Vanthian Prior Career Charts

By: Unknown on 07:43

WARRIOR
01-05 God City Starmerc
06-10 member of a Blackhawk Free Company (50% license revoked)
11-15 survivor of General Zo's Thunder Legion (34% suspected of treachery)
16-20 member of disbanded Steel Warlords Bastard Band (choose instrument)
21-25 Knight in service to the Lord of Crane
26-30 Knight in service to the Lord of Noth
31-35 Knight in service to the Hoarfrost King
36-40 Knight in service to the Zombie Princess
41-44 soldier in the Invincible Hosts of the Hobling Emperor
45-48 Viraxian Stormtrooper
49-52 God City Militia (half starting money)
53-56 Waepetian Palisade Guard
57-60 Sulduku Dervish (5% hunted by Holy Assassins)
61-63 Shunned Towns Axe Murderer (25% license revoked)
64-67 Phasic Swampwretch
68-70 Bleak Mountains Maniac
71-73 God City Sewer Psycho
74-77 Forbidden Wastes Road Warrior (12% bike)
78-80 Dino Islands Ape Cultist
81-87 Parathaxian Horde survivor (7% scarred)
88-93 Northern Mountain Hillbilly
94-00 Funfair Nomad

WARLOCK
01-03 Shunned Towns Unholy Roller (3% unicycle)
04-07 Phasic Swampwitch
08-11 Bleak Mountains Hermit
12-14 God City Voice Hearer (11% others can hear)
15-18 Dino Islands Kongpope
19-22 Forbidden Wastes Omega Zealot
23-25 Parathaxian Schismatic
26-29 Northern Mountain Wendigo Whisperer
30-33 Funfair Tent Revivalist
34-40 studied under an Ape Vizier
41-46 washed out of Waepetian College of Sorcery
47-53 Associates Degree for the Mystic Arts, Blackhawk Community College (8% fake)
54-60 Viraxian Illuminati (77% renegade)
61-67 studied at the Nothian Tower of Ensorcelment (54% outcast)
68-75 God City Computomage
76-83 Suldukan Glyph Master
84-91 Dreamer at the Angel Barrows
92-00 Funfair Tattoomancer

CRIMINAL
01-09 Minor scion of a Slaver King (6% legitimate)
10-17 Funfair Freak Wrangler
18-25 Limbjacker (7% d3 spare limbs)
26-33 Ice Pimp
34-39 Suldukan Hashisheen (d6 doses)
40-47 God City Made Man
48-55 Blackhawk Thieves Guildman
56-63 Viraxian Killsquadder
64-68 West Road Toll Collector
69-73 Blacksteel Buccaneer
74-78 Spineywood Merryman
79-84 Unknown Highwayman
85-88 Bloodhaven Sausage Maker
89-92 God City Punker
93-96 Funfair Roustabout
97-00 Faerie Smuggler

DOXY
01-05 God City Socialator
06-10 Icy Lake Houri
11-15 Blackhawk Streetwalker
16-20 Surprise Limb Lady (d3 random limbs)
21-25 Bloodhaven Wench
26-30 Iron Kingdom Beardlass (free false beard if needed)
31-36 Viraxian Harem Girl
37-42 Waepetian Nymphomancer
43-50 Suldukan Nun (2% flying)
51-55 Priss Class Replicant (cyaborg if not robodroid)
56-61 Galaxinoid Astrobabe (cyaborg if not robodroid)
62-67 Rogue Fembot (cyaborg if not robodroid)
68-75 Recalled Massage Droid (cyaborg if not robodroid)
76-80 Suldukan Blessed Ballerina (57% tutu)
81-85 Dino Islands Hula Girl
86-90 Funfair Tattoo Lady
91-95 God City Valley Girl
96-00 Junktech Gypsy Hootchie Mama

PIONEER
01-07 Fissure Guide
08-13 Cave Unhider
14-20 Iron Poacher
21-27 Grounded Spacehopper
28-33 Astro-Scout
34-40 God City Upstation Techno
41-47 Mountaineer, Northern
48-53 Mountaineer, Bleak
54-60 Deadly Mountaineer, Southern
61-65 Salty Bay Seadog
66-70 Dino Islands Paddleboater
71-75 Icy Lake Kayaker
76-80 Sailor on the Sea of Great Peril
81-87 Junktech Gypsy
88-93 Galactic Hitchhiker (50% towel)
94-00 Mysterious Strider (34% hooded cloak)

PSI WITCH
01-15 True Psi Witch
16-29 Esper Corps Cadet
30-43 Vulkinian Academy washout
44-60 Psychic Wars veteran (12% wanted for mindcrimes)
61-75 Hedge Psychic
76-92 squire to a Galactic Psiknight (3% phasic prismatic sword)
93-00 Hypermind Fragment

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The Mutant with the Bionic Nose

By: Unknown on 10:11

Here's a crazy chart from Brian Blume, written for when your Metamorphosis Alpha mutant wanders into an operational bionics lab.  This is one of those tiny little quarter page articles that appeared in the earliest issues of the The Dragon.  In this case, it's issue #13, April 1978.

Die Roll/Replacement/Hit Points/Effect

1-3 One Arm 10 Increases strength. +1 die of damage

4-6 One Leg 10 Increases strength. -1 for opponent to hit. Double speed if both legs.

7-8 One Eye 5 Infra Red & Ultra Violet vision. As Heigh. vision if both eyes.

9-10 One Ear 5 May hear above & below normal ranges. As Heigh. hearing if both ears.

11 Nose 5 As Heigh. smell.

12 Heart 5 Reduces fatigue. 

13 Lungs 5 May extract oxygen from water.

14 Digestion 5 May live on rocks, sand, etc.

15-17 Brain 10 50% chance to forget any given fact or item’s operation each occasion (defect).

18-20 Torso 30 -2 to hit for both player and his opponents.

I don't have a copy of MA in front of me, but Heightened Vision, Hearing and Smell are undoubtedly on the mutations charts.

Does anyone else love how getting a bionic brain is a bad thing?

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"WHY CAN'T YOU KILL THE VILLAIN A NORMAL WAY?" TABLE (d12)

By: Unknown on 13:57

As requested by Zak's Magic RPG 8-Ball.

1. SIDEWAYS IN TIME - Always reincarnates into new form d6 turns after death. Perhaps a Time Lord can assist in cleaning this mess up?
2. ALREADY DEAD - Not a lich, this S.O.B. actually clawed his way back from UltraHades.  Will have to be escorted back to the realm of the dead and incarcerated in Hellking Plutodaemon's Black Adamantine Prison.  But will the Hellking let the PCs back out?
3. DOOMBOTS - The real villain is safely in his lair in the middle of their own personal postage stamp country, somewhere across the ocean.
4. HYPERDIMENSIONAL BODY - What the PCs see is simply the 3-D limb of some fourth or higher dimensional jerkwad.  The 3D body has no vital organs in it.  Perhaps True Seeing or Etherealness can help find a stabbable hyperspleen lurking in N-space.
5. EVIL VIRUS - As villain dies they cough up blood on nearest PC, who becomes the new villain after 2-3 days of flulike symptoms.
6. TRANSGENDER NAZGULISM - Prophecy says villain can be killed by neither males nor females.
7. THAT KRISHNA IS SUCH A CUT-UP - Villain is actually some high-ranking cosmic being trying to teach one of the PCs some obscure point about karma or honor or the circle of life or some crap like that.
8. SOME CRAZY POMO META STUPIDITY - Villain removes mask to reveal he is a fictional character from some novel.  PCs will be unable to kill the villain until they come to terms with their own fictionality.
9. SERIOUS X-MEN SERIOUSNESS - Villain is secretly one of the PC's ancestors, brought to the present by giant time-travelling robots or something.  Kill the villain and the PC ceases to exist, totally wrecking the whole dang campaign world.
10. ACHILLES' JAZZ - Only a critical strike to one secret place will actually hurt this dillweed.  You ever see the kung fu movie Invincible Armor?  The villain could use his kung fu to pull something similar and actually chose to leave his nutsack vulnerable.  That did not end well.
11.  ME AND MY VILLAIN - The villain is actually the shadow of the beardy old wizard or whatever that sent the PCs on this crazy mission seven sessions back.  Maybe they will need to figure out a way to sharpen the shadows of their swords, create spells like shadowball and shadow missile, etc.
12. AWWWWW - Villain is secretly a cute little puppy.

