Giants Are A Thing

Giants are much more interesting in folklore than in most RPGs. In fact giants are often sadly overlooked in RPGs. Fortunately, there's a way you can change that.

In many TTRPGs, giants have become a simple escalating challenge: bigger and bigger versions  to encounter in tactical fights as your characters progress. A scalable threat, with a side serving of elemental power. Whether shaped by frost, fire, clouds or the lumpy quality of a hill, they just get bigger, in a series of power show-downs. All too often, they have little other presence in the world. They are not usually mysterious, and they certainly are not evocative springboards into otherworldly adventure. 

It is true that, in  many European fairy tales, especially in England, giants are often depicted as being unintelligent, or slow-witted. But that is because their purpose in those stories is to give the hero an opportunity to be clever and quick, almost as if these qualities are what define a hero (rather than any moral compass...?). The hero doesn't win by fighting.  In this way, the stories reflect cultural values and the giant is the larger foe, the seemingly unconquerable enemy who is defeated by cunning.  

And there are plenty of other examples of giants in folklore and mythology that are far more nuanced, interesting and three-dimensional than they are sometimes depicted in TTRPGs. 

There are many examples of individual giants in British folklore that are for more than just a 'scalable threat'. How about the one with the bean stalk? Classic example: he isn't just big. He lives in another world, possibly The Otherworld. Jack can only go there by magical means: magical means, by the way, which seem to be intrinsically tied up with leaving his mother and could possibly be seen as a rite of passage, but also involve a reference to agriculture. Planting crops leads to all the treasures he brings back, which turn out to include music, livestock and commerce (in the form of gold). Late Stone Age, anyone? 

When Jack does get to the other world, not just the giant is super-sized by everything. Its a magical place, connected with the sky. And when Jack returns, he comes back with a magical harp (that sings songs and tells poems and is therefore symbolic of either wisdom and learning or the skill of the bard, or both) and a hen that lays golden eggs. Magical items. 

We see this further dimension, too, in Irish mythology, with Finn McCool defeating the Scottish giant Benandonner by pretending to be his own baby. These giants, may not really be giants in the stories' original forms (see here for further explanation...), but instead 'heroes'. By which I mean heroes in the traditional sense: that of killing loads of your people's enemies. And some of them are also berserkers, who are clearly only giants when they adopt the riastadh, which is a kind of berserk frenzy (that you see Slaine go into in the old 2000AD comics), something like the hulk, but messier. Now that is something we don't see in RPGs very often. I'm NOT suggesting a were-giant though, before a certain well-known publisher of splat books decides there's a small fortune to be made in it. No, I'm NOT. I'm talking about trained, professional warriors who seem absolutely normal until certain conditions are met (such as being pissed off), when they metamorphose into a nine foot tall... man? Like a were-man? No, I don't mean that, I don't...

It would be cool though. A great foe for your fighter.

Another Irish giant is Dryantore, who is a sorcerer. He conjures mist and puts the heroes to sleep. 

Then there's Jack of Irons, from Yorkshire. An undead giant with blackened skin and the decapitated heads of his enemies tied to his belt and, in some versions, I think, his own head strapped to his huge club (or did I imagine that...?). This guy's a ghost, essentially, though whether a ghost of a giant or just a big spook, is unclear. I think both are valid.

A quick note on 'frost giants' of Norse mythology. Or Jotuns as they are properly called. These are not even really 'giants' at all. They are, if anything 'anti-gods', not quite demons, but an alternative to the gods, perhaps chaotic, in opposition to the 'order' the gods bring, but that's a little over simplistic. The Norse gods don't seem that ordered or lawful to me, but then I'm not an early medieval Scandinavian. Jotuns are more similar to the Titans of Greek mythology and there's a good reason for it, but that's for another post... 

And last, but certainly not least, we cannot forget the Nephilim.

The cut-to-the-chase version of the Nephilim story is this: angels/angelic beings saw how hot mortal women were and decided to come down to earth to get some. Women, that is. They seductively seduced the women and 'begat' children. Who were giants. Nephilim. there is some debate about the meaning of that word and I've seen is translated as meaning 'fallen', from the Greek. That doesn't make sense to me as it was their fathers who came down to earth, not them. Apparently it could also mean giant in Aramaic, so I'm guessing that's probably on the money. Anyway, what works for me here is the connection between giants and the mystical. They are not just a random, mortal breed of human-like thing, they are the offspring of a forbidden supernatural relationship. 

But it gets better (at least, in terms of engaging story, not in terms of humanistic treatment of 'other'...). Because God was so annoyed by the whole situation, not to mention that the Nephilim had started eating people and stealing food and acting like all carry on, that he had a flood to get rid of them. And that is why there was a flood. Only they don't die. They drown, yes, and they die physically, but their spirits linger. Nowhere to go, you see. So they hang around on post-diluvial earth, causing trouble, and because they have no proper place and they don't know what to do with themselves, one of the things they do with themselves is put themselves inside other people... 

In other words, they become demons.

When a person in the biblical world (according to this version of the story), gets possessed by a demon, that's  the displaced spirit of a dead giant-offspring of a rebellious Angel. Which explains why demons might be in your world, without being summoned. It connects lore and current world issues and it makes demons, giants and angels ALL more interesting. In my opinion anyway. 

Its probably been done in fiction somewhere. Some of these themes definitely appear in John Gwynne's Blood And Bone trilogy (which is awesome, by the way). 

Look I'm not saying you have to accept this as gospel or anything... I'm saying this is what happens in one of the versions of this story. And I think its cool because it means things can be tied together by players or by you and when player characters meet a Giant, that's a little piece of world lore, stomping around. And when they meet someone Possessed, likewise. 

Another way of making Giants more present in your world is to tie them to more magical ingredients. Giants need to be more mystical. And what better way to make stuff mystical than to make it about... skulls!

What if Giant skulls are magical and can empower magical spells? In whatever genre. Or can be used to animate the undead, because they bridge the gap between the natural and supernatural worlds? Or if giant-size femurs just make better magic staffs because they channel arcane power more readily? Maybe giant bone dust, not chalk, is what needs to be used to draw a pentagon. Or if the teeth, when sown, and the correct incantation uttered, become animate skeletons?

It's your game and its your world, but don't miss out on the possibilities for making Giants much cooler than they sometimes appear in well-used splat-books. 

Sacred Trees

 Trees are everywhere in the real world. Yet very rarely do specific species get a mention in adventure modules. And its hardly a surprise. What difference does it make? Well, I suppose it might be 'realistic'/'authentic' for the Ranger to know that say, willow, or alder only grow on wet ground of near water. But how often is a ranger going to need to do that? It isn't part of the game we usually focus on.

Killing vampires, however...

Well, it doesn't have to be specifically vampires. They're an obvious example, because, well, wooden stakes...? But any kind of 'evil' or supernatural entity might be thwarted more easily if your players have access to these sacred trees. Or may be less inclined to pursue them into a grove. You don't want to be making them omnipresent, of course, and there may be additional rituals or ceremonies or simply acts of preparation that you want to make significant to the acquiring of these woods. But its always nice, I think, to know which kind of wood might be most helpful in the vanquishing of a specific kind of entity. As well as what sort of trees there actually are in the landscape. 

Historically, of course, this sort of knowledge was second nature. People's lives were intimately intertwined with the natural world. It was second nature for them to look around them for the tools the natural world could provide and, especially before the advent of monotheism, spirits, both benign and malevolent and anywhere in between, were thought to interact with the mortal or human world on a regular basis. Nature included natural focus points for this, places where our world bordered the 'otherworld'. And everybody knew this. So ANY player character should get at least a chance to know this stuff but you might want to give the ranger or the magic user an edge by at least making other classes make an attribute check for the knowledge.

Alder

The alder grows near water, literally with their roots in the stream if they can.  The wood is also resistant to splitting, so they were often used in the manufacture of cart wheels. Alder was associated with divination, so any divination spells might work better beneath an alder tree or with a wand of alder wood in hand, and this was especially true when the diagnosis of disease was involved. So a stream that grew thickly with alder might even have healing properties of its own (that's my own extrapolation there) and make it very much easier to Cure Disease etc. 

Cutting one down was once punishable.

Apple

As an emblem of fruitfulness, this wood was often used in association with fertility or youth and was associated with immortality. Druid wands are thought to have been crafted from this wood, or from yew. I think if I were staking a vampire, I'd probably favour this or Yew wood. 

Hazel

Sacred to poets and thus probably important to Bards. Also a taboo to burn. Strongly associated with magic and authority. Also, incidentally, one of the oldest kinds of tree in Europe and one of the earliest we have evidence for building with. Witches' wands and divining rods were made of this and eating the nuts brought wisdom, especially when they grew at the head of a sacred stream or river or at a sacred well. Salmon that eat them convey magical wisdom to those that catch and eat them. I'd make that a prerequisite for anyone wishing to start learning magic! It might provide a nice , 'incidental' adventure, where the party has to travel across wild country for a while and deal with a couple of wilderness encounters. 

Oak

of course. This is the one everybody knows is special. It was prominent in many cultures. it grew in sacred groves. According to Pliny The Elder, druids would climb one on the 6th day of the moon and cut boughs of mistletoe and sacrifice two white bulls for fertility. There was a goddess, Daron, associated with the tree, which is why 'derry' is such a popular feature in place names across Ireland. Maybe mistletoe increases the potency of all spells or all potions. But you have to placate that goddess 9if that's what she really is...) before you can safely take it. 

