Pendragon Review

Besides playing 6 games a month, studying, in a relationship one reason ive not been writing much is I have been collecting the current edition of Pendragon RPG and reading it, as well as all my older editions.

Why play Pendragon?

Im not really into the idea that games are art because the art world is full of rarefied bullshit and faux intellectualism and bad philosophy. I'm quite happy not overintellectualising my games or subscribing to shitty forge theory or other pseudo-academic-appearing notions.

But I think Pendragon in my mind, is and was closer to a work of art than other games. Firstly, drawing from the literary sources that I enjoy (without the weird nationalism) it gains a weight of literary references. I have also enjoyed lots of the tone of the art in various versions which is not really like fantasy game art. With the rise of story games, I'm amazed Pendragon was not cited more often because this and the Prince Valiant game were pioneers in this field. I still get people say it is too complex but it's not compared to D&D or RQ/BRP games.

This game has ideas that will benefit any campaign. It pioneered the yearly game turn or winter phase where its too snowy to adventure, and you do stuff like get married, work on your estate, train and more. You also roll to see if your partner or children or horses survive. You do maybe an adventure a year or try to play a year of time per game. 

For most D&D these ideas fit into high-level domain play well. For long-term sandbox games, these domain ideas can ad an extra layer to play. In my RQ games, we used lots of these as you need something to do with your money. Romance and family can make adventure hooks, and long downtime is good for training in a skill-based game.

Having a campaign game last years or decades is a great experience and feels more weighty. Probably since the 80s, Pendragon has influenced all my games. Beyond the campaign, the adventures feature moral and character-trait tests that are wildly different from physical challenges. Even in my Greek-themed games, tests of mercy, charity, and thoughtfulness might appear in your path as tests from the gods. Many challenges in Pendragon are moral threats that can change your knight character. These sorts of encounters can push more roleplaying and make being a murder hobo harder. Making up for your hasty mistakes can also be a challenge.

To play the full 70-year campaign, your knights need heirs to carry on their name, and luck might make this harder. You can just play one-off adventures, solo play or play famous knights, perhaps. I like starting as squires and getting to know the feudal system and estates bit by bit and growing to knighthood with your own estate. Religious test ideas could be used in lots of games too. Not every fight is necessary or wise. Encounters can be more important than they seem, testing your worthiness and not just combat.

Basics
Pendragon is a simplified BRP system with d20 rolls where combat can be quite lethal if fighting an equal. Bandits tend to flee quickly after a few are killed by mounted knights. Knights have various personality traits not just listed but with scores that are rolled during tests in play. Your knight is suspicious often, this trait might increase and they might fail to trust someone at some point. Your knight is seduced by your host's wife? Maybe they give in and it causes lots of trouble. The system tends to create plenty of non-combat drama and problem-solving is quite different when you consider your social standing and honour. Your character doing things you dont want to is kind of refreshing vs games where you never surrender or consider consequences much. Grudges with other knights is a serious problem so your interactions with NPCs are more nuanced. 

Injuries can take months to heal so another reason to adventure yearly.

Current Edition
The current edition is a beautiful product line with nice paper and art. It is a bit more wordy. I feel the 1990 edition and companion do most of what the core books now do with less space.

The box set is lovely with solo play and the start of a campagn to last multiple sessions. It has stunning gatefold character sheets to start and a solo adventure you could run with several players and get to meet Merlin and Arthur. All the basic game systems are detailed enough to get started. There are also cards for mass combat not in the other books, and they feel pretty essential. The campaign cements your relations with many characters and gives you various missions of diplomacy, enchanted woods and important support for the king's battles. It's one of the better box sets ever.

Feast cards are available online. I'm not sure if more battle cards are too - id hope you get other ones for later play. Chaosium is quite good for extra online material.

The Game Masters Screen Pack I feel, is essential to go forward or even start. Besides a nice screen, it has a map and two books. One is a kingdom gazetteer and another is for family backgrounds and marriage, essential for long campaigns. World info here is pretty essential to make your own adventures and incorporate players' families into the setting. In older editions, this stuff was in core character generation. Most of this stuff I keep in the box set.

The Core Rulebook sets up the feel and style of the setting, briefly outlines the chronology, types of knights, more detail on game mechanics and their use, more examples, other maps, travel, more detailed character creation, glory, passions, being melancholy, skills, honour, glory and other game concepts in more detail. With high scores in your personality traits, you can qualify for specific benefits and titles. Mass combat is a bigger feature than most games and I like this system and look forward to trying. Lots of detail on horses, arms and armour. The coat of arms generator is fun. Basically expands the box set rules and for more flexible character creation and advancement.

Gamemasters Handbook talks more about the setting, running campagn time, feasts, hunting, seduction, tournaments, jousts, diplomacy, religious options, holy sites, magic, miracles, faeries, fiends, more battle details, npc stats like famous knights you might meet or play, foes, bestiary and scenarios.  

You could just get the box set and play
You could just get the GM and core book to play
The Screen pack would help with either of the above
Starting with the box then getting other stuff would be best

I have Nobles book on the way
The old Pendragon Campagn book with 70 years of play is being updated with multiple volumes

The Sauvage King is a great adventure where for various reasons, you enter the haunted wood and resolve its curses. It could be revisited and is a great bit of adventure sandbox design. Id prefer to run this when characters start having babies to use the challenging hook. With work, you could use this for other games.

