Barking Alien Challenge day15: What to avoid? + Redbrick 6-room Dungeons

Im much more inclined to give players enough rope to hang themselves than railroad people. Much like old-school games with pages of rules limiting what character types can do like race level limit. I am backing away from taking longer to explain exceptions than the basic rule requires.

Some top tips if you want to shun danger, villany and witnessing unwholesome acts. Remember, combat systems are for crime. Of course, you can start a business, get married and raise a family thats fun too. 

Top 12 Things to Avoid in the Worlds of Elfmaids & Octopi
1 Travel, it's a terrible disappointment, and you are likely to be ambushed and killed

2 Buying or renting a haunted house or cult house, even if cheap

3 Go live in a murder hobo shanty town and claim a dungeon to loot

4 Stake a salvage claim on one of the sealed prehistoric wizard towers in the ruin districts

5 Find isolated frontier villages and investigate cults, and find their hidden lairs

6 Try to cross the straits between Exile Isle and the continent by the undersea tunnels

7 Do not visit Chagrinspire or the wastes around it, its horrible and sad

8 Dont move to Shadelport and look for work, especially avoid the gangs

9 Avoid elves and faerie folk from the other side and refuse their food or offers of sex

10 Dont eat or drink mutagens or be tempted by awesome powers; most end up broken beggars

11 Dont seek out ruins and dungeons full of treasure, monters and traps make it not worth the risk

12 Never visit other dimensions like elelmetal planes, the underworld, the abyss, the world tree, the heavens or the outer void or Xor the living world that wants to eat out world. You imperil yur soul and all reality medling in what no mortal can comprehend

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 6-Room Dungeon Kit 1
Draw 6 boxes

draw line from one box away from one box and away from all of them
this is the passage to the surface and the enterance of the dungeon
pick one room to be the feature room usually the furthest from the entry
the other rooms are major rooms
roll for doors and what is behind the door
-corridors should link rooms
-add sub rooms as needed
now fudge any results to incorporate 6 rooms  
connect the rooms and try to have loops in the layouts
The feature room is likely a dead end also
You may add extra subrooms as you please, especially to the feature room or corridors

-Decor (art, decor and scenery. Might have clues)
-Hazards (dangers like traps or other dangers)
-Wandering monsters

-Static monsters

-entry way (front entry)
-subrooms (one square mostly like cells, quarters or storage and dead ends)
-major room (quarters or utility rooms) with d4 doors
-feature room (dramatic room for climactic boss fight) with a d4 doors

d12 Doors
1 Light door no lock 1in6 sticks or creaky
2 Light door with trap hazard
3 Light door with lock
4 Heavy door 1in6 sticks or creaky
5 Heavy door with bar or bolt on the inside and a window or peephole

6 Heavy door open but will slam shut and lock with trigger

7 Barricaded or boarded up

8 Iron bar gate with lock

9 Portcullis gate
10 Wizard locked (requires a password) or hold portal
11 Secret door with lock or trap

12 Secret door into an escape passage outside or to another room

d12 Behind a Door
1-2 Narrow passage - d3 doors
3-6 Hallway, a wide passage - d4 doors 
7-9 Sub Room - dead end
10-11 Major Room - d4 doors
12 Feature Room - d4 doors

Redbrick 6-Room Dungeons
A common dungeon type due to many kobolds being born with the instinct to make redbrick-lined tunnels and dungeon complexes that other humanoids then covet as lairs. Once they get this big kobolds will have populations explode, and their dungeons grow like wildfire. Locals who know of a kobold dungeon will do their best to have someone take care of it. Other monsters often drive kobolds away for the dungeon so the process starts again. Kobolds just seem to be born with the urge to make bricks, dig and build similar style complexes. Several of these may join up to form bigger dungeons.

d12 Redbrick Decor

1 Loose bricks on the floor

2 Bricks are loose from the wall due to damp

3 Dripping water has worn a drainage path through stone

4 Worn edges, especially around door frames or steps

5 Moss or fungus grows where water is dripping

6 Chalk graffiti usually contains obscenities to enemies

7 Builders marks for future construction

8 Wooden crate a trap came in or even not yet installed yet

9 Kobold idols often of ancestors or a humanoid form of the dungeon spirit

10 Kobold mural showing them punishing enemies with their gods

11 Hole with a barricade and an under-construction sign

12 Scaffolding with some tools or paint

d12 Redbrick Hazards
1 Tripline and poisoned crossbow bolt trap d4 1=light 2=medium 3=heavy 4=repeating

2 Concealed pit trap + d4 1=spikes 2=monster 3=sealing 4=water

3 Flamer trap 2d4 fire from a piston or dropped incendiary, save halves

4 Scythe trap often in doorways, stairs or tight spaces. save or d6 damage

5 Pendulum trap often on passages or doorways d10 save to avoid

6 Portcullis gate blocks the passage

7 Magic mouth yells threats and attracts monsters

8 Deadfall trap d4 1=d6 loose bricks 2=2d4 acid 3=d4 poison caltrops 4=2d6 stones that blocks passage

9 Monsters released from a secret door
10 Idol contains a petty spirit like a poltergeist, and often has interesting stuff to hurl 

11 Mysterious, delicious magic pie from the dungeon divinities (see random dungeon pies)

12 Illusion covering a trap d4 1=chained maiden 2=treasure 3=sasuages 4=cake

d12 Wandering Monsters
1 Kobold civilians visiting

2 Kobold labourer crew with tools good as weapons d4 or d6

3 Kobold skirmishers with tiny d4 bows, d4 sling, d6 javelins

4 Kobold warriors with shield and d6 weapon

5 Yappy guard dogs are checking out the scent or noise

6 Giant vermin d4 1=rats 2=ticks 3=ants 4=beetles

7 Rust monsters escaped from the pen

8 Crab spiders on the ceiling

9 Giant lizard/s d4 1=ghekko 2=skink 3=monitor 4=chameleon

10 Gelatinous cube for cleaning

11 Boss kobold in goat pulled chariot with crew and retinue running close 

12 Owlbear hunts kobolds or anything larger

d12 Static Monsters
1 Giant rats or rat swarm
2 Wooden houses for stirges
3 Kobold spell caster with followers and a pet

4 Kobold boss with chariot and elite followers

5 Of duty kobold labourers and guards relaxing

6 Kobolds training with weapons or working with construction tools

7 Giant spider d4 1=trapdoor 2=tarantula 3=net casting 4=black widow
8 Giant snake may have decorative holes to help it ambush
9 Petty dungeon spirit may appear as a kobold with some worshippers
10 Living statue
12 Mimic or trapper or lurker

d12 Entry Content (roll d4 extra doors)
1 Garbage and bones and a swarm of rats or a hazard 1in6 old outcast kobold begging
2 Painting or sculptural kobold mouth gate, usually locked or portcullis

