tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21924101812428376802024-03-27T04:27:53.403+01:00The Library of Attnam"I play Conan, you play Mulan, Bob plays Gandalf, and we fight Dracula because there's sick loot in his castle."red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.comBlogger217125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-64419904540174527692024-02-26T23:06:00.002+01:002024-02-26T23:07:42.209+01:00The Many Schools of Magic<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://themansegaming.blogspot.com/2024/02/rant-spell-categorization-complaints.html" target="_blank">The Manse</a> has recently published a very nice rant on categorisation of magic where they discuss several approaches to the classification of spells and derive their own schools of magic, a neat and clean system of seven traditions with a rigorous naming convention. But there's a fallacy in this approach, I venture. It's tempting to create a well-defined, all-encompassing set of categories and just use them for everything. I will freely admit to doing just that many a time. But real-world systems are rarely if ever neat. There's always something off, missing or superfluous. New findings undoing the symmetry of old theories, things that do not fit into known patterns, weird edge cases that could go either way, someone who made a mistake a century ago and now it would be too costly to fix it. Classification is a human invention and humans are imperfect.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If the classification of magic is to be used in-universe, I think a <a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2019/05/osr-academic-classification-of-spells.html" target="_blank">different approach</a> is needed. Embrace this imperfection, build on it. Explain it, so that it stops being an irritant and becomes a piece of lore.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Also, why should there be only a single classification?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWcv6NEO5XpPCTcFX5Pf4PbY4JqQU4dGv2yBZHXndsybXe-DMxvswC_vkUopB53HYgmQu5eoo58zditmKF4nA_AARELDtLiPu0rFiYbwo_1V9MGWtFRwjlLfXTJgQNalwA2vYtG0tjJJob-3NyIAKBV7B-iVuCzMj2uNBHF7qQQx03bbecBgQdyBlkWxI/s750/magic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="750" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWcv6NEO5XpPCTcFX5Pf4PbY4JqQU4dGv2yBZHXndsybXe-DMxvswC_vkUopB53HYgmQu5eoo58zditmKF4nA_AARELDtLiPu0rFiYbwo_1V9MGWtFRwjlLfXTJgQNalwA2vYtG0tjJJob-3NyIAKBV7B-iVuCzMj2uNBHF7qQQx03bbecBgQdyBlkWxI/s320/magic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Imperial Collegium recognises eight schools of magic:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ol><li>Abjuration</li><li>Conjuration</li><li>Divination</li><li>Enchantment</li><li>Evocation</li><li>Illusion</li><li>Restoration</li><li>Transmutation</li></ol></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Restoration is a very recent addition, founded and still led by Archmage Hasenbach, whose groundbreaking research into positive energy allowed any mage to wield the healing arts that a generation ago would be the sole purview of the divine. Any naysayers who point out that white magic is quite common outside of the Imperium are usually booed out by Hasenbach's near-fanatical followers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Necromancy used to be a recognised school for centuries, but also illegal for most of the time. After decades of academic misuse, where every spell deemed inappropriate would be labelled as necromantic, and after increasingly pointed inquiries from the Inquisition about why exactly does the Collegium keep a library wing dedicated to illegal magic, Necromancy was officially struck from the Rolls of Magic in the year 769 of the Three United.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One might also wonder about Enchantment and Illusion, the two odd schools out. There used to be a single school of Prestidigitation, but a falling-out between two archmages about three centuries ago led to a schism that created two new, closely related yet highly quarrelsome schools. It is a public secret that whether a spell is an enchantment or an illusion depends entirely on who publishes the paper first.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Foreigners are sometimes confused that the school of Enchantment works with mind-trickery rather than creation of enchanted items. Well, there used to be a school of Imbrication dedicated to crafting enchanted items, but it was officially disbanded in the wake of the Dwarven Trade War.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Nymbia, magic is colour-coded:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><b>White Wizards</b> are the only sanctioned practitioners. They deal in healing, protection and exorcism. Some tower-cabals can get quite militant about their exorcisms, training squads of professional undead hunters, though this get rarer the further one gets away from the Dead Lands.</li><li><b>Grey Wizards</b> are a wide assortment of hedge practitioners who hold very disparate secrets, from wood-singing and fate-reading to teleportation and unmaking. They are not allowed to own a tower, so a grey practice rarely has more than a single master and one or two apprentices.</li><li><b>Black Wizards</b> are practitioners of the dark arts, which is a nebulous set of practices that include necromancers and biomancers, but also telepaths, mindcrafters and most alchemists. They are outlawed everywhere but in Alema.</li><li><b>"Red Wizards"</b>, or rather Pyromancers, as they actually call themselves, are foreign to Nymbia, coming from the Great Swamp. Their magic is very limited and narrow in scope, but all the more powerful for it. So powerful in fact, that the authorities have not yet found a response to their increasingly common depredations. Hence also the reason why Black Wizards are now allowed to settle and openly practice in Alema, whose countryside suffers the most from the flame-makers' raids.</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An island nation of Sik has an alternate colour scheme to their practitioners:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><b>White Mages</b> are healers, just as in Nymbia, but much less belligerent. They are widely recognised as the best surgeons on the continent, capable of cutting away ills of the body and the mind alike.</li><li><b>Blue Mages</b> study weather control and ship magic. They can be quite potent war-casters, but their primary focus is binding the powers of the ocean and its storms for use in transportation and agriculture.</li><li><b>Silver Mages</b> are spellwrights who specialise in charms - a type of talisman - and wards. While charms against insects, snakebite or the cold, glamour-charms to allure and impress, or any kind of dowsing-charm are sought-after export goods, the much more powerful wardstones that can protect a whole village from locusts or pirates are never sold outside of Sik.</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Mage Guild of Thorlan considers every spell to be an aspect of the four Great Elemental Dragons:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><b>Air</b> also covers everything related to swiftness, movement and communication.</li><li><b>Earth </b>also deals with the Dead, as the Old Stone Serpent holds dominion over the dearly departed in Thorlan. Earth sages traditionally handle matters of inheritance and murder investigations.</li><li><b>Fire </b>also deals with destruction, counter-spells, curses and high emotions.</li><li><b>Water </b>also deals with knowledge, illusions, cleansing and low emotions.</li></ul><div><br /></div></div>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-89230064114182352552024-02-24T22:39:00.002+01:002024-02-24T22:47:22.639+01:00Hexploration Adventure Quickstart<p style="text-align: justify;">If you prefer fantasy wilderness to <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2020/05/post-apocalytic-adventure-quickstart.html" target="_blank">post-apocalyptic wasteland</a>, here are some starting tables for you.<br /><br /></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisb8I7e2y6_-FK-UlflrHjKtKGbQ6P82QBP27oZhyphenhyphenNwlMJj9dXu9GuBvqNG3b7faJKj6RUIwVxKVW2qNZmm_lFFkh4CcJ_Qw4kss4b2baWo26AzAALWyl19nt923Xprz0bzkH6p525OKHkAtKiiamrWKRYKv_c62kX1KDedLCnUlJOMzqT2j4hG6nqnR4/s2000/vBmSeLVnhHRFlK0Se7WloKYhvOJhQ2pgftaesz33K30.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="2000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisb8I7e2y6_-FK-UlflrHjKtKGbQ6P82QBP27oZhyphenhyphenNwlMJj9dXu9GuBvqNG3b7faJKj6RUIwVxKVW2qNZmm_lFFkh4CcJ_Qw4kss4b2baWo26AzAALWyl19nt923Xprz0bzkH6p525OKHkAtKiiamrWKRYKv_c62kX1KDedLCnUlJOMzqT2j4hG6nqnR4/w400-h225/vBmSeLVnhHRFlK0Se7WloKYhvOJhQ2pgftaesz33K30.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><ul><li>Start with d6-1 rations, a backpack, blanket and waterskin, plus normal clothes.</li><li>Roll for a Weapon, Armour and Money.</li><li>Roll for a Background and get its items.</li><li>Roll for d3 other starting Useful Items.</li><li>Choose or roll d6/2 <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/01/languages-of-amir-steppes.html" target="_blank">languages</a>. Do <u>not</u> round, languages can be half-known.</li><li>If you'd like to have a class, you can roll <a href="http://themansegaming.blogspot.com/2017/08/100-osr-class-pyramid.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</li></ul>
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<thead><tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>d12</th><th>Weapons</th><th>d8</th><th>Armour</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td>1</td><td>Club</td><td>1</td><td>None</td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td>d2 Knives</td><td>2-4</td><td>Light</td></tr>
<tr><td>3</td><td>Staff</td><td>5-6</td><td>Medium</td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td><td>Axe</td><td>7</td><td>Heavy</td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td><td>Sword</td><td>8</td><td>Shield and roll again</td></tr>
<tr><td>6</td><td>Shortbow & d6 ammo</td><th>d6</th><th>Money</th></tr>
<tr><td>7</td><td>Spear</td><td>1</td><td>Ring worth d100 silver coins</td></tr>
<tr><td>8</td><td>Warhammer</td><td>2</td><td>d4 silver coins</td></tr>
<tr><td>9</td><td>Battle-axe</td><td>3</td><td>d6 x 10 silver</td></tr>
<tr><td>10</td><td>Flail</td><td>4</td><td>2d6 x 10 silver</td></tr>
<tr><td>11</td><td>Longbow & d6 ammo</td><td>5</td><td>2d8 x 10 silver</td></tr>
<tr><td>12</td><td>Zweihänder</td><td>6</td><td>d10 x 100 s in debt, roll again</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table class="start-table">
<thead><tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>d66</th><th colspan="5">Backgrounds</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td>11</td><td>Acolyte</td><td>random scroll</td><td>41</td><td>Jailer</td><td>manacles, club</td></tr>
<tr><td>12</td><td>Astrologer</td><td>star chart, spyglass</td><td>42</td><td>Juggler</td><td>d4 torches and knives</td></tr>
<tr><td>13</td><td>Barber-Surgeon</td><td> razor, soap</td><td>43</td><td>Linkboy</td><td>lantern, oil for 8 hours</td></tr>
<tr><td>14</td><td>Blacksmith</td><td>hammer, tongs</td><td>44</td><td>Locksmith</td><td>d4 lockpicks</td></tr>
<tr><td>15</td><td>Butcher</td><td>big knife, big ham</td><td>45</td><td>Lumberjack</td><td>axe, firewood</td></tr>
<tr><td>16</td><td>Carpenter</td><td>hatchet, saw, drill</td><td>46</td><td>Mason</td><td>hammer, 3 iron spikes</td></tr>
<tr><td>21</td><td>Coachman</td><td>warm cloak, hat</td><td>51</td><td>Miner</td><td>pick-axe, lantern</td></tr>
<tr><td>22</td><td>Con Artist</td><td>fake jewellery</td><td>52</td><td>Minstrel</td><td>lute, perfume</td></tr>
<tr><td>23</td><td>Cook</td><td>bag of salt, wineskin</td><td>53</td><td>Prostitute</td><td>disguise kit</td></tr>
<tr><td>24</td><td>Drunkard</td><td>d6 bottles of booze</td><td>54</td><td>Sailor</td><td>rope (15 yds), booze</td></tr>
<tr><td>25</td><td>Farmer</td><td>flail, donkey</td><td>55</td><td>Scribe</td><td>paper, ink and quill</td></tr>
<tr><td>26</td><td>Fisherman</td><td>large net, d4 fish</td><td>56</td><td>Seamstress</td><td>needle and thread</td></tr>
<tr><td>31</td><td>Fur Trapper</td><td>snare, d4 pelts</td><td>61</td><td>Servant</td><td>stolen horse</td></tr>
<tr><td>32</td><td>Guard</td><td>spear, helmet</td><td>62</td><td>Smuggler</td><td>waterproof sack</td></tr>
<tr><td>33</td><td>Herder</td><td>(d3) goat/sheep/swine</td><td>63</td><td>Thief</td><td>random useful item</td></tr>
<tr><td>34</td><td>Houndsman</td><td>puppy, whip</td><td>64</td><td>Trader</td><td>nice clothes</td></tr>
<tr><td>35</td><td>Hunter</td><td>shortbow, signal horn</td><td>65</td><td>Undertaker</td><td>shovel, gold teeth</td></tr>
<tr><td>36</td><td>Cheesemaker</td><td>wheel of cheese</td><td>66</td><td>Wet Nurse</td><td>loyal urchin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table class="start-table">
<thead><tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>d66</th><th colspan="3">Useful Items</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td>11</td><td>Unmarked package*</td><td>41</td><td>Tent & bedroll (3 Slots)</td></tr>
<tr><td>12</td><td>Toolbelt with common tools</td><td>42</td><td>d2 Blankets</td></tr>
<tr><td>13</td><td>(d3) Pick-axe, shovel, crowbar</td><td>43</td><td>Warm travelling clothes</td></tr>
<tr><td>14</td><td>Metal file, d4 lockpicks</td><td>44</td><td>Musical instrument</td></tr>
<tr><td>15</td><td>Chain (3 yds) & padlock</td><td>45</td><td>Silver hand mirror</td></tr>
<tr><td>16</td><td>Grapnel & rope (15 yds)</td><td>46</td><td>Stolen signet ring</td></tr>
<tr><td>21</td><td>Pouch of caltrops</td><td>51</td><td>Small but vicious dog (HD 1)</td></tr>
<tr><td>22</td><td>Weighted net or Beartrap</td><td>52</td><td>(d4) Crow, falcon, owl, parrot</td></tr>
<tr><td>23</td><td>Waterproof bag</td><td>53</td><td>Mule & cart (carry 30 Slots)</td></tr>
<tr><td>24</td><td>Tinderbox, 2d4 torches</td><td>54</td><td>Random <a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2017/06/osr-table-of-camp-followers.html" target="_blank">follower</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>25</td><td>Lantern, oil for d12 hours</td><td>55</td><td>Helmet or Shield</td></tr>
<tr><td>26</td><td>d4 Jars of black oil</td><td>56</td><td>d6 Javelins</td></tr>
<tr><td>31</td><td>Random potion</td><td>61</td><td>Favour owed by local VIP</td></tr>
<tr><td>32</td><td>d4 Healing salves or Bandages</td><td>62</td><td>Location of a secret hideout</td></tr>
<tr><td>33</td><td>Red salt or Bezoar (d4 doses)</td><td>63</td><td>Membership of secret society</td></tr>
<tr><td>34</td><td>Vials of glue, grease and acid</td><td>64</td><td>Extra background, no items</td></tr>
<tr><td>35</td><td>Bomb, (d2) smoke/shrapnel</td><td>65</td><td>Random <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2019/12/magical-trinkets.html" target="_blank">tri</a><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2020/07/more-magical-trinkets_20.html" target="_blank">nk</a><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2021/03/even-more-magical-trinkets.html" target="_blank">et</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>36</td><td>Poisoner's ring with poison,<br />(d4) lethal, sleep, paralysis, charm</td><td>66</td><td>Treasure map</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<p style="text-align: justify;">*) Can contain any item you want that fits into 1 slot and is not too rare or expensive.</p>
<table class="start-table">
<thead><tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>d66</th><th colspan="3">How Do You Know Each Other?</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td>11</td><td>From the same village</td><td>41</td><td>Idolise same famous figure</td></tr>
<tr><td>12</td><td>From the church</td><td>42</td><td>Looking for same item</td></tr>
<tr><td>13</td><td>From the tavern</td><td>43</td><td>Looking for same person</td></tr>
<tr><td>14</td><td>Childhood friends</td><td>44</td><td>Woke up in the same bed</td></tr>
<tr><td>15</td><td>Mutual friend</td><td>45</td><td>In a riot together</td></tr>
<tr><td>16</td><td>Respected rivals</td><td>46</td><td>Met on a boat</td></tr>
<tr><td>21</td><td>Saved people from a fire</td><td>51</td><td>Met on a funeral</td></tr>
<tr><td>22</td><td>Served in the army</td><td>52</td><td>Met on a wedding</td></tr>
<tr><td>23</td><td>Scammed by the same guy</td><td>53</td><td>Named in same inheritance</td></tr>
<tr><td>24</td><td>Servants to the same lord</td><td>54</td><td>Both have a rare disease</td></tr>
<tr><td>25</td><td>Stole a thing from the other</td><td>55</td><td>Both got mysterious letter</td></tr>
<tr><td>26</td><td>Same horrible fashion sense</td><td>56</td><td>Shared embarrassing secret</td></tr>
<tr><td>31</td><td>Defenders in a siege</td><td>61</td><td>Mentor/student</td></tr>
<tr><td>32</td><td>Plague lockdown survivors</td><td>62</td><td>Prison cell mates</td></tr>
<tr><td>33</td><td>Last members of a cult</td><td>63</td><td>Roommates</td></tr>
<tr><td>34</td><td>Had the same lover</td><td>64</td><td>Pen pals</td></tr>
<tr><td>35</td><td>(Ex-)Lovers</td><td>65</td><td>Related</td></tr>
<tr><td>36</td><td>Former coworkers</td><td>66</td><td>Will open a pub together</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<p style="text-align: justify;">You wake up in the middle of an <a href="https://pdfcoffee.com/wilderness-hexplore-revised-pdf-free.html" target="_blank">uncharted wilderness</a>. Good luck.</p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-21325581622438325892024-02-22T15:32:00.001+01:002024-02-22T15:32:28.601+01:00Critical Spells!<div style="text-align: justify;">Warlocks in <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2019/07/encounter-critical-resources.html" target="_blank">Encounter Critical</a> can cast one spell per day per level. This is not the only magic they wield and it is a rather limited amount even on higher levels. That seem to point towards spells being the specialist tools and big guns, something that changes the situation rather than yet another magic blast - that's what the Magical Attack skill is for, after all. The booklet presents a few spells, but here is my expansion and reinterpretation of them into a set of game-changers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you're unsure about range, duration or effect, think "more, longer, fancier". Warriors of EC should be riding a tyrannosaurus while wielding a light sabre in one hand and a rocket launcher in the other, so Warlocks should be comparably awesome when casting their spells. At least in my Encounter Critical.</div><div> </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH08JCcDIr5E8eYcCXwPoRBvZUdO0Dr-GBvGZLmJJy54H3-E9A43kGQsBbOSxS_8IF3f55xd30eZqqd4GBwO3PxGdo6ikdVP64iYCUKfVy9bAhIMkk2Zl_aFa_CUdO22bYRMluX9qclSrXRQuQXQQsEijcsEVcNeqaG3R2FPxem0cxCp_Rlfz5e063zfA/s736/wizard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="736" data-original-width="423" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH08JCcDIr5E8eYcCXwPoRBvZUdO0Dr-GBvGZLmJJy54H3-E9A43kGQsBbOSxS_8IF3f55xd30eZqqd4GBwO3PxGdo6ikdVP64iYCUKfVy9bAhIMkk2Zl_aFa_CUdO22bYRMluX9qclSrXRQuQXQQsEijcsEVcNeqaG3R2FPxem0cxCp_Rlfz5e063zfA/s320/wizard.jpg" width="184" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Encounter Critical fanart, I think.</td></tr></tbody></table><div> </div><div><b>d20 Warlock Spells</b></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Evil Eye:</b> The warlock curses an enemy (such as making its weapon explode or its eyes rot away) if it fails a Psi Resist roll. One of the warlock's eyes is permanently strange-looking once he learns this spell.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Battle Banner Imperative:</b> The warlock's side will go first in every round of combat and retainers cannot fail morale or defy orders.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Stop:</b> Freeze one creature or object in place, even in mid-air. No saving throw is allowed. The spell lasts until the Warlock casts another spell, or until the victim is attacked – though that first attack always hits.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Double:</b> Create a copy of one creature or object, which will last until the next dawn. When the duration ends, a random one of the twin things disappears.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Demon Master:</b> Gain control of one demon, no save. Must be recast every day.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Possess:</b> The warlock dissolves into smoke and flows into another creature. They can control it completely until it takes damage.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Mimic Special Ability:</b> One special ability of a creature or object can be copied and used as a spell by the warlock. Only one ability can be copied at a time – if this spell is cast again, the warlock loses the older stolen ability.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Phantasmic Projections:</b> Creates completely realistic, albeit intangible, illusions. This includes sounds, smells and animated illusions.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Tesseract:</b> The warlock teleports somewhere they can see. This can be cast in an instant, even to dodge any danger.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Transportal:</b> Two magic circles prepared by the warlock in advance are linked by a portal. The portal lasts until dismissed or until the warlock casts this spell again.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Transmogrify:</b> The warlock can transform himself into any creature from which he owns a trophy.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Walk on Water or Wind:</b> Wears off when the warlock touches the ground.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ice Sculpt:</b> Form any object or structure out of ice. It lasts until the warlock casts this spell again, even in heat.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Matter to Mist:</b> Dissolves one object into mist and then condenses it into a tiny crystal. When the crystal is broken, mist billows out and the object is reconstituted.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Shape Earth, Wood or Flesh:</b> Material can be slowly moulded into any shape desired.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Phasic Sphere:</b> The warlock activates a previously prepared magic circle, creating a softly glowing but transparent sphere of force. Nothing can pass through the sphere – not creatures, missiles, magic, psionics, phasics, teleportation nor air. It lasts until dismissed, or until the warlock casts this spell again.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>God Speech:</b> The warlock can speak with anything.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Darkstorm:</b> Sudden thunderstorm brings bad visibility, strong winds and torrential rain.</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Rain of Fire and Brimstone:</b> Flames start raining from the sky, dealing the warlock's magic damage to everyone not under a roof (and to the roof, too).</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Warlock Bomb:</b> The warlock conjures an orb that will explode violently (3d20 damage in close range and half that in short range) when shattered. Can be cast with a delayed timer or a special trigger. The explosion can easily breach walls.</li></ol></div>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-46408467993494201502024-01-10T21:59:00.003+01:002024-01-10T21:59:59.864+01:00Reaction<p style="text-align: justify;">This is the reaction table I'm currently using. It works reasonably well. The results should be interpreted liberally.<br /> </p>
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<table class="reaction-table">
<thead><tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>2d6</th><th>Reaction</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td>2</td><td><b>Hostile.</b> Attacks immediately, why? (d4) Desperate/rabid/hungry/ensorcelled.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3-5</td><td><b>Aggressive.</b> If the party is surprised, it's an Ambush. Otherwise (d4):<br /><ol><li>Attacks to drive you away, giving a chance for retreat. Guards something?</li><li>Demands bribe/food/items to let you leave. Will only attack if you seem weak, though.</li><li>Retreats but stalks you until an opportunity presents itself to attack with advantage.</li><li>Tries to capture you if at all possible.</li></ol></td></tr>
<tr><td>6-8</td><td>Animals try to avoid you, but intelligent creatures are (d6):<br /><ol><li><b>Untrustworthy.</b> Will try to cheat you. May behave friendly at first.</li><li><b>Antagonistic.</b> Mocks and hurls abuse, but will not attack first.</li><li><b>Uninterested.</b> Ignores you unless bothered, tries to get rid of you as quickly as possible.</li><li><b>Unaware.</b> (d4) Distracted/sleeping/in a hurry/just really oblivious.</li><li><b>Afraid.</b> Flees if possible, otherwise at first opportunity. Afraid of something else?</li><li><b>Bored.</b> Wants to chat. Not willing to do anything or go anywhere, though.</li></ol></td></tr>
<tr><td>9-11</td><td><b>Friendly</b> (d4):<br /><ol><li>Wants to trade items or gossip.</li><li>Wants to join you as a mercenary or follower, or wants you to join them as a comrade or servant.</li><li>Offers a challenge of (d4) martial might/magical prowess/riddling wits/drinking skills.</li><li>Offers food and shelter. (d4) Tipsy/lonely/horny/just really generous.</li></ol></td></tr>
<tr><td>12</td><td><b>Quest!</b><br />Intelligent creatures are (d4) in danger/in need of something/lost/sick or injured.<br />Unintelligent are (d4) in danger/trapped/ensorcelled/sick or injured.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<br />If you wish to only make a single roll, you can also use 3d6 instead, though this will make modifiers less relevant and the first and last few entries much less likely to occur.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJdDXKll8r7LfmVTK8ZmW-0hyphenhyphenV70GgT_fFVyNWAoMarRve_VTfbr6x_sgcccYYKcSD11jwSRXm4_oGIozmha8eXMaGpCcQFsIsr3mb9dvhpow8oK7KxtEC_G1drx4ZM33iIXyTUtVSZnnfRFqCH1EWprHsFTmogGi2Vadiflg9VGdsZDFsL-wCWfn71gQ/s1024/_f42c72d6-cafc-4bce-9b3e-854415f0a332.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJdDXKll8r7LfmVTK8ZmW-0hyphenhyphenV70GgT_fFVyNWAoMarRve_VTfbr6x_sgcccYYKcSD11jwSRXm4_oGIozmha8eXMaGpCcQFsIsr3mb9dvhpow8oK7KxtEC_G1drx4ZM33iIXyTUtVSZnnfRFqCH1EWprHsFTmogGi2Vadiflg9VGdsZDFsL-wCWfn71gQ/s320/_f42c72d6-cafc-4bce-9b3e-854415f0a332.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Friendly, offers food and shelter.<br />by Bing Image Creator</td></tr></tbody></table> red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-58405908275130292082023-12-31T16:34:00.029+01:002023-12-31T16:34:00.130+01:00Wizard as a Strategic Resource<p style="text-align: justify;">In <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2020/12/class-unlimited-warlock.html" target="_blank">another installation</a> of ramblings about unplaytested magic systems cribbed from books I read so long ago I only half-remember a few bits, what if spells were a long-term, strategic resource?<br /><br />In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markus_Heitz" target="_blank">Markus Heitz</a>'s <i>The Dwarves</i> series, magi are very powerful. High level D&D wizard powerful, even, which most writers tend to avoid for the understandable reason that it breaks many stories apart. The magi can fly, blow up a building with a single gesture, spam teleportation spells, or heal from anything not instantly lethal. However, all that comes with one big caveat: They have limited reserves of magical energy that can only be refilled at a magical wellspring, of which there are like six in all the kingdoms where the books take place.<br /><br />What if instead of the tactical refill-on-sleep magic, wizards had a strategic refill-in-town magic?<br /><br />This approach assumes that resource management is a part of your intended gameplay. It only works well if the dungeon is not easily/quickly accessible from the town, so the party needs to spend another resource (time, food) to refill their magic, otherwise you are only buffing the wizard. But when it works as intended, the five minute adventuring day is gone. The party can no longer start every fight with all spells refreshed by sleeping in a rope-tricked pocket dimension all the time.<br /><br />Many systems can easily be converted to strategic magic by giving the magic-users more spell slots / mana / MD. Caster level still limits the highest spell slot / the amount of mana a wizard can use in a single spell. This makes wizards more powerful as long as they can regain magic, so make sure that ley lines are not ubiquitous - which brings us to the interesting domain-level considerations that all magic-users must now deal with: Ley lines are a limited, extremely precious resource that everyone wants to control.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4FN9hfRB42_e6mO3676m7aO7KSs2e-6iZTO0HrUYL7qb7akfse0H88QaJkQhN1T5C-Le795c3a707Mmdtzhapzr7deRphKvA3u6IgBCJoHB6mTiBBUi4aAgHCJ4etu50tuEOKFlsXRl1U3wP-WYkZ94h41bGLvtTWpRXTr9AtewJuJQI_WtkgpSaeCo/s1024/_968d2e5f-404c-41aa-8c03-125cf272607f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4FN9hfRB42_e6mO3676m7aO7KSs2e-6iZTO0HrUYL7qb7akfse0H88QaJkQhN1T5C-Le795c3a707Mmdtzhapzr7deRphKvA3u6IgBCJoHB6mTiBBUi4aAgHCJ4etu50tuEOKFlsXRl1U3wP-WYkZ94h41bGLvtTWpRXTr9AtewJuJQI_WtkgpSaeCo/s320/_968d2e5f-404c-41aa-8c03-125cf272607f.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Generated with Bing Image Creator:<br />"sorcerer drawing power from a ley line,<br />clean old-school lineart for swords and sorcery"<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">All wizard towers are built atop a ley line, capping it and concentrating the energy flow into a specific room, a sanctum, thus limiting who has access to the mana. A wizard's tower is his most prized possession and will be filled to the brim with wards, traps and protective enchantments. A wizard's tower is a fortress to make other wizards flinch. A wizard in his tower is basically unassailable, and not only because he will never run out of spells.<br /><br />A rare and difficult ritual exists that allows one to link a wizard tower to a ring of power. Who wears such a ring can draw mana through it as if they were always within reach of a ley line. Battling an archmage who has such a ring would thus entail damaging their tower first to disrupt their supply of magic. Stealing such a ring is a big deal and will see the thief hunted down tirelessly, as breaking the bond between the ring and the tower to re-link a new ring would require destroying the tower completely, foundations included.<br /><br />An easier way to gain some extra mana exists - store it in a gemstone. That's not even a spell - all mages can push mana from themselves into a gem, or draw it back. Thus it is often the job of apprentices to prepare spell gems for their master.<br /><br />While larger gems can contain more magic power, only flawless gemstones should be made into a spell gem at all. While you definitely can imbue an imperfect gemstone with power, this will sooner or later result in a blast of wild magic.