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Saturday, December 6, 2014

Systemless RPG Dungeon Adventure Coming "Soon"

I have been working on a single level of a megadungeon for about a year or so now.  It took me quite some time to write up all of the room descriptions and then rewrite them... and rewrite them...  I give writers a lot of credit as it was a lot of work.  The adventure is under 40 pages long and this thing has been tough for me to finish.  Thankfully I have a lot of contacts from people that hang out on YouTube that have helped me in the final stages to complete it.

There are plans to put the adventure up on DriveThruRPG when it is all said and done though I have to figure all of that stuff out once the adventure is finished.  Currently my drawings are being colorized and a few of them were inspired from monsters in the AD&D 1st Edition Monster Manual.

The adventure has a bit of a dark tone and I think that is most likely because I have been reading a lot of Lamentations of the Flame Princess adventures over the last year or so.  Well, that and I have a sort of demented sense of humor and a knack for coming up with some bizarre and horrible ideas to include in my RPG sessions. 

Even though the adventure is systemless I refer to some common D&D mechanics like saving throws and ability scores.  It shouldn't be hard at all to run the adventure as is with an OSR retro-clone with some work by the GM. 

The adventure is going to be called The Lair of Murcanto Salmanocko: A Megadungeon Level.  Sure, it is a fairly long name but I like it.  I currently don't have any plans to write another adventure as this one took forever to draw the art for it, but who knows, maybe I will some day. 

A friend of mine is colorizing the images right now since I tend to be a black and white only sort of artist.  Phil's (Felipe1Gojira) YouTube channel is here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/felipe1gojira

Here is a sample of the work that he is currently doing with my images.  This is Murcanto's flesh golem. 


Andre Martinez is working on the layout, and he is the main reason that I have continued on with this project.  I really don't have a high enough Ambition Stat.  Thanks Andre for being my RPG cheerleader to get this finished.  Andre has worked on Within the Ring of Fire RPG and he used to be rather active on YouTube as well. Here is a link to the YouTube channel of the author of WtRoF and to where you can pick up a PDF of it.
https://www.youtube.com/user/woodwwad
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/118313/Within-the-Ring-of-Fire--Saga-Book

Matt over at AFistfulofDice edited the document and his YouTube channel can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/afistfulofdice

I'll let you all know where to get the adventure when it gets completed.  Thanks.  -Tim

Monday, December 1, 2014

Keeping a Current House Rules / Rulings List

As a DM/GM in old school games, you have to come up with answers to questions from the players that aren't covered by the rules.  I think this is one of the strengths of using a rules-lite game such as Labyrinth Lord because you can craft the game to your liking very easily by adding on small layers of complexity as time goes on.  It just feels organic somehow to do this as a campaign progresses, like the game is slowly growing under your loving care.  It is like you are a gardener as you prune away rules and plant new ones.  

As a DM/GM I always want to be fair and consistent with the players.  So to make sure that happens, I always jot down the rulings I make as we play.  This way I can keep my own past rulings straight, and the players feel like they have a consistent and fair interaction with the rules and past precedents.  These rulings can also be called house rules if you like, and I think it is always important that your players know what house rules you have come up with for your games.  I always try to give my players a list of house rules before we even start playing, but some of them creep up after you start. 

So, if you are running a game out there, make sure to keep a list of what makes your game different when it concerns the rules, and your players will greatly appreciate you being organized and fair.  Also remember that the players should have some say on your house rules as well and a discussion with them at the start of a campaign about house rules can make sure that everyone is alright with them. 

Domain Spell Rituals with Many Casters

So for the Hill Canton's Domain PBEM Campaign that I played in, we were talking about the possibility of including powerful spells in the form of "Domain Rituals" that would affect an entire hex or hexes of a world map.  These would be similar in affect as the Domain/Realm spells of Birthright.  We were talking about how each Ritual would have various requirements of the number and level of the casters needed to cast the spell in question.  The world map we are currently using has 5 mile hexes.

I suggested that there would need to be a magic-user that would be the Focus Caster of the Ritual, and they would need to be of a higher level than the rest of those helping with it.  So the requirement for a certain Ritual might be that the Focus Caster must be of 5th level or higher.  In addition to the Focus Caster, there would need to be a required number of levels of helping casters, or Secondary Casters.  So perhaps a Ritual needing a 5th level magic-user might need a total of 10 levels of Secondary Casters.  So if you had four 2nd level magic-users, and two 1st level magic-users, then you would have a total of 10 levels of Secondary Casters.

We also thought about the possibility of a Ritual affecting additional adjacent hexes of the world map if there were enough Secondary Casters, or perhaps if the Focus Caster was of a level much higher than the required level for the Ritual.  The question comes down to the required extra levels that would be needed.  It also depends on how powerful you think that a bunch of clerics or magic-users should be in a setting.

