New progress in alignment hatred

So playing with alignment perks again and decided on this terrible structure.
So you could be balanced neutral and hate all the main alignments!
The big 4 alignments don't really care about Neutral or Balance.

Possibly this does it better to show who hates who for spell effects and general stuff.

And all this from my table i did prior where you put scores in one alignment from Left and one from Right or none as you climb level to become bigger jerks just like the gods. Most recently thinking of a magic resistance ability where you can pit your alignment score vs enemies spells. So My lawful good priest 10th lv has +5 in Law and +5 in Good so if fighting evil or chaotics get 5% resistance or if meet a chaotic evil dude they get 10 total%. So most people in my setting dont have alignments or shun it even. My balance +5 neutral +5 druid Lv 10 gets 5% vs Law or Chaos or Good or Evil and 10% vs any of those alignments in a pair like LG LE CG CE. And planar beings just give you stuff for only a few life changing oaths and dedication to eternal cosmic war between inhuman beings.  

I have considered in my setting the numbers of alignment and who fights who has changed and expanded since early times. 

Some prefer the Elemental Heresy.

Basically, you take all the above stuff and kick most to the curb. Some mix both offending everybody and some attach neutrality or the balance to elements and forsake demons and outerplanar beings and influence. As alien as true elements are they are the basis of most matter and energy in the multiverse. Other elements are at best when shaped by your element. Elementals are better than demons and angels and don't boss you around so much most being mindless or busy. So rival elements that resist must die, but may accept thralldom of inferior elements.

Only elements matter. Sure the lords of the elements never visited earth and have no idea but some say they know best and it is used by some to fight or form allegiances.

Then there are guys who believe in 3 elements (fire isn't a thing!)
Or five elements with darkness/void/spirit/wood being common substitutes.

Elemental planes are still into putting your element first and find visiting humans not being of one element confusing.

Oh and elemental templars battled the dragon templars and the death templars long ago as rivals to post cataclysm world after the elder monsters fell. Maybe alignment was progress.

So you can see the appeal of elementalism. Fire good, rest slaves or fuel.

Sexy Stoneage Survival Secrets

Current session 6 so this map dated as they now know hidden snake valley was a hidden volcanic tropical dino valley with lizard mystic allies. The party might hide here over winter ruining hours of setting design wor the dm worth 5 blog posts?

Current missions:
1 Shelter
2 Forage & store food & fuel
3 Friendship and trade
4 Survive winter
5 Determine more tribe customs so people don't think are lawless weirdos
6 Make a name or have others name you

Customs so far:
"don't marry dogs"
"no cannibals
"we killed lots of guys in the snake tribe"
"white apes, wizard spiders and undead are our enemies"
"friendly with gnomes but not too friendly since the whole dog thing came up"
"lizard people were wise ancients and some are friends some are enemies"
"the one elf we met is freaky weird but he is crafty"
"we are mongrels with no past and no covenants with the land"

The Tribe 
The Elders (wear white ape skins as winter fur suits)
Granny Toothless Druid Lv4 npc age 65
Vaarg Leader Warrior Lv4 npc age 34

The Party (wear white ape skins as winter fur suits)
Boron Warrior -  woodsman sworn to Law (Dallas) age 16
Bunz Halfling - rock chucker and cook (Matt) age 32
-Barley the farmer follower 16 also numerateweaver and trap maker
"The Elf" or "Sour Berry" - trickster archer troublemaker (Richard) age 150?
Wizard - master of prehistoric mystic arts (Hugh) age 21 camping in dino valley
Abhuman - Pteradactyl Beastman (Doug)  age 16 camping in dino valley

Vara - strong, hardy, clumsy and dim with heart of gold 1st Lv Warrior 
+1yo M child 14CHA
Atan - more average and dim and cute 1st Lv Rogue
+5yo F child  13CHA
Kalek - hardy, angry, scarred, 1st Lv Druid
+ 4yo M child 6CHA
Mora - average, practical, unimaginative, good provider 1st Lv Warrior 
+5yo M child 12CHA

Currently, people cashing in their credit in followers to grow the tribe
-Bunz got a halfling wife and Boron wants a priest to try out religion for tribe
-The elf wants to lure some pine elf youth to join him in chaos
-Newbs seem excited by this bow stuff

Tribal skills/technology
Hunting, tracking and eagle eyes, beast handler
Farming (seed local area with plants and basic gardening but nomadic 😭)
Bread making can grind gathered seeds and make cakes and bread
Herbalism, many in village proficient in medicinal plants and healing
Alchemy and potions 
Poison and mushrooms
Building, Repair, Weaving, Map Lore, Trap Lore

Seen gardens, walls, domestic dogs, stone monoliths
Witnessed advanced old reptile races and others 

Weapons
-basic sticks, clubs, staff,
-spear, dart, javelin, dart
-knife, dagger, hand axe
-stone battle axe
-shortbow since elf joined

Todays Session
Non-active characters sent to the secret dino valley cave
Rest of gang debated if they could get enough food and fuel for winter but decided to try and meet other tribes who had been gossiping about the newcomers and had killed lots of snake tribe on pilgrimage. Bunz now a druid studying from granny turned into a hawk and learned mountains full of the bigger pecking order of predatory flyers. Could not find snake tribals and quit being a bird. Group marched north till the elf spotted a hill he recognised as an elven spy bunker. Led party and met hidden elves who were not expecting any visitors this decade. Elves told where all the tribes were better than anyone and Bunz wanted to meet halflings. Local people called the moss clan of halflings the hole in the ground people and were thought of as weak frightened dirty feral children.

