<i>OR</i> you can make it a challenge, which strikes me as the sort of gameable that would let me keep my group.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They can take a variety of forms, from </td></tr>
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<h3>
How to Kill a Building</h3>
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<div>
Not with a sword, at least traditionally. </div>
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<div>
Maybe the characters are aware that a structure is living, maybe they aren't. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
But you don't kill a skyscraper mimic (or a Monster House/Living Dungeon) in normal combat. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Imagine each room is a part of the body, and the adventurers are a virus or other hostile foreign body. The body dispatches defensive mechanisms to eat and dispatch the foreign matter - perhaps white-blood-oozes, or baby mimics, or symbiotic parasites. The foreign element is either dispatched and removed, or it overcomes the bodies defenses, eventually killing it.<br />
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That's pretty much how most dungeons work already, right?</div>
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<h4>
Death by Attrition</h4>
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<div>
By far the more popular choice, this method involves clearing (destroying) a certain number of rooms in the structural monster. Kill and remove all the living defenses and traps, remove the valuables (down to the brass door knobs), and deface and graffiti anything left.<br />
<br />
The graffiti part is important, for reasons that vary dependent on the structure. Perhaps it further removes the hold of the resident ghostly apparition, perhaps it further irritates the giant mimic, or perhaps it confuses the nanobots.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Do this for a majority of the rooms (70-80% to be safe) and the structure horror will die. Unfortunately this will also kill any remaining treasure-bugs or potentially valuable artifacts, as they decompose and evaporate.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<h4>
Shot through the heart</h4>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The other known method to kill a structural horror is to "slay" or grievously injure the "heart" or "brain" or equivalent vital structures.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Such structures are invariably well hidden and guarded, so even finding the secret doors that lead to a vital structure is a legendary task. Should you find the right room though, you can potentially strike down the structure in one blow.</div>
<div>
<br />
Some of the more popular vital structures are listed below.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<b>"Brain"</b></div>
<div>
HD: 9</div>
<div>
AC: As Chain</div>
<div>
Attacks: Electrical feedback and neuron tendrils strike out at foes nearby. Save vs Dragon Breath each round and when damage is dealt to brain. Take damage as Lightning Bolt on failure.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<b>"Heart"</b></div>
<div>
Stats: As Immobile Dragon</div>
<div>
Attacks: At the top of each round, the heart convulses, expanding 15 feet around it as it beats. It deals severe bludgeoning damage in this radius. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
The remains of these vital structures are exceedingly valuable alchemical components, and their death will also remove the living defenses but will leave the treasure and valuables left in the structure unharmed.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjNlxhWp3WjJd5ZNK4lSXTpzspoPhlhbCyXkKEFUBIg0e9RV_wIuD9f0CSixUAltqvDpMyUHKQfkDXKL4zoAjSUnHnA5bALMOU81tynx4B5zoBIL1E8Q29MMxohkB49h-zcmlfbozJdQRh/s1600/E7930698-4C0C-4B8F-82D7-383D574FC2BE.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1186" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjNlxhWp3WjJd5ZNK4lSXTpzspoPhlhbCyXkKEFUBIg0e9RV_wIuD9f0CSixUAltqvDpMyUHKQfkDXKL4zoAjSUnHnA5bALMOU81tynx4B5zoBIL1E8Q29MMxohkB49h-zcmlfbozJdQRh/s640/E7930698-4C0C-4B8F-82D7-383D574FC2BE.jpeg" width="474" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Secret Doors in Structural Horrors take on many strange forms</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div>
Generate-a-Structure-Horror<br />
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<div>
<table style="-en-clipboard: true; width: 520px;"><colgroup><col style="width: 130px;"></col><col style="width: 130px;"></col><col style="width: 130px;"></col><col style="width: 130px;"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Structural Horror Super-Type</span></td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;">Outer Defenses</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;">Reason You Need to Kill It</td></tr>
<tr><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;">1</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Mimic (hermit crab)</span></td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Automatic ballista</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The locals are afraid it could go berserk</span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;">2</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Mimic (glue-flesh)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">False Entrances</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The Lord wants to use it as a summer/winter home</span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;">3</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Lich Phylactery</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Gargoyle Creatures</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">It's hideous and doesn't match the local aesthetic preferences, the housing market could crash any day now!</span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;">4</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Gothic Ghost</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Animate Caryatid Golems</span></td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Everyone's Really Tired of the minor earthquakes</span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;">5</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Demonic Influence</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Mesmerizing Stained Glass Patterns</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">It's housed right over a diamond mine or other valuable resource</span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;">6</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Dead (Minor) Deity</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">A Powerful Riddling-Door</span></td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Children keep going missing, locals blame the structural horror (70% chance they're right)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;">7</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Enslaved Para-Elemental</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;">8</td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Nanobots</span></td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="" style="border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
I'd plug <a href="https://donjon.bin.sh/" target="_blank">donjon</a> as the layout generator of choice depending on your system.<br />
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<br /></div>
<div>
<h3>
Quest Hooks</h3>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>A "Wizard's Tower Epidemic" has struck the country-side. Imposing brick-towers now litter the rolling hills and farmlands, and someone should probably investigate them. In truth, it is a migratory swarm of tower-mimics, and while they may not pose much of a threat to veteran adventurers initially, the alpha-tower has yet to arrive.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>In the nearby bayou lays a legendary haunted house. Locals know to avoid it and caution others to do the same, but a rag-tag group of well equipped mercenaries has recently arrived. They claim that the house is instead a rare and powerful elemental bound to a specific spot, and they are looking to hire brave souls to help them take it on. They promise good daily rates and a fair split of any treasure finds, but the perceptive and careful may notice that many of their claims don't entirely add up...</li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul>
<li>The state religion holds a hideous secret- their Grand Cathedral is built into the corpse of a dead god. A normal daily rite has gone awry, and the Archpope and other residents of the Cathedral has disappeared. Minor earthquakes and other strange happenings are occurring around the site, and it's layout seems to change on it's own. The Crown wants someone to take care of this, rescue the clergy, and dispatch the dead deity once and for all. You also need to do it quietly, at risk of a public uproar and revolution.</li>
</ul>
<div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbfjZ_5CE8ogQe3MPERduu3AKQcEN51dOSLLP34TtZD-LCETm-Wk82zu3ESpPHwrTjR0xbnm1tf3erkWJRlrjhKDG6gcBiqSM2xtxwAWCpL_keCiz2IUUVUDTzWily_qdQcw8TUfMJIkLK/s1600/300F9EF4-028D-41F6-8ADA-EF9513B5A054.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="810" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbfjZ_5CE8ogQe3MPERduu3AKQcEN51dOSLLP34TtZD-LCETm-Wk82zu3ESpPHwrTjR0xbnm1tf3erkWJRlrjhKDG6gcBiqSM2xtxwAWCpL_keCiz2IUUVUDTzWily_qdQcw8TUfMJIkLK/s640/300F9EF4-028D-41F6-8ADA-EF9513B5A054.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Structure-Horror Ready to Hatch</td></tr>
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Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-4807882030789320552019-12-03T16:04:00.000-06:002019-12-03T16:05:11.312-06:00Paranormal G-Men One-Shot Rules - "Talkers"It's the time of year when my home groups availability becomes more sporadic with the holidays, so with attendance not as regular we tend to try out various one-shots and stuff. So I made a quick and dirty ruleset. It's kinda sorta based on Silent Legions, DMT, and a weird mismatch of Cthulhu stuff.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Talkers</h3>
<br />
You are Talkers. You work to cover up paranormal activity for a G<a href="https://archons-court.blogspot.com/2019/10/help-i-accidentally-made-urban-fantasy.html" target="_blank">overnment</a>/<a href="http://bogeymanscave.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-volkov-institute.html" target="_blank">Institute</a>/<a href="http://www.scp-wiki.net/" target="_blank">Foundation</a>/whatever and occasionally deal with Fringe activity.<br />
<br />
There are four types of Talkers (everyone should choose a different one if possible). Each Talker type has two abilities.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Tough-Talker</b> - The Very Strong one. Good at arm-wrestling and in fights. Also knowledgeable on a variety of athletic and sports related trivia and hobbies.<br />
<ul>
<li>You may use a Point to perform a feat of strength or endurance that embodies exceptional human athleticism, such as kicking open a reinforced door, lifting a car, staying conscious after being shot, or hanging off a ledge by the tips of your fingers.</li>
<li>You may use a Point to intimidate an individual- as long as they have some sense of rationality, they will comply with requests from you and your allies while you are in their presence and for an undetermined amount of time afterwards. This is not mind control, but rational beings will simply do all they can do avoid a potential physical confrontation with you.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<b>Cop-Talker</b> - The Authority one. Good at manipulating bureaucratic loopholes and getting along with all walks of government workers. Pulls rank/badge<br />
<ul>
<li>You may use a Point to successfully call off any government or police worker, essentially pulling rank or threatening to go to a superior officer</li>
<li>You may use a Point to call in local military or police reinforcements, whether that be a SWAT team, coast guard rescue, etc. This can also be used to commandeer equipment of all types, including civilian or government vehicles and weapons.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Soft-Talker </b>- The Empathetic one. Good at gaining the trust of normal folk, the grieving, the paranoid. Expert-grade psychologist.<br />
<ul>
<li>You may use a Point to successfully intuit the emotional state of an individual. This will also spot untrained attempts at deception as you pick up on microexpressions and inconsistent body language.</li>
<li>You may use a Point to guide an individual to the general emotional state you desire. This usually involves calming down a distraught individual but can also be used to incite rage if you so desire. More specific emotional states can be induced in certain situations.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Tech-Talker</b> - The Person-behind-the-screen. Expert hacker. Good at engaging with particular niche subcultures over nerd stuff. Knows random facts that no one else would.<br />
<ul>
<li>You may use a Point to successfully know or research a relevant fact to a situation at hand, even one involving esoterica or other fringe media.</li>
<li>You may use a Point to perform a feat of illegal hacking (not without consequences). This involves DDoSing websites and domains, scrubbing information on government servers, but also may include grander feats like temporarily bringing down an electrical grid</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
If it's remotely plausible that a Talker has the ability to do something, they do it without issue.<br />
<br />
Everyone gets 4 Points a session, or 2 Points per in game day. In addition to the mentioned specific abilities, points can also be spent for "Hunches"- essentially getting to confirm whether an object or fact is important to a particular investigation or other simple yes/no questions to the GM.<br />
<br />
Everyone has a real name, a code-name, and a former government job.<br />
<br />
When directly dealing with the horrific, traumatic, or impossible, Talkers gain Stress. If something would normally test sanity in another game, roll a d20 and add the result to the Stress of everyone present. Everyone gets to do one thing in a "round", and you keep rolling a d20 every round until the horrible or taumatic situation is "resolved" or somehow no longer shocking.<br />
<br />
If a Talker ever reaches 100 Stress, they are "Out" (maybe they just retire or something, maybe they have a heart attack, maybe they get possessed by a brain ghost)<br />
<br />
That's it. I don't usually go this deep into making my own rules so if anyone has any feedback or suggestions I'm certainly open to them.<br />
<br />
I used the above ruleset to run the Delta Green introductory module Last Things Last and the players said they enjoyed it and had fun.Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-81971483117676641772019-11-04T15:09:00.002-06:002019-11-12T13:04:20.190-06:00First Thoughts on Songbirds v2<a href="https://johnbattle.itch.io/songbird" target="_blank">Songbirds by John Battle</a> is a newly released game in the DREAM tradition. I had some thoughts.<br />
<br />
TL:DR it's a great system that oozes a very specific aesthetic, but some of the straightforwardness of the original may have been lost in all the pink paint.<br />
<br />
I'll be breaking down my likes, dislikes, and notes section by section, but I want to make some more general observations from the top. Many of my dislikes are very nitpicky though so your mileage may vary on experiences for the content.<br />
