Chagrinspire Session Prep - 3 cults!

Paid Tier Now on Patreon PDF  3 pdfs
Vol 1 Chagrinspire with extra pages and map, fixed fonts and art
Vol 2 Chagrinspire with some fixes and a map and content fixed
Updated EMO homebrew rewrite project

Have fleshed out the lake area and in between the villages a bit.

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I will detail 3 cults and a settlement using tables from this series today.

I rolled 3 at once and started with a worm slime then (x) cult to be named later. By making 3 dice rolls at once I could allocate any results to the best fit. This is fine for 3 mini dungeons i have located near my current settlements. I had some undead results so i made x a necromancy school of pasty death nerd goths.

The Cult of the Worm

Temple
Collosal Worm burrows in dead woodlands
Temple guarded by giant fleshbore worms 
Crude shrine where cult sleep in worm dung to get parasitic worms required by the cult

Clues 
Children sing the rhyme of the worm from the stars
Worm insignia hidden in folk art and signs, most locals don't notice
Evidence of secret tunnels used possibly by cult
Locals hostile to claims of a secret cult
Locals discuss fears of a cult in secret whispers and paranoid

Cult 
Brian Dabblepot 5th lv wizard, dreamy curious child controlled by a worm parasite
Local huge brute the masked executioner of the cult 3rd lv warrior
3d6 cultists lv 1 wizards and parasite hosts
Swarm of maggots guard the shrime
Carrion worm is a pet and mount of the master
Giant bore worms d4 know cultists by scent as they carry parasitic larvae of the worms.
-They are intelligent and keen to get into space to grow bigger
A spawn of the colossal worm god only comes in person at social rituals to feed or implant sacred parasites

Drama
The worm god desires its spawn infiltration into a city crime guild

Hire desperate bandits to attack the village so they can all turn on visitors and assess them for as hosts or food 
Make spiral worm sigils to scare enemies they stalk
A colossal worm may come if the cult calls on it or to avenge them

I got a robot to co-write this
but i had to edit lots
anyone to do as they please with
or
look away from thus i will use times italics for the word of Colossus as an already hated font:

 In the night sky, shining bright,
Worm from the stars take your flight,
With a wiggle and a squirm,
It seeks souls to its cause turn!
 
Skip, skip, one, two, three,
Worm from the stars, can't catch me
Wiggling, jiggling, just beware,
If it catches you in your underwear

Through the meadow, off we go,
Past the flowers, in a row,
But when the moon begins to glow,
The worm its seed it starts to sew!

Skip, skip, four, five, six,
Worm from the stars has magic tricks!
Wiggling, jiggling, just beware,
If it catches you, your skin will tear!
 
Skip, skip, seven, eight, nine,
Worm from the stars, it walks through time!
Wiggling, jiggling, just beware,
when it takes you to its secret lair!

 In blackest night, of burning bleak
The worm will take your soul to keep 
Worm from the stars will take its toll,
So chant this rhyme to guard your soul!

Skip, skip, ten, eleven, twelve,
Worm from the stars, go back to your delve!
Wiggling, jiggling, through black night air,
Will free all souls from worldly care

Boreworm
Medeum Giant intelligent NE animal 
AC +3 HD 4 Bite 2d4 Morale 7 Mov 6 Burrow 3 Climb 3 Swim 3
Poor Vision - uses vibration, motion, heat and smell, dislike sunlight  
Spit once a day bonus attack Range3 2d4 acid save or lose 1hp/2d4 rounds
Track by smell especially blood, +2 morale if taste blood
Burrowing Ambush from the ground, prefer softer soil, mud, sand, and pebbles not rock
Minion species who are parasites of the gargantuan god worms
Often pets of worm cults or worm folk
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Cult of the Slime God

Temple
Abandoned bath house with garden
Temple in bath chamber connects to sewers with poison crossbow traps
Complex with:
Shrine of allied slime demon prince, cells for prisoners, antechamber with slime pools, priest room, common room, slime breeding lab, well room 

Clues 
Town drunk escaped once but never saw their faces now he is wary
A witch hunter vanished in the area
Semi-dissolved body part found of missing person
Villagers say they can't afford a witch hunter
Locals fear being murdered by cult
Control local bandits somehow

Cult 
Billy Vikous a local brewer who taints drinks, 5th lv priest 
Scally Mourndew a 3rd lv bard with demonling familiar who acts as a spy
Pilgrims 5d6
Bandits 3d6
Ochre Jelly d4
Grey Ooze d3
Gelatinous polygon 1

Drama
The cult has secret tunnels where their slimy allies can come to aid them in a crisis
Offer visitors dinner in homes 
Cult will hire an assassin subcult if they need help
-a new 5th-level slime priest arrives leading them and this may cause a conflict
Will use charmed victims or bandits as obstacles and spies for adventurers

Scarlet Jelly
Medeum giant animal unintelligent N animal 
AC +3 HD 6 Grapple 2d4 Morale 10 Mov 6 Climb 3 Swim 3
Any creature it grapples takes 2d4 acid damage
-requires a might save to escape take a d4 acid damage the first round free
-once grappled take 2d4 damage automatically, only one target may be engulfed
-inorganic items like arms & armour are damaged but organic parts will be eaten 

Poor Vision - uses vibration, motion, heat and smell, track food by scent 
Half damage from blunt or piercing weapons and falling (chopping or hacking are ok)
Slowed by cold spells or at least a bucket of salt for d3 rounds if hit
Immune to damage from organic (not mineral) poison or disease
Spiderclimb any surface but can be heavy
Breathe water, often live in water or pools
Amorphous can ooze through bars it 10cm gaps  

Hungry adaptable and 

Slime Abhumans
Humanoid intelligent N animal 
AC +3 HD d12/Lv Punch d4 or by weapon +1 Morale 7 Mov 12 Jump 1
Night vision and superior leaping ability
Lv3 eat anything organic, power throw skill
Lv6 breath water at will, cleaving and critical hits
Lv9 amorphous form at will, semi-transparent gelatinous flesh, half blunt weapon damage
Lv12 immune to acid, poison & disease 

These slimy humanoids wear symbiotic living-coloured slime armour and prefer flails and axes. Will hurl or sling incendiaries and dangerous fluids in bottles. They are larger than most humans and stronger with +1 damage bonus. They serve the slime gods, chaos or demons because other nice cults wont take them. Tribes are reviled outsiders and they are suspicious of flesh people. Some adopt character classes to help the tribe to get magic. Some slime people want a cure others hate the world instead. Leaders may summon a horde if vindictive enough. Live as barbarians and wary of outsider priests and wizards using them as meat shields or canon fodder. Evil ones enjoy how hideous they look and enjoy frightening people

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Scions of Necros

Temple
House Basement by a field
Grain silo is a secret temple entrance guarded by Alarm and holds portal spells
Shrine with a priest room with antechamber pilgrims camp in

Clues 
The bartender heard some wild stories
Graves tampered with bodies stolen
Fake orc attacks really cult and zombies 
Deny local cult exists and then gossip about nosy adventurers
Locals don't know much but burned a witch once

Cult
Patty Cromwurst necromancer and sausage merchant, 5th wizard
Ogorn Moonwrench, Gnome necromancer who makes potions and drugs, 3rd Wizard with 2 flintlock pistols (or crossbow bolts pistols with glass tipped acid filled bolts)
Cultists 3d6 
Zombies 3d4
Skeletons 2d4
Ghoul 1 - part of a deal from the agreement with local ghouls

Drama
Can call on ghoul allies but they demand all the cult zombies as payment
Lie to visitors about
-orc slavers
-hook-handed horrors tearing people apart and digging up  graves by night 
Cult seek a lost necromancer relic coffin to make zombies
A quasi-demonling is called to hamper and distract adventurers 

Game Prep Oddments Post Session 4 Chagrinspire

In my Chagrinspire games, I have mostly had party visits to the two villages, dealt with the guilds and have been in about 6 hexes looming in ruins and doing fetch quests that seem to involve cults lots. They also found an underground train tunnel but fled. Most recently they went to loot a place they fled and found a wight and an automaton whose body was worth lots and made the party flee to friendly guild territory. I've just been dressing Dyson maps mostly. Players keen to take a bandit lair and to sell maps.

