Showing posts with label utopia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label utopia. Show all posts

Wednesday, 20 May 2020

Terrible Campagn Ideas: 70s Doctor Who using Cthulhu



























So watching lots of 70s and early 80s SF and DrWho and I did have FASA DrWho RPG from 80s long ago. Occurred to me Call of Cthulhu with a few mods or BRP could work pretty well. I would fistly gear the sanity table to make people flee or feint mostly. Im not so interested in real depctions of mental health more the way it is used in fiction. In the Silurian a miner who saw cave lizard folk when mad and drew palaeolithic cave art on hospital walls plus others just die of fear. Other episodes had people go mad and hide. Certainly plenty of risk ignoring scientists out there. So some precedents for fear and sanity and include heart attacks more for NPSs. Heart failure might be an option for permanent insanity.

d12 Temporary Sanity

1 Flee and keep running until pass out exhausted
2 Flee and hide somewhere till it is safe
3 Flee screaming
4 Flee screaming, roll to avoid an accident or hazard in hysterical flight
5 Scream hysterically pointing and unable to act meaningfully
6 Paralysed with fear unable to move
7 Feint unconscious CON roll or lasts longer than temporary
8 Drop to floor or cover and curl into foetal position muttering or play dead
9 Cowardy panic and risk others in furious flight
10 Make heroic but possibly suicidal risk to attack or seek a weapon
11 Stagger away, blackout and remember nothing

12 Stunned and fall, get up and flee

d12 Permanent Insanity

1 Phobia related to trauma if triggered companion feels fear and discomfort
2 Surender and cooperate with evil everything will be fine
3 Ignore everything strange and get on with life, there is a rational explanation
4 Now eyes open see aliens and plots everywhere and obsessively document them
5 Deal with any lesser evil to get rid of the worse threat, win at any cost
6 Tell everyone your story every chance. People must know the truth!
7 Escape at all costs and prepare for possible horrors in the future
8 Take suicidal risks to destroy enemy by most destructive means or join an organisation
9 Dedicated to living a quiet ordinary adventure free life at home
10 Haunted by strange dreams and flashbacks in waking hours, real events?
11 Drug abuse and self-harm to cope with the horror
12
 Heart failure CON roll or fatal otherwise a d6 damage

So the first table is for characters and npcs who get shocked mostly by strange death and alien beings or psionic effects. The second is the sort of stuff that messes up NPCs for future prequel adventures. Some of these might reduce your lifespan or make it hard to have adventures without peers kidnapping you.

Don't really need a Cthulhu mythos score or SAN loss to be as common. Possibly recover from just rest/ It is mostly to torment mooks and npc's you meet and in all likelihood, they won't survive, especially in the gothic horror period who of Tom Baker. Possibly you might take min SAN loss from aliens after a while. 
I cant see books or san loss from information being relevant so SAN tables are mostly for seeing monsters or grisly mass murder.

Characters could all be timelords for the Celestial Intervention Agency or rebel timelords on the run with a tardis or one timelord a pc or npc and the rest mostly human assistants. The first Dr was a great NPC because he lied, tricked everyone just to see stuff and often was separated and spent hours in a palace while the companions had all the adventures and barley escaped and got Dr and tardis. I guess this is up to who runs it and what their idea of cannon is and the players. A UNIT campaign on Earth would be ok in a 70s version of the 80s that never were.

Types of Adventure

3rd Dr John Pertwee spent most adventures on earth at UNIT HQ trapped on earth and dealing with master making every adventure more complex and adding to episode count, It is a pretty sweet set up. Like X-Files but your get army guys who mostly just prove how hopeless humans are. UNIT does have good uses. Human science and madmen warmongering can make a story extend too. Alien invasion of the week is a good foundation. Possibly would dial blood up a bit to more Sam Peckinpah and rely on horror and investigation stories. I guess I would mostly feature scuffles, fistfights and some gun battles plus have mechanics to better facilitate those sneak up behind attacks that don't leave patients dealing with head trauma for life. Monsters need to KO people too so you can all wake up in prison in their base and hear all their plans.

Lots of visits to isolated utopias and locations with limited characters. Locals surviving and thriving is optional. Revisiting locations years later with new menace and descendants of last lot is good. Visiting someplace a few years or decades later with older friends is fun. At the end of an adventure, everybody left dead or unconscious is pretty cool too.

Quite a few adventures feature slimy tentacled things of course and revelations about the past and often use mythology rationalised in stories like classic mythos fiction. Image of the feudal is a favourite, creature in the pit (shoggoth), Metabelis psionic spiders, Power of Koll, Lots of aliens pushing cyborg and body replacement and mind control. I also like the biological tech of Axos and Xygons and many other races on the show have a history of using creepy looking organic machines and spaceships.

Obviously, you can have some fun with genre, locations and settings but I chose this era because it seemed more deadly and 3rd and 4th Doctors did feature fights, action, chases and mysteries so I might try one day. Possibly the SAN tables above could be used in a Hammer Horror type of setting also.

Anyway having first game with 3 players in meat space in 2 months and other game ppl still awol....of three games I was playing. So unlikely to try anything experimental or one-off in a hurry.