<br />
First and foremost, the layout and colors. The author made a clear choice in aesthetics over usability, as the contrast of white text on bubblegum pink is rough on the eyes and pretty distracting. The horizontal spread style of the pdf makes the book look incredibly pretty and pleasing to the eye from a distance, but gives up readability as I find myself constantly having to zoom around the giant panel in order to read the actual text.<br />
<br />
Second, there is no Index or Play Examples for the rules. In a shorter, condensed ruleset this wouldn't be a problem, but the resolution system and character abilities are, to me, different enough that even someone familiar with RPG's might not be able to fully understand how all the rules interlock, and having a topic index and more examples might go a long way to ease that burden.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>Inside the Cage </b></h3>
<br />
The book starts with the dessert first, explaining the base lore of the game and some core locations. It is all excellent.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>How to Play the Game</b></h3>
<b><br /></b>
A fairly common section in similar books, essentially explaining how RPG's work with an emphasis on back and forth conversation between the GM (called the Mediator) and the other players at the table.<br />
<br />
Continuing, the next subsection has an explanation of the resolution system. I will say that some parts feel more out of place than others. This is where the game explains what stress is, when you get it, and how much you get. It's elegant and straightforward- pretty much everything is a dice roll, higher side wins and the loser takes stress equal to the difference of the roll. Circumstances and stats can be added and change the size and number of die rolled. The notes about Saves and the Deus Ex Machina mechanic both strike me as out of place though.<br />
<br />
"Saves" simply notes: "If a task doesn't fall into a category of a contest, roll your Stat die and a 1 means failure". This doesn't really seem to line up with all the other notes talking about how the basic Contest resolution is meant to work for everything from environments to skill challenges to actual fighting, and without any examples I find myself unable to think of a situation as a Mediator where I would use the Save mechanic in place of the regular Contest.<br />
<br />
The Deus Ex Machina is interesting and flavorful, but feels out of place as it's the first mention of a mechanic called Faith which apparently has a very different set of rules from the other base Stats.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>Character Creation</b></h3>
<b><br /></b>
There's 4 stats that are roughly compatible to the 6 classed D&D ones, and Wealth. Each one gets a different dice type assigned rather than an actual number. It's cool but the Wealth blurb isn't very descriptive, stating only that "Wealth is a currency measured by the die assigned to it". I'm <i>pretty</i> sure this just means that giving it the d4 means that I have exactly 4 wealth and spend that to buy things, no other rolling involved. Which is really cool, but being more specific there for such a revolutionary system would be helpful. Overall though I really like these.<br />
<br />
There's also the "Daring" dice which is a d20 that can be rolled in place of a stat "to aid a friend", and the Faith stat. Faith is explained fully here for the first time, but is still very, very broad.<br />
<br />
<br />
Beyond the stats, characters have "Heart, Genre, Talent, Anomaly, Schooling, and Equipment". To me that's quite the abundance of things.<br />
<br />
<b>Heart</b>: Everyone starts with one, and giving it to someone else creates a relationship. It's also implied that if you trade with someone, you...still get their heart maybe? Which you can maybe give to someone else? Honestly it's a little bit confusing, especially because there's an entirely different reference to "Heart" in the violence section. It also doesn't say anything about how getting more Hearts work here, only that the more you put into a relationship, the deeper it is.<br />
<br />
<b>Genre</b>: There's only a short blurb about choosing a music genre for a characters aesthetic and a movie genre for their outlook. There's no mechanical weight here and note that these things are used for "Synth Fusions" later in the book. I'm a bit torn, because while I really like this part of the character creation process as art, without any mechanical weight or explanation it just seems like something that would get skipped over most of the time. I was honestly expecting something along the PbtA lines of "mark extra XP (or its equivalent) every session the group agrees that you embody your genre combination as a character".<br />
<br />
<b>Talents</b>: A mix of background and skills. Every character gets a random one by rolling a d20. The mix of options is inspired and g-o-o-d but also all over the place, which may be purposeful. There's everything from "+1 to weapon" to "Royalty" and while I like the breadth of options here, I could imagine players being confused or frustrated that some of these things have much more powerful <i>mechanical</i> implications than others, but that's one of the nice things about having the dice decide.<br />
I do want to note here that there's a mention of something called <i>"Temporary Wealth" </i>here for the Talent "Inheritance", but I can't find any notes in the book about what the difference between "Wealth" and "Temporary Wealth" is in terms of mechanical consequences.<br />
<br />
Another note is that the "Circus Family" talent states "you have an unusual talent which draws attention and is more useful than it probably should be" with no further explanation. We're in the Talent subsection so my take is: Either, you can pick one of the other Talents on the page and it gets a boost somehow, <i>or</i> you can work with the Mediator to figure out something else like sword-swallowing or acrobatics. It's another case where such a general statement is artful, but could possibly be helped by having some sort of example since the intent isn't <i>quite</i> clear.<br />
<br />
<b>Anomalies</b>: "Your One Special Thing". Basically the class equivalent for the system. No randomness here, the choice is a deliberate one for the players. Each comes with a special ability of some sort. I really, really like most of them.<br />
<br />
<b>Schooling</b>: This is a section I feel I don't quite "get". It's supposed to be an area of training you received which is different from both the talents and anomalies from before. You actually get three of them, a Major School (which also grants it's minor feature) and two Minor Schools. It's all very lore heavy and honestly a little overwhelming. To clarify, I <i>like</i> the abilities presented here (The ability to shout I OBJECT in order tell when someone is lying being a personal favorite) but I do wonder what the extra character options actually add that couldn't have been covered by the Talents or Anomalies.<br />
<br />
I will note that the options are all over the place again. In this case I as a player would have a hard time making an informed decision picking between them, which I dislike. There's many things here that aren't referenced anywhere else in the entire document, such as something called the Judge's Corner. It sounds <i>cool</i> but the frustration of <i>"</i>Well, what the heck <i>is </i>it?!" keeps me from enjoying it and means I probably wouldn't use it. Maybe that just means it isn't for me.<br />
<br />
<b>Equipment</b>: Rather than a standardized list of equipment like Songbirds v1 had, instead this section explains that any item is determined by its number of "Features" and priced appropriately, with each additional descriptive word costing an extra Wealth. The example given is that a Flashlight could cost 1 Wealth and would have either word "Shining" or "Bright", with a more powerful flashlight having both words and costing 2 Wealth.<br />
<br />
I actually like the concept a good deal, but the list of words contains some confusing options like "Justice","Gifted" and "Romantic". Which is fun, but doesn't strike me as <i>useable. </i>I've racked my brain trying to come up with what an item with any of these things would actually <b>do</b> and come up short.<br />
<br />
The next page has the list of random equipment you roll on to see what your character starts with. I like it but many of the entries are vague and artful, which I don't particularly look for in my equipment lists ("<i>ring worth twice as much as you think"</i> and "<i>dying mp3 player with favorite song" </i>are good for A E S T H E T I C but dont strike me as good for <i>gameplay</i>, but maybe that's just me being unimaginative). There's also lots of results that are actually contacts, which is cool.<br />
<br />
<b>"Bonds": </b>The final subsection here is called "Do we know each other?" which has some really flavorful responses to that question, but the actual mechanic involves everyone rolling a d20 and depends on two people getting the same number. This strikes me as a bit strange since there's like an 80% chance or something with 4 players that the section doesn't even get used.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Character Evolution</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here the game explains the various progression systems.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Basement: </b>From what I can tell, the character sheets are actually referred to as "Basements" (which is confusing as later in the text there are references to both actual basements and sortof metaphorical basements).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There's quite a bit of information packed into this first two-page spread. There are things called "Milestones" which are unlocked by having Followers (social media followers, not hirelings) which are given by rolling a dice at the end of every session. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I was honestly really frustrated by this first two-page spread because the language is poetic and cool and has a certain vibe, but after reading it and re-reading it, I still can't fully explain how Basements and advancement is supposed to work.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here's an example from the spread, called "How do you Expand?"</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
<i>"If you want to expand the basement and grow, you have to spend one of the Milestones from gaining followers. And since these are shared between the Table, it must be unanimous. After spending it, just divide one of the rooms in half"</i></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
The language here is tonally consistent and artful, but does not strike me as very helpful in the context of useable RPG design. Reading it does evoke certain emotions, but in terms of practicality it seems to entirely dance around the question at hand, which is "How does the XP equivalent work?" and is not answered by the text (in my reading), which says things like "(The Rooms) Make Memories Precious". I still don't really know what "divide one of the rooms in half" <i>means.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Character Development: </b>The next two page spread does explain the Milestone thing a <i>little</i> more, saying that you can spend one to get a d20 in a stat. Without more explanation though, I can't say with confidence how this is supposed to play out. I might assume that you can't automatically bump up your d4 stat to a d20 by spending a milestone, but it doesn't actually <i>say </i>that.<br />
<br />
The same spread includes details on how each session earns players a point to put into one of the core Stats, with the option to spend points on specific rolls or spend enough at once to permanently increase the dice size. I like this mechanic, it both makes sense and is easy to understand.<br />
<br />
There's also what I'll refer to as the "Acts" mechanic, where after a certain number of sessions, characters somehow enhance their Anomaly. It's yet another section that I like <i>conceptually</i> but find difficulty in applying: there's a list of words paired to various statements about how characters have used their anomalies, and whenever players participate in enough sessions to complete an Act, they get to tag these words onto their anomaly to enhance it somehow. It's another piece of rules that seems cool in theory but that I would have a hard time explaining to a player how it was actually supposed to work. The text explains that these tag words "can do anything from improve upon your
Anomaly, add things to that Anomaly,
change the way your Anomaly interacts
with the world, or mutate the Anomaly." This is another spot where even just one example might be good to help those of us less gifted with imagination.<br />
<br />
<b>Skills: </b>The next subsection explains "Skills" which is yet <i>another</i> advancement method. After the 1st and every 3rd session, characters get a "Skill" which is a three word idea that gives you +1 in situations that relate to that skill. Examples include "Hunter of Fae" and "Talks Like Royalty". It's cool, but I dislike having to track incremental situational bonuses, and it feels like they would stack up.<br />
<br />
<b>Synths: </b>Two characters can fuse into one in order to become someone with the best of all their combined stats. The music/movie aesthetic from earlier is mentioned but has no mechanical weight. I think it's neat. I also think it's a reference to something?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Bringing it all Together</h3>
<br />
These first thoughts have already gone on for awhile so I won't cover the Stress or "How to GM" sections. I might throw up a part 2 at some point, but it feels unnecessary.<br />
<br />
The latter half of the book follows many of the same trends as the first. A constant thought that kept coming up as I was reading through the book was "This is <i>cool</i> but how do I <i>use it in the game?</i>". There are several references to values that don't appear again anywhere in the document (Animal Companion...cool. How do I get one?!? I <i>think </i>they have the same rules as equipment, but then there are three kinds??)<br />
<br />
Honestly, maybe I'm not the target audience for this book. I've never watched Steven Universe or FLCL, which seems to be two of the major points of inspiration for the author. Talking to dragons about their emotional issues instead of slaying them is a cool tag-line that intrigues me, but I still don't feel like I could support that kind of encounter mechanically with the rules given even after reading it a few times.<br />
<br />
Maybe I'm just being incredibly dense. It's possible that most of the issues above could be fixed with a quick FAQ or a Let's Play video/podcast where I could experience it through a different medium. I still think a topic index and more application examples could be helpful.<br />
<br />
<b>At the end of the day, is the game worth the $15 the author is asking?</b><br />
Yes. Totally, 100%. God knows I've paid more for less just because it was by a bigger publisher. The content generation tables are worth the price of entry alone, and I really look forward to more works by the author.<br />
<br />
