Shady Contracts from "The Company"

Sometimes you need contracts from shady groups. This can generate the general bits and you can fill in the specifics.  Roll 5d6. Put it all together!

1d6	Type	Window	XP	Intel	Known Complication
1	Assassinate	Immediate	0	Almost Nothing	Open Contract
2	Acquire	1d6 Days	5%	Weak / Inaccurate	Leaked Contract
3	Diplomatic	1d4 Weeks	10%	General	Extremely Dangerous Foe
4	Gather Intel	1d6 Months	15%	Some Details	Demonic Involvement
5	Sew Discord	1 Year	20%	Detailed Dossier	Potential Suicide Mission
6	Set Up	Until Complete	25%	Secret Information	No Complications

Type: What kind of job is this?

Window: How long do you have to complete this task?

XP: originally this is the % of XP needed to go to the next level or, if the mission fails, the penalty to XP. Replace this with another kind of reward, like % of income to advance one social class.

Intel: How much information do you have?

Known Complication: Not the only complication, just one you know about.

Clearly I've got some idea of a setting that these bits work with - you can get a feel from the examples below. Replace Daemonic Involvement with something like "troll army" and you'll change the entire tone of things. 

EXAMPLE I: 4, 3, 4, 6, 5

• Type: Gather Intel
• Window: 2 weeks (I rolled 2 on the d4)
• XP: 15%
• Intel: Secret Information
• Complication: Potential Suicide Mission

You have 2 weeks to identify when a shipment of lotushead will arrive and where in Holland they will be arriving.. The secret you know is that this is for the Vigilant Society, known diabolists. You also know that these folks don't take kindly and will kill you and everyone you know to keep their secret. 

EXAMPLE II: 6, 4, 3, 2, 6

• Type: Set Up
• Window: 1 month (1 on the d6)
• XP: 10%
• Intel: Weak or Inaccurate
• Complication: no known complication

The company needs you to ensure that Troegr Mastiff and found guilty of the murder of his mistress. You have 1 month to complete this mission before he is elected to the Mercantile Guild. There is no information on his mistress but she exists (according to his wife). The murder charge and public shame of infidelity will ensure he is not voted in.

EXAMPLE III: 2, 5, 3, 1, 4

• Type: Acquire
• Window: 1 year
• XP: 10%
• Intel: Almost Nothing
• Complication: Daemonic Involvement

The company needs you to acquire, through whatever methods you see fit, the reliquary of St. Brigit. It was stolen some 30 years ago but rumor indicates it is in Paris (or possibly London). This information was gathered from captured members of the Inverted Church when a daemonic summoning ritual was interrupted. 

Herbalism Ingredients

The big table of herbalism ingredients, based on terrain type. Roll 1d100. 

Roll 1d100 and see what you find based on the terrain type. What is this stuff and what does it do? I don't know - it is just a big table to play around with.

Ingredients	FOREST	PLAINS	SWAMP	MOUNTAINS	JUNGLE
Albro Spine	1	---	1	---	1 - 8
Ambrosia	---	1	---	---	---
Armoranth	---	2 - 9	---	---	---
Asgard fennel	---	---	2 - 17	---	---
Axehead Mushroom	---	---	18 - 19	---	---
Bilemoss	---	10	---	1 - 16	---
Black Truffle	2	11	---	---	---
Blood Thistle	3 - 10	---	---	---	---
Cane Orange	---	---	---	---	9 - 16
Caprel Mushroom	11 - 18	---	---	---	---
Cats' Tooth	---	---	20 - 27	---	---
Celedon Stalk	---	12 - 13	28 - 43	17	---
Chamomile	19 - 34	---	---	---	---
Chickweed	---	14 - 29	---	---	---
Cinnamon	35	---	---	---	17 - 20
Coffee	---	---	---	---	21 - 24
Croneweed	---	---	44 - 45	18 - 19	---
Crowthistle	36 - 51	---	---	---	---
Culling Violet	---	---	---	20 - 35	---
Dog Thistle	---	30 - 31	46	---	---
Dragonheart	---	32	---	---	25
Dreni pod	---	33 - 34	47 - 48	36	---
Dugberry	---	---	---	37 - 44	---
Fibrous Mushroom	---	---	---	---	26 - 33
Fine Dren Mushroom	---	---	---	45 - 48	---
Flatland Carrot	---	35 - 38	---	---	---
Giant Ant Fewmets	---	39 - 54	---	---	---
Glass Orchid	---	---	49 - 52	---	---
Goatspice	---	---	---	49	34
Ground Peach	---	55	---	---	---
Hard Lime	---	---	---	---	35 - 36
Hel Leaf	---	---	---	50	---
Honey	52 - 67	---	---	---	---
Horsetail Grass	---	---	53 - 68	---	37 - 38
Iron Bamboo	---	---	---	---	39 - 54
Leadgill Mushroom	---	---	69	51 - 52	---
Lover's Lips	---	56	---	---	---
Mauveberry	---	---	70 - 73	---	---
Milky wheat	---	57 - 58	---	---	---
Mud Pepper	---	---	74 - 75	---	---
Mulletberry	---	---	76 - 83	---	55 - 56
Nightshade	68 - 71	---	---	---	---
Noosevine	---	---	---	53 - 54	---
Orachia	---	---	84 - 87	---	---
Orange Saffron	---	---	---	55 - 70	---
Pedra Nut	---	---	88	71 - 78	---
Radiant Fern	---	---	89 - 96	---	---
Razorfrill Mushroom	72 - 73	---	---	---	57
Red Bird Fruit	---	---	---	---	58
Rosemarry	---	---	---	79 - 82	---
Rotted Durian	---	---	---	---	59 - 74
Rumble Moss	---	---	---	83 - 84	---
Shenroot	---	---	---	---	75 - 76
Singing Sister	---	---	---	85 - 88	---
Speckled Honey	74 - 77	---	---	---	---
Spider Radish	78 - 85	---	---	89 - 90	77
Spotted Pumpkin	---	59 - 62	---	---	---
Stormberry	86	---	---	91	---
Sunroot	87 - 88	63 - 78	---	---	---
Tallcap mushroom	---	79 - 86	---	---	---
Tarantula Radish	89 - 90	---	---	---	---
Tegberry Cluster	---	---	---	---	78 - 79
tell root	---	---	---	---	80 - 95
Tiger root	91	87 - 88	97 - 98	---	---
Vanilla	---	---	---	---	96 - 99
Violet Fern	92	---	---	---	---
Wapatoro	---	---	99	---	---
Water Pepper	93 - 94	---	---	---	100
Weeping Rose	---	89 - 92	---	---	---
Whedelcorn	---	93 - 100	---	---	---
White Acorn	95 - 96	---	---	---	---
White Truffle	97 - 100	---	---	---	---
Witch Apple	---	---	100	---	---
Yawning Trumpet	---	---	---	92 - 99	---
Ymir's Teardrop	---	---	---	100	---

Hexy Goodness

Roll 1d12. On a 1-6, use the terrain type of an adjacent hex (1 north, 2 northeast, 3 southeast, 4 south, 5 southwest, 6 northwest), but on a 7-12 use the terrain of the hex you are on. If in a hex with multiple terrain types, like wooded mountains, 50/50 of either base type.

Rarity Table

Because the same data presented differently is fun. Maybe this is what is at the herbalist shop?  I dunno.