Yew

one of three evergreens indigenous to Britain, it isn't surprising that it has powerful folkloric association. It also has poisonous berries. It symbolizes death, but is that because for a long time now, the only place you can easily find it is in stately home gardens and churchyards 9they get left alone there)? I'd suggest that this association with death might be to do with the power of its wood to encourage Undead to accept their rightful place in the cosmos... 

I've only included five tree species here. there are more if you look for them, such as Rowan, but you really want to limit the number you include, in my view, so the players have a chance to really get familiar with them and be able to remember offhand, which ones to go looking for when something supernatural rears its head. 

 

Incidental Injuries

 They don't happen in combat. They happen when climbing a wall in a hurry, escaping down a steep incline in the dark, climbing through a window from a bedroom. These aren't serious injuries, but they let people know they've been in a scrape. useful for partial successes/fails or consequences, for games that have those.

A few of them lead to interrupted sleep - I suggest no natural healing until treated by someone skilled in healing.

d8

1. Sprain/Strain

2. Knee injury

3. Fracture (1: wrist, 2: ankle, 3: foot, 4; collarbone, 5: hand, 6: toe)

4. Dislocation (1: ankle, 2: knee, 3: shoulder, 4: elbow, 5: finger, 6: toe)

5. Rotator cuff (shoulder - leads to pain, weakness and poor sleep)

6. Tendonitis (pain and swelling)

7. Groin strain (difficulty walking, pain)

8. Hip flexor strain (swelling, pain)

9. Stove finger (poor grip)

10. Concussion (d6 - 1: dizziness (reduced Dex), 2: weakness (reduced Str), 3; confusion (reduced Int/Wis); 4: any two that add to 4; 5; any that add to 5; 6: gone quiet (reduced Cha))

*"Any two" - each reduction is a reduction of -1 and they accumulate, so a '4' can mean 2 x reduced Dex and 1 x reduced Str or 2x reduced Str, etc.

Mysterious Artefacts With Wierd, Unpredicatable Powers

For when you need a magic item that is cool and distinctive but isn't going to dominate your game. 

Roll 2d12 and a d8:

1. An animal skull                            1. Control...                                    1. Haste

2. A dragon's tooth                           2. Become...                                   2. Blurred

3. A fossil ammonite                        3. Steal...                                        3. Shadows

4. A stone hand axe                          4. Summon...                                  4. Breath

5. A necklace of teeth                       5. Inflict...                                      5. Silence

6. A shrunken head                           6. Detect...                                     6. Thoughts

7. A whistle to                                  7. Reduce                                       7. Vision

8. A rabbit's foot                               8. increase                                      8. Undead

9. An octopus tentacle                                                                             9. Incorporeal

10. A dried bat                                                                                        10. Hearing

11. A necklace of frog skulls                                                                  11. Lightening

12. A broken knife                                                                                  12. Water

Table for animals, if needed:

1. Griffon

2. Rabbit

3. Dog

4. Horse

5. Cat

6. Frog

7. Bird

8. Rat/mouse

Yiks

 Yiks resemble baboon-sized arthropods, or larger, with chitinous exoskeletons. Hell, maybe they are actually arthropods. They look a like bugs with body armour and powerful mandibles. They don't spin webs and they don't tend to live in the dark, dank places that many types of giant spider favour (although there is nothing wrong with placing them there, if that's what you like), and they don't tend to be venomous, although of course there could be species or sub-species I don't know about. Greater Yik are the size of a 

They do, however, dwell in numbers, like clans, and they are intelligent. Clans can range in size from a dozen to fifty or so, perhaps even more, although they will be spaced out across their territory, and a party of adventurers are more likely to encounter a scouting party of 1-6 than large numbers. At least the first time. If an individual escapes such a confrontation, it will return with larger numbers. Usually as many again plus 1d8. 

And did I mention that they're smart? There is no doubt about this: yiks are clever in the way they go about engaging with those that enter their territory and cause harm to their kin. If they know where you are, they will consider their options before assaulting your position. If they charge headlong, in one unit, consider yourself lucky. This is a false charge: they intend for you to run away, preferably out of their territory altogether. The use this tactic mostly when intruders are still on the fringes of their hunting grounds and a direct exit is available. otherwise, if they con

They would prefer to steal supplies and equipment than to go toe-to-toe with an armoured fighter. But they set a trap if they can, lead you into traps built by others, or just steal all your rations while you're asleep. They will try to take advantage of wounded parties and even steal weapons, just to leave them less well equipped when the attack finally does come. 

Yiks don't bear humans (or any other race) any ill will. They're just trying to get by. But in the jungles and forests they tend to inhabit, there's a lot of competition for food. That said, if they can see an advantage in allying with a party of humans, they are capable of doing so. And just as capable for betraying them later.

Yik #2d3 AC 15 HD 3 Bite 1d8 Nat 19 Blade Trauma

Str14 Dex16 Con12 Int4 Perc12 Will10 Cha4 Luck5,

Climb Norm. 

Greater Yik #1d4 AC 16 HD 4 Bite 1d8+1 Nat 19 Blade Trauma

Str16 Dex16 Con14 Int6 Perc14 Will10 Cha4 Luck8, 

Climb Norm. 

Brood Mother Yik #1d2 AC 18 HD 8 Bite 2d6+2 Nat 19 Blade Trauma

Str18 Dex16 Con16 Int8 Perc16 Will15 Cha6 Luck10,

Climb Norm. 

Islands As Random Encounters

This isn't something I have actually had a chance to try yet, and when I do, I'll update this post. But I think islands as random encounters makes a lot of sense . Although the islands themselves don't move (for the most part), everything around them does, which is kind of the same...? 

Note: The islands are only random the first time they are encountered; after that, they are fixed, unless magical.

Here's why I think this ought to work well:

1) This is basically like a dungeon, where islands are really really big rooms. Only the corridors aren't fixed and mapping is tricky. But there will be monsters and treasure and traps in the form of sudden squalls...

2) Magical, enchanted, lost and forgotten isles are a stock in trade of sword and sorcery fiction, as well as myth.

3) Until the 16th Century, there was no Mercator projection (the most common format for modern maps) and older 'Portolan Charts', in use from the 13th Century, were usually restricted to coastal areas, compiled from observations. 

4) The unpredictability of currents, wind, weather, etc, means sailing ships in  the Age of Sail, even when they were not lost and were entirely aware of where they were, often did not follow an exact route. Especially on the 'high seas' over long distances. And those small variations in route might lead to odd discoveries. 

5) In game terms, randomised islands means you can include them without railroading. There is a chance that if they use route A to B, they will encounter X. Like historical explorers, PCs who travel by sea don't know what they might encounter, or where they might end up. The campaign becomes much less predictable. If players actually fully intended to get to B, then this becomes more like a Sinbad tale: their characters really wanted to get to B, but... life. When they eventually do get to B, of course, all the villains will have progressed...

6) The hierarchy onboard ships might be reflected in the level system of some rulesets, especially those that enjoy player character Titles. You might want specialist ones for a ship: Captain, First Mate, Second Mate, Ship's Wizard, Bo'sun, Navigator, Midshipman, Able Seaman, Cabin Boy, etc. As PCs advance, they can climb this hierarchy.

Islands

For the shorelines of islands encountered, see my post Types Of Shoreline. For what's on the island, roll a d8 or choose from below. 

1. Lost Civilization. A civilisation thought extinct still rules here. 

2. Lost Race. As above, but serpent folk, or tiny cavemen.

3. Ruins. Crete, etc. 

4. Wilderness. Predator-filled jungle.

5. Lost Ecosystem. Dinosaurs.

6. Hidden Enclave. Pirate republic. Amazon Fortress. Wizard stronghold. 

7. Hunting Ground. On this island, the centaurs call the shots...

8. Haunted. Ghosts of a lost age; related to the first three, above. 

Events At Sea

To keep things fresh, alter the 'register' of adventures or encounters, including ideas of different 'magnitudes'. Don't always make everything earth-shattering. There are three categories I think of in terms of events at sea: Mundane, Dramatic or Magical.

Mundane Events

Even fairly mundane events at sea can get pretty life and death fast. And in their own way tense. When becalmed, PCs might play a major role in maintaining morale, preventing mutiny or coordinating repairs. Mouldy food becomes the seed for the next quest. Storms are pretty dramatic and ought to take up a session, in my view, a lot like a battle against an army of elementals (which perhaps it is!), run in much the same way, with specific incidents demanding the PCs' intervention. A whale might prove adversarial. there are pirates, obviously. 

Dramatic Events

Some events are naturally going to take up more than a session and prove more dramatic than the day-to-day dangers and hardships encountered. Encountering a pirate is one thing, but what if the pirate pursues? Many critical choices are provoked by this: Run or fight? Continue on route or head for safety? The ships takes damage and must be repaired. A mutiny kicks off (as opposed to threatening to) and PCs must choose sides. An island is encountered unexpectedly. Or wreckage. Or sargasso. Something unusual climbs aboard. Something unusual is already aboard. War breaks out. An enemy ship is found floundering.

Magical Events

See pirate events above: Is the pirate living? Undead? Phantasmal? The Captain is haunted. The ship is haunted. The ship or the Captain is cursed. Officers become possessed. A storm blows the ship through an ancient portal. Some of the crew turn out to shape-changing serpent-folk. Or a walrus revenge squad. Or sharks. Crew rescued from a floundering wreck turn out to be sharks/were-sharks. Etc. 