3 Kobold hunters butchering giant rats and local pets

4 Kobold family having quality family time with a picnic, its not their fault their harmless family customs and grandmas skull collecting seem like diabolical acts. They are having a wonderful time and making memories

5 Monster lair, but it tolerates dungeon inhabitants who raised it or is chained to limit its attacks
6 Murderholes crewed from above d4 1=boiling oil 2=boiling water 3=boiling lead 4=archers
7 Gatehouse with guards in secure positions with baricades, arrow slits, a locked gate or other preparations to defend the room from outside
8  Water fountain with quality water for visitors' refreshment 1in6 are wird magic pools or a water weird that tolerates dungeon inhabitants
10 living statues or a gargoyle, activate if the password not given
11 Occult symbol on floor, activates spell or summoning if password not given
12 Adventurers' heads on spears with bloody graffiti scrawl threats to intruders

d12 Subrooms
1 Empty, just a few bones and cobwebs 1in6 chance od a secret door to a passage or outside

2 Latrine pit 1in6 home to a monster that regulars appease with scraps or bones

3 Garbage pit 1in6 with biodynamic monster to consume waste d4 1=swarm of rats 2=swarm of flies 3=ooze 4=dungeon pigs

4 Prison cell d4 1=bones 2=surley unpopular kobold 3=human 4=monster 

5 Storage for boxes of junk and 1in6 chance of d4 1=monster 2=small treasure 3=chest of weapons and armour 4=crappy looking old bottle with a potion

6 Mushroom Larder - grows giant mushrooms on shelves, some sickles and a tiny watering can

7 Larder - with preserved kobold snacks d4 1=turnips 2=smoked rat sausages 3=jars of pickled giant centipede eggs 4=1in6 has a noisy guardian pet, screaming mushroom or alarm

8 Vats for making kobold beer and dungeon wine

9 Laundry with drying racks, brushes, tubs, a well and a drain

10 Well with buckets and rope plus d4 1=tentacle 2=fishing rod 3=kobold child's toy 4=croaking frog at the bottom

11 Shrine with a creepy idol of a dungeon spirit in kobold form. Creepy idol has some offerings of d4 1=insence burner 2=bottle of beer 3=pipe and pipeweed 4=pile of turnips. May have a poltergeist or petty sprit residing in the idol

12 Old, crumbling books and documents, 1in6 chance of a basic spellbook, map or magic scroll

d12 Major Rooms
1 Barracks - with tiny triple bunks
2 Training room - with targets, dummies and a fighting pit
3 Kitchen and mess hall - often a pot over a fireplace and benches of tools, tables and chairs

4 Farm room with tubs of fungus, pens for dungeon pigs, racks for egg laying iguanas and dairy and meat bat cages

5 Smithy - crafters making weapons, armour and tools. May have some slaves. There are d6 chests and a d4 extra sub room doors for the armoury stores run by a quartermaster

6 Torture chamber - where kobolds with whips torment prisoners with 2d4 doors to cell cubrooms. Sometimes, if there are no prisoners might be just recreational kobolds on kobold torture

7 Mousoleum with niches fur burial 1in6 may awaken undead if graves are robbed, kobolds make them offerings and prayers to return to rest. There will be some small treasures in the sealed crypts. Some may have stone crypt lids in the floor

8 Tavern where monsters relax, eat, drink, fight and complain. Lots of vice and monsters may be more relaxed or drunk and beligerant or fearless

9 Sweatshop often with prisoners or kobold underclass making handicrafts d6 1=weapons 2=fancy shoes 3=cheap tools 4=fake potions 5=fake saint relics 6=fake antiques 

10 Combat arena where kobolds watch gladiators, monsters and prisoners who fight to the death

11 Family room where kobold elderly look after children while others prepare food and perform crafts like weaving or toymaking

12 Monster breeding room with pens with monsters in breeding pairs and young in smaller cages. Giant rats in cages are also fed to other monsters. Several kobold keepers here will release pets if intruders enter. These kobolds supply other dungeons in the area with pets and creatures. Sometimes, a druid kobold will be here helping with breeding or an alchemist feeding mutagens to monsters

d12 Feature Rooms
1 Lower level entrance - stairs with a locked grill over it, surrounded by relief art of kobolds facing something in the lower levels. A section of kobolds guards the room and a boss has the keys to the gate below

2 Kobold hatchery with hundreds of eggs and tended by mothers with tribal pets. Gifts and offerings for these prolific mothers brought by suitors are in chests. Baby kobolds sleep in various makeshift cots like draws, weheelbarrows, baskets and sawn open kegs. The lead mother is a spell caster blessed by kobold mother gods. A small army will grow from here

3 Hall with benches for seated kobolds drinking, banging their mugs and singing to a kobold bard show. Kobolds leaders of several tribes are here to plan future expansion in the area. There are many bags of copper coins and kegs of kobold beer

4 Dragon cult shrine with idols of dragons and dragon folk, a cult of reptilian kobolds with a priest in dragon robes. They might have a baby dragon, some eggs or some draconic pet. They also have draconic jewellery and ancient coins depicting dragons and mother tiamat

5 Diabolical cult shrine dedicated to hell. Depictions of devils and imps in hell adorn the walls and are featured in statues. A diabolical priest (likely a kobold) leads a coven of 12 kobold cultists. They have chests of red-gold coins with tridents on one side and lords of hell on the other. They might have a hellish pet or a summoned devil servant

6 Water cult shrine with various ceremonial pools. A kobold priest with followers bathe in the pools, relaxing. When danger threatens, they leap out and some have fishy or frog features and weild tiny tridents. The flood is covered in several feet of water and some marine pets will wallow in the water. There will be piles of silver goods and a water-based magic item

7 Fire cult shrine with burning braziers and a volcanic vent. A cult of fire kobolds led by a magic caster is here calling on flaming beings from beyond. Often have a pet fire beast, piles of gold, metal goods and a fire-based magic item

8 Earth cult shrine with pillars and a crude prehistoric stone altar. There are severed heads in niches in the pillars and stone bowls of blood and several sickles. A cult led by a spell user are involved in rituals. Often have a pet beast and piles of bronze metal goods, silver and gold arm rings and torcs and a earth based magic item

9 Air cult shrine with a high ceiling and flying pets or winged kobolds. Many kobolds here with missile weapons with stairs and ladders to wall ledges. Thier is a pit sacrifices atre hurled down. Their may be elemental guardians and an air related magic item and other loot

10 Laboratory - with a wizard (possibly a kobold) with some bodyguards and pets, possibly a construct or monster creation. Work benches, vials, furnace and documents. Racks of ingredients, possibly expensive, explosive and flammable are displayed. Fire here could be dangerous and could make gas if burned or mixed. Several potions and formulas may be found

11 Temple - often with a public ceremony in place or with priests at work. There will be several statues and often several static monsters as guards and sealed crypt sub-rooms. Gold ritual objects and idols of kobold gods can be found.