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Giants in the Dying Earth

By: Unknown on 02:00

Once upon a time there was a great gaming magazine called The Dragon, published by a long defunct game company called TSR.  Although its main focus was D&D, in its heyday The Dragon was the definitivee magazine for the entire RPG hobby. Man, those were the days.  During this long-gone golden age there was a regular feature in the mag called "Giants in the Earth".  The title is a Biblical reference, in Genesis chapter 6 these mysterious giants in the earth father a race of half-humans, "the same became mighty men who were of old, men of renown". The articles, which ran from about the mid-twenties to issue fifty-something, as I recall, did not deal with literal giants. Rather they statted up legendary figures from the popular fantasy novels of the era. Nowadays you couldn't get away with that in a legitimate journal, what with our society's growing obsession with intellectual property.  But those were different, weird times.

Anyway, today I wanted to share with you selections from a couple installments in the GitE series, particularly the two instances where Jack Vance's characters are written up in D&D terms.  Since Vancian magic is and pretty much always been a hot button topic in D&D fandom, I find it interesting how some actual Vance characters, and, more importantly, their magical abilities, end up translated into D&D terms.

That's a friggin' Napoleonics
game featured on the cover.
Truly, 'tis a lost era.

First up is Cugel the Clever, star of the third book in the Dying Earth series, Cugel's Saga.  He also appears in Eyes of the Overworld, I believe.  I've never read that one.  Cugel's uncredited (probably by Lawrence Schick and/or Tom Moldvay) write-up in The Dragon #26 (June '79) pegs him as a Thief level 14 with 18 Intelligence and Dexterity.  I believe this article might be the first installment and it really sets the high-power standards for the series.  Also in the article is a version of Karl Edward Wagner's Kane, done as a Fighter 30/Magic-User 20/Assassin 14 with 2 eighteens, a seventeen and a nineteen in his stats.  Anyway, dig this neato passage:

Cugel once had access to the notebooks of lucounu, the Laughing Magician, and managed with great effort to memorize three spells. These are: Felojun’s Second Hypnotic Spell (treat as a hold person), Phandaal’s Mantle of Stealth (by which the caster can be neither seen, heard, nor smelled) and Thasdrubel’s Laganetic Transfer (or The Agency of Far Despatch, which places a hold person on the target until a demon comes and carries him away to some specified far land). Unfortunately, Cugel doesn’t always get the spells right and there is a 50% chance that any spell he uses will backfire and cause the opposite of the intended effect. Every time he blows the Laganetic Transfer he himself gets carried away somewhere else, which is probably how he came to the D&D universe in the first place.

Dig those neato spell names.  Cugel's peek at Iocounu's spellbooks is one of the origins of the thiefly Read Scrolls ability, along with similar shenanigans from the Grey Mouser, if I recall correctly.  The other thing to note here is that not only are the spell descriptions super-brief, they have no level assigned to them.  For an oddball NPC thief that may or may not even have these spells in memory when encountered, this isn't exactly a big deal.  But I always look at articles like this for things to steal for my campaign, so as a kid this lack of detail annoyed me.

Issue #29 follows up with stats for Iucounu the Laughing Magician himself.  This wee git is represented by Lawrence Schick and Tom Moldvay as an MU 20 with an Int 18.  More importantly, despite his level he will only know five spells when encountered, rolled up from the following kickass chart:

1-2: The Charm of Forlorn Encystment: this is the same in all respects as the 9th level magic-user’s spell imprisonment.  

3: The Charm of Untiring Nourishment: by speaking this charm, the magic-user need not breathe, eat or drink while the spell lasts. Duration: 1 turn/level. Casting time: 2 segments.  

4-5: The Excellent Prismatic Spray: This is the same as the illusionist’s 7th level spell in all respects save casting time, which is only 3 segments.  

6: Felojun’s Second Hypnotic Spell: a paralysis spell. Range: 1”/ level. Duration: 1 round/level. Area of effect: 4” diameter sphere. Casting time: 1 segment. Saving throw: neg.  

7: Gilgad’s Instantaneous Galvanic Thrust or the Instantaneous  Electric Effort: this is the same as a lightning bolt in all respects save  casting time, which is only 1 segment.  

8: Houlart’s Blue Extractive: this spell is used to remove a being from its refuge or concealment. If the target fails to save, it will simply fly from its hiding place and land at the feet of the caster. Any being so treated will be stunned for 2-12 rounds. Range: 1”/level. Casting time: 5 rounds. Saving throw: neg.  

9: Houlart’s Visceral Pang: the recipient of this spell will be totally incapacitated by excruciating pains in the abdomen for 1-3 rounds. Range: 9”. Area of effect: 1 creature. Casting time: 2 segments. Saving throw: none.  

10: Lugwiler’s Dismal Itch: the recipient of this spell is cursed with a continual itching over every square inch of his or her epidermis. When in this condition, armor class is two levels worse, all fighting is done at -5, and spell use is impossible. Range: 6”. Duration: until dispelled (remove curse will also work.) Area of effect: 1 creature. Casting time: 3 segments. Saving throw: neg.  

11: Phandaal’s Critique of the Chill: this is the same as the cone of cold spell in all respects save casting time, which is only 3 segments.  

12: Phandaal’s Gyrator: the unfortunate target of this spell is levitated into the air and spun about at any speed the caster desires. At the fastest possible rate of spin, the spinner will take 10 hit points of damage per round due to the centrifugal forces involved. Controlling the spell requires great concentration on the part of the caster. If the concentration is broken, the spell dissipates. Range: 6”. Duration: 1 round/level.  Area of effect: 1 creature. Casting time: 5 segments. Saving throw: none.  

13-14: Phandaal’s Mantle of Stealth: the caster of this spell is rendered invisible, inaudible and odorless; virtually indetectable save to true seeing, a robe of eyes or a gem of seeing (and touch). Any attempts at offensive action on the part of the recipient instantly negate the spell (as with invisibility). Duration: 1 round/level. Area of effect: creature touched. Casting time: 2 segments.  

15: Rhialto’s Green Turmoil: the recipient of this spell is overcome with a violent nausea which totally incapacitates him or her for 2-20 rounds. Range: 5”. Area of effect: 1 creature. Casting time: 2 segments. Saving throw: neg.  

16: Spell of the Macroid Toe: in this specialized polymorph spell, the big toe (or similar extremity) of the creature affected grows to the size of a small house. Range: 4”. Duration: until dispelled. Casting time: 4 segments. Saving throw: neg.  

17: Spell of the Omnipotent Sphere: this combines the effects of the magic-user’s spell anti-magic shell with those of a cube of force. It is a near-total (but non-mobile) protection for the caster. Duration: 1 round/level. Area of effect: 10’ diameter sphere. Casting time: 9 segments.  

18: Spell of the Slow Hour: this spell is similar to the magic-user’s spell, slow, except that it is twice as efficient, and slows the affected creatures to one-quarter the normal or current rate. In all other respects (range, duration, etc.) it is the same.  

19: Temporal Stasis: this spell duplicates the 9th level magic-users’ spell time stop in all respects save name.  

