Fixed the Hounds of Hendenberg forest crawl

So, I've been running a PBP of Horrible Hounds of Hendenberg (please check out the replay!). I've got some issues with the hex crawl part. 

It doesn't say how long it takes to find a feature; it takes too many die rolls for my tastes. Hangman's Hill and the Hermit Cave should be part of the town's map, not a hex away. A very nice looking/vibing product, but a little sloppy. 

Well, I can at least make the rolls simplified for you fine people.

Using math, html, and a surly sandlestin, I converted all the things into a d100 table. You should probably roll on it, declare to the players what happens and let them deal with it, then roll again as they wander around.

 

d100 Roll	Feature Found?	Travel Time	Encounter?	Navigation	Nav w/spec*
01–17	Yes	2 Hours	—	On Course	On Course
18–25	Yes	4 Hours	Yes	On Course	On Course
26–33	Yes	6 Hours	Yes	On Course	On Course
34–50	No	2 Hours	—	LOST	On Course
51–66	No	3 Hours	—	On Course	On Course
67–75	No	4 Hours	Yes	LOST	On Course
76–83	No	5 Hours	—	LOST	On Course
84–92	No	6 Hours	Yes	LOST	LOST
93–00	No	3 Hours	Yes	LOST	LOST

* Specialist: Elves, Rangers, or guides reduce travel time by half and help you avoid getting lost. If you have a map, you should be able to find your way every time.

Our PCs wandering into a crazy hexcrawl

 

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Making the reaction table a percentile table of silliness

The party encounters a dungeon Vulcan and 
they bond over a shared love of Landru

I was curious about the Mentzer Basic reaction rolls. They use 2d6, but have up to further rolls. It felt like too much, so I figured out the percentage chance for each one and spitballed some reasons why it goes that way. I was imagining porks and dungeon dinos for some reason. Hopefully I covered a gamut of monster interactions with PCs.

First the original table, then my percentile version.

2: Immediate Attack 3-5: Possible attack, roll again*:   2-8: Attack   9-12: Uncertain, roll again*:     2-5: Attack     6-8: Leave     9-12: Friendly

6-8: Uncertain, roll again*:   2-5: Attack   6-8: Negotiate, roll again*:     2-5: Attack     6-8: Leave     9-12: Friendly   9-12: Friendly

9-11: Possibly friendly, roll again*:   2-5: Uncertain, roll again*:     2-5: Attack     6-8: Leave     9-12: Friendly   6-12: Friendly 12: Immediately Friendly

And now for my version

d100	Reaction	How it goes (until the PCs bungle it up)
01~03	Attack	Charges right at you! Maximum hatred! Diehard morale!
04~21	Attack	Aggressively rears up, decides you ain't all that, and launches in!
22~23	Attack	Uncertain circling turns into a sudden strike! #youJustGotProbed
24~35	Attack	Initial hesitation leads to hostility! "Why are you blinking like that?!"
36~41	Attack	Curious Sniffing or negotiations break down into combat.
42~43	Attack	Apparent friendliness was a ruse or misunderstanding.
44~46	Leaves	Monster decides you aren't worth the trouble. You been working out?
47~55	Leaves	After a tense standoff, the monster stalks away.
56~58	Leaves	Monster considers an alliance, but chooses to exit. Maybe impress it later.
59~60	Friendly	Jeering, hackles, or growls give way to curiosity.
61~66	Friendly	Successful negotiation leads to a bond. Let's kill together!
67~78	Friendly	Hesitation resolves into a helpful attitude. Temporary alliance?
79~80	Friendly	Uncertain at first, but comes to accept you. Racism is over!
81~97	Friendly	Naturally amicable encounter. Licks you or compliments dress.
98~100	Friendly	Immediate and enthusiastic friendship. Hello, I'm not creepy! I have a gift for you!

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Megadungeon Lingering Table Final Form! When you stay too long, what happens?

I started posting ideas about what happens if you stay too long in a megadungeon long ago, 2021 maybe. And I am still trying to thread the needle and square the circle. I think I got it this one on the player’s side, one or two the GM’s. And we keep it simple. 

Roll your luck score or less on a d20 (if you lack that stat, roll it!) when you end the session in the dungeon. 

If you fail, the Judge rolls a d20. 

If multiple players fail the roll, only one PC, the lowest of the lowly low rollers, suffers a fate from the table (we are rolling this last thing in the session and don’t got time for a million Chinese hells to be adjudicated here).

1. Bad roll. In the stomach of a dragon. Your foodie brother has to eat his way through the dungeon before your remain reach an unresurrectable state .
2. You catch the dungeon crud, which halves your HP for one outing. If you fumbled, you are diseased with something from the 1e AD&D DMG or that old Gorgonmilk table... anyone still got it?
3. Got wet and gear is all rusty.
4. Got lost. Other PCs have to find you where you are living like Lawrence Fishburn ( (roll your PC one up in the meantime).
5. Imprisoned somewhere in the dungeon. Roll up a PC to help rescue you.
6. Held for ransom. Roll up a PC to help pay for, rescue, or avenge you.
7. Someone stole something from you. You gonna let them just keep it? Well, it might already be on the goblin market (aka eBay). 
8. Appeared naked and in a fugue state in somebody’s barn.
9. It’s cold in those caves. Lot’s of sharp things too. Lost a toe. Will be a month till you walk at normal speed.
10. Charmed by a harpy, lamia, or sphinx. Roll up a new PC to join the group that has to find you and tell her that you cannot, in fact, fix her.
11. Took some bangs and bumps on the way out. Can you survive d30 damage?
12. Angered a faction. Negotiations, alliances, and deals will not work out with them if you are spotted amongst the party. Time for a disguise.
13. There is a price on your head. An AD&D assassin is rolled up by the GM and they start to stalk you.
14. Geased! You are compelled to perform a certain task (retrieval? message relay? be dinner?) somewhere in the dungeon and lost 1 HP for each day you don’t work towards that task.
15. Somehow you got stuck in charge of a monstrous child or a dangerous beast. It thinks you are momma or something. Don’t believe Gygax; it is not morally right to kill a child.
16. Saw something so horrid your hair went white and you lost d4 Wisdom/Sanity/Personality. If you go to 0 in your score this way, you are basically a drooling vegetable. Cure disease type spells might work, but you will be broken.
17. Had to join a faction or cult or cultish faction to survive. You live in the dungeon now. Roll up a new PC to go deprogram your old one.
18. Driven cray cray by your escape. Gain a dungeon madness.
19. A witch caught you. You are now a mundane-seeming animal the party has to find and kiss. Prolly a frog. Roll up a new PC while your party gets gross with every beast.
20. Little elf guys stole your treasure. No XP for gold till you go kick their asses.

