Advanced Gaming & Theory

Ripper DMing: Temple of Elemental Evil VIII

2010-03-15T02:17:00.004-05:00

We didn't get very far, but then again we haven't seen each other for almost a month, so the mouths were flapping! It was also that stupid daylights savings-time, so we had to quit early, however the main part of the game was to test out miniature play, so we did accomplish this goal.

We didn't get very far at all, only 2 rooms, and nobody moved more then a couple of yards. They had decided to set up a base camp within the dungeon itself, but before they could rest and reclaim spells, they first had to take over that section of the dungeon.

They had a skeletal gnoll which one of the clerics had stolen, they had him guard the main door; which kept all of the badies the heck away from that door, but it did stir up some curiosity on the part of the Ogre chief across the hall. He was too much of a coward to investigate it himself, or even send his own people over to see what was going on, so he sent a hobgoblin thief to sneak around back, and pop out of the secret door in the room the PCs were camped out in.

The hobgoblin wasn't a good thief, he got caught and got everybody in the secret chamber killed. Kim's character had heard the door opening, and Shannon ran both of his fighters over to defend the door. That poor thief didn't know what hit him! A huge battle ensued and we spent all of our gametime trying to figure out mini rules and deciding if we liked playing with them or not.

Here is the board that we used. I put a large piece of vinyl over the grid that I had made. Now it isn't perfect, but it worked better then if I had laminated the board. I marked out the rooms with colored dry erase markers, and instead of erasing and redrawing the rooms again, when the Players were ready to move. We just had to slide the vinyl over to the center of the map, or higher if we knew that we wanted to head in a specific direction.

Now, I don't have any monsters, but my wife picked me up a bunch of little cowboys and indians. They represent the monsters, but I'm going to have to glue pennies on the bottoms of all of them because they don't weigh enough, and the vinyl doesn't sit perfectly flat so they tend to fall over.

Prep took a lot longer, and we all were struggling with the rules; I myself have never played with miniatures. I also screwed up with my handout count, I forgot to print off a quick cheat list form myself and only had the bulky mini-handbook which I had posted to this blog to work off of. I assume that the more we use them, then the faster that we'll become at taking our turns.

Everybody was pleased with them! They had an easier time seeing what was around them, and for me, it just seemed more fair because I didn't have to pick who what getting attacked at random, which one has to do when playing with just one's imagination. It also aided in strategy.

While the game was very short, and we didn't get much done, I think that we all had a good time (which is most important to me), and everybody seems to be pleased with the new way of playing.

A Weapon PCs Can Love To Hate

2010-03-10T08:42:00.002-06:00

I love weird weapons, the stuff that NPCs use but players would find worthless. I find that it gives the game a good appeal to add stuff off of the cuff. One of my favorite odd weapons is the bola. Now these things have made a comeback in recent years, but more as an outdoor toy called Ladderball. The toy ones are made of plastic, and the players compete against one another to see how many points they can make by wrapping the bolas around rungs of a short ladder. IT’S FUN! And very challenging, and the great thing about it is that it is a level playing field; kids have a good chance at beating an adult, it doesn’t rely on strength or intelligence but finesse and dexterity.

Bolas were ancient weapons, two or more hard balls tied to a rope, but instead of dishing out damage like a regular weapon, these things provide other nasty functions, namely hampering an enemies movement.

To use the bola, one simply twirls it over their head until they are ready to let go. The balls do the rest! These things are dangerous, the balls are much heavier then the toy ones that we use today. Typically the weapon used against man-sized targets are made of leather, the strap is about 56 inches, on the ends are 4 inch pockets for rocks or metal balls.

A simple weapon, but effective when working together as a team with spearmen. On a regular attack, a hit holds the victim fast, and they must spend a round trying to get out by making a successful STR check, else stay immobile.

Of course in the hands of an expert, these things have many other uses. Called shots against a targets legs not only prevents movement, but the target must make a DEX check (if they are moving at the time of the hit, there is a -3 penalty to the check) else fall prone.

Called shots against the arms causes the bolas to entangle either the enemies weapon hand or shield hand (attackers option), this stops either all attacks or removes the AC bonus for the shield until a successful STR check is made with a -2 penalty for the lack of leverage.

A successful Called Shot to the victim’s head can cause a knock-out, the victim must make a Saving Throw vs. Paralysis or be knocked unconscious for 1d4 rounds, plus additional rounds due to DEX bonuses of the attacker.

THE CRUNCH!

Bola cost 5sp to make, weigh 2lbs. Are M size weapons of the B type. They have a speed factor of 8. If you are a stickler, and the proper save is made by the victim, you can still have it inflict damage (though I never do) it can do 1d3 to Small or Medium targets, and 1d2 to large foes.

Bola has a rate of fire of 1/1. Short range is 6, Medium range of 12, and a long range of 18.

Strategy

Weapon grade bolas require room to get the thing going, almost 5 feet of room (an entire square), thus this is primarily an outdoor weapon. Individually, the weapon is practically worthless, but working with a team the bola can give spearmen an opportunity to attack targets without fear of being counterattacked, or at least giving them an edge. A good mixture of 20% proficient bola fighters, 5% bola specialists, and 60% spearmen could easily be a formidable lot!

Because this is such a simple weapon to construct, humanoids would have access to it. The bola can also be thrown while running, a typical bola fighter would have at least 3 bolas on his person, throw them and then leave the field while the spearmen or melee fighters do their jobs. Bolas must be retrieved before they can be used a second time, if this is possible, the bola fighters may stop and pick them up to continue fighting.

Alternatively, the bolas can be used by the fighters themselves as they rush an enemy and close for melee combat. In cases like this, they would typically all have 1 or 2 bolas, throw them, and then draw their primary weapons.

These weapons are non-lethal, a successful hit on a lone target would be in a heap of trouble as a full company of spearmen could have him surrounded in moments. Monsters could use this to slow down the retreats of pesky humans who are faster then they are. These are just some ideas on how to utilize these simple weapons, and while wizards may take a fancy to using them, the other classes would probably consider them worthless, relying on more traditional weapons.

DUNGEON! & Logic: Friends or Foes?

2010-03-09T01:16:00.004-06:00

Dungeons are definitely the fun part of the game for everyone. The DM usually enjoys it because it makes prep work a cinch! Players love it because the action is more fluid and they make for lots of opportunities for decisions to be made.

With mapping software available for free all over the web, constructing maps is much easier today then it was back when I first started. We did have some tricks to doing it, besides the good ol’ fashioned graph paper. Namely this was stealing maps from published modules and re-keying the things. You could make them new or old, wealthy or deserted for eons, the possibilities are near infinite!

Today, people kind of tend to go crazy. You can, literally drive yourself cross-eyed considering all of the dungeon logic. Many Dungeon Masters keep a set pull-list of monsters for different areas, while others ponder the very deep workings of the dungeon world itself. Me personally could give a rats tail about it. The most important thing that I consider is always what works fast and easy. I do have my own tricks though.

DUNGEON LIFE

The first question that I ask myself when starting is what lives here? If I have an idea, or I already told the players what they are supposed to be looking for, then I don’t have a problem, but if I’m in a saucy mood and want to keep things random, then I’ll roll a monster at random from my notes. This is easier for me since I play in the World of Greyhawk, and the random encounter lists are complete. If this isn’t the case for you, the Monstrous Compendium Volume 2 has a complete listing of Random Encounters for a veriety of settings.

The monster that I roll is the dominate monster in this dungeon. It has conquered this place and lives in it, at least for the time being. Its laws are the way, naturally with wild animals also living in the place, some areas will be too dangerous for the humanoids to live (if it is a humanoid), these areas will probably be avoided, and may incorporate a trap of some kind as it is considered a natural hazard. A simple lure to trick others who aren’t so savvy as them, to wander into the hazard and get themselves killed.

DUNGEON SIZE

We also have to figure out how big we want the thing to be. Many random dungeon generators, such as the one which I sometimes use from the first edition DMG, will go on for days with no end in sight. We have to figure out how deep we want to go with this, and how big of an area that we want to take up. This is best figured out before we even put the digital pencil to paper. A large dungeon will support more life then a small one, and there may be more dominate creatures down there fighting it out about who is in control. If you want to make a rivalry, then simply roll another random encounter check and find out what the second most dangerous thing down there is.

FOOD & PROPERTY

Now we start moving into some headache area here. This is where some DMs like to give themselves trouble, but they are on the right track! Food is a basic need that our monsters can’t live without! Depending on the monster, and their ability to adapt their environments around them, offers us different questions and problems. The simplest answer is looking at the definition in the Monster Manual, the MM will tell you their basic life strategies. Most monsters steal for a living, they find weaker beings who are good at raising their own food, and they take it.

It is rare to find monsters who keep their own stock of underground meat, they just don’t know how to feed and maintain animals like that. Hell, they don’t wash themselves and rely on inhuman constitution to survive. The dungeon world is one filled with disease and rotten icky things because of our next consideration.

WASTE MANAGEMENT

What does the monster do with its waste? The answer is usually that this is somebody else’s problem. A monster will move in and use up every available resource that it can, and then it will move on to a new hovel. Of course, this sets the scene for a new monster to take over the dungeon, and brand new dangers. A fun dungeon can be one that has been abandoned. Not only will they leave their mess behind, which will cause the place to be a haven for new nastiness that lives off of stuff like that, but they will also leave their sick, injured, and weak behind as well. These things will be extremely dangerous, as they are starving and terrified, perhaps even mad from loneliness and confinement.

WATER

Part of my Quick & Easy mentality dictates that, for the most part, monsters are like pirates. They are typically as drunk and as lazy as possible, of course I mix it up so that nobody can tell what I’m doing. I’ll give some monsters a need or an industry of some kind, this way it is harder to tell what I’m doing behind the screen.

Water is a basic necessity for us, and for lots of creatures, however for the most part, a bunch of stinky monsters would turn their nose up at it. They would rather have booze and only bathe by happenstance. If there is a water supply, some monsters would love to just sit there and throw stuff in it for entertainment, same thing with really deep holes. If a monster is really destructive, such as the Troll, then after the creature leaves the water will be no good, and this could effect the upper world if we want it to.

A monster who depends on water would treat a water-source like gold, and defend it to the death unless another source was known. Water is a good place for natural hazards, the monsters who depend upon it will keep the ones who don’t out of that area, and use them to keep intruders out. Most humanoids will leave aquatic nightmares completely alone! This logic keeps our water supplies untainted unless it serves us to do otherwise.

WHY AIN’T THIS HOLE INFESTED WITH DWARFS?

Another thing to consider, before putting the pen to paper and drawing out your map, is to figure out what this hole is for. Who built it? Is it natural or was it constructed by someone or something?

The word Dungeon, as we use it, is a very confusing thing if you think about it. Rarely do we ever create dungeons that are really dungeons! For the most part, we could care less who made it, but sometimes it can be fun to figure it out. Was it an ancient culture? Even this question can bring some different answers, what with all of the demi-humans running around. Why did they move out, or abandon it? It could be a mystery as we all have similar problems here on this planet. This also can be used to figure out what the holes original purpose was. Was it a mine? A basement to some long forgotten and quite absent castle? Was it a secret church? A tomb? Perhaps remnants of ancient astronauts; with fantasy, anything is possible. A look into our own history gives us many of factual reasons why a large underground superstructure would be made.

While we must know who is the current holders of the dungeon, it can also be beneficial to know who, or what held it before they did; and how long ago had it been sitting. Has it been looted? If it’s got monsters, then the answer is probably yes. The questions are endless, but there is just something about building our own dungeon that lends to these creative decisions.

We can create mystery with open-ended scenarios and rooms which don’t belong, so just because something doesn’t make sense on the outside, we can hint at things which may or may not be. We must try to do our best NOT to over think the fun out of these things. We don’t want to know everything, but we should know just enough to make it look like we do.

Miniature Rules for Small Scale Combat

2010-03-04T14:08:00.003-06:00

It took awhile for me to find these rules, and I just want you to know that this is just the cheatsheet that I'm supplying to my players. The "Player's Option: Combat & Tactics" handbook is still required for its charts and junk, as is the PHB and the DMG. These rules are written with 2e in mind; I have no idea if they can be used for other systems. Additionally, these rules are aimed at dungeon/small scale melee, not mass combat nor long range combat.

5 Combat rounds = 1 standard round
50 Rounds = 1 turn

Movement Rates

1 square per MR listed in PHB, typically 12 squares per round at a walking speed.

Exceptional characters gain a little more MR

STR = add hit prob. To MR

DEX = add Reaction Adj. to MR

Note that if there are neg. from low ability scores, these are also subtracted to the base movement rate.

Subtract encumbrance from MR as well.

Obstacles

If an obstacle just limits movement instead of blocking it completely, it can usually be crossed or climbed at the cost of a half-move for the character.

SET UP

Surprised creatures must place their figures first, though they must still have to observe the distance provided by the DM.

If neither side is surprised, the party begins the scenario in their established marching order, with some exceptions made by the DM to reflect specific actions (like a thief opening a door)

If the DM knows something the players don’t, he is not required to place the mini on the table (a spider above the party and nobody looks up.

5 Basics of Every Combat Round

Monster Action Determination

PC Action Declaration

Initiative

Resolution of Actions (Note: PC action can be changed, but will take place at the end of the round)

End-of-Round Resolution

Initiative Rolls

Roll 1d10 individuals add their base initiatives to the roll.
Winner of initiative attacks and moves first.
Missile weapons and Spells are determined first.
A faster character or monster can attack before slower creatures, regardless of initiative lost or won.

Some initiative rolls provide unusual results:
A roll of 1 accelerates the action phase of that side by one, so a slow character gets to go in the average phase;
A roll of 10 slows the action phase of that side by one step;
A tie results in a critical event. Reroll the initiative dice until one side or the other wins, and the DM consults the Crit Event Table.

Base Initiative

Monster Size - Base Initiative*
Tiny or Small Very Fast
Man-sized Fast
Large Average
Huge Slow

*Improve BI 1 grade for MR of 18 or better, reduce 1 grade for MR of 6 or less. Moderately encumbered creatures suffer a one-phase initiative penalty, heavily encumbered 2 phases, and sever suffer 3 phase penalties.

Weapon Speed

Weapon speed effects the base initiative, all weapons are assigned one of 4 speeds: Fast, average, slow, or very slow. When attacking with a weapon, you use the slowest score, thus a fast human attacking with a large weapon will attack after the fast human with a smaller and quicker weapon.

Magical bonuses change the Weapons Speed.
+1 offers no benefits to the base initiative. +2 or +3 improves the weapon speed by 1 phase, and a +4 or more improves it by two phases.

Combat Actions

Attack Fire Missiles Run
Charge Move Use a Magical Item
Cover Parry

Combat Actions & Movement

No-Move Actions

May move 1 square in either direction and change face with no penalty

Attack

Cast a Spell

Cover

Fire/Throw Missiles (normal ROF)

Guard

Parry

Unarmed Combat

Use a Magical Item

Half-Move Actions

Move up to half their normal MR and still perform some other action; there are limits to what can be done or how far a character can move and still accomplish these actions.

Attack

Charge

Fire/Throw Missiles (half the normal ROF)

Guard

Unarmed Combat

Withdraw

Full-Move Actions

Moving at full normal MR or even more before attempting other actions.

Charge

Move

Sprint

NOTE ON FACING DURING MOVEMENT: During a players turn, he can face as many times as desired with no cost, however during the enemies stage, can only face once. Example: Kim moves close to two goblins, and hacks at one, then before her turn is over, she faces the other anticipating Shannon to finish the hit goblin off. After her turn, a troll gets way too close for her comfort, she can either face the troll to meet him, or keep facing the goblin, if she faces the troll, she’ll open up a free attack to the goblin, but this encounter could be fatal if she loses imitative to the troll.

Moving Through Other Figures in Combat

A character can move through a square occupied by a friendly figure as long as that figure isn’t threatened or attacking in the current round. Enemies can only occupy the same square if they are grappled or if one is prone. Otherwise, larger creatures can attempt to make an overrun.

Overruns

When a large creature attempts to move into a smaller, standing enemy’s square, it is called an overrun. Mounted figures use their mounts size for the purpose, so a human on a size L horse can overrun a human on foot.

Overruns create an attack of opportunity for the figure being stepped on. After the defender’s attack, the defender must roll a save vs. paralyzation or be knocked down. Even if he does successfully save, he is forced one square away from his current location. This save is modified by a -4 penalty for a creature two sizes larger then the defender, a -8 penalty for a creature 3 sizes larger, etc.

When a defender is knocked down, he may suffer a trampling attack. The trampler gets an attack of opportunity that inflicts 1d4 points of dmg per difference in size. Even though the defender is prone, no modifiers apply, DM can adjust dmg as he sees fit.

A prone creature with an enemy in its square may get up by using a full-move action. Since two standing enemy figures cannot occupy the same space, size always wins; the larger of the two creatures displaces the smaller one. In addition, the standing figure always gets to choose which square the displaced figure enters. If the creatures are of the same size, an opposed Strength roll is made to determine who stays and who is displaced.

The standing figure may wish to keep the other figure from rising, or the prone figure might want to fight it out rather then try to rise. If one figure wishes to keep another figure prone, an overbearing attack is necessary, but treat the situation as if the attack roll to hit AC 10 is automatically successful.

Choosing an Action

One doesn’t need to specify movement when declaring intentions. Simply stating that they intend to attack are enough until it is the characters turn to act.

If a characters action is blocked by the enemy, the attack or action is lost. However, a character is allowed to change his action as long as it hasn’t been blocked. The options for changing the action are restricted to hold, or abort the action. Holding an action involves delaying the intended action for one or more action phases. While abort allows the character to change its mind, however the new action will take place during the slow phase of the round.

ACTIONS

ATTACKS

Characters with multiple attacks make their first attack according to their weapon speed, and get their additional attacks during the slower phases of combat, one each until they have all been completed.

Characters can make a half-move and attack, or can stand their ground and attack as a no-move action.

Normally a character can combine a move and an attack only by moving fast and resolving attacks later, but a character can also attack first and make a half-move at the end of the round. Note that a creature can adjust their position each time they attack, so a hero with multiple attacks could attack several creatures standing apart from each other.

AoO don’t count as a character’s attack for the round.

One can choose a number of attack options, such as grab, block, trap, or disarm.

ATTACKING REAR & FLANKS

Flank attacks are figured with a +1 bonus to attack.
Rear attacks are figured with a +2 to attack.
A thief backstabs with a +4 bonus to his attack roll.

Shields defend only the front, and the shield flank.
Defenders DEX bonus does not apply to rear attacks.

MOUNTS

Mounted riders attack with a +1 to attack, while their opponents suffer a -1 attacking against them, but not their mounts.

HIGHER GROUND

If the attacker’s waist is higher than his opponent’s head, he gains a +1 to attack rolls. This doesn’t apply to larger creatures on level ground against shorter enemies, nor does it effect mounted attackers.

CASTING A SPELL

All spells are assigned an action phase just as weapons are. The character is considered to begin casting in the very first phase, and finish in the spells action phase. If the spell caster is injured by an attack during the casting, the spell is lost.

Spells, and spell-like abilities are assigned action phases based on their casting times:

Casting time - Phase
1-3 Fast
4-6 Average
7-9 Slow
1 round or more Very Slow

When a character casts a spell, they lose any DEX benefit to AC. Once the spell has been cast, the caster may again apply their DEX bonus to their AC. If the caster doesn’t cast a very slow spell, they may take a half-move at the end of the round.
Psionic powers take effect during a randomly determined phase, regardless of the psionic creatures regular Base Phase.

Random D10 roll* - Psionic Initiative Base Phase

1-2 Very Fast
3-4 Fast
5-6 Average
7-8 Slow
9-10 Very Slow
*add the power’s Preparation time to this roll.

CHARGE

Charge is a rapid close for combat and make an attack.
Charging is a full-motion action, but 1½ times his base movement when he charges. Example: A dwarf with a MV 6 can charge an enemy up to 9 spaces away.

Characters begin their charge on their base initiative, moving up to ½ their distance of the charge. In the following phase, they move the remainder of the distance. Unlike most attack forms, the charge attack is resolved the moment that the attacker arrives.

Charging grants the charger a +2 bonus on their attacks, and some weapons designed for charging (such as a lance) inflict double damage. BUT, they gain no AC bonuses due to DEX, and receive a penalty of +1 to their AC. If a character is guarding with weapons longer then the charger’s, they automatically strike first. In addition, characters can set spears against charges.

COVER

A character with a cocked and loaded crossbow, or an arrow noched and drawn can announce that he is covering an opponent in the weapons short range. One can only cover 1 square during that round, and only characters proficient in the bow or crossbow can perform this action.

The covering character automatically wins initiative for the square being covered. They can also hold their fire and choose to fire last in the round if they wish.

The shot itself is made with a +2 to attack.

Covering can be done with a melee weapon if the victim is stunned, dazed, pinned, unconscious, or surprised. Initiative is automatically won, the attack is made with +2 to hit.

FIRE/THROWN MISSILES

Can stand still and attack at full ROF, or half-move at ½ the normal ROF. One exception to the half-move attack are weapons with the ROF of 1/round. In this case, the character wielding such a weapon can move half his normal rate and still fire the weapon only on the initial discharge of the weapon, The weapon is assumed to be loaded and cocked, after this shot the character can only fire the weapon as a no-move action.

Firing or throwing missiles when a character is threatened by another creature creates an AoO. The only exception to this is during the same combat round that the threatening creature actually moves up to threaten the character. The character can get this shot in while his enemy closes, but after that he had better switch to a melee weapon.

Characters with multiple missile attacks in the same combat round perform their first attack on the normal action phase, and then follow with one missile per phase until they’ve completed their full rate of fire.
Monsters who have multiple missiles that are fired at once resolve their attacks in the same phase.

RANGE

Missile weapon ranges are listed in yards, there are 3 feet to a yard.
Melee weapon ranges are listed in feet, so no converting needs to take place.

LINES OF FIRE

A battlefield’s line of fire are described as clear, impaired, or severely impaired. Clear lines of fire are easy: The battlefield has no effects on missile fire.

Impaired lines of fire have no effect on missile fire within the range of 4d6 squares, so the first 4 squares of any missile fire are unaffected. After this minimum distance, targets are treated as if they had one step of hard cover more than they actually do; a target in the open actually has 25% cover, 25% covered targets are bumped up to 50%, and so on. This is because low branches or trees are obscuring the line of fire.

GUARD

Guarding is either a half-move action or a no-move action if the character wants to simply stand their ground. A guarding creature attacks the moment an enemy moves into their threatened squares, regardless of the actual initiative and action phase. The only way an enemy can attack a guarding character first is if they have a longer-ranged weapon. The larger ranged weapon always strikes first. Guarding characters are considered to be set for a charge, and spears or spear-like weapons inflict double damage.

If no one attacks a guarding character, they can abort to an attack at the end of the round and take a half-move to reach someone.

MOVE

Moving allows a character to cover a lot of ground without dropping his defenses. Moving normally a full-move action, but if a character only moves half his max move or less, he can consider it a half-move action instead..

Movement normally begins on a character’s base initiative, without modifiers for weapon speed. Each half-move a character makes requires one phase, so a fast character does half his move in the fast phase and finishes his move in the average phase.

PARRY

Parrying is a no-move action that is in effect for the entire combat round. If a character parries, he cannot move, attack, or cast spells.

Parrying reduces a no warrior characters AC by one-half his level. A 6th level Wiz with an AC 5 who parries reduces his AC to 2. Warriors who choose to parry reduces their AC by one-half their level, plus one. A 6th lvl fighter gets an AC bonus of 4 by parrying.

RUN

A character can double his base MV by running. Running is considered a full-move action; no other action can be completed in the same combat round that they run.

Running causes the creature to lose all DEX bonuses to AC and suffers a +1 to AC. He is considered to be charging if he runs into a square threatened by an opponent with a set spear.

SPRINT

A character can triple his base MV by sprinting. It is a full move action that drops the character’s defenses for that round (see running).

UNARMED COMBAT

There are four basic unarmed attacks: punching, wrestling, overbearing, and martial arts.

Anyone can perform an unarmed attack on his base initiative if he doesn’t have to move to reach his target, or he can take a half-move action to close for combat. Attacking armed opponents (including monsters with natural weapons) allows the armed enemy an AoO. The armed defender gains a +4 bonus on his attack roll and his dmg roll against an unarmed attacker.

USE A MAGICAL ITEM

Generally, a character can use a magical item as a fast action or make a half-move and use an item as an average action. Some magical items take more or less time, as noted. Below:

Item Phase
Potion Average
Scroll Very Slow
Rod, Staff, Wand Fast
Miscellaneous Average

For most magical items with functions that do not emulate combat or spell casting actions, the magic of the item is activated, the DM is the final arbiter. If an item combines weapon-like characteristics and miscellaneous magic, such as a rod of lordly might, it should be treated as a weapon when being used to attack and as a magical item when its other functions are being used.

WITHDRAW

Withdrawing is the only safe way to leave a square that is threatened by an opponent. Withdrawing is a half-move that takes place on the characters base initiative. A withdrawing character cannot attack or cast spells, else they open themselves up for an AoO.

ENDING THE COMBAT ROUND

COMBAT STATUS

Clear: Can make 1 free face (turn to meet enemy)
Threatened: if ignored, enemy gains a free attack of opportunity

ATTACKS OF OPPORTUNITY

Happen when one:
Attempts missile combat, unless it is aimed at threatening opponent
Moving away from the threatening creature, unless one is withdrawing
Turning away from the threatening creature.
Attempting an unarmed attack against any armed creature.
Attempting to move through a square threatened by a creature.

Attacks of Opportunity (AoO) are not possible with missile weapons, they are a free attack that does not take the place of a creatures planned attack. A creature can’t make more then 1 AoO per creature, however if the attacker has multiple attacks, he can use them against different targets if they are also open for such free attacks.

Warriors and monsters are allowed to make 3 AoOs + 1 per 5 lvls per combat round.
All others can make 1 attack per round + 1 per 5 lvls of experience.

Surprised creatures cannot make attacks of opportunity.

RETREATS

When one character inflicts melee dmg without being hit in return, they may force a foe to retreat. A defender may ignore the force to retreat if it is 4 lvls or higher then the attacker, or if it is 2 sizes larger. Also, a retreat isn’t possible if the defender has been knocked down.

A defender forced to retreat must move one square back, if this isn’t possible, then the attacker chooses a square in the defenders flank to press him. If the defender is unable to move into a flank, they must roll a save vs. para or be knocked down in the space he is in. In some cases a retreating character has a chance to avoid being forced back, if it will cause instant death or more damage (like falling off of a cliff).

An attacker who successfully forces a retreat can either follow that character, or stand still and hold their ground.

Retreats do not cause AoO.

KNOCKDOWNS

Some creatures can smash their opponents to the ground with raw strength or heavy weaponry. Knockdowns are based on the size of the atttacker’s weapon compared to the size of the defender.

Every weapon (including monster attacks) are assigned a knockdown die that is rolled with a hit is scored. Light weapons have a small die, while heavy weapons use a d10 or d12 for knockdowns. The size of the target determines what roll is required for a knockdown.

Target Size Knockdown Roll
T 3
S 5
M 7
L 9
H 11

Don’t confuse the knockdown die with the actual dmg caused by the hit, they are two different things. Some creatures are immune to knockdowns for logical reasons.

Knockdown Effects: Creatures who suffer a knockdown must roll a save vs. death or be knocked prone. If he has already completed his actions for the round, he must wait until next round to stand up.
Any character with a loaded and cocked x-bow must make a save vs. para or accidentally fire the weapon.

Monsters & knockdown: Monsters who wield weapons can use the knockdown die size that is listed for that weapon and then modify the die for their own size. Increase the die one step for each Size category larger than Man-sized or decrease it for each one under.

For monsters with natural attacks, choose a weapon that seems close to the attack type and then modify it for the monster’s size.

SITTING, KNEELING, & LYING PRONE

Getting up from sitting or kneeling is considered a half-move action, and attacks are still possible; however, getting up from a prone position is a full action.

Sitting or kneeling characters gain a bonus of -1 to AC from ranged attacks.
Attacking a sitting or kneeling character with a melee weapon grants a +2 to hit.

Prone creatures gain a -2 AC bonus against ranged weapons, but attackers with melee weapons get a +4 bonus to hit them.

Kneeling creatures can attack with no penalty.
Sitting creatures can attack with crossbows w/o penalty, but any other weapon will suffer a -2 penalty to attack (Riders are not considered to be sitting).

Prone characters can only use crossbows, or size S weapons while on the ground. A prone attacker fires a crossbow at one-half the normal RoF, and suffers a -4 to hit.

Why I Hate Lamination and learned to love the bomb

2010-03-01T23:30:00.004-06:00

I have been one busy beaver since we last talked! I got one full mat made, and am working on the second. I was going to laminate the things, but I have a low tolerance for frustrating tasks, they are very dangerous to my health, and to those around me, so I did what any flustered geek would do in my situation, cuss at it and try to force it into submission all the while ignoring the physics of the act as well as how pointless my work was becoming. That sticky crap goes everywhere but where you want it to go! I'm just glad that it didn't rip up the poster paper that I had already marked into grids. Eventually I gave up and my loving wife must have anticipated my refusal for assistance of any kind, and had purchased a sheet of clear vinyl to just lay over the table. THIS WORKS!!!! It sure as heck beats looking like one of those stupid idiots on those dumb commercials. That stuff is terrible!

Anyway, I also got finished writing up cheatsheets for miniature rules. I looked over that Battletech Rules, or whatever, that TSR was always pushing, but all of that seemed to be just aimed at mass combat, and I don't need that. I finally found what I wanted from a book that I already owned, the Players Options: Combat & Tactics manual. IT WAS PERFECT! And it even goes with 2E rules.

We play again in a couple of weeks, can't wait to run a quick scenario to see how it goes.

I didn't forget about you guys either, here are just some random links that I discovered and thought that they might prove useful. Enjoy!

