Friday 30 August 2019

I hate DnD Dolphins

Dolphins firstly according to pre modern scholars are fish. Live in the sea = fish. Thus they should be in monster books in a entry under fish. Even if they are known to breast feed and breathe air as sailors observed they are fish. 2nd ed MM had a page on them with facts I could get from a children's book that could have had some proper monster. If anyone reading this ever battled dolphins in a dnd game please tell me how awesome it was if possible.

So here are EMO dolphins inspired by stuff like this 
http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast284.htm
Also many people living near river dolphins (or cocktail dolphins as a friend calls them) had interesting myths like they were sleazy shape shifting seducers.
Dolphin 2-4 d8 HD AC as leather Att 2d4 ram MOV 24 swim

d20 Dolphin Rumours
1 Attracted by music and singing
2 Warn sailors of storms out of helpfulness
3 Save and help sailors and protect from dogfish (sharks)
4 If you kill them you will be cursed by the sea gods and spirit folk of the deep
5 Dolphins are the knights of the undersea world serve the king of the sea
6 Dolphins are playful enjoying dancing around ships and racing them
7 Dolphins can leap over a ships sails
8 Dolphins know by smell if you have ever eaten one
9 Dolphins are noble mounts of all kinds of sea beings
10 Many sea spirits and gods take form of a dolphin so take care
11 Dolphins were once humans transformed by the gods so don't murder them
12 Dolphins beach themselves to be buried by humans on land when sick
13 Dolphins carry the souls of good sailors to the Island of the blessed
14 Sea bards can attract dolphins who may even aid a skilled performer
15 A boat accompanied by dolphins will find a safe harbour
16 Dolphins might carry children swimming alone to the undersea paradise forever
17 Dolphins protect manatees, sea cows and dugongs from harm
18 Dolphins are intelligent and speak to each other and some understand human speech
19 Dolphins in places guide ships through rocks and reefs, some favour only local boats
20 Dolphins can detect alignment and may take mercy on the good


d12 Dolphin Varieties
1 Serrated Dolphin has a saw blade fin that does a d12 used to kill crocodiles
2 Armoured Dolphin has carapace armour as chain and a d10 ram
3 Were Dolphin can adopt human form to seduce human lovers by night
4 Divine Dolphins can cast curse with a glance per round
5 Magi Dolphins can cast spells as a priest or sorcerer or sea druid or psionicistand can talk as a human

6 Jewelled Dolphins have a large gem in their foreheads that grant them telepathy and is worth d6x100gp, taking a gem from a murdered dolphin curses who touches it 
7 Ichthyosaur is a reptilian prehistoric dolphin allied to reptilian creatures and is less friendly to humans
8 Necro dolphins are undead who are mounts of evil sea creatures
9 Rogue dolphin jump on ship decks and steal things they use to decorate their nests
10 Aero dolphins fly in the air or sea and are used by sea races to visit the surface or cloudland 
11 Chaos dolphins have 4x twenty foot tentacles that latch onto a target for a d6 and grapple them, then drag into the water to drown, they bite with fanged teeth not butt and may have mutations
12 Demon dolphins are from a abyssal demonic oceanic plane. They require +2 magic weapons to hit and have a 2d6 bite instead of butt and a razor fin attack. They can shape shift into humans to infiltrate but the disguises are often flawed and behaviour odd and cruel. They often stink of fish even in human form. They can speak and often allow sea demons to ride them. They breathe air or water and have green tinge and fish scales. When killed they crumble into salt 

Also noteworthy is fishfolk might hybridise with dolphins that makes them more fishlike and able to breathe air or water. Hybrids are more green blue and scaly with more fishlike fins and monsterous tooth filled beaks. often intelligent and some cast spells. 


https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/whales/man/myth.html
https://www.savacations.com/myths-legends-amazons-pink-river-dolphin/

Thursday 29 August 2019

Epsilon City for Planet Psychon




































Epsilon City is an ambitious expansion for their edition of Metamorphosis Alpha. There have not been many things for this game come out. There is a module about generating circular houses for outside cities from another publisher I recommend and Chadd reminded me of wizardawn deckplan maker. Goodman Games did a oversized edition of metamorphasis alpha and all the magazine content and other oddments which i have. They did some new modules too that i missed. A KS with troll lords and Jim Ward in production mapping the whole ship.

Ive done quite a few space hulk exploration games and gamma world urban design. I love fallout games too. So when i heard about this I was exited. Was too poor to get and i missed the treasure box of modules too. I got PDF of this on sale but print ed has lots of charm and readability.


Of everything of late i have got this is the one i wanna play the most. A ruined city of a 50 mile wide generation starship lost and ruined. Mutants androids robots wild animals and plants over a huge area. Amazing quality ez to read simple layout. Well illustrated oldschool style. Fold out maps and amusing stuff. For metamorphosis alpha but gammaworld or mcc or darwins world or mutant epoch would love it. I'm using it with planet psychon so  AI priesthoods will work well with wolfoid human history cults.

I wish it had a book of tables for making content for exploring and encounters but adventures and complexes with a thousand crazy wolf folk inside are great. A adventure book, a cyborg book and the big red pleather gold foil spiral bound book an inside what must be the toughest game boxes ever. Like old photographic lith film boxes or better.

The big book details mostly the major wolfoid complexes, their culture gained from historic theme parks and mad AI. There is a lot of fun opportunities for fights and talking to deluded pups. A few of my players interested. So not sure if i will use as is. Possibly might end up dingoids in my Broken Hill. Has lots of funny stuff that meets my ideas of amusing. I might start all as either tribals

Troll Lords and and Mr Ward making a big fat book with whole ship mapped is the no1 product I want now. Iv'e always liked ruins and wrecked ships in reality and fiction. Pandorum one of my favorite films, Aldiss book "Non Stop" is also a fave with similar ideas. I like that it fits into Gammaworld too and I had a second incomplete ship in orbit in my game. I still have lots to read but Im very pleased with this product which ranks as one of my top10 post TSR products.


Wednesday 28 August 2019

Edition Drama Club





































So recently i had a player join a game wanting to play old school dnd. Only problem is he had a totally different idea of what that consisted of. I don't realy use the OSR label anymore and don't mind oldschool but I query how useful an identifier it is when many ppl I meet assume Im a horrible neckbeard for using it. Anyway this person said a few things they expected and i failed at.

