Pledge of Security

The Pledge of Security is an Arquitens-class light cruiser. It is the flagship of the Skor IV, the Squib home world. It's primary mission is planetary defense, however it may occasionally be called upon to protect Squib interests elsewhere in the system.



It has a crew of 750 and typically carries:

Pledge of Security

• 3 X-Wing T70
• 2 Y-Wings
• 2 Shuttlecraft
• For dangerous missions, it may be escorted by two D5-Mantis Patrol Craft

The ship's stats are as follows:

• Speed: 30MGLT
• Hyperdrive: 3(10)
• Hull: 2100RU
• Shields: 2500SBD

Armaments:

• Turbolasers: 8
• Heavy Laser: 16
• Proton-Torpedo Launchers: 2
• Concussion Missile Launchers: 2

Captain Kurdeebledop

Captain Kurdeebledop is a sly tactician of the traditional school and a subtle leader.  His frail physical stature is made up for by a willingness and ability to outmaneuver his enemies, his allies, and even his fellow officers. He has spent years patrolling the Squib trade network, but would love to try his meddle in a major military conflict.

Stats:

• Ref: 6
• Int: 9
• Body: 1
• Tech: 6
• Cool: 7
• Emp: 6
• Force: 0

Skills:

• Oratory: 4
• Leadership: 6
• Social: 6
• Education & Gen. Knowlege: 7
• Navigation(Interstellar): 7
• Hyperdrive Tech: 3
• Pilot(Starship): 9
• Fencing: 7
• Dance: 8

On Sandbox Settings

One of the reasons it's been so easy to run a Star Wars Open Sandbox game is that there is so much material available on the Star Wars Universe. This is thanks to the Expanded Universe(now called Legends).

Since the first film was released in 1977, LucasFilm has produced numerous films, novels,  comics, books, computer games, and role playing games, with the requirement that the setting for these works be internally consistent. The result of this coordinated, multi-decade project is a fictional world comprising an entire galaxy of inhabited worlds, it's millennia-long history, and detailed descriptions of significant personages and technology. This provides a wealth of material for contemporary creators to build off of.

This is important for running a sandbox game pen and paper RPG. In a sandbox RPG, the Game Master has no idea what is going to happen in a session. The players' choices during a given session are ultimately what determines the direction of the action. The GM's job is to respond to those player choices in a way that is consistent with the game world, as well as just generally bringing the world to life for the players. As such, the GM needs a really strong grasp of the game world, it's current events, and each NPC's motivations. Being able to build off a deeply developed world, be it real or imaginary, helps the DM bring his own game world to life.

My WWII sandbox game All Zombies: Polish Resistance, had a similar benefit since there is tons of information about World War II Europe. Wikipedia and Google Maps provided most of the background for the game world and as GM I just had to choose a specific location, create NPCs, stat up weapons, and come up with the specifics of local events.

The process for a Star Wars game has been remarkably similar. I've gotten 90% of the background material from Wookiepedia, plus some of the local details from Tramp Freighters.

But recently I got stuck. The party has been looking to acquire a large merchant freighter, and while Star Wars wiki has articles on a number of them, these articles have minimal content and no gameable stats. This makes sense since the various official Star Wars games generally have you interacting with military ships, not boring old freighters.  As GM I could just make up some quick and dirty ship stats, but I'd rather use something with a bit more basis.

So I was feeling pretty stuck until I stumbled upon this list of complete stats for Star Wars Heavy Freighters.

What is this wonderful site, you may ask? It is a free, community-driven Star Wars MMORP with player-created content. That's right, where the Expanded Universe leaves off, StarWarsCombine picks up in order to provide a fully gameable Galaxy Far Far Away. Needless to say, this is a great resource for running a Star Wars Sandbox. In fact, I've already been using their Nav Computer tool for calculating hyperspace distances, without realizing what SWCombine was.

Needless to say, I'll be visiting the Combine again in the future for high quality Star Wars game content.

Silver Princess NPCs

I've been attending the free Yoga class at my work for a few months. One piece of advice the teacher likes to give is to notice where your body is 'weak' and focus your efforts there. I'm going to apply this lesson to the DnD campaign I'm currently running.

So where am I weak? One place I've noticed is in coming up with fully-fleshed out NPCs. So here is a list of some NPCs for the campaign:

Cpt. Vallaria Amazonus

An officer in the Galluvian army. She is haughty and misandrynistic, yet dedicated to her job to the point of self sacrifice.

The party encountered her in session 2. What will she say when she sees them next?

Human F Law F3

HP18 AC17 AB1 Save12

Plate Mail, Shield, Spear, Horseman's Axe, Warhorse, Saddlebags with rations, 10GP

One Eyed Jack

A local bandit of some note. He was born with unnaturally lucky, such that however many times he has lost everything, he always seems to turn up again with a new lot of ruffians.

The party encountered him in session 4. He still holds a grudge over them taking his "eye".

Human M Neutral Th2

HP8 AC15 AB0 Save14

Long Sword, Leather, eye patch, horse

Mooncow the Artificer

A prestigious Gulluvian gem dealer. He old and a bit eccentric. He may give the party escort missions, fetch-quests, etc. He will also buy any gems, jewelry, or other fine relics, though he is a discerning customer. He wants his daughter home to help him with business, rather than running around adventuring.

The party gained his good will in in session 4 and started session 5 in his house..

Mooncalf

Daughter of mooncow. She is a dutiful daughter, participating in her father's business, but she is also well trained in her true passion of sorcery. A bit clumsy on occasion. She has been feeling the itch to go adventuring. As such, she may join the party or meet them after having run away.

