Coming Back From the Dead

Coming back from the dead is a major story element in classic fantasy and myth, and is the fodder for entire stories or epics. In 5E D&D, however, it's a rather simple spell with a minor drawback. Since my current world is so heavily inspired by Greek mythology this did not make much thematic sense, so I came up with the following changes to bringing people back from the dead in my game.

Casting Raise Dead does not guarantee that someone will return from the dead. Instead, it allows a group of people, up to five, to have their spirits severed from their body and travel into the Underworld. Once there, they are presented to a judge and must argue the case for bringing their companion back to the land of the living. This usually will require some service to the Gods of Death, the promise of death in exchange, and possibly an extensive quest.

If the judge deems the dead soul unable to return, then the party is not without hope. Once returned to the land of the living, the living companions can sneak into the land of the dead to save their companion. This would require journeying to an entrance, braving the dangers of hellhounds and the River Styx, and hoping their friend hasn't eaten anything while dead.

All in all, it's been a much more entertaining way to deal with death in the campaign thus far.

Old School 13th Age: Magic Items

Old School Magic Items in 13th Age

As I continue to work on the megadungeon I find myself wanting to redesign the old school magic items to be more in line with how 13th Age treats it's magic items, but I still want that OSR flavor to them. The mystery of picking up a new sword and swinging it around to see if it's magical. So that means I have to figure out how I am going to cover identifying magic items, as well as the effects of some of the more powerful items and cursed magical items.

Identifying Items

I am going to allow items to be identified with a ritual cast spell accessible by wizards as a level 1 utility spell. Alternatively, PCs can use their 5's on icon rolls in town to identify items (figuring them out with some advice) or 6's inside the dungeon (So that's why the archmage told me that story!). A character could use a 6 in town to guarantee that there is a wizard with a traveling caravan capable of identifying their magic items for them. This would cost 1d6+1 x 100gp per item.

Cursed Items

Curses are a big part of the old school feel, when you put on that girdle and your gender swaps or the sword you found turns out to bite you on the ass when you swing it, is all part of what makes exploring the dungeon a challenge. +Matt Maranda suggested having cursed items negatively impact the escalation die, and I think that is in the right direction. Below are some example magic items from Rappan Athuk that have been 13th Age-ified.

How will we remove curses? Still thinking on that. Zelkor's Ferry doesn't offer any easy way to remove curses, and Rappan Athuk is full of them.

Accursed Platemail of Magic Resistance

Bonus per tier: +1 / +2 / +3

Power: Any magical attack or spell against the wearer must score a natural 12+ or be absorbed by the armor having no effect.

Curse: Any magic spell or effect not stopped by the armors magic has any randomized properties maximized against the wearer, and the damage is increased by 5 x the escalation die.

Quirk: Feels compelled to boast their superiority to wizards and sorcerers.

Betraying Blade

Bonus per tier: -3 all tiers.

Curse: This blade steals the user's chakra when picked up, refusing to be put down or allowing other weapons to be wielded. On a miss, the wielder resets the escalation die to 1.

Cursed Blade of Life Draining

Bonus per tier: +2 / +3 / +4

Power: Once per battle, recharge 11+ - This blade can leave a nasty, bleeding wound. The victim suffers bleeding ongoing damage equal to five times the sword's plus.

Curse: Every round of battle the sword steals life from the wielder equal to the current escalation die's rating. This drain is not noticed by the wielder thanks to the swords overpowering quirk.

Quirk: The wielder of the blade feels invincible and fully refreshed.

Cursed Healing Potion (Champion Tier)

Power and curse: This potion functions like a champion tier potion of healing, except the hit points gained actually fade away 1d10 minutes after being consumed.

Stronger Magical Items

These are a few magic items that are usually game changers in OSR style games, where magic items have a major impact on your PC. I want to avoid having them completely unbalanced, but these items should feel stronger than basic magic items. To compensate, I think the quirks should come into play even stronger for these potent items.

Belt of Giant Strength

Bonus recoveries per tier: +1 / +2 / +3

Power: At-Will: The wearer of a Belt of Giant Strength rolls twice when making strength ability checks and strength skills, taking the better result.

Power: Battle, recharge 16+: On even hit: Deal double damage with a melee or thrown attack.

Quirk: Constantly flexes, prone to challenge others to contests of strength.

Staff of Power (Epic)

Bonus: +3

Powers: The staff of power has many abilities it can access.

Continual Flame: Once per day. Create a heat-less flame that burns as bright as a torch.

Magic Missile: Once per battle, recharge 6+, Magic Missile as wielder's level.

Fireball: Once per day, Fireball as wielder's level. Escalation die must be at 3+ to use.

Levitate: Once per battle, recharge 11+, Levitate as wielder's level.

Lightning Bolt: Once per battle, recharge 11+, Lightning Bolt as wielder's level.