So it was a one shot game as I visited state for a few days to get a permit. My old players were keen but whole thing was kinda a cuff of the moment game. I thought I'd playtest i 3fold scenario in my Exilon setting. Everyone was glad to catch up but tired. All asked to start 3rd lv as they had struggled up from first my last few years of seasonal visits which is fair enough. New player arrived after this and another turned up later. Game play was a bit broken. They spent way too long investigating, went to dungeon killed some stuff and got some loot without too much drama and picked up on setting mythology from shrines and artworks in dungeon. Finished abruptly when someone came to collect a player as I thought everyone was too tired and rushed the real adventure ending which was finding which of the treasure was cursed. I quite like identifying loot and carousing after.

Anyway after I got a lengthy evaluation
though they said they liked it but...
So I got a fail on....

Characters too superpowered
Nobody ran away
Nobody described their every action in detail and preferred to roll
Just hack and slash vs inferior foes
Was just like 5th ed but simpler
Little oldschool content at all

Also this gem:
Adnd is simpler than BX and rules fit on one sheet and you only need 2 classes
The guy was pretty young and smart but I think had some different ideas on stuff to me which is ok.

The argument about skill rolls vs describing everything is pretty old.
I'm happy for players to search the slow way or perhaps talk everything through
but chatting with every npc or searching everything can be tedious
but Im fine with slower more creative way but happy to save everyone time and do more stuff faster

So to clarify I don't play mostly 80s games still out of sentimentality I play them because I'm unconvinced later editions do what I want or look like I imagine a game to be. I like the wargamer interest in historic arms and armour and don't really go for cool art like Pathfinder. Which I don't mind but I just don't imagine fantasy like that. So basically I play mostly as I did in mid 80s but simpler. I've actually played  BRP and RQ more as I like the grittiness of combat, game physics and history gaming. Also I don't really like character classes at all. I went back to DnD because record keeping and speed of play and easier sell. I mostly have run Cthulhu because I love it but also it is a game I can get running easier than any other I play and more so than RQ, BRP or oldschool dnd games. Even running dnd not in a official setting seems like a risk in clubs I'm in today vs the DIY feel of 1st and BX.

So here is a little brief over what stuff from what eds I stole for my homebrew

BX/BCMI/Cyclopedia
-My starting point
-Race as class is my preference, it keeps humans common.
-Lower stats, harsher rolling scheme
-Known world setting I liked until went all flying boats stuff and named Mystara (sorry)
-Good adventures which were fresh

Adnd
-Extra classes but some I disliked as too finicky
-Non Weapon proficiency in OA and DSG
-More complex alignment
-Crunchy broken and badly organised
-How many choking rules in 3 monster books?
-Some good adventures but many classics need extra quests to fix
-Dungeoneers Survival Guide and Oriental Adventures were great

2nd Ed
-Bards improved and a better starting point for my version
-Ultimate series of brown books were great for fighter abilities and kits
-I stopped playing DnD for 20 years the moment i touched necromancy blue book
-Psionics improved but still broken
-Capping fireball damage - heresy! Now Lich are weak.
-Had lots of good setting books plus green books were good
-I was fine with Illusionist spell changes
-Not really interested in adventures from here on

3rd Ed/Pathfinder
-I really only played Temple of Elemental Evil PC game
-It got me back into dnd
-I like possibility of getting abilities normally outside class
-I don't mind some exotic feat abilities but rather fit them into skills
-Is this when bonus table changed?
-Sorcerers, the basic idea of them, easier to play for noobs

4th
-Ugh though if it was meant to be a tactical board game I guess they succeeded
-For a while ppl stopped playing elves because they made another elf like race

5th
-Superficial resembles what I want but nope
-I like minimising stacking and a few things, If it seems too good it probably is
-I've yet to see a human character in any 5th ed game
-Not really like mythology or fantasy lit precedents
-Several mechanics on character sheets Id like to just remove
   
Lamentations Rules
-Played for several years
-Liked guns and 1600s setting
-Didn't like most adventures but appreciated artistic bravery

Bluehome
-Liked it but I like STR bonus in games and kids seem to
-Probably the free retroclone I most recommend with Osric
-Castles & Crusades almost became my game (if it had skill system day one....)

My EMO homebrew rules
-Skeleton of BX with arms and arts skills
-Fighters get most fight skills, rogues get non fight skills, others get spells
-Basic four classes plus Druid, Bard, Monk, Sorcerer
-Basic races plus some extra Abhuman, Changeling, Giant, Tako (cos I need octopi)
-No half races or the real world problem cliches they evoke
-Psionics is a spell list just like arcane, divine and nature spell lists
-Elves and bards can choose any one spell list
-You can change class at least once bur changing race might be a bit odd
-STR is the dump stat, i didn't call it players did. Followers are more popular
-Changed stat names 50% cos im a jerk 50% cos I want to be more clear
-WIS is not perception a idea that crept in over editions
-Luck Points to help you survive derived from WIS plus rogues get bonus ones
-You can have no Alignment or become a deranged fanatic for bonus goodies in return for oaths which might make party murder each other or go to prison
-Alignment is very clear so paladin killing babies are evil, the gods judge this not humans
-Campaign goal advancement not xp
-Class abilities like rogue bumped up as levels not based on different amounts of xp
-Saves just based on stats

My downloads page has pdfs which are a ongoing work in progress. Probably try and finish second book in next school hols when in Sydney. I can see 2 monster books - one with simpler creatures describes as briefly as possible. Second with more detailed feature monsters with lots of variations and scenario hooks. A spell and or skill book to detail these subjects more. A book with classes with example builds to simulate other classes and races and 2nd ed kits so ppl can jump in at higher level play easier/faster. The downside to choices is they slow characters down. Lots of abilities added per level make

Ive considered making a character zine booklet rather than a character sheet...

Occasionally I get a dumb idea like
improve stats a d10% on prime requisite per level
plus d10% on any stat per level and you can put on prerequisite....
At 100% goes up a point (sorta like UA adnd Cavalier)

Psychon and Xor books in print would be good.

Sorry so few posts. Life not conducive to creativity at moment.

