tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38296612318617714952024-02-19T07:17:57.372-08:00Murder Hobo RehabBig Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-48360526323863426612019-07-22T23:25:00.000-07:002019-07-22T23:25:26.711-07:00Quayan Warm Hills - Post Mage War. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Quayan Hills Re-Write</h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Quaya is one of the central regions of the continent. I have a pair of old posts <a href="https://murderhobo-rehab.blogspot.com/2018/05/quaya-part-1-warm-hills.html" target="_blank">HERE</a> and <a href="https://murderhobo-rehab.blogspot.com/2018/05/quaya-part-2-trystero-and-salendar.html" target="_blank">HERE</a> about the warm hills of Quaya, but those are Pre-Mage War<span style="background-color: white;">™</span><span style="background-color: white;"> and not exactly... "current" </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For starters I'll list a few TLDR points of the region before the war ravaged through the area. And then go into detail about the changes to the region and list a few of the well known Points of Interest. </span></span></div>
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<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Dwarven Common Grace, a half dozen villages of hill dwarves who are essentially Dwarven Calvinists.</b> Know to worship a god of labor and humility which they dubbed Armok, God of Sweat and Blood.<br /></span></span></li>
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<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Goblin Encampment of Thanorek</b> was one of the least powerful goblin encampments in terms of its ability to wage war, but it is widely regarded as a place of pleasure and excess where those with the coin can purchase all manner of intoxicants and carnal experiences.<br /></span></span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Trystero, the City Which Never Thirsts </b></span> was surrounded by fragrant fields of hops and wheat grow alongside ginger root beds and raspberry vines which grew along the warm hillsides past the west wall of the city, the eastern wall protected the Royal Trysteran Citrus Grove, a sprawling grove with over 15 varieties of citrus trees.<br /></span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: white;">Salendar the city of chimes </b><span style="background-color: white;">was </span>known for it's uncountable chimes. Homeless children built chimes of broken glass and junk string, while the richest nobles and merchants build massive chimes from entire buildings. The chimes are all dedicated to the wind spirits who call Salendar home. Salendar is led by a council of sages who commune with the clouds through an esoteric practice which is half yoga half cloud watching</span>. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh12uBNCRgTKTGjbldxJluZa4EDKj5Eh7PTyHa5HagF5J3RcHIOi_s_4WszkGLyNfytNm89Ju-ZEry9cJfrBvmxMOp5PFa1RSiRm712Dq5HlYRGfoTO5Ap4Q7tNB55uG0vOPf5W0OUi1Kd5/s1600/konstantinos-skenteridis-hope-kingkostas2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="1600" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh12uBNCRgTKTGjbldxJluZa4EDKj5Eh7PTyHa5HagF5J3RcHIOi_s_4WszkGLyNfytNm89Ju-ZEry9cJfrBvmxMOp5PFa1RSiRm712Dq5HlYRGfoTO5Ap4Q7tNB55uG0vOPf5W0OUi1Kd5/s400/konstantinos-skenteridis-hope-kingkostas2018.jpg" width="400" /></a></li>
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The spark which ignited the mage war began in Trystero. A meteor of unknown magical origin crashed into the tower of the Lenguamancers in Trystero. In it's wake well over half of the city was reduced to a crater. The survivors clung to life in the rubble of their once grand city. Even now the city is mostly slums and shanty towns. The regional offices of the Black Guard are located at the edge of the crater, which they use as a poignant backdrop for their various anti-mage speeches and recruitment drives. The once well maintained and treasured orchards of Trystero are now a monkeyrat infested thicket of fruit trees. Being a fruit harvester is a high risk but well payed job these days.<br /><br />When the war came the Dwarven Common Grace were caught unprepared. Their militias armed with little more than repurposed farming implements and leathers. Their fields burned around them as they fled before mage fire and sword. Few lived to become refugees, fewer still survived holed up in their hillside dwellings. Rumors swirl that some of these hold outs resorted to cannibalism, (an addictive practice which leads to madness and eventually renders one into a ghoul as the weight of their sins slowly chews away at the soul) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /><br />Millstone, the largest town of the Common Grace was destroyed. It's great millstone lies cracked in half where the mill was burned down around it. The dwarves hills were ravaged by magic during the war, earth churned into unnatural formations, blights and the lingering effects of dark magic leeching the soil etc. </div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Much of the region has been reclaimed by the Church of the Plow but many are still deemed too dangerous to venture near. Thanorek is one such place. Though most goblin encampments are <span style="background-color: white;">While most goblin hordes move from place to place the Thanorek encampment, is more permanent having been built around The Brazier; a fire pit made of rune-etched iron in which an efreeti was bound by magic. During the war it was freed (no one is sure how or why) and burned the entire encampment to the ground in a gleeful massacre of revenge. Now it slumbers in the ruins of Thanorek, surrounded by soot spirits and minor fire elementals. Few who wander close live to tell of it, but those who do have reported that the soot spirits appear to be building...</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Salendar has remained relatively untouched. The Diviners college relocated to the city shortly after the war began and though the war raged on outside of the cliff side city none bothered to </span>besiege<span style="font-family: inherit;"> or destroy it. Now it stands as a bastion of old magic in a dark world. Salendar is the only major city in the region to refuse any entrance to the Black Guards and has become a sanctuary for refugees of various stripes. </span></span></div>
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-16569357203402030492019-03-09T10:14:00.002-08:002019-03-09T10:50:10.919-08:00The Crepuscolare Tribe <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGpcnT50qfvGkPTQE4fuxQsROdIMf3C0uTMvAF1ihS1Q6yI4NwTq7-4FNBeCAeB6Cz30xlE4vB9Z-SnMlzOmOca5QXDP1SBXPhkPYAa4p_EFqQJqW8dutFe4BNW947Giu9XVJnpDzPwdgl/s1600/1cddcf6a82e8af7e2e72124a68d496f2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1130" data-original-width="820" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGpcnT50qfvGkPTQE4fuxQsROdIMf3C0uTMvAF1ihS1Q6yI4NwTq7-4FNBeCAeB6Cz30xlE4vB9Z-SnMlzOmOca5QXDP1SBXPhkPYAa4p_EFqQJqW8dutFe4BNW947Giu9XVJnpDzPwdgl/s320/1cddcf6a82e8af7e2e72124a68d496f2.png" width="232" /></a>The Crepuscolare, a name which roughly translates as "Tribe of the Twilight Storm" are a tribe of nomadic halfling "barbarians" whose home territory extends across much of the Grey Mountain range. These nomads travel South each year to worship their nameless storm god under the powerful storms which form when the sea winds get caught in the southern most cliffs of the mountain range. A common coming of age ceremony for young Crepuscolae warriors is to stand atop a cliff and scream their rage at the storm in hopes that it hears them and rages back. Being struck by lightning is considered a great honor among the tribes people and a sign of divine blessing. Only those who have been blessed by lightning may become shamans and bear the mantle of leadership. (Scholars note that this shamanic order does not appear to have any policies regarding gender, and that the Crepuscolare don't seem to favor one over the other in the role, however it is noted that the role seems to involve quite a few tasks which Quayan society would consider "Matriarchal Duties" which are performed by the shamanic order. More research has been planned but never carried out)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmI5lkTqX0pK4pGGoSBaRmixPAoeRjRt0TciRszauN3M-eYLguvoDQrSbCMHlHQOVMHbisPzLnBX3MzU71lWA1hv6BRWTetBz0YbxqfjT701TYvfX87w_lLGceoWvMsf7vg_lR137QVNSK/s1600/5a5f310377bbb047f80ddec643835425.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmI5lkTqX0pK4pGGoSBaRmixPAoeRjRt0TciRszauN3M-eYLguvoDQrSbCMHlHQOVMHbisPzLnBX3MzU71lWA1hv6BRWTetBz0YbxqfjT701TYvfX87w_lLGceoWvMsf7vg_lR137QVNSK/s320/5a5f310377bbb047f80ddec643835425.jpg" width="175" /></a>Every 20 years or so there is a massive week long nonstop storm that rages through the Grey Mountains. While it <i>is</i> dangerous it is said that the rains wash away the psychological debris that builds up around sentient creatures. In essence the storm clears away the latent negative energies that human (and demi human) emotion leaves in the space between the Material Plane and the Spiritual World. <br />
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The Crepuscolare myths about this storm tell of grave outcomes if the storm does not rage through the region. This is the primary sacred duty of the shamanic order, ensuring that the Storm of Cleansing rages hard enough, and long enough to cleanse the mountains while also protecting their people from the storm and leading emotional cleansing rituals to help their kin release pent up negative emotions through a great week long festival of wardancing, feasts, and music. Whole tribes play concerts to the storm, dozens of rain sticks shaken by children and old folk alike, great drums boom out in response to each clap of thunder, wood flutes harmonizing with the whistling wind. It is through these rituals and the story tellers who speak at these great concerts (often as many as 100 halflings can be involved in major gatherings) that the histories of the tribe is passed along.<br />
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It is believed that if the Storm of Cleansing does not rage for at least 6 nights then the mountains will begin to twist under the weight of the negative emotional baggage, growing aggressive and dark. Trees that have stood a hundred years will grow a hatred for sapience overnight (the process takes weeks, but it feels like overnight to a tree) Creatures grow wicked and cruel while the folks who live in the mountains are wracked with deep anxiety. It is also believed that if the storm rages for exactly 13 nights then the people of the mountains must follow the storm where they will confront a grave threat to their continued existence. This was exploited 7 cycles (about 150 years) ago by an unknown mage who rallied the tribes against the nearby city of Salendar where they laid seige to the city with storm magic and were eventually driven away (at great loss of life and mutual loathing) by a group of adventurers leading the town militia on a counter attack. Both the tribes folk and the people of Salendar carry lingering resentment about this event.<br />
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-74388378872048388862019-01-25T02:48:00.000-08:002019-01-25T02:48:44.677-08:00Agate Town<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Agate Town </h3>
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Named for the old vein of robust orange and red agate which lays beneath the rock of the harbor, Agate Town trades primarily in giant oysters and hardstone crafts, typically cut from agate, tho the craftsmen of the town are capable of creating practical and art objects from other semi-precious stones (jade, onyx<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">, </span>jasper<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">, </span>serpentine<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">, etc</span>)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">
The bay is deep enough for all but the largest types of sea going vessels and acts as one of the two major ports of Quaya. Because of the large sea walls and placid bay currents Agate Town is a preferred port for sailors seeking shelter from storms and is more active during the summer when the pass through the mountains allow trade caravans to carry goods directly to and from the Capital (Salendar) while the <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tsankupi </span></span>river is often too low for anything heavier or deeper than a barge in Summer. During the winter months, it's little more than a stopping point before Travelers make the journey to Falador.<br /><br /></div>
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<br />The docks are old here, creaking planks, slick with brine. Inexperienced sailors have been known to slip and fall into the harbor. Massive clams, sometimes 3 feet across can be found in the sands and tide pools nearby, and one of the major exports of the town, besides its name sake, is oyster meat. Despite it's age, the town is not the first or only settlement in this place, and the ancient aquatic denizens of this place are deeply resentful of the humanoid encroachment on their traditional home. </div>
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<br />Oyster Folk: The Ostreidae</h3>
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The Ostreidae (Oh-Stray-Dye) are thick stone like shelled folk with squishy grey flesh and mucous within their thick armored shells. While well armored they peek from a opening in their shell but will seal themselves if threatened. Some have bristly hair like cilia that move tiny marine plankton into their mouths. Tho their bodies and faces are heavily armored, while using their thick muscular limbs they have to extend them outside their shells to act as arms and legs. Some have quite colorful flesh but most are a green-grey, scholars have yet to understand what causes these color differences, tho some claim that it distinguishes royalty while others say it's a religious or even warrior caste differentiation. </div>
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Typically shy and peaceful humans have killed the Ostreidae for millennia as food, for pearls or to harvest their shells. Oyster folk are wary and suspicious, especially of humans and will often retreat within their shells at the first sign of a human and hope to be left alone. Humans often kill and eat their children unaware they are in fact humanoid and intelligent. The Ostreidae have often aided other marine races in their wars against humans as they are easily convinced of the dangers of the hairless ape menace. They often dwell in reef villages living simple lives in coral huts, gathering small crustaceans and cultivating seaweed farms. They are larger than their tiny kin mollusk kin and need more substantial food. But they will often wallow in rock pools, filter feeding if they cant do better. Oyster folk who get trapped in tidal pools who can't escape on the next high tide often starve to death. </div>
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They can be hard to see among marine rocks, as many have barnacles and weed or algae growing on them. Occasionally some are able to get along with humans but they are melancholic curmudgeons. They often use shells of fallen kin as shields or to make weapons. These are brittle but sharp and might incorporate driftwood hafts. Such weapons also blend with marine matter on coasts. </div>
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Gunther Grubson the Dock Manager; </div>
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An old man with a bitter temper and a grumpy attitude. His vision has degraded badly in his old age and he can no longer read. He will often tack additional "taxes" onto the mooring fees of people who irritate him. His beloved daughter Mia is the only person who can reason with him. </div>
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Mia Grubs;</div>
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Mia is a caring woman in her late 20s with long blonde hair, who tends to take things at face value. She works the docks as her fathers assistant, but is also the local message and mail office. She secretly worships Simurgh, the Queen of Birds, who is Thirty Birds, keeping a small shrine at the end of the docks where she frequently feeds the seagulls and ravens which roost in the cliffs. </div>
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Analeth the 'Retired' Slaver;</div>
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A half elf with sun burnt skin and red hair. He acts tough but is quite cowardly in the end. He keeps a number of ruffians and dockhands well payed to act as his personal muscle. Quaya outlawed slavery near the end of the last mage wars around 60 years ago, and Analeth claims to have retired since then. </div>
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Benevolence Drake, Bodyguard and Cutthroat; </div>
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Benevolence is a woman in her mid 30s and the head of Analeths security detail and is seldom seen without her signature bronze pointed spear. She has short cropped black hair that's shaved on the left side and harsh green eyes. Her white skin is marred with visible scars and her tall and muscular build is intimidating to most, even from a distance, but she has a soft and attractive face. She quietly worships Istishia, Goddess of water, purification, and destiny and can often be seen praying near tide pools or on the sea cliffs. </div>
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Saranel Caresta, Elven Captain;</div>
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Captain Caresta is, or at least claims to be, nearly 200 years old. He claims to have repaired his ship so often in it's near 100 years of service that not one nail or board of the original vessel remains. Lately however, he's been hesitant to go out to sea. His crew have all left for other ships and he sits in the local tavern drinking wine and telling boisterous stories of his adventures on the high seas. Whenever pressed about his plans for the future he grows moody and sour. His ship still sits in the bay, and he pays Gunther weekly, each week claiming he'll be gone again come Friday. It's been 6 months now. </div>
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Atub Wolfripper, Orcish Sea Witch; </div>
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Atub is an old orc, though no one is certain how old. She lives alone at the edge of town and bothers the townsfolk for little. Instead preferring to forage, even in her old age, for what supplies she may need. She's a clever old woman and the townsfolk claim she's some sort of orcish sea witch. She speaks to the ocean at length, or at least, speaks to it more than she speaks to any of the townsfolk. They often seek her advice when they're at the end of their rope, hoping for some form of magical aid no doubt, but she usually turns them down. The few she has helped will speak nothing of it. </div>
