Tuesday, 19 December 2017
Encumbrance Chart: worth the trouble?
This was made on a whim, while I was thinking about procedural dungeons and tactical fights. I don't know if it's worth getting into so much detail, but I've always liked the idea that knowing what your character is holding right now is a good source of tension in games. It's for Macchiato Monsters but you can use it with any game really - just ignore the risk dice for bags. 
A Ghost Sword
Kept in a dagger sheath, the Phantom Blade is the stump of a broken sword. Only a maimed swordsperson can wake the memory of its former wholeness. In the hand of such a fighter, this unwieldy knife becomes a +1 longsword for all purposes. Its ghostly steel only appears for a fraction of a second to slash or pierce.
Once per fight, the wielder can get advantage to initiative, attack, or parry (ie confer disadvantage to the attacker.)
Special Coins in Treasure Hoards
As much as the decimal system makes things easy, currency of the olden times was diverse and ancient and weird. I think it's sad to imagine nondescript discs of metal in each and every treasure chest or bandit's satchel.
I don't advise you should use farthings and livres tournois and weighing scales (at least not all the time), but it might be interesting to have some goodies hidden in treasure chests. So here’s what I'm going to do, with the help of +guillaume jentey +Gherhartd Sildoenfein and +Cathia Remond.
There is 1% chance per 100 GP value that some coins found in a treasure hoard are of special interest.
Special coins (d20)
1. Half of the hoard is fake (fool's gold or silver plated lead).
2. d100 coins are cursed. They can only be parted with in exchange for nothing.
3. One coin is fake and hollow. It contains a tiny scroll with a message.
4. A portion of the hoard is from an unknown or lost civilisation. A lead to an adventure site?
5. d6 coins are ancient and worth 100 times their value to a collector.
6. One coin is blessed by the saints of commerce (get advantage on a negotiation or trade related roll, once a day).
7. d3 coins are magical (function as scrolls, roll randomly).
8. Cheater’s coin with heads on both sides (of different rulers).
9. Anti missile talisman coin. It catches a missile attack, that destroys your purse and/or backpack along with its contents.
10. One lucky coin: reroll any die. The coin disappears along with d6 tenths of your overall fortune.
11. Half of the hoard is marked by a criminal organisation (spend it at your own risk).
12. The whole hoard is cursed by the weight of greed (counts as double encumbrance).
13. d100 of the coins are minted with a player character’s face.
14. Half of the coins are from an enemy kingdom. Careful where you spend them!
15. The most precious coins come from the underworld. They are worth three times as much as long as they stay away from direct sunlight.
16. d100 coins are rare, known, and stolen.
17. All silver coins are Moon Money. Their weight and value double at night.
18. One of the coins is cursed : This shinning coin becomes the owner’s most valued belonging, he/she will cherish it more than his/her own life.
19. 2d10 untarnished, sparkling coins, all linked together by magic. While one of them is still on your person, they appear back in your pocket on the next dawn (leaving the purse of whoever got them).
20. d4 jingling coins: they make stealth almost impossible while mixed with other coins.
I don't advise you should use farthings and livres tournois and weighing scales (at least not all the time), but it might be interesting to have some goodies hidden in treasure chests. So here’s what I'm going to do, with the help of +guillaume jentey +Gherhartd Sildoenfein and +Cathia Remond.
There is 1% chance per 100 GP value that some coins found in a treasure hoard are of special interest.
1. Half of the hoard is fake (fool's gold or silver plated lead).
2. d100 coins are cursed. They can only be parted with in exchange for nothing.
3. One coin is fake and hollow. It contains a tiny scroll with a message.
4. A portion of the hoard is from an unknown or lost civilisation. A lead to an adventure site?
5. d6 coins are ancient and worth 100 times their value to a collector.
6. One coin is blessed by the saints of commerce (get advantage on a negotiation or trade related roll, once a day).
7. d3 coins are magical (function as scrolls, roll randomly).
8. Cheater’s coin with heads on both sides (of different rulers).
9. Anti missile talisman coin. It catches a missile attack, that destroys your purse and/or backpack along with its contents.
10. One lucky coin: reroll any die. The coin disappears along with d6 tenths of your overall fortune.
11. Half of the hoard is marked by a criminal organisation (spend it at your own risk).
12. The whole hoard is cursed by the weight of greed (counts as double encumbrance).
13. d100 of the coins are minted with a player character’s face.
14. Half of the coins are from an enemy kingdom. Careful where you spend them!
15. The most precious coins come from the underworld. They are worth three times as much as long as they stay away from direct sunlight.
16. d100 coins are rare, known, and stolen.
17. All silver coins are Moon Money. Their weight and value double at night.
18. One of the coins is cursed : This shinning coin becomes the owner’s most valued belonging, he/she will cherish it more than his/her own life.