I will temper that recommendation with this: I can't say that I could run it "out of the box", and there are several issues of the sort you would expect from a one-man team with no editor. Typos abound but might be fixed over time. Language is sometimes artful but confusing from an application perspective, particularly when the same word can mean several different unique things depending on context. Some parts of game-play seem complicated upon reading, but I can't attest to how they flow at the Table.<br />
<br />
Otherwise, this is a very unique game and I hope to see more risks from other authors in the same vein.<br />
<br />
And who knows, maybe I'll get a chance to play it one day with a Mediator more familiar with the source material and everything will <i>click</i> for me.<br />
<br />
Side Note: I hope the Author considers keeping up the Into the Odd hack of version 1, as it was also a very cool ruleset even if it didn't have quite as many unique mechanical elements as this revised version does. I freaking love the art from the old version. I also liked the Warnames and Bonds mechanic from that edition quite a bit as well.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>EDIT: This review is in reference to the first released version. The author has released a new version of the game with layout and content changes aimed at playability. </b><br />
<br />Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-7018389111839070012019-10-16T18:14:00.002-05:002019-10-16T18:14:47.742-05:00Runeforest Incursion (Into the Wyrd & Wild + Stygian Library): Session Report/ Review 1<a href="https://ravenousambience.blogspot.com/2019/09/runeforest-incursion-into-wyrd-wild.html" target="_blank">Runeforest Explanation</a><br />
<br />
Quick notes on System/Generation in total:<br />
<br />
- Stats are generated using <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/250888/Knave" target="_blank">Knave</a> as a base.<br />
- Advancement based on <a href="http://meanderingbanter.blogspot.com/2019/02/die-trying-v1.html" target="_blank">DIE TRYING</a> - Things get an "X" on them when conditions are met, 3 X's on anything (stats/items/abilities/spells/mutations/disease) advances it or makes it better somehow.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>3d6kl1 In Order. (So 5+6+2 for Strength would have a bonus of 2, for example)</li>
<li>Swap 2 stats or re-roll one (but you have to keep the re-roll, even if it's lower)</li>
<li>Roll an additional two 3d6, representing your Background and Starting Equipment OR Roll on a Race Table</li>
<li>If you chose the Background Path, choose starting kit: Legate (bardish) , Condottiere (fighter), Knack (illegal wizard), Scholar, Oracle (clericish), Archivist (ranger/survivalist)</li>
<li>Roll d8 for HP (don't add Con)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<h4>
<b>Our Intrepid Adventurers</b></h4>
</div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><b>Hosea, </b>Knack, member of a wealthy family with a bad reputation</li>
<li><b>Jafa the Gourmand, </b>Anthropological Scholar and Cook</li>
<li><b>Orri</b>, Human Philosopher from the Bountiful Lands of Shell and Stone</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As with all Runeforest Session starts, players were given three hooks with varying rewards to act upon (but are of course not limited to these if they have other plans). These are all available before session start for the players consideration <br />
(Quick note- A Supply=1ish Gold=100 Prestige, but it costs 2 prestige to turn into 100 supply):</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
~~~<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Hunt</b>:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The City Guard lost a foot patrol recently, and the Lieutenant blames a beast of the Runeforest. One soldier is missing, and the remaining soldiers were found bereft of valuable gear and coin. The armor of the deceased had strange circular dents, rather than the scratches and bite marks one would expect from a beast of the forest. The Captain of the Guard believes the culprit to be some mace-wielding bandits or Ravagers and will not sponsor a large reward.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Due to this disagreement, the Lieutenant can only offer 50 Supply for the Hunt, but bumps the offer to 75 Supply if you can find the remaining body (or whats left of it). Should there actually be a strange magic beast responsible, slaying it would provide additional Unknown Prestige and the chance for making magic items from its corpse.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Map</b>:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Whichever Adventuring Company maps the route to and from the Trading Post first would certainly have more than bragging rights, as the Trading Companies are eager to begin making money.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The first map of the first Runeforest Cycle will award you 5 Prestige and 100 Supply. The journey is likely to be highly dangerous and competitive though, and random encounters will have an unusually high amount of hostile, opposed Adventurers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Guard</b>:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">As there are no maps to the Trading Post, no records of the current dangers present, and you would have the difficulty of navigating in addition to regular guard duties, there are no wealthy merchants willing to risk the trip and looking for guards just yet.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Quartermaster tells you of a single job request that came through though: A strange, cloaked tea merchant offering a mere 1 Prestige for safe passage to the Trading Post. This is a shockingly low amount for a guard mission, but the mysterious figure promises "Gratitude more valuable than Wealth" in addition to the meager payment.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">I mean, there are lots of fairy tales about the benefits of helping mysterious strangers, right?</span><br />
<br />
~~~<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
I originally had a longer explanation of how the session went but lost the draft.<br />
They took the Tea Merchant who was weird and slept through a big fight with some not-wolf-things but rewarded em with a weird invitation to a Fae Court.<br />
<br />
I'll summarize my experience running it though:<br />
<ul>
<li>Character Generation method feels solid, new characters definitely met the "quick and easy" standard since everything is determined by 7-8 rolls and maybe a single kit choice<br /></li>
<li>Timed point crawl seemed fine as a navigation method, but I drastically underestimated the amount of time each point of interest would take in game time.<br /></li>
<li>I enjoyed the content generation method I had and each location felt evocative to me (can't speak for the players but perhaps they'll give feedback)<br /></li>
<li>I personally liked the beforehand knowledge of three jobs, knowing and preparing for each while the players still had freedom of choice in what they wanted to pursue. The randomization of the content took much of the prep work off my plate as well.<br /></li>
<li>As well as the overall system combination worked, there were shortcomings. I don't love the Supply = Gold method I have and will likely continue tweaking how it's used. The butchery roll from Wyrd and Wild was interesting, but while it references weight as the method for determining the number of rolls a monster gives (every 100 lbs), <b style="font-style: italic;">none of the monster entries include weight</b>, so I had to guess. This wasn't really ideal, particularly when I had to make a ruling in the middle of the game.</li>
</ul>
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<b>Other Random Rulings:</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>- </b>A supply = A good torch = A campfire. See other laments about the resource management of supply in <a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2019/10/osr-review-into-wyrd-and-wild.html" target="_blank">Skerples review</a>. For Runeforest it...kinda makes sense actually? The setting is much less "otherwise capable peasants who at least know how to catch dinner in the woods" and more "bumbling city-slickers who bought several cliff bars just in case they can't rough it after all" in regards to eating supply. I'll probably make my own take on the camping rules though but I like the food/water/shelter/campfire parts I have right now.<br />
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<div>
- I modified some original cooking stuff off of <a href="http://throneofsalt.blogspot.com/2018/07/unified-food-theory.html" target="_blank">this</a> from Throne of Salt, essentially giving double rations + a recipe for 3 successful cooking checks on the same creature type.<br />
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<b>Ongoing Tweaks/Improvements</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
- <b>Escape the Forest Table: </b>I need to redo a quick session-end roll just in case a mission isn't completed. Something like the <a href="https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/2149/roleplaying-games/escaping-the-dungeon" target="_blank">Alexandrian rules here</a>. Current draft is: Hunts can retire back to base an retain half the marks they had, Guard or Map can just speed up encounter rolls and can end as a "success" but may suffer from exhaustion. </div>
<div>
<br />
- <b>Tweaking the Supply Scale: </b>As already said, supply as a currency that's also torches and food and water was functional enough but I certainly see room for improvement.</div>
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- <b>A full list of prices</b>: Right now most basic gear just costs 10 supply with additional markups depending on in game availability. The irony of running a mercantile focused game is my<br />
<br />
- <b>Coffee/Alcohol Flasks as Potions:</b> Some inspiration taken from Wyrd and Wild for this part.<br />
<br />
- <b><a href="https://ravenousambience.blogspot.com/2019/09/runeforest-incursion-into-wyrd-and-wild.html" target="_blank">Finishing out the Trading Post services</a>:</b> Right now the only special offer players are aware of is that if you buy something with the insane 150% markup, it has a chance to be special in this way (wilderness link)<br />
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<br />
There's more but that's a start. TL:DR Fun, but very much a work in progress<br />
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Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-17844045981822750402019-10-07T10:53:00.000-05:002019-10-07T10:53:10.913-05:00Runeforest Incursion (Into the Wyrd & Wild + Stygian Library): Class Kits and Generation!Here's what I settled on. I like the general advancement of <a href="https://meanderingbanter.blogspot.com/2019/02/die-trying-v1.html" target="_blank">DIE TRYING</a> but wanted a generation system with a teensy bit more choice as far as the types of things players wanted their characters to be able to do. Enter "Kits".<br />
<br />
After generating Stats (I use <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/250888/Knave" target="_blank">Knave </a>as a base), choose your Kit, then roll an additional two sets of 3d6 to determine Character <a href="https://ravenousambience.blogspot.com/2019/09/runeforest-incursion-into-wyrd-wild_16.html" target="_blank">Background </a>and Equipment.<br />
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<h2>
Starting Kits</h2>
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<b style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;">Legate: </b>Socialite of some skill. Get +1 on Verbal Duel results and can use any mental stat instead of just Charisma. Get an "X" whenever you win a verbal duel. Verbal duels can be traditional debates, negotiating for price or payment, legal defenses, etc. Start with a Contact (Roll a d100)<br />
(Verbal Duels are a variation of <a href="http://cavegirlgames.blogspot.com/2018/06/duels-in-osr.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;">this</a>.)</div>
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<b style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;"><a href="https://ravenousambience.blogspot.com/2019/02/class-options-mini-kits-for-knave.html" target="_blank">Condottiere</a>: </b>"Fighter" Types. Roll for an Extra Attack Circumstance (d8). Start with Paperwork that lets you carry weapons within the city limits of Polis. You might have acquired it illegally. Openly presenting weapons will have a variety of social consequences, with the default reaction being "intimidated".</div>
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<b style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;">Knack: </b>Illegal "Not-Wizards". Start with an <a href="https://gumroad.com/l/dFdd" target="_blank">Illegal Spell</a> tattooed on one of your hands (your choice). Roll for what it is (2d6). Start with Gloves and a Makeup Kit with 3 uses. While these spells are certainly illegal, most guards have better things to do then to hunt you down proactively (as long as you keep any casting <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">very </i>discrete in the city limits). However, if you are caught for a separate offense, you risk losing the spell (and the hand with it).</div>
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<b style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;">Scholar: </b>You are very knowledgeable in one subject. Roll for your <a href="https://github.com/valzi/villagefolk/wiki/Scholar" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;">Area of Expertise</a> (d10). You have working knowledge of that subject. Each subject also comes with an additional way to earn "X"s and a way to make money. Start with one Reference Manual on your subject (with the possibility of more depending on equipment roll). (let me know if you want to add more subjects)</div>
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<b style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;">Oracle: </b>You have an unorthodox way to acquire information. Roll for your <a href="http://hmmmarquis.blogspot.com/2018/07/mancy-or-why-divination-is-cool.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0088cc; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;">Divination Method</a> (d6). You are missing a body part, roll for it (d6). Start with an implement tied to your mancy.<br />
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<b style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;">Archivist: </b>You have spent time in the Runeforest before and began to learn the strange ways of things there. This gives the following benefits:</div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;">You have learned to read the strange runes that appear on the trees and some wildlife that reside there.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;">You always know exactly how many Marks a given Hunt will take.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;">You can precisely track Research Progress in the Runeforest Libraries and can switch tracks or subjects midway through without losing Progress.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;">You have learned Fangspek, spoken by Ravagers and <a href="http://throneofsalt.blogspot.com/2018/07/class-carvergirl.html" target="_blank">Carvergirls</a>.</li>
</ul>
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At some point, you were twisted by <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">something </i>(You probably read a weird rune or ate a weird fruit). Roll for a Mutation (d100). Start with a monocle/reading spectacles and a carving knife.</div>