Bunz excitedly found a hidden village under a moss-covered hill country and the others thought him bonkers for thinking this a village. Then the dirty curly-haired children popped up from among giant lichen and moss shrubs. Inside the halflings welcomed them with food and party all force fed till vomiting and unconscious. Bunz was promptly married and there was two more days of feasting till party decided to check out story of a griffin that had kept village indoors in the day. So staggered from the halflings having negotiated a winter lair for the tribe they marched back to the mountains and saw a distant glimmer on a mountain and decided to trap the Griffin. With a fake halfling child as bait and a halfling child singing in a pit to help Boron, Bunz and Elf hid. The Griffin came from the sun suddenly screaming and grabbed the doll and was fireballed as it fled (demonstrating a sneaky split move attack skill). The bird scratches and flew to the shiny mountain.

On way up tiny mountain train a cyclops orc hunter shot at the party from cover above and Boron just started climbing the cliff even though he took some ferocious arrow hits reaching the orc that was some kind of minor orc hero of 4HD. Saw a distant orc camp and spied on them. A big orc was burning a strange rock and poured liquid fire onto stone eggs while orcs sung a song. Boron went back and told everyone and the orc spied on the orcs and was horrified at the war like provisions of life and magic obviously making evil magic. Bunz and Boron thought worth talking to orcs and if there was trouble elf could fireball them all.

Orcs were amused by Bunz the halfling and debated what they were but the Orc smith hero knew and the orcs all laughed at the harmless creature. When huge human warrior Boron stepped out the orc hero knew of him too from tiny bird whispers. Orcs less thrilled by human and the elf hid whole time while orcs busy. Halfling wanted to go to the mountain top and orc thought this funny. A bet was made by orcs if Halflings bring back some griffin gold from nests as proof the size of a child head would surface. Also the sacred Griffins don't hurt them as they are sacred to the mountain god and the Griffins will rage for days in fury if any harmed. Bunz accepted all these terms and orcs shared goat stew and strong orc grog unlike any they had elsewhere. Elf disgusted orc bows were a parody of his own people but they didn't even sing to a tree for a hundred years first to make them. Bunz and Boron left the orcs and met the hiding elf who warned them the orc hero was a warlike fiend up to no good. 

Saw some giant goats but Boron was good with animals and encouraged them to pass without incidents. Finally, they found a good cave rest point on the train more than a yard wide so they set up camp all tired but eventually decided to look in the cave as was agreed to search strange caves a good new tribal custom. And found two adult trolls snuggling while and several huge babies size of a grown human crawled about. Blam, a fireball later and most of babies ash, cept one was a big limbless burned chunk of meat that might revive. The wounded parents enraged tried to get up as Boron and Bunz attacked. After tiring minutes of trying to kill trolls who every time one was close to death the other would get up. After a while where they worried about survival and the maths at work finally it was remembered the cave was on a cliff so they threw wounded trolls off the mountain. As they fell they revived and screamed the rest of the way. Everyone was relieved and tired and badly hurt. Bunz and Boron were barley standing and the elf had been hurt!

Rested a bit more and a day more uphill trails and saw a rest cave on the trail which had four ogres and a child ogre inside and everyone went nope. So marched on into the night and then tried to sleep on cold windy outcrop. Boron was a wreck next day and camped again on same claim a few miles on and resisted another horrible night then morning made it to the shiny place thy had seen from the tundra. A shiny yellow stone unlike any in the region with carvings of the sky god coming here to keep gold with the Griffins and give a fraction to one-eyed orcs for lightning bolts. Boron was struck by this winged sky spirit and of course, wanted to be that awesome with Griffin and orc minions and lightning bolts. The elf marked the rock with a chaos rune as he is obligated by chaos to do. He had funny twinge this was some kind of magical quest and he might have caused offence.

Further up found many of the orc cyclops hunters were here ahead relaxed and somehow had passed party effortlessly. Orcs laughed at them and smiled at party good efforts.

Finally near the peak saw more Griffins (or maybe it was same Griffin in circles) then heard screeching. Found halfling bones as orcs told them of and had a sad moment before sneaking to get a look at the entry to the Griffins. The elf crawled on his belly and saw the awesome sight of four Griffins feeding young a giant goat. Bunz crawled up beside him to see the sunlight cascading of their cruel beaks and claws and iron feathers. Then Boron crawled up broke a stick and swore and screaming Griffins went crazy. Then a great shadow appeared, a colossal roc eater of mammoths snatched the party and carried far away and dumped in a nest. The gang were pleased at this outcome as thew were still all injured from trolls. Note: This is pretty much eye of the serpent module from 80s TSR UK. Its a wilderness pointcrawl good for kids to learn wilderness with and has great maps. SHows how to go run wilderness choke points like a dungeon.

Elf found a note in the old human priest tongue of the old evil empire about some outcast and found strange worked wooden objects in the nest they did not understand. Checked for eggs or chicks then climbed out when sure they were safe.

 Wandered icy peaks avoiding frozen lake and were ambushed by a ghoul under the ice that had them all afraid as they were near death. Battled an ice spirit to find it was freezing a egg which burst and had to hurt a Caterpillar boron was holding the non-invulnerable body parts. Close and messy but got some pretty shiny stones.

In lower marsh valley found wooden rotten heap in grass with strips of metal and nails they grabbed and inside was a pile of silver metal discs the party wondered about. Except for the elf who knew full well it was ancient currency and grabbed a few rings and a magic ring too. Lizards attacked too but killed and eaten.