19. 2d10 untarnished, sparkling coins, all linked together by magic. While one of them is still on your person, they appear back in your pocket on the next dawn (leaving the purse of whoever got them).
20. d4 jingling coins: they make stealth almost impossible while mixed with other coins.
A plea for a new acronym
It's not like I thought long and hard about the problem - this just popped into my sleep deprived brain this morning and I had to make a bad mockup.
This doesn't have to be a revolution or a renaissance or a revival. It can just be a loose definition for a type of gameplay we try to improve on. We play adventures, not scenarios or stories, and we do it following old school principles inherited from the ancestors.
I think it makes sense. Do you?
A big fat dump from another failed web thing
I kept this minimalist webjournalblogyoke for a while. Didn't stick to it, so since I'm more or less collating all my old school gaming stuff here, here's a huge text dump. It'll look like shit but I don't care.
Also, various thoughts and experiments in procedural worldbuilding. Some of it will come from things I post on Google+.
e_eric
Engine: Rolls are 2d6+Stat vs target number: 6 to 10 as determined by the DM. (Hipsters like me can also use the *World 6-/7-9/10+ framework) Roll STR or DEX to hit, INT or WIS for spells, CHA for reaction, WIS to notice, CON to resist poison, etc.
Fighters get an extra hit die at level 1, 3, 5, etc. Heavy weapons and armour.
Magic-users can cast INT first level spells. At level 3 they get INT-1 second level spells, at level 5 INT-2 third-level spells, and so on. Puny weapons, no armour.
Clerics can turn undead with CHA. At level 2, they cast WIS first-level spells. At level 4 they get WIS-1 second-level spells, at level 6 WIS-2 third-level spells, and so on. Light weapons, medium armour.
Elves cast magic-user spells as if they were one level lower, and have super senses (INT to detect things). Medium weapons and armour.
Dwarves are fighters with +2 to resist alcohol, poison and magic. Medium armour and weapons.
Weapons: puny 1, light 1d6, medium 1d6+1, heavy (two-handed) 2d6. Armour: light +1, medium +2, heavy +3, shield +1. No DEX bonus to AC with medium or heavy armour. Spell lists adapted from B/X D&D. Every 10xp, gain a level and add +1 to one stat.
You play as agents and assets of the underdark zaibatsu Mindless, Inc. The Neo-Doyju sprawl extends to the horizon, but you know that beyond are the elemental wastes of what was the once a proud empire. As natives of Kozakura, it is your duty to restore the island to its former glory, bringing riches and honor to your masters, the Corporate Clan.
As Mindless operatives, you have vast resources at you fingertips. Call on hobgoblin strike squads to raid the korobokuru yakuza, order psyberware enhancements for yourself, get a spin empath to neutralise whistleblowers. They all come at a cost though, and your most ruthless enemies aren't outside the corporation. The open plan of Head Office is sometimes more treacherous than the Warlord Blocks of the Neon Province. Your next meeting might well be your last.
Features:
This one is based off Stacy Dellorfano's protocols, which I expanded to generate room contents in the same roll. Google doc
Print out, drop a set of dice, create a slice of world for people to explore. Several versions of the file in this GDrive folder. If these aren't enough, you can get Jens Larsen's Excell sheet to generate even more content.
I made this procedure today. The idea is to generate random rooms with or without monsters, their purpose, and some special events with only a deck of cards and 2d6. Here is a link to the PDF.
Roll d6 when returning from an expedition, wondering if the stuff you stashed is still there.
With the planar anomalies getting more spotlight, I've decided most 'normal' monsters would come with a planar twist.
Drop 1d20 and 1d6 on the dungeon map.
Primary location where the d20 landed, secondary where the d6 landed. If d20=d6, there is a portal between both locations.
Duration is d6xd20 days if d20<d6, otherwise it's d6+d20 hours.
Read the type of event on the d6 (1 monster, 2 inhabitant, 3 weather/athmospheric, 4 psionic, 5 mutations, 6 portal).
Read the plane of origin on the d20 (1 Air, 2 Water, 3 Earth, 4 Fire, 5 Magma, 6 Smoke, 7 Ice, 8 Ooze, 9 Radiance, 10 Steam, 11 Lightning, 12 Mineral, 13 Void, 14 Ash, 15 Dust, 16 Salt, 17 Positive, 18 Negative, 19 Ether, 20 Time).
Elements
When I have an idea for a game, it's often a mechanic or a specific format I'd like to use. Even if this suggests a theme or genre, the game world is very secondary. If the idea seems worth developing further, I just stick a bunch of clichés together and build from there. I think that's why most of what I've been designing these last few years revolves around dungeonverse fantasy. These settings come to me naturally and I don't have to stop in the middle of a rules-y thought to ponder about the world.