Factions

Ships lend themselves to factional play. there are always at least two factions aboard any ship: Officers and Crew. In addition, the crew will often contain factions of its own. Beyond merely pro- or anti- the Captain, there will be rival leaders, different agendas (such as the 'We should head home now' faction, the 'We should become pirates' faction, the 'Discipline onboard is too severe' faction and the 'Use the map to get the treasure' faction. 

These factions won't all agree with each other and who they favour at a given time among the Officers will depend on which agenda the Captain or Officers favour. PCs should be given opportunities to engage in this sort of factionalism, maybe even taking over the ship if they choose to.  

Adventure Seeds

Something evil is onboard, as cargo. In the restricted space aboard a ship, horror ensues. Roll a d6:

1. Vampire

2. Mindflayer

3. Giant, psychic crab monster

4. Troll

5. Lich

6. Ooze

Somebody onboard has a map showing treasure. 

1. Captain

2. First Mate

3. Faction leader

4. Player character

5. Political prisoner

6. Monstrous prisoner

7. Ship's Wizard

The Captain isn't who he said he was. Who (or what) is he instead? And who else isn't what they seem?

1. Long lost heir to the throne.

2. A banished necromancer.

3. Avatar of the sea god.

4. A doppleganger.

5. A magically disguised serpent man.

6. An agent of the monarch, on a quest to save the realm.

7. A slaver

8. A pirate of high repute.

The Ship isn't what it seems. The PCs have taken passage on a ship headed for stranger seas. 

1. The ship flies

2. The ship travels between worlds

3. The ship is alive (and is its own Captain)

4. The ship travels between planets

5. The ship travels across land.

6. The ship travels across ice. 

Frog Lord

The Frog Lord bites but does not devour. He finds mail armour difficult to digest and anyway, his taste runs more to giant insects that to mammal flesh. Instead, he hurls intruders to his grotto against the cavern wall, breaking bones and tearing flesh and leaving their bodies to bleed and feed his parlour.

You may survive if you can crawl away. You may bind your wounds and mend your armour. You may slink off into the shadows or rise to arms and fight again. But beware the new moon and the first rays of a new crescent, for they will have power over you now, and your flesh will crawl and shift, your blood run cool, and when the ponds and streams of your homeland echo with the throb of amphibian throngs, you will hear them. You will hear them calling and you will itch for the feel of cold mud on your skin.

FROG LORD #1 AC 16 HD 4 Bite 1d12 and Tongue (Close range, dragged into Melee + Grabbed, Str contest resists, no action) 

Nat 19 Grabbed in teeth and shaken and flung: 2d6 on Toad’s turn, then thrown at nearby wall for 1d6.

S18 D12 C17 I3 P10 W14 Ch5 L7, Leap Close. Reac 2-5 Combative 6-8 Hungry 9-12 Languid.

Frog Lords are 9 ft behemoths, fat amphibians with lumpy skin, a great, toothy maw, and an evil intelligence. Their colouration runs the gamut of sickly greens and yellows and some exude a toxin onto the surface of their skin . When a victim survives the bite of a Frog Lord, they undergo a transformation on the next New Moon. Roll 1d3:

1: No physical transformation takes place, at least not externally, but the victim loses all sense of their humanity and retreats into wetland or at least muddy areas, submerging themselves as far as possibly in the cold slime and behaving, to all intents and purposes, like a frog. 

2: The victim transforms into a frog-like humanoid, gains the tongue attack of the Frog Lord and a bite attack. Can also leap anywhere within Far range as a move and leap over obstacles. Their bite can also pass on batrianthropy (a word I made up - shape-changing into a frog), if the victim fails a Luck (Con) save (each time bitten) but the victim always adopts the characteristics of 1, above.

3: The victim is transformed into a Giant Toad (ToA 201) with 3 HD and Bite 1d10.

The Carcajou

 

Carcajou haunt the high and the cold places, the places with snow for whatever reason, where others struggle to eek out a living and where forests grow stunted for the lack of northern sunlight. They prey on karibou and any other herbivores that venture into their territory, but also other warm-blooded mammals; humans and demi-humans have been known to fall foul of the carcajou. The Carcajou don't understand what the fuss is about. Its not like they're cannibals. That only happens in extreme circumstances.

Many human lords have tried to recruit the carcajou to their cause. Many have discovered they cannot afford to feed them.

The carcajou are stocky, powerful and ferocious-looking warrior-folk, that usually stand no higher than 5,6, with long, thick, brown, oily fur and short but powerful claws on big hands and feet.

Life expectancy 40 - 50 yr.

They make good barbarians, fighters and rangers.

Their diet is varied and opportunistic, including small mammals, birds' eggs, berries, and carrion, which they are adept at tearing with their strong jaws and a specialized upper molar. 

They are well-suited for cold conditions, with the ability to find food even from frozen carcasses. 

Powerful Build: Advantage on all saves relating to Strength and Constitution.

Lack charm: disadvantage on Charisma based saves and checks.

Natural Armour: (thick fur): +1 AC

Frenzied Bloodlust: When they become Wounded, Carcajou gain an additional free attack. This resets when they are no longer Wounded.

Scent: gain advantage on Perception if scent is present.

Gluttonous: Carcajou cannot let potential food go unassessed for edibility; that includes almost any carcass they come across. Such potential food items do include humans except among individuals acclimatised to human company. The habit requires a fairly thorough assessment by sight and smell, eating as much as can be eaten at a sitting (raw), taking what can be carried and hiding the rest for ‘on the way back’. This is a compulsion and attempting to ignore it will lead to an inability to sleep. Sleep is impossible  until a course of action is taken that will lead to the compulsion being fulfilled. This negates all the usual benefits of sleep, including natural healing. E.g. on passing a potentially edible carcass, a carcajou won't sleep until they decide to go back and check it. After that point, they can sleep until they reach it. If it is gone, they now cannot sleep until they find it. If they do find it they must assess it and deal with it immediately. If they cannot find it because it has been moved they must determine what happened to it and if it has been eaten, the issue is resolved. If not, GM's discretion. 

Most carcajou cannot ride horses, as the mounts bolt, and most carcajou would rather eat a horse anyway. Carcajou Rangers can get round this by making their horse their animal companion. Some clans breed their own ponies, that are not skittish around them. These are tough mounts but give no warning when Carcajou are nearby.

 

Encounter Table for travelling within the old dwarf mines of Mons Argentis.

Encounter check table for Mons Argentis tunnels:

1. Encounter. Roll below.

2. Spoor. Roll below for species.

3. Troeg  (troglodytes) send reinforcements to their nearest position.

4. Ghost Face hobgoblins ambush nearest troeg outpost.

5. Grulock band ambush troeg patrol. 

6. A currently active faction have set a new trap (1: troeg, 2: hobgoblins, 3: grulock)

 

Encounters 

1. d8 Troeg scouts (troglodytes). They carry no light source and sense prey by scent alone. 

2. d8 hunting lizards. Roll again for type:

3. Vermin. Roll again for type, according to system. 

4. Slug watcher keeps vigil on a stretch of the tunnel, alerting its superiors of any who approach. Hard to spot, but will not attack except in self-defense. 

5. Grulock raiding party, approaching the nearrest Troeg outpost. 2d8 warriors and a High Grulock. d4 are Brutes. All wear +d3 armour. 

6. Blue Jar hobgoblin Trade Wagon plus family of 2d4. Peaceful traders seeking modest profit.

7. Ghost Face hobgoblin raiders seek Troglodyte hides. 3d4 warriors led by a chief, in mail armour, with short swords and shields. PCs are not their target but will attract their suspicion.

8. A lone slynth traveller, scouting Troeg movements.  

Centipede Variants

 Centipedes are predators and they are always venemous.

Ghoul-bite Centipede: Bite has a venom that paralyses, much like a ghoul.

Mage-hunter Centipede: Smells magic. Becomes the most likely encounter on the next Random Encounter check, after any magic user casts a spell.

Mind-eater Centipede: Venom causes brain damage. Drains a point of Intelligence on a failed Con save.

Acid-bite Centipede: acid venom reduces armour by 1 AC after the attack and causes 1hp damage per round for d6 rounds. 

Blood-hunter Centipedes: tracks by scent once they have it. Used by evil sorcerers, dark lords and anybody else with the means to train them.

Centipede Kings: their bite transforms victims into a centipede, either permanently or temporarily or as a were-form.

Crawlswarm Centipedes: have the ability to dissemble into a swarm of smaller centipedes.

Mindlord Centipedes: their venom makes victims susceptible to their psychic power, which they use to enslave humans and other species.

I will add to this list as and when I come up with more. 

 

Text of a Fragment of Parchment Found in a Ruined Dwarf Scriptorium

Their chief shows himself, to make us pause,

Then his packmates leap with teeth and claws.

We rend the dark with screams and howl

As they tear our fesh with talons foul.

 

Encounters with the hunting lizards seem more frequent of late. It makes me feel as though something were coming. Something terrible. 

Text Fragment found in the abandoned scriptorium of Minera Argentum within Mons Argentis.

 

 

 

Cold Goddess Mountains

The Cold Goddess Mountains stretch over 2000 miles north to south, to the west of the most settled areas in my 'known lands' setting. They are characterised by steep mountain slopes and dense, lush forest, as well as bleaker colder landscapes in places of higher elevation. This region is dotted with both recent and ancient dwarf mines, as well as more recent human mines. 

The Cold Goddess moutnains are reputed to be haunted, and are home to a number on non-human peoples.