Hold Monster: Once per day, Hold Monster as wielder's level. Escalation die must be at 3+ to use.

Special: A staff of Power can be broken to perform a retributive strike. This deals 300 points of damage to everyone close, 200 damage to everyone nearby. Everyone is allowed to make a save to take half damage. This damage is force damage. The wielder has a chance of being teleported to a random plane instead of taking damage. They must succeed on a 11+ save to be teleported, failure means they are instantly destroyed by the power escaping the broken staff.

Quirk: The wielder of the staff of power feels all powerful, laughing at his enemies and bragging about his unstoppable power.

Vorpal Blade

Bonus per tier: +1 / +2 / +3

Power: On a natural 20, the Vorpal blade severs the head of the target from the neck killing them instantly. This does not work on all creatures, such as ghosts, golems, slimes and oozes. The GM is the final authority on what can die from having it's head cut off.
Quirk: Bloodthirsty, and a desire to eat raw meat.

Weapon of Speed

Bonus per tier: +1 / +2 / +3

Power: On a natural even hit, once per round, you gain an extra standard action.

Quirk: Jittery and amped up, needing to constantly move. To stand still is to die.

Old School: 13th Age and a Megadungeon

13th Age OSR?

Recently I picked up 13th Age, and have been playing a lot of it. Like most of the games I have been playing lately, it is very light on the rules and lends itself to some good gonzo action. There are numerous reviews of 13th Age out there, so I wont reiterate what has already been said better by others, I will just state that the game has a very dear place in my heart now.

So of course I want to see what it can do with it. Thus far my games have been in the Dragon Empire (the default setting for 13th Age) with very little customization other than adventure locations. I think it's time to take it a step further and try to bend it.

I'd like to make it more OSR-like. I'm not proposing some major system overhauls, just a few house rules and mainly a change in the way magic items work in order to get that old school adventure feel. I'd also like to throw the characters into a Megadungeon so Rappan Athuk will be serving as the setting for this experiment.

OSR Houserules

The following are a list of house rules I am working on to make 13th Age more OSR-like.

Delving Deeper

Leveling in 13th Age is usually based on DM fiat, but I want to encourage risk vs reward which is a classic archetype of OSR games. I am looking at advancement as a combination of treasure recovered and returned to town, as well as depth the troupe has reached. An idea:

• X amount of treasure returned grants an incremental advancement.
• Major encounters defeated grant an incremental advancements.
• New level delved grants an incremental advancement. This only works for "true levels" not sub-levels.
• Thoroughly exploring a level grants an incremental advancement. (maybe for sub-levels)
• Every 4th incremental is a level.
• Replacement PCs will come in at a level based on depth attained by the party. (2nd level PCs come in on level 3, 3rd level PCs come in on level 6, etc.)

I may have to slow this as they continue to descend, and will be tweaking it probably before we run the adventure. Right now I'm figuring every 3rd true level would be worth a level. Possibly quicker at the top, and slower at the bottom.

Magic Items

In OSR type games, magic items tend to be rare, consumables a little more powerful. 13th Age magic items are potent but not campaign altering. 

• Scrolls will function with 13th age versions of spells.
• Not all magic items are created equal. Though I will stick to the 13th Age magical "pluses" some magic items will be stronger than others - A sword of speed might give an additional attack on an even roll, once per round. A vorpal could sever a head on a natural 20.
• Wands will most likely function once per battle, no recharge roll required, and run out after x charges.
• Wands, Scrolls will not count toward major item limit, unless the wand is a true implement.
• Cursed items - need to be nasty.
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Danger Level / Sandbox

Rapp Athuk is a dangerous place and I will have the danger levels of the encounters be set based on the dungeon level / challenge of the room. Characters may very well run into things they cannot handle and will need to flee.

Full Rest

A full rest will only be available in town, unless they find a truly safe area that allows them to rest in the dungeon. They will want to return to the town with major money hauls for their incremental advancements, anyway.

Icons

Icons play an important role in 13th Age and I'd like them to take a role in the megadungeon, however the story of the megadungeon is exploration and danger, not so much one icon opposing another. So, I am thinking of the following house rules:

Icon benefits (5's or 6's) can be exchanged for a few different things during the course of a session. It will be up to the player to make sure they get use out of their benefits.

• 5's: Must be used in town. 6's can be used anywhere.
• Identify: Your relationship with an icon allows you to identify a magical item you find, and figure out it's command words. Maybe a strange piece of lore or a poem you were told.
• Clues: The GM can give you clues to solve a riddle, a trap, or locate a secret door.
• Escape: You can spend an icon relationship benefit to escape from a dangerous situation. 5's can be used to escape, but will cost you 2 recoveries to do so.
• Healing potion: In town you can gain a healing potion, magic oil or rune.
• Monster Info: Some monsters require special conditions to harm or have dangerous abilities, an icon relationship can give you that bit of info you need.