The Grey Knight is much improved over the older versions and is a good campagn of various challenges to help Gawain and save the kings honour vs an evil plot. Its a fetch quest into the cursed wasteland and probably better to run before Sauvage King. Basically a fetchquest but with lots of twists and turns and moral tests. This adventure a bit more linear but has many choices that will test your knights and have consequences. I don't think it would work as well for other games for adaptation. 

I had a few sessions as squires and would like to try a long holiday game some time. I highly recommend it to try and learn from for ideas in other fantasy games. I think it works better with more of the books for a longer campaign but a box set for taste is a good start. If you see the 1990 edition and campagn they do most of what the gm pack, box set and two hardback rules tomes do. I felt more comfortable running it with all the above books and the older edition gear still is useful. Any other Arthurian game seems shallow compared to this.


Also see this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrRnpcYWnO4&list=TLPQMzExMDIwMjZasb1f1fMXdg&index=4
i pretty much agree with pauli
  

Auldwood or the Wild North? EMO Gamelog

A game of my homebrew today.

Ive got the skeleton of character classes built but now I'm getting equipment lists and a weapon chart done. Modding skills and weapon footnotes mostly. Next will start Skill revision and getting some player input.

Three players tonight.

The mysterious Big Ted, a masked seer who has gone from common pub cook to disciplined mentalist warrior seer. He wears heavier armour and a large kite shield. He uses a mace which his Seer power lets him vibrate for extra damage and he has some cantrips. Has also been working on lay hands and a Healing Lore that lets all his healing spells and powers +1 point. He uses his disciplines to gorge himself on food and booze to heal himself also. Has adopted a dog Salty and bought him armour. Also a teen lizard person. Has oaths to help commoners and is good enough and strong enough now to not let others push him into Murderhoboism. Seers use their abilities to find lost knowledge and are the martial arm of Mystics.

Handfish player was absent but in party caravan with lizard teen follower. 

The Baroness an expert (at Deciet) runs her travelling theatre, adopting ladies, especially ones who were pretending to be boys to get into adventuring. Sonja her first follower is a axe weilding woodswoman. Others include Granny a merchant and a few crowsbow goons, a lizard teen woman and all zero level. Experts have lots of skills but also lots of followers. 

Edward the Wizard gone from being a militiaman to wizard. He has a student with a clean cantrip, a bodyguard and a lizard teen. He has gained some good spells and the skill to cast spella without visable computer game like sparkles.

They bought 4 wagons. A one horse cart with a kitchen for Big Ted, a covered wagon with hammocks for the core party, a covered wagon with a stage and theatre props and costumes, and a covered wagon with a nice paintjob for the Baroness. They hired ex cab drivers and boght cab horses. One was a lady so the Barroness put her in charge of her personal language.

Players spent a hour selling off old goods and dividing treasure and shopping a few bought magic items. Stumpy the party murder hobo hireling sold the smugglers ship and naval partol charts to a rival smuggler faction. Party had fled Saltmarsh because they really wanted the stolen brandy and thought the taxman might rob them for the king. 

The party left Seaton for Ironton and on the way saw bandits. A fancy bandit, Clayton the Vagabond in a fancy hat, sat by road while others were hiding with tiny bow. The party opened fire and got the drivers to charge. Edward charmed Clayton and his seconds tried to restrain the gang boss. But Clayton killed one of his own luitenants and two bandits died from arrow fire from the party. The gang got an ineffective volley off and Edward made them all go to sleep and Clayton killed his other second-best man. 

The bandits were all captured and given jobs by the paty. Edward would daily have two charm spells ready for the 4th level gang boss (the players are 2nd Lv).

The bandits explained Ironton was broke since the war ended and helped the party rest at a crime guild caravan rest. Big ted set up his soup kitchen and the party did a good job of impressing the Guild. They were debating to go to the forbidden north or Auldwood. The Baroness asked about the dwarf Ruin.The bandits explained the lore. Insert Dwarrowdeep Megadungeon minus the campaign map and setting town. They thought they would go past the famous open entrance, and I showed them the art of the gate in between the legs of a 300-foot-tall dwarf statue. 

So with a few flunkies, they went in while the caravan of the party made camp. It was only lunchtime. There were impressive rooms, empy chambers, rubble mounds and wandering undead. They heard goblins a few times but mostly fought undead like zombies and skeletons. There was a baby mimic chest they shot on sight and debated if it was edible or not. Stirges were killed and prepared for an evening meal. Edward was hit with slime but his pals burned it off quickly. Guys with magic lamps sat back uselessly. There was a statue pillar with gem eyes they decided was unlikley to exist if not defended.

The best loot was in rubble mounds and in secret rooms so lots of time searching was burned for old weapons and smallchange and a few magic items and runestones. Edward used his history spell on the inscriptions. One mentioned a famous dwarf artifact possibly in the ruins. They methodically searched a third of the dungeon and when battered the decided to leave and goblins attacked.