12 Throne room with a large chair for the ruler 1in4 with their mate beside them. Elite guards and a pet will be in the raised area, and supplicant kobolds or visiting faction ambassadors. Often engaged in business or legal matters. A kobold herald may accept you waiting for your turn. There are valuable treasures stolen or crafted on display 

Barking Alien Challenge day14: More Eat? + 6 room dungeon project

It turns out I've written all I want about food in my setting
So i say see my last 2 posts for how to eat like a local.

Here is a few more common food packs

Charity Meal from Paupers House
Doesn not keep long, served with thin watery soup
Quality varies 1in4 chance of maggots, weevils or flies or other vermin
Turnip, chink of old bread, cup of cooked beans,

Grilled rat on a stick 2 for 1cp
Sewer fish grilled on a stick 1cp
Bag of bug larvae 1cp
Dozen cooked mice 1cp

Farmers Lunch Bag 1cp
Keeps a d4 days at most, often served with a bottle of beer
Pickled onion, radish, , cheese, bread, seeds, slice of ham or sausage

Loaf of horse bread 1cp

also
Pie or a Pasty or Dumpling 1cp lots of different types
Cup of eel stew 1cp BYO cup or bowl
Pancakes with blob of cream and jam or honey or beet syrup 1cp
Sausage and bread 1cp
Birds on skewars 1cp tiny common birds

Merchants Lunch Bag 1sp
Keeps a day, might have a bottle of beer or cup of wine or hot acorn drink
Apple or fruit, fish or pigeon or other meat, dried fruit, nuts, cake

also
Joint of meat or game bird or rabbit and glass of wine or bottle of beer 1sp

Lunch for a Lord 1gp
Keeps a day, some items longer, with a bottle of wine
Joint of meat, chicken, hare, ham, eggs, cheese, grapes, fancy cupcake, minced pie, sweetmeats, potted doormouse, sugarplum, gourmet green salad

also
Piglet, goat kid or lamb on a spit, with a small keg or 4 bottles of wine, with fine bread and a rich vegetable soup, gravy and butter 1gp
Royal Platter featuring exotic meats is illegal for commoners. Swan, unicorn, bear, lion, dragon or other high-status frare food 10-100gp

Lunch for a Orc 1cp
Keeps for a week, with cup of fermented kvas
Nuts, olives, dates, locusts, turnip, beetroot, dried rat meat on a stick 

also
Mystery meat on a stick 1cp
Goat or hog head soup 3cp
Acorn cakes 1cp
Dried canetoad 1cp
Rat kebab on flat mushroom bread with acorn paste and picled turnip 2cp

Lunch for an Underland Goblin or Gnome 1cp
Lasts d4+2 days includes cup or mushroom gruel or mushroom beer 
Pickled beetroot chips, cup of grubs, 3 crunch beetles, dried lizard, flat mushroom bread
Many mushrooms used make users melancholic and compliant with long-term use 

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6 Room Dungeons

I need a setting for a possible new D&D5 game so im using a mashup of ravenloft and Grim Hollow. I need campagn to be flexible for drop ins in a club setting and unsure how long ppl will play so I need a open campagn format. I will try to use slower healing and rest rules, slow level ups amd I might cap at 4th level and just give some stats and feats and skills out after that.

So Ive disliked the 6 room dungeon but I can also see DCC has done some interesting stuff with this format. 

So im making up a page of simplified 6 room maps with loops.

Then im making tables to generate this:
-entry way (front entry)
-subrooms (one square mostly like cells, quaters or storage)
-major room (quarters or utility rooms)
-central room (dramatic room for climactic boss fight)
-decor (art, decor and scenery. Might have clues)
-hazards (dangers like traps or other dangers)
-wandering and static monsters

I'm working on sets as above for different dungeon genres
I might do dumb versions of my dozen dungeon zones

Funhouse with puzzles and weird monsters and traps
Dungeon with faction goons to fight

Cult shrine with ritual occult paraphernalia and edgelord art
Tomb with old garbage and religious symbols
Underground cavern with monster lairs

Ive used deck of many dungeons but I think thsi will be more flexible

Ill try doing a dungeon genre a day while on this challenge.
I seem to be writing daily again and dropped out of school as i dont even want to see the word trauma on a piece of paper and i just cant study it to do what i did already 20 years sigh. 

Barking Alien Challenge day13: Eats? + Quick Auldwood Estates

Food in my setting? See the links last past, including taverns and food under entertainment and my gourmet tourist campaigns.

These are my standard food items for contrast
You can substitute wine for mead

Common food for a day 1cp requires cooking 
Common street food meal 1cp 
Mug of weak beer at a sly grog shop 1cp good beer 2cp fine ale 3cp stout or strong ale 4cp  

Pub meal 4cp includes a mug of beer
Merchant home meal 1sp includes glass of wine or bottle of beer
Merchant meal out 4sp includes bottle of good wine or all beer you can drink
Noble meal 1gp includes shots and all wine you can drink
Bottle of beer 1cp (doz empty bottles worth 1cp) 1 ENC
Bottle of wine 1sp (empty glass bottles worth 1cp) 1 ENC varies in quality
Bottle of alchemists spirit 1gp (empty bottle worth 1sp) 1 ENC
Wine or water skin 1sp holds 2 ENC
Steel canteen 10gp

Week dry rations 1sp 4 ENC dried food
Week iron rations 1gp 2 ENC long life

Wooden cup or plate 1cp
Folk pottery cup or plate 1sp
Pewter mug 1gp
Fine painted ceramic cup or plate 1gp

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Auldwood Estates

Auldwood is a vast forest still expanding, covering the north of the continent. It overlaps the frontiers of all the northern nations. People live on the borders but fear the faerie and weird forest beings. Many report hauntings, strange curses, trails that appear and disappear, faerie rings and other faerie hazards. Exile Island woodland types could all be within Auldwood. During the civil war, many frontier areas lost control due to depopulation and isolation. As people return, they are finding many strange things, like cults, cursed estates, forgotten villages, and the older religions thriving.