1d20	Common	Uncommon	Rare	Very Rare
1	Honey	Blood Thistle	White Truffle	lover's lips
2	Chamomile	Caprel Mushroom	Speckled Honey	wapatoro
3	Crowthistle	Armoranth	Flatland carrot	witch apple
4	Chickweed	Tallcap mushroom	spotted pumpkin	hel leaf
5	Giant ant fewmets	Whedelcorn	Weeping rose	ymir's teardrop
6	Asgard fennel	radiant fern	orachia	red bird fruit
7	orange saffron	cats' tooth	glass orchid	Tarantula Radish
8	culling violet	yawning trumpet	mauveberry	White Acorn
9	iron bamboo	dugberry	croneweed	Stormberry
10	rotted durian	cane orange	rosemarry	Black Truffle
11	tell root	fibrous mushroom	singing sister	Milky wheat
12	bilemoss	pedra nut	fine dren mushroom	mud pepper
13	Sunroot	mulberry	vanilla	axehead mushroom
14	horsetail grass	albro spine	coffee	rumble moss
15	Celedon stalk	Spider Radish	Tiger root	noosevine
16	---	Razorfrill Mushroom	Dreni pod	goatspice
17	---	dog thistle	cinnamon	hard lime
18	---	leadgill mushroom	Violet Fern	tegberry cluster
19	---	water pepper	ambrosia	Shenroot
20	---	Nightshade	ground peach	dragonheart

#DICEMBER 2021, Part I

 Trying my hand at some #Dicetember 2021 tables. d6 tables - easy peasy.

1: Ammo - What is up with this magical ammo?

1. Glowing: these arrows glow like a magnesium flare when shot off and for another d6 turns after they hit.
2. Chaotic: 50% chance it hits a random target within 20' of the original target, but damage is always maximum.
3. Splintering: The arrow splinters - each point of damage hits a different random target within 10' of the original target (including the original target).
4. Multiplying: Each morning there are 1d6 more arrows than the night before, up the maximum quiver size of 20. In BXDH/Sorrow terms, the die type will increase.
5. Piercing: After hitting the first target, a second target behind the first is also hit (roll for it) and the damage is half of the first damage rolled.
6. Screaming: These make a god-awful racket when fired - targets struck must make a Fear Save (or spells if that is your thing) or run off, also screaming, for 1d6 rounds.

2: Ice - How thick is this ice I'm standing on?

1. Paper-thin: Dex Check/Save vs. Wands to jump out of the way or fall through!
2. Window Pane: Move slowly and spread your weight ... or else ...
3. Beefy: Thick enough for some ice fishing (if you have an auger)
4. Solid: It is freakishly clear and as thick as the story of a building
5. Glacial: It is a glacier ... likely has a lot of ice caves, caves of monsters.
6. Planar: You stand upon the precipice of the elemental plane of ice, it isn't infinite, right?

3: Child - What are they hiding behind their back?

1. A bunny: 1 in 4 it is dead, otherwise 50/50 it is a happy pet or feral beastie
2. A knife: dripping with fresh blood!  what did they do ... or do they plan to do?
3. A grubby doll: looks disturbingly like one of the PCs (of course)
4. A bag of marbles: normal, unless they throw them on the ground then run away when their older angry sibling wanders in with a club
5. A deck of cards: want to play a game? No? How about a trick then?
6. A severed head: an old one, eyes and mouth sewn up, borrowed from their grandmama

4: Rage - how does it manifest itself?

1. Screaming, yelling, and a general carrying on
2. Silent seething and withering glares
3. Passive aggressive action and microagressions
4. Uncontrollable, destructive violence
5. Complete and total vengeance, even if it takes years
6. Double down and don't give up, even if you are obviously screwed/wrong

5: Blade - what is the freaky shape is this sword?

1. Oversized crescent moon
2. Grasping withered claw
3. A circle within a circle
4. Dozens of overlapping scales 
5. Silhouette of a sexy warrior
6. A twisted spiral with some very sharp dangly bits

6: Shame - what is the dark secret they are hiding

1. Murdered someone close and feels terrible guilty about not being caught
2. Lied about their prowess and skill, this caused their family to fall apart
3. They grew up poor/rich and have been lying about too long to come clean
4. Ate the last piece of cake at the wedding, making the groom cry
5. Blamed their sibling for a vile act which they committed
6. Worked for a foul organization for far too long, did terrible things

7: Deamon - what does it want from you

1. Just little memory - one you won't miss. See? You don't even remember what is lost.
2. One small cup, brimming with the tears of children 
3. A saucer of milk from a goat belonging to a farmer that does NOT like you
4. Three hairs from the braid of Princess Alora (whoever that is)
5. A pickle. and make it a good one. nice and crunchy. better be plenty dill, too.
6. Just stay inside your room tonight. No matter what you hear. Shhhh ... take a little nap

More on Dungeon Jerks!

Are They Organized?

Roll 1d6, +1 if a leader is present.

1. Not At All - they are likely slacking off and are surprised 3 in 6. They have no tactics and are uncoordinated in a fight.
2. Sort Of - Each member acts by themselves without much coordination; individual morale checks (which can cause a cascade of fleeing).
3. Barely - initial contact is coordinated (volley of arrows for example), but after that it is a free-for-all.
4. The Usual - they are a group that works together, so it is mostly functional. Run like you usually run a group of bandits.
5. Adept - Until the first morale check is required, they are going to be a dangerous, intelligent, coordinated foe.
6. Definitely - they are going to ambush the party (surprised 3 in 6), use ranged and melee attacks in coordination (battle line), focus on threats (kill the mage!) and disengage/not fight if they think they can't win. They are dangerous. 

What is their Style?

Roll 1d6 for some style notes.

1. Wretched Vagabonds wearing rags and covered in filth
2. Swaggering Bullies that try to intimidate and belittle opponents 
3. Reluctant Aggressors that really need you to give up that loot
4. Classy Gents with decent clothes that politely request your loot
5. Ugly Reavers wearing animal skins that don't talk much if at all 
6. Polite Noobs that clearly haven't done this before but don't want to be rude

Who Are They?

Roll 1d6 to identify what type of group they are.

1. Renata's Robbers (Barrowmaze) - up to their usual bullshit
2. Local Tomb Raiders - you might have seen them around town
3. Local Mooks - definitely seen them around town
4. Renegade Hirelings - screwed by adventurers, now out on their own
5. Roving Tomb Robbers - recently heard about this score 
6. 'Foregin' Tomb Raiders - where did these guys come from? what language is that?

Why Do This?

Roll 1d6 to check on their motivation

1. Criminals doing criminal things - the crew looks like easy marks
2. Frightened  of the dungeon - but they want those sweet treasures
3. Need Cash Now and JG Wentworth is not in business - they are desperate
4. Misguided fools that think they are doing the right thing - somehow?
5. Thrill Seekers that want to start some shit - just to see where it goes
6. Deathwish Nihilists that don't expect to live - but live to cause trouble

Dungeon-Claim Jumping Jerks

For dungeon entrances that are known and active, there is a chance that some assholes set up a "taxation" station. They basically steal stuff from the party - on the way in, on the way out, etc.

Known Entrance

An entrance is considered known if the party has gone in or come out that way at least once and the dungeon is known to be still active. Folks have to know there is some benefit to setting up. If the entrance is in the middle of nowhere or it doesn't make sense, don't use this. I've been using this in my Barrowmaze game.

Are they Here?

Roll 1d6 and add the "Confidence" modifier. if the total is 6 or more, they are here. They aren't always here, but the more Confidence they have the more likely they are to be around.

• Confidence starts at 0.
• Once they set up (the first time they show up, +1 to Confidence
• Each time they get some good loot from a party, +1 to Confidence
• Each time they get attacked and lose, -1 to Confidence

If the mod ever hits -1, they fuck off for a while. After a session or two, reset Confidence to 0 and start rolling again.

How Many?

The number appearing is 2d4+half (round up) the total on the d6 roll. So if the "are they here" roll was a total of 7, 2d4+4 of these jerks are around. 

Also, check for a leader type. Roll 1d20. If that is equal to or less than the number appearing, there is also a leader hanging out with their claim-jumping besties.

