Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Shout Out to Awesome
This guy has an amazing G+ feed - one of the most inspiring I've run across in ages. Not sure how, just yet, but so many of these are begging to be the seed for adventure locations in the Dawn of Eradu. I'm also going to use these, which are freaking awesome.
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Random Creatures [DoE]
I grabbed information from Lusus Naturae, all the creatures in Dungeon World, info from Perilous Wilds, a bunch of notes from Inkwell ideas, and a handful of my own stuff and jammed it all into Tablesmith. Incidentally Tablesmith 5.2 is available for those using Windows 10. I can't seem to find the link now, but i found it once (can anyone track it down)?
Below are a few examples of creatures that the table has created for Dungeon World - they require some imagination to bring to fruition, but they are a hellagood start for populating an entire world! If anyone is interested in the Tablesmith files let me know.
First up we have a creature of the fey - these solitary man-sized creatures are also known as cheshires. They have a vaguely feline appearance and are most often found leaning proudly against trees in the woodlands, their faces split with an unearthly smile waiting for their target. Targets are chosen by The Alice, one of the Rogue Queens of the Seasonal Wars, for reasons that are often opaque if not specifically unreasonable. When not on a mission they tend to hunt for fun.
In combat, the cheshire has an uncanny ability to whisper memories that have causes the target pain and intensify it to excruciating. The more resilient can be infected with a withering disease from their bite and a jab from a needleblade coated in strange fey poisons. If facing overwhelming odds crowds can be controlled by exaggerated visions of their own hatred.
At first glance these creatures can be mistaken for a cloaked man bent on the floor; their incessant "talking" creates the illusion of a group of penitents praying. There are many pilgrims and dervishes in the Desh, so the sight is not unheard of. However the helpful soul who approaches this patchwork are prone to the wicked long talons. The talons do more than inflict damage - they can also keep foes at a distance or knock weapons away. For all the violence, however, these creatures seem to be looking for someone. From time to time the Men of Desh change their tone and behavior entirely and focus on their protege, in which case the target has a group of incredibly loyal protectors.
In a nutshell, hulking large water spiders that will stop at nothing to get what they want. If these shambling beasts are not appeased (most want silver, some want meat, others virgins, and so on) they often swarm and attack with their cleaving proboscis (which replace what would normally be spider fangs); limbs are lopped off more often than not. If the Auraranae corner a foe they will often flash their glistening ruby underbelly which has enthralled more than one foe. Once enthralled, the target will bring the Auraranae their desired tribute. Anyone wandering into their watery domain within the inky shores of Lake Oplordan is in for a terrible evening...
Below are a few examples of creatures that the table has created for Dungeon World - they require some imagination to bring to fruition, but they are a hellagood start for populating an entire world! If anyone is interested in the Tablesmith files let me know.
| Cheshire | Tags: Fey |
| Type: Unholy Assassin | Organisation: Solitary (Medium) |
| Description: Serrated teeth, Cheerful | Instinct: to act proudly |
| HP: 12 Armor: 0 | Attack: memories of anguish d10, close |
| Moves: inflict a wretched disease Inject one of three poisons terrify with visions of hatred |
First up we have a creature of the fey - these solitary man-sized creatures are also known as cheshires. They have a vaguely feline appearance and are most often found leaning proudly against trees in the woodlands, their faces split with an unearthly smile waiting for their target. Targets are chosen by The Alice, one of the Rogue Queens of the Seasonal Wars, for reasons that are often opaque if not specifically unreasonable. When not on a mission they tend to hunt for fun.
In combat, the cheshire has an uncanny ability to whisper memories that have causes the target pain and intensify it to excruciating. The more resilient can be infected with a withering disease from their bite and a jab from a needleblade coated in strange fey poisons. If facing overwhelming odds crowds can be controlled by exaggerated visions of their own hatred.
| Praying Man of Desh | Tags: Patchwork |
| Type: Blasphemous Impaler | Organisation: Small Group (Medium) |
| Description: Cloaked, Talkative | Instinct: to serve as a mentor |
| HP: 4 Armor: 0 | Attack: Talons d8, close, hold at bay |
| Moves: disarm a foe Be healed by earth magic retreat and regroup | Known For: Immune to electricity |
At first glance these creatures can be mistaken for a cloaked man bent on the floor; their incessant "talking" creates the illusion of a group of penitents praying. There are many pilgrims and dervishes in the Desh, so the sight is not unheard of. However the helpful soul who approaches this patchwork are prone to the wicked long talons. The talons do more than inflict damage - they can also keep foes at a distance or knock weapons away. For all the violence, however, these creatures seem to be looking for someone. From time to time the Men of Desh change their tone and behavior entirely and focus on their protege, in which case the target has a group of incredibly loyal protectors.