This is to make a quick estate

d12 Manor Type
1-3  Fortified house
4-5 Small manor

6-7 Large manor
8 Tower
9 Small Castle 
10 Large Castle
11 Fortress
12 Palace

d12 Manor Quality
1 Haunted - supernatural taint or dangerous spirits

2 Ruined remains

3 Shambling heap - decrpid and possibly dangerous

4 Semi collapsed - often a wing or section still intact

5 Abandoned - with remains of furnishings, possibly wildlife

6 Corrupted - run down and tainted by evil

7 Struggling - worn but trying to maintain

8 Stable - good condition and well-maintained

9 Secure - very good condition and orderly control

10 Decedant - old-fashioned and decayed. Strange, indulgent noble dynasty

11 Perfect condition, new or well-maintained

12 Faerie tainted d4 1=unnatural beauty 2=otherworldy 3=elves 4=cursed

d12 Manour Features
1 Tower

2 Library

3 Greenhouse

4 Grand staircase

5 Wine celler

6 Stables
7 Wall and gatehouse
8 Dungeon
9 Secret passages and spyholes

10 Brooding gargoyles
11 Chapel

12 Curse or Haunting

d12 Manour Garden Features
1 Greenhouse
2 Tomb
3 Shrine
4 Monument
5 Hedge maze
6 Ornamental pool
7 Fountain
8 Grotto
9 Medicinal garden for herbalists

10 Gazebo or bandstand
11 Topiary garden

12 Folly d6 1=goat castle 2=pyramid 3=tower 4=hermit cave 5= 6=

d12 Borders
1 Folk idols and symbols d4 1=decorated poles 2=wicker figures 3=carved sigils 4=decorated trees

2 Hedge wall 4 foot high (1.2m)

3 Hedge wall 10 foot high (3m)

4 Hedge 20 foot high (6m)

5 Wooden fence 4 foot high (1.2m)

6 Wooden fence 6 foot high (2m)

7 Wooden palisade wall 10 foot high (3m)

8 Wooden signs on paths

9 Ancient border stones

10 Stone wall 4 foot high (1.2m)

11 Stone wall 10 foot high (3m)

12 Stone wall 20 foot high (6m)

d12 Settlement
1 Abandoned or ruined village

2 Servants cottages

3-5 Small village under 25 pop

6-7 Medeum village under 100 pop

8-9 Large village under 500 pop

10 Small towns under 1000 pop

11 Several settlements roll d3+1 times with a d10 or lower dice 

12 Non-humans roll d8 for size

d12 Resources (roll d4 times)
1 Water, has a river, streams, wells, a lake or ponds

2 Wetlands and areas of swamp or marshland

3 Wasteland area with little vegetation and possible ruins

4 Forest area with wood and game, poachers and thieves will suffer

5 Quarry for stone and building materials
6 Mines for d4 1=coal 2=prescious metal 3=gems 4=useful metal

6 Clay pits encourages pottery industry

7 Orchards with fruit and nuts

8 Herds of d4 1=goats 2=sheep 3=cattle 4=pigs

9 Grain grows well here, in fertile and easy-to-work soil

10 Trade route used by merchants, possibly a hub of certain goods

11 Vegetable gardens, with earthworks and drainage ditches 

12 Holy shrine attracts pilgrims (or used to)

d20 Settlement Features
Small have d3
Medeum 2d4
Town has all of these or multiple
Usually on a road or around a square
1 Church or shrine

2 Town hall or mayor's house

3 Marketplace

4 Local store
5 Inn or boarding house

6 Hall for guild, town or music

7 Smithy or other craft

8 Well or 

9 Monument

10 Barn or stables

11 Barracks or sheriff's house

12 Mill
13 Graveyard or tomb
14 Tower for defence or wizard
15 Tavern or sly grog shop
16 Healer d4 1=apothecary 2=herbalist 3=surgeon 4=barber
17 Monastery
18 Schoolhouse or college
19 Wall
20 Bathhouse

d12 Settlement Special Features

1 Haunted house

2 Local monster with an odd name

3 Strange customs

4 Secret cults (d4) have locals afraid

5 Strange religions or heretics in open

6 Ancient stone circle or dolmen 

7 Caves and catacombs

8 Shunned ruins

9 Bandit, robberknight or highway robber

10 Secret society d4 1=rebels 2=assassins 3=vice 4=criminals
11 Secret dungeon

12 Faerie cult and stone or wooden monument

d12 What's on the Village Green?
1 Empty today, just some birds
2 Farm animals grazing, usually sheep, goats or geese
3 Wild animals grazing like deer, boar, elk or birds
4 Bonfire celebration or ritual tonight, often wicker animals or figures
5 Pilgrims camp and recruiting
6 Seasonal livestock market
7 Village fair
8 Ball game or sports, possibly local children or youths
9 Festive music event for the local choir or band
10 Festival or feast day celebrating some event, often maypole dancing
11 Flagelants put on a show to show faith, often try to recruit local youths
12 Parade with characters in animal and monster costumes, huge puppets, and parade floats. May expect some coins or will trick unwilling or beat them. If druidry is tolerated, they will be leading the ceremony. Visitors might think its some awful, creepy cult. If locals are offended, the parade will hunt the strangers and at least give them a beating

d12 Market Activity
1 Sale item from surplus

2 Item scarce and fierce bidding

3 Bard or entertainer putting on a show 1in4 chance a pickpocket works crowd

4 Theif chased by angry mob

5 Mysterious fortune teller

6 Stranger selling magic item

7 Local selling map, book or other clue for a dungeon

8 Execution or public punishment of a criminal

9 Contest like a fight or duel

10 Public vice d4 1=drunks 2=gambling 3=drugs 4=lewdness

11 Argument breaks out and crowd gathers while officials ponder what to do and hear accounts

12 Dangerous animal or monster in a cage

d12 Local Noble Clan
1 Fueding, power-grabbing schemers

2 Cruel and sadistic (like torture)

3 Decadent weirdo snobs

4 Dandies and fops, self-indulgent idiots

5 Brutal and controlling

6 Involved in a cult or magic experiments

7 No children, the dynasty is doomed without an heir

8 Eccentric, each has a strange hobby and neglects other activities

9 Distant and neglectful, they have a terrible secret

10 Desperate for fresh visitors for fun and games

11 Letcherous perverts and hedonists for generations

12 Cursed by d4 1=fairies 2=witches 3=druids 4=church

Curses & Customs for Nobles
Many manors in wild regions, isolated for years, have become haunted or cursed. Many curses relate to customs or manners. They affect generations and are equivelent to a 7th level spell *greater curse). Each curse has conditions and effects and a solution to end the curse withou a high-level spell.

d12 Clan Hauntings
1 Headless ghost

2 Weeping lady

3 Sad child

4 Teen poltergeists

5 Murder victim

6 Witch ghost

7 Moaning phantom

8 Spectral walkers

9 Murderer seeks a body

10 Spirit of evil magician

11 Image of past horror

12 Vengful corporeal undead

d12 Clan Curses
1 Lycanthropy
2 Line of evil wizards
3 Strange dreams

4 Mysterious deaths

5 Obligated to follow a strange custom or ceremonial parade or a ritual

6 Family member is a changeling who has lived in the family for generations

7 Strange bloodline d4 1=lizards 2=ogres 3=goblins 4=changelings 

8 Mutations, some family must be hidden

9 Lord has cravings for d4 1=blood 2=beauty 3=murder 4=occult rituals

10 Vampire ancestors stalked for generations

11 Undead ancestor influences descendants from a crypt

12 Family part faerie bloodline and farm humans like cattle

d12 Cursed Customs for Visitors

1 Must fight a duel with any guest; if they refuse, then battle to the death

2 Guests who break the rules of hospitality must die

3 Hideous feature, anyone who asks about it will be challenged to a duel

4 Eligible guests must marry at least one family member or die

5 Likes to duel guests. Makes a bet with a terrible outcome for the loser or the winner

6 Cannibals must feed human flesh to guests

7 Residents denied quality human needs like food or sleep until a monster is driven from a shrine

8 Must give tributes and hand visitors to an evil cult, but are very sorry

9 Plague carriers but may nor speak of it

10 Must accept guests, then a supernatural guest comes and cannot be denied by host

11 Seducers in the family like guests, but next day the lord must duel to the death any who soiled their kin

12 Guests are put in the haunted room

d12 How to break a curse
1 Fight a monster guarding a shrine or moors
2 Kill the current lord in a ritual
3 Build a monument or shrine resisting obstacles