Imperial History of the Middle East in 90 seconds. Created by Maps of War, now who could refuse a name like that??
The top 10 most Puzzling Ancient Artifacts. An inspiring article on AncientX.Com.

Running a Greek Theme, or just interested? Check out Theoi Greek Mythology, a very cool webpage that can suck your day dry!

And finally, is this the real lost plateau of the Isle of Dread?

Ripper DMing: Temple of Elemental Evil VII

2010-02-27T13:02:00.004-06:00

This post is two weeks late, and is marked by the last day that my old laptop was functional. I somehow got it booted up one last time, got all of my files pulled off of it and ran it's last game. Fear not! I now have my shiny new laptop, and got everything transferred over to it. I had to learn Windows 7, and tweak everything into submission, but I think that I've got everything set up now; YAY!

Tonight's game has been canceled, as Shannon is setting up house in a new home; right down the street! Which is awesome! Not the no gaming part, just that he lives closer now. Back to the game!

The players must had felt bad for drinking and fighting, they decided to explore different areas of Level 1, and almost got themselves killed by 2 harpies. Again, I forgot about elven super ability number 255, you can't charm an elf. After I had everybody charmed and was getting ready to eat them, Shannon had the brainfart that changed the situation and they were able to get the upper hand. I've even played an elf in the last campaign, and I should know this stuff, but I am a scatterbrain. I told them though, that it is their job to remind me about their special elven abilities during the game. I'm used to DMing for humans only, and that is how I think.

The fights were enormous, and they had a hell of a time keeping themselves alive. My wife felt that this was the hardest part, and they did kill almost a hundred HD of monsters.

I had reorganized the dungeon to catch them off guard. For the last three games they had taken the same route, so I set up an ambush, however when they took the different route, they didn't run into it. COOL!!!! It helped them on two separate fronts, the badguys who were part of the ambush couldn't be at their normal stations, thus they had an easier time fighting large groups, and two . . . well I lied. It was only one front but two fronts just sounds so cool, don't you think?

I also scaled off on the Random Encounters, I rolled one every once in awhile, but not on a regular schedule like I had been. This southern portion of the level seemed more dangerous then the Northern.

We also ran into a big problem, and one that I just wasn't willing to deal with, and hoped for the best which they got. The large collection of pirates laying low scared the crap out of me! We play inside of our heads, but this fight would definitely require miniatures to determine. Way to many men! And I'm just not prepared to do something like that yet, however I'm getting there. We went out and got some giant sheets of paper which I am in the process of marking. We'll put plastic around it and I can use dry-erase marker to mark the things. My wife said that she'll let everybody pick a mini from the collection upstairs, and for bad guys she purchased a huge tub of little plastic cowboys and indians to use as markers. Once I get everything put together and use it I'll definitely be posting about it! I have never used miniatures during a campaign before, and am in the process of ironing out the Mini rules. LOTS OF WORK TO BE DONE!!!

A bizarre event also happened. In the hall of bones, that trap set off and the evil aligned cleric actually rolled a twenty and seized control of one of the monster skeletons! HOLY CRAP!!! They made me play by myself to determine the outcome of that fight, and the monster skeleton won. Now they have a pet skeleton and I have to figure out how long the monster will stay with the party, and refresh my knowledge of stealing undead monsters. Actually, I've never had an evil aligned cleric in the party before, only good or neutral ones who had the ability to turn undead, but not steal it. I found out about that rule by years of playing Ravenloft. It may be just a Ravenloft rule, however I'll keep it in the game. It really isn't that big of a problem, it is just another henchmen right now, and they know that it is a time-bomb waiting to blow. As soon as they run into a high level cleric, he's going to turn it against them faster then a cat with a can tied to its tail.

Overall it was an exciting game! And everybody sighed in relief when it was finally time to put the books away and were really shocked when the XP earned was all in the 4 digit ranges. I think that everybody gained a level.

On a side note, not only was this my old PCs last game, but it was also Rydan's as well, so no more Wizzard :( Rydan loved playing Wizards, and even though he was brand new to the game, he taught me a ton. His favorite spell was "Grease" a spell that in all my years of playing was generally ignored, but he really got thing working for him! He was the deciding factor in many fights though brilliant use of a bizarre spell. I'll miss you buddy, and just want you to know that you will always be welcome at the table.

Seven Authors of lnfluence

2010-02-20T21:08:00.005-06:00

I think that we all have different influences to our gaming style, and they come from many different kinds of media. Today I would like to talk about Authors who influenced me, of course, with a book worm like myself, there are too many to mention, so I’ll just talk about my top 7, now keep in mind that these aren’t in any particular order. All of these people are masters at what they do, and I simply can’t pick a favorite or more important influence among them.

Aldous Huxley

Aldous is not a new writer, he wrote the psychological thriller early in the last century called A Brave New World. In this bleak tale of a horrifying future, he takes the wonders of a utopian society to the logical outcome. It is one of the most well-thought out bios of human thought which features mass brainwashing, which is what drew me to it to begin with. Aldous created his own world, complete with culture and a brand new set of bias and bigotry as the taboos in the world darkly mock our own. As it was written in the 20’s, I believe, it is scary how accurate it is and how it figured us to be.

Through Aldous I was introduced to alternative ways of thinking in regards to law, society, and how people captured in bizarre circumstances keep insisting that everything is fine and normal. It taught me how to manage NPCs and keep them interesting by changing how they see the world and how they judge their place in it.

Bram Stoker

While Bram wrote more that just Dracula (Stoker was a dirty-bird), it is this title that is most famous.

Where to begin? Stoker was a genius when it comes to settings, and adding little details which truly bring the book to glorious life; but what inspired me the most, and why you need to actually pick up the book, vs. just watching some movie, is that in the book, you never see Dracula. We have no idea what he is up to, except through the eyes of the characters who must deal with him.

This is important because, unlike movies or most books and even videogames these days, one always sees the Point of view of the bad guy when he is planning something big, but Dracula keeps you in the dark and this shows us how we can do the same thing in our games. Dracula was a master manipulator, pulling strings in the background. His presence is always there, however he very rarely makes a true appearance in the book, and we just witness his handiwork. I strive to do this same thing with my games. Keeping the villain in the shadows, vs. an in your face kind of baddy seems to be preferred and really fit with the style which is required of tabletop gaming.

We can, instead of dealing directly with the cause, simply have to make due to confronting the effects of the bad guys choices, and trying to minimize the damage as much as possible.

H. P. Lovecraft

Like many of us, I think that Lovecraft has made the largest impression upon me. A master story-teller who has influenced almost everyone who has ever picked up a horror story.

Lovecraft has influenced my gaming style in more then just one way, but his greatest influence has always been mystery. How to take a simple object and really flesh it out. He also gives out secrets and tricks to pacing if you can read between the lines. Nobody could keep you on the edge of your seat, nor in the dark for so long, as the master Lovecraft could do.

I can’t single out any of his short stories, all are of equal greatness. He developed his own religion which threatens the lives and sensibilities of those who live in his world. He blended sci-fi with horror in such a way that we forget that his tales are science fiction. He also tricks us into his realm, he had a way of suspending our disbelief by a masterful blend of truth and fiction which is also something that we can learn from him.

His effect on terror was even larger, as the creatures which he brings to life were wonderfully kept in the shadows, we never quite know what they are, and only get brief glimpses of these horrors, many of which have made it into the Monstrous Manual, and one simply needs to enjoy his tales to figure out how to best present them. Presentation is also a major influence point, how to integrate a setting and characters into the players minds with the greatest efficiency and power as possible.

Steven King

A modern writer and no doubt the most popular on this list. While most folks would look at this list and only know a few names, this is the one that everyone will know. Steven King is the modern master of our time, and his tales will stand the test of time for generations of readers to come.

King is another writer where all you have to do is pick a title, any title will do. Everyone has their own favorites (as well as ones that they hated) but the deal with King is that he has taught me to think way outside of the box. He can take an everyday item, and twist it in a way that it becomes dark and foreboding.

Themes are big with him, but he creates his own themes which is really cool. He blends tried and true staples of the genre and mixes them with new ingredients that nobody has ever seen before. We should strive to do this with our own games. Not being afraid to try new things, if they are well-done then you have succeeded.

Anne Rice

Anne Rice is well-known for her Vampire Chronicles, but my personal favorite series by her are the Witches stories involving the spirit Lasher. While she struggles with characters, namely that it seems that all of her male characters have to be gay, her true strength is settings. Her settings are most definitely inspiring, she shows the reader how to increase tension through adding layers of elements together to form a perfect whole.

A DM normally struggles with this area, they use staple settings however they don’t bother blend other elements into them and truly paint an unforgettable portrait in the players minds.

Edger Rice Burroughs

Through this master, I learned how to add an element of fun! It is one thing to add everything together, but if it isn’t fun, then why bother? Burroughs was a master who created unforgettable characters, they didn’t have to be likable, but they did seem real. He knew where the audience wanted to go, and he took them there. In a time where there were many promises made, he actually followed through with the idea and pleased the audience.

Emily Bronte

My favorite title of hers, is Wuthering Heights. In this tale, characters are the centerpiece. She tells the story through gossip, which makes them a lot of fun to read. She also knew scandal (as did Anne Rice), but where she really influenced me is the love and care that she gives to her Villain, Heathcliff. You get to really know him, and understand why he does the things that he does. Heathcliff is broken and hurt, and while we come to follow his logic, we still can’t agree with his methods. An awesome biopsy of an evil mind, and one that we should put into our own games from time to time.

Who dat thinkday gon beat dem Saints?

2010-02-07T23:25:00.003-06:00

Now, I know that this isn't a football blog, and don't worry, because that won't change; but, THE SAINTS WON!!!!!

I have been a New Orleans Fan for over 20 years, a small group of us were die-hards. Every year was gonna be THE year! Of course then the team would screw up, or simply play terribly. Saints fans wore bags on their heads, but we still rooted for our team. It wasn't about the football, but about the city . . . well, at least for me. New Orleans has always been my favorite city. It is where I keep my soul; I love her mystery, her food, her music, and her people. The game was that the Saints was the Ain'ts. We were the butt of lots of jokes. Folks would listen to us talk at the beginning of the new season, about how this year was going to be the year, and they would roll their eyes.

Finding Saints stuff was a challenge, I do believe that I am the only Saints fan with a real N.O. Saints coat. When they finally started showing up on normal TV, in commercials and ads I got a tingle up my spine. Lots of other fans take that stuff for granted, but a Saints fan never does.

When the Saints won the National Championship, for the very first time, it was a dream come true! I always felt that one day we'd make it all the way, and even if we lost, we would consider it a win because WE MADE IT THERE!!!! Well, to actually take the Superbowl, and take it with skill and managing the game like we did . . . well, THAT is simply awesome!

I give a shout out to the entire Who Dat nation out there who happens to stumble over this little page, and I offer you a knowing glance and a very happy nod because we did it. THIS WAS THE YEAR! This was the year that we've always been talking about. WHO DAT!!!!

Next time we get back to geeking, but right now I am a New Orleans Saints Fan, and a very happy one at that!

Random Junk

2010-02-03T16:37:00.002-06:00

Here is just some stuff that I've stumbled over in my online travels seeking adventure and internet glory!

A 700 year old house

A cool cave map generator

One Bad-Ass Sandcastle

www.bugmenot.com to avoid over exposure, or joining sites just to see content, and probably never returning again. BRILLIANT!!!!

Drelb

2010-02-02T03:05:00.002-06:00

Drelb Guardian (Haunting Custodian)

Climate/Terrain: Dark, Subterranean
Frequency: Very Rare
Organization: Solitary
Activity Cycle: Any
Diet: Negative Energy
Intelligence: Average to Very (9-12)
Treasure: Special
Alignment: Neutral (evil)
No. Appearing: 1
Armor Class: 2
Movement: Fl 6 (B)
Hit Dice: 5+3
THAC0: 15
No. of Attacks: 1
Damage/Attack: 3-12
Special Attacks: Chill, 90% seems retreating
Special Defenses: hit only by magic weapons, reflects psionic attacks
Magic Resistance: None
Size: M (6’ tall)
Moral: 12 (Steady)
XP Value: 1,400

The Drelb are seen as black, vaguely man-shaped clouds that have no true substance, but tend to shape themselves with two upper limbs, a torso, and a head with two glowing red eyes. Most people who see them mistakenly identify them as wraiths, however unlike wraiths, they cannot be turned as undead.

Combat: The touch of a drelb is so cold that it causes those struck by it to lose all body warmth instantaneously, which causes not just the damage (3d4), but also causes the victim to fall shivering to the ground, dropping all items which he was holding (no saving-throw). Victims of this attack are unable to act until this chill passes, or 1 round.
When confronted by a cleric attempting to turn it,or if prey is hesitant, the cunning monster uses a trick of illusion. It causes its form to rapidly diminish in size while gliding smoothly forward. This is 90% likely to give the viewers the impression that the drelb is retreating, while it is actually moving up to attack.
Magic weapons are needed to harm drelb; silver has no effect, unless it is magicked silver, which causes double damage. Drelb also have the faculty of imitation and/or reflection of psionic power. All power used within 30 feet of the creature or any psionic attack directed at it is imitated or reflected back upon the attacker.
Habitat/Society: Drelb inhabit the Negative Material Plane, but evil-minded persons will sometimes call them to the Prime Material Plane to serve as guardians of hidden wealth or secret places, so whenever they are encountered on this plane they are guarding something. Magic which draws the drelb to the Prime Material Plane is likely to function only from sunset to sunrise; so, much like undead, drelb appear only in twilight or darkness.
Ecology: Drelb serve as protection only, summoning them is considered an act of evil as the life of an innocent must be taken at the time of calling them forth from their own dimensions. While this spell has been lost to time, the Drelb do show up often enough to suspect ancient evil forces of great power is behind each and every one of them. It is also known that the Drelb is considered a minor spirit in the negative material plane, and many more powerful beings from this negative plane are more apt to using them successfully then a creature native to this plane—but of course that doesn’t stop people from trying to call them.

Ripper DMing Temple of Elemental Evil part VI

2010-02-01T02:39:00.002-06:00

This game wasn't all that hot. It was half D&D, & half Shannon's Bday party, which essentially means that all of my players, with the exception of myself and the thief got wasted on rum.

Travis started play, pushing the PC party to 8, and everybody showed up. His character is a Neutral Evil cleric, an alignment that I allowed because everybody was playing Chaotic Neutral and I have learned to hate CN more than any other alignment. Seriously! NE is much easier for me to stomach these days.

What the party did get done was a whole lot of fighting. We are talking some serious hack-n-slash. Unfortunately they weren't all that thorough, and a lot got by them. We did have one interesting encounter that was made worse by a random encounter. The party had pinned down a couple of bugbears who had flipped the table over and was chucking spears at them, when along came a carrion crawler, YEAY!!!! I simply love those things! It almost ate Summer's cleric, too. Until my wife's fighter knocked it for a loop.

The MVP of the game, was without a doubt, Kim, who played the teams only thief. She had looted and picked her way to twice as many experience points than any one else! The next runners up were all of the fighters, they killed about 87 HD worth of monsters. I think that everybody had fun, but it wasn't as fulfilling to me. No problems on my side of the screen, it was just that everybody was so easily distracted. We ended up pulling the plug at midnight and just sat around jawing until 2 a.m..

I did run into one problem, I don't have any stats for a monster called a Drelb Guardian. I updated the necessary bits to 2e, so that I can run it in the dungeon, however I would love to see the entire listing for this thing. The module said that it was in the appendix, but somebody screwed up and never added it.

There is also a monster in the dungeon that uses psionics, and while I have retained most of my gaming knowledge from the good ol days, psyionics are completely lost on me, so I've been re-reading the Psionics Handbook (or however that word is spelled, cut me some slack I'm stoned on Cough Syrup). I've never been a big fan of Psionic PC's. I played one in the past, and it was always like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. While I don't enjoy Player Psionics, I do like Monsters that use them, and may even through in a classed Psionic badguy or NPC, which could be fun . . . if I can remember how these things work.

On another technical note, I tried to update my DM's Secretary 2.0 up to 5, but my rusty old laptop simply can't handle it, which is a bummer, because I have it on my main PC and I think that it would be awesome to play with. I'll just have to wait until TAX time when I get my shiny new laptop, YAY!!!!

Maybe then things will be more active around here, huh? Who knows. Until next time!

Technology And Tabletop Gaming

2010-01-24T15:43:00.002-06:00

Video games and tabletop role-playing games are two different animals. I think that if Wizards of the Coast figured that out, then they wouldn’t be up the creak like they are. They believe that it is their job to figure out for us how to use technology in our games, when this truly isn’t their role. Not to mention, that in the past they have shown a blatant disregard for how we do use technology in our games.

Back in the day gamers did everything by hand. We had mountains of maps drawn on graph paper, if we were really advanced we’d use a typewriter to type up our games, but for the most part, we just used a 3-subject notebook. We made all of our own character sheets, and a character had to actually prove himself to us before we would make a permanent sheet for the guy – which by permanent I mean one which we created with a pen.

Back then; printers were worthless unless you wanted to hang a big dotty banner over the table, AND WHO DIDN’T? Sure, if we had access to a computer we’d put some stuff on those big old floppy disks, but that was hardly safe! However, I think that the biggest hassle was moving books around. A player didn’t have that hard of a time, with just the PHB, but as DM I remember hefting around a hundred pound duffle bag stuffed with hardbound books! Did you need them all? No, but the moment that you didn’t bring one, then you’d need that one!

I was one of the first geeks in my group to buy a modern PC, at the time they were still astronomically expensive, but the price was getting more and more reasonable as the months flew by. 2nd Edition was in its last legs, with the 2.5 books that hit the shelves, setting folks up for the 3rd edition. But my point is that Wizards released a CD-ROM that was an interesting experiment. I can’t remember all of the details, as it was so long ago and I some how lost the thing, but I do remember that it had digital copies of the 3 core rule books, the PHB, the DMG, and the MM. I don’t think that the search technology worked all that great, but even if it did it was way ahead of its time. Too far ahead really, because while the prices for desktop PCs were dropping, Laptops were still crazy expensive and way beyond the means of most gamers, thus you couldn’t bring the thing to the table.

This was also the first time that we could actually make our own Character Sheets even better! I remember spending hours creating sheets for all of the classes, now I don’t do that, we just print off standard character sheets which is probably as illegal as hell, which brings up another point. While Wizards may not have the best ideas anymore, they are very giving in regards to their products. I mean how many people are posting copyrighted material and Wizards just looks the other way? Well, for now they are, and I’d like to think that as long as we are doing justice by giving commercials free of charge to them, then they’ll continue not suing me for infringement.

I don’t mean to be negative on anybody, especially the current holder of the D&D franchise, a product that has kept my mind and soul fueled with ideas for years! However, some of their business ideas are just lost on me. Namely the PDF thing. A lot of people were pirating books, so they suffered the folks who were actually paying them, by forcing everybody to pirate books now! I don’t know what they were thinking? That if we couldn’t buy PDFs of out of print books then we’d just go out and buy 4th Edition? That is just crazy!

Besides saving DMs from back problems, PDFs were easily searchable. The Pirate PDFs usually aren’t all that good. You’ve got pages missing, corrupted, or infected with god-knows-what! That, and often the pirated PDFs are just scans of the pages, making them unsearchable half the time. Wizards missed the market on what could be done. Instead of banning them, they could improve them.

One of the greatest Pirates ever made is Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (2nd Edition) Complete Set of 26 Books written by Dorian X. This guy was a madman! He hand-typed out 26 reference books, making it incredibly easy to find anything. There really isn’t any art, with the exception of MM pictures, and a map of Greyhawk, but as far as PDF.s go, this thing is indispensable for me. I own all of the hardcopys, so I really don’t feel all that bad about using it, but I can take all of these books with me on the go, and write my dungeons, or easily solve arguments at the table. I have used this PDF more then I’ve ever used my Tome of Magic book, I’ll tell you that.

My point is, that that PDF could be a model. There are enough fans out there that are willing to hand-type the originals, and they’ll probably do it for free, or be overjoyed with a nominal cut of the sales. You make decent PDFs and folks won’t even bother with the pirated crap anymore, or – sometimes, I just downloaded a pirate to see if I like the book, and if I did then I’d buy a good PDF of it. Finding hardcopies of books these days is getting harder and harder. Some of my original books are falling apart and I don’t want to open them anymore, PDFs, in this case, are superior to hardcopies because they don’t wear out.

MAPS

Wizards hasn’t always been clueless. All you have to do is go to their website and learn that! The Map-A-Week feature was gold! And their Free Download section is still one of my favorites. Mapping used to be difficult, I remember spending hours drawing basic maps on graph paper, but I am a slob! I’d smear my pencil marks all over the place, and make some of the ugliest maps that you’ve ever seen . . . just to lose them because they were all loose leaf. Now with great mapping programs like AUTORealm, anybody can pump out excellent looking maps which are clean and uniform, so that anybody who looks at it doesn’t have to first decipher my chicken scratches.

I think that TSR started some relationship with a huge mapping program, I remember seeing adds for it in Dungeon Magazine. This program was not just overly complex, outrageously priced (still is), but it was also a hog of one’s computer resources. I believe that this was the program that they used to make their own, professional maps, and they do look good but how many DM’s are skilled enough to use it?

Wizards has always been involved in making mapping cooler. On the CD-ROM which I mentioned above, there was a very crappy and basic mapping tool which, after you were done mapping, you could enter the dungeon in a first person, virtual reality perspective. This was bad ass, however, it was also completely worthless and impractical for how we tabletop gamers play games. Now I see that they are trying to bring this back. There is already a separate market for that, it is called Worlds of Warcraft, and it is its own thing. Let them have it, because the folks who are addicted to WoW still play tabletop games because we DM’s can do things that WoW will never have the tech to do.

NETWORKS

Probably the greatest Technical Advancement to tabletop games is, of course, the social networks. These things are bigger then Wizards, or even TSR ever could be. Folks don’t want OFFICIAL, they never did, they want great material, fresh ideas, and a place to express those ideas and get feedback with like-minded folks. In a sense, the social networks have replaced magazines, but they have also further splintered the players. No matter if you prefer 2nd Edition, 4th Edition, or OD&D, there is a network for that. Instead of fighting it, or trying to force folks over to some Official Site where you can charge them, just go with it, which, in a sense, Wizards, if they wanted to, could collect their lawyers and knock down all of the ivory towers. It wouldn’t be good publicity! But they would be fully within their rights to do it.

Folks miss magazines, but lets really look at this? What are your chances of actually getting a letter published in a magazines forum? I also think that the ideas on the web are much better then those published in Dragon. Sure, the art was better, and they were fun to read, but so is the Internet. Now we can also actually talk with the writers and get our own stuff read. No magazine publication on Earth could be this thorough!

As a DM, I can look over what a DM is doing over in Chicago or even in London, and maybe help him play-test his idea. If I have an idea I can usually get feedback from folks who have already tried it but couldn’t get it to work, or are willing to also try it and playtest it faster. Back in the day, you were limited to just the geeks in your Gaming Shop, now the entire world is at your fingertips. I think that the only drawback to this system is that I would love to play under a bunch of the Dungeon Masters that I’ve run into on the Networks, but I never will be able to. Ohhhhhhh Sad face 

TECHNOLOGY AND MY OWN PERSONAL GAME

I, probably like many Tabletop gamers, was at first, resistant to allowing a PC at the table. I’d write my scenes on WORD and then print them off, keeping a mountain of loose-leaf papers on a side-table, but I’ve now changed that.

Currently I am working from a Module which I don’t have an original copy for, which is fine because I hand-typed the whole thing and just up-dated it to my ruleset as I went. I created separate files for separate chapters, and I only print off things that I reference often and don’t want to go back to, because it is kind of a pain in the but.

Working off of WORD allows me to highlight text, and make changes as I need to. I do kind of miss writing in the margins, now I write on little notepads and I keep losing them.

I print off the maps, and keep them near me at all times. If a room is hard for me to describe, then either I can edit up a hand-out or draw it on a dry-erase board (which is also something new at my table).

I remember struggling with mapmaking software, and initially trying to make do without it, but once I tried AUTORealm, I was sold. I drew my first map at the table, and then reworked it in AUTORealm and it looked so fantastic that I kept using it. With AUTORealm, sometimes it is best to keep the map in the PC, and resize it as I need it. Now one can make some really advanced maps, which replaces those giant poster maps that have always been impractical for actual game use. Hell, the DM literally needed his own table to run many of them. Keeping the map on a laptop allows all of the players to have enough room and it keeps them from stealing a peek at the thing as well. However, when I am using AUTORealm at the table, I like to print off the key to it, this way I don’t have to switch back and forth too often, which slows down my ability to play.

There is also a great program which I use called DM Secretary 2.0. This program was made for 3rd Edition rules, and I’d love to be able to tweak it to reflect my own ruleset, however I’m just not computer savvy enough. It has a diceroller and I can keep track of players with it. Much of the time I prefer to roll real dice, but sometimes it is just easier to use electronic dice. Generating hit points for random encounters is reason enough to keep it open during the game.

When I am at home, I tend to use hardbooks, but most of my work is done at my day job, and PDFs are a godsend! Seriously, digital books are the one thing that I love more then any other technical advancement in regards to table top gaming! They are far from perfect, but the positives overweigh the negatives, which is why it blows my mind that Wizards discontinued their sale.

I have also found that by letting the PC do some of the work, it frees me up to focus on different aspects of the game which I tended to ignore before. Calculating XP, managing Time and tracking Movement just to name a few. After almost 2 years with a PC at the table, I can now say that my personal game has improved great enough to enjoy having it there.

I know that I am not the only person who was resistant to keeping one there, and there are other aspects of it that I haven’t even touched on, such as using pogs, printing maps for miniatures, I’m sure that the list isn’t yet exhausted, so take your own whack at it.

What is your favorite tool?
Can you go back to old-school gaming, or are you just too into drinking the Kool-Aid now?
How has the computer effected your gaming style? Did it make it better, or worse? Inquiring minds want to know!

Ripper DMing Temple of Elemental Evil session V

2010-01-17T02:38:00.003-06:00

This game turned out much better then the last one did, but as a recap, I had a decision to make. I had forgotten that elves had infravision, and my mistake had led the party to believe that a darkness spell was in effect, and it did not allow the party to function as they normally should had. Shannon had already rolled up another character, as he had lost his other one to my failure. He should had been able to see that he was out numbered dramatically, and had time to change his tactic, and while I never liked making things a do-over, this was blatantly, my fault. I decided to give him his character back, and told everybody that it was a cognitive dream, a warning of doom, granted to them by St. Cuthbert.

I also felt that they didn't have enough muscle, so I had my wife roll up an additional fighter which she could play, as well as her witch. Both she and Shannon are experienced players and don't have a hard time playing two characters equally well at once.

The new Ranger (Shannon's character) and the new fighter (Misty's character) were companions sent on a mission to investigate the temple. The Druid in Hommlet instructed them to meet up with the party and join forces. The ranger had secret information about breaching the temple itself, but required a thief (Kim's character) and money to buy a mule (which they got sacking the moat house).

The other wizard didn't make it to the game this session, nor could Summer, who played the parties Cleric, which initially made me a bit nervous but decided to move along anyway. Kim showed up, and we have a new player ready to join us, but he just wanted to observe this session. Well, not really a new player as he's one of our old D&D buddies who moved back from Rockport Missouri, where, apparently, they don't play Dungeons & Dragons. HOW WEIRD IS THAT?!?! It's great to see his face again and I look forward to him joining. He has always brought an interesting dynamic to the table, and he's also an awesome DM so Shannon and I can have a break DMing, and actually play some!

Anyhow, back to the Temple. I took Mouse's suggestion of getting them inside of the Temple Ruins regardless of that impossible to make savingthrow against the front door, to heart. A secret chink was made in the armor of the Temple, a specific barred window could be breached with just the right amount of force. The Ranger was made aware of the hole by his superior, but needed a thief to scale the wall, which the party had. These two teams teamed up, amazing how fast friends are made isn't it?

They spent much of the session on the unoccupied level of the ruins, finding all of the little clues hidden throughout the place before venturing down below. Prepping for this session was much easier too. I knew roughly how far they would get, and spent much of the afternoon reading and correcting my way to Dungeon Level 2. Some of the first map isn't keyed very well, namely the stairs. It took me a half an hour to figure out where one of them went to because it didn't say.

I also improperly identified sturges, mistaking them for those stalactite monsters that fall from the ceiling, but quickly looked them up because I didn't remember them having bloodsucking abilities before, and they don't. Sturges are giant mosquitoes with bat wings, and I was able to quickly clarify the problem before we got too carried away with it.

Another problem that I ran into was with the Earth Elementals in the Earth Temple. I did my best to update it to 2nd edition, but didn't realize that the monster which it refers to was not in the MM, and I didn't know where it was. THOSE THINGS WERE MEAN!!!! THAC0s of 5, hit only by +2 weapons (which they didn't have) Rydan's mage had a +2 axe, but he wasn't at the table, and the mage was recovering from a wild night of drinking in the Nulb Hostle. The only thing that was their weakness was a Movement Rate of 6. We had to discus the best way to handle this situation in a way that everybody could agree with, and that was fair to everybody, including the earth elementals.

Misty reminded me that Huge creatures have a harder time hitting smaller creatures, so I looked it up and discovered that Huge monsters have a +9 to their initiative rolls. It was decided that since these creatures were in their element, if they hit their target, they would instantly do full damage, like it says in the 1e MM. However, since they were so slow, the only way that they could win initiative is if they rolled up a 1, and the player rolled a 10. Was it dangerous? YES! One hit meant fatality! But it was also fair. The player also had to roll a successful DEX check, else slip and fall, giving the Elemental an equal shot at initiative on the next round.

I assume that those creatures are in one of my MC books, but just didn't have time to look them up properly, but it is times like that that really make the game fun. Invention and brainstorming with the players is always a great time for me.