20: Thasdrubel’s Laganetic Transfer or the Agency of Far Despatch: when this spell is uttered, the recipient is bound as if by a hold person spell. A nycadaemon appears (i.e., is gated in), grasps the held recipient and flies him or her either to a point designated by the caster or 10-100 miles in a random direction. Range: 3”. Area of effect: 1 creature. Casting time: 1 round. Saving throw: none. 

This part of the article was obviously written by Law Schick, as that guy is the only person I ever heard of who ever really cared about segments of action.  Well, maybe Len Lakofka liked 'em, too.

Some, off the top of my head uses for the chart:

• Spells for Encounter Critical, which eschew levels already.
• Third level spells for a Holmes-only campaign.
• Spells that appear on ancient scrolls that pre-date spells being divided up into levels.
• Random crap bad guy wizards can throw at the party, the same sort of jerks who use the coolest random chart ever written.

Any other ideas?

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Caves of Myrddin: Everybody get out your d20.

By: Unknown on 11:04

What happened this morning in +Jeff Rients' Wessex campaign?

Roll 1d20
1 - Ool the Dandy, loyal henchman to +Taurus Hell's Heart, was imprisoned.
2 - No one is quite sure, but +Philip the Bloody has a new hydrocephalitic goblin mounted outside his cabin.
3 - +Sir Hugo le Bâtard now bears a hideous scar on his back from one of +Philip the Bloody's infamous phaser blasts.
4 - The party returned with a huge pirate-style chest filled with treasure. Some of it even had the mark of King Arthur.
5 - There are now two less vampires in the dungeon (both were pro-wrestlers).
6 - Several of the party members have horrible acid scars covering their face. They don't want to talk about it.
7 - +Philip the Bloody's new tattoo reads "True Stanist" under a picture of a golden orb spider.
8 - The party encountered strange, mummy-like creatures encased in glass.
9 - The party did battle with a mighty dung-golem. There were no survivors.
10 - Ooluu tested the power of Dagon over the undead. The results were inconclusive.
11 - The dragon has returned, and he is angry.
12 - Rakshasas were actually encountered on the Rakshasa level.
13 - +Philip the Bloody's trusty phaser ran out of batteries.
14 - The goblin henchmen of +Sir Hugo le Bâtard now possess strange, steel gloves mounted with dental equipment.
15 - They party actually entered the caves deep below the castle. There they encountered hideous crabmen.
16 - The party killed a gargoyle using a clever trick.
17 - The things without a face are highly susceptible to fire.
18 - A magic item was discovered (1-3 Excalibur itself 4-5 Merlin's wand 6 something far more stange)
19 - Add moving rocks to St. Serpentor's list of posthumous miracles.
20 - Roll twice, disbelieving both results.

Evan Elkins wrote this in lieu of a standard session report.  Some of it is even true!

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A cool chart missing from B/X & LL

By: Unknown on 10:30

If I had to guess I'd venture that most fans of the non-Advanced versions of D&D have a mechanic or two found in AD&D that they cherish.  For me, it's the chart that comes right after determining that a wandering monster has appeared but before rolling on charts for wandering monsters by level.  I'm not normally a fan of introducing extra steps into simple procedures like the wandering monster check, but I really like that little chart in AD&D and OD&D that you check to see what level wandering monster shows up.  Instead of third level monsters wandering solely on level three, you can get monsters visiting from above or below.  This adds variety and keeps the players on their toes.

So here's the chart I made for Basic/Expert D&D and/or Labyrinth Lord.  I hope the formatting works.

Level of Monster Chart Consulted

Depth Below	1	2	3	4-5	6-7	8+
1	1-4	5	6	-	-	-
2	1	2-4	5	6	-	-
3	-	1	2-4	5-6	-	-
4	-	-	1	2-5	6	-
5	-	-	-	1-4	5-6	-
6	-	-	-	1	2-5	6
7	-	-	-	-	1-4	5-6
8	-	-	-	-	1	2-6
9+	-	-	-	-	-	1-6

The BX/LL wandering monster charts have this oddity where there's just one chart for levels four and five and another chart for levels six and seven combined, which throws off just swiping the AD&D chart.  Also, the AD&D chart is d20 based and I wanted a d6 chart.  Dungeon level 2 on this chart represents the ideal I was shooting for: a 50% chance of using the monster table for the level you're on, and a 1 in 6 chance of using the chart for monsters one above, one below or two below the level.

The DMG notes that number of critters appearing should be scaled by level.  First level monsters found on level 2 will generally appear in twice their usual numbers, fourth level monsters slumming on the third level will have half as many as in their usual group, etc.  A single third level wandering monster will probably be enough to scare the beejesus out of the newbies on level one.

If you use custom wandering monster charts the same effect is easy to achieve.  Just put "Roll on the level 2 chart" onto the level one chart and stuff like that.  That's what I did with this monster chart for one of my con games.

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The Hargrave Descriptionator, part 4

By: Unknown on 02:30

Here's the last piece of random room features inspired by the Arduin modules.  By request, here's all four pieces in a single Google doc.  And while you're grabbing some random charts, here are some quicky gem and jewel charts I whipped up a while back.

d100 OTHER FEATURES
01-02 air glows pale green
03-05 bitter, metallic odor
06-08 blood splattered about
09-11 chandelier(s) with oil lamps
12-13 crystal chandelier
14-15 darkness spell only counterable with a wish
16-18 doors of brass bound oak with ivory skull-themed knockers
19-21 doors of brass bound seasoned oak 18" thick
22-24 doors of burnished copper
25-27 doors of dull iron
28-29 doors of fire-blackened iron
30-32 doors of highly polished bronze
33-34 doors of iron sheathed in tarnished copper
35-36 doors of silver-plated steel
37-39 dust covering everything
40-42 every surface painted with horrible cabalistic designs
43-45 filled with giant toadstools
46-47 glass globe containing neon red gas, illuminating room
48-49 glass orb glowing with daylight equivalent
50-51 green malachite steps up to an altar
52-54 huge masses of cobwebs in corners
55-56 odor of burnt pepper
57-59 odor of rotting meat
60-61 oily quality to the air
62-63 pale blue haze smells of licorice
64-66 pile of bones and rusted weapons/armor
67-69 room filled with glowing golden fog
70-72 room smells of cinnamon and fried chicken
73-75 shattered and partially dissolved bones
76-79 shiny polished sconces every 3'
81-83 smell of licorice
84-85 smell of lilys
86-87 smell of peppermint
88-90 smell of sulphur
91-92 tinkling sound like windchimes
93-96 torches in brass sconces
97-00 white marble pillars

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The Hargrave Descriptionator, part 3

By: Unknown on 07:09

d100 FLOOR
01 3' deep very dry old straw
02-03 3' of brown, mucky water
04-05 4' of dirt over stone
06-07 black basalt with silver and gold flecks
08 black basalt with silver inlay in spiral pattern
09-10 black marble
11-12 black obsidian
13-14 blue marble
15-16 blue painted concrete
17 brilliant green crystal with flickering, dancing points of light
18-19 dry, crumbly red sandstone
20-21 dull red quartz
22-23 dusty granite
24-25 dusty, cracked, crumbling basalt
26 fine red crystal sand
27 fine wool oval rug
28 fire pit with eerie green flames
29-30 fired brick
31-32 glittering mica with strange swirls of green copper
33-34 granite covered with silver leaf
35-36 green nephrite
37-38 green obsidian
39-40 grey granite covered by 4" thick glass
41-42 grey-green malachite
43-44 iron ore
45-46 lavender marble
47-48 loose dirt on rough, grey granite
49-50 low ground fog (3' or so) over slippery wet grey granite
51-52 magical mirror surface
53-54 milky white marble
55-56 mirror polished steel
57-60 nondescript grey stone
61-62 nondescript stone painted pale blue
63-64 old grey iron
65 pale red translucent glass
66 pale violet marble with white swirls and golden flecks
67-68 pale yellow marble
69-70 pearl grey stone
71-72 pitted, corroded, acid-etched bronze
73-74 red carnelian
75-76 red marble with silver swirls
77-78 red, crumbly sandstone
79 rough white quartz with iron pyrite sparkles
80-81 rusty red iron
82 rusty, flaking iron
83-84 shiny steel
85-86 slippery smooth pale blue marble
87-88 smooth pale golden sandstone
89-90 smooth red marble
91 solid granite
92-93 tile mosaic depicting demons slaughtering elves
94-95 tile mosaic of reds whites and blues in a floral pattern
96-97 translucent black obsidian
98 unfinished diamond
99-00 yellow marble with puddle of blood