They were quite togh and there were a dozen led by a magician on a huge centipede. The party killed him first. They feared him reaching party with his Shocking Grasp spell. He got off a Burning Hands on Ted and his dog. The fight was pretty bad, and half the party was knocked out but the Baroness played up the goblin bosses' deaths in goblin speech and they retreated. Their retreating spear volley took two more party members. Clayton the Vagabond was very helpful with traps and listening and locks and killed a few retreating goblins. Big Ted when not using his singing mace had lots of pistols like a pirate. The Baroness had her daggers and was quite dangerous.

The party got back to camp and identified the magic items, including a staff that heal each subject a d6 a day that Big Ted got and helped the party recover faster. There was a +1 dagger and a sharpening Runestone (i modified to be good for one hit after the duration ended). The party was pretty thrilled and, after a night's rest, went back to Ironton to sell the loot. 

They seem keen to finish the level for the fame (and a promised level-up achievement unlocked).

Quite happy at weird characters and sneaky spell use.

Felt like a proper oldschool dungeon. Lots of empty space and hidden secrets to make time a resource. Plan to return and try detect magic in some of the rubble rooms. An unexpected twist of a sandbox game and possibly after the level is cleansed, they might come back when done with the North. I have the whole region detailed, and I'm happy to drop in more dungeons from published adventures.

Ill post an update of my Theros Games soon, including one in the Caverns of Thracia.

Return to Saltmash game log

Game log - nice long game, but it ended as my voice ran out from cold

Had game start then a drop in and a tw drop out so started cancelling but keen to go ahead and when we started a drop out called to say he had free time. Lost my game notes for half an hour as I reboxed it but I found them.

So Handfish the a human fish looking for his past and destiny. His youth he suffered poverty but a year living in a merchant house with fake deeds. He had ambition now and the party with a wizard and a theatrical "baroness" on way to frontier and popped in salt marsh. They got to know town and started exploring a haunted house.

They got back to town and split up. Handfish was in the shittiest pub on stilts full of scum in a rainstorm. He met a cook who longed for adventure. So Handfish led Ted the chef to beat up bullies when they left. He gave them drinks till the boss passed out. Three left carrying the boss. They tricked a guy back in to get his money. Two were left dragging their boss when the Fishman attacked with his fishy fists of fury and Ted hit one with a pan. The guy who went in the pub came out angry. Handfish killed him. Ted was surprised Handfish killed the unconscious men they took their money and went back in the pub, leaving bodies in an alley.

They drank and ate lots and were up late. Early in the morning, they went beachcombing and found a float and net, a whale bone, a stray dog they named Salty and a giant hermit crab they battled.

Stumpy, the incorrigible, disabled old murder hobo who follows the party, came with news. He knows there were forbidden reef islands that look like they needed checking and rented a rowboat.

They saw an island with some kind of criminal gathering with boats and a ruined manor and passed it.

They saw a dirty grey iceberg and passed it.

Saw a ruin entry on an exposed reef and landed.

Inside, they smelled cooking and the greediest fish boy and cook went first, with Stumpy and his crossbow from behind.

There was a muscular woman chopping meat and cooking. There were fish folk bodies under a tarp. She offered food and all the men sex for "saving" her. Salty the dog barked at her. She transformed into a were hammerhead shark and the boys fled.

Back to the glacier, they found fish folk trying to dig a chest from the ice. They killed them and took the chest with a weird gold mask.

At the wizard tower to identify the mask found it gave you power to cast water breathing but the third time ity bonded to your face for life. A visiting war seer offered to train the cook to meet his potential. Ted became a 1st level seer with a mace which he could vibrate to kill foes more easily and his first spell. He also learned to wear armour and wield weapons.

They met the baroness and her team and returned to finish the haunted house and battled the smugglers. There were some pesky stirges but they wound up spit-roasted and eaten. They buried their loot and prepared to attack the smugglers next.

They waited till the ship launched two jolly boats. Then got on board and started killing. The Baroness sniped a wizard and they killed most of the officers. Hurt a lizard man coming from below decks so comrades dragged it overboard.

Handfish and the Baroness were knocked out but Stumpy shot the last leader and the smugglers jumped overboard. Ted with his seer spells and laying hands got Handfish walking and he went after the smugglers in the water. He got half and, on the way back met lizard men and one understood water elemental speech too. They explained they would help party if the got weapon shipment.

Party helped lizards and Stumpy git the party to act as third-rate crew and saul to the lizard folk hideout. They also freed a sea elf emissary and met the lizard queen. The Baroness flirted a bit. Ended up selling goods and ship to crime lords and headed northwest inland

All now 2nd level

The seer is a new class to be to the mystic what ranger is to a druid or a paladin to a cleric and using my mentalist spell list. His vibrating weapon power gave him a number of strikes a day for max damage. He chose a blunt weapon and had skills in feasting and drinking to recover wounds and scoff potions and snacks in battle with free actions. He was quite earthy for what I envisaged as orders who seek knowledge and to battle spirits and planar beings.

He wore a veil instead of the usual mask of the seer orders. He chose skills to add damage in heavy armour and shield attacks. He learned to use a captured Pirate flintlock and bought a second one. He has devoted self to good.