Found lake with a causeway to stone house and in courtyard found skinned lizards on a rack. Opened door and found huge supply of dried fish good for the tribe and elf looked about as was hardiest and charmed a lizard man he found. Rested for a week eating fish and became friends with the lizard who became the elf's follower. Eventually took lizards boat downstream and dodged a waterfall and continued down to bottom of mountain after dealing with petty critters and eventually met a shman of the snake tribe who said he would join them and teach the the serpent cult ways. Boys waited a day of hearing of the harsh snake brother code and servitude to the the sleeping masters then agreed to murder the old man. He and his snake put up a bit of a struggle and the boys returned to the halfling tribe and found all the tribe livin'g there and Granny loved living with halflings who enjoyed her druidry and human use of weapons better than sticks and stones. Party had unwittingly completed several initiations to local spirits and Granny was pleased.

Players all afraid to commit to alignment oaths as feeling dangerously obligated lots.

Know Your Reptilians

Boring plain lizard men? 
DnD water breathing generic lizard men always bothered me
I'm ok with holding the breath for 40 minutes but not breathing water
Plus I like the variety 

Stupid format stuff here that look fine writing it but the final and PDF come out wonky sorry. I have moved the PDF button on my page higher up on sidebar cos I use it plenty and some of you will find it more readable. Ive revised this several times in a short period.

Feel free to declare in the comments box which is the one try reptilian faith!

d12 Common Reptilian Folk
1 Marine iguana folk - can hold breath and graze underwater salt or fresh or wetlands

2 Goanna folk - track relentlessly and use diseased missile weapons that slow prey

3 Chameleon folk - alert experts at climbing and camouflage live in forest and jungles

4 Gekko folk - night fighting climbers and skirmishers like forests and rocky areas

5 Frill neck folk - forest and grassland dwellers, when angry erect large frill 

6 Blue Tongues - large skink folk come in many colours and patterns and climates

7 Basilisk folk - lizardfolk who have large crests live near water and forests  

8 Snake folk - ophidian snake folk who claim to have invented wizardry

9 Firenewt folk - fire-spitting black-skinned, live in volcanic areas and deserts

10 Turtle folk - with armoured plastrons, tribes found in a variety of climates 

11 Crocodile folk - huge with savage jaws, hunt in coasts, rivers and wetlands
12 Gila folk - desert dwellers with a venomous bite and stumpy tails prefer peace

d12 Rare Reptilian Folk
1 Triceratops folk - with three horns and bony shield neck frill, vegetarians

2 Tylosaur folk  - snapping gobbling marine race who terrorise seas

3 Pterasaur folk - winged reptilians with membranes, various beak and head crests

4 Stegosaur folk - plated crests on backs and a spiked tail

5 Velociraptor folk - cunning hunters in a variety of areas, impulsive and fast

6 Ankylosaur folk - with armoured plastron, spikes and clubbed tail

7 Sauropod folk - with long necks and tails who graze on normally out of reach plants

8 Moschops folk* -bulky plodding grazers deep in thought and hum in unison

9 Dimetrodon folk* - huge crest on the back helps food intake and for signalling

10 Skutosaur folk* - bulky with knobbly plated hide, plodding herbivores (turtle ancestor)

11 Wyrmfolk - serpentine and winged elder kin of great dragon bloodlines
12 Dragon folk - dragons experimented with blood aligned thrall races long ago

*Later Synapsids were caught growing hair and thrown out of the reptilian clan but early ones retained inclusion with reptilians and treated as elders

d20 Major Reptilian Cults
1 The Perfect Ones - we are why the universe is here
Symbol: circle sometimes with image of lizard from above inside or gold egg
We: are the original race the universe was made for us first and it was usurped be evil
Reptilians: lesser thralls, pets and property
Everybody else: worse than bacteria
Standard Type: Cold aloof alien lizardfolk abhumans often with strange elder magic 

2 Celestial - cosmic dragons were the first beings and we are their heirs
Symbol: A dragon silhouette or head 
We: we are the scions of the great dragons who made all life and allot all fates
Reptilians: they are our kin though some stray from draconic illumination
Everybody else: lesser beings born of rebels against the dragons but still our kin
Standard Type: dragons and draconian abhumans other reptiles and humans possible

3 Saurian - great thunder lizards ruled the earth long ago
Symbol: A dinosaur skull with triceratops being popular and impressive
We: are worship and are kin to the great ones who walked once and call on them still
Reptilians: are confused and lost from the great saurian spirit banished to underworld
Everybody else: don't matter, amphibians are slaves, mammals are usurpurs
Standard Type: Dinoasaur reptilian abhumans or saurians

4 Serpentine - snakefolk in service of their god ruled once and hope to again

Symbol: snake in circle or figure eight or two-headed snake
We: are the master race who once ruled once and plan to return, we invented wizardry
Reptilians:lesser beings but worthy servants
Everybody else: live mammals are food, humans made to sacrifice or for spell components
Standard Type: hibernating wizard often in command of degenerate devolved snakefolk

5 Ningizzida - Grandfather Hydra, lord of underworld wisdom, father of reptile gods
Symbol: hydra or snake in tree of life or horned adder with a lapis beard
We: serve grandfather hydra and help keep the world order and preserve wisdom
Reptilians: all reptilians are our brothers and welcome to live among us
Everybody else: the hydra prefers to heal than kill but must be wary of enemies of life
Standard Type: Most cosmopolitan of reptilian cultures welcomes all to mix

