2024 update

 BXDH2024 is a thing. rules are solid at this point

running a second Bloodbath Dungeon competitive campaign for 2024 (prizes in December)

Enchiridion of Sorrow is being worked on (setting book)

Sorrow monster stats have been revised, monsters volume 1 (group A-C) is in print for editing.

monsters volume 2 (group D, E, Astral, and Gloom) won't be far behind

pretty sure I'll stop updating this blog because ... well .. look at the time gaps.

Cheers!

BXDH Online Game

Every other week I run 2 games of BXDH - heavy emphasis on exploration.  The whole island map is available from the get-go, but "fog of war" covers those hexes that have not been explored.  

I like this method - it gives the players something to discuss and aim for without any other input.  One group is hell-bent on getting to those northern mountains to look for coffee (quite a valuable commodity) and a lost grimoire that contains all known spells. Another is focused on a combination of dungeon crawling and getting to some small islands the mess up a dragon (hex 2323) and hunt down that dude riding a roc (hex 2130).

The images are built in worldographer (a fantastic tool!) initially, then I do some image manipulation in another bit of software adding paths and rivers and removing the fog of war. The whole things is then uploaded to roll20 as a background image.  I 'reveal' the icons when the images are updated, but the players are entirely in charge of making notes on the map.  For example, the lair of lizardfolk in hex 16.23 was named "Den of the Lizard Perverts" by one of the crews. This lets the players connect more strongly with the map and the campaign.

Do I expect the players to explore the entire map?  Of course not. Do they need to explore the entire map?  Absolutely not. That amount of exploration is from the past year of gaming - about 50 sessions I think. They get up to other things as well. And I use roll20 as a "whiteboard" for players to map the dungeons they explore as well:

zoomed in so you can read their exceptional notes:

Of course I prefer face-to-face gaming, but roll20 works more than well enough for what I need it to do.  Also, bonus points to anyone who can identify the dungeon from the strangely accurate player map.

Most of what we use roll20 for are the character sheets ... custom written with tabs and all that jazz, so players can play and then just click a button to get rolls and results:


Starting next month I'm going to focus on a rules update for BXDH.  Simplify a few things and tidy a few others.  One of the big things I was considering was to tighten up the random advancement tables and simplify the magic stuff. 

The spell slots are an interesting resource management system, but frankly it is mad clunky. The key is to take something absurdly powerful and make it easier to use without making it too powerful.  

Maybe something as simple as you have Spell Points to memorize spells.  A rank 1 spell costs 1, a rank 2 spell costs 2 points, etc.  Basically just drop spell slots and keep everything else. it should mechanically work out about the same. gain spell points equal to half your level each time you advance. spell points could also be 'saved' and used to improve grimoire casting chances. still resource management, just less clunky.  Also, great opportunity to refer to those points as Mana.  

Shields are going to get simplified as well.  Choose to block with your shield, Make a Use check. Reduce damage by the check value, drop the shield use die on a 1-2.  Much easier.

One thing I am adding for the next game (even before 2024 revision) is a FATE POOL.  This works like the existing luck mechanic, except that any player can draw from it.  As much as they like.  At any time. Every point they draw from though, because a point that I as the DM can use against them later. So it isn't a complete crew job, each point I spend is +1d6 and I have to use it before the roll, no after the fact biz. Along those lines, I need to make a DM roller to do attack and damage rolls on roll20 and show the FATE points being used. I think I'll work on that right after this post in fact!

This and That

Spring Geekend 2023 was a success!
lots of folks from all over
lots of games
a good time was had by all
Bloodbath Dungeon was a rousing success and I even handed out trophies to the crew that won (got the most XP from exploring and treasure).

Sorrow is Done!
Sorrow in Haven is done (and has been for a few months). The book is rad.  Immediately found some small typos, but whatever. The book is great and both I and the players love it.

I'm still puttering with the monster book from time to time but really focusing effort recently on the Haven Enchiridion - a book that gives descriptions of the districts and neighborhoods of Haven. I'll probably get into some of the weird tables and rules too - how long it takes to get through a district/neighborhood, how easy it is to find places, maybe even some encounter tables to spice things up a bit.  I dond't usually have "encounters" in Haven unless they are part of an adventure or ongoing thread, but it could use a little boost. Then back to the mosnters. 