Several of the party recruited zero LV lizard folk followers. Nobody got seafaring skills and Stumpy recommended they give up the marine lifestyle as they were shit sailors. Thanks Stumpy.

Some players are considering my new assassin's class options have players curious. Discussed being wandering entertainers who kill corrupt officials and rich. Nice to have recent work in use. 

Someone asked about all the threads  they abandoned in Saltmarsh and if i was inviting them to stay but nope the world is deep with quests everywhere.

Bye Bye Hawksmire campagn and the adventures of Ratrump

 

So my weekly game in Hawksmire came to a close. After liberating a mental hospital, they went to the source of the local memory losses and fought an elder god in a well. Then they went to the city and Ratrump made plans to marry the Domain Lord Chrysopasia. While preparations were made the dragonborn monk and drow light priest tried to undo the wish that made Chrysopasia love Ratrump, as they believed it would destroy the domain. As it turned out, the Dark domain lords were allowing the wish to work so they sacrificed some drunks they found sleeping in an alley promising them treasure. This was to summon the god they killed to get a wish to undo the love wish. The demon said fine but he gets to enter the Drow home dimension whenever he wants and they abandoned the idea and rushed back to the palace of Hawksmire.

Meanwhile Cal the bard broke into Chryopasia's library and looked for clues about her past. Seems at some point her tormented desire to remain beautiful and rule made her a domain lord and a shadow dragon. Making her happy was ruining the world designed as her prison. The dark lords were demolishing the world. Players did various divinations and found the world end would release many damned souls so they went along. 

At the height of the rooftop wedding attended by local dragons and crowds all chanting Ratrump's name. The obsession of Chrysopasia got into everything in the domain so Ratrump was followed by ravens who dropped him black roses. Locals had been putting his face on every crafted object.

So as the wedding progressed, they say huge tracts of land were absorbed by the mist and mountains fly into the foid to vanish. Soon all were engulfed in mist.

Threekay the Dwarf Cleric was sent home to Faerun as he went from being disinterested of the suffering of commoners to aiding them. He had tried to be the party moral compass.

The Dragonborn monk was innocent and had no memories so she also returnerd to Faerun.

Uranus the star druid had tried to not be involved in murder hobo antics and was returned to his forest.

Cal the bard was released also as he tried to guide the party even trying to cast suggestion to "not be stupid".

The Drow cleric got to flip a coin as she had made progressive actions but did murder a bunch of cops and that sacrifice business imperilled her soul. So she was sent to another domain.

Ratrum soon joined her as he loved this dark domain stuff and trully wanted to marry Chrysopasia and reform her. His damnation was to be separated. As he and the drow priest arrived in the same new domain, they walked into the mist to find Hawksmire as they were mist-tainted earlier. They returned to Hawksmire but everything was as it had been the day they arived and nobody remembered them.

A fun 4 month campagn and players enjoyed the final judgement, cataclysm and the cinematic wedding. Most players had never had a complete campaign wrap-up before so some happy memories I hope.

I will try Theros next and later my current Theros campaign will become a Hawksmire campaign. Not sure I will last as im a bit burned out again and studying and looking for work as I have some big personal changes coming in the future and I will have less time. People mentioned I should do Cthulhu but Im not feeling it and would prefer a more serious tone I dont think works with a drop in campaign. Ratrumps player will be running an official organised play campaign. Ive made great friends running this but I'm uncertain what I will do next and for how long.

One job im going for is a museum, which would be interesting. 

As far as this blog goes Im working on a free draft of my homebrew, possibly only Lv1-4 or 1-8 with intent to do the full version and maybe start doing campaign books maybe a year later.  

I have 3 con games coming up too.

If I get jobs Im after and study I will probably be more wasted and tired than I am now.

Had 150 in gaming books delivered interstate to a house i lived in 10 years ago which sucks.

Wishing my readers well and all the best.

Game Update AUG26

So I quit an online game due to exhaustion. I've not played computer games for a few months. I've not been writing so much. I am running 9 games a month. My Ravenloft: Hawksmire and my Theros: Ethyria games are advancing well, and conclusions are in sight, so I will then swap the campaigns with two groups starting at 1st lv soon. New homebrew game using my EMO hombrew rules started.

I've also been gutting my house of crap, cleaning up, working on pet housing, setting up a non-bachelor bed, cooking lots, losing weight, and my eyesight has improved. I've started studying again and looking for work with refreshed qualifications. I'm likely to be poorer and busy for the next year while still in a band and gaming. Im using phone more and computers less.

Im quite happy but blogging has dropped off. Im hoping to start revising my homebrew rules shortly and a description of the City of Hawksmire. I still have the sub level of the Labyrinth of Ethyria to do to. Behind on my blog reacps so some updates here.

Ill try and do an update at least monthly. 

Auldwood
I ran a test with fast level up earlier but started new party of the vet players. I made start as Lv0 and roll on at least 3 of my background drama tables to work with. Players class ideas changed from this process when they got to choose a class after an adventure.

Dallas was a youth escaped faerieland and in big city on the run.He lived inside the hidden sweatshops and crawlspaces of the royal bridge of Silverton. Eventually became a mage.

