Abandoned Hireling

For Tabletop RPG Talk

[abandonedhireling]

Appendix AH (or my own personal Appendix N

Far from a complete list of influences, or my personal "Best of"; rather these are touchstones I find myself returning to when running ttrpgs.

Multimedia (Dot) Hack

Video Games Tales of Symphonia Pokemon Colosseum Borderlands (1)

Anime / Manga Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Rune Soldier Trigun Gundam (SEED, X) Macross / Robotech Inuyasha Last Exile

Comics Planetary The Sandman "Age of Apocalypse" Aliens Higher Earth

Novels The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber The Risen Empire by Scott Westerfeld Fanfiction (various)

Television Stargate SG-1 Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles The Lost Room

Movies Star Wars (best watch order: 4-5, 1-3, 6) Underworld (2003) Van Helsing (2004)

Roleplaying Games Rogue Trader Black Crusade GLOG Dark Sun

[abandonedhireling]

Retrospective: Bones and Videotape

Introduction

Having survived 1000 Jumps Too Far, my players wished to continue their characters quest to return to human civilisation. Helpfully the Continuing Play sidebar of 1000 Jumps Too Far suggests running Bones and Videotape, also included in Hull Breach Vol. 1, as a subsequent adventure.

The Premise

"A video team equipped with a prototype video Camera to record unusual energy signatures failed to return from an expedition into a structure of unknown origin." Or, a pseudo-sentient hivemind from a parallel dimension which utilizes polyhedral chambers to resonate psychic energy, thinning the barrier between dimensions. The only material from our dimension they can interact with is bone.

My Thoughts

In spite of the suggestion within the Continuing Play sidebar none of the included endpoints of 1000 Jumps Too Far particularly lend themselves to running Bones and Videotape. Nor does Bones and Videotape include any suggestions for running the adventure when characters stumble across The Structure without the explicit mission objectives of recovering the video team, LENS Camera, and any footage recorded by the team.

Changes In an attempt to address the issues described above I made a the following changes to the adventure:

The previous video team were instead exploring The Stockrooms of Interstellar Mega Mart before being stranded having used an Emergency Exit. They entered The Structure attempting to reenter The Stockrooms.

A NPC colonist had stumbled across The Structure, found evidence of the the video team's passage, and also got trapped within The Structure.

The Reservoir was replaced with a shallow reef in the ice covered oceans of the otherwise desolate moon the PCs had landed upon. It served as the source of the many bones in the adventure rather than the Pit Trap.

Portals connected from one side worked like Star Gates, as described in the adventure. Portals connected on both sides acted as portals from the Portal video games. This change was intended to explain how water moved between portals, and to give players more feedback when experimenting with portals.

More rooms were given polyhedral descriptions, a feature largely absent despite being mentioned in the Warden Notes.

Adventure Summery The adventure began with the PCs conducting a search and rescue mission to find the missing colonist, discovering the structure in the process.

As the majority of the party were androids, it was an android who broke their leg in the pit trap upon entering the structure. This would have tremendous unintended consequences as without broken bones to draw the attention the the skeletons there was very little pressure (although still plenty of tension) throughout the adventure.

Furthermore the PCs wouldn't find the the majority of the Tapes (and the clues they contained) as they had little reason the engage the skeletons. The effectiveness of bone weapon against the growth wouldn't be known until the finale.

In spite of a few darkly comical misadventures the PCs were mostly able to survive lost colonist included- androids can be rebuilt. Jason, the Marine leading the mission and who's hands had twisted into bone hooks amongst other changes in the Growth Dimension, vowed to return to the structure and find a way home via Interstellar Mega Mart.

Conclusion The adventure was certainly made more challenging for the players without the explicit goal of retrieving the LENS Camera and its tapes. The characters were lost in "algebra hell", and until they stumbled upon the LENS Camera the players didn't know what to do.

Giving all the rooms explicitly polyhedral descriptions unintentionally added a lot of noise as the players attempted to correlate room shapes to Key Addresses. Were I to run it again I would instead describe the rooms as faceted with various geometric polygons and without curved lines.

The Pit Trap should be smaller and/or do more damage; 15m or 50ft is a long way to fall onto stone. PCs that roll 7-9 break a leg, but otherwise Wounds should be suffered as normal.

