My BRP Rome character sheet

It is a bit ugly but ok for now

Bigger version at https://www.flickr.com/photos/konsumterra/22222631346/sizes/l/

Location hp boxes allow me to use stun damage system
One stroke = stun damage
Two strokes or a X = standard damage
Blunt weapons or blunt hafts and pommels or punch can inflict stun damage
So spear could be used as staff, a sword pommel as a cestus or axe flat as a club
1/4 of stun damage gets crossed as standard damage
A standard damage point replaces a point of stun damage turning single stroke to a X in box
Stun damage heals one hour per point
First aid requires ice, stimulants, ten minute massage or other means to treat
Stunned locations are temporary versions of more lethal standard damage
Head stuff or unconsciousness
Limbs become clumsier or useless
Chest or abdomen winded or incapacitated locations downwards

Stun damage lets people have non lethal fist fights and capture people easier
You can do a called shot half chance to hit and inflict stun on someones head
Stunning by use of resistance roll dam vs location hits or CON was not very worth it
Also as slavery is better than treasure in RQ3 players want more options to get prisoners
Worked very nice in past to cut down murdering sherrifs in my old Cthulhu game
Gangbusters and Top Secret/SI used well - now d100 is going to be bigger than BRP some of rules in old TSR d100 games might be worth a look - star frontiers had nice poison rules

I put in stat derivative rolls even though I'm not a fan of using them but some players will benefit

Big blank box for extra skills and magic abilities

Ive tried putting all combat stuff on one sheet

Will do two more pages:
One for goods, wealth, ENC and fatigue track
One for clan, property, commitments, history etc

May need a revision and im sure i spelled something wrong...

d100 Air Encounters for great weird war! Part1

So will be revising tables to separate gonzo and horror a bit more. These tables are a stopgap for aircraft and aerial phenomena. Obviously sea missions would be different.

d10 Air Encounter over no mans land

01 Weather - difficult weather

02 Targets behind lines - tempting targets behind enemy lines
03 Enemy troops - Enemy troops moving
04 Anti Aircraft fire - AA ground defences
05 Battle in progress - combat on ground
06 Own side aircraft - allied aircraft on maneuvers
07 Observation aircraft - photographing enemy positions
08 Fighter aircraft - knights of the sky
09 Bombers - large vulnerable aircraft
10 Airships - generally use altitude to avoid fighters

d10 Weird Air Encounter over no mans land

01 Aerial phenomena

02 Ground phenomena
03 Black Tech Infantry
04 Black tech land or sea ironclads
05 Black Tech Aircraft
06 Black Tech Airships
07 Flying monster menace
08 Supernatural menace
09 Alien menace
10 Planar menace
This will be expanded to d100 later

d100 Air Encounter over no mans land
01 Heavy rain reduces visibility increases stalling engines

02 Strong wind makes manoeuvring harder
03 Sudden electrical storm rolls across sky
04 Black clouds darken the sky
05 Fog clouds reduce visibility
06 Lightning strikes plane as storm breaks
07 Strong winds in one direction with possible changes hourly
08 Thick cloud cover from horizon to horizon at a set altitude
09 Strong updraft aids climbing
10 Sunny with clouds allowing surprise attacks
11 See distant enemy train on line
12 See enemy ammo dump exposed
13 See artillery unit being moved closed to line
14 See trucks carrying troops and supplies on muddy road
15 See artillery being pulled by horses to new position down line
16 See super heavy cannons moved on train line
17 See aircraft being moved on train line
18 See observer balloons crews setting up 
19 See distant field hospital
20 See enemy aircraft on ground
21 See build up of troops ready for offencive
22 Men fresh from homes marching to front lines 
23 See group of men looking for wounded on battlefield
24 See cavalry corp moving along lines 
25 See tanks following infantry into position
26 See new line of defencive trenches being dug
27 See a new bunker or dugout 
28 See men sneaking across lines
29 See a machine gun nest crew pinning down their enemies
30 See troops putting up mines or barbed wire
31 Hidden air batteries surprise you with fire
32 Ground troops open fire at you
33 Heavy ground fire fills air with smoke clouds
34 Illumination flares light up sky
35 AA weapons across battlefield  
36 Observer balloon with expert rifleman
37 Local fighters phoned in by observers
38 Visibility low from airbursting shells
39 Huge volume of AA fire rattles some pilots sanity
40 Flock of birds (or bats at night) strike aircraft
41 Men assaulting trench line
42 Men fighting in hand to hand in no man land
43 Men fighting moving from cover of ruins and tree trunks of former forest
44 Tanks followed by infantry
45 Men pinned down by machine gun nest
46 Men drowning in gas attack
47 Men hiding in trenches from artillery barrage 
48 Men revolting against officers and MPs
49 Force of men surrendering                                                                     
50 Men fleeing fight discarding equipment
51 Light scout plane observer will flee hostilities
52 Two seater like SE5, observer with camera and pigeons   
53 Observation balloons under attack
54 Fighters guarding Se5 with camera
55 Scout plane under attack by enemy fighter
56 Allied fighters tilt wings to salute you
57 Bombers and escorts on way to mission
58 Damaged bombers without escorts flying home and under attack
59 Inexperienced pilots being pursued by enemy
60 See allied plane going down
61 See a enemy scout plane
62 Enemy fighter with pilot distracted with taking photograph
63 An older model enemy scout aircraft alone
64 Scout with two escort fighters
65 Observation balloons guarded by AA positions
66 Two seater plane with observer
67 Three fighters but two are first time pilots ordered to flee
68 Single pilot wary who will flee 
69 Two planes wary and reluctant to fight
70 Observation balloon guarded by fighters
71 Lone lost fighter plane with amatuer pilot
72 Damaged plane limping back to lines
73 Two fighters on patrol
74 Three fighters on patrol
75 Four fighter wing on patrol
76 Six fighter planes on patrol
77 Twelve plane squadron of fighters 
78 A aerial dog fight with a d6 planes each side
79 A large aerial battle vs two squadrons 
80 Red barrons flying circus
81 Fighter plane with pilot throwing grenades and bombs
82 Fighter wing of four planes with pilot throwing grenades and bombs 
83 Squadron of 12 fighters with pilots throwing grenades and bombs
84 Flight of four bombers which have lost escort fighters
85 Flight of four bombers with four fighter escorts
86 Flight of four bombers with eight fighter escort
87  Damaged bomber limping home alone
88 Lone bomber returning home
89 Damaged flight of 1d4 bombers with battle weary d4 fighters fleeing
90 Squadron of twelve bombers and squadron of twelve fighters
91 Distant airship high above plane altitude
92 Airship dropping bombs with d4 fighter escorts
93 High altitude airships on way for long range bombing run
94 Airship dropping propaganda
95 Damaged airship desperately limping home
96 Crippled airship crashing to ground
97 Crashed airship on ground 1in6 still burning
98 AIrship guarded by wing of four fighters
99 Airship with squadron of escort fighters
100 Airship and d4 escorts in battle with 2d4 fighters

