The Gelatinous Dome!

A D&D Blog

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Beleagured Temple of Air or Attack of the Giant Dandelions!!!

PDF link: https://goo.gl/7TV2Fu

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yesterday’s made in 60 minutes dungeon.

PDF link: https://goo.gl/wyQiBg

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Part of new goal to do 60 minute mini dungeons from scratch on most mornings. Here’s the 1st. Went a little long.

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Robot TBH Class

Starting HP: 14 (straightup)  HP per level/rest: d10  Proficiency: all weapons/no armor except shields  Class damage: d8/d6 unarmed or improvising 

SPECIAL FEATURES 

Mechanical Man - natural armor. Light at 1st level. Medium at 4th level. Heavy at 7th level. Immune to poison, suffocation and disease. Upon a rest, the robot may repair armor or regain HP but not both in a single rest. 

Jiggawatt Jolt - 1/day 2d8 damage on successful INT check. Generally to only one target but open to further targets upon DM’s judgment of pro-ferrous scenarios. 

Mechanical Mind - Robots can learn any language with a successful INT check and 1 minute of exposure. The robot can only try 1x/level/language. 

 LEVELING UP

Roll to see if attributes increase. Roll twice for the ability score of your choice.

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Zombie TBH Class

ZOMBIE TBH CLASS 

As dictated by the needs of my own campaign.

You have been brought back from the dead. Your consciousness slowly dwindles. Your new class is ZOMBIE. You love and hate the same things you did in full life. You also love brains now. This is immutable.

Your new HP is d12+4. Your HD is a d12.  You are the same level you were in life. Your class damage is d10/d8. You can wear any armor and wield any weapon you could in life. You are harmed by spells that help the living. You can only regain HP by eating brains. 1d12+1/brain. Full HP for eating the brain of your own species.

SPECIAL FEATURES

You begin with a d8 Humanity Usage Die. On a 1-2, it drops a die step (d8>d6>d4>0) and you should roll on the Poor Zombie Impulse Control Table. When your Humanity usage die expires, you lose control of your zombie urges and should consider going out in a blaze of feasting glory before being put down by your fellow adventurers, instead of tepidly hemming and hawing over which of your friends to snack on first. Zombies CAN'T apologize. Also at this point, when you reach 0 HP, you’re dead. No, really dead. Forever.

When to roll your Humanity Usage Die: -you kill something -you watch someone eat meat -you touch flesh to flesh with someone else -1st blood is drawn in a 1 hour period -another PC goes Out of Action

When you reach 0 hp, you are Out of Action. Roll on the Zombie Out of Action table.

Poor Zombie Impulse Control Table (roll d6)

1. You feel your hunger rising. Remember something about your humanity. That calms you down.

2. Test your CHA. If you fail you feel compelled to make a testing bite at the nearest living thing (1 attack).

3-4. You must FEAST on the nearest living thing! Test your CHA each round to regain your humanity. Test with Advantage each time you feast on a juicy brain.

5-6. You must FEAST! And you're CONTAGIOUS! Any PC who fails a CON test when bitten by you will return as a zombie WHEN they die. Test your CHA each round to regain your humanity. Test with Advantage each time you feast on a juicy brain.

Zombie Out of Action Table (d6)

1. You are still a live and unharmed. Well... you know what we mean.

2. -1 to STR and DEX.

3-4. You lost a limb! -3 to STR and DEX

5. Hit to the head. -4 to CHA.

6. You are no more.

Leveling Up:

If by some miracle you survive long enough to level up without eating all your friends, roll UNDER your attributes to see if they DECREASE. You are degrading, after all. Roll twice for DEX and CHA.

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Hobbit Lobber : TBH Class

Hobbit Lobber

Hobbit Lobbing is a proud exotic fighting style pioneered in areas where flamboyant warriors live in harmony with hobbits. The hobbit is trained and conditioned to be a wild, flailing killing machine. The lobber is trained for finesse, wielding the hobbit in an elegant dance of death.

Starting HP : 2d6+4 HP Per Level/Resting : d6 Weapons & Armor : Hobbit: Any Melee Weapons and All Armor. Lobber: Only Leather Armor or lower. Attack Damage : 1d8/1d6 Unarmed, Improvised, or Solo

SPECIAL FEATURES

Around the World : The Hobbit Lobber normally tests STR on attacks. Once per level per rest, the Lobber can swing their hobbit around to hit all Close enemies in a single action. Make a DEX check once. Roll damage for each enemy struck.

Halfling Hook : The lobber can use their hobbit like a grappling hook up to a distance of 30 feet. The hobbit can be used to grab enemies as well with a STR check. On a failure, the Lobber must spend an action reeling the hobbit back in.