| Auraranae | Tags: Beast |
| Type: Shambling Cleaver | Organisation: Small Group (Large) |
| Description: Eight legs, overbearing | Instinct: to pursue |
| HP: 8 Armor: 1 | Attack: Proboscis d8+1, close, reach |
| Moves: demand tribute Show off with ruby underbelly Master the power of water Cast a water magic spell |
In a nutshell, hulking large water spiders that will stop at nothing to get what they want. If these shambling beasts are not appeased (most want silver, some want meat, others virgins, and so on) they often swarm and attack with their cleaving proboscis (which replace what would normally be spider fangs); limbs are lopped off more often than not. If the Auraranae corner a foe they will often flash their glistening ruby underbelly which has enthralled more than one foe. Once enthralled, the target will bring the Auraranae their desired tribute. Anyone wandering into their watery domain within the inky shores of Lake Oplordan is in for a terrible evening...
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Sorcerers [DoE]
What they Want
The wilds of Eradu are a terrible place for numerous reasons, but Sorcerers are some of the worst of all. Let's figure out what they want - roll 1d12:
1 Solitude
2 to Destroy
3 to Enslave
4 World Domination
5 Power
6 Unknowable Knowledge
7 to Party
8 to Create Abominations
9 Collect
10 an Otherworldy Patron
11 to Devour
12 a Specific Relic
Influence of Scions
50% of Sorcerers have some sort of pact with the Lord of Scions. For those that do, roll 1d10p x 5 to determine what percentage of the sorcerer's weirdness is Scions - the rest is wizardry and Patchwork freakishness.
1 Mental Enhancement
2 Bloody Violent Melee
3 Ranged Super Destruction
4 Incredible Articulation
5 Inhuman Prowess
6 Forbidden Knowledge
7 Strange Locomotion
8 Otherworldly Link
9 Complex Domination
10 Transmographic Brilliance
11 Multi-planar Sight
12 Universal Toolkit
Arcane Path
Roll for it!
1 Winter Mage
2 Promythean Mage
3 Skyward Mage
4 Dusk Mage
5-6 Mind Wizard
7-8 Death Sorcerer
9 Fleshcraefter
10 Beastmaster
11 Necromancer
12 Nullmage
Minions
A sorcerer has to have minions. Roll 1d6
1-3 roll 3 random monster encounters and adjust to make them minions
4-5 roll 4 random monster encounters and smash them together to create 2 weird hybrid minions
6 roll 1 random encounter and enhance the crap out of it based on the sorcerer's path and/or Scions influence
The wilds of Eradu are a terrible place for numerous reasons, but Sorcerers are some of the worst of all. Let's figure out what they want - roll 1d12:
1 Solitude
2 to Destroy
3 to Enslave
4 World Domination
5 Power
6 Unknowable Knowledge
7 to Party
8 to Create Abominations
9 Collect
10 an Otherworldy Patron
11 to Devour
12 a Specific Relic
50% of Sorcerers have some sort of pact with the Lord of Scions. For those that do, roll 1d10p x 5 to determine what percentage of the sorcerer's weirdness is Scions - the rest is wizardry and Patchwork freakishness.
1 Mental Enhancement
2 Bloody Violent Melee
3 Ranged Super Destruction
4 Incredible Articulation
5 Inhuman Prowess
6 Forbidden Knowledge
7 Strange Locomotion
8 Otherworldly Link
9 Complex Domination
10 Transmographic Brilliance
11 Multi-planar Sight
12 Universal Toolkit
Arcane Path
Roll for it!