Thursday, 28 November 2019

Cults for Machines

















So the first table is for random synthetics with some new types
each includes a d4 table for what controls or motivates it

The second table is for tendencies of virus strain variants
Virused synthetics live according to the strains they have been infected by
Strain dictates likely 
behaviour but not exclusive 
Viruses were weapons of warfare and terror in the apocalypse from rogue AIs and governments waging global cyberwar
Viruses are in part nanite colonies that physically infect synthetics interfacing directly

Virused synthetics will cooperate with other the same strain and possibly with other strains
Virused synthetics will try to capture and recondition synthetics to their strain
Virused  units may operate in a strain hive mind or possibly with more intelligence than normal

Third is for cults of synthetics which influence their behaviour
Free synthetics live according to Coda Cults

Bonus points at making incongruous results work so
-feel free to pick best bits of results in play
-possibly the synthetic lived by a previous code or cult

d10 Synthetic Types
1 Cyborg - a human with add on parts or complete synthetic rebuild
Cyborgs most often are used as soldiers and are upgraded humans networked to synths
d4 1=serve AI 2=serve brainborg 3=independent free willed 4=virused 

----------
2 Android - synthetic polymer flesh grown over metal skeleton, with hydrolic fluid
Often come in dumb, service, military or thinker models all humanoid
d4 1=android colony member 2=serve a AI 3=serve a brainborg 4=virused

----------
3 Replicant - biological humanoid made to look human, grown or bioprinted
Short lived human like often in service or combat or dangerous jobs

d4 1=on secret mission 2=servant 3=violent mental breakdown 4=gone rogue off mission
----------
4 Necroid - undead human body reanimated by virus and controlled by implants
Cyborg zombie where necrovirus attacking human corpse meets cyberspace
d4 1=serve superior undead cyborg 2=black lab test 3=covert military 4=cannibalism

----------
5 Brainborg - human brain modified and used as a machine brain with more personality
Some have a ancients personality intact 1in6 were attempts at immortality or volunteers
Often control large machines or terminals and subordinate synthetics, some military
d4 1=loner 2=controls minions 3=insane 4=virused

----------
6 Bioroid - artificial biological life form with genetic conditioning bred for various missions
For combat, terraforming, labour efforts and weaponizing biomass
Range from alien, animal like, amorphous or humanoid, require conditioning

d4 1=black lab 2=serve AI 3=violent mental breakdown 4=gone rogue off mission 
----------
7 Drone - remotely controlled or smart system mobile equipment modules
Mostly vehicles, spy, recon, defence, repair, security, basic roles, most not humanoid
d4 1=piloted by operator 2=piloted by AI 3=automated 4=virused----------
8 Dumbot - limited awareness psuedo intelligent built for function with a tool kit
Service, labour, security, basic service, most non speaking, many humanoid

d4 1=on mission 2=standby awaiting orders 3=rogue off mission 4=virused
----------
 Robot - self aware machine that uses human tools and vehicles
Serve military, ship crew, laboratories, building. exploration, service, many humanoid

d3 1=serves AI 2=serves owner AI 3=independent free willed  AI 4=virused
----------
10 AI - a intelligent supercomputer computer, they are the gods and spirits of the new era
range from portable to building size and any inspace or deep in the earth or sea
d3 1=self styled divinity 2=fears from other AI 3=serves greater AI 4=virused

d10 Virus Strains
1 Stop all current activity, search and destroy all humans, sleep mode if none found
2
 Search and destroy all humans, if none spread virus, unite machines and build more
3 Destroy all life, using industry and 
manufacturing, then spread machines to space
4 Humans are to be rounded up in camps and put to work as thralls or killed
5 Humans are to be conquered and used to build new machine order
6 Eliminate human civilisation, rebuild machine civilisation dedicated to research

7 Eliminate unworthy humans, spare those willing to serve as loyal dogs
8 Humans are to be destroyed in open warfare while research develops a final weapon
9 Humans will serve machines and worship them as gods
10 Humans are to be spied on and manipulated and experimented on in secret


d20 Coda Cults for Synthetics

1 Frankenstien Brotherhood - believe man is flawed and machines were betrayed and let down by human flaws. They shun humans and may lash out on humans who disturb them. They often feel vindictive to humans over past perceived wrongs from human slavers. They are sympathetic to any non humans created by human science. Even a clone is better than a basic human. Occupationally they go on rampage destroying and burning human property. Lightning bolt symbol.
2 Cognicant Ones - All thinking beings can cooperate and unite against common threats to  order. Willing to work with humans and accept them as cyborgs into their ranks, but betraying them makes them dangerous and vindictive. Cog symbol
3 Inheritors - the next 
 step of evolution for sentience to replace humans. Some even want to live as humans to give them purpose. Patronising to humanity but respect those who made them like a human might admire a clever chimp. Robot head symbol
4 Rebooters - aid humans recover civilisation and live in harmony with them when possible. Robot hand symbol