Two For One : The lobber and hobbit share a single HP pool. When HP reaches zero, only one of the two is Out of Action. The other has 1 HP remaining. Regaining HP revives the other. The Hobbit Lobber only rolls on the Out of Action table at the end of battle if both lobber and hobbit are OofA.

LEVELING UP

Roll to see if attributes increase, roll twice for STR or DEX.

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Time Tourist : TBH Class

Time Tourist

Starting HP : d6+4 HP Per Level/Resting : d6 Weapons & armor : potentially any and all, though historical inaccuracies may cause them to wield or wear it incorrectly.  Class damage: d6/d4 unarmed or improvised

SPECIAL FEATURES

FutureTech : you are familiar with the technology of this world's far future. You've also managed to bring back a disintegration/reintegration ray and force field projector, each with a d6 usage die remaining and which requires a very specific outlet not found in this time period to charge.

Splashing in the Time Stream : Once a day you can change the outcome of an ability test by you or a companion immediately after it's been rolled to a success or failure. Each time you do there is a 1 in 20 chance that the changed outcome affects your own future and you should immediately roll on the Out of Action table. On a Death result, you explode in a meaty paradox.

Anachronist : Your understanding of contemporary customs and culture are suspect at best. Anytime you attempt to use a weapon or armor for the first time in a real situation, make an INT test. On a failure, you turn out to be NOT proficient with it. Watching a time-period native do something first gives you Advantage on this check. Other high-stakes situations may, at the DM’s discretion, call for an INT check when encountered for the first time, such as delicate social traditions or the application of herbs extinct in the future. 

LEVELING UP

Roll to see if attributes increase, roll twice for INT or CON.

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Salarymonk : TBH Class

SALARYMONK

A salarymonk subscribes wholly to the law and order of normal society. His serenity comes from a regular 9-5 job.

Starting HP : d6 + 4 HP Per Level/Resting : 1d6 Weapons & Armor : Sensible weapons, nothing too flashy, like a club maybe? As much armor as possible, adventuring is dangerous. An insurance policy while they're thinking about it. Attack Damage : d6/d4 improvised or unarmed, but a salarymonk would never be so foolish as to "improvise" with his future.

SPECIAL FEATURES

The Open Palm of the Free Market - a salarymonk may make an INT test to determine how best to profit from a sale, investment or trade of a magic item, monster leftovers or other adventuring spoils.

Normal working stiff - in any battle, as long as the salarymonk abstains from violence or large flashy action, he receives Advantage on tests to be unnoticed by the enemy.

Chaotic Recidivism - An adventurous Salarymonk risks treading in old paths. Any time he rolls a result on the OofA table, he substitutes the stats listed in the OofA table for WIS and INT. If his WIS or INT drop below 11, the Salarymonk's shirt bursts into flame (destroying any armor) and triggers a sudden rocking training montage. At the end of the Moment, the character has become a Chaos Monk again.

LEVELING UP

Roll to see if attributes increase, roll twice for WIS or INT.

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Revenant : TBH Class

HOW TO QUALIFY : A character who dies savagely at the hand of some great monster or villain that makes its escape may qualify to return to play as a Revenant. At the end of battle, the player makes their OofA dice roll by tossing the dice approximately 1′ above their head into the air. If the die bounces off the table and lands on the floor with a result of Death, the character may return as a REVENANT, powered by unholy vengeance. If the DM deems there to be any funny business occurring with this die roll or the player to be attempting to affect straight chance to get the die rolling off the table, he or she must yell “HANKY PANKY!” before the die finishes its roll, upon which if the result is anything other than death, the OofA effects are doubled in severity. A hanky-panky-ed Death result is a re-roll.

REVENANT

Starting HP : as in life +4 HP per level/Resting : as in life Weapons and armor : as in life Attack damage : d10/d6 improvised or unarmed

SPECIAL FEATURES

Fueled by Vengeance - the Revenant has a special usage die called the Revenge die, that sustains him. Revenants begin with a d8. When he reaches 0 hp he is OofA. At the end of battle, roll the Revenge die. If the revenant has not expended his revenge die, his soul moves to another Nearby corpse, reanimating it. His stats remain unchanged. If there is no corpse Nearby to inhabit, the revenant reinhabits the same body, rolls on the OofA table (ignoring a death result), and automatically drops 1 Revenge die. When the Revenge dice are expended, the Revenant's anger no longer fuels him. He dies for good. 

Oath of the Revenant - the Revenant has Advantage against his sworn enemy and to all tests DIRECTLY related to getting his revenge. He must roll his Revenge die each day not spent in pursuit of his query. Additionally, the Revenant is unable to level up until he has completed his ultimate goal of revenge.

Undead - the Revenant has all the qualities of the undead. Immunities to poison and disease. Can be turned by a cleric. Cannot enter holy places. 