But I'm wondering how much of my final products is shaped by this. Should I spend more time coming up with an interesting angle or an original setting before grappling with the mechanics, for fear of always designing similar games? Or am I just going through a phase of building the perfect dungeon delver?
What's your own process? Do you easily hop from one aspect of the design to the other, or do you start with one of them?
Another quick table to help kick things into gear at the beginning of a session. My current campaign has a lot of characters and I sometimes need to explain why groups are never the same.
For The Lost City I am going to need a way to generate an interesting journey through a network of caves. Having a single tunnel going from the base of the pyramid to underground Cynidicea is super boring.
What I'm thinking at the moment is something along the lines of the desert map creation procedure I posted a while ago. Except the map will be a vertical side view.
Roll a bunch of varied dice (d4 to d12) on a sheet of paper, and write down the numbers. The lower the dice, the more mundane the area you're mapping.
Probable plug-in: a quick 3d20 table to dress up and populate areas.
When thirst and hunger are becoming an issue for your expedition, roll a STR save at the end of every day without food and/or water. If you pass, lose 1 STR. If you fail, roll 2d6:
STRENGTH (from physical attacks) 1: Gushing wound. Lose a further 1d6 STR every turn until patched up. 2: Maimed. Roll 1d6 and lose 1: Head, 2: Hand, 3: Arm, 4: Leg, 5: Ear, 6: Eye. 3: Spinal Tear. Any STR loss from this attack is permanent. 4: Whatever caused the harm is lodged inside you. It causes another 1d6 STR loss if it's not pulled out carefully. 5: Punctured Lung. You wheeze loudly forever. 6: Brain Hit Bad. Lose 1d6 WIL permanently. 7: Concussion. You act like a dope for the rest of the day. 8: Ruined Arm. You cannot use a random arm for anything. If you lose your good arm, attacks with your off-hand are Impaired until you get used to it in d20 Months. 9: Broken jaw. You can't talk properly until it heals. 10: Crushed ribs. If you take further STR loss before your next Full Rest, you take an additional 1d6 damage. 11: Choked. You can't breath without assistance, and will die in 1d6 turns unless somebody helps you. 12: Flesh Wound. It's not all that bad. Wicked scar too.
STRENGTH (from other sources) 1: You throw up a lot. 2: You have the shivers at the slightest cold. 3: Foaming mouth. 4: Lose clumps of hair. 5: Your complexion goes all gross and yellow. 6: Bad reaction! The STR loss is permanent! 7: You become so sickly that you can never regain lost STR. 8: One eye dies. 9: Half of your face falls immobile. 10: Hair turns grey/white/to-dust. 11: Impotent. 12: You shake it off! ARGH!! RARRR! I'M HARDCORE.
DEXTERITY 1: You've got the shakes forever. Lose 1d6 DEX to a minimum of 1. 2: You'll never dance again. 3: You can't stand up quickly anymore. 4: Spasms whenever least convenient, unless you pass a WIL Save. 5: Cannot walk at all without a stick. 6: Hobble for the rest of your life. 7: Comatose. Attempt a WIL Save after d20 days to restore movement. 8: Balance is shot. Require DEX Saves for things that aren't even difficult ordinarily. 9: You can't turn your neck anymore. 10: One eye permanently closed. 11: Slack tongue. You sound like an idiot. 12: You drool if you're not careful.
WILLPOWER 1: Stammer. 2: You need a drink to steady your nerves, otherwise you have the shakes. 3: You have a phobia of whatever did this to you. WIL Save to confront it again. 4: Surge of idiotic heroism. You can only act if it's suitably stupid and heroic, until you get a short rest. 5: You become an incredibly picky eater. WIL Save to avoid vomiting any meal. 6: Insomnia. You only benefit from Full Rests if you pass a WIL save and get some sleep. 7: Sensitivity. Sudden, loud noises cause you to lose 1d6 WIL. 8: Delusion. From now on the Referee rolls all your dice and keeps track of your scores, damage etc. in secret. 9: Obsession. You cannot benefit from Long Rests until you confront whatever did this to you and get revenge. 10: Anxiety. You cannot benefit from rests until you're somewhere completely, 100% safe, and not even slightly dangerous. 11: Trigger Happy. Whenever there's a surprise, and you're armed, you must pass a WIL Save to avoid attacking the surprising thing. 12: Hallucinations, only when you're alone, and you can only find out if they're real by touching them.
slash dungeon
I'll use this space as an quick to update, easily accessed platform for game-related ideas. Specifically, my work on White Books (an epic dungeon crawling story game powered by the Apocalypse and pocketmods), Odd Dungeons (a D&D hack for Into the Odd), and Macchiato Monsters, the mutated mongrel I created by inseminating The Black Hack with some Whitehack DNA.Also, various thoughts and experiments in procedural worldbuilding. Some of it will come from things I post on Google+.
e_eric
Sketchy D&D
Your hero: Assign 3 points to STRength, DEXterity, CONstitution, WISdom, INTelligence and CHArisma (maximum 2), then choose a class below.Engine: Rolls are 2d6+Stat vs target number: 6 to 10 as determined by the DM. (Hipsters like me can also use the *World 6-/7-9/10+ framework) Roll STR or DEX to hit, INT or WIS for spells, CHA for reaction, WIS to notice, CON to resist poison, etc.