Fergus was an ugly youth, an armoured fish folk hybrid raised by fishermen. Had worked as a vomit bucket boy in a boxing ring. He went onto be they guy who checked out if fallen gladiator victims were faking it and when he levelled up he became an amphibious, 7-foot-tall armoured fish man. He remembered his childhood and abandonment when his tribe left him behind to go on an undersea chaos crusade. He likes tu punch and grab people.

Richard plays the Baroness a carny with several followers from high CHA and also quite muscular. She has a bunch of lady followers. An old lady accountant and a woodcutter. As 1st level gained expert ability in performance and gained an actor follower.

Part met in SIlverton on street looking for next meal and place to sleep with a few coins. They met up on docks and joined the Baronesses troop. They also met Stumpy a double-amputee, peg-legged murder hobo who wise wise in schemes and crimes and finding peril.

They made some money and got some fish and ate and Stumpy convinced them to squat a sinister ruined house. In the courtyard, the woodcutter cut shrubs to make clubs and torches. They cut crass to make bed in stable. Then explored. The baroness got a severed hand jumpscare her and choke her but the fish boy killed it. They killed a skeleton getting out of bed and found some salable loot and caught a feral homeless wizard school drop out. They took him as a follower and went shopping for armour, proper weapons and food. They bought surplus army leathers. Green of the local kingdom, but the Baroness got fancy, shiny whoite suit of the former Third Empire.

Eventually they entered the shrine of the complex where they found broken tablets and holy symbols of Tsathogua. Scared by a corpse coffer but Stumpy with a crossbow party got him was hanging back and finished it. They realised the last temple room was the last place they had not looked and at least 5 adventurers sent by Stumpy earlier had vanished within. Battled a water weird which was tough for 3 zeroes and two followers. The thrall wizard used a few magic missiles. The baroness, using a club finished it and they all attacked to stop the weird from reforming.

They squatted a year and studied what it took to become 1st level. Next they plan to head to the frontier for adventure.

Pendragon
Running Pendragon character gen at squire level and playing some events of the game timeline. I will review soon. Im using older game content too.

Theros - Ethyria
Heroes finished two levels of a medusa filled dungeon with other petrifying monsters and blind guard wome with poison knives. Gods have nudged them a bit with promise of artifacts below in the lair of the Ancestral Medusa mother. One battle had two players paralysed. Players plan to take relics to invade underworld to rescue a characters sweetie kidnaped by an archon. WIll be back to fighting giants, solving the riddle of the gods secrets and explore the giants hidden underground land full of dinosaurs.  

Ravenloft - Hawksmire
Players returned from island quests and halfling Ratrump is pestered by ravens dropping black roses on him and calling his name. Angelrs Harbour folk welcomed the party and everyone was Ratrump mad and carried him about and sung dirty songs about him. Eventually Ratrump decided to visit a brothel but everyone inside was killed by necrotic fire. Seeing his face everywhere in art, knitted on wooly jumpers and carved on a ship prow almost made him suspicious. 

The party went on the road and heard music and ahead was the most famous lecherous bards in the land playing music at their campfire. Cal the bard played along as they aproached and the band was welcoming. Ratrump asked if they had heard the songs about Ratrump and they were suddenly silent and angry. They started to explain they hated Ratrump for stealing the heart of Lady Chrysopasia (with a wish he got in a deck of many things). The dark lords smiled on this wish and it has sewn the seeds to destroy the domain built to torment the domain ruler. So ratrump attacked. So in the 5th Ed MM wandering entertainers are more dangerous than cultists. Several party members tried to keep out of the fight at first but the area affect bardic songs and spells changed their mind. It was a tough fight but they killled the greatest bards of the Land making Cal the best in the realm. 

They went back to town to recover then went on tho another village to trade in magic. While the the new Dragonborn Monk in the group heard locals with amnedia go to an asylum for treatment so the party went to have a look. So they were unimpressed with the care and The Dragonborn signed up for surgery. The drow light cleric watched with a spell and the other party members had teleported on the roof to keep an eye on the surgery in a tower. So the surgeon was a vampire and the Dargonborn breathed acid and broke free. After the fight the Drow cleric decided she would take over the assylum to take proper care. Maybe she can leave Ravenloft after all.

The Ballad of Ratrump
To the tune of the Ballad of Bilbo Baggins (you must see the Leonard Nimoy video)

On the grim cursed isle of Hawksmire

There lives a dirty halfling that we all desire
From the tip of his penis
To his fuzzy wuzzy balls
He will cover you in pubic lice and put handprints on your walls

Ratrump! ratrump!
His only two foot tall
Ratrump! Ratrump!
The dirtiest halfling of them all!

Halflings are kindly peaceful souls
But ratrumps parents dropped him into a dirty drain hole
With his thick curly hair and an upturned nose
He can pinch your peranium with the tips of his toes
With his pet piglet, python and a pram of evil cats
He suckled on the nipples of sewer were rats
But one day he awoke in the dread domain
Where his cheeky dirty antics brought him fame and blame

Ratrump! Ratrump!
His only two foot tall
Ratrump! Ratrump!
The dirtiest halfling of them all!