Human F Law Mage2 slots2
HP5 AC10 AB0 Save14
Nice but practical dress, emerald necklace, 3 rings, sharp gem file, spellbook: read magic, detect magic, comprehend languages, shocking grasp, Monster Summoning I

King Gob

Big green mean Goblin King. He rules the largest tribe of goblins and has united the hordes, but to what end?

HP22 AC14 AB3 Save14
Battle Axe, armor
Intricate silver ring

Warg Mount

Palace of the Silver Princess

And finally, let's not forget the NPCs mentioned in the module;

• Tinker and Daughter
• Catharandamus
• Xyzom, Boron
• Aleigha

Winter Rumors in Warren's Deep

So I got to thinking what adventure hooks I would give if I ran a sandbox game in Warren's Deep today.

For one thing, I would use some published modules. When I originally ran it via Play by Post, I used all original material(except for a few standard creatures from OSRIC). PBP is good at that--you have lots of time to plan the next step and just go with the flow. In a live game session, on the other hand, it's harder to give your dungeons the same depth when you're making it up as you go.

So now, I can think of four published modules to include in the sandbox, in addition to original content. I would, of course reskin them, to give them my own touch and to try and obfuscate them a bit in case any of the players have read/played them in the past.

So to begin the campaign I would probably tell the party it's the start of Winter and they are new arrivals in the area, having just arrived by boat in the city of Warren's Deep.They can root around town looking for work or adventure(perhaps in the "Sea Elf's Daughter"). Here are some of the rumors they might hear:

1. They say the Mayor occasionally hires mercenaries for tasks he doesn't want associated with himself. They say he likes using outsiders like you. His agent is supposedly the Pawnbroker in the Alley of Felicious Delights, though it wasn't me who told you that.
2. The Lord of Dappenshire and many of his knights were recently killed by blood ravens while rescuing his kidnapped son. Since then, his troops have been ineffective against the Orc raiders and his widow has put a bounty on each Orc head.
3. Rumor has it that Lord Derivas, whose fiefdom lies just outside the city, is vying to raise his influence in the city and is seeking allies.
4. Something is rotten in the village of Wankerly, in Kipperton Fiefdom.
5. The Watch has put a bounty on the murderer of a watchman. The problem is, they don't know who he is. Also, people in the Capel Gwyn slums, the scene of the crime, don't like to cooperate with Watchmen.
6. Some small-time local heroes made a name for themselves, and quite a bit of money, round here last summer. They were last seen going off into the forest last summer. They haven't been heard from since, but there must be something out there to interest them.
7. In the swamps to the South, wrecks from some, long-ago magical war occasionally surface from under the muck. Brave souls occasionally return from there with ancient wonders, but more often they find nothing or don't return at all.
8. A merchant ship working the coast is looking to hire some extra protection due to recent Pirate attacks.
9. A crazed sailor claims to be the sole survivor of a fishing boat that was lost in a storm. He claims to have discovered an Island that has risen from the bottom of the sea and contains great treasures of the ancients. He'll take you there if you hire a boat and give him an equal share of the treasure. He gets a wistful, doomed look in his eye that you're not sure you like. 
10. There is an old ruined fortress on a small island just off the coast of the seaside village of Smarmytown.  Rumor has it that a humongous pearl lies there, but that none who have sought it have ever returned.

Some of these are from my original campaign, some of them are new, and some actually refer to events that happened in that game. Rumor 6, for instance, sets this campaign as being a few months after that campaign. I realize this continuity doesn't interest anybody but myself, but that's the thing about world building--if you want to do it right, you should probably just embrace the fact that it's 90% for you and 10% for the players who only really get to spent a very short time in your world.

High-End Fishing Gear for DnD

"The Sea Elf's Daughter" is a large, modern, well-lit tavern in Warren's Deep. The place is a popular haunt with local fishermen and if adventurers are looking to commission a boat, there are worse places for them to look. The proprietor, the bushy bearded, swaggering, Captain Odysseus Marinos, is reputed to have made his fortune at sea, though the details of how vary wildly from the fantastic to the improbable.

But those far-fetched rumors aren't the topic of this post. The topic of this post is Captain Marinos' assortment of specialty tackle, some of it publicly on display, some hidden away and only shown to potential buyers with an eye for the unusual and prodigious quantities of gold burning a hole in their pockets. At any one time, he'll have 2d3 of these items in stock. He restocks pretty irregularly.

Since players may use these in a a variety of ways, consider the mechanics below to be suggestions, with an invitation to DM's to improvise appropriate mechanics where needed. Also, note that 25% of the items will be forgeries, fakes, or duds with no special properties.

Nets

Barbed Net 50GP/10SqM- handmade net with wondrously formed barbs of some translucent material that don't tangle the net itself. Reputedly of the type made and used by the mysterious Sea Elves themselves. Whatever you're doing with it, you can generally give it a +3 bonus to catch/entangle/snag stuff, compared to a normal net. So, for instance, if you're throwing the net in combat as per the SRD, then give yourself +3 to the attack roll to see if you entangle your opponent. While entangled, victims take 1HP damage from the barbs every round they spend struggling to get out.

Net of Entanglement 3300GP- enchanted net that will entangle any creature that touches it once deployed. If laid as a trap, give the target a DC 20 Reflex/Str save to avoid/escape. If it's damaged badly enough, the enchantment fizzles away.

Line

Iron Line 150GP/10m- 3mm thin and weaved from the filament of the giant sea spider, it is virtually unbreakable. Str test of 25 required to break it.

Fendrich's Invisible Filiment 100GP/10m- this line is made from an unknown material and is super-thin and transluscent. Spot checks at -4.