If the setting is high magic, maybe the requirements would be less to affect adjacent hexes, and if the setting is low magic, maybe Rituals that affect adjacent hexes would not even be possible.  I think it comes down to the GM and what they would like out of the rules.  I'm guessing that the goal should be to come up with rules for those mid fantasy settings, and GMs can modify the requirements as they see fit.

I was trying to think of a quick formula to figure out the costs to affect those adjacent hexes from where the Ritual actually took place.  I wanted something simple, so here is my first stab at it.  I also wanted to either have a powerful Focus Caster be able to do this, and/or to have a bunch of Secondary Casters in addition to the normal requirements to affect those adjacent hexes.  So here goes:

1) If the Focus Caster needs to be of X level to cast the Ritual, then for every +1/2 X additional levels the magic-user has (rounded down) the Ritual can affect an additional adjacent hex.

2) If the Secondary Casters need to have a total of Y levels to cast the Ritual, then for every +1/2 Y additional levels of Secondary Casters the Ritual can affect an additional adjacent hex.

So using the above suggestion let's make up an example Ritual to show how I think this could work.

Ritual: Harvest Boon

Focus Caster Requirement: 5th Level
Secondary Casters Requirement: 10 Levels of Secondary Casters

"This Ritual decreases the growing time of planted vegetables in your hex by half.  This would allow a hex to have two harvests in one growing period, thereby doubling the work, and doubling the yield."

Let's say that your Focus Caster is of 7th Level, and that you have 10 total levels of Secondary Casters.  Using the above formula, you could affect the hex where the Ritual took place, and one extra hex (because you have a Focus Caster with 2 extra levels than are needed (5 divided by 2 rounded down).

Let's say that your Focus Caster is of 5th Level, and that you have 15 total levels of Secondary Casters.  Using the above formula, you could affect the hex where the Ritual took place, and one extra hex (because you have 1 1/2 the needed total levels of Secondary Casters).

The nice thing about that, is that you can have both a high level Focus Caster, and extra Secondary Casters and use both to affect more and more adjacent hexes.  Once all of the adjacent hexes have been affected by a spell, then you can go out to the next ring of adjacent hexes.  This probably would only happen for very large conclaves of magic-users or clerics however.

I think this format could be used for Divine Rituals, as well as Arcane Rituals, as I can see both working out well.  I'm not sure what the differences would be between the Divine and Arcane Rituals and their effects, but I'm sure there would be some overlap in areas.

In addition to the above, I was also thinking that other things could help out these types of far reaching Rituals.  Perhaps the following could be boons to casting bigger and badder rituals:

1) The stars are right.
2) Sacrifices (animal or humanoid)
3) Burning Spell Slots of the magic-users or clerics involved in the spell.  So they would essentially exhaust themselves of every spell slot they had for the day.  I'm guessing there would be some formula to give extra levels to either the Focus Caster, or Secondary Casters.  This might be a bad idea though.
4) Lay worshipers and lay cultists could help out, but there would need to be many of them to do so.  These worshipers/cultists would be chanting, singing hymns, dancing, smoking things, etc.
5) Alignment of the moon(s) in the night sky, or the position of the sun(s).
6) Using magically oriented crystals, or minerals that are particular to your setting.  Magic rocks can help in the casting perhaps by multiplying, or adding to the total number of casters, or the level of the Focus Caster.
7) Sacrificing powerful magic-users or clerics themselves might have a powerful effect, but with a heavy price...  The Terry Goodkind Sword of Truth series had a lot of magic items and powerful spell effects created by the loss of life of powerful magic-users, so why not here?  Perhaps every level that the sacrificed caster had would translate into twice the amount?  This might be too dark for some campaigns.
8) Summoned extra planar creatures could perhaps be conjured forth to aid in the spell casting, but with a lot of risks to those performing the ritual.  Perhaps there would be a % chance of the Ritual going awry, and perhaps performing a curse instead of a boost to what they were attempting to accomplish.

That's all I can think of right now.

The Hill Canton blog can be found here:
http://hillcantons.blogspot.com/

Elf & Magic-User Sumerian Spell Names / Command Words for Labyrinth Lord


I posted this over on the LL forum, but I figured it would be good to post the full list here.  Some of the translations of words are pretty weak, but I did the best I could with the available Sumerian words.  I think the worst translation was Reverse Gravity (because Sumerians didn't have a word for gravity).  If I couldn't find the word, I tried to boil down what the effects of the spell were, and go from there typing in words till something popped up.  I used the link to find all of these words:  http://psd.museum.upenn.edu/epsd/nepsd-frame.html



1st Level LL Sumerian Elf & Magic-User Spell Names/Command Words
Charm Person "Namhili Umia"
Detect Magic "Hulu Emegar"
Floating Disk "Dirig Gur"
Hold Portal "Du Daggan"
Light "Geshnu"
Magic Missile "Emegar Gagsisa"
Protection From Evil "Shudul Hulgal"
Read Languages "Gu De Eme"
Read Magic "Gu De Emegar"
Shield "Duksium"
Sleep "Usag"
Ventriloquism "Zulun"