Worth mentioning Iv'e read very little swords and sorcery fantasy since the 80s mostly mythology and pre ww2 lit, non fiction history and classics. I still thinks there should be a simpler official dnd for kids like BX.

Thursday 22 August 2019

Busy shopping and reading sorry...




































So I have a house in over a week, then assessment and i can hunt for work and sell dads house and goto sydney again for 2 weeks work. Im in Sydney now to lodge a form at DMV so i can ver work here again and did a course in IT security, Safety refresher and some other thing i cant remember. Have a game on fri night with old crew then back to Adelaide.

Ive been shopping lots catching up on being broke and it is nice to see game shops full of stuff. Sadly will pick up a Cthulhu book and Metamorphosis Alpha thing in morning.....

Im also working on a couple of gigs for ppl.....
So go support this or else
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/agonarchartist/on-downtime-and-demesnes/description

Courtney is probably closest to me in content in many ways. But he is probably nicer than me. He has had a bad year for trolls who seem to know nothing about him.

So just to show you why this has been slowest month for a long time here are some of the things I grabbed and some quick notes......

So on my sidebar there is a link to my want list that has shockingly been thrashed since i posted it....now the lower priority wants are arising but i think i will be done soon......SF RPGs next project as a few i missed. Did see mothership in shop but choked on price despite it being a zine style artwork. I'm just gonna print my own up. Saw some other things fresh from GenCon my game pusher attended. Zac didnt write a book? Just milk his name for dubious attention because we no longer publish him? More reasons to drop LOTFP sorry. I think the days of OSR branded stuff tempting me is possibly reduced to a trickle.

Im running TSR Marvel mostly fortnightly baring dad emergencies in group and have a pool of 7 players mostly get 3-6 attending so far. Did simplify my initiative system to ease.

Still running Cthulhu my 3rd year of current game. Finished Shadows of Yog Sothoth last year and well into Masks of Nyarlathotep now. Party in Egypt now coldy executing cultists and using them as test subjects for spells they find. Honestly they are good guys. Running this is like a university course. Thankfully I am using my glasses and reading more for game prep so less time being creative sorry. Possibly now gaming makes me a trickle of money my creativity might go to other things more when I have a home like my art and the business I had 15 years doing that till I got burn out and had trouble with housing.

So on with stuff i done and got me yes sir!

N1 Cult of the Reptile God - Second Hand

Good but aged condition. One of best modules ever and kinda similar to a about 20% of everything I do still. I did get Lost city too a while back but looking forward to the hardcover reprint too. Also got most of UK series again in better condition. A few others I might get again as mine a bit trashy but everything I got of late was great. Lev Layfayette who does RQ con stuff  in Australia also is one of best dealers of books and I killed most of my GURPS list through him too.

POD RPG Drive through Reprints
Got two slave lord modules and rest of saltmarsh set and few others. Impressed with them all and map reprint quality. I can see myself get more like this. Post was cheap even in Australia. Gammaworld, Ravenloft and Starfrontiers like this probably in future.

Alternity Stardrive Setting Book

I did look at these in 20 years I only bought Cthulhu stuff and kinda want them and mostly they are cheaper now. Some more of the core books of this and possibly Dark matter also but Im not gonna try too hard and mostly hunt sales....

Call of Cthulhu Compact Trail of Tsathogua

I ran this as a viking game once. Have played it and run it 3 times - main adventures are great. Getting some of the later reprints of old campagns as extra 50 pages in some cases.....

Got Arkham Now which looks better than I was led to believe.

Also Terror from the Skies. Terror came out in a Low point in Chaosium for layout, proofing along with the Atomic era adventure book (not really a sourcebook). I'm assured adventures OK even if layouts and type upset me. Maps, handouts and art in these books a bit flawed in reproduction or somehow don't continue the setting vibe somehow. Still people like both books and now my collection increasingly complete I will get them.
The House of R'lyeh was one of last of that era before 7th ed and while not great layoutwise is substantialy better than the Atomic or Terror books. One of the Adventures I had in different worlds and good to see David Conyers who I introduced to the Mythos and CoC in 80s as teen. When I see his name on stuff I feel a twinge of pride. I hope he is onto bigger things than gaming as a writer he certainly has put a lifetime of effort into it. My friends played in his game when I left and raved about it but seems he mostly got too busy to RPG. Anyway this book is a better effort than others of this time and I look forward to reading more.

Thee other books in USA awaiting to get to my though the terrible exchange rate but gawd USA mostly the most expensive and difficult. I get free post from UK, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Korea pretty often. Stuff from USA basically doubles now and reminded my why Amazon and Ebay shopping has declined (Australia was blocked from international amazon a while and now they have a tax deal that other nations don't worry about.

Call of Cthulhu Golden Goblin Press
I have always been impressed with the work of these guys and probably my favourite non Chaosium mythos adventure makers. The new Invicticus Book is very nice and stylistically different from previous Invicticus versions or the other BRP/RQ rome stuff. Though I got a current RQ vibe flipping through the book which has good use of colour. Will try and grab more adventures for this setting. Also got Caribbean, New Orleans and Third Companion which are all solid, dense and high quality.

Call of Cthulhu The Sasoon Files

This was the book China burned to hide the occult secrets....got it in case it helped with Shanghai chapter of Masks campaign. Personally not surprised a book about colonials in Shanghai exposing occult secrets was trouble being printed in china. So maps are nice, character portraits ok but I'm not in love with Typography or layout. The character sheets seem to clash with the subject of the book. Also Glossy paper stock I really dislike. A Stygian Fox book paperback had shiny thin gloss paper that is like trying to hold water so I recommend their hardcovers. The Hudson & Brand book is more substantial I have as a hardcover. The most stand out thing of that book is the map of London. Some Stygian Fox books over used art assets as great as they are but some B&W ornaments they could use in a few books might help. So as for Sasoon Files and Stygian Fox I'm glad they exist but I have not really read enough to evaluate them fairly.

Other Stuff

I will go over these in more detail as I read them and hope to when my game room set up will do a few reviews a week or a podcast or utube or whatever the kids this century do. I did get some Yamato kits but scale possibly off to my existing ones but I was glad to see tiny ships back for sale. Some more dinosaurs too. Found book on women in IT sector for young girls making them look superheroic will pass onto friends. Found card and boardgames shop in chinease market about 2/3 shop prices so unsure if bootleg or as many items in markets seem to be at Hong Kong prices with no mark up for travel which happens with figures too. I was hoping for some bootleg Godzilla dolss but nope.