A small number of dwarves roam the region, the last vestiges of their dwindling population. They sell their skills where they can and try to avoid places they might be enslaved. 

There are elves.  Specifically two warring races, the Sidhe (pronounced 'Shee'), who arrived here with the last wave human migrants and the Manavargr, a northern race who are hostile to humans and Sidhe alike. 

Blue Jar hobgoblin folk trade here, both above and below ground and maintain positive relations with most of their neighbouring nations, though even they struggle with some of them. 

There are occasional incursions from the troeg, troglodytes who live in warrens beneath the mountains and see all their neighbours as food or resources. These are actually the main species in the region, possibly aside from humans. Numbers are unclear on both sides. But the troeg live in great numbers beneath the mountains, in tunnels they cut themselves, when their race were slaves. They raid the surface for slaves themselves, now, and for food and raw materials such as hides and wood and human hair.

Carcajou are present in the region and various attempts have been made to constrain them with treaties, but they are a disparate and diverse folk and while a single group or tribe might be bound by the terms of a treaty, others often don't feel the same way.

Rivers flow east to the sea and south, from the Cold Goddess range. Along these arteries of trade and colonisation travel humans, in boats or on horses along their banks. Those who cannot settle the fertile floodplains of these rivers, either through lack of resources or lack of interest or will, may travel beyond the settled lands and find themselves in the shadow of the Cold Goddess. Here, they often become hunters or trappers, traders to the few and far between settlements and outposts, loggers, or else are lured by the rumours of lost dwarven treasure beneath the cold and unforgiving mountains. Most find the going hard, the climate treacherous, the terrain difficult, and the isolation close to unbearable. No small number find it impossible to bear and succumb, in one form or another, to despair. They might turn to the dark idols said to be found in the high, windswept ruins that dot the region, or else become killers, when hunger overwhelms their humanity. Or else they give in to the dark and silent calling that some claim to hear, echoing from the high valleys and the deep gorges and which some say is the sound of the Cold Goddes herself, weeping they say, at the fragility of humankind. Or, say others, laughing.

For those for whom it is all too much, there is something else, beyond despair. The Calling, as it is known, becomes too much to resist and they give into it, running off into the night to give themselves to chaos. The darkness, it is said, finds a way inside and they are changed by it. Some end up mutilating themselves, others seem to change by no means known to them. They might bear a mark, such as eyes without whites, or overlarge teeth, a taste for human flesh or blood. Such people are known as Goblin Men, though there are women among them, and they gather in the lost and distant places of the forest at the mountains' foot, or on its high, rocky shoulder, or in its pits, and sing to the moon or other less fathomable things, or to the Cold Goddess herself, and wait for a chance to feast on their erstwhile fellows. For only human flesh, it is said, will ever make them feel warm again.

Jackdog Town

The name of Jackdog Town was inspired by this blog, "A Forgotten Monster: The Cruel Jackdog" on Save vs Worm, about a long-lost D&D monster, which I heard about here, on Blogs On Tape. I just like the sound of it.

Jackdog Town is a town within the Cold Goddess mountain range, within a silver-mining region. 

This region is dotted with both recent and ancient dwarf mines, as well as more recent human mines. 

Jackdog Town is really a supply town. It was originally conceived of as that town outside the dungeon, where player characters resupply, replace lost comrades and listen in on other people's conversations to acquire rumours. But now it has taken on a life of its own, largely through watching Deadwood and reading western-themed location modules and then kind of realising they didn't work in the 'very medieval' theme I wanted in my campaign. I'm not saying the result is 'very medieval'. I don't know what it is. It is what it is.

Jackdog Town is also something of a cultural crossroads, as it stands on the edge of 'known lands', adjacent to a region I'm going to call Cold Goddess Mountains, at least for now. There are not a great number of dwarfs in my setting, but a couple run a local supply store. Maybe the odd prospector comes through. There might be an elf, but if there is, it would be unusual - an elf more akin to a sidhe, I think, maybe an outcast, to be slumming it with humans. I'm not sure I'm not too bothered. But importantly, there is a carcajou, which is a race I'm working on and will post about, that are basically anthropomorphic wolverines. And that's a big deal (that there is one in town) because they basically don't do humans, and humans don't generally appreciate them. But I think they'll make good rangers. 

In addition, the town will have some or all of the buildings listed below and I will post on them in groups of three or four. Probably. 

Church or Temple (possibly several, not decided)
Monastery (kind of a satellite Manor - would be at some distance, really, and possibly pre-dates the town and possibly doesn't even exist)
Well, Tithe Barn, for storing the tithes that go to the church, Granary, Cattle Barns, Stables, Market, Taverns, Inn, Almshouse, Great Hall, Houses
Workshops -  Blacksmith, Woodcutter, Mill, Charcoal Maker, Fishery, Bakehouse, Brewery, Furrier, Carpenter, Barber
Arable land - Grain Fields, Vegetable Patch, Orchards
Non-arable Land - Meadows, Pasture, Woodland / Forest, Marsh, Fallow Fields, River and Pond

 

 

Types Of Shoreline (Shoreline 1)

Terrain, its impact on description and its role in campaigns, often gets forgotten. This post is part of a series on how different kinds of shoreline can be used in adventures, encounters and campaigns.  Shorelines are often overlooked as interesting locations for fictional encounters and events. I'll be updating this post a shoreline at a time.

Shorelines can be classified either by their physical features or by the processes that formed them. 

By Physical Characteristic:

Rocky Shores. Large rocks and cliffs where waves hit the hard stuff.

On rocky shores, landing a water craft of any kind would be perilous. Sailing boats are likely to want to steer clear of rocky shores, as even further out to sea, large, submerged rocks are a threat to the hull. Rowing in to shore is more practical, at least in calm seas, but actually getting ashore might still be tricky, as the water could still be fairly deep at the point you can't bring a rowing boat any closer. 

This is the environment in which you are most likel;y to find sea caves, which will be inaccessible from dry land, as will be hidden coves where pirates, smugglers, raiders or explorers might seek refuge from storms hostile eyes. Some might have deep water harbours, too: a boon to sailing ships, and to large predators.

Rocky shores are a favourite place for Wreckers, who set false beacons alight, to guide ships onto the rocks, so that they can salvage the wreckage. This would be a great basis for an Early Modern campaign, a cthulu-inspired campaign or any naval campaign. Its also a great strategy for goblins in a fantasy campaign, as it involved minimum risk and potentially massive payback. 

Cliffs are home to sea birds and other winged predators. 

moving along rocky shores on foot is a slow, preilous, usually wet experience. You cannot possibly move quickly. Once your feet are wet, you slip on moss and seaweed and you can break an ankle or a leg very easily if you try to hurry. Fighting would be awkward and treacherous (but a lot of fun for players!) and have unpredictable outcomes. Bullets richochet off rocks, arrows get caught by gusts of wind and snap when they hit rocks, big, swingy weapons are very difficult to use and people can hide. Especially small people.  

Sandy Shores. Formed from depositied sand. These often include beaches and sand ridges.

Sandy shores provide enormous visibility and also large, convenient landing points for mutiple, shallow-hulled vessels. such as viking longships or the long rowing boats (longboats) of large sailing ships.  Here, it is unlikely you will get ashore in secret unless it is at night, which is exactly what smugglers will do.  Sandy shores with long beaches are great places to set impressive 'visuals' through vivid descripion: the viking-themed orc hordelanding in their longships, the giant eraiding party wading along the shore, the approaching dragon.

Sandy shores often start shallow and steady but suddenly drop off. That's where the sharks get you. 

Running along a sandy shore is much more difficult than on firm terrain. Dry sand is the hardest, but very wet sand brings its own challenges. There is no way you can run at top speed unless you are on the perfect consistency of sand. Also tides come in and go out and litereally change that consistency beneath your feet and you can sometimes discover that the tide has come in around you, laving your feet dry but you cut off from the rest of the shore.  

Shingle Shores. Covered in pebbles and small rocks. No sand.

These shorelines are often adjacent to the rocky shorelines described above but they are very different. Open, often, but also sometimes hidden, they often form in tiers, rather than a steady incline, due to the action of the tides. You can beach a craft with relative ease, but walking across shingle beaches is hard work and slow. Extremely difficult to hurry. 

Muddy Shores. Made of mud. Usually found in sheltered areas, such as estuaries.

Anywhere with a wide, flat expanse of mud can also easily become inundated, and usually quickly. The mud here can be dangerous - deep enough to trap feet while the waters rise, deep enough for strange predatory creatures to submerge, and deep enough for ancient ruins to be mostly submerged, only exposed at low tide, when hidden features become visible. 

Going anywhere quickly on foot, or even at normal walking speed, is usuallu completely impossible, though sometimes a causeway of firmer ground becomes usable at low tide, making access to that island, or forgotten ruin or ancient temple possible. Briefly.

Tidal Marsh. Wetlands that are regularly inundated. Rich in nutrients. 

Similar to the above but with a lot more vegetation. Low troughs between drier ground provide channels for boats, low, flat islands, perhaps with a stand of trees, provide shelter for outlaws or remote chaurches or monasteries or hermitages. These areas are rich in food and foraging is easier here but there are sometimes strange creatures hiding in the dark, still pools, such as trolls. Will O' Wisp can also be found here, as can occultists seeking rare and powerful herbs or other ingredients. Many such sites once held religious significance, in the real world, and drew cultic practices and the construction of rings of wood or stone, or causeways to remote spots where sacrifices were made to unnamed powers.