I've been thinking about the monster book a LOT actually - I think I've made it simply too large. I made too many monsters. Gadzooks!  How can you have too many monsters?  Basically there are monsters that just don't show up even though I'd like them to on the random tables.  Too rare - eclipsed by other critters, etc.  Probably time to have a long post about how to actually build random tables.

BXDH ... Sorrow Wizards
Thinking about how to make sorrow-style wizards in Sorrow. Why? 

1) The entire set of spell mechanics are ... tedious. Fighters roll to hit. Thieves roll for skills. why don't mages roll to cast?  
2) also giving players with magic open creativity is a sweet move

I mean hell ... now that I've spent the cash and printed and shipped a book, why not completely change the entire system? sheesh. But honestly, the groove of being able to cast pretty much anything you can think of is amazing ... but the sorrow system is crunchy and harder to use for those who are not math-friendly. I'll need to think on this - and then not drop it in the middle of an ongoing campaign.

Spring Geekend, Bloodbath Dungeon, and Sorrow in Haven progress

Holy shit I haven't posted in months!

For the Spring Geekend 2023 is April 27-May 1st. Should be fantastic. 20 people so far, maybe adding a few as we go. Tons of role playing, a boatload of board games, and generally good times. I decided that I'd run a tournemnt-style dungeon. Why? Why not!

I've got a mega-dungeon: Bloodbath Dungeon. 10 levels, 10 chambers per level. Filled with wretched beasts and awesome loot. The idea is the crew of 5th level characters has 3 hours to get in, get as much XP as they can, and get out. I'll throw up notes on how it goes. I'm writing for the BXDH system and I'll post it up for anyone to use if they want. You can rock it with any OSR/-adjacent systems. 

BXDH2023 rules have been printed and spiral bound and sent to all my online gamers.  What joy! You can peep this little video where you can hear about East Palestine in the back ground:



Sorrow in Haven is a physical book!  The binding of the 17 hard copies is almost complete!  Just need to add the cover art - I'm hopefully getting it printed on book cloth.  In progress of the stack (before the covers got added:

I'm attempting a German spring-back ledger binding. We'll see how it goes.  4 book marks because 1 book mark ribbon is teh sux.

GAME CONTENT: LONG TERM PROJECTS
The research rules are basically long term project rules. I'm not a huge fan of downtime rules - because adventuring is about adventuring, but I can see the value in it.  So ...

Define the Project
What are you attempting to do?

• build a contraption that will automatically reel in your grappling hook  
• research a spell that can melt the faces of your enemies
• organize a crew of hackers to help in your struggle against The Man?

Set the Scale
In systems that use clocks, this would be a clock. In Sorrow, this is a progress track. The scale is the size of the track or clock. 

• Pretty Simple : 3
• Usual: 5
• Tough: 7 or more

Set the Difficulty
The difficulty is what you need to roll to move things forward - this is the GM roll vs what the player is going to get up to.

• Boring: 3
• Usual: 6
• Tough: 9
• Absurd: 12

The Roll!
Roll once a week or each time the character gets 7 days together. Or take your time (2 weeks/14 days) to gain advantage. Make a roll.

• Legendary Failure: -2 progress (to a minimum of 0)
• Critical Failure: -1 progress
• Failure: 0 progress
• Success: +1 progress
• Critical Success: +2 progress
• Legendary Success: +3 progress

Other Rules/Ideas
Maybe adjust the time if the PC has something that would make it happen faster. Collections/libraries/alchemical labs/etc. can add a bonus to the roll. Special Materials that get used up increase the effect level (+1 to the progress). 

Example
Dirk wants to train his loyal hound into a badass wardog. The GM decides this is: 

• Train the Dog: Scale (4), Difficulty (6), and +1 to the checks because the character has a history with dogs.

Check 1 (after 7 days): Success ... progress 1/5

Check 2 (after 14 days: Legendary success ... progress 4/5
Check 3 (after 7 days): Success ... progress 5/5 - Jup the loyal hound is now a loyal wardog!

Research (Sorrow in Haven)

Often times folks want to get involved in some research. Rather than write an entirely new set of rules, going to use a modified version of the "Chase" mechanics used for social interaction and evasion/pursiut.