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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="https://solutionhole.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/place-seawell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="800" height="288" src="https://solutionhole.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/place-seawell.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Polis, The Shining Bastion of Civility</td></tr>
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Alternate Starting Methods</h3>
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The default generation process above assumes a Human or adapted non-human local to Polis with no outstanding obligations to a particular Temple. You can forgo the default generation of Kit + Background in order to take one of the options below.</div>
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<b>Clerics</b> are the most likely option if you are a local and don't take the kit+background route. Start with the ability to cast powerful divine spells in addition to other abilities and resources dependent on the deity. You'll be expected to Tithe a hefty sum of your profits and also serve with your abilities for the occasional mission for the Temple.<br />
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<b>Not From Around Here:</b></h4>
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<b>Dwarves: </b>From the Deserts and Caves of the Southern Outlands. Can't have names. Immunity against targeted magics (fireball no, sleep/scrying yes). If a moniker sticks to you enough that it becomes a name, a psychic-vampire-like creature that lives in mirrors who ate your first name will hunt you down. You have a really long natural lifespan though.<br />
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A culturally adapted Local dwarf is assumed to either have failed the trial of mirrors or ritualistically undone it and so has a name and none of the abilities mentioned, but may use the normal kit+background creation. </div>
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<b>Elves: </b>From the remnants of the Verdant Forests, Dragonlands, Vaults, or other unusually sequestered location that protected them from the Purge. Roll an additional 3d6 for a Luck stat. Everyone from Polis *really* hates Elves for causing the last apocalypse and also for generally being known as sadistic, cannibalistic heathens. Also have a really long natural lifespan.<br />
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A culturally adapted Local elf is assumed to have spent all of their luck in the process of living in Polis and not being run out of town by an angry mob, but may use the normal kit+background creation.<br />
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<b>Fresh Off the Boat:</b><br />
Polis being a Port city means that travelers from far away lands are always showing up. Roll on the table for species (with more to be potentially added as the game continues)</div>
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<b><a href="https://ravenousambience.blogspot.com/2019/01/group-worldbuilding-with-osr-and-dow.html" target="_blank">From the Land of Stone and Shell</a> 2d8:</b></div>
<ol>
<li>-</li>
<li>Chitinite</li>
<li>Stonefolk</li>
<li>Hunttuk</li>
<li>Talking Cat</li>
<li>New Horned One</li>
<li>Bugbear</li>
<li>Elf</li>
<li>Human</li>
<li>Dwarf</li>
<li>Hobgoblin</li>
<li>Gilblin</li>
<li>Imp</li>
<li>Mimic</li>
<li>Siryn</li>
<li>Votive</li>
</ol>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<br /><b>Design Notes</b>: I've talked about my like of <a href="https://ravenousambience.blogspot.com/2019/02/class-options-mini-kits-for-knave.html" target="_blank">Kits before</a>. In this case, the combination of players communicating their preferred play-style with a character and getting some slight but not constraining abilities hits my needs for the game so far. I really like that all the classes have at least one random aspect to differentiate same-kit characters, and Background adds an additional cool depth as well.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The abilities are hopefully slight enough to encourage and enable players to have their characters advance in odd or unexpected directions. You certainly don't have to play a Knack if you want to end up as a capital-"W"-Wizard. You can also just collect all the starting kit abilities willy-nilly if you want through play.<br /><br />I'm probably least happy with the Legate and Archivist abilities and might tweak or workshop them a bit further. "Bardish" and "Rangerish" were somewhat difficult archetypes to keep interesting but also confined to the same general power level as everything else. I'm actually still working on the mutation table following<a href="http://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2018/11/d100-mutations.html" target="_blank"> Arnold K's Method</a>.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
The Additional Options are somewhat lore-heavy but do provide a fun way to expand character options as the game progresses. I'm also happy to use some material from Stone and Shell. I've never been a huge fan of "race-as-class" material but seeing as how these options aren't particularly limiting, are tied to cultures separate from the default list, and really just provide a different starting point rather than a specific advancement track like a normal class I'm more than ok with it.</div>
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<div>
So far the starting players have rolled up a Knack from a Wealthy Merchant family, a Scholar with a specialty in anthropology who works as a street-cook, and a Human from the Bountiful Lands of Stone and Shell who philosophizes often, can speak Feline, and rides a two-headed horse. Ironically, the player who rolled on the stone-and-shell species table only did so because they wanted to be a <b>non</b>-human and was aiming for the more exotic options. That's RNG for ya.</div>
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As always, I love and appreciate any feedback you might have!<br /><br /></div>
</div>
Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-63779006660824740562019-10-05T09:15:00.001-05:002019-10-05T09:16:31.415-05:00Runeforest Incursion (Into the Wyrd & Wild + Stygian Library): Money and DowntimeSubject to change but here's the first draft at least.<br />
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There are two currency types for Runeforest:</div>
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<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />
<b style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Supply</i></b> is equivalent to about 1 gold in other systems and used as a universal survival and bartering unit for everyday expenses and items<br />
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<i style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;">Prestige</i> is more nebulous, comprising general goodwill, positive reputation, available favors, and lots of cash to grease the right palms. </div>
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100 Supply can be converted into 1 Prestige</div>
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2 Prestige can be converted into 100 supply, as it's difficult to liquidate non-cash assets </div>
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It would take approximately 3 Supply/day to survive in an absolutely hostile environment (with no food/water/shelter available other than what you bring yourself)<br />
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1 Prestige could be spent for a night out at the most exclusive bar in Polis, buying expensive liquor and making friends with important people<br />
10 prestige could be spent on a simple magic weapon or armor<br />
15 prestige could fund/arrange for the creation of a small business<br />
(above numbers subject to change)<br />
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Your Company's mysterious patron has supplied a simple barracks on the outskirts of Polis, where you may live in humble conditions for free.<br />
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If you wish to spend a downtime in the Trading Post, you will have to rent a room or make other arrangements.</div>
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Downtime Actions (if used) take one week. Possibilities include but are not limited to:</h4>
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<b style="background-color: none; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Clean Your Kill: </b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Automatically succeed on a corpse butchery roll for up to 200 pounds of flesh</span><br />
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<b style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;">Carousing: </b>Get drunk and blow an unknown amount of money and dignity, get an 'X' on a random stat. Odd, detrimental, or beneficial events may occur.</div>
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<b style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;">Check the Rumour-weave: </b>Get answers to questions about oddities encountered OR learn of specific threats for the current/upcoming Runecycle</div>
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<b style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;">Go Hunting: </b>Decide on a Quarry. As long as it has 5 marks or less you should be able to hunt it successfully, but may incur a level of Exhaustion. </div>
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<b style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;">Wizard Business: </b>Practice with spells or magic items. Spell research, breeding, and other eldritch activities go here.</div>
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<b style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;">Find New Blood: </b>Find some new recruits for the Company. Potential recruits will accompany you as a Retainer for one mission before deciding whether or not to join officially</div>
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<b style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;">R&R: </b>Clear an extra level of exhaustion and get new saves against disease or other temporary conditions.</div>
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<b style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #364348;">Negotiate:</b> Spend some amount of Prestige to get access to exclusive Trading Company Officials or Wytch-Guard Captains. Gives options for prestigious Guard or Hunt jobs for future sessions.<br />
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<br />
<b>Design Notes: </b>I struggle alot with how economics <i>should</i> work in the games I run, but I like the concept of differentiating the "everyday" fund with the "wheelbarrows of money and favor" fund. It's heavily inspired by the Blades in the Dark system of Coin/Stash, where players and gangs only have access to so much liquid cash at a time and instead have to put additional funds into a combination retirement/rainy day fund that's more expensive to cash out than it is to cash in.<br />
<br />
I'm not really sure if I have the right idea on how to spend Prestige- the lowest spending option is meant to be the equivalent of blowing several thousand dollars on a night at a bar by buying shots for everyone and the like. Should 10 of those nights really equal a shiny magic weapon though? I have no idea.<br />
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Right now the plan is to reward anywhere from .5-4 Prestige for completed jobs depending on a number of factors, split between the participants. More dangerous jobs can of course earn more Prestige.<br />
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The downtime rules are heavily inspired by <a href="https://melancholiesandmirth.blogspot.com/2017/10/system-for-abstracted-osr-settlement.html" target="_blank">Lungfungus' Rules Here</a>. If the players do decide to take downtime actions though, the nature of Runeforest cycles means they risk losing the advantage of any maps or information about the current cycle iteration they might have.</div>
Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-16211785751470483152019-09-29T10:10:00.000-05:002019-09-29T10:10:08.447-05:00Runeforest Incursion (Into the Wyrd and Wild + Stygian Library): OSR Blog Post NPCs! Part 1There's alot of sweet blog posts out there in the OSR-Blogosphere. I turned some of them into characters.<br />
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<h3>
The Trading Post</h3>
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Many of the permanent dwellers of the Post are larger-than-life, eccentric characters. The services they offer though are as unique as their personalities. They have names, but do not share them and instead go by various titles.</div>
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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="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f5/a2/77/f5a277b574fbd398d35b3b48f7436364.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="451" height="640" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f5/a2/77/f5a277b574fbd398d35b3b48f7436364.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Surgeon (Mad scientist, Ksenia Galushkina)</td></tr>
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<h3>
<br />The Surgeon</h3>
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Inspired by: <a href="https://crateredland.blogspot.com/2019/05/reconstructed.html" target="_blank">Lexi's Reconstructed</a></div>
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<i>"You know, I'm a rather brilliant surgeon. Perhaps I can help you with that hump."</i><br /><br />The Surgeon can help you with the variety of unfortunate <a href="http://attnam.blogspot.com/2019/05/weirder-diseases.html" target="_blank">ailments</a> that might befall you when traveling through the Runeforest. They will not bring back the dead, citing "an unfortunate prior experience", but can help even the most grievously injured as long as they are only <i>mostly</i> dead.</div>
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<b>Player mechanics: </b>You can pay the Surgeon to operate on someone to cure them of <i>any</i> ailment or curse that could be banished by replacing blood/skin/brains/vital organs. They suffer from the drawbacks but don't gain any of the benefits of the replacement parts until they advance the mutation with <a href="http://meanderingbanter.blogspot.com/2019/02/die-trying-v1.html" target="_blank">3 X's</a> .<br /><br /><b>GM Mechanics:</b> The Surgeon will operate on the promise of payment, typically requesting some combination of jars full of rare bugs, lightning rods, barrels of ink, and raw flesh, with the amount varying based on the complications of the surgery. Roll for a random Reconstructed material, though Glass and Metal are replaced with Paper and Electricity. If a replacement Part makes sense (brains for brain injuries or memory curses, for example) use that, otherwise roll randomly.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><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="https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/010/692/610/large/brian-wells-170806.jpg?1525738613" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="618" height="640" src="https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/010/692/610/large/brian-wells-170806.jpg?1525738613" width="494" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Q9kB4" target="_blank">The Fableist</a></td></tr>
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<h3>
