5 Room Dungeon: The Fire Giant’s Forge

Fire GiantWherein your humble scribe presents a Five Room Dungeon for use with Mini Six, with some creation help from the random tables in D6 Fantasy Locations. This is, of course, largely compatible with D6 Fantasy as well.

The grim, human-hating Fire Giant Matulek has a new plan. With the help of a powerful kobold shaman he has summoned the demon Kuula Gaahal and bound it into the forge that stands within the walls of his castle. There, on the Island of Fire within the caldera of the volcano men call Mount Kurash, Matulek is producing demonic steel for the dark dwarves of Doborgajn to turn into weapons that will lay waste to mankind once and for all. King Borvalf of Tolvir has called upon the mightiest warriors of the land to storm the giant’s castle and destroy the forge lest Matulek’s evil plan come to fruition and darkness once again claim the lands of the north.

Room One: Entrance and Guardian(s)

A single stone-and-mithril bridge spans the lava moat the surrounds the Island of Fire. Its gatehouse is guarded by two dim-witted hill giants, Mrog and Urr’m, and a lone, lazy Hell Hound who answers to the name of Vorom. The guards have been ordered to kill any humans who approach, as well as any non-humans traveling in the company of the hated race. Mrog and Urr’m, sadly, have never seen a human and aren’t entirely sure what they are supposed to be looking for. Vorom knows the smell of humans, but has found it nearly impossible to communicate with the two stupid giants. He can only hope to lead by example.

Mrog & Urr’m, Hill Giant Guards (Scale +2D)
Might 5D+1 Agility 2D+2 Wit 1D+1 Charm 1D+2
Skills: Brawling 6D+1, Club 7D, Intimidation 5D+1
Gear: Furs & Skins (+3), Big Club (+2D)
Static: Dodge 8, Block 19, Parry 21, Soak 16 (3)

Vorom, Hell Hound (Scale 0)
Might 4D Agility 6D Wit 2D Charm 2D
Skills: Brawling 6D (claws 5D damage), Spew Flame 6D (damage = 8D – Dodge Roll, once per three rounds)
Static: Dodge 18, Block 12, Soak 12

Room Two: Puzzle or Roleplaying Challenge

The bridge across the moat of lava is wide and sturdy, expertly crafted of starrock and mithril by the dark dwarves of Doborgajn. There is, however, more to this bridge than meets the eye. During its construction more than a few of the dark dwarves perished, and their spirits haunt the pathway that leads to Matulek’s castle. These ghosts are malign and must be appeased or else they will utilize their limited powers over the physical world to kill anyone attempting to cross the bridge by summoning up a terrible wind to push the travelers over the edge and into the moat of lava below.

The one sure way to appease the prideful dwarf ghosts is to praise their workmanship, as well as that of their ancestors and descendants, sufficiently. These spirits are susceptible to flattery but have a keen ear for insincerity and will react poorly if they sense that the speaker(s) are false in their words. A Lore check vs TN 18 should provide enough information about the dark dwarves of Doborgajn to allow substantial yet sincere flattery.

Room Three: Trick or Setback

The great gate of Matulek’s castle stands shut at the end of the bridge. Only the mightiest of creatures (or, perhaps, a number of less mighty creatures working in concert) can hope to push the towering brass doors open. To accomplish this herculean task a Lift check against TN 23 must be made. Further, the doors themselves are filled with molten lava, which makes handling them a sure way to suffer terrible burns. Each attempt to open the doors much be accompanied by a Stamina check against TN 13. Failure on this check results in 5D damage. Success yields only 2D damage. No damage is delivered to individuals who are resistant to fire damage (such as, perhaps, a recipient of the Resist Elements spell).

Room Four: Climax, Big Battle, or Conflict

In the heart of the castle stands the Fire Giant’s Forge. Matulek works tirelessly, day and night, turning raw ore into pure demonic steel with the aid of the captive demon Kuula Gaahal. Matulek will immediately attack any who dare to enter and will defend his castle and forge to the death. Kuula Gaahal, whose essence is imprisoned within the forge itself, cannot affect the battle (and wouldn’t if it could).

If Matulek is defeated Kuula Gaahal will begin reaching out to the heroes telepathically, begging for them to destroy the forge. If they do, Kuula Gaahal will be freed and will instantly return to its home plane. Thus freed, the demon will think kindly on its rescuers and may one day return the favor. If, however, the heroes refuse to destroy the forge and leave Kuula Gaahal trapped, it will hold an eternal grudge against the party and, if it ever manages to escape, will most certainly have its vengeance.

Matulek, Fire Giant (Scale +4D)
Might 7D Agility 2D Wit 3D Charm 3D
Skills: Brawling 7D+2, Sword 8D+1, Throwing 5D, Intimidation 7D
Gear: Bronze Armor (+6), Demonic Steel Flamesword (+3D+2), Thrown Boulder 8D
Static: Dodge 6, Block 23, Parry 25, Soak 21 (6)

Room Five: Reward, Revelation, Or Plot Twist

Deeper within the castle is Matulek’s treasury. Here the fire giant keeps a large hoard, and a sizable fortune in gold and platinum coins can be hauled away.

Here also is the stash of demonic steel that has been forged so far. There is enough demonic steel for two score man-sized weapons. This material, which is essentially priceless – at least to those who are not bothered by its nature – can be liberated with relative ease.

Weapons made of demonic steel grant a +1D damage bonus. Further, all damage done by such a weapon is much harder to heal. Spellcasters face a −2D penalty when attempting to cast healing on such a wound and the Might check for natural healing of such a wound incurs a −1D penalty.