[abandonedhireling]

The Mad Science of Gen 1 Pokemon

The Pokémon franchise is no stranger to mad science; Mewtwo one of the most iconic Pokemon famously destroyed the lab where it was created. However, I suspect that even most longtime Pokémon fans would be surprised by the scale and variety of the mad science tropes on display. Furthermore much of what I will call out as mad science has become so normalized within the franchise that many fans will balk at the inclusion of this or that mechanic or setting element.

Evolution Stones

Evolution Stones might be a controversial place to begin, but glowing rocks (possibly from space) that rapidly transform creatures exposed to their strange radiation into stronger, more monstrous forms is a distillation of common tropes in monster fiction. Furthermore, the subject of such transformations are often driven mad by the process which is somewhat analogous to the limited learn-set displayed by stone evolved Pokemon.

Fossil Pokémon

Reviving fossils, particularly from Old Amber, immediately brings to mind the classic movie Jurassic Park (1993). 'Merely' reviving an ancient species to give to a child would merit the inclusion of Fossil Pokemon in this post. However, the pervasive rock typing (and later the Galar chimera) suggest that these Pokémon are not merely clones of long extinct species, but products of something else entirely which brings us to Synthetic Pokémon.

Synthetic Pokémon

Can you copy a Porygon? While far from the strongest Pokémon, even with its numerous upgrades, this seems like an underutilized threat but I digress. The aforementioned Mewtwo is in game explicitly the product of gene splicing. Likewise, since the release of Yellow, there has been much speculation that Ditto is the product of prior experiments to clone Mew. The Starter Pokémon may too be the product of applied Pokemon research.

Trade Evolution

While the mechanics of Trade Evolution have been much speculated about the introduction of Bill, the unofficial 152nd Pokemon, is a clear homage to The Fly (1986) more detailed explanation click here.

Conclusions

The first generation of Pokemon famously has 151 Pokémon, but it might be more productive to count evolution lines. Including Pokemon that don't evolve there are 81 evolution lines; Nidoqueen and Nidoking are counted separately, as are Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan, Eevee-lutions count as 3. Of the 81 evolution lines 31, 38%, are in someway the product of mad science: 18 evolution lines result from contact with evolution stones, 4 evolution lines end with Trade Evolutions, 3 evolution lines start with fossils, and 6 evolution lines are wholly man made.

Miscellaneous

In a world relatively similar to our own, everything to do with the Pokemon Storage System is extraordinary. Do the various Teleportation Panels found throughout the game work using similar or different technology? The Silph Scope seemingly confirms the existence of an afterlife with its ability to identify actual ghosts and not merely ghost-like Pokémon.

[abandonedhireling]

Retrospective: 1000 Jumps Too Far

Introduction

I recently concluded a play through of 1000 Jumps Too Far, an 8 page module included in Hull Breach, over the coarse of ~20 hours of play time with my gaming group. It was everyone's first experience with the Mothership system.

In short, I liked it but their were pain points that would have to be addressed before I ever ran it again. Ideally, I would love for the author Tim Obermueller to do an expanded rewrite.

The Premise

"University colonists awaken from cryosleep aboard the CS Alexandria thousands of parsecs off target, fuelless, with no prospect of rescue."

Of course things are in fact even worse than they first appear. The ships androids are missing, the crew and passengers have broken into factions, and the CS Alexandria is unknowingly on an imminent collision coarse with an uncharted planet to name but a few of the challenges to be faced by the newly awakened Player Characters.

My Thoughts

I think the premise is great, and the module is a solid foundation for an exciting adventure. Its lean 8 pages are enough to fit the essentials with very little wasted space. There are necessarily gaps, and unfortunately those gaps aren't really signposted. For example, it would have been nice to know how the different factions would respond to seeing a PC Android walking around after the rest disappeared months ago.

Survive, Save, or Solve is the basic trilemma at the heart of most Mothership adventures are built on and is something of a weakness for 1000 Jumps Too Far. There is often a certain amount of overlap between Survive and Save but as written there is no distinction. Wardens could for example add some sort of landing craft to the Weapons Bay. Similarly, and perhaps most egregiously; there is no real answer to what happened to the androids, leaving a mystery shaped hole at the center of adventure.

Another persistent mystery is what happened in the months after the disastrous jump, and why the crew has broken into factions. Even a list of generic grievances would have been helpful. While stress and despair can account for a lot, colonists are supposed to be a resilient lot.