The Fableist</h3>
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Inspired by: <a href="http://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2016/01/bardic-services.html" target="_blank">Arnold K's Bardic Services</a></div>
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<i>"I won these stories, fair and square..."</i></div>
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The Fableist can be found in their rocking chair, banjo in hand. They are pleasant to talk to and, if bribed with tobacco, alcohol, or a hot meal, will share their "Stories". </div>
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<b>Player mechanics: </b>The Fableist is a fantastic source of information, but tends to share their knowledge through Parables, Tales and Song rather than straightforward speech. They will also spread Rumours in the form of Fables, for a price. They will not besmirch the names of individuals, but can shape the Posts opinion about other groups and Merchant companies. How believable the Fable is depends on how well they are paid. If you have a specific desire, showering The Fableist with gifts is a good place to start, as he can point you in the right direction.</div>
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Oddly, he can also teach you the language of Spiders.</div>
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<b>GM mechanics: </b>The Fableist offers the services almost exactly as the post describes. They offer discounts on information for similar information and secrets. </div>
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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="https://www.sccpre.cat/mypng/detail/300-3005982_fantasy-wizard-fantasy-men-high-fantasy-anime-fantasy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="800" height="504" src="https://www.sccpre.cat/mypng/detail/300-3005982_fantasy-wizard-fantasy-men-high-fantasy-anime-fantasy.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.sccpre.cat/show/imoRmmw_fantasy-wizard-fantasy-men-high-fantasy-anime-fantasy/" target="_blank">The Speaker</a></td></tr>
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<h3>
<b>The Speaker</b></h3>
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"<i>I drowned my books long ago. Best decision I ever made. Kept the staff, though."</i></div>
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Inspired by: <a href="https://lexiconmegatherium.tumblr.com/post/146409748234/heres-the-complete-look-at-my-rpg-supplement-tiny" target="_blank">Tiny Elementals</a> and Skerples' <a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2017/03/osr-elementalist-wizards.html" target="_blank">Elementalist</a></div>
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The speaker is a young-looking but powerful mage, named for their ability to speak with the elements of creation. This most commonly allows them to serve as a smith of sorts (there are no Forges in the Post) as they shape metal into exotic and useful shapes by convincing the spirits inside to do so. Armor and weapons made by The Speaker are always of extremely high quality (at least +1). In addition, Adventurers seek him out for his ability to broker pacts with elemental spirits.</div>
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<b>Player Mechanics: </b>The Speaker is who you go to if you want to trade wheelbarrows full of money and goods for rare weapons and armor. You may also need to provide the raw materials as well, depending on the service (he doesn't have any adamantine laying around, for example). In addition to being a one-man magic arms and armor shop, the Speaker can also summon Elemental Motes for you to barter with. Different Elementals will request different favors for their services. It is well known that making a habit of aiding Elemental creatures can earn The Speaker's favor in the form of discounts, so it's quite popular to see Adventuring groups travel with at least one Elemental Mote.</div>
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<b>GM Mechanics: </b>The Speaker can make almost anything from raw materials, but their prices are exorbitantly high- at least 50% above market value for mundane items. They refuse to actually enchant things, but can still shape exotic magical items as long as the proper rune-logic is imbued into it first. </div>
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When the characters approach The Speaker and ask him to broker an elemental contract, roll on the Tiny Elementals table to randomly generate an elemental mote. Use the attached Goal chart or one of <a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2017/03/osr-what-does-elemental-want.html" target="_blank">these</a> to come up with a goal for the creature. Ignore the Lifespan portion of the generation, as the creature will stay manifested until its goal is met. The Speaker will only offer a single contract per Runeforest cycle regardless if it is accepted or not. The Elemental motes will simply leave after a season if their goal has not been completed (a single month in Centras). Spiteful elemental motes will immediately offer to join and assist the parties' enemies and rivals when this occurs.</div>
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Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-9206269884239998422019-09-27T13:30:00.000-05:002019-09-27T13:31:28.137-05:0020 Questions for Runeforest IncursionI've done the <a href="http://jrients.blogspot.com/2011/04/twenty-quick-questions-for-your.html" target="_blank">20 Q's</a> before for my version of Shell and Stone. I'll be running the upcoming game though with my old home-setting, Centras, though my intention with the Runeforest is that as an event, it's drop-able into most settings with an appropriate creepy forest. <br />
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Note: I'm still referring to the Urban location as "The City" for now, though that likely won't be the final name. Other names have changed as well.<br />
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<li style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">What is the deal with my cleric's religion?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">- In the "civilized" parts, most folk tend to venerate the God-claw, the pantheon of five gods who recovered the lands from it's ever-burning state by defeating the Evil Prince of Wildfires</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Where can we go to buy standard equipment?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">-Actually a more complicated question than you'd think. Normal supplies can be bought in the "civilized parts", but most things come at a premium if you're buying things for yourself at the Post. There's enough Merchants around though that most stuff is pretty easy to find, and if you sign an exclusive charter for a coalition or even just run repeated jobs for the same Merchant they may give you a hefty discount.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">- At the Trading Post, there's a Speaker who crafts such things by convincing the metal to take and hold a shape. Expensive as hell though. If the monster is at least somewhat standard* in shape you might be able to get a custom job done from one of the Guildsman in the City, though they tend to want favors done for custom jobs on top of any payment for materials and labor. Custom jobs take time after all.<br /><br />*Note, Centras has <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remorhaz" target="_blank">Glow-Crabs</a> instead of horses so "standard shape" for creatures is a bit different. A centipede or arachnid wouldn't need much modifying, whereas a wolf or deemight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia";">- Rumor and fables go that the Leader of the Librarians, those wild-folk druids who "keep" the dark parts of the Runeforest, is an ancient Lich who's spellcraft and insanity are unparalleled. Otherwise, whoever's been appointed the Court Wizard of the Monarch. It changes often, there tend to be many challengers for the position and Wizard Duels are fairly explosive (it's not uncommon for draws to end with both parties dead)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Who is the greatest warrior in the land?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">- Like, warrior as in "that one's covered in armor and can single handed mow down a peasant rebellion" or "That one throat-punched an Iron Bear and is wearing it's pelt"? Knight-Commander's the first, War-Chief is the second.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Who is the richest person in the land?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">- The Monarch. Duh. Also maybe one of the Midas representatives, if I think about it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Where can we go to get some magical healing?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">- There are some pretty nifty <a href="https://buildingsarepeople.blogspot.com/2018/07/cleric-spells-are-herbs.html" target="_blank">Herbs </a>around that will be your best bet. The Trading Post has a rather curious fellow called the Surgeon who will volunteer to heal you but his patients wind up a bit....<a href="https://crateredland.blogspot.com/2019/05/reconstructed.html" target="_blank">off</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">- See the Herbs above, also the Surgeon if you're close to the Trading Post. The, ah, "price" he charges gets greater with the more exotic ailments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">- Well, the Runeforest isn't called that for nothing- there sure are lots of spells kept by trees and animals in there if you know where to look for them. As for magic <i>guilds </i>not so much. There are several <a href="https://ravenousambience.blogspot.com/2019/02/wytch-guard-contracts.html" target="_blank">unique magical mercenary companies</a> you may be interested in though. These will rarely reward spells or magic items as part of a job completion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">- The Trading Post will certainly have someone with the services you seek, though their costs may be high or strange. You can try the City as well, though most experienced Travelers will tell you that the Trading Posts information and methods are more reliable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Where can I hire mercenaries?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">- Depends on the job precisely, Sellswords and regular guards aren't cheap but can be found in the City. You might want to hire a scout or guide for various journey's, these tend to hang around the Gates of both the City and the Trading Post.</span></div>
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<li style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">-You'll need a permit for anything bigger than a knife in the City. Most Bastard Spells are outlawed there as well. The Trading Post has no such laws for either.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Which way to the nearest tavern?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">- The City has plenty, the Trading Post has only one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">- Every single Runeforest cycle has some sort of Mark that's worthwhile and a Threat that's dangerous. Killing either would be a great boost to your reputation and pocket money.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">- Just the Trade kind at the moment. Sign up with the Verderer's if you want to be fighting on behalf of the Crown though.</span></div>
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<li style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">- There's a fighting pit in the post where you can fight against mystery opponents, including wyld beasts. I wouldn't recommend it if you value your life, though the Surgeon will stitch up anyone only mostly dead.</span></div>
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<li style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">- There are several competing Merchant Consortiums and Companies, and some of their cutthroat practices could certainly be classified as "Sinister".</span></div>
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<li style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">What is there to eat around here?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">- Whatever you can catch. Jerky is the iron-ration of choice, just don't ask what part it came from.</span></div>
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<li style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">- Each Runeforest Cycle will reveal new locations with the potential for treasure, but for specific legendary targets you may want to ask the Fableist at the Trading post for any rumours he may have heard.</span></div>
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<li style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">- Probably just off the trail in the Runeforest, just be aware you may not find it again.</span></div>
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</ol>
Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-49731936532545059312019-09-25T11:11:00.002-05:002019-09-25T11:29:05.115-05:00Runeforest Incursion (Into the Wyrd & Wild + Stygian Library): GM Procedures First DraftSo I'm looking to codify the actual generation procedures for Runeforest content. I've already got most of the books I'll be using but this is a draft on how I intend to generate the actual cycles.<br />
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1. Time-Tracking</h3>
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I have a calendar I'll be using to keep strict time records. The in-game calendar I'm using has 5 months with 4, 7-week days each. I like the logic used in <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/234978/Songbirds?src=hottest_filtered" target="_blank">Songbirds</a> where having shorter in game time between seasons adds a sense of time passing faster than when a traditional longer calendar is used. Songbirds has 4 months, one per season, but for in game Lore reasons I have 5 months, one for each god-claw member and each corresponding to a different season with one "Flux" month with totally random weather between the Spring and Summer months.</div>
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So the first thing to do before each session will just be "advance time". Depending on player decisions each session should have actions+downtime that last about a week, give or take. </div>
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On top of this, I've arbitrarily decided to decide that each Runeforest Cycle lasts 2 weeks.</div>
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So in short, when prepping~ </div>
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Step 1: Advance Time</div>
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Step 2: Check Calendar for Season and Weather<br />
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Step 3: Check Calendar for Cycle shift.</div>
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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="https://magic.wizards.com/sites/mtg/files/image_legacy_migration/images/magic/daily/features/feature159_forest2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="620" height="464" src="https://magic.wizards.com/sites/mtg/files/image_legacy_migration/images/magic/daily/features/feature159_forest2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright WoTC</td></tr>
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<h3>