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The Hargrave Descriptionator, part 2

By: Unknown on 10:30

d100 CEILING
01 6" wide bars of glowing crystal (illuminate room)
02-03 black basalt with red jade inlay depicting giant fanged mouth surrounded by swirling tentacles
04-05 black basalt with silver and gold flecks
06-07 black marble
08-09 black obsidian
10-11 black onyx carved with obscene pictograms
12-13 brilliant green crystal with flickering, dancing points of light
14-15 carved & arabesqued white marble
16-17 copper plated with silver
18-19 covered with lichens, moss & slime
20-21 cracked tan sandstone, dust and debris crumbling down
22-23 crumbling pale golden sandstone
24-25 deep purple marble
26-27 dull red quartz lit from within, filling room with pinkish glow
28-29 dusty granite
30-31 dusty, cracked, crumbling basalt with large, cave-in prone crack
32 eerie green glow
33 fired brick with small jets of blue flame (very hot in here!)
34 granite covered with silver leaf
35 green nephrite painted with hieroglyphs faded into illegibility
36-37 green obsidian
38-39 grey granite covered by 4" thick glass
40-41 grey-green malachite
42 iron ore
43 magical mirror surface
44-45 milky white marble
46-47 mirror polished steel
48-49 natural stone with stalactites so long some nearly reach the floor
50-51 nondescript stone painted pale blue
52-53 old grey iron festooned with spider webs
53-54 old, faded pentagram
55-56 pale blue marble
57-58 pale green marble
59-60 pale red translucent glass
61-62 pale violet jade
63 pale violet marble with white swirls and golden flecks
64-65 pale yellow marble
66-67 pale yellow marble
68-69 pale, streaked green jade
70 patches of slightly phosphorescent lichen
71-72 pearl grey stone
73-74 pitted, corroded, acid-etched bronze
75-76 polished copper
77-78 red marble with silver swirls
79-80 red sandstone
81-82 red, crumbly sandstone
83-84 rough, grey granite
85-86 rusty, flaking iron with faded cabalistic design
87 sequin sparkle stars
88-89 solid granite
90-91 tan granite
92 thick, clear quartz with glowing lava above
93-94 translucent black obsidian
95 unfinished diamond
96-97 wet grey granite slowly dripping water
98 yellow marble with dripping bloodstain on ceiling
99-00 yellow pointed granite

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The Hargravian Descriptionator, part 1

By: Unknown on 08:11

I made this after going over the room descriptions in a couple three of Dave Hargraves' Arduin modules.  Tables for ceilings, floors and miscellany to follow.

d100 WALLS
01-02 black basalt
03 black basalt with silver and gold flecks
04-05 black marble
06-07 black obsidian
08 black onyx carved with obscene pictograms
09-10 blood red jade
11 blue fur!
12-13 blue marble
14 brilliant green crystal with flickering, dancing points of light
15-16 burnished copper
17-18 coal
19-20 covered with lichens, moss & slime
21-22 cracked, crumbling tan sandstone
23 deep red carnelian
24 dry, crumbly red sandstone
25-26 dull red quartz
27-28 dusty granite
29-30 dusty, cracked, crumbling basalt
31-32 fired brick
33-34 glittering mica with strange swirls of green copper
35-36 granite covered with black velvet drapes
37-38 granite covered with silver leaf
39-40 granite covered with tapestries depicting pastoral scenes
41-42 granite painted purple
43-44 green nephrite
45-46 green obsidian
47-48 grey granite behind purple silk drapes
49-50 grey granite covered by 4" thick glass
51-52 grey-green malachite
53-54 iron ore
55 magical mirror surface
56-57 milky white marble
58-59 old grey iron festooned with spider webs
60-61 old, dry pine paneling
62-63 pale blue marble
64-65 pale golden sandstone
66-67 pale red translucent glass
68-69 pale violet marble
70 pale violet marble with white swirls and golden flecks
71-72 pale yellow marble
73-74 pale, streaked green jade
75 paneled with polished cherrywood
76-77 pearl grey stone
78 phosphorescent blue plastic (emits deadly gas if burned)
79-80 pitted, corroded, acid-etched bronze
81-82 polished copper
85-86 polished granite
85-86 red marble with silver swirls
87-88 red painted limestone
89-90 red, crumbly sandstone
91 rough white quartz with iron pyrite sparkles
92-93 rough, grey granite
94 rusty, flaking iron
95-96 solid granite
97 translucent black obsidian
98 unfinished diamond
99-00 wet grey granite with lots of moss

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Wandering Fumbles

By: Unknown on 07:07

Howzabout a post wherein my commenters do all the heavy lifting?  That sounds like a nice lazy-ass way to start the weekend.

A while back I made an off-handed remark about wanting a fumble chart for non-combat situations.

Lasgunpacker asked "Jeff, when would you apply non-combat fumbles?"

Whether Mr. Moscrip still lives
under this bridge is unknown at
the time of this writing.

Michael Moscrip, a.k.a. migellito, a.k.a. The Grumpy Old Troll replied with what I would have said:

I think I'd use the Generic Fumble table as an entry on a wandering monster chart. I always have several non-monster events on my wandering monster tables.

Other things besides monsters that sometimes appear on my Wandering Monster charts include sounds, smells, odd sensations, and dungeon events ("d6 orcs from room 54 go take a leak in hallway 7").

In response to me request Will Douglas, the Coffee Swillin' Analog Gamer, wrote this d30-based Random Mishap chart.  He has some empty slots on his chart, either to be filled in by DM's or left empty for fewer fumbles per session.


And here's Uncle Matt's Generic Non-Combat Fumbles (d12)

1) Torch dropped for no good reason.
2) Stumble and break nose on flagstone.
3) Nasty spores infect the rations.
4) Hip-deep in guano.
5) One of your flasks or bottles breaks and leaks through.
6) A boot dies. Got a replacement?
7) You drop it. Loud, loud clang. Like a dinner bell.
8) Cloak gets tangled in someone's weapon.
9) Spilled backpack.
10) As you stagger, your coins roll out in every direction.
11) Mishandled torch sets someone's Typical Fantasy Hair/Beard on fire.
12) You stumble over an imaginary unseen deceased turtle. Have a good laugh, dust yourself off, and get back out there. Lucky thing this system doesn't have lethal fumbles, eh?

Thanks for the charts, fellas!

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number 20 assumes actual pants pockets...

By: Unknown on 04:56

Earlier today Gameblog reader Logan Smith contacted me looking for a random chart detailing what you found while searching dead humanoids. I know I've seen such things before, but I didn't have one handy. So I whipped this up instead.