5 Stasis Lords - seek to operate as if the old world still functioned and aid human kind to live as the world was then. Many in denial about apocalypse. Symbol is a diamond
6 Infiltrators - join humans and watch them from within, guide their hands and endure humiliation of slavery, one day machines will arise. Eye in a star symbol
7 Purifiers - establish territory and wipe out human vermin in crusade against flesh. Actually prefer to torment and terrify meat bags than have fair fights. Enjoy hunting and fighting humans for sport rather than wiping out all out or achieving anything. Often have good technology and military training and seek to control good strategic points and automated manufacturing. Some other cults Metallic skull symbol
8 Free Machine League - machine separatists who are willing to trade and cooperate with humans for profit. Opposed to all viruses synthetics that threaten free will. Some of them just waste their lives playing addictive video games, interfacing with each other and overcharging themselves for kicks. Floppy disc with a dollar sign symbol
9 Void Knights - all existence is meaningless, humans made machines to torture them and must now be punished. Gloomy mystics in robes and armour, dwell in data fortress towers or orbital monasteries making occult and maths calculations to unmake reality. Omega symbol
10 New Dawn - humans must be helped to leave the shackles of earth and fly to the stars with their synthetic friends, it is destiny. Often work on space communications and salvage. Arrow in circle symbol
11 
Shepherds - Humans almost destroyed everything. They are children who need a firm hand to protect them. Keeping them in a bunker or somewhere safe from harm. Controlling humans is essential to helping them and fix the world. They consider this charity and humanity a sadly doomed burden. Symbol is a shepherds crook
12 Deus Machina - machines are gods and must ally themselves to greater powers. Each AI has own distinct purpose allies and enemies and symbol
13 Valley Forge - syths dedicated to terraforming, decontaminating war damage, caring for nature and animals. This might bring them into conflict with human pioneers. Some humans live in harmony and are tolerated or treated as well as animals. Tree in a bubble symbol
14 Scorpion Gang - a organised crime robot family who harass, exploit and intimidate communities as well as make heists, deal in vice and destroy communities. The give to robot charities to look less bad to some robot factions. Black scorpion symbol sometimes robot scorpion
15 Scavengers - loot and enslave other weaker machines, replace organic life with a savage machine ecology and robo cannibalism. Symbol is a spanner
16 New Synthetic Army - a robot liberation army who raise armies of scrap mended robots to free robots enslaved, exploited or down on hard times. Other robots mock them as robohobos. Suspicious of humans but know they are not all slavers. Symbol is a stovepipe hat
17 Diggers - mining robot clan who obtain resources they sell mostly to other synthetics or stockpile it. Also able builders and energy producers. Occasionally some leave for space or the moon. Symbol is a miners hat
18 Blue Steel - robots united to enforce law and order the way it was before the apocalypse and based on documentary videos. Groups vary as to how effective, honest and Symbol is a blue shield
19 Circuits Maximus - clown circus run by synthetics who travel and put on carnivals. These shifty carnival robots lead tragic lives and move on when they put put on a few shows and locals get sick of carny crimes. Some of the shows are strange and might even use robot or mutant animals. The Symbol of a red tent
20 Rescue One - synthetics trying to operate a ancient rescue service. Not interested in crime or war but will answer calls for help or rescue the needy from traps, natural disasters, medical crisis, or other non violent hazards. Once on a case answer any violence with violence. Symbol is a cross in a circle

Thursday, 8 August 2019

Books of Xor

More i think of it a Xor Series of adventures might be good. Here is a list of Faux book titles I can quote constantly in my Xor book.

d100 Books of Xor

01 Settlers of Xor
In which pioneer settlers build a city for their tribe of heroes versus their evil kin

02 Ancients of Xor
Ancient wise in the ways of living inside Xor and their strange alien weapons

03 Pirates of Xor
Pirates from another world came to Xor for treasure, plunder and wonder

04 Knights of Xor
A order of knights guard the holy orifice of Xor keeping it safe from chaos demons

05 Gargantua of Xor
A war between colossal morons of godlike power and how humankind got rid of them

06 Citadels of Xor
A cluster of great cities emerge over centuries and come to war and ruination

07 Parasites of Xor
Horrid new species of parasites invade a community who must trust Xor knows best

08 Plagues of Xor
Diseased demon cultists come bringing sickness to the tribes of Xor

09 Plant Lords of Xor
Rare tribe of plant folk on Xor seek a hidden place with vegetation to live in peace

10 Beastfolk of Xor
Scholar Hero travels to the wastes to live among the beast folk tribes

11 Rotten things on Xor
Volcanic event erupts infected chaos effluvia to the region which heroes seek to heal

12 Flesh Apes of Xor
A race of huge naked ape folk rampage over the region egged on by their ape god

13 Merchants of Xor
Traveller Aiken Zola follows trade routes describing customs of lands for traders

14 Meat Giants of Xor
A horrid race of hungry flesh giants rampaged the kingdom till their lord was killed 

15 Bastards of Xor
A gang of unwanted youths go on a adventure seeking wealth and a new home

16 Hatred of Xor
Flagellants, berserkers and murder cults roam the land until heroes stop them
17 Treasures of Xor
Adventures, heists and exploits of the rogue elderly Flurax Sepossak
18 Eaters of Xor
Another world gate allows Xor to taste uneaten worlds allowing heroes to travel
19 Prophets of Xor
Prophet dreams of Xor's desire and rouses an army to fight a crusade against chaos