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-21445034937556668222018-10-01T22:38:00.000-07:002018-10-02T00:27:08.857-07:00Session One, A Scene at The Crossroads<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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THE CAST SO FAR- </h4>
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<b>Viserial - </b>Viserial was the chosen of a deity, or so he thought, or perhaps it just wasn't the deity he had thought it was, wished perhaps. He'd spent a lifetime in that darkness, but he had lifetimes to spare. He had found ways to harness the darkness that pressed in around him, it gave him a cloak to hide beneath, and the means to find his way back to the surface, but Viserial could feel the pull of destiny still upon him, and it's touch was chilling. He fled from anything that had the smallest whiff of fate upon it, like Jonah in the whale, hiding from... well their name didn't really matter.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtWioiCrlEnUf0kHMvtD9p6XqDkDGCA-O2joulPoAo6WidM4dMhVPlWEa3vDfnwy4LUIYT52yVRGUY4w0fsAItQwfKgBGezCMoZ_hl7clnvzPoTbHb8QKQpYUqo_NxRUMXa6gihbf8Gi2M/s1600/297.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="680" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtWioiCrlEnUf0kHMvtD9p6XqDkDGCA-O2joulPoAo6WidM4dMhVPlWEa3vDfnwy4LUIYT52yVRGUY4w0fsAItQwfKgBGezCMoZ_hl7clnvzPoTbHb8QKQpYUqo_NxRUMXa6gihbf8Gi2M/s320/297.png" width="320" /></a><b>Ramunth the Drifter -</b> A weathered sack of leather, this old hermit spent most of the last 40 years marooned, more or less alone on an island. He's now the fervent last worshiper of the ancient storm god Baarl. A generally ornery piece of shit who tends to get himself into trouble. </div>
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<b>Sköll -</b> Not long ago something happened. He wasn't sure what, or why, or why he knew, but Sköll knew, like one knows when their arm is numb. A profound sense of emptiness, of loss. Something was missing, his brother, he couldn't remember though, everything before a few weeks ago was a blur. He needed answers, and he knew he would have to search long to find them, and maybe, his brother. </div>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Side Characters Encountered -</h3>
<div>
<b>Kim Longflower - </b>An elven herbalist who dabbles in potion magics. She was travelling north east, towards the elven forests of her homeland. A refugee after the township she watched over turned on her in the night. She had cured 3 generations of families of all manner of illness, but when the mage war started it wasn't long until the local farm folk began to look at her with fear and anger. She had fled with the help of a young man who payed for his kindness with his life. She has been on the run now for weeks and has long since run out of food. In a fit of hunger she tried to sell an herbal infusion which would cure most diseases (think semi-magic EmergenC powder) in a village to a man whose wife had a severe fever. She had only been trying to help, but the man ran to fetch a nearby soldier who had arrested her as a witch, and charged her with bewitching and cursing the mans wife, and trying to sell him a cure. She proclaimed her innocence, but the man asked her if the potion was magic, to which she replied earnestly that it was a very simple magical enhancement, that it wasn't in anyway dangerous.<br />
She was sentenced to death as a mob began to form, no one wanted to look like they weren't defending the community from this traveling hex witch. She was dragged to the cross roads, where the bodies of a number of other mages, each of them executed in similar fashions, were hanging from thick posts by their necks.<br />
<br />
It was here that our brave band intervened. Through the crude negotiations of Ramunth and the posturing of Skoll, the party managed to get the herbalist released to them, on the pretext that her tongue be cut out by Viserial if she were to live. Viserial had other plans, weaving a cloak of darkness that blocked the sun for a hundred feet in every direction. With the mob thrown into fear and confusion the group made their break for it. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The group followed the road when it became clear no one was following, but their travelling party includded a child and an elderly couple, so shelter was needed overnight. Viserial searched the nearby hills in vain for a suitable cave to shelter in together. The group trudged on, a light in the distance beckoning them northward along the road. After several hours of trudging along the muddied track they found a small, almost fort like, abbey, dedicated to a fiery Sun god. There was a great bonfire atop the stone roof and torches and lamps in many windows.<br />
<br />
<b>Garkn Thinbeard - </b>Despite the many torches and bright fires, the dwarf who answered the door at this abbey did so in his night gown, after some preliminary questions, and realizing that bandits seldom send 3 elderly folk and a young woman to the door the Garkn let the band in. Viserial, visibly uncomfortable as he stepped over the threshold seemed to fly beneath the sun clerics radar, but Viserial noted silently that this cleric, dressed in his night gown true, had no holy symbol on him. </div>
<div>
Their host offered two beds upstairs to the elderly couple and Kim the elven herbalist, then explained he had much to do in the morning and would need to retire soon. Perhaps if you are in no great hurry he can get your assistance with a troublesome task on the morrow. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<b>From here</b> </h3>
<div>
The party has options </div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><ul>
<li>Pursue the Quest that Garkn needs help with</li>
<li>Travel Northeast with Kim toward the Ruins of Trystero, or perhaps convince her to pursue a safer path which skirts around the ruins. </li>
<li>Travel Due East, to Salendar, the last city of Quaya, stopping for supplies at villages along the way. </li>
<li>Continue North, eventually you'll pass into the warm hills, the dwarves are less mage phobic than these humans. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-5691087816871250172018-08-10T01:20:00.000-07:002018-08-10T01:20:26.247-07:00Underdark Part 2.0 - Pillars of Play Part 1 - Exploration Procedures, Hunger Mechanics<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Before I begin I just want to credit Hack Slash Master, who wrote much of the Pillars of Play in an amazing publication title Mega Dungeon #1, the first in what is now three very solid and useful tools that are designed less as shiny stories or inspiration porn and more as useful tools to help a game master run a table effectively.<br /><br />Go read his shit, n buy some of his material, it's super dope.<br />
<br />
The hunger mechanics are reworded and lifted from Veins of the Earth, a grimdark OSR setting manual that I'm currently in love with. The discussion in the previous post about light as a currency was heavily inspired by that book and I highly recommend buying it because it will blow your mind.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>PILLARS OF MEGADUNGEON PLAY </b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">The core procedural aspects of our Megadungeon play are going to be split into three-ish primary components; Exploration, which will happen at two different levels, (to be discussed later) Encounters, and Extraction. Each of these happens at different levels of scope and consume different levels of resources as well as invoking different kinds of decisions and dilemmas. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Today I wanna talk about</span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Exploration <span style="font-weight: normal;">: </span></h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">(And Hunger)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">This is the process of exploring the environment. Far from being a movement across simple grid aligned rooms, this will be a delving through organic spaces, many alien and difficult to navigate. Safety and preparedness must be weighed against ever-mounting resource drain, in the form of food and light and hitpoints. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span>The points of focus for exploration will be moving from area to area, navigation decisions and distances, all measured in hours, as oil spent and torches burnt, and examining things and searching for secrets, avoiding traps, and mapping. Your choices struggle to conserve resources against the encroaching darkness. Your approaches determines your preparedness for battle. Gaining knowledge about your environment allows discoveries of hidden chambers and the ability to flee or find safety in the dark. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
•<span style="font-weight: normal; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Are you scouting ahead? Or will you be surprised by monsters? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Will you avoid the traps and the relevant reduction in resources?</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Have you made good choices to maximize your distance moved against the cost in terms of the various resources? </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Subpoint - Hunger Mechanics --- </b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
Rather than obsessively tracking rations, thereby adding another element of accountancy
to the game, I am going to assume that the party
is constantly foraging and resupplying.
They are on the border of starvation at
almost all times. The counter-effects of
starvation versus drive and determination
are considered to even themselves out in
most cases.
Instead of measuring and tracking food
carried, all that matters is "What actions PCs
have taken to get food?"</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
PCs begin as Hungry. In this stage the PCs
get bonuses for performing certain actions
to acquire food. So long as they perform <u>at least one action every three days,</u> they stay
hungry. This is good. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
If the team fails to perform regular actions
they enter the Starving stage. In this
stage the PCs have to eat. If they have an
opportunity to eat and do not then they
suffer penalties.
If the team incurs too many negative
effects they enter the third stage. They are
now Dying. Terminal starvation has set in. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
An edible opponent is one whose
biochemistry matches yours. So, Dvargir, Goblin, or Dragon but not something like a Toxic Ooze,
Silichominid or Archean. What matters is not the exact amount of food
recovered but what the party are willing to do for for food. If PCs are willing to steal from starving
refugees, or to attack an apparently peaceful
group and consume them, to eat each other,
or to eat their henchmen, then it doesn’t
matter exactly how exactly how many calories they got
out of it. It is the will to live that matters.
The cash values listed only exist to give a general
idea you guys want to do something dull like
pay for food. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<u>STAGE ONE : HUNGRY</u> - The party must do at least one of these
things every three days. If they do not, they
begin to starve. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
PAYING FOR FOOD. The party must spend
at least 300sp per party member. PCs can
also try to steal this amount of food. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
EATING THE FLESH OF AN EDIBLE
OPPONENT, PC OR HENCHMAN. If prepared by a Monster Chef, this
gains PCs experience equal to the hit
points of the creature or colleague
consumed. However many creatures can cause adverse effects and disgusting mutations when consumed, (Monster Chefs can make rolls to attempt to remove these effects through cooking) and cannibalism, the consumption of a humanoid intelligence, is enough to drive any man into twisted states. At this stage the party can ignore the
effects of one day on their "hunger bar" if they spend the whole
24 hours resting, conserving energy and
doing nothing. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
So if they have spent 3 days exploring,
and gained no bonuses, they can simply sit
down to wait. If someone turns up, they can
buy food, steal food or just kill and eat them
to avoid moving to Stage Two. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<u>
STAGE TWO : STARVING</u> - At this stage the party is desperate. They
must do one of the following within the
next three days. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
PAYING FOR FOOD. You must buy at least
600sp worth of food per party member.
PCs can also try to steal this amount of
food. Doing this resets the party to Stage One. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
EATING AN EDIBLE OPPONENT, PC OR
HENCHMAN.
If the party performs one of these actions
within three days, they go back to Stage
One. They are simply Hungry. All exhaustion levels are lost. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
Every time the opportunity to perform
one of the above actions occurs – say a
henchman falls and breaks their leg and
the party do not finish them off and eat
them, or the possibility of stealing food
exists and they do not attempt it – all PCs
suffer a level of exhaustion.
The party must act; if they spend 24 hours
resting, conserving energy and doing
nothing then all PCs will still suffer a level of exhaustion.
After three days at Stage Two, PCs move
to Stage Three. They are now Dying. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<u> STAGE THREE: DYING</u> -
PCs must eat or die.
Every member of the party gains a level of exhaustion every 8 hours. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
PAYING FOR FOOD. PCs must spend at
least 1000sp per party member. This will
put them back at Stage One. PCs can also
try to steal this amount of food. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
CONSUMING AN EDIBLE OPPONENT,
PC OR HENCHMAN entirely will also
send them back to Stage One.
If a party member’s exhaustion level reaches level 6, they die.</blockquote>
<br />
You'll note that food is very expensive, that is because food is very rare deep in the earth, and even the great matriarch in the towering drow cities beneath the granite wastes are hungry despite their jewels and their silks. It is also because buying food is boring and you should be actively seeking out interesting ways to acquire what you need.<br />
<br />
<b>Procedure - </b><br />
Exploration will usually be measured in 10 minute "Turns" however there will often be times when I will tell you that something will take a number of turns or even hours to accomplish, generally the time it takes to complete any significant action or interaction will be counted as an Exploration turn. Lockpicking, Scouting, Climbing your speed, (climbing will be discussed in detail during session zero) Etc all usually take 1 turn.<br />
<br />
At the end of every other turn, or if the PCs make a bunch of noise, or if I feel like it, we'll roll a D6 Hazard Die, this helps us track lots of stuff and adds that random dice smell that we all know and love.<br />
<br />
The Hazard Die for our campaign will be as follows.<br />
1. Encounter<br />
2. Rest or gain a level of exhaustion<br />
3-4. Torches & Lanterns burn fuel, Ongoing effects, conditions, and statuses tick down<br />
5. Monster Sign<br />
6. Dungeon or Regional Effect<br />
<br />
For our purposes 3-4 will allow us to burn through about 1 lumen of oil an hour without having to meticulously track these things, it also gives us a simple hour flag for diseases, effects, conditions, poisons etc. Whenever this result is rolled, each active lantern consumes its hourly rate of fuel. This result can be rolled back to back, as time work strangely beneath the Earth. If it is ever rolled a 3rd time in a row, ignore it and treat the turn as a free turn.<br />
<br />
I have purchased Megadungeon #1 which discusses what to do for each of these other Hazard Die results, but if you wanna know more about them then you gotta go buy it yourself.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
</blockquote>
<br />
</div>
Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-6884950727040849342018-08-08T16:20:00.000-07:002018-10-25T12:59:11.888-07:00Underdark Part 1 - Moods and Tones, Light Mechanics.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>LIGHT IS THE CORE RESOURCE</b> from which all others spring.<br />
If you only measure one thing, if you only remember one thing, remember light. Not ropes or food or even time, but light. The key difference between this and other imagined underground spaces is the totality and necessity of the enfolding dark When most games describe a place, they do so with a series of assumptions. They use a kind of shorthand. It’s the same shorthand we use in our daily lives to arrange the spaces through which we move.<br />
<br />
“You walk into a room.”<br />
OK, so how do you know it’s a room at all? <br />
Because you can see the walls and edges from beginning to end<br />
Because you have seen thousands of rooms before and they all follow the same logic<br />
Because this room is arranged in a grid pattern with other rooms in the same area. <br />
That’s what ‘room’ means. <br />
A thing like the other things you have already seen.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbZGKXhtLwnonfKuAgUvG2v2yvPvYcv4asOF6I3r5CPYZ957SpnQg3TilZzL_znMsrc3N4qmYjjcnufjSswrwYxYJI7otLDirZpkk5Gjsvh-R4oNzE18t4yuSlc4uOLH5eorHowkcdq9JZ/s1600/hang-toi-dark-cave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="550" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbZGKXhtLwnonfKuAgUvG2v2yvPvYcv4asOF6I3r5CPYZ957SpnQg3TilZzL_znMsrc3N4qmYjjcnufjSswrwYxYJI7otLDirZpkk5Gjsvh-R4oNzE18t4yuSlc4uOLH5eorHowkcdq9JZ/s400/hang-toi-dark-cave.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
In a natural cave system this is not the case. You may not be able to see the roof or opposing wall. You may never have seen a place like this before. You will not understand the logic of their arrangement. When someone enters a new underground space, never say “you enter a cave”. Because they don’t know that.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
And they can only see so far. <br />
<br />
For this campaign I'm going to always assume darkness over vision. I like to imagine the darkness as alive within the Underdark. Instead of being a simple, black absence, I regard it as a kind of active liquid. It does not meekly disappear on the lighting of a candle. It follows the players like a stalking predator. It backs away reluctantly before the light, it follows carefully and relentlessly, creeping as close as it can. It leaves chew marks in the corners of your sight. It should be almost embodied. Not a general awareness or a set of laws but an actual person. Like someone standing silently in the corner of the room, watching you as you read this.<br />
<br />
The darkness is a character. It only wants one thing....<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
L U M E N S </h3>