1 Winter Mage
2 Promythean Mage
3 Skyward Mage
4 Dusk Mage
5-6 Mind Wizard
7-8 Death Sorcerer
9 Fleshcraefter
10 Beastmaster
11 Necromancer
12 Nullmage
A sorcerer has to have minions. Roll 1d6
1-3 roll 3 random monster encounters and adjust to make them minions
4-5 roll 4 random monster encounters and smash them together to create 2 weird hybrid minions
6 roll 1 random encounter and enhance the crap out of it based on the sorcerer's path and/or Scions influence
Monday, April 25, 2016
Monstrous Influences [DoE]
Types of Monsters
The Dawn of Eradu campaign will have eight sources for monsters, plus hybrids. As I'm likely going to be using Dungeon World each of these will be tags. This doesn't cover everything - beasts, humanoids, and human themselves are monsters as well,
Aliens
Inhuman terrors with inexplicable weapons and creatures (which are sometimes one and the same) grown in vats of bubbling filth. The aliens want to enslave and do so with terror and weird surgery, implanting or infecting those they wish to control. They can occasionally be reasoned with, but everyone knows from stories passed down by generation that they destroyed the moon.
Patchwork
Things, for no other word properly describes them, from the Patchwork are of Chaos, Nightmares, and Darkness. They want nothing more than to live in the World of Light - to sun their tentacles and air out their insane geometries. But they are not alive and therefore cannot truly live - as abominations they cause destruction in their wake. Simply put - Patchwork Things are demons.
Fey
The four courts of the Land of Unreason, engage in their endless Slow War that sometimes leaks into this reality. Intrigue, surreal landscapes, blood, and the mingling of unreason are signs that the land of Faerie has claimed a bit of Eradu for her own. The Fey Nobility care little about the World of Reason, but the lesser Fey often interact with the common folk of Eradu with ... mixed results.
Planar
The Aliens are from another dimension similar to this place. The Land of Unreason and the Patchwork are regions within the aestheral plane that connects the various dimensions of the Prime and other planes of existence. These other planes are themselves entire universes with other rules and laws. Sometimes creatures and beings from these universes come to visit.
Undead
A blight upon the land, the unliving horde is a problem. Some are intelligent, but most are mindless or at least not particularly creative. They wish only to snuff out life.
Scions
For example, there is a 4% chance that an Undead creature is a hybrid. Assuming we rolled that it is a hybrd then the additional 1d10 roll result of 7 the undead is some sort of planar undead. What does that mean? No idea yet. Maybe some sort of undead modron servitor gone terribly awry and "fixing" the hills in this region (which involves digging a rather complex tunel system?)
I don't know how this is going to turn out, but it should be fun to find out.
The Dawn of Eradu campaign will have eight sources for monsters, plus hybrids. As I'm likely going to be using Dungeon World each of these will be tags. This doesn't cover everything - beasts, humanoids, and human themselves are monsters as well,
Aliens
Inhuman terrors with inexplicable weapons and creatures (which are sometimes one and the same) grown in vats of bubbling filth. The aliens want to enslave and do so with terror and weird surgery, implanting or infecting those they wish to control. They can occasionally be reasoned with, but everyone knows from stories passed down by generation that they destroyed the moon.
Patchwork
Things, for no other word properly describes them, from the Patchwork are of Chaos, Nightmares, and Darkness. They want nothing more than to live in the World of Light - to sun their tentacles and air out their insane geometries. But they are not alive and therefore cannot truly live - as abominations they cause destruction in their wake. Simply put - Patchwork Things are demons.
Fey
The four courts of the Land of Unreason, engage in their endless Slow War that sometimes leaks into this reality. Intrigue, surreal landscapes, blood, and the mingling of unreason are signs that the land of Faerie has claimed a bit of Eradu for her own. The Fey Nobility care little about the World of Reason, but the lesser Fey often interact with the common folk of Eradu with ... mixed results.
Planar
The Aliens are from another dimension similar to this place. The Land of Unreason and the Patchwork are regions within the aestheral plane that connects the various dimensions of the Prime and other planes of existence. These other planes are themselves entire universes with other rules and laws. Sometimes creatures and beings from these universes come to visit.
Undead
A blight upon the land, the unliving horde is a problem. Some are intelligent, but most are mindless or at least not particularly creative. They wish only to snuff out life.
Scions
There are things that are born from the Lord Scions - creatures of metal armed with strange and terrible weapons. There is an intelligence that cannot be denied, but understanding what Lord Scions had in mind is beyond comprehension. Many creatures of Scions have an aura of sickness around them; scions also has the highest chance for hybridization with other creature forms.
Hybrids
I'm going to use a lot of random creature creation - at least to get things started. When a creature of a particular type is rolled up, there is a chance the critter is actually a hybrid between two types - check the Hybrid column. If the critter is a hybrid, roll 1d10 to see what the hybrid is.