Ive spent enough on Cthulhu I think I need to put as my religion next census. Am gonna learn 7th ed mostly so i can get more locals playing with some demo games and might try publish something with their fan content program and check out the organised play stuff and cons this year. Oddly Cthulhu is a game I prefer to run fairly straight and use packaged adventures which is different to most of my DnD or Marvel stuff. Tempted to write ROM sourcebook for marvel.

Probably go slow on spending once I have house and other hobbies to enjoy...like miniatures, models and aerosol cans and possibly LARP weapons. Did see a course on teaching kids to play with fire which might kickstart my art business off again....

Monday 19 August 2019

Goblin Graveyards & Cults

I think more and i'd like goblins to be a core race in my setting with some capacity to selects a speciality sub race to mutate into. Have considered replacing halflings with them. Not reading much inspiring on line of late. Mostly ppl I know have to some degree become commercial and doing less but more resolved. When the weird go pro (happens to mant good hobbies). Am gobbling up so much Cthulhu stuff I might declare it my religion next census. Going to Sydney a few days to lodge a form so i have option of working there and keeping myself in casual and holiday rosters there. I get to see kids I've known for 5 years some I got into DnD. Will be playing my Exilon game there.



So as Ive had so few new ideas and busy awaiting the house im moving to being vacant and busy with adulting stuff. Overall stuff is better but im mobile and stuff stored. Anyway this terrible idea came from me being alliterative which i guess got a germ of an idea.



Goblin Graveyards on Exile Island

Goblins have lived everywhere before humans and many times have turned a wasteland to farm able land only to have humans turn up and build castles and claim this land was theirs and had been discovered. Anyway goblins bring this stuff up a bit when not human serfs. As a result all over the land there are goblin grave sites pretty much one per hours march on a road you see one if you know the signs. In the forests you see where goblins shaped the land to aid hunters. In the creeks you find ancient stone fish traps that were used for thousands of years. Arrowheads, campsites, midden heaps and rock art abound showing how common goblins were in the dawn age. 

Graveyards are known about only to learned or well travelled city folk but common knowledge to country folk. Many have been tampered with especially near human settled lands, looted for stone and treasure. Ones in forests, marshes and mountains are more often intact. Also people learned certain signs and left the most dangerous looking ones alone or buried them as hazards of elder goblin magic from the darkness. Most city people think defiling the dead terrible but a bigger shame to leave treasure laying about.

Colour code d12 dice with first 4 tables and roll all at once
and roll a d6 with a 1 = d3 hauntings
these describe basic area of 2d20 graves

Condition 
Dressings (could roll d3 times)
Local Burial Custom (could roll d3 times)
Cult (could roll d3 times)
Haunting for graveyard (1in6 graveyards have a d3 effects)


next three are for investigating each grave

Common Grave Good roll d3 times

roll d6 on a 1 has a Grave Defence & Grave Treasure 


d12 Condition
1 Vandalised by clerics of more recent religion, objects smashed or defaced with holy symbols

2 Looted by recent treasure hunters who dug up place and smashed things searching

3 Old and forgotten, long ago ruined, overgrown and crumbled to mostly rubble 

4 Damaged by elements such as running water, earth slide, wind erosion, tree growth  

5 Damaged by something large, smashed and dug place up long ago
6 Prospector or 1in6 chance of a murder hobo adventurer party digging this claim
7 Intact, covered in pleasant moss and grass and shrubbery
8 Spooky with cobwebs, toadstools, ugly animal (possibly a little bit part goblin)
9 Well maintained with signs of recent activity of goblin rituals like offerings or new burial
11 Dozen gobbos pilgrims & religious leader and pets here to maintain holy place 
12 Goblins here for a ceremony, dozen of them including leaders and heroes and pets

d12 Goblin Graveyard Dressings
1 Artificial mounds, 1in6 with post holes or stones on top with circle pattern
2 Rings of stones of various sizes from hand to goblin size
3 Land and vegetation is serene sculpted garden of great beauty
4 Giant fungus and rings of smaller fungi over area 
5 Stone pillars with niches for heads to fit in with skulls in them 1in6 fresh enemy heads
6 Sinister megalithic stone monument worn by worshippers over aeons
7 Corn doll figures of goblins have been left hanging in vegetation
8 Goblin bones mixed in with soil and a few larger bones exposed
9 Carved totem pole often with multiple faces dedicated to a god or spirit or several
10 Stone altar worn smooth from aeons of blood sacrifice here
11 Goblin Runes carved on rocks, trees and even in earthworks
12 Great cavern or twisted tree with carved goblin figures

d12 Local Burial Custom
1 Bark tube coffin sealed in crevice or cave or buried with food and bags and tools
2 A mound of rubble is deposited by loved ones over the body
3 Body is burned with remains in funeral urn and some eaten by kin
4 Body buried in wicker basket with a pet 
5 Huge boulders from goblin size to many tonne for leaders on top of body
6 Sealed in tomb with sacrificial slaves and followers with tools and everyday goods
7 Buried in a clay jar in fetal position
8 Flensed skeleton arranged with all their skull collection at feet
9 Small stone hut crypt where remains in niches or jars
10 Mummified in a coffin in a stone sarcophagi 
11 Earth mound with crude stone lined tunnel tomb complex inside with many burials
12 Bodies are made into undead and stored in coffins or peat for future use

d12 Goblin Cults (names are tribal and bigger tribes have several)
1 Ancestral Cult 

2 The worm God
3 Faerieland

4 The Insect Cult 

5  The Horned God

6 Hobgoblin King 
7 The Goblin King
8 Mushroom Mother 
9 Chaos Jester
10 Great Frog Mother  
11 Spider Mother
12 Mother & Father Bugbear

d12 Haunting Table for graveyard 
1n6 in untouched graveyard
1 Hear beating goblin drums and chanting but only with lo
2 Hear wolves, bats squeaking, bugs all noisy then stop
3 Cold supernatural breeze chills everyone in area lose 1hp
4 Shadowy figures moving in distance
5 Creepy animal with red eyes watching you
6 Muttering voices from underground
7 Huge spider or centipede or giant rat attack
8 Spectral goblin elders chanting, save or run away with fear for a d4 rounds
9 Poltergeist awakens, starts having angry fits
10 Bats flying all around cause confusion for a d4 rounds if fail save
11 Lesser demon abuses then attacks for a d6 rounds then leaves in puff of smoke
12 Wraith with spectral scythe called from underworld to punish defilers