I'd also like to add that I really enjoy the Random Encounter method with ToEE uses. Instead of rolling %d and then rolling separate dice on a different chart, you just roll the %d. If the number is 11 or under, it tells you instantly what encounter you have, and if it is above that, then no encounter. I set the 10 min. timer and could quickly factor in search times and time spent doing other stuff, and didn't have to fuss over anything. IT WAS GREAT!!! Of course it doesn't factor in noise level or anything, but no system is perfect. As far as ease and speed, that system works awesomely.

I think that everybody had a good time. There wasn't any yelling or bitching and fighting going on this time around. The game was much easier to prep for because of the confined environment. Overworld prep just stresses me out! And no matter how much I prep for stuff, my players can always find themselves into spots that nobody even thought up before. It's much harder to do that underground . . . granted that it isn't impossible, just harder.

Ripper Ramblings: Snow D&D

2010-01-09T21:31:00.005-06:00

I haven’t been very inspired lately, what with the weather and all. I live out here in the Midwest, and we’ve been pounded into submission by old-man winter. It is quite incredible; I’ve lived here my entire life, and have never seen this kind of snow nor these temperatures either. I suppose that I should use this as a lesson in how we survived in days before weatherproofing and electricity.

Twenty years after the end of the American Civil War we got temperatures and snow like this, but our lives are not nearly as complicated these days. It makes me wonder how our ancestors did it. How they handled such things.

Currently, the snows are so heavy that they are breaking roofs, some idiot actually got his snowblower up on the roof, how he did that I’ll never know, and I think that the only thing that I can say about that is that it didn’t end well.

In the mountains and up north, where they are used to getting several feet of snow each year, buildings are built to handle the strain. I’ve seen pictures of houses with mysterious doors up on the second level of the house, which are used in the winter-time, as that is how deep the snow usually gets and it totally blocks the main doors.

Warmth is also a problem, having enough fuel to get you through the winter has always been a problem. I grow up in the country and spent much of the warmer months clearing out trees and chopping them up for firewood for our stove incase the electricity was knocked out, and we could save a lot of money on energy bills by burning wood instead of propane. By wintertime, we’d have a huge horde of wood lined up along the fence-line, and by springtime much of it would be gone.

Back in the day there was no propane, nor electrical power plants. If you misjudged how much fuel you’ll need that winter, then the result was simple; you froze to death.

Cause and effect are typically the main duties of the DM to determine. What would happen if some magical, or spiritual being was the cause of such an extreme winter? Perhaps an ice dragon or an evil wizard bent on altering the weather so that new terrible beings can come through and wreck havoc, of course rewarding him while killing everyone else? Or perhaps the God of Frost is enraged and at war with another God, and decides to take it out on that gods followers. Would the people be prepared for it? And if not, what would happen?

My family and I have had to spend a ton of time indoors, snowed in because travel was all but impossible. It has snowed so much that the cities budget for snow-removal has already been used up. Machines used to plow the snow are breaking down because they aren’t getting any breaks, and now the temperatures are so low that the salts and chemicals that they use to melt ice aren’t able to cut it.

Fires are also a problem, which they always will be. I can’t imagine the risks that our ancestors took. Snow and low temperatures make a winter fire even more deadly. Machinery freezes up, as do the men who operate them. The emergency people are suffering because they have to go out in this stuff.

A fire in a winter catastrophe scenario would prove deadly when you are dealing with a fantasy setting, be it rural or city. Remember the Chicago fire? Buildings constructed out of wood, and built right next to each other. One small fire quickly turned into a citywide catastrophe which killed thousands, and left even the survivors lives in ruins.

Cause and effect: We pull one string and it affects all of the others. Keeping track of all of these strings and their functions is impossible, but as a creative tool, it keeps us on our toes. Personal experience is a great muse for gaming. Studying the real world around you can have great and lasting consequences to the quality of your games, if you let it. Observe my friends, and don’t be afraid to put these observations into your games.

FIND THE DOOR

I love dungeon delving, but I also like the game, Find The Door, and this kind of scenario would really fit in with that theme. One has to figure out if a savage winter is natural or not, and if it isn’t, then what is causing it?

On a fantasy level, crap like this would also affect the other beings in the world. Perhaps it would open up a channel for monsters that are normally further up north and away from humans to come down and have free reign in virgin territory and a new prey that is not ready and has no defense against them.

It wouldn’t take much of an imagination to see what kind of havoc this type of situation would create. Whatever discomfort and menace the humans or demi-humans are suffering can be measured ten-fold by the humanoid population which isn’t smart enough, nor have access to the resources to properly battle this problem. This may not even become apparent until well after the fact.

Come spring, it is noted that a natural resource is missing. Perhaps it is something as basic as food, or something as luxurious as a well-loved brandy? Whatever the resource is, all attempts to contact the small village that supplied it have resulted in loss of messengers. No word has come from this place since autumn. Adventurers are needed to travel to the small hamlet, and investigate what has happened too it.

Humanoids, noting the weakness of the people, and their inability to properly defend themselves have taken over the hamlet. Winter had decimated their numbers, parts of the hamlet collapsed from heavy snow, the small militia was kept busy trying to dig people out, and attempting to reach help, however that party met with disaster and the humanoids quickly stole the entire village, keeping those too weak or frightened to fight as slaves and food. What will the adventures find once they finally arrive? Will they be able to save the town? The possibilities are near endless!

The possibilities for mystery are epic, and because of the nature of winter storms, can be quite frightening as it can turn even an entire village into a snowbound menace, isolated and completely cut off from the outside world. Cabin-fever is a result of this, and was more of a problem in the past, then it is now. Imagine being snowed into a one-room shack for months at a time. Ones mind would eventually snap from loneliness, which can result in some fun ideas for role-players. A party trapped in a snowbound fortress, is it haunted, and if so, by what? What if we add an element of insanity into the mix? We can still have a real threat out there, but it can be mixed with the imaginings of a feverish mind. An illusionist could have a heyday with these people! Perhaps out of simply trying to amuse its self? The doomed crew of the HMS Terror became more of a menace to themselves then even the environment provided, the final resting place of this ship is still a mystery! Insanity brought on by food-poisoning, cold, starvation, and desperation. They found a small crew who died while trying to move a large boat full of worthless junk which they refused to abandon.

I suppose that one never really knows if the wolves howling outside of your door are truly hunting people, or if it is just all in their mind. A man who resorted to cannibalism, his attacks so grim that a healthy mind could never even fathom that the victims were savaged by a fellow human. They invent a monster do hunt for, ignoring all of the facts, while the madman, unable to deal with what he has done, erases the terrible deeds from his mind, dismissing them as nightmares; perhaps even leading the party because of some belief that he is psychically connected to the monster? The howling wasn’t a wolf at all, but a trick of the whipping and cruel wind.

Not to say that we don’t want to eliminate monsters completely, they too have their place, but it can be fun, from time to time, to battle the human monster. Perhaps the storm was caused because somebody took something away? An intelligent sword that kept the element of evil winter locked away, and no longer wants to be condemned to such a fate. The sword dominates its savior and wants to put as much distance between itself and the gate which became just as much its prison as it was the wicked elemental god. Something like this can take quite a while for a party to figure out what to look for, and it may take all of their wits and resources to get the sword back to where it needs to be.

These are just a few ideas for quick one-shots, or ideas that can be developed into a full blown campaign with just a little bit of work on your part.

Gaming Session IV

2010-01-04T03:18:00.002-06:00

Not all games end well. I suppose that this is just a fact of gaming. Everyone enjoys a good game, but the one who gets blamed when a game goes badly is the DM.

The party has been macho in the past. They crushed the Moathouse in just a few short hours, they defeated the brigands who were in charge of protecting it in 3 rounds, in their own rights, this party is a bunch of super-heroes who did not act heroic when the time came to prove their mantle . . . or maybe it really was just my fault. I am frustrated.

The party made their way to Nulb, running into a random encounter of a bunch of Bugbears, which turned out to be the only rewarding combat of the game. Later they ran into bandits but they squished them very quickly.

They set up shop in Nulb, with plans to move any large quantities of cash over to Hommlet, as it is a safer base but just too far away to be utilized full-time. They made their way to the temple itself, and promptly failed the saving throw for the main gate. I had prepped as much as I could for last session, however that game was canceled because I was down 2 players, and we picked it up this game. I did as much prep as I could, however their is just so much that you can do. I focused my prep on best case scenario, they breach the main gate, explore the upper works of the Temple, and as far down as Dungeon Level 1. I had also prepped the tower incase they failed to break down the main door into the temple, which they did.

I had made a change to the tower, they have smashed everything up to this point with no trouble, so I added a gate that would close behind them before the trap would spring. All this would do was spook them and slow down their retreat if they attempted to back out. They also like to draw out their badguys, and since these guys were supposed to be the keepers of the Gate, I wanted them to call the shots and have the advantage.

The trap is simple, but brilliant. The good guys enter the tower, the gate closes behind them and the archers pelt them with arrows. They are fish in a bucket, the only light in the place shines on them! Well, they didn't act as a team. The fighter rushes into the darkness, leaving everyone else to take the archer fire. I let Rydan's attacks with magic missile succeed, even though he could not visually see his enemy. The fighters inside quickly picked the good guy fighter apart. Instead of having the good guys squish my badguys in 3 rounds, it reversed. The badguys quickly killed their leader, and forced a surrender.

Well, needless to say, I didn't prep for that. I had to stop the game because now the bulk of the party are sitting in some dungeon cell in the temple, and the only fighter in the party is dead. GREAT!!!!

Well, now I am stuck. I don't know if it really was my fault, or if it was theirs. I want to say that they got clobbered through bad gaming. They had several options open to them, the fighter could had lifted the gate and the party retreat so that they could rethink their strategy. They could have advanced as a team, the fighter drawing fire while the weaker members used the darkness for their advantage too. But the problem with that logic is that I really didn't give them enough time to think about stuff. This was supposed to be a very hard encounter, but my wife tells me that I didn't even give them a chance, and that I had set them up to fail.

They were 3rd level, my plan was to fight the party with archers to test them. The major characters just wanted to feel them out, and never intended to enter into combat themselves, nor did they. The encounter never strayed from their original plan, and the party fell right in line for what they wanted them to do.

Now the party is in prison, either set for sacrifice or for slavery I don't know yet. I don't know if they are strong enough to get themselves out of the mess that they are in. Shannon, who played the now dead fighter, was able to roll up a new character, this time he qualified for Ranger. I am just at a loss. I don't know if they really were outmatched, if they are still of an appropriate level to be able to complete the tasks that I ask of them, or if it was just a really shitty night.

What level are the other characters out there who have ran this dungeon? Is 3rd level just too damned low? I don't like doing do-overs, but if this is my fault then maybe they are entitled to a do-over?

The Whens and Hows of Random Encounters

2009-12-26T19:54:00.003-06:00

Role-players have always had a love-hate relationship with Random Encounters. Back in the day they were always used, but as the game became more advanced, the Dungeon Masters tended to do away with them. Recently, since the resurrection of the classic gaming style, many DMs have decided to include them in their play style once again. The problem that can arise now is that it is kind of a lost art.

Above ground, Random Encounters aren’t so hard to figure out how to handle. All you have to do is judge how long the party is going to be traveling, and then check the tables for the area that they are in. Below ground, however, is a completely different subject. While much of the time spent traversing wide open spaces is pretty much unaccountable for, each moment spent underground IS accountable. For this reason dungeon masters had to figure out ways of measuring time.

Time in 2e is measured in units of rounds or turns. For reasons of simplicity rounds are about a minute, sometimes shorter and sometimes longer but for purposes of tracking time we will always assume that they are a minute. Turns are roughly ten minutes. This unit of time is only usable during fights, but what about when they are exploring? Well, for times like this we must assume other things.

UNDERSTANDING THE LANGUAGE OF MODULES

Typically, in modules which use random encounters, they will list how often that random encounters are to be checked. Often it tells you to check for random encounters ever turn, which is ten minutes. There is another thing which old-timers have taken for granted, and without this little clue about time keeping, you are in a world of confusion. This little known clue is that once a party enters an underground dungeon, or a building which is a big part of the dungeon, the units which we use are changed. Instead of time being abstract, we change this logic to Dungeon Time = real-time. This will float, and it really isn’t the same as real-time, but for time itself we assume that each session = 1 day in game time. Thus, wizards who run out of spells are out of luck until the next game unless they can convince the party to take them above ground, or back to town to let them rest and memorize new spells.

Now then, with this understood, if you would like, you can go out and purchase one of those cooking timers, or borrow your wife’s but for reasons of personal safety, it is best that we return it once we are done using it. If the module has dictated that we should check for random encounters every turn, then we set our timers for 10 minutes, and when it goes off, the players all go silent and look at you expectantly while you roll percentile dice for some reason which they may or may not understand exactly what it is for.

With that said, many factors can affect how often we check for random encounters. In combat which is either pre-set, or listed in the key, the moment that the players enter the room, we must subtract the number of minutes which has expired from the Random Encounter Check time.

As an example, we know that there are 4 trolls in the room which the party has just entered, we look at our timer and there is still 5 minutes left to the random encounter check. This means that we now ignore the timer and instead judge the number of minutes in rounds. Thus in 5 rounds we will check to see if a random encounter has happened.

OTHER FACTORS TO ADD INTO RANDOM ENCOUNTERS

The percentage listed (if we are going by percentages) assumes that the party is being quiet as possible. This doesn’t factor in noisy armor which we must determine how noisy the armor is if someone is an idiot and wearing full-plate armor in the dungeon. Perhaps a fair modifier to the percentage chance of attracting a random encounter is +25%.

Loud noises, such as bashing in a door, setting off alarms, or the loud clanging of weapons striking armor, and the yelling and screaming involved in combat is very likely to call attention to one’s location. These instances will increase a party’s chance of being discovered by a random encounter considerably! +50% sounds like a fair modifier to me.

You must always be aware of a noise level, bashing in a door worth 50hp takes time and makes a lot of noise. It also allows those on the other side of the door to prepare themselves and take appropriate action. A quiet castle will be on low alert as long as the party uses stealth and wisdom in moving around, but once it is discovered that the walls have been breached, all of the guards and monsters will be on high alert. This also factors into Random Encounters.

ALTERNATIVE METHOD TO RANDOM ENCOUNTERS

A way to cut down on the amount of dice that you are rolling is to change the way that you check for them. Many times a percentage number is given, but we can also use a d20. During our prep we assign which monsters we want to have running around our dungeon. The lower the number the more of these creatures will be running around. The mid-numbers, say 8-11 can be limited, if the party defeats these creatures they will be depleting the monsters from a limited supply which is normally found elsewhere in the dungeon level. Say a snake that normally can be found in room A43 on the Dungeon Key can be encountered randomly, if they kill it before finding its lair, then once they get to room A43 there will be no encounter in that room, also, if they already killed the snake in its lair, then there will be no random encounter. The higher numbers always represent No Encounter.

Another method of checking for random encounters, which is much easier then rolling percentile dice is to just use a d6 or some other die. Prior to play we must decide what is the base chance of having an encounter, say, 1-3 results in an encounter, and this number can float up or down depending on how the players are acting. Loudness or engaged in noisy combat will give the odds of an encounter to 1-4 or even 1-5 on a d6, but we can also improve this by allowing a thief to lead the party, making it 1-2 on a 1d6 to dictate encounters.

Use your imagination, but remember to keep it fair and logical. You can have all of the monsters on the Random Encounter list to be limited, or have them not have any effect on the dungeon population at all! Random Encounters are used to add depth and richness to the world, they can also be dangerous! Don’t be afraid to judge them properly, if a party has had the crap kicked out of them, they may be worth more to the villain alive then they are dead. An incredibly powerful party will cause fear, the random encounter could run away and alert those around them to the powerful parties presence in their lair. Just because something is random, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have to make sense.

Ripper DMing: Temple of Elemental Evil I-III

2009-12-13T13:55:00.006-06:00

Apparently a lot of us bloggers are running the classic module "Temple of Elemental Evil", myself included. This is my very first true fantasy game that I have ever ran. Normally I've only DMed in the realm of Ravenloft, thus I am kind of struggling with the new ruleset. Of course I am also experimenting with things. My biggest change is that we are going to be using the training rules. Not for every level, as I feel that that is too excessive, however levels that grant the players either Weapon Prof. or a None Weapon Prof. will require training time and money.

We completed our third game last Sunday, and completed the Hommlet section of the Mod.. I had no hardcopy of this module, but painstakingly updated it to 2e by retyping the entire thing out.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS

I have grown sick of CN alignments, my players are addicted to this one and it really throws a wrench in my games. I replaced CN with Neutral Evil to see how that goes. So far, so good.

Shannon is our only Fighter, and an elf.
Summer is trying out the Cleric class again, seeing if she can keep this one alive.
Ryden is once again playing a mage, he wasn't too thrilled with me about forbidding the Warrior/Mage subclass but I have always felt that that class should not be.
Kim is trying out the Thief class, she is new to the class and an inexperienced player. All of the above players are playing elves with the exception of my wife who is playing a human witch class which is also a first for the table. She is trying out the NE alignment, which to me is easier to live with then Chaotic Crazy.

The odd thing is that we've got 2 mages, I do not expect both of them to survive. Protecting one mage is hard enough, nevertheless trying to keep two out of danger.

I ran into my first problem early. I had granted my wife access to the spell of "Burning Sphere" and she became a one-man-gang. In the moathouse, she single handedly routed the thieves living in the uppermost section of the moathouse with a single spell. The leader instantly surrendered after all of his men were wiped out in just a couple of rounds. I was going to modify this spell, however she talked me out of it as she played the spell as written in the handbook, and it is balanced by the fact that she can only use it once per day. I am trying to stick as close to CORE as I can, and while I find that spell to be excessive, it is still Core. We decided that we'd have to really pay attention to room dimensions and where everybody was at, which is tough because I refuse to play with miniatures.

I, at first, questioned if the moathouse was actually a 1st level adventure, and once again I screwed myself. I had everybody roll a 1d6 with the two highest scores being started at 2nd level. Well everybody but poor Kim rolled a 6, lucky them. Thus all but 1 person became 2nd level just like that.

I think that they probably could had entered the moathouse insantly, however I wanted them to gain another level, or at least get close to 3rd before attempting it. I had them protect a wagon out of Hommlet escorting a child up to Verbonce and then bringing fresh supplies back into town as in my version I had the Thieves of the Temple completely cripple the town by not allowing anything in or out. The party did this task with no problems.

I'm not used to playing off of a module either. Many of the descriptions are so long winded I honestly don't know what to do about them and I think that I am going to ignore them completely. It is just that I'm used to having all of the facts in my head, and running off a script, while much easier in the Prepping Department, is much harder for me to remember to factor in. This is such an advanced story, remembering everything is very difficult for me.

I had the spies of Hommlet attack, punishing the hamlet for bringing supplies in by burning fields during the night. This forced the hamlet to admit the secret of the Moathouse and have the adventures go check it out. I had tricked them into hiring a spy to accompany them, as well as the father of a missing boy. Elmo the Ranger, their greatest ally in Hommlet was injured while fighting the fire, so he couldn't go with them.

The moathouse itself took two games to complete. They quickly completed the upper level of the moathouse, making fun of me because they tried to run away from a Giant Snake and I had it batter through the rotten door. My wife said that the snake was to much of a wimp to knock the door in, and I get razed by it to this day. Apparently my wife isn't scared of a giant snake, which I looked up in the module to determine its size, and it is only as big as a boa, but it was a Rattler that size! Not scary to my wife. Oh well, the snake still bashed in the door and sacrificed its life to give the party the XP I wanted them to have before heading downstairs.

The dungeon itself gave them some serious challenges but didn't overwhelm them like I thought that it would have. It took two games to complete, and Kim got a lot of use from her thief. I did change a few things on the fly, and gave Shannon a better sword because they were exploring very well.

The finale turned out really well, the bad guys were not overwhelmed like the ones upstairs, though the wizards kept the boss on the run, forcing him on defense at the first possible time. He was able to buy his life, and turned over a list of all of the spies in Hommlet.

The next game had the players track down the spies, the mole had escaped and was able to warn the others. They had believed that they had him charmed, he and the others holed up in the tradingpost. The players devised a method of getting them out so that they could be arrested, sending a local child over there to get some intel, however when he didn't return they realized that they had unwittingly given the badguys a hostage, which made the situation even worse.

They were able to breach the walls, save the hostage, and were even able to arrest one of the badguys! Next game they will make their way to Nulb, and I've got to figure out what I want to do there.

Rating Your Players for Fun & Profit

2009-12-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

I have been tinkering with an idea; on one hand it is rather gamy, but it would increase the difficulty level of the game, and can help players become better then they normally would be.

In the past I have written about training and leveling up. Implementing the training rules does encourage the players to collect as much money as they can. While it does make the milieu economy meaningless, there are other benefits to charging gp to level up, namely being that the level up rate will be more evenly distributed.

First Edition had an interesting take on the leveling up process, one in which how the player acted and played the game determined how hard or how easy it was to level up. Now my idea takes that theory a bit further, I do want to see some competition going on as I find that when people compete with each other, they become better players for it.

My idea is to assign everybody a grade based on the player’s nightly performance. I will only pass out 1 of each high score, and I must pass out a very low score as well. The scores will reflect on how many weeks it will take the PC to level up, as well as how much they will have to pay. Now please understand that this hasn’t been play-tested yet, and currently it is just a theory, but it could be fun!

JUDGING THE PLAYERS

It is the DM’s job to track how the players are doing individually, and look for problems. Is the player properly role-playing his character? Is the wizard smart enough to use a magical item at a critical moment? Is the Cleric role-playing devotion to his faith? Is the thief fighting in face-to-face melee combat in the front with the warriors? Players some times chose to play the game to accomplish a goal that perhaps the character itself would be incapable of. If you offer the chance for extra gold to a thief, he should always take it! Wizards should always refuse to fight in the front, and Paladins will never guard a door when their fellow warriors are fighting in the front.

It is the DM’s job to look for inconsistencies. Is the ranger renting a room in the city? Is the Druid fighting plant-based monsters right along side his fellow players? We shouldn’t comment on it, but make a note of it to the side. Not to say that we shouldn’t let the players role-play their characters, but once they have chosen their personalities, such as a cowardly cleric, then it wouldn’t make much sense for him to run into combat later on down the line just because his party needs help. Let the player’s have their fun, but if they do it too often then it will cost them money and time later on down the road.

Many tables also have problems with how players conduct themselves. Are they argumentative, not show up regularly, or worse, show up late without calling first? All of this can also be factored into how the DM judges the players ability to play.

THE SCALE

A scale of grading will determine how many weeks a PC requires to train based on his in game actions. Alternatively you can limit A’s and B’s to only one player per game. These grades should be assigned at the time that you give out XP at the end of the night.

A—Superior gaming skills = 1
B—Above Average Skills = 2
C—Average Player = 3
D—Weak Playing Skills = 4

DETERMINING A PLAYERS TOTAL GRADE

Once a player qualifies to level up, the DM must tally up all of his grades and determine which was most common. This way, an off night once in a while won’t affect your over-all score.

C should be average, but truly good players will have access to A’s or B’s. And truly bad players will get the hint that they need to improve. While it isn’t required for the D category to be used, I think that some tables might enjoy it being given out, especially if all of the players are equally good.

LEVELING UP

The base cost to level up is 1,500 gp per level, per week of training. This money is to pay the teacher, and pay for his time, supplies, expertise, tithes, whatever. Characters with a C or below must seek out an NPC of the same class and of a higher level to have them teach them. A character with a score of B or higher can opt to do independent study which may be a bit more expensive, but doesn’t require one to seek out a teacher.

No adventuring can be done while the character is in training, and if for some reason he must stop training, he must start over from the beginning and the money that he spent will be lost.

THE COST OF INDEPENDENT STUDY

Independent study still takes the same number of weeks of dedicated training, and training only. A place must be located which is suitable to accomplish the training, and the cost below reflects that.

FIGHTER: 1,000 gp per level/week
MAGE: 4,000 gp per level/week
CLERIC: 2,000 gp per level/week
ROGUE: 2,000 gp per level/week

ACQUIRING XP

A character can only level up once per training session. A 1st level character who has gained enough xp to level up to 3rd must first train and level up to 2nd level before he can level up to 3rd.

A character may still earn XP until he has collected enough to level up twice. At that time, no more XP can be earned until he spends the time and the money to level up.

Thus, Fran the Terrible, a 1st level Fighter, has collected 3,985 xp. He qualifies to level up to 2nd level, however he hasn’t been able to escape the hellish pit that he and his mates have been exploring. Killing a monster worth 50 xp, he’ll only get 25 of that, as it will push him into qualifying for 3rd level. All other XP is lost until Fran can surface and train to become 2nd level. After he is second level, he can either spend more time and money leveling up to 3rd, or go back down into the hole as a 2nd level fighter and keep earning more XP until he’s earned enough to level up to 4th.

NOTE ABOUT ENCUMBRANCE

If you plan on using this experimental rule system, you may want to let the encumbrance rules slide, a least in regards to transporting gold, as it will take a hell-a-lot of it to pay to level up.

On paper, this system looks kind of fun, and it is based on an AD&D rule found in the 1e DMG, all I did was make it a bit more competitive. I am interested to know if anybody has ever played under that particular leveling up rule, and how it worked. I suppose that in this day and age players will bitch because they want their damned level up right NOW!!! But why should they instantly get it? I mean many of my players laugh at a player’s ability in 4th edition to demand specific magical items from the DM, who says that Leveling up should be a freebee too?

Holiday Tips from Advanced Gaming & Theory

2009-11-29T12:42:00.003-06:00

TIP #1: Constantly forgetting to add the 10% to your kick-butt character's XP all the time? Instead of adding, just subtract 10% from your Next Level section on your character sheet, that way you'll never have to worry about it!

TIP #2: Don't know what to give the D&D geek in your life for Christmas? Well, check some of this swag out.

D&D Themed Soda Pop
A Real Bag of Holding
A New Book
A T-Shirt
Pimp Their Ride OUT!
Help them with their self-esteem
Give the Gift that Keeps on Giving

Managing and Judging Experience Points

2009-11-25T07:47:00.003-06:00

Experience is a touchy thing. One in which each DM has their own system. I know back in my blasphemous days of ignoring any rule that required bookkeeping or math; we completely ignored the XP system. Anybody who played that day and didn’t croak gained a level, which was horrible now that I look back on it. We always started our characters at fifth level, but I don’t think that we played them very long, and never up to super high levels. I believe that I’ve only played one character that was above tenth level, but don’t quote me on that.

XP is a nice method of improving a character slowly. Unlike videogames, where a character gains levels really quickly, in D&D the characters are meant to be played long term. A good character can keep a player entertained for many many years, and the harder it is to build the character up, the more awesome the character becomes. I mean, who out there in computerland hasn’t sat back with fellow geeks and talked about the exploits of a few of their favorite characters? Is it dorky? YES! But it is still fun, and that is why we do it.

From 1st to 5th doesn’t take very long, however when you get up in levels it should take several games, and at super high levels it can take months of dedicated game play to gain a single level. This is offset by the fact that the game must change constantly. A DM has to be on his toes, and it can be very difficult to judge how much to throw at the adventurers that isn’t overly difficult, but isn’t too easy either. We get this through experience ourselves, and the best way to get this experience is by making mistakes until we get a feel for it.

Besides supplying challenging encounters, we must develop a method of rewarding the players. Now I’m not saying that players are greedy cusses always looking out for a cheap way to get a buck, but players are greedy cusses who are always looking out for a cheap way to get a buck. If they find out what you are rewarding for, and what you aren’t, then they will just focus on the almighty XP and toss all of the other stuff right out the window!

It is for this reason that we should keep our system of XP giving as mysterious as possible. While it is easier to just call out the XP gained from encounters once a fight is over, this can unfortunately program the players to think that Combat is the name of the game, and we really don’t want to reward this behavior. Just because a player kills a goblin, doesn’t mean that he automatically gets experience points for it. In fact, he may be docked! If the goblin has some information in his head which the party could had used, then this can be punishing enough, however if the goblin had no chance then the player who did it was just being a bully. This encounter will not only grant no XP, but ruin the PCs reputation as well. Once it gets out that the party is a bunch of mad bloodthirsty clouts, ain’t nobody going to parley with them, and may take their treasure and run if word gets out that the party is coming their way.

But I think that I am getting too far ahead of myself. The deal here is XP and how we judge dishing it out.

BOOKKEEPING XP

We need a way to record what everybody is earning, and it must be fast and accurate at the same time. What I usually do is keep a full sheet of paper next to me at all times. I write down all of the players names, and divide off most of the paper and use that for group XP.

For group XP I write down the number of XP earned per encounter, and I add it all up at the end of the game. Now if someone is late for a session, or made a surprise visit and decides that they want in on the game after you’ve been playing a while, then you need to draw a new section, this will reflect the new Group XP, because he shouldn’t have access to the bank which the others have collected.

Next to the players names, I tend to just record personal XP and number of times that they cast spells or use abilities or what have you. It is also helpful to record all of the hitdice of the monsters that they have defeated. This will be used for rewarding fighters.

MONSTERS

Monsters are the #1 source of XP, and the players know it. Keep a sheet of paper close by to add up all of the XP earned from monsters, and don’t give it out until the end of the session, unless somebody is super heroic and can somehow defeat a monster single-handedly with no assist what-so-ever from anybody else. In cases like this it is best to just give them the XP that they had earned immediately.

Like I said above, not all monster encounters should bare fruit. Only grant XP for monsters that actually challenged them. If you think that the combat was too one sided then don’t give them credit for it. XP is supposed to be earned, not just handed out like beads at a parade.

GROUP OBJECTIVES

Besides slaying monsters and finding loot, part of the game is discovering where to find the loot. They do this by discovering what their objectives are, and by completing them. Part of our prep should be locating the objectives and assigning an XP value to them. If a party isn’t completing objectives, or not into this aspect of the game, we can use these XP to let them know that they are being rewarded for discovering ways of completing them. Some objectives can be completed by the idea of one player, go ahead and call out the XP to him for figuring out a clue or devising a plan and let him, and the rest of the table, know what he is being rewarded for. If this isn’t a problem, then just jot down the value on a scrap piece of paper.