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The means of carrying and projecting light are central to the Underdark Adventurer Economy. Light is firstly something you have to carry in the form of fuel, secondly your only means of finding your way and securing more life, thirdly a valuable thing which you can trade for, exchange and seek out, and fourthly a resource that is always being eaten away.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In addition, distance relates to time. Solar cycles have no meaning in the Underdark. The main </span>measurement<span style="font-family: inherit;"> of travel is how long it takes to get somewhere. This is measured by a loss of resources.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So time, distance, light, money, life, everything are all bound together.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Light is a currency and the currency is </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Lumen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A Lumen is a measure of light over time. It is also worth one silver piece, or SP</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1 Hour of Light = 1 Lumen = 1 Silver Piece.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Lumen is most perfectly expressed in oil. If you have oil, you can always trade it underground as if it were silver. If you have other means of making light then you can trade that as well.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Oil becomes light.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Light gets you more time. <br />Time gets you more money. <br />Money </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">gets you more oil. <br />Oil, money, light and time all in one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>But other things are also measured </b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>in Lumens. </b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This makes light about ten times as expensive as that in standard gaming. It kind-of makes sense as light is much more valuable down here, and much harder to get. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lumens are how you measure wealth in the Underdark. It replaces the gold and silver coins of the surface world. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course not everyone carries the same kinds of light production. Of course not everyone carries oil. It can be assumed that the necessary exchanges and conversions are being done in the background. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is irritating and unrealistic; the means to create and sustain bio-luminescence are not those used to create and light candles.<br /><br />But we have pushed all that complexity into a simple number that tells you everything you need to know about how rich, and how safe, you are, how far you can go and how long you can see. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like hit points, Lumens may not make much sense on an individual basis, but they do make sense as a game object. And like hit points you can assume Lumens lost or found to be whatever you need them to be.</span></div>
<div>
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-35095477355700195392018-07-28T21:24:00.000-07:002018-10-25T12:59:45.003-07:00Elemantist Class<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6lXhyICKecUb6YEP5lOqqUERegtgIpngMh1D5-88Q1Jfv_7MbVGNkLbkSMZ6avg4r2s9_yrSSEz97PGTZvIFW-St3rcxxOBEWhc_0LjRW4nV7QM2N88tyuHiVhNNXkq3nIvcQ5NiStJH/s1600/Earthbending.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6lXhyICKecUb6YEP5lOqqUERegtgIpngMh1D5-88Q1Jfv_7MbVGNkLbkSMZ6avg4r2s9_yrSSEz97PGTZvIFW-St3rcxxOBEWhc_0LjRW4nV7QM2N88tyuHiVhNNXkq3nIvcQ5NiStJH/s320/Earthbending.png" width="320" /></a>This is my take on a sorcerer class, I'm working with some fundamental assumptions in place but I by no means think the numbers represented here are fixed. One of the primary mechanics of the 5th Edition Sorcerer is their ability to use sorcery points to be more flexible casters. In this class I want to embrace the idea behind 5th Editions Sorcery Points while shedding the vancian spell slots system entirely.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>The Elements</b><br />
There are 4 primary elements, Earth, Fire, Air, and Water but elementalists have specialized in any countless sub-elements, from Ice or Lightning Elementalists to Light, Sand, and Metal Elementalists, rumor has it there was once an Elementalist who specialized in wielding a liquid metal similar to Galium.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD15BPQ9SmAtkMohtOj27f7YAe4uNc9bwgmyaSW9LI7PaomDRnRDCCYs2P2NX6ayTcUtf5-SiQTQFtL8ipkBVGwllEVDS7tSU1CbPow4dPNiW1Z0UipMayX2AL0KApD_jyDzq02hXYI5Rj/s1600/e26ce5a4579452c3728749f6569c2a83.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="749" data-original-width="1024" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD15BPQ9SmAtkMohtOj27f7YAe4uNc9bwgmyaSW9LI7PaomDRnRDCCYs2P2NX6ayTcUtf5-SiQTQFtL8ipkBVGwllEVDS7tSU1CbPow4dPNiW1Z0UipMayX2AL0KApD_jyDzq02hXYI5Rj/s320/e26ce5a4579452c3728749f6569c2a83.jpg" width="320" /></a>Elementalists are unlike other classes in that they choose their path at first level instead of third. Each path has it's own minor drawback. Elementalists gain +3 to their saves vs any spell that involves their element. (Pyromancers get +3 to their dex save vs fireball, the Air Bender gains +3 to his save against lightning bolt spell because lightning is a subdomain of Air)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Pools of power </h4>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqXO1hZDrd-UmQ1UAhXsMOLZhBDrUpENjNOHo_cEYzrgjqq5TvAqEuY10JepvUA2N2klRu_RVvccKqAUZWfbEBgvo0uANfwU7eL7E180BFgXFSuHpPpMEvUJ6hgWzNVwZYBtkXQDcDryZi/s1600/%25C3%2586ther-Adept-MtG-Art.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="696" data-original-width="1100" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqXO1hZDrd-UmQ1UAhXsMOLZhBDrUpENjNOHo_cEYzrgjqq5TvAqEuY10JepvUA2N2klRu_RVvccKqAUZWfbEBgvo0uANfwU7eL7E180BFgXFSuHpPpMEvUJ6hgWzNVwZYBtkXQDcDryZi/s320/%25C3%2586ther-Adept-MtG-Art.jpg" width="320" /></a>Elementalists draw on a wellspring of elemental power within themselves in order to manifest different effects. This wellspring of power is represented by a pool of Affinity Points as laid out below. When creating a spell effect the Elementalist describes what they are doing and the GM will determine how many Affinity points the effect would cost. An Elementalist can also cast any spell from the traditional sorcerer spell list that contains their element for a number of points equal to the level of the spell.<br />
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1 point damage moves are usually maxed at 2d6 on a single target or 1d8 in an AoE, in practice I would want to let players describe their actions and about how much damage/AOE they are aiming for before the DM determines the cost/viability of such a manifestation. Keeping in mind that the math of how the DM chooses to ration points directly relates to how powerful the class is.<br />
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The Elementalist Class</h4>
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<i>Level 1</i> - 2 Affinity Points - Choose Primary Element </div>
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<i>Level 2 -</i> 3 Affinity Points</div>
<i>Level 3 </i>- 8 Affinity Points - Signature Move<br />
<i>Level 4</i> <i>- </i>10 Affinity Points - Ability Score Improvement<br />
<i>Level 5 - </i>16 Affinity Points<br />
<i>Level 6 - </i>19 Affinity Points - Elemental Bonus<br />
<i>Level 7 - </i>23 Affinity Points<br />
<i>Level 8 - </i>27 Affinity Points - Ability Score Improvement<br />
<i>Level 9 - </i>36 Affinity Points<br />
<i>Level 10 - </i>41 Affinity Points - 2nd Signature Move<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Level 11 - 47 Affinity Points </span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Level 12 - 47 Affinity Points </span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Level 13 - 54 Affinity Points </span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Level 14 - 54 Affinity Points </span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Level 15 62 Affinity Points </span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Level 16 62 Affinity Points </span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Level 17 71 Affinity Points </span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Level 18 77 Affinity Points </span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Level 19 - 84 Affinity Points </span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Level 20 - 90 Affinity Points </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Element List</span>-</b> </div>
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- Earth: +3 Saves vs Acid and Poison, Constitution Casting Stat, Cannot Cast if not on the ground or in a stone building that is touching ground. </div>
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- Water: +3 Saves vs Ice and Forced Movement effects, Wisdom Casting Stat, Cannot cast while dehydrated<br />
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- Fire: +3 Saves vs Fire Effects, Charisma Casting Stat, Cannot cast while soaking wet or in water.<br />
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- Air: +3 Save vs Lightning effects, Dexterity Casting Stat, Cannot cast without access to the sky (defined by whether or not a crow could fly from their mouth to the sky unimpeded)<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span> <b>Signature Move - </b><br />
At 3rd, 5th and 10th level you have developed habits in your interaction with your chosen element. Choose a particular manifestation you have been favoring and reduce its AP cost by 1, this is the only way Elementalists can manifest cantrips, however a pyromancer elementalist could also make a 3 point fireball type spell his signature move and reduce its AP cost to 2, making it much more spammable.<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Design Note - </b>This is also a way to reward players for creating a distinct style in combat, allowing for smoother combat interactions and to solidify a players arsenal, however, the sheer amount of points at higher levels should assure that players will continue to find ways to creatively use their points without feeling pinched. </span><br />
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<b>Elemental Bonus<br />Earth:</b> Earthen Defenses- Your default AC Becomes - 10 + Con + Dex. In addition you may spend an action during combat to pull earth and dirt towards you, increasing your armor class by +1, this can stack to a maximum of +3<br />
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<b>Water: </b>Water Healing - You can spend a minute and a point of AP to grant someone (1d4 + Wis) temporary HP. This consumes a full rations worth of water and works best in lakes, rivers, ponds, wells, oceans, etc. (3d4+Wis/AP over the course of a minute in such places)<br />
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<b>Air: </b>Airmasters Acrobatics - You gain resistance to all falling damage. In addition you can spend a single AP to gain 10 feet of movement and not invoke attacks of opportunity until end of turn.<br />
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<b>Fire: </b>Cloak of the Pheonix - You can ignite most flammable objects with a touch, requiring 0 AP. In addition you may spend 3AP to enter a stance with a duration of 10 minutes. This stance wreathes the user in flames, requiring concentration and granting the following benefits -<br />
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<li>The Elementalist sheds bright light out to 15 feet and dim light an additional 15 feet. </li>
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<li> Any creature which hits the Elementalist with a melee attack takes damage equal to double the Elementalists charisma modifier. </li>
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<li> Whenever the Elementalist spends AP to deal fire damage they may add their charisma modifier to the damage rolled</li>
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<b>Sample Shenanigans --- </b><br />
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<b>Earth - </b><br />
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The Door Maker - After taking a few deep breaths the Earth Elementalist shoves a section of stone wall aside, if nothing is behind the wall then a hole is blown through it wide enough for a medium sized creature to pass comfortably. - 4AP<br />
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Anklecrusher - Send a small tremor through the earth between you and an opponent, causing the earth to swallow and then crush their ankle. Dex save vs 2d8 bludgeoning and movement speed reduced to zero. Can either spend a full round action digging their ankle out or can yank it out, dealing an additional d8 of damage - 2AP (Single Target CC + 3d8 Damage)<br />
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Boulder Hurl - Sling a small boulder at a nearby enemy (floor tiles, large earthen clods, bricks and masonry) spell attack vs AC for 2d8 bludgeoning damage - 1AP<br />
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Hail of Stones - Sharp stones rain down in a 5 foot radius circle dealing 1d6 piercing damage Dex save for half - AP 1<br />
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<b>Water - </b><br />
<b><br /></b> Phase Change - A water elementalist can change the phase of the water they are manipulating at will (free action, can occur on enemy turns etc.) - 1AP<br />
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Water Jet - A stream of water bludgeons and knocks enemies prone or backward (caster choice) 1AP/Round to pin enemies to the ground, hamper movement and generally create a bad time, an additional 1AP / round deals 2d6 bludgeoning per round. Concentration, combos nicely with phase change.<br />
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Water Cloak - Wielders use their water as a form of armor with tentacle-like arms. The Elementalist can use these arms to grab objects or enemies, blast enemies with water, etc. Depending on how much water they have very experienced water masters might have up to 8 water arms. (Bashing an enemy with an arm deals 1d8 damage. Creating the cloak with one are is 2AP a minute and an additional 2AP per extra attack up to 8 attacks / round, at 8AP/Minute. Concentration duh.)<br />
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Water Shield - Reaction vs Attack against caster or an adjacent ally, granting disadvantage on the attack. 2AP<br />
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<b>Note - I avoided talking about ice manipulations because I feel like those are easier to think of than liquid water manipulations but this doesn't mean you shouldn't or can't use ice. </b><br />
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-46112111409036882112018-07-26T17:17:00.002-07:002018-10-25T13:00:38.525-07:00This post is probably not useful<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Just as the title says; this post is going to be a lot of rambling and will probably help no one. But that's okay because I'm here to rant about some shit that's in my brain, and if it happens to ever be useful to someone that's great.<br />
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5E is a combat rules system masquerading as a roleplaying system. The main purpose of mechanics in roleplaying systems that I run is to inform the storytelling and to add an element of risk/reward to the interactions. The problem, of course, is that in order for that to be true or for such mechanics to be useful the DM must have a certain amount of foundational knowledge about gameplay etc. That makes it hard to market a product based on this assumption and so instead the rules are designed for simplest possible accessibility and there is nothing wrong with that. At the end of the day though, mechanics inform the gameplay experience for players and by designing more combat mechanics you inform the players that this game is about combat. Today I'm picking on Monks as an example of a few overarching 5E design critiques and then maybe somewhere in there I can produce useful ideas.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<b>I Got Beef With Monks - </b></h4>
So this isn't a fair title, monks themselves have done nothing to me or my family. (Unlike warlocks, who know EXACTLY what they've done!) I mean I <i>do</i> think they're a bit over tuned that's not really important here. I'm just using Monks as a punching bag because I was thinking about design and monks and what monks could be, but this same thing stands true for basically all classes.<br />
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You ever notice how much of a monks kit is combat oriented? I could replace "monk kit" with 5E and still feel comfortable making that accusation, but again, we're gang beating monks today. Monks have a variety of moves and styles and the like, but all of their abilities are essentially geared towards combat, (The open palm is an interesting exception) and almost universally these are boxed in by very specific rules. And those rules get in the way of the Cinematic Bullshit that I want to see out of my monk players.<br />
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Jackie Chan doing Cinematic Monk Bullshit</div>
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So, remember earlier I said this would be a discussion about how mechanics inform gameplay right? So what kind of gameplay do we want from monks and how can we inform the player what the monk class means in terms of gameplay through mechanics which encourage the type of play we want? (The idea of class decisions informing DMs about the type of gameplay a player wants is a whole other discussion, but for now, let's just assume that you know about that.) </div>
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What </div>
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I mean what the actual fuck is happening here? </div>
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Answer: Cinematic Monk Bullshit</div>
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Okay okay, at this point you're really irritated and you want me to just make my point and shut up already so here it is. Monks should be able to use their Ki points to just will things into existence. Or, more accurately the Monks should be able to will thematic (shadow monks have different abilities than open palm monks have different abilities than a kensei) bullshit into existence. </div>
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You're fighting an Ogre, it misses you with an attack and you go "I use a ki point to slip inside his attack and try to land a blow to make him drop the club" and yeah dude, fuckin roll an attack and make that dude drop his club.<br />
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Your party is facing an adult red dragon and you know it's going poorly. You're front lining but you know you're hit dice aren't exactly huge so you'll need to find ways to introduce some Cinematic Bullshit to save yourself. The dragon lands a bite but only barely, you burn a few Ki points to boost your AC by doing the classic "grab the teeth" cinematic bullshit move. This creates an absurd tug of war between you and the dragon that can reduce it's DPS significantly or be rendered useless after around, either way, it's cinematic and simple. </div>