- In combat, you can attack STR times.
- Roll CON d6 for your hit points. 0 CON gives you 1hp.
- Your Armour Class is equal to 6+DEX+armour.
- If you can pay them, you can hire up to CHA followers.
Fighters get an extra hit die at level 1, 3, 5, etc. Heavy weapons and armour.
Magic-users can cast INT first level spells. At level 3 they get INT-1 second level spells, at level 5 INT-2 third-level spells, and so on. Puny weapons, no armour.
Clerics can turn undead with CHA. At level 2, they cast WIS first-level spells. At level 4 they get WIS-1 second-level spells, at level 6 WIS-2 third-level spells, and so on. Light weapons, medium armour.
Elves cast magic-user spells as if they were one level lower, and have super senses (INT to detect things). Medium weapons and armour.
Dwarves are fighters with +2 to resist alcohol, poison and magic. Medium armour and weapons.
Weapons: puny 1, light 1d6, medium 1d6+1, heavy (two-handed) 2d6. Armour: light +1, medium +2, heavy +3, shield +1. No DEX bonus to AC with medium or heavy armour. Spell lists adapted from B/X D&D. Every 10xp, gain a level and add +1 to one stat.
Samurai & Sararīmen
Old school RPG pitchYou play as agents and assets of the underdark zaibatsu Mindless, Inc. The Neo-Doyju sprawl extends to the horizon, but you know that beyond are the elemental wastes of what was the once a proud empire. As natives of Kozakura, it is your duty to restore the island to its former glory, bringing riches and honor to your masters, the Corporate Clan.
As Mindless operatives, you have vast resources at you fingertips. Call on hobgoblin strike squads to raid the korobokuru yakuza, order psyberware enhancements for yourself, get a spin empath to neutralise whistleblowers. They all come at a cost though, and your most ruthless enemies aren't outside the corporation. The open plan of Head Office is sometimes more treacherous than the Warlord Blocks of the Neon Province. Your next meeting might well be your last.
Features:
- races including Naga-folk, Hengeyokai, and Half-bakemono
- classes like Dronemaster, Office Ninja, and Drill Kensai
- backgrounds and advantages like Board Sensei, Buddy at Payroll, Street Education, or Gangland Connections
- systems for Corporate resources, Giri and betrayal, Zaibatsu rank, and Operative experience
- Random tables to generate missions, in-house politics, dangerous city blocks, troublesome subsidiaries...
- New corporate spells!
- Over 100 Psyberware items!
(d6 x d8) dungeon generator
Procedural worldbuilding postThis one is based off Stacy Dellorfano's protocols, which I expanded to generate room contents in the same roll. Google doc
One-sheet, one-step die-drop sandbox
Procedural worldbuilding postPrint out, drop a set of dice, create a slice of world for people to explore. Several versions of the file in this GDrive folder. If these aren't enough, you can get Jens Larsen's Excell sheet to generate even more content.
Random dungeons with a deck of cards
Procedural worldbuilding postI made this procedure today. The idea is to generate random rooms with or without monsters, their purpose, and some special events with only a deck of cards and 2d6. Here is a link to the PDF.
Is my stash still there?
Generic table postRoll d6 when returning from an expedition, wondering if the stuff you stashed is still there.
- Yes, all of it. Lucky bastard.
- Yes, with something extra (and valuable, and misplaced by someone angry and powerful).
- Some of it is missing, but there's a clue to who took it.
- No, there's an envelope with your name on it.
- No, and it's booby trapped.
- No. Something slimy and blue and shivering digged inside your hiding place and ate your stuff. It's sleeping now.
Monster mutations
Odd Dungeons post WIPWith the planar anomalies getting more spotlight, I've decided most 'normal' monsters would come with a planar twist.