Your familiar is boring

Familiars are kinda boring just sitting about boosting your magicians powers and waiting to get smushed. These could be used for a consistent quirk for a familiar or could be re-rolled regularly.  Possibly druidic and priest pets more polite than traditional arcane ones.

d10 Quick familiar problems and subplots
01 Naughty habbits - petty mischief

02 Inter familiar problems - problems with others
03 History and bad blood - type has a reputation 
04 Strange antics - strange behaviour
05 Disgusting problems - gross stuff
06 Mischievous nuisance - obnoxious mischief 
07 Celestial convergence - odd behaviour when stars are right
08 Familiar evolution and mutation - additional strang abilities
09 Magical problems - odd magical shenanigans 
10 Planar patrons - dimensional weirdness

d100 Familiar problems and subplots
01 Likes to shit everywhere

02 Like to rub against people and things to scratch self
03 Dribbles phlegm or saliva constantly 
04 Makes irritating noises in polite company
05 Flatulent, especially if eats certain food it loves
06 Nips people who get to close to master from jealousy
07 Likes to eat or chew things left un attended  
08 Likes to lick strangers
09 Drags buttocks on ground and makes disgusting noises
10 Tries to steal favorite treats 
11 Snaps and snarls at other familiars or small critters
12 Tries to mate with other familiars or small critters
13 Always has a rivalry with at least one familiar
14 Sneaks off to cavort with other familiars when in town
15 If meets other familiars they giggle and mimic each other
16 Dislikes seeing familiars hurt and tries to save them
17 Likes to play with other familiars, cries when separated
18 Learns tricks and behaviour from other familiars or small critters
19 Longs to cuddle and kiss other familiars or small critters
20 Wants to eat familiar or small critters
21 Familiar hates certain other species and provokes them due to old grudge
22 Familiar type just like it used by unpopular regional cult 
23 Familiar type deemed old fashioned by other magicians
24 Familiar type associated with mad clan of magicians
25 Familiar reincarnation of past familiar of ancient legendary magician
26 Keeps unearthing ancient rubble and scraps of ancient civilizations
27 Keeps finding scraps from old books
28 Seems attracted to regalia and objects of past magician dynasty
29 Seems to hate regalia and objects of past magician, urinates on them
30 Familiar is uppity, likes to sit on treasure and wear jewellery
31 Keeps being caught whispering and being overly friendly to rats
32 Spies on people bathing, on toilet and lovemaking
33 Likes to lick faces of freshly deceased
34 Collects stolen trinkets and shiny things, possibly hides in masters stash
35 Likes to steal treasure maps in taverns
36 Digs holes to bury treasure
37 Mutters strange things into ears of the dead
38 Draws strange sigils with spilled blood
39 Performs strange ritual dances to the moon when camping
40 Howls at full moon and responds to other howling beasts by night
41 Likes to get drunk till vomits everywhere
42 Certain foods it likes or cause violent diarrhea 
43 Likes to bite of noses and fingers off the dead
44 Likes to hump legs of people it likes
45 Coughs up hairballs or castings or cud making a disgusting sound
46 Likes to lick feet and steal socks and undergarments
47 Likes to chew on old bones and roll in dried old corpses
48 Marks scent on doorways and trees constantly
49 Snacks on animal and monster droppings
50 Likes to gnaw on old bones especially skulls
51 Likes to chew ropes
52 Likes to collect pretty pebbles and keep in masters pack
53 Likes to sing in bestial voice when bored
54 Likes to taunt enemies as master casts spells
55 Utters obscenities at odd awkward moments
56 Writes blackmailing letters
57 Reports people to the secret police or other lawmen
58 Reports activities to a cult, temple or owners master or teacher
59 Hates children, snarls or bites or sprays on them
60 Tends to spit, spray or defecate on those it dislikes or their belongings
61 Under certain constellations familiar changes alignment temporarily
62 When stars are right opens a gate allowing something to visit our worlds
63 On rare evenings turns into a human but might keep a secret
64 Glows or sparkles when certain star or constellation ascending
65 Makes strange noises when it senses weaknesses between worlds near
66 Develops a glowing corona of power under moonlight  
68 Under certain stars air pressure increases locally causing master nosebleeds `
69 Becomes musical and dances about when star sign ascending
70 Coughs up brilliant semi precious stones every solstice  
71 Grows strange lumps and tumours as master grows in power 
72 Grows creepy tentacles as master grows in power 
73 Has a alternate animal form it can shape shift into and back once a day
74 Can breath coloured smoke rings
75 Can drink a potion storing it ready for use later
76 Has one or more horns +1 damage
77 Has wings for short flights (enhanced flight if already a flyer)
78 Can project light from eyes 30" in a 60 degree cone
79 Teleport self (1/per masters lv a day) in puff of smoke (alignment=odour)
80 Can spit fire (1/per masters lv a day) d6+1/masters lv, 3" range
81 Likes to eat semi precious gems and pearls
82 Likes to bask in magical fields and auroras 
83 Likes to lick and suck magic items
84 Becomes flatulent near unidentified magic items
85 Can shapeshift into a small child and back once a day
86 Can interbreed with normal similar size animals making odd hybrids
87 Keeps obtaining adorable little outfits from somewhere
88 Can track blood scent like a typical dog (or better if already a tracker)
89 Makes noises if opposite alignment comes within 3" of master
90 Grows long beards or long silky hair quickly which can be woven into fine fabric
91 Goes into trances and mutters, actually spirit is conversing on other planes
92 Monitored by other planar beings according to alignment
93 Disappears from time to time off duty to other plane
94 Occasionally used as mouthpiece for other planar beings
95 Can recall spirit of freshly dead to ask them a question once a day
96 Delivers notes from other plane to master occasionally  
97 Can suck masters blood for nutrient or to heal 1hp per injury
98 Can plane shift to avoid danger and return once a day
99 Brings master a  coin from plane of planar alignment patron each day
100 Will converse with planar beings of same alignment even ones in disguise