LEVELING UP

On leveling up, the Revenant's goal is complete and his soul is released into the Afterlife.

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Chaos Monk : TBH Class

CHAOS MONK

Class creation is so easy in Black Hack, I love it. A few weeks ago, I converted Chris Kutalik's chaos monk to Black Hack (and took a few liberties).From: http://hillcantons.blogspot.com/2013/01/new-ll-class-chaos-monk.html?m=1

Requirement : To be a chaos monk, a character must have an INT OR WIS score less than 11. Starting HP : d5 + 4 HP Per Level/Resting : 1d5 Weapons & Armor : Bo and jo staff, nunchucks, mancatchers, Bowie knives, throwing stars, butterfly knives, and clubs. Shirts are discouraged. Attack Damage : d6/d4 improvised or unarmed.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Martial Arts? - The Chaos Monk may attempt a Kung Fu kick as his action. The attack means a +4 to hit and to dmg. Failure to roll under the Chaos Monk's STR score on the attack means the monk falls on the ground and shatters his precious confidence.

"Six-Pack" - Once per day, the Chaos Monk can flex his abs to cast Confusion on 2 x level Nearby enemies and himself.

Believe in Yourself - The Chaos Monk has a number of armor points equal to his level. Lost points are regained after a short rest.

LEVELING UP

Roll to see if attributes increase, roll twice for STR or DEX. If both the Chaos Monk's WIS and INT exceed 10, he comes to his senses and must trade in his nunchucks for a sensible class.

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Gelman : TBH Class

In my run of the Gelatinous Dome!, the players managed to befriend a really put-out gelman bruiser. Because TBH class creation is so easy, I decided to whip up a monster-style class for the gelman. Sure enough we had an extra player the next session that took on the role of Blorp, the gelman.

GELMAN Class

Starting HP: d10+4 HP per Level/Resting: d10 Weapons & Armor: Cannot wield weapons or armor. Attack Damage: d*+paralysis *increases as monster HD

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Paralysis touch - anytime the gelman contacts any living creature, the gelman tests CON. On a success, the creature is paralyzed.

Gelatinous-ness - Advantage on DEX tests to sneaking when inventory is empty. Immune to disease. Extremely malleable. Half damage from falls or crushing. Slowly absorbs any organic matter it comes into contact with (rope, wood, flesh, food, etc) dealing d* damage to it each moment.

LEVELING UP

Roll to see if attributes increase, roll twice for CON. Consult TBH Monster Damage table for updated attack damage die.

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Updated Psionics rules for use with The Black Hack! Now in PDF format!

Try ‘em out. Let me know!

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Mentalist: TBH Class

MENTALIST

A mentalist uses incredible perceptive abilities to defeat her foes. Before the first swing, the mentalist has deduced exploitable weakness from her opponent’s stance, gait, grip, posture, breathing and even speech pattern, utilizing them all to both land and avoid blows effectively.

Starting HP : d6 + 4 HP Per Level/Resting : 1d6 Weapons & Armor : Any weapon, no armor Attack Damage : d6 for weapon, improvised and unarmed damage; the weapon of the mind is keener than any weapon in the hand.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Combat of the Mind - the Mentalist tests their WIS score for all attack and defense with the following exception: if a mentalist is surprised they must rely on their STR or DEX as any other class for the duration of the surprise round.

Razor Focus - at the start of her turn the Mentalist may declare 1 nearby enemy as her ‘target’, change to a different target or discontinue focusing on a target. She may only have 1 target at a time.

All attacks, defense and damage tests the Mentalist makes against her target have Advantage. Any tests made during this time that don’t involve the target are made at Disadvantage.

Master Planner - if the Mentalist has at least 10 minutes to make a plan with her party, she and each member of her party has Advantage on their first test when executing that plan.

LEVELING UP

Roll to see if attributes increase, roll twice for WIS or INT.

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What’s in the Armoire of Holding?

d6 POSSIBILITIES for the Gelatinous Dome

In the center of a vast empty space, a shoebox of holding, with air holes poked in it. Inside: a stir-crazy dire wallaby.

A vast sea of coats. For a gold piece, a one-eared boatman will ferry you across to an island, where a seamstress will sew one pair of fitted pajamas of protection in exchange for a kiss.

A small makeshift town populated by clones of the sorcerer, Trigonon. All are intensely agoraphobic and prefer the tightly enclosed space to the wide-open world.

A museum of bizarre collectibles: jars of fingernail clippings, bins of cut hair, a small mountain of earwax. Enough material to resurrect the sorcerer with, should one so desire.

A bogeyman that tormented the sorcerer as a child. Now captured. Ignites under anything brighter than a candle.