Party saw a golem traction engine chasing scavengers once and saw black sphere grey gnomes with guns and automatons with a small tank. Have also heard it clunking around at night.

I'm hoping some more tunnels will be explored, the lakes and the plateau gatehouse of Chagrinspire which will be campaign goals.

I'm just rolling up some stuff here based on tables so far and mostly in vol 1 and 2 of the pdf comps. 

Hexes from Flatspur to Shankheim
1 Grasslands with various herds of mudhogs and cabbage fields around Flatspurs walls
-Underground complex inder ruined shack used by cult of the worm connected to subway
2 North is mudfields divided by the river from the broken ground south. 
-System of booby-trapped trenches popular gounds for scavengers guild
-Ancient outpost now occupied by bandits who have many hostages who will need a place to settle if freed 
-remains of a wall from a previous village destroys a century ago haunted by undead people and farm animals
3 North is black stinking mars with some flooded ruins, a river divides the hex, the southern part borders on southern broken lands and southwestern dead blasted forests and rough ground 
-Wrecked war golem juggernaut with huge roller wheels and a dour face and guns, scaengers say its haunted
-Buried hulk of some vast land leviathan is the home of a cannibal morlock clan and other monsters
-Shack fortified full of debris where bandits camp to raid travellers
-Blasted ruined factories with outer intact walls, iron beams and long fallen in ceiling, rusted machines inside and hazardous vegetation. Mutant cannibal gangs live here 
4 Dead scattered woodland and broken ground with scattered buried ruins
-Former watch tower with ghoul in cabin on top

-Blasted village of ancients with rows of ruined townhouses, a hotel, church and a store. Scavenger and mutant gangs fight over treasure and undead and mo\nsters are attracted
-Ruined outpost occupied by the slavers guild
5 Shankheim is built on mudfields and patches of grass and rubble of building ruins
-crossroad settlement where cult of slime god lived and had underground ruins
-Rubble of blasted village where Kalag Var orcs camp. They are mostly worried by enemy barbarian orcs invading their wastes. Will charge humans toll if they are not in guild of shankheim

-Vast mounds of garbage where the Shankhein guild gangs roam tithing scavengers

Recent rumour and news
Locals discuss the extinct species from long ago and traces of them in the wasteland

An alchemist in a salamander skin fireproof suit and incendiary weapons looking for work to get near Chagrinspire. Also has several types of firelance (shot, ball and incendiary)

A prankster has been igniting farts with spells in the tavern, victims want the villain charged with witchcraft

The merchant wants ancient intact flags - will pay 100gp each more for rare ones

Arber Kamlet anti mutant inquisitor in the area hunting mutants among scavengers. He has mysterious mentalist powers.

Recent Weather
Clear skies with some patches of grey clouds moving in the winds from the north, on the full moon auroras of Chagrinspire amplified by local magic use can revive things lost in the climax of the apocalypse war. Undead arise in such conditions from the dead buried in alchemical mud. Rotten meat smells come from the north for days.

d12 Local Jobs in Flatspur
1 Salvage building materials like bricks, stones, planks and sheets of metal or iron bars from some ruins
2 Recover my lost mud hog and make sure mutants have not defiled it
3 A farm in the wilds is growing beets and turnips, go trade get live ones we can plant here. Maybe get their tips and find out about their God Bugrump the turnip king to see if the gods of light would approve 
4 Scavengers want guards while they loot some rubble, ruin or trench
5 Boatman found a sunk metal boat and needs help salvaging it
6 A meteor fell nearby and the scavenger guild wants someone to check it out
7 Guards want feral dogs killed and will buy their corpses
8 Guards want information confirming if the outpost ruins to the north is a bandit gang lair
9 Guards offer bounty on bandits 5gp live or or  1gp a head 
10 A murderer flees the village and a posse is required to hunt them into the waste
11 Bandits took a wagon load of beer, tracked it and get the beer back
12 Priest believes a recent traders were in fact a cult spying on the village, go follow them

d12 Local Jobs in Shankheim
1 Provoke this bad man in a tavern into a fight and badly beat them
2 Win some money betting on yourself in a fighting pit match
3 Need orgy attendants tonight, here are the costumes and oil
4 Guildmaster wants a gang beaten and robbed for not paying their cut
5 Check for any scavengers in this ruins for their claims with the guild, Shakedown down guild cut of 10% if members and 75% of everything they have if not
6 Kill this assassin staying in the in quickly before he finishes the mission or you won't be paid
7 Go with our envoy to the Kalag Var orc village with our guild tribute and don't cause any beef! 

8 Give us information on the Flatspur Scavengers guild like how much treasure they have and who the secret guild masters are
9 Locate the lakeside settlements and report on them to the guildmaster
10 A party of murder hobos squatted in a guild building and need evicting or to pay rent
11 Steal us a boat or raft of some kind from the wetlands nobody here knows how to build one
12 Escort these prisoners to the outpost of the slaver guild, don't worry they are all guild debtors and not kidnapped (some are broke adventurers)

Recent Tribes 
Malag Tor Orcs believe local orcs are tainted and must die and they want to behead wizards, wear horned helms and wear torn bandages and rags covered in mud to blend in. All carry small swords, shields and 2 javelins

Kalag Var Orcs are local orcs related to those invading Chagrinspire and who enslave wizards. They wear blank black masks with evil eyes steel cap helms and scale armour. Use morning stars, spears and round shields.

Dun Ox Warband is here to kill mutants and wizards but now all tainted and self-loathing since Shaman died. Now they collect wizard brains for a necromancer who treats their wounds and surgically removes mutations. Wear leather cap helms with iron spikes and leather hide armour. Sheild and battleaxe with a hand axe

Balag Kar mutants worship the plague demon and infect their homes with terrible diseases. Many wear gas masks and use muskets and trench clubs

Wild folk with green fur hunt mud hogs in the area and are seen dancing or holding rituals to revive vegetation. Some say they keep the grassland improving

Automaton Giant
AC +20 HD 30d8 Mov 12 Morale 11
Att Ram or Trample 4d20
(weapons are operated by the crew, not the giant) 
Cannon 10d6 fires every second round of 6+2d6 shells Range 100
-explosive shells 6d6 damage 6m circle blast
Machinegun 2d6 xd10 shot burst Range 20

6 crew with muskets or carbines with clips fire from gun ports, Lv1 soldiers
3 Artillery crew and two machine gun crew, Lv1 soldiers
6 engineers repair a d3 damage per man per round, Lv1 rogue mechanics
Captain (Lv5) and a lieutenant (Lv3) 

These hulking simple automaton brutes are mobile artillery and siege engines that destroy buildings and fortifications. The captain directs the creature from inside the head and the second in command rallies engineers or gunners as needed. The six infantry will exit the automaton if required. These machines tend to battle others or large monsters. Spare parts and ammo are the main limits. They will act as earth-moving machines for earthworks or defences.

d100 Mimic Forms & Tricks

Yes you can put all these on one Dyson map.