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So how do you write rules for this? To be honest, I don't think you write the rules for this, I think you just put a big label of "Cinematic Cutscene Fights" and explain to your players what monks look like in your world. (Jackie Chan is a level 20 monk in my example characters list) I love the cinematic bullshit, and I love the idea of using Ki as a resource that can be spent to do various cinematic bullshits. </div>
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-83235555918320619902018-07-13T18:17:00.004-07:002018-10-25T13:01:16.037-07:00Minotaur Lore and History Part 1 <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The Minotaur race is a nomadic people, they seldom build long term structures, preferring yurts and longships converted to temporary shelters. They herded small herds of oxen but relied heavily on raiding to sustain their numbers. For this reason, they often determined their leadership through combat and for a long age only the strongest minotaur could lead the tribes.<br />
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According to the vague histories that have survived the ages, the first traces of the clan split started when some great hero of the minotaur race returned as an ally to the other races of the world after facing a grave threat which threatened to destroy the entire realm. This seems to be a recurring pattern with adventuring parties, something about them unites races in ways that seem illogical. More research is required on this topic.<br />
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This split inevitably turned violent, but the violence escalated far beyond any skirmish or internal feud that had been seen before, after a decade of fighting the war had cost nearly a quarter of the minotaur population, millions lay dead on burnt battlefields. These mass battlefield graves are a favorite lairing place for necromancers who favor minotaur skeletons for their denser bone structure and larger size.<br />
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Finally a hero emerged, at the head of another adventuring party and gathered every clan behind his banner in ritual combat. The wise hero, knowing that the ideological differences of the clans could not be resolved split the minotaur race into 4 nations. He then set a yearly time and place for the 4 Minotaur nations to meet and trade goods and information. This gathering became known as the Gathering of Asterion, after the hero who founded it. <br />
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These four nations each set out in search of their own lands to roam across. One clan went into the Badlands where they lived as conquerers and slavers, they became known as the Bonehorn clan. Another settled in the vast forests of the Life Cradle to live and hunt the living plants and great behemoths that live there. They became known as the Clan of the Green Axe, after the unique axes they forged from rare materials found only in the Life Cradle. The third, the Stonehoof clan settled in the plains to live a simple life of farming and grazing, the clans' warriors herd great oxen across the central steppe to be sold at the Gathering of Asterion. These herds are one of the few things in the central steppe which are considered above the rule of the Orcish warlords. The final tribe, the Fellhide tribe, went to the Mountains of Madness where they were bent to cruelty and violence. The tribe conquered the local goblins, creating vast mountainside temples to minotaur might on the backs of goblin slave labor. They dwell now in these massive stone temples, raiding the villages below for supplies. Every few years a warlord will lead an army of goblins and minotaurs down to reave through the countryside, returning fat with meat and plunder. </div>
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-60069055264888576592018-07-13T18:17:00.003-07:002018-07-16T14:04:14.935-07:00Minotaur Clans Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A History of Minotaur Clans Written By The Great Archeologist and Anthropologist Endiara Cavendish<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The Bonehorn Clan</h4>
Any Desert Traveler will tell you to avoid the maze-like canyons that bisect the Badlands. Everyone knows that is the Domain of the Bonehorn clan and their slave army. The Bonehorn clan are brutal minotaur slavers, famous for raiding unwary caravans and Orcish war parties alike, often selling their captives off to the Gnoll Druids of the central desert in exchange for harvested water fruits and stolen waterskins.<br />
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The Bonehorn clan are excellent glass smiths and frequently wield elegant glass bladed weaponry. These glass weapons are extraordinarily keen cutting blades and leave wounds that often bleed profusely. The few Bonehorn representatives who travel to the annual gathering Gathering of Asterion bring glass trading goods such as flasks, glass weapons, and various glass containers and jars. They primarily trade for water and slaves.<br />
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The Bonehorn Clan select their leader once every few years, Any minotaur who wishes may attempt the challenge and the first to return is crowned the Chieftain for 3 years. The challenge is simple but dangerous. Each contestant walks into the desert with nothing but a glass dagger and small glass water flask. The first to return riding a Bullete is the new chief. The Bonehorn Clan use Bulletes as raiding beasts as well as pulling heavy loads such as slave carts and sand loads. Rumor has it a great Bonehorn chief once constructed a great temple made of glass, but no outsider has ever seen it and lived.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Stonehoof Clan </h4>
The Stonehoof clan is by far the most peaceful of the 4 Minotaur nation. Settled in the Northern Steppes the Stonehoof clan has traded swords for plow blades. Their size assures that no wandering bandit would care to attack a Stonehoof village. The warriors of the clan drive cattle south through orcish territories with impunity. The Oxen of the Stonehoof clan grow to be nearly 9 feet tall at the shoulder and make some of the finest jerky and leather goods on the market. (Stonehoof leather armor grants +1 AC vs Slashing damage)<br />
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The clans elders are greatly adept at the creation of traveling foods that last for weeks on end but do not go stale. Aside from the great drying racks of ox jerky, Rodrigez the explorer once recorded a Stonehoof Travel Biscuit (made from almond flour and mixed with ox fat) lasting well over a year without growing stale. The clan typically trades these food goods for whatever their needs may be, typically tools and wood.<br />
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The Stonehoof are not great smiths, and they prefer to purchase tools and utensils from traveling merchants rather than forge things themselves. They also rely on trade at the Gathering of Asterion where they bring Oxen and Prepared Travel foods to trade for tools and containers of various sorts. Though less of a tradecraft the Stonehoof clan typically makes most of their clothing from shaved Ox fur.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Clan Green Axe </h4>
This clan was near impossible to track down, but when I finally made contact they agreed to let me follow them a brief time. They've taken isolationism to extremes, migrating in some permanent pilgrimage through the massive living forests of the Life Cradle from one great temple to another, arriving at each temple in time to conduct a great ritual to waken the sun from his slumber that the world might live again. There are several family groups who seldom interact with one another during their travels, except when a few families will gather at a hidden outpost made from carved hollows in the trunks of small world trees. As far as I can tell these family groups have no heirarchal structure and when multiple groups meet up they gather in what appears to be some kind of general assembly to address family needs and spread news.<br />
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The temples of the Green Axe clan are sacred territory, and at each clan meet up one family group is selected to stay behind and guard the temple. The remaining groups will bring offerings of slain beasts and foraged fruits upon their return for this great service. The Green Axe clan are highly protective of their temples, I once witnessed the family group guarding the southern temple, wipe out 3 dozen high elven water dancers that strayed too close to their temple. The Minotaur took a single casualty and he was given a funeral pyre the same night.<br />
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The Green Axe clans are great beast hunters, priding themselves on killing beasts like giant otters and the hulking nameless behemoths of the ancient forest alike. Their weapons are made from a deep green mineral called Malachanium, it holds a sharp edge and rumors of a deeper latent magic abound but the minotaur that I spoke with were coldly silent on the topic.<br />
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The Fellhide Clan</h4>
It Has been many years since my last entry in this book. Much has happened in the time of my travels but that lies beyond the scope of this tome. I have finally reached the ancient fortress of<br />
the mountain clan and discovered their historical records. The entry that follows is my interpretation<br />
of that history. I believe the Mountain clan to be lost to history, their existence stomped out by a powerful sorcerer king.<br />
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The Minotaurs that moved into the mountains were arguably the most warlike of the clans. They came to conquer, viewing themselves as the rightful rulers of the meek in a very nietzsche-esque "Powerful always dominate the weak" way. They held to the old traditions of ritual combat for leadership and were highly militaristic. It seems they grew very little of there own food, and didn't trade for it either. By all accounts, much of their diet consisted of plundered food, and jerky from the Gathering of Asterion. (Minotaur are equals and therefore worth trading with)<br />
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When the four nations of the Minotaur tribes split their separate ways the Fellhide clan, already the most bloodthirsty of the clans retreated to the Mountains of Madness where the dark energies of that land warped them into cruel creatures, long bereft of any humanity. It did not take long for them to enslave the many goblin clans that inhabited the area, the great chieftain known only as Duuvera Fellhide built a fortress of iron on the backs of goblin slave labor. He had the mountain stripped of its resources quickly for this fortress, and it stands to this day. The walls are rusted over and the great spike battlement lays devoid of life, inside nothing but empty halls and dust.<br />
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It is hard to imagine this fortress would have been like in its hay day. This is my final entry regarding the culture of the majestic Minotaur species. None of this work would have been possible without help from my kind friend and fellow researcher Ernesto LaVenta.<br />
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-68797782881733692682018-06-30T14:08:00.004-07:002018-10-25T14:05:25.911-07:00Working Draft -- Dragon Gods <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The Elder dragon gods - Before Tiamat and her brother Bahamut created the 10 bloodlines, dragons grew more chaotic and wilder than mortals today could imagine. Many were both the first and last of their lines, others have kin still lurking in darkened glens or forgotten mountains, colorless and feral, some cherished few attained Godhood.<br />
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(Clean this later)<br />
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Amatsuma the Eternal Storm – A great serpentine Dragon of with vivid yellow scales and the pales of white streaks across his sides. In his mortal life this great dragonlord was a talented elementalist who could wield whole storms as a weapon. He later achieved godhood and became the Eternal Storm, his mere presence spawning horrific hurricanes and massive lightning storms. His worship is found in elementalist temples and ancient draconic shrines a like. Sailors are most often those who call Amatsuma often ask for his mercy in passing through storms, a sea witch on the other hand might curse a sailor by drawing Amatsumas wrath upon them.<br />
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Myojin Dragon God of Fire and War. - One of the first dragon gods, Myojin predates even Tiamat, it is said that all dragon fire was handed down through Myojin who swallowed a long dead dwarven fire god. Myojin is a war god among dragons, but not the petty genocides that dragons might inflict upon mortals, Myojin is a god of draconic war. To invoke Myojins name is to invoke clan rights, and it is under his watchful eye that draconic parlay occurs. For a dragon to breach draconic treaty is to invite Myojins wrath. Dragons seldom wage clan wars, but when they do every ancient rule is abided by on both sides out of fear and respect for Great Myojin<br />
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Nerio – A great lumbering beast of a dragon. It is said she was once black scaled, and payed an elvish smith handsomely to gold plait each of her scales. Statues to her honor are often solid gold and depict her with diamond studded wings. Nerio is the Goddess of Draconic wealth, and the richest dragon to have ever lived. She is the original hoarder, from whom all draconic hoarding stems, but she is also suave and cunning. It is said that she coveted the world and so became a god, but as a god she became of aware of much greater things to covet. Few invoke her name but the desperate and the greedy, once it was said that melting a golden coin in her name could bring good fortune, but those who curry true favor give up so much more to this envious god.<br />
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Uthanlos God of Ice and Mountains, Father of Drakes -- The Great White Terror Uthanlos was always a feral dragon, throwing around his sheer size and brutality to get his way. His territory was absolute and he had no need for language or civility, he would wage war against any who dare impede on his domain. It did not take long for Uthanlos to become despised among the great elder dragons, and soon Myojin came to bring Uthanlos into line. The two raged across the mountain tops, ice and fire leveling whole mountains and creating whole glaciers. Dwarves believe this fight is what created the first volcanoes as the two dragons drove the mountains to a boiling rage. After several years myojin, victoriously tore off Uthanlos wings and cast him to the mountain side to die. But Uthanlos did not die, and though he healed his wings never regrew, and his hatred for all dragon kind drove him mad. Uthanlos is the father of drakes, and though his name is seldom worshipped, the druids sometimes whisper his name in their chants of rage, and barbarians depict the great white terror, a coiled wingless beast upon their standards.<br />
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Xetesk the Pale – Somber, black eyed Xetesk is a pale and ancient goddess of passing. Xetesk was once a great purple scaled dragon, a ruler of kingdoms, she fond herself immersed in the lives of mortals and their praises rang in her ears. But Xetesk found that none of these mortal praises lasted long, and the sorrow and loss when her favorite humans wilted before her eyes outweighed their praise. She committed ritualized suicide and became a draconic goddess of death in order to be reunited with her lost worshippers, and now she serves as a shepherd of souls. Her worshippers despise necromancy in all it's forms and strive to act as shepherds to both the living and the dead, helping the living to find their "Death Path", a phrase which here means the path of life which leads them to the best possible death (think of it as really grim dark legacy crafting, how will people remember you?) and helping the dead to find peace with the paths they walked in life. Xeteskian priests are common funeral orators. </div>
Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-32137488347062876122018-06-15T02:23:00.000-07:002018-06-15T02:27:03.583-07:00How to kill a God Part 1 <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /> This is mostly a stat workshop for a friend</h3>
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As such I'm not gonna worry about the lore aspects beyond Fara is an imposter god of lightning. She was a mere titan who usurped the proper lightning god, kinda similar to Orcus. She was imprisoned for that shit and for some reason that's not working out so now the heroes are on their way to kill a would be god.<br />
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I feel like I learned a lot from trying to run a God Slaying Encounter of my own about a year ago, in which I did something pretty right but a lot of things really wrong. In the end though, my players felt like they had fought and vanquished a god, and that's what I was aiming for.<br />
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Okay hold up. Let's talk about killing a god.<br />
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How to Kill a God</h3>
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Firstly you'll need weapons worthy of such a feat. Deities are immune to most mortal weapons and recovering the weapon or the material that can actually harm them should be a not insignificant aspect of the quest to kill a god. Spells certainly won't impact a Deity and as such she'll simply ignore spells below a certain level. Lastly, while a Gods physical form could die, unless you follow them to the Astral Sea or bind them in the material, it's usually impossible to actually slay the god with physical means.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">D6 ways to kill a god -- </span></b></div>