Objectives should be worth between 100-500 xp. The higher the level the players have, the more objectives that they’ll probably need to complete. Some objectives will be known, while others will be a secret. Say, saving a prisoner from a dungeon can grant big XP, maybe 10,000 for a noble who had gone missing.

Be inventive, and if you think that the party will gain something from it, go ahead and grant this XP immediately.

CLASS ACTIONS

Players also earn XP on an individual basis for using their skills in an effective manner. Thieves gain XP from using their abilities, and also earn 1 xp per every 2 gold pieces earned. Now this isn’t to say that every time a thief climbs a wall that he gets 100 xp, only if he uses this skill to complete some kind of objective. A thief who picks a pocket just for the gold gets nothing, however if he knows that a guard has a key and he is able to lift the key from him, then he qualifies for the XP bonus.

Wizards get XP for casting spells, learning spells, and creating magical items. Clerics are much the same, with the exception that they get even more XP if the spell that they cast or the ability that they use is beneficial to their faith. This aspect could stand to be further explored, but that will have to be later.

Fighters can be kind of tough, and require a bit more bookwork. They get XP per Hit Die of the creatures that they defeat. For this reason we record all of the hitdice.

Class Action XP should always be kept secret and tallied up at the end of the game.

PERSONAL OBJECTIVES

A good roleplayer should be rewarded. If a player really enjoys his character, he will be more then just an adventurer, but will have dreams and aspirations that are wider then just completing group objectives. If a player has set out some personal objectives, and he achieves them, he should be rewarded.

These kinds of objectives are completely up to the DM to determine their value. The harder something is to obtain, the higher the value should be. If it requires money, perhaps the suggestion for rewarding thieves (1xp per 2 gp) is sufficient?

TREASURE

Only thieves gain XP from money, at least in core rules. Now, the treasure listed in the DMG is all given an XP value, this is for constructing the item, and I also use it for NPCs. If an intelligent monster has magical items, I add the value to the monsters XP value, and it may (on my judgment) cause him to be a higher level then usual. I assume that the badguy was butch enough to acquire the item, thus he should be of a level that could survive the risk of obtaining it. No 0th level brigand will have a +4 Long Sword, he should be of a much higher level, else he is a poser with a dangerous toy, but then we go more into the story aspect of the game.

It is your judgment if you wish to reward XP for treasure, but me personally, I don’t do it. I have been pondering with allowing the players to purchase XP with the gold that they have earned; maybe 5gp to 1XP, but I honestly have never play-tested this theory, and I wouldn’t want to reward anybody for the same thing twice. This money would be spent to get training from a higher leveled, classed NPC, if there is one available.

Money and wealth has its own rewards, at least in my opinion. A rich party can use their money to buy specialty items and social standings, why folks feel this need to turn it into XP is beyond me.

PLAYER POINTS

This stuff is completely objective and open to interpretation. Mainly this is used to reward players for working on different areas, or for being a good player socially. If the player has a fantastic role-playing session that accomplishes a goal, give him points! If the party can talk their way out of a problem, rather then deciding it through combat, go ahead and give them all of the points for the enemy, plus a bonus. If the party did something quietly and preserved all of the lives in the place, as well as their own, give them a bonus. But Player points are more then that. It is also about behavior. If everybody at the table is being rude and obnoxious, reward all the persons who is not acting like this. If a player makes you laugh, go ahead and give him a small bonus. If you can think it, then reward it. A comparable bonus point is between 10-1,000xp depending on the situation. These are private points that you can either give out loudly or quietly depending on what you are rewarding. If a rules-lawyer went an entire session without second-guessing your work, grant him 200xp and let him know why he got the bonus, this might help him keep his opinion to himself.

END OF SESSION WRAP-UP

At the end of the session we tally up all of the points earned as a group and divide the number by double the players that you just ran. Thus if you have 4 players, you would divide the total points by 8. This is a bonus for surviving the game, granted if a player died during the adventure he does not get any of this bonus.

At this time you add up the entire group XP and divide it up evenly between the party. Then you add up all of the private awards which you haven’t awarded yet, and add that to the overall score. It is best to just give each player what he or she has earned at the end of the session. I usually have them add their 10% bonus themselves if they qualify for such because of a high ability score someplace.

XP POINTS & LEVELING UP

At low levels we need to be careful not to go crazy with the XP. A character can only gain 1 level per adventure, if you are playing with the core rules then all of the points above this are lost and they don’t gain any XP until they have had a chance to level up their characters. It is up to the DM to decide how level ups are handled, if they are using the training rules, then the players would need to surface and find a teacher to help him or her upgrade their abilities. I know that I only force training when a character gains a new Proficiency, and for non-warriors who improve their THAC0. All other stuff I assume can be learned out on the field, but the only time that I allow leveling up is at the end of the session. I find that this works best as a cool down. Leveling up can take some bookwork and I don’t want that to distract them from the game. This also gives them something to look forward to next game, which my player’s have always been verbally appreciative of. Whatever your system is, make sure that it works for you. If you are a new DM then keep it simple until you got that aspect of the game memorized, and then you can start keeping more detailed notes about rewarding your players.

I am also not above giving out homework at the end of a session. I’ll ask for histories, or something and grant XP for anybody who comes back on the next session with some of the information that I was looking for.

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I Want Sex & Chocolate with my Greyhawk

2009-11-22T08:00:00.000-06:00

My brain has not been agreeable lately, but it has been a while since my last post, and I don’t think that this fog will lift on its own, so I think that it is just time for me to write incoherent rambles and, hopefully, shake off some of this rust.

I’ve been Dungeon Mastering World of Greyhawk, which is a new step for me. I am used to running games exclusively in Ravenloft settings, true fantasy is a brand new step for my personal gaming. I have played fantasy settings, namely Forgotten Realms, which I never really cared for because of all of the baggage that goes with it. Too much information is a problem, and that problem also infected my Ravenloft setting, however not to the incurable extent that it did to the Realms. Greyhawk attracted me first because of the history of it, and second because its incompleteness. There is a lot of stuff left completely open, and I find that completely brilliant! Of course, by nature I am a horror junky, thus my Greyhawk will be much darker and mysterious then what was probably intended, however that is the beauty of the setting, isn’t it; The ability for the world to work for you, instead of the other way around?

I’ve never really been all that attracted to fantasy. When I was a kid I enjoyed Pierce Anthony’s Xanth series, I read many books from that world; and as a teen I got into the Death Dealer series, which was based on the art of Frank Frazetta that I really enjoyed, but I find most fantasy novels to be unreadable, else so big that they are overly intimidating. The Conan series was like that to me, I prefer hardbound books over paperbacks, and with large series such as Conan, it can be very difficult to find #1. I know that my wife has a couple of Conan books in her collection, but, like I said, I don’t want to read a series out of order.

I also really got into the Red Sonya comic book, it was both sexy and violent, thus my love for that comic is a given. Sex and violence are two very important aspects to fantasy fiction which is a must have for me. If there aren’t any naked hot chicks getting sacrificed to greedy and evil gods, I just don’t find anything all that fun about it! Which goes into another problem with D&D, and that is the refusal for most male players to ever play female characters. Why? That just doesn’t make much sense? Of course all of my females that I’ve ever played on a full-time basis were super sexed up cheesecake babes who wore the awesome chainmail bikini. OH YEAH!!! I enjoyed putting them into danger and seeing if they could get out of it. A private little bit of erotica at the gaming table, but I tend to do that with all of my characters. I have always found danger to be sexy, and D&D can really satisfy this need.

As a DM, I will admit to not putting any blatant erotica into my games, nor introducing any sexual relations within the game itself. I think that that aspect is just too predicable, and if a PC gets married or finds romance then that is just an open invitation to abusing the players significant other, besides, we do stick to stereotypes. Adventures are supposed to be unobtainable. We don’t role-play bathroom breaks, so why would we role-play other private moments? Besides, there is just something creepy about a group of guys sitting around a table in the basement and getting all romantic about stuff. That and half of my players are females, and they most definitely wouldn’t appreciate that . . . well, not in any serious way. I do remember some hilarious games between just us guys where we used one of those infamous SEXUAL charts that were just uproarious! Oh, you rolled a 1, you prematurely finished and the whole village will be laughing at you tomorrow. I suppose that you know a game is going south when you introduce one of those charts into the plans, huh?

Chapter VI: The Bugbear

2009-11-04T08:35:00.002-06:00

Once the cruel breath of winter warmed up, I braved the rain and elements barely making my way south to a warmer, more humane climate. This journey was hellish at best, I had contracted some kind of bizarre illness from living in the filth of the giants which gave me itchy inflamed spots which burned in the rain, but I knew that if I were to survive, I would have to endure it. I some how managed to make it to the city of Rookroost thanks to a band of kindly mercenaries who aided me and tended to my terrible wounds. I was in sad shape, and stayed in a fine room in the city until I felt better, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Though scared from my ordeal, I finally set out once again into the dark neither-regions of unwanted and uncivilized lands of the humanoids.

I didn’t have to go far, following a road East, I took up camp near a roadside cemetery, which was reported by several travelers, to be haunted, however the evidence that they reported did not necessarily fit what I knew of ghosts, thus I thought that it would be worth my time to investigate it personally.

This cemetery was used during the great migration when the plague of burning fevers wiped out more then half of the pilgrims. Since that time it has just been used by travelers who have lost friends and loved ones. The cemetery is very basic, all of the buildings have crumbled and returned to the earth long ago, many of the graves are no longer marked, however recent additions can easily be identified. Entering the cemetery it is easy to know why the place is reputed to be haunted, the place has become infested by thorny bushes, poisonous nettles, and other horrid weeds, which chock the life from a place.

Bits of bone, burned wreckage, and charred metal fittings are not evidence of ghosts, but of raiders, and despite its forlorn appearance, all was not dead in this place, for keeping base in this roadside field of corpses and failure resided a small tribe of Bugbears.

It appears that my illness has made my duty all the more easy. The bugbears assume that I am a racial turn-coat, which will give them a higher status by keeping me on. I must admit that I do look the part. I had suspected that the humanoids would be more generous with me if they believed that I was as dark and as twisted as them. It also doesn’t hurt that I pay them in fool’s gold, a nice little spell I had learned from my master. I shall keep the spell active as long as I am here.

CHAPTER VI:

The Bugbear

These creatures share characteristics of many different creatures, but for identification purposes, they resemble a cross between a giant goblin and a bear. On average, they stand over 7 feet tall, Males have yellowish brown skin, while females are much yellower; all bugbears are hairy, in fact they are born with it. Their hair is brown, a stone red, or a mixture of both. Their heads are unique to this race, they have a bear-like snout with a keen nose, and sharp teeth typical of carnivorous races. Their eyes are wild and deeply unsettling to gaze into, as they are green with red pupils, which are much more sensitive to light then our own eyes.

Bugbears carry weapons, however nature has given them curious hands; which are both human in shape however armed with the thick brutal claws of the bear. Their bodies are always in exquisite shape, which is typical for a society that dictates that only the strong survive. Bugbears are definitely predators, both physically and mentally!

They have their own language which is beyond a human's capacity to speak, as it is formed in a part of the throat which humans do not physically possess, thus the common tongue is beyond them, however they believe that our language is weak and that we are of lesser intelligence then they themselves are.

NATURAL FUNCTION OF THE BUGBEAR

I do not believe that these creatures are of nature, they are too out of place to be anything but an experiment gone terribly wrong. They serve only to kill, they are excellent hunters. Their subterranean fort made in the old catacombs below the cemetery is host to a grizzly sight, even by humanoid standards. While the bugbear hunts for food, he is incapable of not hunting, thus their lairs are full of corpses which have been gutted and hung to age. Besides humans, all manner of creature is on the menu: animals, goblins, demihumans, kobolds—it appears that the bugbear will eat anything which is smaller then it is, including their own children.

While all bugbears wear clothing, I have not seen any evidence that they themselves manufacture any of it, and it is a mystery to me as to where they get it, as all of them are too large for human clothing, and it is all of a style which I cannot recognize.

Bugbear’s do tend to weapons, keeping them sharp and clean, though this is rather mysterious since their natural weapons are formidable all in themselves, perhaps this is another example of mockery, such as is the case with Hobgoblins? At some point the Bugbear seen human society and simply chooses to copy it the best that they can, regardless of how much sense it makes.

The weapons of the bugbear are typically stolen, however they do possess the technology to construct their own, as well as to repair what they already own. Many of these weapons have been painted black, as has all of their armor. The only areas which aren’t painted are blades, nightly bugbear men sit around a roaring fire sharpening and repainting their arms while they chat.

The bugbear also seems to be artistic, they have their own music, and simple paintings which replace a need for a written language, however no bugbear seems to have any interest about things from the past, their art always talks about the present or their plans for the future.

RELATIONSHIPS

All creatures fear this race, for obvious reasons; however there are a few exceptions. I know from my time with the goblins, that these two creatures can form an alliance, however this alliance must be shakier then I originally assumed, as goblin flesh seems to be more prized than any other kind of meat.

I believe that the only alliance which is in any way stable is the mysterious relationship they have with the Dark Elf, perhaps it was the drow which created them? While left to its own devices, all bugbears are fiercely independent, however this strong sense of self instantly melts away into one of servitude in the presence of such evil.

They hate everything and everyone. The only thing that keeps me alive is the fact that I supply them with money which they know not where it comes from. It is their greed which forms their greatest weakness. When they think that I am asleep they ruffle through my things in some vein attempt to find my unknown catch, they are obsessed with money, and gems, but more to the point, shiny objects! They will do practically anything to obtain it, and this place is built upon this idea, close to the road which they ambush and slay all victims. They take all of their treasure and burn the evidence.

THE BUGBEAR GODS

As far as I can tell, there are three deities which they observe. The most praised god to this tribe is Grankhul, the bugbear god of thievery. They have regular sacrifices in his honor, killing the victim, giving the poor hapless creatures soul to Grankhul and they feast on the flesh to celebrate.

A higher god which is common to all bugbears is the cruel Hruggek, a god of war, but not one as warlike as the Hobgoblin’s, but of the pandemonium and chaos which war causes. It would take years to study this subtle religion to gleam some sort of sense from it, but that would be time that no creature but the bugbear could hope to gain. I believe that this god has actual priests, or at least at some point they did, but it is very hard to tell working with old drawings on the cave walls.

It is also noteworthy to bring up one of my own inner-feelings. I believe that this tribe is hiding from Hruggek, perhaps if this is a true religion then the priests hunt and kill those who do not worship the proper god? One of the cave paintings has depicted a strangely dressed hobgoblin saint holding a human head, the next section clearly shows the same bugbear slain and the tribesmen running away . . . but obviously this could mean many different things, yet according to the tribal king, this refers to a prophecy of things to come.

While Hruggek could be a devil, the third god most definitely is greatly feared by the bugbear, it’s name is Grankhul, the god of darkness of fear! Any bad luck, death, or ill omen is seen to be the work of Grankhul. The bugbear does not worship this god for pleasure, but out of shear terror for what would happen if they stopped! This I find to be curious, as in my travels I have encountered much fear and superstition among the humanoid races, but it is the bugbear which actually identified it and gave it a name and a persona.

In dealing with religion, it is always to the present or future in which the myths are in regards to, never the past. As a race, there is much doom to the myths, they have learned how they as a race will parish, however they know not where they have come from, nor how old their race is.

FAMILY STRUCTURE

Much mystery still haunts me in regards to these creatures. I have only my powers of observation to depend upon, but as far as I tell, all of the bugbears pay tribute to the tribal king, who in return gives them protection. This race is not as thriving as many of the others are, and they have themselves to blame. The only person who is allowed to procreate is the king, all of the other males serve him, and if they are caught with a bugbear woman, they are slain else forced to establish a bloody revolt.

Women who have a child tend to hide their newborns until they are old enough to present to the king, the king inspects them, making sure that they are his, if they are weak they are judged not of his blood and the child, as well as the mother is slain as well as the male whom the king suspects fathered it. Many times the mother presents only the strongest and healthiest of children, killing the weak ones themselves.

It is the women who raise acceptable children, there is no favoritism even from a child’s true mother, but all are brought up to understand themselves and what they are. By the time they reach maturity, they are already trained to except their rank in a complex social structure that I have to admit baffles me. How they chose who gets the choice cuts of meat, and divide up treasure amongst themselves eludes even my powers of observation and logic.

A revolt is truly terrible for everyone, but it does happen. A strong male can kill the king, and he doesn’t stop there, he kills all males who do not support him, and he always slays all of the king’s children who are not yet old enough to fight in the general ranks. This causes a chain reaction among the females of the tribe, those with child fight those without, and the social structure among the female bugbears change dramatically. Those who once used to be on top in the old harem are now on the bottom of the class and may never be allowed to breed again. This is the curse caused by marrying a weak husband who can’t maintain power for more then a couple of years.

OF MAGIC AND SCIENCE

While there is no priest in this tribe, I do believe that they exist. The spiritual leader is a shaman, a very wicked and manipulative thing. He is immune to the social pressures dictated by class, and he serves as a personal adviser to the king, as well as to everyone else. Much of his work revolves around double dealing his followers, casting curses for a price, as well as selling objects which counter the curse to his own victims. This creature has a collection of heads, these are the heads of former kings which he claims to consult and gleam occult knowledge from. In the event of a revolt, the head of the former king is recovered by him and hidden away where the current king won’t find it.

The spells of the shaman are not clerical in nature, but witchcraft and folk magic. His duties are to insure that the gods are happy, to observe time accurately, and to keep the tribe strong and healthy, yet he makes all of our most violent and terrifying leaches seem gentle in comparison.

DEATH & LIFE-CYCLE

These creatures, if they are allowed to survive past infancy, are rather long-lived, yet old age is unheard of. In a society were only the strong survive, venerable age is impossible. Those too old to function for the tribe or perform their duties typically leave, walking out into the wilderness where they are overcome by the elements.

In all other cases, the bugbear eats their dead. This is not done out of anger, but in ceremony. Mothers eat the young that they kill, believing that they are absorbing them back into themselves to try again with the same soul in a stronger body. Kings are devoured by their treacherous sons, great heroes are transformed into great feasts as it is believed by these creatures that by eating the flesh of their dead, they gain the powers of them.

In events of death by poison, or illness, the bodies are burned alive on a pyre before whatever aliment has a chance to spread, infecting the rest of the tribe. Sickness and illness is terrifying to these people, yet those with scars from such illnesses are held in the highest of esteems as they had the power to defeat it . . . of course this requires that you leave the tribe and suffer alone and without medications or potions of any kind.

Regardless of how this sounds on the surface, the bugbear is not suicidal and will never knowingly run to their own deaths, death is not worshiped such as it is by other races, and each creature places a high value on their own. As far as people, they may actually be more advanced then we are as far as understanding their own self-worth, however this can never be offset by their natural brutality for everything around them.

LAWS OF THE BUGBEAR

As mentioned before, it is the tribal King who controls everything. While inbreeding is common, and they do seem to be able to successfully copulate this way, obtaining new females is always a cause for war.

Money and treasure is always divided between the tribe in a way that defies my logic, theft is a high crime and all crime is punishable by either death or worse, expulsion from the tribe. Expelled bugbears must find some new means to survive, which they are highly social creatures so this is not preferred over death. Often expelled bugbears find each other and create new tribes but I have no evidence to support this outside of my own observations.

The king is a very wealthy creature, even by human standards! He gets the best of everything, and he rules with an iron fist. If he doesn’t he will be replaced, commonly the king will have an aid who is almost an equal to him, however if the aid is allowed to gain to much strength, then he runs the risk of being slain by him. It is up to the king to make the decision of if the aid is strong enough to support the tribe or not, if he is then his tribe will continue to live even after he is gone. Typically this aid is always the kings most favored son, which means that when he kills his father, he will be slaying all of his young siblings as well, and perhaps this is the key to understanding the complex hierarchy of the female harems, if they were kind to him when he was a child they will be seen in a better light then if they were cruel?

WAR

War is most common among the different bugbear tribes, and never with any other race. The spoils of war are greater wealth, new women, and more power to the king. A successful war will see all of the concurred kings belongings being taken, his children slain, his strongest warriors absorbed into ones own army, and the typical sense of glory which comes from defeating ones enemies. It is the people of the fallen king which suffers the most. All of their property is taken and they must start over again, which is forgiven as again, this race does not care about the past, only the present and the future. The defeat did not come from anything that you did, but from having a weak leader.

High ranking bugbears are always executed, but the common bugbear gladly pays the steep tribute as they are more assured to get a greater amount of the cut under the stronger lord.

For this reason, the bugbear throne is jealously guarded, while there is never any formal contact between the tribal kingdoms, each king is completely aware of all of the other kings standings and business’. If there is any hint that now would be a good time to strike, they always will.

In regards to all other races, they do not engage in any formal wars. They are predators who see others as just food, and while there is some jealousy in regards to human and demi-human social structures and desire for the land which they own, they lack the numbers to do anything about it, thus they rarely even try.

They will work as mercenaries if the king believes that a mission could be profitable, but this will be only for money, and money alone. The only employer who can safely depend upon Bugbear ranks are the Drow, and the drow alone.

THE BUGBEAR TRIBES OF THE REALM

It must be understood that the tribe in which I studied is one of the weakest, any attempt to study and learn of the more powerful Bugbear Kingdoms, such as those in the Bandit Kingdom or elsewhere in the world is simply to dangerous. The more powerful and successful a king is, the more aggressive that he must become. It is also my belief that there is a church of Hruggek, which is truly terrifying as to the implications that this means.

The bugbear is definitely intelligent, and possesses a social structure that may be even more complex then our own. If there is a true organized church that mirrors bugbear society then it would probably be in our best interests to discover it and do our best to raise it to the ground before it reaches a pentacle to rival that of the Temple of Elemental Evil, however I think that like the bugbear, deep down we humans ignore our past just as quickly as they do, which will, no doubt, serve to be our own undoing as well.

D'OH!

2009-10-28T17:38:00.002-05:00

In the past, I've always used my laptop to type up posts while I was at work . . . where, um . . . I've got more freetime? Well, at least less kids bugging me for stuff like food, water, antidote for the poisons, you know, the usual whining stuff.

For the last two weeks, I've been working on improving the thing. It is rather old, and in the process I did more harm then good. It took forever to stabilize the damned thing, but finally it was in tip-top shape! For about 24 hours, and then the monitor fried out . . . sigh, I can't fix that.

Alas, I'm not sure how I am going to update this site until taxes come back and I can pick up a new laptop, YAY! Unfortunately that isn't until February. Expect it to be even slower around here, and I'm sorry for the inconvenience. BOO!!!!!!!

A Look Back at the History of Ravenloft

2009-10-23T08:50:00.003-05:00

October has always been my favorite time of year. I simply love Autumn, the scent of Fall always reminds me of happy times, but it is Halloween which in my house, is like those crazy Christmas lovers. Around here in never really ever goes away. Our house is decorated for Halloween year round.

Nothing says Halloween more wonderfully, then a day excursion into the Domain of Dread, or the 2e fantasy setting better known as Ravenloft!

Ravenloft was first brought into being in a module which features a gothic Vampire Hunt! A mysterious dark and foreboding castle inhabited by a generic Dracula!

A sequel followed, however this Modules was one of the worst pieces of trash that TSR had ever put out. It lacked everything which the former had, but let’s not dwell on the failures of Ravenloft, but on its good side.

The first box set was released for the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, and it was packed full of goodness! A huge map which greatly expanded the Domain of Dread, revealing that the lead character which we know as Straud was just a bit part in this land.

The Boxset contained pictures of some of the buildings in the realm, family portraits of major NPCs and their families, and other cards which were designed to help the DM play a game within its misty borders quicker and more effectively.

It also came with a great booklet which described each of the different domains of the Core, as well as giving a few ideas about how to build your own Isles of Dread! And, much like the original Module which inspired this world, there was a lot of experimentation going on on the part of the writers. THIS was a highly unique product, which not only showed you a brand new realm in which to have adventures, but presented its own, very unique set of rules!

As a teaching tool, this was very different! It taught us how to really modify a world and make it completely unique. Now, not all of these changes were “good”, or useful, this product was originally intended for short, one shot adventures, however it must had just kept growing and growing into a full fledged world by the time that it was all done.

It had it’s own unique effects on spells. Some spells no longer functioned as written, and a player never really knew what would happen if he cast something. This spell list was secret, the players were not supposed to know what changes had taken place, but some of the spells changed were required to keep a party alive! Most horribly effected were the priests spells. In the Domain of Dread, the clerics lost contact with their gods, and it was a mystery of who or what was granting their spells, or why they would change the effects. Healing spells no longer functioned and did terrible things to those who expected to benefit from them. Again, this rule is intended for short one-shots, however with all of the cool domains in Ravenloft, many DM’s wished to run campaigns full-time within the dark borders.

Ravenloft also had a unique look at evil. Evil forces were the norm here, not the exception. For the first time, the forces of good were the minority, while the forces of Evil had the final say in anything. The players were over-whelmed, and if they strayed to the dark alignment, then their bodies would suffer as the forces of Ravenloft consumed them. Evil acts caught the attention of the mysterious forces which ran this place, forever known as “The Dark Forces”. If somebody’s actions caught the attentions of the Dark Forces, then they would be rewarded, yet at the same time cursed terribly. This was strange and a really clunky mechanic at first. Again, this rule was established to add some mystery to one-shot adventures. To me, it also effected how I see evil in the game. Adding a Satanic Master of Evil to the world, as well as overlaying a sense of morality to the environment.

One of the strangest rule changes was the “Fear Check”, of course it became one of the most misunderstood concepts of the game, and all of these rules truly appealed to DM’s who had the nasty habit of being mean to players. Crappy DM’s loved it! It gave them even more power to hold over players who may not have had the option of finding a better Dungeon Master. However, for fair and smart DMs, it gave us a ton of tools which we could incorporate into our games to really get in and challenge ourselves, and our players.

Now, the original Boxset was a thing of beauty. On it’s own, it was full of ideas for adventures centered around ideas instead of hack and slash. The setting was the star, and it catered to role-players, vs. guys sitting around a table rolling dice. Combat was secondary, when it did take place, the encounters were with more powerful monsters, but fewer of them. Instead of fighting an entire horde of orcs, you were pitted against a mastermind, and you had to solve a mystery to uncover your true enemies identity if you hope to win.

Of course this simple concept was destroyed instantly once it got itself in the hands of too many cooks in the kitchen. The very first module presented for the new, expanded Ravenloft was one of the greatest Hack & Slash adventures ever put out by TSR, titled Feast of Goblyns. A two-edged sword right from the get-go.

Feast was definitely NOT a short, one-shot adventure, but so big that it could take months of full-time play to complete it. The setting was wonderful, and the adventure ran well, however it forced the DM to let many of the secret spell effects to slide, as a healer was definitely required company! Later modules also required a healer on call, however in the core book, it crippled them. Not very good planning, and if we overlook this spell mechanic, then why not overlook others?

Feast also started an idea which led into other modules. Those folks at TSR were always figuring out ways to make money with providing inferior products, which was stupid, because as far as Accessories go, Ravenloft had some of the best! The Van Richton Guides were superb, and could be used system neutrally to really flesh out monsters and make them do what you want them to do. Werewolves, Vampires, Ghosts, the series went on and on and featured some of the best writing to ever come out of the TSR sweatshops.

Also released for 1e was a second boxset which was both cool and full of crap. It came with some cool toys, a deck of Tarot Cards and a set of dice which a DM could either use to stack the deck or, if he had a huge set, could use them to dictate the adventures themselves.

The Tarot deck, I apologize, I am writing from memory alone, I can’t recall the exact name of the cards, featured some excellent art, each card having its own unique picture, something that not even most real Tarot Cards have! Even for Tarot Cards, this was a really unique product. I guess that they used them in an issue of Dragon Magazine to present a new cardgame that could be played with them (bah!)

Along with the toys for divination, it came with some little booklets, most of them junk, but a few were cool. Ideas on creating Curses, Straud’s Spellbook full of unique and never before seen spells which, honestly, were crap that only a vampire who wanted to impress people would use. Secret Societies of the realm, and some other book which included modified rules for running psionic characters, which worked excellently for lining birdcages as long as the cover was removed first.

RAVENLOFT 2E

Once the 2^nd Edition books were released, Ravenloft really didn’t need to be edited to suit it. All of the changes which it made to the 1^st edition rules were also easily compatable with the 2^nd Edition, however this didn’t stop TSR from wanting to repackage it to make more money. The Redbox combined the two 1^st edition boxes into one product. You didn’t get the divination dice, but you got the tarot cards. It also removed many of the cards, which made the original box set so cool, but hey, the product was usable!

It was during the Second Edition which much of the work that destroyed the setting took place. Now don’t get me wrong! This is where I personally walked into the hobby. I wouldn’t had started a 2e blog if I didn’t have a deep love and respect for the time period. I discovered the original box set just prior to the release of the red box. It was in the clearance isle and the owner of Dragonslair wanted to clear it out to make way and discounted it heavily. We gamers love our good deals don’t we!

My problem isn’t with the setting, but with the modules. They were horrible! A few were good, it destroyed my game with a problem that I couldn’t put my finger on for years. It gave me big and bad NPCs to play with, and instead of centering the game around the players, I wrote them for NPC’s. BAD BAD BAD!!!!

The original boxset, and the red box are perfect, stand alone products. They are much in the spirit of Greyhawk, were they present nothing but ideas to a DM. This is the world, and it is now in your hands to do with as you will. It had mysteries for the DM to solve, and tons of hints to inspire brand new games and themes. GOOD STUFF!

Many of the Accessories covered topics which just didn’t fit in well with other settings, but could be used to put Vampires that drained blood instead of levels in Dragonlance, Infect players with lycanthropy in Dark Sun, or add a Demon mastermind to Forgotten Realms. The point was that the accessories were about themes and inspired the reader to rethink different aspects of the monsters which they used regularly, and add a sense of class to them which the Monstrous Manual didn’t have the space nor the resources to add.

It also inspired 3 new Monstrous Compendiums, the first being the best, the second being nothing but even more NPCs to drop into your world, and the 3^rd a bunch of high level and very dangerous monsters.