4 Return a lost relic to its proper place in a shrine

5 Give a baby to a faerie noble and beg its forgiveness for a past crime
6 Defeat spirit or petty divinity
7 Recover lost item or person in faerieland
8 Dig up and/or bury remains of a past noble
9 Give a great treasure to an elf noble
10 Placate an angry witch by fetching her heart's desire

11 Destroy a holy place offensive to faerie
12 Release a monster sealed in an underground vault

d12 Clan Secret Shame
1 Member imprisoned due to insanity or monstrosity
2 Ancestor coupled with a supernatural being
3 Ancestor performed abominable crimes and was killed by an angry mob
4 Ancestor burned at the stake for heresy or witchcraft
5 Ancestors killed each other by mistake or because of deceit

6 Ancestors killed each other competing for ruling the clan

7 Older heraldic design was brought into infamy over d4 1=cowardice 2=cult 3=crime 4=treason

8 Ancestors massacred a humanoid species, and the last cried out a curse

9 Ancestor broke an oath for love, resulting in a bloodfeud between clans

10 Ancestor was a murderous robber knight who was forgiven and granted land

11 Ancestors instigated a pointless war with another nation, clan or species

12 Famous for being full of bastards and ne'er-do-wells rather than legitimate heirs surviving

Barking Alien Challenge day12: Entertainment? + D100 Magic Bugs

Yes I have years of stuff for downtime (Bug stuff after - its one of my faves already)

I dont use xp or obligate ppl to be drunks. You can study instead or read or see a show or eat out. Id probably not use some of the consent-causing results anymore or warn players to try alternative activities. Players dont have to be awful murder hobos addicted to crime and vice. Its ok to go clog dancing in a barn instead of forgetting your dubious consent sex life.

See a show, dinner & drinks
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2013/10/tonights-theatres-of-exile-island-guide.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2020/10/local-festivals-or-why-you-need-frog.html
http://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2019/03/d100-food-items-and-events-at-evil-feast.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2015/08/d100-village-idiots.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2023/08/d100-puppet-shows.html
http://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2018/02/d100-carny-freaks.html

https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2022/01/d100-tavern-entertainments.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2014/06/d100-pubs-in-shadel-port.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2020/11/d100-tavernkeepers-adventure-tips.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2014/07/1d100-things-to-happen-in-pub.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2020/02/magic-jerks-you-meet-in-taverns.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2024/01/d100-tavern-tables-in-shadelport.html

https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2014/07/foodies-guide-to-exile-island-1.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2014/07/foodies-guide-to-exile-island-2-pub-grub.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2014/07/foodies-guide-to-exile-island-3-wtf-is.html

Bard Stuff
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2023/10/bardic-school-missions.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2018/03/d100-bardic-poetry-gigs.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2016/08/d100-poems-and-why-your-bards-are-lame.html

Shopping
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2013/12/d100-books-of-shadel-port.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2013/11/d100-saucy-pamphlets-of-shadel-port.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2013/11/d100-saucy-posters-and-flyers-of-shadel.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2014/03/d100-shonky-deals-in-shadelport-pt1.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2014/03/d100-big-shonky-deals-in-shadelport-pt-2.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2013/12/street-seller-stalls-of-shadel-port.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2016/08/d100-strange-little-shops-i-had-never.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2015/03/d100-dungeon-vice.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2023/02/d10-shopping-in-sewertown.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2024/12/market-places-again-test.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2018/08/d100-petty-magic-dealers.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2020/12/d100-stuff-for-sale-from-hooded-guy-in.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2021/07/strange-shopping-of-shadelport.html
http://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2015/12/d100-unwanted-things-from-back-of-magic.html
http://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2015/12/ye-old-magic-shoppe.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2018/03/d100-crafters-and-merchants-of.html

Tourism
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2025/09/d100-more-petty-rural-tourist.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2025/08/try-tourist-campagn-pointcrawl.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2025/08/aquaduct-ruins.html

Vice
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2021/02/awesome-fantasy-drug-abuse-in.html
http://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2020/01/a-lotus-for-all-seasons.html
http://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2016/06/black-lotus-dreams.html

Carousing
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2025/07/a-funny-thing-happened-on-our-shrine.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2013/01/they-fight-they-loot-they-party-in-city.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2014/09/carousing-pt1-and-some-other-stuff.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2014/09/carousing-pt2-how-rich-party.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2014/09/carousing-pt3-sholarly-persuits.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2014/09/carousing-pt4-holy-endevours.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2014/09/carousing-pt5-rambling-in-wild.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2013/07/d100-shore-leave.html (pt6)
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2014/09/carousing-pt7-dungeon-dwelling.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2014/09/carousing-pt8-underland-exploration.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2020/07/carousing-in-tundra.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2016/10/d100-village-carousing.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2016/08/d100-to-court-of-overlord.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2022/07/carousing-in-bronze-age-city-state.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2016/07/d100-prison-carousing.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2022/05/d100-that-funny-time-at-bathhouse.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2021/09/apocalyptic-carousing-rum-sodomy-and.html

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

Magic Bugs
Petty magic resource to gross out humans 

Reptilians, goblins, orcs, frog and fish folk all enjoy bugs and critters and often carry them in their bags. Humans and demihumans find these all repulsive, but they do work. Possibly make a save to swallow without vomiting. A cooking skill could improve this. Swallowing with strong grog or honey can help +2. Some tribal folk use as supositories to avoid this save but takes a turn to effect. Specialist bug farmers and specialists can be found among bug eating races. Some breed their own special bugs.

Those wise in Bug Lore know secondary properties of bugs and how to preserve them. Many are also good for flavouring, dye, pest repellent or glue.