What's In the Dead Orc's Pockets? (2d10)
2. mysterious gem inscribed with rune, radiates magic
3. horrifically spiky sex toy
4. membership card for the Faceless Goons Union, Local 342
5. orcish-gnollish phrasebook
6. a dwarf beard or elf scalp
7. scrap of paper marked in orcish “I.O.U. fiddy gold - Hrunk da Ogre”
8. pet rat (2 in 6 chance bitten for 1 dmg, 50% diseased)
9. key to a nearby door or chest (50/50 chance)
10. d6 gold pieces
11. 3d6 silver pieces
12. half eaten onion, turnip, parsnip, etc.
13. pair of knucklebones (50% chance loaded)
14. vial of vile hooch
15. holy symbol of some evil religion, wooden
16. thumbscrews
17. small tin of black lotus powder (d6 doses, the cheap knock-off variety that still gets you high but tends to kill repeat users)
18. treasure map (35% chance ineptly made)
19. small pot of pepper (worth d4gp or so in some pseudo-medieval campaigns)
20. hole in pocket; you just accidentally touched orc nuts, dude!

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Carousing in Wessex

By: Unknown on 07:46

I'm pretty sure my carousing rules (reprinted below the break) are the most widely-used idea I've come up with here on the ol' Gameblog.  If you use them or something similar, it might do you some good to think about what that gold spent actually buys you within the context of the campaign.  Different campaigns will have different luxuries and debaucheries based upon differing economies and extent of trade.  For example, in a game where gold flows freely and a thousand items are imported from across the world, that 100 to 600gp may buy you just enough Black Lotus Powder for the lone carouser to get blasted out of their skull for a single evening.

Looking at the Caves of Myrddin outings, set in fake Cornwall A.D. 1140, a carousing roll basically buys you a large multi-day feast/festival.  Peasants from miles around bring buckets of ale, baskets of bread, armfuls of veggies, strings of fresh fish, and whole beasts poached off some lord's land.  More than a few show up with live animals: chickens, pigs, sheep, etc.  Some of this food is shared with the brothers of the abbey, as any food preparation beyond simple heating by the fireplace requires that it be sent to the abbey kitchens.  Wagons bearing tuns of wine trundle their way across rough Cornish trails.  Additionally, the guest house of the abbey is inundated by minstrels, jugglers, mimes, storytellers, dancers and other entertainers of various levels of skill.

Sometimes, but not always, stronger stuff than wine and ale are available.  Merwik has a line on Welsh whiskey and can occasionally obtain aqua vita (brandy) from an alchemist.  Sometimes a nearby halfling community will send a delegation carrying clay pipes and bundles of pipeweed.  Apple cider and mead are available when in season.  Maybe Dremelza the Witch shows up with her famous henbane homebrew.  If it doesn't kill you it's quite a trip.

Extra candles must be procured for the late nights, as well as replacement furniture and dishes for whatever is broken.  Occasionally a temporary stage needs to be built or a Maypole obtained.  Ewella the Alewife and Merwik the Merchant try their best to manage these affairs, as it allows them to claim some portion of the money exchanged.  In fact, they will happily act as go-between for a large portion of the affair, allowing them to claim even more of that 100 to 600gp.

Merry lads and lasses of several types attend these affairs.  Outright prostitution is uncommon, but some of the travelling performers are subject to improved reaction rolls when showered with gifts, if you catch my drift.  Ewella the Alewife tries to keep her kin away from the drunken embraces of the adventurers, but some of the country youths sneak into the party anyway.  Some of these enthusiastic lads and lasses are 'adventure groupies' seeking secondhand excitement but some of the craftier ones are looking to marry up.

So carousing in Wessex is a public, community affair.  The PC spending the money has a good time, but so do all the other adventurers in the vicinity as do many other people who crash the party (including a few brothers of the abbey who sneak out of there cells).  Anyone carousing even once will be remembered by many in that hex of the overland map as a right worthy old so-and-so.  Once the whole debauch peters out, most folks spend the next day attending Mass in the abbey church.  Some do this to repent the various sins committed during the previous night(s), others just like to keep the abbot on their good side.  Whatever of the 100 to 600gp is unspent by this point goes into the collection box.

Incidentally, the carnival nature of carousing in Wessex is the reason I feel free in blabbing adventure details whenever anyone uses the rules below.  Everyone knows you got the gold for the feast from the dungeons.  You're asked constantly to relate the tale of derring-do that resulted in your riches.  You're already the life of the party, since you're paying for everything.  You're drunk on God knows what.  And this sweet young thing you've been chatting up is gazing at you with that look that tells you you're almost there.  How many days in a row do you think you could resist bragging about your exploits under these circumstances?


Basic Carousing Rules: Spend d6 x 100gp to earn that many XP.  The save versus Poison or roll on the Carousing Mishaps table below.  If you roll more money than you have on hand you now owe the difference to some sort of criminal unless another PC can cover your expenses.

Carousing Mishaps (d20)

1) Make a fool of yourself in public. Gain no XP. Roll Charisma check or gain reputation in this town as a drunken lout.

2) Involved in random brawl. Roll Strength check or start adventure d3 hit points short.

3) Minor misunderstanding with local authorities. Roll Charisma check. Success indicates a fine of 2d6 x 25gp. Failure or (inability to pay fine) indicates d6 days in the pokey.

4) Romantic entanglement. Roll Wisdom check to avoid nuptials. Otherwise 1-3 scorned lover, 4-6 angered parents.

5) Gambling losses. Roll the dice as if you caroused again to see how much you lose. (No additional XP for the second carousing roll.)

6) Gain local reputation as the life of a party. Unless a Charisma check is failed, all future carousing in this burg costs double due to barflies and other parasites.

7) Insult local person of rank. A successful Charisma check indicates the personage is amenable to some sort of apology and reparations.

8) You couldn’t really see the rash in the candlelight. Roll Constitution check to avoid venereal disease.

9) New tattoo. 1-3 it’s actually pretty cool 4 it’s lame 5 it could have been badass, but something is goofed up or misspelled 6 it says something insulting, crude or stupid in an unknown language.

10) Beaten and robbed. Lose all your personal effects and reduced to half hit points.

11) Gambling binge. Lose all your gold, gems, jewelry. Roll Wisdom check for each magic item in your possession. Failure indicates it’s gone.

12) Hangover from hell. First day of adventuring is at -2 to-hit and saves. Casters must roll Int check with each spell to avoid mishap.

13) Target of lewd advances turns out to be a witch. Save versus polymorph or you’re literally a swine.

14) One of us! One of us! You’re not sure how it happened, but you’ve been initiated into some sort of secret society or weird cult. Did you really make out with an emu of was that just the drugs? Roll Int check to remember the signs and passes.

15) Invest all your spare cash (50% chance all gems and jewelry, too) in some smooth-tongued merchant’s scheme. 1-4 it’s bogus 5 it’s bogus and Johnny Law thinks you’re in on it 6 actual money making opportunity returns d% profits in 3d4 months.

16) Wake up stark naked in a random local temple. 1-3 the clerics are majorly pissed off 4-6 they smile and thank you for stopping by.

17) Major misunderstanding with local authorities. Imprisoned until fines and bribes totaling d6 x 1,000gp paid. All weapons, armor, and magic items confiscated.

18) Despite your best efforts, you fall head over heels for your latest dalliance. 75% chance your beloved is already married.

19) When in a drunken stupor you asked your god(s) to get you out of some stupid mess. Turns out they heard you! Now as repayment for saving your sorry ass, you’re under the effects of a quest spell.

20) The roof! The roof! The roof is on fire! Accidentally start a conflagration. Roll d6 twice. 1-2 burn down your favorite inn 3-4 some other den of ill repute is reduced to ash 5-6 a big chunk of town goes up in smoke. 1-2 no one knows it was you 3-4 your fellow carousers know you did it 5 someone else knows, perhaps a blackmailer 6 everybody knows.

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random Cornish names

By: Unknown on 10:23

Since the action in my Wessex campaign has moved to Cornwall, I decided to do a thimblefull of research on Cornish names.  Listed below is what I came up with.  The results aren't as well-targeted on the medieval period as my work on Norman names, but it's good enough for some D&D characters.