Claim Jumping "Tax" Jerks

HD:1 AC:8 (leather)       Morale: +9 (or 6 if using 2d6)

50% have short sword and wooden kite shield (-1AC)

50% have bow and 2 daggers

1 in 4 have a better weapon (dagger to short sword, short sword to long sword)

1 in 6 have a better shield (none to wooden kite, wooden kite to metal kite)

1 in 8 have a stat bonus (1-2:+1STR, 3-4:+1DEX, 5-6:+1CON)

Loot on hand: 2d4 copper groats (in a silver-based system)

Claim Jumping Leader Type

HD:3 AC:5 (chain+shield)       Morale: +12 (or 8 if using 2d6)

Always a spear and metal kite shield (spears are cool)

+1 to hit and damage from being a tough guy

1 in 4 have a healing potion

1 in 6 have a major healing potion

1 in 8 have another potion (1-2:gaseous form, 3-4:heroism, 5-6:invisibility)

Loot on hand: 2d10 silver crowns

What Do They Want?

Heading in? They might charge 1 or 2 silver, but that is negotiable. They are more interested in making to loot folks who are beaten down and leaving the dungeon with loot. Heck, they might even hide, then set up once the adventurers are in the hole.

On the way out? As much as they can get. They (think they) have the upper hand and will negotiate hard. In the end, a failed morale check will cause them to make poor choices and demand too much. I'll leave this up to the GM. You know your players and how hard you want to push them.

Total Number of Bandits - Will They Ever Stop?

An infinite amount. There is always some asshat who wants to steal from folks. They never stop. The only way to get them to stop is to set up your own (the PCs I mean - these guys are yours) camp around the entrance with henchmen or hirelings or whatever. Fun!

Some Alignment Weapons

Average Spear

Lawful and chaotic characters Save vs Magic or take 1d6 damage when picking this up. Even if they save, they are at disadvantage to use it but it otherwise works as a normal spear.

In the hands of a Neutral character, the spear come alive. It acts as a +2 weapon ... but with some complications. Critical hits and fumbles are ignored - every attack is an average hit or miss. Damage is always 5 (dice are not rolled, average of 3+2) plus STR and any other modifier. Healing (recovery or magic) always heals an average amount. Once per day the wielder can declare any die roll to be average BEFORE it is rolled.

These might suck. Just wanted to throw out a few ideas this morning.

Glaive of Law

Neutral characters simply can't touch the weapon, Chaotic characters that touch it Save vs Paralysis or are paralyzed for 1d6 Turns. 

Lawful characters carrying the glaive (pole-arm +1,+3 vs Chaotic foes) must always speak the truth, are unable to perform illegal or morally suspect acts, and may, 1/day, Command a group (total HD up to 1d4 per character level) and the command will be obeyed (assuming it isn't unlawful).

Chaos Mace

Lawful and Neutral characters see the chaos mace as filthy smear on reality. Lawful characters must Save vs wands or attack the wielder; if the wielder is an ally they can roll with Advantage (or +5 if you aren't into the Advantage thing). 

Damage is randomly determined each time the weapon hits (1d6)

1. 1d4 to the wielder
2. 0 damage
3. 1d4 to the target
4. 1d6 to the target
5. 1d8 to the target
6. 1d10 to the target

Against lawful targets the damage is +1d4. Once per week the wielder makes a Save vs Wands or they get a random mutation (which might be super awesome or crazy terrible).

4 games, 1 campaign ... and the other campaign

I'm running my BXDH game as a living campaign. I have 2 online groups, 1 (soon to be) in person group, and am trading notes with another Boston-area DM that is also running Barrowmaze.

This is NUTS!

When a group does something, it is done: chambers looted, monsters killed, walls marked up, doors smashed, NPCs irritated (or killed off). And each group KNOWS that other groups are playing in the same game.

The only real issue is one of time. My 2 online weekly groups are moving at whatever pace they like, their actions are not happening at the same time on the same calendar. The in person group is going to be western-marches style, so they'll get up to whatever every 2 weeks. Between that and the other group that is running (weekly?) there is/are a lot of events.

So I just mash them together to let things make sense. I don't track who did what when exactly. Time out of time. I'm sure there are going to be cross-over situations. Group A is in the middle of the barrowmaze and Group B decides to do some serious exploration. They aren't going to encounter Group A camped out, but might find evidence of it. When Group A picks back up they'll fnd that the area beyond those doors was already looted - perhaps long ago? Or maybe there are other ways around this place?

I'm leaving it a mystery to the players and not getting too uptight about it.

I do have a google doc that I'm sharing with the Other DM of stuff that goes on. For example, that group went poking around barrow mound #9. My group had already looted it, but Other DM got that note later, so #9 will be looted when his group checks it out again.

So - has anyone else done this kind of thing? How did it go? Any tricks you developed? 

... And I'm also running the biweekly Sorrow game. I may be in over my head, but it sure is fun.

Rules for Retirement, Not Dead Yet, and Mentors

Some rules in my BXDH game, likely going to get wrapped into Sorrow as well.

Retirement

The Rule: Starting at 11th level, character may just straight up retire from adventuring. A character can retire by choice at any time, but starting at 11th level there is a 1 in 6 chance they retire even if the player isn't inclined to have them retire. 

My Thoughts: high-level gaming is another thing entirely than low-level gaming. if high level characters are just running around dungeons the same as low-level characters but with more danger, then it is the same game - details are different but nothing has changed. Retirement also allows character to achieve goals and complete their story arc (if such a thing exists) and for players to "Win at D&D".

Not Dead Yet

The Rule: If a character is dropped below 0 HP, they are not automatically dead. They are done with adventuring even if they aren't dead though - lingering injuries or trauma causes a change of mind. Adventuring is tough. Certain death situations (crushed by a mountain, dove into lava, etc.) don't use this rule.

• Roll 1d6+ damage beyond 0.
• If the total is 6 or less, the character Survives
• If the total is 7 or more, the character is Dead
• A player can choose for their character to be dead if they prefer

Alternate Roll (from Redcaps): Instead of the d6 roll, just make a Death Save. Easier and smoother.

A surviving character is unable to do much of anything except stagger around. They can't fight, run, climb, or cast spells. They are a burden to an adventuring party. In fact if they take any more damage at all they are automatically dead. 

• If the survivor is brought back to civilization, the crew gains 1000XP per survivor character level (split up as usual).
• The player's new character gains their share of that XP bump!
• The previous character is now an NPC once they recover (a few weeks). What this means is up to the GM

My Thoughts: This ties into the Mentor rule below, but also allows for characters to remain part of the campaign as a memorial. It is just plain fun to have your old fighter now running the blacksmith shop in town and tell everyone he used to be an adventurer until he took an arrow in the knee.

Mentors

The Rule: A Retired or Survivor character can become a mentor.   

• For any given character class, the highest level mentor provides their level as a % bonus to XP for members of that class.
  

Example: If there are 4 mentors in town, 2 fighters (level 3 and 5) and 2 thieves (both level 4), then fighter characters gain 5% bonus to XP, and thief characters gain a 4% bonus to XP. Mages, with no mentors do not gain a bonus to XP (as their are no mage mentors).

My Thoughts: A reward for good role playing - helping survivors get back to town or actually rocking characters to higher levels. 

Combat Fumbles and Crits

 I've always liked these things ... so here are the rules i use in BXDH:

FUMBLE (You rolled a natural 1 to hit)

Roll 1d6:

1-3: you are disarmed/weapon is temporarily unable to be used

4-5: enemy gets a free attack against you 

6: your gear is damaged [it gets save, failure is broken, success is damaged until repaired]. If using a ranged weapon 50% you need to make an immediate ammo usage check instead.

CRITIAL (you rolled a natural 20 to hit)

You hit and roll double damage dice

• not double the total damage, just double the dice
• for example, if you do 1d8+2, on a critical you do 2d8+2

I do that to keep it simple

I'm considering this instead - roll 1d6:

1-3: double damage dice

4-5: act again, right now (attack, disengage, chug a potion, whatever)

6: combat maneuvers - you disarm the enemy, break their armor, push them somewhere or get to move yourself. Likely narrated by the GM with Player input?  I don't want this to overshadow some of the character's special abilities.