<br /><br />Spell gems are very expensive and very much sought after. Every wizard wants one, but just as with towers, there are never enough. Even some nobles with no magical talent will hoard them, as the magic held within gives spell gems a strange, unearthly twinkle unseen in any other jewel, plus they can be used to bribe a wizard in a pinch.<br /><br />Spell gems are usually worn set into a ring (only the most pretentious of wizardling upstarts would call that a "ring of power", everyone knows what a real ring of power is), a circlet or at the tip of one's staff. A master granting such jewelry to an apprentice is seen as one of the highest of praises one can receive.<br /><br />Most ley lines in the civilized lands have been taken over, either by powerful mages or by the Mage Guild. A solitary sorceress will allow friends and apprentices into her sanctum, but strangers will nigh-definitely be met with refusal (and it's not a good idea to oppose a sorceress in her tower). The Mage Guild offers their ley lines to all members - for a fee. Becoming and staying a member incurs other fees. Therefore a PC wizard with no mentor will have a nice money sink in simply restoring mana.<br /><br />There are still some free ley lines in places where seizing them would be too much of a hassle - underwater, deep in wilderness or underground, in sacred groves and other holy places of yore. There might also be very weak ley lines that escaped the notice of the Mage Guild either by pure chance, or thanks to some secret sect or cult veiling it from detection. The Mage Guild would pay rather nicely for information about even the weakest ley lines. They have a monopoly to maintain, after all.<br /><br />Illegal mages have a hard time. Either they are very good at pretending to be law-abiding magic-users, or they belong to a secret sect with their own ley line, or they need an alternative source of mana. Thus there is a blooming black market in spell gems and power smuggling (legal mage selling their mana to illegal mages), while even possessing power-draining spells is a felony.<br /></p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-51684104266820996562023-12-27T13:31:00.013+01:002023-12-27T13:31:00.133+01:00Königstein, the King's Stone<p style="text-align: justify;">I've been to many castles, but during these Christmas holidays, I visited one that really stands out. It would fit right amongst the exaggerated fortresses of many fantasy worlds.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.festung-koenigstein.de/en/welcome.html" target="_blank">Königstein</a>, the King's Stone.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixGhRf9zR8dDrVSCTPhHY0ohfUUxi6Ovhb_naIColUu237XGPVNAAlikxepe4_Q0kIDCeVm2r7FamiwpbTfMVTCRck2MPLA22Wni2lKv-kWWLTJLqgc7xUcFItlD8gJSWTQB98FogR6Mr1W1fAFonZPsuz04pSZs1wAjXqUW0EHjbDj42NmQgvH3OxHws/s899/K%C3%B6nigstein-01.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="813" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixGhRf9zR8dDrVSCTPhHY0ohfUUxi6Ovhb_naIColUu237XGPVNAAlikxepe4_Q0kIDCeVm2r7FamiwpbTfMVTCRck2MPLA22Wni2lKv-kWWLTJLqgc7xUcFItlD8gJSWTQB98FogR6Mr1W1fAFonZPsuz04pSZs1wAjXqUW0EHjbDj42NmQgvH3OxHws/s320/K%C3%B6nigstein-01.jpg" width="289" /></a></div> <br /><p style="text-align: justify;">To give you an idea of how imposing the fortress is, the river beneath the fortress lies at about 100 metres above the sea level. From the river banks rises a hill that reaches to around 300 metres above the sea level, which alone gives us some 200 vertical metres (650 ft) of steep, forested slopes, then there are 42 metres (130 ft) of sheer rock and bulwarks, and only then do the multi-storey buildings start. Standing down below, "towering" doesn't even begin to describe it.<br /><br />The fortress just keeps going on being excessive. It stands atop cliffs of solid rock, but because the builders were anticipating a siege, they needed a secure source of water. Thus they dug a 152 meter (500 ft) deep well through the rock to the acquifer below. The wine cellar used to hold a single barrel with a capacity of nearly 250 000 litres (66 000 gallons) of wine, though it had to be eventually removed due to disrepair. Also half of the fortress is a literal forest, because they could. Well, and because it can provide a massive amount of firewood and building material during a siege.<br /><br />The only one to ever scale its walls was a chimney sweep who cheated, because he was cheered on rather than shot down.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9KHPcGLffDESRKqwO2s6clR09v1fwzG_P5obTFt5pe1pF5_i2eubguZqL9CI1lYFaGoNF0WRgZhPEI3dEV3agx8jGcDkRV0rlwo9PcWTSO2-hsoNors7G-y-pHNWda4EidtoItt7LLixYBq03Abd47Zj2fzNlQc5DWj7dbuBqTCuQ8fblixMeUZbW9Y0/s960/K%C3%B6nigstein-02.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9KHPcGLffDESRKqwO2s6clR09v1fwzG_P5obTFt5pe1pF5_i2eubguZqL9CI1lYFaGoNF0WRgZhPEI3dEV3agx8jGcDkRV0rlwo9PcWTSO2-hsoNors7G-y-pHNWda4EidtoItt7LLixYBq03Abd47Zj2fzNlQc5DWj7dbuBqTCuQ8fblixMeUZbW9Y0/s320/K%C3%B6nigstein-02.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice the many trees atop the bulwark? That's still the fortress proper.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjnuSSP0Hhj4-XNRA9Lq_vDu_oTWhu7MydueBDm1m9aE0J0IDKNbuZvUZMljoPzEidOraqrNXBglX4ri4HtvXsiD4MVqmNZb_irE_vzWT7Ui_5U-ZpbIMsc1KZ7rdL3XYVRsYKUto4UFNqGVMrwf2Px5dC8Hz6OPNar0hPle6lI9KeNfcoOfSrLRCljnI/s2646/koenigstein_04.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="2646" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjnuSSP0Hhj4-XNRA9Lq_vDu_oTWhu7MydueBDm1m9aE0J0IDKNbuZvUZMljoPzEidOraqrNXBglX4ri4HtvXsiD4MVqmNZb_irE_vzWT7Ui_5U-ZpbIMsc1KZ7rdL3XYVRsYKUto4UFNqGVMrwf2Px5dC8Hz6OPNar0hPle6lI9KeNfcoOfSrLRCljnI/s320/koenigstein_04.webp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now imagine standing beneath the cliffs.</td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">You can read as much as you like about Königstein on Wikipedia, but here is my re-imagined fantasy version.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5tbVyWMDIi4Hif99Uma5DInZb-sD7JdN8lcdPUQ_-24F_Z__wvKLQE4LDLLr3tiPXgN1CuDnHgbJ3c4cvRHt63arOWJlUra8ILA3XRyqxFFlkglnQgDM1n1m2laCz1RTbTvBtVD7KoChxc1PzFvzvcuDMLCc5iVuTwNSw10xyvl3W8k1EBePbvA1ctk/s1200/K%C3%B6nigstein-Plan2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="1200" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5tbVyWMDIi4Hif99Uma5DInZb-sD7JdN8lcdPUQ_-24F_Z__wvKLQE4LDLLr3tiPXgN1CuDnHgbJ3c4cvRHt63arOWJlUra8ILA3XRyqxFFlkglnQgDM1n1m2laCz1RTbTvBtVD7KoChxc1PzFvzvcuDMLCc5iVuTwNSw10xyvl3W8k1EBePbvA1ctk/w400-h280/K%C3%B6nigstein-Plan2.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></p><ol style="text-align: justify;" type="a"><li>Paved main road which ends beneath the cliffs and bulwarks.</li><li>Soldiers' market. Soldiers have needs too and the small village of shops and businesses along the road provides.</li><li>Knitted tower. Holds the controls for dropping the hanging road. Named after a well-liked soldier who kept bringing his knitting to guard duty.</li><li>Hanging road. Snaking along the side of the cliff towards the entrance, it is suspended on support beams that can be remotely demolished as a last resort to prevent assault on the gates.</li><li>Twin gates. The small yard between the gates is facing several shooting galleries and can be flooded with alchemical gases or liquid flames.</li><li>Lookout tower. Holds several looking glasses enchanted to pierce invisibility and illusions.</li><li>Old castle. Standing atop the highest peak of the cliffs, it might not boast the modern defensive architecture of the new palace and the bulwarks, but the garrisoned wizards have been layering protective enchantments into its walls for centuries. Currently it houses the treasury and archives.</li><li>Prison tower.</li><li>New palace. Houses the commander, his secretariat and servants, multiple officers, alchemists and wizards, plus when the occasion arises either members of the royal family, or enemy nobles held for ransom.<br />The main entryway goes from the twin gates through a heavily sloped tunnel through solid rock beneath the palace. It includes murderholes, detection enchantments of all kinds, seven prismatic portculli and pipes connected to the cistern, which can suddenly turn the whole tunnel into very deadly rapids.</li><li>Church of Light and hospital. One cleric and several acolytes have a permanent residence here, ensuring religious well-being of soldiers as well as serving as healers.</li><li>Offices, workshops and an alchemical lab. The open area beyond them has been split into numerous little gardens that let the soldiers enhance their diet with fresh vegetables.</li><li>Barracks.</li><li>Monster pens. Hippogriffs are used for air support and xorns are used to secure the underground of the fortress from burrowing incursions.</li><li>Warehouses and granaries. The fortress should survive more than a year of siege at full effectiveness.</li><li>War machine platforms. Ballistas and catapults can be aimed at both the ground and the sky. In addition to standard rocks and bolts, alchemical ammunition such as liquid flames and anti-aerial flak is available.</li><li>King's Hooter. A small tavern near a vantage point at the end of the plateau lets the officers unwind. Festivities are often held in the open area by the tavern, too.</li><li>Dryad's oak. A massive, ancient tree housing a friendly nature spirit. She tends the fortress grove (green area) and blesses the soldiers' gardens for bountiful harvest if asked nicely.</li><li>Well house and cistern. The water is regularly blessed by the priest to prevent poisonings, plagues and infiltration by creatures of darkness.</li><li>Observatory. Several commissioned wizards are working here, both maintaining all wards in the fortress and manning the scrying room.<br /></li></ol><p style="text-align: justify;"><br />The fortress is warded against teleportation, dimensional travel (which includes pocket dimensions, such as bags of holding) and external scrying. The scrying room is the centre of a surveillance network that has the whole fortress covered with remote vision spells, tripwire alarm wards and other divinations. The bulwarks themselves are warded against siege rituals such as disintegration barrages, earthquakes or phasing.<br /><br /><b>d4 Hooks</b><br /></p><ol style="text-align: justify;"><li>One of the alchemists serving in the fortress was a war criminal back home, granted asylum by the king in exchange for her services. Kidnap her and bring her back home for justice. Quest-giver will not pay for a dead alchemist.<br /></li><li>The archives in the old castle hold information that you need for whatever plot reasons. It is also top secret, so good luck getting it the legal way.</li><li>There are rumours of a vault somewhere within the King's Stone, a storage for dangerous artifacts and superweapons that the king wants to keep in reserve - biomantic plagues, mind-controlling alchemies, mass summoning contracts. If any weapon is capable of stopping the big bad, it will be locked in here.<br /></li><li>There are other rumours, who claim that the vault is actually a maximum security prison for an ancient evil, the crown prince of a neighbouring nation and the good twin brother of the king.</li></ol>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-77655272092380432242023-12-22T13:03:00.000+01:002023-12-22T13:03:48.901+01:00GLOG: Class Quests and Campaign Metaprogression<p style="text-align: justify;">One common way of dealing with the endless classes of GLOG is to have only a limited few available in each campaign, and then maybe add more as players go through characters and find new things. I like this, but I want to make the process of unlocking new classes as player-facing as possible.<br /><br />One common way of dealing with <a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2018/04/osr-multiclassing-in-glog.html" target="_blank">multiclassing</a> - and GLOG is basically tailor-made for easy multiclassing - is to require an in-world justification for suddenly taking a wizard template with your barbarian. I like this as well, because while multiclassing is more than fine, I would like to see some buildup before a character switches classes. Once again, though, this should be as player-facing as possible.<br /><br />Therefore, I will be adding a "class quest" for each class, which will have a dual purpose: One, any character who wishes to multiclass into a class will have to carry out the corresponding quest before they can take its template A. Two, anyone in the party fulfilling a class quest (in-game, not in a backstory, you munchkins), whether they multiclass into that class or not, will unlock the class for future new characters. Exploits that do not fit a certain class' quest but would make sense still count for both purposes, at the GM's discretion - the class quests are here as a guideline for the players rather than the GM.<br /><br />Ideally, common classes will have easy quests while weirder and rarer classes will have quests that are harder to accomplish, maybe even limited to a specific location/event/faction. This will hopefully have the side benefit of encouraging exploration of every nook and cranny of the world. Some players are sadly risk-averse and will avoid places such as the Swamp of Mutilation or the Screaming Tower of Slow and Painful Death unless there is a tangible benefit in going to such places. Knowing that you will get a new class out of dying in there might be just the push they need.<br /><br />I am thinking of starting the next campaign with a funnel - everyone will be a 0th level <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/12/glog-everything-is-template.html" target="_blank">human</a> and all classes will be locked. They will also get a list of all the classes they can unlock and their quests. This should provide a nice set of goals the party can work towards before they find personal goals or unearth other plots and problems.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEganKNIVJVZRd9U3Z1hhLvpWxtcCn-o7rT9tmq9r_61AfBvhVcyytXWPJRxdM5lLqY7bhvCygthRrlHgji-U-HFXDty6zu_WCQkArszdNCqh_osfv_I7AMJGHNVnb7Gx0RI-St_HJ31Wzz-CkvBd1yMbkys8GtPMK_n9_1XZhAJHvqj5HzMVF64A4-oafI/s1550/dbffl5x-b3615af8-352a-4817-b650-56272d6fdd42.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1214" data-original-width="1550" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEganKNIVJVZRd9U3Z1hhLvpWxtcCn-o7rT9tmq9r_61AfBvhVcyytXWPJRxdM5lLqY7bhvCygthRrlHgji-U-HFXDty6zu_WCQkArszdNCqh_osfv_I7AMJGHNVnb7Gx0RI-St_HJ31Wzz-CkvBd1yMbkys8GtPMK_n9_1XZhAJHvqj5HzMVF64A4-oafI/s320/dbffl5x-b3615af8-352a-4817-b650-56272d6fdd42.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/varguy/art/Rpg-Party-691049445" target="_blank">Varguy</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>d20 Class Quests</b><br /></p><ol style="text-align: justify;"><li>Warrior: Triumph over a powerful foe, or watch your friends get slaughtered.</li><li>Soldier: Enlist in a military.</li><li>Knight: Be knighted.<br /></li><li>Duelist: Win a duel, or lose a duel but win the crowd.</li><li>Thief: Steal something valuable, or escape certain doom.</li><li>Assassin: Get away with murder, or take money for killing someone.</li><li>Mountebank: Frame someone else for your crimes.</li><li>Ranger: Survive several days in the wilderness, or save an animal at personal risk.</li><li><a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2018/01/osr-orthodox-wizards.html" target="_blank">Wizard, Orthodox</a>: Enroll in a Wizard University, or impersonate a mage and make at least a village believe you.</li><li><a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2017/03/osr-illusionist-wizards.html" target="_blank">Wizard, Illusionist</a>: Take glamour from a Fae, or fake your death.</li><li><a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2018/01/osr-class-biomancer.html" target="_blank">Wizard, Biomancer</a>: Mutate through incaution, or have a body part replaced or grafted.</li><li><a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2017/11/osr-necromancers.html" target="_blank">Wizard, Necromancer</a>: Murder a family member, or visit the Land of the Dead.</li><li><a href="https://slugsandsilver.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-glog-alchemist.html" target="_blank">Alchemist</a>: Consume a magical substance without knowing its effects, or cause a huge explosion. <br /></li><li><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1skhnLMUrxOU5xbfK3TkDccdrhdyEQ90PftDZp-NpFZc/edit">Barrow Sword</a>: Steal an ancient cursed blade from a barrow.</li><li><a href="https://crateredland.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-noble-house.html" target="_blank">Noble House</a>: Play as a child of a previous character.</li><li><a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2017/11/osr-class-paladin-of-word.html" target="_blank">Paladin of the Word</a>: Keep a secret to your detriment, or learn a True Name of God.<br /></li><li><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2018/08/class-paladin-of-wild.html" target="_blank">Paladin of the Wild</a>: Hunt, kill and eat a bear.<br /></li><li><a href="https://saltygoo.github.io/class/sandcursed" target="_blank">Sand-Cursed</a>: Visit haunted desert ruins.</li><li><a href="https://goodberrymonthly.blogspot.com/2019/03/eater-of-tongues.html" target="_blank">Songstress of Many Tongues</a>: Lose your tongue.</li><li><a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2017/10/osr-class-sword-exorcist.html" target="_blank">Sword Exorcist</a>: Die to save innocents.</li></ol><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>d12 Race-as-Class Quests</b><br /></p><ol><li><a href="https://saltygoo.github.io/class/centaur" target="_blank">Centaur</a>: Receive hospitality from a centaur tribe.</li><li>Dragonborn: Work for a dragon, or consume dragon flesh.</li><li>Dwarf: Carouse away 1000 gp, or cause trouble for yourself by being greedy. <br /></li><li>Elf: Eat or marry a Fae.</li><li>Goblin: Have a contraption you built explode.</li><li>Kobold: Worship a dragon, or die in a dungeon trap.</li><li>Orc: Ride a giant wolf to battle.<br /></li><li><a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2018/08/osr-class-witch-coven.html" target="_blank">Really Evil Goat</a>: Sacrifice a goat to the Dark Powers. <br /></li><li><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CelVYilWm6BGWNbV8xS1HdhS-bwKnJAR_c_HVKGZ6vw/edit" target="_blank">Really Good Dog</a>: Save a dog.</li><li>Tiefling: Have sex in Hell.</li><li><a href="https://crateredland.blogspot.com/2020/05/weird-races-as-weird-classes.html" target="_blank">Troll</a>: Visit the city of Trollamor, or consume troll flesh.</li><li><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2021/01/class-random-advancement-vampire.html" target="_blank">Vampire</a>: Drink vampire blood after being bitten by one, or commit murder-suicide.</li></ol><p style="text-align: justify;"><br />Any ideas for good class quests?<br /></p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-78864845844047291282023-12-20T12:01:00.000+01:002023-12-20T12:01:48.090+01:00GLOG: Everything is a Template<p style="text-align: justify;">Race-as-class is the only true way and everyone doing it differently is doing it wrong.<br /><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigpU2xHHif6fjsTBEc20cuOO-NrksXUM2n7bjKVZ8BeiPHO8pLkh8l4s6XH55735DC_mEgxBZ8vEVsfsjfdQGALnV3Ovn6UGGMpEj6PKo8rAvkoGMOTD8um3Kf7K7oOtjun4HGQxRhEFx2MPpZEaiGchh4rfAXxmvrqPDnF_OUHWDLZiDF4mPTxS-6v7w/s767/beastfolk.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="703" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigpU2xHHif6fjsTBEc20cuOO-NrksXUM2n7bjKVZ8BeiPHO8pLkh8l4s6XH55735DC_mEgxBZ8vEVsfsjfdQGALnV3Ovn6UGGMpEj6PKo8rAvkoGMOTD8um3Kf7K7oOtjun4HGQxRhEFx2MPpZEaiGchh4rfAXxmvrqPDnF_OUHWDLZiDF4mPTxS-6v7w/s320/beastfolk.webp" width="293" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/am81py/art_kingdom_of_idyllwild_beastfolk_party/" target="_blank">Beastfolk Party</a> by WarpZoneTrigger<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <br /><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Okay, now that I've started a flame war, an explanation is in order. I have been struggling with races in my GLOG, or how to implement them in a way that supports character-making consistent with the world as I envision it. Here are my personal design goals:<br /></p><ol style="text-align: justify;"><li>I like largely human worlds surrounded by weirdness you can venture out into. While the standard super-simplified races of GLOG work fine mechanically, having that many easily used races encourages players to be something strange rather than the plain old human, so you end up with a menagerie of a party. Which is not a problem, except that <a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2017/03/osr-table-of-races.html" target="_blank">a thousand lings</a> force a different vibe on the game than what I prefer.</li><li>I want humans to be <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HumansAreAverage" target="_blank">plain and basic</a>. That means you can play up both the weirdness around them and how their adventuring life is changing them. Every mutation, every new ability is making them stranger and more interesting, which is much harder to properly emphasize when you already start pretty weird. On the other hand, just giving them a free skill/feat/attribute point to make them desirable is pure gameist trash.</li><li>I do want other races to be available, but I think they work better in juxtaposition to the mostly human civilization around them. They should have interesting abilities that set them apart, and here the design space of only one perk and one flaw, as is custom for GLOG races, is actually quite limiting. Some races could do with more abilities, even more power, so there needs to be a way of scaling different races rather than fitting them all in the same mould.</li><li>I also don't want to limit race/class combinations, as standard race-as-class often does by locking you into the abilities of only your race. Let there be halfling barbarians and half-ogre courtesans.</li></ol><p style="text-align: justify;"><br />So I want humans to be boring and desirable at the same time, and without giving them any numeric bonuses. You can see my dilemma, now.<br /><br />I may have figured it out. It's in the first sentence. It's a wheel re-invented, really, but I'm still excited to try it out.<br /><br />Every non-human race is a class now, whose template A you can only take at character creation. Some races will only consist of template A, some may have more templates with more powers and abilities. <a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2018/04/osr-multiclassing-in-glog.html" target="_blank">Multiclassing</a> is the heart of GLOG anyway, so every character can now take up to five templates and starts with two. If you want to be a dwarf cleric, take the templates Dwarf A and Cleric A.<br /><br />And humans? They are the assumed race for anyone with no racial templates. They literally have no abilities at all, yet they could (hopefully) be quite desirable with their "ability" to start with two class templates, and to finish a whole class and then take one more template from another one.<br /><br />We shall see if this actually works as intended.<br /></p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-72351519002544749012023-12-16T06:00:00.001+01:002023-12-16T06:00:00.132+01:005e House Rules<p style="text-align: justify;">I found out I don't really like D&D 5e.<br /><br />Now, I don't think it's a badly designed ruleset. It works well, it is consistent, it's reasonably easy to get into - though more for people who had already played some D&D-style games rather then for role-playing beginners - and it has a lot of support. That being said, the combat system is slow and encumbered with way too many strange action types and flashy but samey abilities, some skills are pointless unless you enjoy rolling for failure (Yes, I'm talking about perception.) and some abilities are way too common (Looking at you, darkvision and flight!) or cheapen certain aspects of gameplay that I enjoy (diseases, light, food).<br /><br />All in all though, this isn't a failure of the system, but rather of expectations. It simply doesn't mesh well with the OSR style of play I want in my games and it comes with way too many preconceptions that I need to weed out - which is actually the most painful problem I have with D&D 5e. It is too well known. People have ideas and expectations. There's the implied setting and the character planning minigame. No matter how much stuff you tweak, you will still end up with a combat-focused superhero game with little to no resource management.<br /><br />That's not bad, that's just not what I want.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj21W3mrs0wq0dvCKWubusOxr9bmrvHxzfBjY2WSSJrE3L1q-egCPfxEklVCBaLJlSSyTunozFke_aAPlbW3FwRGzfM9JjEjEb5cM__473-13MztmPjoi_HytpfuKiECi-KIprcH6_gNvJED8fTzk-D7jBPL6sl9jI5UBUJYudQxGAgSUCHI9u8MxV8IPw/s1024/Rules-of-Life-1024x1024.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj21W3mrs0wq0dvCKWubusOxr9bmrvHxzfBjY2WSSJrE3L1q-egCPfxEklVCBaLJlSSyTunozFke_aAPlbW3FwRGzfM9JjEjEb5cM__473-13MztmPjoi_HytpfuKiECi-KIprcH6_gNvJED8fTzk-D7jBPL6sl9jI5UBUJYudQxGAgSUCHI9u8MxV8IPw/s320/Rules-of-Life-1024x1024.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <a href="https://brandonthegamedev.com/how-to-make-the-perfect-board-game-rule-book/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Frankly, the majority of my changes to 5e are in the style of play rather than the rules:<br /></p><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Give the players information. If they take the time to search the room, they don't need Perception to find the secret door. If they question a NPC, they will notice what she says is fishy even without Insight. What the PCs do with this information is the interesting part.</li><li>Let the players be competent. Roll only for risky, dramatic actions that will have consequences, otherwise they just do it successfully.</li><li>If you want to use a skill, describe <i>how</i> you use it. This ties to the two points above - good plans don't roll and I will try to provide you with enough information to formulate a good plan. On the other hand, fiction trumps a good roll, so some skill uses simply won't work no matter what - don't worry, I will tell you if something is impossible.</li><li>If it seems obvious that an ability should do something it doesn't do, screw the rules and go for it.</li><li>Role-playing is way better than Charisma-based skills. <br /></li></ul><h4 style="text-align: justify;">Character Creation<br /></h4><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Feats</b> are allowed.</li></ul><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>The players were so eager to take them I didn't have the heart to forbid it. I am a weak GM.</i><br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>No races with unlimited flight.</li><li><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/01/languages-of-amir-steppes.html" target="_blank">Languages of Althan</a> are a bit different from standard D&D, plus you can take an expertise in a language.</li></ul><h4 style="text-align: left;">Items & Abilities</h4><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><b>Darkvision</b> does not work in complete darkness. Think of it as more of a low-light vision.</li><li><b>Lesser Restoration</b> may need a Medicine check to cure certain rare or magical poisons and diseases.</li><li>Potions and similar consumables can be used as a bonus action.</li><li>Slot-based <b>encumbrance</b> is a thing. You can carry a number of slots equal to your Strength score with no issues.</li></ul><h4 style="text-align: left;">Death & Healing</h4><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>There is <b>only one death save</b>.<br />When a PC is reduced to 0 hp, they roll a death save at the start of their next turn. On success, they remain conscious and may continue with their turn, stabilized but still with 0 hp. On failure, they loose consciousness and start dying. The DC is 10 if they were above 0 hp before taking the last damage, but [10 + damage] if they took damage while already at 0hp!<br />A dying character is helpless and dies at the start of their next turn with no further saves. Allies may still help, though.</li></ul><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>This is the main rule change and a surprisingly well-received one. We had an incident in the very first session where a character was left to bleed out on the floor as he still had two more saves to fail before dying, and that is simply not fun. Now that there is only one save, everyone gets really quiet when it comes to death saves, and the scramble to save a dying companion in the middle of a fight is delicious. To my utter surprise, the players not only agree, but some actually tried to have this rule implemented at other tables, too.<br />Many thanks to Spwack for suggesting that a successful death save should let the PC remain conscious and capable of action. Rounds in 5e can be really </i>frigging<i> long, so being unconscious even for a round is about as fun as paralysis, plus retaining agency often leads to funny and foolhardy attempts to fight with 0 hp.<br />I should note that my players seem to be really good at making their death saves. We average about one brush with death every two sessions, but so far there was not a single death from combat.</i><br /></p><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><b>Massive damage</b> is replaced with permanent injuries. When a hit would take a character below negative Constitution score in hit points, they roll on a dismemberment table.</li><li>Slow natural healing (see DMG).</li><li><b>Resurrection</b> spells are forbidden for PC spell-casters, though that doesn't mean that resurrection is impossible.</li></ul><h4 style="text-align: left;">Experience</h4><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Experience is gained from encounters (killing optional, it's often easier to bribe, befriend, circumvent or drive the enemies away), returning ancient treasures to civilization, role-playing and philanthropy.</li><li>If a PC dies, a replacement PC is created with half XP of the dead one.</li></ul><h4 style="text-align: left;">Game Mastery</h4><ul style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;">Reactions and Morale are in effect.</li></ul>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-60483589227352728812023-12-14T08:00:00.002+01:002023-12-16T18:14:05.525+01:00Tomb of the Serpent King 5e, sessions 9 & 10<p style="text-align: justify;">Everybody was dead, but then it got worse.<br /><br /><b>Dramatis personae:</b><br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Brent</b>, a halfling rogue. Upstanding and competent.</li><li><b>Gour-Gash</b>, a goliath barbarian. Lost, confused, horny.<br /></li><li><b>Licmorn</b>, an eladrin sorcerer. Depetrified after a thousand years and kind of insane for it.</li><li><b>Rotti</b>, a tiefling cleric. Likes to bad-mouth people to their face.</li><li><b>Yanzar</b>, a dark elf druid. Very sneaky, except he loves loud, thunderous spells.</li></ul><p style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgITDWIbRicLMLwZlwLjHDnUuZJFyHAzjN6WPF8MvWp3Newcz4_ptHNjEK3sDcxdehEyoJgDPybaDwIZZoO2W77TFPuV4k5PeEUwo_j6P5G365fRI-naZsBMXcOblcqRtBd4Oe0S3yOokYu484V96cArfUqzfbZrghOxi4HdZIDcnogpHjRkw60t_Y_i8o/s670/Himself.