Cornish names, male (d100)

1. Aedan
2. Alan
3. Anaoc
4. Benesek
5. Boult
6. Branek/Branok
7. Cadan
8. Cador
9. Carasek
10. Carlyon
11. Casvelyn
12. Carne
13. Clemo(w)
14. Colan
15. Conan
16. Corentyn
17. Cubert
18. Daveth
19. Denzel/Denzil/Danzel
20. Derrick
21. Digory
22. Dofagan
23. Donyerth/Donyarth
24. Edern
25. Ennor
26. Enyon
27. Gawen
28. Gerens
29. Gorran
30. Gurcant
31. Gurcon
32. Guriant
33. Gryffyn
34. Gwithyen
35. Hammitt
36. Hedrek
37. Hedyn
38. Hendra
39. Howel
40. Jacca
41. Jago
42. Jermyn
43. Jory
44. Jowan
45. Keby
46. Kenan
47. Kenver
48. Kenwyn
49. Kernick
50. Kevern
51. Kitto
52. Lanyon
53. Lewyth
54. Locryn
55. Maban
56. Madern
57. Margh
58. Massen
59. Mawgan
60. Medrod
61. Melor
62. Menadue
63. Meriasek
64. Merryn
65. Morcum
66. Myghal
67. Nadelek
68. Neythen
69. Pasco
70. Padern
71. Pasco
72. Peder
73. Pedrek
74. Penrice
75. Perran/Piran/Peran
76. Petrok
77. Remfry
78. Rowse
79. Ruan/Rewan
80. Sithny
81. Talan
82. Talek
83. Tomas
84. Treyfusis
85. Trelawney
86. Tre(y)mayne/Tre(y)main(e)
87. Tresco
88. Trethowan
89. Teudar
90. Treeve
91. Trevelyan
92. Tristan
93. Tyack
94. Ust
95. Vyvyan
96. Wella
97. Wendron
98. Yestin
99. Ythel
100. Zennor


Cornish names, female (d100)

1. Aedoc
2. Arranza
3. Anaguistl
4. Bennath
5. Berlewen
6. Bersaba
7. Beryan
8. Blejan
9. Bronnen
10. Bryluen
11. Caja
12. Chesten
13. Colenso
14. Conwenna
15. Crewenna
16. Delen
17. Demelza
18. Derowen
19. Ebrel
20. Elestren
21. Elowen
22. Endelyon/Endellion
23. Eseld/Esyld
24. Eva
25. Ewella
26. Hedra
27. Jenna
28. Genna
29. Gloiucen
30. Gunnoda
31. Gwen
32. Gwenna
33. Gwennap/Gwenep
34. Gwenneth
35. Gwenno
36. Gwenora
37. Gwin/Gwynne
38. Ienipa
39. Jena
40. Jenifry
41. Jowna
42. Kayna
43. Kelynen
44. Kensa
45. Kerensa/Karenza
46. Kerra
47. Kew
48. Lamorna
49. Loveday
50. Lowenna
51. Mabryn
52. Medguistl
53. Mellyn
54. Melwyn
55. Melyor
56. Meraud
57. Merryn
58. Morenwyn
59. Morva
60. Morvoren
61. Morwenna
62. Newlyna
63. Onwen
64. Pasca
65. Rosen
66. Rosenwyn
67. Rosevear
68. Senara
69. Sidwella
70. Sowena/Sowenna
71. Steren
72. Talwyn
73. Tamsin
74. Tanguistl
75. Tecca
76. Tegen
77. Tressa
78. Ursell
79. Wenna
80. Ygerna/Igerna
81. Ysella
82. -100. reroll


Cornish surnames
 
Like most folk in the period, surnames identify either a parent or a place.  In the first case use [roll1] son of [roll2] or [roll1] daughter of [roll2].  For men you can also use the patronymic 'map', the Cornish equivalent to the 'mac' of Scotland or the "O'" of the Irish, so Talan map Keby might work as a Cornish name.  I don't know the female equivalent.
 
For place-based surnames use the construction "X of Y".  To get the Y part, roll d8 on the chart below:
 
1. Tre-
2. Ros(e)-
3. Pol-
4. Lan-
5. Car-
6. Pen-
7. Nan-
8. Saint [roll another first name]
 
The prefixes need to be attached to something.  I recommend rolling again on one of the first two charts, but truncating or otherwise mangling the results.  E.g. "Lan-" plus "Morvoren" becomes "Lanvoren" or "Lanmor" or something like that.

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Lifestyles of Long-Lived and Pointy-Eared

By: Unknown on 13:45

random architectural features of elf villages (d12)

1. buildings (and most furniture) composed of living trees patiently twisted into useful shapes
2. huts on stilts, the river nearby floods every millennium or so
3. village plan incorporates ruins built by titans
4.  town hall is big Noah-style ark built just prior to sinking of Atlantis, washed inland by tsunami
5. stone buildings made of volcanic rock and carefully arranged dolomite channels, 'dormant' volcano nearby
6. built on incline, series of waterfalls and tiny streams actually eons-old natural plumbing system designed to deliver sufficient water to every household
7. bomb shelter type bunker, actual village destroyed by orcs forty or fifty years ago, new village blueprint still under review by planning committee
8. large number of lifelike statues, volunteers who agreed to petrification for a few centuries until harvests are back up to normal yields
9. numerous crystalline globes on pedestals, somewhat like modern streetlights except that they magically capture and rebroadcast both sunlight and moondark, keeping light levels in the village at a constant twinkling twilight
10. a series of large stone stelae in town square gives minutes of once-a-century village board meetings going back to a week after Creation
11. buildings laid out in specific plan, when wind blows through town the buildings act as large musical instruments, playing a different tune based upon wind direction and speed
12. village composed of tents and carts like a gypsy camp, village officials may ask directions to a far off location, as they intend to resume their journey after a few more decade's rest

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revised Boot Hill PC generation charts

By: Unknown on 04:11

2nd edition Boot Hill has this weird glitch when generating PCs.  The issue is that the stat charts are designed for generating ordinary, non-kickass inhabitants of the the wilden west.  For PCs you roll percentile dice like everyone else, but then if you roll a low score you get a bonus to the roll.  The bonus is on a sliding scale, so that the lower you roll the bigger the bonus.  The idea seems to be that Blume and Gygax were okay with a random NPC having a Slow speed or Very Poor accuracy, but they had a certain minimum awesomeness in mind for PCs.

I'm okay with this set-up, though I'd be okay with sucky PCs as well.  The problem is in the execution.  Rolling an 01-25 for any stat nets you a whopping +25 bonus, turning the roll into a 26 through 50.  But rolling a 26-50 gets you a +15.  So someone who rolled a 26 ends up with the result of a 41, while someone who rolled lower can end up with a 42 or higher.  That's arbitrary, unfair and dumb. And I hate having extra unnecessary steps in chargen. It makes me feel bad when I slaughter the PCs. The solution is to sit down and write separate charts for the PC-types only.

SPEED

01-10  Above Average +2
11-35  Quick +4
36-55  Very Quick +6
56-75  Fast +9
76-85  Very Fast +12
86-95  Lightning +15
96  Greased Lightning +18
97  Greased Lightning +19
98  Greased Lightning +20
99  Greased Lightning +21
00  Greased Lightning +22


ACCURACY (roll one for GUNS and once for THROWING)

01-10  Average +0

11-35  Above Average +2

36-55  Fair +5

56-65  Good +7

66-80  Very Good +10

81-95  Excellent +15

96-98  Crack Shot +18

99-00  Deadeye +20

STRENGTH

01-15  Average 13

16-45  Above Average 14

46-65  Sturdy 15

66-78  Hardy 16

79-85  Strong 17

86-95  Very Strong 18

96-98  Powerful 19

99-00  Mighty 20

BRAVERY

01-10  Average +0  +0

11-55  Above Average +1  +3

56-75  Brave +2  +6

76-85  Very Brave +3  +10

86-98  Fearless +4  +15 

99-00  Foolhardy +5  +15

EXPERIENCE

01-10  No Experience -10

11-40  One Gunfight -5

41-60  Two Gunfights -5

61-75  Three Gunfights +0

76-85  Four Gunfights +0

86-91  Five Gunfights +2

92-95  Six Gunfights +2

96  Seven Gunfights +6

97  Eight Gunfights +6

98  Nine Gunfights +8

99  Ten Gunfights +8

00  You Done Lost Track +10

As you can see, the stat mods in Boot Hill can jump around.  Apparently surviving that seventh gunfight is a big deal, but the difference between Fearless and Foolhardy is minimal.  I'm tempted to smooth them out a bit with some intermediary results but that would produce some egregiously long charts.  I like giving players brief chargen handouts, not vast sheafs of overwrought charts.  I keep the overwrought charts behind the screen.