In Sorrow, the levels of success (Crits and Fumbles):

Legendary Failure: the enemy just straight up damages you

Critical Failure: on the sent count, the enemy gets a free attack against you

Critical Success: do maximum damage and enemy count is reset

Legendary Success: do damage directly to VIT and stagger the enemy

I like the variable nature I'm using in BXDH, but the defined actions in Sorrow make for a smoother experience. Sorrow is already more complex, i feel adding complexity isn't going to make it more fun.

In both systems, however, monsters almost always have something more interesting that is monster specific for critical (legendary) hits in combat. Giant worms swallow you, ogres throw you across the room, and so on. Sometimes this is determined by the monster rules, but often it is entirely narrative and based on what makes sense at the time.

I used to use the hackmaster tables and for a while the WHFRP tables ... but they are just too much. simple and a little more, not an entire subsystem.

Electric Troikaland

I'm going to smash together Electric Bastionland and Troika! and a little bit of PbtA into a new system. Why? Why not? SHould make for one hell of a one-shot.

Part 1: Your Class

• Roll 2d6: 1 for loose change, one for Vitality (will be used for EBL stuff)
• Roll 2 Troika! classes
• Roll 2 EBL failed careers
• Choose 1 from each
• Mash them together to form a sweet concept
• Write down the gear and skills

Part 2: Stats

There are 4 stats. For 1 of them, roll 1d6+12. For another roll 2d6+6. For the other 2 roll 3d6. Write them down and figure out the -3 to +3 modifiers (BX D&D style).

• Aggro – Physical stuff, brawling, being tough
• Swift – Agility stuff, running fast, sleight of hand
• Cool – Social stuff, tricking people, being accepted
• Luck – Other stuff, Saving Throws, can be used for anyhting*

If your Vitality is less than 3, make it 3.

How to Do Stuff

• Roll 2d6 + a stat
• 13+: Critical Success
• 10-12: Total Success
• 7-9: Partial Success or Total Success with a Cost
• 6-: Consequences

Are you skilled in something? If so, you can reroll a Test up to a number of times equal to the skill rank. A re-roll cannot result in a critical success. Mark off your use of the reroll.

Luck? You can CHOOSE to use Luck instead of Aggro, Swift, or Cool. If you choose to do so, reduce Luck by 1 point after the Test (success or failure). If the GM tells you to make a Luck Test, you do not need to reduce the score.

Conflict

Any kind - not just swords and fists.

When you try and harm someone (physical, social, mental, whatever), roll like usual.

• Critical success = you do 2 damage to your opponent
• Success = You do 1 damage
• Partial Success = You do 1 damage and opponent does damage (usually 1) to you
• Failure = You take damage (usually 1). ouch.

Damage

• If you have good stance/weapon/blackmail/whatever, +1 to damage
• Damage is removed from Vitality
• At 0 Vitality, a character is defeated
• instead of dropping to 0 vitality, you can instead lose 1 point from the attribute you rolled

At 0 Vitality you are out of the action and defeated. In a particularly deadly situation this could mean death, but it rarely does. Killing folks is really rude. Even monsters will just send you home with your tail between your legs. Bandits will probably just steal all your stuff. In social conflicts this might mean you are humiliated.

If you have armor, it can take damage instead of you, but it is situational. Any item can be armor under the right circumstances. That blackmail you were using as leverage, it takes the damage instead of you and it turns out to be not as damaging as you thought. Oops. Heavy armor absorbs 2 hits instead of 1.

Recovery

When you have some down time, you can do one of the following

If at 0 Vitality, you MUST recover 1d6 Vitality (up to the max)
Otherwise you may do one of the following:

• Recover 1d6 Vitality (up to the max)
• Recover 1d3 attribute points (up to the max)
• Recover 1d3 skill points (up to the max)
• Test to get rid of an unfortunate condition (like a broken arm, a hex, or shame)
• When you take downtime, the Action Moves Forward without you … so choose wisely.

How Magic Works

More or less like like everything else

• A partial success causes the ability score to drop by 1 point or a less effective spell
• A failure instead causes damage, based on the spell. 
• You can roll on the “Oops” table instead

Use the spells and skills from Troika! Use everything from EBL and Troika! Make shit AMAZING.

Done. I'll let you know if we do this and how awesome it.

SAMPLE CHARACTER

Class: Lonesome Monarch OR Fellow of the Peerage of Porters

Career: Rook Tamer or Alpha Tester

I'm choosing Lonesome Monarch  + Alpha Tester

Lord Pesterly Union (Mr. Union)                                                        

It was just one more season of war! We went through the portal. Now nobody knows who I am. I AM NOBILITY YOU SCUM. I wish my coins were worth something here. I took up with the first guilder who would assist me - but somehow I'd been tricked into pushing buttons and flipping switches. I ate terrible things and suffered numerous indignities. Now I'm off on my own! BOW BEFORE ME!

Stats

Aggro: 9 (+0) [3d6]

Swift: 14 (+1) [3d6]

Cool: 16 (+2) [2d6+6]

Luck: 16 (+2) [1d6+12]

Skills

Etiquette OOO

Halberd Fighting OOO

Ride Horse OOO

Tracking O

My Stuff

Nice weapon (ornate, but slightly worn halberd)

Crown made of tin and dragon spittle

A sad horse who is slow and stupid [Curt]

Telescopic Rod

Protective Armor vs explosions (heavy)

Temperance Band [refuse a need, will all catch up if i remove the band]

Worst Thing that happened to me

I've lost an eye to a toy mouse that was trained to fetch grapes. I loathe mice. I fucking despise grapes.

Pease Park District

WTF it is July already. And we have a holiday weekend here in the US. The weather in the northeast is awesome - if you like cold temperatures and rain, which I do.

Anyway, with the new Sorrow in Haven crew formed up, we have a new character map:

and I'm working on the "4-page" for another district - Pease Park.

We also decided to try something with this set of characters which, I feel, is not going to work out well in the long run. I grabbed the Hackmaster 4e Quirks and Flaws tables. I let people roll on them. Rather than Build Points, they get a % bonus to their XP. Things went well for the most part, but one player's character just went completely haywire and down the shitter. I eventually had mercy on them and made them stop rolling on the tables.

If I do include a quirks & flaws mechanic in character creation, it'll have to be be seriously tweaked. Not just for the mechanical aspects (obviously) but to both imply additional role playing and make them feel more "Sorrow in Haven"-y. I don't want adventurers with multiple amputations. One eye is fine (and led to a great in-character story), but who cares about "drooling"? I know HM4e has a lot of parody content ... but it also was a beautiful re-designed version of AD&D.

I think for now I'll spend my effort on setting material.

Oh - and the first (unedited) version of the monster book is ready done. I have more material to write (a few tables here and there) and need to start tracking down some artists to fill it with creatures. But it is in a playable state! So that is pretty sweet.

The TPKs that just happened

In 2 games over the last 2 months I've had 2 TPKs.

Some would consider this a failure. The characters all died? What now?

If you are of the "I'm telling a story about the characters" type of GM yea, you are screwed and your game is a bit hosed up.

But that isn't how I do it. That isn't how you do it either. In any game where character death is not only possible but probable, the game can't be a story. I know I harp on this a lot, but it really frustrates me hearing all these folks talking about "the story".

So all the characters in the BCDH game died off. And it was glorious! Some began praying to Vecna for salvation and became her thralls, others refused. The battle was on. Everyone died OR was no longer a playable PC. What does this mean? That the campaign continues with a new chapter! With those events having unfolded as they did (I really didn't think it would go that way, but hey - players? am I right?) a small cult has become a big cult because they have champions. The 4 characters that 'turned' are now effectively the 4 horsemen of the Rock Apocalypse. The new band of heroes is off to hunt for some weird shit in Barrowmaze (which I'm VERY excited to run). Everyone is down with it.