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d12 cool ass treasures drawn from real life.

You can show your players these pictures as you dole out the pelf!

1.  Ring with Minerva Bust 
2. Dark Ivory Articulated Doll (or the mummy that it came with) 
3. Bronze head with gold ear-rings 
4.  Tattle-tell slave collar
5. An abacus-ring 
6. Really old pants 
7. A dragonfly helmet 
8. Oil lamp in the shape of a foot cuz everyone thinks that'll smell good 
9. Shut up I can have a second roman ring in my list 
10. The Lycurgus Cup, drag me to hell
11. Bubbly copper scorpion fossil 
12. DMs who don't use safety tools are dicks 
    

 

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Too Many Halfling Haberdashers! New Hobbit Jobs

First of all, I have had—let’s face it—stupid players ask me what a hobbit is in a DCC game. It’s a word for halfling, dumb-dumb. Don’t let Tolkien’s lawyers rob you of it. We got the Denham Tracts on our side.

Second, DCCRPG tends to produce demihumans with the same job over and over. I’m sick of it! Here’s d50 new hobbit jobs.

 

 

 

1. Bookie

   • Trained Weapon: Quill (as dart)

   • Trade Goods: Ledger, pouch of betting tokens

2. Troubadour

   • Trained Weapon: Lute (as club)

   • Trade Goods: Sheet music, flask of fine wine

3. Digger

   • Trained Weapon: Shovel (as staff)

   • Trade Goods: Bag of fertile soil, small clay pot

4. Carpenter

   • Trained Weapon: Hammer (as club)

   • Trade Goods: Wooden chair, set of wooden nails

5. Chandler

   • Trained Weapon: Scissors (as dagger)

   • Trade Goods: Hand-dipped candles (12), block of beeswax

6. Tinker

   • Trained Weapon: Wrench (as club)

   • Trade Goods: Brass gears, small clockwork toy

7. Barista

   • Trained Weapon: Mug (as club)

   • Trade Goods: Bag of roasted coffee beans, ceramic coffee cup

8. Dandelion Wine Brewer

   • Trained Weapon: Pruners (as dagger)

   • Trade Goods: Bottle of dandelion wine, corked jug

9. Florist

   • Trained Weapon: Shears (as dagger)

   • Trade Goods: Bouquet of fresh flowers, packet of seeds

10. Baker

    • Trained Weapon: Rolling pin (as club)

    • Trade Goods: Hard tack rations, bag of flour

11. Miller

    • Trained Weapon: Sickle (as dagger)

    • Trade Goods: Sack of flour, small grinding stone

12. Glassblower

    • Trained Weapon: Glass-blowing rod (as club)

    • Trade Goods: Glass orb, set of colored glass beads

A List of Dungeon-world Style Bonds I’ve been needing

I like the bonds in DW, even if I rarely play that one. I never seem to have them at hand, so Imma blog my own version and bookmark it. Also, it’s a d12 list. The best kind of list in the OSR.

1. BLANK has stolen something and they think they got away with it.
2. BLANK is a figure of the prophesy. The signs are all there, right down to their birthmark.
3. In a pinch, BLANK can/cannot be relied on to save my hide.
4. BLANK is a great big phony! 
5. BLANK is burdened by their past; but I know the way to cheer them up.
6. BLANK is like a bull in a pottery shop. 
7. The wisdom of BLANK is rivaled only by their QUALITY.
8. I need to protect BLANK because REASON.
9. BLANK matches the description of the guy that shot my pa…
10. It’s easy to seduce BLANK, so I’mma keep an eye on them.
11. BLANK is a bully… and I hang out with them. What does that make me?
12. I’ll never doubt BLANK after THE INCIDENT.

d66 Random Dungeon Generation

If, when rolling the dice, you need some shapes, take cues from the dice you rolled. 1s can be long, 2s can be symmetrical, 3s can be round, &c. You could even use the numeral shapes themselves. Doors can often be placed by feels alone. 

11 Corridor, ending in a door.

12  Corridor, doors on both sides.

13  Corridor, dead end.

14  Corridor, leads to cruciform intersection.

15  Shaft down. Corridor with secret door it that is too soon.

16  Shaft up.

21 Teleporter room, altar to the god of dungeons.

22 Teleporter room, trap (sigils lead to other sigils).

23 Teleporter room, magic mirrors.

24 Empty room, dead end.

25 Occupied room, dead end.

26 One-way path such as a drop, turn-style, crumbling Moria pillars, &c.

The threes may have to apply retroactively if they are rolled first.

31 Same as whatever the last roll was, but also with a small shrine.

32 Same as the last roll, but also trapped.

33 Same as the last roll, but there is a secret passage.

34 Same as the last roll, but occupied by a treasure-guardian.

35 Same as the last roll, but the floor or ceiling has given way.

36 Same as the last roll, doubled.

41 Cavern, small. Next four things are also cave system.

42 Series of small caves and grottoes.

43 Underground river, lake, or sea. 5 places to go around it.

44 Path carved by the god of the underworld.

45 Purple worm tunnels. Walk without rhythm. 

46 Bug tunnels. Some bugs are smart. Some are humanoid.

51 Stairs up.

52 Stairs down.

53 Ramp up.

54 Slope down.

55 Elevator.

56 Wind or pheumatics. 

61 Fortified area such as a fort or castle. 10 or more rooms.

62 Fane. At least 4 rooms.

63 Cluster of 5 rooms occupied by a faction.

64 Catacombs. Long and tall.

65 Under-jungle (usually fungal).

66 Dragon complex. Nice and roomy with 5 areas.

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Don't Shop for Weapons, Roll for Them! Diagetic Rando Weapon Fun

Sometimes the shopping of session zero runs a bit long. This should speed things up. Everyone gets one weapon.This kinda stuff is good for RPGs where all weapons do the same damage or damage is based on class, &c.