I'm going to use a lot of random creature creation - at least to get things started. When a creature of a particular type is rolled up, there is a chance the critter is actually a hybrid between two types - check the Hybrid column. If the critter is a hybrid, roll 1d10 to see what the hybrid is.
Hybrid
|
Aliens
|
Patch
|
Fey
|
Planar
|
Undead
|
Scions
|
Beasts
|
Humanoids
| |
Aliens
|
5%
|
---
|
1
|
---
|
2
|
3
|
4-5
|
6-8
|
9-10
|
Patchwork
|
1%
|
1
|
---
|
2
|
---
|
3-4
|
5-6
|
7-9
|
10
|
Fey
|
1%
|
---
|
1
|
---
|
2-3
|
4-6
|
7
|
8-10
|
--
|
Planar
|
2%
|
1
|
---
|
2
|
---
|
3
|
4
|
5-8
|
9-10
|
Undead
|
4%
|
1-2
|
3
|
4-6
|
7
|
---
|
8-9
|
10
|
---
|
Scions
|
8%
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5-6
|
---
|
7-8
|
9-10
|
Beasts
|
3%
|
1
|
2
|
3-4
|
5-6
|
7
|
8
|
---
|
9-10
|
Humanoids
|
1%
|
1-3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7-8
|
9
|
10
|
---
|
For example, there is a 4% chance that an Undead creature is a hybrid. Assuming we rolled that it is a hybrd then the additional 1d10 roll result of 7 the undead is some sort of planar undead. What does that mean? No idea yet. Maybe some sort of undead modron servitor gone terribly awry and "fixing" the hills in this region (which involves digging a rather complex tunel system?)
I don't know how this is going to turn out, but it should be fun to find out.
Saturday, April 23, 2016
History in Brief [DoE]
I've always liked a bit of history with my settings, but the folks often go on and on and get into insignificant detail. They often ten make a history exceedingly long and focused on dates - the entire fantastic nature of this other world is lost on me. Leaving gaps in the details also allows for easy customization.
The history of Eradu is somewhat known to my players, but it was always suitably vague to the players and characters to never be a point of conflict. This also allows me to massage it for the next campaign. An alternate Eradu - numerous familiar aspects, but different from the original. Below are the Ages of Eradu
Antiquity
Age of Precursors - Eradu was created and those that created it thrived
Time of Dreams - The world changed with the great dreaming; heroes were born
Sorcerer Lords - Dark wizards took control of the land and enslaved all for their dark masters
The Uprising - Slaves threw off their shackles and tok back the world
Golden Ages
Tide of Nations - Great nations were born and civilization thrived on peace and trade
Days of Steel - Technology advances, and with it the aims and goals of all sentient kind
Arcane Revival - Magic, lost since antiquity, is rediscovered and begins a new era
Rise of the Technoarchanists - Technology and Magic merge into super science and sorcery
Dark Ages
Alien Arival - the first of the Graijax arrive and awaken ancient fear ... and they destroyed the moon
The Great War - nation turns against nation; war rages across the land and societies collapse
Patchwork Bloom - The Patchwork finds a crack opened by the Great War and blooms in Eradu
Lost Years - Unknown time passes, the world rearranges itself, and the new ways emerge
Now
Dawn - Safe in Haven, adventurers begin to explore the world again
The history of Eradu is somewhat known to my players, but it was always suitably vague to the players and characters to never be a point of conflict. This also allows me to massage it for the next campaign. An alternate Eradu - numerous familiar aspects, but different from the original. Below are the Ages of Eradu
Antiquity
Age of Precursors - Eradu was created and those that created it thrived
Time of Dreams - The world changed with the great dreaming; heroes were born
Sorcerer Lords - Dark wizards took control of the land and enslaved all for their dark masters
The Uprising - Slaves threw off their shackles and tok back the world
Golden Ages
Tide of Nations - Great nations were born and civilization thrived on peace and trade
Days of Steel - Technology advances, and with it the aims and goals of all sentient kind
Arcane Revival - Magic, lost since antiquity, is rediscovered and begins a new era
Rise of the Technoarchanists - Technology and Magic merge into super science and sorcery
Dark Ages
Alien Arival - the first of the Graijax arrive and awaken ancient fear ... and they destroyed the moon
The Great War - nation turns against nation; war rages across the land and societies collapse
Patchwork Bloom - The Patchwork finds a crack opened by the Great War and blooms in Eradu
Lost Years - Unknown time passes, the world rearranges itself, and the new ways emerge
Now
Dawn - Safe in Haven, adventurers begin to explore the world again
Monday, April 18, 2016
The Next Campaign [DoE]
I'm taking a GM break for a while. The Worldgod Campaign has ended, and I've decided that the Aldsburg Chronicles ran for a good line time and were also awesome but are now over. Also I think I've over HackMaster. The GM's book was such a huge (and expensive) disappointment as well as the last few adventures I picked up. I'd started customixzing this so much that the game was verging on becoming another system, which almost happened until I realized that I was simply mashing together derivative claptrap (thanks, friends, who put up with that).