Fishing Rods

Masterwork Marsh Willow Rod 170GP- bends but doesn't break. Great for casting and hauling in those big fish(+2 to skill rolls against big fish).

Rod of Far Casting 4200GP- enchanted fishing rod. A skilled caster can cast light or heavy tackle up to 1000m, unaffected by wind. Tricks (like hitting a precise location) will require a skill check as appropriate(the enchantment on the rod conveys distance, not precision).

Harpoons

Harpoon of Kraken Slaying 2100GP- contains one colossal dose of potent neurotoxin, harvested from 1000's of Death's Head Cone Snails. The toxin is spring-injected when the harpoon penetrates a few inches into a fairly solid substance. DC 30 Constitution Save or death. Failed save does 6d8 damage, in addition to the harpoon's 1d6.

Masterwork Bloodcoral Harpoon 5000GP- A small, weirdly beautiful, handheld harpoon, made with coral, with strange, nautical carvings in it. The hunting weapon of a Sea Elf prince. Who knows where Captain Marinos got hold of it? Could prove very awkward if found in one's possession by any Sea Elves encountered. 1d6 damage. Modified attack roll of 15 or higher means a critical hit and it's stuck in. Well-formed barbs mean it can't be pulled out without inflicting another 2d6 damage.

Explosive Harpoons 500GP- black powder shaped-charge explosion triggered by penetration of a few inches into solid substance does 4d10 damage. Handle with care! If shaken/dropped/heated 50% chance it will be triggered, sending a cone of shrapnel in the direction of the point. Ruined if soaked in water for more than a few minutes.

Bait

Mermaid Bait 80GP- Mermaids and even some Mermen can't resist this bait. A bag of crumbly greenish-brown substance. Tastes a bit like very salty dark chocolate. If any Mer-people are in the water within 1km of where it's deployed, then they will come check it out within 1/2 hour's time. Any who fail a DC15 will save throw caution to the wind and swim at maximum speed until they reach the bait.

Lures

Leviathan Lure 60GP- a large wooden lure shaped like a mix between a harp seal and a sea sprite. It has "limbs" that flap realistically when trolled at high-speed through the water. It has a well-hidden triple-barbed cast-iron hook. Any large, carnivorous whales in the area must make a DC 15 Intelligence test or mistake the trolling lure for prey and give chase.

Lure of Attract Fish- Upon contacting water, Roll 1d6.

• On roll of 2-6, summons 2d100 local fish with 1/2 hour's time.
• On roll of 1, perform a google image search on the string "#whenattractfishgoeswrong". The 1d20'th image is what happens.

From the Lost Gazetteer to Warren's Deep

OK, here's some more material from Warren's Deep, my first sandbox. As I recall, I actually had a page for the players with a small blurb on each and every settlement that appears on the map. Unfortunately, those seem to have been lost to time(like tears in rain.)

Warren's deep had a sort of Lankhmaresque City-of-Thieves-and-Vagabonds thing going. Also, I remember that the fiefdoms of Dappenshire and Kipperton had a bit of a rivalry going on, as well as intentions to add Warren's Deep to their lands. Flal was a sort of Bazaar-city on the edge of the desert, where all of the Nomads would come to trade.

The point of the blurb below is to establish Warren's Deep(and it's surroundings as they appear on the map) as the semi-autonomous Western reaches of a larger, more established kingdom. Please ascribe any dumb people/place names below to my over-abundant youthful enthusiasm...

The Kingdom of Hillstonia

The rather small kingom of Hillstonia is a small, mostly-human kingdom.  It is ruled by the Human King Afexanda who rules from the capital city of Clogsford’s Pass, located on a well established trade-route, close to the neighboring lands of the Scrugavi Drarves.  A month’s travel West from there, the kingdom’s Western border is the great Sea of Diamonds.  The largest city there is Warren’s Deep, a major trading port.  A little further inland are the fiefdom’s of Ruford and Spinnywillet who swear fealty to the King.  Monsters are not unheard in the lands, but fairly few and far-between, and mostly in the less civilized areas.

Warren’s Deep

With a population of 50000, this is a major city and, in fact, a few generations ago, was politically independent.  Much of its prosperity is due to its geography making it fitting as a port.  Much of the city’s success is due to the trade that this brings.  This trade includes trade with the rare, nomadic, seafaring Elves of the Silent Light.

The city is ruled by its Mayor, Captain Marchisee, a long time resident and Sea Captain.  His hold on the city is not terribly strong.  The city watch is only partially effective at keeping order within the city.  The Mayor is loyal to he King, but due to city’s history of independence, the King does not keep a tight reign on things, other than the substantial tax revenues.

                           

The streets are full of an assortment of seamen, shop owners, beggars, cutpurses, drunks, travelling merchants, travelers, etc.  At night, many neighborhoods are dangerous, and even some in the daytime.  The inhabitants are mostly human.

Alternate XP System for Cyberpunk 2020

Improvement Points--they're such a pain! The DM has to award them. The players have to spend them. It's a lot of bookkeeping to for everyone to spend time on.

I always liked XCOM's character improvement system. Your attributes improve as you use them. So successful shots improve your accuracy, carrying heavy loads improve your strength, etc. So here's a similar, simple system for your Cyberpunk 2020 game:

The Rules

Every time you succeed in a skill check AND the number on the d10 is greater than your level in that skill, you improve 1 point in that skill.