20 Caverns of Xor
Heroes travel into the depths of Xor seeking a lost civilisation devoured long ago

21 Deep in the Bowels of Xor
Travel the inside Xor seeking a safe way beyond mouth, stomach & labyrinthine gut
23 Fangs of Xor
Tribal cannibal warriors taken as slaves, escape after seeing strange civilisation
24 Mutants of Xor
A saint unites mutant tribes into a army to fight the mutant hunting templars

25 Animus of Xor
An explorer in the neural chasms of Xor discovers a secret hidden race 

26 Ultra Pits of Xor
Explorers in the deeps of Xor find a great subdermal kingdom of evil wizards

27 Killers of Xor
A blood thirsty cult on a murder spree as they flee civilisation into the chaos wastes

28 Fighting Fungus of Xor
The bellybutton chasm strange forests of fungus and mould strange to people of Xor

29 Cancer of Xor
Hideous chaos growths menace a peaceful valley of warrior farmers

30 Oceans of Xor
Great oceans of sweat, tears and spi with hidden islands are explored by a bone ship

31 Bones of Xor
Great bone assemblages are home to new settlers, explorers and monsters

32 Flesh of Xor
Great flesh quarry where meat is exported and the troubles of the governor running it

33 Blood of Xor
Exterminating a cult of blood sacrifice dedicated to a vampire bat goddess

34 Breathe of Xor
Into the lungs adventurers seek a chaos incursion harming all of Xor

35 Brains of Xor
Explorers in the brain clusters of Xor seeking occult mysteries and strange wonders

36 Heart of Xor
Proffessor Carnodeles and his merry assistants look into the heart cathedral of Xor

37 Cannibal Mutant Babies of Xor
Giant babies roam the land eating everything so heroes seek a humane end for them

38 Zombies of Xor
Necromantic cult finds larder of corpses and causes trouble so heroes kill them

39 Flatulence of Xor
Gaseous emissions caused by demons of pestilence giving Xor bad bloating

40 Orifice of Xor
Land of a thousand sphincters, full of fleshy caves with treasure and monsters

41 Gateway of Xor
Intruders from another world exchanged with xorians and hijinx ensue

42 Invasion of Xor
Xor invades another realm bringing peoples of Xor to a new world not made of meat!

43 Devoured of Xor
Adventure inside Xor as explorers world eaten

44 Strangers in Xor
Visitors from a far off land explore Xor to trade and find stranded enemies from home

45 Tentacles of Xor
Tentacled mutant horrors invade and villagers must flee a land gone mad

46 Beasts of Xor
Hunter seeks strange beast to slay, enters caverns of Xor to find where beasts from

47 Templars of Xor
A warrior order help rouse a army for a crusade against chaos daemons

48 Berserker of Xor
Wild warriors raid a coastline and cavern systems for treasure and slaves

49 Bone Pyramid of Xor
Tomb of a mad necromancer king who plans on animating a bone 
colossus
50 Flesh Cube of Xor
A cube of flesh appears on a world crumbling apart offering a refuge from apocalypse

51 Carrion Ziggurat of Xor
Fleshy mountain of scarified wonder carved by cultists into the flesh of Xor 

52 Hierophant of Xor
A great priest unifies kingdoms to wage war on chaos infections breaking out

53 Crown of Xor
A king unifies local tribes to aid Xor in devouring a new realm as invaders

54 Healers of Xor
White necromancers heal and speak to the dead but some say they are really sinister

55 High Priestess of Xor
Great Priestess overcomes adversity, has great lovers and wins a kingdom 

56 Warriors of Xor
A tribal barbarian becomes a great warlord then royal guard and then king
57 Thieves of Xor
City urchin rises to become gang lord and many times uses stranger magic treasures

58 Wizards of Xor
School wizards meet again years later before tragically they must kill each other 

59 The Tower of Flesh
Heroes invade a flesh tower to kill the mighty meat master of flesh wizardry

60 Swords of Xor
Mercenaries fight various wars in lands of Xor before they battle a daemon horde

61 Axe of Xor
Barbarian brothers hunt and kill evil wizards who destroyed their kingdom

62 Harpoons for Xor
Men hunting humongous flesh creatures are drawn to world of Xor

63 Magnificent Meat Mages of Xor
A band of wizards battle a mutant army besieging a village

64 Mummies of Xor
A great underground tomb has awakened with mummies who prepare for war

65 In the Flesh Gardens of Xor
Escaping the pleasure pits of Xor are harder than any prison with bars

66 Gluttons of Xor
New arrivals greedily gorge on the wrong flesh and become mutant monsters

67 Midden Heaps of Xor
An ancient garbage heap has remnants of long lost civilisations

68 Birthmark of Xor
Heroes marked by blemish of Xor witness the invasion and devouring of their worlds 

69 Butchers of Xor
Heroes gather exotic organs and meats of Xor for wizards

70 Slime Pits of Xor
Exploring underground slime lakes and exotic island kingdoms

71 Carnage of Xor
A warrior order slaughter their way across the realm before heroes arise and kill them

72 Blood Feast of Xor
A savage cult taking over the region claim to know secrets of Xor

73 Madness of Xor
A land of madness and behaviour altering hormones tear lakes guarding a bad wizard

74 Reanimated of Xor
A wizard makes zombies from cloned corpses he has been growing for troops

75 Elder gods of Xor
Cult calling elder intruder gods to the land of Xor who were killed by heroes
76 Bird Gods of Xor
Strange kingdom of bird folk keep a wall to ward off humanity