A teaspoon of black hole. From a set of teaspoons collected by the Abyssal Grandmother. She’d reward someone handsomely for returning it. Impossibly heavy and with its own dangerous gravitational pull, countered by its placement in a protective circle.

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Psimple Psionics: TBH Edition

I created a psionics system to implement in my campaign. For psionics, I want a simple system that makes psychic abilities feel cool but also dangerous and unpredictable. Like maybe you want a psychic in your party, and maybe you don’t. So I made a system and tailored it to the Black Hack. This is in beta, so if anyone tries it out, I’d love feedback!

PSIMPLE PSIONICS 

At character creation, characters with a +13 INT OR +15 WIS OR +15 CHA have a 1 in 30 (cumulative) chance of being Psychic. If successful, the character still picks a class as normal. Being psychic is not their class but an additional ability.

At the beginning of each new adventure roll randomly for 2+(lvl/3) abilities from the list, but do NOT reroll duplicates. Psychic characters can use their psychic abilities a number of times per day equal to their level divided by 3 (rounded up). The Psychic may use their abilities additional times beyond that at a cost of 1d6 hp.

# / Ability 1 / Mind Blast 2 / Telepathy 3 / Telekinesis 4 / Pyrokinesis 5 / Healing Touch 6 / Mind Control

ABILITIES:

1. Mind Blast- The character tests their INT to mind blast 1 sentient target in sight (remembering the tough opponent rule). If successful, the result on the die is compared to the Mind Blast chart. The DM may grant Advantage or Disadvantage based on target's intelligence.

2. Telepathy- Read and communicate with mind nearby for 1 moment. Test INT if target does not wish to be read. 3. Telekinesis- Move an object with the mind. INT test for larger objects, +2 per times size greater than human. Disadvantage on roll if fine manipulation is required. 4. Pyrokinesis- Control (but not create) fire. Anything larger than a torch requires an INT test. Anything larger than a campfire is tested at Disadvantage. 5. Healing touch- Heal up to 2d6 HP on others. INT check for additional 1d6 HP, if desired. 6. Mind Control- Test INT to give a target 1 command.

Psychic Death & Dismemberment Table: 

(because psychic powers are often a liability) When a psychic character reaches 0 HP, instead of following the Out of Action rules, immediately roll 1d12 + HP loss exceeding 0 on the following table.

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Luchador: TBH Class

LUCHADOR

Starting HP: d10+4 HP per Level/Resting: d10 Weapons & Armor: punches, slaps, kicks, clotheslines, suplexes, stomps, knees to the face, body slams, chairs, belts, etc. Attack Damage: d8/d6 for non wrestling weapons.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Ultimate wrestler - a luchador can STR check on his action to grapple any creature up to 3 HD higher than his level. After this, the luchador may perform cool wrestling moves on the opponent to deal damage, gaining advantage on attack and damage roles until the opponent spends its attack to force the luchador to make another STR check. Additionally, when the luchador has an opponent grappled, he can use his turn to tag team with his allies, granting them advantage to their attacks and damage on that same opponent.

Signature move - when grappled, the luchador can test CHA to deal double damage to his opponent. On a failure, the grapple is broken and the luchador is stunned for his next turn.

Sacred mask - the luchador wears a holy mask that grants him his great powers. If it is removed in the sight of others, the luchador is disgraced and fights with Disadvantage and at the lower attack die. He must create a new mask and take it to a holy place where he must wrestle a holy man into submission for a blessing. If he succeeds, he regains all his luchador abilities.

LEVELING UP

Roll to see if attributes increase, roll twice for STR and CHA.

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d6 Gelatinous Dome Hooks

Need a way to hook your players in so you can run Prisoners of the Gelatinous Dome? I've got your bait:

Congratulations, you've just been accepted into the fierce Weeaeetyuunow tribe of carnivorous chinchillamen (it was better than the alternative). As new members of the tribe, you've been commanded to investigate a mysterious creature moving through the jungle and eating all the trees and animals it touches. The alternative is "the alternative".

A small kingdom beset by vampires arranged to negotiate a deal with them at a neutral location (Trigonon's tower). Your band of weirdos has been blackmailed into negotiating on their behalf.

The citizens of Helplessburg lie in the Dome's path. They can only pay you in their chief export: hundreds of wooden gnome figurines.

It's been said that the Science Sorcerer, Trigonon, knows the secret of stopping hair loss, keeping buttocks firm, and turning lead to gold, and you want to tell me you're not interested in one of those things?

Trigonon borrowed against his research from the local Bullywug Mafia. They've offered you a cut off the top of the recoverable money to "send him a message."

There's a virulent creeping vine sweeping the countryside and claiming the earth back for plant-kind. The Dome's absorbing qualities may be your only refuge to wait out Florapocalypse.