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random gunslinger names

By: Unknown on 03:05

Roll d100 twice, or once if you are lazy.

d% first last

01 Adam Adams
02 Andrew Allison
03 Benjamin Anderson
04 Boone Baker
05 Brack Barnes
06 Burt Bass
07 Butch Bassett
08 Camillus Blake
09 Capehart Bogan
10 Charles Borne
11 Christopher Boswell
12 Clay Brown
13 Cole Bullion
14 Connor Burnham
15 Cornelius Burris
16 Crawford Burts
17 Cullen Canton
18 Cyrus Carrillo
19 Dallas Carver
20 Daniel Christie
21 David Clay
22 Davis Clayborne
23 Dillon Clifton
24 Edward Collins
25 Elijah Cortez
26 Emmett Cortina
27 Enrique Courtright
28 Floyd Cullen
29 Francis Dalton
30 Frank Daniels
31 Frederick Daugherty
32 Friedrich Desmond
33 George Dillon
34 Grant Donahue
35 Gratton Doolin
36 Gregory Dunn
37 Harold Fisher
38 Harvey Flores
39 Hendry Ford
40 Henry Garrett
41 Ike Glanton
42 Isaiah Goldsby
43 Jackson Gossett
44 James Harper
45 Jeffrey Hart
46 Jesse Helm
47 Joaquin Henry
48 Joel Higgins
49 John Hite
50 Jose Hodges
51 Joshua Ingram
52 Josiah Johnson
53 Juan Kidder
54 Jules Kilpatrick
55 Kimball Kimball
56 Leander Kinney
57 Lee Logan
58 Luke Long
59 Martin Longley
60 Matthew Madsen
61 Michael Mason
62 Milton Mathers
63 Morgan McMasters
64 Nathaniel Middleton
65 Newton Miles
66 Owen Miller
67 Paden Milton
68 Pancho Murphy
69 Patrick Musgrove
70 Percival Newcomb
71 Pio Newton
72 Pliney O'Neil
73 Porter Owens
74 Procopio Pickett
75 Randolph Pico
76 Reuben Reed
77 Richard Riley
78 Robert Ringo
79 Roy Rockwell
80 Rufus Roseberry
81 Russell Ruggles
82 Samuel Russell
83 Sandy Scurlock
84 Scott Short
85 Seaborn Skinner
86 Seth Smith
87 Sherman Sparks
88 Sidney Stilwell
89 Simeon Storms
90 Solomon Taylor
91 Steven Thompson
92 Theodore Tracy
93 Thomas Tucker
94 Virgil Walters
95 Warren Webb
96 Wesley Williams
97 William Wilson
98 Wilson Woodson
99 Woodson Yarberry
00 Wyatt Zachary

The first and last names on these charts are taken from real Old West gunfighters.  Obviously you might want to change Samuel to Sam or add a colorful nickname like Warren "Mule Poop" Rockwell.  Lady shootists were in short supply in the 5 minutes I spent on research, so here's the rather brief results:

d10 first

1 Ann
2 Elizabeth
3 Jane
4 Josephine
5 Laura
6 Maybelle
7 Myra
8 Pearl
9 Rose
0 Shirley

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more dubious place names

By: Unknown on 11:43

Anthony the Pendant requested place name charts for German and Slavic type locations. Here's some quicky charts for you, dude:

400 German type places
1 Ber- -baden
2 Bre- -brucken
3 Dres- -burg
4 Dussel- -dam
5 Er- -den
6 Frei- -dorf
7 Gott- -el
8 Greifs- -furt
9 Ham- -gart
10 Han- -ich
11 Heidel- -ingen
12 Ki- -inz
13 Ma- -lin
14 Madge- -men
15 Mun- -na
16 Pots- -over
17 Saar- -rin
18 Schwe- -stadt
19 Stutt- -stanz
20 Wies- -wald

144 Slavicish places (d12 twice)

1 Brun- -ansk
2 Dub- -bove
3 Gd- -cin
4 Kolob- -lice
5 Kr- -nov
6 Med- -rzeg
7 Op- -tal
8 Po- -ynia
9 Szc- -zecin
10 Tep- -zev
11 Tren- -zilaborce
12 Vr- -zin

These sorts of things are a snap to build if you don't mind that your places are terrible fake constructions capable of inducing shrieks of terror in native speakers.  Just think of a real world analogy for your country.  Search for a wikipedia page with a title like "Cities of ____" and then start yanking apart some of the items on that list.  I made these in a spreadsheet so it would be easy to sort them A to Z when I was done.

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What's the name of this no-horse hamlet?

By: Unknown on 09:19

The formatting is terrible but I think you get the idea.

900 Anglish places (d30 twice)
1 Ac(c)- -(a)y
2 Ash- -b(o)rough
3 Ast- -bost
4 B(o)urn- -bottom
5 Beck- -b(ur)y
6 Bex- -c(h)ester
7 Brad- -combe
8 Cheap- -cott
9 Chipping- -dale
10 Ey- -e(i)g
11 Holme- -field
12 Howe- -firth
13 Hythe- -ford
14 Keld- -forth
15 King- -foss
16 Kirk- -garth
17 Lang- -ghyll
18 Lei(gh)- -ham
19 Ley- -holm
20 Ling- -howe
21 Moss- -hythe
22 Nor- -ing
23 Shep- -law
24 Stan- -leigh
25 Stoke- -ness
26 Stow- -pool
27 Streat- -stead
28 Sud- -ton
29 Swin- -worthy
30 Weald- -wych

900 Frenchified places (d30 twice)
1 Aigre- -aie
2 Aver- -aine
3 Bosch- -bierres
4 Cal- -cadier
5 Carca- -cran
6 Chal- -cupe
7 Cur -de
8 Di- -dol
9 Ev- -dorra
10 Fren- -ens
11 Gi- -frece
12 Ker- -ignon
13 Lampi- -ir
14 Lu- -mes
15 Mer- -mont
16 Mor- -muis
17 Na- -neres
18 Nai- -nes
19 Noin- -oigne
20 Palom- -ones
21 Per- -re
22 Ra- -sonne
23 Ren- -sors
24 Sè- -tel
25 Tour- -urgne
26 Ur- -ven
27 Val- -ville
28 Vyn- -ys
29 Ya- -zès
30 Ylo- -zon

100 Corny places (d10 twice)
1 Aber- -axe
2 Bre- -cawl
3 L(h)an- -cledra
4 Nan- -denis
5 Pe(d)n- -dle
6 Pol- -illy
7 Pont- -perro
8 Porth- -rith
9 Tre- -treath
10 Usk- -zance

100 Welshish places (d10 twice)
1 Bl(a)en- -(a)mann
2 Ca(e)r- -afon
3 Coed- -bran
4 Cuum- -bryde
5 Din(as)- -coed
6 Lin- -divock
7 Mynydd- -dow
8 Nant- -llyn
9 Pant- -mawr
10 Ynys- -pant

Notes:

• Some combinations will work better than others.  Some results may need a consonant or vowel added between the two elements to make them work.
• While I did a modicum of research, these charts are meant to produce usable results rather than historical accuracy.  That being said, if you see anything that looks dopey to you, please speak up!

