Sunday 11 August 2013

Gothic Zone Book Intro


Im stewing on  my Psychon PDF wont to do some pregen heroes with engine to see if produces interesting heroes. May put Psionics Spell Lists and classes and possibly beastmen plus a proper equipment list. I want to visualize people as bonkers as the Planet.

So another project as a follow up to my mostly ready Redbrick Dungeon Zone book i have been play testing/editing for months is the Gothic Dungeon Zone Book. Possibly handy for my Cthulhu 1490 game too.

Another re-edit of my homegrown EMO BX DnD variant needed soon too.

Gothic Dungeon Zone

Graveyard, necropolis, tomb to mausoleum
Dungeon generator tables and geomorphs

Ideas
d1000 curses
Tragedy table
Haunting table
Holy Relics
Dungeon Decor Table
Things in Funeral Vases
Things in Coffins
Random Crypt Table
Random Corpse Tables
Undead Encounters
Haunted Houses
Forbidden Castles
Doomed Immortals
Necromancers

Original zone described here as part of my long stairs game

So to rework the zone and what i have learned from my projects since then lets look at my first thoughts on the idea of this zone and see what could be gleaned or changed. Remember i wrote this as a game where modern special forces are assaulting the dungeon dimension and its various zones.

Grey cold and dark, ornamental dressed stone and ironwork resembling Gothic cathedrals, catacombs castles and mausoleums. They seem almost random assemblages of medieval European replica architecture. Gothic Zones have a cold and fearsome environment. Explorers report haunted monastic choirs may be heard, along with chains, moans and screams. Lit candelabras and torches provide light in some areas, others are dark. Undead and horrific preternatural predators of legend can be found here. Many crypts are trapped or cursed but contain wealth and xenotechnology (magic). Unpopular with beginner explorers but the veteran delvers using local xeno-technological methodology (so called divine magic) are more willing to destroy the dead and confiscate valuables in the hands of evil. Presumably the ancient dead entombed here are responsible for building it. Personnel lost here have been seen reborn again as undead.

Some things i have added to this concept:
Some other kinds of Gothic dungeon areas not just religious and funerary
Including Castles, houses, actual torture dungeons, prisons and more
Geo morphs not just of big dungeon floors but some other stuff
More to Gothic than being spooky - romance, emotions, hysteria, tradgedy
As architectural forms been copied for so long thus more variety in tech
Can combine with other dungeon zone tables for a tomb area genre overlap
More to undead than priest fodder - they have stories and a past

As a start here some Coffin contents and a corpse tables to get your grave robbing adventures started!!!

D8 Corpse Condition
1 Fresh looking
2 Slightly decayed
3 Decayed but still recognizable, discolored
4 Rotten, bloated and wormy
5 Mummified husk
6 Skeletal with stretched dessicated skin

7 Skeleton  intact
8 Crumbled skeleton

D8 Commoners Coffin Quality
1 Cheap woven coffin from reeds, ropes, sheets
2 Cheap clay coffin
3 Cheap wooden box
3 Well made box
4 Well made with nails and metal fittings
5 Well made, metal fittings, painted
6 Artistic carvings with silk interior
7 Carved from crude stone

8 Artistic carvings from stone
9 Metallic or locked or with bars to protect corpse or outside
10 Artistic metal casket with lock

 
D100 Strange Coffin Contents
This is when you find a coffin which has been tampered with, usually found somewhere it wasn't actually buried. Most of course have a corpse with status dependent on where it was buried.