- Air: 1 fly, 2 weightless, 3 gusts of wind, 4 air sucker
- Water: 1 amphibious, 2 control water, 3 perpetually moist, 4 water breather
- Earth: 1 burrowing, 2 stone form, 3 phases through stone, 4 gem and metal water
- Fire: 1 fire breath, 2 super hot, 3
- Magma: 1 melt stone, 2 lava blood, 3
- Smoke: 1 gaesous form, 2 choking cloud, 3
- Ice:
- Ooze: 1 liquid form, 2 acidic blood, 3 goo spitter,
- Radiance: 1 searing sight, 2 burning skin, 3 blind,
- Steam: scalding breath
- Lightning: 1 shocking grasp, 2 magnetism, 3
- Mineral: 1 cristal skin, 2 metal skin, 3
- Void:
- Ash:
- Dust:
- Salt:
- Positive: regenerates 1d4hp between every action
- Negative: drains 1d4hp when touche
- Ether:
- Time:
Planar events in the dungeon
Odd Dungeons postDrop 1d20 and 1d6 on the dungeon map.
Primary location where the d20 landed, secondary where the d6 landed. If d20=d6, there is a portal between both locations.
Duration is d6xd20 days if d20<d6, otherwise it's d6+d20 hours.
Read the type of event on the d6 (1 monster, 2 inhabitant, 3 weather/athmospheric, 4 psionic, 5 mutations, 6 portal).
Read the plane of origin on the d20 (1 Air, 2 Water, 3 Earth, 4 Fire, 5 Magma, 6 Smoke, 7 Ice, 8 Ooze, 9 Radiance, 10 Steam, 11 Lightning, 12 Mineral, 13 Void, 14 Ash, 15 Dust, 16 Salt, 17 Positive, 18 Negative, 19 Ether, 20 Time).
d20 elements
For an upcoming mutation die drop tableElements
- Air
- Water
- Earth
- Fire
- Magma
- Smoke
- Ice
- Ooze
- Radiance
- Steam
- Lightning
- Mineral
- Void
- Ash
- Dust
- Salt
- Positive
- Negative
- Ether
- Time
World vs Mechanics
Design postWhen I have an idea for a game, it's often a mechanic or a specific format I'd like to use. Even if this suggests a theme or genre, the game world is very secondary. If the idea seems worth developing further, I just stick a bunch of clichés together and build from there. I think that's why most of what I've been designing these last few years revolves around dungeonverse fantasy. These settings come to me naturally and I don't have to stop in the middle of a rules-y thought to ponder about the world.
But I'm wondering how much of my final products is shaped by this. Should I spend more time coming up with an interesting angle or an original setting before grappling with the mechanics, for fear of always designing similar games? Or am I just going through a phase of building the perfect dungeon delver?
What's your own process? Do you easily hop from one aspect of the design to the other, or do you start with one of them?
What broke up last session's group?
Odd Dungeons postAnother quick table to help kick things into gear at the beginning of a session. My current campaign has a lot of characters and I sometimes need to explain why groups are never the same.
- Earthquake
- Ambushed by monsters (roll on random encounter table)
- Companions left with gang or faction
- Followed something or someone
- Ran away from companions (explain why)
- Lured away by monsters (they're still around)
- Companions left you behind (explain why)
- Got lost in the dark/storm
- Companions just disappeared
- Magical or planar event (roll on table)
Procedural Cave Delving
Odd Dungeons postFor The Lost City I am going to need a way to generate an interesting journey through a network of caves. Having a single tunnel going from the base of the pyramid to underground Cynidicea is super boring.
What I'm thinking at the moment is something along the lines of the desert map creation procedure I posted a while ago. Except the map will be a vertical side view.
Roll a bunch of varied dice (d4 to d12) on a sheet of paper, and write down the numbers. The lower the dice, the more mundane the area you're mapping.
- Small cave
- Dead end corridor
- Large cave
- Water (link similar results)
- Vertical shaft/rift
- Cave: underground monster lair (use appropriate encounter table)
- Cave: surface monster lair (use appropriate encounter table)
- Cave: activity (fortifications, abandoned camp, etc.)
- Ancient built passageway
- Forgotten tomb/trap
- Ancient mine
- Planar influence (either its own room or a twist on nearest area)
Probable plug-in: a quick 3d20 table to dress up and populate areas.
Survival without food or water
Odd Dungeons post - backlogWhen thirst and hunger are becoming an issue for your expedition, roll a STR save at the end of every day without food and/or water. If you pass, lose 1 STR. If you fail, roll 2d6:
- Would do anything for a bite or a drop of any liquid
- Desperate: lose 1d4 STR, 1d4 DEX and 1d4 WIL
- Weak: lose 1d4 STR and 1d4 DEX
- Tired: lose another 1d4 STR
- Shakes: lose 1d4 DEX
- Low morale: lose 1 WIL
- Broken: lose 1d4 WIL
- Irritable: WIL save to avoid violent responses
- Winded: lose 1d6 hp whenever exerting yourself
- Hallucinations: WIL save to come to your senses
- Iron resolve keeps you sane. But for how long?