Viikings2 Ends Rome Begins

A quick recap of last two games of campaign. Rome begins next session. Have minis to prep an new character sheet. I am tempted to simplify a few things and make a extra two sheets to cover everything in play better.

Sheet one stats, derivatives like knowledge rolls and basic skill
Sheet two with HP, SAN, Magic points, location HP, armour and weapons
A sheet for equipment and loot as well as property (i occasionally use fatigue)
A sheet for magic and background info and journal records (also fixes magic to culture too)

Considering dropping missile and melee hit tables into a single table

Also Laundry Files agent book has rudimentary car rules which will make me alter my road war rules a bit.

So vikings went from iceland through the gate to Saturn. Not the real world Saturn a dreamland of saturn partly created by dreams of sorcerers like eibon long ago. So they foolishly peeked at Tsathogua's Uncle in a cave when the now mad Zothhaddr went to worship. Met the strange headless folk with chests on their heads that Zothhaddr's mother came from. Found Her father the mad Bard with Eibon and his unwilling companion and pursuer from Hyperborea aeons ago.

So they returned to Norway through the gate made by the mad bard and avoided the Bloodstar Clan who had taken the fjord village of the Stonedales and blockaded the survivors who hid in the countryside.  They sound their poor farmer kin and gathered them for a crossing through the mountains to the court of the king.

In the mountains they found good game and met a strange one eyed hunter who helped them kill a polar bear that had followed them for days. The viking who was a were wolf was increasingly unhinged and remained in were wolf form. The Hunter (who was Odin) offered to care for the wolf to save him (2 SAN left) but the wolf wanted to go on. In morning the old hunter was gone as was his hut. Several days into mountains cold got worse and a frigid storm was coming. The heroes huddled and from under the snow heard echoes of insane screeching from the wind. The shaman peeked out and cast her second sight spell. She saw striding across the sky Iquatha and was instantly mad. Her cannibalistic urges from past madness resurfaced and she longed to serve the great god.

On way beck towards the lowlands they felt a great chill. A great Frost giant came screaming about how it smelled the Stonedales and wanted revenge for it's kin that the heroes parents had killed. It was a terrible fight and most began to flee but one viking called the mists of Ralyeh down and the giant stoppe. One hero ran up and hacked at its legs and others who had begun fleeing turned and charge. Some lucky blows injured the giants leg then groin and the heroes dogpiled the giant hacking and chopping and stabbing till it was dead.

Down into civilization they travelled to the capitol and the party leader got her rich father to petition the King. The heroes met the king giving him a giant skull as a gift. The leader spoke eloquently and the king agreed. They had to await the next thing and for the enemy clan representatives to appear. The leader spent many hours in the court and got to marry a kinsman of the king. She even got to babysit the future king. She was unimpressed by missionaries from England though. When the trial came a massive lawsuit for the clan murders and loss of property was made and the Bloodstars refused to pay and were banished. They set sail but Zothhadr had put a basilisk she made on the boat and the Bloodstar clan heads were killed.

The werewolf fled to wilderness and kidnapped various people to convert to his cult. Using hid devour soul power he served the dark gods and was able to adopt transition forms and cast spells better with no hands or speech. The shaman fled to wilderness and joined Iquatha's cult and was taken to another world to serve him. The others took the surviving stonedales to Iceland and settled down to normal lives. They planned yet another raid on Greenland and Vinland to exterminate the surviving Bloodstar clan.

Rome session coming Sunday. Im going to mix several scenarios together for a campaign initially in Rome, possibly a trip around mediterranean then into Dacia, Germany then Briton. Set in reign of Nero.

Vikings 2 Campaign Updates

Just a catch up on my campaigns. I have not done full game posts much last two terms. Some readers only read them. Others complained had no game content. So was about same. Im gaming about half as much and working more mostly.

Vikings2 922AD
Almost finished this game one more session after 4 months. Band stated in hiding from inter clan war in Estonia/Rus borderlands. They explored local area and visited Novgorod. Rescued some christian missionaries from russian pagans then took the monks as slaves as parents had done before. Explored hole in ground formed by long decayed dragon and met goblins from underworld and a sorcerer. Went to find fortunes in Kiev and fought werewolves and a witch raised by Baba Yaga. Took charming companions from the witch's endless cliff cottage.

One viking had learned of werewolf secrets from Kiev. Later he accidently mixed with evil werewolves and they taught him a soul eating ritual. Learned of werewolf types, tribes and ways. He tried to use ritual on newly buried dead and failed mostly. Party did meet ghouls in many cities this way of several strains. Moved to Byzantium after a looting spree through Bulgaria. Met many sorcerers, got better armour and became skilled at mingling with christians. A few party members made Odin crucifixion necklaces that saved them lots of trouble. Over that long time two brothers slipped away. One visited a sea hag near greece and visited her claiming he was son of a night hag and kin. Many in party learning and mixing bits of cult magic and sorcery and spirit magic. One of the hag sons returned from absence with trollish size strength and ugly face. He spent a whole winder grooming self and shaving horns and tusks till he looked more passable.