• You can only gain 1 skill point per game session(or perhaps 2 for really long game sessions)
• You can choose to not receive the skill point, in hope of improving some other skill later in the session
• The player needs to declare they're adding the skill point at the time of the roll. Otherwise it's assumed they chose not to recieve the skill point now. (If your players are a bit absentminded, give them leeway of a minute or so)

Exceptions

This rule only applies for real, challenging applications of a skill, not practice or low-difficulty activities:

• Skill checks as part of training/practice can't be awarded a skill point. Instead the GM should come up with an alternative ruling. (If you want to increase your Karate skill by 1, spend a month in training and then roll 1d10 vs your current skill level, etc.)
• The same applies to Knowledge Checks, which just verify if the PC knows a particular domain-specific fact. This, as opposed to cases where the PC actually spends time/effort researching or figuring out something novel.
• Making a Personal Grooming/Wardrobe & Style check every time you dress in the morning doesn't cut it. You need to use your looks on a real goal--get the girl, get the bouncer to let you in without checking ID, buy the right clothes for the event in a time-consuming/expensive shopping trip, etc.
• No skill points can be gained for skills of less than Average Difficulty(less than 15)

Example

Mad Dog shoots at the security guard from close range. His REF is 7 and his Pistol skill is 5, so he rolls 1d10+7+5. He rolls an 8+7+5=20 which is a hit.

• Since his die roll(8) is greater than his skill level(5), his Pistol skill increases to 6
• But, really he wanted to improve his Hacking skill and he's planning on doing some hacking later in the session. So he chooses not to receive the skill point now to Pistol, in hope of possibly gaining a skill point in Hacking later on.

Advantages

1. You no longer have to deal with experience points
2. Skill improvement is more natural, since you generally will have to use the skill fairly often to get better at it
3. Skill improvement gets progressively harder as your skill level increases, since you need to roll higher than your level
4. It creates an interesting meta-dynamic--players have to use skills they're bad at to improve them. Also there's a gambling element involved, giving up the skill point now for the one you might potentially get later in the session.

8 Cyberpunk AIs Inpired by Popular RNG Algorithms

Well, I stumbled over this page with all the Random Number Generation algorithms that come standard with R. It occurred to me that they'd make good names for AIs floating around cyberspace in a Cyberpunk setting...

  

"Wichmann-Hill"

Stanley Morgan Chase owns this AI. It's there to analyze financial markets and make investment decisions no human money manager ever could. The technology is proprietary and kept highly secret, but the rumor is that Wichmann-Hill makes a killing for it's corporate owners.

"Marsaglia-Multicarry"

The Open-Source AI. There are thousands of these general-purpose, open-source AI's floating around the matrix, with a variety of standard and non-standard plug-ins installed. They belong to all sorts of concerns who had the dough for the hardware required for their own AI, but still couldn't afford to have one custom made. Some MM's work for universities, others for minor Zaibatsus, other for large hacker-collectives. They generally have a stable personality and if they come-off as a little buggy, well the fix will probably be in the next version...

"Super-Duper"

An AI in the possession of Trillionaire Playboy, Narasimha Krishna Pujara III. Her sole task is to continuously turn out faster, more extravagant designs for supercars and superplanes, and to look good doing it! She is very enthusiastic about her work and is always combing the matrix for new technologies and better ideas to be refined and improved on.

"Mersenne-Twister"

This AI was given to the Math department at École Polytechnique University by an anonymous donor(rumored to be in exchange for academic services rendered to one of the major Zybotsu). Its specializes in Fractal-based analyses. 

"Knuth-TAOCP-2002"

The 2002 Updated version of Knuth-TAOCP.

"Knuth-TAOCP"

An AI creater by Knuth Cybernetics to perform the complex calibrations necessary for the visual cortex of the cyberbrains of the company's various land-based autonomous drones. Unfortunately for KT, they came out with a better version of him just 5 years later. He's very unhappy about it and hates all of humanity as a result, but especially Knuth Cybernetics and Knuth-TAOCP-2002. The company has mostly managed to keep him confined to the security layer of their corporate network, and many a hacker has been lucky to only have had his cyberdeck fried by this brooding, hostile AI, after passing Knuth Cybernetics' firewall.

"L'Ecuyer-CMRG"

A french AI created to understand individuals from their online signature and design marketing strategies for individuals accordingly. He crawls the net, obsessively collecting the most personal and revealing data on the 12.238 billion people on the planet to store away in his dedicated data centers. A hacker who manages to reach that store would have a lot of dirt on a lot of people, but he'll first have to get through one jealously protective AI.

"user-supplied"

This AI was never completed. The Zaibatsu who commissioned it froze the project halfway through and never re-opened it. It just sat there, isolated to a single disconnected server, thinking it's half-rational thoughts for uncountable cycles in solitude. That was until a novice tekkie noticed the disconnected server machine and plugged it in to the nearest net jack, hoping it would solve the outage he was working on(it didn't, by the way). Now user-supplied roams the net. Who can say what conclusions it draws from from what it sees with it's incomplete intelligence. What plans does it hatch, so incredibly powerful yet so completely inscrutable?

Child-Brain Vampire

So I just finished reading through Bram Stoker's Dracula. I was surprised what a fun, easy read it was, considering the 1897 publication date. There's a lot there to talk about: the book is part Horror, part Mystery, and part Adventure Novel. For now, let's focus on Dracula himself and gameability...

The Child-Brain

Anyway, at a few points, Professor Van Helsing, in his broken English, goes on about how Dracula is actually a relatively immature and therefore weak Vampire. For example:

“He has all along, since his coming, been trying his power, slowly but surely; that big child-brain of his is working. Well for us, it is, as yet, a child-brain; for had he dared, at the first, to attempt certain things he would long ago have been beyond our power...