The tidal marsh should be rich in wildlife and magic and should alter significantly when the tide comes in, with different routes needed to traverse it and different animals encountered.  

 

By Formation Process:

Erosional Shorelines. Shaped by the force of waves and wind.

Fjords. Deep, steep-sided valleys cut by glaciers and filled with seawater later.

Rias. Coastal valleys, flooded by the sea. They get shallower as they go inland. 

Depositional Shorelines. Formed by the accumulation of sediment.

Deltas. Large deposits of sediment at the mouths of rivers.

Barrier Islands. Long, narrow ridges that form parallel to the coast.

Spits and Bars. Sandbanks that build up from the shore due to wave action.

 

Artificial Shorelines. 

Hardened shorelines. Made by humans or other sentient creatures.

Seawalls, Bulkheads and Groins. Walls and structures built to prevent erosion. 

Random Shoreline Table (d12)

1. Rocky

2. Sandy

3. Shingle

4. Muddy

5. Tidal

6. Fjord

7. Ria

8. Delta

9. Barrier island

10. Spits or bars 

11. Reef (not included above)

12. Artificial

Krenjian Panther

The Krenjian Panther stalks its prey from the shadows. It hunts in moonlight, when the colour of its fur shifts to blue-violet, treading the grasslands and the forests with large and silent paws. It stalks caravans and lone travellers alike, preys on mounts and draught animals, and takes sleeping travellers to careless to keep a watch.

And it follows you into your dreams and hunts you there, as well. 

The Krenjian panther is a thing of nightmares.

If you're on watch and you see three palely glowing spots of light, look away quickly. But rouse your companions and have them do the same.  Awake, you have a chance to fight back.

The Krenjian panther is a three-eyed psychic predator of the plains and surrounding woodlands.  Much like a leopard with broken stripes, in appearance, it has a third eye in the top of its head. When it attacks it tries to cause its prey to flee, an easier target, panicked and heedless if possible. It does this using its Anguished Yowl attack, which puts fear in its target and causes a Willpower or Morale check at -2.

If its targets are sitting at a campfire, it will strike each in turn with this psychic  attack, hoping to panic them into leaving the safety and company of the fire and fleeing into the darkenss. Krenjian panthers have been known to pick of members of a company one-by-one like this over days, their bodies found secreted in trees along the route by the next caravan. 

But if you are  asleep when the creature strikes, things can be much worse. For a failed save during sleep, will allow the beast into your sleeping mind, where it will hunt you through dreams, unable to waken, unable to fight back. Victims toss and turn, call out and sweat as though fevered, into the finally the beast's fangs close around their throats.

 

 

KRENJIAN PANTHER: no: d3 AC 13 HD 3 Claws (2) 1d6 and Bite 1d8 Nat 19 Bonus Psychic Assault vs target.

S12 D16 C12 I6 P14 W12 Ch13 L5. Move Fast. 

If both claws hit the target is knocked Prone and the bite automatically hits. 

Unnerving third eye: causes instant Luck (Will) save (or Morale check for NPCs) the first time one is encountered and again with Advantage thereafter or the panther automatically wins the Initiative. Ignore after 3 encounters.

Anguished Yowl: Targets within a 30' make a Willpower save (or Morale check) or flee to Very Far range (beyond 60'). Full action, including one Psychic Assault. 

Psychic Assault: One specific target within range of the Anguished Yowl becomes irrationally afraid and takes a penalty of -2 to their Willpower save due to the cat's focused psychic assault. Recharge: 2 in 6 (1-2 on d6, roll in secret).

Dreamreaver: One sleeping target per round is targeted by something similar to a Psychic Assault which keeps them entangled in nightmares from which they cannot awaken unless they make a Willpower test at Disadvantage. If an ally attempts to wake them, they gain Advantage instead. Can only make one attempt to wake up per turn. For each round a target remains  entangled Psychic Assault recharge increases by 1.

Reac 2-4 Hostile 5-6 Aggressive 

 

Feedback welcome! 

The Skrael

 Stories abound of the origins of the skrael. Stories abound also of the sorcerous origins of various creatures, of demented mages intoxicated by power, using dark arts to meld forms and birth twisted bodies and nightmare creatures, a mishapen race, an unnatural guardian. Some of these stories may even be true.

But in the case of the skrael, it seems more likely than most; how else would a creature with the head of a seagul and the body of a human possibly come to exist? And so the tales of their sorcerous origins are held, almost universally, to be true.  

But there is another version.

The skrael are known to inhabit a range of environments. In particular, the love coastal areas and rockly ones especially, though large bodies of freshwater also seem to appeal. In fact, they seem to have an unerring, though perhaps unconscious, ability to sense water. As if they can smell it. They are known to have a keen weather-sense, able to predict accurately changes in the weather, appraching storms, rain or fine weather, and even drought. 

Skrael have heads like herring gulls. White feathers, yellow beak, smudge of red on the lower bill. A skrael's white feathers extend down the neck to the chest, but how much further is unclear. In some individuals it would seem the entire torso is feathered, but in others not. It is unclear whether such differentiation indicates distinct populations. Limbs are never feathered, however. Feet, though avian, are not webbed. Hands are entirely human. Which might bring us back to that origin story. 

Skrael was once a man, punished by, depending on the version you hear, the sea deity or a storm deity. for mistakenly thinking the world was only there for his use. He fished in forbidden waters. He hunted dolphin in the breeding season. He caught fish he didn't eat and used other people's boats to do it, borrowing without permission. Worse, he stole from others' nets and fought with his fists over the right to fish in particular waters. The deity told him to change his ways. But he did not heed the warning. His wife asked him to change and warned him his behaviour would end in disaster, but he would not heed her warning either. So the deity gave him the head of a gull, saying "If you behave like a gull, you should look like one, that people are warned of what you are".

Thus marked as an outcast, Skrael wandered the earth. But his wife took pity on him and stayed with him and bore him... eggs. And from the eggs hatched more skralls, for the deity had cursed him with this also: that all his folk should be like him and behave no better than he, so that he would never get any rest. 

Skrael and all his kin still roam the world, screaming their ancestor's name and taking what they will. 

The skrael are consumate sailors. An innate understanding of current and wind makes them almost infallible. But they make poor traders. They are impulsive, impatient, impolite, unreliable, untrustworty, aggressive, selfish and disonest. 

They are very good raiders.

They travel the coastlines of their world in longboats, (often stolen), in crews of a dozen to a score, armed with whatever weapons are to hand (often stolen) and makeshift armour (often stolen). They don't wear helmests: they can't make them and stolen ones don't fit. 

Skrael eat almost anything organic. This often includes victims of their raids. After attacking a coastal settlement, they can often be found gorging on any food supplies they find until the place is bare. Fresh meat, such as bodies, will be eaten first. They do not drink, for physiological reasons (beaks) and they are immune to food poisoning. 

The one area of trade in which skrael are partially successful is the slave trade; skrael are  at least able to value foodstuffs and they recognise livestock as such, an humans as a form of livestock. They are also moderately successful mercenaries. Though indisciplined, unreliable and dishonest, they are courageous, or at least unable to conceive of danger. They are also cheap and vicious and often find work in return for food alone or 'spoils', which in skrall terms means dead bodies and shiny stuff.

Skrael are not designed to be playable. But should some misguided player ask to, then the Intelligence score of any skrall should be the minimum for sentience. In class-based systems, skrall are best represented by the Barbarian class, and if Barbarian is an Origin or Background option, this is mandatory for any Skrael player character. They are , by nature, violent thieves, so Thief or Rogue might also be a viable class, but only with a focus on physical cometence, not persuasion of trickery-focused characters. Thug, Outlaw or Bandit would also be suitable profiles, backgrounds or careers or NPC types.

Skrall don't do magic.  Unless you decide they do. Or worship in the way humans comprehend, but they do show respect (through a kind of walking, bobbing dance, that involves lowering the head and making a wretching noise) to something called The Great Deep one, which is definitelt NOT the sea god of your world.  And some recognise Great Thunder Cloud Head, which might be a personification of storms.

They don't bury their dead.

They don't do mercy. 

And if they want something you've got, they don't give up. 

My VTT Ate My Upload; Now I Don't Need It

 Recently I ran out of storage on Roll20.

This only happened because I stopped paying for it, of course. I had been an avid user of it until a couple of years ago, when the frequency of my online gaming became monthly, rather than weekly. And although I don't think Roll20 is overly costly - its actually cheap if you use  it to run a weekly game - its an expense I didn't need. 

Its not like the free version isn't still good.

But of course, I lost quite a few resources - everything above my storage quota - and I couldn't upload anything. So I decided to do two things: check how much crap I keep on there that I don't need, and learn how to use less storage.

Turns out the answer to the first task was - a ton. Especially as stuff you buy does not contribute to the storage and you can buy personalisable noticeboards for your fantasy tavern that do WAY more than the homebrew one I had on there, despite how proud I was of it. So I cut back.

Eventually, I had a tiny amount of storage I could use again. Know what I did? I uploaded a map from an old DnD adventure. And then I drew over it. And then I deleted it. And then I uploaded a different map, this time of Utah, and drew over that.

So basically, here is a step-by-step instruction set on how to create an interactive hex-crawl map for your campaign, either from an existing resource, or from something you want to adapt:

1) Upload the map you want to use and place it on the GM Layer. You can still see it.