Unfinished stuff and other notes
///Twist this for a survival table
When you suffer Ability Score loss, but survive, roll on the appropriate table for the Ability Score that you lost points in. Common sense determines if they're permanent or temporary. If unsure, it's 50/50.STRENGTH (from physical attacks) 1: Gushing wound. Lose a further 1d6 STR every turn until patched up. 2: Maimed. Roll 1d6 and lose 1: Head, 2: Hand, 3: Arm, 4: Leg, 5: Ear, 6: Eye. 3: Spinal Tear. Any STR loss from this attack is permanent. 4: Whatever caused the harm is lodged inside you. It causes another 1d6 STR loss if it's not pulled out carefully. 5: Punctured Lung. You wheeze loudly forever. 6: Brain Hit Bad. Lose 1d6 WIL permanently. 7: Concussion. You act like a dope for the rest of the day. 8: Ruined Arm. You cannot use a random arm for anything. If you lose your good arm, attacks with your off-hand are Impaired until you get used to it in d20 Months. 9: Broken jaw. You can't talk properly until it heals. 10: Crushed ribs. If you take further STR loss before your next Full Rest, you take an additional 1d6 damage. 11: Choked. You can't breath without assistance, and will die in 1d6 turns unless somebody helps you. 12: Flesh Wound. It's not all that bad. Wicked scar too.
STRENGTH (from other sources) 1: You throw up a lot. 2: You have the shivers at the slightest cold. 3: Foaming mouth. 4: Lose clumps of hair. 5: Your complexion goes all gross and yellow. 6: Bad reaction! The STR loss is permanent! 7: You become so sickly that you can never regain lost STR. 8: One eye dies. 9: Half of your face falls immobile. 10: Hair turns grey/white/to-dust. 11: Impotent. 12: You shake it off! ARGH!! RARRR! I'M HARDCORE.
DEXTERITY 1: You've got the shakes forever. Lose 1d6 DEX to a minimum of 1. 2: You'll never dance again. 3: You can't stand up quickly anymore. 4: Spasms whenever least convenient, unless you pass a WIL Save. 5: Cannot walk at all without a stick. 6: Hobble for the rest of your life. 7: Comatose. Attempt a WIL Save after d20 days to restore movement. 8: Balance is shot. Require DEX Saves for things that aren't even difficult ordinarily. 9: You can't turn your neck anymore. 10: One eye permanently closed. 11: Slack tongue. You sound like an idiot. 12: You drool if you're not careful.
WILLPOWER 1: Stammer. 2: You need a drink to steady your nerves, otherwise you have the shakes. 3: You have a phobia of whatever did this to you. WIL Save to confront it again. 4: Surge of idiotic heroism. You can only act if it's suitably stupid and heroic, until you get a short rest. 5: You become an incredibly picky eater. WIL Save to avoid vomiting any meal. 6: Insomnia. You only benefit from Full Rests if you pass a WIL save and get some sleep. 7: Sensitivity. Sudden, loud noises cause you to lose 1d6 WIL. 8: Delusion. From now on the Referee rolls all your dice and keeps track of your scores, damage etc. in secret. 9: Obsession. You cannot benefit from Long Rests until you confront whatever did this to you and get revenge. 10: Anxiety. You cannot benefit from rests until you're somewhere completely, 100% safe, and not even slightly dangerous. 11: Trigger Happy. Whenever there's a surprise, and you're armed, you must pass a WIL Save to avoid attacking the surprising thing. 12: Hallucinations, only when you're alone, and you can only find out if they're real by touching them.
The Zoomer
Inspired by season 2 of Stranger Things, I made this class for B/X style games. Posting an image because pasting into Blogger from Google docs sucks (as it should), but you can get the PDF of the Zoomer class here.
The Naked Wanderer
Here is a class for B/X compatible games that I made as an exercise when thinking about equipment scarcity and puzzles in dungeons. +James V West said he'd play a Naked Wanderer, so I guess it's not complete nonsense ;)
We all have heard stories of these barely clothed men and women delving into unholy crypts with only a blanket and a crowbar, but somehow avoiding the deadliest traps and salvaging more treasure than anyone else. Some say they are cursed by the Gods of Wealth, richer than royalty, more destitute than beggar folk. Some say they are planewalkers in a permanent quantum state. Other assume they are just incapable of taking care of their stuff - or anyone else's.
Requirements: CON 11. Prime requisite: CON. Attacks and saves as Dwarf (see Robust below). Wields all weapons, shields, and armour.