6 Naga - mystical servants of divine snakes who protect the worthy from harm
Symbol: cobra with hood often protecting follower or in a coil, some have human heads
We: serve the naga, divine serpents spirits of waterways, forests and land features
Reptilians:are our kin and deserve respect but some do not follow the naga way
Everybody else: naga have been persecuted and hunted so are wary and some bitter
Standard Type: naga mostly good accept worship of reptilians or humans, evil prefer humanoid and abhuman worshipers and slaves

7 Tarrasque - serve gargantuan unkillable monster who protects and gives his flesh
Symbol: tarrasque siloutte
We: seek to find awaken and direct the terrasque so out holy empire can win again
Reptilians:all soldiers in the great war against enemies but don't let them twist our will
Everybody else: food animals to be trodden underfoot or enslaved
Standard Type: Most military obsessed reptilians of all types and other races can join 

8 Sebek - the crocodile god, fierce guardian, protective parent and healer
Symbol: a crocodile often with a crown and holy symbol or a crocodile headed human
We: serve the crocodile god and receive his blessings and protection
Reptilians: Sebek protects kin but he may take what he pleases in treasure or love
Everybody else: mostly food but surrendering to Sebek and food offerings are accepted
Standard Type: crocfolk abhumans and lycanthropes but other reptiles and humans

9 Leviathan - the great sea dragon and mother of marine reptiles
Symbol: dragon head or silhouette of a tylosaur or kronosaur or sea serpant
We: were a lost empire who ruled the sea and used sea monsters as ships
Reptilians:marine types preferred but others are kin
Everybody else: victims for piracy or conquest but trade and friendship possible
Standard Type: Sea serpents, any marine reptiles or dinosaurs and abhumans forms

10 Typhon - imprisoned father of monsters punished for waging war against the gods 

Symbol: storm cloud or a sickle, sometimes a hand with snake fingers
We: we must avenge or free typhon and those who offend the dragon mother 
Reptilians:must join our crusade against the humans and their gods
Everybody else: our enemies or food, victims of our wrath who will all die in fire
Standard Type: Any reptilian type often humans with reptilian taints join 

11 Great Turtle: serene being soared through the sea of stars in the night sky
Symbol: turtle or a tortoise possibly with a star
We: protect the wisdom of the great one who in turn shields us with her plastron
Reptilians: those without shells are to be pitied but may work with us in peace
Everybody else: ignore impatient scurryings of infantile children unknowingly thwarting us
Standard Type: turtles and tortoises mostly but some other reptiles and humans in islands

12 Mother Lamia - vampiric reptilian demon goddess who seeks to cull humanity
Symbol: reptilian woman or human with snake tail from waste down
We: are the master race who once ruled once and plan to return, we invented wizardry
Reptilians:all who serve have a special place in her empire
Everybody else: Slavery, sacrifices or food, everyone hates us

Standard Type:  Any reptilian type often humans with reptilian taints join to serve a lamia

13 Father Salamander - lord of the fire elementals who gives fire to 

Symbol: a flaming lizard 
We: serve the ever-burning one father salamander the fire elemental emperor
Reptilians: all reptilians are welcome but those who like heat and deserts thrive
Everybody else: other must bow before the lord of fire and his minions

Standard Type: Fire newts are a reptilian tribe who spit fire and ride strider birds

14 Feathered Serpent - lord the feathered serpents and holy lord of the sky

Symbol: a feathered serpent sometimes a snake with horns 
We: serve the holy high snake lord who gives us knowledge and good weather
Reptilians: all welcome but feathered types given higher status
Everybody else: other beings should worship this god for they lack feathers and scales

Standard Type: feathered reptilians sometimes with winged snakes or dinosaurs

15 NIdhog Nagar - a great doom drake in the underworld who gnaws at the tree of life

Symbol: dragon gnawing on roots of tree or curled among roots 
We: serve and aid the dragon's quest for eternal death and night for forbidden black lore 
Reptilians: all welcome even those that have died and become undead
Everybody else: all will die eventually but there is now hurry

Standard Type: men worship as dragon templars and evil reptilians of all types welcome

17 King Sarthis - vampire lizard king, a necromancer who led mighty armies

Symbol: trident, fanged lizard head with a crown 
We: serve the master preparing for his return and to aid his lieutenants
Reptilians: all are welcome 
Everybody else: lesser thrills may join armies as living dead or undead slaves

Standard Type: a heretical sect of marine iguanas with some vampire leaders

18 King Basilisk - a tyrannical monster created by chaos, lead chaos reptile armies

Symbol: Basilisk silhouette, a skull with one eye and a horn 
We: serve king basilisk and the lizardfolk most resembling him are favoured most
Reptilians: all may serve king basilisk
Everybody else: may serve or be eaten or destroyed or slain by the basilisks gaze 

Standard Type: all kinds of reptilians and humans with reptilian mutations

19 Mother Gorgon - hideous cursed by the gods and mother of monsters

Symbol: snake-haired, hideous tusked humanoid with wings (archaic greek medusa) 
We: stand with her against the gods who cursed her and willingly use chaos
Reptilians: all are welcome against humans and their gods
Everybody else: humans hated most and exterminated, other creatures can be thralls

Standard Type: various reptilians with monster pets and leaders spawned by goddess

20 Tiamat: Great mother dragon of chaos, empress of the bitter primal waters

Symbol: dragon 
We: we server Tiamat the only source of authority and wars against the upstart gods
Reptilians: Reptilians are welcome but draconic is held in high esteem
Everybody else: is either the servant of Tiamat or serves her enemies