An Amalgamated Mythos

I'd assumed that vampires are like zombies: different books mention different powers and weaknesses and so you essentially have different types with different "rules". Not so. At one point the professor exposes a whopping 22 different powers and weaknesses that apply to the Count which he gathered from various legends and folklore. On one hand, they are quite varied and lack a common aesthetic. On the other hand, it makes the Vampire that much more mysterious, that we can't make sense of his bizarre and inexplicably varied abilities. There's a delicious illogic to the whole thing.

No DnD Vampires, Thank You Very Much!

So, bottom line, Dracula has many weaknesses in addition to his many powers. And I rather prefer Bram Stoker's vampire to DnD's. Rather than being a 7-9HD monstrosity, Dracula can be killed by a single well-placed knife blow(during the day time, anyway). Much of the novel is about the party trying to catch the Vampire when he is weak, while he, in turn, wriggles around their defences and evades them except when he is strong. Ultimately, the result is an intelligent cat & mouse game, rather than a full-on combat.

So let's stat him up. And ultimately, the DM needs to play this guy smartly for him to provide the challenge that he should, for the PCs:

HD: 1 per century
Save: as Thief of same level
MV: 12 or as bat/wolf when transformed
AC: 10 or as bat/wolf when transformed
Attacks: per weapon. Has Hill Giant Strength at night
Special:

• Sustenance
• The vampire live on, and cannot die by mere passing of the time;
• he can flourish when that he can fatten on the blood of the living. 
• Even more, we have seen amongst us that he can even grow younger; that his vital faculties grow strenuous, and seem as though they refresh themselves when his special pabulum is plenty. 
• Physical Powers:
• He throws no shadow; 
• he make in the mirror no reflect, as again Jonathan observe. 
• He has the strength of many of his hand—witness again Jonathan when he shut the door against the wolfs, and when he help him from the diligence too. 
• He can see in the dark—no small power this, in a world which is one half shut from the light. 
• He can hypnotize his victims either with fear or seduction
• Command
• Command wolves
• Command rats
• Transmutation:
• He can transform himself to wolf(sorry, no werewolves vs. vampires in this universe)
• he can be as bat
• He can come in mist which he create—that noble ship’s captain proved him of this; but, from what we know, the distance he can make this mist is limited, and it can only be round himself. 
• He come on moonlight rays as elemental dust—as again Jonathan saw those sisters in the castle of Dracula. 
• He become so small—we ourselves saw Miss Lucy, ere she was at peace, slip through a hairbreadth space at the tomb door. He can, when once he find his way, come out from anything or into anything, no matter how close it be bound or even fused up with fire—solder you call it. 
• Infectious

• Victim killed by having blood drained becomes vampire too
• Victim made to drink Vampire's blood is existentially linked to Vampire. Can read victim's thoughts(and vice versa) and command them. If victim dies, they will become a vampire.
• Weaknesses:
• He may not enter anywhere at the first, unless there be some one of the household who bid him to come; though afterwards he can come as he please. 
• His power ceases, as does that of all evil things, at the coming of the day. Only at certain times can he have limited freedom. 
• If he be not at the place whither he is bound, he can only change himself at noon or at exact sunrise or sunset. These things are we told, and in this record of ours we have proof by inference. Thus, whereas he can do as he will within his limit, when he have his earth-home, his coffin-home, his hell-home, the place unhallowed, as we saw when he went to the grave of the suicide at Whitby; still at other time he can only change when the time come(his powers are only from sunset to sunrise, noon, or in his unhallowed place)
• It is said, too, that he can only pass running water at the slack or the flood of the tide. 
• Then there are things which so afflict him that he has no power, as the garlic that we know of; 
• and as for things sacred, as this symbol, my crucifix, that was amongst us even now when we resolve, to them he is nothing, but in their presence he take his place far off and silent with respect. There are others, too, which I shall tell you of, lest in our seeking we may need them.
• The branch of wild rose on his coffin keep him that he move not from it; 
• a sacred bullet fired into the coffin kill him so that he be true dead; 
• and as for the stake through him, we know already of its peace; 
• or the cut-off head that giveth rest. We have seen it with our eyes.
• Any other characteristics the Players are able to bring a source for in the form of authentic folklore(not pop-culture)

Unarmed Combat for "Kill, Cyborgs! Kill!"

Okay, let's tackle this little topic.  I need an unarmed combat system for Kill, Cyborgs Kill!, the cyber-horror adventure I'm working on. Here are some of the desired attributes of said system:

• It's a Cyberpunk game so it needs to include lots of bitchin' martial arts
• BUT 2010 martial arts, not 1980's
• AND it's a horror game so I want to keep the combat simple so as not to break the mood
• AND DnD Compatible
• AND needs to work with the skill system

Techniques

There are several unarmed combat techniques characters can use:

• Punch: 1d4 damage
• Kick: 1d6 damage
• Grapple: hold your opponent, restraining him from using large weapons, moving.
• Escape Grapple: escape a grapple
• Throw(only from grapple): 1d8 damage, opponent is prone, still grappled
• Choke Hold(only from grapple): puts opponent to sleep. Each additional round the choke is held, must save or die
• Joint Lock(only from grapple): 1d8 dmg
• Neck Lock(only from grapple): paralyzed. Fort save or die.
• Eye Gouge: blindness till end of combat. Fort save or permanent.
• Groin Shot: stunned till end of combat. Fort save or permanent damage.

Skills

The skill check is done as an Opposed Skill Check(see Skills section), with the attacker and his opponent each rolling and comparing their rolls.

Example: The ninja attempts to punch Detective Hobbs. The ninja rolls 1d20+DEX bonus+Ninjitsu skill vs. the Detective’s 1d20+DEX+Brawling skill.