He robbed the fish cult!
He fed corpses to the trolls!
He was riddled with VD?
His magic ring he sold!
He faced angry mobs!
He planted magic beans!
And lots of dirty deeds that are very obscene!

Ratrump! Ratrump!
The dirtiest halfling of them all!

Now he is a famous lord of Hawksmire
The dirty little halfling that we all desire
Shitting on his toilet of silver and gold
Packing alchemical powders in his every hole

Ratrump! Ratrump!
The dirtiest halfling of them all!

Is Ravenloft the Best official D&D5 Setting?

Yes it is. No doubt

Oh reasons....sure
Actually its like my Planet Psychon in some ways...

1 Ravenloft is Mostly One Way Entry
Domains connect to other domains. You can come from any setting to Ravenloft. Once in Ravenloft, getting out is harder. You dont need to worry about the rest of the multiverse much.

2 In Ravenloft everybody is damned
All those normal villagers in the land. They are all damned too. If they die here and dont get their souls eaten or turn into undead, they get reincarnated in another domain. There is no escape for most people. The land may snatch you back if you escape. If your a horrible person like a murder hobo adventurer its no wonder you're here now. If you were good, maybe some power is testing you or wants you to beat a domain lord.

3 Ravenloft is a Prison
The domain lords are prisoners to whos tragic circumstances are used to make them suffer. Adventurers may be brought in as a test or challenge or to frustrate the domain lords. The truly good may be brought here to frustrate to prisoners and to test their zeal with corrupting dark power. Some good might be sent by a good god to help free commoners from suffering. Maybe adventurers give false hope to locals to crush their spirits. You might be here to be corrupted or to make sport for a domain lord or perhaps to make a villain of the realm suffer.

4 You Will Never Escape!
The world seeks to make you its creature and may offer dark gifts to help bind you to the nightmare realm. Maybe the dark forces tease you with escape then brings you back just to show your never free. The uk 60s spyfi show "The Prisoner" is a good show with this struggle. You might come up with stories of escape that lead you to some disaster. Maybe if a pair of mist traveller holds hands with others in between they could all travel. Maybe The Dark Powers let you loose for a bit and trick you back. Perhaps a hunchbacked angel or a hermit might know some secret out but the information is flawed or has unforseen catches.

5 Dark Gifts are Shackles
I quite like various versions of dark gifts. A new version is out but I dont really know if very different. Im making a rare change to these rules for my own game. I presented choices of dark gifts as boblets of fuid or a black dragon would eat them. The dragon gets kickbacks for encouraging others to take dark gifts but has to let you live. So in the older Ravenloft 5th ed book I found the gifts not good value as feats. But as bonus setting abilities, they are fine.

I have rewritten 4 ive offered so far in game. Im keeping the core benefits of powers and diluting the weakness. I'm redefining the bad stuff as Quirks, which might just be cosmetic. The 1in20 roll activates problems, the mechanic isn't too awful as you only get this effect once per long rest. I'm using all the fluff tables and disadvantages for cosmetic drama fodder not just mechanical effects. I will be fine if some creepy features come up in some situation and they are great roleplaying fodder not mechanical and too punitive as in the official versions.

To me dark gifts are signs of corruption you willingly accept that help bing you to the realm. I might offer them more in-game but escape from the realm depends on purging them. Some expert or location will reveal the means. My take on them is to make characters bound to Ravenloft and introduce personal spooky fluff drama for a more psychological character development. The tables and penalties described in the text are now just for ideas. Id rather have more narrative cosmetic effects than mechanical nerfs. I think a 1in20 chance of activating a weird effect is more just a reminder to have a side effect used in play. It is fine like this, but it feels more punitive by book. A few new book reviewers are complaining about these like they are new. Im probably waiting till the book goes on sale. 

Living Shadow
Grasping Shadow. You learn the Mage Hand cantrip if you don't already know it, and require no components to cast it. The hand created by the spell is shadowy but is not bound to your actual shadow. Your spellcasting ability for this spell is Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma (your choice when you gain this Dark Gift).

Shadow Strike. When you make a melee attack roll, you can increase your reach for that attack by 10 feet. Your shadow stretches and delivers the attack as if it were you. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Quirk: Your shadow does odd things and looks strange sometimes. They might activate on a roll of 1 in play once between long rests or other times

Mist Walker
Misty Step. You can cast the Misty Step spell, requiring no spell slot, and you must finish a long rest before you can cast it this way again. Your spellcasting ability for this spell is Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma (your choice when you gain this Dark Gift). If you have spell slots of 2nd level or higher, you can cast this spell with them.

Mist Traveller. When you enter the Mists, intent on reaching a specific domain, you are treated as if you possess a Mist talisman keyed to that domain. To use this trait, you must know the name of the domain you have chosen as your destination, but you don't need to have previously visited that land. This trait doesn't allow you to bypass domain borders closed by a Darklord's will.

Quirk. You feel more comfortable travelling than staying in one place. Its as if the land puts roots in you and drains your dreams. You recover fatigue half speed, if you remain a week or more in the same bed or comunity. Prison would be awful.