Being in possession of a demonic steel weapon lends a distinctly evil cast to the wielder, imposing a −2D penalty to all “positive” Charm rolls (i.e., Command or Diplomacy, but not Intimidation).

Most “civilized” weapon makers will either refuse to work with the material or will charge hefty “My soul is imperiled just handling this stuff” fees if they are willing to work the stuff.

Vikings & Valkyries – M&M With Horned Helmets!

My old pal Olivier Legrand, the mastermind behind Mazes & Minotaurs, has finally released the long-awaited Vikings & Valkyries! But rather than paraphrase, I’ll just quote:

VIKINGS & VALKYRIES

Well, the title says it all, doesn’t it? Mazes & Minotaurs goes Norse with this 100% new and 100% free supplement detailing the alternate game setting of Midgard – a whole new world of adventure to explore, conquer and plunder!

This 50-page, fully illustrated and bookmarked PDF book includes:

  • Rules for creating Norse adventurers, including the new Viking class and rules for playing Elves, Dwarves and (yes!) Half-Giants – as well as simple conversions of existing M&M classes into Valkyries, Berserkers, Princes and other archetypes of Norse legends
  • New combat options – including rules for going berserk, breaking shields and maiming opponents!
  • Rules for drinking contests and other manly Viking games!
  • Rules for Ice Elementalism!
  • An overview of the new world of Midgard (including an original map) and its otherworldly surrounding realms, from Asgard to Jotunheim!
  • Many new creatures – including several types of Giants and Trolls!
  • A collection of typical Norse mythic items – including Mjolnir!
  • The usual M&M mix of faux retro pastiche, kitsch homage and old school goodness!

So by Odin, what are you waiting for? Put on your horned helmet, swing your battle axe at those pesky historians who insist on telling you that horned helmets never existed and go get your free PDF of Vikings & Valkyries from the regular Revised Mazes & Minotaurs website:

http://mazesandminotaurs.free.fr/revised.html

Or directly from the following webpage:

http://mazesandminotaurs.free.fr/VIK.html

Vikings & Valkyries: a whole new world of adventure!

So what are you waiting for? Get to downloading already!

5 Room Dungeon: Into Yamahari Forest

Mischievous TenguWherein your humble scribe presents a Five Room Dungeon for use with Mini Six, with some creation help from the random tables in D6 Fantasy Locations. This is, of course, largely compatible with D6 Fantasy as well.

War is coming to Okibu Province! The forces of the Nakayama Clan are gathering near the borders and Daimyo Nakayama Yosuke has his eyes on the throne of Watanabe Castle. Lady Watanabe Euiko has requested that you take the daisho of retired samurai Murakami Shoichi, once the master strategist of Lord Watanabe’s army, to his hermitage deep within the high forest and convince him to return and lead the Watanabe forces as they seek to defend their Daimyo’s lands (and daughter) against the depredations of the Nakayama barbarians.

Room One: Entrance and Guardian(s)
Yamahari Forest, and the mountains that surround it, are the territory of a pair of mischievous Tengu named Hito and Jito. These two crow-like humanoids are ferocious combatants if angered, but are far more inclined to play tricks on travelers – at least those who show the proper respect to the forest and its masters.

A favorite of these tricks is to have Hito shape change into the form of a Buddhist monk and pretend to be dead, lying in the path of a group passing through Yamahari Forest. Jito will then circle the area, using his illusion powers to create a tableau of Bakemono stomping though the trees. Once the travelers have been tricked into paying attention to the outside threat, Hito will rise up, scare the group, and fly away cackling.

Hito and Jito will only engage travelers in combat if the group is particularly hostile or threatening towards the Tengu themselves or anyone else within Yamahari Forest.

Hito and Jito, Tengu (Scale 0)
Might 4D+1 Agility 4D+2 Wit 4D+2 Charm 4D+1
Skills: Sword 5D+1, Dodge 5D+2, Magic 6D+2
Perks: Sorcerer, Flying
Gear: Fine Katana (+3D), Leather Armor (+2)
Spells: Charm, Control Weather, Illusion, Invisibility, Shape Change, Teleport
Static: Dodge 17, Block 13, Parry 16, Soak 13 (2)

Room Two: Puzzle or Roleplaying Challenge

The narrow path through Yamahari Forest occasionally widens to accommodate a shrine to one of the 10,000 gods of Akashima. At a shrine dedicated to Kanzeon the group encounters the old (but still spry and stunningly beautiful, of course) Jen-Mai, a tea trader. Jen-Mai frequently passes through Yamahari Forest and knows much of its inhabitants. She can, if flattered and treated well, give the seekers great insight into both the Tengu who protect the forest as well as any other subject relating to the area.

Jen-Mai is also more than a little familiar with the subject of Murakami Shoichi, having been quite infatuated with him when they were both much younger. She is aware that he makes his home nearby, but she has never approached him because of the difficulty in reaching his high cave, which is located on the southern face of the 2nd tallest hill within Yamahari Forest. Jen-Mai also knows that Shoichi’s favorite tea is Gyokuro, an expensive and rare delight that she just happens to have in stock. Perhaps the old man will be more favorably inclined to listen to the group if they present him with a gift?

Jen-Mai poses no danger to anyone, and will only fall to the ground weeping if threatened. If anyone should press their attack further, Hito and Jito will come to her defense. They will not be pleased with the situation and will deal harshly with anyone so crass as to take advantage of an honorable and respectful little old lady like Jen-Mai.