1 More than one skeleton jumbled together
2 Mixed chopped body parts
3 Corpse covered in blood shredded hands look of horror
4 Corpse staked in place
5 Corpse staked, teeth smashed, wearing holy symbol
6 Corpse is partly transformed into a monster
7 Animated skeleton
8 Zombie
9 Ghoul
10 Half eaten body gnawed by ghouls
11 Body stolen, nothing left
12 Rocks in sack fill coffin to equal corpse weight
13 Body has had body parts or organs stolen
14 Body drained of blood
15 Body decapitated
16 Full of angry rats swarm
17 Wicked life hating shadow forms in open coffin
18 Wight furious at being defiled by living
19 Sacks of lowest currency copper coins equal to mans weight
20 Filled with fungus covering corpse
21 Horrible mole snake burrowed into corpse skull
22 Straw dummy
23 Mutated skeletal horror
24 Set of instruments
25 Abnormal deformed or Siamese or freak skeleton
25 Body mutilated, slashed and smashed
26 Horrible mass of tree roots overgrown corpse
27 Covered in occult sygils
28 A humanoid necromancer formed from mass of worms or maggots
29 Charred corpse
30 Dog, pig, goat or cat in coffin
31 Frogs, snakes and lizards pour out
32 Huge aggressive spider
33 Skull only
34 Spectral phantom comes forth moans then vanishes
35 Spectral phantom taunts opener for 1d6 days
36 Spectral phantom demands murderer/grave defiler punished
37 Collection of cheap arms and armour
37 Narcotics packed in pound blocks with cult seals on packs
38 Diary or book clutched in corpse hands
39 Magical calligraphy seals on paper attached to body
40 Living person relieved to be let out (have a great story)
41 Two corpses locked in embrace
42 Straw
43 Eyes, ears, mouth sealed in lead, wax or tar
44 Non human but humanoid creature
45 Empty clothes
46 Collection of rolled up paintings and artworks
47 Sack of grave trinket jewellery
48 A large angry reptile was hibernating inside
49 Kittens
50 Turnips
51 Explosive trap 2d6 blast, 10ft radius
52 Several corpse fed goblins ready to leap out
53 Baby giant stingworm burrowed here
53 Corpse half preserved half horribly decayed
54 Groundshark eggs
55 Ground squid nest with aggressive mother
56 Has contraption to alert surface and air pipe in case of death
57 Broken statue
58 Long lost scriptures
59 Long lost scholarly tretise
60 Collection of preserved food
61 Dirt from somewhere else 
62 Spare vampire coffin, empty but used
63 Bottles of grog
64 Highly ornamental with religious scenes inside
65 Vampire hunters kit- stakes, hammer,
66 1d6 bottles of holy water
67 Werewolf hunters kit
68 1d3 magic potions
69 Is entrance to secret tunnel
70 Smaller coffin
71 Small chest d4 1=skull 2=heart 3=brain in a jar 4=small treasure
72 Doll of somekind
73 Rotten Slurry
74 Ancient pre human mummy
75 Freshly murdered victim
76 Giant aggressive corpse beetle
77 Animated skeleton bursts into flames attacks
78 Skeleton with staring eyeballs intact
79 Filled with bats
80 Jars of pickled cabbage
81 Imp in form of hunchback dwarf
82 Bundles of clothing
83 Digging tools, spades, picks, etc
84 Bundles of rope
85 Carpentry tools
86 Creepy idol
87 Dead emaciated toad or heart pierced with thorns
88 Witch familiar, escapes through hole in bottom
89 Cursed scroll as gift for grave robbers
90 Wooden leg
91 Dead ghoul
92 Animated bleeding skeleton likes to drink blood
93 Glowing screaming skeleton causes fear
94 Animated skeleton regenerates unless harmed by holy water
95 Mass of writhing worms
96 Thousands of flies swarm out
97 Sleeping drunk (possibly humanoid species)
98 Live child or infant
99 Doll or scarecrow golem
100 An immortal relieved to be free and hungry