Standard Type: All kinds of draconic beings and humanoid dragon folk

Other Reptile Cults
1 Tsarsaggothan - elder alien amphibian teaches communion with the darkness of the outer void, lore is shunned by many reptilians but most popular with Serpantfolk wizards 

2 Ancestral cult to recent forebears but often leads to obeying older reptilian breeds

3 Hell has employed dragons and reptilians to its service 

4 Demonic entities with reptilian parts or properties often get reptilian followers

5 Fire elementals particularly the minor neutral ones not ruled by great powers

6 Air elementals particularly the minor neutral ones not ruled by great powers

7 Earth elementals particularly the minor neutral ones not ruled by great powers

8 Water elementals particularly the minor neutral ones not ruled by great powers

9  Sundragon - human solar cult but god in the form of a reptilian or dragon

10 Moondragon - human lunar cult but god in the form of a reptilian or dragon

11 Seadragon - human  cult but god in the form of a reptilian or dragon

12 Stormdragon - human air storm cult but god in the form of a reptilian or dragon
 

Use this to humiliate child dinosaur fans with cold facts
http://www.eartharchives.org/articles/your-favorite-extinct-reptile-may-not-be-a-dinosaur/

Funding Your Space Archaeology Teams

Will do a few more d100s for this space archaeologyAlternative for Traveller, star frontiers or other exploration SF

So this is some simple notes for a space archaeology campaign
Characters are mission specialists or ship crew (ex scouts)
Funding bodies often nominate chosen experts for key jobs
Juggling funds and sponsors is mostly administered before an expedition
Factions continue to get involved in onboard conflicts
Expedition leader can usually veto votes from rest of the expedition
Ship crew in matters of safety and flight of ship are senior
Crew or team might have the past experience you wouldn't expect

A respectable funding body will publish and support credible work and will help expeditions credibility. A disreputable university will support more outlandish theories. Worse than disrespectable university is lunatic fringe space archaeologists. They are the most dangerous cults that contaminate data. Yet many are rich and charismatic and might get permission to explore despite the boring university verisimilitude. While scientists get excited at finding an alien poop in a space wreck, the lunatics want crystals, strange forces, magical technology, faux history and stuff that sorta look like those on other planets.

Sometimes non-archeology departments get involved to investigate the same sites for other interests. Also, some black patrons might send an agent of some kind to spy on the expedition.

One site planetary expedition for a month requires one funding body 6-12 crew
Multi site system survey for three months  requires 3 funding bodies 15-30 crew
Multi system survey for one year requires 5 funding bodies 40-60 crew
Multi exploratory voyage 3 years require 7 funding bodies

Expedition manager will arrange these things before an expedition. A few skill rolls from the expedition leader can help secure legit funding but if any fail you might seek other funding which will require rolls. You might have rival expeditions to compete and could meet later on the field.

d12 Legitimate funding bodies
1 Xeno archaeology department of a university
2 Colonial archaeology department of a university
3 Astro Anthropology department of a university
4 Other arts faculty d4 1=museum studies 2=linguistics 3=fine art 4=history
5 Other science faculty 1=computers 2=astronomy 3=paeontology 4=genetics
6 Interplanetary Heritage Council support various research and exploration
7 Mining company interested in heritage and loot sponsor geologists mostly
8 Biotech company seeking patents from alien life and intelligence 
9 Famous museum renown for funding science and seeking objects
10 Xenotechnology Research Group government org classifies alien objects
11 Government cultural department sponsoring various research fields
12 Colonial office supports projects that might aid colonisation and exploration


d12 Alternative funding
1 Crowdsourced from fans and subscribers, risk being popular in public
2 Credit against profits of the expedition, licencing and media rights from a company
3 Eccentric rich noble has own secret interests and access to data
4 The previous project was profitable enough to gain advance from a lender
5 Bored eccentric nobility interested, often one will come to observe
6 Politician offers aid but more red tape and wants work made public 
7 Celebrity endorsement who might even come along
8 Product sponsorship who want naming, brand rights and product placement 
9 Accepting rich donor money if an inept family member gets a job and some glory
10 Media network offers constant coverage and a documentary team
11 Famous university for irrelevant field funding this for some reason
12 Mediocre or new university out to prove itself in this field it has just adopted

d12 Dubious funding bodies
1 Tourism company sells replicants of art and holiday packages to sites
2 Research organisation, secretive and funded bu rich cult3 A disreputable university often funds mavericks and populists normally shunned
4 New age organisation with metaphysical beliefs seeks to prove some theory
5 Unheard of new institute cover for crime clan investigating things to steal
6 Galactic Brotherhood seek contact and peace with secret aliens who hide among us
7 Cyclopedia Galactica once credible now owned by popular mass media
8 Fan funded xenologist with strange unbelievable theories of ancients and aliens 
9 Racist out to prove humanity predestined master race plus other diet & sexual claims
10 A Corporation seeking xenotechnology, when they find will seek to control it
11 Sordid tourist museum nabs artifacts and lies about them to get in public
12 Antiquities dealer seeking loot for rich collectors