While the accessories were great, other forces were working against it. Modules revolved around either NPC’s or the greatest disaster to ever infect a setting. Again, all of the failures resulted from the original concept of Ravenloft, which was exploration and experimentation, however it didn’t go into directions which were all that entertaining. Again, only a few of them were One-Shot adventures. Most were outright abusive to players, the craziest ideas involved killing them fast and bringing them back. In The Children of Adam, the characters are slain and brought back as Flesh Golems. In the finally to the Grand Conjunction storyline which crushed the Domain of Dread forever, and took it away from the DM, the players were again killed quick and woke up as disembodied heads in the castle of the Demi-lich lord Azalin, where he sent you over and over into the past as you possessed people and witnessed the fall of Straud over and over again until you accomplished the goals set out by the lich in a scene that is a pure nightmare to DM.

Now the theory behind Ravenloft is brilliant. It is without borders, and it expands and grows and drifts in the Astral Plane. New lords are created, and those evil enough join the core, while minor Dark Lords drift in isles and clusters around the core. If a Dark Lord is destroyed, then either the land seeks a new Dark Lord within the domain, or ceases to exist.

This experiment is a success, in my oh so humble opinion. There are areas where you can have straight, balls out Dungeons and Dragons sessions, and there are areas where that are highly specialized to achieve a specific flavor of a game. I literally took different worlds and pieced them together in a way that was a Dungeon Masters dream to work with. A countries neighbors are not just a different language, or culture, but of a different time-period and level of advancement as well. BRILLIANT! How does this effect trade? How does this effect later races from interbreeding? How do higher societies treat neighbors who are so technically different from themselves? It invited wars, the Dark Lords bickered with one another, the people themselves were incredible, and it was fun to figure out how a society like this would function, but the beautiful thing was that the Ravenloft Setting Handbook let you answer these questions and more on your own!

Enter the Nightmare of published adventures purposely altering the map itself, giving the Dark Lords even more power and making them not just Super-NPCs which break games, but also making them indispensable. It also killed Super-NPC’s which maybe you liked, and wanted to explore more?

It gave you so much information that it made the Death of Straud sound like so much fun that it just screamed to be written, however at the same time, it forbid it from ever happening.

You’ve got the grand conjunction which resulted in the destruction of half of the core, a prophesy which started fulfilling itself right from the get-go with Feast of Goblyns, and is present in all of the great Ravenloft Modules, but it goes some place that takes all of the cards away from the DM, and places the winning hands firmly in the grip of TSR. What destroyed Dragonlance began having the same effect on Ravenloft, what with all of the Novels hitting the shelves, and Modules that did nothing but break campaigns.

To me, a module should be able to be laid over the top of what you are doing, to give the DM a break from writing his own material, and the Ravenloft modules made this impossible. They dictated and required too much from the DM. It shatters all plans, and requires so many specific things just to run properly. Many were written badly, or didn’t even bother to disguise the fact that it was a railroad job from hell. They also were hard to run, not only did you have a separate spell list from any other campaign setting, but you also had the weird ideas that might look good on paper, but in the end required much more paperwork on the DM’s part then if he had just written his own material, which in hindsight, I should have!

I think that for ever good idea that Ravenloft had, the horde of cooks in the kitchen present three bad ones, and fans were no better really. Or at least that is what the bigwigs of TSR would have you believe. Folks debated about what is Gothic terror, and if you don’t run it this way then you are doing it wrong and might as well just be running a normal campaign! I suppose that all settings featured a few noisy, obnoxious, pig-headed, elitist fans, after all, tis the nature of the hobby, right? The domain of Darkon, the largest and coolest Domain was wiped out, an experiment which not only killed everybody in the domain, including the PCs, but allowed the PCs to create and come back as forms of Undead Monsters! PC Vampires? Really? Now on the serface, you might be saying COOL! But at the table, and in play, there is a reason why Monsters aren’t Player Characters, once you are identified as such, the amount of games which you can now play are severely limited. How do you challenge a Vampire? Maybe it would make for a fun 1 shot, but again, they put out an entire box set on the subject which destroyed a damned cool lord that many true fans of the setting really didn’t want to lose. It also took all of his history and personality and replaced it with an empty Grim Reaper character with no personality what so ever. Now that might confuse folks who have never played the game. They’re probably saying GOOD! But the Demi-Lich could really inspire more stories then even Straud could! He was an interesting character and an example of just how far you can go with something as basic as a Lich.

ENTER THE GOTHIC EARTH

Getting away from the problems of Core Ravenloft before I suffer total brain failure and fall off my stack of soap boxes, a new experimental project was released, one that was largely ignored at the time but in recent years has become almost a cult hit with players.

This Box Set was WAY before it’s time. It was originally hated because it was so different. What it essentially did was take the rulebook and totally threw it out the window. All of the D&D classes were reworked and redefined, even the list of supplies and mechanics for combat were rewritten to cater to factor in guns.

Ravenloft: Masque of the Red Death placed players in the world of Count Dracula, Dr. Jeckle & Mr. Hyde, and Sherlock Holmes, just to name a few. It was a brilliant mix of fiction and history and unlike the core rules of Ravenloft, this setting was kept untouched. A few magnificent Accessories were published to help flesh out the time period, but other then that the box set stands alone. It contained a world map, and a poster with calanders dating from 1890-1899. It contained the Rule book which is complete enough to get a game up and running in an hour or two, and 3 short modules that you can either run or easily modify to fit your personal needs. While it was taunted at the time as ANTI-D&D, today, this is a refreshing and unique kind of game which is honestly ripe with unique possibilities and fresh enough to keep even the most die-hard player guessing and having fun in a totally new way.

THE RETURN TO THE DOMAIN OF DREAD: Death Rattle

Just before the thing wrapped up, the last great Ravenloft book was released. It was a hard-bound titled “Domains of Dread”. This book was a godsend! While it updated the map, the map itself wasn’t published with the book. It was made to replace the boxsets but it failed at this job, the map was unreadable due to it being printed way to dark, and on such a small scale that you really couldn’t do much with it. What changes were made were improvements! The modified spell list was finally altered to one which was more expectable, and would actually function as is. It also added mechanics for Dark Powers checks, as well as improved the mechanics of Fear Checks and Madness Checks in a way which was much clearer then the original incarnation.

It updated all of the Dark Lords, and finally offered pictures and stats for ones that didn’t get much attention before. Besides the map, it made the setting better, and stronger then before, but it also allowed the DM to do something that he’s never been officially allowed to do before, CREATE PC’S WHICH WERE NATIVE TO THE SETTING! Awesome! Why, this almost makes the loss of Darkon forgivable . . . almost, but not quite.

3E, THE COFFIN NAILS

3^rd Edition of Dungeons & Dragons did not interest me. It was too different, and I never was willing to go there. The Setting of Ravenloft did make the jump to the 3^rd edition, however it was never as glorious or as rich as the original 1e box set. It was reduced to a few overpriced pamphlets which gutted the world to cater to the new mechanics.

Overall, Ravenloft as a setting had a good run. It had its ups and its downs. It had its triumphs and its faults, but after all of these years, most of the folks who had the fortune of playing with the system have fond memories of it, I know that I do! For better or for worse, it taught me how to DM, and it has given me a style which I and my players seem to really enjoy. I did have to find its faults to identify my own failings, and attempt to eliminate them . . . well, as I can identify them; but overall I feel that Ravenloft has left me stronger then what I normally would had been had I only played standard AD&D.

Some Tips in Describing Settings

2009-10-22T08:00:00.001-05:00

Today I’d like to talk about describing stuff. Scenes can be difficult, and storytelling isn’t easy. The secret is to be quick and brief, but choosing your words carefully to put just the right things into the player’s imaginations so that they can all color the world in roughly the same way and see the same things.

I find that most modules are too wordy, and these huge text boxes need to be trimmed down and summarized considerably so that we don’t get ignored, and we need to resist over describing things because, for one, players loose interest in such things, and two, we don’t want to fill their heads with gibberish. The human mind can only hold so much information, and if we bog it down with too much information then we’ll get lost. I’ve had characters put too much stock in facts that really weren’t important, and I’ve had them become so lost that they can no longer remember what in the hell the goal that they were supposed to be accomplishing even was anymore.

Coloring things is simple. The quicker that you are at doing it the better. Say that I describe a room to you, I can go all crazy and describe everything right down to the shine on the couch, but is that really necessary? Probably not! We’ll just want to put the idea of what this room is used for in the players heads, and let them fill in all of the empty spaces themselves. They can also learn more about the things by asking questions.

You open the door and see a 25 x 25 foot room dominated by plush furniture constructed of well-lacquered wood, the room smells of lavender. Many pictures hang on the wall.

PLAYER: Is there anything of interest in this room?

On a small table, next to a sitting chair is a reading lamp and a book.

Player: Anything else?

A curious cabinet is all by itself on the west wall.

Player: Anything else?

Nope.

And from there, these guys can explore the rest of the room. People who just assume to much are going to miss much, but this is the way of life too isn’t it? Most folks, when they walk into a room, don’t even bother to look around. Five minutes later, if asked to describe the room their answers aren’t going to be all that accurate, if they can tell you anything about it at all.

Basically, what we want to do is describe what a space is used for, and then the things that are found within the space that might be useful to adventurers. The best advice that I can give you, is to be observant yourself. What is the first thing that you notice when you walk into a space? Is it the loud ticking of a clock? Maybe a scent? Is it visual or is it something else? Scents are dramatic while sounds are more easily ignored, however once we leave a space we will miss the sound of white noise that a particular room created. Pay attention to this. Most visuals aren’t emotional, however scents and sounds are; and they both bring an emotional response.

The fun part is that we get to describe fantasy settings, or places that never existed. What would a goblin cave small like?

Well first off it would smell like dirty bodies, as goblins don’t bathe. They also don’t have plumbing so the smell of bodily waste would be an indicator that that is what a particular room or cavern is used for. What can one find in a cavern like that? If you dropped a coin or something, would you pick it up, or bother looking for it? Perhaps there is some treasure in Poop caves, but getting too it would probably not justify the risk . . . nor the smell. Perhaps a goblin tribe counts on this, and it is this place where the goblin’s hide their horde of stolen booty?

Goblins also must eat, and they are pigs about it. Do they cook? If so, they need a space to keep food and utensils to cook with. They may have procured an oven, but they might not know what to do with it, it might not be ventilated properly so whenever the cooks start it up the entire cave fills with noxious wood smoke and ash which sticks to everything, and if they are using coal, then it will be even worse! This adds color, but we needn’t bother the PC’s with this stuff unless they specifically ask what the source of this ash or smoke is, but once they discover the cooking cavern, the oven will definitely be out of place, and probably the cause of a giant mess since the goblins wouldn’t really ever clean the thing, and just scrap the hot ash and partially burned fuel right out onto the floor in front of it.

The eating area won’t be much better, the place would be covered in bones, inedible chunks of gristle, and other stuff which the goblins don’t care to eat. Perhaps dry, and withered eyes shrunken by the heat, stray fingers and toes or other things which don’t have much meat on it. This room would be filled with horror and what would that smell like? Rats would have a heyday here, as would lots of parasites and insects which feed and breed in filth. Broken pottery filled with living fuzzy molds which may or may not be infectious if it is touched.

The deal that you want to accomplish, is to bring the spaces to life. This is where we DMs are allowed to become story-tellers. We can use the five senses as foreshadow, or in layman terms, giving hints of things to come.

We can look at the map on Prep day, and study it. What noises would be generated by this thing? During the day we would tend to ignore everything but what is in our own general area, but come time to camp, deep in some underground labyrinth of endless hallways and monster infested corridors, our minds expand and we would hear EVERYTHING!

The underground lake with a monster in it would generate sounds as it catches a lone orc for dinner. Perhaps the pine supports in the dwarven mine section are creaking and shifting under the tremendous weight that they are forced to endure? Natural caves are caused by water carving paths in the rock, drips and damp drafts are constant. Then we have the sounds of the master race underground. The fighting, the yelling, the nightmarish grumbling as they make their rounds . . . and of course, if the party is being too loud, then they can be heard too!

Spirits are also fun to throw in. Nothing strong or formidable, nothing powerful enough to even pose a threat to anything, just little things to keep the adventurers on edge. Chains rattling down a hallway, a disembodied sigh or a few meaningless words uttered in the darkness. Critters can also sound bigger in the middle of the night, a mouse could get inside of a pack and look for food or some bedding. We should fill up the time spent resting with some kind of color, even if it isn’t combat.

Have fun with descriptions, be colorful and be aware of your own senses and how your mind works. What does your living space look like? Perhaps your favorite spot in the house? I know that mine is the leather chair down stairs. Its got a forever full ashtray, a bowl of candy, and my remotes right there, as well as a book or two. My wallet is sometimes there if I’m planning to come back soon, and if I just left, there is usually a cigarette butt smoldering in the ashtray. I suppose that that is helpful foreshadowing too. Signs of life, is a room empty? How long has it been so? Does it look like the occupant has just left or will be back soon? All of this can be colored in with a little ingenuity on your part. It may not be outright apparent, a person who just steps into my living space may not notice the smoldering cigarette right away, only after they look at my little coffee table will they catch it; how they feel about it depends on their intent.

The undead can be a tricky thing to describe too. We want to fill their worlds up with evil. Things of gloom. Few creatures can tolerate them being around, creatures like rats, owls, and ravens would not only be present, but possess a very brave and bold front. There should be an oppressive weight upon everything until the undead creature has truly been destroyed, and once this happens, then, and only then will life and light return to the area. Walking from a crypt would reward you with a sunny day, and all of the birds chirping and singing and carrying on. It should be in stark contrast of how the cemetery felt on the way in to perform this grim task. Evil corrupts, it stains and taints everything that it touches, and this should not be forgotten.

Chapter V: The Hill Giant

2009-10-16T08:30:00.001-05:00

I was forced to escape the Ogres once their lair was discovered by their sometimes allies, the trolls. It was bloody and savage, many of the ogres which I described have been slain, their bodies stolen for food, and come thaw, this will be forgotten.

If not for my spells, I would not had survived my trek to a new winter shelter, and I thought that ogres were bad! I discovered an abandoned castle, built by I know not whom, but now the property of Hill Giants. I live like a rat here, scurrying in the hidden corridors and between the walls; stealing food as I can. Every day I must risk my life to survive. Winter has left me bitter, please forgive my crabbiness. How I hunger for a true city, a warm bowl of porridge, and the comfort of a bed! These thoughts torture me, as I know that if I am careless, or even if I am not I could still be murdered here in this hellish maze. I have discovered the following information through observing as undetected as possible, fore when I am seen, all of the hill giants in this place give chase, my spells doing nothing but infuriating them further. This is terror!

CHAPTER V
The Hill Giant

These creatures are sixteen-feet-tall normally, some slightly smaller others slightly larger. I estimate that they weigh about 4,500 pounds. They resemble giant apes, but are hairless as man is. There are, I estimate, 4 separate family clans taking resident in this place. They have hair of brown or black. All of their eyes are a deep and almost dead black. When they look at you, no emotion registers, and these black eyes seem to draw you into an abyss. No intelligence, no feeling, just black!

Their bodies are extremely well muscled, even the women who are just as hairy as men, and lack the comely well-developed breasts of our own species. Their arms are grossly exaggerated, their hands touching their knees. They appear to shave their thick faces, yet a few grow facial hair however this does not seem to effect anything.

They are not a very brilliant race, they are easily fooled over and over again with the same tricks, however they have developed enough intelligence to build many survival skills which the north requires of all who live here. Skins have been hung over doors and windows, they hunt daily and are able to preserve the meat that they kill. They have trained a savage pack of enormous dire wolves which they keep as pets, and while they play with the giant children, they pose the greatest threat to my own survival.

NATURAL FUNCTION OF THE HILL GIANT

This species does not cooperate with mankind. They are simply too big and too violent to fit into human society. There are many items here which are common with ogres, but are used for different purposes, mostly decoration. I have seen goblin shields used as buttons, Orcish broadswords used as eating utensils, their lives are strange. They have developed ways of using things in ways that were never intended.

The hill giant is not a good cook, does not sing, or have any written language. What the hill giant is good at is tanning and working with hide. They, unlike the ogres, properly cure their skins and sew them together. While their work is far from beautiful, it serves its function. They make their own clothes, but have no metalworking skills what so ever.

I believe that the hill giant is a raider and a thief, and that the only race that they have anything to do with, with the exception of their fellow giant-kin, are ogres which they trade with on a fairly regular basis.

RELATIONSHIPS

As I’ve already noted, the only relationships which they keep are with ogres, the rest are viewed as weak and weakness must be crushed. This includes all other species, including the smaller humanoid races.

Meat is meat to the hill giant, and they consume great quantities of it, which includes all species, even themselves in a bizarre cannibalistic funeral ceremony.

RELIGION AND THE HILL GIANT

The giants of the hills believe in a god named Grolantor, but worship him very passively. They have no holidays, nor priests of any kind. Grolantor, or sometimes Crolantor, is a god in name only. The only story which I have been able to gleam from them is Grolantor’s refusal to bow to the greater giants. Perhaps they are even in a riff with their own kind? At this current juncture I don’t believe that I have enough information to form a proper opinion in regards to this subject.

FAMILY STRUCTURE

Women here are just as powerful as the men, and share job duties equally. Children are cared for by both parents, and this society watches out for all of the children equally. Babies are completely dependent upon their parents, but once they reach the age of juvenile, they are already formidable in battle.

The hill giant has the language which is common among all giants, and also many of the adults are fluent in ogre, and usually curse in this second language, hinting that there is a great relationship between these two clans which explains why some ogres worship Grolantor as well.

OF MAGIC AND SCIENCE

The Hill Giant is adamant in its hatred for all things magical. Once they discovered my being here, I made the mistake of protecting myself through spellcraft. This infuriated them more then I could possibly understand! The word “Wizard” to them is equal to the worst words of taboo in our language. If a magical item is discovered, it is ceremoniously destroyed! They take great pleasure in murdering Mages and Priests alike, and blame all misfortune upon witchcraft and magical forces. Perhaps if I had not cast my spell, I wouldn’t be hunted with such gusto and fever; I would be a mere pest, but as it is, they believe that I am a devil which must be slain before winters end if they hope to survive.

HILL GIANT RACES

The hill giant is a subrace of the Giant-kin, and while it is the smallest of them (if one can call 16’ small), they are the most aggressive. I have seen a few other giants, and while the other races of giant are all powerfully built, none is as defined and heavily proportioned as the Hillish variety.

Daily Routine

It is winter, and the snowy winds are brutal, even by hill giant standards. I hear them moaning that this has been the worst winter that anyone of them can recall. This, no doubt, will taint my investigation.

The men go out hunting daily, which they are highly skilled. Women stay home and mind the children, unless their mate is ill, then the woman heads out into the cold to hunt while the male stays home.

Much of their time is spent sowing and patching the skin tarps which constantly blow loose. They keep daylight hours and do not appear to have what the elves call “Infravision”. They eat three large meals per day, as well as snack often. Eating is their pleasure, and they seem to enjoy food which is scorched black on the outside and almost raw on the inside.

Children who are old enough to fend for themselves are allowed on the hunting parties, and are taught how to dress what they catch, as well as have the grizzly job of dressing the kills of the adults. Children have few games, one of the ones that is most popular is throwing rocks at one another, with points earned by hitting each other in the head. Strangely enough, this game never proves to be fatal, regardless of the lethality which each hill giant possesses.

The families all go to bed at dark, and rise at dawn. They do not beat their children, nor discipline them in any way, which causes them to grow up as brats. They love to torture small animals that they find, small to them anyway. The adults take pleasure in their little games, only telling them to finish killing their toy when it is time for bed.

LAWS OF THE HILL GIANTS

In a word, Might is Right. I have only witnessed one fight which was between two males who had a dispute over who had the rights to a kill which both of them had apparently claimed. This fight was horrifying, and everybody else cleared the way for them to settle it with fists. Both combatants were beat terribly, but before the melee became fatal, the other loudly proclaimed the other the victor, and he was allowed to keep the kill, though both men were unable to hunt for a few days. The loser lost no status, nor were any grudges held towards the other once the clash ended.

A month before winter ended, a lone adult showed up at the castle. The other giants, who were of no relation to the visitor, allowed the giant in and shared their food with him. After much discussion, the new giant accompanied the others on a raid, which was successful and the lone giant was allowed to remain with the families, and excepted among them almost instantly. This must be how giants keep their personal relationships. I was wondering how they breed, the new Giant was allowed his choice of the daughters, who as long as she is happy will serve as a wife to him.

HILL GIANT WARFARE

By a means of survival, the hill giant is a raider, and a brutal one at that. Not only do they rob, but they kill their victims. They are not known to be mercenaries, nor do they have memories to keep a true war going. Violence is a way of life to them, they have nothing but contempt for all races with the exception of themselves and the races listed above.

Their methods hardly ever vary, they set up ambushes and prefer to hurl large stones at their prey, killing as many as possible so that they can safely advance on the party and finish the job with clubs. Blades are not fighting tools to them, and are only used for eating and skinning.

A few of them have found a wide variety of armors which have been sown onto leather to form a bizarre armor of their own. While this armor is not pretty, it is effective. The giants are aggressive, however they are not suicidal. They are not afraid to flee if their own lives are in jeopardy, but can take one hell of a beating before it comes to that point.

HILL GIANTS OF THE REALM

This race is best to be avoided. Humans serve as only a means to an end to any of them. They will gladly steal your property after they have slain you, and while they will usually leave large armies alone, small parties of men are their prime targets.

Hill Giants who discover the hiding places of small humanoids and demihumans will systematically destroy their homes and kill as many as possible, seemingly out of pure meanness and to prove their dominance. Gnomes are generally their most well-known targets, as the Gnome tends to keep their homes and villages in the hills. The hill giants themselves don’t seem to have any natural enemies, with the exception of Trolls who will feed on anything, including giant flesh.

While some giants can be friendly and beneficial to mankind, this subrace is NOT among them. Approach them only if necessary and with the greatest of caution! These humanoids are not to be trusted to do anything but evil! Consider yourself warned.

Religious Problems in your Milieu

2009-10-12T17:21:00.002-05:00

WOW, I honestly didn’t expect such a good reaction to my druid post. Around here, they aren’t that popular of a character class. I think that there is a mystery to how religions used to function. I mean, in high school literature they teach you Roman and Greek mythology, as it is very rich. I discovered a problem with my lack of faith early in life, I was baptized into Roman Catholicism, but in the 80’s my folks stopped taking me, as our regular priest was granted the rank of Bishop, and he was replaced by a pervert who got caught shoplifting porno mags from the local sex shop. GREAT STUFF!!! I think that something like that is enough to cause anybody to have second thoughts about the people who choose to dedicate their lives to God.

I tried other Christian religions, but none of them filled me up the way that Catholicism did, thus I went the other way. I studied the occult, and devils, and Satanism; this is some scary stuff, which got me into tons of trouble. It was then, at this climax in my life, when I needed spiritual assistance the most, that I discovered the Norse Runes. I found them to be magnificent, their magic easily grasped, but they are like chess, easy to learn but very very difficult to master. I have always felt that one’s relationship with God should be very personal. I have always had problems with every form of Christianity, I have a deep understanding of it, though I have found much more worth as a private practitioner, and I am not very Christian at all. I understand what God is, and that people need Deities to give it a human face to gaze upon.

There is some confusion about Neo-paganism. That we worship many gods, which isn’t true, we worship one god, but we break the one god down into many different parts, or aspects. Once one understands that all gods are one god, and that the myths are about us, then we understand the basic foundation of all religions.

I really enjoy the Nordic Mythology of Odin and Thor, of course this history is not as complete as the Roman myths, much of it was never written down, and many of the ones that we do have are either highly important to understanding, else are simply just the tales of bards which entertained the writer. There is also much mystery to them, or their incompleteness, how many “important” myths were lost, forever? That answer, is no doubt, MANY!

Christianity, I believe, has made us as a race, rather confused. Religion has always been about people and god, it has always dictated, to the people, what is proper behavior, and what is not; however, Christianity, particularly Roman Catholicism, actually took over as the law. One can accurately say that at one point, the Pope was more politically powerful then the grandest king. I do not believe that in the history of man, that a religion was ever as aggressive, nor as wealthy as Christianity. How did this happen? This too is a mystery.

I will admit that the Roman’s came close. The Romans also built elaborate temples, as did the Babylonians. Permanent structures dedicated to a specific god, with acolytes of that god always on hand on a full-time basis. As far as I can estimate, this is very rare, and it says something about the culture who did it. And was it not the great city of Rome that was the first city to be crushed by the Christian religious war? I doubt that it was the first battle, but the falling out of the Roman gods and the belief in the Christian faith was the first decisive victory.

All of this is good and dandy, however how does this help us in D&D which is the name of the game? I don’t really want to get too far into religion here, that isn’t why I started this blog, but religion does come into play.

Folks seem to avoid the classic archetype of the original PC Cleric. The mace wielding, undead turning, spell-caster of gaming’s past, into more of a Christian take on old religions. But do we really know any better? Christianity has us by the throats and won’t let us go.

Some classes, in and of themselves upset the balance which we might want to keep, thus begging the question, do we introduce an all consuming religion into our milieu, or do we resist it?

I believe that most religions in the dawn of man, were based on answering problems. Why does the sun move across the sky? What do the seasons mean? Big questions! God provided and punished wickedness though providing food and animals. By teaching us about tools, and methods of our survival.

Once we evolved past tribal life, we settled down and cities became. Gods are different for city life, we still sought protection, and wealth, however we had time to ponder a different question, what happens to us after our death? It also brought plagues and sickness, new gods for us to fear! Temples were raised to honor them, out of fear and hope they came to be.

Christianity started as a slave religion, the religion of the Jews. Once Christ came, the religion changed into one of forgiveness and hope. A caring god, one who let us punish ourselves, and gave us new gods and myths for us to chew on that were more relevant to the times. However the teachings of Jesus went into one ear, and right out the other. Christianity grew in strength through the blade of a sword. Once it took the minds of the Nobles, it took over government. The old ways are still around . . . the old gods are not dead, their ghosts are still around. The people hid their beliefs.

Today we have this Wiccan stuff which claims that witchcraft is a religion, which it isn’t. A witch is not a healer, they are the spies of hell. Demons in human form, who sold their souls to the devil for powers beyond the realm of mankind. A healer, and the old religions are not witchcraft! I have no idea why they chose this title? Perhaps to shove the Witchhunts in their faces, attempting to gleam some kind of pity from the church, or some way to legitimize what they are doing, making it appear to be an older faith then what it really is.

Now that I have properly offended the Wiccans, let us go back to the topic. Who was in charge of religion prior to city life? The answer is simple! We all were. Fathers taught their sons the gods, and what they do. Holidays were practiced by everyone. In small towns alters were erected, but people also kept them in their homes. There were no true clerics in the modern sense of the word. Before the age of writing, none of it was written down, it was all a oral history about our past. Great men and women from our histories became Gods, and we invoked their names to keep our children informed of what is to come, and to instill in them, and ourselves, a specific code of conduct which we shared as a culture.

I think that this is important! The church is a bi-product of what happens to a culture when they all lose their faiths. When they cease to need God, and stop looking up. God to us, evolves as our minds do. I don’t think that we would be happy with worshiping a god of the hunt, because how many of us are forced to hunt for our survival? As long as we can go down to the Piggly Wiggly to pick up a package of ground beef, we could give a crap about the god of the hunt!

The gods reflect the people, they always have. They display the cultures needs, their fears, and their desires. How did they go about practicing these beliefs? What are the cultures holidays? Are they private, or are they practiced as a community? Should we instill a dominant, and violently zealous religion into our worlds, they are dual bladed. On one hand, you have noble paladins, but on the other, you have religious war and witch hunts. Paladins cannot exist without power and wealth, and where do they get their wealth? Why from other people, of course! Some knightly orders were usually founded upon the wealth of a man, but it stays rich by hunting down the enemies of their gods and taking their land and money. But paladins are Lawful Good? Well, one final thought before I go. In the legends of King Arthur, all of the knights of the round table were Cavaliers, but just one, Sir Lancelot, was a Paladin.

Communing With Trees? YES!

2009-10-06T08:08:00.004-05:00

I have played almost all classes, except for one. The Druid has always just been too confined for any group that I’ve ever played under, else the party needed something besides another cleric that don’t go into cities. True Neutral is also a really tough alignment to play, but I think that the real reason why most folks never play them is because DM’s have it in their heads that they can’t DM specialty settings. Of all specialty settings, be it underwater or in the air, the easiest to work would be a massive forest adventure which deals completely in rural environments and primordial forests or other outdoor settings, far far away from any civilized city or town.

Rangers and Druids are difficult characters to play, because they are so rural, and I would like to add a spell for your consideration which might aid you in designing a completely woodland adventure. Of course the biggest problem is lack of contact or information. In the city, you are surrounded with NPC’s who can slip or sell little tidbits to the party, but in a rural setting, one has to prove oneself to all of the inhabitants. Wood elves are not known to be very forgiving when their territory is breached, and it will take some time before they allow you to be there . . . though if you get to close to their villages, they are highly likely to kill you if you don’t take the hint to change course.

Other forest creatures are probably no help, however if you add the proper spell to a cleric or ranger, you can have tons of opportunities to allow the party to learn a bit of gossip from a source that maybe you haven’t thought about before, THE TREES!

The Complete Ranger’s Handbook contains a spell called Chatterbark, which is a 3rd level cleric spells aligned with the sphere of Plants. It says that the spell animates the tree so that it is allowed to talk, this allows the caster to ask the tree a simple question of it, and it will give a simple answer and revert back to normal.

For some, this spell might work, however I want a first level spell, and something less flashy. A spell that is fast to use, and more of a divination spell then a plant spell.