When it happened, I think this was the first time most of these folks had seen a TPK. They'd all lost a character here and there, but there was some continuity of adventure. This was different. I'm pretty sure (although not entirely sure) that what made it more OK was the intro to the next campaign - their previous actions as players had an impact on the world, and that is pretty awesome.

A TPK isn't just a failure of the adventure, it is an opportunity to change focus - how you as the GM handle it makes a big difference. If all the characters die and you give up and nothing else happens, then it was a boring loss. Make it an epic loss.

In the Sorrow in Haven game everyone knew - THEY KNEW - this dungeon was a deathtrap, a lie, a trick, all bad. Yet they still chose to go in there. A few sessions went by, more and more information about the bigger situation was being presented. They got into a serious situation and weren't entirely sure what to do ... but they could tell no matter what it was going to be bad. And it was. Epically bad! Characters getting stabbed and blasted, curses going nuts, people running away and getting overwhelmed. But here is the important part - everyone had fun.

Everyone had fun with an epic disaster. Because it is just a game! Folks were already talking about their new characters minutes later. Technically they did "resolve" the dungeon, but absolutely not as they had hoped. I had no idea if things were going to go completely sour for the characters, so had to so some quick on-the-fly thinking. Their actions ended up having an effect ON THE CAMPAIGN.

Again - a TPK of heroic adventurers should be dramatic. Not a bunch of 1st level wangers. They are fodder. but a group of seasoned adventurers screwing up like that? Oh you know Shit has got to get Real. So ... Sorrow, the giga-dungeon, the heart of the campaign, is now fully awake. They'll know this soon enough. More importantly though everyone talked about how much fin they had getting their asses handed to them.

Don't misunderstand - these TPKs are not common events. Just happened this way. What I'm trying to get to though is as a GM, don't be afraid of them! Use it as an opportunity to weave your player's actions into the setting and start something new. 

That "story" the GM runs isn't that interesting (sorry - it isn't). But the story that the players have about their epic and catastrophic failure? You know that is going to stick around for some time. The emotional impact of losing all the characters, and the players all feeding off each other, is more than the GM can thrown out. That is ok. GMs are only human, and at any given table just one human. The power of a group is stronger. That is why seeing a movie in a theater full of people who are excited to see it is more fun than watching it at home on your phone.

Rival Adventuring Parties in Barrowmaze (and beyond)

Been on a bit of a break from Sorrow - exhaustion, Memorial Day, etc. Plus the group has been deeply engaged in some dungeoneering which didn't get me super inspired to write anything. My other group rolls some old school D&D (my BX variant BXDH). They are about to jump into the Barrowmaze, and one of the things that is great are the pre-made rival adventuring parties, but i wanted some more. Found this post and loved it, so added them as well. I also dropped the Fearsome Five from the list ... the name just irked me for some reason.

Which rival party? This one (1d100): 

1d100	Rivals
1 - 8	Bastards of Bogtown
9 - 16	Bertrand's Briggands
17 - 24	Boon Companions
25 - 28	Gorelick, Kesselmann, Voboes, Inginok and Fritch
29 - 32	Halma-Khet
33 - 36	Lord Farthingale's Men
37 - 40	Morgenstern and Sons
41 - 48	Norse Whisperers
49 - 52	Order of St. Halachris
53 - 60	Outriders
61 - 68	Renata
69 - 72	Sisters of Ynis Nagahl
73 - 76	The Dragonslayers
77 - 80	The Forsaken
81 - 84	The Gallant Comrades
85 - 88	The Progeny of Lorbis Vu
89 - 100	Unknown (just some mooks)

What the fuck am I going to do with all these rival parties? They are the inspiration to get adventurers moving! 

As part of the restocking of Barrowmaze there is a little restocking table made popular ages ago.

every room they visited:

1: add a monster

2: add a monster with treasure

3-6: left as-is (1 in 6 change of treasure)

I also like this idea, so I'll also be rolling for each space ADJACENT to where they tromped, +2 if they bring back significant loot:

1d20	Situation
1 - 13	No changes
14 - 16	evidence
17 - 18	evidence, changed feature
19	dead mooks
20	dead adventurer
21	looted room
22	here they are!

Evidence: broken weapons, signs of a scuffle, discarded torches, scribbling/graffiti (maybe they recognize it)

Evidence, changed feature: broken door, scrapes from secret door, wrecked statue, etc - standard adventurer bullshit

Dead mooks: dead hirelings ... X in 20 they are recognized (X being the # of times they've hired mooks from the guild)

Dead Adventurer: roll on that rivals table and kill someone!

Looted Room: monsters and treasure all gone

Here they Are: the rival party is here. roll again!

1d6	What's up?
1	All messed up - wounded from battle or traps, either what is/was here or not
2 - 3	Roll for surprise? Depending on what the PCs were up to, roll for surprise, or reaction
4 - 6	In the middle of it - fighting, looting, disarming traps, or whatever

In addition to seeing these rival parties fucking up their dungeon(s), they will likely interact with them. Everyone starts with a 0 to the reaction roll for the rival parties (they are rivals after all). Bad interactions lower this, good ones raise it. Nasty rivals might start their faction score at -1d6.

Faction Score	How they Feel
-9 or worse	Nemesis! probably try to kill  you and take your stuff
-5 to -8	Enemies: definitely not your friends, will try to take advantage
-1 to -4	Jerks: they don't like you, won't give benefit of the doubt
0	Neutral: just more adventurers adventureing for adventure
1 to 4	Upnod: acknowledgement and might help a bit
5 to 8	Respect: will steer clear, maybe share info, they like you cats
9+	My Good Friend!: will assist, maybe team up, definitely share info

similar faction system for pretty much everyone - not just rival adventuring parties. all factions! those cultists? FS starts at -6. The barkeep they keep tipping goes up to +1d4. This is, more or less, similar to the loyalty scale i use for hirelings

Loyalty Score	How they Feel
0	They are going to mutiny
1 - 4	Hate being employed by you, probably steals, definitely talks shit
5 - 8	Disgruntled, will do bare minimum
9 - 12	just a job, but they do it as best they can within reason
13 - 15	They like you and want to be your actual friend
16 - 17	Absurdly loyal - may give their life to save yours
18	True Companion - almost nothing they won't do for you, no questions asked

so any hirelings have a Loyalty score of 8 or less? maybe that should be another +1 to the adjacent area where rival parties are dicking about. Yep. I'll do that. 4 or less? they'll actually tell about cached gear and the like. fuck the PCs! They are terrible bosses but i need this job to maintain my crippling addiction to smoking crab gills!

TPK and campaigns and GM prep and ranting

The basic D&D game ran into a TPK. It was glorious. In the end that TPK lead to the direction and next chapter of the game. The TPK is an epic situation - complete and total failure, absolute collapse, and should have an impact on the greater game. 

So the 4 characters that turned against the rest of the party because they thought, for various reason, praying to the altar of the Vecna, queen of the damned and primarch of the setting sun, would be good, have become NPCs - in fact they are the "Four Traitors" (the 4 horsemen of the rock apocalypse). These wicked NPCs are racing to do things ... while the party is now racing against them.

as a GM, we decided to move on to this new chapter of the game. i had a ton of material that I wanted to run for my pimped out isle of dread game, but c'est la vie. i can package it up for later consumption. this is why, unless i'm REALLLY into something, preparation and notes and everything are simple.

but back to the TPK ... now to the players feel? they are fine. i hear all these "rpg horror stories" of TPKs, how the GM was awful and unfair and sucked. While these might be part of the case, i also remember one player I had in a game a few years ago. He had been RPGing 'for decades'. great. He lost his fucking mind when his character died. "first time i've ever lose a character". what? he hasn't been playing D&D ... or at least the D&D I play.