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="430" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgITDWIbRicLMLwZlwLjHDnUuZJFyHAzjN6WPF8MvWp3Newcz4_ptHNjEK3sDcxdehEyoJgDPybaDwIZZoO2W77TFPuV4k5PeEUwo_j6P5G365fRI-naZsBMXcOblcqRtBd4Oe0S3yOokYu484V96cArfUqzfbZrghOxi4HdZIDcnogpHjRkw60t_Y_i8o/s320/Himself.webp" width="205" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <a href="https://killsixbilliondemons.com/" target="_blank">K6BD</a>.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/12/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-sessions-7-8.html"><i>prior</i></a> | <i>next</i><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>From the diary of Yanzar, nowhere and never</i><br />Pushing the button on the magic egg might have been a mistake.<br /><br />We all woke up on a beach, fog everywhere around us and the surface of the water absolutely motionless. In the distance, huge skeletons were wading through the fog and water, but no waves reached our shore. We all had two copper coins with us, except Licmorn.<br /><br />For who knows how long we stood on that beach, until we heard the ringing of a bell from somewhere inland and went to investigate. After kicking open the door to a belltower, we climbed it and saw the many islands jutting up from the fog. There was a pier on our island and a strange tower on another nearby island, so we went to the pier. On our way, we met Hans, a labourer from the Balalán cathedral, who was trying to find his way back to the construction site. We took him with us to the pier where there was a small bell. When we rang it, a ferryman dressed in long black robes emerged from the fog, riding a long boat. For the way across, he demanded two coppers. So Licmorn sent Hans away, claiming that the distant bell was the belltower of his cathedral, and Brent robbed him of his two coppers in the meantime. Thus all of us could pay the ferryman and he took us to the other island with a seemingly sky-high tower.<br /><br />We landed on a beach covered in and made of bones. Rotti and Licmorn immediately set off towards a long line of people waiting in front of a swirling pool hanging in mid-air atop a low hill, some portal for sure. The rest of us stopped by Klaus, an armor-wearing and axe-wielding guy who was sitting near the line of people, but didn't seem interested in joining it. Nobody here had weapons and armor, just him. Reluctantly, he told us he got it from a "friend" as an early reward for killing Médard Malévol, who is the leader in construction of that impossibly tall tower. He then suggested that he could introduce us to his friend if we killed Médard for him, because he failed and couldn't try again without drawing murderous attention of all Médard's henchmen.<br /><br />In the meantime, Rotti advanced to the front of the line and found an angel standing by the portal, carrying out the Last Judgement. They talked and Rotti smiled and she went through the Pearly Gate. Licmorn decided that he doesn't fancy being judged and sneaked away before he could be noticed. With a party one member smaller, we went to find out if Médard's life was worth our meeting with Klaus' friend.<br /><br />Halfway to the tower, we came upon a wide crevasse, with a bridge blocked by a knight in shining armor. For passage, he requested answers to riddles three, which we eventually provided to the loud disappointment of the many talking crows on the trees all around us, who were haggling for a piece of our soul in exchange for helping us. Approaching the tower, we found a line of people dragging stones up endlessly upwards and an older man sitting in the midst of all the hustle and bustle. He had a rather fancy sword and a bandaged leg. We stopped one of the stone-carrying people - Cornelia, a half-orc in a kilt - and asked to be introduced. Médard was quite happy to talk and told us how he died soon after the Golden Day, fighting some of the last Dark Ones, and how he had been wounded by a demonic weapon - probably Klaus' doing. He also told us about the tower - the goal was to build it so high that one could get to Heaven without being judged by an angel.<br /><br />"Who gave them the right to judge us?" he asked. "Are we not beings of free will, capable of rational thought and decision-making? The souls of the people can only be judged by a jury of their peers, established by the will of the people."<br /><br />Cornelia had nothing better to do, so she joined us. We returned to Klaus and pretended that we killed Médard, and he agreed to take us to his friend. He showed us a narrow path just below the surface of the water leading to the next island, imperceptible to the naked eye. On the island stood a ruined church and as we set a foot inside, a dagger flew out of the shadows and took Klaus in the neck. A crow came out of his mouth as he collapsed, while his body quickly turned into dust, leaving behind a bare skeleton.<br /><br />We were still debating running away when a red-haired halfling in a huntsman's suit came to greet us. He apparently killed Klaus for failing to uphold his end of the bargain they made - and then he offered us a bargain. If we kill the angel who guards the portal, Zirael, he would revive us. We thanked him and told him we need to confer in privacy and then legged it.<br /><br />Returning to the main island, we asked Zirael for a counter offer, but she wasn't willing to grant us resurrection, only a better chance of ending up in the Heaven. Unsure what to do, we went to explore the rest of the island and found Wilhelmina - Hans' mother. She wished to find her son, but she had no way to get to him. She told us about a treasure of souls, where she could lead us if we got her to Hans. Thankfully, we managed to snatch Klaus' axe and thus could fell some trees in those strange crow-infested woods and build a raft.<br /><br />Wilhelmina navigated us to a tiny island, where we collected a locked chest from an eye socket-shaped cave. We dumped Wilhelmina on the island where Hans was and returned to the Friend to negotiate. He was drooling over that treasure, but he wasn't willing to resurrect us all for it. But he was willing to teach one of us how to steal more souls for him, something he was contractually forbidden to do himself. I took the initiative and agreed, making the Friend quite giddy. He took my hand and with one smooth motion skinned it, leaving me bleeding and screaming in pain. Yet a dark feeling spread through my hand and the pain stopped, replaced with a strange hunger I have never known before.<br /><br />And thus a new plan was born. We went to Zirael to offer an ultimatum: If she doesn't revive us, we will go and slaughter every soul on the island, keeping everyone away from Paradise. In hindsight, this might not have been the best idea. With a sad smile, she unsheathed a flaming sword. Licmorn was the first to be struck and he instantly fell to the ground, a crow flying out of his mouth. The rest of us had just enough head start that we reached the crow-infested forest before she could destroy us too. We stayed in hiding until she had to go back to her duties.<br /><br />Unwilling to become more indebted to the Friend and unable to go anywhere near Zirael, we sent now-flying Licmorn to scout the surrounding islands. We lost track of how long he was gone, but once returned, he announced the discovery of several giant sarcophagi to the north, a flooded forest to the east, black stone cliffs to the southwest and a tiny island with a church to the west. The church looked the most auspicious, so we boarded our raft and set sail. Well, set to pushing with a pole.<br /><br />Anyway, with no Sun nor Moon nor biological needs, time blended together. Maybe after a few hours, maybe after a few years, we came upon shallower waters. The distant sounds of galloping hooves echoed out of the mists ahead of us and we immediately changed course and hightailed it out of there. After another undeterminable period of time, we actually found the island with a well-maintained church. It stood upon a small hill and bore the symbols of the goddess Samal. We left our raft on a beach and went up there, only to be greeted by the uneasy feeling of standing on holy ground.<br /><br />The doors were unlocked and the inside neatly clean. Our attention was drawn to a locked door right next to the entrance gate, which hid a staircase going underground. There, after passing three doors suspiciously chained closed, we found a small warehouse. Yet we also found another room behind burnt door, from where three chubby children with beautiful white wings soared towards us, apparently upset with our presence. We were marched out of the church, but noticed one more interesting door in the room the little angels came from; a silver gate covered in arcane runes. The angels might have not wanted us in their church, but we decided to have a peek at the silver door anyway. They locked the front gate of the church, but we sent Brent to climb the belltower and distract the angels with ringing while we circle around to the back entrance and kick it in.<br /><br />Still, two angels burst out of the broken door and sprinkled us with holy flames, but one was skewered by Cornelia's spear and the other grappled by Gour-Gash, who wrestled with it for a while and eventually beat it to death on the altar inside of the church. The altar cracked and the whole church shuddered. The third angel came at us from the rafters, catching Cornelia and me with a gout of flame that left me suddenly transformed into a crow. It's rather strange, I must say, watching your body dissolve into dust. Thankfully when the last little cherub was slain, I managed to tear out a chunk of its soul out swallow it. Quite a tasty thing.. The flood of life energy saw me exploding back to my humanoid form.<br /><br />Later, Gour-Gash discovered a bottle of ambrosia in the angels' room and took a deep swig, which sent him into even deeper sleep. Cornelia immediately joined him, so Brent and I waited for the two of them to wake up, then drank some ambrosia too, as it apparently is as delicious as refreshing. I dreamt...<br /><br /></p><blockquote>A ship makes its way through thick fog between jutting blades of sharp black rocks. Its passage leaves little to no ripples on the water's surface, which within moments becomes as motionless as a mirror once again. A small island emerges from the fog, with a majestic white tree of silvery leaves. On its the trunk, veins of amber can be seen, from which bountiful sap flows. Naked people are milling around the tree, dancing and giggling and licking the sap. The ship docks at the island and a squad of pallid-faced soldiers in jet-black armour disembarks. Harshly, they disperse the revellers and collect the sap into a large amphora. After a while, they are satisfied and return to their ship, leaving silently with next to no waves. The throng of naked people crawl back to the white tree and slowly, the island disappears into fog.</blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"> <br />...and woke up feeling just amazing.<br /><br />However, Gour-Gash has drawn our attention to some sinister chanting that was coming from the outside. From the shore of this little island, a crowd of cowl-wearing figures was slowly approaching the church. Brent's ringing must have summoned them. We found similar cowls in the basement, so we disguised ourselves and let the people into the church. Just as they sat in the pews, a bright light appeared in the sky and streaked towards us. A huge serpent with three pairs of wings entered the church and wrapped himself around the altar. His voice echoed in our heads, asking what had happened here. We cowered in the pews and no one other had an answer, so he started going person by person, apparently looking into their soul. That didn't seem like something we want ourselves be subjected to, so we waited for an opportunity to slip back underground. Sadly, we were noticed and pursued.<br /><br />We barricaded the burnt door to the late little angels' room and with a key found on their corpses, opened the only other exit - the heavily reinforced silver gate. Behind it was a vast room with three concentric circles of runic silver. In the center lay a coffin, silver once again, fastened with three chains and locked with three locks. We hesitated for a moment, but as the burnt door started to buckle under the assault of the angelic serpent and his monks, Brent and Gour-Gash went to remove the locks. Cornelia and I tried to prop up the burnt door, but soon we were overpowered. A mass of monks spilled into the room and we barely escaped their grip, having to retreat into the coffin room. As I crossed the first of the silver circles, I suddenly heard a voice in the back of my mind, asking to be released and promising any wish fulfilled in return. Brent opened the last lock and Gour-Gash lifted the lid and inside was an endless light-absorbing void.<br /><br />Darkness spilled out.<br /><br />I was lying in darkness and I felt hungry. I haven't felt hungry in a long time. I think? Someone lit a torch and we found ourselves in the corner where the shimmering wall of death trapped us. We were all alive, Licmorn back in his elvish body, and Cornelia was here with us, too. Only Rotti remained on the floor as a desiccated corpse. On my left hand, where the tattoo Xiximanter left me with had been, a different one appeared. A wide-open eye. Everyone had been marked in the same way. Gour-Gash was also still gripping a bottle of ambrosia and I had a bottle with a fragment of an angel's soul on me. My hand that the Friend had flayed was also now skinless and bleeding slightly, yet it didn't hurt. We found the strange mechanical egg-bomb where we left it and Mirek was not far away - he fell victim to a gravity-reversing trap and lay pierced by spikes on the ceiling.<br /><br />We died in the first days of Autumn in the year 198 after the Golden Day. How long have we been wandering the Underworld?<br /><br /><b>GM Commentary:</b><br />Just in case you were wondering, they were exploring <a href="https://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-isles-of-dead.html" target="_blank">these islands</a> at first, but them left them and sailed beyond.<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/12/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-sessions-7-8.html"><i>prior</i></a> | <i>next</i><br /></p><p></p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-47194129743310537022023-12-12T07:30:00.002+01:002023-12-16T18:13:32.639+01:00Tomb of the Serpent King 5e, sessions 7 & 8<p style="text-align: justify;">TPK, technically.<br /><br /><b>Dramatis personae:</b><br /></p><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><b>Gour-Gash</b>, a goliath barbarian. Dislikes narrow passages.</li><li><b>Licmorn</b>, an eladrin sorcerer. Depetrified after a thousand years and kind of insane for it.</li><li><b>Rotti</b>, a tiefling cleric. Likes to bad-mouth people to their face.</li><li><b>Yanzar</b>, a dark elf druid. Very sneaky, except he loves loud, thunderous spells.</li></ul><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /><b>Followers:</b><br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Toxin</b>, an owlin alchemist. Once a familiar who became an apprentice, then an adventurer when his master has met an untimely end.</li></ul><p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSVeC2DXxV1Prp1ivSl9Sfd51GjwGmCCyE5A85fnW1amJIoufHsbqPtveUx7Li0SnmmvDDvpTrpo0gio6LnW2TSAh1pMS4DgSSh1_hC09xkCtABATvbtY3oRnpy9U7_8VPb2bv_aaVnSrT9Fbhf9ccw8_wjwr1eVCVeZWqD_2eImXS5acNzv3OQclfCvw/s1920/steam-bomb.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1920" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSVeC2DXxV1Prp1ivSl9Sfd51GjwGmCCyE5A85fnW1amJIoufHsbqPtveUx7Li0SnmmvDDvpTrpo0gio6LnW2TSAh1pMS4DgSSh1_hC09xkCtABATvbtY3oRnpy9U7_8VPb2bv_aaVnSrT9Fbhf9ccw8_wjwr1eVCVeZWqD_2eImXS5acNzv3OQclfCvw/s320/steam-bomb.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By <a href="https://www.behance.net/gallery/41263509/Steambomb-WIP" target="_blank">Vladimir Petkovic</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/03/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-session-6.html">prior</a></i> | <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/12/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-sessions-9-10.html"><i>next</i></a></p><p style="text-align: justify;">After escaping from Balalán, Rotti went to the Trollish Mountains - scattered in the mountain valleys are so many tiny villages that nobody can search them all. If a person wants to disappear, this is one of the better ways. For perhaps a week or more, she continued deeper and deeper into the mountains, until one day she arrived to the Halfway Hamlet.<br /><br />"Good afternoon, sir, I was wondering whether you have any free rooms? And a lunch?" she asks the innkeeper smoking his pipe on a bench in the shade of a large oak.<br /><br />"Of course, miss! Come in, come in! I've got a delicious mutton goulash on the stove right now, you'll surely enjoy it, and a tankard of beer too, right? That'll come in handy after a long journey. Or two perhaps? To cheer you up a little, too, eh? Hey, Kača, get some goulash and two beers here for the lady! And you can sit here, my dear, please, and I'll be right back." The innkeeper never stops talking as he leads her inside.<br /><br />The inn is rather deserted right now, cramped and a little smoky, but as clean as possible. An elderly, white-haired man is sitting at a table near one of the windows, drawing and writing something in a book. On the table in front of him is a tankard of beer and a golden statuette of a humanoid with a snake's head. As the man reaches for his beer, he misses the handle and looks up in surprise, as if he's suddenly snapped back to reality. When he finally grabs the tankard, he notices Rotti studying him. He gestures a greeting with a smile and a nod, but then returns to his book.<br /><br />In the meantime, the innkeeper comes back, puts a beer and a bowl of hot goulash in front of her, and starts talking again. It quickly becomes simply a background droning sound to Rotti. She eats and rests, until on the floor above, there is a crash, as if something heavy had fallen to the floor. Both the innkeeper and the white-haired man look up at the ceiling, but when nothing else is happening, they let it go. Rotti startles a little.<br /><br />Then there's a scratching sound from above and it sounds like someone is dragging something across the floor.<br /><br />Rotti swallows a gulp of beer and, staring at the ceiling, asks the innkeeper "If I may, is this normal here?"<br /><br />The innkeeper also looks concerned.<br /><br />"Magister?" He turns to the old man. "Did something happen to your friend? Doesn't he need help?"<br /><br />The magister breaks away from his book and puts it down. They all listen for a moment, the sound has suddenly stopped, but soon it's back.<br /><br />"Well, I thought he was asleep," the magister says, getting up. "I'd better go check on him. He was actually getting better, I thought." And he heads for the stairs to the upper floor.<br /><br />Rotti stands up, too, uncertain though as she is. "I'm a cleric, if anything... I can help."<br /><br />"Ah, that would be very kind of you, miss. I did treat him, but then again, I'm not a healer, am I? Sorry, I'm magister Harant, an alchemist."<br /><br />"Rotti," she smiles a bit.<br /><br />And they go up the stairs, into a short corridor lined with doors to the rooms on both sides. The magister comes to one of the doors, knocks and opens it. There are four narrow beds, one of which is occupied by something with a lot of feathers.<br /><br />"Are you okay?" the magister asks, "we heard some noises downstairs-"<br /><br />But then he stops as the scraping and sliding sound comes again, from a different door across the hall.<br /><br />"That's my room," he says, confused, "but there's no one there."<br /><br />He turns to that door, opens it, and then freezes. He even seems to have stopped breathing. Rotti peeks around his shoulder, hiding behind him just to be sure. The room is very similar to the first one, except it has been thoroughly trashed. And in the middle of the room lies... something.<br /><br />It could be a huge carcass, but it looks too alive for that. The massive head is half covered with lizard skin, the other half showing bare bone between tangles of raw muscles. Below the neck is something like a body, but most of it seems to be missing. Six limbs are growing out of the half-formed body, yet only the front left is complete, ending in sharp claws which the monster digs into the floor as it slowly pulls itself forward. The other five legs are stunted, spasmodic and non-functional. But then Rotti notices that the flesh on the skull appears to be growing and that the skin is tightening around the gaping wounds, that the lame limbs are quickly lengthening and even the buds of new claws are starting to show. And yes, there's also the creature's single eye. Amber in colour, almost as if it glowed with an inner light. Focused at the magister, who has gone strangely gray, as if there was a layer of dust covering him.<br /><br />Rotti slams the door closed. Behind them, she can hear the monster getting closer and closer. In the other room, the feathered creature has woken up. He looks like an overgrown owl huddled under a duvet.<br /><br />"Hi, I'm Rotti, but that doesn't matter right now," Rotti half whispers, half calls at him. "We have a problem. Something petrified the magister, I guess, and we'll probably end up the same if we don't do something like immediately."<br /><br />"Shit," the feathered guy says as he jumps out of bed. "Shit, shit, shit. I'm Toxin, by the way. Pleased to meet you. And shit." He pulls a satchel from under his bed and hurries over to the magister as he rummages through it. "Nothing in here... I have nothing. Shit."<br /><br />The monster hits the door.<br /><br />Rotti winces. "So... Any plan?"<br /><br />"Barricade the door? We can try to drag the magister away and then hide somewhere. The rest of my party is gone now, but they should be back by evening at the latest. If the door holds until evening, we can take care of that thing. My party has some, y'know, stab-happy people."<br /><br />"Oh-kay. Sure."<br /><br />Yet they can already hear the monster slamming its claws into the door. They push the magister to the wall and take one bed from the first room, but as they're just about to prop it against the dangerously shaking door, a claw goes right through the wood and leaves a long gash behind.<br /><br />“Shit, shit, shit,” says Toxin.<br /><br />"Mirror?" Rotti blurts out.<br /><br />“Good idea, but I don't have any."<br /><br />"Well, we could try to find one, but..." She bites her lip. "Or I might try using a light spell? To dazzle that thing?"<br /><br />“That might actually w-” and then Toxin jumps at her.<br /><br />At that moment, the door almost explodes. Three claws and the head of a huge lizard, which is already growing its second eye, push through the wreckage. Toxin just barely manages to knock Rotti out of the way, so the razor sharp claws miss her by a hair's breadth. Judging by the cracks spreading on the walls, the monster probably won't stay trapped in the room much longer.<br /><br />"Okay," Rotti says, lying on the floor. "I'll blind it temporarily and you then permanently. Ready?"<br /><br />The wall becomes a cloud of shards and splinters and spills out into the hallway. One floor down, the innkeeper is yelling and a woman is screaming. The monster squeezes into the corridor, slamming into the magister's statue, and roars.<br /><br />"Or we could run," Toxin says.<br /><br />"Samal protect us," Rotti murmurs, but she's too shaken to move.<br /><br />Toxin fishes some kind of vial out of his satchel and throws it at the monster, pulling Rotti towards the stairs at the same time. Whatever was in the vial splashes over the monster's head and begins to sizzle menacingly - and the monster roars in pain and rage. It starts thrashing about, twisting and tearing until it forces its way back to the destroyed room, slapping the two adventurers with its tail in the process. They roll down the stairs, wood creaking and walls shattering above them.<br /><br />As they land in a heap on the floor of the inn, screams of alarm, then fear, then pain are heard from outside. From the village.<br /><br />"What in the name of the Three-That-Are-One is going on?!" the innkeeper shouts.<br /><br />He grabs a baton he had hidden under the bar counter and opens the main door. Rotti and Toxin glimpse a huge lizard swallowing one of the villagers under the oak tree. Then it gazes at the innkeeper, who turns to stone in mid-stride. The door swings back on its hinges and closes again.</p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>From the diary of Yanzar, 27th to 29th day of Harvest, 198 Aureum Diem</i><br />We entered the inn, wary and properly paranoid. Gour-Gash went to investigate the situation upstairs, and in the meantime we discovered Toxin huddled in the kitchen with a broken wing and a tiefling woman named Rotti tending to him. While we were trying to find out what has happened, Gour-Gash found a statue of the magister lying in front of his destroyed room, his head and one arm broken off. All petrified.<br /><br />The basilisk skull was not in the magister's room.<br /><br />Schmee insisted that we must find a way to save the magister and Licmorn convinced him that he will be able to safely fuse a shattered statue this time. Second time's the charm, right? Predictably, when we smeared the magister with a dungeon cucumber, he was depetrified in pieces and Licmorn completely failed to heal him. He bled out immediately. Schmee was inconsolable and frankly quite angry. He was screaming a lot. Even at me.<br /><br />The sudden, echoing animal roar did not add to the hilarity of the situation either.<br /><br />When Gour-Gash went to investigate, he heard stomping and sniffing just around a corner. Licmorn threw a tankard of beer out of the window to attract (or distract) the beast, and immediately a large eye, definitely a basilisk's, peered inside. He shot it with an arrow and Gour-Gash rushed outside to meet the creature in melee. Though fighting with one hand over his eyes, he managed to keep the basilisk busy and the rest of our group brought it down with sustained shower of arrows and magic. Then we gathered a large pyre of wood and burnt the bodies of the basilisk and the magister, wary of further reanimations. With the setting sun and the crackling of the fire, only Licmorn's harp sounded in the night.<br /><br />Also Schmee apparently packed up his things and left.<br /><br />The next day, we collected the survivors from the village, hiding in the woods, and feasted on the food and booze left in the inn. Licmorn won some gold by drinking everyone under the table. The <i>next</i> next day, we set of towards Balalán. Rotti looked quite uneasy about our destination, until afer some probing she confined in us that she is viscount Malévol's wife and currently on the run. Well, we will have a week to figure something out.<br /><br /><i>From the diary of Yanzar, 32nd day of Harvest, 198 Aureum Diem</i><br />Today, we happened upon an overturned wagon in the middle of nowhere. Wolves gathered around it, tearing at some corpses. Licmorn threw them some sausages and they decided to take the bribe and run. After a closer inspection of the crime scene, Rotti realized that the wagon belonged to a tax collector - her husband's tax collector. The guards lying around had been slain by a blade, not fangs, though, and there were tracks leading to the forest, as if someone had dragged something heavy - and the chest with the taxes was gone.<br /><br />We followed the tracks from the valley up into the mountains, until we came upon a small river springing from a rock face. The sun was already setting and campfire flickered between the boulders at the foot of the cliff. Rotti and Gour-Gash agreed on a tactic of confusion, where Rotti would play a damsel in distress pursued by a barbarian brute, to discombobulate possible lookouts. What they found instead was one sleeping and drunk bandit, though he was discombobulated alright when Rotti woke him up by repeatedly kicking him. Behind the campfire, an entrance to a dark tunnel loomed. We tied the lookout up and dragged him away from the tunnel, so that we could interrogate the young man in peace and learn more about the wherebouts of any danger or gold in the underground. Unfortunately, he was pretty out of it, so I went to have a look at the place myself, taking on the form of a panther.<br /><br />Immediately, the tunnel forked into three passages, but taking the straight and narrow path, I found a place where it opened into a larger cave, overlooking the underground part of the river we came here alongside. The cave kept going further, but I was more interested in a shaft in the ceiling above the water, from which faint light was coming. I returned for the rest of the group and we decided to climb up the hole. Still in my panther form, I easily jumped over the river and climbed the rock face on the other side. Licmorn jumped after me, but he was way short and the strong current immediately started dragging him under. Gour-Gash and Rotti managed to throw him a rope, though, so I let them to save him and climbed up the shaft.<br /><br />I found myself right in the bandit' hideout, where two women were roasting a horse leg over a fire pit. They started screaming for help, but I wanted to have a peek at the next room. I got an axe in the face for my trouble. I guess I deserved that. Barely evading a second swing, I jumped down the shaft and landed in the river. The others have apparently started to fight a couple of giant wolves in the meantime, but thankfully Licmorn had the presence of mind to help me out of the water before I drowned.<br /><br />The wolves were slowly pushing Gour-Gash back and the tunnel was too narrow for anyone else to assist him, and then we heard many feet coming running from the other direction. We were stuck. Licmorn decided that the best way to get out of this situation is to climb up the shaft and before anyone could stop him, he jumped into the river again. We had to pull him out again, while Gour-Gash was barely holding off the giant wolves. With the persuasive power of an arrow in the face, we stopped the bandits' charge, and Gour-Gash finally downed one wolf, scaring the other away. We made a tactical retreat, still exchanging arrows with the bandits, but not before Rotti managed to shoot Gour-Gash in the back and nearly kill him.