------------------------------------------------------------------------

d12 Grave Defences
1 Curse -2d4 Con if fail save until removed, strikes who breaks seal first
2 Shadow arises where warrior was sacrificed to be a guardian if damaged
3 Swarm of rats, worms or bugs pours out of grave if damaged
4 A magic mouth sternly rebukes you as you rob grave, possibly in old language
5 Terrible rotting disease strikes all in area save to resist
6 Poltergeist arises and menaces all in area if touched without respect
7 Random encounter attracted by spirits or possibly lairs in this grave
8 Extra d4 slave zombies arise if any damage
9 Imp appears invisibly starts campaign of terror, sabotage and distraction
10 Disturb ghouls hidden here with a 1in6 chance of attracting d6 more 
11 Skeletons arise in area 2d6  with a 1in6 chance of attracting shadow
12 Zombies arise in are d4 with a 1in6 chance of attracting wight


d12 Common Goblin Grave Goods
d3 items per grave of d3 bodies
1 Stone bowl
2 Clay vase
3 Wooden spoon carved
4 Toothbrush
5 Copper knife
6 Wooden stool
7 Silver sickle 30gp
8 Semiprecious stone 10gp
9 Jug of nasty goblin grog
10 Large Crystal 50gp
11 Stone statuette of goblin god 20lb worth 80gp
12 Copper arm band or Ivory tusk medallion 15gp

d12 Goblin Grave Treasure
1in6 chance of untouched grave

1 Torc d4 1=bronze 90gp 2=silver 180gp 3=gold 360gp 4=crystal torc +1 protection 

2 +1 sling

3 Stone +1 Javelin or +1 Mace or +1 Shortsword 

4 +1 Small Shield with goblin cult symbol
5 Chest with d4x100sp 
6 Stone +1 dagger or club or spear
7 Chariot broken into parts and horse skeletons 300gp if working
8 Spider Venom Antidote
9 Healing Mushrooms d4 doses heal d4 HP

10 Missile ammo x2d4 shots +1 arrows or sling stones
11 Set of d4 Fetishes gives +1 on save once
12 Goblin Fertility Idol double births in household over year

------------------------------------------------------------------------

d12 Goblin Cults
Often names are tribal and bigger tribes have several cults



1 Mother & Father Goblin
Ancestor cult mostly shamans and priests of tribal goblins
Humans chase them away mostly
Worship first pair of goblins made in fairyland to work on creation in the early dawn age. These goblins commune with ancestors and leave them offerings, kin to many nature spirits in plants animals and land. They mostly want to be left alone on their traditional land
Treasure includes ivory, stone tools, grinding tones, baskets, flint, ochre, figures of kin or ancestor bones

2 The Great Worm God - The Gnawer Beneath
Mostly shamans and tribal
Infamous as cannibals, traitor and losers humans try to exterminate them
Worm that gnaws first heard goblins hunger and resentment and aided their rebellion to run wild. When the worm god fell most of this cult fled into the deeps. They are always desperate and hungry but ever living albinos
Treasure includes food for afterlife often decayed or worm ridden, piles of teeth

3 King and Queen of Faerieland 
Common to all goblin magicians and cultures
Know as serfs of faerie who's lot is to perhaps reincarnate into a pixie
These goblins still serve their creators and faerieland who readied the world for the arrival of the sun which some resented. Their depictions and conduct varies seasonally such as the bright fey ruling summer and dark fey ruling winter. They are advanced gardeners growing forests, thorn hedges, holy herbs and food for faerie forests
Treasure includes elf made items and petty treasures, wine and clothing

4 The Insect Cult - Million Swarming Ones
Shamans or priesthoods of tribal and common folk
Most people know most insect cults just mind their own business
Provides food and labour and works hard, each breed has own spirit. Most tribes specialise in a bug type like bee, ant, beetle, wasp. Often traders who travel with loads over the world
Treasure includes jewellery with insect motif of copper or 1in6 times gold and amber

5  The Horned god - Lord of Beasts & Death
Evil priesthoods, shamen and sometimes necromancer wizards
Feared as snaky magical killers with pets
Lord of the hunt who defied the faerie queen and became king of underworld to live forever undead. Served with lords of night in the age of darkness. These actually plant undead in graves for in storage. Everyone shuns them for serving the armies of death and their blasphemies. Older version of cult are just hunters, each clan specialise in a type of huge animals as a mounts including wolf, bat, boar, goat, lizard, toad, weasel. Corrupt hunters prefer undead animal pets.
Treasure includes necromancer items, weapons, shaman tools, musical instruments, silver coated bones, sometimes evil scrolls

6 Hobgoblin King - Lord of War
A formal clerical order of war priests who operate like templars
Humans intimidated by hobgoblins but will hire as mercenaries
A warlord who is highly disciplined, often have superior weapons, armour and many bigger graves. At least half the cult are goblins who wish to become hobgoblins. Goblins mutate into hobgoblins often in times of crisis like war. Hobgoblins are hardworking and very disciplined in war. They are quick to anger or fight and are easily offended
Treasure mostly weapons and armour, might be used as armoury reserves then returned

7 The Goblin King - Lord of Kingship
Civilised urban priesthoods even those thralls of humans
Humans ridicule these goblins and wage war against them or enslave them
The great and terrible first goblin king who still rules from his underland mountain fortress in rebellion to the gods and fey. He urges war to all others and civilisation building for goblins. His cult are also traders and bankers and quite civilised and encourage distinctively goblin quality. Goblins often sing melancholic work songs. Goblin slaves know they will live in goblin city with their king as his thralls in the next life. Free goblins in his service are the most warlike and expansive but also propagator of goblin culture and arts. Secrets of breeding ghouls, goblins and trolls to make thouls to make guards is a cult secret
Treasures include goblin handycrafts, gems, gold, clothing of high quality