More Advanced Dungeon Crawl Classics: Barbarian and Dwarven Priest

A while back a group of us on the google+ DCC group started to discuss "advanced" versions of the DCC RPG races and classes. These discussions lead to a couple of articles by fellow community members: John Carr's article on Warrior-based subclasses and Doug Pirko's article on dwarven subclasses.

My "Barbarian" subclass is similar to the early versions of the Barbarian, including a rage mechanic. Details below:

Barbarian

The barbarian is a warrior of pure rage. What they lack in finesse they more than make up with raw force and can channel a terrific rage to make them stronger than a dozen men. This comes at a huge cost, as the barbarian lost to his rage has no concern for his own safety.

The barbarian is identical to a warrior, except in the following ways:

A barbarian only gets D10 hit die, instead of the D12 warriors usually receive.

A barbarian prefers not to wear heavy armor, the movement penalty allows his enemies to run away.

A barbarian has a Might Deed die, the same as a warrior. In addition to the standard uses of a Deed, a Barbarian can also "Rage."

Rage - In a combat the barbarian can choose to go into a rage. He rolls his mighty deed die and gains the listed number as a bonus to his attack and damage for the remainder of the battle on top of his usual deed attack die. The bonus for the Rage is set at the beginning of the rage and does not change. During this rage, the barbarian suffers a penalty to his armor class equal to the bonus gained. In addition, the barbarian is unaware of how hurt he is. The Judge tracks the barbarians hit points until the end of the rage.

After the rage expires the barbarian is exhausted. He retains the penalty to his AC for a full hour, and cannot use mighty deed or his deed die to attack until that hour is up and he has regained his strength.

level 5 - Undying Warrior - If a Barbarian in a rage is dropped to 0 hit points or less, they can continue to fight. Fueled on by their rage, they attack their foes without mercy and battle beyond death. They still have the same rounds per level before dying, but can continue to fight during this time. If they run out of enemies they immediately fall prone and die in the next round. Healing an undying warrior is difficult, and requires an attack roll to successfully lay hands.

Dwarven Priest

It's happened a lot in my games that the dwarf rolls a high personality. I've also always liked the idea of dwarven priests, they are all over in the old D&D novels. So here is my take on a variant from the Dwarf in the DCC core book.

You are a priest of the stone, a follower of the God of Dwarves, or the Forge, or some other Dwarven Deity. What you lack in martial might you make up for with the power of your god.

Hit Die: D8

Armor and Weapons: Warhammer, Battleaxe, Mace, Club, Flail, Hand axe, Crossbow, or Staff. Dwarven Priests can wield shields and wear any armor.

Attack: As a Cleric

Saving Throws: As a Dwarf

Senses: Darkvision sixty feet, can smell gold and gems as a dwarf, and gains the dwarven stone-cunning senses to detect stone traps and secret doors.

Spellcasting: Dwarven Priests cast spells as a Cleric, but gain one less spell per spell level. Minimum 1.

Lay On Hands: Dwarven Priests can lay on hands as a Cleric.

Miracle: You can beseech your god for a miracle. Summoning your ancestors or clearing a collapsed mine tunnel. The DC of the miracle is set by your Judge.

Turn Unholy: You can turn unholy like a cleric, these things are usually undead, demons, mimics and strange otherworldly creatures that inhabit the deepest depths. You turn unholy with your level + personality + luck modifiers.

Hammer and Shield: Like a dwarven warrior you can attack with both your weapon and your shield. Your shield attacks with a d14 and typically deals 1d3 damage.

Bloodocalypse: Mutations and "Magic Items"

Mutations

Exposure to various mutagenic phenomena may (is going to) happen during the game. Since mutations are a big part of the natural wildlife, I decided to make a system for characters to determine what happens to them when they are exposed to strange energy sources, radiation, rifts in space-time and mutagenic diseases.

Mutation sources will have a Fortitude saving throw DC based on the power of the mutation effect. How much they fail the save by determines the severity of the mutation.

Fail by 1-4: Minor mutation - roll 1d6.
Fail by 5-9: Major mutation - roll 1d10
Fail by 10-19: Severe mutation - roll 1d20
Fail by 20 or more: Extreme mutation - roll 1d20 twice
Natural 1 on save: Roll 1d10+5 three times.

Some mutations will be related to the source of the exposure. Most will use the following table, with the die rolled based on the severity of exposure. Special: a positive luck modifier allows this result to be shifted to the most beneficial within range, where as a negative modifier would shift the roll to the most hindering. Unless stated otherwise the effects of mutations stack and can be rolled multiple times.

Also note that most obvious mutations will add a cumulative -1 to reaction rolls from NPCs.