Borrowed Eye (in players case watched by ancestral spirits)
As an action, you can influence the presence guiding the watchers for 1 hour. For the duration, you gain advantage on Intelligence (Investigation) and Wisdom (Perception) checks, and you can't be blinded. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

Quirk. Spirits are attracted to you and gossip about you, divination attempts vs you have advantage or greater effect. Spirits might become visible on a roll of 1 in play once between long rests or other times

Soul Echoes (visions of past life or incarnation from spirits)
Channelled Prowess. You gain proficiency in two skills of your choice.
Inherent Tongue. You can speak, read, and write one additional language of your choice.
Quirk. You get flashbacks and echoes from the past from spirits on a roll of 1 in play once between long rests or other times.

6 A Domain of Your Own
You can make your own bampagn for one or two sessions or longer. You can try other domains and ditch them quick. There are tons old splatbooks from the past to get ideas from. Lots of old ones on Drivethrough POD. You dont need a huge campaign setting, and you can bring up any environment you please. Make a setting you like. A mini domain to sample any idea without going whole hog. Made a dud? Let it break up, and the dark powers recycle it. 

7 Variety
Horror sub-genres and various pseudo-historical inspired fantasy let you try a huge amount of campaign styles.  Also, a variety of social encounters and ultra violence can be found with villages, ruins and haunted places. All kinds of scenarios can be amped up to be horror domains.

8 Villains
They are jerks you can unrepentantly kill if you can. Recycle old, dead campagn villains. Maybe they still return if the dark powers support them. But don't overdo this. Maybe a shadow of them is just felt in paintings and clues of some new domain lord's realm. Maybe these could be a bridge for the lord to return. A minor haunting might be a fragment of the old domain lord grasping at existence.

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

Finally, I think the new thing most in line I'm waiting for is a book with all the core wizards in one book with new spells. They really need a deity book with gods and domain clerics. Wizards and Priests have a huge effect on world-building and are essential for the campaign, and not just for character use.

I hope we dont get these subclasses in dribs and drabs and do get something like the 2nd ed brown books for major classes rather than leave as an implied big project that never finishes. Maybe could do cleric and paladin book, ranger and druid book, rogue and bard book. Making an edition with no effort to complete basic game features seems a bit broken. I think they prefer small doses so they can sell books to players with player options to sell books.

Imagine one book of d&d5 with content only up to 10th lv and basic content to start play from dmg and mm. Then you could worry about high-level later and not let it take up your headspace beyond that. Obviously, a later book with 11-20 would be a less-needed option for most players. 

Partly, I play by core books and limiting non core book content on request. Ravenloft and Theros campagns help me narrow lots of game content. I do like one bastion feature in the FR players book for theros letting you have a druidic woodland weird sylvan peoples are attracted to. Honestly Id like a Bastion book with mundane building cost and times and some domain tables to run yearly play turns where you spend a season at home. Im exited by prospects of getting haunted Bastions.

d12 Potion mixing & maxing + can i pee in armour?

Players had a copy of my secret setting notes from here by accident, kinda exposing some stuff, but it's manageable. When I make a setting book, I will have lore split for players and dms to aid this. The party has two more steps to circumnavigate the island. Mostly, they managed to get along with the last few cult towns. This time, they arrived at town, picked fights with mutant-hating bigots, set freak show critters free and burned the building with the corpse of the owner inside in hours. The mayor caught them and said he would not tell as he hated the freakshow. The next evening in next village, they visited a possible wolf witch and on way home by saw a cult ritual in the nice district and attacked, killing the village's hierarchy in one go. I guess they will get its a folk horror Ravenloft domain full of imprisoned jerks soon.

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

Potions Potions Potions

Old dmg and 2014 have the FX table for mixing potions
Besides d100 so uncommon in dnd5 even more true for players
Maybe dnd and rq evolving away from each other more

One problem is that tables have lots of nothing happens, a waste of time...

d12 Potion Mixing
1 Undrinkable causes vomiting and d4 round helpless
2 Flatulence for d4 hours makes sneaking hard
3 Diarrhoea for d4 hours, stinky and slippery -4 all rolls

4 Hyper acidic melts through the vessel into the earth

5 Lose sense of smell and taste for d4 hours, everything tastes like vomit

6 Causes deafness, if save its temporary for d4 days (bats and other beasts may be blinded)

7 Causes blindness, if save its temporary for d4 days

8 Poison causes painful death or if save loss of half hp and d4 round helpless

9 Explodes 6d6 fireball or 12d6 to the drinker, save for half. If the drinker dies, then the body erupts into chunks and burns others in the area as a 6d6 fireball

10 Mutations d4 minor and one major

11 Polymorphing if you save its temporary for d4 hours and you have your own mind. d6 1=humanoid type or other living species 2=change biological sex 3=slime monster 4=undead 5=shrink to 30cm, not your gear 6=dinosaur

12 Permanant magical property and cosmetic effect, making the drinker a unique being. Might be linked to potion types or something else.

d6 Cosmetic 1=unatural skin and eye colour 2=glows especially during excercise 3=unatural blood and waste colour 4=body has unatural flavour and scent 5= Lose hair or super rapid growth coloured hair 6=semi transperant flesh

d6 Property 1=use one potion power once per day 2=use each potion power once per day 3=no longer age naturally, slows by half 4=no longer require food, water, or to breathe (pick one) 5=regeneration 1hp per round, save each month or cancerous repair error turns you into a shoggoth over a month 6=gain a level 

But what if I buttchug one potion and drink the other?
Buttchugging potions and alchemical supositories take extra d4 rounds to work, so timing hard and bad effects of mixing slower also. It's a bit of a skill; some say it's more potent or lasts longer, but others say it causes liver failure and death if you get it wrong. Best ask old murder hobo experts in a quiet voice. Some say it's just preferred by weirdos.