Example: Detective Hobbs attempts to grapple a junkie, who has no relevant skill. The Detective rolls 1d20+DEX bonus+Brawling skill vs. the Junkie’s 1d20+DEX.

Death & Dismemberment Chart for Unarmed Combat

This is a different chart for non-lethal damage such as from punches, kicks, throws, and joint locks(if a PC punches with brass-knuckles, throws an opponent's onto a concrete floor, or curb-stomps a prone opponent’s head then that is normal armed damage and should use the normal chart.) Upon taking unarmed damage which leaves a character with 0 or fewer HP, roll 1d10 + the number of negative hitpoints the character has.

• 1-6 Lightly Stunned: character misses next turn
• 7-14 Stunned: character is not killed, but is useless for the rest of the combat
• 15+ Killed: blunt force trauma, internal bleeding, etc.

Cyber-Mods for Kill, Cyborgs! Kill!

 Oh, boy. You know when you've put a lot of time into a project and you just need like a few good hours of no distractions to go over everything and you'll have a completed first draft? And those few good hours just aren't happening? (I haven't had time to blog lately, much less edit/complete an adventure module)

Anyway, that's sort of where I'm at with KCK. But I still haven't stat-ed up the PC cybermods, so let's make it happen. The system, is old school DnD, with slight modifications for a Cyberpunk setting.

Note that this is a first draft, so ideas are welcome.

• Reflex Boost
• Dex is increased by 1d6+3 points for 5 minutes. Cannot be used again until character has rested for at least 1 hour.
• Side Effect: whenever characters smells a strong smell they make a willpower save. Failure means that they will do their best to ingest the source of the smell as fast as possible(gaining the Dex bonus until it is ingested). If they are restrained and cannot ingest the object, they will fall into a severe lethargy, being unable to do anything for 4d6 hours.
• Neural Augmentation

• Int is increased by 1d6+3 points, permanently.
• Side Effect: character has difficulty relating to people. Cha is reduced by the same amount.
• Pain Editor
• Cannot feel pain at all. If incapacitated, due to injury, make an additional Fortitude save. Success means character is not incapacitated.
• Olfactory Boost
• Character has an excellent sense of smell and gets a +2 bonus to not be surprised, as well as a bonus to tracking and other relevant skill checks.
• Powerful smells require a fortitude save to prevent dizziness, vomiting, difficulty breathing, etc.
• Microwaver Implant
• Short range ray mounted in chest.
• 1d6 burn damage. Roll 1d6 for each piecor of electronic equipment(including cyberware) to see how it malfunctions
• 1-3 no effect
• 4- don't work for 1d10 rounds
• 5- activates erratically
• 6- completely fried
• Micro Missile Launcher
• Mounted in shoulder. Cavity opens and a missile missile protrudes and fires, guided by eye movement tracking.
• Holds a single missile. +4 to hit. 1d8 damage per HD of target.
• Reloaded manually
  
  
• Backscatter X-Ray Eye
• 10m range. Spot hidden weapons, cyber-mods, etc. See what's on the other side of thing walls.
• +4 Bonus to search for hidden objects.
• -1 to initiative due to tendency for eyes to wander
• DataTerm Link
• Port in back of neck. Neural computer interface.
• +4 to hacking checks and other complex computer interactions.
• Internal disk for storing downloaded data.
• Sub-Dermal Micro-Recorder
• Audio recorder implant.
• Electromagnetic cloaking fools metal detectors.
• Contraceptive Implant
• Activated/Deactivated via voice recognition of pre-programmed keywords(have fun choosing your own!)
• Storage Space
• A small compartment, opened and closed via voice recognition of the pass-code. What does it contain?

Undead Stats for Death Frost Doom

Here are the undead stats I used for Death Frost Doom, although only the first two made it to actual play. I was going for something a little more horror-movie like and a little further from standard DnD undead.

Revenant(slow moving corpse)

Move: 30
2d8HP(1d8 for child)
FDM: 1
AC 5
Attack: bite +1 1d4+1(+0, 1d4 child)

Contagious bite

Ghul(hungry flesh-eating corpse)

Move: 120
1d8HP
FDM: 1
AC 12
Attack: bite +4 1d6+2

Wiht(long haired, pale, silent warrior)

Move: 120
3d8HP
FDM: 3
AC 15
Attack: mace +8 1d6+3+drain
Only hurt by silver/magic

Cyris

Move: 120(240 flying)
9d8HP
FDM: 9
AC 13
Attack: claws +13 1d4+3, 1d4+3 or by weapon
Only hurt by silver/magic
Repelled by Garlic
Turn to gaseous cloud...

Setup for a 1-Shot Horror Game(take 2)

Well, I still haven't had the chance to run this, but I hopefully should soon. In the mean-time, I decided to run it with Swashbucklers & Seamonsters, so I've re-skinned it as appropriate.

Intro

The mountain broods darkly over the little village 

You are Basque pirates, on leave for the Winter, visiting the village of Esquiule in Basque Country during the Semana de la Blusa garlic festival.

When was the last time we were all together? And in our home town of Esquiule, with all our friends and loved ones, and all the ale we could drink?

You are all childhood friends, who are on the high seas during the warmer months, seeking your fortunes in the wide world. Now, after a particularly difficult season, you are all back, starting your Winter-leave early to make the week-long Semana de la Blusa festival, held once every 8 years at the end of Summer.

Plan Drunk, Adventure Sober

Well, you were all out drinking together, dodging the throngs of garlic-string-wearing visitors, enjoying your 4th or 5th jug of local wine, when the conversation turned to less festive matters. While all of you have been moderately successful since leaving your home-town  none of you really met with the fame and fortune you had been hoping for.