Mimics in older editions were intelligent and able to do language but just neutral. Nothing personal you are made of meat. Mimics could conquer the world but prefer dinner and not moving. Possibly they are daimons of Xor or aliens. Do they breed or just bud? Pathogenic or something weird. Are they related to Draselites? Do they poop?

They will always have escape routes, preferably a drain or air vent that cant be followed into

Mimics might be eating dungeon food peoples but could also get paid in meat to guard a location. A mimic door could open with a password and magic and thieves tools wouldn't work. Guard mimics will have a bolthole and will alert locals to danger. Imagine mimics that set off the traps and hide and get help rather than fight adventurers because other monsters give them the meat and its less risk.

They might work with doppelgangers but know they are jerks who creepily enjoy playing with food too much. Once a victims body is destroyed at -10 HP they can squeeze through small spaces again.

Feel free to relate your ideas in comments 
Maybe the best one will find a large heavy amazon box waiting at their door

d100 Mimic Forms & Tricks
01 Chest possibly open with treasure spilling out for the aggressive younger ones

02 Barrel with a spigot like the kind in taverns

03 Feast of tasty-looking pies on a table (a bunch of baby mimics, maybe the table is parent) 

04 A Reading stand with a wizard spell book on top (its all one mimic)

05 An squat bestial idol with gems for eyes

06 Silver ingots on a stone slab

07 Stone idol with niches for coins and small offerings easy to reach inside and pick up

08 Stone throne with a faint inscription

09 Desk with open draw and gold coins inside 

10 Strange sliding letter puzzle on a wooden cabinet
11 Dungeon Door

12 An extra door in the wall 

13 Trapdoor in floor actually a pit with mimic sitting in it ready to chomp and drop to a lower level

14 Pillar or beam seemingly supporting the roof

15 Ladder or steps going to trapdoor (all one mimic)

16 Well or water pump with basin

17 Water-closet

18 Bookshelf of colourful old books

19 Archway in the ceiling or over the entry door

20 Stone water trough (water carried by mimic for effect is real)

21 Large comfortable chair

22 Chest of draws with brass knobs

23 Comfortable looking feather bed with clean sheets and brass bedknobs 

24 Child's pram or cot possibly rocking and jiggling

25 Iron stove with remains of something shiny in an open hatch

26 Bathtub with taps (if it has water it really is drool, possibly taps drip)

27 A small pipe organ with ivory keys

28 Table with chess set only a move from checkmate

29 Side table with stacked plates, this mimic will stick to one person and throw plates while fleeing with the captive)

30 Bar with various fany bottles visible inside the service area

31 Relief sculpture of a fisherman throwing a net gleefully in the wall

32 Huge porcelain urn with a lid depicting erotic and/or hunting scenes

33 Statue of a child riding a pony (maybe when you place your listening trumpet to hear cogs working you hear a heart beat)

34 Obelisk with a tiny inscription that's hard to see perhaps get closer

35 Large brass bell with a tapping sound inside like perhaps a small humanoid or creature

36 Shrine of a squat demon holding a bowl with gems in it

37 Marble stone statue head of a worried human, is that a ring in the earhole 

38 Ancient memorial pillar with hard-to-read tiny inscription that looks like nonsense

39 Sculpture of planar being holding a dying mortal, someone has placed some trinket offerings on the pedestal (insert plane and species of choice)

40 Pillar with relief art that incredibly features characters like the adventurers fighting monsters and odd seams in design possibly could hide secret panels

41 Execution block with a head in a helmet on it, at an odd angle so hard to identify 

42 Stocks holding a prisoner (goblin and stocks could be one mimic or perhaps just the stocks a mimic and holding a doppelganger or mimic friend)

43 Iron maiden, is someone inside alive? (no)

44 Wrack with unconscious victim strapped in gasping for breath 

45 Bench with brutal torture tools (mother mimic teaching her young)

46 Brazen bull above a firepit that seems to have someone locked inside

47 Gibbet with body wearing rich noble clothes inside hanging by a chain

48 A wire-locked cabinet and there seems to be potion bottles inside

49 Iron chair with clamps and unconscious tortured person slumped

50 Huge wagon wheel or wooden frame with slumped body held by ropes on arms and legs
51 Metal safe with complex code wheel lock 

52 Display stand with an exotic suit of armour

53 Bookshelf with a crystal orb and some occult medallions on display

54 A creature trapped in a cruel iron cage cries for help (maybe the critter is real)

55 Furnace as used by alchemists or metal workers and there seems to be some metal in the charcoal and ash inside

56 A stunning water feature like a fountain or pool with coins in the bottom (that water is saliva)

57 Obscene statue someone has draped a tea towel over something explicit
58 A stone block easy to help reach that note in the crack in the ceiling if you climbed on it

59 Wealthy-looking ornate sarcophagus and a gold noble emblem of the ancients

60 Slab with an incomplete rock golem laid on it and there seems to be some valuable minerals inside its chest cavity
61 Cabinet of fancy liquor with a lock

62 Basket of vegetables in good condition

63 Cauldron with cold gruel and chunks,  a severed hand with a ring floats to the surface with some bubbles

64 Black skull on a gold tray on a stone slab

65 Brass riveted head on a pedestal with closed eyes, if approached the mouth opens and has a key inside 

66 Mannequin in rich robes sitting at an ornamental tiny harpsichord with a blank porcelain mask

67 Gong with a huge mallet leaning on it

68 Statue holding urn over a stone bowl, there is a lever on base implying the urn will pour into the bowl (it just wants food to touch it)

69 Sword in a meteoric iron stone 

70 Statue of smiling water spirit with wonderful breasts and open arms on a stone disc base
71 Delicious-looking pies or big sausages (baby mimics) 

72 Colourful gems bigger than a fist (baby mimics) 

73 Small piles of silver coins in a trial (baby mimics) 

74 Huge wine bottles (baby mimics) 

75 Pile of spellbook (baby mimics) 

76 Collection of fancy shiny weapons (baby mimics) 

77 Clutch of huge eggs as big as a duck (baby mimics) 

78 Collection of squat small idols with gleaming tiny gem eyes (baby mimics) 

79 Cobblestones in the floor or bricks in a wall (baby mimics) 

80 Collection of humorous erotic fetishes (baby mimics) 
81 Hacked up a pile of adventurer corpse parts with some heads on spikes and some attractive superior boots and a belt and other items

82 A huge pile of wet intestines and organs of uncertain origin, perhaps an oxen

83 Dead pilgrims covered in blood, died protecting a wooden crate

84 Half a corpse in a passage as if sliced by some trap, but a stone buttress has a niche with a lever (mimic using the unfinished corpse as a prop while it pretends to be a trap mechanism)

85 Section of floor and wall (mimic sits on a trap trigger, it will even rearm the trap it found or was given by local monsters)

86 A niche that a person could fit in and an inscription or gen you can see best if you get into the niche and look up

87 A spirit appears and tries to warn intruders but it cannot speak (it's the phantom of a mimic victim. The mimic has just learned to let it distract victims and waits by the entrance pretending to be a doorframe)

88 A bell hangs near the ceiling with a bell rope hanging to the floor the bell seems to have an inscription inside

89 Pillar with a large gem attached to the top

90 Body of a missing adventurer known to offer a reward for their corpse to their temple! There is even a poster in front of it (mimic found a poster) 
91 Cabinet that can fit a standing person inside with astrological signs on the outside

92 Telescope pointed at a mural on the ceiling of stars

93 A stuffed bear someone has put a note in its mouth

94 A stone plinth with a gold crown on a pillow

95 Writing desk with scribe set on the floor and scrawls all over the room that resembles writing

96 Grandfather clock with a gold pendulum swinging

97 Golden demon idol with raised high scorpion pincer arms and a gem in its chest

98 Minotaur statue on a huge plinth (the mimic is the plinth and will topple the statue on victims if outnumbered to start an attack - 3d6 damage save or pinned)

99 Fancy iron and silver throne with the inscription "Here sits the future king"

100 An altar with a famous artefact of legend sitting on it

Where did My new spells come from and other off level up ques

When you level up and get some more spells
In a fast campaign, my players would level up most sessions and in later game, lots of downtime and yearly campaign turns. Sorta of training/experience montage scenes.