Crew population is frustratingly vague, although it can be worked out. We're told that the CS Alexandria departed with 400 Passengers and 40 Crew. When the PCs awaken 30 Crew remain with 250 active Passengers and 5% (20) still in Cryo (and likely to die if resuscitated). I bring this up because the first major event is one of the factions going on a recruitment drive. Were also never told what proportion of of the population were androids, assuming crew numbers are representative at 25% (100) then ~30 colonists have already died which is good to know when the PCs are awakened by cannibals!

Some of the challenges also beg the question how the colonists have survived this long. Admittedly that may have more do with my players being surprisingly knowledgeable about survival and theoretical space travel than any failure of adventure design.

The module only has 10 stat blocks and its not like Mothership stats are particularly complicated. One is arguably incomplete, and 3 are for the faction leaders; the only named characters in what is primarily as social adventure. I feel that having even a single representative for the 6 generic stat blocks would have gone a long way to fill out the various factions.

Speaking of stat blocks: I'm 99% sure the module was written for 0e and hastily converted to 1e Mothership. The Voider Patrol's Rivet Gun for example does the 2d10 damage of 0e, rather than 1d5 damage of 1e Mothership. Again, the module only has 10 stat blocks and its not like Mothership stats are particularly complicated, but this may have been the responsibility of the Hull Breach editors.

[abandonedhireling]

DH2: Cell Directives

Intro

The original Dark Heresy experimented with a lot of interesting ideas and mechanics. Not all of them were winners, but Cell Directives introduced in Blood of Martyrs and subsequently appearing in Deamon Hunter, and Book of Judgement is one I think worthy of reconsideration.

Cell Directives were essentially an Elite Advance for the whole party; requiring buy in from all of the Acolytes. Each offering a minor thematic boon not unlike the Patrons of Imperium Maledictum, and access to a list of advances that might otherwise be difficult to acquire.

The relative strength of DH2 Player Characters to Acolytes from DH1, and the flexibility of the Aptitude system, is likely why Cell Directives have never made a reappearance. Still, I think its useful to have a means of fostering particular character development without unintended effects of bonus Aptitudes.

Use in Second Edition Dark Heresy

If the GM feels it appropriate all Player Characters benefit from the Cell Directives and may advance associated Skills and Talents as if possession another Aptitude. Player Character may also receive 1 of the associated Skills and Talents if they already possessed 2 Aptitudes for no experience point cost.

If the Characters circumstances render their Cell Directive irrelevant it should be withdrawn. Hopefully, to be replaced with a new more appropriate Cell Directive.

Creating Cell Directives

Cell Directives have an origin and theme. Obvious but worth remembering.

Cell Directives have approximately 12 Skill advances and Talents total, which are divided roughly evenly. Highest Rank awarded in each Skill and Talent Tier counts toward the total.

Hive Gang (Adapted from DH1: Book of Judgement)

Common Lore (Adeptus Arbites) (Rank 1) Linguistics (Hive Dialect) (Rank 1) Scrutiny (Rank 1) Stealth (Rank 1) Tech-Use (Rank 1) Cold Hearted* (Tier 1) Double Team (Tier 1) Light Sleeper* (Tier 1) Unremarkable* (Tier 1) Constant Vigilance (Tier 2)

Total: 11 * These Talents appear in the Only War Core Rulebook.

[abandonedhireling]

Iron Kingdoms: Full Metal Fantasy Core Rules Review

I’ve recently began playing Warmachine MK4 and while the app is convenient, the collection of lore presented is rather anemic. Fortunately, I discovered my local library possesses a copy of Iron Kingdoms: Full Metal Fantasy Core Rules (IK:FMF) released at the height of “Warmahordes” popularity a decade ago.

The book itself is a solidly constructed 360 page hardback with a generally appealing layout, and plenty of high quality full colour art. My only complaints are that Characters (and their creation) is before any explanation of the games system, and that the reader is presented with the 41 page History of Western Immoren before we get to the 54 page Life In The Iron Kingdoms that actually describes the setting. As I was primarily reading IK:FMF for the lore anyways I can’t complain about that too much.

As for the setting itself, its decent if still a bit rough. That’s not to say the Iron Kingdoms lack depth, but rather it’s clear that when it was written priority was given to developing the aesthetics of the factions for the skirmish game rather than constructing a grounded setting or a thematically resonate role-playing game. For example the fact that the Iron Kingdoms are in the midst of a mostly steam, but also magitek or rather “Mechanika”, powered industrial revolution informs the settings distinct steampunk aesthetic. Unfortunately it soon becomes clear that the writers are not particularly knowledgeable about the industrial revolution, and were I suspect rather more inspired by America’s industrial policy during World War 2 and accompanying mythology. Other aspects of the setting, in particular its treatment of religion, suffer from similar shortcomings and American ethnocentric assumptions.