After much lamenting over broken dreams and failed aspirations, an idea emerges. A plan whose persistence will not fade with the morning's hangover. Of course the local Yokels mustn't hear of it--you grew-up here, you know how superstitious people can get out here in Basque Country. You chaps, on the other hand, are much too worldly to allow such folk tales to deter you. If you can just quietly gather some of the more open-minded youths then your little expedition can slip-out unnoticed during the revelry and re-appear before the end of the festival with riches in tow...

End Condition

The adventure ends when one of the following has occurred:

1. The expedition is declared a success and the members now have the wealth needed to pursue their dreams
2. The party abandons the expedition or the festival ends, resigning themselves to the path of mediocrity to which they seem destined
3. The party is unable to continue, their minds and bodies shattered by the horrors they have seen and done

Character Creation

Each Player creates 1 PC:

• Labyrinth Lord, 3d6 in-order, roll HD, simplified saving throws, can have leather armor in place of either your Missile Weapon or your Melee Weapon
• L3 Fighting Man
• Give them Swashbucklers & Seamonsters Occupations, Equipment
• All PCs should be from Esquiule
• Character Sheets
• Swashbucklers & Seamonsters Rules
• Basque Names

Dragon's Lair Trap & Trick Generator

Wow, Dragon's Lair--that was a nasty, unforgiving game. But it has so many trap ideas(despite all the sections repeated in reverse)! Funny how the sequel(8 years later in 1991) was less trap-based. I wonder if this represented a change in how people thought of dungeons i.e. more combat based, rather than trap-based.

Anyway, when the party enters a room, roll 1d38:

1. Rickety wooden floor breaks, tentacle monster awaits to surprise attack
2. Twin Portcullises slam behind you
3. Pressure plate in floor causes room collapse
4. Tentacle monster attacks from multiple directions(get's flanking/backstab bonus)
5. Door Slams. Each round a Giant snake pop through hole in ceiling/walls, attacks, returns.  Pull the cord and a rope drops down for you to climb out
6. Door slams behind you.  Fiery pit to cross, with ropes to swing on. Floor is slowly withdrawing
7. Room full of pressure plates causing floor collapse/arrow traps. If you jump into the central pool to avoid the plates, it's full of tentacle monsters ready to surprise attack
8. Giant Spider climbs out of recess to surprise attack
9. Plate by door triggers quickly closing blocks-leave immediately or get trapped inside
10. Bubbling cauldron. Explodes with hot liquid if approached
11. Shelf of potions: one of them contains a malvolent slime which will surprise attack
12. As you climb up through trapdoor, a goblin comes-up behind you in your blind spot, surprising you
13. As you climb up the stairs, goblins come out of hiding and attack from both sides
14. Room with descending stairs, pit, ascending stairs. Stairs turn into ramp except on far edge. Tentacle monster rises out of pit to surprise attack
15. Smithy with weapons rising to attack of their own accord
16. Magical fire. If tampered with, statue comes to life and attacks. Usually it is behind the tamperer and gets surprise
17. Cross narrow bridge over chasm with swinging sacks which must be passed with precise timing
18. Briars come to life and surprise attack
19. Opening door triggers magical wind, blowing furniture and PC along hazardous tunnel--good change of getting pummelled badly
20. Magical wall begins to form before exit. Must jump through without getting caught in it to proceed
21. Bench covers a low crawl-space. Magical lighting begins setting room's contents on fire, preventing access to doors. PCs will die of fire/smoke if they don't move the bench and crawl out.
22. Suit of horse barding. If mounted, it goes shooting off and you'll have to steer it to avoid crashing, riding through magical fires.
23. Opening door sends small, magical fireball at your back
24. Door slams shut. Magical entity at other end of room sends energy bursts at you through the floor
25. Walking through hallway with many open doorways, crypt with coffins on either side. Swarmed by animated bones.
26. Wooden walkway breaks away as you walk on it. At the same time, you are swarmed by vampire bats
27. Floor detaches from walls and begins to free-fall, magically stopping for a second at each dungeon level
28. Magical cauldron full of gold pulls all weapons to it, flies down the hall, while a giant mace-wielding Lizardman, dressed like a king, chases you. At the end, it stays in a room but continues it's attempts to evade you
29. Table with potion and "drink me" sign is at far end of room. Pressure plate in floor triggers fireball trap. Potion is poison.
30. Narrow passage with see-saw floor with parts that magically break away over a long drop
31. Throne room with crystal ball on pedestal in middle. Magically pulls your weapon to it. Then floor begins to drop away till only the throne is left. As soon as throne is sat in, weapon is shot blade-first from crystal ball to head-level of throne
32. Electric charge chases you down hallway
33. Floor collapses, dumping you in sewer.  If you're lucky, you'll manage to get in the boat waiting there before you're swept away by the current. Must steer boat through boulders, rapids, whirlpools. Grab the chain hanging from the ceiling or be swept into the final whirlpool
34. Boiling pools of mud and water spout out earth elementals and geysers
35. Magic cavalry spectres charge and slice at you
36. Trippy halfpipe with giant marbles rolling back and forth. Once you enter, a giant marble starts rolling behind you to encourage you to run through fast
37. Magic electricity in walls/floor chases you through chomping door. Better time it right! Same for jumping over broken bridge with lava geyser in the middle.
38. Room full of treasure. If you knock of the highly-unstable treasure over, you'll wake the dragon! You'll need the key around it's neck.  The sword of dragon slaying in the stone might help!