My players asked for slower advancement which also has ended up with players between zero to 2nd level. A zero-level person will level up to one quickly having adventures rather than the slow 4 years most people take. Players want to enjoy and learn abilities more before advancing which I like. I have felt this in D&D5 with very rapid advancement was easy. 

People have lots of children in my games. Pendragon in the 80s was an influence.

These are for some level-up colour or used like carousing or downtime. You could play them out or take note of enemies possibly gained or other plots and allegiances.

Usually, I encourage wizards to trade and robe other wizards but also in my game, you get some spells at every level so this is a lazy source of ideas for researching your new spells off-scene. Maybe could be player backgrounds?

d12 Where did my new Priest miracles come from?
1 Went on pilgrimage and met a living saint
2 Went on a pilgrimage and had a vision 
3 Negotiated a just settlement to a lengthy dispute between factions
4 Recruited new acolytes to the faith proselytizing and helping desperate and needy
5 Helped protect pilgrims on the frontier from bandits and other enemies
6 Reclaimed a holy sight from enemies and helped build a shrine 

7 Helped hunt a dangerous unlawful magician terrorising a community
8 Went on a crusade for the climax of a mighty siege against the enemy
9 Helped stamp out a sinister cult on the frontier

10 Cleansed graves and tombs of dangerous undead 
11 Helped to scourge a dangerous heresy that sprung up like wildfire
12 Studied holy texts and wrote an impressive doctrinal essay

d12 Where did my new Rogue skills come from?
1 Hours of training in the secret guild school hidden from the outside world
2 Serve a specialist master as a journeyman to learn new rare expertise
3 A secret army of sewer beggars teach you skills for the coming troubles
4 Had to protect a friendly contact's business from an upstart gang
5 Worked with a team of charlatans to make a fortune on the market by sabotage
6 Serve a guild master who trained you in rare techniques 
7 Found manuals of techniques in the guild library
8 Recruited to purge a castle of spies and gained a noble ear
9 Ran wild with a gang of lawless rebels on the run from unjust authorities
10 Helped merchants smuggle tax-free goods across the region
11 Faught a vicious gang war with a rival organisation
12 Power struggle over the guild itself and you were on one faction

d12 Where did my new Warriors skills come from?
1 Training with austere dedication without pleasure
2 Study of combat manuals in a fighting guild library or noble collection
2 Trained with guild experts and instructed lower-level guild members
3 Spent time drunkenly brawling and dueling its a wonder you lived
4 Recruited into millitary unit for a brief campaign
5 Recruited by the guild to lead an expedition or mission
6 Battled for fame and glory in combat sports 
7 Served as a guard protecting clients and property from enemies
8 Befriened by an older wiser warrior and fought in a siege that killed the friend
9 Studied techniques of various exotic fighting styles through observation
10 Learned new techniques from a wise old hermit instructor in a hidden place
11 Spent time with faerie or magic folk and learned their secret techniques
12 Wild dreams of your past life when you were at a higher level that is an inspiration to you. Perhaps some spirit, ghost or your oath patron influenced your dreams

d12 Where did my new Wizard spells come from?
1 Dangerous experiments based on fragments finally paid off
2 Accessed an ancient library and found some ideas

3 Got a journeyman spell book from a school or guild that insists you join them

4 Got help from another wizard's apprentices to get what you needed in secret

5 From inscriptions, fragments of text, old books and dead languages

6 Enrolled in a university course to access spell library stacks

7 Traded in secret with another wizard you met by chance

8 Robbed a wizard with some friends and you took all the occult documents

9 Dueled a wizard who refused to share research and took what you needed (Did you finish them? Use a disguise?)

10 Older wizards of a secret society gives spells for your deeds that align with their goals

11 Found blasphemous scrolls of prehuman wizards from the second age when monster kings ruled the earth and humans were slaves (or anything worse you dream up)

12 Free tuition at a secret diabolic magic school run by imps and devils from inside a cupboard door gateway that disappeared later. Pick up a lawful or evil oath while your in hell

d12 Where did my new Bard powers come from?
1 Trained under a master of a style new to you
2 Went to a song festival and met bards of the kingdom
3 Went on a busking tour of markets listening for gossip
4 Went on tour performing in taverns and rich halls
5 Studied at a new school operated by a famous bard
6 Served in the court of a noble as a servant, entertainer and spy
7 Worked in a castle during an important conference to keep the peace
8 Recruited by city or crown to spread the news as a crier over the land
9 Carried important secret messages while travelling 
10 Sent to negotiate the release of a hostage 
11 Had musical battles with other bards to improve your fame
12 Briefly important people wanted you to play for them to see one of your famous performances

d12 Where did my new Druid miracles come from?
1 Inspired by living like a hermit in the wilderness rambling in nature
2 Lived as an animal among others of that species and made a new family
3 Trained by a druidic circle and in turn helped instruct aspirants to the faith
4 Helping plants and animals over an area to survive and multiply
5 Helped druid circle create magical guardians of holy places
6 Helped druid circle summon elemental beings to perform labour
7 Removed a feral species from a wilderness out of balance with nature

8 Found a long lost holy grotto and rewarded by land spirits
9 Helped a great festival procession of sacred sites and a climax of monolith erecting
10 Spent time in fairyland with supernatural lovers
11 Help druids create new hybrid monsters or giant animals to destroy an ancient enemy
12 Met a nature divinity on a seasonal procession and comune with them briefly

d12 Where did my new Savant skills come from?
1 Studies with a secret order in a hidden monastery
2 Found an old master who taught you secret techniques
3 Involved in the family feud of two family schools while learning a new skill
4 Got into constant duels with increasingly dangerous opponents
5 Defended villagers from common criminals and taught them to fight
6 Went wandering to encounter new techniques in other lands
7 Entered a grand tournament of different fighting styles
8 Protected an isolated monastery or school from monsters
9 Avenged a great master defeated with trickery by a coward
10 Pestered a master to study under them until they attacked you and you put up an adequate defence and were accepted
11 Studied under a mysterious master who was really sent to evaluate then kill you all along
12 Taught by supernatural hidden peoples who judged you worthy like spirit folk or ghost

d12 Where did my new Sorcery powers come from?
1 Almost died from an overdose or drinking and met mysterious beings trying to talk to you
2 Went into a bone-chilling fever fits and had visions of your supernatural power source 
3 Went to a festival where sorcerers were free to show off and hang out and party
4 Licked a rare salamander or toad and saw ultimate reality of your power source
5 Was involved in a cult promising to expand your mind and it ended in burned buildings and tears
6 Captured by zealots who tortured you until you got a free hand and ungagged and killed them all with your new awakened power
7 A messenger of your power source comes to inform you of new ways to draw on the magic energy
8 Hung out with a witch cult and learned lots of solid technique 
9 Met a sorcerer lover and both your powers grew together
10 Almost died doing something stupid to impress people and your power source patron saved you so it could renew your vows
11 Had visions of your first supernatural ancestor and feel empowered
12 You were taken to the source directly to communicate with its mighty spirit

d12 Exiting Things To Happen While Dying

Some dungeons have very efficient auto-cleaning ecologies or very haunted

d12 Common Problems at Deaths Door in a Dungeon 

1 Parasitic worms vacate the wounded seeking a new host 

2 Parasites fight to save you and stabilise your blood loss to 0HP

3 Dungeon weasels rush out of drains to lap up the blood and suck your wounds

4 Dungeon parasite eggs get in the wound for a delayed surprise

5 Save or catch a disease from dungeon grot and filth

6 Swarm of rats or flesh-eating flies or maggots form over a d4 rounds

7 Giant beetles or flies attracted d3 of them to arrive in a d4 rounds

8 Local undead in the area feel a dying person and wake hungry

9  Carrion crawler arrives in a d4 rounds or gelatinous monster 2d6 rounds

10 Forgotten memory flashback to the past

11 Forgotten memory flashback to a past life

12 The dying had a supernatural miracle event roll below

d12 Dying Miracles
1 See hungry spirits lap at your blood and try to drag away your spirit