Bought a longboat and got crew in Byzantium from vikings there. Eventually headed through seas near greece and sacked a monastery to sell books and slaves. Sold them in Libya then went to Rome where they spent months. Most in party new latin, greek, arabic. Went to Marce and learned Frankish and went up river to attack monastery marked by parents on map. Had to hit bridge by night killing all troops then went on to monastery where they found a Necronomicon, a immortal brotherhood with a resurrection lab and malformed things in pits. Killed cult except leader and took their ignorant follower monks to sell in Spain.

Moved on around Spain and along coast to attack a rugged cliff coast monastery. Also earmarked by parents as to be destroyed. There found cultist monks all knew mindblast spell and almost all party went mad before they drove off leader and killed most of them Cultists made bad slaves but book collections and trinkets sold well. During battle One viking gnawed off a mans head and another watched excitedly. Rest of party who found them aghast. Another went blind. The noble leader of the band was struck dumb and followed all instructions literally which poorer vikings liked.

Through Britain to the currently norwegian ruled Danelaw viking state above Saxon England. They swapped cargo load of books for land with saxon church and got some celtic serfs. In Danelaw the Norwegian king was served by party kin Stonedales so they were welcomed. King offered them more land if they swore fealty to him and the refused then left. Noble viking bought several ships and had her serfs shipped to Arabs in spain then taker her silver to Norway. Party left british islands and stopped at Viking city on tip of Ireland before raiding third monastary. There monks took many blows while praying and vikings cut them down. Questioned several and wondered for a moment if the monks were innocent or even of a allied order to their parents. But under the Celtic monastery there was a roman level then a hyperborean one. Whilst they hacked up a great bronze idol the Trollborn son saw what others could not, a horrible tentacle=eye god had oozed up well and was coming from behind. Heroes charged and defeated it and it fell on them crushing half the band. They killed all the surviving monks set burning pitch across the buildings and sailed away to Iceland.

Greeted by kin and local temples as heroes the were feasted and given best halls to stay in. One viking followed her fathers trail to a cave where his gate to saturn was hidden. Trollborn and his brother used Necromicon to call spirit of father who explained he was eaten by their night hag mom so that mystery solved. They visited her and the vindictive brother spared mom for his brothers sake and she gave them magic gifts. Others rested. One became a priestess of Njordr. Others got married over the winter.

Fimaly they were ready to sneak to Norweijian clansmen and to court of Norway to see king and have Bloodstar clan outlawed (or at least get a huge payout). Just a quick trip through Saturn.

d100 Dungeon Seals to Trap Heroes

So if your players raid a dungeon and run after a few encounters cos the wizard ran out of spells. Nobody hurt but it slows game down and is a bit less heroic to flee from a scratch. Heroes suffer, hunter or alley cut throats execute with little personal risk. No risk is not adventure it is shooting fish in a barrel. One option is every time party returns the guards increase and every encounter is more ready and monsters hide loot more or sent women and children and loot to the boss monsters brothers dungeon.

A simpler approach - seal them in and force them to survive without pit stops. they will moan but will have a much more exiting adventure.

Some of these might requirethe threat to be demonstrated possibly from a dead and plundered party.

d10
1 Disaster - mud, avalanche, snow, quake
2 Organic Barrier - slime, fungi, mould, plants
3 Deathtrap Barrier - entry is a huge trap
4 External Siege - enemies establish siege
5 Siege Defences - residents fortify front to keep out invaders
6  Monster Barrier - terrible monsters have settled in entry
7 Cursed Seal - evil magic such as undead or demons or harmful effect
8 Magical Seal - a magical barrier like force wall, fire wall, elementals
9 Weird Barrier - something truly strange keeps people away
10 Supernatural Barrier - possibly placed by gods