1. Tolerance - You gain +1 to saves to resist future mutation.
2. Susceptibility - You gain a -1 to saves to resist future mutation.
3. Dangerous Mouth - Your mouth becomes misshapen and filled with sharp teeth. -1 personality, and you gain a bite attack at a secondary action die of 1d14 and deals 1d4 damage. Each time you gain this mutation the damage die increases by one step. You can optionally choose to attack with your regular action die.
4. Thick Skin - Your skin hardens with strange nodules and scars. You lose 1 personality but gain +1 to your AC.
5. Mushroom head - Your hair falls out, replaced by strange fungal growth under your scalp. You lose 1 personality but can eat the growths as nourishment, replacing a meal every 1d3 days.
6. Slimy skin - Your skin becomes slick to the touch, making you difficult to grab. You gain a +2 bonus on any rolls to avoid being held or restrained.
7. Irritable Bowels - Any time you engage in strenuous activity you must make a fort save DC 8 or have to immediately relieve yourself. Failure to do so results in a -2 to all rolls (attacks, saves, damage, skills) until you do so.
8. Wasteland Rage - A common mutation in the wasteland. The sight of blood sends you into a fury. When wounded or after seeing blood, you gain +1 to attack and damage for the next 1d4 rounds. During this rage your AC is lowered by 1. You also gain a taste for human flesh.
9. Minor Body Transfiguration: Roll 1d5 twice. Subtract 2 points from the first ability score indicated, and add 1 to the second ability score indicated. (1-Str, 2-Agi, 3-Sta, 4-Per, 5-Int)
10. Weakened Bone Structure - Your bones become more fragile, resulting in being much less resilient. You lose 1 stamina.
11. Rage-Roids - Your body becomes covered in muscle, your muscles have muscles. You grow 1d4 feet in height and double in weight. Gain 1d6 hit points, 1d4 points of strength, 1d4 stamina, but lose 1d4 points from personality and intelligence. If you possess the Wasteland Rage mutation you become more prone to that mutation in the future, replacing the "1-Tolerance" result on the table with "1-Wasteland Rage".
12. Bug Eyes - Your eyes bulge out and become shiny and gross. You gain the ability to see in the dark an extra 30 feet, but lose 1 point of personality unless you are a Tovi.
13. Extra Arm - You grow an extra arm from (1d4: 1- Right Side, 2-Left Side, 3-Chest, 4-Back) that can perform actions as an extra action die at 1d14. You need to have your armor specially altered to be able to use it.
14. Shearing Flesh - Your skin becomes lose on your body, detaching when hit with enough force and falling off in a gross slush of crimson. Any physical wound against you deals an extra 1d4 damage from the torn skin. However, your skin heals very quickly and you recover 1 hit point an hour, 2 if resting.
15. Deadened Nerves - You lose 1 agility from dead nerves, but your body becomes incredibly resilient to pain. You suffer 1 less damage from all sources.
16. Thick Nodules - You gain tumor like nodules all over your body, which cause aches and pains. You lose 1 agility but gain 1d8 hit points. Your armor will need to be custom fit.
17. Major Body Transfiguration: As 9 above, but instead subtract 1d4 from two ability scores and add 1d4 to another. Randomly determined.
18. Regeneration: You recover your level it hit points per hour. Your skin crawls, and the flesh beneath your skin moves on it's own. If you roll mutation a second time you can reattach severed limbs by holding them in place for an hour.
19. Giant Brain - Your head swells causing internal bleeding as your skull is forced to expand. You lose 1 stamina but gain 1d4 points of intelligence. You also gain a psionic power.
20. Extreme Body Transfiguration - Roll 2d3. You can add that many points to your choice of ability scores, but then must subtract 2d4 points from your choice of ability scores.
21. Or higher - Extreme Evolution: You gain +2 to a random ability score (1d5) and an additional mutation rolled randomly with the same die.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic

One of my favorite quotes, and true for the Bloodocalypse setting. The technology that existed before the collapse of society was so advanced that how it works cannot be explained by even the wisest sage - if Bloodocalypse had sages. No, the tech is just magic. Or maybe magic is just tech. Either way, no one on the world knows. I have four levels of "magical" devices in the setting. First, you have basic utility items. These include flash lights, glow sticks, and other sorts of mundane equipment produced with more efficient technology. These things are the most common (still rare) but a lot more common than than next category. The second group are mostly advanced armament items. These include blasters, laser swords and microweave armors. You also have some of the more advanced utility items at this level. Thirdly we have the very advanced weapons and armor, a lot more rare and more experimental - not much of this left at all. Finally, we have the ultra-tech stuff. This is artifact level tech that will change the entire campaign - from advanced vehicles to self-repairing intelligent power armor and doomsday weapons.

Below are some examples of DCC style magic items made with technology instead of magic.