 

Mage types (d10):

1. Cultist dagger
2. Staff
3. Caduceus
4. Imp (like a falcon)
5. Psychokinesis
6. Bad luck
7. Heavy tome
8. Pew pew wand
9. Just a gun
10. Sparkly fingers
    

d66 Loot the Body (refurbished)

d66 things in this unlucky stiff's pockets

This post is getting remade. Tweaked a little, but mostly being redone so you can read it on a mobile device without having to substitute one of Venca's eyes for your own.

When you loot a body, first roll a d66% for location on the body where this dude kept their good stuff: 11~34: Purse 

35~41: Inner vest pocket 

42~51: Boot 

52~56: Hat 

61~66: Britches. 

Second, roll a brace of sixers. I have some sub-tables for the items marked with *.

 

11 1d4 rations                                                    

12 PC level in copper*                                         

13 PC level ×1d6! (exploding d6) copper*                   

14 PC level in copper, one silver*                    

15 PC level in silver*                                    

16 PC level ×1d6! (exploding d6) gold*

Coinage sub-table (1d66): 11~34: shmeckles, 35~41: CHUD currency, 42~44: devil lucre (blasphema franca), 45~51: obols (good for deals with Charon, so maybe leave a couple for this poor stiff?), 52~54: coin of the next realm/kingdom over, 55~56: coins from the future, where one of the PC's royal visage has been minted, 61~66:1990s USA currency (pennies, nickles and quarters).

 

21 a statuette*

22 a bonito log 

23 a lump of purest green    

24 a robot's battery

25  a map to a dungeon

26  a Tijuana bible

Statuettes sub-table (1d8): 1) cat god; 2) unknown woman; 3) eldritch entity (sanity check!); 4) a member amongst the PCs!; 5) an unknown gods god, preferably a known one; 6) a pontiff; 7) a king, 8) duck on top, key on bottom

Statuettes sub-sub-table of materials (d10): 1) dolomite, 2) gold, 3) pewter, 4) lead, 5) wood, 6) crudely carved wood, 7) wax, 8) copper, 9) brass, 10) melted coins

 

31 a fan with a faction symbol

32 a very small "shower" spell scroll

33 someone (known)'s undies

34 an I.O.U. from "Big Paula"

35 a deed to Tegel Manor

36 scrip: a demon's secret name

 

41 an ear and a lizard 

42 a wand (might backfire)

43 a hymnal

44 a kung-fu manual

45 a prophylactic 

46 matryoshka dolls

 

51 faerie in a jar

52 oil lamp (empty)

53 jewelry* 

54 a key

55 a court summons

56 spool of thread  

Jewelry sub-table (1d12)(roll a d6×10×danger of acquisition to find monetary value): 1) earring, 2) earrings, 3) eye-patch, 4) nose-ring, 5) necklace, 6) torque, 7) diadem, 8) sheriff's badge, 9) rapper's grill, 10) blinged knuckle-dusters, 11) codpiece, 12) a band (a ring).

 

61 letter from this dude's love

62 intercepted scandalous missive

63 note on where a cult is meeting next

64 a monogrammed handkerchief

65 letter written in PCs own hand?!

66 last will & testament of "Bad Bob"

Hey, maybe the players discover something before they even get to that pocket.

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2d6 Carcosan encounters

These follow the rules laid out in a previous post. I'll recapitulate that the intention is to not roll for a chance of an ancounter, but to see what the inevitable encounter is. Once done, that cell of the table is empty, resulting in nothing if rolled again. 

If you want a pretty version that is easy to modify, follow the link in this post. And let me also share my Carcosa hack RPG while we're at it! 

2

Yig

An aspect of Yig. 30 hit dice. If it is not autumn, he will likely pause and lift his ophidian head to wait for worship. If non-such is coming, he will probably not be pleased. Yig also won't brook the torture of serpents. If it is autumn, Yig will be hungry, but may possibly be driven off by drumming.

3

Greys

The greys are driving a tank with a clone-beam. The tank ignores all damage below a threashold of 12. If a PC is hit with a clone-beam, they will spend three rounds splitting into two-beings, 90 scifi Poison Ivy style, and their clothes/armor will be ruined. One of them is an NPC that attempts to kill the other.

4.1

A sorceress

She has an entorage of slaves, all of whom she has seduced thanks to the Roofies of Relore. She will trade a ritual for one she doesn't know.

4.2

A mercenary band

The Crimson Company is camping. They really want a strong, crimson leader, if the party happens to know any. They are otherwise only interested in work for hire.

5.1

Carnosaur

The carnosaur ate a party with some fun equipment and treasure last week. Search its poop and you will find these.

5.2

Apatosaurus vs Brachiosaurus vs Brontosaurus

The impossible fight is happening!

6.1

A robot

Buckaroo bob. Buckaroo is a personality downloaded from a parallel timeline, where Carcosa is a pleasure planet divided into zones called worlds. Buckaroo is from Wild West World. He resembles a human, but has silver eyes. He has a pistol with exploding damage, and shoots very fast, doing three attacks per turn.

6.2

A robot

A humanoid with crab-like legs. Its percieved function is to skin people, so it has a giant carrot-peeler-like appendage that looks kind of like a scorpion's tail. Its lair, filled with rotting skin, is nearby.

6.3

Itenerate people

Roll a d13 to find their hue. These are simple hunter-gatherers. They worship Yig and other such beings, and will give info to nice parties: Yig can be driven off by drumming.

7.1

Spoor

Spoor from a spawn or robot that the party has yet to meet. If they party is smart enough to try and avoid the encounter after that, they won't meet it. The party could find cowbody costumes, skinned bodies, a body with a hole in the back of its head, a glowing rock that causes headaches, etc.