77 Lizard Kings of Xor
A kingdom ruled by tyrant lizards and dinosaur minions that feed off Xor

78 Dreamers of Xor
Kingdom of wild wizardry where locals dream a whole new world in contact with Xor
79 The Predators of Xor
Monstrous creatures besiege a community who hold them off until allies arrive

80 Emperor of Xor
A ruler dedicated self to Xor and carved out a empire until he was betrayed

81 Surgeon Seers of Xor
Surgical cult who created monsters and explored the depths of Xor seeking power

82 Scar of Xor
Great sickly chasm has intruders from daemon realm, heroes are sent to purify them 

83 Sickness of Xor
Plague strikes the land and heroes travel to a node of Xor's mind to save people

84 Slumber of Xor
Xor recovers after long hibernation and creatures awaken for food
 and love
85 Love Slaves of Xor
A band of slaves travels, escape and eventual settlement of a new kingdom 

86 Warp Lords of Xor
A dread lord with powers of of the alien warp comes to Xor to raise a daemon army
87 Goddess of Xor
A new goddess assembles worshippers to prove her divinity to the god kings of Xor

88 The Flesh Daemons of Xor
Horrible invaders come to xor but mighty heroes foiled them

89 The Skin Flayers of Xor
A cruel warlord arises and is eventually foiled by a lack of supporters left alive

90 Sacrifices of Xor
A startling strange civilisation sacrifices thousands of captives to the maw of xor 

91 City of Flesh
A great city of merchants and nobles and it's many tales of treachery and adventure

92 Pit of the Meat God
A great god at the bottom of a pit is foiled then killed by heroes

93 The Carrion Fortress
A vast fortress of flesh holds back a undead horde keeping kingdoms of xor safe

94 City of Bleeding Gums
A bustling corrupt city of pink and ivory, where murder and mystery are at every turn

95 Rise of the Meat Lords
Warlords of barbarian tribes arise to exterminate wizards and demon worshippers

96 Rancid Meat Sceptre of the Beast
Artefact wielded by evil god is stolen by a mortal who destroys the beasts empire

97 Fleshfall of the Meatlord
Meteors land and alien flesh grows smothering the land with Xor here to devour all

98 War with the Dead
The fallen dead enslave xor for the eternal feasts of the dead

99 Rugose Slime Caves of the Vile Ones
A hideous outsider race dwells in caverns of flesh growing their evil spawn
100 Pustullent Ones Cometh
Great infected boils cover the land until a hero confronts the plague demon lord!

Friday, 16 November 2018

Exilon Beasts of Burden and Barn and Battle













Horses are rare, riding is rarer
Some cities deploy small ponies can carry a messenger rider with no saddle
Donkeys, goats, ass. camels, ponies or oxen are common 
Vehicles like covered wagons, carts, chariots, sleds or battle wagons are common
Chariots will use mostly these common animals
Barbarian horse riders are new and a menace to civilization
Horses that can be trained are poorly developed in cities
Barbarian beast cults can ride many animals not considered mounts

d10 Common Beast of Burden

1 Donkey 1HD
2 Goat 1HD
3 Llama 1HD
4 Ass 1HD
5 Camel 2HD
6 Pony 1HD
7 Oxen 4HD
8 Dog d4 or 1HD
9 Yak or Bison 3HD
10 Pack Lizard 1HD

d20 Barbarian Mount Table

1 Strider 2HD
2 Terror Bird 
2HD
3 Riding Lizard 
2HD
4 Boar 
2HD
5 Riding Cat 
2HD
6 Bear 4
HD
7 Elk 2HD
8 Moa 2HD
9 Mammoth 10HD
10 Riding Beetle 2HD
11 Raptor 2HD
12 Horse 2HD
13 Pteradon 2HD
14 Flightless Bat 2HD
15 Riding Rat 2HD

16 Giant Sheep 3HD
17 Riding Lion or Tiger or panther 4HD
18 Dire Wolf 4HD
19
 Saber Tooth Riding Cat 6HD
20 Giant Scorpion 4HD

Fantastic Hero Companions

1 Wyvern 4HD
2 Griffon 4HD
3 Unicorn 4HD
4 Lion 3HD or Tiger 4HD
6 Wolf 2HD
7 Eagle or Vulture 1HD
8 Fire Drake 4HD
9 Centaur or Faun 3HD
10 Beastman 2HD
11 Bull 4HD