Assuming a standard library of knowledge, let's set the track. 

The Track
0 = no more knowledge can be attained
1 = possibly false valuable info found
2 = possibly false petty information found
3 = general starting point
4 = petty info
5 = valuable info
6 = significant information acquired!

The Research

• Researching is an 8 hour block of time (most of a day)
• The researcher gets 1 INT Check
• this could always be another attribute like WIT or AWR depending on the situaiton 
• Someone helping gives Advantage like usual
• make sure they can reasonably help (being literate is the most obvious)
• The Difficulty is based on
• what information is being researched
• how complex the library is - is it organised, character access, and so on.

Check Results

Check	Result
Legendary Failure	down 3 levels
Critical Failure	down 2 levels
Failure	down 1 level
Success	up 1 level
Critical Success	up 2 levels
Legendary Success	up 3 levels

After a check, the character can accept the level they are on and stop researching.  A result of valuable info includes the petty info, and the significant info includes the valuable and petty results. Info isn't passed along until the character decides to stop researching.

If the characters want to continue researching, they can, but the difficulty increases each time. If the track gets to 0 they find nothing of value.

Difficulty

Add modifiers from the state of the library and the research topic.

State of the Library - start at a base rating of 3, then modifi

• Maintained: -1 .... Not Maintained: +1
• Organized: -1 ... Disorganized: +1
• Extensive: -1 ... Limited: +1

Research Topic - cross reference if the knowledge might be common/uncommon/rare and the specificity of the knowledge the character is seeking: general/specific/detailed and add that to the Difficulty:

	General	Specific	Detailed
Common	5	8	11
Uncommon	7	10	13
Rare	9	12	15

Examples of other things that can come into play for the difficulty:

• Rush Job: research for a 4 hour block - roll at Disadvantage
• Library is focused on the topic at hand - reduce the difficulty by 3 (architecture library) or 5 points (late 3rd era architecture)
• Library is Dangerous: Difficulty increased by up to 6, reduce by 1 for everyone "on watch"
• Each additional research block is +1 Difficulty.
  

EXAMPLE TIME!

A Tough One

The crew has BROKEN into the GDD Lore Archives to research a specific member of the Moonlight Faerie Court (something named Stardust). 

The Library is Extensive but Disorganized. It is sort of maintained; Difficulty +0

The Topic is Uncommon and they are looking for Specific information; Difficulty +10
The Situation is dangerous (4) - if they get caught they'll get in trouble; 3 folks are keeping watching; Difficulty +1 (4-3)
Net difficulty for this research is 11

Beth (INT +2) and Tucker are doing the research, so the roll is made with Advantage.

They are going to take their time and hope they aren't spotted, taking a full 8 hours (to avoid the Rush Job Disadvantage).

Beth Strives fully at +6.

The Players: Roll with Advantage + 8 (+2 INT, +6 Strive)
The GM Roll 2d6+11

The Dice & Results
Players: 2, 5, 6; keep the 5 and 6 plus 8 for a total of 19
GM: 6, 4 plus 11 for 21
Failure ... the now at track 2 the group finds some petty information that might be false. they decide to take it and bug out of there.

A Better Situaiton

A different crew is researching the same stuff, but in Ingref's personal collection of Fey Lore.
Library is: well maintained and organized (-2)

Topic is: uncommon and specific (10)

This collection is FOCUSED on the fairie (-3)
Net Difficulty: 5

Dirk (Int +1) and Uth do the research. Rolling with advantage and fully striving.

Players roll 14, GM rolls 13 - Success! At Track position 4.

The group decides to keep researching. The difficulty goes up by 1

Players roll 17, GM rolls 10 - Critical Success! At Track position 6.

The group has what they are looking for, thanks Ingref, and takes their leave after an exhausting day.

Using the Crew's Research Library Collection

• Same rules, but don't forget you can add the rank of the collection to the Action Roll. 
• The Value "Lost" is based on the Action Roll that has the potential the be the most costly
• In order of potential Value "Lost":  Legendary Failure, Critical Failure, Legendary Success, Critical Success, Success/Failure
• w6u

Variations

• If the party has some key information, perhaps they start at position 4. 
• The Research Track positions from 0 to 8 and the party starts at 4 for a larger or more complex research project.
• Instead of knowledge, some of the track positions contain events (position 1, the war librarians have noticed you and are coming to check credentials you don't have).
• Research time costs money ... a double rush is 2 hours, but 2 Disadvantages (so even with help, the roll is at Disadvantage).
• You hire or have Research Assistants (crew improvement), each one allows you to re-roll a die on your check.