Room Three: Trick or Setback

The southern slope of the hill atop which Murakami Shoichi resides is a steep climb, rocky and difficult to ascend. A Climbing check against TN 18 is necessary to make any significant headway, and should be repeated a total of three times to see if the rise can be crested. Further, Shoichi has carefully concealed a couple of traps along the way, all the more to discourage unwanted visitors. These traps take the form of loosened rocks that are otherwise ideal handholds for climbing. A Traps roll vs TN 18 (better than a 21 on the Climbing roll immediately preceding the trap) will successfully avoid “triggering” the traps. There is one trap immediately after the first Climbing roll and another immediately after the last Climbing roll. In both instances, a person triggering the trap will tumble the full distance back down to the bottom of the hill, losing all progress gained. A person falling from the 1st trap site will suffer 2D damage. A person falling from the 2nd trap site will suffer 5D damage.

Room Four: Climax, Big Battle, or Conflict
A group of a dozen or so soldiers of Clan Nakayama are gathered around the outside of Murakami Shoichi’s cave. They were sent by Lord Nakayama himself to abduct the old samurai to force him into service against his old master. They must have approached from the north and worked their way around. They now find themselves on the receiving end of the great warrior’s wrath. At present he is firing arrows at them from within his cave even as they prepare to rush in and overwhelm him with their superior numbers.

Nakayama Soldiers (Scale 0)
Might 3D Agility 2D+1 Wit 2D Charm 1D+2
Skills: Naginata 3D or Sword 3D+1 or Spear 4D, Dodge 3D+1
Gear: Naginata (+3D) or Katana (+2D+2) or Yari (+2D), Ashigaru Armor (+5)
Static: Dodge 10, Block 9, Parry 9/10/12, Soak 9 (5)

Room Five: Reward, Revelation, Or Plot Twist

Helping chase away the Nakayama soldiers and presenting him with his old daisho will do much to open Murakami Shoichi’s eyes and soften his heart to the seekers’ entreaties on behalf of Lady Euiko. However, Shoichi remains reluctant to leave his hermitage and return to the ways of war. He can be convinced, but good roleplaying should be required here. Successfully convincing Murakami Shoichi is a significant challenge, but the GM should not stonewall the players. Appeals to his honor, or to his duty to the Watanabe family, or indictments of the Nakayama “barbarians” will eventually get to the old man. They will do so much sooner if he is able to enjoy a nice pot of Gyokuro tea while listening to them.

The retired samurai’s stats are presented below in case the seekers offend him or attempt to abduct him. If a fight breaks out between the seekers and Shoichi, Hito and Jito will arrive in 1D turns to aid their tenant.

Murakami Shoichi, Hermit Samurai (Scale 0)
Might 3D+1 Agility 3D+1 Wit 4D Charm 3D+1
Skills: Sword 5D+1, Naginata 5D+1, Dodge 5D+1, Bow 5D+1, Tactics 7D, Strategy 7D, Leadership 6D+1
Gear: Naginata (+3D), Katana (+2D+2), Heavy Furs (+2 armor)
Static: Dodge 16, Block 10, Parry 16, Soak 10 (2)

Once Shoichi has been convinced to return to Watanabe Castle, it can be safely assumed that he devises a brilliant defensive strategy and the Nakayama invasion is repelled. Those who returned the old man to assist his Lord are feted and rewarded appropriately. Or, if the GM desires, the entire campaign against the Nakayama could be played out. But that’s as far as this five room “dungeon” goes.

5 Room Dungeon: The Pyramid Of Kheptah Atemu

Wherein your humble scribe presents a Five Room Dungeon for use with Mini Six, with some creation help from the random tables in D6 Fantasy Locations. This is, of course, largely compatible with D6 Fantasy as well.

Deep within the scorched desert men call Behtep Seretu one will find the great pyramid of Kheptah Atemu, the long-dead Pharaoh of ancient Khemset. Legend tells of a great treasure that was entombed with the Pharaoh – an amulet in the likeness of a scarab, created by the god Khepri himself, that greatly extends the life of its wearer. Like all Pharaohs, Kheptah Atemu must also have been sent to the afterlife with countless artifacts and a kingdom’s worth of gold. True, the legend mentions some kind of curse as well, but those stories are just told to keep away the cowardly, aren’t they? And you, my bloodthirsty gang of tomb robbers, are anything but cowardly.

Room One: Entrance and Guardian(s)

Rising only half its height from the sands in which nine centuries’ worth of storms have buried it stands the great pyramid. A grand archway yawns blackly, inviting the would-be tomb robbers to enter. The climb to reach this doorway is child’s play for any skilled raider. Yet, as the entrance is approached, something strange happens. The faded hieroglyphics depicting the jackal-headed Children of Anubis standing guard on either side of the archway shimmer and begin to move. They detach themselves – paper thin, yet as real as thirst – from the stone walls and attack!

Children Of Anubis (Scale 0)
Might 4D Agility 3D Wit 1D Charm 1D
Skills: Sword 6D, Dodge 6D
Gear: Khopesh (+2D+2)
Static: Dodge 18, Block 12, Parry 18, Soak 12

Room Two: Puzzle or Roleplaying Challenge

The entrance of the pyramid is an enormous, hieroglyphic-covered hallway that descends at a gentle slope, switching back on itself often and abruptly. After a significant amount of this travel, the tomb robbers reach a large, spherical room, across which there is no bridge. A tall, wide spire rises from the center of floor of this room, and runs all the way to the ceiling. A doorway that matches the one the thieves are standing in lies directly across from where the party stands.