Commune With Trees
SPHERE: Plants, divination
RANGE: Touch
COMPONENTS: V
DURATION: 1 round/level
CASTING TIME: 2 rounds
AREA OF EFFECT: One tree
SAVING THROW: None

A variation of the 4th-level priest spell, speak with plants, this spell allows the caster to form a temporary psychic bond with the tree. The caster must touch the tree with his bare hand, and meditate upon the tree for at least 2 rounds before mental contact is made. Once contact is made, the caster must stay focused on the tree, and nothing else. If contact is broken suddenly, then contact is lost. This spell allows the caster to have a mental conversation with the tree for as long as he can maintain his focus, or 1 round/minute per caster level. The tree is a complex thinker, and may show the caster images which will require an INT check, or a WIS check depending on the information requested of the tree. Only the caster can see this information, or hear the trees thoughts in his head. The caster must ask questions mentally, each question requiring a wisdom check, to insure that he has the proper wording to convey his wishes.

Now this is all good and dandy, and nothing to fancy. It will probably require more player-testing on your part, as this is just a sketch really. What I really wanted to submit to you is a handy little chart which I got out of a book written by Donglas Monroe titled, “The 21 Lessons of Merlyn: A Study in Druid Magic & Lore”.

In this book, it contains a tree personality chart, which I will share, in part, with you. If you wish to learn more about Druid Magic as it was practiced by the Welsh, Donglas’s book is definitely a must read!

TREE – RANK – PERSONALITY / OPPOSITES

Oak – Chieftain – FATHERLY / dominating
Alder – Chieftain – AMBITIOUS / impulsive
Hawthorn – Peasant – PASSIONATE / ruthless
Holly – Shrub – DETERMINED / insensitive
Furze – Bramble – PROSPEROUS / vane
Birch – Chieftain – HAPPY / immature
Ash – Peasant – CHARMING / egocentric
Rowes – Shrub – SPIRITUAL / fanatical
Reed – Bramble – ADAPTABLE /indecisive
Heather – Bramble – CAREFREE / superficial
Apple – Chieftain – MOTHERLY / weak-willed
Willow – Chieftain – WISE / bitter
Aspen – Peasant – CAREING / insecure
Hazel – Shrub – GENEROUS / deceptive
Vine – Bramble – SYMPATHETIC / dependant
Pine – Peasant – OUTGOING / introverted
Yew – Peasant – ENDURING / sanguine
Blackthorn – Shrub – HONEST / deceptive
Elder – Shrub – INTELLIGENT / unfortunate
Ivy – Bramble – AMBITIOUS / lazy

You can use this list to quickly put a personality to the plants which you animate, even if you don’t use the spell. The uppercase words are the dominate trait, while the lowercased ones are what lies just underneath the surface. All trees should have the same personalities, they aren’t humans or people, they are creatures who sit and watch. They fight with one another in ways that we cannot perceive, and in many ways, they are beings all to themselves.

Chieftains are royalty, Peasants serve the royal trees, and shrubs and bramble are the common type, with shrubs being a higher class then the bramble. They see all men as children, and less intelligent then themselves. They will cut deals, they will say stuff just to get rid of us, or take pleasure in sending men on wild goose chases for the fun of it, but they won’t purposely try to hurt us. Life to them is more valuable then we will ever know. We are a short lived race who they just don’t understand.

How you chose to fit fantasy plants into this list is up to you. How do they feel towards Trents? They can be just as violent and as hurtful as man! What kind of personalities do the fantasy trees of Greyhawk possess? This is far from complete, but it can add some color into an area which before didn’t have any, so I hope that you can take out of it what you will.

Blog Carnival: Mistakes, Me? Never!

2009-09-30T08:13:00.002-05:00

Man have I been lazy! I haven’t gotten anything done, but I did need a break from everything, just to recharge my batteries. I’ll get back to my humanoid project soon, but I did want to hurry up and add my two cents into the current Blog Carnival taking place at Campaign Mastery. This one is in regards to mistakes that one makes during play.

While I believe that it is everybody’s goal, to identify the mistakes that we make, and weed them out, discovering our own weaknesses takes time. I take you back to my first table, I wasn’t the DM, but a player, and of course, those Dungeon Masters taught me how to run games. We were just kids, which is common, but man were we horrible. I refer now to the number one mistake that I have witnessed, and that I myself have been guilty of, which is over-doing it on the house rules.

We tinkered with everything so much really, that it would probably take months to describe in full, but I will hit what I feel were the worst cases of house rules that really didn’t work but we still stayed with them.

Now 2e is very hospitable to house rules, the DM has the final say so over everything that takes place, and I still do house rule from time to time, just to make sure that a scene transitions well with another, or to speed up a part of the game that I don’t feel that anybody is to terribly interested in. I also like to keep my save or dies to a minimum because I don’t want to lose the impact that they have by over-doing them. In other words, there are lots of great reasons to come up with different ways to do the same thing. I don’t disregard every instance, in fact, I would rather see more house rules in play over all of the supplements and pointless books which do more to bog the game down with clutter then actually aid to it in any truly meaningful way.

BUT! In regards to the Core Rules, and I am referring now to simply the Players Handbook, the Dungeon Masters Guide, and the Monstrous Manual, these things should not be tinkered with. The only thing that can happen by playing with what is core, is failure. Even if you think that it is working, one rule provides the basis for a hand full of other rules, and if the DM can’t describe his house rule quickly while at the table, then it is probably a good idea to just do away with it completely.

Today I will talk about what I feel are the greatest sins of house-ruling a game, but before we get down and dirty in the mud, it would be beneficial to know exactly why folks house rule core rules, for which there is only a few answers.

The most common being that they think that their way is better. They discover a problem which annoys them, or most often something that they don’t understand, and instead of thinking it through and trying to identify why the rule is there, or how this rule effects the rest of the game, they simply change it and do their best to ignore the repercussions of their actions. It would actually be humorous to see folks completely blinded by their own house rules, if it just wouldn’t effect your own personal game in the dramatic sense which it does.

The other reason to house rule a core rule is because deep down you really don’t want to play Dungeons and Dragons, but some other obscure title that you can’t get any players for. D&D is the catalyst, I don’t want to learn new rules, and when I sit at the table I just want to play! This kind of house ruling seems innocent enough. Something written down can sound like fun at the time, but in actual play can go to the opposite effect. The most common mistake involves war games, and trying to adapt them to be compatible with D&D which they aren’t. Some people are just die hard about getting realistic combat with dice, and it can’t be done! A critical hit list quickly turns into a pain in the butt and if you aren’t balanced about it, a true game-wrecker that isn’t fun for anybody.

Boredom is also a good reason to house rule a game, but again, this goes back to the first problem, which is the lack of understanding of how the core rules require each other to stand up for themselves. In 2e if your players aren’t challenged enough, then it is time to place the more advanced rules which are already in the PHB. New players aren’t expected to count their weight and deduct it from their Movement Rates, they don’t need to worry about specific weapon types being faster then them, or capable of by-passing their armor class, these are advanced rules written for advanced users of the game. They are harder to remember and to understand, but that is what makes them fun! Maybe your table doesn’t ever need to go to them, but maybe it does, this decision is between individual DMs and their players to decide.

Personally, when altering the core rules, even though a Dungeon Master can do it, it is more ethical to ask the players, especially if the rule is in their handbooks. It is very important to keep all of the rules in the PHB functioning as is, they need to know how everything in the game should work. If it isn’t in there, it is slightly less core. Everything in the DMG should run fine as is, but we can alter these rules with a bit more freedom. The MM should always be ran as written, but then again we can always add our own monsters into the core without any problems . . . well, as long as we know what we are doing.

Now, with that out of the way, lets get down into my terrible past and examine some of the worst cases of blatant bad DMing decisions that I have ever had the gall to enforce!

1. TWENTIES DO DOUBLE DAMAGE

This one seems innocent enough, and as far as house rules go, is the least odious of them. Why this one is a mistake is that specific weapons carry a bonus of double damage when a natural 20 is rolled, and if we take this away then we are encouraging the players to never change weapons, not to mention taking away the impact from when it does happen.

Folks are so used to something cool happening when a natural twenty is rolled that it has become the equivalent of landing on Free Parking in Monopoly, something does have to happen. This something shouldn’t mimic another rule's special power, and there isn’t anything in the core rules which says that a normal weapon such as an axe simply hits its target on the 20, and nothing else. We can color our combat scenes and give the players, or the villains, an edge when a 20 is rolled for an attack. Nothing more lethal then normal, but an edge all the same. Perhaps the victim loses their attack the next round, has to make a morale check, or some other thing which would fit the scene. I feel that that is a good unwritten rule, however double damage should only be reserved to arrows and pole arms.

2. MISSILE COMBAT RULES

This one relates to another problem which is common, which I’ll get into later on, but the misunderstanding which involves missile combat is that it is different then melee combat. In direct combat, nobody knows how many parries or blocks were really involved in scoring the hits, but this is not the case with missile fire. Every arrow that flies into the scene must be accounted for. This is easy to forget, because each attack will deduct an arrow from your inventory. It is almost easier to track arrow inventory on a separate piece of paper and update your character sheet at the end of the night. Of course, DMs are just as guilty as players are when it comes to NPC archers, but the number one problem with missile combat is blatantly ignoring the range of the target. Most Dungeon Masters don’t even bother checking an enemies range, they simply treat it as normal combat and it isn’t!

3. DORKING WITH THE MAGIC SYSTEM

Back in the day, we had a hard time fumbling around with the mages spells, and one of the players who usually did the DMing kept buying all of these spell books, “And gosh darn it, I am going to use them!” well, he didn’t say gosh darn, but you get my point. Many tables have gone through this, and have house ruled it so that instead of learning spells, you have access to all of them, and instead of using the table in the PHB, you use a spell point system.

This was a nightmare! Not only are all of the mages exactly the same, but the player playing the mage is ignoring the game while he constantly reads spells and their functions as he is trying to find ways to make the DM’s life as hellish as possible.

Wizards in AD&D are extremely powerful, in essence, magic allows a player to cheat the rules. It is vital that a DM knows exactly what spells he has up his sleeves. That way, if the DM’s got a problem with a mages spell list, then he has only himself to blame because he’s the one that gave it to him. Spells, especially wizard spells, have been play-tested to death by the good folks at TSR, and while it sounds like you are getting ripped off, you aren’t.

On the other hand, a priest, whose spells are mostly defensive and typically aimed at healing, are less restricted. A priest can use any of them which he has the proper level and granted the proper access to the sphere of influence. I generally keep this list to the PHB only, or upon request, the Tome of Magic. I can also add new spells through NPCs if the player can identify the new cleric spell, or through scrolls. In effect, the priest requires a greater amount of spells to function on a fair level then does his wizard counterpart.

Spells are also suppose to be written down and turned into the Dungeon Master on the start of each in-game day. These are the spells which the spell caster has studied/meditated for. Under more advanced rules, the magic user has to spend at least 1 hour per spell level to gain the spell. This doesn’t go away under normal circumstances, a remembered spell will stay in his brain until he casts it or if he chooses to replace it with another spell.

This also hints at removing charts and graphs which make magic unpredictable, as under the AD&D magic system, all spells are terribly expensive. Spells can be ruined if the caster is interrupted in any way, so one must properly know how long the spell takes to cast, and what is required of him. Magic does slow down combat! But if we move it to fast then we run the risk of making errors.

4. IGNORING XP

This was an even worse sin! And unlike all of the others, this sin is one of pure laziness on the DMs part. Instead of counting up XP like we were suppose to, we’d just be granted a level for a game day. This fell apart on many different levels. We’d play first level characters for many many hours and never reach 2nd level until the next game, when in reality, we should be much higher. Then, on the other side of the scale, we’d breeze through the higher levels with uncanny speed. We’d only get 20 games out of our characters, and we had no idea how rewarding that actually earning a level was.

5th level comes fairly quickly, but there is a dramatic slow down after that point. We also ignored level limits on demihumans because the DM loved them so much and felt it unfair that an elf who lives longer couldn’t achieve high levels of play, which for us, was usually only 9 games. This isn’t role playing, this is simply playing. If the rules are ran correctly, the player playing a demihuman can play the same character for a year or two before maxing out on his levels. Especially multiclassed demihumans who are always going to be slow to advance and perpetually behind the other players who are single classed, and one must be meticulous about XP when playing something like that!

Again, all of this goes right back to play-testing on a professional level. Being young, we thought that we understood the game more then the brainiacs at TSR who invented the damned thing! Of course, now we know and since we are playing the game correctly, we are having a much better time and a more rewarding experience all around.

5. CONDUCTING ROUNDS INCORRECTLY

This mistake is probably by far the most common, even for advanced players who have been playing the game for years and years!

It is most common, I have observed, for everyone to roll initiative, and then decide exactly what everybody is doing. This is completely out of sequence, and it effects the rules for both missile combat, the casting of spells, and for initiative itself!

Now I know that this is bad, but back then I never thought nothing of it. In fact, we still find ourselves doing this same mistake to this day! While the game is still functional, by doing this it is broken and not at all core. In fact, the game is much smoother and less chaotic if it is done correctly, but what is correct?

Before the round starts, and before initiative is rolled, the DM decides what all of his NPCs are going to do that round, if it is the first round he also needs to figure out the range of the enemy, determine if anybody is surprised or not, and figure out the enemies initial reaction. Once all of this is done, he decides what each enemy is going to do, which isn’t all that difficult. If a creature is going to attack, then who? If there is a leader, he’ll probably hang back and bark orders until he sees who his party is struggling with the most, and he’ll target that person. Lots of stuff needs to be factored in, but this doesn’t take too long if you are prepared.

After we know what we are going to do that round, we ask the characters. This doesn’t need to be too advanced stuff. If they are going to attack, find out what they are going to attack, and with what. If they are going to do something tactical, such as charge, this is the time to say such, but we must resist altering our plans, if we have decided that our gnolls are going to attack, we shouldn’t alter them to setting their pikes for a charge. They don’t know what the players are going to do, just like the players don’t know what you are going to do.

A player can choose a few different options, and none of these are set in stone. In fact, a good player will be as brief and to the point as possible when describing what he is planning to do. “I am going to attack one of the gnolls with my broad sword” vs. "I am going to attack the closest gnoll to me." If he says this, and one of his companions beat him to the punch and slay the creature, that player may lose his turn if there isn’t another enemy around for him to target.

Spells are a bit different, if they are going to cast a spell, this has to be announced prior to initiative, this is the true reason for the rule. A spell caster is not allowed to change spells, but he is allowed to stop casting it at any time. It will be up to the DM to decide if it was successfully stopped or not, some spells happen so fast that it might not be voluntarily stopped before the magic is released and the spell is forgotten.

Arrows and other missiles are also taken out of sequence, and must be properly figured before the round can be determined.

After it is figured out what everybody is going to do, they may have the option to change their mind after initiative, but at a cost. Movement costs time, a fighter is better at this as he can give up 1 or 2 of his attacks to perform different actions. For example, a priest originally stated that he was going to attack, however an enemy archer scored double damage on him and he is in serious danger. He can’t cast a spell to heal himself, but he can stop and run half of his MR away while digging for a potion of healing. This action will be completed last, so if he has won the initiative, he has a good chance of surviving this, however if his party has lost, he may have lost his life if he gets hit.

Hesitations are always left up to the DM to figure out where they happen in that round.

Once it is figured what everyone’s action will be, we can move on to initiative, which can take place in a variety of different methods depending on the difficulty of the game that you are playing. I think that the easiest method, and the fairest, is to have all of the PCs roll their own initiatives, and the DM rolling a group initiative for his monsters, factoring in weapon speeds and such to modify the roll for each individual in the monster party.

Initiatives can be house ruled all you want, as long as it is fair for everyone. You can even have the leader roll the initiative and have all of the PC’s modify that number with their personal speeds, or simply be civil about it and take turns like good little children. It doesn’t matter if nobody cares.

The formula for the round can now be determined. Of course spell casters screw everything up. If a spell caster is casting that round we have to figure out where he will be in this formula. If the spell takes a round to cast, then it will take effect next round if he can maintain his focus (i.e. not get hit), casting times are there to help us place the spell properly in the round.

Here is the exact formula, with the exception of spell casters who defy it. The word winner here refers to the winner of initiative, if the group initiative is being used, and the loser refers to the loser of initiative. Advanced games will be really chaotic, and will have to be determined on a case by case basis.

Winning Missile weapon 1st attack
Loser missile weapon 1st attack
Winners melee weapon attack or first attack as dictated by weapon speed
Losers melee weapon attack or first attack as dictated by weapon speed
Winners Second attack (including arrows and other missiles)
Losers second attack (including arrows and other missiles)
Take turns with additional attacks with winner always starting until they’ve all been played out.

Some times, especially with group initiatives, there is a tie. This dictates true chaos and is not rerolled. Instead, it has been judged by the gods of the dice that both parties attack at the exact same time. Go ahead and let the players go first, because they are itchy, but when there is a tie, even a dead creature who dies in that round still has an attack, and in effect, two characters can kill each other.

I now know that THIS system is real Dungeons & Dragons, and by modifying it until it isn’t recognizable makes it no longer D&D, which might not bug many of my readers, but it sure does bug me.

Well, I made it to 5, and I am sure that that is just the tip of the iceberg, but that is okay, because in effect, discovering mistakes and correcting them is exactly what this blog is all about!

Chapter IV: Ogres

2009-09-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

The north is a very inhospitable place come winter. Being used to a warmer climate, I severely underestimated my ability to cope with such bitter winds and snows which drench the clothing and freeze solid. I also fell victim to my map, which is incorrect. While studying, and seeking a place to spend the winter, I believed that if I could make it to the Bluff Hills I could find a halfling village, but alas, this was not true.

Bluff Hills is infested with nothing but monsters! It is an inhospitable place ripe with danger, and though I am brave, if I had a choice I would had fled this terrifying land of rock, snow, and desolation in a heart beat, but alas, the gods of frost had me at their mercy, and I was forced to winter down with vile beasts called Ogres.

Winter in humanoid territory is a tough challenge, primarily because of the lack of resources, ogres are, at any rate, lazy creatures, and winter time is no different. They have nothing! I feared for my safety, it wasn’t I who found them, it was they who found me. Chilled to the bone and frozen to the core, spellcasting was impossible. I just couldn’t focus enough to disguise myself. Thankfully, they did not eat me right away, and placed me into a cell in their cave. It wasn’t warm but at least I was able to thaw out.

Thankfully the ogre is a stupid race, if they had the intelligence of even the goblin I would be dead, but thankfully I was able to transform myself into an ogre, and convince them that I had escaped and I was tricked into this cage. The ogres whose job it was to watch me spent more time playing some game which involved rolling bones, and didn’t see me change, so they figured that I was telling the truth and let me out with a shrug.

CHAPTER IV
OGRE-KIND

Ogres are very large humanoids, no man standing less then 9 feet in height, the tallest of them, who appears to be their leader, is at least 10 feet tall. Their skins range in colors of sickly yellow, blackish-tan, and one has a very disturbing purplish pallor. They are covered with warts and moles that are not the color of their skins, but dramatically different and covered in hair. They stink terribly, a smell very much like curdled goats milk. Their eyes are frightening, they have purple eyes, with white pupils, their nails are long and orangish in color. The ogre is by far the ugliest and most nasty of the humanoids which I have met so far, but perhaps it is just the cold talking.

INDUSTRY OF THE OGRE

The ogre exists only through theft, and stealing the hard work and well-being from others. It cares not for anything or anyone except for itself. There is no honor in these caves, a sick ogre is food, they will eat anything. They hunt the crags and cracks of this dank dark place. This place used to be a mine of some kind, however the ogres are ripping out the timbers and using them for firewood. Every day I sit and listen to the groaning of the weakened mine, wondering when it will finally collapse on my head, but the ogres simply ignore it completely, unconcerned about the unavoidable catastrophe.

There are hundreds of ogres here, waiting for spring. All of them from different tribes and different species of ogre, but I’ll get more into them later.

Ogres keep slaves for petty work, but because of the winter, they have already butchered all of them and their clean white bones litter the dark floor, with just enough pink meat to attract winter flies, everyday an ogre or two will wander over to the bones, and start picking off the maggots the flies have laid, oblivious to their stings.

They keep no animals, they know no worthwhile trade, they can’t make their own clothing, though a few try. They don’t know how to properly tan a hide, their homemade clothing is rotten and stinking, made from animal skins that they don’t even bother cleaning. I’ve seen an ogre so hungry that he ate his and froze to death from the cold.

Life is miserable in this stinking hole, but the howling winter winds above keep me a prisoner down here. I hate them, like I have hated no other creature. Even their stupid guttural language bothers me.

Half-breed ogres are a bit smarter, but even they get on my nerves down here, they seem to only know how to fight and that is it.

COINS OF THE REALM

These creatures are hoarders. Great wealth is in this hole, but it does nobody any good whatsoever. The ogre won’t spend it, he simply collects and will kill for his stash of shiny. Much of his treasure is worthless junk, but a few highly valuable items intermixed with trash. The ogre loves shiny objects, regardless of actual wealth that they may bring, and the ogre must constantly guard his stash, as all of his kin know exactly what he has and wish to take it from him.

Gambling is the favorite past time, they have invented many simple games of chance which can be played with no prep time, and regardless of location. Everything can be turned into a game to them.

RELATIONS OF OGRES

There is no peace here, not during winter. All humanoids in this cruel environment are suffering equally, any opportunity to take advantage of the others are committed for survival. In these hills, the ogre is not at the top of the food chain, but very low on it. Outside are hill giants and the highly feared trolls which normally are considered to be allies of the ogres, but during these times of not, an ogre is simply food to them, and they know it. Thus, we hide. We hide until the sun returns to melt the snows and allow the ogres to go raiding again, and again they will ally themselves with these enemies of the wintertime, but until the thaw, they must hide.

Ogres are closely allied with orcs, and even breed with them, creating a unique form of ogre-orc that lives in this cave. These half-breeds are the most violent of the lot, loving nothing more in life then a good fight. They’ll talk for days on end about war stories. Apparently these creatures are paid something to be here, I’m not sure what though? They are assumed to be the guards, incase something out there does find its way in here.

Ogres can mate with all humanoids, as well as humans and gnomes, but they aren’t compatible with elven, dwarven, nor halfling blood, which is fine with them as the flesh of these beings are considered to be an ogrish delicacy, in fact, in the heart of this mine system is a huge stew pot, inside are the bones of an elven female, at one time she was whole, but they just keep adding water and drinking the broth as a soup, I am ashamed to admit to caving in and tasting this swill, it was mostly water by the time that I arrived. Winter can do funny things to a person, especially out here. There used to be a time where I could trust myself . . . or at least I thought that I could, but can I really?

Human-ogres are more intelligent then the other ogres, and instead of pushing their mongrels away, they are excepted within the tribes openly. Half-ogres aren’t as strong as the full-blooded kin, a few still have the white eyes, but mostly they are gray-skinned powerful people. The ogres listen to them with awe as they tell their stories and advise them. Could it be that just one half-ogre can make the difference between fighting as an individual or fighting as a team? Quite possibly it is.

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF THE OGRE

Many of these creatures worship a hill giant god they call Grolantor, however he doesn’t grant the shamans any spells. Their true god is a pathetic lesser variety named Vaprak, while he does grant the shamans spells, he does very little else for them, especially in times like this when we could use a god.

They also fear a god that they simply name “Grofogog” or the Destroyer. I have no idea if this god is real or not, but uttering this things name is enough to terrify the mightiest of ogres. Everything bad that happens down here is the work of the Destroyer. This is probably just a monsters version of the boogyman, which is rather ironic if one ponders it. They seem so sincere when they talk about it, some even claiming to have seen it first hand, but there descriptions are always laughably different, however the longer I stay down here, the more I fear that this beast is up there waiting for me. That the destroyer is real, and it knows my name! Could this be even possible? I shutter at the thought!

OGRE FAMILY STRUCTURE

The male ogre is lazy, and their women are exactly the same. Children run all over the place in here, nobody knows whose is whose except for the children perhaps, and even they forget who their mothers are after a couple of years.

Mothers suckle the young until they get teeth, and they bite them. Of course males also suckle mothers milk too, pregnant women are very popular if they want to be, but they have to be careful as a male ogre will kill a youngster because it doesn’t want to share the mother’s milk with a baby. There are no ogre babies alive during the winter, all have fallen victim to hungry males, the last one happened just recently. Its poor little body was ripped apart for its meat, filthy cannibals, every one of them.

Youngsters can fight, and take up arms readily, if they are threatened with danger by adult males, they will quickly bash them and run away and hide for a couple of days. They stick together, and appear to have their own leadership amongst themselves. No ogre is educated in any way, only through experience and pain do they learn anything. They are even natural fighters, which is unfortunate for our own species who these things eat and keep as slaves.

Slaves, if left alive during the warm moons of plenty, are forced to do housework and other chores which the ogre has no idea how to do. They do the cooking, sharpen weapons which are always stolen, and any other odd jobs or activities which the ogre would find to be amusing that day.

OGRE MAGIC

Ogres are physical beasts. A few of them use weapons stolen or looted from slain enemies, or found in treasure hordes as the ogres do make for excellent adventurers. The most common weapons down here are rocks and clubs. Items picked up and either hurled at a target or used to simply beat the other to death. Magic really has no sway here, they aren’t smart enough, nor do they have any written language to speak of. All of their history is done orally by the shamans, and ogre shamans aren’t all that bright themselves. I have heard the same stories at least thirty times and the names and places are always changing, so I think that it is fair to say that the ogre has no history.

The shamans are able to cast simple spells, even simple for clerics, however there is a legend of a powerful band of ogres far to the east who are able to manipulate the magical forces to comply with their wishes. They call these creatures Magi-ogres, or Ogre Mages. Personally I think that this too is a myth, yet the shamans swear that this is true, but then again, they also swear that one can cure dysentery by eating rocks so I put very little stock in what they say.

RACES OF THE OGREKIN

I believe that an ogre male, who mates with an orc female bears an Orog child, on the other hand, when an orc male mates with an ogre woman, the result is a half-ogre which calls itself, Ogrillon. The ogrillon is, much like the Orog to the orc, much respected by all ogres, even granted a larger amount of treasures collected then normal. Ogrillon have orc brains, which are very sharp and can formulate plans much easier then the full-blooded ogre is capable of.

Ogres can breed with practically any humanoid race, however, the most common is human. Half-ogres usually keep the ogre strength and are very large, they suffer slight mental problems which are common for this race, as well as their natural laziness and willingness to follow any plan, regardless of morals or how well thought out it might be. Some half-ogres, particularly those of the half-humanoid variety, may carry the purple eyes with white pupils common to ogres, they usually appear to be more yellow then normal as well.

Half-ogres are much greedier then normal ogres are, which is a mystery to me, but true none the less.

There is also word of an underwater ogre which exists in Nyr Dyv that calls itself Merrow. If this is true, then our Oceans may be populated by this ogre strain of humanoids as well. From a picture book of mythical animals which I found in this dank hell, I see that the merrow has green scales with webbed hands and feet, their necks are longer and thicker then land ogres, and their huge mouths are full of sharp black teeth. Their nails are long and black as well, and look extremely dangerous. Their eyes are deep green with milky white centers, and their hair is a slimy sickly green as well. If the legend of the merrow is true, these are much more frightening then the land variety.

The merrow appears to have some kind of nobility which can be identified by large ivory horns which grow on their heads. The race also scar their bodies with ink in peculiar patterns, especially the woman who have the patterns scared all over their bodies. A few orges in this winter cave have shown me scars which they claim to have received from Merrow, which they call Tattoo.

LIFE CYCLE OF THE OGRE

Ogres are rather long-lived, they can live to a maximum age of 90 years old, and age rather gracefully, probably due to its lack of activity. Most ogres fall victim to death from their dependence on theft and raiding to survive. They are natural fighters, and can follow simple orders to a tee, however they tend to take things quite literally. It is just amazing how stupid these creatures are. They exist by bullying others who are smaller then they are, and by hiring themselves out as mercenaries for the highest bidder. Most humans can’t put up with their laziness and lack of forethought, however for pure muscle and manning dangerous areas, one really has no other options but to work with these disgusting creatures.

The ogre can digest anything, it eats garbage and anything which its teeth can get down its gullet. They are healthy and never get sick, despite never bathing or dressing wounds. They also lack pain sensory, I have seen one break all of its fingers, give a sigh and a shrug and crunch them back into place as if nothing unusual had happened. They are also quick healers, not as fast as the troll mind you, but much faster then a human. If they weren’t so languid they would be the perfect race.

OGRE LAWS

Might is right to these creatures. The largest ogre down here is the chief, he gets all the woman that he wants, first dibs on all of the food, as well as treasure . . . or at least he thinks that he does. This is a temporary benefit, once the thaw comes up and these things can get back to raiding, they will break into smaller groups, but for now they listen to the chief.

His name is Big Chief Bloody Mouth in our tongue, he has two underlings who both share the distinction of second in command. These creatures are a bit smarter then the chief, and they use him for his brawn, and brawn he has! I have never seen an ogre as massive and built like him, which is amazing because the creature does nothing but eat and yell at anyone who dares bother him.

There really are no permanent laws, so there isn’t any need to enforce them. Murder and theft are common practices down here, with theft being the most common. They rarely kill one another, but fights are regular, the loser usually backs off before anything too terrible happens to him.

There are a few clerics, but all of them seem to be heretics and they argue with one another constantly in regards to what their gods want from them. There are no set churches, as this would require to much work on their part.

OGRES AT WAR

Ogres, as far as I can tell, don’t care to engage in any long term plans, which war requires. They are passionate about things which are quickly obtained, if it takes more then a week to obtain, they just don’t have time for it.

As I’ve said before, they do do mercenary work, and as long as they are paid regularly, they can stick with it, however they really couldn’t give an opinion about it. They just simply are there.

While they rarely engage in a committed war, fighting is a daily thing. They don’t really know how to care for armor or weapons which they find, steal, loot, or kill for. They are bandits by trade, haunting a road and being mean to avoid many problems is a common tactic. They keep those that are easily managed, forcing them into slavery or for food. Fighting is a daily thing, and it doesn’t bother them one way nor another, violence is not shocking to them, and they enjoy being cruel.