At what point did the game become about being heroes? My fantasy rpgs are all about some mooks that are fucking shit up. the challenge is surviving while doing things. you are heroes because you  succeed, yo do not succeed because you are heroes. The later is fine, but the former is how i prefer to play.

so when did that change happen? i think that also is when the "story" because so important. maybe i'm just being a cranky old man, but how the fuck does anyone think that is is fun to play in someone else' story? if the story already exists, the events are pre-determined, then it isn't a game? is it even interactive fiction? if you fudge the dice to get results that are 'better for the story' why are you even rolling dice? want a story? read a book. want to tell a story, write a book. or movies or anything but why why why an RPG, especiallyly one like D&D?

There are, of course, story games. I don't really get this as an entire genre and, frankly, don't care if you try to explain it to me. play what you want. but remember this - if you can't lose it isn't a game. animal crossing? super fun and adorable, but it is a toy, not a game. you can't lose.

ok i'm done.

just play more games. whatever kind you like.

be cool to each other and stop being assholes online.

try something new this summer - like i might actually sty a storygame.

Dragons in Dungeons and Dragons

My group of players finally encountered a dragon in my BX(DH) game. Some of the players are new to D&D, other have been decades of experience. I decided some years ago that making every dragon a  godlike creature that is only worthy of NPC status or apocalyptic end-boss status was pretty lame. I mean the fucking monster is in the name, right? So enter the "thunder lizard".

The short version of the setup is that on the Isle of Dread the village of Tonora has been abandoned because it was beset by a thunder lizard. This being the isle of dread, players assumed a T-rex. When the thunder and lighting of the the dragon was revealed (it was an epic appearance, crawling out of the sea eating the last of a shark) there were two trains of thought.

1) Fuck this. The entire rest of the island is cut off. This is way too powerful for us.

2) Dragons have treasure and I want to get this this thing's treasure.

I did my best to neither encourage or discourage any plans - hanging back as referee judge and letting them debate and make choices. In the end, 2 daring party members identified that the dragon had its hoard under the sea near the short (that gem-finding sword I forgot i handed out like 10 sessions ago came in handy!). The rest hung back and watched - prepared to flee and partly in it for the probable carnage.

The crew was a bit underpowered, but clever. They did some sneaking and used their abilities to their fullest. When the dragon woke up and started rampaging at the interlopers, the battle was FIERCE. All the hirelings but 1 got obliterated. 2 of the PCs got blasted down to unconscious (using the 0 HP = unconscious in my game, -1 is dead) with some lucky rolls.  1 PC got lightninged apart. Everyone was damaged and beaten ... but in the end, they defeated it!

After all, a blue dragon is an 8 HD creature. Some luck and clever tactics & strategies were on their side. The dragon had el blasto breath and some magic, the one character who took draconic as a langue finally got to use it, everyone was sure it was going to be a TPK, but when then the final crossbow bolt did its job there was a collective cheer.

Dan: "That was amazing. I've been plying D&D for 30 years and that is the first time i've ever got to actually fight a dragon". I know - because Dan I an used to play as kids and I had the 'dragons are the badassest things in the universe' problem. Everyone was excited. The crew tangled with and beat the most iconic fantasy monster. It was only 8HD but they thought it was 100HD and still went for it!

They had the option to avoid it. But that lure of something to fuck about with is too strong. The urge to do stupid dangerous things in D&D is what makes D&D amazing. It is the opposite of real life. The dragon is that thing you can't tackle in real life because you are scared of it or maybe it is too much. For example I need to replicate a customer environment in a VM for some testing of of something my devs haven't been able to reproduce, but fuck it, why not?

Overcome your dragon! SLAY IT! It isn't impossible. You might even have a good time doing it and find some sweet treasure. I mean seriously - who doesn't want a sharkskin cloak studded with blue quartz that lets you turn into a shark 1/day. ALso, bragging rights.

You can make dragons gods in your game, world-shaking monstrosities that control the destiny of millions, but i let them be monsters. terrible monsters, but monsters that can be overcome nonetheless. 

Side note - on the way back to Lotamu to get their XP for getting that treasure (you get XP for treasure once you get to civilization in my game) they got ambushed by some giant geckos and a couple of ghouls wearing the discarded gecko skins as a 'disguise'. That almost anihilated the party. That was the most atrocious series of shit rolls I've seen by a group of players in quite some time. But somehow, also fucking awesome. RPGs are dreat.

Game on!

Awesome Trap Follow-up

I talked like I knew what I was talking about in the last post, and (in a twist that shocked no one) it turns out that exact situation came up in the game on Friday night. 

Setup: chest is a small room, chained to the walls - not to lock the chest but to keep it there. Bolts in the stonework, heavy chains with inscriptions (non-magical)  in ancient languages. Claw marks on the ceiling. 

These aren't exact quotas, but pretty close based on my quickly scribbled notes:

Player: "I want to open it but this is clearly a bad idea"

Player 2: "This is a trap ... but what is in there? omg. OPEN IT!"

Player 3: "Dude, dude, dude. Relax. We don't HAVE to open it. But we should open it."

Player 4: "Maybe it has a head in it?"

Player 5: "I get as far away as I can in the hall while encouraging someone else to open it. Don't we have hirelings for this kind of thing?"

Players 1&3: "I like my henchman - no way! You open it."

Player 2: "The Winter Queen isn't keeping the not-dead king's head in here. But what the fuck is she keeping in here?" 

Player 6: <chuckling quietly and grinning> "Consequences be damned - open it, Argento!"

The in-game tension from describing a weird thing got the players all amped up, which was great. The more they fucked around with it without opening it all the way increased the ominous sense of danger - because there was something terrible in there.

It was glorious. They opened it. 

How to Write an Awesome Trap

 This isn't about mechanics, this is about style.

Make it Obvious

If you pit traps hidden unless everyone has a 10' pole, then everyone will carry a 10' pole all the time. If you make door traps undetectable unless folks succeed at a roll, then every fucking dungeon door is searched for traps. "But that makes sense" is fine if we were running some sort of a simulation, but it is FUCKING BORING in real life gaming. I used to do it that way, then one day I came to my senses.

Make traps obvious. Or their effects obvious. Either show the players the trap or a big fucking clue. Got a chest covered with contact poison? Then tell them it is covered with something or throw some dead bodies (or rats) or whatever around the thing. Give the players something to latch on to. If they ignore this, it is at throw own peril.

Example

"There are a few human skulls, cracked with age, littering the hallway." If they focus the light and look down the hall "you see some armor-clad skeletal bodies, headless, about 30' away". There is clearly a trap here - something that decapitates motherfuckers.

Don't Write a Solution 

Let the players come up with a solution. as a good GM, you need to determine if that would work, or how it would work. Just write the situation - the hallway has a bunch of blades that will chop of your head. Very Indiana Jones 3. 

Not writing a solution seems to imply that you don't need to write how it is triggered. Not true. But writing a trigger may imply a solution, but doesn't dictate there is only 1 solution.

Examples

• Player: I'm going to run and dodge my way through'
• GM: Give me a DEX Check. But failure isn't damage ... it is decapitation
• Player: serpentine pattern and Naruto style ... LET'S GOOOOOO!

• Player: I'm going to crawl slowly along the floor feeling for stones that may trigger these stupid blades
• GM: the blade are not stupid they are awesome. it will take you 2d6+4 minutes to crawl that carefully.
• Player: ok ... i'm going to use my chalk to mark stuff too
• GM: great - you do it* and everyone else it only takes 1d6+2 minutes because of your marks

* You do it could and should likely be expanded into some tense role playing for fun, but was too long to write out for my example.

Make them Want to Mess With It

A trap just being a trap for no reason is as boring and lame as a trap that isn't obvious in some manner. Players should have a reason to choose to mess with a trap. Choose is the important word here. Again. Choose. If the trap lies between point and and point B and the characters need to get to point B then it isn't really a choice to interact with the trap. Of course need is a bit sloppy as well. They probably want to, which is different than need to, so want allows for a choice (even if a bit thin).