Surely there must be some kind of puzzle here, and indeed there is. A Lore check (TN 15) will allow the tomb robbers to recall that at every switchback they passed through on their way here there was a specific, distinctive hieroglyph that appeared nowhere else along the way. Each of these symbols marks an otherwise impossible to see pressure plate. If each plate is depressed in the order they are encountered from the entrance on down the spire will rotate within the circular room such that it will serve as a bridge across the room to the doorway on the other side.

Room Three: Trick or Setback
Deeper within the hallways of the pyramid the raiders encounter a “wall” of fist-sized stone scarabs that continuously rain down from the ceiling and vanish through a narrow drain in the floor. The scarabs fall with alarming velocity, doing 9D damage to anyone who sticks an appendage into the curtain of rain. Any weapon, pole, or other item inserted into the falling scarabs will quickly be battered beyond use. Light and a continuation of the hallway can be occasionally glimpsed through brief gaps in the rain of scarabs.
Upon further inspection it can be noted that a very narrow path may be navigated through the falling scarab stones. To do so requires a series of three Contortion checks against a TN of 15+ the number of dice the character has in Might. Failure results in 3D damage and a retreat by one step, such that the number of Contortion checks needed returns to its previous value.

Once a character has made it through this obstacle and reached the other side, a row of three levers can be seen further down the hallway. When set to the proper sequence (Up/Down/Up) the rain of scarabs will cease for a brief period during which two people may cross the “wall.” A third person attempting to cross must make an Agility check vs TN 13 or be caught in the restarted rain of scarabs, taking 3D damage. Fourth and subsequent individuals may not cross (without taking the 9D damage, that is) until the levers have been set to turn the rain off again.

Room Four: Climax, Big Battle, or Conflict

The burial chamber of Kheptah Atemu is large and airy. Sunlight fills the room, streaming in from carefully crafted shafts built into the pyramid itself. The room is also completely silent – having been enchanted to eliminate all sound. In addition to making communication between tomb robbers quite difficult, this divine silence prevents the casting of any spells within the confines of this room.

These serene beauty of the scene is marred by jarring evidence of a long-passed massacre. Multiple skeletons, some dressed in the garb of burial attendants, some seeming to have been royalty as indicated by their accoutrements, lie strewn about the room, their bones shattered, their skulls fractured, and so on.

A beautiful lapis and gold sarcophagus decorated with numerous scarab designs stands at the center of this room. A Lore check (TN 12) reveals that the ancient Khemseti held the scarab to be a sign of rebirth. Those opening the sarcophagus (Lift check TN 30 – up to 4 characters may add their Lift rolls together to remove the heavy golden lid) will soon discover just how real the belief in rebirth can be, as the mummified body within the sarcophagus returns to life and attacks the thieves.

Kheptah Atemu, Mummified Pharaoh (Scale 0)
Might 5D Agility 1D Wit 1D Charm 1D
Skills: Brawling 7D, Dodge 2D
Gear: Scarab Amulet Of Khepri (+6 armor, allows wearer to regenerate)
Static: Dodge 6, Block 21, Parry 15, Soak 15 (6)

The Scarab Amulet, worn by the mummified Kheptah Atemu, provides divine armor and allows its wearer to regenerate, but it does so at a great cost. Whosoever wears this amulet cannot remove it and will return from death each time he dies with a permanent, cumulative 1D reduction to all Attributes. Only when all Attributes have reached 0D will the wearer truly die. So deceased, the wearer will become a mummy (as the one above) bereft of free will and incapable of any action other than horrific, unstoppable violence directed towards any and all – friend or foe. In this state only can the wearer be killed and the Amulet removed.

Room Five: Reward, Revelation, Or Plot Twist

It is true that Kheptah Atemu was buried with a kingdom’s worth of gold. Numerous golden idols, statues, and trinkets are kept within a secret room located just off the main burial chamber. This room can be found with a Search check against TN 20. In addition to the valuable treasure – which is too much for any small group to carry easily or far in the Behtep Seretu desert – a papyrus scroll is found that, if it can be deciphered (Lore check, TN 25), tells the story of the Amulet of Khepri and what befell Kheptah Atemu as he wore it.

This room has been trapped to release a dehydrating dust upon all who enter it. The trap may be discovered and disarmed with a Traps roll against TN 22. If not disarmed, it will activate and each person exposed to the dust must succeed in a Stamina check against TN 20 or become afflicted with an unslakable thirst. Afflicted thieves will immediately become Wounded and will continue to decline along the Wound Level track one step per hour until they perish unless they can consume 5 gallons of water within 5 hours – a difficult proposition this deep in the desert. A more disturbing cure is to consume 1 gallon of fresh human blood, which those afflicted will actively thirst for.

5 Room Dungeon: The Temple Of Vashti Nimarita

Wherein your humble scribe presents a Five Room Dungeon for use with Mini Six, with some creation help from the random tables in D6 Fantasy Locations. This is, of course, largely compatible with D6 Fantasy as well.

In the jungle city of Kharasoo there is a temple dedicated to Vashti Nimarita, the goddess of glorious & lustful battle. The priestesses who tend this temple have captured and enslaved a Naga Demon to guard their holiest treasures, which are said to include more than 10,000 rupees and weapons once wielded by Vashti Nimarita herself in the great battle against the Utosh. Desperate thieves, or perhaps non-believers from the outside world, might be tempted to sack the temple and take what treasures can be hauled away…

Room One: Entrance and Guardian(s)

Much of the temple is open and accessible, though well-armed or armored individuals, especially males, will likely draw attention. Beyond the three great courtyards and the seven silver fountains one will find a well-guarded entrance to the heart of the temple. Four guards and an attending priestess are always present here, to discourage any would-be trespassers. The guards and priestess are more than willing to engage in battle, though they have been ordered to use other methods to keep intruders away if at all possible. Their appealing, naked, and henna-covered bodies tend to make this easy more often than not.