Healing Goo - Usually contained in metal tubes or small spheres. Once opened, the goo appears to be a semi-solid slime that has the consistency of snot. When applied to a wound it begins working immediately, stopping the flow of blood and repairing the damaged tissue. A single container of healing goo usually has enough material to heal 3d8 hit points before being all used up. Left over from an application can be scraped off and reused another time (the healing is rolled once, and can be doled out in portions).

Blessed Amulet - A strange amulet with a glowing crystal. When the user is exposed to dangerous environmental or psionic threats the crystal glows and surrounds the user with a transparent force field to attempt to weaken the incoming threat. The amulet grants the wearer a +2 bonus to AC and saving throws.

Ceramic Nanomesh Armor - As light as regular clothing, this fine dark grey mesh can be worn underclothing with no problem. The mesh provides the benefits of chainmail armor, without the check penalty, fumble die or movement speed penalties associated with wearing armor.

Blaster Pistol - A large cylindrical barreled pistol with a heavy grip, a loud humming plasma charging chamber, and weird electro-magnetic circuits that glow when active. A blast pistol deals 2d8 damage, and ignores standard armors. Blaster pistols explode on a natural roll of 1, dealing 1d8 damage to the wielder and anyone within 5 feet per charge remaining in the gun - Reflex save for half damage. A blast pistol charge pack can hold up to ten shots, but most found pistols have only 1d4 shots remaining in the charge pack.

Balefire Power Armor -  Ultra-tech, unique. A set of gleaming dark red armor with spikes jutting from the helmet, massive shoulder plates, wrists, shins, knees and knuckles. A glowing energy core in the chest. This massive suit of power armor requires that the user slip inside of it while it is inactive, and then must bleed into the armor to prompt it to bond with the user - A process which inflicts 2d8 damage to the wearer as a cybernetic link is inserted into the user's brain and spine. After bonded, the armor can be dismissed with an action, causing it to go out of phase with the wearer - effectively vanishing until called on.

The Balefire Power Armor was created with one purpose - to destroy the enemies of the state. However, the state no longer exists. The Armor's intelligent personality causes it to turn it's destructive force on others. Any threat it responds to with extreme prejudice, and seeks to destroy all of the culture remaining on the world. For this reason, the armor is chaotic. It has an intelligence of 20, but rarely chooses to communicate with speech. Instead it uses subtle psionic control over it's user, turning them chaotic and urging them to destroy anything and everything that get's in their way.

The armor is powered with a zero-point energy matrix which gives it near-unlimited power.

• The wearer of Balefire Power Armor benefits from +13 armor class. The armor has a check penalty of -6, but this does not apply to psionic abilities. The armor does not reduce speed.
• The wearer benefits from a strength of 20 (+5) while wearing the armor. If the wearer has a strength of 20 or higher already, the armor grants a +2 to strength instead.
• The armor has a psionic booster circuit, granting the user +2 to psionic rolls.
• Three times per day, the wearer can use Scorching Ray with a d20+12 on the cast check. This uses the wearers action.
• The Armor can detect lawful creatures within 100', and illuminates them on the heads up display. Non-lawful creatures can be detected at 50'. This gives the wearer a +2 bonus on rolls to notice ambushes and initiative rolls.
• The armor repairs any damage to itself at a rapid rate of 2d8 damage per turn. This does not heal the wearer.
• Energy weapons held by the wearer can draw from the suit's unlimited power supply, supplying them without using charges from the weapons own power source.
• The wearer's unarmed attacks deal damage as magical warhammers, inflicting 1d8 damage plus strength bonus.
• The ways of destroying the armor are mysterious.

Goals and motivations: As stated above, the Balefire armor seeks to destroy civilization completely. To do this, it has access to a special use ability below, that can only be used once per month. The armor chooses when to activate this ability, and not the player.

Ego: The armor slowly takes over the wearer. Each day that the armor is worn, the target must make a will save vs DC 15. On a failure they receive a  cumulative -1 to their next check. Once their will saving throw is reduced to 0 in this manner, any further failures and they are overtaken by the armor. Their alignment switches to chaotic and they seek to destroy the cities of the world. Being brain-bonded to the armor is extremely deadly though, and the psionic control inflicts 1d3 points of intelligence damage a day on the user. Eventually their brain shuts down and they die, and the suit has to abandon the body and de-activate until it is found once more.

Special Purpose Ability: Annihilation Blast - 1/month, the suit can unleash a blast of energy that an fire up to 10 miles away and strike an area with a diameter of five miles, inflicting 20d20 damage to everything in the blast radius. This vaporizes most cities and all unfortunate living matter in the area. Using this ability is incredibly dangerous for the suit, however, draining it's zero-point energy reserves.

Bloodocalypse: Session 1

Last Friday I ran the first session of my Bloodocalypse campaign, following some intensive days of working on campaign notes and house rules to get it to be what I want. While the campaign world is not complete, it was ready for the first play session.