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<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;"> The Mud God draws his power from the earth and can only take damage if they are separated from the ground. (Grappling a mudgod is hard but possible, Gravity reversal would also work, etc) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ooblek the Ooze God can rearrange his organs at will, regenerating and restitching himself from even the smallest scrap. If Ooblek has less than 100HP at the start of the round he instead has 100HP. (Simple DPS check, stasis and time magic, haste, and action surge could all seal his demise, this information should be known before the fight) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Huntress Arduin can only be killed by an arrow which has been ritually prepared in the blood of a Stag in heat. (This should happen on screen. Make them track the stag, have it flee, let her divinely intervene in vague ways) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">The War God Achilates has never been bested in combat, but prophecy says his death will be at the hands of a trickster. (The final blow must be a sneak attack, this might not be obvious to the players from their initial investigations but if they look into what the prophecies means they should be made aware of this caveat) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Apollon the Sun God is protected by his sister Navara the moon. If he is slain, or endangered, she will heal him. The only way to kill him is during the new moon, however, he is at his strongest during the day. (This one has a lot of nuance, make the decision to fight at night under the new moon impactful, Apollon knows he can only be killed during this time and will try to flee into the darkness and let his followers hold you off rather than fight) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hekate the Goddess of Magic has no true physical form and can only be killed by the legendary mage slaying sword Weave Reaver, which is attuned to the weave of magic and cuts spells and flesh alike. She is also immune to magic and magic weapons (Resistance to normal weapons, immunity to magic ones and she can only be dropped below 1HP by Weave Reaver, a sentient sword which can only be attuned to by a non-caster who has killed at least 10 mages with it) </span></li>
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I like some of those, I don't like others, but it's 3AM so fight me. <br />
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The key here is that the actual mechanics of D&D combat are mostly what I would call "Solved Problems" There is a Most Effective Tactic to utilize a characters stat block, and most players know what that tactic is by their 3rd or 4th level as that character. Attempting to add wrinkles to this combat in the form of hazards traps and encounter diversity is great but a Deity should go beyond that. A barbarian could swing at the Mud Gods 14 AC forever, but he has no HP bar as long as he is connected to the Earth. Meanwhile Apollon knows about the narrow window to kill him and will try to flee into the darkness when challenged.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQEMMSkn4VNWCKgNn6olmNsR8musobraVlTi_BCuHfX1fo7qH6DCK0n77X-SYELxMNa3UPOabrSRGG6RJyP62VMeYU_IKYEDXn_sKhuqDE90eJVnU9C9gh0TKiQrWrKBAarHnargRBzfx/s1600/Hunger_Final_Dixon_Leavitt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1473" data-original-width="1600" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQEMMSkn4VNWCKgNn6olmNsR8musobraVlTi_BCuHfX1fo7qH6DCK0n77X-SYELxMNa3UPOabrSRGG6RJyP62VMeYU_IKYEDXn_sKhuqDE90eJVnU9C9gh0TKiQrWrKBAarHnargRBzfx/s320/Hunger_Final_Dixon_Leavitt.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You should probably not fight the Mud God</td></tr>
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None of these have explicit solutions grounded in the sheet there is no built in answer in a classes kit. (Except for Achilates but again, fight me) Suddenly your players are making decisions, and choices that aren't grounded in "What does my class do?" or "What is my best standard DPS option?" instead you'll have Barbarians trying to wrestle the Mud God off the ground (dificult and he will try to escape the grapple every round) or else find creative ways to push him off a cliff etc. The mage might haste the fighter so he can keep up with the Fleeing Apollon, but can the fighter and the monk 2v1 a God long enough for the main party to catch up? Or is it better to haste the ranger so that he can better track the fleeing God?<br />
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-79422313427190750202018-05-27T23:42:00.001-07:002018-05-27T23:42:40.840-07:00The Beastfolk <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">The Druhokas -</span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">Their name for themselves is </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">druhok, pronounced d-ruh-hawk (males) or druhoka,</i><i style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms", trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> pronounced d-ruh-hawk-uh</i><i style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms", trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> (females). Druhokas for plural, and i</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">n combat, they're known for being tough-as-hell to kill. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">They all have large horns or large antlers, sometimes both </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">and a sloping face, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">but these features are defined more-or-less randomly during puberty. Sometimes this chaotic process produces results that are similar to elk or deer, but their faces just as often resemble no other known animal. While their faces are furry the rest of their body is hairless, which makes the bestial face look a bit odd. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">Druhok are incomprehensibly virile. They can certainly impregnate any mammal, and quite a few non-mammals. Smaller mammals give birth to skewed little halfbreeds that are usually sterile and sometimes have small horns of their own. (Animals in their homelands sometimes feature horns for this reason.) Larger mammals actually produce genetically normal Druhokas, so in theory, a solitary beastman could buy a cow and repopulate.</span><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="more" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">And it's not just the usual methods of transmission. Even their blood and spit carry their seed, and fertilization can occur like catching a cold (aside from the more traditional vectors). After warring with beastfolk, soldiers are advised to wash their hands before returning to their wives.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">Druhokan warbands on extended campaigns sometimes travel with herds of goats that they use for food, recreation, and procreation. Druhok warbands are bad news. Sometimes they go on world tours. Twenty years later, the warband that returns home contains only a few original members and quite a lot of their children. Also lots of plunder. Also a shit-ton of goats.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBK8ACHsDq4-qLU-22dpXFBTnjudJufpwSxMXJDVmYtzazILhBq5ICSnVj7HEEOBJgx3RgvyL1Xu1dMTbC4IWmfjlP1vQokDhEv7KiWB2KPoiV1Ofh_-7PmnRXwzfsEwDJb12Oa65GjTw4/s1600/goat1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="1600" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBK8ACHsDq4-qLU-22dpXFBTnjudJufpwSxMXJDVmYtzazILhBq5ICSnVj7HEEOBJgx3RgvyL1Xu1dMTbC4IWmfjlP1vQokDhEv7KiWB2KPoiV1Ofh_-7PmnRXwzfsEwDJb12Oa65GjTw4/s320/goat1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;">When a druhok is born, it resembles a baby goat or lamb. After about six years, the young druhok quickly metamorphizes into their adult forms. It's a more awkward puberty than most. It's also a good reason to only buy your baby goats from licensed goat sellers.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;">Druhoks remember their childhood, when they walked on four legs and could only bleat. For this reason, many of them empathize with horses, deer, goats, sheep, etc. It certainly doesn't stop them from hunting, but they treat baby farm animals very well, and most beastfolk are at least mildly uncomfortable with horseback riding, some even defend horses against this abuse with force. </span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;" /><br /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;">Beastmen lack a nimble tongue and full lips. Their language is a mixture of grunts, barks, and hand signals. It's a complex language full of nuance, metaphor, and meme-forms (not the internet meme)</span></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3NloSc2b6WGXJt987s1tIffaYH5UFdQQbmrORmuZhuFASunevQnTJSSAHAGu1ivHlCTq0WIx0OWiegEYVp2Q-yXRIIfoxfN8T8conakILkb9_nwxc6g7QncJsjtMdLkjQ0GVv7L9_DsMb/s1600/Capturde.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="745" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3NloSc2b6WGXJt987s1tIffaYH5UFdQQbmrORmuZhuFASunevQnTJSSAHAGu1ivHlCTq0WIx0OWiegEYVp2Q-yXRIIfoxfN8T8conakILkb9_nwxc6g7QncJsjtMdLkjQ0GVv7L9_DsMb/s640/Capturde.PNG" width="640" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><b style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;">Culture and Women</b><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Beastfolk worship in hot springs, believing all hot springs to be sacred places. They cover their kings and queens with ribbons and bells, and their two biggest trades are brewing vast amounts of wine and being the only race known to have perfected yogurt making. The techniques and recipes needed to make yogurt are religiously kept secrets. The Druhok word for Yogurt is Dahirm (Dah-heer-m) <br /><br />They're a bit misogynistic, as you might suspect, though not in the "I beat up women" way, but rather in the "Women have a role and Men have theirs, and these should not be mixed" way. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;">Most people don't know about Druhoka, the beastfolk women. Unlike the males, they lose most of their animal affections during their pubescent metamorphosis, so that they perfectly resemble humans in adulthood. </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">The only bestial aspect that Druhoka retain are their cloven feet and their unguligrade legs which add 6" to their height.</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"> They still speak in the grunts and waves of their mother tongue, but their perfectly human faces allow them to learn other languages with relative ease. They, like their male counterparts they retain their goat eyes.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLAtArVYft0c5ZEXC4rr6ZWvKQCtHbwuCpTjb51jdZXgrH7LWxNbaUW76uKM8H7reMs-lt6iye1S3440W6CGL3bF3kmYtuOetjSs_AZPahx1_USNsi5xMfx-Qws2ZLBTm_GceZPDNF1MO/s1600/feet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="1024" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLAtArVYft0c5ZEXC4rr6ZWvKQCtHbwuCpTjb51jdZXgrH7LWxNbaUW76uKM8H7reMs-lt6iye1S3440W6CGL3bF3kmYtuOetjSs_AZPahx1_USNsi5xMfx-Qws2ZLBTm_GceZPDNF1MO/s320/feet.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Diagram of Unguligrade legs that I stole from some furry artist.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;">Only the women can ever learn to be magic-users, since the males can't pronounce words. The women also fulfill the religious niches of society and wield significant sway on domestic issues. It's consider vulgar in their society for women to arm themselves, and so the women that do must use "non-weapons" like flat, bladed shovels and big kitchen knives (sometimes with a hilt). A beastman would likely blush and faint if he saw a woman fighting with a broadsword.</span></span></span>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">Most beastfolk come from big families and the family bond of a Druhokan family group cannot be overstated. Druhokans are nomadic people, and they usually travel within these tight knit family groups. Most have a few dead siblings that they quietly honor by setting out bowls of water in quiet places, and then letting them evaporate. It is said that a sibling who goes thirsty in death must truly be hated. </span><br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">STATS N SHITT</span></h4>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">+2 Con, +2 Wis, -1 Cha</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Men can't speak or wear helmets; women can't wear shoes.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Can survive just fine on grass and leaves, although they must eat a lot of it.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Men can gore/butt with their horns when they charge. 1d6+Str bludgeoning damage.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Women can easily run through rocky terrain and steep hillsides. While you're hammering pitons they're jogging up. They can climb non-vertical surfaces without using their hands.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">If you have Cha 13+, and die from an injury (drop to 0 hp) you may attempt to roll under half your charisma score on a d20, if you succeed you instead survive with 1 hit point. (This doesn't work if their head is cut off or something.)</li>
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<i>And you know that Beastfolk warlords have, like, 16 charisma. </i></div>
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-75601383393146315642018-05-11T05:47:00.001-07:002018-05-15T22:51:21.942-07:00Quaya Part 2 Trystero and Salendar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Monkeyrats -</b><br />
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In the cities and towns of Quaya, you'll find very few of the huge, diseased rats found in other parts of the world. Instead you'll find monkeyrats.<br />
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Monkeyrats are the same size as rats, but they're better climbers, and most importantly, they're smart as hell. They're rare in the wild, but extremely common in the cities, living in huge troops of up to 100 individuals, usually inside roofs or in the drier parts of the sewers. They're smart enough to figure out ways to subsist on human excess, by stealing a couple of nuts here, eating some garbage here, and avoiding people whenever possible. Some Trysteran Lenguamancers claim the Monkeyrats are smarter than the average peasant, although whether this is meant as a compliment to the tiny beasts.<br />
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They fight a constant, invisible war with rats, which they usually win (by virtue of cooperation) and also with cats, which they usually lose (because cats are murder machines). Still, cats in Trystero frequently die when they get surrounded by monkeyrats, or when the monkeyrats drop a brick on them from 3 stories up, so owners beware.<br />
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The cities have a complicated relationship with monkeyrats. They're seen as pests, but they're a bit too intelligent to treat like vermin. And they're too numerous to ignore. Huge extermination attempts have been enacted in Salendar with partial success. But whenever the monkeyrats are killed, normal rats jump up to replace them.<br />
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<b>Trystero the city that never thirsts-</b><br />
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The gleaming city of Trystero is surrounded by a gleaming sandstone wall, the stones of which were mined over 80 miles south long before the Moon Emperor descended to the earth. Fragrant fields of hops and wheat grow alongside ginger root beds and raspberry vines grow along the warm hillsides past the west wall of the city, the eastern wall protects the Trysteran Citrus Grove, a sprawling grove with over 15 varieties of lemon grapefruit and various citrus trees as well as a large stand of cocoa trees.<br />
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There are 3 major factions in the city of Trystero:<br />
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<b>The Casque Masters Guild, </b>where beer masters of renown the world over make finely crafted, often magically imbued ales and wines.<b> </b>The head of the Guild is Mug Brewington, famous for his Eisbock, a strong lager style beer made by partially freezing the beer during fermentation and removing the ice that forms before finishing the brewing process.<br />
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<b>The Confectionaires Guild:</b> Where sweets and cakes of a thousand varieties are made, where chefs come to study the art of sugar blowing and chocolate making. There are whispers that the confectionaires guild sometimes dabbles in dangerous and rare ingredients such as the infamous Red Honey and Underdark Cocoa Beans, which must be grown and harvested in the flesh of still living slaves.<br />
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<b>The Lenguamancers College, </b>where mages study the magic of the Tongue. The lenguamancers have an ongoing rivalry with the confectionaires guild over who can construct the most universally appealing and ecstasy inducing flavors. They had a brief rivalry with the Casque Masters, but lost miserably as Mages have no idea what people find appealing in their alcohol.<br />
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<b>Salendar the city of chimes -</b><br />
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The road between Salendar and Trystero is 40 miles longer when you travel northward from Salendar to Trystero than it is when you travel south from Trystero to Salendar. No one is really sure why, a number of mages have investigated it and believe it might be related to a long dead a lamellar labyrinth of hypertoroidal tissues.<br />
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Salendar is known for it's uncountable chimes. Homeless children build chimes of broken glass and junk string, while the richest nobles and merchants build massive chimes from entire buildings. The chimes are all dedicated to the wind spirits who call Salendar home, there's a great cliffside at the edge of the city wear the veil between realities wore thin thousands of years ago, now it's a minor gateway to the elemental plane of air, and air elementals of all sizes and dispositions pass into and out of our reality with relative ease.<br />
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There was once an elementalist college here, mages studied how to bind and control the spirits of the wind now it's great halls and towers lay in ruins, a reminder of the past. A great tempest elemental was summoned and then bound by the elementalists long long ago, but it escaped it's bondage and destroyed the mages, shatteand leveled half the city before becoming entranced with childlike joy over a childs wind chime. Ever since the city has lived in awed respect and admiration for the great creatures and view mages with distrust. </div>
Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-45529068353009986442018-05-07T20:21:00.000-07:002018-05-15T22:52:22.107-07:00Quaya Part 1 - The Warm Hills <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The Warm Hills </h4>