2nd Level LL Sumerian Elf & Magic-User Spell Names/Command Words
Arcane Lock "Emegar Za"
Continual Light "Duri Geshnu"
Detect Evil "Hulu Tuku"
Detect Invisibile "Hulu Nu Igi Duh"
ESP "Ningdirig Shu Gid"
Invisibility "Nu Igi Duh"
Knock "Gal Taka"
Levitate "Dirig"
Locate Object "Hulu Barutum"
Mirror Image "Zarbarshu Mete"
Phantasmal Force "Gidim Gu"
Web "Ash Ningdu"

3rd Level LL Sumerian Elf & Magic-User Spell Names/Command Words
Clairvoyance "Mushma Igi Bar"
Dispel Magic "Hash Emegar"
Fireball "Izi Ellag"
Fly "Barash"
Haste "Kusham Tag"
Hold Person "Du Umia"
Infravision "Mashgik"
Invisibility 10' Radius "Nu Igi Duh Eshe"
Lightning Bolt "Saggul"
Protection From Evil 10' Radius "Shudul Hulgal Eshe"
Protection From Normal Missles "Shudul Gagsisa"
Water Breathing "Asura Pag"

4th Level LL Sumerian Elf & Magic-User Spell Names/Command Words
Magic Eye "Emegar Igi"
Charm Monster "Namhili Mushhush"
Confusion "Suh"
Dimension Door "Anshag Daggan"
Hallucinatory Terrain "Kur Kalam"
Massmorph "Mah Giri Kur"
Plant Growth "Abushu Dubul"
Polymorph Others "Giri Kur Balare"
Polymorph Self "Giri Kur Ni"
Remove Curse "Hash Ash"
Wall of Fire "Egar Izi"
Wall of Ice "Egar Halba"

5th Level LL Sumerian Elf & Magic-User Spell Names/Command Words
Animate Dead "Zi Shag Gal Dugdugurhi"
Cloudkill "Dungu Gaz"
Conjure Elemental "Dim Lahama"
Contact Other Plane "Di Anshag"
Feeblemind "Huba Sag"
Hold Monster "Du Mushhush"
Magic Jar "Emegar Tigul"
Passwall "Dib Egar"
Telekinesis "Sa Sag"
Teleport "Emegar Zid"
Transmute Rock to Mud "Shu Bala Na Luhum"
Wall of Stone "Egar Na"

6th Level LL Sumerian Elf & Magic-User Spell Names/Command Words
Anti-Magic Shell "Nu Emegar Murguba"
Control Weather "Ku Gal An"
Death Spell "Dugdugurhi En"
Disintergrate "Sugzag Gu"
Geas "Gasham Duga"
Invisible Stalker "Nu Igi Duh Gissu"
Lower Water "Kita Asura"
Move Earth "Sa Lag"
Part Water "Na Deg Asura"
Project Image "Sig Mete"
Reincarnation "Kunu Sug"
Stone to Flesh "Na Ushmeda"

7th Level LL Sumerian Elf & Magic-User Spell Names/Command Words
Grasping Hand "Tab Silig"
Delayed Blast Fireball "Giri Gub Tab Izi Ellag"
Instant Summons "Inesh Dim"
Duo-Dimension "Min Anshag"
Limited Wish "Kisher Kurku"
Mass Invisibility "Mah Nu Igi Duh"
Magic Sword "Emegar Ugur"
Phase Door "Alad Daggan"
Power Word Stun "A Shum En Udi"
Reverse Gravity "Balare Shu Dub"
Simulacrum "De Uludin"
Statue "Alan"

8th Level LL Sumerian Elf & Magic-User Spell Names/Command Words
Antipathy/Sympathy "Umul Kunu" / "Umul Kar"
Clenched Fist "Mir Geshba"
Clone "Gabari"
Glass Like Steel "Anzah Kugan"
Incendiary Cloud "Manu Dungu"
Irresistible Dance "Gu Gud"
Mass Charm "Mah Namhili"
Maze "Dih Dus"
Mind Blank "Sag Nunignam"
Polymorph Any Object "Giri Kur Ningnam"
Symbol "Zib"
Trap The Soul "Ellagdu Shedu"

9th Level LL Sumerian Elf & Magic-User Spell Names/Command Words
Crushing Hand "Gum Silig"
Imprisonment "Egal"
Meteor Storm "An Amargu Ud"
Power Word Kill "A Shum En Gaz"
Prismatic Sphere "Bara Ni Karkar"
Shape Change "Egar Shu Bala"
Temporal Stasis "A'udtegiba Nu Sa"
Time Stop "A'udtegiba Gala Dag"
Wish "Kurku"

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

D100 Strange RPG Effects Table

I have been writing up a systemless adventure module and in it I came up with the following table filled with a bunch of strange effects that could be either good or bad for some dungeon crawlers.  Here is a link for the PDF.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5q-SrbFhJetM3JHanppOHBhYms/edit?usp=sharing



D100 Strange Random Effects Table

Saving Throws are suggested for these strange effects but that is left to the Game Master to implement. Also the effects below are for only one random character in the area and not the whole group of characters.  Finally it is left up to the GM if these effects are permanent or if they are only a temporary effect.  "You" and "Your" in the descriptions refer to the character affected by these effects.  If a strange effect gives a character a spell per day and they normally can't cast spells this effect surpasses the normal restrictions to magic use.