Sanshara, Neshali, Tapanji, and Sanjeeta, Temple Guards (Scale 0)
Might 2D+1 Agility 3D Wit 2D Charm 2D+2
Skills: Sword 3D+1, Dagger 3D+1, Dodge 4D, Throwing 4D, Lore 3D, Command 3D+2, Seduce 3D+2
Gear: Nair Temple Sword (+2D+1), Kukri (+1D), Chakram (+1D+1)
Static: Dodge 12, Block 8, Parry 10, Soak 8

Swali Jagra, Attending Temple Priestess (Scale 0)
Might 2D Agility 2D Wit 4D Charm 3D
Skills: Dagger 3D, Dodge 4D, Throwing 3D, Lore 6D, Magic 6D, Seduce 4D
Perks: Sorcerer
Gear: Phurba (+1D+1), Chakram (+1D+1)
Spells: Bless, Charm, Fly, Petrify, Shape Change, Slumber
Static: Dodge 12, Block 6, Parry 9, Soak 6

Room Two: Puzzle or Roleplaying Challenge

The first inner sanctum of the temple is watched over by the spirits of Gheeta, capricious wind elementals who are the only creatures capable of manipulating the wind-locks that seal this room from the deeper portions of the temple. Only by persuading the Gheeta that they should allow passage through the wind-locked door can a party of thieves hope to proceed. A successful Lore check against TN 20 will reveal the legend that Gheeta desperately long to be human and can become so – for brief periods at least – if given a bowl of honey. Surely these creatures would bargain for passage?

Room Three: Trick or Setback

The second inner sanctum of the temple is trapped! The door to this large room will slam shut once a single person has crossed the midline and will then quickly fill with sand, trapping and killing any who occupy it. The only way to stop this flow of sand is to hurl a chakram into a specific slot hidden in the far wall. A Traps roll against TN 18 will identify the mechanism and target for shutting off the trap itself. A Throwing check vs TN 24 is necessary to throw the chakram accurately enough to stop the trap. Two minutes (12 rounds) is all the time thieves will have before they are buried alive.

Room Four: Climax, Big Battle, or Conflict

The fourth great courtyard is now all that stands between temple robbers and their goal. It is here that the priestesses of Vashti Nimarita have bound the Naga Demon Vikram Kirat. This terrible creature possesses the head of a giant, stunningly beautiful human male attached to the body of a tremendous snake. Vikram Kirat speaks with a deep, soothing voice and attempts to persuade all who enter the room into giving up their souls to it in exchange for a great reward. Those who strike this bargain with the demon are instantly destroyed on this plane of existence and suffer a fate that will never be known here. Those who refuse must ultimately engage the Naga Demon in direct combat.

Vikram Kirat, Naga Demon (Scale +2D)
Might 5D Agility 3D Wit 2D Charm 5D
Skills: Brawling 6D, Dodge 4D, Throwing 4D, Command 6D, Diplomacy 6D, Persuasion 6D
Perks: Energy Blast (4D damage/Throwing skill)
Static: Dodge 12, Block 18, Parry 15, Soak 15

Instead of suffering wound level penalties in combat, the Naga Demon gains equivalent bonuses and cannot be incapacitated (though it does gain the +3D bonus at that stage), only killed. If killed, the Naga Demon is released from its bindings to the temple and will turn to dust and blow away, only to reform some other place in 99 days.

Room Five: Reward, Revelation, Or Plot Twist

Temple thieves who reach this room are rewarded for their efforts by the sight of more than 10,000 rupees and a small arsenal of magically enhanced weapons (+1D to hit, +1D damage in most cases, though possibly some stronger or weaker variations are present).

Any females who take from this treasure are, in a brief and painful flash of light, marked with permanent henna-like tattoos that identify them as priestesses of Vashti Nimarita. Any males who take from this treasure are instantly – and just as painfully – transformed into such henna-inked females.

Thieves can be returned to normal by the successful casting of a Dispel Magic spell against TN 25.

BRP Bestiary: Flail Snail!

Wherein your humble scribe presents a classic weird-ass AD&D monster written up for Basic RolePlaying. He’d change the name to avoid litigation, but really, you just can’t come up with a better name than Flail Snail. Club Slug might have worked but for the shell.

Flail Snails are large, slimy mollusks with multiple flail-like tentacles rising from their heads. Their shells are brightly-colored and unnaturally magic resistant. In addition to this magic resistance, flail snails are completely immune to poison and only suffer 1/4 damage from any fire-based attack. Flail Snails are very sensitive to bright lights and will not be found outside during daylight hours. Further, they will retreat from any light source brighter than a torch or lantern.

A dying flail snail may emit a piteous wail that has a 50% chance of drawing the attention of another monster in the area. Then again, it might not.

Flail Snail, Absurdity Mollusk-onified

STR 4d6+12 (26)
CON 4d6+6 (20)
SIZ 4d6+11 (25)
INT 2
POW 3d6+6 (16-17)
DEX 1d6 (3-4)
MOV crawl-4

Average HP: 23
Average Damage Bonus: +2d6
Morale: 50%

Armor: 2d12-2

Attacks: Flail 25%, damage 1d4 + db
A Flail Snail has 1 flail per 5 HP and can attack with each one once per round. These attacks can be directed independently. Each 5 HP of damage sustained by a Flail Snail reduces the number of flail attacks it has available by 1.