Level Title WD HD XP
1 Wanderer d3 1d8 0
2 Dungeon Bum d3 2d8 2,000
3 Barefoot Fighter d4 3d8 4,000
4 Exhibitionist d4 4d8 8,000
5 Disrobed Robber d6 5d8 16,000
6 Hobo d6 6d8 32,000
7 Murderhobo d8 7d8 64,000
8 Planar flasher d8 8d8 120,000
9 World Wanderer d10 9d8 240,000
10 Clothed Master d10 10d8 360,000
11 ... d12 10d8+1 480,000
12 ... … 10d8+2 600,000
13 ... … … +120,000
Wanderer’s Skill. You start with a wanderer’s die (WD) of d3.
Robust. Add your WD to all saves against disease, cold, and all weather or endurance related effects.
Tinker. Add/subtract your WD whenever you use an item for another purpose than the one it was intended for. The referee decides how it applies. If the game doesn't use roll under stats, make it a +1 to d6 rolls with an additional +1 at levels 5, 9, and 13.
In combat, add your WD to the damage of any improvised weapon, and to the AC of makeshift armour (roll for every combat after initiative has been rolled).
Intuitive Learner. You have a chance of understanding magic and mundane script equal to 5% per level. This means you can cast spells from scrolls, activate magical items, and possibly disarm harmful runes. The referee decides what happens on a miss.
Clothed Master. Upon reaching level 10, stories of your exploit attract d20+level apprentices, all 1st level Naked Wanderers, who travel with you. They expect you to share food and lodgings, however basic. You can roll their numbers again at every new level.
Bare Necessities. At the start of each session roll your WD; that's the number of items you own - remove the rest from your equipment list. It is lost forever (stolen, broken, quantum disintegrated...). This includes immobile goods and animals, but not followers. Every piece of clothing is an item, meaning that pairs of boots or gloves count as two items. 100 coins, 7 rations, 20 arrows, etc. are considered the same item, but not the container that holds them.
During play, you can only borrow a number of items equal to your level every session. Whenever you use a permanent item above this limit, it is lost (as above) if you fail a saving throw vs Spells. This includes stuff carried by followers, or held for you by fellow adventurers, but not items taken from monsters, or found in a dungeon.
Handing or giving away any of your possession triggers your curse as well: an item is lost in a number of rounds equal to the result of your WD.
At the start of an adventure, you can forgo your equipment WD roll, losing everything you had. And roll on the following table instead. Have the referee replies the entries that come up more than once. Alternatively, they may want to give you something that fits their plans.
d30 (but would be more fun with 100 entries)
1: A piece of string and a vampire tooth
2: A miniature portrait of a lost loved one
3: A quarterstaff, a mail shirt, a crossbow and d6 bolts in a case
4: A tin box of delicious and nutritious cinnamon biscuits (heal 1HP, 10 uses)
5: A chest containing d100 SP, d30 GP, and 3d6 PP
6: A holy symbol, still charged with divine energy. You can turn undead once as a cleric of the same level.
7: d20 horse shoes, d4 of them are silver plated and worth 3 GP each
8: A pound of crimson coffee worth 150 GP. Can be brewed to give d20 temporary HP to 5 people
9: A set of maximilian style, finely adorned platemail
10: A set of excellent traveling clothes, suitable for all weathers, but no boots
11: A freeze raygun (as longbow, but damage is doubled) with enough power for 10 shots
12: A pair of shoes made of dragon hide, worth 300 GP. +2 to save vs Breath
13: A copper lantern that doesn’t need to be refilled
14: A large bag of stone marbles (several hundreds)
15: A crowbar, metal file, skeleton key, and 10 iron spikes
16: A lover letter implicating a popular crowned head
17: A portable hole, filled to the brim with someone’s precious furniture (worth 2,000 GP to the right buyer)
18: A leather canoe (sits five) and two paddles
19: The deed to a contested property, with your name on it
20: A beautifully illustrated book of erotic poetry (200 GP to a collector)
21: A +2 exotic looking sword with a gem studded scabard worth 500 GP
22: Three large sacks containing salt (10 GP), flour (5 CP), and exotic spices (200 GP)
23: A tamed axebeak, packed for a long journey (10 items of your choice, no clothes or weapons)
24: A large basket containin d12 rather smart, but decidedly needy kittens
25: A platinum crown worth 500 GP. Belongs to a nearby noble.
26: The mounted head of a catoblepas. 50% chance of attempting to petrify anyone looking at it.
27: A random potion and a random scroll
28: A spellbook containing 2d4 spells of random levels
29: A complete pack of adventuring gear (choose 20 items from the normal list)
30: A permanent magical item, randomly generated
We all have heard stories of these barely clothed men and women delving into unholy crypts with only a blanket and a crowbar, but somehow avoiding the deadliest traps and salvaging more treasure than anyone else. Some say they are cursed by the Gods of Wealth, richer than royalty, more destitute than beggar folk. Some say they are planewalkers in a permanent quantum state. Other assume they are just incapable of taking care of their stuff - or anyone else's.