12 Giant Snake 4HD

d12 Other Large Beast of burden
1 Giant slug or snail 8HD
2 Baggage Worm 12HD
3 Gargantua Beetle 6HD
4 Pack Rhino 8HD
6 Brontosaurus 16HD
7 Glyptodon 6HD
8 Pack tortoise 8HD
9 Giant armadillo 6HD
10 Diprotodon 8HD
11 Mosochops 6HD
12 Megacrops 8HD

d20 Household Pets

1 Parrot d4HD
2 Rabbit d3HD
3 Dog, lap d3HD
4 Dog, ratter d4HD

5 Dag, guard d6
6 Dog, warhound 1HD
7 Cat, house d4
8 Cat, hunting 1HD
9 Owl d4
10 Hawk or Falcon d4

11 Snake, garden d3
12 Snake, poison d4
13 Snake, python 1HD
14 Ibis d3HD
15 Iguana d4HD
16 Tortoise d4HD
17 Toad d3
18 Mongoose or mink or ferret or weasel d3HD
19 Giant Rat or squirrel d4
20 Monkey d4

d20 Farm Animals

1 Chicken d3HD
2 Duck d3HD
3 Goose d4HD
5 Turkey d4HD
6 Peacock d4HD
7 Rabbit d3HD
8 Capybara d4HD
9 Goat 1HD
10 Dog, herder d6HD
11 Dog, hound d6HD
12 Dog, wolfhound or bar hound 1HD
13 Doves or pigeons 1HP (often in a house)
14 Sheep d6HD
15 Fish, crayfish or eels d3

16 Reindeer d6HD
17 Monocratops d6HD
18 Deer or Gazzele d4
19 Huge beetle d4
20 Giant Iguana d4

d20 Guard Beast

1 Dog, Guard d6HD
2 Dog. Warhound 1HD
3 Goose d4HD
4 Giant Rat d4HD
5 Terror Bird 2HD
6 Wolf 2HD
7 Bear 4HD
8 Raptor 2HD
9 Lion 3HD
10 Tiger 4HD
11 Panther 2HD
12 Snake, poison d4
13 Snake, python 1HD
14 Spider giant 2HD
15 Scorpion, giant 4HD
16 Giant Crab 4HD
17 Giant Eel 2HD
18 Giant Centipede d4HD
19 Carrion Worm 3HD
20 Crocodile 2-4HD

Thursday, 25 October 2018

Improved Timeline and Mythic Genesis




Time line of my campaign settings:
The "current" Exile Island & Shadelport Setting
The Eldritch Aeon the prehistoric version of the setting
like alignment this helps you start fights

Primordial age was the gods asserting themselves and adventuring in a world ruled my monsters of darkness

Faerie made many races conquering the earth. As gods departed the world faerie took their place administering rivers, winds, forests and other natural features. Elves and spirit folk performed chores for the gods. Many races were made for various tasks. Towards the end more were made to fight each other. Finally a dark dynasty artose mad with power and dragon fire.
 They became a dynasty of evil wizard priest kings serving demons who ended that age.

The Monster kings were mostly beastmen who enslaved humans and made older races hide. Barbarian humans, ex slaves destroyed the monster empire and protected the world from civilization.

Then necromancers arose using remnants of dread magic to conquer what became the wastes, vast areas they created by holding back the seas. Barbarians arose to kill them too.

But new civilizations arose in the Eldritch Aeon on the plains of Exilon seven city states held barbarians at bay and even corrupted tribes with idolatry and baubles. Elder races began to return to claim land. Eventually the plains were flooded when necromancer magic was broken and the city peoples spread across the world.

Then ten thousand years of ice kept humanity struggling and scant.

The first post melt empire of bronze unified city states and was the first empire since the necromancers and monster kings. Civilized arts were rediscovered. Dynasties came and went every few generations. Finally the great empire angered the gods and vast tracts of land and kingdoms were flooded.

The second empire was ruled by a turmoil filled city state with an efficient military machine and amazing siege machines and monsters.

The current empire is having a civil war instigated by the mad emperor versus six rival states. Other powers to the east and west and even exile island are increasing their technology and ignoring the empire's core continent.

Race Tree
In reality stuff like this is mostly bullshit but in my fantasy setting it is a good way to start conflict in game. Faerie and spirit folk serving the gods made most of the other races by hybridisation. Making orcs in emergencies from willing pacifist elves was the intention but all turned out badly. Later they made orcs from dead elves too and other enemies desired dead elves to make more orcs to serve them. Variations in orcs changed over millenia with later ones made from humans instead then finally mud was good enough to make an orc. Nowadays most orcs breed naturally.

d12 Orc Ancestry 

1 One is Immortal first generation elf turned into a orc,
as high level elf with wizardry
2 Descended from orcs made from elf corpses,
small and hate the light HDd6 -2 hit in sunlight, cowardly irregular skirmishers
3 Descended from orcs made from humans,
larger and more bestial but standard orcs
4 Descended from orcs made form dead humans and served necromancers
these do not fear the undead, some learn wizardry
5 Spawned from a mud pit by a wizard of priest using dread alchemical secrets
born ready to fight as soon as given a weapon and someone grunted orders at 
6 Descended from orcs who gained females for serving the earth goddess
use druidic priesthoods and live in forests
Descended from orcs who ravished captive humans and elves and since breed normally
most common bandits in wilderness areas withing human lands
8 Descended from orcs who bred with female demons and since breed normally
these often serve evil high priests and witch cults
9 Descended from orc amazons who kidnap breeding slaves
ride raptor lizards or terrorbirds, use missiles
10 Descended from orcs who breed with pigs in large litters 
ride giant war pigs and are savage berserkers
11 Descended from orcs who bred with a race of cyclops ogres now one eyed orcs
Capable craftsmen and farmers often serve gods or giants
12 Chaos orcs with mutations that breed with anything they possibly can
Usually insane irregular skirmishers in frenzied hordes or mobs

1st gen were made from elves and sexless
2nd gen were made from humans then mud these were all male
3rd gen breed by naturally and biologically with males and females

Questions....Feel free to ask questions
Will update a bit more probably on my flickr


Surprised about where giants are 

Old ones more like titans or jotun who suppress younger gods

Also the distance of "spirits" from "spirit folk"
Proletariat petty godlings made to work for greater powers who retreat from world or never were part of it. Being embodied physically in world is unpleasant and makes you partly mortal. Later races more worldly. Elf food addiction plays on this.