d100 Dungeon Seals to Trap Heroes

01 Mudslide seals entry

02 Quake collapses entry or causes rockslide
03 Snow or Ice seals entry (posibly magic)
04 Water floods entry way
05 A fire damages tunnel collapsing it
06 Volcanic fissure seals with lave
07 Poison gas flooded
08 Plague corpses scattered around entry passages
09 Accidental explosion from alchemist or wizard
10 Poor materials and maintenance bring down roof from noise
11 A horrid flesh eating lake of coloured slime takes over entry
12 A lake of fleshy protoplasm birthing tiny monsters blocks entry
13 A deadly fungus garden takes hold
14 Killer plants block entry way
15 Plague of huge d4 1=snapping turtles 2=killer frogs 3= snakes 4=lizards
16 Everything overgrown with toxic mould and contagious spores
17 Mobile shambling compost heaps have filled entry for group seasonal fermentation
18 Something horrible has laid thousands of eggs with hyper voracious flesh eating young
19 Crawling with d4 1=rot grubs 2=kyuss maggots 3=fleshbore worms 4=zombie worms
20 A swarm of giant bugs builds a nest d4  1=wasps 2=bees 3=ants 4=termites 
21 Entry way collapse when secret kobold tunnel underneath collapsed
22 Barrels of explosives with kobold suicide pyromaniacs on guard
23 Celing closes sealing entry and crushing
24 Hundreds of poison arrow or dart traps installed
25 Walls extrude spikes and close in on tunnel
26 Entry covered in flammable fuel or tar with kobold ready with a match
27 Weakened beams bringdown roof if stripline tripped
28 Concealed automated bolt throwers (possibly manned)
29 Huge boulder released which eventually blocks entrance
30 Whole corridor drops suddenly sealing entry
31 Bandits build a palisade and shoot anyone leaving
32 Military build trenches and sharpened stakes, with crossbow troops
33 Military seal entry and pump in smoke if detect anything trying to get out
34 Military set up ballista guarded by pikemen 
35 Military cavalry unit on guard charge anything leaving
36 Murder hobo gang build camp in entry and kill anything threat comes close
37 Religious order of templars with paladin hero to kill non good agents l
38 Local knight and his friends camp here to slay anything that comes out
39 Barbarian tribe come to camp so youths can someone to kill for festival
40 A nasty mercenary force come here to contain entry no questions asked
41 Monsters bury entrance under d4 1=rubble 2=dung 3=garbage 4=dirt
42 Open murder hole hatches in ceiling with boiling oil and lead ready
43 Entry thick with monsters with shield walls and pikes
44 Wicker siege sheilds cover archers ready for assault 
45 Covered in poison caltrops with archer guards
46 Kobolds brick up and if hear attempts to get through add more layers and buttresses
47 Monsters pump irritating or nausea inducing gas into entry
48 Monsters seal their end and flood entry with sewerage when intruders enter
49 Monsters stock with deadly fungus and monsters that blocks tunnel
50 Monster cavalry force occupy entry and use as stables for their awful mounts 
51 A dragon moves in to set up a lair and is keen to assert authority
52 A family of giants move in with a big cooking pot, invite visitors to dinner
53 A huge band of ogres move in and set up fortifications for magi clan leader
54 Gigantic burrowing monster semi collapsed entry and now live there
55 Gremlin colony infested in entry, hundreds then a thousand swarm from cracks in walls
56 Trappers, mimics and other camouflaged monsters infest entry
57 Giant paralysing carnivorous jelly blocks entry and is difficult to notice
58 Invisible stalkers have been left here by evil wizards for laugh 
59 A froghemoth has come here to spawn and likes tasty food coming into nest
60 A flock of wyvern's nest here, the two tailed local variety
61 Cursed glyphs inflict evil debilitating magic on any who pass
62 Undead phantoms led by non-corporeal undead arise if intruded
63 Hundreds of spirits swarm here and await bodies to possess
64 Corpses scattered around entry arise as undead that seem endless
65 A small army of wights has come seeking a new lair and will build a tomb
66 Lycanthropes come here socially and area stinks, can infect intruders with taint
67 A travelling Kaiju that travels by night has snuggled in here for a nap, can eat in sleep
68 A rare gathering of many dozens of owlbears hooting incessantly for weeks
69 A dragon couple have crept in here for violent lovemaking for a few weeks
70 A travelling monster freak show released stock here rather than let sherriff kill them
71 Magical walls of fire block passage
72 Magical Ice fills entry, possibly with trapped victims inside
73 Force wall blocks entry
74 Fire elementals guard this spot - a temporary planar node
75 Air elementals guard this spot - a temporary planar node
76 Earth elementals guard this spot - a temporary planar node
77 Water elementals guard this spot - a temporary planar node
78 A magic mirror makes evil clones of any who pass
79 Entry actually sends passers to a different time or plane one way
80 A bubbling pool of chaos here forming shoggoths and worse, guarded by demons 
81 Tunnel filled with millions of  screeching rats swarming into impossible shapes
82 Undead mammoths migrated here from local tar pit, hate two legged freaks
83 Hundreds of goblins orcs and other species fused into a disgusting living lake of flesh
84 Blocked by hundreds of tons of candy, cake and other sweets, giant ants attracted
85 Blocked by fused bones of hundreds of skeletons animated by mad necromancer
86 Modrons have a foothold base, local intruders to be put in stasis boxes for a aeon
87 Silver knights of gith come to test mortals psionics, kill enemies and build a outpost
88 Serpent men came and filled full of explosive runes and magic traps
89 Special force troops scouting from other dimension awaiting extraction 
90 Flooded with blood that acts as unholy water that cancels recently used magic healing
91 A local petty god guards entrance for a short stay
92 Minor elder god has awoken and uses this as lair and flophouse for cult pilgrims
93 A minion of a god has been sent to keep any from passing
94 A portal to hell has opened with devil guards and a burning hellscape
95 A demigod hero camps here challenging all comers, if defeated their parent notices
96 A saint with a travelling shrine, only converts may pass, violence is impossible
97 A fabulous divine beast will only let pass those who accept it's quest or puzzle
98 A angel with burning sword and eyes guards here "I dunno why, nothing personal"
99 A monster god has appeared and monsters from many dungeons come to see
100 A mighty god watches and will block passage, destroying those who dont get hint

Great Weird War Play Recap and Con Report

So second at con day and two good sessions plus dinner and a chat with a few friends. Two players said they wanted to play regular game. Interesting scale of challenge not in most settings. Monster hunting in no mans land has got to be worst job. More on that below.

I'm gonna do Sydcon and Eyecon next year - both want top20 type games so Cthulhu being the bacon of Roleplaying and BRP will keep doing that. Possibly will be a little less gonzo. I think i will do day break in middle on three day cons - perhaps try to play some stuff. Newcastle Newcon next year and we get to have food and beer in RSL venue. and play TSR Marvel Super Heroes Avengers vs Masters of Evil battle royale there I hope. Bezerka Con i did some mascots for and will have my kids dungeon exploring octopi colouring in book. I reacon i will do a cardboard  monster making workshop and I could make some swords and sheilds and armour if I get carried away. Will do a Intro to Fantasy Roleplaying with blue holome as people can get a lot of good intro play for free using it. I recommend Osric also for kids. That gives me 3 sessions so might do BRP roadwar for two in day for public and then do a Cthulhu Wars or Mars Attacks game for one evening. I can have a self serve art table set up too.

So my Oh What a  lovely war game after a day of rest went well. Minimised gonzo a bit and went more for horror of war and less dimensional monster cults. I think if you stick to one main boss monster type some minions and possibly a rival boss monster and minions works best. Idea of monster factions battling in no-mans land and possibly using human pawns in war works well. I forgot to have Herbert West appear as a doctor in hospital.