<br /><br />We ran towards the forest's edge, the bandits spilling from the cave behind us and preparing their pursuit. A quick plan was formed. Rotti and I were to go further into the forest while Gour-Gash and Licmorn would hide and then flank our pursuers. They disappeared into the bushes, but before we could get further than some hundred feet, I noticed the glow of a fire. Two mercenaries of viscount Malévol, apparently those who survived the bandit ambush earlier, were camped here. One of them was called Brent, and the other slept like a log. Then we heard the bandits drawing close, so Brent and I prepared to fight side by side. There was the big guy with an axe, several other bandits and an elderly druid riding the one remaining giant wolf. They saw us and charged, but at that moment Licmorn stepped from behind a tree and released a massive barrage of magic, taking several of the bandits down. Then he turned into a flower pot, but I don't think that was fully intended. Unfortunately, it was us who were distracted by the sudden transformation of our sorcerer, and the big guy with an axe used the opportunity to get to Rotti and cleave her down. In retaliation, I burned him to death. Then I went to administer first aid to the bleeding and unconscious Rotti while the others mopped up the remaining bandits. Apparently, the druid has disappeared on his wolf the moment the fight went sideways for their side.<br /><br />We settled around Brent's campfire, deciding to try for some sleep while keeping careful watch for the druid. And indeed, during my patrol he returned, attempting to ensnare me in some enchantment. But luck was on our side and I roused Gour-Gash before the giant wolf could pounce at him, and along with Brent we had quickly slain them both. The druid's tattoo - a goblet overgrown with blackberries - revealed him to be a member of the black druids my master was hunting for. Interesting...<br /><br />After some quality wolf steaks in the morning cooked by Mirek, the heavily sleeping mercenary, we returned to the cave - a second attempt, now with next to no resistance. We captured one of the remaining bandits and he led us to their treasure - a chest full of tax money was placed under a ceiling-high statue of a muscular man with a veiled face, the statue badly damaged. While we were busy dividing the loot, out captive somehow managed to escape his restrains - or so Licmorn says...<br /><br />We also found a spiral staircase with the entrance arch bearing an inscription:<br /> <br /></p><blockquote>"Closing darkness frights the mind, yet oft-times light does naught but blind."</blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"> <br />I persuaded the group - and did it take some effort - to climb the stairs blindly and with no light. No one was hurt or lost or whatever other trap was lurking there, so it was clearly the right decision, yet the others failed to properly congratulate me.<br /><br />Anyway, we found ourselves in a grandiose corridor with a tapestry depicting a Dark One's triumph - a woman with a veiled face followed by a veiled army slaughtering through many different species and cities. Around the corner behind a broken bronze gate covered in scorch marks was a hall with a long table, the whole top of the table taken by a massive map of the Trollish Mountains, with tiny forts and towers and cities marked, and figurines bearing the standards of the Dark Ones and presumably their enemies standing all over it. We didn't recognize most of the iconography, but one figurine had the coat of arms of the Malévols. Around the table, some nicely decorated chairs were arranged with old corpses sitting in them, the corpse at the head of the table being pinned down by a silver spear through its back. The remains of their clothes bore golden military insignia.<br /><br />While most of us investigated the map, Brent went to rummage through the cabinets standing by the walls, and soon he found a secret door. Behind it, there was a small, simple room with a heavily reinforced and rune-inscribed chest, but Brent didn't hesitate and opened it post haste. It seemed rather critically easy. Inside, we found a suit of black material that included gloves, boots, a hood and a mask, which would cover every inch of one's body if donned. There was a mechanical egg inscribed with countless runes, too, oozing deathly magic - and it had a big red button on top.<br /><br />After some persuasion, we forced Mirek to put on the suit, yet nothing bad happened to him. Emboldened, Licmorn suggested that he presses the button. He seemed rather reluctant, but we once again persuaded him to do so.<br /><br />He did so.<br /><br />"Beep" and ten runes appeared. "Beep" and nine runes remained. Then eight. Seven. Six...<br /><br />We ran, Mirek shouting after us in confusion. After the few remaining heartbeats, a shimmering wall appeared behind our backs and started to spread rapidly in all directions. Licmorn was the slowest and he fell to the ground the second the wall touched him, lifeless. Then it was Rotti, Gour-Gash, Brent and then I... <br /><br /><b>GM Commentary:</b><br /><br />Well... I sincerely didn't expect them to press the big red button immediately, without any inspection of the device or rummaging through the books and scrolls in the hall. Does this even really count as a TPK?<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/03/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-session-6.html"><i>prior</i></a> | <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/12/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-sessions-9-10.html"><i>next</i></a><br /></p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-4377702982119660232023-03-29T12:05:00.002+02:002023-12-10T16:41:37.310+01:00Tomb of the Serpent King 5e, session 6<p style="text-align: justify;">Yanzar makes a new friend!<br /><br /><b>Dramatis personae:</b><br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Gour-Gash</b>, a goliath barbarian. Collector of various weapons who understands the better part of valor.</li><li><b>Trollin</b>, a hill dwarf cleric. A red-robed inquisitor with a hidden agenda and a cunning tongue.</li><li><b>Yanzar</b>, a dark elf druid. Very sneaky, except he loves loud, thunderous spells.</li></ul><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /><b>Followers:</b><br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Schmee</b>, a goblin famulus. A little cowardly. Likes bonsai trees and tea.</li></ul><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYay4Beh4Po_iLTlz7z0PrUG-9hwa3JrvfJfyem8DV1e7be707M1hJzPCeOaptv7nxHEKrasSYO2ra_IzJD59DbYopULbCwyUzBya19djkNkJj80dlE8VPaCKMfHWUOw928_VdxKsxk5_uJ8IPie-w1IJz-SmVVdymHj_4P5xARL4L4ST_9hRBRiL/s1497/Stink-16.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1122" data-original-width="1497" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYay4Beh4Po_iLTlz7z0PrUG-9hwa3JrvfJfyem8DV1e7be707M1hJzPCeOaptv7nxHEKrasSYO2ra_IzJD59DbYopULbCwyUzBya19djkNkJj80dlE8VPaCKMfHWUOw928_VdxKsxk5_uJ8IPie-w1IJz-SmVVdymHj_4P5xARL4L4ST_9hRBRiL/s320/Stink-16.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dungeon cucumber<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/03/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-session-5.html">prior</a> | next</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Yanzar wakes up on the floor of Xiximanter's cage room. From the moment he was paralyzed and abandoned by the rest of the party until now, he remembers nothing, and his head is throbbing in pain. Xiximanter stands over him, hands clasped behind his back, skull turned slightly to the side as if in thought.<br /><br />“Fascinating,” he says, “I don't see any Dark Ones in your memories. We disappeared. We were all-powerful and eternal — and then we just disappeared. Isn't that funny?<br /><br />Maybe I closed myself off too much from the world. I lost an entire empire, and I didn't even notice!" He laughs. "But that just means I was right. And my work is just that much more important."<br /><br />He then looks at Yanzar: "Say you, little elf, would you like to die or live?"<br /><br />"Ehm, Lord Xiximanter, I... I would definitely like to live. I would definitely like to make up for any damage or problems we might have caused, too!"<br /><br />"Yes, everyone would like to live! To live and not to dwell on death. Never to think about death. To live forever. Why should one die, anyway?"<br /><br />He stares at Yanzar for a moment, as if pondering something, then fishes out a vial from the folds of his robes. "Drink this," he orders.<br /><br />Yanzar slowly takes the vial - it is full of clear, rose-scented liquid - and resignig himself to his fate, drinks it in one gulp. It's warm - first in the stomach, then all over the body. Yandar's pupils start to dilate. He's absolutely bursting with energy. He looks up at Xiximanter and stammers: "I thought your- Ehm, I did not expect... this... sir. With all due respect."<br /><br />It nearly looks like Xiximanter's smiling, although it's hard to tell from his bare skull. But when Yanzar goes to hand the bottle back to him, he suddenly squeezes Yanzar's hand. A strange shimmering feeling washes over Yanzar's wrist and a tattoo in the shape of a runic cobra appears on his skin.<br /><br />"Appearances are not always deceiving," Xiximanter says. “I don't care what you and your party do in this crumbling crypt. You can't do any harm.<br /><br />I am interested in your original task, though. Your master sent you to find a certain Malévol. I, too, once knew a Malévol. Médard Malévol robbed me and then disappeared. But it seems that during the years I was lost in my seclusion, the cockroaches stopped being afraid and came out into the light. I want my property back and you will help me. If you find out anything about the Malévols, any Malévols, let me know. Just press my sigil and I will hear you. Find me the Malévols, or better yet, find me Médard Malévol."<br /><br />"I'll definitely let you know whatever I can find." Yanzar rubs his hand with a frown.<br /><br />"Now, do you think your friends will come back for you?"<br /><br />"I don't know. What do you intent to do with them?"<br /><br />"We shall see," Xiximanter says, waving his hand to summon a gust of wind that sends Yanzar sliding into one of the cages. The cage door closes and the lock clicks. "We shall see."</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>***</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>From the diary of Trollin, 26th day of Harvest, 198 Aureum Diem</i><br />Although I didn't like it, I had to order my goblin women to get off me and to give me and my one remaining companion a moment to think. Although I have known Yanzar for barely any time, my conscience and especially my god would never let me rest if I left him in the clutches of that dead sorcerer. If he really is a Dark One as Gour-Gash claimed, Yanzar would be in for a very unpleasant fate. I had to hope that I can appease the lich with copious compensation for the damage my party caused, and some deference. The former won't be a problem.<br /><br />I ordered a dozen goblins to follow me and led them to the alchemical workshop. Though scared and grumbling, I managed to force them to obey by sheer intimidation and having Gour-Gash at their back to kill any would-be runaways. Janek went with Gour-Gash to provide him with light, but the magister and Schmee were left with the goblins for the time being, despite their obvious unease.<br /><br />I knocked on the lich's door and then he was standing there. Xiximanter, a Dark Lord. So it was true. No wonder only Gour-Gash returned from this misadventure.<br /><br />I had to choose my words very carefully. Fortunately, my training taught me humility, even if feigned and insincere. But still, I flattered the Dark One. The goblins were accepted as a replacement for those left loose in his workshop, but he demanded my shield, blessed by Miri, in exchange for Yanzar's release. Though my blood was boiling, I reasoned with myself that if I refused and made him angry, it wouldn't help me nor Yanzar nor anyone at all. May the Three-That-Are-One forgive me. Xiximanter returned Yanzar to us and before we retreated, he told us that he would pay handsomely for every magic-user we bring to him.<br /><br />"What a reasonable skull guy," Gour-Gash said.<br /><br />Now, though, nothing awaits me here in this tomb. I rescued Yanzar and found out about the whereabouts of a surviving Dark One. Just as high priest Vatek feared. Now I must get back to Balalán as quickly as possible and report my findings. We returned for the magister and though She-Bull was loath to let me go, I convinced her that I shall be back in just a few days. Well, it might take more than a few days, but hopefully I shall be back, with an order of holy warriors to raze this place.<br /><br />We also took the golden statuette that was the goblin king before me, and the magister decided to try his depetrification mushrooms on a petrified head, so we brought it to the inn as well. It worked, and it was bloody and ugly. We drank to our dead comrades and the now dead head.<br /><br />But I had my mission and no more time to spare. The only thing left to do was offer an apprenticeship to Janek. He has proven his mettle and will make a fine addition to the Church's finest. His father was reluctant at first, but he soon understood the opportunity that his son has within his grasp. <br /><br />We slept until the morning, said goodbye to Gour-Gash and the others, and joined an Ugrathi caravan headed to Balalán. May Miri guide and protect my companions until I return with fire and blessed blades.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>***</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>From the diary of Yanzar, 27th day of Harvest, 198 Aureum Diem</i><br />In the morning, we (Gour-Gash and I) said goodbye to Trollin and headed back to the dungeon with Schmee on our heels. Although I knew Trollin for a very short time, he saved my life and I will never forget that.<br /><br />We stopped for more of the miraculous anti-petrification cucumber-fungus-things and went to decide which statues we could bring to life. The magister was excited by the idea that he could talk to someone who actually lived centuries ago. (There technically was Xiximanter, but who in their right mind would want to talk to him?) We searched through the statue room and found the least damaged ones - a lady dwarf in heavy armor, a belligerent-looking human woman, a robed elf, a (possibly) human with horns and decorative armour, and three statues entangled in an embrace, an orc and two gnomes. Starting with the least burly one, we had Schmee crush the cucumber and carefully smear the elf statue with it. After a while, the stone cracked and crumbled away. An orange-yellow-gold elf emerged from the dust - he was literally all tinged in autumn colors; his skin, clothes and all. He was clearly still shaken from his stony sleep and he immediately drew a crossbow at us. After a bit of calming down, we learned that he is one of the Sidhe. He spoke Elvish with a very strange accent and seemed completely oblivious even to our calendar.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Gour-Gash and Schmee managed to revive another statue - the human fightress. Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that she was once loyal to Xiximanter, so a scuffle broke out until we managed to tie her up.<br /><br />Our new golden friend then told us that he was petrified on his way to assassinate Xiximanter, and that he was a part of a hit squad. We found one of his brothers-in-arms - one headless statue lying nearby - and he insisted on trying to revive it even though the head was nowhere to be found. It turned out quite predictably and our golden friend had a small meltdown. On reflection, we might have taken the head of this statue with us yesterday, to experiment with...<br /><br />Gour-Gash had the perfect idea to use our captive as a guinea pig for one of the unopened tombs, so we took her there. On the way past the terracotta statues sitting on the three thrones, however, the prisoner managed to momentarily slip Gour-Gash's grasp and crack one of them. Gour-Gash cracked her neck in retaliation. She still had released three skeletons from inside the statues, but even though the crown-bearing skeleton was throwing some strange black fire about, we quickly subdued them all.<br /><br />Before we returned to the village for a dinner, I persuaded the others to make a quick detour to see Xiximanter. I had some questions.<br /><br />Arriving at the village was unexpectedly grim. Something foul had clearly happened and the village had been ransacked, as if people dropped everything they were doing and ran away. Splashes of blood were left on the ground and the inn had a huge hole in the wall. No birds nor other animals could be heard.<br /><br />Just behind the door of the inn stood a statue of the innkeeper.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>***</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Yanzar knocks on Xiximanter's door. Nothing happens for a moment, then the door opens slowly and silently. No one is behind them.<br /><br />The alchemical workshop has been somewhat cleaned of the havoc wreaked by the party and a skeleton covered in orange slime is kneeling under the table, scrubbing the floor which still has a slightly greenish-gold tint to it. On the table in the center of the room now lies some kind of a silvery orb roughly the size of a human head.<br /><br />"Come on in, little elf," Xiximanter calls from the warehouse. "Why did you come? You couldn't get results that fast - so what do you need?"<br /><br />"I would like to know if you can tell me anything about Runcius Malévol, as I know nothing about him except that he is somewhere in these mountains. It would be quite helpful in my search for malévols, if you could give me any information."<br /><br />When Yanzar enters the warehouse, he sees Xiximanter standing in the middle of the room, hand splayed, a goblin hovering in the air in front of him. The goblin is rolling his eyes, his arms are outstretched and his chest is open. Organs are slowly flying out of his chest cavity and landing in prepared containers set on the ground. The rest of the goblins are cowering in three cages and not even breathing as they're trying to disappear from notice.<br /><br />"I don't know your Runcius Malévol, but I know the Malévols. Once upon a time, they served the Storm King and served him well. Many generations of Malévols served him and they won glory and power for themselves in his services. They were even appointed the magistrates in Balalán and the surrounding lands under the mountains. They began to consider themselves a powerful noble house and eventually rebelled against the poor old Storm King."<br /><br />Xiximanter laughs and the goblin's still beating heart flies out of his body. The goblin gasps and stares at the drops of blood swirling around the heart.<br /><br />"As far as I know, the Malévols made a deal with the Aunian Empire and invited the Triune Church to Balalán. That's when the slaves of the other Dark Lords started rebelling. I was travelling a lot back then and didn't have time to deal with such trivialities.<br /><br />Once when I was away from my palace, however, Médard Malévol broke in and stole my grail- He stole my property."<br /><br />Xiximanter finally turns to Yanzar. The goblin falls to the floor and crawls away from Xiximanter, groping at his body in terror. His chest is still open and now completely empty.<br /><br />"The Malévol family had many members, and I'm sure it didn't just disappear. They must have estates, mansions, residences. Find any Malévol and he might be able to tell you more about Médard. Or about that Runcius of yours. And if the first Malévol doesn't know anything, kill him and try a cousin. One of them must know something."<br /><br />"Ehm... Thanks for the information, I guess... I'll go then," Yanzar mumbles and slowly inches away. "I don't want to keep you from important things..."<br /><br />“One moment, please,” Xiximanter slides closer, as if examining something on Yanzar (in Yanzar?).<br /><br />"Can I... help you?"<br /><br />"Try feeding this to one of your companions," Xiximanter says. One of the glass containers with goblin pieces rises from the floor and floats through the air towards Yanzar. Who knows which organ is it - maybe the spleen? - but it pulsates slightly. It seems that Xiximanter lost interest in this interaction. He swoops over to the poor goblin, poking at it with a skeletal finger as the goblin tries to crawl away.<br /><br />"Uuh, should I be worried about something? What effects will it have?"<br /><br />"I'm curious, too."<br /><br />"Well, you created it. You must have some-"<br /><br />Xiximanter stands up and turns around, robes billowing. "Do you know what a mutation is? A random change in an organism. Sometimes beneficial," he motions to the disemboweled goblin who won't die, "and sometimes less so. Mostly much less so. But the most interesting and least predictable results are always when using multiple subjects from different races. Mutagenic hybridization."<br /><br />"Aah, then... I'll definitely... Yeah. Ehm, so... Thank you and nice talking to you?" Yanzar says as he backs out of the room.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/03/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-session-5.html">prior</a> | next</i></p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-69025420148389247872023-03-08T22:36:00.005+01:002023-12-10T16:41:25.405+01:00Tomb of the Serpent King 5e, session 5<p>The mysterious master of the Tomb is encountered and angered, with predictable results.<br /><br /><b>Dramatis personae:</b><br /></p><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><b>Gour-Gash</b>, a goliath barbarian. Collector of various weapons who understands the better part of valor.</li><li><b>Trollin</b>, a hill dwarf cleric. A red-robed inquisitor with a hidden agenda. Also horny.</li><li><b>Yanzar</b>, a dark elf druid. Very sneaky, except he loves loud, thunderous spells.</li><li><b>Zeru</b>, an air genasi warlock. A gentleman and a scholar, sent by his genie patron to learn about the barbaric customs and traditions of the far West.</li><li><b>Zyl</b>, a half-elf rogue. Curiously honest and helpful for a wanted criminal.</li></ul><p><br /><b>Followers:</b><br /></p><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><b>Janek</b>, a linkboy. The son of a local innkeeper who will be mightily cross is he learns where the adventurers took his child.</li><li><b>Schmee</b>, a goblin famulus. A little cowardly. Likes bonsai trees and tea.</li><li><b>magister Kryštof Harant</b>, an alchemist and archeologist. Very easily distracted with any historical artifacts. Or strange creatures. Or herbs of any kind. Or nice-looking pebbles.</li></ul><p><br />If any of the players have by sheer chance found this recap, do not read any further, please.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_4l8Dk6v2z2iZa8R7UOEPrft4bjKkIMlJ_MvXBTLDg3qk_5pGfXrVtcvs04Kixo7an31hQ9-X7reZSWpmzX6DP7OSvLGTuNMyTsgDJIDvile4_9ZR25VCeidFJaEVWccIlzDBy-OQLVwNPNUvRJoWY19qP9PNdYqF6bRv4NKrRkzLG1vXt6Y8CGX/s1920/skulls-g93691d8bd_1920.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1920" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_4l8Dk6v2z2iZa8R7UOEPrft4bjKkIMlJ_MvXBTLDg3qk_5pGfXrVtcvs04Kixo7an31hQ9-X7reZSWpmzX6DP7OSvLGTuNMyTsgDJIDvile4_9ZR25VCeidFJaEVWccIlzDBy-OQLVwNPNUvRJoWY19qP9PNdYqF6bRv4NKrRkzLG1vXt6Y8CGX/s320/skulls-g93691d8bd_1920.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/02/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-session-4.html">prior</a> | <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/03/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-session-6.html">next</a></i><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>From the diary of Trollin, 26th day of Harvest, 198 Aureum Diem</i><br />We defeated the stone cobra guardian. A flawless victory.<br /><br />After the fight, I advised Gour-Gash not to tease any further statues, or they might try something, too. But I don't think he was really listening, as he seemed really keen on finding that one shield from the hundreds placed on the walls that would perfectly fit his style and looks. Anyway, we were all exhausted, so we sat down for a quick breather until a click snapped us out of our slumber. It came from the stairway slide, which became a staircase again.<br /><br />We gathered our things and cautiously went back up. At the top of the stairs, a stranger greeted us with a crowbar in his hand. He warned us about the hidden mechanism that sets off this trap. Right behind him, I recognized Janek and Zeru, so I didn't question the stranger at the moment. From Janek we learned that the magister and Schmee have been kidnapped by the goblins again and that Janek ran all the way back to the village, where he recruited both Zeru and the stranger to rescue all of us. Also the stranger expected payment. From me. After a bit of back and forth, we agreed that no payment will be provided at the moment, given that we needed no saving, but that he may share in any treasures we shall uncover. The stranger's name seems to be "Not important", so he's probably a foreigner. I've heard that the elves of Draja name themselves in such an incomprehensible manner.<br /><br />I had an inkling where our two victims might have been taken to, so we all went through the hidden passage to the hall with the dead basilisk. To our surprise, the hall was well illuminated by several bonfires and full of goblins. In the middle, a square was marked out with the basilisk's chain, a fighting arena. Magister Harant and Schmee were tied to a pillar.<br /><br />The goblin commander I challenged was already waiting for me. He apparently calls himself Face-Your-Death, probably because he soon will be really dead, when I finish with him. We got in the arena and exchanged the customary insults. But I didn't pay that much attention to him, as there was a she-goblin by his side, probably a shaman who came to preside over our duel. She shall be mine.<br /><br />Combat was over fast. He managed a few hefty blows, but nothing I couldn't heal later. On the other hand, with the favor of Miri, I inflicted horrendous wounds upon him, until he fell dead. The goblins immediately began proclaiming me their new king, and it seemed that even She-Bull (the goblin shamaness) favored me now.<br /><br />I ordered the two poor fools released from the pillar and arranged for some of the goblins to get out of our way and go on errands, while the party will be led by She-Bull to the goblins' treasure room. "Not important" also finally admitted that people usually call him Zyl. I must say, his art of eloquence could be envied by many. He coaxed ten gold from the magister as a reward for his rescue, more than the rest of us saw even though we've already rescued him the second time, and he agreed that we can keep the artifacts we find in the tomb as a part of the payment.<br /><br />She-Bull led us to the muddy cave where we first met Yanzar and where the goblins were now busy picking mushrooms. The magister spotted some rare "dungeon cucumbers" and gathered a few. Yanzar, on the other hand, noticed some gold coins and would have taken them for himself, had Zyl not forced him to share. It will take more to earn my trust, but this is a good start.<br /><br />We continued through a cave that could be classified as a kitchen and a dormitory in one to the goblin throne room. She-Bull dethroned their temporary king, a golden snake-man statue, and motioned for me to take my rightful place. In that moment, Zeru also handed me a serpent crown they've previously found with Gour-Gash, and I realized that it pulses with powerful magic. I just held it in my hand for now, enjoying the feeling of sitting on a throne, even if it's just a chair in a goblin cave. It's good to be a king.<br /><br />She-Bull then described the tomb to us, or at least the parts the goblins have been to, and revealed all the treasures they have - some food, some silverware and the golden idol. Truth be told, I expected more, but then she introduced me to my new harem. I decided to have some fun while the others return to exploration, but I sent a couple of goblins with them as guides just in case.<br /><br />This next part was only recounted to me by the shaken Gour-Gash:<br /><br />They've made their way to the richly decorated gate beyond the basilisk hall and to the smaller, locked door next to it, because with Zyl they now had new options. Zyl opened the smaller door without a problem and inside, they found a very well-equipped alchemical workshop. They looted some potions, but also noted a bright orange potion being currently prepared in a complex apparatus, so it was painfully obvious the laboratory was not abandoned.<br /><br />Another door lead them to a room with several cages and crates. Six goblins were locked in one of the rune-covered cages, and they immediately pleaded with their brethren still accompanying the party and asked to be rescued from the boogeyman. Zyl let them out and all the goblins immediately ran away, scared. The party is not so easy to shake, though, so Zeru calmly inspected the runes on the cages and found them to bind and counter magic. Gour-Gash discovered a silver circle set into the floor and a small cask of saffron, which he gladly appropriated.<br /><br />Further explorations had to be put aside, though, because the magister and Schmee have drawn the party's attention to a skeleton covered in some kind of orange liquid that walked into the alchemical lab. It seemed more confused than hostile at first, so Yanzar tried to distract it and lead it away, but the skeleton remained impassive, which unfortunately also meant it blocked the exit. Then everything when wrong when the magister tried talking to the skeleton in the Dark Speech, at Gour-Gash's urging. The skeleton suddenly got interested in the magister and tried to push him into one of the magical cages. Yanzar barely managed to push the skeleton off and pull the magister aside.<br /><br />At that moment, everyone has drawn their weapons and they try to neutralize the skeleton. Unfortunately, no matter what they try, they are unable to hurt it. It is as if the orange sludge was blocking any and all harm. In all this confusion, Janek tries to throw random things from the alchemical workshop at the skeleton, but nothing works and he ends up shattering the massive glass apparatus, leaving a violently fuming puddle on the floor. Finally, they tie up the skeleton and throw it into a cage.<br /><br />Another door leads from the room, which Zyl opens after a bit of struggle. However, a cloud of golden-green smoke begins to spread from the alchemical workshop and Gour-Gash is unwilling to risk staying any longer. He pulls a bit of cloth over his face and runs out to the corridor. They then close the doors to the lab from both sides, trapping the smoke inside for the moment.<br /><br />Zyl and the others explore the last room, which is full of bookcases and locked chests. Zeru and the magister inspect the literature, while Zyl shares a flask of foreign coffee, miraculously still hot, with Yanzar. Then, a hooded stranger appears within the silver circle.<br /><br />The stranger is confused as to what is going on, he order them to explain why are they here, where they came from and what do they want. He introduces himself as Xiximanter, the Serpent King. It is pretty clear to the group that he wields powerful magic. They bumble up an excuse of being a diplomatic mission seeking to pay him a tribute, and he tells them to make an appointment next time and to get lost from his sight. Things take a turn for the worse when they try to leave, only to reveal the havoc they wreaked in his laboratory. Janek, the magister and Schmee flee immediately, while Xiximanter is distracted by lamenting over his equipment, but Zyl decides to cover the retreat of the group and whips out his crossbow. He shoots at the lich, but the quarrel dissolves into dust before it can hit. Distracted, Xiximanter makes a minute gesture and Zyl drops dead on the spot.