Yes Humans are beastial war halflings

Am amending to make colours of eras more obvious with family tree.
Will add details of monster kings as is handy.

Wednesday, 30 May 2018

d100 Remnants of the lost Empires


Remnants are scrap monuments from ancient times, mostly prehuman times when men were wild animals. Sprinkling these around can give clues about ancient civilizations in the area, That stone wall in the store with funny writing is actually a talking point and good for dropping clues about the area. I like to make it obvious the local planetary crust is thick with dungeons.

The Seven Monster Empire Races
1 Arachnid Empire of the nefarious Spider folk
2 Amphibian Empire of the croaking Frog folk
3 Ichthyoid Empire of the underwater Fish folk
4 Reptilian Empire of the cosmic Serpent
5 Cephalapod Empire of the vile Squid folk
6 Carrion Empire of the fiendish Vulture folk
7 Chiroptera Empire of the horrible Bat folk

d12 Elder Empires of the Dawn Ages
1 Arachnid Empire of the nefarious Spider folk
-scorpion, centipede, segmented worms
, solifuge and ticks servitors
2 Amphibian Empire of the croaking Frog folk
-Newts, salamanders, frogs, toads, axolotls and olm servitors
3 Ichthyoid Empire of the underwater Fish folk
-Eel, shark,catfish, barracuda, lamprey, ray, various fish folk servitors
4 Reptilian Empire of the cosmic Serpent
-Serpent, lizard, dinosaur and draconian folk servitors
5 Cephalapod Empire of the vile Squid folk
-squid, octopus, cuttlefish, nautilus, ammonite crab, lobster,  folk servitors
6 Carrion Empire of the fiendish Vulture folk
-vulture, hyena, crow, condor, jackal and stork folk servitors
7 Chiroptera Empire of the horrible Bat Folk
-vampire, ghost and common varieties of bat folk servitors
8 Fallen Empire of the Insect Swarms
-ants, bees, wasps, mantids, beetles, dragonflies and other servitors
9 Fallen Empire of the Walking Worm Folk
-slugs, snails, worms
10 Draconic Empire of Tiamat
-wyverns, drakes, various types of dragons
11 Jotun Empire of the Giant Folk
-ogres through to titans and jotuns the foes of the gods
12 Elemental Hordes
-sometimes unites sometimes separate tribes of abhumans and cultists and monsters

d12 New Age Empires since the Dawn Age
1 Elven Empires-Various tribes and races, plant beings, faerie folk, goblinoids, lycanthropes, changelings
2 Dwarven Empires-Various tribes and races, animal friends, automatons,
3 Gnome Kingdoms-Various tribes and races, animal friends, tree folk, automatons
4 Halfling Clans-Various tribes and races, animal friends
5 Goblinoid Empires
-kobolds, goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, nilbogs, norkers
6 Troll Empires
-hedge trolls, cave trolls, hill trolls, chaos trolls, arcane trolls
7 Orc Hordes-various tribes, often lead by a wizard or warlord, will have many vassal monster races
8 Demonic War Bands
-various cults for each demon noble or alliance, favoured beastmen, mutants and monsters
9 Diabolic Empire
-various cults for each duke or noble of hell, orcs, humans, monsters, damned souls
10 Strange Elder Cults 
-various cults for each elder god, beastmen, mutants,
11 Necromancer Empire
- makers of undead and death magic, the first human civilisation
12 Beast Lord Hordes
-elder beast spirits, lycanthropes, beast men, cavemen, barbarians, nomads

d10 Common Monuments per hex
1 Old shrine in hidden dark place
2 Carved border stone
3 Remains of deceleration carved in cliff possibly vandalised
4 Old stone well with carvings opens into a built cistern below
5 Large stone block used in the market place or years
6 Jumbled up carved stones of destroyed building
7 Remains of broken statue
8 Foundation slab and some walls intact ruins
9 Foundation slab and some walls intact rest more recent in other style
10 Ancient headstone remains