2 See a grim reaper spirit sent by death to hover over you and will gather souls of others dying into their billowing cloaks of eternal darkness 

3 See face of a loved one departed calling you to the next world

4 See face of a departed tormentor calling in hell begging for your forgiveness while being tormented by devils

5 A spirit of darkness will restore you to 1HP if you agree to kill one person

6 See a benevolent spirit appears to you and stabilises your wounds. Appears as d4 1=ghost 2=angelic spirit 3=departed loved one 4=strange prehuman spirit 

7 Save or a dungeon spirit reanimates the body as an undead (usually a zombie)

8 An Imp appears and offers to heal you if you agree to serve hell, if you agree you stand with 3d6 HP instantly with hellish vigor. An imp or hellcat will accompany you to aid your quest and keep you in touch with hell

9 A spirit of nature will heal you 4d6 HP if you agree to destroy an enemy threatening the greater land spirit of a local terrain feature. If victorious will grant a boon like love or treasure

10 A spirit saves you by bringing you to 1HP with a kiss, it will fall in love with the dying and manifest a suitable attractive form to seduce them later. It invites lovers into its pocket dimension in a tree or work of art to keep forever. It gets angry if shunned and might get jealous or stalk the adventurer

11 Evil dream self from the nightmare realms tries to replace the dying soul, the astral form gets to battle the dark self until healed or killed or a d4+1 rounds. Use your fully healed stats for both sides, If you perform well a divine being will reward you with a magic gift or knowledge

12 Deity takes you aside to another world to chat with you and will appear human to get your sympathy. Will spirit you away to a place of safety where you awake in the care of a creature or person with half your full HP or an aspect or servant of the god will appear to slay enemies and bring you to 1hp unconscious. If you lose the battle the evil spirit becomes dominant but heals the body 2d6. Exorcism can banish the spirit

d12 Left a Corpse on Unholy Ground
1 Dungeon parasites and vermin attracted

2 Invisible spirits come to drag away remnants of any remaining spirit in the body

3 Poltergeist will crudely animate body like a puppet 

4 Spectral phantom or shadow creature comes to feed off dead connection to the soul

5 Necromancy cultists try to steal the corpse for their master

6 Corpse invaded by worms then walks away

7 Arises as petty undead if not blessed or carrying a holy symbol

8 Leaves a poltergeist or spectral minion if fail a save

9 Ghouls come to eat dead

10 Body taken over by evil spirit in now a ghoul (or worse) 

11 A powerful undead senses the body

12 A powerful evil spirit occupies corpse becoming a major undead

Your Real Life Dream Dungeon Derinkuyu

Derinkuyu has been making the rounds again on social media
Many use germ of story with AI
Many use an image of castle greyhawk dungeons & dragons map

No its not a comet or meteor shelter - this isn't really a thing

Most of what is currently visible is Christian era

There are remains of previous Neolithic, Hittite, Syrian, and Romans but most of what we see there now is definitely Christian era and who was there before is more speculative and based on much less evidence. Includes Byzantine churches. Im looking into claims it had 20 000 people inside and how this was determined but hopefully robots and drones solve this stuff. I recommend Dr David Miano's videos on it and history on Youtube.

So I thought I'd share some stuff. I studied archaeology and the Internet and AI in recent years have become harder to find history and archaeology in mainstream news that is not kinda dumb. Faux scholars get more money and attention than real experts do sadly in the current era. So many of these faux BS factories are automated and just repeat stuff from others but they are still raking in the cash. 

Archaeology is a good source of inspiration but most of what adventure fiction shows us is colonialist grave robbing and plundering treasure which isn't really what archaeologists do now and more people working with Indigenous people than shooting them for gold. I'm struggling a bit to enjoy UFOs and ancient aliens and hollow earth as harmless fun anymore. I'd like to develop a formula to play pulp and sweat mag action without the more awful content. Atlantis for example is in so many films and comics but its history was used to invade people and justify bad stuff and it's only getting more popular. I am not saying don't have fun with some of these pulp fan ropes but maybe be aware there are increasingly bad actors delighting in the bad side of genre fiction's past and maybe steer away from it. Of course, killing slavers, nazis, masked racists, and rich villains is always fine. More and more people are willing to believe Castle Greyhawk is a dungeon in Turkey. 

At least in a fantasy world, we can have supernatural evil to blame or falling stars or giants.

I find the room shapes and wall thickness and depths in these diagrams interesting. 

If you can download this do so: 
Jerusalem Journal of Archeology Vol 3
It has maps and details on 28 of these "cities"

There are pdf with dozens of Egyptian tombs that are handy

d100 Inside a Gelatinous Cube

Im sure this must have been done but here is mine.
There are some older posts on monster stomach contents