The system itself uses a 2D6 + Stat resolution system as its core mechanic. Nine stats are divided into three groups that should be familiar to anyone who has played an Odd-like, plus four derived stats such as Initiative. Skills and Abilities (Feats) can also affect rolls and should be familiar to most players. Finally there are Feat Points which can be spent for a variety of bonuses many of which are tied to specific Benefits conferred by the characters Archetype.

Character creation in IK:FMF is oddly similar to GloG. All characters share same advancement track, modified by 4 templates. The first template is Race, there are seven playable options; Human, Dwarf, Gobber (Goblin), Iosan (Spring Elf), Nyss (Winter Elf), Ogrun (Ogre), and Trollkin. A character’s stats are determined by an array for their race as well as height and weight, starting languages, Archetype’s available, and the equivalent of racial traits.

The second template is Archetype, there are 4 archetypes presented in the Core Rules: Gifted (with magic), Intellectual, Mighty, and Skilled. Archetypes confer “Benefits” which function much like Abilities. There is a starting Benefit that all characters of a particular Archetype receive, and many more they can choose as they advance. As mentioned before, many of these Benefits require expending the system’s equivalent to hero points.

The final two templates are Careers; all characters are essentially multi-classed. The Core Rules list 28 careers which can be taken in any combination assuming that the characters meet the prerequisites. The most common prerequisite being that the Gifted Archetype is required for magic using classes. Careers determine which Skills, Abilities, Spells, Connections a character can develop through advancement, and begin with in addition to starting equipment. Gamemasters should be mindful of allowing players access to the Warcaster career as their aptitude for both magic and mechanika, including the settings iconic Warjacks, thrusts them into the role of default protagonist.

Finally there are Adventuring Companies that really should have come first, of which seven options are presented. They are an optional step that define the nature of the party such as Intrepid Investigators or a Spy Ring with guidelines for character classes and a few thematically appropriate perks.

Magic uses an action point system that replenishes each round and most spells seem to be taken directly form Warmachine. As such players who enjoy creative applications of spells will be disappointed unless they are playing with a like minded GM.

Combat in general is essentially just Warmachine. In fact their is a sidebar promoting Warmachine miniatures for use with IK:FMF. Oddly in spite of their remarkable mechanical similarity there isn’t even an appendix for converting characters to Warmachine.

Mechanika is a bit more interesting and calls to mind the excellent Magical Industrial Revolution and the inspiring and eternally unfinished Gramarie System. Simple mechanika enhances mundane objects with the addition of Runeplates and some sort of short lived font of magic such as an Alchemical Capacitor. A product of IK:FMF’s serviceable skill based Alchemy subsystem. Steamjacks unsurprisingly receive the most attention a 25 page chapter dedicated to them, while all other Gear, Mechanika, And Alchemy are contained within 43 pages.

Iron Kingdoms: Full Metal Fantasy has a number of unusual quirks due to the franchise’s unusual history. The Iron Kingdom first appeared as the background setting to the Witchfire Trilogy of modules for 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons. Which led to the creation and development of the Iron Kingdoms as a D&D setting before exploding in popularity with the release of the twin skirmish games Warmachine and Hordes. As such there are many strange echoes of 3.X D&D throughout this rule book and the skirmish game to this day. For example, most Stats are about four higher than they need to be as a holdover from the shift from D20 to 2D6 resolution systems; and should not be confused with Abilities that are essentially Feats from D&D. Similarly each warcaster in the skirmish game has a signature Feat no doubt inspired by the feats of D&D, which inform IK:FMF’s Archetype Benefits and Feat Points.

In the course of this review I have also briefly skimmed material from the other Iron Kingdoms roleplaying games. The previous 3.X era of Iron Kingdoms is clearly straining against the limitations and assumptions of Dungeons and Dragons, and it is interesting to see how the concepts have evolved and developed since. Yet their indelible mark remains.

There is also a third Iron Kingdoms roleplaying game. Iron Kingdoms: Requiem presents an updated version of the setting following the events of Warmachine MK2 and MK3 to The 5th edition D&D audience. It seems to to be well put together and fit comfortably into the 5e mold, and appears relatively successful. If you’re running any sort of 5e Ebberon on game it’s well worth a look.