2) Switch to Map Layer. Select an appropriate pen thickness from the drawing menu and trace over the coastline of other major features. You may want to use different colours, or you may want to stick to classic black and white. Pen thickness can help distinguish between different kinds of linear features, such as coastline, borders or rivers.

3) Switch to GM Layer. Select a feature on the map, alter the thickness of your pen to suit, select a colour and draw over your feature, for example a mountain, a tree or a bridge. If possible, make it a single, continuous line. You can draw it large and then select and reduce it. It doesn't matter if you have to try this a few times; take the time to get it right. I actually sourced some icons for cities and castles because they looked better, but you may be better at this than me.

4) Select and copy your feature, then paste it everywhere you want it. Repeat for any other features you want to show on your map. 

6) All your map features are now on the GM Layer. Players can't see them. But you will make these features visible when player characters enter a hex. So select now which ones you want players to begin the game knowing about or already able to see. By making a few of the features visible, you make it clear to players that this map has such features and this will hopefully pique their curiosity. Move these features to the Map Layer. I suggest large mountain ranges are included in this, as characters have a variety of ways to know about them, even if they cannot see them. But you don't have to put them all on yet; in fact its better if you don't. 

7) At this stage, decide if you want to include icons for famous or visible creatures, such as known goblin territories, giant eagles, or dragons. This can represent local knowledge, or in the case of large flying beasties, actual sightings from adjacent hexes.

8) As your players progress, make more features visible, hex by hex. Annotate using the Text tool.

Dice pool settlement generation works on a VTT, too. There are various methods running about on the internet, for using dice pools to generate towns and villages, etc, where the physical spread of the dice represents the layout of the settlement. You can do this on a VTT. Have your VTT roll a handful of dice, using the 3d dice setting. You may have to use an Advanced Dice setting or type in the dice you want using '+' or find some other means of combining different die types in the pool, depending on your VTT. But it should be possible get a handful of varied dice roll across your screen. Screenshot this. The screenshot is necessary because as soon as you click on the screen the dice will disappear. When the screenshot pops up, copy it, typing or free-handing the numbers onto the grid (the grid helps you locate them precisely). You then cross reference the numbers with whatever index of building types you are using. Like I said, there are several versions of this on various blogs - you'll have to select one that works for you or invent your own. But very basically, the number on the die tells you what sort of building it is. Os something. Anyway, my point here is just that you can do this on a VTT, too. You could probably do it in session, but I haven't tried that. And you can pretty it up with map tokens between sessions, if you feel the need. 

If you decide to give any of these ideas a try I would love to get feedback.

My AI Adventure

 

So I recently went to a seminar on how AI can help in the workplace. And it kind of inspired. It also really intrigued me to see what it could help me to do, if anything, in the RPG space.

I know this isn't new to many people, so I'll be brief. 

I asked it to create an RPG adventure, for a specific RPG that was not DnD, about a ruined castle.

That was all I gave it.

The results were interesting. It was VERY fast. And I was impressed by the fact that the document it  created opened with a set of hooks and a claim that this would appeal to different sorts of adventuring parties. I read them and I agreed, they would. 

The AI also claimed that there were several possible endings, and that the adventure could be resolved in a number of different ways, by magic, negotiation or combat. Here I kind of agreed: it could be solved by magic, negotiation or combat - in the Inevitable Climactic Encounter which the characters could not succeed without having. But that, to be honest, is a typical DnD thing and really does depend on one's interpretation of 'different possible endings'.  I didn't actually specify multiple endings, so the AI gets credit for partial success here, whatever you think about Inevitable Climactic Encounters. Another thing I did not specify was level specificity, but the document specified 3-5 characters of level 1-3 .

On the down side, the adventure was very generic. I mean SO generic. The title was 'Shadowheart Keep', which clearly is from Baldur's Gate III. The central figure (who may or may not be an antagonist) is Lord Ravencrest, a name that has at least been used before, in World Of Warcraft: Legion. So 'originality' is an issue, if you believe in that kind of thing (they are hardly 'original' names in the first place. The 'mook' NPCs were largely shadows and there were some haunted statues, dire ravens and other thematically appropriate stuff. But more importantly, you could play this game. Happily. It wouldn't be spectacular. There were only five locations, for a start, which is kind of limiting. And few surprises, if any, unless you were a beginner player.

At first, the document didn't include any stat blocks. When I asked for them, they came pretty quick, but were for 5e. I asked for something specific to the rules system I wanted to use and it said it didn't have access to that rule set. Which is cool. It's copyrighted, obviously. I resisted putting anything into the AI that wasn't my own and, in fact, didn't put anything that was my own in, either. Let's keep this relationship cordial for now... So I had to ask it to sniff around for something it could use and we settled on a good old 'OSR' system that fit the bill. 

Then things got interesting.

I asked the AI to expand the adventure into a multipart 'mini campaign' and it did. In seconds, it extrapolated the premise of the original adventure, ret-conned it where it needed to, and created a four-part adventure. Complete with NPCs which it now statted. To be honest, part four was, in itself, a four-parter, and was pretty sketchy at that. Very brief. And my plan is to go back and get it to do that. You see my original preconception was that I would get a sketched outline or something, and then develop it up myself. But no. No, not at all.

Because I wanted to tackle that generic feel.

First, I asked it to expand the number of locations, based on  what real castles were like, to include a well, and to create one subplot for every five rooms. It did that and now I know there was a conspiracy to undermine our Ravencrest character, long before the events that set this adventure in motion. There was already a plot of sorts to corrupt a spell he was trying to cast, which is why the adventure can exist. But now, there are a couple.

I then told the AI to rework some of the names. I got it to translate some of them into Old Norse, give me alternatives, explain how the names break down. Like this, I got rid of 'goblins' altogether.

The adventure is now looking very different from how it did originally; it has a different feel, a different implied setting, a bigger cast and stage. Now I've changed it all, I'll revisit the rest of the min campaign. I plan to visit those subplots and shore them up, see if I can't get some major consequences for the world written in there and even look back at the whole structure and ask myself if the Keep is even the best place to start.

And here's my big takeaway from all that:

It would have taken me tens of hour to do all this. As it was, it still did take hours. There's a lot of prompting etc involved in this. But. I can create a substantial campaign out of this in a fraction of the time it would have taken me on my own. I can keep my focus on my initial vision easily, because I don't have three hours of trying to assimilate a basic knowledge of Old Norse before I can give my characters cool names. I don't have to to and fro between and map and key, trying to strike the right balance between verisimilitude and fun. I don't have to spend hours draw a map, only to realise I need change it after I finish...

Anyway, if you want to see it, or a version of it, here's the link...

https://claude.ai/public/artifacts/a128284b-8b32-41bf-b39a-ade951754be2

Five Taverns

 

Below are five taverns for use with simple, one-room maps of fantasy taverns, whenever you don't have staff and taverner's names to hand or need a quick subplot. All system agnostic.

THE LAUGHING OGRE

A large tavern, with no guest rooms. 

Decent food in the local style, nothing fancy but always reliable. Beer from all three of The City’s breweries. Standard prices.

Run by Annaloy Taverner, a large, blonde woman with a loud voice. Quick to laugh but also sharp when annoyed. Won't tolerate overt sexism. Popular with regulars and locals. Her man Hunter keeps order with a cudgel. Or with a crossbow if necessary.

Festival days, main bar room becomes a dormitory after hours.

Khyle, Lantice and Comcille work the bar most evenings, all women in their twenties.

Khyle is somewhat argumentative, wears a nose ring and is unremarkable in appearance, with nondescript brown hair.

Lantice is shamelesslt flirtatious and will occasionally sleep with customers for money. This infuriates Khyle and Annaloy would sack her if she knew.

Comcille is very outspoken but homeless at defending her ill-though out points and always loses to Khyle. She is extremely pretty but has obvious scars on her forearms which she doesn't try to hide.

Comcille's brother Grefyth is a member of the Thieves' Guild, knows Thieves' Cant and works with the smuggler's band The Horny Hand.

The cellar is shallow and more like a half-basement, reached via five steps down, to the side of the bar. In fact, the original floor was much lower and was filled in to hide a mysterious doorway.

THE BEDRAGGLED DRAGON

A modest-sized building with 1 twin room and 4 singles, in a higgledy-piggledy layout.

Food is simple but wholesome, beds are clean and comfortable, beer is good and reasonably priced.

Claymore, the tavern owner, is rumoured to be a dwarf but may just be short. Red beard, bald on top and the rest shaven. Forearms 

Came to The City from The Mines, a decade ago, to carve out a life for himself among humans.

Honest. Barely waters his beer. Always charges at least a fair price.

Druma the barkeep is a mute woman of indeterminate age and everybody wonders why Claymore keeps her on.

Keeps a (comparatively) clean establishment.

“I had a shipment of ale due this morning. Didn’t come. Not the first delivery to vanish of a mornin’. Streets ain’t safe n’more.  In the last half dozen weeks, as many places have had their beer stole afore it e’en arrived. Now, I got customers an’ a reputation to think on. I need me beer back.”

I’ll pay you out me own purse, as far as me delivery’s concerned. Fifty gold coin. But the Guild’s of a mind to pay more, if’n the whole shebang can be put a stop to.”

THE REDCAP'S REVENGE

Medium-sized tavern, no guest rooms but tap-room used as a common room. Poor quality, cheap food (turnip pottage, potato peeling soup, 'meat' pie with not enough 'meat', bread with sawdust added to bulk it out - none of this is illegal, just bad...).

Tresis. Short, skinny man with a hard, pinched face. Quick to laugh at the misfortunes of others.  Not trustworthy.