<br /><br />Seeing this, Zeru discorporates into blue smoke and flows into a small lamp he always carries on his belt. The only one left is Yanzar. He tries to run and Gour-Gash is still waiting in the corridor, ready to shut the door behind him, but he fails to avoid Xiximanter's touch and suddenly cannot move. Finally, Gour-Gash realizes that all is lost and runs, too.<br /><br /><b>GM Commentary:</b><br />Here is the stat block for Face-Your-Death:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrFhs6bnf2aZu-WHvhWQHX2SBhusfROTHGBgA7IrmCiVoC5VrYx5ytW8wU9BQmTUwPKS_MnFyaHMcQnR449l271M3dSppfpc4JT0BIwFhuIujldue0qUVC6vw_R46CeuKXuhUp9ya77kUnjioBwtfRBY-J9Xw-Za-oBL4Nd76_UcUkk5KRFrpdd9o/s566/face-your-death.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrFhs6bnf2aZu-WHvhWQHX2SBhusfROTHGBgA7IrmCiVoC5VrYx5ytW8wU9BQmTUwPKS_MnFyaHMcQnR449l271M3dSppfpc4JT0BIwFhuIujldue0qUVC6vw_R46CeuKXuhUp9ya77kUnjioBwtfRBY-J9Xw-Za-oBL4Nd76_UcUkk5KRFrpdd9o/w226-h320/face-your-death.png" width="226" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/02/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-session-4.html">prior</a> | <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/03/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-session-6.html">next</a></i></p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-51251387702617981192023-02-28T18:14:00.007+01:002023-12-10T16:41:09.157+01:00Tomb of the Serpent King 5e, session 4<p style="text-align: justify;">The adventurers encounter the goblins for the second time and have to flee again, so they go and pick a fight with a statue.<br /><br /><b>Dramatis personae:</b><br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Gour-Gash</b>, a goliath barbarian. Strong of muscle, weak of head. Collector of various weapons.</li><li><b>Trollin</b>, a hill dwarf cleric. A red-robed inquisitor who curiously surrounds himself with outlanders and strange types. Definitely has a hidden agenda.</li><li><b>Yanzar</b>, a dark elf druid. Very sneaky, except he loves loud, thunderous spells.</li></ul><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /><b>Followers:</b><br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Janek</b>, a linkboy. The son of a local innkeeper who will be mightily cross is he learns where the adventurers took his child.</li><li><b>Schmee</b>, a goblin famulus. A little cowardly. Likes bonsai trees and tea.</li><li><b>magister Kryštof Harant</b>, an alchemist and archeologist. Very easily distracted with any historical artifacts. Or strange creatures. Or herbs of any kind. Or nice-looking pebbles.</li></ul><p style="text-align: justify;"><br />If any of the players have by sheer chance found this recap, do not read any further, please.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIk-gf9nV8pLXIzwQ8vWHA5BUbsqe1c-I_D1KwypwHzBiH81Gjn_1j06LtmXdJwxblmdsufUwuCMd80F8VsMd9uj75gbbEp1tgwQGDAovbFf6kuopa9mRRIdSAMidgVoc-jaBFkymSUDsTIQeD3GBfjCX8pFilpwY_ST_ow-AU11ZGFgaOUgr0oxM2/s720/d37z3jk-c079bfaa-f387-46c4-a38b-64602b8930be.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="570" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIk-gf9nV8pLXIzwQ8vWHA5BUbsqe1c-I_D1KwypwHzBiH81Gjn_1j06LtmXdJwxblmdsufUwuCMd80F8VsMd9uj75gbbEp1tgwQGDAovbFf6kuopa9mRRIdSAMidgVoc-jaBFkymSUDsTIQeD3GBfjCX8pFilpwY_ST_ow-AU11ZGFgaOUgr0oxM2/s320/d37z3jk-c079bfaa-f387-46c4-a38b-64602b8930be.jpg" width="253" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Goblin Archer</i> by <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/paulabrams/art/Goblin-Archer-194793392" target="_blank">Paul Abrams</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"> <br /><i><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/01/tomb-of-serpent-king-session-3.html">prior</a> | <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/03/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-session-5.html">next</a></i><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Yanzar had a mission. He had a quest. His quest, indeed, was of utmost importance. He had to do his best to find the secret lair of the black druids, a cabal that his teacher and friend Belfinas had long been hunting down.<br /><br />Unfortunately, that lair could be anywhere in the Trollish Mountains, so their little circle of druids has decided to split and cover as much ground as possible individually. Even more unfortunately, this meant that now that Yanzar found a hidey-hole with clear signs of someone regularly using it to slip in and out of some underground area, he had to investigate.<br /><br />He sighed.<br /><br />He climbed in.<br /><br />After a short and clastrophobic squeeze through the gaps between massive tree roots, he emerged between broken stone blocks of some ancient structure. A stairwell descended deeper into the hill. Though torchless, Yanzar had no fear, for his dark-elven eyes would serve him well until even the very last sliver of light disappears. He made his way down the stairs and then down the following corridor. A faint glow could be seen ahead.<br /><br />The corridor suddenly ended, caved-in a long time ago, but the ground gave way too and a muddy, rocky slope went down to a long, mud-filled cavern from where the weak phosphorescence emanated. Fungi of all kinds and shapes were filling the cave, some that even Yanzar as a druid didn't recognize. He slid down the slope and jumped from one rock to the next, easily crossing the cavern clean-footed. At this other end, the main part of the cave took a sharp upturn and a small tunnel split from it, going eastwards. But before he could investigate further, Yanzar had to hide in the shadow of a large boulder, for a gaggle of goblins started to pour out of the tunnel, squabbling and cackling and stinking.<br /><br />Yanzar gripped his scimitar, but the goblins seemed oblivious to his presence. Then, a terrifying voice boomed out from behind him, startling him and sending the goblins to a panicked scramble.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>***</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>From the diary of Trollin, 25th day of Harvest, 198 Aureum Diem</i><br />Facing the puckered, goblinish faces peering at us, I didn't hesitate. Making a simple thaumaturgical gesture, I yelled at the goblins in the cave below, my eyes flashing and my voice booming. They were immediately spooked and ran off, further into the darkness. Little cowards.<br /><br />Our group carefully made it down the muddy ramp where the corridor collapsed into the cave below, to the edge of the thick mud covering the entire cave floor. All manner of mushrooms and molds were growing there, some even glowing slightly. I sent Janek to scout ahead, to find a safe path to the other side. He quickly clambered over the rock outcroppings and boulders littering the cavern, stopping at a particularly large boulder near the southern end of the cave, where it branched into a tunnel disappearing east and a rocky slope going up to another cavernous hall. He waved his torch to give us a signal to follow him, when all of a sudden some stranger emerged from the shadows behind him and put a saber to his throat.<br /><br />Janek was frozen with fear, but Gour-Gash leapt to action and threatened the stranger with unspeakable cruelties should he do any harm to Janek. In a quick verbal showdown, we learned the name of the stranger - Yanzar. He apparently came across the back entrance that we've just investigated. There wasn't much time for further chit-chat, though, because goblins appeared atop the rocky slope, led by a rather capable-looking commander. The little goblins were once again armed with nothing but some silver forks and knives, but their commander was in ramshackle armor with a bow ready in hand.<br /><br />We exchanged a few choice words, but the whole situation inevitably resulted in a fight. "Face your death!" the commander screamed. While Gour-Gash rushed towards the commander and was overwhelmed by a group of goblins, Yanzar began to conjure up a remarkable magic. Various vines and thorny brambles began to slide out from the ground, not only slowing down the oncoming goblins, but even trapping some of them and breaking their charge. In the meantime, Janek retreated back to me but still managed to fire his sling, while Schmee of course was getting ready to run.<br /><br />The goblin commander decided to retreat to a safe distance from the menacing Gour-Gash, but not before Gour-Gash landed a crushing blow to his shoulder. The rest of the goblin horde then completely blocked his path, though, and forced him to retreat with a fork stuck in his forehead. Yanzar, on the other hand, got stabbed under the ribs with a sharpened spoon and fainted from the pain and blood loss*. His magical roots and vines immediately began to dry up and break, releasing the restrained goblins. I ordered Janek to drag Yanzar to safety while I myself went to help Gour-Gash, who was having a lot of fun smashing the goblins' heads against each other, but got quite wounded in the process. I sent him back to the others and tried to cover the retreat of them all.<br /><br />Amazingly, Yanzar required no help. Though bloodied and cursing under his breath, he staggered to his feet and limped back to where we came from. I have no idea where Schmee got the courage to crawl up to the front line, but out of nowhere he tried to pull magister's alchemical satchel we had just found off my shoulder. I backhanded him into the mud at first, but when he started sputtering something about magic potions inside the satchel, I relented and he started rummaging through it, wide eyed and panicky.<br /><br />And so there I stand, alone against massive odds. When I wasn't deflecting the commander's arrows or dodging goblin attacks, I turned my head and saw Yanzar and Gour-Gash sitting in the safety of the end of the collapsed corridor, eating something that Yanzar called "good berries". Or gooseberries? Anyway, all that was missing from the scenery was a checkered blanket and a basket with a bottle of wine and some foreign cheeses. I shook my head and was brought back to reality by a fork thrown by one of the goblins that got stuck in my shield. I plucked it out and threw it back to the original owner, catching him in the eye, then Janek took down another one with a hit in the balls. Schmee finally found something useful, taking out a tiny bottle and throwing it towards the goblin commander. On impact, thick smoke started to fill the cavern, shielding us from the goblins. We took our chance and began to retreat.<br /><br />But before we got away, the goblin commander emerged from the smoke and mocked our supposed cowardice. "Face your death with dignity, you sun-dwelling scum." I had no choice but to challenge that bastard to a duel. One on one, to the death, tomorrow, in the basilisk hall. He seemed immensely pleased and retreated with his henchmen deeper into the caves.<br /><br />On the way out of the tomb, Gour-Gash procured a new spear from a hidden room we found previously and Janek was literally enchanted by Yanzar being an elf like the ones from his grandma's tales. Magister Harant was already waiting for us in the inn. He was very grateful that his bag was returned and paid back my gold. Good. In exchange for a basilisk claw, Gour-Gash arranged to be taught literacy.<br /><br />Then we drank.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>***</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>From the diary of Trollin, 26th day of Harvest, 198 Aureum Diem</i><br />In the morning, the magister greeted us with two healing potions as a reward for saving his hide and a request that he would accompany us today. We breakfasted and went to the tomb, but hadn't been underground for more than five minutes and the magister had already managed to crack a statue and douse himself with poison gas. He might turn out to be just another dead weight that we have to lug around.<br /><br />We returned to the octagonal room and glimpsed an unknown figure slipping away to the room with the petrified people. I took a quick look but found nobody, so I stood guard while magister Harant and Schmee were doing their thing with all the statues and frescoes. Gour-Gash and Yanzar decided to explore the other door left ajar, but with a click, the staircase turned into a slide and they disappeared into the darkness. When I called down to them, though, they claimed to be perfectly fine, so I let them be and thought about the fight that awaits me instead.<br /><br />I was snapped out of my musings by a thunderous echo that came from the stone slide. The sounds of heavy fighting were coming from there, now. I instructed Janek to take the magister back to the inn and jumped to my companions' rescue. I slid down and emerged into a massive, vaulted room decorated with countless shields. Yanzar and Gour-Gash were fighting with a huge snake guard statue, but before I could do anything, the fight was over and the statue kneeled down, resting its spear on the ground.<br /><br />But Gour-Gash got carried away and kicked the motionless statue, which brought it back to life. He managed to steal the statue's spear, but then it knocked him down and backhanded Yanzar so strongly he flew halfway across the room*. I tried to burn it with sacred flame and it launched itself high in the air, crashing onto me and pounding me into the ground. But Yanzar and Gour-Gash had my back and distracted the statue for the moment I needed to crawl away. The rest of the fight was a whirl of shields being magically pulled from the walls and slamming into us, the statue flipping and backflipping around like crazy, until finally, with the help of the Sun Lord, I managed to melt the statue into a puddle of slag.<br /><br /><b>GM Commentary</b><br />Yanzar was reduced to 0 hp twice this session (*), but made his death save both times.<br /><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/01/tomb-of-serpent-king-session-3.html">prior</a> | <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/03/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-session-5.html">next</a></i></p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-32123745726900925432023-02-10T12:13:00.008+01:002023-02-10T12:17:15.197+01:00Trash and Rubbish<p style="text-align: justify;">What was left in an abandoned hut? What's lying on the ground in a random back alley? I search that pile of trash!<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYUq_TSvyK4TuGWq4CtXAVgno4L9qWLSiT-YpQWMcuEpRiA382KQihJ3iHMpLseqR1yHi_KRWIplvQacI8h1ucQgWcFDiypCp3RY6y-nrNpxB6UH6Ry7g7VIW3qGUuh_N8y3OO3B5R2oHOTbPcJHRYz-c0Zq2RQwL_ogPSjcTHKphUB8iGKq3zEfmH/s900/il_fullxfull.549118408_rjkq.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYUq_TSvyK4TuGWq4CtXAVgno4L9qWLSiT-YpQWMcuEpRiA382KQihJ3iHMpLseqR1yHi_KRWIplvQacI8h1ucQgWcFDiypCp3RY6y-nrNpxB6UH6Ry7g7VIW3qGUuh_N8y3OO3B5R2oHOTbPcJHRYz-c0Zq2RQwL_ogPSjcTHKphUB8iGKq3zEfmH/s320/il_fullxfull.549118408_rjkq.webp" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <br /><b>d100 Useless Things</b><br /></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>pot lid</li><li>pottery shard</li><li>blunt knife</li><li>scratched commemorative medal</li><li>fake jewelry, obvious</li><li>counterfeit "gold" coin, obvious</li><li>half a copper coin, foreign</li><li>cat skull</li><li>live cat</li><li>chewed bone</li><li>bits of offal</li><li>snail shell</li><li>rusty needle</li><li>faded note reading "...later, but do not tell..."</li><li>torn envelope addressed to the chancellor</li><li>waterlogged letter</li><li>mouldy <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2019/02/whats-on-shelf.html" target="_blank">book</a></li><li>booklet of risque stories</li><li>writing quill</li><li>chewed pencil</li><li>half of a shield</li><li>dried flowers</li><li>fish skeleton</li><li>jawbone, human?</li><li>shrivelled apple</li><li>one arrow</li><li>one sock</li><li>used handkerchief</li><li>child drawing of a woman and forest</li><li>toy soldier</li><li>teddy dragon</li><li>candle stub</li><li>glass eye</li><li>peg leg</li><li>oil-soaked rag</li><li>ball of blue yarn</li><li>seashell</li><li>nice-looking pebble</li><li>rock with eyes and a mouth painted on</li><li>shoelace</li><li>long piece of string</li><li>ruined hairbrush</li><li>dry, crumbling mascara</li><li>letter opener</li><li>chess piece</li><li>empty bottle</li><li>mummified mouse</li><li>seventeen dead cockroaches</li><li>corkscrew and two corks</li><li>playing dice, scratched</li><li>tooth</li><li>sketch of a naked dwarf</li><li>bent spoon</li><li>bent hairpin</li><li>metal shavings</li><li>sawdust</li><li>painted beads</li><li>bird skulls stringed on a leather cord</li><li>reddish-brown mushroom</li><li>toe</li><li>shed snake skin</li><li>handful of live bugs</li><li>manure</li><li>broken broom</li><li>spectacles with cracked lenses</li><li>jar full of crow feathers</li><li>lump of flesh-colored wax</li><li>rotting vegetables</li><li>leather glove, left, no pinky</li><li>mouldy sheepskin</li><li>whistle that doesn't work</li><li>embroidered linen bed sheet with multiple holes cut into it</li><li>horseshoe</li><li>measuring stick</li><li>pouch full of salt</li><li>rough iron amulet engraved with an eye</li><li>flower pot</li><li>playing card</li><li>live frog or toad</li><li>red string tied in intricate knots</li><li>pouch with the bottom cut out</li><li>sprig of mistletoe</li><li>big slimy disgusting slug</li><li>pouch of rusty nails</li><li>fist-sized gneiss orb</li><li>garish clothes, worn through</li><li><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2019/01/random-colours.html" target="_blank">colourful</a> bead</li><li>perfume phial, nearly empty</li><li>stuffed mink</li><li>simple wooden cup</li><li>beautiful teacup, chipped</li><li>potato</li><li>burnt-out torch</li><li>broken shackles</li><li>flint and steel</li><li>undergarments</li><li>foppish hat</li><li>noose made of fraying rope</li><li>stinky stain</li><li><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2019/12/magical-trinkets.html" target="_blank">minor</a> <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2020/07/more-magical-trinkets_20.html" target="_blank">magical</a> <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2021/03/even-more-magical-trinkets.html" target="_blank">item</a></li></ol>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-51146489296962014302023-01-30T16:45:00.005+01:002023-12-10T16:40:54.982+01:00Tomb of the Serpent King 5e, session 3<p style="text-align: justify;">Only two players once again, so they decided that that best course of action is to go and pick fight with the biggest thing they've found in the dungeon so far.<br /><br /><b>Dramatis personae:</b><br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Gour-Gash</b>, a goliath barbarian. Strong of muscle, weak of head. Collector of various weapons.</li><li><b>Trollin</b>, a hill dwarf cleric. A red-robed inquisitor who curiously surrounds himself with outlanders and strange types. Definitely has a hidden agenda.</li></ul><p style="text-align: justify;"><br />This session's recap was kindly provided by Trollin's player, so it contains no spoilers. Don't read the GM Commentary, players!<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38NPpjC5_jTDyQrk0u2VdJXqpFUryHKyf202p5fp9YN2pqLq_TXMTW-F-EJaqmHWu_8X77gcqoL43Lca6IGlFVkfA9Ymz1juA-k454vYIIRd_HI9RGSS5gEM0pfrrWRVCUi4PGSMHBKCkXcw1gGOZs-Xpt9Y9ft7ydBKcEj3coRh3Qq4EnN1KgpVl/s877/basilisk_by_perapera1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="877" data-original-width="620" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38NPpjC5_jTDyQrk0u2VdJXqpFUryHKyf202p5fp9YN2pqLq_TXMTW-F-EJaqmHWu_8X77gcqoL43Lca6IGlFVkfA9Ymz1juA-k454vYIIRd_HI9RGSS5gEM0pfrrWRVCUi4PGSMHBKCkXcw1gGOZs-Xpt9Y9ft7ydBKcEj3coRh3Qq4EnN1KgpVl/s320/basilisk_by_perapera1.jpg" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <i>Mythical Archive</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/01/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-session-2.html">prior</a> | <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/02/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-session-4.html">next</a></i><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /><i>From the diary of Trollin, 25th day of Harvest, 198 Aureum Diem</i><br />Zeru and Gour-Gash have left me and Toxin to wallow in our filth rather than properly treat us, then returned from the depths of the tomb like beaten dogs. What else could they expect when they brazenly braved such a god-forsaken place without a warrior of the faith? Anyway, I healed their wounds and we rested in this village's excuse for an inn. By the next day, my bowels were fine, but Toxin was still in a bad shape and magister Harant wasn't feeling too good himself, so we agreed that Zeru would stay behind and watch over them, and only I and Gour-Gash would continue with explorations of the tomb.<br /><br />Before, though, we visited magister Harant in his room to get any intel he might have. He told us, among frivolous ramblings and a lot of unnecessary chatter, that somewhere in the tomb, he had lost his satchel of notes, alchemical equipment and most importantly money. For us, it meant that we had to find his bag and also pay for his temporary accommodation in the inn. In addition to all this nonsense, the innkeeper wanted to rip us off, but a little intimidation was enough to make him backpedal like the blathering little man he is and from now on, we have a free room for as long as necessary.<br /><br />Magister Harant also sent his assistant Schmee with us. Gour-Gash tried to persuade the magister to join our exploration himself, as his experience with the Dark Ones, their magic and mechanisms might've proved most helpful, but he's apparently "not feeling well enough and needs some rest". We could all tell right away that he was shaking with fear under his covers at the thought of once again entering that monster-filled darkness of the tomb. We however received an unexpected thiefly support in the form of Janek, the innkeeper's son. He claimed to be skilled in the lock-picking arts and would help us disable any traps, for just a few silver pieces even! So the four of us went underground again.<br /><br />In the entrance hall with the sarcophagi, Gour-Gash remembered that one of the statues had a ring on its finger and wanted to get it. He swung with his maul and shattered the earthenware statue and we immediately regretted it, because the room was filled with poison and we had to leave post-haste. Any further ideas of smashing were promptly forgotten and instead we headed further and deeper.<br /><br />We entered the octagonal room with water in its center and took a peek behind the western door, standing slightly ajar. Behind it were stairs - where they lead we don't know yet. Instead, we continued along the proven path through the room with a lot of granite statues. An impressive sight, all those petrified souls that will never wake up again. Gour-Gash opened a secret entrance to a narrow staircase and we went down to a great hall. But even before we entered, we could hear the clatter of a chain as it slid across the floor. It was immediately clear to us that this is the tell-tale sign of the huge lizard they encountered here yesterday being awake. The magister gave us some tips on how to take down the beast - a basilisk, we were sure - so we prepared our weapons and vowed silently to take down the monster, now or never. After all, such an abominable creature does not belong in our blessed world.<br /><br />Gour-Gash lured the basilisk closer with a torch thrown into the center of the hall, then thrust a spear into its side. Its bulk was horrible and hideous, yet I didn't hesitate and charged out of the corridor to deliver a necrotic strike to the reptile's tail. The basilisk writhed in pain, screeching, with a spear stuck in its groin and its flesh rotting away. Inspired by the courage of his warrior role models, young Janek fired his slingshot, aiming to snap shut the monster's eye-covers. Unfortunately the stone just bounced off the helmet, but so close! Shaking at the knees, Schmee proved what a coward he is and dropped the axe he was clutching in his sweaty hands rather than actually trying to hit the lizard with it.<br /><br />But the basilisk had had enough! It swiped with its tail, back and fro! I kind of dodged away, but Gour-Gash bore the full brunt of the blow and flew to the side. I'm going to have to ask him about his forebears sometime; though coughing up blood he landed gracefully on his feet like it's in his bones. He immediately tried to return the favour and jumped at the basilisk, but staggered and missed and wasted his attack. However, I didn't leave anything to chance and through the grace of the great Sun Lord caused further wounds to this affront to natural order. Its body couldn't take it anymore and its flesh turned putrescent, rotting before our very eyes. Not even his head could be saved, just the clean skull and bones remained. The beast was no more.<br /><br />We caught our breath and searched the room and dismantled the false wall on the south side of the hall. It opened up to an unknown corridor. To the west, the corridor turned to stairs and went up and upwards, until a collapse ended it abruptly. We found a tunnel, though, through which Schmee voluntarily went after a short round of persuasion. It led out of the tomb, to a hole somewhere deep in the forest. Stuck here on a root, we found the magister's satchel!<br /><br />Then there was no other option left but to turn around and head east. Again, the corridor ended in a collapse, only this time with a hole in the floor. From below, a lot of goblin eyes were peering at us, glistening in the light of our torches.<br /><br /><b>GM Commentary</b><br />A big part of this session was spent in the inn, talking with the magister, the innkeeper and also Janek, whom Trollin eventually hired as a part-time linkboy, part-time trap tester.<br /><br />Also spells in 5e deal mean damage. Poor basilisk never stood a chance. However, Gour-Gash decided to take its skull with him, unaware that the basilisk is one of Xiximanter's experiments into immortality...<br /><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/01/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-session-2.html">prior</a> | <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/02/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-session-4.html">next</a></i></p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-77431906074205953202023-01-21T17:53:00.001+01:002023-02-05T20:20:48.081+01:00Tomb of the Serpent King 5e, session 2<p style="text-align: justify;">A session of lucky stealth rolls, unexpectedly extensive exploration and only two players.<br /><br /><b>Dramatis personae:</b><br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Gour-Gash</b>, a goliath barbarian. Strong of muscle, weak of head. Big, big maul in his hands. Probably compensating for something.</li><li><b>Zeru</b>, an air genasi warlock. A gentleman and a scholar, sent by his genie patron to learn about the barbaric customs and traditions of the far West.</li></ul><p style="text-align: justify;"><br />If any of the players have by sheer chance found this recap, do not read any further, please.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzYw0xRLpbwuI52mO84gXtsevA7zTbJZ-ffAZ1-Qd-4__-E4dNNC092Ye2WQ7eTKNYV_zOHLXUvLad_ws5pPl9vNYO68dRqQz_tL_9IAlLQsFhFrotjiZc4UwB8Tg055Ofjc3yzaEqYvDWTTixCNobLf3K7miIrNEKLG6pn9LH76-5fh12OABNXKSf/s820/goblins.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="820" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzYw0xRLpbwuI52mO84gXtsevA7zTbJZ-ffAZ1-Qd-4__-E4dNNC092Ye2WQ7eTKNYV_zOHLXUvLad_ws5pPl9vNYO68dRqQz_tL_9IAlLQsFhFrotjiZc4UwB8Tg055Ofjc3yzaEqYvDWTTixCNobLf3K7miIrNEKLG6pn9LH76-5fh12OABNXKSf/s320/goblins.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <i>The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey</i><br />I hate that movie just as much as I like the book.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/01/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-session-1.html">prior</a> | <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/01/tomb-of-serpent-king-session-3.html">next</a></i><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/01/tomb-of-serpent-king-session-3.html"> </a><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br />In the last session, the party had some interesting goulash at the local inn, but now it turns out it doesn't sit so well with Trollin and Toxin. They have to rather rapidly excuse themselves and stay behind in the side-tomb of Sparamuntar whom the party has just destroyed. Gour-Gash and Zeru leave them to their retching.<br /><br />They move on to the room with cracked-open doors they wanted to investigate. Peering inside, they see statues. A lot of statues. Statues of warriors and robed scholars or magic-users, of rogues and other never-do-wells, all of varied races but of the same panicked expression. There is a total of eighteen of these statues, all stacked carelessly over each other and all made of granite, unlike the carefully crafted serpent-men statues of marble they have been seeing until now. The hint is obvious enough.<br /><br />At the very end of the room, two serpent guard statues stand in their alcoves. Zeru recalls the secret entrance to the guard room that they found in the last session and pulls at the statues' spears, opening a secret door. The two adventurers take the narrow staircase behind the door and soon reach the other end, with another door that Gour-Gash carefully pushes open with the end of the battle-axe he took from the remains of Sparamuntar. Luckily for them, the door don't creak.<br /><br />They stare into the darkness of a large, columned hall and hear the sounds of heavy, animalistic breathing and the occasional rattle of a chain. Wary and nervous, they nevertheless decide to take their chances and explore the hall.<br /><br />In the middle of the hall, they find a massive iron chain hanging from the ceiling and then snaking its way between the columns to the other end of the hall. They follow it and at the end, a massive lizard is sleeping, curled up by the wall. It has an iron collar and a helmet with open blinders. It is snoring and swishing its tail. They carefully creep back.<br /><br />After some deliberation, they sneak along the wall to the east. Through a tall, arched doorway, they find a vestibule. The northern wall is completely covered by a moth-eaten tapestry and multiple mouldered benches line the walls. First, they try the corridor to the east, but they notice several thin gaps in the stonework running all across the corridor. Suspicious, they take a plank from the benches and push it over the first gap. A whiff of a hidden blade later, the plank is cut in half.<br /><br />Instead, they take the path to the south, bringing another plank with them because you never know. There is a room with a strange, uneven, cracked floor. They throw their plank on it and the whole floor collapses, except for a thin walkway around the walls.