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Arduin Grimoire, part 2

By: Unknown on 05:56

Today I'm going to cover pages one through thirteen of the original Arduin Grimoire.  Maybe that sounds like a lot bust most of these pages are bigass charts.

At the top of page one is the title HOW TO PLAY THE GAME and then it immediately dives into rules for overland travel.  This is pretty much how Hargrave operates throughout the trilogy; lots of interesting stuff but no obvious organization.   Anyway, Hargrave's stated rule is to roll a 1 in 6 chance of a wilderness encounter  every dang hour, with chances doubling for terrain like woods and swamps and also doubling at night.  So if you're camped in the woods you have a 4 in 6 chance of going to the wandering monster charts every 60 minutes.  And I thought the rules for this in the first edition DMG were harsh.  Honestly, I can hardly believe this rule was ever used as written except by total dick DMs.

Hargrave hides two neat charts in this section.  In more than one place in his books he describes a dice chart via a sentence in a larger paragraph.  Here's his idea in chart form:

Initial Wilderness Monster Reactions, unintelligent critters (roll d12)
1-3 frightened off
4-6 shies back, hesitant
7-9 warily approaches party
10-12 berserk attack

Initial Wilderness Monster Reactions, intelligent beings (roll d12)
1-4 flee
5-8 indecisive
9-12 unhesitating attack

So dumb monsters are less likely to throw themselves at you than intelligent ones.  Another gem in this section is when Hargrave gets around to applying his wandering monster rules to dungeons.  He assumes that the basic unit of dungeoneers is the three person party and that wandering monsters should be increased for larger groups.  "[I]f you have a party of three than only one red dragon shows up, if you have 4-6, then it's two and so on" (Emphasis mine.)

Next up is Hargrave's experience point rules.  No xp for gold in the world of Arduin.  "After all, it is the act of robbery, not the amount stolen, that gives the thief his experience."  The chart that follows reminds me just a bit of the system used in Rolemaster/MERP.  Does anyone know if those guys played Arduin early on?  You can score experience by acquiring potent magic items, defeating foes in single combat and taking important roles in the party like group leader or point man.  Hargrave awards 400 xp for dying and being brought back to life.  Killing a demi-god in single combat is only worth 350xp, so I hope these are bonus awards in addition to standard fight XP but the rules here don't say one way or the other.  All in all it's a fun-looking system, but I think I'll stick to 1gp = xp and 1HD = 100xp for sheer simplicity.

Pages three and four are XP charts for a buttload of classes: thief, slaver, techno, courtesan, assassin, alchemist, rune weaver, saint, "all outlaws", warrior, cleric, monk, mage, illusionist, druid, "singer or bard", ranger, normal, barbarian.  Not all of these classes are statted up in this volume.  The XP progressions looks fairly normal just glancing at the chart, but in fact advancement is much faster starting around level 5 or so.    For example a thief needs 21,000 xp to reach 8th level, but only 24,500 xp for 9th and 28,000 for tenth.  So maybe killing a demi-god really is worth only 350 points.  Another oddity is that the chart goes to 105th level for each class but after 20th level you seem to go up 5 levels at a time.  I.e. there is no 21st level.  A Techno with 100,000 to 149,999 experience is twentieth level.  Score one more point and that character is now 25th.  At least that's what the chart seems to imply.

Next up is the level limit chart for a huge variety of races, including giants, tritons, "piscoids" and all sorts of other stuff.  Note that two classes on the chart here, psychic and paladin, do not appear on the XP charts on the immediately preceding pages.  This is another common occurrence in the Grimoire: page 4 and page 5 don't seem to be on speaking terms.  Given that the XP charts go up to 105th level (with a 'for every level thereafter' amount as well) most of the level limits are quite low.  Most races have one or two classes they are allowed unlimited advance, with the rest severely capped or outright forbidden.  The absurd part comes in with the last column, which is labeled for All Others.  Most races have unlimited advancement in every class not specifically mentioned on the chart.  So if I made a Cave Man PC (which I totally would) I could play up to a 4th level Mage, a second level "Thief, etc.", an 8th level Warrior, a 2nd level Psychic or a 105th level Techno.  Personally, I love the insanity of this chart, but I could see how it would frustrate normal people.  On other note: only humans and half-elves can become paladins.  All other races are barred from this class.

Pages six and seven are a stat min-max chart by race.  Some races appear here that weren't on the level limit charts on the preceding pages.  For example, I can tell you that Balrogs have Wisdom scores between 5 and 10 and that Silicate Life characters are rated between 1 and 12 for Charisma.  This chart is the first place we Hargrave's expanded ability score list: Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, Ego, Agility, Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Mechanical Ability, Swimming Ability.  There's also a column labeled Magic Resistance, but it's not a 3-18 score.  Rather the entires here look like a saving throw adjustment between -2 to +4, or "even", presumably indicating no bonus, or "special", which according to a note indicates 50% magic resistance.

Pages 8 and 9 are random height and weight charts.  Per the height chart Hargrave goes in for Tolkienian tall elves.  The height chart and weight chart look to me like they were written at different times, as the height chart is all Tolkien races. (And Amazons. Hargrave always sneaks in some amazons wherever he can, a policy I heartily approve.) The weight chart contains a lot of other races.  So I can tell you the weight of a Arduin gnoll but I have no idea how tall he is.

Next up is a large illo of an Amazon (see, I told you) and a Vampusa throwing down.  A Vampusa is a vampire/medusa hybrid.  This is standard operating procedure for Hargrave: If two monsters are interesting, why not smoosh 'em together?  Also on this page is a small chart.  It's percentage based but is structured such that a single d10 will do.

Body Type Determination Table
1-2  Skinny-Boney, -1 Str
3-4 Wirey-Tough, +1 Dex
5-6 Average, "As It Says"
7-8 Muscular, +1 Str
9 Very Muscular, +1 Con, +2 Str
0 Obese, -1 Con, -1 Dex

Given the odds here, I would gladly roll on that chart.  Maybe I'll start using it.

The next two pages are another bigass racial chart labeled NOTES ON FANTASTIC BEINGS.   Basically for a whole passle of races you get average life span (noted as "Arduin years"), age of majority, usual alignment, ability to mate fertilly [sic] with humans, general temperment [sic again] and "Notes, Observations, Typical Stuff".  Again there are races here not appearing on any of the previous charts.  Elves, orcs, trolls, titans, pixies, nixies and demons are all immortal.  About half the races listed are interfertile with humans, but about half of those produce sterile offspring.  By the chart half-orcs are one of the mule races.  The last column has all sorts of brief stereotyping going on.  Amazons are "pushy, men-baiters, frequently lesbian" while kobolds "love to gang up on cripples, thieves", the sort of thing that can be useful to a DM but a terror to players whose jerkwad DM insists they play their PC 'by the book'.

Next up is the random alignment chart, which is labeled as being specifically for players.  Hargrave starts with Gygax's ninefold system but adds some edge case alignments like Marginally Lawful and Amoral Evil.  Each alignment is rated with a percentile Kill Factor, Lie Factor, Tolerance Factor, Loyalty Factor and Cruelty Factor.  The usage of these percentiles is not explained, but these numbers do a better job explaining alignment than most text descriptions, including most of the text descriptions in the far right column of this chart.  I do like that Marginally Lawful is the alignment of 'those losing faith in the system', though.  To ruin a perfectly good system/make things more interesting everyone has a 10% chance of their alignment secretly being Insane.

Whew.  That's all for now.  Next installment will feature two of my favorite sections, the random special ability charts and the new classes.

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