Tresis is a former thief, and still clips coins, sometimes blaming the last tavern the customer was in. Acts as a fence for local thieves and can do so for player characters.

Beer is from Halberdier Brewery: 'Halberd Ale' and 'Victory Beer'. 

Tresis has a steady turnover of staff, most of whom are Guild members who need to lay low or prove themselves. He knows Grefyth, from the Laughing Ogre, but doesn't particularly like him.

Regulars 

Garan, a disillusioned watchman. Lose lipped, so Tressis gives him credit to keep him coming in. Missing an ear. Considers Tresis a like-minded man who he can trust. He has been drinking in the Revenge for years, despite his comrades warning him not to. Regularly defends Tresis. If he ever finds out the man was clipping coins, he may lose his temper. 

Sellit, a rat-catcher and herbalist who has a good idea what goes on in the Revenge and always checks any coins she is given there. She's getting on now, in her sixties, but still quick-witted with fast reflexes.

Petron, a stevedore at the dock. Big and dull and for hire. Addicted to Lotus and so needs to earn more money, doing more dangerous things, if necessary. Balding but otherwise long hair.

THE SPARROWGLASS

Medium-sized inn. Common Room can sleep a dozen people, plus six twin rooms. Food is good to excellent if a little expensive. Half a dozen staff (human). Named for a stained-glass window in the porch, of a small bird in flight.

Run by Kaylum. Elf. Fair hair and bright eyes that are blue in most lights but sometimes look hazel in shadow. Wears autumn reds a lot, except when he wants not to be noticed. Middle-aged for an elf (depends on your setting). Knows a few things. Remembers the Moon Goddess cult and mourns its passing.

Kaylum has lovers across the City but one is Verona, the daughter of a wealthy merchant.

THE STANDING STONE

A small tavern on a street that climbs a hill. Views from the back are nice.

Single bar room. Serves stew and home-baked bread. 

Four staff: Clapham, Treg, Fulnice and Purt.

Run by Dreeslum, quiet man who mainly keeps to himself. Wife Marnie does all the talking, book-keeping and negotiating. Dreeslum took an injury in the head years ago when he was an adventurer and relies on Marnie and the good will of his regulars.

Gets his beer from the Lantern House and Halbardier Breweries.

The Standing Stone is in the back yard and part of the wall.

Whilst Dreeslum did, indeed, take a head injury years ago, that isn't what causes his problems. During the same escapade (a fight with some gnolls in the Forest of Far-flung), he was cursed by one of the enemy. The curse can be detected by certain magic-users, but shouldn't be easy or it would have been detected before now. Gnoll blood or an item of the original curser's should be necessary to get rid of this. The curse makes Dreeslum forget things, makes him hesitant and lose track of what is going on. He is fine when serving customers as this is all deeply ingrained, but anything out of his routine is tricky.

Tales Of Argosa Session Report

 What follows is a report of how it went, including how the rules came up in-game and were resolved, combined with a more general review of the book and rules.

A couple of months ago, I downloaded the free Playtest PDF of Tales of Argosa and read it on my phone in lunchbreaks and spare time. I figured there were some things I did and didn't like about it and thought I'd never run it. But something about it, combined with a favourable report I heard in a podcast, niggled away at the back of my mind and eventually I just bit the bullet and bought the damn book. I bought the soft cover for £26 on Drivethru.

I first saw Tales Of Argosa when I began looking for a system that was  lighter than those we had been using, but not as light as a full-on OSR D&D clone. I had grown tired of D&D 3.5 years ago and persuaded my group to switch to Modiphius' 2d20 Conan, a system I still have an enormous amount of love for but which is crunchy enough that it isn't always what I want to use online. I knew the friends I was thinking of wouldn't want to learn a whole new system and would find something like Black Sword Hack or Barbarians Of Lemuria unsatisfying and we had tried DCC, but some of us just didn't enjoy race as class (though it has to be said, if you play in an all human setting, such as the world of Conan, that becomes irrelevant. I am also tired of 'high magic' systems, but that deserves a post of its own.

I was running this at short notice as a player in our regular campaign couldn't make it. I was running it on Roll 20, for two players, and I grabbed a map on there that I've never used and decided who the bad guys were. Done. My players rolled up characters in about half an hour. Lucky Luca, the Rogue, and Black-eyed Jasper, the fighter. They're on a road. They come across a turned wagon and a dead horse and tracks leading into the forest.

Jasper and Luca notice an odd chap watching them (eventually - I didn't have them roll for it but I didn't point it out, either. It was right there on the screen) and fail a Perception (Detect) check to see his mate hiding. This ultimately leads to a knife fight when they don't accept an invitation to go with the two strangers to see the people they 'rescued' from the wagon accident. They PCs win, but one of them only has a single hit point left by the end of a combat that lasted a single round. I'm using basic 'Human Bandit' NPCs here, nothing fancy. This is dangerous combat, and it set the tone for the rest of the game. The other player looks around for some herbs, as he has the Apothecary skill, and uses Perception (Detection) to find them and treat his friend.

Around this time, the Rogue asks if he has heard any unusual stories about the area. I call for a General Lore (Cha) check, Charisma reflecting that a socialite such as Luca will spend more time in bars than reading books. He succeeds and has indeed heard tales of 'Goblin Men' in the hills hereabouts - people who have given themselves to the darkness in moments of anger or despair. (I could have just told the players this, of course, but we were learning the system).

Following the tracks leads the PCs to a set of stairs straight down through the forest floor. They quickly find themselves inside a series of rooms and passages lit with braziers, that resemble the cellars to a building no longer there. Jasper and Luca proceed to sneak about, trying to find the 'rescued' wagon party. Luca picks the lock to a room. Luca's target is 19 because his Dexterity is 17 and his has the Traps and Locks skill and its an easy lock. He rolls 2 which is 17 below target which is less than half and so is a Great Success. I decide to reward Luca with a +1 bonus to all future attempts at lock-picking down here, as he understands the locks they use.  Inside the room is a lit brazier, and the PCs rifle through old, unused belongings in the detritus of what looks like a very troubled and squalid life. A successful Perception (Detect) check reveals an item of interest and a quick roll on the Uncommon Gear table reveals it to be a holy symbol, in this case filthy  and left to rot on the floor.

On a stair, Luca failed to find a tripwire with a Perception (Detection) check and then failed to evade it with a Luck (Dex) save and took the kind of damage other games laugh off, but which in this context could mean the next fight is your last. Crouched before a large door with lit showing beneath, the PCs listen in on snatches of a conversation that seems to centre around captive and if they will 'turn' given the right 'incentive'. The Rogue opens the door a crack, catches a glimpse on some unnaturally unpleasant-looking individuals and a woman who seems to be in charge as well as being a magic-user. 

They decide (wisely) that discretion is the better part of valour and retreat, discovering, in the process, a side door leading to well-furnished chambers that include a desk. The desk contains scraps of letters, mostly int eh same hand and mostly to the same person, somebody called 'Cassandra', who it seems might be related to the writer. The letters tell of despair and grief and clearly never got sent. A few more of the sort of Traps and Locks and Perception checks described above lead tot he discovery of a minor treasure, but I use the Rare Gear table instead of treasure - partly because I have already determined that the real treasure is elsewhere and partly because its an interesting table - and as a result, the PCs end up with several vials of Poppy Milk, which they fail to identify with an Apothecary (Int) check. It is worth noting that I could have made that an Apothecary (Perception) check instead and that this may have altered the outcome, but I figured Jasper the fighter had probably never seen poppy milk before. This flexibility around attributes and skills I find really refreshing and easy to improvise with.

And that was where we left it. The PCs are deciding whether to keep searching or take out what NPCs they can, some of whom they detected in a nearby room while stealthing earlier. The rules for surprise mean they will get a free attack if they kick the door in. NPCs all use d8s for Hit Dice, so single Hit Dice NPCs will probably have about 4 or 5 HP, to the PCs'  6 and 16 respectively. The combat rules mean that under those circumstances, the PCs will likely kill a few immediately.

We shall see.

Tales of Argosa Review

 Recently, I ran my first session of Tales Of Argosa, from Pickpocket Press, written by Stephen Grodzicki. This  is my review of the rule system. A report will follow soon, including how the rules came up in-game and were resolved.

Physical Product.

The book is beautiful. I love black and white illustrations in RPG books, I find them more evocative than colour. This book is monochromatic, with a wine red used for headings and tables. It is well laid out and really clearly formatted and organised. I have had no trouble at all navigating it. It was a far more enjoyable read in book form than it had been on my phone (no surprise)! The illustrations look better, obviously. But what really struck me was that a full-page spread really brings home the quantity of useful tables to roll on for the GM Tools. This is where this book excels, in my opinion, but more on that later. There is an index and some 'decorative' maps by Dyson. Its basically a really nice book and a pleasure to read and practical at the table/online session.

The Basics

With the exception of combat, this is a roll-under-attribute system, with a +1 bonus if a character has the relevant skill. Attributes are rolled on 3d6 with some room for alleviating a complete lack of decent scores and some finagling, so it isn't raw attributes as rolled (although you could always do that of course) but it isn't a full-on build either. Attributes include the usual, plus Perception, Initiative and Luck. These three are all interesting choices which I'll explore in a moment. If you roll half or less of the target number, you get a Great Success and failing by half the target number again is a Terrible Failure. It is up to the GM what the consequences of this are. This leaves room for your GM-ing style, which I like. 