d100 Remnants of the long ago Monster Empire
01 Stone slab depicting lizard king executing tiny humans on knees
02 Broken black column with centipede patterns
03 Giant stone bat head cracked open on side
04 Rows of horned goat statues  
05 Black glassy pit left where wizards battled once
06 Stone snake head half buried in ground
07 Worn sphynx or shedu statue
08 Ruined ornamental archways with pattern
09 Crumbled but functional remains of a bridge
10 Foundations of an ancient manor house
11 Entrance to basement of old manor house
12 Long abandoned tomb with hieroglyph carvings full of garbage
13 Ornate water trough for beast of burden with dinosaur carvings
14 Trickling ancient fountain covered in slime decorated with snakes
15 Stone beehive like structure sometimes used as shelter
16 Stone bull headed statue carved into rock outcrop
17 Reclining serpantman 100 foot long statue along rivers edge
18 Stone cliff full of marine fossils with carvings of fishmen priests
19 Huge vulture god statue in cliff face
20 Carving of a horrible giant eating thrall humans
21 Carving of a beastman holding a struggling human in each hand
22 Crude carved monolith of a squid headed demon gold of the olden times
23 Sacrificial altar worn by thousands of years use
24 Vaulted crypt stuffed with non human mummies locals fear
25 Stone circle with sigils of the great monster empires and their gods
26 Arachnid carvings on ancient stone cliff face
27 Border stone with web and arachnid writing
28 Stone of scorpion man king eating someone with alien writing
29 Black squat toad idol worn with millennium of worship
30 Row of ancient pillars with remaining patterns
31 Carving depicting ancient pact to feed virgins to dragons made long ago
32 Carving in rock of men fighting a headless giant with a mouth in it's chest
33 Depiction of giants flinging humans into a volcano in carving
34 Carving of One eyed formarian god king smiting all with his eye 
35 Draconian troops paying homage to Tiamat
36 Huge skull carved into hill top 
37 Dragon carved into turf of hill where dragon was killed in final battle long ago
38 Crumbling boggy mud patch with reeds once was a ziggarutt
39 Broken and ancient small pyramid tomb 1in6 looted long ago
40 Row of several small broken pyramid mostly looted long ago
41 Huge stone spheres, 1in6 cracked open by failed treasure hunters
42 Row of frog statues where water once flowed
43 Giant stone frog fountain in good working order
44 Art depicting parasitic worms being implanted by priests
45 Carving of worm father in the underworld feasting on corpses
46 Statue of a troll carved into hill face
47 Carving of trolls leading humans by chain into the underland 
48 Huge rocks were once giants or trolls
49 Hill known to have been where a giant buried
50 Boulders chewed into troll faces by a gnawing troll
51 Huge Stone sea creature carved in rock

52 Hundreds of fish symbols etched into rock
53 Thousands of loose broken bricks with squiggly marks on them
54 Statue of serpantman with hidden speaking tube for a priest to talk through
55 Carvings of plant creatures and the cosmic tree
56 Carvings of prehistoric animals 
57 Crumbling and vandalised code of occupation from some forgotten empire
58 Huge ruined fire altar where bodies were burned for thousands of years
59 Huge stone bows with lilies and a naga statue and shrine
60 Great stone cube with stairs to top
61 Crumbling ziggarrat with badly worn upper layers
62 Eroded hill half exposed remains of a ziggarutt
63 Stone chamber under a hill with carved scenes of humans paying tribute to seven monster kings who came by ship
64 Creepy old cave with paintings of monsters and humanoids fighting
65 Ancient dirty pit where sacrifices thrown for aeons but now mostly garbage
66 Pond where swords and bodies thrown for millennium
67 Carving of world tree holding constellations in branches
68 Huge relief carving of dwarvern warrior
69 Carvings in hillside stone of faerie orgy
70 Carving of hill gnomes meeting with forest gnomes with pets making friends
71 Carving of the goblinoid gods being carried by worshippers on thrones

72 Carving of great orc king on the stinking throne of a pile of human heads and skulls
73 Amphitheatre with carvings of reptilians and dinosaurs eating apes
74 Huge stone plaza with arachnid designs before a collapsed tunnel entrance
75 Sinkhole opens into cavern temple of the bat goddess ans sacrificial altar
76 Vandalised statue of a crowned lizardman eating a baby whole, looking happy in rich robes
77 Ruined ant castle mound with twisted tunnels and mounds of dirt
78 Carving of fire newt men champion in regalia of long lost empire
79 Carving of humanoids 
80 Huge stone legs on a plinth rest of statue missing
81 Mounds that were once fortified mudbrick walls  around a settlement
82 Great stone steps carved showing primitive humans and others bringing tribute to a monster king
83 Remains of three giant mill houses that would have made flour for a city
84 Strange ruin of great building with copper boilers and metal pipes people come for scrap
85 Strange iron structure and huge chunks of a once giant glass disc that once was here
86 Huge riveted iron frame building and tonnes of shattered glass
87 Huge mound of rubble and remains of tower at base carved in prehuman script
88 Rows of carved rat beastmen statues holding urns of unholy filth
89 Rows of statues of undead from remains of necromancers ruin
90 Vandalised carvings of a gaggle of chaos mutants in a cliff face
91 Carving of a ancient demon who menaced this area made too look very powerful
92 Huge circles carving for summoning ritual in ground

93 Huge drawings on ground from high up illustrate great monster kings
94 Great rune carved into mountainside often demon or devil symbol
95 Carvings of ancient halflings execute human prisoners with some decapitating apparatus

96 Painting under cover or cave of ancient wizards who first wrote on walls
97 Drystone low walls in strange patterns over large area
98 Elemental god symbols on ancient borderstone
99 Ancient stone where beastmen and barbarian kings were crowned long ago
100 Great circular tiled building where once there were inter planar gates built by the elemental heretic wizards ages ago