A trap sprung on completely unsuspecting players means they didn't choose to interact with the danger and makes it feel like a gotcha. If they ignored all the obvious signs, that is their own dumb fault. But as the GM, maybe you didn't do a good enough job of telegraphing. Make a note and figure it out later. Don't beat yourself up. This is just a game after all.

Examples

• Why even go through that passage? Because that door at the end of the hallway has the mark that we've seen on other treasure vault rooms. 
• The gemstone on the pedestal surrounded by dried blood and looks really valuable. Are the walls covered in blood as well - like an explosion? I really want that topaz...
• So the statues turn to look at us as we pass by and they all have gold coins for eyes. Like real gold I think (in a game where copper groats are the common currency this is some serious loot). But they are looking at us. Actively. I want those coins! But I don't want to die! Coins ... LOOOT! I get out my prying dagger. Watch my back, wizard! (The wizard steps out of the room because 'fuck this!')

Bonus Fun: Monster as Trap

I've done this a bunch and it is always fun. A trap is an obstacle, something to overcome - a challenge if you will. So are monsters. So why not place a monster that will DESTROY the party - like serious TPK potential - but put it in a state that the characters can avoid it ... but if they mess with it something cool happens. My favorite - sleeping dragon.

Everyone knows that a giant-ass sleeping dragon that is cradling a pile of coins and gems and whatnot. If they trigger the trap (wake the dragon) there will be hell to pay. So sneak by it and avoid the danger ... or figure out a way to get that loot. Of maybe the dragon is blocking an archway that leads to a cool sublevel of the dungeon they heard has a fountain of Beefy Strength or something.

Replace 'dragon' with whatever is awesome for the adventure: Giants, Lovecraftian horrors, infinite amount of huge hunting spiders, hoard of fear burrowing goblins - whatever floats your boat. The idea is to make it a clearly bad idea if they are 'triggered'.

Traps Kill and Maim!

Traps that just do some damage are boring. Traps about always be seriously brutal - kill them fools! Rip off legs and destroy armor. If you make traps just whittle away at hit points they are annoyance and become less interesting. Drop a ceiling on a PC (or hireling if the players are wise) and they'll get the idea. This doesn't mean character's can't survive, but why do 1d6 damage when you can do 10d6 damage? Make that shit BRUTAL.

Traps that Warn or Detain

Fine - I acknowledge that these exist, but they are rarely that interesting. You fell in a pit! Other adventurer's help you out of the pit. But if you take these situations - fall in a pit, drop a net, and so on - then these should warn someone/something else ... and start a race against time! Fall in a pit and a bell rings and a bunch of kobolds with jackal skulls for heads wielding javelins dripping poison come running in 2d10 seconds (like 1 or 2 rounds) from the secret room next door - that is a trap with a pit as part of it.

No Content? Just Advice?

I was going to write up a list of traps or a trap generator, but they are already everywhere and I don't have anything that is so unique as to change your world. So roll something on whatever table, grab results from whatever generator, then make them MORE. 

For some examples I hit up https://www.kassoon.com/dnd/trap-generator/ and used what was generated and made it MORE. The traps presented are just traps, so I'm not shitting on that site (it is a really nice generator), but everything is very mechanical. Basically the opposite style of what I'm doing. 

The Web Trap

Original Summary: magic makes webs fill an area and make a really easy DEX Save to avoid or STR to break out.

MORE: What looks like charred ropes hang limply in an area that itself has charred walls. Step in giant spider webs get sprayed all over you (automatic). If anything struggles, they get set on fire! 2 STR Checks to completely escape back the way you came or 4 to get to the far side. 3d6 damage every check (assuming that is rounds or something). ON the far side ... a ruby made of living flame held in the many legs of the Spider Queen Leth.

Bear Trap

Original Summary: bear trap triggered by pressure plate that a macguffin is on (I like that this one has a reason for them to mess with it in their description). Moderate damage (with an attack roll), easy to get out of.

MORE: A series of concentric bear traps can be seen poking through the floor - each one larger than the last, the farthest one clearly closing at about 8' high. Pedestal with Juice of Everlasting Cool - i'm down the pressure plate thing. trigger the plate and BLAM - crushed and pierced to death by those bear traps. The first one does 1d6 damage, then each one after that 1d6 MORE damage than the last - total of 10 of them, each one triggering 1 second later. snap Snap SNAP! And it will destroy the fragile Juice Bottle - because if i can't have it no one can! Better ruined than in the hands of thieves ...

That is all for now. please do some gaming! If you pimp out some traps or do some cool traps in this style, let me know! Time to go clean up the garage and get ready for my Friday night game. Maybe I'll remember to eat lunch today at a normal time.

monsters Monsters MONSTERS!

The monster book got lost in the shuffle of the new year, but I'm back on my bullshit! Focused on writing and tweaking stats as I go. I changed the number of monsters in lair to an actual roll instead of a multiplier, and have been adjusting some combat stats based on threat and description. Just finished page 25 - only 16 pages to go. Then art and/or the extra fun tables.

Always with the art. The art defines the look and feel, sometimes more than the text. The stat blocks are mechanical, the description have some flavor, but pull double duty as mechanical details. That leaves the art and tables. These need to be entirely inspirational to have the desired effect. 

My most recent artist has gone and gotten himself a regular job. I'm quite happy for him, but this means I need to find some new folks. I've got this idea in my head where these aren't detailed drawings, but images and impressions. Like an adventurer quickly sketched something in their notebook. I love what Scrap Princess does - evocative and strange and, most importantly inspirational (and the non-art material is also INCREDIBLE). 

Then I got to thinking, what if I describe a general style (quick and sketchy, backgrounds optional, infer rather than show) and find 5 or 6 artists who want to throw down. I also know that everyone has their own style and asking them to "dress down" is generally not cool - all the art an artists produces is their resume and asking them to do what might be considered 'bad work' would be detrimental. So why not ask Scrap Princess? Frankly, though, I'd be embarrassed to ask Scrap about commission work. Their stuff is so amazing and I'm just a hobbyist doing a vanity project.

But back to it .. the question is which ones get art and which ones get tables? I definitely want at least 1 illustration each page ... or spread? Maybe a few artworks in there can be full-page illustrations of a critter or critters on the opposite page. I don't know yet. First things first, though, I need to find some artists to discuss this with.

Let's make a random table for a monster. And the random d6 says .... #2. A table for the Lost Angels.

The first thing that comes to mind is The Hive - so let's do that!

The Hive of the Lost Angels
1d6	The structure is...
1	... made from the interred, dug from their tombs and graves, and posed perfectly to praise many-legged Yseth.
2	... perfectly symmetrical and focused on an ancient relic buried deep within and submerged in divine honey.
3	... and impossible maze of tunnels that must be crawled through, each chamber housing the honored dead.
4	... made of chewed holy scriptures and scrolls mixed with the profane rantings of an unknown Shadow Templar.
5	... a perfect replica of a shrine of the Eternal Light familiar to the PCs, including corpses dressed in found objects made to look as church members they know.
6	... a gigantic pupa, housing an Angelic Queen that has died in her eternal slumber, that will be Yseth reborn.

Add in some world building with the monsters? Sounds like a good plan. I have no idea who Yseth is - that isn't a cannon old world god in my game (yet). And from that last one I wrote she apparently wants to be reborn. The Lost Angels have honored dead - their own? Are they associated indirectly with the Church of Eternal Light (a thing in my game) or connected to the Shadow Templar (also a bad guy thin in my game)? More questions than answers? I'd say that is about perfect!

"Wheels in Motion"

In this post I'm going to break down a bunch of the current adventure/campaign I'm running in Sorrow. We are still playing and there are some threads that haven't been plucked by the players. There are a few spoilers in here - so if you are one of my players, read this later! The whole thing isn't laid out, just where the group has gotten to so far.