d12 Black funding bodies
1 Criminal mastermind seeks great treasure stockpile of fabled lot hoard
2 A pirate clan will observe operations for loot and information about the transport
3 Cult willing to steal and kill for secret religion seeking to serve the ancient ones
4 The criminal dealer uses antiquities as the front, deals in vice, drugs and arms 
5 A terrorist organisation uses antiquities to raise funds for conflict
6 Dangerous billionaire seeks xenotech innovations to gain personal power
7 A covert agent working for foreign or alien power monitoring xenotech sites
8 An independent alien slyly hiding among humans seeks relics to take advantage of
9 Secret society seeking knowledge of ancients have killed to gain it before
10 Religious organisation want to plant false data to prove cult tenets
11 Secret cult of alien hybrids who believe they are inheritors of universe
12 Black security agency dealing with alien infiltration and analysis

d12 Some past expedition member scandals
1 A claim was improved by later evidence and exploration by others
2 A claim was laughed at by establishment and peers, taken years to move on
3 Accident on expedition killed several members of team and flight crew
4 The sole survivor from past exploration
5 Cleared of charges to do with crime or politics
6 Accused of improper conduct with crew or expedition in past
7 Stuck to out of date theories and laughed at by younger scholars
8 Entertains wild speculation and ideas harmed credibility
9 Fell for a fraud that harmed 
10 Famous and sold some books, too popular for scholars to take seriously 
11 Stole or sabotaged others work in the race to achieve funding
12 Was robbed of artifacts by criminals

d12 Expedition Disasters
1 Targeted by crime syndicate or pirates
2 Infiltrated by d4 1=cultist 2=spy 3=rival team 4=press
3 Accident d4 1=in hyperspace 2=navigation 3=system on fire 4=collision
4 Saboteur d4 1=from rival team 2=cultist 3=crew brainwashed 4=cybernetic
5 Finance stream at risk needs the effort to save
6 Information leak d4 1=media 2=rivals 3=crooks 4=cult
7 Stalked d4 1=cultists into ancient aliens 2=locals 3=media 4=criminal cartel
8 A mining company wants expedition out of the way of their operations or just gone
9 Some populist movement claims expedition just graverobbers and plunderers
10 A political crisis emerges near the area of expedition
11 Discovery d4 1=valuable sensation 2=stolen 3=xenotech 4=alien biology
12 Hazzard d4 1=native life 2=weather 3=plague 4=geological

Pre Expedition
Expedition committee plan and nominate leader, secretary and treasurer
Board made up of principal sponsors as advisors
Students might be included in the preparation

Expedition
Flight Crew
Expedition Leader
Mission specialists (voting rights)
Technical staff, assistants, students

Other guests include
Representatives of funding bodies
-specialists
-observers
-media
-wealthy or celebrity patrons

Your dungeon needs Cave Clams!

Celebrating Clam month! Dungeon clams you need them now. All settings.

Keep thinking of getting back to my undersea ruins dungeon design or compiling my maritime stuff.

Cave Clams, Mutated Animal, Neutral
Small HD 2 AC +5 d6 bite Mov 3 Swim 3 Climb 1
-on 20 to hit clam hangs on for d6 per round
Medium HD 5 AC +10 2d4 bite Mov 6 Swim 6 Climb 3
-on 19-20 to hit clam hangs on for 2d4 per round
Giant HD 12 AC +12 2d6 bite Mov 6 Swim 9 Climb 6
-on a 17-20 to hit clam hangs on for 2d6 per round

Cave clams are relatives of sea clams that live in caverns and cliffs and dungeons and sewers. They like to hide in cracks and crevices, strongly resemble stone or rock with a hard to see crack. Some are more colourful, some dig under floors or drop from above. Clams in hiding ambush on 1-4. Sometimes tiny ones cover floors looking like flagstones or rough boulder covered floors in a cave. The biggest one's mouths are like great doors that can swallow you up. Some especially under the lairs of evil alchemists. 1in4 have a pearl worth 100gp per HD. Larger ones are more mobile and several might accidentally cooperate. Some underland and underwater races cultivate them.

1in6 are Trench Clams with 4 "feet" +3 Move Burrow 3 in soil or mud, dig pits and trenches
1in6 are Dungeon Clams and they look like a secret door in the rock to lure you close
1in6 are Ram Clams, swap bite attack for knockback attack, affects HD equal to clams
1in8 are Fire Clams anyone touching or being snapped by one takes a d3 fire damage
1in8 are Ice Clams anyone touching or being snapped by one takes a d3 ice damage
1in10 are Invisible Clams that are concealed as the invisibility ability always on
1 in 10 are Jumping Jack Clams that can jump their HD in range once every three rounds
1in10 are Siege Clams shoot an 18 range indirect explosive glob grenade 2d4 1 wide circle
1in10 are Regenerating clams regrowing 1HP a round unless from acid or fire
1in12 are Displacer Clams, +2AC & first attack misses if not aware of displacement effect
1in12 are Blink Clams that teleport 3 range once per round after they bite
1in20 are Night Clams that generate 1 range radius of darkness per point of climb speed, they detect as evil and think dark clam thoughts constantly
1in20 are Chaos Clams have minor mutation per 2HD major mutation per 5HD, glow and scream and hide in dark muddy chaos bogs. Body parts stay lit for d4 days after death