Fourth Mission Team
Included Declan who has been a regular in my games and claims my stuff to be like nothing else which is kind. Went straight for Aircraft by night option and Had four SE5 two seaters swarmed by Von Richthofen. A few saw their planes torn to shreds by vampires in monster bat forms with machineguns and german  medals strapped on (read Bloody Red Barron and everything by Kim Newman). So most crashed and only two pilots lived and most of men injured on German side of river. Captain determined would go into ruins as on way to Brit lines. Crept over the trash heaps and rubble on the fringe and sneakiest forward scouts got shot at. Every one dropped and looked about. Guy with lewis gun saw a periscope from a free stump and fired at it. Killed observer and sniper fled as men chased and killed him.

Went further into better ruins, then after rest and first aid they moved towards the weird lights they had seen first as briefing images then again from biplane view. Caught a old man in ruins in a trench coat and chased him. His limping gait was slow and unsteady and as they chased up a garbage heap. Before grabbing them he manipulated a metallic lump spraying them all with freezing white fog. They shot him dead, noting lack of blood and refusal to take hand from pocket. Medic was repulsed by old mans loose skin and didnt want to get close. Looked at hidden hand to see a lobster like claw. All a bit shocked. Closer look found saggy flesh had been torn off arm revealing revolting alien limb. Removed the skin and released corpse of mi-go from skin. Wrapped decaying mass in sack.

Found tank tracks of a small french 2 man Renault tank and followed carefully. While was French design many had been taken by Germans.  Sure enough saw four germans. Two guards, a Lieutenant and a mechanic at work. As they got close crawling on bellies hear guards argue if the heard a noise. So closest man threw a grenade andrest opened fire with salvaged lewis guns. Guards fell and mechanic took cover and was captured. Wounded officer crawled in tank but a hero threw in a mills bomb killing the leader. Fixed the tank enough to drive after building a improvised seat and controls. Came to river banks and got tank stuck. Several troops went looking in night mist for a beam to help get out of mud. Were surrounded by undead german soldiers and had to destroy them. Took some heads as samples and bodies full of fine wire and strange metallic organic lumps occasionally wired in. Had things in common with implants in Mi-go.

Found a newly opened sinkhole into grotto found calcified monk holding a book. Of course they smashed it and took the crumbling damaged book with diagrams of mi-go, zombies and their implants. Met Napoleonic zombies in long lost catacombs but collapsed the tunnel and returned to surface.

Finally got to head home and mi-go implant started chirping. It was a communicator or sensor alarm or something. Air pressure increased. Men a bit wary. A few got ears pop, one man lost hearing and blood came out of ears. One man spontaneously burst into flames but they put him out. Air pressure got worst. A draconic being formed in the air - a body made by a liogorr from overspace to torment humans. Several men freaked, one fled and threw a grenade. Others opened fire with machineguns and the Tank charged it at a whopping 16mph. The first gunner to shoot got swollowed up but the draconic body was no match for automatic weapons and collapsed into ectoplasm. The tank finaly arived and the grenaide went off under it causing little damage. Men drove to own lines and were safe. Several sent home to Britain due to sanity and injuries.

These guys were a fun group.

Fifth Mission Team
Next team all privates under a single captain were keen to use tunnels by night to get close to mission zone. Met sappers and unsympathetically ignored superstitions and fears of men. Came into underground canal then found a grate in tunnel roof to ceiling grate to get to surface. Came out in ruins near river bed and quickly spotted german machine gun nest watching bridge. A NPC sapper man tried to sneak close and use a grenaide which bounced off wall and killed him. Lewis gunner and sniper drove back machine gunner killing a cre member while others charged across and killed germans up close. Stole their superior gas masks when they saw men had gas unit badges. A prisoner revealed germans were getting similar weird reports over area so sent gas squads in to kill everything. Captain executed prisoner and they took some spare uniforms for possible subterfuge and throwing corpses and maxim gun into river bed, Found a brit soldier half drowned in mud filled crater and saved him. He got to replaace guy killed by grenade. Crept about quietly and killed retreating germans setting off gas and shut off cylinders.

So with Germans gonee they searched area and found a crypt with signs of door having being recently smashed open then closed. Up close heard chewing and gnawing sounds like a dog. Opened door to see crazed blood covered frenchman gnawing on dead germans leg so they shot him. Tunnel led down to old catacombs and found more recent tunnel connecting to ancient coal mine then followed new tunnel into mental hospital basement. Found sounds of machinery and harmonic buzz that caused several to have headaches and several to hallucinate. Captain heard wet sloshing and slopping noises seemingly from walls. Another heard beautiful music and saw golden light. Into hospital morgue and lobotomy room found signs of lab with notes on something called a resonator, a disected lamprey thing and dissected brains in jars and pineal glands. Signs that French had started lab pre war but german science division had continued work here till very recently. Into the generator resonator aparatus they found legs of a german scientist from waste down in a pool of slime. A few weird jellyfish things and a lampey thing the Capatain saw became visible to everyone and attcked. Nasty things were killed and taken in sample bags. Turned off resonator but those hallucinations were too far gone and still felt weird. Lab was looted and remains destroyed.

As left Captain heard voices. A german offered him power of a god so he told men to go ahead. One man was suspicious and spied on captain. The german scientist was naked from the waste down with bright pink featureless ectoplasm covered legs. As he and captain debated and spoke of meaninglessness of war and humanity tentacles attacked captain. The trooper spying fired and saw Captain throw his clue satchel at rest of men as he pulled four pins on grenades. A trooper grabbed the bag and all fled. They all heard singing and saw light and a trooper vanished. The captain was devoured and shortly after exploded. Men Returned home with only one fit for duty while rest sent to mental hospitals.

The captain was in the other dimension of beyond and spent forever a plastic fleshy horror eternally battling the german scientist. The other missing soldier had met the Angel of Mons and been taken to a dreamland reality of eternal rest. My friend Conan who played captain sure knows how to work a con one shot for spectacular endings.

So my mix of adlibbing and stealing on fly from mythos fiction and game adventures formula worked well. The second group threw me a bit with player vs player and arguments and i didnt stick to formula. I was too kid with sanity and let them off lots of gore related losses. Should have had some summoned horror appear at climax. Possibly i needed a massive bathroom break towards the end. I will be a bit stricter on my formulas next time.