All the bugs here are uncommon and you'd need a roll to find one a day. A region tends to have only a few types of bug depending on terrain, vegetation, water and other factors.

d12 Delicious Bug Flavours for Bug Eaters 
1 Sweet goo like fondant

2 Spicy and flavourful heat

3 Caramel syrupy goop

4 Custard like creame

5 Spicy and sweet like mince pie

6 Crispy and salty like pork rind

7 Smokey like cured meat or bacon

8 Liquorish or aniseed

9 Squirmy fun sensation in mouth

10 Popping bubbles of sweetness

11 Liquified grilled steak

12 Cool minty fresh

d12 Horrible Bug Flavours for Non-Bug Eaters 
1 Liquified farts

2 Vomit

3 Latrine juice

4 Rotting meat juice

5 Compost

6 Squirning with maggots

7 Rancid grease

8 Sweaty socks

9 Fermented milk chunks

10 Rotten fish

11 Old eggs

12 Infected wound juices

d12 Other side Effects from failed saves for non bug eaters
1 After a ten minute turn have diareah for d4 hours

2 Causes flatulence for d4 hours

3 Mouth go numb for d4 hours
4 Mouth burns for d4 hours

5 Parasitic worms -1 max hp until cured, contagious

6 Teeth hurt for d4 hours

7 Vomit a d4 rounds loes 1hp

8 Develop sores and rash d4 days all over

9 Bones ache d4 days -1 all rolls

10 Blind for a d4 rounds

11 Strange dreams haunted by bugs lose a night's rest

12 Visions of bug gods who call your name a d4 days, they will turn up to criticise you, and bugs are attracted to you 

d10 Quick Types
1 Worms & centipedes

2 Caterpillars, moths and butterflies

3 Crickets & locusts

4 Beetles

5 Ants, bees, wasps

6 Roaches & Termites

7 Dragonflies and damselflies

8 Flies & mosquitoes

9 Spider, scorpions, ticks & mites

10 Other Critters

d100 Magic Bugs
01 Red worms - protect you from paralysis for a d6 rounds

02 Violet worms - +1 HP for an hour

03 Marsh worms - large white worms tasty for humans, worth a day of food, burrow in the wood of marsh trees and roots and are a good staple food for the poor

04 Ruby centipede - +2 save vs petrification and poison

05 Emerald centipede - d3 temporary HP for one hour

06 Golden millipede - +1 initiative and sensory rolls

07 Puece worms - protect you from ingested poison for a d3 months

08 Grain worms - scaled beetle larvae improve your AC by +1 for ten minutes

09 Brandy worms - pungent worms with old grape smell, +1 reaction rolls for one hour

10 Liquorish worms - black shiny worms found in wood, remove a d4 poison damage
11 Horned caterpillar - moth caterpillar, eater grows horns for one hour d4 unarmed attack 

12 Hawk Moth - hard to catch, eater gets +2 initiative for ten minutes

13 Jewel Moth - pretty colourful moth and caterpillar, +1 on a random attribute for one hour, more than one dose at a time causes vomiting

14 Emperor Butterfly - huge orange caterpillar becomes a pretty butterfly, causes eyes to glow and gain +d4 temp hp 

15 Horned Moth - infected by a fungus, eating it lets you communicate with the fungus for ten minutes, then you throw up and need to sleep for a d4 hours

16 Moon Moth - huge grubs in the ground or as moths, egg-like and a good meal that even humans can enjoy. Improves your night vision and you can see more stars

17 Brandy Moth - like a quarter bottle or brandy, so eating many gets you drunk

18 Spirit Butterfly - said to hold lost souls, recover one Lv1 arcane spell slot you have used

19 Solar Butterfly - eating makes you glow with a candle strength light

20 Silk Grub - keep in your pouch and feed daily leaves, and will spin fine up to 100 yards of thread a day. They stay grubs for seven years, then change to moths and fly to the moon

21 Emerald Catydid - turns the eater's skin green for a d4 days

22 Mole Cricket - burrowing speed +1 and holding your breath

23 Black Cricket - jump range increases by a d3 per leap

24 Fire Locust - make a bonus extra jump action each round

25 Green Locust - able to eat cellulose like plants, leaves, bark or wood for a day

26 Golden Locust - improves your climbing checks by +3 for an hour

27 Blue Cricket - resist lightning damage for a ten-minute turn -2 damage per dice and +2 saves

28 Ice Cricket - skin becomes room temperature for d4 hours, making thermal vision creatures confused

29 Devil Hopper - lots of spikes all over, makes you taste horrendously spicy for a d4 hours, any bite attacks from living beings must save or refuse to bite again. Will choose another target or flee if no other attacks

30 Carnivorous Locust - increases strength by +1 for an hour and makes you crave food
31 Stink Bug - makes you smell disgusting to foes tracking by scent for a d3 days, makes you less appealing to humans as well

32 Crusader Beetle - +1 AC for a d3 hours from rigid skin

33 Stag Beetle - +1 to hit and damage for a d4 hours and aroused

34 Scarlet Dung Beetle - immune to stench-based attacks for d3 hours

35 Assassin Bug - +2 damage on melee attacks for a ten-minute turn

36 Borer Beetle - +d3 STR for a ten-minute turn, after save or take a d4 damage from strain

37 Ladybug - +d3 Mov for a ten-minute turn, double speed if running away

38 Bombardier Beetle - makes flamible flatulence for a d6 rounds, each round fill a 10ft cube that without wind lasts a d4 rounds. If ignited by open flame causues 2d4 to everything in the area, half with a save

39 Darkling Beetle - gain +1 Mov and +1 AC for 2d4+4 rounds

40 Carob Beetle - gives +1 bite damage for a d4 hours

41 Yellow Ant - 2d4+4 rounds gain +1 hit and damage, and makes you angry

42 Red Ant - gain +1 STR for an hour but find sweet food distracting

43 Black Ant - gain +1 CON for a day

44 Murder Hornet - take a d3 damage makes you berserk for 2d4 rounds

45 Death Hornet - take 1 damage and gain +1AC for an hour

46 Blue Wasp - smell blood within 100ft for an hour 

47 Hell Wasp - makes you angry +1 hit and damage for d6 rounds

48 Velvet Bee - can fly for a d6 rounds at half your normal speed

49 Royal Bee - heal d3 HP, +1 CHA for an hour 

50 Golden Bee - solidary non swarming dopey burrowing bees, avoid the sting with a save to heal d4 hp and gain +1 on your CHA for a d4 hours
51 White Termite - once eaten, you can eat wood shavings and tough cellulose like straw. If you dont eat material in 24 hours, the fungal colony in your gut dies off

52 Giant Termite - can vomit glue once over the next hour, used as an attack action in melee,  attacks as an unarmed attack. Target requires save, if fail half move and -2 all rolls, on success -d3 move rate. Affects last an hour  