<span style="font-size: medium;">2: Generate Runeforest Content for New Cycles</span></h3>
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Into the Wyrd and Wild has a great system for die-drop locations and trails between them that I'll use. The locations themselves will be drawn from a pretty big list combining Stygian Libraries' and Wyrd and Wilds location/details as well as a few custom ones. </div>
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To keep things manageable, I'll always assume "difficult" trails take twice as long as "normal" or "hidden" trails. </div>
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<b>Important Runeforest Note: </b>The fastest way through (so all normal/hidden trails) will take 3 full days to move from the starting point to the destination. So heading out on the equivalent of a Monday morning will get you there by Wednesday Night, assuming no disruptions (yeah, right).</div>
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Once the locations and trails are determined and filled, I can generate Encounter Table content.<br />
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I'll save the full encounter table for another time, but for now the important part is that two results have the potential to change each cycle.<br />
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The first is that each cycle has a<i> Known Threat</i>. The other result I'll change per cycle is a <i>Valuable Mark.</i> I'll save a longer spiel about both of those for a later post. But for now just note that these are a bit more curated per cycle than the other results, which will draw from a pretty big list consisting of Stygian Library, Wyrd & Wild, and my own encounters.<br />
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So<br />
Step 3a: If New Cycle-<br />
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<li>Generate Locations and Trails</li>
<li>Determine Trail Difficulty, Note shortest route(s)</li>
<li>Fill locations</li>
<li>Record current <i>Known Threat </i>and <i>Valuable Mark </i>on Encounter Table</li>
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So to recap~<br />
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<b>Always:</b><br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Advance Time</li>
<li>Note Season and Weather</li>
<li>Note Current Cycle</li>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>On New Cycles:</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Generate Locations and Trails</li>
<li>Determine Trail Difficulty, Note shortest route(s)</li>
<li>Fill locations</li>
<li>Record current Known Threat and Valuable Mark on Encounter Table</li>
</ol>
<ol></ol>
<ol></ol>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Sneak Peek: Player Procedures</h4>
Upon beginning a session, the players are given the following info:<br />
<br />
- The Date and Weather<br />
- The current Known Threat<br />
- The results of any previous Downtime Actions<br />
<br />
Players are then given the following options:<br />
<br />
- Hunt?<br />
- Map?<br />
- Guard?<br />
- Or do Something else?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Next- the Runeforest Calendar, Encounter Table, and Play Procedures!</div>
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Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-47519403828542832442019-09-16T14:40:00.000-05:002019-09-16T14:40:35.314-05:00Runeforest Incursion (Into the Wyrd & Wild + Stygian Library): Character BackgroundsWhen creating a new character, roll 3d6 in addition to your normal character generation process. This is your relation to the Runeforest, potentially marking you as stinking of the City or the Forest.<br />
<br />
Because of their ongoing war, natives of either place will treat you differently based on what Stench you have, possibly without even knowing why. Nobles will go out of their way to deal with intermediaries of Rune-Folk instead of dealing with them directly, and animals and other RuneFolk will be guarded and potentially hostile to those who stink of the fineries of high-society.<br />
<br />
The numbers below represent a reaction modifier for members of the City. Reverse these numbers for reactions of those of the Forest. Street-folk tend not to have strong feelings either way.<br />
<br />
<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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh35usNaa8uGvGYkh3f9TBOTh6mQ4EApMJ-pIXTAG_jotfPXyV9_jiYxFzKkCjsqWFJDsnVvWUpPJKpOyiqBBixq20_0Uzxw-45ei_XnxbKek7deg8GqngLosw621zuO-J4obaKNLW4n8-n/s1600/jumpFinalsm02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="912" data-original-width="660" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh35usNaa8uGvGYkh3f9TBOTh6mQ4EApMJ-pIXTAG_jotfPXyV9_jiYxFzKkCjsqWFJDsnVvWUpPJKpOyiqBBixq20_0Uzxw-45ei_XnxbKek7deg8GqngLosw621zuO-J4obaKNLW4n8-n/s400/jumpFinalsm02.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A child of the Wyld (<a href="http://darenbader.blogspot.com/2007/07/tarzan-final.html" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4>
<br />
Runeforest Backgrounds</h4>
<br />
3: -3 A true child of the Wyld. Possibly raised by animals or other RuneFolk. Regular people may mistake you for a Librarian. Take 3 Wyld Skills.<br />
<br />
4-5: -2 Likely from the Trading Post or a Log-Cabin somewhere in the Runeforest. Either way, you probably don't know much about society or social norms. Take 2 Wyld Skills.<br />
<br />
6-8: -1 Most townsfolk and peasants who live and farm within sight of the Runeforest. Take 1 Wyld Skill.<br />
<br />
9-12: +0 Average cityfolk or suburban dweller. You might also be a Majordomo or Verderer. You don't have the stink of the City or the Forest. Choose between 1 Street Skill, "Majordomo", or "Ranger".<br />
<br />
13-15: +1 Knights, lesser nobles, successful bankers, merchants, and wealthy city-folk. Take 1 Court Skill.<br />
<br />
16-17: +2 Barons, counts, dukes, and other high-ranking nobles. Take 2 Court Skills.<br />
<br />
18: +3 Royalty and greater nobility. Regardless, you are somewhere in the line of succession. Take 3 Court Skills.<br />
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<br />
Skill Examples:<br />
<br />
Wyld Skills: Scouting, Hunting, Navigation, Herbalism, Taxonomy, Fishing, Farming, Fae Customs<br />
<br />
Court Skills: Dueling, Debate, Negotiation, Riding, Falconry, Painting, Scribing, Embezzlement, Espionage, Court Etiquette<br />
<br />
Street Skills: Haggling, Butchery, Cooking, Shopping, Pickpocketing<br />
<br />
<br />
<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="https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/008/725/845/large/sergey-gurskiy-111.jpg?1514904689" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="490" height="400" src="https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/008/725/845/large/sergey-gurskiy-111.jpg?1514904689" width="243" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Greater Noble (<a href="https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/008/725/845/large/sergey-gurskiy-111.jpg?1514904689" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Majordomo</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Once upon a time, a Noble man had a problem, for he could not find a butler who was not traitorous and deceitful. The Noble looked far and wide and each prospective butler turned out to be a spy, or traitorous, or easily blackmailed. And so the Noble looked to the one place where his enemies could not have touched. The Noble sought a child of the Wyld.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
All the head's of noble households in modern times are children of the Wyld. It doesn't matter how connected they are to the Runeforest. Prospective Majordomos are found either as orphans or bought for a generous sum from their peasant families. They are then brought up as a member of the Noble's household and trained to run it. Majordomos are skilled in the arts of delegation, paper-trails, counter-espionage, and blackmail.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
After years spent within the City, Majordomo lose the scent of the Runeforest.</div>
<div>
<br /></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="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/461b1e36-7800-4065-916e-2e75e5d30b4e/d8eta2f-7ea85a02-fd9e-4616-ab99-9053d931d6e8.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzQ2MWIxZTM2LTc4MDAtNDA2NS05MTZlLTJlNzVlNWQzMGI0ZVwvZDhldGEyZi03ZWE4NWEwMi1mZDllLTQ2MTYtYWI5OS05MDUzZDkzMWQ2ZTguanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.X_C-M0Y1W0W02I0B7L41gVc3lesesHHWT-E16B5J7ac" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="552" height="400" src="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/461b1e36-7800-4065-916e-2e75e5d30b4e/d8eta2f-7ea85a02-fd9e-4616-ab99-9053d931d6e8.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzQ2MWIxZTM2LTc4MDAtNDA2NS05MTZlLTJlNzVlNWQzMGI0ZVwvZDhldGEyZi03ZWE4NWEwMi1mZDllLTQ2MTYtYWI5OS05MDUzZDkzMWQ2ZTguanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.X_C-M0Y1W0W02I0B7L41gVc3lesesHHWT-E16B5J7ac" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://www.deviantart.com/charro-art/art/Boris-508610103" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Verderer</h3>
<div>
A member of the official military group responsible for administering the Laws of the Monarch within the Runeforest. Anyone without the stench of the Forest can join, though in doing so the Verderer renounces all family ties and noble claims or positions they might hold. Many mistake the Verderers for Rangers, though the latter title is reserved for the clergy and devouts of Xan, god of beasts. Verderers are skilled in the arts of tracking, survival, and law. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Like the Majordomo who lose the stench of the Forest, Verderers eventually lose the stench of the City, perhaps as a defense mechanism.</div>
<div>
<br /></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="https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/005/967/364/large/valeriy-vegera-2-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="528" height="400" src="https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/005/967/364/large/valeriy-vegera-2-2.jpg" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/005/967/364/large/valeriy-vegera-2-2.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Design Notes:</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I really like the way that <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/196352/The-Nightmares-Underneath-Free-Edition" target="_blank">Nightmares Underneath</a> does Social class with an additional 3d6 roll and modifier for "noble" reactions dependent on status. My intent was to use a similar system but mirror it for the two major factions and throw in some skills as well. I might also do some equipment tables for the different backgrounds specifically much like Nightmares Underneath did as an option. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Majordomo's just something I came up that's probably based off alot of things I can't remember. Verderers are essentially just this settings equivalent of the Night's Watch if it wasn't obvious.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If I had a group or players that didn't want to roll, I'd probably just let them pick any of the -1, 0, or +1 options, with the other results reserved for chance.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-33711294201355333152019-09-10T09:20:00.000-05:002019-09-10T09:20:52.022-05:00Runeforest Incursion: (Into the Wyrd & Wild + Stygian Library) Campaign SetupI've had this idea stewing in my head for awhile and finally have a group to run it for.<br />
<br />
The central idea is a combination of these two unlikely RPG books I both greatly enjoy- <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/274922/Into-the-Wyrd-and-Wild" target="_blank">one for running weird forests</a>, the other a sort of <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/257113/The-Stygian-Library?term=stygian+li" target="_blank">Eternal Haunted Library.</a><br />
<br />
<h3>
THE INCURSION</h3>
<br />
The forests, usually savage but predictable, have become <i>strange. </i>Text scrawls itself onto the trunks of trees. Legendary animals appear and replace their more mundane counterparts. Piles and piles of books appear from nothingness. Trappers and Hunters find abandoned desks and studies in forest clearings.<br />
<br />
The trees move when nobodies looking.<br />
<br />
There are Traders here, in this hostile place. They have things you want- pelts, spices, ancient scrolls. They want the things you have- metal, food, water, alcohol, supplies.<br />
<br />
You know, you could make alot of money with a few carts and the means to protect it...<br />
<br />
<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="https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/000/301/040/large/art_id_121566_Steelclaw_Bear_final.jpg?1415975840" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="800" height="420" src="https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/000/301/040/large/art_id_121566_Steelclaw_Bear_final.jpg?1415975840" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bears are Hangry <i>and</i> Magical (<a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/gJkgL" target="_blank">Source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Goals:</h3>
<br />
<b>Focus on the Locations: </b>I want to spend the extra time to make two central static locations become more "alive" - A Baroque coastal city with lots of garish nobles and scheming merchants, and the Trading Post, the esoteric and strange place of safety deep within the Forest.<br />
<br />
<b>Offer a Dynamic Challenge: </b>I don't know the specifics yet but the idea so far is as follows; every set interval (perhaps every 2 weeks in game) all maps of the Runeforest become unusable. New paths and places of interest appear. Both Wyrd & Wild and Stygian Library have excellent "map" generation that I intend to take full advantage of. On top of the map changing, I hope to offer the players alot of choice in how they spend each session- Tracking down exotic beasts? Attempting the race to find the safest path through and sell the maps? Guarding one of the many Caravans to or from the Trading Post? Scouring the RuneForest for ancient knowledge or new and strange spells? Take on a Wytch-Guard Contract and try not to let the bumbling apprentice get eaten by something?<br />
<br />
<b>Express the Aesthetic: </b>Deep and mythical dark forests, dusty tomes, strange rituals.<br />
Whimsical and horrible things. Places of ruin, knowledge, life, and hostility. Circles of stones and humanoid shapes with antlers.<br />
<br />
<b>Threats both Mundane and Supernatural: </b>There are rivals everywhere. Whenever you make money, it means that someone else didn't. The players aren't the only ones trying to map the way through, or hunt that beast, or get that caravan charter. They'll make enemies in the civilized places and will need to balance the politics of business with the threats of the wylds. Assassins, bandits, starvation and exposure are just as lethal as Forest Drakes and Runeclaw Beasts and Werewolves. Lots of things are trying to kill you.<br />
<br />