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Sometimes called the Yellow Hills for the variety of wild wheats which grow abundantly in the rocky soil there, the Warm Hills are home to 2 major populations. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje26hDKSGrFtfNc6ZDRUuwsIDGEqycwk2sofhu7bvkaEpKZUSmAc7eRBqPszzix5M_KjCV9fcLdRv_dnYmJzwQtEm_8LJytQ_BwfW-PKGoKLxFh5xKSL_bo78hFoFC6issnIzhFwO9MxjK/s1600/goat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="660" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje26hDKSGrFtfNc6ZDRUuwsIDGEqycwk2sofhu7bvkaEpKZUSmAc7eRBqPszzix5M_KjCV9fcLdRv_dnYmJzwQtEm_8LJytQ_BwfW-PKGoKLxFh5xKSL_bo78hFoFC6issnIzhFwO9MxjK/s320/goat.jpg" width="264" /></a><b>The first group call themselves The Dwarven Common Grace, a half dozen villages of mostly hill dwarves who are essentially Dwarven Calvinists.</b> They worship a god of labor and humility which they have dubbed Armok, God of Sweat and Blood. To labor and toil is to praise their God, and most things outside of honorable labor are considered sinful in someway or another. The dwarves of the common grace are notoriously dull and uncreative creatures, as creative endeavors are often sinful and children are taught what they must know to shepherd the great goat herds or work the fields.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Xg2P0a9o8UdHLCMH5pQMyzXuI6eQolQOl4OXSNgO8EYaDdtJdpnGs1Urn8MxkElLOES1OB7myqi3TgdCg7wNwnvgEi5XYgFpVmThh5RfAy4hTTsUiStXNAl0w4tQGM5HnNpuDe2yIRWM/s1600/8594776db70602b07d5aa500f3169461.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="773" data-original-width="800" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Xg2P0a9o8UdHLCMH5pQMyzXuI6eQolQOl4OXSNgO8EYaDdtJdpnGs1Urn8MxkElLOES1OB7myqi3TgdCg7wNwnvgEi5XYgFpVmThh5RfAy4hTTsUiStXNAl0w4tQGM5HnNpuDe2yIRWM/s320/8594776db70602b07d5aa500f3169461.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Their villages usually consist of a handful of communal dwellings in hollowed out hills, where the dwarves sleep in triple bunk beds packed tightly together with neither personal aesthetics nor privacy allowed. These are usually built in a ring around a central meeting area and communal dining hall. On the surface of these holowed out hills the dwarves usually grow wheat or else pen their great goat herds. A dwarven great goat can grow to be massive, some growing as large as 8 feet tall at the shoulder. The dwarves use them as beasts of both labor and warfare.<br />
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The largest dwarven community in the warm hills is the town of Great Mill, (the common grace dwarves detest fancy names and believe a thing should be named for what it does) so called because of the massive millstone the town is built around. The stone has a radius of just over 40' wide and weighs several thousands of pounds. It's operated by 20 massive goats, the largest goat from each village is sent to help pull the millstone. A village which sends a small or weak goat to pull the millstone is generally considered shameful and dishonest. The dwarves pay nicely for fertilizer and produce a vast ammount of flour which they sell far and wide. Despite all this seemingly impressive economic activity, the dwarves own no luxuries, and store all of their communal wealth in neatly stacked gold bars beneath their hills, a rainy day fund they'll never actually use.<br />
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<b>The second group living in the Yellow Hills are the Great Goblin Encampment of Thanorek </b>Thanorek is one of the least powerful goblin encampments in terms of its ability to wage war, but it is widely regarded as a place of pleasure and excess where those with the coin can purchase all manner of intoxicants and carnal experiences. Thanorek is run by a Hobgoblin named Niu Bo Wei.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdaICxgXVpZXou_DREm3ZgWM2cRDM2qmeG4n3CkeL0u__EslIu9LkA2BQ7O0qoi_IFOuHztqMuoWx_bdK0OK9XefYGRmaNPXHioi0tjH4efqfY-ZzjGF73OBA6blxLPZokdeUUP-LGaujN/s1600/den.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="698" data-original-width="900" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdaICxgXVpZXou_DREm3ZgWM2cRDM2qmeG4n3CkeL0u__EslIu9LkA2BQ7O0qoi_IFOuHztqMuoWx_bdK0OK9XefYGRmaNPXHioi0tjH4efqfY-ZzjGF73OBA6blxLPZokdeUUP-LGaujN/s320/den.jpg" width="320" /></a>Niu Bo Wei is a sybarite and hedonist; he does not care for the responsibilities that leading the Thanorek encampment imposes on him, but he does thoroughly enjoy the pleasures that his position allows. Niu Bo Wei maintains power mostly through his intense charisma and charming decadence—he sees his encampment as the worlds greatest brothel, where all are welcome and where all appetites are satisfied.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3GXrUnX0ReKlk2Nv_BGkJD4M_DwYw4GH7p39hK1DCTcPcLbbet-7lKX9FBIQ6KbMTfLDoGkWUltDzwizUOH9GVv2NSOMGpNiSImRHQVdsb6YVk9Y1hQCjZP2iehXgCT4Oylg-AmCh3UKS/s1600/aph___opium_dens__by_republiksingapura-d35z3t6.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="997" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3GXrUnX0ReKlk2Nv_BGkJD4M_DwYw4GH7p39hK1DCTcPcLbbet-7lKX9FBIQ6KbMTfLDoGkWUltDzwizUOH9GVv2NSOMGpNiSImRHQVdsb6YVk9Y1hQCjZP2iehXgCT4Oylg-AmCh3UKS/s320/aph___opium_dens__by_republiksingapura-d35z3t6.png" width="288" /></a>While most goblin hordes move from place to place the Thanorek encampment, is more permanent having been built around The Brazier; a fire pit made of rune-etched iron in which an efreeti is bound by magic. The goblins of Thanorek worship the “Flame Lord” as a god, but the efreeti wishes only to be fre<br />
ed. The majority of Thanoreks population are goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears, but all races are welcome and it is not uncommon for people to come to Thanorek to disappear or hide frome their troubles. The goblin locals live in low round yurts, and live a hunter gatherer lifestyle for the most part. The pleasure domes, decorated in garish colors, some laced with magic pigments that sear into the eyes of those who view them, are large and varied. It is said there is no pleasure in the Material Realm that Thanorek cannot provide, and few pleasures beyond the material which it cannot find for the man with the right coin.<br />
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-36078532246250840802018-04-10T03:44:00.000-07:002018-04-10T03:44:03.777-07:00Melpomene the Fallen Muse <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Melpomene was once the Muse of Song, and the Mother of the Sirens. One day she fell in love with the great hero Farnir, becoming infatuated. The two were married, Farnir completely oblivious of his wifes divine origins, and they retired to a quiet life alone in a small village, Farnir happy to leave behind his days of grandeur and adventure for the woman of his dreams. </div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">Farnir and Melpomene were not to live in peace for long, however, the retired adventurer had made a fair number of enemies, and before long they found him, the village burned, their children dead, Farnir and Melpomene wept tears of bitter rage and Farnir swore a solemn oath of vengeance. But the slope into darkness is steep and slippery, and as Farnir hunted down those who had wronged him, his soul slowly blackened, sacking whole towns, looting evil artifacts of power, all in the name of his children and his village. Melpomene's soul followed suit, her songs turning to funeral dirges and her heart turning harder and harder, neither realized when or how they had crossed the threshold to evil, gradual change is insidious that way. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">Farnir hasn't been seen in an age now, and is assumed dead, his hidden tomb rumored to be full of his bloodstained riches. Melpomene languished in his absence, the only light in her immortal life, now snuffed out. Her twisted heart festered until she was reborn, as the demon now known as Mormo. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hmm... So, I would give it like... 3 Songs of Discord (which any bard worth his salt can countersong and also learn afterwards) that it switches between during battle, while relying on it's minions and brute strength for actual damage
First would be like Song of Kinslaying - 30' AOE centered on the demon that causes a DC 16 Will save or you have to move towards and attack your nearest ally, can be countered by calm emotions or countersong, the demon would lead with this, as it distracts and disorganizes his enemies, allowing him to close the gap and wade in while their in chaos
Next would be Song of Corruption - Which heals all fiends within the 30' AOE and causes any good aligned creature to take Necrotic Damage, DC 16 Con save for half, I'd go with something like 2D8, save for half, and fiends heal for 2D8, because he can use this constantly it's pretty brutal and increasing those numbers can lead to TPK pretty easily
Lastly would be the fiends trump card Song of Death, which causes any living creature that hears it to take 10D8 damage, DC 15 Charisma save negates and grants 24 hour immunity. This dmg bypasses ALL damage reduction so the barbarian is gonna be pretty tilted
Being Deafened, casting silence, or otherwise preventing the music from reaching your ears is the only way to negate the effects of the Songs of Discord
Give the demon a buttload of HP and resistances, maybe make it vulnerable to bardic magic in someway and give it like... 2 claws that deal 2d6+6 damage on hit</span><br />
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-12717778109176101492018-04-04T14:06:00.004-07:002018-04-04T14:06:53.914-07:00Angelspit price sheet<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Angel Spit Prices Etc</h2>
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Places to Sleep -- </h4>
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Room in the common house near center of town, squalid snail infested conditions - 1 Silver / Day<br />
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Room at the Saucy Frog or the Pissy Bishop, Saucy Frog rooms come complete with free deep fried frog dinner every night - 5 Silver / Day<br />
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<br />Tavern Stuff -- </h4>
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<b>Drinks -</b><br />
Swamp Beer - 1cp<br />
White Ogre (Fermented Yaks Milk and Vodka) 5cp<br />
Clean filtered water - 7cp<br />
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<b>Meals -</b><br />
Deep Fried Frog - 5cp<br />
Grilled Snail - 1cp<br />
Gator Steak with snail sauce - 3sp<br />
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Supplies --</h4>
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<b>Harkness is the Local Provisioner -</b> A cruel cur of a man, but he won't let his vices get in the way of selling supplies to wayward travelers.<br />
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Ragged Bloodstained Set of Leather Armor - 50sp<br />
Simple Hunting Spears - 3sp<br />
Bundle of 10 mostly dry torches - 1sp<br />
10' of Mosquito Netting with very few rips - 5sp<br />
Flask of Toad Oil (for lanterns) - 1sp<br />
Slightly Cracked Lantern - 5sp<br />
Filtered Fresh Waterskins - 3sp<br />
Flint - 5cp<br />
Swamper Boots - 1sp<br />
Slightly soggy map of the area, seems to be blood stained - 15sp<br />
Machete - 5cp<br />
A finely crafted shortsword with a small chink in the blade and what looks to be a valuable gem in the hilt - 150sp<br />
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<b>Rations - </b>Harkness sells 2 tiers of rations<br />
Frogjerky and Snail Snax - 5cp/day<br />
Gatorjerky and salted swamp fruits - 2sp/day <br />
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<b>“Fishguts” McGee, is the Harbormaster of Angelspit - </b> A man with a belly as taught and as round as a cannonball. He runs a small supply store for sailors, fishermen and the like.<br />
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Fishnet - 3sp<br />
50' of Rope - 3sp<br />
Block and Tackle - 3sp<br />
Fishing Gear - 1sp<br />
Bait Bucket - Holds 10 uses of bait - 1sp<br />
Fishing Bait, mostly frozen snails with some frog egg slime mixed in - 2cp / use<br />
Gator Bait, smells awful, warm swamp yak meat - 5cp / use<br />
10 Candles - 1sp<br />
Handwoven Fishing Traps made by the Harbormasters wife - 10sp<br />
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The harbormaster can also arrange quiet passage aboard outbound merchant ships for some coinage. Of course, most of those ships are filled with fertilizers.<br />
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-84324199667187461122018-03-25T05:32:00.002-07:002018-03-25T09:12:00.124-07:00Session Zero Pt 1 - Meet the Team. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Glijak Tad - Human Barbarian - </h4>
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Glijak grew up among forest dwelling 'barbarian' tribes in a small valley, his family lived amongst a grove of Angakara Trees which were revered by nearby elvish druids and orcish shamans as holy trees. Angakara trees are broad oaks that sprout many branches and are often covered by a multitude of light green leaves. In previous ages, the tree was favored for the construction of bows, and once thrived in the balley of Glijaks ancesters, now occupied by the foritified city of Drakkendale. However, many of the trees were felled and Glijaks tribe were slain during the construction of the city and it's great oaken walls, and the trees have never grown back. Those few trees that were left have withered and perished, leaving behind ancient reminders of what once was in the form of large, hollowed tree stumps and decaying trunks. Glijak has an extensive criminal record and is seeking allies and strength to retake the land of his ancestors.<br />
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Remus Corbin - Human Wizard -</h4>
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Growing up in the Imperial Capital of Luminaree to two wealthy and adoring parents Remus Corbin was always infatuated with books and learning, something which had him in trouble more often than his parents would like to admit. To put an end to his trouble making they got him an appointment at the imperial library as a minor steward, and the young Remus took to his new position with alarming enthusiasm, all but living in the grand library. Before long Remus stumbled upon some mysterious symbols which slowly led him to uncover a long dead mentor who spoke to him through journals and hidden riddles, a mentor through whom Remus began to learn magic. Not long after he began studying the journals of his new mentor, he was caught in a forbidden basement area of the imperial library and narrowly avoided arrest. Remus realized that his family would be forever hunted so long as he was alive and so he faked his own death to save his parents and is now in hiding, following the breadcrumbs the journal leaves for him. </div>
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Amatsu - Bronze Dragonborn Druid - </h4>
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Amatsu worships true dragons, (both Bahamat and Tiamat, as 2 sides of the same coin). The druid has spent much of his time trying in vain to convince the common folk that Dragonkin are no more monstrous than dwarves. His once proud people have been scattered to the winds by the emperor as they were deemed abominations and dangerous to the people around them after the mage uprising 200 years ago. Seeking a way to either become a full dragon or awaken an Ancient Dragon, Amatsu has traveled much and is in Angelspit to investigate reports of Black Dragon Bones unearthed by moonfolk somewhere in the swamp.<br />
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Rodrik Light - Human Vengence Paladin -</h4>
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Son of Thomas Light, last of a fallen house, brother of the fallen Hero of Man. His brother was the last known hero to fight against the Emperor and his legions, but in the fight he was abandoned by his allies, and died, outnumbered and alone. Rodrik is current;y in Angelspit lying low and gathering allies, he has plans to take back his family sword from a Moonfolk general named Kurthak Weis, but needs capable allies before he can challenge the famed warlord. </div>
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Theocrat Hambol - Firbolg Cleric of Light - </h4>
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Theocrat is a simple Firbolg who grew up doing odd jobs around Angelspit after he just kinda wandered in from the swamp as a child. Eventually as he came to be appreciated by the surly and mildly insane villagers, his sense of community grew and he became somewhat of a defacto spiritual leader. the small kindnesses the dirt poor villagers could afford had given him life, so he decided to give it back, and threw himself into studies of divine texts and healing. With a tenuous grasp of the basic clerical magics that he could decypher and a love for all life, he just wants to see people safe and happy. He will leave violence as a last resort, but knows how to hold his own when necessary. He is currently worried about the Bilge Shivers epidemic and the missing girl in town.<br />
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Captured and sold into gladiator slavery, Carkan was abused and treated as a literal monster for several years, fighting in pits and arena's across the empire. Eventually forward thinking caravan merchant bought his freedom and hired Carkan as a bodyguard. Carkan worked for him for a number of years and was with him trying to open a trade agreement with the Lizard King who lives the swamps depths, but their caravan was ill prepared for the swamp, and was attacked at night, the cleric Hambol found the minotaur half dead of disease and blood loss in the swamp and nursed him back to health, that was 3 months ago and Carkan is certain his boss is out there somewhere.</div>
Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-67596920885558126462018-03-12T14:15:00.002-07:002018-03-12T14:33:12.896-07:00Moonfolk and The Emperor of The Moon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_se6deYnV1HxjE_DszQhjD5s4XZYmBMV6B8CIv397-lG7q5VwsgxsMd0MBLwmI7z7aUPfxUC9Boa9dGEEa6y2fucl4fhnci6wPhbCip44cwjCjLaKog4LCvB7Gq5LMkMn3bC3UAp0mARp/s1600/0bf89c7851d5abc816022b82fba38ca5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1173" data-original-width="564" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_se6deYnV1HxjE_DszQhjD5s4XZYmBMV6B8CIv397-lG7q5VwsgxsMd0MBLwmI7z7aUPfxUC9Boa9dGEEa6y2fucl4fhnci6wPhbCip44cwjCjLaKog4LCvB7Gq5LMkMn3bC3UAp0mARp/s320/0bf89c7851d5abc816022b82fba38ca5.jpg" width="153" /></a>The moonfolk are the de-facto ruling class, and have been for as long as most people can remember. There are few who can remember how it had happened, how the world had fallen beneath the shadow of the moon, how these strange pale folk had risen to power. What we know now is likely little more than propaganda, and should be taken with a grain of salt. We're pretty sure they come from the moon, they claim to have lived there a long time, but we have no idea how they got here, if they can return, or how many of them there really are. We know they are biologically immortal, able to live for thousands of years, and we know that almost all of them are highly capable spell casters. At first, it seems they had individually risen to power within their respective nations as powerful advisers and commanders, wielding their prodigal magics for the benefit of the local king or baron., but when the Moon Emperor revealed himself, they all swore fealty to him, and so each nation weakened by internal strife, fell rapidly under his domain. This last part, is whispered history, passed down in hushed bed time stories while nobody is listening.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBs9tS2Dx4pFdzuIqLwJ8lhOQNqEguD1cDQzebXbkvMv-OK3VbtbBDhGcKwk2aWmgUJZj8zIu3RUD3i20P4X-I4KPS6B17CFb56tB0VqBBwMe3foGcVOPv5zkbFS05vMN7Xg0oT33V5APK/s1600/05e03b8ab9ad5baccaf818ff29619910--fantasy-character-design-character-concept.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="564" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBs9tS2Dx4pFdzuIqLwJ8lhOQNqEguD1cDQzebXbkvMv-OK3VbtbBDhGcKwk2aWmgUJZj8zIu3RUD3i20P4X-I4KPS6B17CFb56tB0VqBBwMe3foGcVOPv5zkbFS05vMN7Xg0oT33V5APK/s320/05e03b8ab9ad5baccaf818ff29619910--fantasy-character-design-character-concept.png" width="218" /></a>Magic has been heavily licensed since the mage rebellion 60 years ago, when a desperate terrorist by the name of Esterdarrei the Black, unleashed a spell which destroyed an entire city, killing half a dozen moonfolk who had gathered for a conference, and hundreds of regular citizens. The entire landscape for a dozen miles in every direction was twisted and scarred by the magical backlash from the spell, and ever since, the law has made it virtually impossible for a commoner to become a licensed magic user.<br />