7.2

Pilgrims of Yig

These mysterious verdent-hued people have serpentine mutations. One has snakes for arms. One has a hingeless jaw. One has scales. One is a sorceror who can summon five 8HD snakes per day. If the party is cordual, they may give a mission to go into a nearby cave system and search for a sperpentine torque they believe is down there, among the White Guardians and cave mummies.

7.3

Rainbow Mastodons

The buck of the heard can shoot rainbows out of its trunk that drain 2d4 exploding stamina and change your hue to a random one.

7.4

Travelling Caravan

The caravan enjoys the protection of the Rainbow-coalition, a group of mercenaries of all hues, and twenty in number. The RC has three ray guns, which they point at the PCs at all times from the central cart's tower. They will mention that a ruined city is nearby and offer to pay well for any valuable baubles that can be brought back from it.

8.1

A spawn

Glovorosto, she of many migranes. There is a 1 in 6 chance that Glovorosto is suffering a migrane when encountered. If so, the PCs will feel her pain to the point that the largest die they can use to attack or make checks will be one step worse. Glovorost looks like a giant brain with septiginal-radial simitry and fish tails jutting out of her skirt of phlem. Her touch will cause scanners-style head explosions unless the toucher rolls a d20 OVER thier INT score.

8.2

A spawn

This unnamed being takes up  habitation in shadows. What can be seen of it is its tendrils, which jut out of everyone's shadows. If a tendril is hit, the owner of the shadow where that tendril is found takes equal damage. The spawn is in the shade of a baobab tree when first encountered. If knocked to 1 HP, the spawn will rest for three days in someone's shadow, which takes on an ulfire hue.

8.3

A spawn

The puppeteer. It curretly resides in the brain stems of ten zombie-like azure people, who wander towards any movement or light they spy. These people have nails that are tipped with hollow needles, like hypodermics. If they scratch someone, that person needs to make a save or become possessed too.

9.1

Lotus dealer

Skeeve has three arms and robot bodyguard. Skeeve has a pouch of death-lotus dust (he is immune) and his robot has a dart-gun, the darts of which are loaded with death-lotus. Skeeve will be cool if you are.

9.2

Robo-wolves

Each one has been modified by a cyber-virus and has a little satellite-reciever dish sticking out of its head. Their eyes have been replaced by cylon-visors. Their legs end in spikes. They emit a field that neutralizes all lasers, beams, and plasmas within 60 feet.

10.1

Land-porpoises

They have jack-rabbit-like legs instead of fins. There is a 30% chance that some animal or people are tracking them and will also be along shortly, hoping for sweet dolphin meat.

10.2

Perpriatic hologram

The hologram is projected from within by a light-bee. It is cordial, changes its appearance to mimic whoever it is talking to. It will tell people about where to find one of the terrible carcosan items found in the core book, but wants a taste of exotic beam weaponry shot into it in exchange. There might be some such guns on that caravan it saw the other day.

11

A Cyborgess

Botness has a purple hue and is looking for adventurers to accompany her on a little mission to free someone's soul from torment (find Obregon's Dishonor somewhere if you can, or make up an adventure).

12

Geoffery  Mckinney

A mad man with glasses and stone-washed jean-shorts. He claims to have dreamed up this world. He has a set of plastic polyhedra on him. He has a 10 to 90% chance of remembering the answer to any question regarding the setting, provided the Carcosa Master hasn't already changed a detail or two (he doesn't know anything about this encounter table).

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2d6 useful Encounters template with example

This post has an embedded Goog doc. If you can't see it, try this link.

So this was a fun thing and I want to do more of them and I hope you do too. The emergent storytelling possibilities are great. My players have already learned that a mad wizard is about from encountering his victims. I have made you all an Excel-ish template for rolling 2d6 to generate encounters. Percentiles are included to give a relative idea of what is rarely to be encountered. But they are cool, so I'm going to guarantee PCs eventually run into them especially if they push their luck. The procedure: 

• Roll 2d6 and see what encounters are possible (you will have to choose if more than one is present). This happens each time PCs go through an area, and again if they stay there for a while for some reason (camping). 
• Decide surprise or if the monster is doing something and so on. Reaction rolls are good too. 
• An encounter that has happened is crossed off. If that number is rolled again, nothing happens this time. Eventually, the area will be tamed for a while, until new denizens start to percolate in. Check out the other tabs, because there is a blank page in there for you to fill out. Please blog your tables and let me know about them in the comments or on Twitter.

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D66 adventure generator

I've started a new project. I'm tired of all my sideways books of tables that are too complex. So I'm doing my own Judges Guild style take on Ready Reference Sheets. The first is below. Roll a few times on it with a d6 for a tens digit and another for a ones digit. 

d66 Adventure Instigator 

Incident  11 Dream or sweven 12 Last will and testament 13 Town crier 14 A contest 15 A drug-induced vision 16 A map 21 A mysterious coin 22 A trap has been laid 23 A noble 24 A curse 25 An anniversary 26 Overheard conversation 31 A juicy rumor 32 Creatures stalk the night 33 Someone has gone missing 34 An apparition is seen 35 Three witches doth prophecy 36 A crazed monk 41 The council has decided 42 A friend in need 43 You are not the father 44 An odd item has been found 45 A disease is spread 46 A survivor limps into town 51 Bad guys ride up 52 The sheriff is missing 53 Someone is on the lamb 54 Previous baddie toppled 55 Monster of the week 56 A secret society plots 61 Something has been unsealed 62 Someone has been framed 63 A secret must be kept 64 A group comes through town 65 An old friend is here 66 Rent is due 

Mission 11 fight the power 12 find the mcguff 13 catch a spy 14 finger a filcher 15 get there first 16 prove something 21 restore status quo 22 eradicate baddies 23 nip threat in bud 24 seduce 25 scare off 26 fulfill dying wish 31 find heir 32 unite the tribes 33 solve mystery 34 seven samurai 35 plumb depths 36 act as entourage 41 play bodyguard 42 accompany girl 43 renew/undo seals 44 hunt down 45 scavenger hunt 46 find cure 51 solve riddle 52 hold the fort 53 survive disaster 54 restore item 55 reconnoiter 56 give message 61 reclaim area 62 explore area 63 execute geas 64 break bonds 64 find ingredient 66 save the king 