So where does this leave Iron Kingdoms: Full Metal Fantasy in the end? In may ways it is a curious relic of the OGL explosion of the early 2000’s. For a game so tightly linked with a skirmish game it is remarkably trad in its approach to roleplaying. The game itself appears completely serviceable but fundamentally fails to address why you might want to roleplay in the Iron Kingdoms, in contrast to FFG’s line of Warhammer 40k games released around the same time which focused on aspects of the setting distinct from the war games. I do wonder if the writers efforts might have been better spent developing a Warmachine supplement for narrative campaigns and custom characters. A gap in their product line that remains to this day.

[abandonedhireling]

Santicorn 2024 - Three Magical Backpacks

Moondog requested an Encumbrance Minigame.

Backpack Hero was a huge albeit indirect inspiration to this blog post.

The Quantum Backpack

A Magic Item of abstract encumbrance for bean counting OSR games.

The Quantum Backpack appears as any backpack you might have seen – literally, and it constantly changes when it is not being perceived. Or rather its appearance becomes fixed once perceived.

Items placed within appear normal, however when an item is removed an uncanny afterimage of the object will often persist. These seeming phantoms can likewise be withdrawn occasionally resulting in far greater (or smaller) quantities of objects being produced from the bag than initially stowed. If multiple objects of the same type a placed within the bag they seemingly collapse into a single instance; this properly allows the backpack to hold much larger quantities than appearances would suggest.

In game terms, all quantities of items placed within are converted to Usage Dice, and quantities of items within at bag are 1 for the purposes of calculating encumbrance.

I like the numbers produced by the 3 Down variant but that is simply a matter of taste.

3 Down Usage Die – Adapted from The Black Hack 2e

When an item described has Ud and then a number after its name, it is considered to be a consumable, limited item. The ‘Ud’ stands for Usage Die, the number indicating what size die it is. For example, oil (Ud6) has a Usage Die of 1d6.

When that item is used its Usage Die should be rolled. If the result is 1-3 then the Usage Die is downgraded to the next smallest die in the following chain:

Ud20 > Ud12 > Ud10 > Ud8 > Ud6 > Ud4

When you roll a 1-3 on a d4 - the lowest die in the chain - the item is expended, and the Character has no more of it left.

Variant Properties

1a: When you roll a 1 on a d4 - the lowest die in the chain - the item has already been expended, and the Character grasps only at empty phantoms, or finds an inexplicable IOU note.

1b: When you roll a 1 on a d4 - the lowest die in the chain – not only has the item has already been expended, but all instances of the object previously drawn from the Quantum Backpack vanish as well.

2: Coins and other valuables cannot be not stored within – instead they vanish into thin air. However not all is seemingly lost as the bag produces more of the items already within.

Sack of Shadow Stuff

The product of a simple ritual (as 1st Level spell) performed in an area of Primal Darkness which fills the bag, or similar container, to capacity with raw shadow stuff.

Subsequently, the shadow stuff may be drawn from the bag to conjure any mundane item of equivalent volume /encumbrance.

Objects conjured from shadow stuff have an uncanny appearance, but otherwise the appropriate physical qualities. However if a shadow stuff object is touched by the light of dawn, or physically by any light source such as a burning torch (or otherwise destroyed) it vanishes.

Spellbook as Backpack: or towards Class as Inventory?

Inverting the idea of "inventory as class" philosophy popularised by Knave and seeing what happens.

The characters spells or abilities are ascribed to the slots in their backpack and may be cast at will assuming the slot it empty. Equipment is stowed as normal, however it may also be consumed by the backpack to cast the correspondent spell.

Example: Gab of the Pyromancer Backpack has the following equipment: 3 grenades, knife, bedroll, flint and steel, 2 sunrods, 10 days of trail rations, 50 feet of rope, 10 torches, and a waterskin.

Gab doesn't expect any trouble on this expedition and is carrying their full kit. Alas they stumble across a horde of Zombies and panic casting Fireball; their backpack consuming the knife, grenades, and torches they were carrying. As Gab crafts an improvised torch om a zombie's femur they hope they won't have to cut the rope later.

GLOG Wizard School spell lists are fun and typically contain 12-16 entries which is ideal for most slot based inventory systems. Cairn’s GLOG Magic Hack could easily be converted to a Spellbook as Backpack framework. Its what I'd do but this section is long and convoluted enough.

[abandonedhireling]

Warp Dabbler Talent for Black Crusade

Few heretics have the interest and aptitude to become master sorcerers, but many who tread the path to glory have at least some knowledge of the art. Invoking the powers of the warp in such a way might be a the beginning of their dark path, or may simply be another weapon in the heretic’s arsenal.