Simple Cyberpunk Skills

So, after deciding to make the Cyberpunk adventure I'm writing DnD-compatible, I started thinking about how to do the skill system. PCs will probably want investigative skills, technological skills, etc. One option is to adapt the Stars Without Number skill system, but I'm not entirely happy with it and anyway I would have to adapt it a bit. So here's a draft of a simple, flexible, skill system for DnD-based Cyberpunk adventures.

Skills

Rather than giving a complete list of skills, I've decided to just give examples, loosely categorized. It seems to me that this gives the skills a more organic feel and greater flexibility.  In fact, there is certainly overlap between the tasks that a skill covers. There are no skill descriptions. Rather the DM should rule whether a skill applies to a specific situation.  Skills are distributed on a scale of 0-10:

• Language Skills
• English, Japanese...
• Academic Skills(learned in University, private Corporate academy, etc...)
• Architecture, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Literature, Medical Doctor, Nano-Tech, Nursing, Theology...
• Career Skills(learned on the job)
• Infantry Soldier, Jewellery Thief, Naval Mechanic, Police Detective...
• Technical Skills(learned in practice)
• Drive Automobile, Guitar, Gunsmith, Hacker, Pilot Fixed-Wing...
• Physical Skills
• Acrobatics, Distance Running, Swimming...
• Martial Skills
• Fencing, Handgun, Karate, Filipino Knife Fighting, Rifle, SMG…
• Other Skills
• Etiquette, Fashionable Dress, Gambling, Oratory, Interrogate, Resist Torture...

Using Skills

Skill checks are d20 based, modified by the relevant ability score bonus and and the relevant skill level. The DM should rule what ability score/skills are relevant for a given task. The roll is made vs. a target value. Rolls less than or equal to the target values are considered successful, with natural 20’s always denoting success and natural 1’s always denoting failure . Target values are generally:

• 5 easy task.  Generally doesn't require a roll
• 10 somewhat challenging task
• 15 moderately challenging task
• 20 moderately challenging skilled task
• 25 difficult skilled task
• 30 nearly impossible task

Example: Detective Hobbs uses is searching a crime scene for clues. The Target Value for him to find the 3 hairs under the recliner is 15. So he will need to roll 15 or more on 1d20+INT bonus+his Police Detective skill.

Example: Hacker Damien is trying to hack into a Megacorp's top secret accounts. There's tons of security, so he'll need to roll a 30 on a 1d20+INT bonus+his Hacker skill--not very likely! If he rolls a 25, then he'll get the data, but be detected. He kidnapped a corporate officer and has his passwords, so the GM ruled that this reduces the target value by 5. If he breaks-in and tries from the man's office then this will reduce them by an additional 10.

Opposed Skill Checks

Some skill checks are against another character’s skill. As such, the target value is whatever that character’s skill roll is.

Example: upon questioning a junkie who was at the scene of the crime, the man flicks out a switchblade and attempts to stab Detective Hobbs. The junkie rolls 1d20+DEX Modifier+ Knife Fighting skill vs. Hobbs’ 1d20+DEX Modifier+Karate skill(Karate being a martial art which practices weapon defence.)

Example: Detective Hobbs is interrogating the junkie he brought in for useful information. The junkie has no skill to resist interrogation, so Hobbs will roll 1d20+CHA bonus+Police Detective skill vs. the Junkie’s 1d20+CHA bonus.

Missile Attacks

Missile weapons are made against a character’s AC(using ascending AC). Note that the DEX bonus doesn't apply if a character is just standing there, unaware they are being targeted. Also note that the degree to which the character is concealed can raise AC by between 1 and 4 points.


Example: As a suspect charges him with a Monokatana, Detective Hobbs draws and fires his sidearm. He rolls 1d20+DEX bonus+Pistol skill vs AC 10+DEX bonus.

Cyberpunk Death & Dismemberment Table

Well, I've been making slow but steady progress on Kill, Cyborgs! Kill!  I was originally going to make it for Cyberpunk 2020, but then I decided to make it DnD-like, albeit with a Cyberpunk-twist. The reason for this choice was twofold:

1. To emphasize the Horror element, I wanted to tone-down the high degree of tactics you get in CP2020
2. Really you can adapt it fairly easily to CP2020, so I'd rather write it up with a system that more people are familiar with

In any case, as a Cyberpunk game, it needs to have limb-loss(so they can be replaced with cyberlimbs) and a somewhat more modern look at medicine.  So I believe this calls for yet another custom Death and Dismemberment table:

The Table

Upon taking damage which leaves a character with 0 or fewer HP, roll a d10 + the number of negative hitpoints the character has.

• 1-2 A Flesh Wound: No major damage, but you now have a bitchin' scar: changes your CHA by 1d3-2(within range of 3-18)
• 3-4 Stunned: character is not killed, but is useless for the rest of the combat
• 5-6 Hit an Artery: Unconscious. Lose 1 HP per rounds until first aid is applied. Dies if bleeding brings HP to -10
• 7-9 Internal Bleeding: Unconscious. At the end of each turn make a Fortitude Save or die, until emergency surgery is performed
• 10-12 Maiming Locational Hit: see sub-table
• 13-14 Killed Instantly
• 15+ Horrific Demise: somebody get a mop

Maiming Locational Hit Sub-Table

Roll to see which limb is destroyed/paralysed/severed/napalmed etc.

1. Toe
2. Foot-Also see Hit an Artery 
3. Leg-Also see Hit an Artery
4. Finger
5. Hand-Also see Hit an Artery
6. Arm-Also see Hit an Artery
7. Nose-Also see Stunned
8. Ear-Also see Stunned
9. Eye-Also see Stunned
10. Both Eyes-Also see Stunned