1) Two random Stats increase.
2) You develop a persistent hunger for the flesh of your own race.  A Saving Throw could be used to resist this urge when it becomes too strong to resist.
3) You do not need sleep for 2D4 days.
4) Lucky you! Roll twice against this chart and apply both effects.
5) One Skill increases a minor amount, or increase a Stat.
6) One random hand and one foot shrink to half size.
7) One Skill increases a medium amount, or increase a Stat.
8) Your legs turn into a mass of useless tentacles.
9) One Skill increases a major amount, or increase a Stat.
10) Your face melts off leaving a skeleton visage.  Social interactions suffer a major penalty, but you get a bonus to intimidation attempts.
11) Hit Points go up a minor amount.
12) Your skin liquifies and as it sloughs off it cries like an infant.
13) Hit Points go up a medium amount.
14) Your hair turns into red beetles and they scatter in fear.
15) Your mind is transferred into a random item that you are carrying. You can control your body as long as it holds the item your mind is within.
16) Your teeth fall out after crumbling into ashes.
17) When you deal melee combat damage you deal twice as much.
18) Your mouth seals shut via a thick membrane of living flesh.
19) You double in height.
20) Your hands are replaced with constantly dripping mounds of putrescent goo.
21) Learn one additional language.
22) Somewhere in the world (or in this dungeon level) an evil person has their appearance changed to resemble yours.
23) Your skin changes at will.
24) You will start worshiping the next thing you see (player's choice) as a god.
25) You take half as much damage from any wound.
26) Drinking water causes you to turn into a goat for 1d4 minutes.
27) Only magical weapons can harm you.
28) Your body hair now glows brightly in the presence of evil, giving off enough light to illuminate a fifteen foot radius area centered on you.
29) You no longer feel pain, but you are less likely to notice that you are injured and thus less likely to seek aid for your wounds.
30) You must now vomit your stomach acid onto your food before eating it (like a fly).  This can also be used as an acid based attack within a short range.
31) Only blunt weapons can harm you.
32) Hit Points go down a minor amount.
33) Only slashing weapons can harm you.
34) Animals hate you, even once dearly beloved companions. You automatically critically fail any husbandry or riding related rolls.
35) Only piercing weapons can harm you.
36) You are convinced that you died an especially gruesome and dissatisfying death and that you now live your unlife as a ghost that haunts the rest of your party. No amounts of evidence can convince you otherwise.  Once a week you can make a Saving Throw to know the truth.
37) You gain 1 spell that can be cast once per day.
38) You can't speak for 1D6 days.
39) You gain 2 spells that can be cast once per day.
40) Your hair grows 1D10 yards.
41) you grow a pair of fully functioning wings.  You can fly with your normal speed but you can only wear custom made armor.
42) Your skin blisters as if it was burned.
43) You are 1D6 years younger.
44) You must say everything sarcastically.
45) A minor deity, angel, or demigod shows up and offers you one minor boon.  It will refuse tasks that it cannot or will not perform.
46) You are 1D6 years older.
47) You're a lefty now! Inverse main hand. For several weeks you will suffer from a lack of coordination but after this period of time you will become Ambidextrous.
48) Your intestines turn into snakes that bite the inside of your body.  There is a 1 in 6 chance that they are poisonous.
49) You gain 1 spell that can be cast twice per day.
50) A character's airways are closed 2/3rds of the time.
51) You gain 1 spell that can be cast three times per day. 
52) You cough out bloody feathers every few minutes.
53) You can breathe in water and in air.
54) You cough out writhing worms every few minutes.
55) Your skin provides a minor amount of damage reduction.
56) Dungeon walls speak to you, but they have nothing good to say. They berate you and antagonize you, and conspire to alert monsters of your whereabouts. They loudly reveal your tactics to any within hearing distance. Attacking the walls begets mockery. 57) Your skin provides a medium amount of damage reduction.
58) 1D10 screaming worms crawl out of the flesh of your arms dealing damage in the process.
59) You develop two fiendish and fanged mouths on your palms. They snarl and try to chew anything you touch.  Any living thing that you touch is harmed and you are healed an equal amount.  If you haven't fed them during the day they will try to self-cannibalize you at night.  You are more intimidating now than you were before. 