8 Mushroom Mother - Queen of Fungus
Every kind of magician and all goblins praise her
Human think of them as harmless but too lazy and stoned to be slaves
Who teaches how to make food and survive in the utter darkness, popular fertility cult and mostly peaceful willing to trade food and provide healing. They establish fungus gardens and are often left alone as their gardening is mostly provides food and habitats for others
Treasures are food and potions or magical fungi brewed by cult witches

9 Trickster - Jester of Chaos
Every kind of magician and goblin may serve the trickster
Humans universally exterminate crazy goblin clowns with chaos mutations if possible 
The jester of chaos cult is crazy and dangerous but teaches alchemy, espionage, gambling, deceit, magic and more. Most are more mischievous and vindictive rather than evil and serve as acceptable ways to be a outsider in goblin society. Some rise to be sly advisers to rulers. The demonic sects are increasing and teach the jester is a lord of chaos juggling the planes of the abyss and sent to bring entropy and rebirth. Gremlins are part of the jester
Treasure often includes curses, taints and tricks but also weapons and useful items

10 Great Frog Mother - The Opulent Jade Queen
Every kind of magician and goblin
Famous for fecundity, vice, depravity, poverty and inbreeding  
The great frog mother is popular in wetlands and theses goblins often are more frog like with webbing, slimy skin or other features. Mostly they mind their own business and avoid others but as they are very fecund they may swarm occupationally. Each swamp has it's own spirit who the frog cult serve. They often live with other wetland monsters such as frogs.
Treasure is often poor but food, swamp weed and grog are common

11 Spider Mother - Queen of The Night Age
Every kind of magician and goblin
Hated by most surface dwellers and humans as creepy horrors
Goblins that sold as slaves to the monster lords of the dark times by faerie. Goblins served magic spiders as hands, mounts and food until they were banished to another dimension. Some even turn into spiders or have spider like abilities like immunity to webbing and climbing up walls. Most live in caves in the deep now
Treasure often have cursed and evil items, spider silk books of forbidden lore, gems

12 Great Mother & Father Bugbear
Every kind of magician and bugbear, some goblins and hobgoblins join too
Humans dread bugbears especially children
Bugbears mutate from goblins when a community is in a military stalemate and hobgoblins are just keeping up. Bugbears eat other goblins, humans, pets. They like spooking people (especially children) and cruel pranks. They are fearsome warriors in formation but also expert scouts and assassins. The cult teach bugbear culture and the importance of collecting your enemies heads and shrinking them. They Initiate and teach new bugbears and those who wish to be bugbears. Bugbears breed too and once they appear in a goblin community they are a threat to it. They will feed on their weaker kin and possible end up in control. A few loner bugbears serve other goblinoids as executioners and body guards. Mother & Father Bugbears were siblings the first to become bugbears and then they spawned generations since. Father Bugbear is a warrior storm god and Mother Bugbear is a moon goddess witch. They have a sweet and heart warming romance collecting human and orc heads 

Friday 16 August 2019

Backgrounds of Xor

Some quick weird life story tables for Xor - the land of meat and wonder!
Picture above shows meat in it's purest form mined from Xor.

d12 I was born....
1 In a tribe of roaming hunters always exploring
2 In a barbarian tribal village often with fortifications
3 Bred in a slave farm like cattle, like
 estate of a wizard or monsters territory
4 In a large town with merchants and diverse peoples
6 Found as a child by kind commoners assumed to have come from Xor
7 Found as a child by well off urban family
8 Born in household of nobility, probably a bastard and legal parent is a servant
9 Raised by humanoids, demihumans or beast folk or other strange hidden race
10 Exploring strange fleshy intrusion into home world then swallowed into Xor
11 In another land of stone and steel, Xor ate old home world or alternate timeline
12 Raised by supernatural being in luxurious pocket dimension which you escaped to Xor


d12 Miracle birth secrets on Xor....
1 Broke or cut free of the skin of Xor where had been growing asleep
2 Grown in a fleshy pod structure in secret full of slime
3 Crawled out of pool of primordial ooze
4 Hatched from a egg or sac of skin
5 Creature gave birth to child, implanted by shamen or just a miracle of Xor?
6 Clone cut off body of a regenerating person
7 Grew from surface of Xor over a few days
8 Made by a alchemist or wizard in a lab
9 Clone of great trouble maker killed before time Xor wants back
10 Burst from corpse of old version as a clone child with possibly memories
11 Vomited up or excreted by some monster that then ran away
12 Made by cult who brought you to life with magic from a flesh effigy


d12 When I was young....
1 Was precocious and curious getting into adventures, shenanigans and hi jinx
2 Lost family in tragedy roll again on birth table
3 Knew members of another race and how to live alongside them
4 Almost died in a terrible accident or attack
5 Saw a terrible famous monster
6 Saw a terrible crime committed
7 Were sick and feeble and almost died
8 Had to work hard with family to survived
9 Survived a plague
10 Seemed favoured by the gods
11 Feeling i was watched
12 Travelled vast distance

d12 My Adventures so Far...

1 Battled a monster that killed many people you knew
2 On run from some kind of cult or secret society
3 Desperate for cash carried torches and piles for adventurers
4 Accused of a crime or heresy or breaking taboo and had to flee home
5 Warlords over ran home area turning survivors into scattered refugees
6 Disaster forced you to flee and separated you from allies
7 Explored a strange flesh cave once and saw horrible monsters
8 Met strangers from some other world having a adventure
9 Having mysterious dreams since found and touched some ancient relic
10 Fell into underworld complex of organs and strange beings for months
11 Ran away with mysterious lover who since abandoned you or disappeared
12 Plucked up by a titanic kaiju and had to live inside it a few months 


d12 The worse thing I had to do was...