d10 Quick Types
1 Biological 

2 Currency

3 Fancy Stones

4 Cult things

5 Equipment

6 Oddments

7 Weapons

8 Armour

9 Cursed

10 Magic

d100 Inside a Gelatinous Cube
01 Humanoid bones still dissolving

02 Animal or monster bones still dissolving

03 Giant insect chitin plates and scales

04 Dissolving upper torso and head with an unhappy expression

05 Disolving monster faeces

06 Severed hand 1in6 chance has a ring

07 Dissolving food scraps and waste

08 Box of iron rations, naval biscuits or salted food the cube is struggling with

09 Toadstools or mushrooms 1in6 mildly magic type like luminous

10 Luminous green maggots x 2d4 eating the cube and angry if the host killed AC+3 HDd4 Bite d4
11 Copper coins 3d10

12 Silver coins 2d10

13 Electrum coins d10

14 Gold coins d10

15 Platnium coins d6

16 Double sided coin for cheating toss-up games

17 Coin with an edge sharpened to cut 

18 Coin with a light spell cast on it

19 Coin +1 on one saving throw once per day 1in6 chance 3 times a day

20 Coin of an ancient evil prehuman civilisation 

21 Broken large quartz crystal chunk worth a d6gp

22 Amathyst chink worth 5d6gp

23 Opal uncut chunks 3d6gp

24 Topaz fragment 2d6gp

25 Chunk of coral d6gp

26 Polished onyx orb 2d6gp

27 Fragment of amber d6

28 Agate chunk 2d6gp

29 Pearl 3d6pg

30 Jade chunk d6gp
31 Holy symbol medallion 3d6gp

32 Crude small idol d6gp

33 Remains of the cult book with a d4 x10% remaining

34 Weirdly shaped dagger

35 Priest holy symbol 30gp

36 Bottle of holy water

37 Stone head from a statue 3d6gp

38 Candelabra 5d6gp

39 Statuette 2d6gp

40 Brazier for incense 3d6gp

41 Iron spikes 2d6

42 Hammer 

43 Length of chain d6m

44 Tongs

45 Decorated bronze bucket 1gp

46 Copper bowl

47 Ceramic jug

48 Lantern

49 Bottle of oil

50 Bottle of beer
51 Pipe

52 Ivory comb

53 Tin with a sewing needle and thread

54 Tinderbox

55 Lock pick set

56 Giant rat trap

57 Tin of d6 alchemist pills

58 Manacles

59 Thumbscrews

60 Steel spit for cooking
61 Silver dagger

62 Hand axe

63 Shortsword

64 Arrowheads 2d6

65 Spearhead

66 Stone knife

67 Meat cleaver

68 Darts d4

69 Slingstones 2d6

70 Magic weapon +1 d4 1=sword 2=mace 3=dagger 4=staff
71 Chainmail shirt

72 Set of bracers or greaves

73 Chestplate

74 Armoured gauntlets d2

75 Armoured boots d2

76 Iron or bronze cap helmet

77 Steel full helmet

78 Buckler shield

79 Remains of large shield scraps

80 Metal scraps of armour, leather and cloth eaten away
81 Medalion of a lesser demon who wants it back

82 Bottle with a minor evil spirit or poltergeist trapped inside

83 Bottle of poison

84 Bottle of unholy water that can heal undead 2d4 hp

85 Scroll tube with cursed scroll inside or blasphemous lore

86 Cursed ring or armband or headband or torc

87 Cursed weapon d4 1=sword 2=mace 3=dagger 4=staff

88 Potion of delusion d4 1=fly 2=charisma 3=resist fire 4=invisibility

89 Coin with a curse spell on it that ignores the cube

90 Ancient cursed figurines or tablets of the elder gods wanted by a cult
91 Magic Potion d4 1=healing 2=growth 3=shrink 4=strength

92 Scroll Tube with spell scroll

93 Petty domestic magic items like a self-heating pot or back scratcher

94 Skeleton key opens one lock even magical once

95 +1 ring of protection or shield

96 +1 arrows or sling stones d4

97 +1 on one attribute item d4 1=ring 2=torc 3=tiara 4=belt 5=cloak 6=collar

98 Student spell book treated to resist most harm +4 save vs damage

99 Figurine that turns into a real monster if it touches the ground

100 Cloak that allows you to change species an hour a day, most are animals but some are set to turn user human and usable by demihumans and humanoids

Chagrinspire Play 3rd Session

So a few players away from Marvel so we thought OK to do some Chagrinspire which might take over as my main game.  As 2 players in I managed to get a semi retired player over who had a character. It's nice to get someone back even occasionally after gaming together since 91. 

We had a nameless wandering rogue 1st lv
An abhuman dogman 1st lv 
A wandering musician with a bone flute (new so zero level)
A drunk landknight merc on a half share who lives in party shack

From a player's suggestion, the main source of Oaths in player village is a Lawful Good church of the gods of light (family of the sun god and light mother). So for a +1 cult weapon, the 1st level characters have nice oaths and are probably nicer than most parties I ever ran. 

The minstrel had hear of the other wasteland village of Shankheim and that it was run by a guild, some say a crime guild. The other experienced chapter invited this new fellow for a drink and invited him to stay in their shack. The were offered a job taking a message to the guild by a shifty wanderer. Yes he was a guild agent sending adventurers to be assessed as a threat or recruits.

Had a safe trip and saw a fortified ruin on the way they avoided. When almost reached the village saw scavengers so hid. Then they heard a roaring machine. A killer traction engine with an angry face and a rotating drum attached with chains held by arms chasing the scavengers. Arrived in the wall-less village and looked at the pubs and saw mostly giant rats as the source of meat. The guild master took the message and gave them a gold coin and offered them a job. Describes a ruined monument beyond a limbless blasted forest with 4 guild members who have not paid for banditry in the area. Told to get 30gp they owe or if beligerant bring them back to be slaves and take whatever else you want. 

Party didn't want to join guild but thought money good. Marched out in morning and found the trees and instead of a monument there was a shack at a crossroad with an iron lamp post. Alsw there was a small canyon with a tree over it with crumbling clay edges of the gulf. The party a bit puzzled by directions being off and the rogue spied on house someone was inside.

The doggo barbarian went to the cliff of the canyon and scuttled down. The rogue not to be out done did an acrobatic flip into the hole. The minstrel climbed out on the log slipped, fell face first 6m into mud and was unconscious. While the rogue helped the minstrel the landknight walked the long way to join them. The doggo found a hole to sniff and when turned back a filthy morlock scuttled to attack him in the back. The party captured and tied the gibbering cannibal.

In the hole found a crude tunnel went into an ancient buried building where the morlock had a nest and some loot. Party camped in here and the Dogman and Rogue sneaked ahead to see what else was here (I'm improvising off a Dyson Map). I might prep up a few Dyson maps with stuff.

Explored a while and found some loot and a few zombies. The merc got restless and gave the minstrel half a healing potion (he also has first aid skills so drunk with a 2-h swords is the healer). The minstral helped throw rocks at some undead and the party united to explore one passage they hoped would reach the shack. Some wondered if a dungeon was really a stealthy shortcut. Found passage into a space under the ruined archway monument they were told was here but it was entirely buried with two sides of the space being loose rubble and the stone sides inside the arch had names and dedications to the Black Sphere soldiers in the apocalypse. Each stone side had a door. Was dog chained up inside by stairs going up and the dogman made friends, released it and recruited it as a follower (spending a luck point). Rogue sneaked upstairs and saw a wizard at a desk in aroom of junt and the spiral stairs kept going up and heard some men talking on the above floor.

Retreated to rest and heal and the Minstral chose his class finally and mad level 1 as a priest. While preying others saw him glow and some other supernatural stuff. He decided his bone flute was a saint leg bone and is holy symbol for the light gods. Checked out some ruins of ancient admiralty and some sea themed items and a globe. Stopped that rout when doors had monsters inside so they shut them and spiked door shut.

When party ready with the dog friend they created up the stairs inside the monument and the wizards was not at his desk. Found a Lv4 spellbook and some other stuff with demonic sigils of the worm god some party had faced.

The next floor up the rogue saw aprentices eating a meal while the wizard was in bed so crept up and kille the wizard. Signalled the others who charged and the minstral priest ordered the men to surrender. Seeing the master dead they were enraged and attacked. The hiding rogue shot at them while they attacked the party with their backs facing him. Two were killed and two captured. Took their books and knives and got a +1 dagger.

Reached the top part of the archway and found some more stuff and could hear noise in lower levels of opposite kind of the arch and a ladder going up. The ladder went to the shack where one of the four men they were sent to deal with was cooking. So into the lower levels they killed two preying acolyte worm priests. Each released a footlong maggot parasite on death a gift of the worm gods oath.   

Unfortunatley down below a 5th lv evil priest gathered undead thralls from other rooms and had the guard stairs while buffing himself with spells. He also cursed stairs. The party saw undead and the new priest vapourised the skeletons and the others attacked the zombies. The rogue shot at the mysterious castr in the shadows and a glowing mae appeared and swung at him. When they got the zombies while the dogman fell but his new dog friend defended him. The minstrel priest got attacked by the worm priest into and fell. The Rogue backstabbed the evil priest who managed to heal himself and had a powerful defence spell up. Eventually his spells expired and were all used and the mercenary killed him. A worse worm thing burst from the carcas and they killed that. Looted place and fled to the surface and the Rogue took out the four gang members they were sent after at night when they were asleep. They hid all the loot they didn't want the Shankheim guilders to take.

back to Shankheim they got a crowd and public claim for defeating the worm cult. They were brought into the guild hall and offered more contracts and given a cut of the slaves. They gave the guild some flash trinkets and huge framed oil paintings.