d10 Cave Clam Adventures
1 The marsh fishermen started losing their dogs then children, now a legless survivor says it was damned giant clams!
2 Something crawls out of the well each night leaving a wet trail and making clacking sounds and anyone who goes to look is found decapitated
3 A child fell into a cave through a hole. An adult size entry by the old alchemist's ruined heap will let you get in to save the child. Locals all fear the dreaded clams and give up hope
4 A wet damp sinkhole by the sea was said to be where a pirate buried his treasure. A ship was sailed into a cave and sealed in. Adventurers may climb down the hole with ropes and help. Cave clams are in the lower parts of the hole before it opens into flooded cave of saltwater home of the great clam behemoth. Treasure is inside the clam and the sea entry was blown up by the pirate sealing his loot here
5 A small village popular with city visitors has had a clam outbreak as part of a curse. Fish folk hid an evil idol in a cave under the beach that is flooded and guarded by dread clams
6 A sea wizard made a dungeon only breathable for a few hours a day on the reef and marine cave clams infest it guarding an imprisoned sea nymph in a cave of pearls
7 A ship has been trapped by several enormous clams and the crew need help to fight the monsters and save the ship
8 A mermaid princess was eaten by a cave clam in a trench and her family seed someone to quickly rescue the body so she can be raised from the dead and still look pretty
9 A wizard has orcs and siege clams and has been attacking fortified buildings outside town
10 Migrating ram clams come ashore for ancient migration route, knock over everything in path and locals want help getting rid of them. Lots of poles slow or stop them best
11 A tribe of kobolds have been cultivating cams in the deep for aeons now have spares and they have been leaving pits with clams in the for idiots to fall in
12 Villagers years ago stored emergency supplies in cave and a recent check up had revealed cave clams living off rats had got in and grown too big to get past doors. These were a climbing variety who drop from the ceiling onto victims

Look out for those invisible fire trench ram clams that regenerate

Necrovirus and You

I've used this as a term for my alien plague that creates undead in my various SF settings - my road war and planet psychon games. My whole idea for this came to writing a comic book series bible intending to do something 2000ad over the top with tech and zombies and cyberpunk and rival alien terraforming attacks. On Psychon undead are part of experimental future warfare when manpower was diminishing that went wrong.  Most of what is here were as used in my Murder Highway setting.

A massive plague wiped out half the human race leaving infested survivors and uncontaminated peoples.

When in contact with plague by bite or scratch or aerosol there a chance of being infected
Severe contact such as infected blood transfusion or filling in a pit of rotten zombies is harder to resist. Surviving the plague even just a mild case results in you becoming a zombie. Various strains appeared later and someone may carry multiple types.

The first few cases appeared as the mars mission lost contact.
The early form just killed people dead leaving survivors possibly scarred or cosmetic effects.
It was later the dead arose and contact from these proved to be a more virile strain.
Necrotech incorporated operated massive mausoleums cryogenic facilities where patients in decline were frozen in some state of decline to be cured in the future. The company was supposed to invest in cures and longevity treatments but the freezers and private army and undead research proved too profitable. Various cults emerged also celebrating the apocalypse.

So in the wastelands as climate change and war and labour shortages gripped the world. New types of undead emerged while elites hid in quarantined VIP zones and used airship to link walled cities. Other bioplagues and mutations emerged too some interacting with the necrovirus. Then there was technology and undead leap that no one expected. When cyborgs were infected something new happened. The virus changed again and acted more intelligently and a nanotech carrier was developed and let loose. Machines and even structures became infected. Terrorists and rogue AIs resulted in numerous strains of hostile machine minds which were a further distraction. Lots of new security protocols kept human technology mostly human. As monsters, mutants, undead and rogue AI emerge more strange overlaps and phenomena occur as the world becomes more alien.

d12 Basic Undead
1 Standard Zombie - slow and stupid and silent
2 Fast Zombie - sneaky and faster, improved senses and door opening skills, noisy
3 Ghoul - screaming with teeth and claws and toxic venom, intelligent hunters
4 Glow Ghoul - radioactive ghouls, glow green and emit toxic rays
5 Revenant - regenerating with some memory and intellect, talk, use machines 
6 Mutant Zombies already mutated then became zombies
7 Cyborg Zombied - animated cyborg soldiers and gang members, more resilient 
8 Wight - more intelligent and cunning with soul draining chilling claws, scream with rage
9 Cyber Wight - as wights but they can interface into tech and jack into cars, focused
10 Ghast - more intelligent ghouls that reek of decay often quite a bit larger
11 Zombie Hulk - huge swollen monstrosity of a zombie
12 Ghoul Hulk - huge swollen monstrous brutal ghoul

Vampires and Lich are mostly rumours and speculation but later in war when aliens fighting get worse and more obvious, new stranger creatures appear. Numerous AI becomes aware of and debating what to do next.

When I had this stuff as part of a failed comic treatment for a bunch of corporate zombie hunters out to find why zombies are massing to attack corporate cryonics labs. I wrote this in about 91 and lots of the tech I thought up creeping into film FX now. Necrotech Elite Special Ops were sent to find the control source of zombies and have various bloodthirsty adventures with more and more alien weirdness. There were cybertech alien and mutant versions of various classic monsters. I never got to publish it or use as an RPG setting as I'm not a huge zombie fan but my murder highway BRP game and Psychon I kinda use these.

In my roadwar it's more like part of alien warfare but the human race has no ideas. As the campaign went on the team learned more and picked up clues and met new things. The setting was a slow apocalypse. There was massive depopulation, ruins, incredible wealth gulfs, AI, cyborgs, car murder motorsports, massive walled urban zones, corps. So undead was one of many problems including environmental change. aliens, mutants, triffids, cthulhu, satan and really anything else in the mix. These undead guys were a good setting element to cause trouble of make areas worse on death races and missions.

My original notes files on cd rom seem to not be readable by modern machines or files were possible from my amiga which I used through uni. Might be hardcopies with sketches.
   

Eldritch Decor

Decorative detail for the ruined city built before the gods by alien monsters long ago...