60) Your eyes become unusable pools of blood.
61) You can levitate at will.
62) You take twice as much damage from any wound.
63) Your fingers and knuckles become moving stone.  Damage done with your fists is tripled.
64) Children just don't like you now. They cry constantly and vomit in your presence. 
65) You vomit out 1D20 silver coins every 10 minutes.
66) Your hands become feet and your feet become hands.
67) You vomit out 1D20 gold coins every 10 minutes.
68) Your eyes turn into valuable gemstones but you can still see out of them.
69) You understand the languages of animals.
70) Whenever you speak your true name all light sources are extinguished within a twenty feet radius of you.
71) You understand the languages of birds.
72) When you stare at any fire you see a face of a grinning demon or devil in it.
73) When you hear music you hear subliminal messages that contain helpful tips and truths.
74) Your insides are replaced with insects and spiders.  They have a hive mind but your mind is now just one voice in a chorus of other voices.  They are able to wear and manipulate your body as they see fit. Physical Stats go down a medium amount, and mental Stats go up a medium amount. You take extra damage from all attacks that aren't spells or psychic in origin.
75) When you look at a book it speaks the words that you are staring at.
76) Your toe and finger nails grow an inch every minute.
77) Learn 1D2 languages.
78) All your stats go down a minor amount. You are convinced that you feel stronger, more intelligent... etc.
79) Learn 1D4 languages.
80) You forget 1 language for 1D6 days.
81) Your hair is constantly blown back by a magical wind (possible Stat increase).
82) Every time you look in a mirror you will see a monstrous version of you staring back. If you sleep near a mirror the monster will creep out of it and try to kill you and replace you. If you kill the monster while it is out of the mirror the curse will be broken.
83) An ancient intelligent artifact of bygone days materializes before you and will help you to achieve your goals.
84) You leave putrid black footsteps everywhere you walk.
85) Every liquid you drink turns to wine as it goes down your throat.  If you drink a potion it has the same effects it just tastes MUCH better.
86) Your shadow gains a will of its own.  It has an opposite alignment or temperament.
87) Water turns to blood when you touch it with your left hand.
88) You think that there is a loud talking bird on your shoulder but it isn't actually there.
89) Your insides and blood are searing hot.  You gain a high bonus to resist diseases, parasites, and poison because of it.  When melee weapons wound you there is a moderate chance that your spilled blood could burn your attacker.
90) When you speak or write, others cannot understand it.  They perceive it as an unknown language.
91) A small horde of roughly 20 vermin begin to follow you around and if allowed to do so will protect you to the best of their ability, but they will only act to defend you.
92) You see your heart leave your body as it bursts out of your chest. The wound instantly seals up. The heart however is still beating (somehow pumping blood through your body) and you are still alive. You must now protect your heart while it exists outside your body or you will die.
93) You fade out of existence when you sleep into a safe pocket dimension.  When you return upon waking you are fully refreshed.
94) You break out head-to-toe in unsightly, painful, and leaking pustules. People respond negatively when they can see your face and any social interactions suffer penalties for it.
95) You produce a shadow of light when in darkness that has the same brightness of a dim torch.  You have no normal shadow when in sunlight.
96) You are convinced that you are becoming some sort of supernatural or extraplanar creature. You refuse all evidence to the contrary.
97) All nonmagical mechanical locks automatically unlock when you draw within ten feet of them.
98) You can no longer rest or sleep. After 2 days you suffer penalties to all activities. Every day after that you may make another saving throw. Death may result from this effect, or if the GM wishes they are simply in a constant state of exhaustion. 99) Gravity affects you less.  You get a bonus to swimming rolls as you tend to float naturally, and whenever you fall you will float down slowly.
100) Your two arms merge into one centered on your chest.  Any Stat or Stats that represent combat, strength, or athleticism goes up a medium amount but now you only have one arm.