Tier: 1 Alignment: Unaligned Prerequisites: Intelligence 35, Forbidden Lore (Daemonology or The Warp), Scholastic Lore (Occult), No Psyker trait.

Effects: Characters with the Warp Dabbler talent may purchase the Psy-rating and Psychic Power Talents as if they have the Psyker trait. When determining their Psychic Strength they count as Unbound. Taking this Talent gives the character 1d5 Corruption Points.

A Warp Dabbler requires a Path to Power (BC:Core pages 207-208) and cannot manifest their sorcery without one of the following; Blasphemous Incantation, Corpus Conversion, Profane Symbols, or Sacrifice. Their maximum Psy-rating is limited to their Corruption Bonus.

Should the character ever acquire the Psyker trait such as by acquiring the Mark of Tzeentch, or temporarily such as by the effects of Spook treat this talent as Psy-rating.

Authors Notes:

Commentary: This is basically how I've handled sorcery for years, now reworked into a talent. The main reason it is a mere Tier 1 Talent is because the character still needs to invest a lot of Experience Points to actually be proficient with the power of the warp: a Psychic Power to do anything of note, Psy-rating for more power and simply so the dabbler doesn't have to always Push to manifest their power, Blasphemous Incantation and/or Corpus Conversion to manifest power with the speed that combat generally requires.

In some ways my talent is more restrictive than rules published in other FFG 40k games. This is for simplicity but also niche protection for existing Pskyer archetypes; although, I am tempted to replace the Idolitrex Magos of Forge Polix's Psyker trait with the Warp Dabbler talent in my own games.

Clarifications: Warp Dabblers start with Psy-rating 0, as such they must Push to manifest powers. This is very dangerous, that is the point. All characters with Warp Dabbler start with knowledge of Profane Symbols. Conversions to other games: I would probably rename this talent to Profane Symbols and allow dabblers to begin with whichever Path to Power is most appropriate for their source of learning.

Dabbling with sorcery would almost certainly be a greater source of corruption for any character not already in the service of the dark gods.

Inspirations: Black Crusade - Core Rulebook Rogue Trader - Edge of the Abyss Dark Heresy - The Radical's Handbook Dark Heresy Second Edition - Enemies Beyond

[abandonedhireling]

Amusements of the Fun-Dead

In my previous post I expounded upon the various ways the undead are divorced from the natural cycles of the living, and alluded to some of the circumstances that lead to their isolated and often agonizing existence. However, while most beyond the grave are unfailingly grim and dower there are what is known as ‘the fun-dead’.

The fun-dead it is said ‘party like there is no tomorrow’ which, with how they experience time, may be an accurate enough statement. It should also be noted that their sense of whimsy is not always appreciated by others, or any less horrifying. The circumstances of their creation are rare: dying, being raised from the dead, overcoming the trauma of the process, as well as the challenges to getting a buzz when ones organs are without animus. Once these challenges are overcome revellers fall into two familiar broad categories; corporeal and incorporeal.

Corporeal fun-dead occupy eternity with endless games of skill, of chance, and of wit are all common but the specifics are highly personal. Physical challenges and tests of endurance offer little satisfaction. Games based on coordination are surprisingly common; “Who would win a ball game with two left feet?” is but one example. Competitions become increasingly bizarre with the number of participants, particularly when the owners retain control of their limbs. Finally and most famously, there is the hunt for souls and sport: The Wild Hunt!

The amusements of the incorporeal fun-dead are familiar to gamers of all kinds. Pranking the living like a horrible goose is a common activity and the cause of seemingly inexplicable poltergeist activity. Possession is often more difficult than the crude manipulation of object and opens up a whole world of activities that are similar to video games: battle royals, fighting tournaments, role-playing games, as well as pursuing niche hobbies such as managing a farm.

The Rotten: Many-Legged Race Grand Champion.

[abandonedhireling]

Holidays are (Mostly) for the Living

With apologies to Vsnce, whose prompt for the 2023 OSR secret santicore is Dead Man's Party!: You're not un-dead, you're fun-dead! What sorts of celebrations and gallivantings are you bitchin' liches getting up to down in the old grave yard?