53 Wood Roach - +3 climb speed for 2d4+4 rounds

54 Swamp Roach - immune to diseased food for a d4 hours 

55 Jewel Roach - +1 CHA for a d4 hours

56 Carniverous Roach - double how much you can eat for a d4 hours and raw meat seems very tasty

57 Chockroach - tasty and sweet even for humans +1 temp hp for one hour, kids love them

58 Velvet cockroach - gain +1 to hit with missile weapons for a d4 hours, moving objects seem slower and leave trails

59 Bloodroach - extra juicy with red staining liquid, used for making dye or fake blood

60 Goldroach - gain thermal vision for a d3 hours
61 Fairy Damselfly - gain + d4 Mov for an hour

62 Scarlet Damselfly - gain +d3 DEX for 2d4+4 rounds

63 Green Damselfly - +2 initiative for one hour

64 Lapis Damselfly - can smell gold in 10 foot for one hour

65 Emerald Dragonfly - gain +1 Initiative and DEX for one hour

66 Crimson Dragonfly - +d3 melee damage for 2d4+4 rounds

67 Bluebolt Dragonfly - grants -2 per dice electrical damage dice and +2 saves for hour

68 Sickle Dragonfly - +3 initiative for 2d4+4 rounds 

69 Greater Dragonfly - +2 save vs breath weapons for 2d4+4 rounds

70 Demon Dragonfly - immune to fear for 2d4+4 rounds
71 Green Lacewing - +2 on dance rolls for an hour

72 Angelic Lacewing - protection from evil for 2d4+4 rounds

73 Lavender Lacewing - purges parasites if made into a tea

74 Gold Marchfly - gain weird compound eye like vision, hypersensative to movement and cant be surprised for one hour, the buzzing in your brain keeps you awake

75 Red Mayfly - gain +2 disease saves for a day but crave deliscious smelling garbage

76 Bluebottle fly - +3 Move but you must always move full speed each round for 2d4+4 rounds

77 Hellfire Fly - spicy, grants -2 per dice fire damage dice and +2 saves for hour

78 Radient Horsefly - glow as a torch for a d4 hours

79 Horned Fly - gain +2 on all skill rolls based on speech and persuation from softly buzzing voice for one hour

80 Creep Fly - enhances sense of smell +2 to scent or track
81 Red Scorpion - +2 poison saves for one day

82 Golden Scorpion - gain +1 CON for a d4 hours

83 Blue Scorpion - glow with soft blue light like a candle for one hour

84 Black Scorpion - gain +2 sneak and hide for 2d4+4 rounds

85 Giant Blood Mite - protects you from bleeding damage for an hour

86 Glory Mite - while attatched gain +1 CHA and instils a desire to be in charge and dress fancy. They love rich people

87 Jumping Spider - gain +2 jump for one hour

88 Trapdoor Spider - grants +2 hide skills and +1 initiative for one hour

89 Moon Spider - triggers lycanthropy changes, grants lowlight vision to others for d4 hours

90 Tarantula - grants +2 dance and resist poson for one hour
91 Giant Isopod - gives you +2AC for ten minutes, you can get +4 rolling into a ball but in this form you can only move by rolling

92 Green Mantis - gives +1 AC +1 Initiative for 2d4+4 rounds

93 Antlion - gain +2 save vs fear and intimidate for 2d4+4 rounds, roar loudly in any fight

94 Grey Weevil - gain +1 AC and STR for one hour

95 Golden Earwig - +1 CHA and +2 Intimidate rolls

96 Giant Water Bug - breathe water 2d4+4 rounds

97 Spiny Stick Insect - ants think you are harmless one hour 

98 Dragon Slug - makes you resist poison for 2d4+4 rounds

99 Purple Snail - makes good dye and if eaten +1CON for one hour

100 Giant Honey Aphid - makes flesh delicious for a day

Barking Alien Challenge day11: Where to find adventure! + Early prep of new campagn

Well, being a grimey horrible world adventure is easy to find.

I have lots of quest tables, but here are some quickstart adventure hook tables

d100 magic bugs to eat on the way

d12 Urban Quick Hooks

1 Gang members demand your money and will come back regularly

2 Witness a child snatcher

3 Rabid stray dogs or giant rats

4 Drunken sailors or labourers are easily offended and like brawling

5 Old, begging adventurer with missing limbs, offers a treasure map for cash

6 A thief snatches an item, and the owner offers a reward

7 Someone looking for a family member or pet, offers a petty reward (it's the best they can do)

8 Recruiters looking for hardy youths to d4 1=ship crew 2=guard shop 3=search sewer for item or person 4=clean and repair a tomb

9 See some robed cultists kidnap a victim
10 See gang bully some local shopkeepers

11 Offered a chance in an underground fighting pit

12 Town crier announces jobs and bounties from market notice boards

d12 Market Notice Board

1 Landlord wants some thugs to evict unwanted occupants of a house d4 1=giant vermin 2=gang 3=beggars guild members 4=minor undead

2 Business needs giant vermin removed from the basement, warehouse or ship

3 Bounty for a local bandit leader and gang

4 Bounty for a species of humanoid monster

5 Angry mob or posse being formed to hunt d4 1=robber 2=murderer 3=witch 4=monster

6 Party of adventurers forming to plunder a dungeon

7 Magician requires a rare ingredient from another town

8 Merchant caravan requires guards (to replace lost ones)

9 Gourmet dandies require adventurers to guard them on their travels and to hunt monsters to eat
10 Explore the recently discovered catacombs found in a construction project

11 Test some experimental magic potions and earn one to keep

12 Town council, bank, guild or merchant needs someone to "take care of" a problem d4 1=find a spy 2=identify a cult 3=drive away humanoid monsters  4=hunt a creature menacing the town

d12 Village Quick Hooks

1 Villager sure they saw a strange creature while working fields

2 Herder complains of wolves or some menace to herd

3 Local mentions a dangerous aquatic thing has ruined a fishing hole

4 Hunters complain of a cunning beast, and they need some help

5 Retired adventurer offers a dungeon map for a few beers

6 Child or pet has fallen ina well or sinkhole

7 Villagers found some interesting coins in a local ruin

8 Villagers complain about bandits or a humanoid monster gang

9 Famous monsters with a name menacing area and subjects of gossip
10 Monsters scaring local children with noises or hiding under beds

11 A local ruin is haunted

12 Locals found a cave entrance by accident

d12 Village Store Notice Board

1 Bounty on a beast that has taken an animal

2 Vermin exterminators needed, bounty per creature killed

3 Bounty on a local bandit or highway robber

4 A valuable animal has gone missing

5 Creature dancing on the rooftops by night, a reward to stop it

6 Warning to avoid a nature spirit luring youths into the woods

7 Shopkeeper wants a late delivery to be investigated

8 Old ways druids seek strong-armed warriors to recover a grove fallen to evil

9 Visiting spell caster seeking adventurers to help explore a ruin
10 Local land owner wants someone to dig up a barrow on the land

11 Local priest requires a relic to be recovered 

12 Local noble seeks daring adventurers come to his castle for a discreet mission

Possibly im starting a club D&D5/24 game and no idea about regularity, ages, etc so these are current thoughts for a game.

I'm probably drawing from Ravenloft (a non Straad domain) and Grim Hollow books, which are Australian. I plan to keep low level maybe max ppl at 4th (gain stats or feats or other stuff if milestones are happening). Non-humans will stand out and humans will be the dominant species. I will use some slower healing/rest requirements like a long rest requires a day with a proper bed and food. Survival could craft a place to sleep. 