Friday, April 18, 2014

A Bunch of Weird Monster Drawings III

I have been slowing drawing monsters for my YouTube RPG Brigade Megadungeon Project.  Here are a few of the latest ones. 


Rest in peace David A. Tramier (The Ratfolk drawing is me doodling up the Lycanthropy drawing in the AD&D Monster Manual).






Here is a Yuanti that is also from AD&D.





This one is just a random chaotic monster that I have dubbed a Walking Nightmare aka Fry Head.  hehe.  






 

Monday, April 7, 2014

LLAECRCS: Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion / AD&D Race Creation System

I have no idea if this is a good way to go about making Advanced Edition Companion / AD&D races, but this is what I came up with. :) I'm sure that there are other abilities, limitations, restrictions, flaws, etc. but I think this is a pretty thorough list. If you have any suggestions put them down below. Thanks.

The idea that I came up with was to have the values of the positive special abilities balance out with the negative costs of the various flaws, restrictions, limitations, etc. so that the end racial point total equals zero.


Race Special Ability Values

AC Bonus +1 vs. Certain Races (+10)
Attack Bonus to hit +1 (+10)
Attack Bonus to hit +2 (+20)
Class Level Limits Increased [For each Plus 2 levels beyond the 10 per available Class Average] (+10)**
Damage Reduction 1 (+20)
Damage Reduction 2 (+40)
Double Damage Dealt (+30)
Dwarf & Gnome Abilities, 2 in 6 chance to detect traps, false walls, hidden construction, etc. (+10)
Elven Detect Secret Doors (+10)
Extra Spells Known at Character Creation: You know three 1st level spells and two 2nd level spells at character creation. (+10)
Familiar: The character can see through the eyes of this familiar. Spells can also be cast through the familiar as if the familiar was the caster (if the character is a Magic-User). (+10)
Hear Noise Skill Boost 1-3 (+10)
Hear Noise Skill Boost 1-5 (+20)
Hide in Nature 90% (+20)
Hide in Nature 50% (+10)
Hit Points +1 Hit Die Step (+20) [Example D4 to a D6]
Hit Points +2 Hit Die Steps (+40) [Example D4 to a D8]
Immunity to Cold/Fire/Electricity/Poison etc. (+30)
Immunity to Certain Types of Spells (+20)
Immunity to Ghoul Paralysis (+10)
Infravision 30' (+5)
Infravision 60' (+10)
Infravision 90' (+20)
Initiative +1 (+10)
Innate Fire/Cold/Electricity/etc. Damage [Like +1D6 Fire Damage Hands] [Per Appendage] (+10)
Innate Spells Once Per Day [Per Spell, 1/Day], Your Level = Magic-User Level (+20)
Languages Known 10+ (+40)
Languages Known 6-9 (+30)
Languages Known 4-5 (+20)
Languages Known 3-4 (+10)
Light Sensitivity [Normally Race also has Infravision] -2 to hit and damage in bright sunlight, -1 to hit and damage on cloudy days. Powerful light spells affect them in a similar fashion. (-20)
Light Susceptibility [Normally Race also has Infravision] -1 Penalty to hit & damage & saves (-10)
Magic Resistance 50% (+50)
Magic Resistance 40% (+40)
Magic Resistance 30% (+30)
Magic Resistance 20% (+20)
Magic Resistance 10% (+10)
Movement Increase 150% Human (+20)
Natural Armor +1 (+20)
Natural Attack [Per Attack] +1D4+Str Mod. (+5)
Natural Attack [Per Attack] +1D6+Str Mod (+10)
Natural Atack [Per Attack] +1D8+Str Mod (+20)
Racial Hatred, +1 to hit and damage (+10)
Racial Hatred, Double Damage (+20)
Resistance to Fire/Cold/Electricity/etc. 50% Less Damage (+20)
Resistance to Sleep & Charm spells 90% (+20)
Resistance to Sleep & Charm spells 50% (+10)
Saving Throw Bonuses, Dwarf Saves [+17 in total] (+30)
Saving Throw Bonuses, Gnome Saves [+13 in total] (+20)
Saving Throw Bonuses, [+8 in total] (+10)
Saving Throw Bonus, [+4 in total] (+5)
Scent Tracking 50% (+20)
Scent Tracking 30% (+10)
Set Pits, Snares, & Traps 90% (+20)
Set Pits, Snares, & Traps 50% (+10)
Snow & Ice Walking [You can walk in a surefooted fashion on the surface of snow & ice like Legolas without movement penalties or dice rolls.] (+10)
Spell Rest Time Reduced: You only need to rest for 4 hours to regain your spell slots. (+20)
Stat Modifiers +1/-1 (+20)
Stat Modifier +1 [Without Penalty To Another Stat] (+30)
Surprise Chance +1 [You Surprise Others] (+10)
Surprised Chance Decrease -1 [You are surprised less often] (+10)
Thief Skill Racial Bonuses if a Thief [Plus 20 in total] (+20)
Thief Skill Racial Bonuses if a Thief [Plus 10 in total] (+10)
Thief Skill That Increases as You Level Without Being a Thief (+20)
Tracking via Tracks 45% (+15)
Tracking via Tracks 25 % (+5)

** For this system I am assuming a 10 level limit average for each available class. So if you have 5 available classes, you have 50 levels to place in those classes. This special ability allows you to place 2 more additional levels into the available class level limits. So if you had a 10 point special ability if you have 5 available classes you could have 52 levels to place where you see fit.