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Those who are reported as magic users tend to simply vanish, those in power having decided that it would be simpler if they just disappeared than to deal with the mess of convicting them. After all, everyone agrees mages are dangerous. Some, in mad, hushed whispers, would tell you of factories filled with mages, all casting spells, repeatedly, until they drop of exhaustion, sometimes even dying on their feet. Some might whisper about some great machine, some massive magical contraption that these imprisoned mages are powering. <br />
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But those are the whispered words of malcontents. All of this has been done in the name of safety, in the name of law and order. In the name of peace. Everyone knows mages are dangerous.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX1ATaebBsgufV1Gv4nxmjxw3BsrmcrmNn22Nxiu6Ctk6NyZ1yaXNFkT7ynfP04jsIznFdbR3zJ_yZqehr9pe2enFFn3VuGX1dThy94LfDSNCDe05tYst3JDBn-dJpA6yNCNgIzWel_MfW/s1600/e4f8f41da321b2ca7c21e9f055a1534f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEwRACAbwI6X6IAaHWVXMxNnL6V1ViPY0ABS07A45KjFFq2FqM3eqaAmhNWI-RIvAgRCe8d2Of0V5z-9502PJKKKmHUfEyp3QP8RqhG4ItLVoFuSB2aWGimM-VM6Zdnl105G8Rl_AZI2dM/s1600/2fa6b28826011eeb186d6460b0fb1b0d0bc136bfb6ac0-X5iciq_fw658.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="877" data-original-width="658" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEwRACAbwI6X6IAaHWVXMxNnL6V1ViPY0ABS07A45KjFFq2FqM3eqaAmhNWI-RIvAgRCe8d2Of0V5z-9502PJKKKmHUfEyp3QP8RqhG4ItLVoFuSB2aWGimM-VM6Zdnl105G8Rl_AZI2dM/s320/2fa6b28826011eeb186d6460b0fb1b0d0bc136bfb6ac0-X5iciq_fw658.jpg" width="240" /></a><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1189" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX1ATaebBsgufV1Gv4nxmjxw3BsrmcrmNn22Nxiu6Ctk6NyZ1yaXNFkT7ynfP04jsIznFdbR3zJ_yZqehr9pe2enFFn3VuGX1dThy94LfDSNCDe05tYst3JDBn-dJpA6yNCNgIzWel_MfW/s320/e4f8f41da321b2ca7c21e9f055a1534f.jpg" width="320" /></div>
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-5274728398769570492018-03-08T10:06:00.000-08:002018-03-12T14:33:49.603-07:00D A . R U L E S !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Rules For Players --- </h3>
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<li>None of the following will be tolerated at my table - Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, etc. I shouldn't have to say it but there it is. In the same vein, please refrain from harassing other players or their characters for any reason, and note that sexual content belongs outside the game.</li>
<li>We are all here to play a game together, so while the game is in session please focus on the game and refrain from scrolling facebook or playing other games in the background. We all think we can do both, and many of us probably can, but the truth is, it's still splitting your attention and detracting from your engagement with the people and story around you.</li>
<li>Metagaming to a certain extent is expected and even encouraged, the DM will however remind the players that almost none of the monsters they encounter will be identical to printed monsters. Metagaming comes with inherent risks of it's own.</li>
<li>Giving tactical advice and communicating with your party will be key to survival, but there is a difference between advice and micro managing. We are all here to have fun, and not everyone's version involves maximized efficiency... I don't give a fuck how good your idea is, let people play their own character not your idea of their character.</li>
<li>The group story and group enjoyment supersede any individual characters story, "my character would go against the entire party's interest and derail the whole fucking campaign, so that's what I'm going to do" simply won't fly at this table. Your relationships with the people at the table are more important than your character.</li>
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Rules For Characters --- </h3>
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<li>There will be plenty of racist NPCs but I will ask that players refrain from creating racist or sexist characters. It's a worn out trope and results in unnecessary tension in parties that have enough of that to begin with. No one cares about your "I hate elves" schtick.</li>
<li>NO Evil Characters, you don't have to be the most goody goody hero of all time, but no blatantly evil characters, this will be enforced throughout the campaign, not just at character creation. There will be plenty of morally grey moments provided by the nature of the campaigns, no need to go looking for children to scam or nuns to kill.</li>
<li>You ARE going to be in a party together, so find a reason your character would want to be here, with these people, or make a new character that wants to join the merry group. This also means no infighting.</li>
<li>The edgy silent guy who leans against the tavern wall and only cares about himself, The barbarian who is just here to murder people and has no patience for roleplay, are great examples of characters that you should avoid. d&d isn't a video game and should never be played as such. There's a time and place for playing out power fantasies of steamrolling mindless goons, or being the edgy anti-hero, but that's not the table I'm running; it's Skyrim.</li>
<li>The group story and group enjoyment supersede any individual characters story, "my character would go against the entire party's interest and derail the whole fucking campaign, so that's what I'm going to do" simply won't fly at this table. Your relationships with the people at the table are more important than your character.</li>
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Rules For Play at the Table --- </h3>
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Probably a section for later with shit like... don't fuckin roll until you're supposed to, and pay attention to the turn order, and shit like that. I dunno. </div>
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-67647880076344701442018-02-25T06:25:00.004-08:002018-02-25T06:26:45.831-08:00The Emperors Bio Weapon. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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G R E E N . O O Z E - </h3>
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From what little history has been passed down in the oral traditions of the Orcs (It is punishable by death for anyone, especially 'barbaric orcs' to whisper of a time before the Emperor) we know that the first use of Green Ooze was deployed against the people of the United Orcish Tribes to crush their spirit and destroy their homes. The United Orcish Tribes were the last vestige of resistance to the Emperors unification, powerful shamans keeping back the emperors' mage fire while their fearless warriors slaughtered rank upon rank of conscripted soldiers. The elders and most of the warriors knew their fight was a losing one, but the power of Orcish defiance should never be underestimated. The emperor became worried he might see his forces unnecessarily weakened by the mad eyes warriors of the orcish tribes, and began to research ways to deal with the great warrior tribes. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBG3z29-d0Wj7f-oaepufRVZ9Ye6PboV01Xk0oRNbzvbHxP1TPzmRdv0krO6voS3MOKFjUnzxb9XpiAfyxpN3J_Br6nxSjSmEnHCou4FQ8pf9ZmADHr4GWjo9Uy4OFnNBSWaJRgMUW2dO/s1600/Acidic_Slime.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="823" data-original-width="1126" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBG3z29-d0Wj7f-oaepufRVZ9Ye6PboV01Xk0oRNbzvbHxP1TPzmRdv0krO6voS3MOKFjUnzxb9XpiAfyxpN3J_Br6nxSjSmEnHCou4FQ8pf9ZmADHr4GWjo9Uy4OFnNBSWaJRgMUW2dO/s320/Acidic_Slime.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBG3z29-d0Wj7f-oaepufRVZ9Ye6PboV01Xk0oRNbzvbHxP1TPzmRdv0krO6voS3MOKFjUnzxb9XpiAfyxpN3J_Br6nxSjSmEnHCou4FQ8pf9ZmADHr4GWjo9Uy4OFnNBSWaJRgMUW2dO/s1600/Acidic_Slime.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhx-xPGxf7_evciAWekR0SKgy5fjqVNC5rSE0bDeIaJjTEDJNcYPaRG7uUZf80hT3rBp69zviPJFYpxNDrU8AMA6rvCVoJ44PjB4SQNPsF9p_wR_zbzQsRra5cbQuV8cV1GT5JEkCASIBP/s1600/Acidic_Slime+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>The answer came in the form of an easily weaponized ooze mutation. Green Ooze. Alchemical Oozes are naturally corrosive semi-living creatures and come in a variety of forms and functions, but Green Ooze is singularly dangerous, so much so, that despite the only weaponized deployment of Green Ooze being used by The Emperor, Green Ooze is now considered a class 1 bioweapon by the Emperors decree.<br />
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What makes Green Ooze so dangerous? It's a strongly corrosive, self-replicating ooze that converts all organic matter it contacts, from vegetation and wood to flesh and hide into more green ooze. It's said the emperor used as little as 5 flasks of ooze to destroy the Orcish homelands. By the time the Orcs realized the threat they were facing, the oozes had consumed whole forests, each growing to well over 40' in diameter. And as they grew, emergent predatory behavior began to make itself apparent. The Ooze was no longer content to simply roll across the ground, absorbing whatever wandered into it's grasp. It began to lash out, to seek prey.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhx-xPGxf7_evciAWekR0SKgy5fjqVNC5rSE0bDeIaJjTEDJNcYPaRG7uUZf80hT3rBp69zviPJFYpxNDrU8AMA6rvCVoJ44PjB4SQNPsF9p_wR_zbzQsRra5cbQuV8cV1GT5JEkCASIBP/s1600/Acidic_Slime+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="620" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhx-xPGxf7_evciAWekR0SKgy5fjqVNC5rSE0bDeIaJjTEDJNcYPaRG7uUZf80hT3rBp69zviPJFYpxNDrU8AMA6rvCVoJ44PjB4SQNPsF9p_wR_zbzQsRra5cbQuV8cV1GT5JEkCASIBP/s400/Acidic_Slime+%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Within a month the UOT surrendered unconditionally to the Emperor, but not before the death toll had risen to the tens of thousands. The emperor personally ended 4 of the Great Oozes with mage fire, but left the last as a testament to the Orcs, a price for defiance, trapping it in a valley basin. There it sits at the bottom of a once fruitful valley, now stripped bare, as if frozen. It is unknown if Oozes experience biological processes such as old age or death in any meaningful sense, but the Orcs believe the Great Ooze to be at least 300 years old, and it still lashes out to snatch the occasional unwary bird from the sky above it. Waiting, the Orcs believe, until it is powerful enough to eat it's way out of it's prison.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmrbIRaWdTkaKj6cxK02kDxI7EwgVTDBG2XIEiMPEYyy8wdPQ16W97W39M3EBdrk-n4T0gmFfQtrfc5S4Euf6CoX6qyVNyDZIG06_Sap5f8tszEzJI9rMz4i5r9K7dhHXc2O04Ja4Gb9C0/s1600/acid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1028" data-original-width="736" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmrbIRaWdTkaKj6cxK02kDxI7EwgVTDBG2XIEiMPEYyy8wdPQ16W97W39M3EBdrk-n4T0gmFfQtrfc5S4Euf6CoX6qyVNyDZIG06_Sap5f8tszEzJI9rMz4i5r9K7dhHXc2O04Ja4Gb9C0/s400/acid.jpg" width="286" /></a></div>
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-72767058699662504352018-01-12T02:56:00.003-08:002018-01-12T03:03:24.427-08:00The Wolf and the Valley<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The World is Dying... </h3>
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Different religions recall the feud differently. Some say the gods smote each other in a great war, other believe the capricious gods felt under appreciated, and so, locked themselves away. Still more believe a great trickster, a corruptor that is known by many names, sealed the gods away, accounts vary wildly as to why or how. Still others believe the Gods merely grew bored, and have abandoned our world to seek more interesting realms to play with.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">The only thing that all religions can agree on is that the Gods have left us, and that the world is dying because of it. </span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">It won't die during your generation, and unless you're an elf, your children may well never live to see it, but the world is crumbling. Suffocating, dying a slow cold death as the world of mortal wanes like a plant in winter without divine light. The cancer of entropy eating away at the edges of the system of our reality. </span></div>
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The key to saving the realm of mortals lies somewhere in The Valley of Ancients, a mist-shrouded valley, dotted with lost and forgotten temples. Some say the Valley of Ancients is the last place in the world where the Gods still walk. Others say the gods were imprisoned somewhere deep within the valley. Still others believe items of great power, catalysts that might spark the light to save mankind, can be found amid these ancient ruins and temples. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv1Wv5n7oca5OzCF1SoBxcCPk6GTRmlsRZ1ufB4YVJHLK1I0n5kmGEcmLzwKUE9uGhDvPa9gG-6NBOJvIAx1Xk2EUsn0IjTXl_Vu7oLzPmg9dkPXgBjo5MHD3EYTkh_IN7YBdqTUumumUS/s1600/Valley+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="859" data-original-width="1280" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv1Wv5n7oca5OzCF1SoBxcCPk6GTRmlsRZ1ufB4YVJHLK1I0n5kmGEcmLzwKUE9uGhDvPa9gG-6NBOJvIAx1Xk2EUsn0IjTXl_Vu7oLzPmg9dkPXgBjo5MHD3EYTkh_IN7YBdqTUumumUS/s400/Valley+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">The only thing that every religion agrees on is the Great Wolf Guardian Lycia. </span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UM0rx7M4irgGJIQMdf3dNyYhpHlFNS0334GropHZwPGFiDhMN7NGvoCT2n7aCT0MENV78GysjkMNcpoM74RftBAU-lZ0J8yY2fY7f88lrYofG6GB04iNqrAMfgzcWhyphenhyphenLgKdluCPSpC6K/s1600/wolf+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="790" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UM0rx7M4irgGJIQMdf3dNyYhpHlFNS0334GropHZwPGFiDhMN7NGvoCT2n7aCT0MENV78GysjkMNcpoM74RftBAU-lZ0J8yY2fY7f88lrYofG6GB04iNqrAMfgzcWhyphenhyphenLgKdluCPSpC6K/s640/wolf+2.jpg" width="560" /></a></div>
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Some call her a scourge, some believe she was the beloved wife of the Moon God, once there were many who believe she was nothing more than an overgrown dire wolf, grown massive on travelers tales and rumors. 200 years ago, as his kingdom crumbled to famine and ruin around him a great king named Titus sent an army, hundreds of men at arms, a hundred lances of cavalry, to subdue the beast so he could claim the valley and it's secrets for his own. The army was slaughtered to a man, and rumors say the corpse of the fool king Titus lays at the back of Lycias lair to this day, a nameless corpse atop a pile of doomed men. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-2T8cx8W_MsovFCcftt_UdYRynUImRKSQ0jiUaksDOXmMF5HOc8Ge_hHV3hUBgv60DFqgHfD7jEHNeLaNgd59zndIwmLMlWxrPW-lP8_7BLbk8X2HwGv3BeM-bbTB7ozVz12D0Vi3TKWu/s1600/wolf+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="708" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-2T8cx8W_MsovFCcftt_UdYRynUImRKSQ0jiUaksDOXmMF5HOc8Ge_hHV3hUBgv60DFqgHfD7jEHNeLaNgd59zndIwmLMlWxrPW-lP8_7BLbk8X2HwGv3BeM-bbTB7ozVz12D0Vi3TKWu/s400/wolf+1.jpg" width="293" /></a></div>
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The great wolf has staked the entire valley as her territory, and she ruthlessly hunts down and kills any and all trespassers. This makes the valley a death trap, <i>usually. </i></div>
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Every full moon, Lycia climbs to the summit of one mountains which pen in the great valley, and spends the night, along with most of her children howling in what many scholars and druids have reported to be a call of longing and mourning. No one is sure why Lycia calls to the full moon, but the "safest" time to enter the valley is during these brief windows, while she and most of her children are distracted. (safest, in this case, meaning the only time where the odds of dismemberment are below 90% and thus effectively the only time a sane man would ever dare venture into the valley)</div>
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This is not a fool proof plan however, as the weather must abide Lycias mood, and should the clouds conceal the moon and cut short her calling, she's been known to take her frustrations out on desperate, fleeing adventurers. </div>
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The Desperate and the Daring</span></h3>
The world may be dying, but only the called, the driven, and the desperate care to risk their lives in search of the glory and wealth that lies within the Valley of the Ancients, some call them Adventurers, others might mistake them for Heroes. But those who have survived the valley know there is no room for heroes in the dark ruins of the valley. </div>
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-15056660954074845142018-01-08T08:41:00.001-08:002018-01-08T08:41:10.229-08:00Miniboss - Guantis The Old Bear<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKyuAyBf3XHzXbeLwfg8hdRPb9rlY8eQkqfenWgj_IY5eEs18TW9zOFprZ6OOHL4Q9PUyt50718QRGH5muxuTc32bIzuj5T4ZxHu7SMnqmW1I_P5NMPCEL-TjV6IsFcnSQJJzpGAkIQ9Yv/s1600/Quantis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKyuAyBf3XHzXbeLwfg8hdRPb9rlY8eQkqfenWgj_IY5eEs18TW9zOFprZ6OOHL4Q9PUyt50718QRGH5muxuTc32bIzuj5T4ZxHu7SMnqmW1I_P5NMPCEL-TjV6IsFcnSQJJzpGAkIQ9Yv/s1600/Quantis.jpg" /></a>Okay so there's a legend of zelda forest temple thing somewhere. It's like this ancient druidic site of power, got conquered blah blah dungeon stuff. In the central hub area of this dungeon lairs Guantis the Old Bear. He guards the key to the main boss room, and probably a small hoard of loot as well. He's generally territorial, and prone to displays of intimidation, but he generally won't attack unless provoked in some way. After all, he's getting old now.<br />
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Guantis is over 500 years old and has seen more violence than he cares to recall, his final order, almost 100 years ago, was to guard the place the archdruids sealed away. He is content to be left alone, and is highly territorial, but can be bribed with food so long as no one approaches the center of his lair where the boss key is.<br />