Personally, I love the Luck mechanic: players all start with the same score but it reduces every time you make a successful Luck check. These can be modified by other attributes, according to the situation. So avoiding a trap could be a Luck (Dex) save. Initiative is also a winner for me - an attribute derived from the average of Dexterity and Intelligence. Initiative is used more than many other attributesin most d20-style games and might as well be an attribute. Perception is sometimes contentious. I know some people feel that if the GM wants the character to see something, they should just let them see it. But I disagree. I am not a very observant person in real life. Friends point it out fairly often ( I notice people not  things...). So I think having a Perception attribute is perfect. It is also used for ranged attacks, which I also like, because I like separating picking locks and pockets from shooting bows and arrows!

Character Generation

Characters take a Background during generation which gives then a skill and an attribute bump. This provides a sketch of a backstory. Classes are familiar but a lighter touch than some games. There are no subclasses (which I didn't miss) and very little magic except for Magic Users (which is a single class, not a group of them), Cultist (which replaces Cleric) and Artificer (which the book suggests isn't suitable for all settings). One notable feature is that most classes get a class ability at Level 1 which develops every level (exceptions are Barbarian, Bard and Magic User - though new spells at each level is a close match). For example, Fighters get Adaptability, which brings a new 'Stance' each level, which is rolled for and brings a bonus under certain conditions. There is an equivalent for each class. I wasn't sold on those of the Ranger, to be honest. They felt a little contrived and relied too much of imposing conditions on enemies without what I considered to be a strong anchor in the fiction. But the rest all look great. And there are also new, more typical Class Abilities as characters progress, too. Every third level, characters get something called a Unique Feature, which players are supposed to negotiate with the GM which might be a great way to customise a campaign, or might be a pain if you have a the wrong group. But there is a decent list of suggestions.

Hit Points begin equal to Constitution. So one of my players began with 4, until he remembered the 'you can swap any two attributes' rule. But each time they level up they only gain their new level multiplied by 1-3 depending on class. So the hit point curve is going to be flatter over the long run. This, in my view,  makes planning ahead easier and reduces the yawning gap that can occur between characters' robustness. It also prevents the whole campaign becoming ridiculous. 

Combat is the usual d20 roll over AC, with the usual modifiers. Weapons have slightly different damage dice from some other games, usually higher, but the main difference is in NAt 20 and Nat 19. Natural 20 is a critical but delivers maximum weapon damage plus half your level, so doesn't require rolling dice or multiplying or any of that. A NAtural 19 on the other hand, often delivers trauma, based on weapon-type. There are a  few OSR-type bells and whistles, too, such as Morale checks and rules for a full party retreat, chases and a bunch of manoeuvres. Exploits allow players to attempt 'Mighty Deeds' type actions. 

Magic Users are simplified but also less fragile, when compared to crunchier systems. You get a spell per Intelligence bonus at generation, plus one spell per level and you can cast a number of spells equal to level per adventure. That's it. But you do get to use weapons and light armour, so you're not useless. I'd personally take a leaf out of DCC with this and possibly allow more spells to be learned as a result of a quest and possibly even cast, as a result of magical items gained on similar quests. But magic in Tales Of Argosa is 'dark and inherently dangerous,' so every time a spell is cast (and for one or two other things) a die is rolled on the Dark and Dangerous Magic (DDM) table. The die size depends on the level of the caster, so the higher their level, the more unpleasant some of the options become. I haven't seen this in action yet, as we didn't have a Magic User in the party. 

Encumbrance is via slots. Currency is in silver. Some prices are a dice roll. There are tables and tables of GM support, so that with the slightest forethought, a session can come to life. GM tools include Diseases and Parasites, Dungeon Crawling rules, 'Hexploration' rules, rules for Hirelings, Mass Battle, Naval Combat, Solo Rules, Traps, Treasure, etc. Tons of it, but all fairly light, simple and accessible at the table.

Tone

Tales of Argosa is intended to be a sword and sorcery style gam. It isn't aimed at creating a power fantasy for players. It isn't dripping with magic or enchanted bling. There isn't a lot of 'rules armour' and probably some characters will die. Encounter tables are not 'levelled' and you could as easily roll up an encounter with 2d12 giants as with a couple of blokes arguing in the street. So there is a distinct 'Old School' vibe without it feeling at all 'old'.

I really like this game. I'm not sure it will ever rival the big name TTRPGs, as it doesn't have the massive marketing engine behind it that some of those games have, but its a fun, well-developed game with a real tone of its own and a ton of support available in the form of adventures. Tales Of Argosa's predecessor was Low MAgic Gaming and I get the impression Pickpocket Press are re-writing much of their old support material for the newer version. Which is great because their setting material, 'Midlands' includes fifty adventures. Yes, Fifty... Between those and the GM Tools in teh core book, you'll have enough material for years of gaming...

A Love Hate Affair With 3.5

 I have an ongoing desire to hack 3.5.

Largely as a result of my equally ongoing love/hate relationship with it. 

And I just realised we call those toxic relationships, nowadays... Something I'll have to reflect on...

It's probably just nostalgia. I ran a campaign for about ten years. It was all we played. We new the rules intimately; they became second nature. you know how it is. You get your handful of house rules (like 'No, you do NOT roll to confirm criticals, because that is the shittiest rule ever,') and they become ingrained in your scruffy little gamer souls, your collective game-soul... You have a style of play that is ALL about that system and its quirks and demands and its pay-offs.

And really it was probably never my soul-mate system anyway. Too fussy. Too pedantic about stuff that didn't move anything forward.

But we loved it. 

I loved it.

I loved the skills system. Even though in years to come, the number of times we realised we had all lost track of how many ranks we'd put in anything or why our scores were what they were. Even though 'roll 4 dice and drop the highest' felt intrinsically like cheating. Even though some of the weapons made no sense (a falchion is a two-handed scimitar? Really...?) and there were downright silly weapons in it, like a double flail.... and axe... You could just kind of ignore them, after all. 

The skills list was wonky (I never,  ever thought 'Use Rope' was going to get air time as a skill...) and I don't like so-called Vancian magic (I get why its called that and its as good a name as any, but have you read Vance? Of course not. Nobody, reads anymore, what am I thinking...).

And every now and again, somebody would have to go and grapple or the Cleric would have the audacity to try and do something other that heal people and he'd open the Pandora's box of the Turning rules, and the game would suddenly resemble a genuine medieval mud highway turned to mire in autumn rains and the wheels of your session would grind to a halt...

But. But. A lot of the time it was the best thing we'd ever played.

I didn't even come up playing D&D, by the way. Living in the UK, it wasn't that big. I started out with Traveller, of all things. Progressed to Tunnels and Trolls, moved on to Stormbringer (which I fucking loved...) and then got into Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying. Which I adored. It was perfect. I played it through University, and three years living in London and then went a broad. While I was away, the only thing I played was a few weeks of a homebrew d6 game I invented to have something to play while I was living in Columbia. When I came back, I didn't have any of my gaming stuff anymore, so I bought Castles and Crusades. I pretty quickly discovered 3.5 online (which had become a thing recently) and by the time I had a circle of regular players, it was making way for 4E, which meant I could buy a tonne of supplements cheap. Which I did.

So what killed it for me?

Over time, novelty fades and irritants build. And for me there were a few irritants, some of which I've mentioned.

And there was the magic. I'm not a 'Vancian' magic fan. In fact, I've read Jack Vance and I'm not sure how 'vancian' 3.5 magic really is. I don't like 'fire-and-forget' spells. I like ritual and ceremony, curses and picking at the threads of Destiny. I like summoning, but not of badgers... I like necromancy that is more about actual necromancy and less about making a list with the same number of spells as every other so-called s'school'. And I like schools of magic... that mean something.

Yeah, I basically don't like the magic system. A LOT. 

And that's a problem, because you can't get away from it in any edition of D&D that I have played.

In Stormbringer, I thought it was cool that you could only summon things and maybe bind them (1st edition, obviously). In Conan 2d20, I love... well everything. Finding a patron, bribing them/it, having very few spells. And not needed a sorcerer in the party at all if you don't want one. In DCC I love rolling a skill test to see how powerful the manifestation of the spell is, and corruption, and displeasing the gods and some of the Patron-based spells are brilliant. The Black Sword Hack has cool non-corporeal demons, which have to possess people to have impact.

Hellboy 5e has some interesting ideas on magic. (Actually, a lot of cool stuff about a lot of stuff. But that's going to have to be another post.)

So, where does this all leave me?

I have a lot of 'stuff, fluff 'n' crunch' for 3.5, a lot of which I like (including the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, etc) but which I can't easily port it to anything else because, well because. It doesn't translate easily to DCC, despite DCC being built on 3.5. I could run Barbarians Of Lemuria in it, but I  wouldn't be using any of the rules at all, really. 

I'm going to try and hack it into something more manageable. I have the following TWO design principles in mind: reduce cognitive load, not increase; use existing rules where possible, instead of inventing new ones. In other words: Simply, don't complicate.

 These are the main aspects I think I'm going to have to look at:

Abilities (Attributes)

'Races' (which I'm going to re-name), because some of them are a long list of unrelated 'atomised' abilities with nothing convincing or compelling - I'm looking at elves...

Hit Points

Magic

Money (because money in D&D is the most useless, irritating, messed up thing since ever)

I'll create a post on each topic, as I get around to them. Hopefully I'll even get some feedback. At this stage, I'm aware that I'm just writing out into the ether, but who knows...?