I will keep it grimy and dangerous with cinematic 6-room dungeons with lots of environmental features for dramatic fights. So not using 1980 dungeon design style I normally do. I found using a non-familiar setting and being a bit grimy helps DM control and flexibility. I'll see what happens but I am thinking up some simple one-page dungeons and will show some here. Maybe call it Tenebrae Fields or Macabre Grafschaft. Possibly reading on sale DCC comps might help for ideas.

Barking Alien Challenge day10: Whats the first thing we should do? + Theros Game

d12 Stuff to Start With
1 Hang out in a tavern and ask about work and rumours
2 Go to town square and look for a noticeboard or ask town criar or gossip
3 Get into a fight with local crime guild or cult
4 Meet a pressgang and get surprised recruited to sailoring

5 Go to prison, learn old crook secrets, escape and profit

7 Hear about a murder hobo camp growing wildly with gold rush fever, dungeons in them thar hills!

8 Visit the temple, which often needs people to find cults or lost relics

9 VIsit a local magician they often need strange items not in the shops

10 Explore local ruin or haunted house

11 Ask local sherrif if any bounties or rewards on offer

12 VIsit a bank, guild or town hall and ask for work

My games are mostly sandbox and driven by players i just make the world and tables. Its always good to have boss guys flee so you have enemies later. Marvel films kill villains off with 50 years of lore too soon. Especially wizards. They know to turn invisible and flee and come back with new goons. 

I avoid backstory and prefer it be earned but:

Family Obligations
In a game with civic life or a knight's family is a great way to make party united and have NPCs in their lives. In other games not so much but a player might want to roll a family up. In Oriental Adventures, this was a cool feature and I have some tables that might help. Players might prefer autonomy and no baggage.

Shared Service
Parties all meet, employed already helps but this could be a school or a guild or a temple. They might all leave the job together or be employed by a wizard or school that wants dungeons uncovered or whatever purpose you require. You can assume players have met and maybe killed some giant rats in a basement or something risky already.

Childhood Friends
Similar to family, but the party is the family. Perhaps they have been apart learning their character classes. They might grow up in a village, a town, a castle or homeless sewer children.

Forged by Fire
Met through an incident or a common tragedy. A battle of some kind, lost loved ones to some faction, robbed or kept poor by an aristocrat. Through separate similar events or a single one the party work together in a world they mistrust and is out to get them. Some common enemy seeks them and sends encounters often their way. Make random encounters linked to the enemy and give them lots of goons and secrets. The enemy can lurk in background and remind party they exisr between adventures. Party may realise they need money and experience to beat the foe.

======================

Recent Theros Game D&D5/24

The party had cleared out most of a dungeon but two doors that were warm and had rumbling volcanic sounds beyond. It was a forge temple built into a temple. They had brought back scholars fromthe city to loot the library and smiths from their basion to loot the forge. There seemed to be the modern priests covering archaic temple art. Comicus reading the library ancient and modern script and translators' notes determined the older artwork was another god being hijacked by a current god. 

So the party got ready (8th Lv(

Hypolytus the centaur bard
Chiron the centaur monk
Omiros the satyr priest of light god
Comicus the scholar philosopher wizard

Finally found rules so monk cannot drag 24 ton statues around with a wrestling move. Thankfull you have to be able to lift someone to drag them. I wish all the rules on wrestling in one spot as this took us a year to find. Players agle to fight 200hp monster now.

The combat began with the satyr priest soaking up damage while others blasted the two 20 foot tall golem guards guarding a door with moon beams and magic missiles and arrows. The monk hung back with his elemental powers, lashing the golems from outside their heat aura. As the priest soaked potentially hundreds of damage points with his high AC and disadvantage to being hit from his light priesthood. The centaur got in a few hits with his magic trident and mostly was mostly burned by scalding metal blood and heat aura. He also was healing the party the whole time. After first golem fell the one guarding the other door joined in.

So in the smaller door with one golem they found a room with vents with tripos seats over them for oracles to get high off volcanic fumes. A bit of ritual junk and incence. The other romm with two guards was a huge chamber of lava with a walkway to a platform in the middle of the lave with a collossus of bronze with a hammer and spear standing over it. So the party sent the monk and the satyr to run in and steal some magic items on a bench. The colossus threatened them with wrath of Hephastium and ordered them to return the items and apologise. It threatened the wrath of their god.

They got:
helm of protection and see invisibility
+1 shield protects you from petrification
+1 sword each blow does +1 pt bleed damage for ten rounds or until treated with first aid
+3 spear that returns  
+1 sword +15 necrotic on a nat 20 roll and weilder gets them as temp hp

Players discused the curses of the collosus who now stradled the walkway over lava and had hands waiting to grab any intruders. Heroes chatted abit and were reuctant to give back. The party did some divinations and the priest confirmed their was an older god but didnt forbid him from messing with the older god. The wizards efforts seemed to indicate taking the stuff was a good thing. They already had some gods getting angry at them so thought cash of selling loot worth it.

So the people who had come to help loot temple who considered occupying it did not want to with a collosus trapped inside who could destroy the complex. So they all fled. The part considered fighting it but while in lava it healed 8d6 a round from heat.

They were not interested in exploring mines in the mountain so went noth east planning to see the giant king and possibly steal a cow.

They saw domen and stone idols in the eastern woods. The bard who gre up here said it was all normal druid stuff or the old folk who lived before the current settlers. They saw a hillfort of earthworks and decided to visit and on the way a pack of 5 wingless griffon-like creatures attacked. But the wizard pulled the sword that let him speak to lions. He made peace with creatures and they sat and cooked a meal and fed the beasts. The beasts said their was a bad giant on the mountain who kept delicious sheep. The party offered to kill it and the beasts offered to join them but one who went home to lair. 

So each player had a temp pet monster, and they went to the top and saw a tall female giant. Her proportions seemed normal and her flesh had a mottled purple grey colour. Her proportions were normal, unlike the other simpleton giants, and nobody knew what she was. She had a pet spider too, and they were cooking 3 sheep impaled on a branch over a fire. The priest satyr went to chat and she seemed pleased to see them. He asked why and she said her father Geryon, wants the heroes punished and foresaw they would come here. She has camped here hoping to kill the party and get her fathers aproval. So a fight started and they fireballed her twice, hurting her a bit. Griffon beast killed her pet spider and hurt her.

Her staff emitted a purple scythe blade of magic and she began pummeling the priest. They managed to hit him for 38 damage and other attacks missed. The party kept her on the ropes but she teleported and instilled fear in them and took out the wizard with a necrotic bolt that healed her. This was a worry and was a concern her powers caused instant death if brought you to zero but that was her scythe. The players won and found her frightening and tricky. They ate the roast sheep with their griffon beast allies and and celebrated. The allied beasts planned to move here.  

She was a death giant from Bigby's book. I hope to use this books' lairs in future as lots of giants in my games ahead as they invade Geryon's kingdom and search the mysteries of these older gods. Aparently the priests have suppressed knowledge of older gods.

Next time they will loot the giant and continue north.