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Age and ancient druidic power have made Guantis a very powerful enemy. His claws are imbued with druidic hatred and sunder non-magic shields and armor. The plantlife within his lair even yields to his rage, growing thorny and ensnaring his foes.<br />
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Guantis is not an enemy to take lightly.<br />
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Guantis the Old Bear </h3>
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<b>HP:</b> 130 / <b>AC:</b> 15/18 / <b>Speed:</b> 40 feet</div>
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<br /><b>Skills:</b> Insight +5 / Perception +6 </div>
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<b>Damage Immunities:</b> Guantis simply ignores any non-magic damage source which deals less than 10 damage. He is also immune to druidic magic below spell level 2. </div>
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<b>Senses</b>: Darkvision 60' / Keen Smell</div>
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<b>Legendary Resistance: </b>Once per day when Guantis fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.</div>
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<b>Actions - </b></div>
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<li><b>Multiattack - </b>Guantis makes three attacks: one with his bite and two with his claws.</li>
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<li><b>Bite -</b> Melee +4 to hit / 2d10+5 Piercing</li>
<li><b>Claw - </b>Melee +7 to hit /2d6 + 5 Slashing damage and inflicts <b>Shred<br /></b></li>
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<li><b>Roar - </b>Guantis will roar loudly if threatened. This increases his AC by 3 (accounted for in stat block) for 1 minute and the pure power of his presence causes any player who can hear him to make a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 2d4+1 rounds. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to this effect. This is a non-magical fear effect.</li>
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<b>Lair Actions - (DC14) </b></div>
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<b>Grasping Vines</b> 120 foot range / 15 foot radius - The plant life along the floor springs to life, grasping and ensnaring Guantis' enemies. Strength Save or be restrained. Full round action to break free. </div>
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<b>Thorny Growth </b>80 foot range / 10 x 10 foot cube - Nearby plants grow spines, becoming difficult terrain, and dealing 3d4 piercing damage, Con save for half to anyone who starts their turn in the thorns. </div>
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<b>Tremors of Power </b>The room shakes with ancient power, all enemies within Guantis' lair must Dex save vs falling prone. </div>
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<b>Legendary Actions</b></div>
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<li><b>Get back here! </b>Guantis may move his full speed, if moving towards an enemy who has taken the key this is treated as a disengage move.<br /></li>
<li><b>Fuck you!</b> The beast lashes out and makes a bite attack against an enemy who has dealt damage to him this turn.<br /></li>
<li><b>Bitch Try Me</b> The beast levels a crippling glare at you. Gaze attack 90 feet that targets one creature, DC 14 Wisdom save or become magically frightened. Can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.</li>
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-2333801167539449332018-01-03T03:08:00.001-08:002018-01-03T03:09:32.960-08:00Wednesday Image Writeup<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I decided to start doing a weekly thing where I make my friends fetch what they think could be interesting fantasy art or some such and then I try to do a big write up, and of course credit the original artist of the work. This week my friend Chazz obliged me with this image from Randy Vargas<br />
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So the first thing I think here is some kind of halfling druid, but then I see the armor and I'm like mehhh druids don't have metal, but maybe it's wood... I don't know, so instead, here's a list of D6 Halflings on a Wolf<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ZbTydFD2D1y-rK-yhs3dbMs_y8mNIU3al0L6C_PhHHKJH-ghEHHPJoamSNxfj_0quloC9imw4NjLAeHYI64oAq9lxV5ntaDFaws0CwzYoMH9I79ViSLpjYqa602UTjhQBoDeNIagG17o/s1600/vargas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ZbTydFD2D1y-rK-yhs3dbMs_y8mNIU3al0L6C_PhHHKJH-ghEHHPJoamSNxfj_0quloC9imw4NjLAeHYI64oAq9lxV5ntaDFaws0CwzYoMH9I79ViSLpjYqa602UTjhQBoDeNIagG17o/s1600/vargas.jpg" /></a></div>
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<li>The halfling is a shepherd cleric of a benevolent forest god. She has tamed this wolf companion and rides to the aid of lost travelers and injured animals. She hates fire, and loggers whom she calls "Consumers." She leads a band of halfling and half elf followers who protect the forest from loggers while protecting travelers from the darker elements of the forest.</li>
<li>The line of Halfling archdruids has been passed to her, though she is young and inexperienced the young halfling knows she must protect the secrets of the Life Tree at the center of her sacred grove. She's willing to lay down her life to protect her families secrets, but a greedy human noble from the nearby area has heard rumors of this tree and set a bounty for it.</li>
<li>Run away daughter of a nearby tribe of forest dwelling halfling rangers. Her father, the chief, has decided to goto war with a nearby orcish logging operation after repeated attempts at negotiation. The chief knows this is a suicidal plan, the orcs have dozens of trained soldiers and he has a handful of decent halfling rangers and scouts. The daughter is seeking help for her doomed father, or else, a tool of revenge.</li>
<li> Astride her timberwolf mount the halfling outlander roams the forested foothills of the area, she's willing to trade food and other essentials (has no need for gold) for escort through the forest, maps of the local area, or information about the nearby landmarks and factions.</li>
<li>This witty halfling merchant travels the region selling tinctures and tonics derived from rare plants and animal parts. They'll probably have a fetch quest or two if asked and they might even trade a recipe or two if the players prove to be good and interesting folk, after all, even a traveling merchant likes company.</li>
<li>This druid isn't what she seems. A DC 14 Knowledge Nature or DC 17 Insight check reveals that this druid is in fact an imposter. She tells very believable lies about a sickened dryad who needs help, begging the PCs to come and investigate. Turns out the local band of halfling thieves have rolled out a new scheme and are waiting in the "Dryads clearing" to ambush the players and take their moneys. </li>
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829661231861771495.post-55681520429621416922017-09-19T02:08:00.000-07:002017-09-19T02:08:05.009-07:00My Take on 5E Non-combat Skills<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I want to encourage my players to try things they're unsure of, and then problem solve from the outcome to try something new, and then deal with that resultant outcome etc.. This simply doesn't happen when players think of their 4 proficient skills as a gospel or a permission slip to try things. I've seen a group sit around and discuss who has the highest possible roll for something before attempting it, and often deciding on actions based purely on whether their character sheet said they could. To mitigate this kind of mental min/maxing, I think I have come up with a skill system for 5E that will be interesting, engaging, and rewarding to players. </div>
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So there's 2 parts to skill usage outside of combat, for me. </h2>
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Firstly - A player decides on a course of action for their player and describes what they want to attempt. </h3>
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At this point, I'm not concerned with "well what skill do I use." I'm just worried about getting a clear and canon action from the character, "I want to roll stealth." is meaningless to me, "I'd like to crawl under a bush closer to this guy so I can listen in on him." is exactly what I want to hear, even if they mean the same thing. </div>
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At this point I go one of three routes, Yes, No, or Maybe...</div>
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<b>Yes -</b> I want players to feel comfortable with skills their character has picked up through questing, especially since <a href="http://rodoflordlymight.blogspot.com/2009/03/reward-with-skills-not-magic-items.html" target="_blank">I plan to reward my players with skills as often as I do magic, </a> So whenever a player brings up a reason they think they can "just do" something. Usually this is something as simple as "I say "______" to the guy." or as complex as "So knowing what I do about the banners of the land from the six months we spent with Sir Galahad being trained as swordsmen, what kind of reputation do these guys have?" Anything that is simpler, faster, and more rewarding to simply "Say Yes." will be handled in this way, </div>
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<br />Small aside --- A lot of times this is how I will want to handle enemy HP, minions having "1 hp" boils down to answering every "I hit him!" with "Yep, he died." and then describing the heinous end this poor mook has just met at the hands of a raging barbarians great axe. I think a lot of times this creates a much quicker pace to the action of the game and allows for scarier minions as well as making bigger / level appropriate creatures feel somehow larger, as sudddenly "I hit it!" is answered with a casual "Yes you did, anything else?" and the character suddenly realizes this isn't another minion. </div>
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<b>No - </b>While I want players to be able to explore their options this also means giving them realistic and consistent consequences, as well as sufficient warning of these consequences. If you try to leap the 30' wide bottomless pit as a dwarf who can't even run 25' in a round, let alone clear a 30' gap in half plate + gear, my answer is going to be "Bjorn the Bright knows he couldn't clear half that gap, let alone the whole thing, try something else." If Bob insists that Bjorn tries to clear it anyway because there's no other way then one of two things has happened.</div>
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Thing 1 --- I've put Bob in some kind of stupid ass situation where he has no clear options, this means I have failed and should realign Bob with a helping hand moving forward, that doesn't mean "Bjorn clears the Gap," but it might very well mean "Bjorn the Bright, who graduated top of his class at cleric school has a pretty good memory and he remembers that there is a 35' long plank back down the hallway, but he'll have to deal with some kind of obstacles to get to it." Hopefully this gives Bjorn some means of moving forward. </div>
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Thing 2 --- Bob is trying to insist on attempting things his character simply cannot do, the consequences of his insistence will then play out honestly. Bjorn will leap less than half the pit, his heart will sink as he feels himself rapidly losing forward momentum, then he plunges down... and down... <strike>tears your character in half</strike> and down... </div>
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<b>Maybe - </b>This is pretty much the only time I actually care about rolling dice, because really, this is the only reason we have dice in an RPG, but maybe kind of covers a few different areas, in my mind.</div>
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Combat is a series of maybes... "Do I hit him?" maybe.. roll for it. "Okay I hit him! Does he die?" maybe... roll about it. "CR-CR-CR-CRITCAL!!!" oh dang. He dead as fuck my dude. A kobold and a dragon fight are the same questions but with longer maybe loops between beginning and conclusion.<br /><br />It also kinda fits into the area of like "I give a speech to rally a few of the local villagers to take up arms, do any of them join us?" Well... the initial answer is going to be one maybe, "Maybe, roll to see how good of a speech you give," </div>
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<b>--- CAVEAT --- </b>I don't actually give a shit what the dice say if the player themselves gives me a bad ass rallying speech for the villagers, if a player can explain why someone would come to a conclusion, or gives me a very convincing lie about something. Basically any reason I have to instantly turn a Maybe, into a Yes. You get the idea. </div>
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Maybe also covers things like "I rolled a 19 performance, so how many villagers join us as militia?"<br />For these kinds of things, I think I prefer to work in % and D4s, so if I was super prepared and knew there were... 200 fighting fit villagers and you rolled a 19 I might roll a % and fiddle with it until I found a comfortable number.. *Rolls 29* Alright so.. 50 people, give or take, step forward, including 6 women, and a pair of young twin boys who couldn't be older than 11, the villagers have no real weapons, and they're poorly trained, the demons will be here the moment the suns purifying rays pass beyond the horizon, now what do you do? </div>
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If I'm not super prepared, and this is some random Bullywug, shantytown in the middle of nowhere I might decide on a number of D4 based on roughly the total population, for a small village with say < 100 people I'd probably roll 2d4, maybe more if the village had some kind of warrior tradition, probably 1d4-1 for bullywugs. </div>
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Secondly - The system I want to use to resolve maybe actions, "Proficiency Dice"</h3>
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So this is where I want to get mechanics specific, or more accurately, I want to bash the 5E skill mechanics off with a large rock, and then frankenstein graft my own deeply flawed version of skills into the 5E system. So in place of "Proficiency" in 5E I think I want to use a "Proficiency Dice Pool" </div>
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"Proficiency" in the context of this new skill system, is just saying the same as saying "It doesn't cost me anything to add my proficiency die to this specific thing." or, more accurately</div>
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<b><br />"If you can convince me there's a reason your character SHOULD be good at this action, you can add 1 free proficiency die"</b><br /></div>
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Whether its remembering banners, hitting someone with his great axe, or leaping across that 30' wide pit, if you can explain why your character should be good at this, I'll give you the die. "So knowing what I do about the banners of the land from the six months we spent with Sir Galahad being trained as swordsmen, what kind of reputation do these guys have?" Great question, roll a quick Wisdom check to see how much you remember about that, "K, I'm gonna spend a die to add a d4 to that, does that training with Galahad give me proficiency?" Yeah, so you don't have to subtract the die. (I kind of think it's important to declare die usage first, and then haggle about whether your proficient, just to sort of... mitigate the "I am proficient at stealth, so I should stealth." thought process)</div>
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<br /><br />If you can't convince me that you SHOULD be good at that, but you know you NEED to be, then you spend the die. Even the knight in full platemail can be sneaky sometimes, the difference is that sneaking is harder for the knight full plate, it requires way more effort, (spending dice) where as the halfling rogue is reliably sneaky (doesn't cost to spend 1 die) and can push himself to be even sneakier if he needs (spending dice on top of free one).<br /><br />So the way it would work, when it all comes together is at 1st level you would start with a "proficiency pool" of 2d4, anytime you would roll a D20 to resolve some kind of "Maybe" you can spend a proficiency die from your pool to add that die to the D20 roll. You could technically spend all your dice on a single roll, if you wanted to. At each of the levels 5/10/13/17 you are given the choice of increasing the die size of your entire pool by one step, (D4>D6>D8>D10>D12) or Increasing the size of your pool by one die, (2d4, 3d4, etc) </div>
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4 Skills as Loot Ideas--- </h3>
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<br /><br />You spend 3 months with the elvish mystics, learning the arts of herbology and healing plants. You also learn a small bit about elvish customs </div>
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<b>---You can get your free die on any roll you can reasonably claim you learned about. </b></div>
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You spend a year, apprenticed to Bjorn the Bright, one of the best dwarven armorers around. Most of your time is spent destroying your own "Subpar" work, but you also learn a number of things about armoring, and smithing. </div>
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<b>---You can get your free die on any roll you can reasonably claim you learned about. </b></div>
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<b>---Dice Spent to Sunder someones armor are rolled as a die higher</b></div>
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You spend 2 long months practicing and sparring your ass off, trying to master the polearm techniques of the Lizardfolk. You are dismayed to find that many of their techniques make use of the polearms reach to bully smaller creatures. </div>
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<b>---You can get your free die on any roll you can reasonably claim you learned about. (If already proficient roll at 1 die higher) </b></div>
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<b>--- Whenever you set a polearm to recieve a charge from a small sized creature you may do an additional D6 of damage</b></div>
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You spend several weeks as a drow slave, during which time you were probably poisoned a half dozen times and learned a thing or two about drow</div>
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<b>---You can get your free die on any roll you can reasonably claim you learned about. </b></div>
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<b>---Dice Spent to Resist Poisons are rolled as a die higher</b></div>
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<b>****I HAVE NO IDEA IF I WANT TO USE THESE DICE IN COMBAT YET**** </b></div>
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Big Bad Dungeon Masterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12199499259503294260noreply@blogger.com0