D100 commoner corpse table
1 Farmer with turnip
2 Farmers wife with cabbage
3 Town man with 1d10 coins in purse
4 Town woman with cheap jeweled trinket
5 Carpenter with hammer and chisel
6 Weavers wife with ornate rug
7 Woman with bunch of key's on belt
8 Blacksmith with apron and hammer
9 Man with bottles of wine
10 Woman with small bronze cauldron
11 Man with spear and knife
12 Woman with many beaded necklaces
13 Man with clever and hog feet
14 Woman holding silver holy symbol
15 Man with wooden holy symbol
16 Man blindfolded, gagged and tied
17 Woman with cat
18 Woman with baby
19 Baby in small ornate box
20 Child with toy
21 Man in leather armour with bow
22 Man in baliff vest with truncheon
23 Man with net and fishing rod
24 Woman with water urn
25 Man with chamber pot
25 Woman with loaf of bread
26 Man with piglet
27 Man with evidence of being hung
28 Man with sickle
29 Woman with large spoon and apron
30 Man with fancy hat and legal scrolls
31 Man in robes with book
32 Woman with bag of herbal medicine
33 Woman with dried toad in mouth
34 Man with coins on eyes
35 Woman with coin purse 1d10 coins
36 Man with knife and ear necklace
37 Man with string of sausages
37 Woman with bowl of fruit and grain
38 Woman with dried flower bunches
39 Man with shield and spear
40 Man with axe
41 Man with horse bridle
42 Man with whip
43 Woman with rolling pin
44 Woman with sewing kit and fine quilt
45 Man with gang tattoos and missing hands
46 Woman with missing tongue 
47 Man with set of brass scales with weights
48 Man with hourglass
49 Man with commoner instrument
50 Man with walking stick
51 Woman with model of house made from dough
52 Woman with erotic costume
53 Man in leg irons
53 Man with his genitals in bag around his neck
54 Man in jesters outfit, possibly dwarf or hunchback
55 Man with bundle of wheat
56 Man with dried fish
57 Woman with jar of grain
58 Man with stone axe and knife
59 Man with thieves tools
60 Woman with jars of pills
61 Woman with bag of knitting
62 Woman with hairbrush
63 Woman with mirror
64 Man with comb
65 Woman with scissors
66 Man with knife
67 Woman with knife
68 Man holding skull
69 Woman with pet bird
70 Man with spanking paddle and textbook
71 Woman with shears and bag of wool
72 Man with smoked ham
73 Man with wig and makeup
74 Man with pumpkin and staff
75 Woman with overnight bag with spare dress
76 Man with folk dancing costume and club
77 Woman with instrument
78 Man with pigs head
79 Woman with cheese wheel
80 Man with pipe and fancy smokables
81 Woman with carved wooden cow ornament
82 Man with ornate cloak and broach
83 Woman with lantern
84 Man with firewood bundle and hatchet
85 Man clutching pile of bills
86 Woman with fur stole complete with animal head
87 Woman with animal foot medallion
88 Man with helmet and shortsword and leather coat
89 Man with stone chisel and hammer and stone bowl 
90 Woman with dinner set
91 Woman with spear and shield
92 Man with weird robes and mask
93 Man with carnival costume
94 Woman with witch hat and false witch nose
95 Woman with religious costume
96 Man in night shirt and ear trumpet 
97 Woman with flint and steel in tinderbox
98 Man with miners lamp and hat
99 Man with missing limbs
100 Man with doctors bag

2 comments:

  1. Liking the gothic coffin contents.

    How strange do Psychon pregens really have to be? If first level they really don't have to be super-strange, when they gain levels they will have plenty of opportunity to become downright odd.
    Of course something like lost hippies and university pharmacology experimenters would be pretty strange for conventional fantasy RPG while fitting in along with venusian battle-staff trained martial-artists on Psychon.

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  2. thank you for this - i like to imagine what characters in world like in my daydreams so starting to gel - i might write some fictional intros for beginning parties - also trying to think up some scenarios for new party...

    I was originally thinking that when transformed by Psychon characters gain exotic local appearance, languages and start with 6 levels to allocate in several classes or one. Will need to playtest soon. Zero level normal worlders becoming 1st level dnd characters worked in my long stair game - i will try a few starts. Your more evolutionary approach to weirdness might work. Im not against characters havung race gender class jumbled up at future points in game.

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