But also deal with 11 g-g-g-ghosts 12 aliens 13 a double agent 14 false info 15 something broken 16 reluctant NPC 21 conflicting patrons 22 factions 23 other adventurers 24 barbarians 25 disease 26 curse 31 a dragon 32 long journey 33 sewer side-quest 34 being tailed 35 cultural faux pas 36 invincible foes 41 sky-island 42 sexy wizard 43 demonic agents 44 Fiend Folio roll 45 lost entrance 46 awakening volcano 51 you mom’s coming 52 two dates at once 53 terminator 54 someone’s body 55 fey trickery 56 one way journey 61 lesser evil 62 time constraint 63 complex ritual 64 preserve virtue 65 Sophie’s choice 66 big bad’s minion 

Journey & Destinations 11 snakes 12 strange thorp 13 guests of royalty 14 witch’s hut 15 three princes 16 cemetery 21 gassy bog 22 strange fruit 23 way too cheerful villa 24 cursed land 25 Moria shortcut 26 bustling burg 31 to the moon! 32 in the underworld 33 a dark dark wood 34 a series of forts 35 a castle 36 an abandoned keep 41 a haunted lagoon 42 micro-world 43 elemental plane 44 underwater 45 seven heavens 46 six hells 51 a doomed manor 52 the big city 53 winding canyons 54 a desert 55 a cave 56 the three vales 61 incognito 62 through a body 63 planes of dream 64 to a lonely isle 65 to level X 66 inside PC’s memories

 

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Double Ds for Doors and Dungeon Crawling

I love my d6 in a d6. It's so easy to find in my box of weird dice and very handy. I've previously shared a table for d66 things in pockets. Here's how to use a couple d6 for doors and wandering encounter tables. I recommend using the PDF and Print buttons I've added to each post here at KIWF, or better yet, writing these down in your DM notebook of doom and adjusting it to your taste.

2d6 what's up with this door?

2d6 encounters and occurrences

Dice match: ⚀⚀: trapped ⚁⚁: loud or creaky or screamer fungi will be disturbed ⚂⚂: slimy or unpleasant ⚃⚃: rigged to show passage (hair taped to frame) or to make an alarm ring ⚄⚄: locked (33% of keys for locks are items from a previous room [get that statue's arm to shake this knob], 33% are on wandering monster's person or in their cache, and the rest are lost) ⚅⚅: odd; mimic, portal &ct Dice are one number apart:      Rusted, Jammed, or Blocked from the other side like in so many video games Dice add to seven      Random encounter is hanging out just beyond this door. Dice are random (not any of the above) Normal door, no problem. Still, ask about who is in the front or back of the line to keep that tension taut

Dice match:      Encounter happens with at least rolled number of enemies. Roll a yes/no die; if yes, total the 2d6 together, if no, go with the number they matched on (i.e. two 1s and a no would mean one monster). Dice are one number apart:      Spoor (tracks, sounds, &ct of some monster that wanders these environs) Dice add to seven:      Something is up, so roll 2d6 again and total them. 2: Wandering Boss! 3: Bodily need: 1 character is struck with either hunger, a need to sit down and rest, or must use the bathroom 4~10: Fuel source is sputtering out and needs to be replaced within a minute (use a 3 result instead if this result seems to be too soon) 11: Wandering neutral party; an austral merchant perhaps 12: Wandering god (I recommend pulling out Judges Guild's Unknown Gods) Dice are random:      Nothing, but you should furrow your brow, ask a player their Int score, &ct

d66 things in this unlucky stiff's pockets

(note that this post won't look good on mobile)
 

First, roll a d5 for location where this dude kept their good stuff: 1) Purse, 2) inner vest pocket, 3) Boot, 4) Hat, 5) Britches.

Second, roll a brace of sixers. I have some sub-tables for the items marked with *.
11 1d4 rations                           21 a statuette*                           31 a fan with a gang symbol*
12 twelve copper*                   22 a bonito log                         32 a very small "shower" spell scroll
13 thirteen copper*                23 a lump of purest green      33 someone (known)'s undies
14 ten copper, one silver*     24 a robot's battery                 34 an I.O.U. from "Big Paula"
15 two silver*                          25  a map to a dungeon           35 a deed to Tegel Manor
16 five gold*                            26  a tijuana bible                     36 scrip: a demon's secret name

41 an ear and a lizard            51 faerie in a jar                  61 letter from this dude's love
42 a wand (might backfire) 52 oil lamp (empty)           62 intercepted scandalous missive
43 a hymnal                            53 jewelry*                          63 note on where a cult is meeting next
44 a kung-fu manual            54 a key                                64 a monogrammed handkerchief
45 a prophylactic                   55 a court summons          65 letter written in PCs own hand?!
46 Matyroshka dolls             56 spool of thread              66 last will & testament of "Bad Bob"

Coinage sub-table (1d7): 1) shmeckles, 2) CHUD currency, 3) devil lucre (sabbat franca), 4) obols (good for deals with Charon, so maybe leave a couple for this poor stiff?), 5) coin of the next realm over, 6) coins from the future, where one of the PC's royal visage has been minted, 7) 1990s USA currency

Statuettes sub-table (1d8): 1) cat god; 2) unknown woman; 3) eldritch entity (sanity check!); 4) a member amongst the PCs!; 5) an unknown gods god, preferably a known one; 6) a pontif; 7) a king, 8) duck on top, key on bottom

Statuettes sub-sub-table of materials (d10): 1) dolomite, 2) gold, 3) pewter, 4) lead, 5) wood, 6) crudely carved wood, 7) wax, 8) copper, 9) brass, 10) melted coins

Jewelry sub-table (1d12)(roll a d6×10×[danger of acquisition to find] monetary value): 1) earring, 2) earrings, 3) eye-patch, 4) nose-ring, 5) necklace, 6) torque, 7) diadem, 8) sheriff's badge, 9) rapper's grill, 10) blinged knuckle-dusters, 11) codpiece, 12) a band (a ring).