For those of you that don't remember/care, Bloodocalypse is the working title for my Gonzo Science-Fantasy campaign I am designing for DCC RPG. A world of barbarians and laser guns.

Things seemed to go great. The group got together and rolled up zero level PCs on the new tables I designed. I created a couple different groups of humans with different racial occupations to help establish the themes of the game. We also used the alternate luck rule I came up with - where PCs are allowed to risk their luck if they start with a 9-12 luck score, which could result in the changing of their luck. This had some very unexpected results.

Out of the 4 characters who risked luck, only one got a positive modifier out of it, the others ended up with negative modifiers. However the unexpected result is that the random events that happened when they were younger, ended up resulting in them having a backstory and there for a stronger personality.

For example, one of John's characters was a vat farmer - they use the old vat technology to grow foodstuffs, that taste horrible. His character had decided he wants to make a name for himself, and went wandering into the Pit when he was young. He decided he would use his personality to get out, and used Personality to pray to the gods for help. It failed. Something attacked him and he woke up near the stairs of the Pit with a hole in his head and no memories of what happened since then. Throughout the funnel he was called "Brain slug guy", and continued to talk to the voice in his head that he thought was god.

The character did not survive the funnel, having a -2 to your AC from a 4 luck with "Charmed House" lucky sign is a bad thing. However he had a blast with the character, and the negative luck "event" gave him something to role-play.

I don't want to get into many details of the session, because I plan to write it up at some point. The general idea is that there characters were chosen by acolytes of the Blood God to be sacrifices in the arena. They fought their way to victory and have earned gold and glory in the process.

This week we plan to have two more players at the table, so we'll be seeing where things go from there.

Homebrewed Species: The Dwellers in the Dark

They lurk below. Within the realm of the sightless, yet they see all. They are the twisted abominations of the darkest reaches of the world. Where the abyss and earth meet, on the periphery of reality they wait, hungry for the minds of mortal men. Their madness poisons the roots of the earth, allowing their insanity to seep into the world of light above.

I've been trying to come up with a name for the creatures that exist in the depths of the ruins of Esterfay. I would like to share some information here without spoiling anything in the campaign.

When I started making the ruined halls I wanted there to be something very alien, something very old, that were the original architects of the halls. The place would have been basically a giant strip of fly paper for them to catch civilizations in to feed their inhuman hunger.

The weird stuff that exists within the halls is a product of their madness leaking to the surface. Some of the weird things were created by mad wizards falling prey to these dark creature's malign influence. Others were created by the creatures themselves, to lure in the greedy, vain and prideful.

The other reason I made the Dwellers in the Dark? I love Mind Flayers and Beholders, but they are totally owned by Wizards of the Coast. I wanted something that I could call mine. Something I could do anything with and mold into the antagonists I wanted in my game.

Description: The Dwellers in the Dark are a few feet taller than a man, but irregular and slender. Above their shoulders resembles a snakes, long and serpentine, with no disenable difference between neck and head. Eyeless, with a pair of wicked mandibles framing a sucker-faced jaw of many rows of circular teeth. They have four arms and two legs, their shoulders and joints pointy yet thin. Their skin is scaly and slick, often colored pale white, indigo or other bizarre, unnaturally bright or pale colors (Weird Lizard Colors). They dress in robes most often, but the more martial members of the race wear strange proto-organic armor that makes them blend in with the darkness as they move.

Combat and Powers: I don't want to get too much into this, for fear of giving too much away. The Dwellers are very strong physically, but often prefer to use their potent magical abilities on their victims. One such power they have developed is a powerful defense mechanism. They can force their skin to flicker brightly, emitting a blinding hypnotic flicker of light that causes sighted creatures to make a will save or become paralyzed by their own nervous system going into shock.

Some sample magical abilities, in no particular order: Charm Person, Command, Paralysis, Sleep, Detect Magic, Invisibility, Spider Climb, ESP, Magic Missile, Lightning Bolt, Magic Shield, Teleport

Of course, individual powers will vary.

Servants of Flesh and Spell: The Dwellers in the Dark make things. Spell and flesh woven together to create servants to enact their will upon the sighted world above. They make their madness manifest in an assortment of ways, and no two things are exactly the same. That said, they have some "common" creations that they use to serve them.

• The Sightless Hounds - Pale slime skinned hounds the size of a horse, that can run down prey for the Dwellers. A single pack typically serves a single Dweller. They are deadly, with a poisonous bite and vicious claws. Many appear mutated in strange ways - faces on their hides that scream in pain and beg for death; tentacles covering their hide, grasping and pinning those they fight; or strange appendages and spikes.
• The Crawling Madness - Deadly worms that first appear as tiny parasites too small to see. The Dwellers have released these parasites into much of the drinking water, and they can also be transmitted via bodily fluids. An infected individual first appears to have their eyes "Swimming with madness" as the worms multiply quickly in the body. They grow stronger, gaining bonuses to their strength and stamina, as well as growing smarter, gaining bonuses to intelligence. Their bodies begin to mutate as the worms reweave their flesh from within. Soon, they become so insane with bloodlust that they attack on sight anything that is not under the control of the Dwellers. A rare few will be chosen by the Dwellers to undergo the Apotheosis, and be transformed into Dwellers themselves.