But oddly without the pressure to run a game I feel like a wellspring of ideas have opened up. I've been wanting to do some serious science fantasy mash up stuff for a while. My other games had it, but I want to go whole hog into the post-apocalyptic strangeness.
Some Inspirations
The Dwarves in this next world will definitely be cannibals that wear leather made from the skins of their ancestors. Their eternal war with the Elf are because those creatures are of the bloodline of the Vampiric Fey who want to make blades from the metal that can be extracted from Dwarf bones. Also Dwarf gain extra fast healign when eating the flesh of an Elf.
There ... that should get things going. I'll use the DoE tag for these posts ... Dawn of Eradu.
But oddly without the pressure to run a game I feel like a wellspring of ideas have opened up. I've been wanting to do some serious science fantasy mash up stuff for a while. My other games had it, but I want to go whole hog into the post-apocalyptic strangeness.
Some Inspirations
- Anomalous Subsurface Environment
- Adventure Time
- Carcossa
- Rick and Morty
- Red and Pleasant land
- Fallout 4 but not The Witcher 3
- Lamentations of the Flame Princess
- A strong desire for Player Driven stuff
- My friend's enthusiasm for running his first game
- Banks, Vance, Lovecraft, Howard
- And recently, for some unknown reason, Zardoz
The Dwarves in this next world will definitely be cannibals that wear leather made from the skins of their ancestors. Their eternal war with the Elf are because those creatures are of the bloodline of the Vampiric Fey who want to make blades from the metal that can be extracted from Dwarf bones. Also Dwarf gain extra fast healign when eating the flesh of an Elf.
There ... that should get things going. I'll use the DoE tag for these posts ... Dawn of Eradu.
Monday, April 11, 2016
Planescape 5e Bard [PS5]
I've always hated the Bard as an adventuring class - it never worked for me within type of fantasy I imagined. The "Jack of All Trades" might be a fine character for an adventure story, but when there is a party of adventurers, they become lesser and, in short, the asshole with the lute. They can inspire the party ... ok ... so what? Instead why don't they just do something useful and make the party better by being awesome?
My long-standing dislike of bards has lead me to create a bard character for a 5e game I'm going to be playing in. I think I still feel the same way about the bard class after making this guy, but I am digging the crazy Planescape background. Metal/punk bard half-gith slave escpaed from the Gehenna slave pits of Mongoth ... with a little bit of dragon-blood sorcerer thrown in for extra metal.
Also, I rolled a complete statistical anomoly, even with 4d6 drop the lowest standard. Since we are bringing characters, I made sure the GM was ok with it first because the chances of rolling a 18 are 1.6%, on a set of 6 scores rolling at least 1 18 is 9%, at least 2 of them is .4% and 3 ... well, that is less than 1 in 10,000. Mind you I also got a 5 ... but WHAT? I wouldn't believe a player if they brought this to my table.
We shall see if this character changes my bard mind ... likely not, but it may be hellafun to play for a while.
My long-standing dislike of bards has lead me to create a bard character for a 5e game I'm going to be playing in. I think I still feel the same way about the bard class after making this guy, but I am digging the crazy Planescape background. Metal/punk bard half-gith slave escpaed from the Gehenna slave pits of Mongoth ... with a little bit of dragon-blood sorcerer thrown in for extra metal.
Also, I rolled a complete statistical anomoly, even with 4d6 drop the lowest standard. Since we are bringing characters, I made sure the GM was ok with it first because the chances of rolling a 18 are 1.6%, on a set of 6 scores rolling at least 1 18 is 9%, at least 2 of them is .4% and 3 ... well, that is less than 1 in 10,000. Mind you I also got a 5 ... but WHAT? I wouldn't believe a player if they brought this to my table.
We shall see if this character changes my bard mind ... likely not, but it may be hellafun to play for a while.
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