Hey, maybe the players discover something before they even get to that pocket.

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The Party, a 1-Page RPG with 1 paragraph of crunch

An RPG that can be recycled to power other RPGs where character gen gets bogged down by people being obsessed with builds and making the most emo twee gnome bard. Just roll your damn character and get back in there!


The Party was inspired by my acquirement of The Clandestinauts. It's well worth a read, and the print version has even more content. Think I read that Holmes ran RPGs with a resolution system kinda like the one outlined in the last paragraph. You can find a version of this RPG in that folder that is linked somewhere to the top left on this blog. Don't forget that PrintFriendly is a thing too.

The Party by Claytonian

If you are the first person to generate a character, you roll a d12 and note what you are. Once your character is decided upon, the GM may change the class of that result and the dependent clause of it too for future rollers. The next person will roll a bigger die size. The die does not reset when characters expire.

My character is a

1. Human warrior who has a hound trained to bite crotches.
2. Human warrior who cuts a scar into their self for each kill.
3. Human warrior who can cast spells by consuming monster hearts.
4. Human warrior who is damned to hell if they can’t amass 1,000,000 gold.
5. Amazonian warrior who is searching for the dragon that razed her village.
6. Dwarven warrior who keeps their enemies alive but insists on crucifying them.
7. Human thief who is unaware that they are royalty.
8. Human thief who is hounded by the furries for stealing the wrong statuette.
9. Human thief who poses as a blind masseuse.
10. Hobbit thief who is addicted to beholder butter.
11. Human wizard who can transfer their mind to any bound humanoid over the course of a day and a night.
12. Human cleric who can smell stolen items.
13. Elvish duelist who is a flawed clone of one of the campaign’s big bad evil guys.
14. Dwarven thief who grows stronger each time their friends die at others’ hands.
15. Dwarven rune-priest who sinks into the earth each time they sleep.
16. Chthonic elf who unflinchingly kills for the slightest offense, should they not be dissuaded by their companions.
17. Automaton warrior who claims to be the finest creation of one of the campaign’s big bad evil guys.
18. Human warlock who promised their soul to the hell-slugs of venus.
19. Slugman warrior who finds rhymes painful to hear.
20. Cambion wizard who wishes to find a way to cheat their self into heaven.
21. Zombie warrior who always regenerates 4 hours after dying.
22. Human door-mage who is queen of the ants.
23. Leprechaun eye-mage who has 3 lives.
24. Crow-man thief who has a musket with a magical bullet that can kill anyone.
25. Catman slaver who has 3 gnomes do everything for them.
26. Mutant barbarian who bathes in blood to survive.
27. Elven vampire who can enter the dreams of others.
28. Reformed mindflayer who only eats the brains of those they have read and deemed to be sinful enough.
29. Demigod javelinist who can ride their own javelins up to 7 leagues.
30. Duo-cynocephaloid monk who can identify whom bodily fluids belong to by smelling both fluid and subject within a fortnight.

To do things, roll a d20 and the GM will roll one too. If it seems to be something you would be better at than other classes would be—exempli gratia, a warrior rolling to hit—you can roll a d30 instead. If you roll higher, you do the thing. If the GM's die rolls close to yours though, maybe you didn’t do the thing so smoothly. If you failed, there is some bad thing that happens now and makes sense for the danger you have blundered your way into.

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Arduinian Room Dressing tables and Thoughts on Caliban

this map is not accurate, but you could use it if you want to

So we've been playing Arduin using a custom system that I'll release when it's a little more done. Ah, heck, you can view it now if you want.  We tried out Caliban because it's one of Uncle Davey's famous dungeons, but the thing about Caliban is it really only has keyed rooms described. And it's huge. That's a lot of space that the DM should find a way to make interesting. Any hints, Dave? Well, yes, he made very gonzo rooms descriptions for the actual keyed areas. It would be real obvious that these rooms have treasure if you didn't expand on the "empty" rooms everywhere else, so take Hargravian descriptions and table-ify them! Don't forget to scour Arduin grimoires and All The World's Monsters for wandering beasts to help obfuscate those treasure guardians' purpose.

Obviously, lots of the ideas for these tables came from reading Arduin dungeons. I can't separate Jeff Rient's DNA from this (I don't know if he actually added his own stuff into his tables, which I consulted). 

Each room has a base structure. There is a 1d4th chance that they have some sort of of extra material paneled on, specked in, scratched in, etc. Consult the Other Features table below the first for that.
Base Composition (usually just the walls) [d12]:

1. Igneous rock: 1) basalt, 2) granite, 3) foidolite, 4) obsidian, 5) porphyry, 6) tachylyte, 7) living stone (tough, but can bleed), 8) carved into statuary, which can be pushed to open secret doors.
2. Sedimentary rock: 1) sandstone, 2) limestone, 3) shale, 4) dolomite, 5) silt-stone, 6) fossils, 7) coal, 8) stardust-silt.
3. A prismatic wall or walls: 1) half-way from the PCs' entrance, 2) making a tunnel, 3) bisecting the area vertically from a height of 1d6 feet, 4) running perpendicular or parallel to another prismatic wall, 5) filling the room as a mist or sparkly motes, 6) that forms a few rounds after a PC has entered the space, 7) in front of each exit, including secret ones, 8) making a maze.
4. Meteoric rocks: 1) stacked, 2) built into stonework and radioactive, 3) in a crater this room was built around, 4) as flagstones that may glow.
5. Stonework: 1) dry stone, 2) mortared, 3) simulated by cutting into natural rock, 4) relief-carvings, 5) stacked as to conceal any secret doors 6) just stacked, 7) flagstones that conceal a pit or secret tunnel .
6. Earthen works (prone to cave-ins if ill-built or damaged enough).
7. Metal (may be burnished or rusted): 1) brass, 2) copper, 3) iron, 4) bronze, 5) tin.
8. Jade: 1) blood-red, 2) green, 3) random color.
9. Crystals (random color): 1) giant, 2) 1cm nodules, 3) tiny and sparkly, 4) thick  and flat enough to act as transparent panels.
10. Chalcedony (random color of): 1) agate, 2) aventurine, 3) carnelian, 4) chrysoprase, 5) heliotrope, 6) moss agate, 7) chrome, 8) onyx.
11. Futuristic material: 1) plastic (random color, might give off weird gas if burnt), 2) carbon fiber, 3) tension sheets, 4) pykrete, 5) circuit boards, 6) asbestos, 7) red tape.
12. Void: 1) cosmic (if you jump too high, you will float away), 2) darkness left over from the before times, 3) a bottomless pit lies beyond the confines of the floor.