Skills: Dodge 5%, Climb 35%, Sense 75%, Spot 20%, Track 30%

Powers:

Magic Resistance – Any person casting a spell at a flail snail must succeed at a Power Point:Power Point resistance roll or the spell will fail. On a fumbled Resistance roll the spell is redirected back at the caster.

A Brief, Slightly Spammy Appeal

Hey folks. If any of you aren’t already using Dropbox to store files online and are looking for a better solution to sharing stuff than any of the really annoying pop-up heavy Media Fire type sites, please consider signing up for Dropbox using my buddy link. If you do, we both get an extra 250 MB of storage space, which is a nice thing. You get 2GB for free, and can opt to buy more should you need it. But for general purpose usage, the 2GB plan seems quite solid.

I’ve been very pleased with Dropbox and find it a good place to back stuff up (like the PDFs some of you other blogheads so generously share with the world). And you can easily share or not share stuff you store there on a case-by-case basis. And, as I referenced above, if you are sharing something from there your sharees don’t have to deal with the annoyances that come with places like Media Fire. I’m not really using it for sharing since I can host stuff freely here at strangestones.com, but one never knows when one might need such a thing.

You can also easily access stuff you store at Dropbox from an iphone or ipad (and maybe other smartphones, I’m not sure), which makes it a nice way to get to PDFs of rulebooks and stuff, too.

Ok, begging and spieling over. We now return you to your regularly-scheduled geek blogging 🙂

Local Trouble Yields Adventure Opportunities

Wherein your humble scribe, drawing on the “All The Dice” random generator concept (tip of the hat to Grim), presents a random table for your nerdly needs. This table is built for Labyrinth Lord + Advanced Edition Companion. You should be able to tweak it to your needs for just about any other old school fantasy RPG, though.

It’s a brand new year, which might just mean you’re looking to kick off a new campaign. If not, you might still need a starting point for a new adventure or two. In any case, this handy table can help you put together the bones of a mission for your rag-tag band of murderous hoboes no matter what kind of community they’ve stumbled into. So grab those dice, give ’em all a good roll, and see what the locals need done (and what they’re willing to hand over to the first group of fools who actually do it).

Who is having the trouble? 1d4
1 Townsfolk or Farmers
2 Clergy or Scholars
3 Merchants or Miners
4 Royalty or Leaders

Strength of threat (may represent number as well), 1d6
1 Significantly weaker than characters
2 Slightly weaker than characters
3 Approximately same as characters
4 Approximately same as characters
5 Slightly stronger than characters
6 Significantly stronger than characters

Location of threat, 1d8
1 Immediate vicinity (in town, just outside the monastery, etc.)
2 Nearby (1/2 day journey or less)
3 Close (2 day journey or less)
4 Not Far (4 day journey or less)
5 Far (1-2 week journey)
6 Distant (multiple month journey)
7 Hard-to-reach (under water, in the sky)
8 Very hard-to-reach (on another plane/world/etc.)

Nature of Trouble, 1d10
1 Have stolen a thing of great value
2 Have stolen a magical thing
3 Are disrupting trade/travel
4 Are disrupting normal activity
5 Have kidnapped a person of some importance
6 Have kidnapped a person of little influence
7 Are demanding tribute or they will… (roll again using 1d6)
8 Are constantly raiding
9 Are the source of a plague/disease
10 Are drawing the attention of a second source of trouble with their presence (roll a second d20)

Reward for Ending the Trouble, 1d12
1 A small sum of coins
2 A cherished non-magical heirloom
3 A small favor owed
4 Useful knowledge (a map, a legend, etc.)
5 A reasonable sum of coins
6 A low-powered magic item
7 A reasonable favor owed
8 A work of great art or craftsmanship
9 An extravagant sum of coins
10 A powerful magic item
11 A large favor owed
12 Roll twice using 1d8 each time, add results

Type of Threat, 1d20
1 Lycanthropes (wererats, weretigers, etc.)
2 Humanoid monsters (goblins, gnolls, etc.)
3 Humans or Demihumans (thieves, highwaymen, etc.)
4 Undead (skeletons, wights, etc.)
5 Humanoid monsters (orcs, ogres, etc.)
6 Non-humanoid monsters (owlbears, giant ants, etc.)
7 Humans or Demihumans (spellcasters, shamen, etc.)
8 Demons or Devils
9 Lycanthropes (wererats, weretigers, etc.)
10 Undead (zombies, vampires, etc.)
11 Non-humanoid monsters (bulette, naga, etc.)
12 Dragons
13 Undead (specters, wraiths, etc.)
14 Humans or Demihumans (spellcasters, shamen, etc.)
15 Humanoid monsters (orcs, ogres, etc.)
16 Roll again twice using 1d6 each time, add results
17 Roll again three times using 1d6 each time, add results
18 Roll again twice using 1d8 each time, add results
19 Roll again three times using 1d8 each time, add results
20 Roll again twice using 1d12 each time, add results

Some Sample Adventure Opportunities

  • While waiting around Luem for everyone to heal up from their last foray into the Caverns of Ice, a member of the local Scholars’ Guild approaches the party. It seems that a bloodthirsty gang of devils made off with the Guild’s Candles of Wisdom and taken those magical treasures to an abandoned monastery they use as a base on this plane. It is a perilous, multiple month journey to reach the devil’s demesne, but if the heroes will undertake this quest they will be rewarded with a beautifully-crafted Carpet of Flying and a reasonable sum of coins.
  • Reaching the town of Tion’s Pass, the heroes discover that town has been overrun with miners who have been forced to flee their mines due to the constant raids of a small band of Troglodytes. If the party can defeat these foes and clear the mines the miners will owe them a large favor, perhaps providing them with the rare ore the need to forge a weapon of great power.
  • The townsfolk of Mittbridge have a problem. Actually, they have lots of problems. It seems that Black Edna and her gang of thieves have managed to annoy the normally peaceful wereboar clan that lives in the nearby woods. Worse still, they’ve also taken to robbing the graves at the old cemetery, and all those freshly unearthed bodies have drawn the attention of a band of ghouls. The citizens of this troubled little hamlet have pooled together a reasonable sum of coins to pay some fine group of adventurers to deal with Black Edna and her minions, smooth things over with the wereboars, and eliminate the danger of the ghouls.