Just some teasers. Maybe it's too much?

Back Gaming!

I'm back in my hometown with the old crew and getting some games going. I am currently running two games, and thought I'd share some of what is going on.

Ruined Halls of Esterfay

Started a new group to DCC, and decided we would play in my Ruined Halls megadungeon with a couple of sandbox adventures in the area around them. They are given the freedom to do what they want, chasing down adventure leads or plumbing the depths of the megadungeon for their riches.

The first session was the character funnel, where the players each had four 0-level characters and went through "Portal Under the Stars" the DCC introductory adventure in the book, which was also the first adventure I got to play when my friend Kevin introduced me to the game.

They had a blast, and the death toll was high. My friend Randy, new to DCC but has been playing with me since the 80s, lost all of his characters. Ginger, also an old friend of mine but new to DCC as well lost all but one. On the next session we had another player join us, Scott, who rolled up a wizard with the worst mercurial magic effects I have ever seen.

Randy rerolled a set of characters, I allowed him to pick two to level to first level - He chose a dwarf and a cleric. The party then met up in the Wanton Wench, a bar in the city of Loris that caters to treasure hunters. They listened to some rumors of wealth and opportunity, and decided that they should check out the frog men of the swamp to the east that have been attacking villages.

The ventured to a town on the edge of the vast swamp. Really just a couple of families living close enough together to be called such. They met a farmer who had been attacked by one of the frog men.

He had seen them rooting through the abandoned farm next to his own, and the next morning they came to his place. He caught one in his barn, tried to drive it away and it drew a sword and ran him through.

The party, armed with the knowledge that the frog men had weapons, went to investigate the old farmhouse first. They discovered it had been stripped of anything of value, and even had boards taken from the walls. with more questions than answers they pushed forward into the swamp.

I would like to point out here that this is a random adventure I created by rolling a couple of dice of a random adventure name table and coming up with the adventure from there. This adventure is titled "The Fens of the Frog God".

In the swamp they quickly got lost, but since they didn't know what they were looking for it didn't matter. A couple of hours later and I rolled up a random encounter. While passing through a treacherous section of the swamp they are attacked by waterlogged bloated corpses.

The party quickly pulled up to some nearby dry ground to defend themselves. The battle was pitched, but they came out victorious. This is the first time that Scott's wizard got to cast some spells - One of the things I have been doing lately is rolling up the mercurial magic effect the first time the spell is cast - So it's a mystery until the wizard finally unleashes the spell. Scott discovers that every time he casts magic missile someone he knows dies! Lucky for his friends and family he can't manage to cast the spell without failing.

The cleric (who's name is Farmer - Randy says his father had a sense of humor about it) attempts to turn the undead with the power of Ildavir, and fails. His second attempt even nets him disapproval, forcing him to have to pray for ten minutes following the combat.

The thief Jess, played by Ginger, and the dwarf - Who's name is currently escaping me, both make quick work of the zombie horde, though are seriously wounded in the process. Jess falls unconscious and loses one of her daggers in the high swamp grass.

After dispatching the last zombie and healing they decide to press on a little more before resting. The cleric conjures forth a feast for them all, scoring a critical on his cast and summoning a feast to feed over a dozen people. They leave the remaining food as bait for wandering monsters and find somewhere out of the water to rest.

Camping on a wide fallen tree, they manage to make it through the night without any further incidents. The next day while traveling they spot a massive twenty foot tall elf in the distance, wearing leather and moving silently. They fail to hide and the thing approaches, demanding that they explain themselves.

Only the cleric in the party speaks elvish. There was a level 0 elf traveling with the party as well, but he was too stupid to speak his own language.

After some quick banter with the giant elf, they learn that the giant is hunting a dragon. He tells them where they can find the bullywugs they are hunting, and tells them they have recently moved in to an abandoned temple in the swamp. They thank the giant, and the they go their separate ways.

They reach the mound of  the temple entrance. Descending the tunnel, they find the central entry chamber is a below ground garden full of frog topiary hedges. A fountain in the middle is full of glowing mushrooms. A trio of the bullywugs is here, and leap to attack.

The battle is deadly! Both of the random zero level dudes go down to the bullywug's blades. Jess the Thug gets to ambush one of the frogs and slays him. The wizard drops to a flurry of blades and nearly bleeds out before being saved by Farmer. They finally stand triumphant over the mutilated frog corpses. They find that the frog men have a surprising amount of treasure on their persons, gold, silver and even a gem. One even has a piece of platinum. There must be more treasure within! They pass through the double doors to explore further.