OGRES OF THE REALM

I am freezing, and hungry down here, and this no doubt has tainted my tongue. This is a long-lived race, despite its slothful ways and lack of any usable skills of any kind with the exception of killing and thievery, this should say something about their longevity.

Chapter III: Orcs

2009-09-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

I, like many of my human brothers and sister, had believed that humanoids were soulless monsters, who only exist to terrorize mankind. If this writing has done anything, it has proven to me that humans are not the only people which they terrorize. While many are constantly at war and on the surface, appear to be extremely primitive, inside of them they are as unique and as intelligent as the more civilized nations.

Before leaving the hobgoblin sacked hamlet of Green Grass Pass, a name that no longer describes it, as the grass has all been trampled and killed, what was once a lush valley is now nothing but a muddy potholed road of unimaginable danger. The hobgoblins have renamed the hamlet, but their words are not fit for the delicate eyes of civilized people; besides, as you will soon learn, their new name may be quite inconsequential.

While still among them, I mentioned meeting an orc. I became interested in this creature and saw him sitting alone in a hobgoblin tavern and gambling den, so I approached him. It didn’t take him long to see past my ruse, he always asked pointed and direct questions of things that I could not know, at first this beast filled my heart with dread and terror, however at the point were I expected him to stand up and point me out as the fraud that I was, he instead told me simply to relax, for he wasn’t what he appeared to be either. In fact, this orc was not a true orc at all, but a half-breed orcish-hobgoblin and a spy.

He informed me that a few miles away, his tribe was preparing to sack this village, and he was here to report numbers of hobgoblins coming in and going out, as well as who was in charge, the cities defenses, and other information which will aid his tribe’s attack.

I found this half-orc an interesting ally, he found my quest to be an interesting venture as well, and gave me many pointers to infiltrate his own tribe, and warned me when it was best to make my escape from Green Grass Pass, and still have time to study his people before they moved on to destroy the hobgoblin barracks.

The half-orc, who I respect to much to write his name, gave me a simple armband of red, attached to it were a few feathers, this he reported, would allow me to be off limits and prove me as an ally to him. He gave me information which only he would know, this was to be my currency, and I had just enough to get in and do my work and leave with my head still in one piece.

The orcs of Hrarrrg, or “the Roaming Scorpion” are not the entire tribe. I knew that I had very little currency to keep them at bay (and myself out of the mines), so I spent as much time observing them from afar as possible, which only amounted to two days before I was captured by sentries and taken before the commander. Normally, I am told, that the orc lives much the same as goblins, as they dislike sunlight; however, they do not cower away from it in fear either, which goblins do do. This describes a military unit, with a clear goal and separated by the Orcish tribal leader.

Chapter III
Orcs

Orcs are roughly 5½ to 6 feet tall, and the males are extremely well built. They appear almost human, but physically primitive in manner as well as appearance. This is deceptive, as their minds are not primitive at all, and they appear to be much smarter then the other humanoids which I have encountered to date. With that said, their skins are grayish green in color, and their bodies are covered in thick and course dark hair. Their eyes resemble goblin eyes as well, glowing reddish in dim light, probably due to the fact that they require very low levels of light to see by, and may even be able to see in the dark. Their features are unique to them individually, as well as by clan, and can be visually distinct from one another by simple subtleties and personal style, much as humans and demihumans are both unique from one another, yet the same. Orcs are stooped over, and cannot walk upright, their arms are proportioned to their bodies, and well-muscled. Their foreheads are unique, almost conical which may be from a common form of bondage placed upon them when they are young, as they see conical skulls to be more attractive then round ones. Orc teeth are sharper and more pointed then a humans are, normally a deep shade of yellow, they use them to eat meat, but aren’t civilized enough to use utensils to cut the meat up into bite-sized chunks. Their noses are almost snoutish, and their ears are set slightly higher on their heads, allowing them to hear and smell things which would be beyond us.

ORCISH INDUSTRY

Orcs find empty and desolate places beautiful, though many of their camps and villages are chosen for this feature, unlike goblins and hobgoblins who destroy the land, the orc is more at home in places that are naturally like this. I believe that this is because they are off the beaten track and easier to defend.

Like many of the humanoids, the orc is a miner, and are most comfortable living underground, which has pitted them directly against the dwarven demi-humans of the realm. Orcs mine both metals and stones which they also find valuable. While I haven’t seen an orcish mine, I can see that they have crafted their own weapons, yet they also relieve all weapons from enemies that they have slain, so they carry wide varieties of arms, in just one week I have spotted elven, dwarven, and even hobgoblin craftsmanship! But they also have their own armaments which are unique to them.

Much of their tactics involve ambush and backstabbing, and they prefer weapons which aid them in this, many are items which they themselves have invented, especially siege weaponry. The camp was very busy constructing light-weight catapults from materials they have found and had brought with them for these constructions. Right now the catapults are not on wheels and will be carried to locations where the orcs will finish putting them together. They are not afraid of labor, and it is a brilliant strategy, breaking the catapults down to the smallest parts as they can without breaking down the sophisticated pieces which an orc specialized in such things oversees the construction personally.

They are constantly inventing, though many of the exploratory engines are highly dangerous to the operators at best, the brilliance and inventiveness is still admirable. I have seen nothing this sophisticated, even in human armies. I have heard of half-orcs who sell their services constructing traps for the paranoid and wealthy, seeing what full-blooded orcs are capable of, I no longer doubt this rumor.

While the orc prefers to live underground, they are also concerned with their defense, and build defenses around the openings of their mines, which are usually taken from routing dwarves or gnomes who have started them. Orcish construction for shelter is not as inventive or as oddly beautiful as their weaponry, but they are not above taking over mining villages which had been built around mines built by others, while they lack the ability to maintain and properly keep these buildings from weathering and rotting, they do require buildings and fences to keep domesticated animals which they butcher for food, many are common creatures such as pigs, chickens, goats, and cows, but they also keep other creatures for purposes of food, as they, unlike the goblins, truly detest eating their enemies.

Orcs are masters of hiding things, it is said that a village sacked by an orcish army for their mines resembles a ghost town. One can hear livestock and see evidence of them but finding them is difficult. I suppose that they keep them in the buildings themselves, which they keep locked up tight and guarded by traps against poachers and theft, but at night, the creatures come out, and if they are aware of intruders . . . which they usually are since the landscape is barren, offering few places for other creatures to hide, and the hiding spaces that are there are heavily trapped, the orcs will wait in hiding and attack, if they must, during the day as well as at night.

Orcs grow edible crops of mushrooms and other funguses, some which are deadly to humans, this substitutes their diets and the shamans use them as well. Orcs are terrified of illness and disease, but aren’t much cleaner then hobgoblins, in fact much of their mushrooms and molds are acquired in the caves which they use to relieve themselves in.

Like humans, orcs require water to survive, drinking it as well as harnessing its strength to power engines which provide many different functions. By far their seeming savageness is all an illusion, yet another trap which the orc uses to give their enemies a false sense of superiority.

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN OTHER RACES

The orc truly gets along with nobody, but will make shaky alliances with practically anyone; in truth, this new war which is about to be unleashed upon the hobgoblins started from such an alliance. To the west, in the Bone March, Orcs and Hobgoblins, as well as many other humanoids, have seemingly joined forces, however the Orcs of Bone March have felt that the Hobgoblin forces are too strong, and they just keep coming. It was decided by the generals of the March, that it was time to turn on the Hobgoblin forces before that race turned on them. Their goal is to destroy this fort, and then move on to the next, a brilliant move that will strangle the Road to Blood and Glory to death.

While, with care and dedication, it is possible to have a long relationship with the right orc tribe, the orcs themselves battle with each other constantly, either face to face, or, such as the case with the war about to be waged against the hobgoblin forces, in competition with each other. They do not get along and if presented the right opportunity, will slay each other if they think that they can get away with it.

Orcs have a deep and driving hatred for dwarves, who they are always at war with because of land disputes. They ambush dwarven mines and take them, forcing them to defend these mines for centuries, which to the short-lived orcs may be their homeland, having deep bloodlines to the area, and the long memories of proud dwarfs constantly seek to take back what is theirs, regardless of the fact that no dwarf has lived there in centuries.

The elf is also a highly hated foe, but for a different reason. According to orcish myth, long ago when the world was divided into separate kingdoms, it was the elf which dictated who got what. It was during this great division which the orcs were completely left out of. While the dwarves received great mountains full of ore and wealth, the humans received huge tracts of land close to oceans and great running rivers, and of course, the elf kept the best land for themselves, when it came to the great orcs of the past, they received nothing. This was a sin seeing that they requested very little, and now they are hell-bent on taking it all! For this travesty, they will slay elves on sight, they will burn their villages and cities to the ground on discovery, and they will shoot them in the back with no remorse. Just mentioning an elven name is enough to cause them to drool in bloodlust, and gnash their teeth in aggression, fore, though the orc is a short lived race, its memory for abuses of the past is without question.

Death is the only thing that an elf can expect from orcs, and the same goes for dwarves, all other races are prime stock for their slave pools. Orcs kill only the warriors, or those who are too strong to be trusted in the mines, all others are captured and are worth more for their backs then for the peace of mind which goes to killing them. Women and children are preferred, as they are weak and easily handled, as are the elderly who if they survive the horrible marches to the mines, are given the most dangerous jobs.

A halfling cook was present in this band of warriors and killers, this halfling is a slave, forced to cook for his life, feeding all of the men in the camp; a job normally the domain of orcish women. While it is preferred to eat the food burnt and charred, the orcish tongue appears to have a good palate for the thick spices and recipes concocted by the halfling, whose cooking is exceptional! Oddly enough, the halfling appears to be quite happy here, he says that he gets as many supplies as he needs and a chance to see the world. He has resigned himself, at least for the time being, into the care of these orcs who appear to be rather kind to him.

It is also worth noting here, that while the goblinoid species of humanoids are incompatible sexually with humans and demi-humans, the same cannot be held true of the orc. The orc has tainted the blood of every bipedal species with the one exception of the Elf, why this is may have more to do with their natural hatred of them then any physical incompatibility. While their kind revels in defiling dwarven women, elven woman are slain with the same gusto as the men are.

Most beings with half-orc blood are of the humanoid variety, with goblins and hobgoblins being most common, followed by human-orc. The orcish blood is dominant, causing the mongrel offspring to be more orc then anything else, however their temperaments will typically be that of the off race. A half human, half orc was an officer in the orcish army, he appears to be an unusually powerful, if not ugly man who is highly respected by his full-blooded orcish peers, but this could simply be based on the man’s ability with his sword that has earned him his position, the other, not as gifted, half-orcs are treated as contemptuously as we treat our own mongrel children.

RELIGION OF THE ORCISH CLANS

Orcs all follow many gods, they are a very superstitious lot, but the most powerful of the gods, and the one most widely worshiped by the same name is the one-eyed orc Gruumsh. It is Gruumsh which remembers the travesty of the past, and it is Gruumsh which dictates that the orc must not stop fighting until he has taken all of the map and all of the other races are either slain or digging for them, in their mines.

Gruumsh is a cruel god, his priests scour the orcish camps and tribes, they alone have free reign to walk among all tribes, because all tribes observe that Gruumsh is the mightiest of the orcish gods! Gruumsh is a very vocal god, he creates signs to his people which are impossible to ignore. His priests are the keepers of the orcish race, weeding out the weak, the sick, and the cowardly, and slaying them without mercy. They themselves are always in danger of their gods wraith, for if they fail in their duties, if they ever feel anything but hatred and contempt in their black hearts, it is said that the god himself personally snaps their neck for all to see, fore there is no greater sign to the orcs, then a priest of Gruumsh falling over abruptly dead and his head turned around, perfectly backwards.

While all tribes worship Gruumsh, their other gods are debatable, some share names while others, just stories. Orcish heroes are all mean-spirited and nasty, whom show nothing but contempt for their leaders, turning on their own family for glory, capturing power through blood spilt by the rivals in their own tribes. The commander of this army, his name being Battered Head, has allowed me to live only to satisfy his own ego. Once he found out that I was a writer and recording their lives to paper, he saw his chance to become an even larger hero in the eyes of his people. It was from him that I was able to capture much of this work which I put down for your inspection today.

Orcish myths all push their own twisted form of honor among thieves messages. Heroes slay kings for glory, and steal from their own brothers. The children are taught this, and wish to grow up to become these monstrous peoples; it sickens me, yet I suppose that some of our own myths and legends are no better.

ORCISH FAMILY STRUCTURE AND THE ROLE OF GENDER

The orcish family is quite common, though almost all of the orcish warriors in this camp are married, they are not faithful to their wives. I am told that a woman’s place is in the home, and that is where she stays. Her duties are child birth, preparing dinner, and raising children. A pregnant orc (or other species with orcish child) carries the young for 10 months, and normally has two to three children per litter. Many of these children do not survive to adulthood due to abuse by both parents, as well as the priests of Gruumsh. Meanness is encouraged, thus they also pick off each other so that only the strong survive. Male children are always preferred to female ones, fathers have no love for little girls, and they are seen as worthless.

Some women are, understandably, not pleased with their lot in life. Refusal to do their duty typically results in death, a lucky few are able to escape into a never-ending life of adventure, seeking fame and fortune with races which will tolerate them, the types we see in our cities from time to time traveling around with a ragtag bunch of other misfits. These orcish females can easily masquerade as men, as their mannerisms are all vary masculine, even while performing their duties at home.

While most children do not survive, the lucky few become self-sufficient at an early age. Most are self-taught as their mothers typically ignore them much of the time, and if their fathers are slain, they are abandoned completely by the mother who leaves. Once a male child can pick up a weapon, his father takes over the raising of it, teaching him how to fight, and instilling the warped sense of orcish honor typical of the race.

The orc, if not slain in battle, can reach about 40 years old. They live fast and usually die fast as well, quickly using up their bodies, which at age thirty their skins start to wrinkle, their hair either grays else falls out, and their muscles quickly waste away. This is much different then the goblinoids which usually fall victim to disease before reaching this stage, I can’t imagine why this process is so sped up in the orcish-clans, unless it has something to do with the gross inbreeding which takes place quite commonly.

ORCISH MAGIC

Typical of the humanoids which I have studied thus far, orcs are a superstitious lot, and greatly fear magic, however not to the extent which the hobgoblin reacts to mystical forces at work.

Despite the races great age, they have no system of wizardry, at least not in this camp and nobody here would ever suffer a orcish mage to live, so either they are very rare and keep to the ancient occultist ways of hiding their studies, else they don’t exist at all. Personally I feel that if they were around, they would quickly jump on this mission as an orc mage would greatly improve their chances of wiping the hobgoblins out.

While they dislike magic, their religious clerics do possess considerable power. I would consider the religion of Gruumsh to be a full blown church, their clerics are in fact, orcish priests in every sense of the word. The orcs who do the bidding of the minor orcish gods are less powerful in the ways of spellcraft, so I qualify them as shamans or witch doctors.

Orcs are, by nature, explorers. They run into many many magical items along the way. If an item is discovered to be magically charged, it is not destroyed, as they still see that it is worth a lot more then it normally would be. The Church of Gruumsh dictates that all magical items discovered should be turned over to the clerics, however, I have seen the orcs hide these artifacts and sell them for a personal profit on the side. I myself was given the opportunity to purchase a gem of seeing which I couldn’t turn down. I suppose that if a buyer is around, greed dictates otherwise, but surly the clerics would had killed the orc who sold the gem to me if they had found out.

RACES OF THE ORC

Orcs, while each tribe is unique, they, I assume, are all of the same species. Wars between the tribes are more about petty egos of the clan leaders then of any real solid issues. One exception to this rule seems to be the mightiest fighters of a tribe, which they call Orogs.

Orogs are extremely huge for orcs, perhaps they are half-orc, half-ogre? But they are definitely of an elite status in this army. They fly their own banner, the only other banner which is not sanctioned by the Commander. They do not take part in the patrols, nor do any scouting. They are only here for when the actual fighting starts, this band of warriors are much scarier then the average orc, they speak orc, but are able to do as they will and all of the other orcs give them a wide path for which they may tread, yet they do enjoy the fact that they are here to fight besides them. Battered Head tells me that it is always an honor to have an Orog unit present, they do not live in the tribe, but for special occasions such as this, an orc chieftain can send to them a request for duty. If the Orog feel that the cause is a worthy one, and that a profit is to be made, and that it would please Gruumsh, they will send out a unit to the camp. The orog answer only to themselves, which is a fair trade-off as I guess that the Orog combat furiously. I had a chance to study them in training and they showed a unique fighting style which utilizes both their terrific power and great size to their advantage. When throwing a spear, the orog actually puts all of his body weight behind it, sending it with such force that the blades punch through trees and chip the rocky face of the mountain. Frightening as they are, I am told that they know no fear themselves. To run away from a challenge is to disgrace your entire race! Only an Orog commander can issue a retreat, and unlike the orcs who collect slaves for their mines, the orog take no prisoners.

ORCISH LAW

The unit which I am studying is entirely military. A few women run around selling their bodies, but the rest are all soldiers, else clerics or shamans. This camp is run like a military, even the woman, if they get angry and lash out at an abuser, will be punished with death.

The Commander has four lieutenants which oversee the enforcement of most laws, however, this is a rarity in this army camp. All of the orcish soldiers are pleased with their positions here, and want only to taste hobgoblin blood upon their weapons. Even the women are proud of these orcs, honored to be here to serve them and see each black eye and bruise as a badge of honor placed upon them by a great hero.

I can only assume that since morale is so high, that I cannot get a proper estimation on how law is handled, however listening to their myths and who they idolize, I must only assume that laws are very relaxed back home. Villainy is actively worshiped, and moral taboos are always reveled in. Orcish heroes are murderers, thieves, and rebels who refuse leadership themselves, but become leaders through service to themselves. As a group, they fight besides each other very well, each unit forming a twisted brotherhood between themselves, but at the same time brothers commonly kill, lie, and cheat each other. I suppose that the biggest difference is that nobody besides themselves can do this to a brother and get away with it.

While orcs also mine the mines, they leave all of the dangerous and tedious work to the slaves, they themselves are rarely in any danger down there, but if a vain collapses, the prisoners (even orcish casualties) are instantly abandoned and the pit boss is held responsible. Killing one orc is not considered a crime, but leading a bunch of orcs to their deaths and yourself returning alive is punishable by death . . . and perhaps worse. A true criminal suffers by watching his children murdered right in front of him, his property redistributed to others, and himself buried alive to die alone and confined.

I have learned from Battered Head that the true leaders of the tribe are not the leaders themselves, granted that they appear to make the rules and be in charge, however the true rulers of the orcs are the clerics and the warriors who lead the troops. If a leader is not respectful of the army, or the religion, he is quietly slain and a new leader competition takes place. Nobody wants this job, the competitors in the leadership battle are chosen by a poll taken by all of the tribe, based on names picked by the church and the army commanders. Once the polls have declared two men a winner, these men are given a large feast and then must fight to the death, the winner becoming the new tribal leader who is responsible for the well-fair and success of the tribe. He gets to believe that he is in charge, but he is always given options and opinions by the church and the military leaders.

It would take years of study to understand this form of politics, and I would like to observe it first hand however I do not think that that is possible, since if I were to appear to be an orc, I would quickly be seen as a weakling and swiftly terminated by the church. It would require me to compromise my values, which I am afraid that that is something that I just can’t do.

ORCS AND DEATH

If an orc dies of illness, his body is quickly burned, as is any of his assets which he may have accumulated over his lifetime. Death in battle, the body is left as a testament to his sacrifice, his assets are then given to his male children as they see fit, if no children are alive, his assets are the property of the tribe, the leaders go through them and take what they wish and the rest is sold to the highest bidder. If an orc is slain by a cleric, or god, their property now belongs to the church.

Great leaders and heroes are given huge funerals. Dirt and rocks is brought to the corpse of the slain dead, the church commits a ceremony to the brave while the army builds a burial mound over the body and every orc in the area comes from miles around to pay tribute to his afterlife with coins and jewels. This mound is marked so that all know who lays below, how he died, and when. Great treasures are in this mound, however a curse is placed upon it as well. A great hero can attract orcs beyond his own tribe, and during these times the infighting and posturing between the tribal leaders is temporarily put aside. Leaders are expected to send dignitaries to the site to pay a grand tribute, if not arrive personally. Because of this, a funeral can take a very long time before it is completed, materials need to be brought in, leaders need time to raise the funds required and to travel from all over the Flanaess, thus the heroes body must be guarded by an elite group of soldiers called Boneguards, a temporary position designated to the heroes closest allies who forever after carry the distinction of this service, and allows them to refer to themselves as Cjuudge or “Friend-of”. An honor which they will take to their own graves, as all of the heroes of orcish blood were at one time Boneguards themselves.

ORCS AT WAR

This, I was able to witness first hand. The orc has a bizarre code of honor. Many of the off-race enemies will be taken prisoner and kept as slaves, those who fight are killed. The orc does not observe any rules to war, and cannot be expected to keep to his word. If battling on a goblin holiday, goblins typically break combat to observe this occasion, and the Orc will agree to this break in combat, but turn around and ambush them during the day.

Surrender is not allowed, if a white flag of submission is flown by an enemy, the orcs will redouble their efforts to kill them all. Backstabbing and lying to ones enemy is considered bravery to the orc, and stupidity on their enemies part. The orc honestly doesn’t need to revert to these tactics, as their soldiers are more then capable of honorable combat, but this code of orcish honor dictates otherwise.

The orc fights through trickery, massive firepower, and taking time before an attack to gain as much intelligence about the enemy as possible. They are brilliant in their methods, if they weren’t so underhanded. They study all of their enemies, and will exploit any weakness which they may find.

While many of the orcish troops are skilled fighters, this race does have some very dangerous warriors who are up to par with humanities best. These warriors can be identified by their bravery, and usually the way that they handle themselves. They become specialists of their chosen weapons, and spend much money on them. Instead of going out to patrol, they are allowed to practice and keep in perfect shape. Many of these warriors are commanders, but this is not always true, some of these specialists are not all that bright, and intelligence is also something which makes a good hero, not just brawn.

Orcish thieves are also quite skilled, these creatures seem to flock to such trades and usually serve as watchmen for the towers as well as spies for the large armies which form from time to time. The thieves are excellent archers and can fill their ranks with the warrior archers, but if the archers are compromised, the warriors will draw their weapons while the thieves flee. It is also worth noting that much of the siege weapons and traps are designed by the tribes thieves who form their own guilds within the tribes. While they have no political power, they do bring extra funds and power to the tribe, and they don’t have to work as hard as the average fighters do, thus becoming a thief is a highly desirable, but elite profession as the dexterity required by these men must be high indeed!

ORCS OF THE REALM

As a race, these creatures seem tailor made for their environment, and while creatures such as the lowly goblin cowers in filthy holes in the ground, the orc does not tremble in fear, but faces all obstacles. They are masters of surviving in barren and inhospitable places. They are both a threat to mankind, as well as a potential ally of it in some odd way. They have learned from us, and they continue to teach us.

Mans first impulse is to discount these creatures, and just assume them to be stupid and brutal but this isn’t the case. Orcs are wise, they are strong, and they are determined. They have their own, very unique society which has existed well before mankind, and continues to do so despite it.

It is my opinion that if we wish to aid the dwarf in their battles against the orcs, then we need to consider it a higher priority, for if any race has the determination and resources to destroy their race utterly, it would be the orc. While many of them lack the skills required to outfight the dwarven armies, a few warriors can and they also have numbers on their side. We humans, as a race, need to pick which side that we chose to stand on, and be more steadfast in aiding them, despite the dwarven pride which dictates otherwise, for if the dwarves fall to this foe, then we are next friends. We are next!

Chapter II: Hobgoblin

2009-09-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

If my time with the goblins had taught me anything, it was that I needed to re-think how I was to become amongst the other races of humanoids, as many don’t keep slaves. Fortune smiled upon me, as I encountered a party heading west to the land of Iuz to do battle with the evil ones in that miserable land. I aided them in their journey, and in so doing discovered a scroll which has greatly aided in my research, containing a spell that enabled myself to blend seamlessly.

I departed with my company, wishing them the best of luck, and made my way back into the forests of the Flanaess in search of monsters! It is also worth pointing out that the battles of Bone March were heating up, I had heard confirmation that the Grand Army was so engaged in war with the humanoid hordes that seeking for deserters was a low priority, which allowed me more freedom to wander more then I had prior. I still avoided the Great Kingdom, but at least I no longer felt hunted.

I encountered a ranger, and he reported to me that a band of hobgoblins had haunted a road three leagues to the north which they poetically called, “Hurnskaft oad”, or Road to Blood and Glory. The battles of Bone March were attracting these warmongers like bees to flowers, I studied my maps and discovered a little known village south of the mountains which I felt would attract the Hobgoblins, and I had assumed correctly!

Friends, please do not hold what I have witnessed against me. I am but a reporter of such things, and I took my oath seriously and forbid myself to become involved in anything. At one point, this village was a thriving farming hamlet of simple goat-herders. All of these men, and their families, were slaughtered; their homes, which were once quaint and quiet, now house vile beings of brutal evil. I had assumed that hobgoblins were as their smaller kin, and avoided the light, but this was not so. While the hobgoblin is known for working and operating out of networks of underground caves, as the goblin, apparently, if they feel that more is needed, such as a base on Hurnskaft oad, they will take it.

This simple village has been sacked, the hobgoblins have dug deep trenches around the wall and filled them with spikes and a noxious water which must also be their sewage. Four towers have been constructed from wood obtained by tearing down other buildings, and these are manned both day and night. The small village of Green Grass Pass has become a stockade and a minor stop on the route to Bone March via the Griff Mountains.

I disguised myself as a mad and elderly shaman, I learned enough from the goblins to easily pass off being a heretic to these butchers, and there I set up operations for the next few months, befriending the high commander of the stockade, a General Elf-Smearer. I was able to set up shop at a residence that was provided to me, and it was my job to heal these vicious animals, which I begrudgingly did. The following is what I have learned.

CHAPER II
HOBGOBLINS

The hobgoblin is similar to, and is definitely the same species as standard goblins, though personally they will deny this fact. They are much larger then average goblins, but while the goblin is generally hairless, the hobgoblin is covered in patches of hair which ranges in colors of dark-red to dark gray. Their faces are clean of hair, revealing skins which are dark-red to a reddish-orange color. Additionally, hobgoblin men sport bright blue noses, which is attractive to females but doesn’t effect rank.

Their yellow teeth are long and sharp, and their eyes, as goblin eyes, gleam in the dark and vary between yellow to dark brown, however as goblin eye color is uniform and covers the entire surface of the eye, hobgoblins have whites, as humans, and only the iris is colored.

Hobgoblins also have a style of dress which is common among all of them, preferring bright clothing, but all armor and leather items are stained black, and all the handiwork of goblin tanners.

NATURAL FUNCTION OF THE HOBGOBLIN

Hobgoblin industry is more of a factor in this humanoid society then in the goblin. Hobgoblins have mastered the art of metal working, though not on the scale of dwarven or even human societies have. They do mine the earth, seeking metals, and can fashion items from these metals. Weapons, armors, and standard blacksmithing are common in hobgoblin societies. The hobgoblins also keep beasts of burden, but only for transportation. They do not farm, they raise no animal for meat or cloth, these items they steal or take after battle.

Hobgoblin constructed items are unique in style, they prefer sharp edges to construction, and apply special powders and chemicals which make all hobgoblin metalworking have that distinctive black darkness to them. Swords, and especially armor is thicker then most, their surfaces are not smooth to the touch nor shiny. Items are decorated by feathers and furs which are either red, or have been stained red.

All hobgoblin tribes fly their own, unique standards. In the hobgoblin stockade I would see at least 15 new ones per day, and the managers of this place have their own standard as well which flies above the church which has been defiled and taken as residence of General Elf-Smearer and his men.

Building construction is not architecturally beautiful, but functional and assembled very quickly with whatever materials are available at the time. Hobgoblins have no music or specific dishes that are unique to them. They produce no visual arts, with the exception of their weapons, and they practice their own styles of combat which, though I am not an expert, appears to be fairly unique to them.

RELATIONSHIPS

The hobgoblin, is by nature, an elitist, as well as an equal opportunist. They will just as willingly attack a human village as they will a cave system of humanoids. They will fight all comers and seek to annihilate them, not for land or property, but because they can. The one exception to this equal zeal for blood and carnage is the elf. Elves are definitely targets to hobgoblin aggression, and they actively seek these poor creatures out. Elven settlements will either fall, or the hobgoblin armies will willingly feed themselves to elven swords to the last brute.

They do have armies of both goblin, as well as orcs which they call “The Lesser Race”, these creatures are nothing to them and are always the first ones that they send in. It is not apparent to me if these orcs and goblins are simply slaves forced to fight or not? Of course goblins are always slaves, even to themselves, but I know very little of the orc at this point and cannot discover if they are part of hobgoblin armies of their own will or not.

RELIGION AND THE HOBGOBLIN

The hobgoblin shares their major god, Mag Pubiyet, with the lesser goblin races, but this is definitely a god of the hobgoblin, more so then of the pure-blooded goblins. Sacrifice to this god is constant, failure to slay something in Mag Pubiyet’s name is unacceptable and requires a blood offering from their own veins, often this slice is done with such gusto and force that the self inflicted gash proves to be fatal.

A god unique to the Hobgoblin is Nomog-Geaya, a terrible religion unlike any which I have been forced to bear witness to before. Nomog-Geaya is the lord of discipline, summoned to pass judgments upon hobgoblin offenders. His vile priests preach hobgoblin superiority to non-hobgoblin troops, they also officiate over the feedings which take place after a hobgoblin victory, an act that is so disgusting and horrifying that it is still evident in this murdered hamlet.

They do have a unique form of divination. They beat offenders and enemies past the point of coherence, then as the victim is gasping for breath, barely clinging to life, the priest records their utterances and words are listened for which will reveal to the priests their gods wishes. Even they, the priests of Nomog-Geaya, are not safe from such treatment! Priesthood is serious business, and failure to keep a solemn attitude is punishable by violence. In court, I once witnessed a junior priest simply smile at a hobgoblin girl, his brothers hauled him away immediately, taking him to one of the few remaining barns which they keep as their lair and beat him to death. Their reasoning was that he was not allowed to appear to be happy in public.