Limitations, Restrictions, and Flaw Costs

Armor Restrictions (-10)
Attack / To Hit Penalty of Minus 1 with Certain Weapons (-5)
Attack / To Hit Penalty of Minus 2 with Certain Weapons (-10)
Attack / To Hit Penalty of Minus 1 with Many Weapons (-10)
Attack / To Hit Penalty of Minus 2 with Many Weapons (-20)
Bleeder/Frail: Whenever you take damage you take 1 more damage. (-20)
Blind [See Familiar above if you want them to have another way to see.] (-30)
Class Availability 2-3 Classes (-30)**
Class Availablity 4-5 Classes (-20)**
Class Availability 6-8 Classes (-10)**
Class Level +1 [If the character is of a particular Class they are considered 1 level higher] (+30)
Class Level Limits Decreased [For each Minus 2 levels below the 10 per available Class Average] (-10)**
Deaf (-30)
Fear of Something Common [Like Fear of Crossing Water] with a Paralyze Saving Throw to Negate (-10)
Fear of Something Common [Like Fear of Crossing Water] with a Paralyze Saving Throw to Negate, at a -2 Penalty (-20)
Half Damage Dealt (-20)
Hated by Types of Races, they get +1 to hit and damage against you (-10)
Hit Points -1 Hit Die Step (-20) [Example D4 to a D2]
Mute (-30)
Slower Movement 75% Human (-10)
Slower Movement 50% Human (-20)
Slower Movement 25% Human (-30)
Stat Requirements For Each Number Higher (-5) [Example 4/18]
Stat Maximum Limitation For Each Number Lowered (-5) [Example 3/17]*
Susceptibility to Fire/Cold/Electricity/etc. Double Damage (-30)
Susceptibility to Fire/Cold/Electricity/etc. 150% Damage (-15)
Susceptibility to Spells & Wands, -4 penalty to both Saving Throws (-20).
Weapon Restrictions [A Few] (-10)
Weapon Restrictions [A Bunch] (-20)

*There is no penalty if this is as a result of the +1/-1 Stat Modifier
** For this system I am assuming a 10 level limit average for each available class. So if you have 5 available classes, you have 50 levels to place in those classes. If you took the Class Level Limits Decreased option above, in the 50 level example you would have only 48 levels to place between the available Classes.


Balanced Abilities with Zero Cost

Languages Known, Race + Common Tongue (0)
No Weapon Restrictions (0)
Small Sized, Harder to Hit by Large Creatures +1 AC, Weapon Restrictions (0)
Large Sized, Easier to Hit by Small Creatures [They get +1 to hit], Large Weapons (0)

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

A Bunch of Weird Monster Drawings II

So it seems I have some more old drawings lurking on my laptop waiting to pounce on your feet that are hanging off of your bed...  Hopefully some of you can use this nightmare fuel for your games.  :)


I think of this one as some sort of corpse worm.  That, or it is eating the inside of your ear canal right now.




This is the face of... something.  This was one of the last drawings that I did with mechanical pencil.  I prefer drawing with just a ball-point pen these days.




A rock elemental.





I had this idea of repeating the same humanoid shape over and over again in different ways to make up a creature.  This was the result.  This one may end up in a RPG supplement but I'm not sure.  I sent it in awhile ago.  I think it may end up being a Dungeon Crawl Classics Patron.



I sent this one in to the same RPG author and it may be a Dungeon Crawl Classics Patron as well.  Worship it... or else!



I just drew the next 2 up last night.  I'm working on populating my level for my YouTube RPG Brigade Megadungeon Project.  This is the creature with a teleporting mouth that gets you in and out of the level to send you to other levels.  This one may end up in Theater of the Mind Magazine.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse.php?manufacturers_id=4531







A bunch of these things live in a chasm in the center of the dungeon and they mutter in unison.  Every "turn" (not every round) characters need to make a saving throw or they have to roll a 1D6.

1) Walk slowly until you fall in the chasm.
2-3) Stand in one place for 1D6 minutes.
5-6) Fall into a deep slumber for 1D6 hours.




That's all that I have for now.  Have a good one.  Cya.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Three Dungeon Drawings (In Need an Intrepid Dungeon Stocker)

I had a few hours of free time at work the other night and I drew these dungeon maps.  I have no idea what some of the symbols mean (that is for the viewer to decide) but have at 'em.  I was making a line of pillars at first with the same symbology, but who knows, they may be something cool.  Maybe they are moveable blocks that when put together produce strange magical effects for the whole level of the dungeon.  It was pointed out that this one doesn't have a way up, or down, or in.  When in doubt... IT'S MAGIC!



This 1st and 2nd one were fun to draw with the hatch marks.  I think that is going to be my preferred way of shading dungeons from now on.  :)  I pictured the weird center room as some sort of divine sanctuary for some weird god.



This 3rd one I think was at least originally a Dwarven tomb or stronghold.  Who knows what lurks in its hallowed halls now.  I pictured the main long center room as having a long carpet made of some rich material, and the shields of their vanquished foes lined the halls.  The secret doors to the other rooms are behind this hall.  I think the ways in and out of this level are in the caves at the top of the level.  I picture this level having a lot of deadly traps.  There are a lot of passageways in this level that go under the other rooms. 


Friday, March 28, 2014

A Bunch of Weird Monster Drawings

Sometimes I just stare down at a blank sheet of paper and that overwhelming empty white sheet just intimidates me.  Other times I put the pen or pencil to the paper and come up with some freakish things like these monstrosities. 


This one looks like a mutated version of Falcor from The Neverending Story.