The main hallway goes a good distance before splitting. Evidence that the tunnel had collapsed before is found, and a large section is still blocked off. They find some side passages to explore. In the first room they encounter a group of frog men bathing in slimy knee deep water. They do not have their armor, but the frog men seize initiative and get to their blades. A fourth bullywug peeks out over a ledge along the wall and begins shooting his crossbow down into the group.

This battle goes much better for everyone but the wizard, who continues to lose spells and fumbles with his blade. The dwarf has now taken to calling himself "Moller the Tooth Smasher" as he uses his warhammer and shield to smash the teeth out of everything he fights. After killing the frogs they discover two more passages out of this room, both up off the ground level but decide to go back to the other passage they discovered off the main hall.

This room has a pair of bullywugs speaking in croaks, standing near a blood soaked altar. The room filled with columns. The party does not give them a chance to attack first, and rushes them down. Killing these two easily. Searching around they find a secret compartment in the altar, that contains a few coins and a wooden box with two potions.

Note: I use a special system for potions in my game. Different potions can be identified by their characteristics. This is just an example, but a healing potion might be a golden thick liquid with swirls of red color, that smells of lavender and tastes sweet. They would then know that any potion matching that description would be the same type of potion (though there may be different looks to the same potion - and some poisonous liquids may be improperly brewed versions of that potion).

After some discussion they decide to not try the potions unless they are desperate and proceed on through a door in this room. They find another hallway heading toward the collapsed section of the temple, as well as a door marked with a red x. They investigate, discover the door is locked and open it up anyway. Inside is an abandoned armory filled with rusted weapons, armor and piles of bone. They step inside and the bones start to rise, forming into frog-men sized skeletons.

They rush in and battle, Moller the Toothsmasher leads the charge with a bulrush and a tackle, taking out two of the skeletons in one go. The third one falls to the thief with a warhammer, and the others get turned and backed into a corner where they crush them into piles of dust.

They decide that his might be a safe place to rest, since the frog men obviously don't come in here anymore. They close and lock the door, and prepare to sleep.

End of session two.

We play again next Monday, so I will give you all an update then.

As far as my second campaign I am running? I will save that for another post.

About Random Encounters

I like random encounters, especially when playing a dungeon crawl game. I think the unpredictability adds a sense of suspense to the game. The players realize their character's could encounter something at any moment. While thoroughly searching the walls of a room for secret doors someone needs to stand watch at the door just in case something wonders by and hears them. It adds to the immersion level by letting the player feel some of the anxiety their character should be feeling poking around in a dusty maze all day.

I use the same rules for random encounters regardless of what game I play, but have some added house rules here for DCC RPG that I will include for posterity. Most of these rules never come up at the table, and are mostly just internal guidelines I use when running the game.

Time Keeping in DCC RPG

• One round of combat is 10 seconds. 
• One turn, is six rounds, or 1 minute. 
• A random encounter is checked every 10 minutes (Mostly). 
• Main hallways are checked more frequently (5-8 minutes). 
• Extents of large dungeons are checked less frequently (15-20 minutes).
• Searching a 10 foot section of wall for secret doors or the like, takes 2 minutes.
• Searching a rooms contents takes between 2 and five minutes, depending.
• While not fighting or fast walking, real time equals dungeon time.
• After a fight, characters take a turn to drink some water, bandage wounds, etc.
• Moving down hallways takes real time, or 1 minute per short section if actively searching for danger.
• After an hour of play, torches need to be replaced (I need to remember to enforce this more often).

Checking for Encounters

I use a very simple system for checking for encounters. I roll a 1d6. On a 1-2 (33% chance) there is a wandering encounter. On a six, (16% chance) There is a special chart I use that includes: Random sounds in the distance, clues left on the ground, rubble or fecal material, tracks, etc.

Creating the Encounter Table

When creating the random encounter table for an area, I first look at what sort of things might be wandering the halls. This helps me not only have reasonable encounters, but can give the players clues to what else might be lingering the area they haven't encountered yet. I will usually use a percentile die, and assign creatures based on how big their community is in the area, and how mobile they are. I will also include a few listings from areas a bit further away, and then throw in a few dungeon classics like oozes. I will have a few wild cards from deeper in the dungeon, but usually only near the main passages or in an area containing a passageway that leads deeper.

Creating the Random Events Table

Think of sounds the characters might hear based on the area they are in. If there are doors that need to be opened to get around, make sure you have the sounds of doors slamming, creaking of wood or the grinding of stone in the distance. Screams, sounds of combat, and strange babbling can all add the theme and mood you want to portray in the underworld of a dungeon. In nature settings this gets even easier to come up with, and can lead to a very immersive experience. This table can also be an excellent place to stick the weird stuff you would like to include in the dungeon. In my megadungeon I have a few magical events that are triggered by this table.