Sorrow, BXDH, and now Shadowrunners + Bloodbath Dungeon!

Sorrow text blocks are at the printer. Exciting!

Of course I've been thinking about wizards and how fast they can cast spells. Thinking of adding something to let them cast faster ... maybe an Advance?

Faster Casting: Dice from Pact of Blood can be used to reduce the casting time of a spell, max 1 per level, minimum speed of 10.

Faster Casting II: same but no limit on dice, minimum speed of 5.

Perhaps this is the start of the first supplement with a few new rules for each class. fun!

Monster books haven't moved forward much - they are a lot of work and I have plenty going on.

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BXDH is still rocking, 2 games every other week. Current campaign is major exploration (XP for exploring hexes and finding locations). First big dungeon crawl is set for tonight. Can't wait to see how violently this plays out.

I need to spend some time reviewing the rules document and then make a few books for folks. I might split it into multiple volumes to make printing and construction easier - because I already have a fucking real book project with Sorrow. Why do I do this to myself?

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Shadowrunners is a new campaign using the Runners in the Shadows rules. Fiction-forward sci-fi fantasy; cyberpunk with elves and whatnot. The campaign is just getting started, one session to do some collaborative world building. It was great. I'll post up the document once it is a bit more fleshed out. Some material is rehash/tweaks from original rules, but the majority is from us! Hope this works out - it is experimental (both system and my time).

As a fun note I'm working with the author to make some actual roll20 sheets. It is ... complicated. I'm not a javascrit guy and this whole css thing isn't my jam, but we are working collaboratively, so I'm excited to see how this plays out.

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Bloodbath Dungeon is NEW! Inspired by Castle Gargantua, I'm in the process of writing a new thing. I'll be using it for the Bloodbath Dungeon "BXDH" Tournament game at the 2023 Spring Geekend in April/May next year. Again, I'll post more when there is more.

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Spring Geekend

I've rented an estate and invited all of my regular (and irregular) gamers from online and real life for a long weekend of role playing and board games and general shenanigans and hanging out. I'm basically putting together a small gaming convention. I have no idea what I'm doing :)

Steady Progress

Sorrow in Haven Books
The first text block is at the printers for the main book and I'm fleshing out the numerous Phantasmagoricon volumes (v5a-5j are pretty small all things considered) . Once I'm happy with all the monsters I'll also make a "Compiled Field Notes" version of the Phantasmagoricon that includes all those critters and a few special treats.

• Sorrow in Haven (expecting sample printed text block this week)
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 1 - Underworld Creatures Class A & B (in progress, functional)
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 2 - Underworld Creatures Class C & D (in progress; functional)
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 3 - Underworld Creatures Class E (pending; notes)
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 4 - Urban and Wilderness Monstrosities
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 5a - Creatures of Sorrow: Lost Haven (in progress, functional)
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 5b - Creatures of Sorrow: Halls of Pain
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 5c - Creatures of Sorrow: Fabled Realm 
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 5d - Creatures of Sorrow: Vaseytown
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 5e- Creatures of Sorrow: The Elevator
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 5f - Creatures of Sorrow: Waters of Hell
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 5g - Creatures of Sorrow: Vendegarr Hold
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 5h - Creatures of Sorrow: Chasmtop
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 5i - Creatures of Sorrow: Eternal Chasm
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 5j - Creatures of Sorrow: The Yellow Kingdom

Noble House Work
I'm also reviewing and detailing the 17 Noble Houses. The noble houses are getting some juice as the players are interacting with them. Small notes becoming full-page writeups. Current family lineage, interconnections, more details on their allegiances and feuds, and at least one "plot hook" for interacting with them. 