The only thing I didn’t force into this table was a specific way of deciding whether or not things were as they seemed and/or on the up-and-up. I figure that’s best left to the individual GM. But, if you really want to randomly determine that kind of thing, I’d say roll a d4 and on a 4 then there’s some kind of trickery involved in the set up. Adjust for the honesty level of your world as needed 🙂

2010 Year In Review

Ladies and Gentlemen, 2010 has left the building. On momentous occasions such as these we humans really get off on looking back and taking stock of the year that we endured. We also like to look forward, predicting the year that we will endure. So in that fine tradition, here’s the Strange Stones 2010 Year In Review.

Where Have You Been, My Blue-Eyed Son?

What have I done with the time I’ve sunk into Strange Stones? Well, as far as putting out content goes:

I also got to play host to the design diaries for Barbarians of Heavy Metal (thanks, Nathaniel!) and turned some folks on to The Sword. I got to see (and film) Michael Moorcock doing a reading and share some of that with my readers. I made some friends (cheers, Gobbo and G-Man and Mike and Geordie and anyone else I’ve left out!) and generally had a good time. All in all, not bad for 10 months of doing in public what I normally do in private, I think.

After starting out as a hosted WordPress.com blog I moved to my own self-hosted WordPress install at StrangeStones.com. In case you never quite understood why I did that, let’s just say that I’m a Texan and we tend to prefer not having people tell us what colors we can and can’t paint our houses.

I flirted with a couple of other mediums, primarily Tumblr and Twitter. Neither of these went very far in expanding my audience, nor did they seem to provide any additional benefit to the folks who are already getting whatever it is they get out of visiting Strange Stones. So while I won’t be closing up shop at these places, I expect I’ll continue my relatively minimal exertion of effort regarding them as well.

What’ll You Do Now, O Venomous One?

So where am I going now? Well, I intend to make a concerted effort to finish out the Demons of Adad Untash and Tlactoztlan. I can’t say they’ll be done right away, but those two things are definitely solid goals that I aim to accomplish sooner rather than later. And once they’re done content-wise, I plan to put both things together as PDFs for distribution. I’m probably not going to go whole hog on those with art and such, and consequently I probably won’t try to sell them through Lulu or anything. But I would like to have them as convenient downloads rather than just a series of scattered blog posts.

Along with those, I’m sure I’ll keep pumping out random monsters, NPCs, scenario tidbits, and such. I also suspect that I’ll find some new projects on the order of Adad Untash and Tlactoztlan to build out, but at present I don’t know what they’ll be. With Mesopotamian and MesoAmerican in the can I’ll have to find some other Meso- culture to explore 🙂

They Say That System Matters

And I generally don’t believe them when they do. I can run any damned game I desire using any old system I pick up off the shelf and it will be fun. But that’s not what I’m here to talk about (Strange Stones isn’t really an RPG theory site, in case you hadn’t noticed). Nope, this section is here to highlight the systems that I think I’ve fully settled into for both playing and writing. And while I’m always open to a new system or two, these are the key systems you can expect to see me talk about and/or monkey with for the foreseeable future:

  • Labyrinth Lord/Advanced Edition Companion
    It’s just so easy to write for, and it represents the World’s Most Popular RPG quite well (especially if you consider its compatibility with other retroclones and their source material).

  • Basic RolePlaying
    This is the game I run most because, as I’ve noted elsewhere, it’s the one my players prefer. And that’s cool, because I truly dig it, too. Viva BRP!

  • Barbarians of Lemuria (and its derivatives)
    Good god, I just love the simplicity of the BoL system. It’s a snap to write for and, as I mentioned a while back, it’s easy for me to “think in BoL” and “act in BRP” with just a little conversion. Now if only I could get my players more interested in it.

  • Mini Six
    It’s so light and hackable I just want to tear it apart and put it back together, like Legos or Tinker Toys. And it’s different enough from the other games I dig that it makes a nice escape. Also, since I have exactly zero prior experience with the D6 system, I have no preconceived notions about what can and can’t be done with it.

  • (Classic) Traveller
    I don’t really play Traveller anymore, but it’s just such a great way to break out of writers’ block, with all its random charts and stuff. And it’s fun, too.

  • Mutant Future
    This is, at present, the game I’m taking part in most as a player. I’m not sure I’ll ever run it (situational, not taste-related), but it, like LL, is easy to write for.

That’s six systems, and that’s probably enough for any one person to be focused (for some value of focus) on. Any more than that and I think I risk drowning. That said, I’m not entirely well known for my ability to focus, so don’t expect that those are all you’ll ever see here. At the very least, I’m bound to whip up a couple of additional Where No Man Has Gone Before characters when the mood strikes. I might even do some more stuff for a BoL- or BRP-powered Mythic Russia.