Other Features [d20]:

1. Paneling: 1)Cherry-wood 2), amber, 3) mirrors, 4) wrought metal, 5) pine, 6) plaster.
2. Arrases, Tapestries, or Hanging scroll-paintings: 1) pastoral, 2) apocalyptic, 3) demons, 4)  götterdämmerung, 5) creation myth, 6) dungeon history, 7) dungeon clue, 8) faded beyond recognition.
3. Bones on floor or embedded in walls: 1) elves, 2) men, 3) demihumans, 4) monsters, 5) animals, 6) cryptids.
4. Graffiti: 1) prophecies, 2) faction banter, 3) obscene 4) murder-hobo pictograms.
5. Abandoned attempt by someone to break through wall or uncover a secret door.
6. Fur: 1) animal hides, 2) [insert animal here]-skin rug, 3) strange (blue fur carpeting everywhere, etc.
7. Filled with: 1) mist, 2) steam, 3) gas, 4) trash, 5) jungle, 6) shadows, 7) holograms, 8) diminutive monsters.
8. Lots of fungus: 1) giant, 2) psychedelic, 3) ambulatory, 4) screamers, 5) sleep-spores, 6) culinary, 7) on ceiling only, 7) squeak when stepped on, 8) glow for d6 hours after plucking
9. Covered in lichens, moss, and slime.
10. Pillars: 1) doric columns, 2) caryatids, 3) standing stones, 4) a menhir, 5) ionic columns, 6) columns with relief carvings, 7) a monolith with clues or mystical powers.
11. Something up with the ceiling or floor or both: 1) same as the walls, 2) covered in glass, 3) covered in 1 exploding d6'' of liquid, 4) blood pool or stain, 5) spiked, 7) a catch for a secret door, 8) rocks, ready to fall.
12. Supernatural fire (random color and effect, much as prismatic walls).
13. Traps: 1) trap triggered, 2) trap obvious but un-triggered, 3) hidden, 4) hoax-trap or illusion.
14. Dusty, cracked, or both.
15. Swirls, speckles, or veins (random color or material or both from the top table).
16. Drapes (random material and color) large enough to conceal things behind.
17. Ancient civilization junk: 1) mummies stacked up all about 2) teracotta soldiers, 3) scrolls, 4) litters (paliquins), 5) boat or boats, 6) sarcophagi, 7) pottery, 8) musical instruments.
18. Everything polished or transparent (even if transparency is usually impossible.
19. Site of a battle: 1) recent, 2) old, 3) ancient, 4) haunted.
20. Gilt: 1) vermeil, 2) silver-leaf, 3) gold-leaf, 4) gold-flecks, 5) silver-flecks, 6) electroplated with copper.

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Share good posts with good goblins. Claytonian at the gmails.

Slam Beeftabs and other fighters I have named

Roll d12×d12×d12

Roll 3d12 to make a legendary bromancer

Brock Slim Crug Flint Barb Flog Bulit Hand Spud Shiv Hardy Beef

Deþ- Slab- Crud- Stab- Fud- Fire- Kril- Vile- Blast- Kil- Blud- Slam-

-monger -steak -critter -cob -donker -nahker -shlocker -stud -creek -rock -fists -sword

This is not the first time I've made a tough guys table. Use my old one, or just choose a name from:


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d12 Gaze Attacks that aren't Stoning

While perusing this monster list, I came across an entry that dungeon-snapped me:

Floating Horror(C): AC 4 Move 6 HD 6+1 Bobbing loathsome squid beast with two great quartz eyes. Shrink-ray gaze attack (save vs stoning) range 60', their tentacle attacks also turn targets to solid glass (save vs stoning).

Gaze attacks: we rarely see them for anything but making people into stone. So here are 12 more ideas to make your PCs regret not carrying mirrors on sticks into the duneon.

1. Stink-rays make you have intense constipation. The smell of poo starts to exude through your pores. Will save to shit. Failure 3 days in a row spells death via internal rupture. Risky click. Fumble means an embolism from straining too hard.
2. Rat-ogle turns you into 3 rats. They have animal intelligence, and must all be together in a sack before magic has any hope of restoring you. Their instinct is to run away.
3. Glamour-glare makes you charmed by the monster so long as you can see it. What's more, the power rubs off on you and mutates. Should you survive the monster, you will have the same power for a few weeks. This is great at first, but it doesn't take long before the charm gives way to stalking, obsession, and cannibalism by your admirers.
4. Chilling-look turns you into a snowman or ice-sculpture. If you melt, you'll be beyond all but the strongest magics to restore. Any party henchmen will openly wonder if drinking you will give an imbiber your powers.
5. Dopple-dazzler switches the monster's consciousness with yours. This is a good one to give to mute or animal monsters, but cunning monsters work too; there is little evidence that the transfer has taken place, beyond the DM mysteriously asking for a save and frowning.
6. Rapturous-stare. Those who look upon this monster and hear the bell it holds at the same time are raptured-- they get translated to the heaven or hell they deserve.
7. Withering, phytophotodermatitistic-glare. This gaze is actually a chemical cloud (maybe, or maybe it's a gaze if you want). It makes your skin and eyes sensitive to UV light. Plenty of that in sunlight. Enough to kill you maybe. Like being a vampire without the fun.
8. Reverse-poop-peep. Your digestive system is completely flipped upside down. The rest of you remains the same. Clever players may realize that gazing again while doing a handstand can reverse the effects.
9. Mother-blink. The DM casually asks you what your PC's mother is like. Was she an adventurer? Was she smart? Strong? Anyways, you just turned into your mother.
10. Impregnating-stare. You are filled with eggs of the monster. They will eat their way out. If the monster was a fungal fiend (cordycepts-clops), you turn into a zombie and climb a tree before going catatonic.
11. Binding-reflection. You turn into a large mirror. In the mirror, your reflection can be seen, mutely banging on the glass, asking to be let out. Breaking the mirror breaks your soul or otherwise dooms you. On the other hand, shards of that mirror are pretty helpful in a dungeon with monsters that have glare attacks...
12. Inverse-polarity-vision. The DM instructs you to write down 3 adjectives that describe your PC. All of these traits are reversed. Strong becomes weak. Cowardly becomes brave. Republican becomes Democrat.