Requirements: CON 11. Prime requisite: CON. Attacks and saves as Dwarf (see Robust below). Wields all weapons, shields, and armour.
Level Title WD HD XP
1 Wanderer d3 1d8 0
2 Dungeon Bum d3 2d8 2,000
3 Barefoot Fighter d4 3d8 4,000
4 Exhibitionist d4 4d8 8,000
5 Disrobed Robber d6 5d8 16,000
6 Hobo d6 6d8 32,000
7 Murderhobo d8 7d8 64,000
8 Planar flasher d8 8d8 120,000
9 World Wanderer d10 9d8 240,000
10 Clothed Master d10 10d8 360,000
11 ... d12 10d8+1 480,000
12 ... … 10d8+2 600,000
13 ... … … +120,000
Wanderer’s Skill. You start with a wanderer’s die (WD) of d3.
Tinker. Add/subtract your WD whenever you use an item for another purpose than the one it was intended for. The referee decides how it applies. If the game doesn't use roll under stats, make it a +1 to d6 rolls with an additional +1 at levels 5, 9, and 13.
In combat, add your WD to the damage of any improvised weapon, and to the AC of makeshift armour (roll for every combat after initiative has been rolled).
Intuitive Learner. You have a chance of understanding magic and mundane script equal to 5% per level. This means you can cast spells from scrolls, activate magical items, and possibly disarm harmful runes. The referee decides what happens on a miss.
Clothed Master. Upon reaching level 10, stories of your exploit attract d20+level apprentices, all 1st level Naked Wanderers, who travel with you. They expect you to share food and lodgings, however basic. You can roll their numbers again at every new level.
Bare Necessities. At the start of each session roll your WD; that's the number of items you own - remove the rest from your equipment list. It is lost forever (stolen, broken, quantum disintegrated...). This includes immobile goods and animals, but not followers. Every piece of clothing is an item, meaning that pairs of boots or gloves count as two items. 100 coins, 7 rations, 20 arrows, etc. are considered the same item, but not the container that holds them.
During play, you can only borrow a number of items equal to your level every session. Whenever you use a permanent item above this limit, it is lost (as above) if you fail a saving throw vs Spells. This includes stuff carried by followers, or held for you by fellow adventurers, but not items taken from monsters, or found in a dungeon.
Handing or giving away any of your possession triggers your curse as well: an item is lost in a number of rounds equal to the result of your WD.
At the start of an adventure, you can forgo your equipment WD roll, losing everything you had. And roll on the following table instead. Have the referee replies the entries that come up more than once. Alternatively, they may want to give you something that fits their plans.
d30 (but would be more fun with 100 entries)
1: A piece of string and a vampire tooth
2: A miniature portrait of a lost loved one
3: A quarterstaff, a mail shirt, a crossbow and d6 bolts in a case
4: A tin box of delicious and nutritious cinnamon biscuits (heal 1HP, 10 uses)
5: A chest containing d100 SP, d30 GP, and 3d6 PP
6: A holy symbol, still charged with divine energy. You can turn undead once as a cleric of the same level.
7: d20 horse shoes, d4 of them are silver plated and worth 3 GP each
8: A pound of crimson coffee worth 150 GP. Can be brewed to give d20 temporary HP to 5 people
9: A set of maximilian style, finely adorned platemail
10: A set of excellent traveling clothes, suitable for all weathers, but no boots
11: A freeze raygun (as longbow, but damage is doubled) with enough power for 10 shots
12: A pair of shoes made of dragon hide, worth 300 GP. +2 to save vs Breath
13: A copper lantern that doesn’t need to be refilled
14: A large bag of stone marbles (several hundreds)
15: A crowbar, metal file, skeleton key, and 10 iron spikes
16: A lover letter implicating a popular crowned head
17: A portable hole, filled to the brim with someone’s precious furniture (worth 2,000 GP to the right buyer)
18: A leather canoe (sits five) and two paddles
19: The deed to a contested property, with your name on it
20: A beautifully illustrated book of erotic poetry (200 GP to a collector)
21: A +2 exotic looking sword with a gem studded scabard worth 500 GP
22: Three large sacks containing salt (10 GP), flour (5 CP), and exotic spices (200 GP)
23: A tamed axebeak, packed for a long journey (10 items of your choice, no clothes or weapons)
24: A large basket containin d12 rather smart, but decidedly needy kittens
25: A platinum crown worth 500 GP. Belongs to a nearby noble.
26: The mounted head of a catoblepas. 50% chance of attempting to petrify anyone looking at it.
27: A random potion and a random scroll
28: A spellbook containing 2d4 spells of random levels
29: A complete pack of adventuring gear (choose 20 items from the normal list)
30: A permanent magical item, randomly generated
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