It’s A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall

Or, A Brief Divergence Into Some Thoughts On The Old School Renaissance And Me

It is my personal opinion that things have gotten pretty fractured (and in certain corners, at certain times, downright fractious) in the thing they call the OSR. And that means, for my own sake and to my own tastes, I have to make some tough choices on which games I want to spend my time and money on.

All of the “These rules! No wait, this publisher! No, that publisher with those rules and this other cover!” stuff with Swords & Wizardry has grown really tedious and put me off my feed. Or, more plainly, I no longer feel the warmth I used to feel for S&W. It’s just gotten too jumbled for me to continue focusing on it. Plus, to be honest, my players are not keen on the ultra barebones nature of S&W and I’m not of a mindset to flesh it out for them. If I wanted to take a skeleton and build it up into my dream system I’d start with something that wasn’t class-based D&D at its core (hello, BRP and Mini Six). Still, I hope the S&W players out there can make use of the stuff I’ve already done for it as well as the easily convertible LL content I have and will produce. I wish everyone involved with S&W well and I’ll happily buy them a drink at NTRPG Con if I make it up to Dallas this year. I’m not condemning the game. I’m just saying it’s not the game for me.

The addition of Dark Dungeons to the fray only exacerbates things in my mind. I’ve looked DD over, and it’s just not my cup of tea. It emulates an iteration of Dungeons & Dragons that I never played and have precious little interest in. Sure, that version is quite close to the versions I’m fond of, but it’s definitely a road I’m not looking to travel. But if it brings joy to people, good for it and good for them. Just don’t expect to see me say much more about it than I just did.

I freely admit that ORSIC calls to me (and always will) since I love the arcane nature of 1st Edition AD&D. It was my first “real” game – by which I mean it was the first game I played with people who knew what they were doing, as opposed to Moldvay Basic, which was me fumbling around like a virgin monkey. But in spite of (or because of) those awkward moments with B/X, I’m still fond of that flavor of D&D and Labyrinth Lord, combined with the Advanced Edition Companion, lets me scratch both Basic and Advanced itches quite nicely. So OSRIC sits there as a shiny, complex thing I like to see on my shelf but am not so inclined to take down and play with lest I get a nasty pinch from all those gears.

All of those things are what have lead me to my decision to work primarily with Labyrinth Lord/Advanced Edition Companion when I do things that can be considered OSR stuff. I learned to play with Moldvay Basic and then cut my teeth on AD&D. LL/AEC lets me have the best of both of those worlds easily (and in nice packages, too).

But Really, How Classless Can I Be?

Nicely mirroring my early days in the hobby, I find myself growing weary of class-based systems. When the retroclones first appeared I was excited by the thought of returning to the simpler, archetype-based models of gaming that the main pillars of the OSR/clone movement seek to emulate. But after a while I began to itch to revert to skill-based games that don’t rely on the class construct to enforce niche protection (or any of the other fancy design speak that comes with classes). I mean, the game I really grew up on was The Fantasy Trip, after all. So when I play or run games, I almost invariably lean towards the non-class games on that list up there. It doesn’t hurt that my group remains strongly anti-class-based in their tastes as well.

That said, in the BRP Fantasy game I’m in the midst of using to introduce some new folks to our geeky little hobby I am drawing heavily from the outstandingly well done BRP Classic Fantasy to give something of a D&D feel to the game to help the new folks find those niches and work within them. Of course, what I actually did was use CF to make a BRP-powered TFT-style game with D&D spells that uses a magic points system instead of a Vancian approach to magic. In other words, I hacked together bits from some of my favorite games over the course of the years into a system I wanted to run and that I felt (and have since proven) was easy for this particular group of new players to learn and get into. Fingers crossed that this particular game thrives.

But What About That Arabian Nights Thing?

The regular readers out there are aware that I’ve been running a BRP-powered Arabian Nights-themed game. We’re not quite done with the story arc (yes, this thing has a story arc and isn’t a sandbox – how painfully new school of me), but when we do wrap things up I’m likely to call this one done. It’s been a lot of fun, and we’ve gotten some memorable events and characters and NPCs out of the run. But ultimately it’s just a one-shot that went long due to us old dudes not having enough time to bang out 8 hour sessions anymore. So eventually something else will rise to take its place. But there’s no telling what that will be.

In Conclusion

Geek blogging over most of the past year has been a fun and enjoyable hobby. It is one I expect I will continue to pursue, but not to the exclusion the other ways I like to pass my time. I’m not here to win any prolific or profound blogger awards. I’ll leave that stuff up to the other guys out there. Heaven knows there’s some good reading to be had on the internet, and I’m grateful for the quality stuff folks are putting out there for free. I’m just here doing my thing as I feel the need.

Once again, I’d like to thank the folks who read this blog. Odds are I’d be writing at least some of this stuff anyway, but being able to share it with friends and strangers sure makes it more compelling to me to keep doing. I’ll be back in a day or two or three with something new for you to take and use as you see fit. Also, I’m sure I’ll see some of you kids out there on the various geek forums. That’s a habit I wish I could kick, but I just don’t seem to be able to no matter how hard I try.

Happy New Year, everyone. Here’s to hoping you all have a wonderful 2011!

Happy New Year!

This post is set to go off at midnight Central Standard Time, so forgive me if I’m early or late with my wishes to you and yours. I’m most definitely not at the wheel right now (in any sense of the phrase) – I’m out playing board games and eating enchiladas with my beloved wife and some very good friends. I’ll probably be hung over in the morning and won’t post anything, but you never can tell with me.

So happy new year one and all. To celebrate, I’ll share a touch of my dabbling with the world famous Stylophone…

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Here’s to a great 2011!