<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="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/f49b7fed-bb8c-4ce3-b207-f7ea09481dc9/daloh5y-d77ac310-f8d9-48d1-be85-c4d2d64292d3.png/v1/fill/w_1192,h_670,q_70,strp/abandoned_library_by_vityar83_daloh5y-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9NzY4IiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvZjQ5YjdmZWQtYmI4Yy00Y2UzLWIyMDctZjdlYTA5NDgxZGM5XC9kYWxvaDV5LWQ3N2FjMzEwLWY4ZDktNDhkMS1iZTg1LWM0ZDJkNjQyOTJkMy5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTM2NiJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.ygmoKDkjYqEhrtRVRLDOMhRBJG3M2wBlBFLg1aDKUZI" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="356" src="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/f49b7fed-bb8c-4ce3-b207-f7ea09481dc9/daloh5y-d77ac310-f8d9-48d1-be85-c4d2d64292d3.png/v1/fill/w_1192,h_670,q_70,strp/abandoned_library_by_vityar83_daloh5y-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9NzY4IiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvZjQ5YjdmZWQtYmI4Yy00Y2UzLWIyMDctZjdlYTA5NDgxZGM5XC9kYWxvaDV5LWQ3N2FjMzEwLWY4ZDktNDhkMS1iZTg1LWM0ZDJkNjQyOTJkMy5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTM2NiJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.ygmoKDkjYqEhrtRVRLDOMhRBJG3M2wBlBFLg1aDKUZI" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.deviantart.com/vityar83/art/abandoned-library-641075686" target="_blank">Art by Vityar83</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<b>To-Do's</b><br />
<br />
- Finish the Encounter Tables<br />
- Formalize the Rules: Some things, like Hunting and Camping, will run just as they are in Into the Wyrd & Wild. I'll need to make my own rules for mapping rules and finalize the timelines. I want maps to be worth more the "safer" they are and the faster they are delivered since the last reset. I still want to work out gold expectations as well<br />
- Finish the details of the City and the Trading PostAmbnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-87025892049392625672019-08-19T09:51:00.000-05:002019-08-19T09:51:58.548-05:00An Examination of the Courts of the Fae: Gravity and Tea-TimeThe Fae Courts of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter are the most well known Major Courts. But there are many more.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
All of them will greet you with open arms. All of them will be polite. All will try to use you.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
The Fae Court of Gravity</h3>
<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="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/34/cc/5b/34cc5b2a92c3c37963710fc1c4e57615.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="419" height="320" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/34/cc/5b/34cc5b2a92c3c37963710fc1c4e57615.png" width="167" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright Paizo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A powerful court not prone to the same transitions of power suffered by what they view as the inferior courts of weather and seasons. Their influence does remain frustratingly limited over such places as the Astral Sea, Elemental Plane of Air, and over what they call "Cursed Featherfolk" (Angels)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
</h4>
<div>
<br /></div>
<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="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/4ced19ec-7e9e-4b31-8ee3-4cbabe17c6ab/d81fq76-8d34309d-f5e4-426d-8058-33d74e357143.png/v1/fill/w_751,h_1063,strp/halloween_town___mayor_by_boredman_d81fq76-pre.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTEzMiIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzRjZWQxOWVjLTdlOWUtNGIzMS04ZWUzLTRjYmFiZTE3YzZhYlwvZDgxZnE3Ni04ZDM0MzA5ZC1mNWU0LTQyNmQtODA1OC0zM2Q3NGUzNTcxNDMucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTgwMCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.Nz02pw3ok8Z65JMA3caGSB-NMaEDwjuSLAP26RkYbHc" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="565" height="320" src="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/4ced19ec-7e9e-4b31-8ee3-4cbabe17c6ab/d81fq76-8d34309d-f5e4-426d-8058-33d74e357143.png/v1/fill/w_751,h_1063,strp/halloween_town___mayor_by_boredman_d81fq76-pre.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTEzMiIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzRjZWQxOWVjLTdlOWUtNGIzMS04ZWUzLTRjYmFiZTE3YzZhYlwvZDgxZnE3Ni04ZDM0MzA5ZC1mNWU0LTQyNmQtODA1OC0zM2Q3NGUzNTcxNDMucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTgwMCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.Nz02pw3ok8Z65JMA3caGSB-NMaEDwjuSLAP26RkYbHc" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.deviantart.com/boredman/art/Halloween-Town-Mayor-486142818" target="_blank">source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Fae members of the Court of Gravity skew towards squat, heavy-set figures or stretch tall and freakishly thin. They tend to be impeccably well dressed, making tailored suits and dresses from the substance between the stars.<br />
<br />
<b>They want:</b> To laugh as you fall from great heights. To watch you drop things on their enemies. They want you to capture the Bird Monarchs, alive, so that they may renegotiate the terms of their contract. They want you to sabotage the <a href="https://throneofsalt.blogspot.com/2018/02/class-thaumonaut.html" target="_blank">Thaumonaut</a>'s research, so that the gravity-well may not be breached again.<br />
<br />
<b>Their gifts:</b> Flightless-bird mounts, which they had bred specifically to spite their winged and clever kin. Gravity grenades. Staffs or wands that summon black holes. Submarines or other methods to survive crushing depths and environments. Silk made from the blackness between stars. Hammers or clubs that are impossibly dense, making them strike with unimaginable force and practically unwieldable by all but their owner. Information on the secret empire that spread beyond the stars. They may be bullied to grant methods of flight in extreme circumstances, but these are notoriously unreliable.<br />
<br />
<b>Their Displeasure and Curses:</b> Making you lopsided, clumsy, and likely to trip. Cursing your feet to never leave the ground at the same time, not even to jump. The hostility of all flightless birds you encounter.<br />
<br />
<b>Their Leader is</b>: The King of Stars, a conscious black hole.<br />
<br />
The Court is difficult to find. Birds and Bees might know of a portals location on the Material Plane if you can speak to them, but they don't wish to risk the wrath of the Court should you show yourself to be an unwelcome guest there. Gates might be conjured through paradoxical places of gravity, such as collecting two tons of feathers and steel on each end of a large scale. Neutron Stars always lead to the Court of Gravity if you can survive the trip.<br />
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<h3>
The Fae Court of Tea-Time</h3>
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Traders and diplomats who influence grand political discourse and trade across the realms. "Tea-Time" is the modern eras designation of the hour associated with rest, discourse, politics, backstabbing, rumor-mongering, trade, and poison. A "young" court, in the comparative sort of way that they've only been around since the First Nap. While their influence does not wax and wane in the predictable sort of fashion as the Courts of Seasons, they hold no power over wild beasts or druid types. They thus despise undomesticated animals and druids of all sort, and their powers weakens as the Material Plane embraces savagery. They are bitter enemies with the Court of Apocalypse, but act as messengers and neutral ambassadors for many other Fae Courts.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Fae members of the Court of Tea-Time tend to look deceptively mundane. They have an air of familiarity. Upon seeing them you swear you might swear you have met them at a family reunion or a cousin's party. Many appear regal, or elderly. Still others disguise themselves as butlers and maids. Surprisingly, there is no uniform dress code or fashion. Ragged clothing and strange, exotic, and outdated fashions are just as prevalent as impeccable dress. There are no visual indicators of status here, and it is quite easy to insult someone important accidentally. This is by design. Do not trust your eyes in the Court of Tea-Time.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>They want:</b> To have tea with you and discuss the weather in refined and polite discourse. For you to mandate laws keeping the hour of tea-time in the kingdom. For you to venture into the <a href="http://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2018/07/campaign-setting-platescape-inner.html" target="_blank">Plate of Spices</a> to secure more trade routes, caravans, and tea varieties. For you to assassinate their rivals with poison, undetected. For you to just relax and take a nap more often. For you to entertain their boorish relatives at a family gathering in their place. For you to serve them as a <a href="https://graverobbersguide.blogspot.com/2019/01/cafe-princess-osr-class.html" target="_blank">Cafe Princess</a>.</div>
<div>
<br />
<b>Their gifts:</b> Enchanted Tea. Poisons. Drugs. Accouterments that improve how others receive you. Cursing your rivals. Sentient,<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Their Displeasure and Curses:</b> All drink turns bitter and vile in your mouth. A cursed slumber. Sending you to Wonderland. Forcing you to have tea with an unpleasant relative of theirs in their place. Turning you mad. Taking away your ability to tell time.<br />
<br />
<b>Their Leader is:</b> Unknown. Nicknamed The Rumour, as they may not exist. One of the butlers or elderly appearing members are the prime suspects.<br />
<br />
The Court is easy to find if you learn the name of any one of their many members. During the local cultures designated tea-time, simply partake of an expensive brew at a local cafe and utter the words "I heard a rumour concerning (name of Court member" and one of their rivals will appear to listen. The rumour need not have any truth to it. If the summoned Fae finds your rumour adequate, they will give you an invitation to visit them in the Court of Tea-Time, complete with instructions to find it.<br />
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Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-16021463268426582212019-07-30T10:38:00.001-05:002019-07-30T10:38:32.533-05:00The Kino-Kiid (Weird Myconids)(This is a repost of my worldanvil article <a href="https://www.worldanvil.com/w/centras-ambnz/a/kino-kiid-article" target="_blank">here</a>. Sorry for the weird formatting)<br />
<br />
Trigger Warning: Body Horror<br />
<br />
<h2>
The Horror of the Kino-Kiid</h2>
<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="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/d17aba13-9893-4ad0-a753-bd75a22e5882/d8madjc-ad0b4a0a-6b63-4bff-a2d0-e383b707215e.png/v1/fill/w_966,h_827,q_70,strp/dark_souls___mushroom_parent_and_child_by_tetsuok9999_d8madjc-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTM3MCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2QxN2FiYTEzLTk4OTMtNGFkMC1hNzUzLWJkNzVhMjJlNTg4MlwvZDhtYWRqYy1hZDBiNGEwYS02YjYzLTRiZmYtYTJkMC1lMzgzYjcwNzIxNWUucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTE2MDAifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.N3WmTGzQPVudiA2opGYhpvDMjeuTXPo9kPc19lEEtss" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="800" height="544" src="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/d17aba13-9893-4ad0-a753-bd75a22e5882/d8madjc-ad0b4a0a-6b63-4bff-a2d0-e383b707215e.png/v1/fill/w_966,h_827,q_70,strp/dark_souls___mushroom_parent_and_child_by_tetsuok9999_d8madjc-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTM3MCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2QxN2FiYTEzLTk4OTMtNGFkMC1hNzUzLWJkNzVhMjJlNTg4MlwvZDhtYWRqYy1hZDBiNGEwYS02YjYzLTRiZmYtYTJkMC1lMzgzYjcwNzIxNWUucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTE2MDAifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.N3WmTGzQPVudiA2opGYhpvDMjeuTXPo9kPc19lEEtss" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They're so cute don't u just wanna EAT THEM UP (<a href="https://www.deviantart.com/tetsuok9999/art/Dark-Souls-Mushroom-Parent-and-Child-521165064" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Also called "Myconids", Kino-kiid are strange mushroom-folk native to the dark swamps and caves of Centras.<br />
<br />
Unlike other sentient species, they are singular in their purpose, which is to BE EATEN. They are born with the knowledge that in order to go to Mushroom-Heaven, they must be CONSUMED. Every action they take is therefore in pursuit of this goal, and this single-mindedness makes them easy to manipulate as slaves and as a food-source.<br />
<br />
However, those who would comply with their request to be eaten must deal with a strange quirk of the species- any individual kino-kiid has a random chance of being extremely poisonous and/or hallucinogenic. It is especially unhelpful that all kino-kiid taste the same and that the effect and onset time of their mycotoxins can vary wildly from gastrointestinal upset to liver failure to ergotism to coprinus syndrome. The kino-kiid are incapable of understanding this possibility of harm.<br />
<br />
<h3>
ORIGIN</h3>
<br />
Kino-kiid are a very obvious and embarrassing mistake of whichever deity created them. Clerics of nearly all religions have an embarrassing creation story for Kino-kiid involving the stupid mistake of a rival deity attempting to answer the prayers of some starving nation or population. Even powerful divine petitions and divination spells have yielded conflicting answers to the question of their creation, further adding to what academics call the "mushroom conspiracy"- a series of wild theories about Kino-kiid origins and the implications of their existence.<br />
<br />
<h4>
EFFECT OF CONSUMPTION</h4>
<br />
Kino-kiid always taste like a delicious mushroom. However, consumption outside of a controlled environment is typically avoided by anyone who knows about the dangers of consuming these creatures. Animals will actively avoid consuming kino-kiid, and so kino-kiid will typically seek out sentient beings that they can trick or bargain into eating them. The most common dangers of consumption are as follows:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>No Effect- The kino-kiid is delicious, though the eating experience can be disturbing to those unused to the loud cries of rapturous glee that emanate from the kino-kiid as it is chewed</li>
<li>Hallucinations- Kino-kiid are sometimes psychotropic hallucinogens that cause the consumer to have vivid hallucinations with varying degrees of pleasantness. Kino-kiid hallucinations are sometimes addictive and may be specifically sought out by wizards or philosphers who wish to expand their consciousness to learn the secrets of the universe. Some hallucinations may cause permanent shifts in personality or artistic creativity, resulting in what some religions call Soul Death</li>
<li>Gastrointestinal Upset- Severity varies but is only rarely life threatening by itself.</li>
<li>Coprinus Syndrome - Effects only take place after the consumption of alcohol within a week period. Severity is proportionate to the amount of alcohol consumed, but ranges from extreme malaise to death</li>
<li>Death - Typically by toxic shock. Can be immediate or days later, exact causes ranging from brain death to heart or kidney failure</li>
<li>Death, but worse - Cordyceps grow into your brain and kill you slowly. Rise as a semi-conscious mushroom zombie.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<br />
<h4>
MUSHROOM HEAVEN/HELL</h4>
<br />