What is a ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again? A moment of pain, perhaps. Something dead which still seems to be alive. An emotion suspended in time. Like a blurred photograph. Like an insect trapped in amber. A ghost. ― Guillermo del Toro

Haunting opening aside: even when the unquiet dead are more than mere moments frozen in time they are still time capsules of a sort. Animate relics who echo the observance of holy days and repeat the rituals of their mortal existence. Sometimes their practices show surprising continuity with the the PC’s are familiar with, and other times they are as alien as any found on other planes of existence and everything in between.

Seemingly unbound from natural processes including the passage of time the undead are unable to create new holidays. The mechanisms for cultural creation and transmission are so entwined with biological reproduction as to be rendered alien to them; a population of fully formed individuals trapped with each other in an eternal present.

Anniversaries, particularly of one’s death, are observed; ghosts and revenants as deeply personal affairs. Vampires on the other hand will preform grand spectacles of celebration at regular intervals across centuries but these are affectations of tradition are hollow and exist only as long as observance can be compelled by an elder vampire or other patron.

Eaters of the dead such as ghouls have little interest in such practices, their transformation the product of more gradual processes. Initiation ceremonies, however rare, are not unheard of but only of interest to the living. Time and endless hunger eroding such sentiments.

Divorced from the rhythms of biology the undead are still subject to cosmic cycles. The are times when the veil between the living and the dead grows thin: celestial alignments, eclipses, equinoxes, and other such omens harbinger their occurrence. Spirits in particular appeared sensitive to such circumstances. If the duration is short enough, the living will create holidays that are reinforced with the passage of time and the passing of the celebrants.

If minor fluctuations result in spooky days then what of sea changes; is it possible for the undead to experience an negative energy buzz? Refugees from worlds where the dead have risen in mass often describe strange revelry and twisted glee as the dead will hunt down and murder their loved ones simply so that they might sooner join them in on death.

[abandonedhireling]

Planechase Prerelease Promos

When WotC did away with their classic Prerelease promos they should have switched to Planechase cards rather than their forgettable stamped offerings.

Plane cards are an excellent way to show off part of what makes each plane unique both visually and mechanically while safely sequestered in a casual format. No skewing the availability of a single card either.

It wouldn’t even have been the first time Planes were handed out as promos! Having been handed out as part of the original release of both Planechase sets as well as various DCI events.

[abandonedhireling]

Base Skill Bonus

I like the Maximum Ranks, Limited Choices variant skill rules from Unearthed Arcana, but it integrates poorly with multi-classing being both excessively complicated and over-incentivising a first level dip into Rogue.

This is a variant of that system where characters learn a number of skills equal to [Intelligence Bonus] + Base Skill Bonus (minimum of one skill known, regardless of Intelligence penalty) chosen from their class list.

Each time a character’s Base Skill Bonus increases they learn one skill chosen from their class list, or choose one cross-class skill and add it to your class skill list, treating it as a class skill from that point forward.

Each class has a Base Skill Bonus equal to the unmodified number of Skill Points normally allocated by level, divided by 8 per level.

Example: Mark the Monk has an Intelligence of 15 (+2 bonus), they choose Balance and Tumble as their starting Class Skills. At second level their Base Skill Bonus is now 1; Mark’s player decides to add Alchemy to their class skill list (see above). 

[abandonedhireling]

Secret Santicorn - Vaporwave Edition 2022

Eos requested ideas for spell naming conventions and a short (d6?) list of spell-critters with Pokédex style descriptions

A Digression About Naming Conventions

The most iconic naming convention of early D&D was that of [Possessive Noun] [Adjective] [Noun]: Evard's Black Tentacles, Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, Tenser’s Floating Disk, etc.. Alliteration was a bonus.

There were also a number of verb spells such as Fly, Jump, Knock; and noun spells such a Fire Ball, Grease, and Lightning Bolt.

An Unusual Spell Naming Convention: [Verb] [Shape] of [Noun]

Unusual Verbs

Expanding: one or more dimensions of the spell object increase each turn. Concentration is required to maintain the spell.

Contracting: one or more dimensions of the spell object decrease each turn. Concentration is required to maintain the spell.

Rotating: the spell object moves either on an axis or around the spell caster.

Rising: the spell object rises into the air.

Falling: the spell object falls toward the earth, often atop the spells intended target.

Traveling: encompasses most shooting spells as the spell object travels in the direction indicated until they dissipate or are destroyed.