1 Eat some loved ones to survive, but they would have wanted you to
2 Perform a evil sacrificial rite to drive away a demonic being
3 Joined a cult that turned out to be just about sex, drugs and demons
4 Slave labourer on plantation or mine, thrown away when thought you were dead
5 Served a awful wizard or priest, witnessed their terrible crimes
6 Infested with a terrible parasite until it burst free and escaped
7 Involved in shameful massacre of tribe or faction
8 Damaged something that tainted area and released contagion demons
9 Forced into joining chaos demon cult to survive till you could escape
10 Joined a community and lived peacefully but they were all killed while you hid
11 Tricked into act of cannibalism by cult then killed bunch of them in revenge 

12 Killed a whole gang by yourself with mostly luck and people think you are a killer



Tuesday 13 August 2019

Literacy on Xor

Crikey I opened a can of worms mentioning books on Xor.
So now i have to explain how Xorians write.

Surface of Xor in some locations has tattooed secret places with forbidden lore
Slave auctions might actually have tattooed living books for sale

Feel free to submit ideas that i will steal from you like the wind bwah haha!

d12 Book Types of Xor

1 Runes carved on bone or teeth or tusks in bundle usually in a leather bag, sometimes ink or blood is rubbed in to read easier or in rituals
2 Book of vellum sheets of creature skin or tattooed on living creature then made into book 3 Living creature covered in tattoos, when it dies it's skin will be made into a book, pigs are most common but dogs, humans, giant mole rats, cats are all good choices. Fancy ones might be lions, golems, gargantuan kaiju, salamander, manticores
4 Tablets of dried faeces sometimes fired or special diets required, often kept in skins
5 Living flesh book, open it slimy living skin pages to read, requires feeding 1in6 speak
6 Living flesh book can walk, sneak, hide, as smart as a animal  1in6 speak
7 Lore potion, made from extractions of neural fluids gives drinker memories, knowledge and skills for a d4 turns with some residual trivia, often come in a egg or skin sac
8 Memory slave is a creature or human that specialised in memorisation, some also super numerate or with other skills. Bird breeds are common message takers and spies. Some just know a single work and little else, some have a book per INT point 
9 Brain sac with nueral link connection tentacles to talk to brain in bio bubble 1in6 with eyes 1in6 with a voice box
10 Brain sac with psionic link to the animus and overmind of Xor, networked into other brains, includes eyes and is telepathic, telepathy, telekinesis, levitation, clairvoyance. Some have been cut off or broken free and often mad
11 Memory Worm, eats the brain of victim and if inserted in the nose gain memories of the last victim. The host shares memories from the worms last victims. Drugs keep worm from destroying the host over weeks. A separate fungal infection does the same thing as the drug but turns hair silver. An infested brain explodes with worms an hour after the hosts death
12 Book is a colony of tiny creatures like rats, bugs, worms or slime. Handled to "read" the creatures form text formed with bodies. You can find them wild sometimes. Some are descendants from familiars or degenerate spell books of the elder races, monster kings and necromancers

Sunday 11 August 2019

d100 Common Idioms of Xor



Heroes on Xor while leaping about in human skin loin cloths need stuff to shout! While wielding mighty sawtooth blades made from giant lizard fangs, you need stuff to yell as you stab it into foes 2 or 3 times more than needed. It's stuff boring old priests say or a farmer accidentally hurting himself at work or a warrior trying smack talk. Perhaps a quote from the nominomicon or the secrets of the cannibal kabbalah. I had idea of having one of these on bottom of each page.

d100 Common Verbal Abuse on Xor
01 By the great glistening gelatinous glumps of Xor!
02 All flesh is one - all is flesh
03 Flesh is as thy flesh does
04 By the rancid meat sceptre of the beast!
05 By the great yellow teeth of Xor
06 By all the magical mysteries of meat 
07 Everyone looks the same touching their toes
08 You are born of meat and at the end you are just meat
09 We come from blood, to blood we return!
10 By the bones we are are all broken
11 I keep my soul in my skin I must not let it leak out! 
12 The animus is in every living thing, beware the anti animus!
13 By The Flesh of Xor I hunger to eat my enemies
14 Blood and flesh for Xor!
15 Bones break bones yet flesh begets flesh
16 If the body complies the mind will obey
17 The mind is weak the flesh is strong
18 Bleed for your god who bled for you!
19 Beware the mutant, the infected strange and daemon cults
20 Infections are intrusions into the perfect ever living world of Xor
21 Devour life challenges as Xor devours worlds
22 All that bleeds lives!
23 A beating heart if the best heart
24 By the seven sacred organs I give my life!
25 Raging fists of meat pummel the wicked!
26 Beware the star stone of iron or metal strangers bring
27 Flense the infected and flail the wicked
28 Righteousness if flesh and flesh is righteousness 
29 By the pure flesh of the Virgin Queen 
30 Praise Xor the All Mother and All Father
31 We all suckle from the holy teats of Xor's wisdom
32 Cast into the corpse pits to feed Xor, to be reborn as Xor pleases
33 The circle of strife is all life linked in chains of eternal hunger  
34 Blast my rotten juices of piss and sweat and blood!
35 We are closest to Xor, our enemies are mere effluent and flatulence 
36 By the power of the Animus spare this life
37 There are two types of stranger, the ones you marry and the ones you eat
38 Meat binds all into a unity of flesh, the body of Xor
39 Heart beats, blood boils, bile burns, enemies die!
40 By the great fleshy leather dewlaps of Xor
41 May sweetmeats and pickled jowls rain down from heavens!
42 I butcher this foe that their flesh is returned to the greet devourer
43 By the jiggly boobs and buttocks of Xor!
44 By the fleshy love chasms of great Xor
45 By the sphincter of the great ones
46 By the pulsating prolapses of the elder gods!
47 I am your predator, prepare to be rendered to base gore
48 You are but a few buckets of meat slurry in the great fleshy ocean that is Xor
49 Great melting eyeballs of the witnesses of Xor!
50 Xor is way the only way, all that live comes from and through Xor
51 Consume thine enemies, consume their greasy grimy corpses with glee
52 All life is Xor, to oppose Xor makes you an enemy of Life!
53 It is the strong's duty to persecute the week and free them from choice
54 If you bite to much of Xor, Xor will bite you back
55 Come wade into blood and gore, enjoy the deadly battle dance of Xor!
56 Your enemies are gifts of Xor, use them for fuel, leather, bone, meat, sinew or slaves
57 Bones can flex only so far
58 Give a man food he carries your goods for a day, turn his skin into a bag he works for you and your children
59 It is a mercy to mutilate and mark the mad and strange so all know take pity on them
60 Xor will always provide meat for your young and old, praise Xor!
61 A stranger is just a animal you have not eaten yet
62 If a stranger wrongs you cut his cheek with a knife to say "No! I have had enough!"
63 May you be reborn in the bosom of Xor 
64 If it offends you spit it out or cut it off
65 Humans skin is like a book of a life, I look forward to showing yours to my kin!
66 Eyes, ears, finger, toes and nose - all good eatin' don't you knows?
67 Teeth are a treasure for trade and making weapons, always collect them!
68 By my blood engorged muscles I strike at thee!
69 It is easy for anyone to fall into the maw of Xor, some are taken sooner that is all
70 Pumping muscles, bleeding gums, hammering fists, squirming tongues
71 Broken bones, squirting blood, gasping lungs, embrace the void within
72 Stillness is death, keep moving
73 Stab my flesh, break my limbs, dash my brains, I live on inside Xor forever 
74 The chosen of Xor are born again and again while the useless are shat out into the void
75 The old and wise you feed and care for, the old and idiot just leave them for wild beasts to eat
76 Those who defend life are worthy of life, the unworthy deserve death, Xor is Life!
77 Lo! The enigma of Xor, creator of all yet gormless and formless ever living idiot
78 We are but ticks and fleas feeding on the greatness of Xor 
79 All elements are within mighty Xor and meat is the master element
80 Mutants are a blessing from Xor, any might be the key to survive in the future
81 If it tastes good it was meant to be eaten
82 Pity not those who we eat for they become our flesh, the circle of strife goes on
83 Xor gives us warmth, meat and life so we devote our selves to the lord of flesh
84 Life consumes life to live, murder is as natural as breathing,
85 A kind fool warns his dinner before eating them
86 If you ask to be eaten eventually you will be
87 Xor is the great cosmic worm ever devouring itself in a cannibalistic spiral
88 When you devour the corpse of your lover, it's ok to start with the feet
89 Scars show you have lived and had experience, only fools and idiots have no scars
90 Stone crumbles, iron rusts but flesh is reborn forever in Xor 
91 By the slaughter seers of Xor, I shall unleash your blood in great showers of gore
92 Everything given to your children, family and slaves is a debt they must repay
93 Show mercy to a foe and just mutilate or enslave them
94 Only eat who you kill, wasted flesh attracts otherworldly evil
95 May your soul rot in the bowels of Xor's digestive tract for a billion eternities
96 If good flesh gets a worm cut it out fast (some say poison it instead)
97 The eater of your friend is your enemy (or the eater of your enemy is your friend)
98 To open a flesh gate you must be gentle like a lover, masterful like musician
99 Chew your sinew and gristle, it's good for you and the sensible thing to do
100 Beware flesh of the alien, the outsider the defiler, the plague carrier and the daemon