Obviously, drinking-based healing potions can accidentally drown unconscious patients, so suppositories are safer if you dont have a skilled healer to force-feed healing items. Even a good berry is a choking hazard. Always ask permission before performing first aid. Armour might be a problem for some first aid or applications.

d12 Potion Types
1 Liquid, drinkable, 1 pint or 500ml bottle, dose per bottle, like chugging a beer bottle, round to drink

2 Liquid, drinkable cordial, teaspoon amount in bottle, often with d6 doses, instant if held, easier to give slowly to an unconscious person without drowning them

3 Liquid, splashed on the recipient, some use a holy water sprinkler and can be good vs enemies with some potions. half pint or 250ml bottle

4 Plaster, stick a square of sticky fragrant material on the chest, takes d3 rounds to apply and work. Their are rarer small ones in a small dressing come in a box of 2d4 that can be applied anywhere in one round

5 Pill, swallow, may be in a jar, box or hollow tooth etc. From pea size to unpleasantly large and choking, they taste nasty, instant if held

6 Sweet, soft, tasty candied morsels with some gold or silver foil, instant if held. Sweetmeats, 

7 Lozenge, fruit or aniseed popular flavours, though some weird ones exist, hard lolly takes d4 rounds to suck to activate. Some goblins place in gums before a fight and sometimes recover from unconsciousness a bit better. In jars or paper bags with 2d4. Some with powdered sugar 

8 Cake or cookie, delicious and takes a round to use. Often in a paper bag or luxurious box with several pieces or a whole cake with 6 servings. Tend to go stale, and they take d4 rounds of chewing to work

9 Syringe, may come with a 1-dose loaded syringe or a refillable syringe with a vial with 2d4 doses. Requires a healer or medical skill to rush in a round, not in combat

10 Supository, greasy rectally inserted pellet. Come in jar of box with d3+1, hard to use in combat, takes a d4 rounds to use, best in private on conscious, consensual patients

11 Ointment, applied to skin, takes d3 rounds, dose per jar, 1in6 chance of more concentrated and use less with a d6+1 doses. Takes d3 rounds to apply to work. Some versions are instant, but burn often used in contact poisons or traps. Blade venom might be included too - tales a round to apply and is instant on a hit. A dozen arrows can be applied instead

12 Vapour in a jar to inhale, common ones are 1 pint or 500ml glass bottle, better ones are crystals in a tiny jar you huff with d4+1 doses. Some are used in traps

d12 Discount half price potions with only a few side fx

1 Addictive, most common with healing potions 

2 Take 10 minutes to kick in and half the duration or effect

3 Save each use or throw up, tastes like rotten corpse juice

4 Save each use or take d4 poison or chemical burn damage
5 Makes hair fall out if you fail a save (some make you grow a d4 years of hair)

6 Makes you infertile if you fail a save

7 Diseased if fail a save

8 Reduce a random attribute by -d4 for an hour

9 Half move rate for an hour if fail save

10 Berserk if violence starts, will attack anyone still standing or moving for 2d6 rounds in next hour. After first episode, get a save to resist further incidents

11 See magical faeries and spirits sparkling around you and very distracting when they speak -2 all rolls for d6 hours. Feel numb and tingly

12 The next day their is flora of some kind growing on you. Requires removing the disease or surgery or burning (4d4 damage) to treat. Fungal, vegetal or slime, possibly infectious or spread to bedclothes and garments. When die will grow into a living mass, fertilising the area. Goblins might give to prisoners

.....Oh we only have defective potions left at the moment
Xtra common in goblin markets and dungeon shops or used by cheap monsters

Can I pee in armour? Google said this:
Active Battles: If desperate, knights would pee in their armour. The urine would drain through gaps in the leg armour, leaving the squire to clean the suit later. Adrenaline often suppressed the need to go.

Armour Design: Many suits of plate armour were not fully enclosed at the crotch, often protected only by a "mail skirt" or "faulds" that could be lifted. Later, 15th-16th century armour featured removable "codpieces" or "maille brayettes" (underpants).

Daily Life: Knights typically used toilets (garderobes) before putting on armour, as they rarely wore full plate for long periods.

Hygiene: While urinating was manageable, defecating was more difficult. However, the rear, or "arse" area, was frequently designed to be accessible (using faulds or a "rear culet") for easier movement and to facilitate bathroom needs

Sounds like expensive hitech armour is helpful.
Lots of plate armour was crotchless for ease of horse riding for longer than a joust.

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

------------------
 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 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.