Planeswalkers and powerful wizards have confirmed that Mushroom-Heaven is, indeed, a very real and terrifying place. It is dark, damp, and filled with the screams of the damned as they are devoured by colossal mushroom aberrants. It is theorized that kino-kiid souls are in constant ecstasy as their spores spread and they are given the chance to CONSUME instead of being consumed. Mushroom-Heaven doubles as one of the many Hells for religious creatures- the gods can be efficient when they wish to be.<br />
<br />
<i>Author's Note: It has been observed by these same planeswalkers that the realm of Mushroom-Heaven is expanding at a slow but steady rate, and if trends continue then Mushroom-Heaven may begin to collide with regular-old Heaven which may end quite poorly for everyone involved.</i><br />
<br />
If you somehow completely destroy a Kino-kiid (a rather difficult prospect without fire or acid as their souls can inhabit even a single one of their spores) then it goes to Mushroom-Hell. Unlike Mushroom-Heaven, no Planeswalker has actually been to Mushroom-Hell. It is known that killing a kino-kiid may cause it to haunt it's killer, who will forever be victim to a never-ending mandrake-like scream until they end their own life.<br />
<br />
<h4>
WHY HAVEN'T THEY BEEN EXTERMINATED</h4>
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Location</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
Thankfully, most kino-kiid populations are kept in check by the lack of available things to be CONSUMED by. Their natural habitats are limited to swamps and caves and other places without much sunlight, though if the species ever adapted to more arid climates then nearly all species on Centras would be at risk.<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Spells</li>
</ul>
<br />
Kino-kiid shamans have unique spells and will trade them in order to be consumed. Wizards and witches alike are unsure exactly how kino-kiid obtain these spells, as kino-kiid don't have the strength or organization for traditional ley-line mining nor do they have the spirit needed to petition the land for these spells directly.<br />
<br />
The spells don't seem to care and show up anyway.<br />
<br />
Kino-kiid illusion spells of all types are hallucinogenic. They seem tactile and will work on the blind and visually impaired, a feature not present in more traditional wizard-college bred illusion spells.<br />
<br />
Kino-kiid necromancy spells are never able to raise the dead, but can always commune with them (no chance of spell failure or spirit rejection). Some of their necromancy spells are quite good at rotting flesh as well.<br />
<br />
Finally, all kino-kiid shaman have at least one spell that causes gastrointestinal discomfort for the target.<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Farms</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
Kino-kiid are efficient workers who are easy to deceive. Occasionally, societies and cultures who coexist in their native habitats will take advantage of this fact to "farm" Kino-kiid as both a food-source and a work-force.<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul><ul>
<li>Warning: Rebellion</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
Mold Toes Law- If enough kino-kiid in close proximity remain uneaten for a certain period of time, they will eventually rebel<br />
<br />
The closest thing to a kino-kiid rebellion would be a plague of semi-sentient locust. They will force themselves down the throat of any species, and though they are not individually very strong their sheer numbers and endurance can wear down even the burliest of cave-lords. In their rebellion state, kino-kiid also seem less able to tell the difference between a mouth and other orifices on a humanoid body and will force themselves into a host by whatever means they can, including carving new holes directly into a creatures stomach.<br />
<br />
The result of kino-kiid rebellion is always the same, a tidal wave of destruction that wipes out any creatures in it's path, leaving only corpses and the shrieks of pleas to "EAT USS" echoing against cave walls and dark trees.<br />
<br />
<h3>
BASIC INFORMATION</h3>
<br />
<h4>
Anatomy & Morphology</h4>
Kino-kiid resemble a mushroom with at least two arms and legs that allow for awkward locomotion and the manipulation of objects. They rarely live longer than a single year and grow up to child-size. They have no teeth or mouth but usually have creases that vaguely resemble "eyes". They produce verbal sounds by vibrating their soul-essence which allows them to be universally understood by creatures with language.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Genetics and Reproduction</h4>
Kino-kiid reproduce after being digested. Dung or corpses containing traces of kino-kiid will grow 3-5 new kino-kiid as long as appropriate amounts of darkness and moisture are met.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Growth Rate & Stages</h4>
Kino-kiid pods resemble normal mushrooms but eventually grow faces and limbs, gaining sentience and breaking off from their birthing place after around 10 days of expulsion or death of the host.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Ecology and Habitats</h4>
Kino-kiid thrive in and prefer locations with plenty of darkness and moisture.<br />
<br />
<h3>
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION</h3>
<br />
<h4>
Social Structures</h4>
They don't understand the idea of a permanent social structure, but will organize into "swarms" if they understand they have the chance to overwhelm a potential consumer. Additionally, 1-in-12 kino-kiid are born as what others call "shamans" though this is a phrase that is criticized for it's anthropomorphism. "Shaman" Kino-kiid have the ability to cast spells and can sometimes show a knack for tactics and long-term planning, though their thought processes are still alien compared to any fully sentient creature.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Uses, Products & Exploitation</h3>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Food Source</b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
For the rare cave-civilization or swamp-metropolis, kino-kiid farms are a disturbing fact of life. While those in power will always use servants as food tasters to test the effect of a particular kino-kiid and avoid poisoning themselves, those in poverty often simply have to risk death by mycotoxin if they wish to avoid certain death by starvation.<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Workers</b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
Kino-kiid can be exploited for labor, as they are easily deceived and will almost always perform tasks for anyone who promise to eat them at the tasks end. Though not particularly strong, they don't tire easily and thus can be used to plow fields, pick crops, or tend to kino-kiid farms.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Average Intelligence</b></li>
</ul>
<br />
Child-like. However, due in part to their single-minded drive to be CONSUMED, Kino-kiid are unable to understand certain basic societal ideas such as empathy, suffering, shame, freedom, or that their actions can cause harm or pain.<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Perception and Sensory Capabilities</b></li>
</ul>
<br />
Kino-kiid have no eyes but can sense atmospheric disturbances in a 30 foot radius around their being and can commune with other kino-kiid up to a mile away to share information seamlessly.<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>WARNING: Parasitic organisms</b></li>
</ul>
<br />
Due to the combination of their desire to be CONSUMED, the possibility of death or harm to the consumer, and the rapid speed at which they can procreate, kino-kiid are typically considered a parasitic species.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
CIVILIZATION AND CULTURE</h3>
<h4>
Naming Traditions</h4>
They have no concept of individualism or names, though their Shamans are sometimes given names by others. Some relatively famous shamans include "Rotting Staff" or "Moldy Shoe".<br />
<br />
<h4>
Taboos</h4>
They consider it unforgivable for you to not have already eaten them, but will forgive you if you begin to do so. Expect proclamations of glee, worship, and ecstasy from the moment you cook them to when they are finally swallowed and go silent.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions</h4>
Difficult. They just want to be eaten and don't care what they have to do to get you or anything else to eat them.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Running Them In Your RPG Of Choice</h3>
<br />
Kino-kiid are purposefully disturbing and probably aren't for everyone's table, but for those who might enjoy putting them in their RPG game of choice I wanted to add some notes.<br />
<br />
Kino-kiid are basically reverse-"Mr. Meseeks". Their existence is singular and painful and they want to end it as soon as possible. When they speak, their voices are grating and annoying and repetitive, switching between either constant cries to be eaten or shrieks of glee.<br />
<br />
Their existence rides a line between being extremely dangerous and potentially useful. A cunning adventuring party could potentially turn them into a powerful weapon capable of wiping out entire cities- they just have to be far away when the rebellion finally happens.<br />
<br />
The first time the party encounters one it should be trying to force open one of the character's jaws in their sleep (they don't understand that creatures might suffocate before swallowing them and that they wouldn't get to go to mushroom-heaven). If captured it will obey orders faithfully, as long as it's given a promise to be eaten once it's task is completed (they will typically perform tasks faithfully for up to one month before wandering off or growing enraged, pouting like a toddler and refusing to do more tasks unless you start eating them NOW) As an enemy, they have the same stats as regular myconids, but they are always easy to deceive and untiring. If you cut one in half it'll still crawl around and try to convince you to eat it, though the immediate threat might be gone. They also tend to make tons of noise and thus make good "guards" for organizations or hideouts.<br />
<br />
If you try and use them to make rations, the rations will still speak to you and get progressively louder until you finally eat them. They don't make good companions for anyone wanting to be stealthy but can make good distractions.<br />
<br />
Quest Hooks: Their spells might be useful to overcome a specific obstacle, and the hallucinogenic ones are worth alot of gold to addicts, wizards, and philosophers.Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112537182920601995.post-3772652506254605522019-06-11T13:13:00.000-05:002019-06-11T13:13:15.976-05:00Adventuring Good DogsHaven't posted in a bit~ here, have some Good Bois.<br />
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<br />
<b>Dungeon Beagle</b>- Small but very loud hunting hound. Can cast <i>knock</i> by howling and barking for an entire dungeon turn (about 10 minutes). Impossible to cage and very difficult to train, but respond well to treats and ear scratches. Breeders are rare and specialized.<br />
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<b>Fencing Hound</b>- One of the Sword-Wizards most curious inventions in the recent years. Can wield a variety of blades effectively using only it's teeth. Independent and protective. Mercenary companies will sometimes "lend" out their trained Fencing Hounds to adventuring groups for a slightly cheaper rate than a man-at-arms. While the mercenary hounds are quite capable fighters, their lack of hands and bipedal legs can come at a disadvantage in the strange environments that dungeoneers often find themselves in.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://danbooru.donmai.us/data/sample/__great_grey_wolf_sif_diamond_dog_link_amaterasu_koromaru_and_etc_the_legend_of_zelda_twilight_princess_and_etc_drawn_by_sandara__sample-f51a24df011249986ae9727050d971a8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="555" height="400" src="https://danbooru.donmai.us/data/sample/__great_grey_wolf_sif_diamond_dog_link_amaterasu_koromaru_and_etc_the_legend_of_zelda_twilight_princess_and_etc_drawn_by_sandara__sample-f51a24df011249986ae9727050d971a8.jpg" width="277" /></a></td></tr>
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<b>Wraith Boxer</b>- Large white dogs with a curious mutation: each one is deaf, and they can hurt ghosts. Breeders of Wraith Boxers tend to have a regional variation of hand-signed commands that they use to train the playful and energetic dogs. They are fantastic ghost-hunters and their immunity to a banshee's killing screech has made them popular companions for those looking to scavenge the places where those haunts may lurk. Some rare and expensive cross-breeds can smell magic auras or demons as well.<br />
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<b>Samson's Mastiff-</b> Look like a 200 pound mop with legs. Blessed with impossible strength and youth as long as their hair is uncut and they don't come into physical contact with the dead. Also possess a strange wisdom regarding battle-tactics, riddles, and chess. Several of the generals during the Age of Swords were in fact armored mastiffs. Incredibly rare and practically sentient. Many societies would equate forced bondage of a Samson's Mastiff to slavery.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://wargroovewiki.com/mediawiki/images/5/53/Caesar_Portrait.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="256" height="320" src="https://wargroovewiki.com/mediawiki/images/5/53/Caesar_Portrait.png" width="253" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Like this handsome boy but with dreadlocks</td></tr>
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Design notes:<br />
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Dungeon Beagles - I enjoy giving players tools with drawbacks. A repeatable <i>knock</i> effect is pretty powerful but being super noisy seems like an appropriate limiter- though it would be hilarious if some players could figure out how to use this to break into a mansion or something. Based off my own beagle, who continuously figures out inexplicable ways to escape any enclosure.<br />
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Fencing Hound - Sif doggos. I like giving granular options for hirelings. Fencing Hounds would be somewhere on the price scale between "random lamp-holder hobo" and "semi-capable man-at-arms" and also give some interesting flavor to the world.<br />
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Wraith Boxer - Fairly straightforward but specific skill set. If a location has a banshee problem then maybe get a few of these to help. Their teeth should be able to effect ghost-type-things just fine.<br />
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Samson's Mastiff - Haven't gotten to play wargroove yet but I like the dog general. Heavily based off ArnoldK's <a href="http://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2013/11/brynth.html" target="_blank">Brynth Hounds</a> and the biblical Nazarite. Maybe it's a surprise boss, or a Really Good Dog with a Strength score of 20 as long as it meets the criteria mentioned. The "can't touch dead" restriction should probably only extend to sentient humanoids and undead.<br />
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See Dans <a href="http://throneofsalt.blogspot.com/2017/08/dog-thisis-dog.html" target="_blank">excellent list at Throne of Salt</a> for even more good dogs.<br />
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<br />Ambnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08349504648469863285noreply@blogger.com0