My net is down a while

d10 Types
01 Sounds
02 Odours
03 Trails
04 Environment
05 Stone
06 Artefacts
07 Living remains
08 Explorers remains
09 Vermin
10 Magical

d100 Title
01 Scuttling sounds in walls as if rats or animals gnawing and scratching
02 Dripping sounds with no trace or water,
03 Fluids under pressure gurgling and draining fluid 
04 High pitched annoying sound, barely audible, makes arm hair stand up
05 Sounds of some viscous slime dropping to floor then dragging
06 Distant haunting echoes of somebody chanting
07 Strange choking guttural noises in distance
08 Buzzing like insect swarm
09 Sound of whistling wind through area 
10 Something slithering away, sounded large
11 Smell of decay and rotting flesh
12 Ammonia smell burns nostrils and eyes slightly
13 Acid like odour of digestive fluids or vomit
14 Methane and sulphurous odours of decay
15 Smells sterile and lifeless, some chemical odour
16 Smell of smoke and soot
17 Fish like smell with salty iodine odour of the sea
18 Sewerage like smell
19 Acrid ozone smell, as if recent electrical activity
20 Brackish swamp like odour 
21 Blood trail goes through several rooms where something was wounded
22 Scratches on floot where something was dragged
23 Dried out slime trail like some huge snail
24 Trail of human bones
25 Black oily residue stains floor in several places
26 Huge sheet of shed skin from something disgusting
27 Bloody boot print trail
28 Blackened soot silhouettes from disintegration weapons used on beings
29 Trail of slimy thick mucous
30 Gelatinous blob trail like some kinds of slimy footprints
31 Are is chillingly cold making breath fog
32 Area is warm and humid
33 Area covered in mist
34 Area has unnatural magical darkness
35 Area damp and dripping
36 Area dry and leaches moisture, possibly some dried our bodies 
37 Area lit by dim coloured lights
38 Area overcast like twilight, light sources dimmed
39 Heightened air pressure, ears hurt, save vs nosebleed and headache
40 Walls dripping with water, floor damp with puddles
41 Broken shattered statue, attention to shattering face
42 Statue of alien being looks horrendous
43 Relief carving of beings from beyond enthralling humans
44 Squat green idol of outsider god as if it watches room
45 Stature on a plinth, actually a sleeping being, likes blood
46 Stone altar worn from sacrifices
47 Stone altar with gems set, manipulating it controls lights and climate 
48 Stone gargoyles perched up high
49 Petrified corpse of some ancient prehuman being
50 Black stone idols with faces worn smoothly off
51 Wavy bladed meteoric iron bladed knife
52 Jade tablet fits in pocket
53 Large crystal from some console
54 Green metal rod, dimly luminescent like candle
55 Glowing gem stone
56 Stone with carved symbol repulsive to the elder ones
57 Stone with symbol, if seen save or cursed by more random monsters
58 Clay tablet with arcane formula
59 Clay tablet declaring tithes to old gods
60 Dusty strange looking ray gun of elder race with no ammo
61 Muddy nests that stink, with a d6 football sized leathery slimy eggs
62 Remains of a dried foot of some huge prehistoric creature
63 Large tried out length of giant tentacle
64 Fossilised coprolites of some prehistoric beast
65 Skeleton of some huge prehistoric beast
66 Hundreds of large arthropods shells like crabs, bugs, trilobites
67 Midden heap of fish and bird bones and a few larger ones
68 Giant insect remains, might see threatening at first from pose
69 Metal cylinder with living human brain inside
70 Desiccated human body, if examined some other creature was using skin as disguise
71 Wooden crates several years old with explorers clothes, dried food, cooking utensils and blankets
72 Chest with 2d6 cultist robes and a exotic dagger +1
73 Doll effigies left by savages depicting explorers and cultists visitors with real hair
74 Explorers or cultist bodies with journal of travels here
75 Dead cultist with scroll of prayers to welcome gods when they find them
76 Discarded mask for a cultist, depicts monster face
77 Pile of skulls with holes bored through tops
78 Ruined dried human explorer, something burst out from it's stomach long ago
79 Desiccated body in robes of ancient cultist with sword diary left here years ago
80 Decorated shrunken head of a explorer
81 Colony of strange bats of unfamiliar breed, quite large, cheeping and shitting
82 Foot long grubs crawling about larvae of something much bigger
83 Clusters of ping pong ball sized yellow eggs on wall 
84 Footlong insect or marine invertebrate scuttling about feeding ignoring people
85 Hideous giant rat thing with a human face looks at you creepily then flees into crack
86 A stony pit crawling with mass of worms for some purpose
87 Organic man sized sacks of fluid hanging from ceiling
88 Giant cobwebs cover area and bundles of remains wrapped in spider silk
89 Hundeds of inch long invertebrate swarming to gnaw some slime on a wall
90 Lichen or algae like slime or moss growing everywhere
91 Room hums and electricity arcs between structures up high, smells of ozone
92 Gravity low and can double jumps but save or lose control and flail about into wall
93 Gravity increases save while moving each round or d4 damage and fall, only Mov 3
94 Time slowed, moving through here slow like pushing through treacle
95 Several figures here trapped in stasis, shiny and impossible to recognise
96 Pits with gibbering mutated immortal horrors made by wizards long ago
97 Mirror here is a gateway to another world or time
98 A pile of dust reassembles into terrified person who turns back to ash in a constant loop
99 An invisible gateway in room, easy to accidentally step through
100 Room is chilly with frozen figures on plinths, most recent are human cultists, further back are ape folk then reptilians snap frozen