Good to play with and meet people I had not seen a while. Slimming down of con games resulted in every game running but Im sad they are narrowing focus so "popular games". As Ive learned of late people like safe bets. I am tempted by a few games myself but more to whimsical and weird.

Great Weird War test play and terrain table

So from playtest i can run this several ways.using my tables
A gonzo weird shoot em up or gritty horror
Also factors for a one off into the weird zone in no mans land or as start of a campaign

For a one off or grittier game:
Haunted phenomena good to use as red herrings or bait
Rolled monsters should be linked or related - avoid too many monsters syndromes
Be more willing to re-interpret tables to give adventure focus or change result if needed
Monsters and SAN losses should be high d20 is a good threat level with some d6-d10 minions
Use more horror type results and bunp other genre stuff like sf or mystery men

For a longer weirder game:
Works well for veteran players who know all the  monsters and is a bit jaded
For players who always wanted to have tommy guns, BAR or lewis guns which respectable keepers contrive reasons you couldn't have one
Live with incongruent elements in the zone tables
Will eventually be swallowed up or go on to be awesome pulp action heroes around the world
Impact of zome as a time space mythos planar hotspot

Fun for the Keeper:
Players have machine guns and 7 second fuse grenades and monsters are wrestling with party members all the time, mayhem ensues
Compasses go crazy in the zone a good sign weird phenomena occurring.

d10 Quick NoMans land terrain
1 Barbed Wire - difficult passage d10 roll for how thick
2 Ruins - mostly foundations and bits of wall and rubble
3 Debris Mounds - heaps of rubble, wagon wheels, mashed barbed wire, tree trunks
4 Dead Forest - trunks, logs, with mud and debris
5 Crater Field - fields of blasted earth, unexploded shells, mounds of earth and mud
6 Mud Field - slippery with treacherous quicksand bogs 1in10 with wooden walkways
7 Flooded Field - inches of water over mud, flooded craters and abandoned trenches
8 Mine Field - land mines and other booby traps like grenades with trip lines
9 Open Field - mud covered but flat ground highly visible to enemy
10 Broken ground - earth churned up and broken by shellfire, rough but offers lots of cover

Difficult Terrain can roll how difficult obstacles are
"1" would be some paths blocked and easily traversed "10" solid impassible or very dangerous
An artillery barrage might help get through (navigate or artillery roll and a messenger pigeon)

A hexcrawl like this plus other tables will be used
i might try and make graphics for each type

d100 Air Encounters
d100 Weird Aerial Encounters

So first three groups I ran

First group played well together and scenario and exploration underground worked well.
They chose to enter ruins in the zone via sapper tunnels into drains under town
Hung out with men, questioned them about ghosts and strange stuff and got to know some men
Morning set off found lonley swweating young tunnel guard who said he had heard a dog or something in dark. Men went down tunnel and found a pre-war burried tunnel entry. Crawled into a complex of basements linked by crawl ways with a french communist printing press making german and english pamphlets. Shot Frenchies and Sappers happily looted grease, food, the press and other stuff. Heroes went on with two sappers and came into basement of a mental hospital. Found it was sealed under rubble but found a giant rat hole. Tempted to return and blame all phenomena on communists but went into pit.

They came into maze of mud and root mass and battled french line of the Boucher family as mutant midget rat people. When Ygolnac grabbed a player guy behing him with Tommy guy did 90 points of damage through the held man obliterating him and making monster god fall. As all ran one player driven mad chased them with two live mills bombs. Others shot his legs and found he wouldn't drop grenades. So thought about spending 2-3 seconds cutting of his hands but they all ran back to base with lots of intell. Fun Group. Two dead

Next group had a bit of player vs player with one person a bit frustrated, a few nice girls who got a bit talked over and a guy who argued petty rules and military history. The did cooperate fairly well in combat and went up to town ruins by tunnel the surfaced. Found some drums of toxic waste, Killed some germans. Found a unconscious tommy in a mud pit and explored a sink hole where was a part derro boy was living with prisoners, dead animals and a broken hate ray that players repaired but luckily guy who turned on was only one to resist and shit down. Sfredded machine, captured dwarf and went home. I should have had a bigger threat reallt to climax it all - all survived and brought back prisoners uniting french families. Did recover evil book and letters from Dr who had been guardian of the midget boy monster. Way too happy really.

The third team chose to fly over to observe it at dawn (if they went at night monsters would have downed them. So in three SE5 two seater planes (secons is observer gunner). Got shot down and lived. Late player arived and i unkilled a pilot then player swapped character with another. Managed to damage two attackers and shoot down one. So now the four men in no mans land with two lewis guns working. They decided to check out ruined town as so close rather than return to own lines. Saw some germans laying mines and killed them and took their weapons and went deeper into ruins. Rested due to hunger, fatigue and wounds and heard germans. So crept out to fing gasmasked troops commanded by officers burying time release cylinders of what party though was gas. Shot them all and found officers were medical doctors officers with secret papers. Found one not dead so party put on respirators and removed mans mask and tested the yellow gas on him. Turned out to be a super virulent plague.

They returned to hide out and rested and looked through german plans. Guard saw a white figure in distance towards evening and they investigated. Captain saw a bit of figure and they tried to surround it in ruined area. On soldier realised it was tight next to him around corner and tried to punch the lumpy white fleshed thing. A spongy rotten bloated humanoid which struck back. Rest charged and shot it finding bullets not very effective.  Eventually one punched it over and everyone fled with a mills bomb near by. Exploded into white dust cloud and a few chunks party collected. Looked around and found wghat it was doing. Scribed a yellow sign, the full activated enchanted kind that destroys sanity and curses viewers to be attacked by monsters. So most shaken and another really cursed and developed six phobias including the dead, fungus, gas, germs to name a few. Captain photographed wall then they blew it up. Returned lines went to paris to report. They were grilled by officers, decontaminated and questioned by doctors. After a few of boys went to brothel as advised by officer, found it was actually full of german spies which led to arrests. Back at base men in darkroom had gone mad looking at yellow sign. Was some kind of fight and everything was locked down. Some talk of this as a weapon that could be dropped on enemy lines.