Then there is this thing.  Honest, I don't do drugs.  I'm not too impressed by this one, but here it is anyway.



...and another one...   I think this is some sort of floating intelligent fungus-plant-thing.  Don't breathe in the spores, unless maybe breathing them in is actually a good thing? 



There there is this freak.  It looks like some sort of bug that walks on sharp single razor claws.



What do you think this one smells like?  I was thinking, "What if Shai-Halud could fly?"  I messed up the wings a bit.



Maybe I should call this one Visine? This is one of my favorites that I doodled up.



This sort of reminds me of those weird alien-things from Sesame Street.



 I'm guessing this guy didn't die a nice peaceful death in his bed during the night.



I pictured these things showing up after an earthquake.



I have a few other drawings but they aren't very good.  Maybe you could use one or more of these in your own campaign.  Let me know if you do give them a spin.


Thursday, March 27, 2014

An Infinite Dungeon: The YouTube RPG Brigade Megadungeon Project

So I get weird ideas to try to get a bunch of strangers to work on RPG stuff together.  My latest idea was to have a bunch of people make a level of a dungeon on a standard sheet of graph paper and then put out videos about those levels.  I figured that this way people years from now (if YouTube is still a thing) could still make a level of a dungeon for the project.  I was thinking about a deck of playing cards where each card represented a level of the megadungeon.  The viewers of the videos can pick and choose which levels they want to include (provided people actually participate in making the videos) and stack them up any way that they want to.  For some reason someone shuffling a bunch of dungeon levels is a cool mental image for me.  Shuffle.  Shuffle.  :)

Here is the first video that started off this project.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3KRpPadyQc

Here is the playlist for all of the videos that I know about for the project so far.  I will add more to the playlist as they come in.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5NHK6rtYgB1y3jZrGAWn39Cc2XfOdPXO

Here are the details that I typed up for the project.  It occurs to me now that if people want to participate with their blogs that that would be cool too.  So if you feel like making a random dungeon level that connects to another level above and to another level below in some fashion, by all means doodle one up. 

Here is the megadungeon level I've been working on for this project, and I plan on making other levels as well.

1) You draw up a fairly large level of a dungeon, you know, on graph paper. Let's stick to standard 8 1/2" x 11" paper size. That is your level of the dungeon.

2) Number your rooms and hallways. If you have related rooms feel free to use letters too, like 1a, 1b, 1c, etc.

3) Make a Key for your level of the dungeon with the symbols you are going to use in it. That way we know what all your little squiggles on the map mean. Also detail what is in each of the numbered rooms but do so in a system-less manner. Feel free to use common monster names, spell names, etc. but don't stress too much about system or edition or whatever. If you make up your own creatures tell us about them. Just describe what is there in words.

4) Make 1 (or several) Wandering Monster Tables for your level of the dungeon. If you have very distinct different areas on your level it might be good to have different tables for instance. Your table can be as large as you like. To keep it consistent maybe we should all design the table to be rolled on with a D20. If you want certain creatures to show up more often give that creature's spot in the table more numbers that are associated with it. So at max the Wandering Monster Table will have 20 creatures listed in it.

5) You fill only 1/3rd of the rooms with creatures. The theme of exploration should be emphasized and there won't be monsters in every room. Put a bunch of strange / creepy / weird / fantastical / supernatural stuff in the rest of the rooms. Also, some rooms will just be "empty" but there might be some unique description of the way that room looks.

6) Keep in mind that this is a supernatural underworld where normal physics need not apply. This place is corrupt, a blight on the face of the world (and in the world), and there is a reason that evil and chaotic things tend to make this place their home. They feed off of that power, and thrive on it.

7) Think of your level as a whole. Are there any politics between factions in your level of the dungeon? Are there any level wide strange effects that you should tell us about, etc. Do most of the inhabitants worship a strange god or gods or other things? This might be considered Dungeon Ecology.

8) Put some treasure in, some items of antiquity and/or power, etc. If you want to be stingy, be stingy. If you want to be Monty Haul, be Monty Haul. Have fun with the placement of such things. I would think most of us would be in the stingy to medium level of treasure range though.

9) Your level of the dungeon connects randomly to a level above and below your level. These other levels are created by someone else in the YouTube RPG Brigade.

10) Make a video (or a blog post) about your level of the dungeon and share it with the rest of us.



Another RPG Blog

I will hopefully be putting things on this blog soon that will deal with RPGs (Role-playing Games). I have a YouTube channel but I have found lately that it is harder and harder to find time to myself to record and upload them.  You can see what I've put out there on my channel.  http://www.youtube.com/samwise7rpg

I tend to doodle up monsters from time to time as well.  Here is a sample.  This is one of the better ones that I submitted to Within the Ring of Fire RPG.  I'm not sure if it will be published however.


Here is my old blog where I documented some details on my Labyrinth Lord megadungeon campaign.  http://darveshill.blogspot.com/