Recovered stash and went back to Flatspur to visit the priest to get a curse off the rogue. Managed to get a good deal and ate with the priest who like the goodly adventurers.

------

Conferred with players on some rule changes I considered

Mov rate I had flat 12 and considered some formula to vary but we decided on a single stat bonus better than some average several stats which feels like 80s derived stat and overly complex. Human Mov rates in life vary more than most DnD ever has shown BRP too - I liked it in GURPS it varied from stats but feels clunky today.

Considered putting magic skills in separate groups and even though it meant more skills the spell specialists would find it harder to min-max weird abilities to start the game so went back to my older system.

Dropping class-specific non-weapon penalties I'm just gonna make everyone -4. Fighting classes won't care quickly.

Writing my quick start rules currently. Probably will amend the character sheets again - am thinking you get a one-sheet version to start at zero lv and 1st level then use the a5 booklet version when you get a higher level and actually own stuff and record keeping worse - at a higher level still id print the booklet version as a4 bigger on a3 paper. Quickstart is also shows how to fill out sheets and explains stuff.

Players starting with a few meals and items at zero level have actually been very good and motivated players quickly. I'm doing some things so players or the whole party are encouraged to travel light with strength and fighting classes with higher capacities than others. Mostly done as benefits you miss if burdened and also less record keeping.

Once this sheet and character gen basics are done will be time to revise classes then skills then spells again. I do want example character builds which will sorta be quickstart characters, subclasses, and recommendations but can be ignored if you have time or some experience. More like here is how to make a fighter into a paladin or ranger or lean that way over time - also a must for Judge NPCs. It's mostly half-written but editing and cross-checking complex games is a pain. After that, I will start revising my settings with the system built in. 

I've considered a later item would be a spell book with lots more spells and all expanded a-z and then offer alt spell lists for various classes, especially specialist priests I'm happy with core good evil-neutral-ones. 

Im gonna use my tables to make a bunch of locations and try using dyson maps

Chagrinspire Secret Rail Network 3 Kobold Line

Well I'm glad nobody built this embarrassment
But it's interesting for a dungeon or maybe the first version of the Black Sphere inside

Vol 2 of Chagrinspire is mostly done now on Patreon - just have to revise the contents page and page numbers which i will do next few days.

https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2024/07/chagrinspires-secret-rail-network-1.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2024/07/chagrinspire-secret-rail-network-2.html

Before a kobold train arrives off a regular route kobold cranked rail carts use the tracks to scout ahead before a kobold invasion force comes in a train. Eight to twelve kobolds ride one cart and several keep alert with loaded weapons. These carts are very sturdy and also called a Kobold Kalamazoo. Other peoples use these and some power them with slaves or zombies.

I might add new kobold tribes for deeper in the dungeon.

As there are two games about smXfs out at the moment i feel my kobold and small 3 foot tall chums need new tactics.

Dogpile
Each kobold may grapple one body part and hang on
Will use the reduced fighting space they need to overwhelm enemies
Two kobolds can fight in space of one medium or large humanoid requires
Kobolds will climb over otherkobolds performing this manoeuvre
Legs - 3 Mov rate per kobold at zero save per round or fall prone
Arms - cant use weapon, shield, may limit spell casting if both restricted
Torso - kobold will bite or stab with a shank or knuckledusters up close d3 per round
Head - blind enemy while attacking for a d3 without a full helmet or 1 with standard helm or full armour suits. If reduced to under zero may remove eye, nose, tougue, ear or skin off face if fail a save and the kobold keeps going

Two persons in a 10ft/3m square would face 4 kobolds in the front and four more with pointy sticks or javelins or other missile weapons with more ready to fill any gaps

If any kobold grappling others can move to the front and join the dog pile so a lot could attack you. Maybe rear ranks could throw a kobold over the first two ranks.

Kobolds are good climbers and a train could be crawling with them all over willing to leap onto other trains.

Kobolds may have incendiaries or grenades with a fuse and hot charcoal in a bowl to light the fuse fast and throw. Some will charge with a device to get close and may even grapple with a fuse. Only saddest kobolds do this or they are blackmailed.

Kobold Express Train  LE
Kobolds have used the network longer than anyone and have discovered advanced rail secrets. They have different styles of engines for their trains. They are clean as they waste nothing. They even transport freight and work crews around the region. 

d12 Current Route & Destination
1 Upper Chagrinspire - into upper levels of Chagrinspire
2-3 Central Line - into the mid-levels of Chagrinspire
4-6 Lower Line - into the ground and first four levels of Chagrinspire
7-8 Underground Line - into sub-ground Chagrinspire kobold areas
9 Wasteland Express - to support kobold factions in the waste
10-12 Gatehouse Level Loop 

d4 Kobold Engine Class
1 Commuter Train - basic autopilot golem of the ancients run loop circuit routes inside Chagrinspire and the wasteland. The kobolds ride these trains like nomads or gangs. It somehow gets power from rails or stops at a refuelling depot. These commuter gang kobolds often are lower-tech groups or youth gangs and use improvised or primitive weapons. Use an automated golem engine and use 6+d6 commuter cars. Requires no specialist engineers but might have a pet. Will claim to control train and to be as good as proper kobold trains.

2 Kobold Engine - made from dead golems, the parts are infused with poltergeists which move as required into complex machines. Shamen are required to operate them and turning undead interferes with the engine but they need no fuel. Will have an ancestral temple car. These kobolds use +30& extra undead crew (zombie or skeleton) also and tend to conventional weapons rather than guns with shaman priest engineers or mechanics. 

3 Kobold Golem Engine - created from parts of incomplete golems made operational by kobolds. These golems obey the engineer and protect their passengers who worship and feed the engine gems for fuel 100gp per hour. They often roam searching for more gems and use Kalamazoo to scout and save fuel. They will have a library car and a golem workshop car. Kobold wizards operate these with well-armed kobolds in medieval splendour

4 Koboldium Engine - made from incomplete golems and fueled with koboldium-infused coal which requires several specialist tribes to produce but is more affordable than gems. These kobolds have an alchemist engineer and they use more guns and bombs and technology but are often scaled down for kobolds

Each engine has a 5th Lv+ magical engineer operating the vehichle depending on the engine type and 2d4 mechanics with one level in the same type of magic.

Hopper Car xd3
Car with open to usually the first will hold fuel for train and others usually carry building rubble and ore. You might get chased by mechanics or crew and its a bit risky jumping from car to car in a rush

Armoured car
These mobile barracks carry 24 kobolds and a a small cannon or balistia siege weapon.  The car is armoured with slots to shoot from and solid hatches to keep away the unwelcome. A +1Lv sub boss will be here and a d4 mechanics and possibly some pets.

Commuter car xd3
Stark bare car of plain benches for those making short trips. Each has a 1in3 chance of a dozen kobold passengers or youth gang members. Often graffiti covers inside

3rd class car xd3
Each car has a d4 x6 kobolds mostly on way the way somewhere and don't want to fight

Galley Car
A kobold kitchen with a dozen cooks in tiny chef hats and amazing knife skills work here making slops, soups and gruels or roasting whatever they can catch. There is a cafeteria section for 2d4 kobold passengers to get meals mostly slopped into a tin cup with a spoon

Parlour Car
Better-heeled kobolds spend time here including a visiting magician of another faction, d4 train mechanics, 3d4 veteran kobold war heroes with +1 level as fighters working here as stewards and bar staff. There are silver spitoons, a bar, little tables, and a small stage a few kobold dancers grind away to to a kobold bard playing. Kobolds here won't put up with rude behaviour and didn't survive the war for this. The boss of the train is here with a d4 servants enjoying shows and dinks.  