Unusual Spell Shapes

Tetrahedron (D4)

Torus (Doughnut)

Spiral

Cylinder

Unusual Conjured Materials

Dry Ice

Glass

Granite

Scalding Steam

Super-cooled Water

Wax

An example spell: Expanding Circle of Ink

Spell Level: Magic User 1

Range: Touch

By touching a piece of paper the magic user slowly covers what ever is touched with ink that expands outward from the point touched. The circle is actually a very thin cylinder of ink, a fact which may result in unexpected consequences when spread over a large area.

Spell-Critters

Ferret of Forgetfulness

This spell critter normally dines on morsels atop the memory heap. This is beneficial as it allows an individual to clear their mind of clutter. Occasionally they burrow into, or are buried in, a memory heap where they cause damage (as Feeblemind) in an attempt to escape.

Firebug

This insect-like eidolon both seeks warmth but flees fire. It commonly nests at points of friction or decay that are hotter than the ambient temperature. Thermal energy is absorbed by the eggs of the firebug until released upon hatching. Firebugs glow and are often mistaken for sparks. A firebug my be substituted for any inexpensive component of a fire based spell.

Whisper-wisp

This gaseous entity parrots conversation in an attempt to mislead travelers. Is it most active dark places as most travelers are wisely wary of a cerulean blue wisp. A trained Whisper-wisp can be use to send messages as the Sending spell.

Shiny Ornamental

These shiny palm sized orbs congregate around coniferous tree’s when approaching the darkest night of the year. While most commonly silver in appearance they can appear in a variety of colours such as red and green. Predatory to other spells, they can be used as grenades when consuming another spell. If done so, the resulting spell is spherical in shape.

Singing Squirrel

Physically indistinguishable from a regular squirrel a Singing Squirrel may don small clothing items such as a miniature scarf and cap and preform for passers by. Those that witness these performances are blessed (as the spell) until they commit an evil act or a year has passed.

Flying Reindeer

Often mistaken for fawns due to their small size these tiny caribou can Air Walk at will. However do to the number of rocs and other flying predators they rarely make use of this ability.

[another-rpg-sideblog]

Map tutorials by Dyson Logos

[dragongirlcock]

[ilikeit-art]

[abandonedhireling]

Simple Injuries for GLOG

I love Death and Dismemberment tables as much as anyone. However, due to the gretchlings love of Magic Dice, and the gonzo more generally, such injuries are rarely meaningful. Also stopping to consult such tables tends to break my flow and that is simply unforgivable so here I present my alternative.

Simple Injury rules:

Once Player Characters run out of Hit Points they start gaining injuries. For each point of damage suffered they gain 1 Injury. Each Injury occupies 1 Inventory Slot and inflicts a -1 penalty to max Hit Points and Constitution checks. Each Injury requires a day of rest or 1 Magic Dice of magical healing to remove. Characters perish once they suffer a number of Injuries equal or greater than their Constitution.

Optional: Bleed Out

Once a character suffers an Injury they take one point of damage each round until their wounds are bandaged or they receive magical healing.

Optional: Critical Injuries

Rather than messing about with damage multipliers when a Monster scores a Critical Hit on a Player Character that damage bypasses the characters Hit Points and are instead dealt as injuries. Characters may still loss hit points due to the reduced maximum, others might not feel their injuries until the fight is over.

Example:

Greg the Guardsman was hired to patrol the grounds of the Lords Manor and stop any intruders. Greg is a first level Fighter with a respectable 6 HP, which is cold comfort when he is ambushed by the terrifying werebat. Falling victim to the classic claw/claw/bite routine he suffers 11 points of damage before being left for dead! Greg then slowly limps his way to the infirmary, effectively encumbered by his 5 Injuries in addition to his regular gear.

After spending a night recovering 1 of Greg’s 5 injuries is healed, and having received prompt treatment he is not at risk of developing lycanthropy. Having had a good nights rest Greg has recovered all his hit points, a meager 2 of 6 due to his 4 lingering injuries.

[abandonedhireling]

Athasian Gray Ooze

The gray ooze of Athes is a menacing reminder of the devastation caused by defilers. During the cleansing wars gray ooze was one of many dangers created by the unchecked proliferation of sorcery that hastened the end of the Green Age.

A gray ooze is occasionally born of accumulated defiler ash animated by an echo of defilers gluttonous hunger for magic. The ash congeals together and develops a craving for iron and the energies of living creatures particularly those that are psionically or magically gifted.

If it grows to sufficient size (4 Hit Dice) the gray ooze develops the ability to make mental attacks as Mind Crush psionic attack mode usable once every 3 hours in older editions, or as the cantrip Vicious Mockery in 5e.