An Example of How I Write Adventures

Start with the problem - this is what the players are presented with - the "objective" of the adventure.

0: "There is some sort of reverse-aging plague ... uh oh!"

So now the fun bits: why and then why and then why...

1: Why this plague? The plague is caused by a dungeon that has grown out of control. 

2: Why out of control? Some wizard was working on a time-related thing and screwed it up.

3: Why is it screwed up? He was under pressure and died (and wasn't as good as he thought).

4: Why pressure? His wife pushed him to do it.

5: Why the push? She married him to gain power.

6: Why power? because she knows about a magic wishing dungeon one someone else's property

7: Why this other place? MAGIC WISHING DUNGEON

So that defines a reason for this adventure. Lets add a few complications. Complications are the hooks and subplots.

0.1 The plague is very dangerous - people age to nothing in about 48 hours. It has the potential to spread and disappear all of Haven. Yikes!

2.1 The strange machine built by the now-dead wizard is being run by members of a faerie court

4.1 He was rushing to provide a time potion to the dangerous gang leader Micky the Fish

Now let's flesh out these NPCs a bit - specifically their motivations. 

The wizard: Yent was an esoteric interested in the search for truth. Having the luxury of being upper class, he had the time and money to pursue these things. But he wasn't really a wizard - he was an occult hobbyist (albeit an advanced one), and made mistakes. He was just doing his thing, but was manipulated into going down this route by his wife.

The wife: Ulona was Yent's 4th wife and got with him to try and create a method for extending time because of the Wishing Fountain. How does she know about the wishing fountain? Because she was the lover of Micky the Fish! But she was just using Micky as well (more on that in a moment) because she wants to get to the Wishing Fountain   

Micky the Fish: once an GDD member, ran across the Wishing Fountain during a 'routine' dungeon crawl. He got corrupted and is turning into a terrible monster. Ulona was a hireling of the GDD crew and knows what kind of power Mickey has ... but doesn't care about the details of HOW, she just wants it for her own nefarious purposes. Ulona continued to manipulate Micky even as he became a rampaging murder machine.

The Other Estate: Yent figured out that the Wishing Fountain, which appears from time to time around Haven had a regular pattern and made some calculations. The next appearance was in the nearby Clopman estate. Why? Because the former head of the clopman's was a wizard who was ALSO interested in the Wishing Fountain and built a statue to attract it. Magic, man. Sweet. 

Now with all the bits and pieces sorted I can write up the wheels. These are what drive the campaign. They are the events that unfold if the character's DON'T get involved, but also set the general trajectory. PC interaction is the heart of a good RPG game, so every time the PCs get their grubby selves involved I update the direction of the wheels (and those related to them). For example, the PCs messed up Mickey getting the time potion, so he changed his mind and decided to hunt them down (after they talked about how awesome they were and generally bragged around town).

The Wheels

Wheel 1: The Plague

• Consume the Blesmont Circle population
• Consume Magnen Village neighborhood
• The Hammers (kind of the supernatural police) get involved
• Spread to All of Shady Thicket
• CAMPAIGN CHANGE: Massively depopulate Haven before being running its course

Wheel 2: Micky

• Get the Time Potion
• Instead of giving it to Ulona, use it himself to "live forever"
• Continue to grow more murderous and monstrous
• His gang becomes a cult
• Consolidate Power in Shady Thicket
• CAMPIGN CHANGE: The Hammers form up, recruiting for a a war within Haven

Wheel3: Ulona

• Get the time potion
• Raid the Clopman estate and enter the dungeon
• Use the time potion to extend the time it is open (don't want to get trapped)
• Wish for her cult to get power
• CAMPAIGN CHANGE: a bad cult-related thing happens

I left out the details on that last bit because while I told my players not to read this ... they might.

What Now?

Now with the big picture laid out, I can start littering clues and connections all over the damned place. Create rumor tables (the Ulona of Vious Moon has been attempting to purchase the Clopman estate), add descriptive notes to encounters that infer something or another (like the dead "wizard's" clothes in the time dungeon indicated he was upper class.

I didn't know what would happen or where the adventure would go. Who ever knows what the fuck players are going to get up to? In this case they stopped the time dungeon/plague, started a gang war against Mickey that ended in street riots and wide-scale destruction, and ended up carousing and getting Imdar Clopman drunk and tricking him into being their friend. Now they are going to attempt to kill off the Wishing Fountain Dungeon. Also one of the PCs killed another PC and has gotten himself addicted to some nasty drugs - which is a completely unrelated but really interesting side plot.

This was over a few months of actual play ... you can't have this much interconnected stuff in a few sessions without spoon-feeding the information. That just feels like telling the players a story I wrote and letting them know what to do next. At any point the crew could have ignored something or gone off on a tangent, let events transpire and the campaign would be irrevocably changed. All of which is AWESOME. And if they get in there and deal with the dungeon cropping up, that will be awesome too. 

And here is the best part - I don't care how the adventure/campaign ends. It doesn't matter as long as it is interesting. I've seen so many adventures (and posts on reddit and whatnot) where there is a foregone conclusion that the PCs will save the say - they will get to a major battle on the top of a mountain and the GM has written up this epic encounter and bla bla bla.

I'm all about setting the wheels in motion. The players' job is to get in there and mess about with things. If they want to stop the impending doom, great! if not, that's cool! if they succeed? fantastic! if they fail? no problem. It isn't about telling a story, it is about having an adventure. The story is what happens when the players retell the adventurer to their friends.

Some Dungeon Geomorphs

I draw a bunch. It seemed like fun but I'm not really into it. Perhaps I'll make some more later? If I do more, I need to change the grid size so I can add them staggered. Or maybe I should figure out what the 'standard' scale is so you can mix and match with other folks' stuff. We shall see. 

Here are some scans. Perhaps I'll make them into individual images suitable for roll20.

Shady Thicket

The city of Haven is absurdly large. The population density is unreasonable. The idea is ludicrous. However, I'm not going for reality, I'm going for insane fun and maximum opportunity.

Haven is broken down into Districts, each acting like a semi-autonomous city-state within the city. There isn't a central "city government" - the place is endless chaos of guild and noble house politics and schemes. Recently in my game the criminal element was a major focus. There was a gang war in the city the adventuring crew organized to take down someone nasty. It was awesome.

This post is about one district: Shady Thicket. I decided to write up a document for each district to give them distinct flavor and color. Here are some screen shots of that. Let me know if you are interested and I'll happily share the pdf with you.

The idea is to give each neighborhood within a district some tone, which gives the entire district a tone. In addition to the description, some people and places. A series of tables to generate random buildings that apply to everywhere in the district and lean into the feel of the neighborhoods in the three regions of the district.

The people and place tables will always be unique, but as I write up more districts - which I'll do in detail as we actually play in them - I can reuse and tweak the building generators. For example, in Smoldering Wharf  docks I may use something like.

d6	State	Feeling
1	Salt-Crusted	Bustling / Active
2	Weather-beaten	Shady / Criminal
3	Precarious / Dilapidated	Warehouse / Storage
4	Disreputable	Fish / Fishermen
5	Leaning Heavily	Repairs / Carpentry
6	Partially Collapsed	Boatswain /Sailors

In fact I'll use exactly that. :)

Mapping

You can map a city, but as soon as you've done that you lock things into position. Also, it is boring. I've got a 2-page spread of the district with the walls and major roads (and Greenwine hill). I've drawn on significant sub-streets and added a few buildings to mark specific locations. Everything else is handled with role playing and random tables. Based on an idea from the lastgaspgrimoire (which has SO MUCH GOOD STUFF), I've written up my "city crawl" mechanics to cover chasing someone down an alley, seeing wtf is going on up on those rooftops when the crew inevitably does that, and poking around the Undercity. So the map is simple and we add to it as we need. As we transition to roll20, I can even share it with the players.