<br /><br />The next room is similar to one they've already found - just like in the tomb atrium, there is a circular well-like hole of runed stones in the middle of the room, except this one is not flooded. Deep at the bottom, they can see a cold, blueish light flicker faintly.<br /><br />Going south, they enter a domed hall with door on each wall. The southern door is more of a gate, massive and reinforced, with a single small keyhole. Listening by each door, they only hear something behind the western ones - two high-pitched voices chatting in a language they don't know and a set of dice being rolled.<br /><br />They hide behind the door and then Gour-Gash opens it and immediately closes it again. A pause and then a set of footsteps approaches. As someone opens the door, Gour-Gash slams them back closed, then they both burst into the next room. At their feet, a goblin is lying with a bloodied nose, and another is getting up from the single table in the room, reaching for his spear - a silver fork attached to the end of a broom handle. Half of the room is collapsed, a heap of stone blocks mixed with loose earth, rotting wood and roots. There's a lard lamp on the table and two piles of silverware, apparently used as currency in the goblins' game of dice.<br /><br />These are also not the same goblins as Schmee was - while Schmee would fit right in at Gringotts, these goblins are more like from the <i>Unexpected Journey</i> - grayish-white, cancerous and disfigured, clothed in rags and mud.<br /><br />Zeru tries to de-escalate the situation and parley with the goblin guards, but then Gour-Gash picks up the one at his feet and yeets him across the room, shattering the table. The second goblin stabs his "spear" in Gour-Gash's shoulder, but the fork comes loose. He is quickly pacified, but the thrown goblin has disappeared.<br /><br />They tie up their captive and find crawlways hidden among the rubble, but let them be for now. Instead, Zeru takes a silver spoon as a souvenir. They then try to interrogate the goblin, but as he speaks only a stuttered Imperial, they only learn that no one is allowed to visit the goblin king and that there is a spell-slinging boogeyman in the tomb that the goblins are afraid of.<br /><br />Suddenly, goblins start pouring from the crawlways. Gour-Gash starts raging but the goblins keep coming and the adventurers are forced to make a fighting retreat. They manage to get a little bit ahead of their pursuers and once they are back to the vestibule, they barricade the south door with the benches.<br /><br />Not wanting to wait for the goblins and the ruckus that might wake the lizard, they immediately go and cross the columned hall to the west. The corridor beyond ends with a lavishly decorated, runed gate that has a handle in the shape of an ouroboros - but half of it is missing. The door right next to this gate is locked, with bubbling sounds coming from behind them. They then take the corridor to the south.<br /><br />At its end, a tall arch is guarded by two statues of serpent scholars, both holding up a golden globe. Beyond the arch, the smooth corridors of the tomb end, replaced with a cavernous slope. Gour-Gash tries to poke one of the globes with his maul and lightning zaps his hand. Still, they decide to walk through and get zapped even more.<br /><br />Climbing down the slope, they get to a thin cleft smelling of sweat, rot and urine. They squeeze through and find a small cave with a low ceiling, full of goblin nests but thankfully no goblins. There are two other exits - a chimney to the south which wafts of unwashed bodies, rotting meat and fresh plants, and a tunnel to the east which smells of smoke. They search the room and Zeru rolls a natural 20 on Investigation - he finds a small locked box and in a deep crevice in a wall, a beautiful crown as if braided from gold and silver serpents. Then they go east.<br /><br />There is a much larger cave with a bonfire burning in its centre. In addition to a few goblins lounging around the cave, there is someone tied to a chair by the fire. The adventurers withdraw and go back through the thin cleft, resting on the other side for a short while. They want to get a better look at the goblins' captive, suspecting they might be close to their quest's goal, but they really needed that rest.<br /><br />Once they go back to the goblin warren though, there are a few goblins sleeping and sleeping together. A confused skirmish ensues and the adventurers nearly manage to subdue them all without much hubbub, but a single goblin slips away from them and runs to the bonfire cave. They chase after her even though that Gour-Gash is getting seriously battered, fearing they might get no other chance like this one.<br /><br />In the bonfire cave, the goblins were warned and they immediately beset the adventurers, but Zeru and Gour-Gash burn through their last reserves of power and quickly slaughter several of their opponents. Their foes' morale is broken and they flee.<br /><br />In the meantime, the figure tied to the chair has revealed itself to be magister Harant. They free him and drag him back to the warren, just as the sounds of <i>many</i> goblins are starting to draw near from deeper in the caverns. They get to the arch of serpent scholars with a wave of goblins nipping at their heels and run right through. Both Gour-Gash and magister Harant are on their last legs, but the first few goblins who try to get through the arch are completely fried and the rest give up the chase, slinging only insults and silverware at the retreating party.<br /><br />They get around the lizard and up the secret path, collect Trollin and Toxin from their sick room and stagger out of the tomb without further trouble.<br /><br />It's just past midnight when they get back to the By the Oak inn. They ignore the stunned looks of the few late patrons, get a room and collapse on their beds.<br /><br /><b>GM Commentary</b><br />This session, the players had a lot of morale and stealth rolls go in their favour. On the way back and out of the tomb, we were already ending the session, so I gave them the last stealth check to circumvent the basilisk for free, but otherwise the players were lucky they left their clanking armoured dwarf behind - both Gour-Gash and Zeru are rather stealthy and they were relying on it a lot. Still, Gour-Gash once again ended the session nearly dead (1 hp this time).<br /><br />A ruling I want to remember: Gour-Gash managed a very nice Intimidation check against the oncoming flood of goblins, but there were way too many to break their morale so easily. Instead, I pushed the goblins back on the initiative tracker, which actually helped Gour-Gash to act before them and retreat more easily.<br /><br />The players very wisely retreated both times the goblins kept pouring - the first time there were 22 and the second 26 goblins.<br /><br />Speaking of goblins, I've misread their AC at first and made them harder than intended. I didn't notice that the default goblin stat block assumes they are fully armoured, while these goblins couldn't have less clothing even if they tried. On the other hand, I've inadvertently made it easier for the players in the warren skirmish - the cave is low enough that they probably should've been fighting with a disadvantage.<br /><br />When Zeru rolled his natural 20 on Investigation, I've decided to make it a properly cool moment and moved the <i>Crown of the Serpent King</i> from the goblin farms the the warren. The adventurers realized it's magical, but they actually think it's a key rather than an artifact - I've placed a crowned statue in the false king's tomb and they found the missing ouroboros handle, so they are now looking for a place where the crown might fit and open something.<br /><br />The golden standard is taking its toll - even though the goblins were literally flinging silver at the PCs, the players didn't bother to collect any silverware when they had the chance, even though it would've been a nice sum for all the forks and spoons.<br /><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/01/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-session-1.html">prior</a> | <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/01/tomb-of-serpent-king-session-3.html">next</a></i></p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-9624489034700620252023-01-05T19:55:00.063+01:002023-01-08T18:10:01.858+01:00Languages of the Amir Steppes<p style="text-align: justify;">Here is a conversion of the standard D&D languages to the world of Althan, or more specifically the Amir Steppes in West Althan.<br /><br />In addition, a new house rule is in effect: You may take an <a href="http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/feat:skill-expert" target="_blank">expertise</a> in language, just as you can in any other proficiency. See the expert effects in the table below. Also the <a href="http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/feat:linguist" target="_blank">Linguist</a> feat now lets you pick an expertise in one language you know.<br /><br />Any effects that require a saving throw have a</p><p style="text-align: center;">DC = 8 + double proficiency bonus + Charisma modifier<br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></p>
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<thead><tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>d20</th><th colspan="2">Language</th><th>Expert Effect</th><th style="min-width: 90px;">D&D Equivalent</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td>1</td><td style="min-width: 85px;">Low Imperial</td><td>Various dialects of Old Imperial, spread throughout the fallen Aunian Empire. All mutually intelligible, though with many funny accents.</td><td>You can speak High Imperial with no accent. High Imperial is the language of imperial nobility, so people will generally assume that you are either a scholar or a noble.</td><td>Common</td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td>Nymbian</td><td>Language used in Nymbia, a great southern empire beyond the Trollish Mountains, and also by the southern barbarian tribes.</td><td> </td><td> </td></tr>
<tr><td>3</td><td>Taalish</td><td>Language used in the Thirty-Three Kingdoms.</td><td> </td><td> </td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td><td>Khazum</td><td>Old dwarven language once used in Khelek Dur, the dwarven realm beneath the Trollish Mountains, and now used by the dwarven clans who fled when Khelek Dur was destroyed. Useful as very few non-dwarves can understand it.</td><td> </td><td>Dwarfish</td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td><td>Kanish</td><td>Language of the ashen elves from the triplet city of Kani. Related to Substratal.<br /></td><td> </td><td>Elvish</td></tr>
<tr><td>6</td><td>Trollish</td><td>Language used in Trollamor, the city of trolls. Related to the Dark Speech.</td><td> </td><td>Giant</td></tr>
<tr><td>7</td><td>Pflecian</td><td>Language used in Pflec, the gnomish dictatorship. Related to the Dark Speech.</td><td> </td><td>Gnomish</td></tr>
<tr><td>8</td><td>Skurut Tongues</td><td>The many dialects of various goblin tribes, all at least a little bit mutually intelligible. They often incorporate various body sounds.</td><td>Gain <a href="https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Scent_(5e_Variant_Rule)" target="_blank">scent</a>. You also become a little more ugly and green, slowly starting to turn into a goblin.<br /></td><td>Goblin</td></tr>
<tr><td>9</td><td>Hinnish</td><td>Language of Hins, the tiny savages from the Hin Highlands.</td><td> </td><td>Halfling</td></tr>
<tr><td>10</td><td>Ugrathish</td><td>Language of Ugrathi, the nomadic orcish clans who travel far and wide in their caravan wagons, wheeling and dealing.</td><td> </td><td>Orcish</td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="5" style="background-color: #1118cc; color: white; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">Rare Languages</td></tr>
<tr><td>11</td><td>Golden Gospeltongue</td><td>Language of clergy of the Triune Divinity. Said to be also used by the Empyreal Host of the High Heaven.</td><td>You can detect lies told in Gospeltongue. No save from the liar, but there must be intention behind the lie.</td><td>Celestial</td></tr>
<tr><td>12</td><td>Draconic</td><td>Also used by the dragonborn races and many sorcerers.</td><td>If you know the True Name of a dragon and call it in Draconic, they will always hear you, no matter where they might be. Their reactions may vary.</td><td>Draconic</td></tr>
<tr><td>13</td><td>Druidic</td><td>A secret language, forbidden to the uninitiated.</td><td>Animals understand your pleas or demands perfectly, even if you do not understand their replies.</td><td>Druidic</td></tr>
<tr><td>14</td><td>Dark Speech</td><td>Language of the Dark Ones, dead since they exterminated themselves in endless civil wars.</td><td>You can speak ancient words of command that still hold sway over the many races created by the Dark Ones. All creatures of such races* in earshot must make a Wisdom Save, or they must choose one of a) kneel immediately (as <i>Prone</i>), or b) cower in fear for [Charisma bonus, min 1] rounds (as <i>Frightened</i>). You may use this ability again after a short rest.</td><td>Deep Speech</td></tr>
<tr><td>15</td><td>Hereafter Speech</td><td>Language used by psychopomps, demons and the dead.</td><td>Any demon, undead or psychopomp must answer you one question thruthfully. Mindless undead get no save. Every creature can be affected only once.<br /></td><td>Abyssal, Infernal</td></tr>
<tr><td>16</td><td>Djinnish</td><td>Language of the Elemental Lords. (Not an otherworldly power, they live around Lake Siva to the east and waged a long war against the Aunian Empire.)</td><td>The elements understand and try to help you. When you speak Djinnish, <a href="http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/spell:gust" target="_blank">wind will blow</a> when you command, <a href="http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/spell:control-flames" target="_blank">fires will dim</a> when you are whispering, <a href="http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/spell:mold-earth" target="_blank">earth will shake</a> when you laugh and <a href="http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/spell:shape-water" target="_blank">water will flow</a> according to you will.</td><td>Primordial</td></tr>
<tr><td>17</td><td>Fey Speech</td><td>Language of the fickle Folk.<br /></td><td>You can speak in endless riddles and allegories. Only the people you designate (who must know Fey Speech) will understand the true meaning of your speech.</td><td>Sylvan</td></tr>
<tr><td>18</td><td>Substratal</td><td>Dialects used in the various settlements around the Sunless Sea. Contains a lot of clicking sounds.</td><td>You can very, very poorly echolocate by clicking your tongue. Handy in the dark.</td><td>Undercommon</td></tr>
<tr><td>19</td><td>Thieves' Cant</td><td>A combination of code words, hand signs and markings used for covert communication. Originally developed by the Insurgency when they were fighting the Dark Ones, but later adopted by thieves all over the Amir Steppes. </td><td>You can sign with a single hand at the speed of normal speech. You can place marks that only you will find.<br /></td><td> Thieves' Cant</td></tr>
<tr><td>20</td><td>Lip Reading</td><td>Works for any language you are proficient in.</td><td>You can lip-read even in languages you don't know. You will not understand the words, but can perfectly replicate the sounds for someone who does know that language.</td><td><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<p style="text-align: justify;">*) Dark Ones specialized in biomancy and necromancy, leaving behind many half-human, half-animal races and hybrid monsters.<br /></p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-30200762305443693952023-01-02T16:59:00.003+01:002023-02-05T20:19:38.185+01:00Tomb of the Serpent King 5e, session 1<p align="justify">I have committed an unforgivable heresy. I run a D&D 5e game.<br /><br />A group of friends has recently tried kicking off a new game, but their GM fell through at the last possible moment, so I offered to take over. With their characters already made and everyone comfortable with 5e, they weren't really keen on switching to a different system, but they didn't (yet) object to my intention of slowly adding house-rules to OSRify the rule set.<br /><br />And so with no time to prepare, I skimmed the <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/293969/Tomb-of-the-Serpent-Kings-5e-converted" target="_blank">converted version</a> of my favourite starting dungeon, the <a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2017/06/osr-tomb-of-serpent-kings-megapost.html" target="_blank">Tomb of the Serpent Kings</a>, and off we go.<br /><br /><b>Dramatis personae:</b><br /></p><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><b>Gour-Gash</b>, a goliath barbarian. Strong of muscle, weak of head. Big, big maul in his hands. Probably compensating for something.</li><li><b>Toxin</b>, an owlin alchemist. Once a familiar who became an apprentice, then an adventurer when his master has met an untimely end.</li><li><b>Trollin</b>, a hill dwarf cleric. A red-robed inquisitor who curiously surrounds himself with outlanders and strange types. Definitely has a hidden agenda.</li><li><b>Zeru</b>, an air genasi warlock. A gentleman and a scholar, sent by his genie patron to learn about the barbaric customs and traditions of the far West.</li></ul><p align="justify"><br />If any of the players have by sheer chance found this recap, do not read any further, please.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrA_oZve7NYJilwyru1ZcI1vpUSjWjySOwPF8vCvdT1Q6zxWh0t1V50nVT7z7DNey2DuH3Fsv6cxa0ARt1xbpG8WQAF7a-8QXD2jSi1tJePuibhdtJMUvvh5RdPz8_5QOeZnFWKSCPrC2T7DavH_ToDY1chWtXhX_4Q0UiS4dIHBw88np-YTLltNXf/s251/cobra.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="251" data-original-width="250" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrA_oZve7NYJilwyru1ZcI1vpUSjWjySOwPF8vCvdT1Q6zxWh0t1V50nVT7z7DNey2DuH3Fsv6cxa0ARt1xbpG8WQAF7a-8QXD2jSi1tJePuibhdtJMUvvh5RdPz8_5QOeZnFWKSCPrC2T7DavH_ToDY1chWtXhX_4Q0UiS4dIHBw88np-YTLltNXf/s1600/cobra.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><p align="justify"> <br /></p><p align="justify">At the southern edge of the Amir Steppes, where the Trollish Peaks start to rise, there lies Balalán, the city of thousand races. Should one venture from there up to the mountains, to the deep valleys and deeper forests, they will eventually arrive to the Halfway Hamlet, a village known to few and only because of its inn. Yet here's where the party was sent by their benefactor, one viscount Lucián Malévol, on a rescue mission.<br /><br />But let's start from the beginning. One and a half months ago, the viscount had received a message from the Halfway Hamlet, it being a part of his estate, speaking of heavy storms that damaged the crop and caused a landslide that not only blocked the road, but also revealed an old, broken tunnel disappearing into the mountain. And that might have been it, with the road fixed and the mysterious tunnel left alone, but viscount Malévol is a great lover of mysticism and the occult arts. And right at that time, he had a well-renowned alchemist and archeologist Kryštof Harant staying at his manor.<br /><br />To cut the long story short, magister Harant went to investigate this wonderfully mysterious tunnel and promptly disappeared the first day after arrival. The party was then contacted and sent to retrieve the magister and any invaluable artifacts he might have found in the depths.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>***</b></p><p align="justify">The party arrives to the Halfway Hamlet by a stagecoach. The village is as backwater as can be - a single inn, named By the Oak, standing, wait for it, by a huge oak, then a handful of cottages, some fields and a lot of pastures with sheep. The party goes in the inn to find the local elder and innkeeper, mister Jan, to hand him the letter of authority given to them by the viscount and to question him. They learn nothing much except that magister Harant had been lodging in the inn along with his famulus, and then just never came back from the tunnel. No one in the village was foolhardy enough to search for them inside.<br /><br />The party has some passable mutton goulash and then make the innkeeper's son Janek lead them to the tunnel.<br /><br />Once they climb over the broken trees and ground torn apart by the landslide, they consider using Janek as a torch-bearer, but eventually decide to just leave him at the entrance to watch for any outside threats. They also promise him a whole gold coin for his help, so he's quite giddy to help.<br /><br />They creep inside, coming to the first junction and investigating both guard tombs, but they don't dare to disturb the sarcophagi inside. They continue to the second junction, finding that that scholar's tomb was already opened - the tracks suggest two people, likely magister Harant and the famulus, had recently moved the lid. Inside, they find a terracotta statue of a snake-headed scholar, and one of the statue's fingers is broken off, revealing the hollow inside. Gour-Gash promptly smashes the statue. (The party was lucky that the gas was already gone from this statue.)<br /><br />Toxin collects a golden pendant in the shape of a rune-inscribed cobra from among the terracotta shards and ancient bones, then they move on to the last side tomb. There they push the lid off of the sarcophagus and spy the silver ring on the hand of the terracotta sorcerer. They discuss at length whether or not to smash all the statues for the loot, but (rightly) fear that a hollow statue might contain a nasty surprise, like a gas. Eventually, they agree to came back later.<br /><br />As Zeru puts it: "The statues were here for hundreds of years. They will not run off now." (Now that I think about it, they might. They might.)<br /><br />And so they go deeper, to the barred stone gate. More serpentine designs can be found on the gate and Trollin recognizes them as belonging to the Serpent King, a god-sorcerer of yore. They find further tracks of the magister and his famulus, but no other signs of them nor any clue where they might have disappeared to. The party wonders for a bit about the fact that the gate is barred from the outside, clearly containing something inside of the tomb, and that magister Harant couldn't have easily gone through the gate and close it behind him. They even bring up searching for an alternate entrance (Good idea!), but then they just say "Screw it, maybe they got inside with magic." and go to unbar the gate.<br /><br />They notice the pegs starting to rise, they can hear a faint clicking noise from above, but they shrug and believe in their saving throws and hp pools. The swing of the huge hammer trap nearly catches Toxin and Trollin, but they roll out of the way. Gour-Gash, on the other hand, is caught square across the back and rammed through the gate, opening it in the process. Good thing that his player thought to use Stone's Endurance ability; Gour-Gash still picks himself up with only 2 hp left. Cue nervous laughter around the table.<br /><br />The false king's tomb is expansive, its walls covered by murals of snake people experimenting on other races and warring among themselves. More importantly, there are three thrones of dark stone, with a terracotta statue seated on each - two snake-princesses on the sides and a (fake) serpent king on the middle throne, with a crown and a sceptre of real gold set into the statue. The party scours the room, with Toxin even flying up to the ceiling and searching for secret doors or compartments there, but they refuse to touch the statues. Tempted as they might be, they reason that they are on a rescue mission, not a tomb-robbing one, so they should prioritise exploration over looting.<br /><br />They continue to the false temple and find the collapsed secret door under the pedestal of the Serpent King's statue. Trollin at the front, they go deeper, down the circular stairwell.<br /><br />They creep through the statue hall, expecting a monster behind every statue, but instead they find two other things - a statue twisted out of alignment and a collapsed figure on the floor, still breathing but bloodied and unconscious. They approach the figure carefully, expecting a jump scare, but it's really just lying and dying there. They turn it face up and realise it's a goblin, albeit one in an uncharacteristically nice (blood- and mud-streaked) clothing. They discuss whether they shouldn't just coup-de-grace it, but then Toxin reaches into his pocket and pours a healing potion down the goblin's throat.<br /><br />Which is when Gour-Gash learns that Toxin had a healing potion and Trollin has healing magic, yet nobody has bothered to heal him and he is still shuffling around battered by the hammer trap. They still don't heal him, despite his grumbling.<br /><br />The goblin sputters and coughs, then sits up. Trollin grabs him, pulls him to standing, then violently shakes him and screams questions right into his face. When the situation is de-escalated by the rest of the party, they learn that the goblin's name is Schmee and that he is a famulus to magister Harant.<br /><br />They were indeed investigating this tomb when they were ambushed and knocked unconscious by a group of other goblins. Schmee insists that these goblins were hideous, unhygienic and overall barbaric. They took Schmee and the magister to some cave, likely deeper in the tomb, where they made Schmee work their mushroom fields while chaining magister Harant to a throne and insisting that he is now their king, irrespective of his objections. Also the goblins have no soap, their living conditions are atrocious and their cooking unpalatable, according to Schmee.<br /><br />Eventually, Schmee had seen a chance to escape when his goblin guard dozed off and he seized it. Unfortunately, the guard woke up and a scuffle ensued, where Schmee managed to get away but not without injuries. Bleeding and with no light, he got lost in the tunnels and eventually passed out right where the party found him. When he hears that the party is on a rescue mission to free his master, he is overjoyed.<br /><br />As the conversation with Schmee drifts from his misadventures in this tomb to bonsai trees and various types of tea - Zeru has apparently found a soulmate in the goblin - Trollin fiddles with the tilted statue and quickly learns that pulling on the snake-guard's spear opens a secret door in the alcove. He goes to the hidden guardroom, rummages through the debris and retrieves a gold serpent pendant, but leaves usable two spears behind. When he returns to the rest of the party, they are still engaged in a lively debate with the rather chatty goblin. However, as Schmee has no more actually useful information to offer, he is sent to retrace the party's steps back through the upper tomb and away to the village. He disappears into the dark, alone.<br /><br />Finally, the party moves on to the tomb atrium. They eye the pool in the middle of the room mistrustfully and want nothing to do with it. Instead, they search the rest of the room. Two doors out of the seven in the room are slightly ajar - the door directly across from the entrance and the first one to the right from the entrance. Without Schmee, they have no easy way to determine which were the ones he used, but there are a few blood splatters which point to the right door. It screeches painfully as Gour-Gash pushes it open and a sudden pounding can be heard from the northernmost door on the opposite side of the atrium.<br /><br />Unsure what to do, the party approaches the door as the pounding continues. They are loath to leave a possible threat behind their backs, so Gour-Gash carefully pushes the door open with the end of his maul. That saves him from a surprise strike of a great-axe as a skeleton steps through.<br /><br />The first initiative of the game is rolled and the skeleton wins it easily, immediately taking down Gour-Gash with a single blow. His player grumbles, but the rest of the party descends upon the skeleton. Toxin and Zeru pelt the skeleton with sling shots and magic, Trollin steps up to tank the skeleton's assault and get Gour-Gash back on his feet with some healing, then Gour-Gash gets a quick revenge by demolishing the skeleton with a lucky strike.<br /><br />Now chuckling about how the first monster nearly meant the first death (It really didn't, 5e offers way too much leeway when dying. That will have to be house-ruled.), the party returns to the door they wanted to explore and we close the curtain until the next session.<br /><br /><b>GM Commentary</b><br />The "less rolling, more descriptions of actions" way of playing has been well-received, it seems.<br /><br />It was nice that some combat happened at the very end of the session, as all the players were eager for some hack and slash action. I fully expected them to find and fight the skeletons in the false king's tomb, but the quest of rescuing a kidnapped magister has turned out to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the players were really keen on having a clear goal within the tomb. On the other hand, they prioritised pushing deep into the tomb as quickly as possible, so they favoured the way forward over poking at fun things. I've added the cracked scholar statue and then the extra treasure in the false king's tomb in hopes of them taking the bait and smashing open one of the fun statues, but no luck.<br /><br />Magister Harant and Schmee were actually kidnapped outside of the tomb and taken in through the alternate entrance directly to the goblin caves, but the party has dropped the idea of tracking the magister and Schmee too quickly to notice that. Speaking of Schmee, he was inspired by the converted TotSK and he worked great for giving the players vague warnings of the dangers to come.<br /><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2023/01/tomb-of-serpent-king-5e-session-2.html"><i>next</i></a><br /></p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-688501585559941302022-12-30T20:18:00.001+01:002022-12-30T20:18:12.866+01:00Books I've Read in 2022<p style="text-align: justify;">The one good thing about a daily commute is that I have between an hour and two each day just for reading.<br /><br />Unfortunately, I've only got the idea of writing down everything I'm reading in August, when I realised that I've been reading <i>Ward</i> for so long that I don't even remember which book I've read before it and when. Therefore the list only contains books since August. But speaking of <i>Ward</i>...</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Fiction Books<br /></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>John C. McCrae:</b> <i>Ward</i><br /><br />This superhero <a href="https://www.parahumans.net/2017/09/11/daybreak-1-1/" target="_blank">web serial</a> is 1 944 784 words long, so I might have actually been reading it since the beginning of the year. And it's worth it. Along with the first part, <a href="https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2011/06/11/1-1/" target="_blank"><i>Worm</i></a>, it is an incredible study of characters and their motivations, as well as creative powers and power uses. If you read it, you will probably start to question whether you even like other superhero media at all.