As has time went back into the zone after recovering. Found a collapsed tunnel with german and english sappers fighting over it and helped the tommies. Got into some mess with serpent men who had awakened from shelling and killed a dinosaur. This group were fun and got lots done. The king in yellow gas/plague thing was fun. Also if was campaign would get Hastur Undead growing in HQ morgue and ripples of SAN losses from data brought in by team.

Have day of tonight from con but slept through time to goto zine fair but get a day laying about resting. Will do some prep tonight to improve mondays three sessions.

Having a roadwar game at club at six pm and a bit of upcomming rome character generation.

kid holiday zombie war

So i wa messing about with kids i made a simple war game months back - this time we made zombies vs army game. I was zombie vs 3 boys who eventually after my initial luck spree got to use their movement and range to win. Next time i get a din0saur or more spawning rolls. Still was good for an hour of play

kill a zombie roll roll a 6
kill a soldier roll 3+
4shoot range 5 or throw grenade 3
+2 range if on building roof
army move 3 zombies move 1

zombie starts with 1/2 as many in number
but spawn on a roll of 6 after every army player moves and place next to any army piece. If a zombie gets a kill victim reswpans as zombie

needs a bit of tweeking but fun.

WW1 Kit for Into no mans land

Prepping for local Sydney convention. Im focusing on commonwealth and german kit for current game but will try and get French, Russian and Austrian later. WW1 minis include croatian, Canadians, ANZAC (Australia and new zealand), colonial troops, african colonial forces and many more. I have two brit tanks, two french and a german. I have some bases to stick on. I have a few fighter planes. Players will get choice of entering the zone from the air or from ground infantry or tank or underground with sappers. Hmm might need a quick air encounter chart or two but i do have TSR Dawn Patrol game. 

Commonwealth kit I need as the Experimental Operations Command is British in this period. Covers commonwealth nations but canadians did have a lame rifle for a period. American doughboys gave up the boy scout hats and adopted lots of Tommy kit.




1916 private soldier, Battle of the Somme (above)


1 Hob nail boots
2 Puttees (for binding trousers around lower legs)
3 Socks
4 Shirt and vest
5 Gas mask container
6 Gas mask
7 Non Commissioned ranks hat
8 Notebook and service warrant card
9 Battledress tunic – note stripes on sleeve denote rank
10 Mess tins
11 Tin opener and can of food, appears to be tinned stewed apple
12 Oxo cubes
13 Bar of chocolate
14 Bar of soap
15 Water flask
16 Belt
17 Leather belt with leather pouches for kit
18 Haversack
19 Longjohn under garments, battledress trousers and braces
20 Boot polish and two brushes
21 Blankets
22 Dog tags – imprinted with name, rank and service number
23 Trench club – for breaking heavy ground for trenching into and for fighting the enemy at close quarters
24 Entrenching tool handle; often the handle was customised with lumps of metal and made into a trench club
25 Leather pouch for entrenching tool
26 Field dressing
27 Cigarettes and matches
28 Mess kit containing knife, fork spoon, shaving brush, soap and brass button polisher (slid underneath battledress button to protect BD from polish)
29 Polish
30 Razor
31 Gun oil
32 Cloth for pull-through for cleaning barrels internally
33 Bullet
34 Ammunition belt, with five pouches of five rounds
35 Penknife and pull through cord
36 Entrenching tool spade; sometimes soldiers sharpened the edges of the spade and used these to fight
37 Lee Enfield 303 bolt action rifle. It was developed at the beginning of the twentieth century as an attempt to create a standard rifle for both the infantry and soldiers on horseback. As it turned out it was ideally suited to conditions in the trenches – it wasn’t good at firing over long distances, but was really robust and could stand up to the mud. It was still used right up into the 1950s. 5 shots.
38 Bayonet – to be attached to fore end of rifle
39 Helmet – with cover 6AP
40 Fob watch, personal effects. Officers tended to have pocket watches more so than infantry soldiers
41 Coins – possibly local francs or similar, personal effects
42 Scabbard for bayonet, worn on leather belt around waist over hip
43 5 round ammunition clips – ready to load magazine of 303 rifle - enough for 75shots cavalry getting 90 shots

There were two breast pockets for personal items and the soldier's AB64 Pay Book, two smaller pockets for other items, and an internal pocket sewn under the right flap of the lower tunic where the First Field Dressing was kept. Leather was used for training outfits but were deployed often while most were supposed to use webbing.

32kg or 70 pounds weight making most users operate fatigued

Officers use a Webley .44 revolver

Lewis Machine gun
The British officially adopted the Lewis machine gun in .303 calibre for Land and Aircraft use in October 1915. Despite costing more than a Vickers gun to manufacture (the cost of a Lewis Gun in 1915 was £165, and the Vickers cost about £100), Lewis machine-guns were in high demand with the British military during World War I. The Lewis also had the advantage of being about 80% faster (in both time and component parts) to build than the Vickers gun (and was a lot more portable). They were nearly ubiquitous on the Western Front, outnumbering the Vickers gun by a ratio of about 3:1.

The Lewis Gun utilised two different drum magazines, one holding 47 and the other 97 rounds of ammunition and had a rate of fire of 500 to 600 rounds per minute. The gun weighed 28 pounds (13 kg), only about half as much as a typical medium machine gun of the era, such as the Vickers machine gun, and was chosen in part because, being more portable than a heavy machine gun (such as the Vickers), it could be carried and used by a single soldier. Used for anti aircraft and on aircraft,

Mills Bomb
First modern british fragmentation grenade for defensive purposes. 7sec fuse early ones replaced by 4 second fuses during ww2. The British Home Guard were instructed that the throwing range of was about 30 yards with a danger area of about 100 yds. Rod type ifle grenade version appears 1917 with a range of 150m but they ware rifle out. Weight

Will try to crank out air tables and character sheet tonight,