Districts and Neighborhoods
I also figured while I was at it I'd start working on the neighborhoods of Haven. The 29 districts already have short write-ups, so just fleshing out the neighborhoods ... all 338 of them. Each neighborhood gets a paragraph and people/places table. I'm cross referencing the info from the groups document and noble houses as well. Once the framework (spread sheet) is finished up, I'm going to do some focused crowd sourcing with my players.

d6xd6 Randomizer Table

Roll two sets of 2d6. Cross the pairs and then to add stuff to dungeon rooms:

d6xd6	1 - 3	4 - 5	6
1 - 3	A	B	C
4 - 5	D	E	F
6	G	H	I

Monsters

A: Minor Threat

B: Threat

C: Major Threat

Traps

D: Inconvenience

E: Disabler

F: Deadly

Loot

G: Coins / Goods

H: Gems / Jewelry

I: Magic / Special

Sample Results

Room 1 [5/3, 5/4]: inconvenience trap + disabling trap

Just past the entrance the floor is covered in disguised sticky tar. It could be leaped across, but on the other side is a 15' pit with iron crossbeams meant to break arms and legs.

Room 2 [2/4, 6/2]: threat + some coins

4 red-eye orcs are savagely eating a pie. They each have 50 coins, but would rather die than give up any of their pie or coins.

Room 3 [6/5, 2/6]: jewelry + major threat

On a pedestal the necklace known as Almira's Joy (platinum, rubies, and locks of fairy hair). The red-eye ogre sits picking its sharpened teeth and ringing a bell to summon 1d6 red-eye orc minions.

Want to change the table up, here are some values

A	9 / 36	Quite Common
B & D	6 / 36 each	Common
E	4 / 36	Uncommon
C & G	3 / 36 each	Rare
H & F	2 / 36 each	Very Rare
I	1 / 36	Unique

So maybe make one with just monsters based on how often they'd be encountered ...

d6xd6	1 - 3	4 - 5	6
1 - 3	Red-eye Orcs	Saber-fanged Rottweilers	Hobgoblin Assassin
4 - 5	Flame Snakes	Hobgoblins	Blood Ogre
6	Hobgoblin Shaman	Glass Knight	King Balgrulub the Terrible

Haven is Growing

 Updated map of Haven with all neighborhoods.

Continuing to work on the district descriptions one at a time. Hope to have a full city book by early 2024.

Catching Up

Well damn - I haven't posted on this blog in 9 months. Because I wasn't doing any game things? On the contrary, because I was.

BXDH

The BXDH campaign hit just over 200 sessions and ended with actual real human tears, emotions, and a lot of virtual high fives. not a bad campaign ... and the next one is already starting up! Also rewrote the entire system to add in some other nonsense to really make the game sparkle - improved exploration rules and an entire system for growing your settlement from a pitiful camp to a sprawling metropolis.

The new setting is the "Placatae, the Wandering Isle".  Maybe I'll start posting hexes or something?

At the end of the campaign i wrote a piece on the discord that got all players in both the BXDH and Sorrow games interested ... because they could see that while the systems were different, the games themselves and the world in which they are in are related (if not the same).  20 years for that long-form nonsense to come to fruition :D

SORROW

The main Sorrow in Haven rules review and editing and layout and all that is finally complete. Working on calculating printing costs now. Along those lines the first 2 monster books have been scratch printed as table copies and look like they will be perfect.

Sorrow in Haven Books

• Sorrow in Haven (getting ready for the first print run!!!!)
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 1 - Underworld Creatures Class A & B (in progress, functional)
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 2 - Underworld Creatures Class C & D (pending; notes)
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 3 - Underworld Creatures Class E (pending; notes)
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 4 - Urban and Wilderness Monstrosities (pending)
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 5 - Creatures of Sorrow: Lost Haven (in progress, functional)
• Phantasmagoricon: Volume 6 - Creatures of Sorrow: <other Sorrow Regions> 

I'm also making a point go get the dungeons of Sorrow written up as more than just notes, but honestly may back off from that. Not sure why I'd spend time making something "publish ready" when i have no intention of such things...

SPRING FLING 2023

I'm working on organizing a long weekend of gaming in spring 2023. Head count is in the mid 20s right now, which is pretty cool. Finding a place where we can all stay AND has space for multiple games AND hanging out AND personal space AND isn't gross/too fancy AND is in the right area/price point is tricky ... but I'm sure it will all work out.

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.