<br /><br /><b>Tad Williams:</b> <i>Stone of Farewell</i><br /><br />This is the second book in the <i>Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn </i>trilogy, so I've started reading this book series a bit out of order. My excuse is that I've found it in the free books shelf at a train station before a long journey. Anyway, I quite liked this Tolkien-esque story but I have yet to procure the other two books for myself.<br /><br /><b>Martina Šrámková:</b> <i>Doba krkavců</i> (Season of the Raven)<br /><br />A dark fantasy about an ex-witch who tries to live a normal life, but cannot escape her past of a royal assassin. I'll return to it shortly.<br /><b><br />Vladimír Šlechta:</b> <i>Krvavé pohraničí</i> (Bloody Borderland)<br /><b>Vladimír Šlechta:</b> <i>Krvavé pohraničí: </i><i>Šílený les</i> (Forest Gone Mad)<br /><b>Vladimír Šlechta:</b> <i>Krvavé pohraničí: </i><i>Orcigard</i><br /><br />A loose series of books which share the location and world events, but none of the protagonists. All of them also read a bit like D&D adventures and could easily be adapted into a campaign.<br /><br />One thing I'm noticing about Czech fantasy is that it's very dark, all of it. The protagonists generally eke out a victory in the end, but usually at an unreasonably high price, while the world keeps slowly turning to the worse.<br /><br />In <i>Season of the Raven</i>, Jadwiga manages to save the duchess from painful death and her town from total destruction, but she is forced to seduce and kill again, something she has been running from for years. Also the once blooming economy of the duchy is basically gone due to the machinations of the big bad, and it's far from certain that the duchess will be able to regain control of the fanaticized populace.<br /><br />In all of the <i>Bloody Borderland</i> books, the protagonist achieves a personal victory, but the world is worse off in the end. Bonus points for <i>Orcigard</i>, which is a prequel with a cast doomed by canon, so the "Everybody lives!" ending is rather bittersweet.<br /><br />Another example might be <i>Na ostřích čepelí</i> (On the blade's edge) by Miroslav Žamboch, which is another author I like. The protagonist manages to get the settlers to their destination, except about half of the settlers are dead, the way back to civilization is destroyed, so they are completely on their own, and the love interest dies.<br /><br />I don't think that any translations are available, though, so you will have to take my word that the books are worth the read.<br /><br /><b>Derek Landy:</b> <i>Skulduggery Pleasant: Resurrection</i><br /><b>Derek Landy:</b> <i>Skulduggery Pleasant: Midnight</i><br /><b>Derek Landy:</b> <i>Skulduggery Pleasant: Bedlam</i><br /><b>Derek Landy:</b> <i>Skulduggery Pleasant: Seasons of War</i><br /><b>Derek Landy:</b> <i>Skulduggery Pleasant: Dead or Alive</i><br /><b>Derek Landy:</b> <i>Skulduggery Pleasant: Until the End</i><br /><b>Derek Landy:</b> <i>Tanith Low in... The Maleficent Seven</i><br /><br />Derek Landy is hilarious and very intelligent, as he never fails to remind the readers in his dedications. To his credit, he's right. ;)<br /><br />His books are very funny, but also dealing with topics like PTSD, addiction, religious fanaticism, discrimination and racism, or shitty parents.<br /><br />The books are actually so full of clever jokes and light-hearted snark that one might not notice the darkness creeping in until the heroine is suddenly day-dreaming about getting high the second she comes home, the author avatar has to be mercy-killed because he suffered a fate worse than death and the bad guy keeps winning. Then the protagonist switches sides and works with the bad guy, and then the world actually ends. Then it ends again, in an even worse way.<br /><br />Yeah, I'm not sure why this series is apparently printed as children's books.<br /><br />What I wanted to say by these long paragraphs is that the whole <i>Skulduggery Pleasant</i> series is great and you should go read it.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Gaming Books</h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Andrea Sfiligoi:</b> <i>4 Against Darkness</i><br /><b>Andrea Sfiligoi:</b> <i>4 Against the Abyss</i><br /><br />A solo game with wonderfully light ruleset that will let you play quickly and with a single d6. Though the rules are completely different, the feel of the game is like you were running an old-school D&D dungeon crawl.<br /><br />If you're looking for a combat-based solo game rather than a narrative one, this one is surly a top choice.<br /><br /><b>Wizards of the Coast:</b> <i>Dungeons & Dragons 5e: Player's Handbook</i><br /><br />I will also have to get the <i>Game Master's Guide</i>...<br /><br /><b>Swen Harder:</b> <i>Reiter der schwarzen Sonne</i> (Knight of the Dark Sun)<br /><br />A massive gamebook I've got for Christmas. Very nice so far!<br /></p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-75951292628825885152022-10-28T14:33:00.001+02:002022-10-28T14:33:00.148+02:004AD: Dragon Cult<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWLLh4hC8TynVdQJo9LjbpR8SzEX4TXdcBkplU1KIjMEaWgaikPtyo2__CfymidgU_VFD9uerVNAkE_aQ_b0KbIXumCXnKWR0T3S7mhbPzw5E2OHyWrT0ksdHlO_6a9UiTamlMzhI_8315A9jX5MBWzhUsnYj-2rWnB1iPydPQ7Aq8PitdqbPR1Vl/s2880/nolan-lu-dragnslayer.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2880" data-original-width="1920" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWLLh4hC8TynVdQJo9LjbpR8SzEX4TXdcBkplU1KIjMEaWgaikPtyo2__CfymidgU_VFD9uerVNAkE_aQ_b0KbIXumCXnKWR0T3S7mhbPzw5E2OHyWrT0ksdHlO_6a9UiTamlMzhI_8315A9jX5MBWzhUsnYj-2rWnB1iPydPQ7Aq8PitdqbPR1Vl/s320/nolan-lu-dragnslayer.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/3qP98B" target="_blank"><i>Dragonslayer</i></a> by Nolan Lu<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">First, here is a bigger table of dragons for <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/180588/Four-Against-Darkness" target="_blank">Four Against Darkness</a>:<br /><br /></p>
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<thead><tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>d6</th><th>True Dragons<br /></th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td>1</td><td><b>Two-headed swamp dragon.</b> <i>Their never-ending debate only lulls when they devour another hapless victim.</i><br />Level 6 dragon, 5 Life, 2 attacks, 3 treasure rolls at +1.<br />On each of its turns, roll a d6. On ⚀, the dragon breathes fire from its right head; all characters must make a level 6 breath Save or take d3 damage. On ⚅, the dragon breathes poison from its left head; all characters must make a level 5 poison Save or get Poisoned.<br /><b>Reaction:</b> 1 sleeping, 2-3 bribe, 4-5 fight, 6 quest.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td><b>Flightless rotting dragon.</b> <i>Wreathed in offerings and grave goods meant to sooth its spirit. It didn't work.</i><br />Level 6 dragon, 6 Life, treasure is sacrificial gifts worth 2d6 * 100 gp.<br />Any character wounded by the dragon must make a level 4 poison Save or lose 1 additional Life due to an infected wound, and another level 4 poison Save or be Paralysed.<br /><b>Reaction:</b> Always fight to death.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3</td><td><b>Four-winged storm dragon.</b> <i>Red lightning crackles across its scaly skin. Its every move reverberates with sharp winds.</i><br />Level 6 dragon, 5 Life, 3 treasure rolls at +1.<br />On each of its turns, roll a d6. On ⚀, the dragon claps its wings, causing a massive wind storm; all characters must make a level 6 hazard Save or take 1 damage. On ⚅, the dragon throws a lightning bolt at a random companion; the characters must make a level 6 magic Save or take 2 damage. Characters in heavy armour don't roll against either of these special attacks and take the damage automatically.<br /><b>Reaction:</b> 1 sleeping, 2-5 bribe, 6 fight.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td><td><b>Crystal guardian dragon.</b> <i>A towering, winged figure, encased in glistening armour. It wields a gigantic sword of raw crystal.</i><br />Level 7 dragon, 6 Life, 2 attacks, 2 treasure rolls at +2.<br />Each attack of the dragon deals 2 damage. Once reduced to half Life, the dragon breathes a cloud of dust. The whole party must make a level 4 breath Save or be turned to crystal.<br /><b>Reaction:</b> 1-4 threaten, 5 puzzle, 6 fight to death.</td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td><td><b>Divine serpent dragon.</b> <i>It has no wings, yet it coils through the air with an ease born of powerful magic.</i><br />Level 7 dragon, 7 Life, 4 treasure rolls.<br />On each of its turns, roll a d6 to see which spell the dragon casts:<br /><ol><li><i>Word of Law:</i> All characters must make a level 7 breath Save or take 1 holy damage.</li><li><i>Heretic's Woe:</i> A random character must make a level 5 magic Save or lose d3 Life.</li><li><i>Heretic's Penance:</i> A random character must make a level 5 magic Save or become Cursed.</li><li><i>Cage of the Faithless:</i> A random character must make a level 5 magic Save or fall asleep until the end of the encounter.</li><li><i>Zeal of the Faithful:</i> The dragon summons d6 cultists (level 4 minions).</li><li><i>Immortal Glory:</i> The dragon regains 1 LP. If at full Life, the dragon attacks normally instead.<br /></li></ol><b>Reaction:</b> 1 offer food and rest, 2 magical challenge, 3 quest, 4-5 sleeping, 6 bribe.</td></tr>
<tr><td>6</td><td><b>Starborn void dragon.</b> <i>The stars dance. The stars scream. The stars despise. This world is not worth even an afterthought.</i><br />Level 8 dragon, 8 Life, 2 attacks, 2 treasure rolls and an Epic Reward.<br />Before the fight begins, roll d6 to determine the special powers of the dragon:<br /><ol><li><i>World Eater:</i> The first time it is reduced to half Life, the dragon breathes <i>in</i>. The whole party must make a level 5 breath Save or lose 1 level. The dragon regains LP equal to the number of levels lost by the party.</li><li><i>Blacklight:</i> At the start of the encounter, the dragon breathes a beam of unseen light. The whole party must make a level 5 breath Save or be permanently blinded.</li><li><i>Interstellar:</i> Once reduced to half Life, the dragon breathes a cloud of interstellar gas. The whole party must make a level 3 breath Save or be frozen solid (and die).</li><li><i>Starfall:</i> Once reduced to half Life, the dragon flies high above and then plummets as a blazing meteorite. The whole party must make a level 4 hazard Save or take 3 damage.</li><li><i>Starscream:</i> At the start of the encounter, and then again when reduced to half Life, the dragon screams. The whole party must make a level 6 fear Save or take 1 point of Madness.</li><li><i>Vacuum:</i> Every round, the whole party must make a level 4 breath Save or take 1 damage from asphyxiation.</li></ol><b>Reaction:</b> 1-5 sleeping, 6 fight to death.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><br />When the party kills a true dragon, they may cut out its heart and take it back to Town as an additional treasure. There, a character may sacrifice the heart on the altar of the Dragon Cult to receive a random draconic gift. A character may only have a number of draconic gifts equal to their Level and should they roll one they already possess, no gift is gained from that heart.<br /><br /></p>
<table class="dragon-table">
<thead><tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>d6</th><th>Draconic Gifts</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td>1</td><td><b>Dragon Breath:</b><i> </i>Choose an element. Once per adventure, breathe to deal d3 damage, no roll required.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td><b>Dragon Roar: </b>Once per adventure, roar with such ferocity that your foes immediately roll Morale.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3</td><td><b>Dragon Armaments:</b> Your sharp claws and spiked tail count as martial weapons or a polearm, respectively (both grant +0 Attack), which cannot be disarmed, damaged or otherwise degraded. You may not wield anything to use them, though.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td><td><b>Dragon Eyes:</b> You cannot be blinded (from darkness, curse, or such) and ignore invisibility.</td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td><td><b>Dragon Hide:</b> Immunity to fire.</td></tr>
<tr><td>6</td><td><b>Dragon Wings:</b> While in a room or outdoors, you are immune to traps and get +1 Defence, as you can fly out of the way.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><br />A character who gains all draconic gifts transcends their humanity, becoming an ageless dragonkin.<br /> <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMm9VS63dWyD2cvdmwOzBYSYhBbHXuhLCTmHwJWjQx-rT1tr8ssxe3pHY86lm_F_flYQe8_b5XlLHFmU3MUVsSu7e06HAbPFy0xoLlwteEPmmOshSb3VdXXEIRUDGbt0AQdk2wkLfaIq4auqt-CA1WNMfS1LzNFl1RwjieSX6LnfU_vpX48JCuq4S0/s200/dragon_heart_elden_ring_wiki_guide_200px.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMm9VS63dWyD2cvdmwOzBYSYhBbHXuhLCTmHwJWjQx-rT1tr8ssxe3pHY86lm_F_flYQe8_b5XlLHFmU3MUVsSu7e06HAbPFy0xoLlwteEPmmOshSb3VdXXEIRUDGbt0AQdk2wkLfaIq4auqt-CA1WNMfS1LzNFl1RwjieSX6LnfU_vpX48JCuq4S0/s1600/dragon_heart_elden_ring_wiki_guide_200px.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A dragon heart from <i>Elden Ring</i>.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-46353198081825443532022-10-26T16:53:00.001+02:002022-10-26T16:53:00.155+02:004AD: Traps<p style="text-align: justify;">I have replaced the Room Contents result number 9 with "<i>Roll for a
random trap.</i>", because traps are an interesting obstacle while empty
rooms are boring.<br /><br />First though, here is a generalized table of Saves, more or less derived from the non-specific rolls against danger present throughout the base rules of <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/180588/Four-Against-Darkness" target="_blank">Four Against Darkness</a>. A character's Saves depend on their class and Level, plus any bonuses from magic items. As with all risky rolls, a roll of ⚀ is always a failure.<br /><br /></p>
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<thead><tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>d6</th><th>Save</th><th>Bonuses</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td>1</td><td>Breath</td><td>All +L/2</td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td>Fear</td><td>Barbarian +L, Warrior +L/2</td></tr>
<tr><td>3</td><td>Gaze</td><td>Rogue +L/2; immune while blind</td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td><td>Hazard</td><td>Rogue +L, Halfling and Elf +1; armour light -1, heavy -2</td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td><td>Magic</td><td>Wizard +L, Elf +1, Barbarian -1</td></tr>
<tr><td>6</td><td>Poison</td><td>Halfling and Dwarf +L, Barbarian +L/2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><br />A Cleric uses +L bonus for all Saves involving the undead; though frankly I may do away with Clerics, because I just don't like them.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg23Lh_eYjH3Y8v144KS0D9a7jkxaMgh0mYUT-AyYBIU1FDNKlc6aLWaJRmmoABoD8YnEWF_PNH9qRmGz8y2KUMA7EoaS5ZEftJG6SBUjZs6STSE-zugrTH9bwcm6hI43A67J8RPqw72cktzkQujhuOOJtgeMLHlh3U-EXM0jEo6LI-Ty3bXqgaryl1/s401/undermountain_trap.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="231" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg23Lh_eYjH3Y8v144KS0D9a7jkxaMgh0mYUT-AyYBIU1FDNKlc6aLWaJRmmoABoD8YnEWF_PNH9qRmGz8y2KUMA7EoaS5ZEftJG6SBUjZs6STSE-zugrTH9bwcm6hI43A67J8RPqw72cktzkQujhuOOJtgeMLHlh3U-EXM0jEo6LI-Ty3bXqgaryl1/s320/undermountain_trap.webp" width="184" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <a href="https://dmdavid.com/tag/gotcha-traps/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Mark any traps on your map. They remain in the room and must be rolled against every time the party passes through there. A Rogue in the first row can attempt to disarm a trap before it hits anyone.<br /><br />Obvious traps are, well, obvious and seen from afar. The party can choose to turn back rather than enter the room with an obvious trap, but if they want to cross the room, they have to bear the trap's effects.<br /><br />If you encountered a treasure guarded by a trap (Room Contents #3), use the Obvious Traps table. Otherwise, roll d3 to see which table to use.<br /><br /></p>
<table class="trap-table">
<thead><tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>d6</th><th>Obvious Traps</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td>1</td><td><b>Spiked pit:</b> All characters trying to cross the pit have to make a level 4 hazard Save or fall in, taking 1 damage. Anyone who falls in must also make a level 4 poison Save or get Poisoned from the spikes.<br /></td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td><b>Mimic.</b> <i>Does the chest... salivate?</i><br />Level 4 aberration, 4 Life, 2 attacks, 2 treasure rolls.<br />It's so bad at its job that the party can choose to ignore it.<br /><b>Reaction:</b> Always fight to death.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3</td><td><b>Barricade:</b> The path forward is blocked. If you want to go through, make a level 5 Brute check or use a Fireball to destroy it.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td><td><b>Magic field*:</b> The whole party must make a level 3 magic Save or take 1 damage. The field is visible as an odd shimmering of the air.</td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td><td><b>Acid vent:</b> A random character must make a level 3 hazard Save or have a random item from their inventory destroyed.</td></tr>
<tr><td>6</td><td><b>Dragon statue:</b> The whole party must make a level 5 breath Save or take d3 damage.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table class="trap-table">
<thead><tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>d6</th><th>Hidden Traps I</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td>1</td><td><b>Arrow trap:</b> A random character must make a level 5 Defence roll or take 1 damage.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td><b>Poison dart:</b> A random character must make a level 4 poison Save or get Poisoned.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3</td><td><b>Trapdoor:</b> The character at position 1 must make a level 4 hazard Save or fall through the trapdoor, losing 2 LP. In addition, it will take another character to help the victim out of the trapdoor. If someone falls in a trapdoor and they are alone, they eventually die unless they can teleport out.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td><td><b>Agony rune*:</b> A random character must make a level 2 magic Save or lose half their current Life (round remaining LP down).</td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td><td><b>Haunt*:</b> A random character must make a level 4 fear Save or fall unconscious. An unconscious character comes round when they receive healing, or when taken out of the dungeon.</td></tr>
<tr><td>6</td><td><b>Giant serrated blade:</b> A random character in the first row must make a level 5 Defence roll or take 2 damage.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table class="trap-table">
<thead><tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>d6</th><th>Hidden Traps II</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td>1</td><td><b>Spear trap:</b> Two random characters must make a level 3 hazard Save or take 1 damage.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td><b>Poison gas:</b> The whole party must make a level 3 poison Save or get Poisoned.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3</td><td><b>Bear trap:</b> A random character must make a level 4 hazard Save or take 1 damage. Until that damage is healed, they have an injured leg and take -1 to Attack, Defence and hazard Save.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td><td><b>Crossroads rune*:</b> The whole party is randomly teleported. Roll a die over your map, the party reappears where it ends up. This might place them into a newly generated room.</td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td><td><b>Alarm:</b> The light-bearer makes a level 3 hazard Save or sets off the alarm, forcing an encounter with wandering monsters. The monsters arrive aware of the party and roll their Reaction.</td></tr>
<tr><td>6</td><td><b>Giant falling stone block:</b> A random character in the second row must make a level 5 hazard Save or take 2 damage.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><br />*) Magic trap. Cannot be disarmed by a Rogue, but can be dispelled by a Wizard in the first row.<br /></p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-16824385379216430902022-10-24T09:00:00.001+02:002022-10-24T09:00:00.175+02:004AD: Magical Equipment<p align="justify">I've had rather little time lately, but I've picked up <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/180588/Four-Against-Darkness" target="_blank">Four Against Darkness</a> to play when on the train or in a useless Teams meeting. For those who haven't heard about it, it's a solo hack & slash dungeon crawler with procedurally generated dungeons and simple rules which requires only a single d6 (except for a few d66 rolls). It has lots of killing monsters and getting loot, but not really any role-playing unless you invent some yourself.<br /><br />I especially like the dungeon generator. You have d66 small map pieces in the book and every time you arrive at the edge of an unexplored corridor, you roll for the next piece. It results in a much more interesting map than the many abstract dungeon generators seem to provide.<br /><br />Anyway, I've already started house-ruling and tinkering with it. :)<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcK_KbcFQraanNRKCkzj2V7mxRc94-5S9LQk2LACfb9f22kd-NSvHRWqNZlRsislP-Nx6vtb4pVj5H2PKYPV3-ab0k7C-bnj8gdk16cXQSy5YLyxeqU6U-uORNv1H_OolrW7hZiPCHCtwIZPi8Cqwjs7l7_oZfsPV3Ux4GzOgSnMlwHU_U3sQT2A0/s237/magic_weapon.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="237" data-original-width="205" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcK_KbcFQraanNRKCkzj2V7mxRc94-5S9LQk2LACfb9f22kd-NSvHRWqNZlRsislP-Nx6vtb4pVj5H2PKYPV3-ab0k7C-bnj8gdk16cXQSy5YLyxeqU6U-uORNv1H_OolrW7hZiPCHCtwIZPi8Cqwjs7l7_oZfsPV3Ux4GzOgSnMlwHU_U3sQT2A0/s1600/magic_weapon.png" width="205" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <i>Dark Souls</i>.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p align="justify"> <br /></p><p align="justify">When you find a magic weapon as per the base rules, roll on the table below for a special effect in addition to the normal +1 Attack.<br /><br /></p>
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<thead><tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>d6</th><th>Magic Weapon Enchantments</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td>1</td><td><b>Flaming:</b> Counts as fire damage where advantageous, serves as a lantern when wielded.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td><b>Crystal:</b> Can be shattered for a devastating blow - roll 3d6 and keep the highest result.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3</td><td><b>Vorpal</b> (if slashing)<b>:</b> Die explodes on ⚅.<br /><b>Thunder</b> (if crushing)<b>:</b> On ⚅, the enemies are stunned by a thunderous blow and miss their next turn. </td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td><td><b>Slaying:</b> Against specific monster type (d6), grants extra +1 Attack.<br /><ol><li>Animals</li><li>Aberrations <br /></li><li>Greenskins*</li><li>Undead</li><li>Demons</li><li>Bosses</li></ol></td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td><td><b>Runic:</b> Imbued with a single spell that any class can use; roll randomly on the spell table. Recharges each adventure.</td></tr>
<tr><td>6</td><td><b>Cursed:</b> Gives the same base bonus as other magic weapons, but also carries a curse. Once picked up (and if you're rolling on this table, you've picked it up), it must be always wielded and cannot be exchanged for another weapon. <i>Bless</i> spell allows the character to exchange the weapon, but doesn't remove the curse.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<p align="justify"> <br />Unlike weapons, magic shields do <i>not </i>get a bonus to Defence, but they do get a special effect.<br /><br /></p>
<table class="fad-table">
<thead><tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>d6</th><th>Magic Shield Enchantments</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td>1</td><td><b>Protection:</b> Simply gives extra +1 Defence.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td><b>Parrying:</b> When you roll ⚅ on a Defence roll, make a free bonus attack against the attacker.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3</td><td><b>Reflection:</b> Once per adventure, reflect a spell or spell-like ability back at the caster.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td><td><b>Sentinel:</b> Shatter to completely negate one attack of any kind, even against an ally.</td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td><td><b>Warning:</b> The user can act before the monsters when the party is surprised.</td></tr>
<tr><td>6</td><td><b>Warding:</b> Offers immunity to one damage type or effect (d6).<br /><ol><li>Fire</li><li>Poison and disease</li><li>Paralysis and sleep</li><li>Level drain</li><li>Instant death effects</li><li>Shaping**<br /></li></ol></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<p align="justify"><br />*) Goblins, orcs, ogres, trolls.<br />**) Any magic that affects the physical form. For example polymorph, petrification, mutations, etc.<br /></p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-70175252334741076992022-10-17T14:06:00.001+02:002022-10-17T14:06:37.520+02:00The Sun Father<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfwzjWUULtfgX4rHiUiDifyzskWpMaazxk3a5d-ywWfRN9Oz28oxMbAuHoWa4yc649WxsAUZeS95zNPLY9_JrXVqf7cxilm5nKzAMiF4n5KKKROYNAx1nkxPBXy4JMbZNHm2rexktWxWYnnojtRjG4FarC9aNuP-5foGhu41TmQGJBCGyinOxOrk4x/s3872/Sunset_in_Zadar_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3872" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfwzjWUULtfgX4rHiUiDifyzskWpMaazxk3a5d-ywWfRN9Oz28oxMbAuHoWa4yc649WxsAUZeS95zNPLY9_JrXVqf7cxilm5nKzAMiF4n5KKKROYNAx1nkxPBXy4JMbZNHm2rexktWxWYnnojtRjG4FarC9aNuP-5foGhu41TmQGJBCGyinOxOrk4x/s320/Sunset_in_Zadar_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br /><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">He is old, so old.<br /><br />His toil is endless, and every step becomes harder and harder. Just one more, he says to himself, just one more step, just one more day, just one more millennium. But he grows weak and tired.<br /><br />The Sun rises and there is a brand new day.<br /><br />How he would have laughed at the idea of himself growing old and frail, once. He remembers those days when he ran with his brothers and sisters under the primordial sky, naked golden skin glistening, pure joy of life and hunt in their hearts. They tore bears apart with bare hands. But those days are long gone now.<br /><br />The Sun sets and another day is over.<br /><br />He is doing it for his family. They need him, he says to himself, but he no longer believes they remember. They live for the moment, for passion and action and sensation. Most likely they just forgot about him and moved on, unburdened by the grim thoughts of his eternal labour.<br /><br />The Sun rises, burning bright for all.<br /><br />The orb is searing his hands. Once he would cavort in a blizzard and swim in a volcano, but now his skin is blistered from the heat and yet he shivers from the freezing air. But he presses on.<br /><br />The Sun sets as it did for times untold.<br /><br />He remembers the day when the old father died. His family was solemn and sombre, a rare sight indeed. The old father toiled for them all, and someone would have to continue the work. He was young and foolish and proud. He volunteered.<br /><br />The Sun rises and it will do so again tomorrow.<br /><br />For how long is he going in circles? First, days flew past and he didn't break a sweat, then years and he was bored but determined. Then centuries and millennia and even more and ever more...<br /><br />The Sun sets, for it never stops.<br /><br />His chest hurts and he can hardly breathe. His left arm went numb and he more staggers than walks. Yet the work is there and then there is more work, always.<br /><br />Just one more step.<br /><br />Just one more step, just one more step.<br /><br />Just one more...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />He is so exhausted.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho1G4Ivfr0eRcm_8qEzldtKxlYW16tchwniwP8Q023EffMOdTTrYVlc8YqUCwJ_KnvInGui40OcxiNqJOOcwvnz3gPxqSlktMl2yE8GX66n8-VkBrd-UVe0bn9BRm8EXNAFDna3pg0mXQ8Xa3DN5hAwpRXQBTRmg_MOgbCZOR3TltO5uqS9t8gtCwG/s355/SunFather.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="355" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho1G4Ivfr0eRcm_8qEzldtKxlYW16tchwniwP8Q023EffMOdTTrYVlc8YqUCwJ_KnvInGui40OcxiNqJOOcwvnz3gPxqSlktMl2yE8GX66n8-VkBrd-UVe0bn9BRm8EXNAFDna3pg0mXQ8Xa3DN5hAwpRXQBTRmg_MOgbCZOR3TltO5uqS9t8gtCwG/s320/SunFather.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">There is a mountain at the end of the world, and a plateau at its top. There is a massive circle scorched into the rock of the plateau. There is a lone golden figure pushing a burning boulder of gold along that trail. And there is the Sun in the sky, forever circling the world, blazing just as the boulder of gold does.<br /><br />Except the Sun has stopped.<br /><br /><b>Where did the Sun stop?</b><br /></p><ol style="text-align: justify;"><li>Just below horizon, the world is in unending twilight.</li><li>Just after sunrise and the Sun is sitting on the horizon now.</li><li>The Sun is hanging low in the sky, a morning forever more.</li><li>High in the sky, maybe even at the zenith. It burns with unrelenting heat.</li><li>Red sky at night, shepherd's delight. Dusk came but the Sun never fully set.</li><li>It was night, and now the night will not go away.</li></ol><p style="text-align: justify;"><br />Can the PCs find another god willing to take on the burden of the Sun? Or is there another way?<br /><br /></p>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2192410181242837680.post-85057388095751523572022-08-01T10:50:00.001+02:002022-08-01T22:24:24.813+02:00d100 Magical Statues<p style="text-align: justify;">Temple halls and forbidden tombs. Deep dungeons and abandoned castles. Gardens. Forests. City squares. They all should have statues in them.<br /><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWVNVmYQ4YcBIsXdTZ_bCnK5o5_cRWJRJZJwG798CCYqWdu4u589aW4TnDFooxxo_viKGC6npw4mtwrlKajqxzZDmP7pGxO5iRhspRD_90FtrI8-8KgzPiygMtVQ8cXhbOkOvRgZCsN9t6ioU8oSNYYa6KiYgR8hXQr9e3Jtwt9O3iLsjpPzh5AYF1/s1469/forgotten_by_fenro45_de10lk4-fullview.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1469" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWVNVmYQ4YcBIsXdTZ_bCnK5o5_cRWJRJZJwG798CCYqWdu4u589aW4TnDFooxxo_viKGC6npw4mtwrlKajqxzZDmP7pGxO5iRhspRD_90FtrI8-8KgzPiygMtVQ8cXhbOkOvRgZCsN9t6ioU8oSNYYa6KiYgR8hXQr9e3Jtwt9O3iLsjpPzh5AYF1/s320/forgotten_by_fenro45_de10lk4-fullview.jpg" width="223" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Forgotten</i> by <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/fenro45/art/Forgotten-848234020" target="_blank">Fenro45</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <br /><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Admittedly, I like statues and I like to imagine them in many locations. What I don't like is coming up with their descriptions on the fly, because those can often fall flat. So what I need is a big table of pre-made statues.<br /><br />Many of the statues below have been inspired by those found in <a href="https://ancardia.fandom.com/wiki/Statue_(dungeon_feature)" target="_blank">ADOM</a>. Each statue also has a special effect described, but feel free to ignore those. Magical statues are cool, but sometimes all you need is the flavour.<br /><br /></p>