Saturday 10 August 2019

UK Series






































Just got this old classic and most of series again.
I have most of my oldschool DnD dream items now
Possibly go for gammaworld reprints in future.
Possibly hardcover ravenloft series.
See my updated wish list sidebar
Have house shortly and ok temp accommodation

Those and Dragon Warriors and Fighting Fantasy shaped my taste in fantasy gaming. Plus Moorcock and Lovecraft in Deities book and Chaosium games being used in Greyhawk and Known World DnD. Id like to run all the UK series and saltmarsh together. The art, design and maps on these were some of the 80s best of TSR and had some grungy uk vibe.


UK5 Eye of the Serpent for 1st Level, Quick Thoughts
There are a lot of good lessons you can get from this adventure and it can be run cinematic and feature chases and other pulp fun. Some odd characters to meet and murder. Easy to put in a campaign setting. Little consequences for a setting really. It is a secret mountain valley route with remnants of former inhabitants.

I like it. Good beginner intro setting and characters can come from anywhere. Party grabbed by roc in beginning and dumped at top in a nest and flee downwards.

-Good first wilderness scenario for kids or noobs

-They will sigh at railroad set up probably but persist
-Has a good flow chart point and has some choices
-Made for one monk or druid or ranger vs dm or with a beginner party

-Map is a outdoor dungeon with a few choices in paths
-Probably repayable with one character or a party
-Has lots of terrain types to learn to deal with 
-Lot of mini adventures and encounters many quite grisly
-Has 80s Brit punk grit & grime feel a bit like a fighting fantasy book
-Kind of has melancholic, lonely, romantic mood & mild horror

-Art is excellent more like fiend folio style
-Good layouts and attractive maps too
-Good for beginning players or dm
-Overall I rate this 4 stars out of 5

It is a good way to start a campaign and characters can meet in the nest. Being a bit blessed by the gods and some dreams or visions might help motivate players. In a way they are performing a ancient rite that has not been played for generations since the tribes left. Fate might guide them further to be heroes of the land. As a game starter it beats a we met in a pub as a origin story.

The basic setup could be used in different games too.
Just mix up monsters a bit or revere the trek.
Give it a creation myth and a quest for RuneQuest.

Add strange tech and mutants and trash for Gamma World
Strand some astronauts on a mountaintop with wrecked outposts of scoundrels and native inhabitants

UK 2&3 
Alderweg Series, The Sentinel and the GauntletCool items and story. The Sentinel Lv 2-5 has a soppy item and a log fort of baddies and a ruined villa to explore (or murder spree). The Gauntlet Lv 3-6 lets you take a cool cliff fort then fight off a army from it which is one of my first Battlesystem experiences at the time. Plus the evil glove is way cooler. The second of the series is better one and i used fort at a key pass for years in my campaign

UK4 When a Star Falls 3-5 LvI love this scavenger hunt, has good fatalistic prophecies and dreams, interesting places to visit and things to do. The deep gnomes in this set my ideas on them since. I love their constructs - kinda dart and flame shooting deco streamlined daleks. Derro here and decor interesting. The Tower of Heaven I used in a game for years. Getting first dreams from a monster is nice touch.

UK7 Dark Clouds Gather 7-9For the level you get to raid a crystal cloud fort with flying baboons and frost giants, Lots of small locations to visit. It is a pretty good into to higher level style of adventure. I had totally forgotten what was in here until I opened it up so not as strong memories of the above in series.

All that glittersDon't have

UK1 In storage but notable strange adventure