Fueling Encounters and Using Resources with the Happenings Die

When exploring a dungeon, city, or wilderness hex of ye olde elf game, roll a d12 every ten minute turn, borough, or hex respectively.
This d12 goes to 16 on the table tho? Well, grow it to a d14 or d16 if the players have something going in their favor, like super-cautiousness or mentioning something in a world-buildy-way* that is just mmmmwah😗, or shrink it to a d10 or d8 if they have been loud or angering the gods etc.

Roll a d12 plus or minus two sizes

d12 #	Dungeon	City	Wilds
1	An encounter! Roll for surprise!	Hark! A vagrant!	An encounter! Roll for surprise and distance!
2	Hunger strikes! Mark off a ration or lose a Con point.	Nature calls. You must find a lavatory!	Hunger strikes! Mark off a ration or lose a Con point.
3	You stumble in on a meeting  between two other parties. Roll for entities and attitudes!	You pass by two entities, whom you might know, encountering one another.	You stumble in on a meeting, or the remains of one,  between two other parties. Roll for entities, time, and attitudes!
4	Light source starts to sputter out.	Roll to detect that pickpocket attempt that is going off on  you right this moment.	Weather gets one step worse.
5	Find spoor of something from a nearby room or wandering monsters table.	Roll an encounter on the harlots table.	Weather gets one step better.
6	Something glints in the darkness... Roll Luck to see if it be weal or woe.	Someone empties their  chamber pot onto the street. Watch out!	Find spoor of something that can be either hunted or will soon hunt the party. The ranger will tell you which.
7	A rest is needed. Push on and roll again, or take some stamina damage?	Man with an Austral accent spreads open his coat to show off his... rare wares.	Find ruins, ancient and giant statuary fragments¹, or standing stones.
8	A smell is smelt.	A vendor offers strange critters-cum-snacks for sale.	You see the signs. You are in the territory of a forest faction or legendary beast. Roll again!
9	Remains of d3 dead things are found. Likely adventurers that died in a way as to clue you in on what to look out for.	A noble's litter, carriage, or exotic-beast walker comes by. One side, peasants!	Exotic vegetation or rare herbs are here. Monster flora?
10	A cold wind, a drip down your back, a rattle of chains, ahideous cackling, a far-off grinding, or other spooky thing makes for ominous atmosphere.	A belligerent drunk waits for you to see them. "What are  you looking at, quim-drips!?" They get pissed if you try to  look away too.	A ravine or the like means extra time will be lost if you want to find a way around, or you could get a little risky if you're in a hurry...
11	Something you have encountered before. Chances are better that you have the drop on it this time.	Someone in need of help is detected. Are they a beggar? Getting mugged? Worse?	The remains of a camp let you know that someone was here in the last couple days.
12	You stumble into a trap, unless a thief retroactively detects it before you run into it...	City watch passes by. Try  to look inconspicuous, you murder-hobos.	Something big flies overhead. Hide?
13	A friendly adventurer has written a hobo sign to warn travelers about what lies ahead.	Weather changes. Probably rain again.	Weather gets one step better.
14	A dungeon curio is spotted.	A happy hour sign is espied. If you give in, roll willpower to  not turn it into a carousing.	Mating calls, hunting horns, or the laughter of færie revels are heard.
15	A sprung trap is spotted.	You notice a train of virgins coming through on their way to be processed at some temple or other.	An itinerant monk, salesman, or mushi-shi happens upon you.
16	Rare fungi that will fulfill the party's greatest apparent need  at the moment, be it food, medicine, psychedelics, or a light source.	A reoccurring, friendly PC is plying their trade. They have a new rumor for you.	A forest god is spotted in the offing. Tread carefully? Notice me, god-sempai?

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¹: You remember those fragments of statues in the film version of The Fellowship of the Ring near where Boromir was killed or where Sam and Frodo ended the second movie?
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Monsters Want Us to be Them (three d5 adventure seed tables)

Well, rarely consciously, but it is the instinct of the beings of the underworld and outer-weird to increase their numbers. These zones are, on a fundamental level, parts of the gods of howling madness (that which came before and after the multiverse reared its ineffable head like some kind of Gozu-birth).

So the denizens recruit mutants, the corrupted, and the damned into their ranks. The simplest method is through cults. Zones of weirdness, evil satellites, strange stars, monsters, even the howling gods themselves, they all send little Shaver Mystery-style signals into the brains of the susceptible.

Humans are also unfortunately prone to depravity on their own. Even those who start out virtuous may become monsters after seeing enough death or hardship. It's so much easier to just give in. You'll be rewarded for it, in fact. You'll come to see that it will help people, in the end, if you follow the twisted logic. Just give in.

Roll 3d5 to hatch a plot

Corruption's roots: Underworld Outer-weird Psychic vestiges Imprisoned god Strange entity

Corruption's Mode Cult Serial Murders Government Corruption Nihilism Inquisition

Corruption's Boons Mutations: The tools will have hidden corruptions of flesh that they reveal when the jig is up or they are ready to kill. Minions: Gifted with servitors that act as lieutenants, shadowy henchmen, or bodyguards. Another possibility is that followers will take on inhuman aspects. Might of arms: Superior combat skills, secret techniques, or unearthly defenses. Magic secrets: Spells or items that are hard to come by. Ritual knowledge to bring more evil into the world common. Merging: The tool will start to manifest aspects and powers of the roots. If the agenda is carried far enough, the tool will become the root incarnate.

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Typo hunting appreciated.