Baggage Car
Full of tiny carpet bags and trunks and sacks with kobold name tags. A kobold guard is here with his pet giant spider or some similar guard beast.

Cattle car xd3
Overcrowded cars occupied by d4 1=hungry poor kobold refugees 2=kobold soldiers of allied faction with a d4 groups of x12 with a veteran sergeant 3=goats or chickens in cages 4=empty except for a d4 kobold hobos drifting a ride

Boxcar xd3
Boxes, crates and sacks of kobold goods roll each car d4 1=building materials 2=food 3=arms & armour 4=post between kobold communities. Check encounters here.

Hospital Car
4d4+4 wounded kobolds and a d4 kobold nurse and a specialist healer as appropriate to the faction or tribe. The nurses beg for mercy and mostly have food and bandages to steal

Corpse Car
d100 +20 kobold corpses in sacks hanging from roofs and some in parts in barrels or clay urns for taking to the ancestral burial ground.Also here is d4 1=monsterous vermin 2=shaman or necromancer 3=invisible imp 4=poltergiest 5=30 kobold zombies 6=40 kobold skeletons

Alchemy Car
A laboratory where a second engineer and 2d4 mechanics rest from engine duty here and play with an alchemist lab to make potions, refine fuel, make undead or other uses.

Toxic Car
Drums of toxic waste from the lab and possibly inside has d4 1=mutant kobolds 2=shoggoth 3=sick old kobold stowaway 4=monsterous fungus. Kobolds travel over the roof and not through this car. Warning runes and a locked heavy door are common.

Guard Car
The rearmost carriage is a guard car often fortified and with a d4 x dozen kobolds. Each dozen have a +1HD Sargeant and all are commanded by a +4HD Kobold hero. Half use muskets or bows, and others try to melee. The ranking leaders have 2 devices each from a grenade or an incendiary

d12 Encounters
1 Guards Squad of 12 kobolds and a +1HD sarge, light muskets d6 & bayonets looking for trouble makers
2 Invisible imp plays tricks or triggers guard alarm
3 Kobold elderly 4d4 with cleaning supplies, fed up with mess makers and can go berserk if anyone does
4 Kobold children laughing and playing
5 Ticket collector kobold with a change purse and a stick and a roll of tickets - if feels intimidated gets guard team as result 1
6 Kobold prostitutes d4 who ride the circuit for work then return to regular jobs 
7 Primitive kobolds from wilds with hunting tools 4d4 investigating wonders of kobold rail
8 Furry yappy cute foreign dog kobolds on a diplomatic trip from mysterious west d4+4  
9 Kobold necromancer +5Lv with 2d4 zombies

10 Kobold shaman priest +5Lv with 2d4 assistants travelling to ancestral holy place  

11 Kobold wizard +5Lv with 2d4 apprentices on way to a conference
12 Kobold alchemist +5Lv with 2d4 apprentices with guns

d12 Decor
1 Clan heraldic shields and banners

2 Walls covered in bones which kobolds snack on

3 Graffiti from Kobold youth gangs
4 Stench of sulphur or urine
5 Kobold dung or pee in a bucket
6 Stuffed and mounted heads of larger humanoids
7 Copper coins d4cp or dropped train ticket
8 Empty bottles 1in6 chance filled with pee
9 Portrait of the ancient leader of the black sphere repainted as a kobold in a fancy uniform
10 Painting of a kobold god being heroic 
11 Shed kobold skins left uneaten  
12 Mummified kobold ancestor with devotional shine

d12 Hazards
1 Pile of corpses are really zombie guardians
2 Crossbow trap with poison arrow, kobold knows how to not trigger a tripwire or line connected to a door
3 Imp invisible here to prank and offers souls contracts with hell
4 Poltergiest defends train from intruders - sometimes kobolds leave a d4 bottles of acid for the poltergeist hidden up high near the ceiling on a ledge. Knives are also commonly left here
5 Chained small coffin with a dangerous undead kobold, which could be unlocked by a kobold who flees if enemies attack
6 Monster in a cage with a trigger to open the door releasing a beast
7 Invisible stalker seeking a specific person sent by the Black Sphere
8 Fleas! save or pick up vermin risking disease and infestation
9 Poison needle trap with fake treasure bait
10 Chest or bag rigged with a cast iron hand grenade or incendiary device with a self-igniting fuse
11 Cursed protecting a tempting item like gem eyes in a statue or a gold plaque
12 Items protected by a spell trap like a bag, book or holy symbol

d12 Adventures
1 Kobolds want support for a raid on a station occupied by humanoids or monsters
2 Kobolds want to capture a rival train
3 Kobold boss has had children form a gang on the computer line and won't come home, go fetch them
4 A kobold tribe or faction want to replace the leader or a magician and needs outsider assassins to take care of them
5 Kobolds have found a steel door in a tunnel that might be a black sphere spy base and want it destroyed 
6 A kobold train has been surfacing via tunnels to raid a scavenger village and they want help defending them
7 A gang of scavengers want to hijack a kobold train when it takes on supplies or crosses the surface, help them ambush the train
8 Kobolds require magic fuel or parts and need help stealing more
9 Kobolds complain human slavers are preying on them and need families rescued from the slaver compound
10 Kobold scouts riding a Kalamazoo explored a mysteriously cleared passage and have not returned, recover the Kalamazoo and if possible the kobolds 
11 A train of dragon cult kobolds have a dragon on their train and have been raiding other kobolds who need help to destroy the dragon cult
12 A kobold leader has been despotic and cruel craving war constantly. His pact with hell has made life unbearable and a rival cult needs help to take over

d20 Items
1 Flint knife d3 with magic +1 
2 Fighting Bone d4 with magic +1
3 Kobold size bone war bonnet +1 protection
4 Kobold carpet bag can fit ten kobolds inside and equipment, anything put in that's not a kobold or held by one winds up in a kobold gods palace in hell. It takes one round per kobold to enter or exit
5 Ancient kobold chronicle in old koboldish, a precious relic kobolds desire
6 Kobold Teeth in a bag of 2d4, when cast at the ground a kobold appears keen to fight, once fight is over they vanish joyously to the kobold paradise
7 Copper Hatchet d6 and +d3 electrical damage and can ignite flammables from the sparks that strike targets. These are gifts of a kobold god and kobolds will demand these on sight, gifting one with a kobold will help make friends
8 Boots of Skating - most are small for kobolds or children but bigger ones are sometimes found, when clicking heels together wheels pop out +50% speed but stopping or turning more than 45 degrees requires a save or skill roll 
9 Darts of Fury +1 often in a bundle of a d3, target save if hit or go berserk, usually the kobolds retreat and wait till the berserk or allies dead. Kobolds sometimes use these on each other like to make a fleeing subordinate fight or provoke a rival
10 Hell Trident of red iron d6+1 throwable and has no penalties to hit in water, 1in6 are +2 and the wielder can cast burning hands three times per day. All have a stamp of manufacture in hell and the sigil of an archdevil armoury
11 Hell coin of red gold, each day hold it on person save or become protective of it and more greedy for more. Remove the curse to cure the craving
12 Hellblade a d6 shortsword +1 +2 vs chaos or good made from red bronze. The blade squirms if a chaotic or good person within 1 range of wielder. 1in6 have a +2 basic plus but are sentient and dangerous advocating lawful evil conduct and making noises of pleasure when it kills