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<table class="statue-table">
<thead><tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>d100</th><th>Statue</th><th>Effect</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td>1</td><td>An ugly little goblin hewn from gabbro and holding a shovel.</td><td>The shovel points towards where a chest had been walled in.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td>This statue is unfinished, as though the sculptor ran out of time. It seems to depict a child, maybe?</td><td>Anyone who touches the statue immediately grows d20 years younger and the statue gets a tiny bit more finished. Works once per person only.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3</td><td>A fey queen sculpted from white marble. Her eyes are brilliant-cut sapphires. </td><td>Touching the sapphires forces a Save vs permanent paralysis.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td><td>A hooded ranger in a readied combat stance wielding a pair of short swords. </td><td>The swords are actual masterwork weapons, but have to be pried free from the statue's stony grip.</td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td><td>A larger than life knight made from some strangely glistening black stone, wielding an axe in one hand and a severed head in the other. A plaque on the pedestal reads: "Vae Victis"</td><td>Saying "Vae Victis" out loud animates the severed head. It contains the spirit of a sorcerer once slain by the depicted knight.</td></tr>
<tr><td>6</td><td>A large cube of grey stone precariously standing on a corner, one large and intricate rune carved into each face. </td><td>Touching a rune teleports you to another runed cube. There are seven such statues, each connected the the others via its runes.</td></tr>
<tr><td>7</td><td>A nun raising her hand in a blessing, but covered in cracks and grime. The pedestal bears these words: "A moment of respite, a chance of relief."</td><td>Sleeping at the feet of the statue will grant a bonus Save vs one affliction affecting you, and the statue will get a bit more cracked and grimy once you wake up.</td></tr>
<tr><td>8</td><td>A bearded blacksmith stands hunched over an empty anvil, his brow furrowed in concentration. His right hand grips a hammer, raised as if ready to strike. </td><td>If anything is placed on the anvil, the statue will smash it with the hammer and shatter it (including magic items normally resistant to such).</td></tr>
<tr><td>9</td><td>A naked woman with an oversized, misshapen and mutilated head. She is wearing a necklace, but the head is too big to simply remove it.</td><td>The necklace is quite valuable, but if the statue is damaged, it will animate and attack.</td></tr>
<tr><td>10</td><td>An elf wearing a noble armour of ancient design. He is hunched over as if in agony, his eyes screwed shut. </td><td>Getting very close the statue, you will hear a faint whisper: "I suffer, great hero. Wilst thou help me?" If you consent, the statue's eyes will open, burning with purple radiance, and you gain d6 mutations. The statue will look momentarily relieved, before closing its eyes again. Works once per person.</td></tr>
<tr><td>11</td><td>A warlock in flowing robes, wielding a staff in one hand and a sword in the other.</td><td>The statue reflects any spell cast at it.</td></tr>
<tr><td>12</td><td>More of a twisted, abstract blob of glassy stone than an actual statue.</td><td>As long as a creature keeps making skin contact with this statue, their flesh may be re-shaped like clay. It's excruciatingly painful.</td></tr>
<tr><td>13</td><td>A thin, tall, black monolith.</td><td>Breaking the monolith will open a portal to Beyond.</td></tr>
<tr><td>14</td><td>A vaguely humanoid form completely overgrown with plant life and crawling with insects.</td><td>Some useful herbs that have no business growing in a dungeon can be harvested from the statue.</td></tr>
<tr><td>15</td><td>This statue is a pile of books, each crafted from a different type of rock.</td><td>Touching a book will make a voice in your head read it to you.</td></tr>
<tr><td>16</td><td>A warrior-nun in a fighting position, decorated with ivory.</td><td>If you kick the statue, it will catch your leg and break it. Once the fractured bone heals, you will be able to double jump.</td></tr>
<tr><td>17</td><td>A fat smiling man, made of solid gold. The pedestal bears a crude engraving, likely added later: "Beware Greed"</td><td>Touching the statue will make half your carried gold disappear. A disembodied laugh will ring in your ears and the statue will grow a bit more fat. The statue is unnaturally resistant to damage.</td></tr>
<tr><td>18</td><td>An young wizard with an open grimoire in one hand, the other bent in a spellcasting gesture.</td><td>The grimoire actually has a spell engraved in it, which can be copied into your spellbook.</td></tr>
<tr><td>19</td><td>An aged wizard brandishing an ornate wand. An inscription on the pedestal says: "In honour of the grand-" and the rest was destroyed by a spell impact.</td><td>Trying to hit the statue with a spell from a wand will instead recharge/empower the wand. If attempted again with the same wand, the wand will explode.</td></tr>
<tr><td>20</td><td>A serpentine dragon, a different rune emblazoned on each scale. A plaque reads: "He Shall Reap the Wind"</td><td>Speaking in the presence of the statue brings about wind, the stronger the louder one spoke. Even whispers cause pretty strong gusts.</td></tr>
<tr><td>21</td><td>Two enormous dogs standing guard over a fallen soldier. A plaque reads: "Never resting. Ever watching."</td><td>Any dog who sees this statue will gain d6 max hp and increase its Morale to 12. Works once per dog.</td></tr>
<tr><td>22</td><td>A maiden kneeling in prayer.</td><td>If you haven't done anything too questionable or sinful recently, praying for a while will heal d6 hp.</td></tr>
<tr><td>23</td><td>A sneering jester juggling human skulls. </td><td>Telling any joke near this statue will cause a deafening laughter to echo throughout the room. Roll for a random encounter due to the noise. Out of character jokes at the table count too.</td></tr>
<tr><td>24</td><td>Only the feet remain from this statue. The pedestal is engraved with the following words: "Aut viam inveniam aut faciam."</td><td>Any piece chipped off from the statue (not the pedestal) can be used to cast <i>knock</i> once.</td></tr>
<tr><td>25</td><td>A woman just rousing from sleep, her face absolutely terrified.</td><td>Anyone sleeping in the room will enter a shared nightmare of a dark forest. It contains magic loot, but also a lot of dream-monsters. If you get killed in the dreamscape, your real body dies of fright.</td></tr>
<tr><td>26</td><td>A boulder-sized perfect metallic sphere floating above its pedestal.</td><td>Anything touching the statue becomes weightless. Do not move it off the pedestal!</td></tr>
<tr><td>27</td><td>A huge heap of old, rusty armour and weapons, seemingly fused together.</td><td>For a moment, you thought you heard faint whispers coming from inside of the heap...</td></tr>
<tr><td>28</td><td>A sandstone dog growling at an unseen threat.</td><td>Any sand scraped off the statue can be used as a barrier against spectral enemies.</td></tr>
<tr><td>29</td><td>A mad wizard ripping pages out of a spellbook. An inscription reads: "Knowledge is a finite resource; the more you learn, the more you forget."</td><td>Any PC who touches the statue falls unconscious and wakes up only after d6 hours. They may opt to change the class of their last level (eg. fighter 6 might become fighter 5, thief 1). Only works once per person.</td></tr>
<tr><td>30</td><td>A man crowned with twigs and leaves, surrounded by a swarm of squirrels. </td><td>Leave an offering of nuts on the pedestal and the next time you need help, several squirrels will come to your aid.</td></tr>
<tr><td>31</td><td>A cloaked figure, its left arm hidden under the cloak but its right arm extended outwards, holding a set of scales. A plaque reads: "To the ancient judges in whose dominion Balance reigned supreme." </td><td>Place an object of contention on the scales and present your case. The object will be equitably split in half; treasure by its real value, a magic item might be duplicated with half its potency, a baby might be cloned. If the case is in bad faith, however, the figure will reveal its left hand wielding a sword; Save vs decapitation.</td></tr>
<tr><td>32</td><td>A naked male figure missing its head.</td><td>Placing a severed head on the statue's neck stump will fuse them together and animate the head with its new golem-body.</td></tr>
<tr><td>33</td><td>A featureless humanoid standing square and emotionless. It is missing one hand, an eye and a few chunks from its chest.</td><td>If you touch the statue and have a body part missing, you will be granted a prosthetic of animated stone and the statue will lose a corresponding piece.</td></tr>
<tr><td>34</td><td>A crude wooden figurine of a giant rat. A barely-readable scrawling on its pedestal says: "FOOD"</td><td>Leaving any food at the pedestal will quickly lure in a menagerie of rats, giant rats, wererats, zombie rats and any other rodents that live in the vicinity. They might be quite friendly if they can get their bellies full.</td></tr>
<tr><td>35</td><td>A great hero strikes a breathtaking pose. How gorgeous! How graceful! How inspiring! Oh, wait... Suddenly, it seems to resemble you.</td><td>The statue takes on the appearance of the first PC who investigates it, only more beautiful and godly. Any damage taken by the statue is also taken by the character.</td></tr>
<tr><td>36</td><td>A head of a gargantuan dragon, hewn from obsidian. Covered in frost and nearly too cold to touch.</td><td>The whole room is quite chilly. Anyone falling asleep here will slumber forever, requiring no food and never ageing. They can be safely awoken if slowly thawed next to a fire.</td></tr>
<tr><td>37</td><td>A weary soldier, heavily leaning on his spear. An inscription reads: "The wars will not remember you or your comrades."</td><td>Leaving some fresh flowers on the pedestal will lift your fatigue as if you had a good night's sleep.</td></tr>
<tr><td>38</td><td>A delicate young woman lies prostrate on an ornate settee, clothed in a thin, revealing attire, with one hand resting wearily against her forehead and the other reaching languidly outwards. Her posture suggests great despair.</td><td>Kissing the outstretched hand forces you to babble out your darkest secret.</td></tr>
<tr><td>39</td><td>Ten monkeys climbing over each other.</td><td>Climbing on top of the statue reveals a secret escape hatch in the ceiling.</td></tr>
<tr><td>40</td><td>A stone tree smeared with dried blood.</td><td>Sprinkling the statue with fresh blood makes a single blood-red apple grow on the tree. Very tasty.</td></tr>
<tr><td>41</td><td>A man with a twisted expression, holding a sword with which he just severed his other hand. The severed hand is lying on the pedestal and someone has written in dried blood by it: "No sacrifice too big."</td><td>Every piece of flesh that you cut off from your own body and place on the pedestal will transform into gold.</td></tr>
<tr><td>42</td><td>A gorgeous woman with piercing eyes.</td><td>The eyes are engraved with symbols of fascination. Looking directly into them will plunge you into a beautiful dream where you live a good, happy life with this woman. You cannot wake up on your own.</td></tr>
<tr><td>43</td><td>A golden fish leaping from a pond.</td><td>Any cracks on the statue will spill fresh water. The bigger the crack, the more water.</td></tr>
<tr><td>44</td><td>A dwarf raising a tankard in a toast.</td><td>Pouring any alcoholic beverage into the tankard will make it froth and overflow; drinking from this overflow acts as a very alcoholic healing potion.</td></tr>
<tr><td>45</td><td>The statue is cast in bronze and depicts a barbarian accompanied by a snarling dog.</td><td>The statue is hollow and filled with human bones. Any canine offered one of these bones will leave you be and happily chew on it.</td></tr>
<tr><td>46</td><td>A goblin crafted from green glass, dancing madly.</td><td>Breaking the statue will make you greenish and translucent, forever. Not invisible, just translucent.</td></tr>
<tr><td>47</td><td>A big ugly toad, its tongue outstretched.</td><td>If you leave dead insects on the tongue, the frog will gobble them up and spit out copper pieces.</td></tr>
<tr><td>48</td><td>A dwarf with a determined grin and a full backpack. Graffiti scratched into the pedestal reads: "Better a small fire that warms than a great fire that burns."</td><td>Start a campfire in front of the statue to talk to it. It knows a lot about this dungeon, though its knowledge may be outdated.</td></tr>
<tr><td>49</td><td>A statue of a giant stands sneering from above, blocking a doorway with its oversized sword.</td><td>Politely asking the statue to let you through will make it raise the sword. You have to say "please".</td></tr>
<tr><td>50</td><td>A wide bowl filled with scarab statuettes, accented with gold filigree and precious stones. </td><td>Attempting to remove a statuette will make them all animate and attack. They can be pacified by singing.</td></tr>
<tr><td>51</td><td>An elf is playing a lute, half of her face dissolving into a mass of tentacles.</td><td>When you start singing or playing an instrument, you will soon be accompanied by a disembodied lute. Keep it up and your flesh will shift, slowly developing more and more mutations.</td></tr>
<tr><td>52</td><td>A demon statue wrapped in rusty chains, standing in a partially walled up alcove.</td><td>Removing the chains will prompt the statue to ask for sacrifices. It can grant knowledge and magic. Should it receive enough offerings, it will break free of the petrification.</td></tr>
<tr><td>53</td><td>A gargoyle is kneeling with its cupped hands raised high above and filled with beautiful pearls.</td><td>Taking a pearl instantly fills your lungs with sea water.</td></tr>
<tr><td>54</td><td>A massive man is struggling under the weight of chains binding him to the ground.</td><td>Breaking any of the chains causes an earthquake to shake the dungeon.</td></tr>
<tr><td>55</td><td>A tall, robed woman holding a thick book in her hands. The flesh of her forearms is engraved with the symbols of the elements. </td><td>The symbols can be copied and used to ward off the elements.</td></tr>
<tr><td>56</td><td>A great hulk of black obsidian, depicting an ancient warrior. His armour is dented and battered, his sword broken and his shield split, yet he seems ready to jump back into the fray.</td><td>Any damaged item touched to the statue is mended.</td></tr>
<tr><td>57</td><td>A large amphora filled with murky water. It smells of decay.</td><td>There are several undead fish and a few pieces of jewellery hidden in the water.</td></tr>
<tr><td>58</td><td>A ceramic statue of a man with a goatee and a stern expression. Wherever you move his eyes seem to follow. </td><td>Once this statue has been sighted, every newly explored room has a 1-in-6 chance of containing this statue.</td></tr>
<tr><td>59</td><td>A proud and haughty woman in flowing robes. Once richly decorated, the statue is now defaced, with most of the silver and gold adornments stolen, and the gemstones it had for eyes gouged out and gone.</td><td>Anyone who touches the statue is permanently blinded, yet they can see precious gems and metals even through walls. This curse is lifted if they bring a new adornment to the statue.</td></tr>
<tr><td>60</td><td>A solitary siren sits atop a pile of bones. </td><td>Singing near the statue will cause it to animate and compliment your singing voice. It will ask you to trade it your voice. If you agree, you are stricken mute but get a sea-themed magic item in return.</td></tr>
<tr><td>61</td><td>A small, tubby, bald man carved from a dark stone. He is smiling widely and carries a small cask under his right arm. A placard on the pedestal reads: "I share freely."</td><td>The tap on the cask can be opened, spilling an endless supply of a murky liquid. The liquid works as a random potion - roll once per character, the liquid will always have the same effect for each character.</td></tr>
<tr><td>62</td><td>A human-sized jackal with sparkling rubies for eyes. </td><td>Undead creatures will never come close to this statue.</td></tr>
<tr><td>63</td><td>A knight, curiously holding a shield in each hand.</td><td>All attacks made in range of the statue will target the statue instead of the intended victim.</td></tr>
<tr><td>64</td><td>A mottled black and red eudialyte stone has been polished and sculpted into the shape of a giant, anatomically correct heart.</td><td>All healing magic is maximized around the statue. However, the patient will start hearing the thrum of a giant heart, the more loudly the more times they are healed near the statue, and it never goes away.</td></tr>
<tr><td>65</td><td>A winged figure clad in plate and gripping a soot-stained greatsword.</td><td>Flames cannot be put out in this room.</td></tr>
<tr><td>66</td><td>A thinly built man huddled as if to squeeze through a narrow gap. He leads with a crossbow, held at arm's length. </td><td>The stone crossbow is missing a quarrel, but if one is loaded in it, it will shoot the next creature that crosses the statue's sights.</td></tr>
<tr><td>67</td><td>A too tall and slender magician, clothed in a foreign garb. On the palm of his extended hand dances a ghostly flame.</td><td>The ghostly flame produces light but no heat.</td></tr>
<tr><td>68</td><td>A humanoid figure, but so old and eroded it has lost all distinguishable features.</td><td>Any person who dies in this room will have their soul trapped in the statue, replacing a previous soul if there was one. You can talk with a trapped soul when touching the statue. There's a 2-in-6 chance that there already is a soul inside when you find the statue.</td></tr>
<tr><td>69</td><td>A barefoot amazon clad in wolf pelts, drawing her longbow and about to shoot.</td><td>The arrowhead is made of metal, unlike the rest of the statue, and is exceedingly sharp. Anyone pricked by it will be affected as if by a sleeping poison.</td></tr>
<tr><td>70</td><td>A plague doctor taking off his mask, his face frozen in a rictus grin.</td><td>Every exploration turn spent in the room, save against a random <a href="https://attnam.blogspot.com/2019/05/weirder-diseases.html" target="_blank">disease</a>.</td></tr>
<tr><td>71</td><td>A young elvish girl, perhaps seven or eight, carved from basalt. An engraving on the pedestal reads: "Never forget, never forgive."</td><td>Humans take double damage when in sight of the statue.</td></tr>
<tr><td>72</td><td>A naked, peeing boy.</td><td>The pee is actually molten gold, disappearing into a hole in the floor.</td></tr>
<tr><td>73</td><td>A very old and ugly man, nearly buckling under the weight of a big sack full of weapons on his back - swords, axes, hammers and flails, spears, bows, ...</td><td>Any weapon touched to the statue turns to stone.</td></tr>
<tr><td>74</td><td>A huge egg assembled from a thousand interlocking pieces carved from different types of stone. A placard at the pedestal reads: "Only a fool would break me."</td><td>If one can solve the puzzle and open the egg, there might be a reward hidden inside. Only a fool would break the egg!<br /></td></tr>
<tr><td>75</td><td>A cloaked figure, tall and regal and carved from white marble, yet the shadows beneath its hood are deep and swirling.</td><td>If anything disturbs the swirling shadows, a torrent of black smoke starts spilling from under the hood.</td></tr>
<tr><td>76</td><td>An ice sculpture of a leopard in mid-leap. The ice glows from within, as if there was something trapped inside. </td><td>If shattered, reveals a magic ring that allows the casting of <i>wall of ice</i>, but is also haunted by the spirit of a snow leopard.</td></tr>
<tr><td>77</td><td>A warrior beaten down onto one knee, cowering under a shield and cradling his other arm. There is a mixture of horror, desperation and anger on the statue's face. </td><td>A wizard might realize that this is no statue. The warrior is stuck in stasis.</td></tr>
<tr><td>78</td><td>Half of a warrior remains mounted on a war horse, all carved from crumbling sandstone. Sand is slowly but constantly falling off the statue.</td><td>Nothing in this room ages.</td></tr>
<tr><td>79</td><td>A vampire prostrated and pleading, its fanged maw open wide. There are stains of old, dried blood inside its throat.</td><td>Anyone who cuts themselves and bleeds into the vampire's mouth will be purified of all physical and metaphysical maladies, but also drop to 0 hp. Pouring some blood from a dead creature into the statue's mouth will raise the corpse as a ravenous zombie.</td></tr>
<tr><td>80</td><td>A badly defaced statue of an orcish hero, poised with a great-axe in his hands. Unlike the statue, the axe is made of steel and decorated with orcish pictograms and pieces of jade.</td><td>The axe is enchanted with human slaying. It also bears a curse - if a non-orc steals it, they will transform into an orc the next time they sleep.</td></tr>
<tr><td>81</td><td>A statue made of aged and splintering wood, the details far too faded to make out. It appears to be holding a wand. </td><td>Magic becomes very unpredictable and prone to amusing side effects in the vicinity of this statue.</td></tr>
<tr><td>82</td><td>A barbarian warrior clad in thick furs, hiding behind a large, asymmetrical mirror.</td><td>One can walk through the mirror into a mirrored copy of this room, except it contains someone's hideout. A bed, a burnt-out campfire and some assorted pieces of equipment left strewn about.</td></tr>
<tr><td>83</td><td>A nobleman smiling a slightly mad smile, an arm held upward with a severed ear in his palm. </td><td>Touching the statue will strike you permanently deaf, but you will now be able to hear nearby magic as strange whispers.</td></tr>
<tr><td>84</td><td>A chest-high pillar carved with words in many, many languages and scripts.</td><td>You can read any piece of writing that you rest on top of the pillar.</td></tr>
<tr><td>85</td><td>A towering tyrant-king of yore resting upon his throne, many small figures cowering before him.</td><td>Anyone who comes close to the statue will be forced to kneel. Everyone affected will also have all pain they feel amplified hundredfold.</td></tr>
<tr><td>86</td><td>A very smooth and perfectly black prism, dark smoke rising from its surface. If you touch it, you might find an imprint of a hand.</td><td>Always surrounded by a expansive cloud of swirling darkness. As long as you have a hand lain in the imprint, you can precisely sense everything inside of this darkness.</td></tr>
<tr><td>87</td><td>A man with the legs of a beast, though covered in moss and some of the original definition lost to the ages. He holds something in his hands, a musical instrument or a tablet perhaps? </td><td>Any song or magical spell performed in the room will be absorbed by the statue, disappearing from the mind of the user. Should the statue be broken, however, all the spells and songs it has absorbed will flood the mind of whoever destroyed the statue. Over the next few days, their legs will turn into those of a beast...</td></tr>
<tr><td>88</td><td>A strange creature with fourteen outstretched arms, all hands cupped as if ready to receive alms.</td><td>If a small, precious item is put into the statue's hand, it will close and crush the item in its fist. Once all fourteen hands are filled, the statue will open its mouth and start vomiting an endless stream of crude oil.</td></tr>
<tr><td>89</td><td>A gaunt elf engorging herself from a plate full of food. </td><td>No one feels hungry around the statue. You still need food, you just cannot force yourself to chew and swallow until you leave the statue's presence. This works even on creatures that would normally hunt and bite and devour.</td></tr>
<tr><td>90</td><td>A fledgling bird, carved from obsidian with individual feathers formed from gold and silver. It is standing up from a cracked egg, made from a softly glowing geode.</td><td>The statue's pedestal is unnaturally warm. Any eggs left there will soon hatch into the respective creature, but unusually intelligent and with feathers or scales made of precious metal.</td></tr>
<tr><td>91</td><td>A hippopotamus-headed goddess, lounging in the middle of a small basin.</td><td>Drinking the water from the basin sends you into a dream of a great feast arranged by the goddess. This dream is shared among all who drink this water, and it works even if the water is removed from the basin.</td></tr>
<tr><td>92</td><td>A kobold holding a human baby.</td><td>No youngling can be harmed near this statue. Coincidences will conspire to keep them safe and sound. They also cannot be forcibly removed from there, they can leave only of their own free will.</td></tr>
<tr><td>93</td><td>A fleeing woman, her expression a strange mix of panic and elation. </td><td>The statue weeps in the presence of secrets.</td></tr>
<tr><td>94</td><td>A dark-haired woman wearing a toga and holding out a golden apple.</td><td>The apple can be freely taken. It is not actually made of gold, only gold-coloured. It can be eaten, tasting like a fresh, sweet apple. Eating it cures the one biggest problem a person has - it can be anything, from an injury or malady to a curse or longing. They are however also polymorphed into likeness of the dark-haired woman. The apple reappears in the statue's hand overnight, but doesn't work (again) for any dark-haired women.</td></tr>
<tr><td>95</td><td>A decrepit beggar dressed in tattered rags is prostrating themselves, a mendicant bowl filled with gold coins gripped in their hands.</td><td>The coins can be freely taken, but carry a curse. You will gain no benefit from any of your gold and treasures - no merchant will take your money, you get no XP for GP, etc. The only way to break the curse is to return all the coins back to the statue.</td></tr>
<tr><td>96</td><td>A farmer with a dog by his side appears to be looking up to something with hopeful determination. A plaque reads: "Hard work and a strong back can overcome any obstacle."</td><td>Morale and Fear checks cannot be failed in this room.</td></tr>
<tr><td>97</td><td>An ogre in a pose of belly-shaking mirth, carved of a foreign red stone.</td><td>Reaction rolls are at +4 in this room.</td></tr>
<tr><td>98</td><td>An infinitely complex crystalline helix which glows with a strange light. </td><td>Time passes more slowly near this statue. Every minute you spend there, a whole day will pass in the rest of the world.</td></tr>
<tr><td>99</td><td>A dragon lies slain, with a goblin standing triumphantly on the corpse.</td><td>This area is sacred to goblinkind, used for peace talks and moots. Anyone can ask for a parley here, and oaths sworn between two parties are said to be enforced by the will of the ancestral heroes.</td></tr>
<tr><td>100</td><td>A man and a woman standing back to back, both holding a dagger and grinning with murderous glee.</td><td>No form of immortality, invulnerability or damage resistance applies around this statue.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><br />And here are bonus d20 statues with no special effects:<br /> <br /></p>
<table class="statue-table">
<thead><tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>d20</th><th>Statue</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td>1</td><td>Three horsemen. The first is holding up a falcon, the second a severed head and the third a cornucopia.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td>A dancer as if in the middle of a jump, back bent and arms spread wide.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3</td><td>An elven woman is cradling a tiny wyrmling in her arms.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td><td>A humongous foot. A plaque reads: "Artist unknown but wanted."</td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td><td>A caryatid column is holding the ceiling above. </td></tr>
<tr><td>6</td><td>The statue is crude and huge, barely resembling some animalistic figure. It's like it wasn't even carved with a chisel, but rather torn from raw stone by sharp claws.</td></tr>
<tr><td>7</td><td>A jumble of stone and metal loops intertwine into a wondrous miracle of art. While seemingly chaotic, the eye is quickly drawn to follow the curves, building a never-ending, fractal pattern of layers upon layers of meanings. A tear of raw emotion leaks from the corner of your eye as you finally understand that- that... Er... What? </td></tr>
<tr><td>8</td><td>A female form in alabaster, kneeling but with hands thrust skywards. There are jagged holes ripped through her open palms.</td></tr>
<tr><td>9</td><td>A weasel with two heads, each of its four eyes made from a different kind of gemstone.</td></tr>
<tr><td>10</td><td>Intricately crafted from granite is some variety of a terrifying qintupedal beast of hooked claws, razor-sharp teeth and needle-like quills.</td></tr>
<tr><td>11</td><td>A minotaur cradling in his arms a female orc wearing a full plate. </td></tr>
<tr><td>12</td><td>Two entangled snakes swallowing each other's tail, shaped like a lemniscate; one made of copper and the other of brass. Runes tracing along their back read: "Life devours life."</td></tr>
<tr><td>13</td><td>A raven sitting atop a pile of books.</td></tr>
<tr><td>14</td><td>A goat.</td></tr>
<tr><td>15</td><td>A simple column of jale stone, rising hundreds of feet high to a ceiling that cannot even be seen.</td></tr>
<tr><td>16</td><td>A silver wireframe of a cat, it's back arched and its eyes made of polished gabbro.</td></tr>
<tr><td>17</td><td>A spear-wielding nomad of the southern desert, carved from some white rock. Its hair have been recently painted blue. </td></tr>
<tr><td>18</td><td>A headless female figure sprouting uncountable, interwoven arms, each holding a different weapon.</td></tr>
<tr><td>19</td><td>A column of human skulls, mortared together.</td></tr>
<tr><td>20</td><td>This marble statue of a naiad has been vertically split in half. Inspecting the cut, you notice that the stone had been partially melted.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><br />And if you've read all the way down here, you can also download the table as a </p><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Mbbr1U7D30hfEw2sFqIFmpjsajhyAQbd/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ee;">> PDF <</span></a><br /></h3>red_kangaroohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04557117448147974364noreply@blogger.com2