HOBGOBLIN FAMILY STRUCTURE

The hobgoblin is much more civil to their women, though an institute of marriage is not in place. The male impresses the female by acts of aggression and displays of grizzly totems earned in battle. After the mating takes place, the male typically moves on, and the woman must raise the child by herself until the child, if male, is old enough to join a school which resembles a junior military. Female children work in the mate homes and learn the skills required of being a proper mate. Female warriors are not common, but not unheard of either. Female hobgoblin warriors are not considered to be attractive, and many do enter the mating homes for other female attractions as well.

Female mating homes are, in essence, whore-houses. They offer rooms, drinks, and entertainment. Coin does pass palms, but the female’s goal is to become pregnant with a strong warrior male. Males of the clan pay tribute to their mothers, and considering that their mothers sell them into military slavery, they are very affectionate towards them.

The institutions of learning are terrible, bleak places. Punishment for the slightest error is common, as are brutal hazing by older students. The purpose of these institutions is to teach young hobgoblins the strict military discipline which the race is known for, survival in extreme environments, provide a basic education in math and other knowledge which they will use in their lives, and a daily practice in weapons as well as hand-to-hand combat. Weight-training is rather intense as well, but this could just be hobgoblin entertainment.

Once the hobgoblin has graduated his classes, a feat which requires 10 years, he is sent to a unit. Prior to engaging in war, he is turned into a man by allowing him to enter the mating house, he will have his pick of women, and in the morning, he is taken to his first battle, if he survives this and kills his enemy, he is washed in his enemies blood and may call himself a man.

This first war is rarely intense, but it is dangerous, as would-be men are typically slain by mistakes made by their own side. It isn’t known how old hobgoblins can become, in my position I have never once ran into another shaman. I think that it is fair to say, however, that the hobgoblin ages in exactly the same manner as the original goblin, about 50 years. Most hobgoblins in the armies are ages which runs the gambit of 14 to 25, with higher ranking officers usually in their 30’s. I have never met a hobgoblin older then 37.

HOBGOBLIN MAGIC

I have noticed that the hobgoblin clerics possess no real powers, but I will admit that I have never watched them in battle. During rites, some degree of power is obtained from the blood sacrifices, but they appear to only possess limited amounts of magic at this time, and it is not clear to me which spheres of magical influence that they have access too.

While hobgoblins are taught basic math, they are not taught to read. They have no books, with the exception of goblin printed variety, which a few of the clerics can appear to read, but looking closer at the books, they appear to be mostly pictures.

Wizardry of any kind is evidently beyond them, much of this has to do with the fact that hobgoblins, are by nature, a heavily superstitious lot. Clerics may hide their magics, out of fear. Everything is an omen to these warrior peoples, the worst omen being a broken sword! I heard tale that a great commander was engaged in combat besides his men when his sword snapped, this battle ground to a halt quickly and the men which they were fighting quickly routed them while they just stood there in shock and in horror looking at this broken sword. Once the officer died, the ranks retreated and all of the soldiers refused to fight again until something changed for them, either they had a dream of a great hero, or obtained a blessing from a cleric.

I have also noticed the trend of hobgoblins carving symbols into their weapons, this may be some form of hobgoblin folk magic, believing that their instruments are enchanted in some way. I took a few opportunities to check for enchantments, however rarely did I discover any real power present.

HOBGOBLIN RACES

Hobgoblins are a very sturdy lot, able to survive in the harshest environments. They hate each other equally, but show no true signs of bigotry towards their brethren. Of course violence does break out among the different tribes, a race as warlike as this is especially prone to such behavior, but more often then not it is simply name-calling and harassment. Rarely are any lives wasted in struggles amongst their own kind, unless a woman is involved, which is a human trait as well, so this isn’t worth commenting further on.

There are rumors of an underwater race of hobgoblin called “Koalinth”. These hobgoblins have developed gills, but other then this fact are exactly as mean and ill-tempered as the variety which I studied on land. Word has it that their hatred for elves was so strong that when it was discovered that they could be hunted in the sea, they immediately dived in and learned to breath water just to kill them there too.

HOBGOBLIN DAILY ROUTINES

These creatures are spiteful and mean. They will invade during the day if they believe that you are sleeping at that time. They are a mockery of human existence. Many of the storefronts which were present at the time of their invasion are now manned by hobgoblin craftsmen. The streets are filled with wares, and raids upon merchant carts are so common that they have formed their own guilds. Most of the other humanoids avoid this place, but a few venture inside for work and goods; if the hobgoblin suspects any form of disrespect on the part of the humanoid, they are butchered on the spot. Most visitors come in and get out as fast as they can! But to the hobgoblin, money is money.

I have seen hobgoblins form their own adventure parties and go out exploring, returning with ancient money and treasures. These creatures act much the same as any wealthy adventurer would, purchasing vast quantities of alcohol, spending the rest on food and women, refitting themselves and heading right back out to do it all over again.

Hobgoblin food is mostly eaten raw, and preferably still warm from the heart. Besides mass quantities of meat, they have their own bread, which I am told, was learned from giants which is coarse and tough, but doesn’t stale as fast. Hobgoblins avoid dairy of all kind, but enjoy a wide variety of fruits and vegetables if they are available. Food is normally dried, or heavily salted, they won’t eat rancid meat, but fresh carrion is acceptable if nothing else is available. These creatures are, by nature nomads and travelers, and their tastes are simple and bland. Very little hobgoblin food has much flavor too it, and is usually hard. Fresh food is avoided, even their vegetables and fruits are not considered edible until they have been left soaking in a barrel of water for a day or two so that it softens up and the color can dull down some.

Vice is also prevalent here. Gambling halls, taverns, and drugs are common. Young hobgoblins love to come here, spend all of their money in the space of one night, and leave broke with nothing but a hangover to show for it. Hobgoblin drugs are typically stimulants which keep the user up for days, give one a sense of euphoria, or help build muscle bulk. Most of the drugs are simply snake-oil in nature with lots of promises but little or no medicinal value. Hallucinogens are strongly avoided.

HOBGOBLIN LAW

I remember when I was a boy and for one reason or another, the city went into marshal law by the order of the king. Life was terrible, food was rationed, curfews were enforced and if you were caught breaking them, for a legitimate reason or not, you were locked in jail.

I stated that hobgoblin life was a mockery of our own, and in this case, it is even more so. Defense is constant, the place is ran like a barracks. Hobgoblins understand this, and it gives them comfort. Items are always checked, bags are dumped onto the streets and their contents examined, if the guard sees something that he likes then he simply calls it evidence and takes it. Bribery is a common occurrence, they will just grab you and threaten to throw you in jail unless you can give them a reason to let you go.

Taxes are plentiful. There is a tax to cross the bridge, a moat tax, entertainment tax, tax to bear arms, tax to bear a shield or wear armor, if they can think of a reason they’ll put a tax to anything. This is what this village is about, extorting money from all who use the road. Most people who can’t pay it are thrown into jail, quickly processed through a mock trial, and escorted out of town minus whatever possessions that you may have had. True criminals, these poor souls get entered into a new status, one of slavery and hard labor until your ending days.

Laws have been put in place to protect businesses and craftsmen. Also military interests as well. Many of the laws which we enforce are also enforced here, criminals and traitors are taken to the mines, there they must dig and work until released by a meaningless and filthy death. Besides the endless caravans of goods, and the never ending troops from tribes all over the Flanaess, another common sight are groups of male and female hobgoblins stripped of their clothing and shackled at the wrists and ankles. They march their way to the death tunnels.

This death is humiliating to all hobgoblins. The only true way to die with honor is to lose your life on the battlefield, to be forced to die in a stinking hole is to refuse them nirvana. These prisoners are already dead, there bodies just have a few years to catch up to them, that is all. While all other races are disciplined by execution, these death tunnels and mines are exceedingly crueler. In this case, they definitely do reserve their greatest horrors for themselves. The logic behind this belief is that other races didn’t know any better, but the hobgoblin, being the superior race didn’t have that luxury.

HOBGOBLINS AT WAR

War is truly the hobgoblin’s bread and butter. They are charged with never-ending strife and combat by god. To kill, butcher, and burn is there pleasure, and their skill at obtaining this is without peer.

Small battles are common, but when large scale warfare can be found, this is where the hobgoblin is most at home. Huge camps filled with blacksmiths, weaponsmiths, and makers of armor work around the clock. This race seems most at ease while deep in the trenches. Their dead are usually ignored, however great war heroes are usually burned on a pyre with much celebration.

Hobgoblins are not above mercenary work if the money is good, however they will use this money to finance more war. All money the hobgoblins earn will always end up purchasing fuel for war. It isn’t land, food, nor property that they fight for. Nor is it to right some wrong of the past. They don’t fight out of anger or fear. Nay, the only thing that they fight for is honor and glory! To prove dominance over all living creatures, large and small.

They will storm a castle simply because it is there, they may take it as their own, but more often then not they’ll keep moving on until they discover something else to destroy. Their tactics are cruel, they burn crops, poison water supplies, infect livestock, set fire to homes, and they kill indiscriminately. No living being is safe from them, they murder children, women, the elderly, and ignore the bodies which litter the streets here in this hobgoblin village.

Fighting men, these men are eaten, believing that their powers in war may be obtained by eating their flesh. Mighty men who slay many hobgoblins are always devoured. Their slayer takes the man’s heart, while the rest of the troops feast on the rest.

Totems are often made of the victims bodies. These are small bones which are hollowed out to make grizzly jewelry, ears, fingers, toes; anything which can be cut off and worn as decoration to impress the hobgoblin females who swoon over this disgusting display.

HOBGOBLINS OF THE REALM

Hob, in the goblin tongue means True or Absolute, thus they call themselves True Goblins, and this name has just stuck. While they are more barbaric in method, they do not possess fighters as skilled as the goblin race. An enigma which I witnessed was a highly dangerous goblin fighter arrive in town. He was as a slave to one of the visiting generals marching his hobgoblin troops to Bone March, they treated this goblin like a dog yet in combat, this dog could have killed all of them and more.

Goblin fighters seem to hold themselves differently, this goblin painted his face in some kind of war-mask, and his armor was decorated in feathers and bones like a hobgoblin, but he was definitely goblin.

While the hobgoblin is a threat to the world, they appear to me, to be nothing but glorified bullies. Despite their great size, they are mimics of mankind, yet absolute strangers to it, as all of their tradesmen are substandard at best. While among them I never once heard an original thought uttered, and I have come to the conclusion that this martial art which they display must also be stolen from some culture, else pieced together from many.

I believe that if it wasn’t for their great numbers, and their ability to work together as a team, that they wouldn’t be the threat that they are. They are suicidal in tactics, all of them wishing to die in battle, as this is the only way for them to achieve any real peace (or at least a hobgoblin version of it). None are truly gifted fighters, the hobgoblins who I was able to heal resented me for it. This leads to a more dangerous enemy then normal, on one hand these creatures are highly predictable, but on the other, they think in a way that is wholly insane, and makes no sense to the average intellect, but if a man can become an expert at this bizarre method of thinking, to be able to read it as if it made sense, then the hobgoblin will become truly predictable and easily defeated.

Chapter I: The Goblin

2009-08-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

My name is Gragord, I hail from a small village within the Great Kingdom where I worked as a sage, making a decent living at it and still having time for my studies. As is common knowledge, when the Bone March fell to the humanoids, the Overking became irate. I fled my home in the cover of darkness, for the Overking was forcing all men of my talent to feed themselves to the humanoid armies; something that I am not ashamed to admit that I wanted no part of. The Grand Army is not known for providing protection, nor comforts, which my stock depends upon; so, I deserted my home, and decided to make my way to the Free City of Greyhawk. A place far enough away from my King’s contact that I could effectively disappear.

I suppose, that if I had made it to the city of Greyhawk, then my life-path would be different, but that wasn’t so. I traveled the roads alone, in the blanket of night, dependent upon my spells to keep me safe. I, unfortunately, had not gotten so far as a days travel away from my home when the royal guards placed me on their wanted lists and began combing the country-side. I knew well that I could not depend upon the docks, so I had to change my original plans, and decided to risk movement through places where I knew that the soldiers would be reluctant to go. Death in the swamp would be more noble then feeding the gears of a war I cared nothing about.

I made it almost to the Kingdom of Nyrond when I was captured by a tribe of Goblins. I suppose that one would think that a man of my skill could easily destroy these humanoids, and I could, but then I decided that with the war taking place in the north, the Humanoids of the south would not be cooperative with the local human leadership of the kingdom, and I was right. There was much resentment between the goblins and the soldiers who offered to pay a modest prize for my capture, but this bounty was ignored and no information as to my whereabouts were ever released to them.

I allowed myself to be detained into a manner of slavery. I wasn’t taken below ground to help dig the massive network of caves with the other human slaves, instead I was taken to the goblin tribal leader, he informed me that their Cleric had recently been killed, all of his books regarding the religions and customs of the goblin people were scribed in some secret language which the former cleric had used to make himself seem more irreplaceable. I agreed to transcribe these works in exchange for comfortable conditions and a small measure of freedom, and this was how my new life began.

For many moons I worked, and lived among the goblins. I became enthralled by their ethnicity, it then dawned on me that no books that I have ever seen had ever been dedicated to cultures of the lesser human races. My guess is that writers are, by nature, a cowardly lot; thus, I decided to begin a side project, while working among them: To record the facts and behaviors which I witnessed, and, once I finished serving them, I was made good my escape, and I chose to seek more humanoids in which to study. This book is the composite of my work. I write it for those interested in how these monstrous beings live, either for a historical perspective of our world, or to use as one will.

Chapter I
THE GOBLIN

The goblin is a squat, thin creature. Their faces are rather piggish; with snout-like noses and sharp protruding teeth that are too large for their mouths. Their arms are too long for their bodies, and they have sharper and pointed ears when compared to elven variety. Their skulls are unique to them, easily identified as goblin once all of the flesh has been cleaned from the bone.

Their skin color varies by tribe, varying from yellow, orange, to a deep red. Eyes are different depending on tribe as well, varying from reds to yellows which, in low levels of light, appear to burn into the darkness.

NATURAL EMPLOYMENT

In the last few centuries, mans technology has grown in leaps and bounds. The same cannot be said in regards to the lowly goblin. They have evolved to a specific plateau and have never improved. This is due to their nature, they have a specific pecking order amongst themselves, ones status is improved through acts of violence and murder. If one goblin appears to be getting ahead, either his subordinate will use him as a stepping stool, or the goblin above him will kill him to protect his own status. Because of this, they have very little history to show for themselves.

While the goblin spends almost his entire life below ground, they have no idea how to work metals, they obtain tools through thievery and slavery. Surprisingly enough they do possess one marketable skill, that of leather working. When it comes to tanning and working with leather, I have seen no peers equal to their skill. Each goblin seems to have great cleverness when it comes to producing this material. The leader of the tribe is especially well protected, his leather armor is both beautiful and functional.

While it is unclear what the goblins hope to obtain, they are always mining. This probably has more to do with their sanitation problems then any real gain. They defecate where they eat, cleaning is alien to them, thus they are always on the move. These tunnels and passageways are rather complex and well-built. Looking upon their craftsmanship, I can recognize their work as forming the foundations of many underground networks in many castles and fortresses around the Flanaess. They typically move around thick deposits of metal, however they mine precious stones, probably just to spite the gnomes who are always looking for them.

RELATIONSHIPS

Like most humanoids whom I have studied, the goblin shares with them a strong disdain for their treatment. One which raises their tempers up faster and hotter then one would imagine possible. They have vowed to destroy the “surface creatures”, regardless of the fact that they require us to survive. They raise no cattle for meat, they grow no food, they live only on what they can kill or steal, yet they despise us! In fact, the only creatures that they despise more then humans, are gnomes and dwarves.

There is a saying in the underdark, “Raka Snetha, P’pootha kik”, roughly translated, it means that one should not suffer a gnome or dwarf to live. Many great wars have raged on between these two peoples, the reason for this war has been lost to both, but the pain and memory of it remains as fresh in their minds as their need for water. If one looks upon the numbers, a dwarf is not mature until he is well over 100 years old, while a male goblin reaches maturity in just 4 years. A short lived goblin does more damage to the dwarven race by killing just one of their kind then a dwarf can possibly do even by destroying an entire tribe.

They have no love for other creatures, they spend so much time fighting with themselves, and jockeying for positions that it would be insulting to take friendships beyond the tribe. I think that I am an exception to the rule. Once I noticed the trends and how things work I myself entered the quest for power, and have become a human bodyguard for the leader of this violent bunch. While they respect strength, and observe fear, they are a cowardly lot, more then often doing nothing independently. If a political assassination is going to take place, the goblin behind it will first rally his supporters and make promises to each one for their co-conspirators in the bloody revolt. I fear that if I had overstayed my welcome longer then I did, jealousy and revenge would no doubt be my ending. I made few friends while among them, but the ones I made, I made sure were powerful and it took much work to keep them that way.

The goblins seem to understand their place in the pecking order in regards to the other humanoids as well. A mouthy goblin will always keep himself in check when in mixed company. They don’t care for Kobolds, but the other humanoids, your hobgoblins, gnolls, etc., they will seek nothing more then some pointless attempt to earn respect which they will never obtain. Even a goblin leader will cater to the lowest ranks of humanoid, treating them as royalty higher then themselves.

Within the humanoid races, their closest alley, if one could call them that, would be the bugbear. These two races have long had a pact with one another and have never entered war or conflicts with the other. The goblin respects their strength and power, while the bugbears respect their dedication and talent for ambush. This race alone, have the goblins ever felt any kinship too.

One exception, however, is in regards to halflings. There is a halfling village somewhere nearby and they quietly trade goods back and forth, apparently the halflings have no qualms about fencing stolen merchandise, they are also similar in size which may make for some sort of kinship among the peoples. It is even listed in their religious materials that it is ill-luck to slay a halfling.

RELIGIONS OF GOBLINKIND

If one can put a word to their beliefs, that word would be brutality. They worship slavery and blind obedience. All of their religious observances must be practiced with a living sacrifice. Dwarves and gnomes are the preferred victims of their evil and dark rites, but they will settle for quantity as well. The last day of my stay with them, they horrified me by rounding up an entire village of elven children, despite my protests and tears they slaughtered the lot of them. This act was what broke the pact and alliance which I had among them, and it is these feelings of compassion and respect for life which led to all of my greatest difficulties when it came to producing this book that you are now reading.

Unlike halfling races, the names of the gods are uniform for all goblins. It never changes, neither by location or time these gods have reigned over the goblin souls. Key of the gods is Maglubiyet, a god that they share with their superior cousins, the hobgoblin. Maglubiyet is a god of war, and also the goblin patron of law, who demands his followers sacrifice the living. This right is preformed by decapitating their victim with an axe. There are four major celebrations of Maglubivet, on these days hobgoblins and goblins converge to pay homage to their saint with blood.

The goblin does have their own god as well, which they do not share with any other humanoid. This beings name is Khurgorbaeyag, a god of slavery and oppression. Both of these elements are key to goblin survival. Slaves of all races are kept for work and in thin times, for food. The goblin leaders, and especially the goblin kings all utter his name when passing judgments and making important decisions. The symbol of this god is the whip. Unlike how humans worship their gods, the goblins believe that they are slaves to Khurgorbaeyag, and typically serve their priests with the abandon of a zealot, only questioning him if they aren’t suffering enough, a consideration usually taken by an underling to a tribal cleric who leads the revolt, however in the case of recent events, it was the tribal leader himself who grew tired of being undermined by the former cleric.

GOBLIN FAMILY STUCTURES

Goblin women lead horrible lives, and considered to be below the human and demi-human slaves which the tribes keep. Woman are for breeding only, and it is their function to raise the young. If one wishes to hear the true haunting voice of despair, one simply needs to listen to the wailing and crying which comes from the breeding caves.

Women have no rights, and are not taught anything. The young are typically beaten by the adult males in order to teach them their ranks immediately. If one survives their youth, they are initiated by pain, taken from the care of their mothers and beaten remorselessly by an entire group of goblin men, those who resist fighting back against their kind are allowed to live, while those who fight back are almost always beat to death unless they are able to kill all of their attackers, these goblins are considered special.

GOBLIN MAGIC

Goblins seem to be incapable of wizardry, but the shamans and priests of Khurgorbaeyag are quite skilled. I stumbled upon a few scrolls in my work of copying the religious rites, and while I am not accomplished in the ways of the gods, I was able to determine that much of their body of work seems to revolve around pain and suffering. They are also skilled at manipulating the darkness. According to my contact within the church, they are specialized at casting spells from the spheres of divination, protection, and reversing the spells of both the healing and the sun spheres of priestly magics.

While the creatures are susceptible to all forms of magic, they are resistant to spells which cause depression, this of course, being a byproduct of their god. Their lives are hellish, depression is a daily happening for them and their kind, one cannot be lower then the goblin and they know it.

GOBLIN RACES

The goblin does not appear to be compatible with demi-human blood, there are no half-goblins of any race, however within the humanoid races, it is my belief that many of them share goblin blood. As I’ve already stated, the goblins share gods with many of them, and are considered minions. In human society, the goblin would be considered royalty, as it possesses the cleanest and purest blood, however this is one instance where the humanoids rebel against this philosophy. Even the Hobgoblin, which is definitely goblinoid, considers itself to be above these lowly creatures.

The goblin, despite variances of skin and eye colors, are all of the same blood and they do not have any racisms against their own kind in this regard. Goblin tribes exist in every land with the exception of the far northern territories, as they are not physically sturdy enough to survive arctic temperatures. While they can keep alive during winters, this is the worst time for them as they have no concept of packing or saving away for these times of strife, this is also why goblin raids are more common in winter moons, then the warm summer ones.

The further north you get, the more bestial they become, but the northern goblin is also the most skilled at taming the wild and dangerous worg wolves. How they can do this remains a mystery, the worg wolf is a primal and very violent creatures which forms no desire for relationships of any kind, perhaps this trait is something that the goblin and worg shares and have thus formed an alliance.

A word about these northern goblins; I have mentioned the rite of manhood which they suffer upon all of their youth, it may be that the powerful goblins who are able to defeat up to 10 of their kind, are sent up north. That the northern tribes are crack teams of the best fighters, this is simply a theory of my own invention. During my time with the goblins I had never seen any goblin defeat the gang of their attackers. When I asked the tribal leader about this, he was definitely evasive, only telling me that these goblins were considered special, and that is it. If this is the case, and the goblin nation is amassing an army of violent, highly trained fighters . . . well, perhaps investigating this rumor is best left to better men then myself. . . .

THE GOBLIN LIFE-CYCLE

Goblins typically live short, pointless lives. They are capable of living for up to 50 years, but this is rarely the case. All venerable goblins are shamans, and are crazy. The shamans keep the goblins healthy, skilled at mixing herbal remedies. The rest of the goblins are terrified of them, even the tribal leaders give them a wide path. Most other goblins, if they are not killed in battle, they are murdered by their own kind in the eternal goblin struggle of rank and file.

Because of the initiation rites, weak, sickly, or feeble minded goblins are quickly slain. Goblin women do not get old, if they do not suicide themselves, they are typically burned once they become barren.

Every goblin male has his position and his duty which he is aware of. He is also aware of every goblin above him in status, as well as who he is responsible for to boss around. All property is communal, and kept with the tribal leader for safe keeping. The tribal leader is responsible for paying his tithe to the Goblin King and staying in contact with him. Privacy is absolutely unheard of! The goblin defecates where it stands, sex has no taboos, clothing is functional only, and nudity means nothing to the goblin. They are a shameless lot, they never groom themselves, nor avoid their own excrement. Lice and other vermin are typical within the goblin caverns, it is unclear how the goblin can be so resistant to disease and the parasites which is normally associated with this kind of living, though this could be attributed to both the tribal shaman, as well as a monstrously high constitution.

GOBLIN LAWS

The only law which is enforced with any strictness what-so-ever, are the laws which involve the chain of command. While it is acceptable to murder the goblins under you, and it is legal to murder the goblin directly above you, it is illegal to kill any goblins above your direct superior. Goblins who become too ambitious are typically dealt with quickly and quietly.

Goblin justice knows only violence. Stealing from the tribe is a capital offense as well, and the goblin is executed on the spot, however this is a rare offense which is typically unheard of. Failure to perform ones function or duty are seen as acts against god, and punished by the church. Goblins are terrified of this, as their souls are cast out, and not allowed to join the army of the afterlife. Oddly enough, this is a common occurrence, very little proof is required to prove someone incompetent.

While all property is communal, pay is in the form of a weak, but highly addictive narcotic. I regret to admit that I myself became a victim of this vile material. It is a mixture of mold and root which they call Snuff. It is manufactured by slaves, and comes in three forms which is distributed by rank.

The first class of snuff comes in the form of a short fat plug, this is distributed to most goblins, who bit off a chunk of it. The snuff is kept between the cheek and the jaw and the juice is swallowed. This narcotic aids with depression, but is more or less weak in effect but highly addictive. Consuming this stuff did nothing for me, however after just one trial I immediately became ill until I took another dose.

The second class is better quality drug and is distributed to higher ranking officers as well as specialists within the goblin armies. This is ground down into little sprigs, the sprigs are placed under the tongue and is very soothing to the soul, however a specific mindlessness takes over ones being while on it. This drug lasts longer, and the goblins under its influence are easily spotted as their eyes become dull and less reflective, which serves as a benefit to goblin sentries, as they lose that unsettling blazing of the eyes.

The third class of snuff is the best in quality, and only reserved for leaders and extremely powerful goblin generals as well as royalty. This class of snuff is ground finely down, and instead of being ingested by placing it in the mouth and sucking on it, it is snorted up ones nose. This is a powerful stimulant! I was allowed to partake in this form of snuff but once, and I am ashamed that I cannot recall much of the influence of it, however the pleasure that I reserved from it was extremely unsettling. It is this drug which possibly makes the goblin under its influence more capable in one-on-one combat. Constant use causes muscles to become more defined, it causes the body to function faster, and the senses to be keener then usual. A side-effect, of course being suicidal blood lust and fits of uncontrollable rage, which are all common among the goblin elite.

GOBLINS AT WAR

War is a responsibility of religion. A goblin who is not at war is offending god. A goblin who does not die in battle is offending god. This religious zealotry is very related to the Bugbear, and it is this bond of beliefs which keeps these two cultures as eternal allies.

The goblin is not stupid, quite the opposite really. Goblins are advanced strategists, highly skilled at setting traps and ambushes, which is their typical means of survival. Despite their religious beliefs of dying in combat, to their core they are a cowardly lot. One on one combat is unheard of, for obvious reasons. Individually, the goblin is weak, but working together they become a force to be reckoned with.

The tools of the goblin are typically stolen, or provided by bugbears. Goblins are skilled with axes, their preferred weapons when fighting in melee, but they also are proficient in morning stars, short swords, and spears. Those working with bugbears and other humanoids often form unites who train with simple polearms if they are available, more often then not preferring the military pick. For ranged combat, they avoid bows and arrows, and prefer slings as each can make their own with leather and there is never a short supply of ammo.

One of the most important tools of war to the goblin are the worgs. Worg patrols are among the most elite of goblin solders, the worgs are provided by the goblin king and farmed up north. Each tribe is provided for.

A few goblins are skilled fighters, they are normally specialized with axes and responsible for grand armies of goblins. Clerics are also in charge of armies and are capable fighters. Goblins trained in the arts of thievery are much more common, their thieves rivaling those of the halfling variety which are normally considered to be most skilled in their arts.

THE SLAVES OF THE GOBLINS
All goblin tribes rely on slavery to exist. Slaves prepare the snuff which is the basis of their financial system, slaves also dig the tunnels and expand the caverns which goblins require to occupy as they hate the sunlight. Because of the frail form of the goblin body, manual labor is beyond them, the slave population is composed of humans and elves. Snuff is the typical method of bondage, but the slaves are never allowed out of their chains, the locks are permanent and have no keyholes. Children caught in bondage suffer the most, as the shackles do not allow for growth of any kind. Children are used to dig in the deepest section of the mine, as well as grinding up the snuff into fine powder for royalty, a highly dangerous job as the air is full of this narcotic. The life expectancy for a snuff miner is a few months, once the fetters become infected or the slave becomes ill he is taken to the refinery and forced to grind the snuff, life expectancy in this part of the mine is measured in days! Hence its rarity and its high value.

GOBLINS OF THE REALM

As a race, the goblin is more organized then any other. Communications between the tribes are constant, and considering the reaches of this race, this is a colossal undertaking which makes them a serious menace to mankind. Tribes are hidden in every nation of the realm. They breed diseases and parasites which they themselves seem to be immune too, but we are not. Coupled with their devotion to causes, and their shear numbers, how much longer can mankind hope to keep this race pinned down to the mountains, forests, and swamps is unknown, but eventually the dam will break. If a races success shall be measured in numbers instead of land, the true rulers of the Flanaess is not mankind, but truly the Goblin. Take away from this text what you will, but I warn you to not underestimate this race simply because of their size and discount them as simple cowards. Behind hate and malice, the goblin mind is sharp and keen. Beware!

DM’s Notes:

While most goblins are not classed, a few of them are. A classed goblin can achieve the following levels of experience max.

Fighter: 10th
Cleric: 9th
Shaman: 7th
Thief: 12th

Goblin thieves have the same racial modifiers as halflings to their skill levels.
You can take the word Shaman to either mean healer or wizard. While none of my sources have mentioned wizardry, there is no restrictions on the goblins intelligence. While they would have trouble joining established wizardry schools, learning on ones own really isn’t out of the question, but understandably, goblin wizards would be unique in many ways. In other respects, one can just assume that shamans aren’t regulated by lawful institutions and can act chaotically.

New Project to begin soon

2009-08-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

I was shopping in one of those Antiquarian bookshops, hoping to score some old pulp magazines. I’m not sure how I found it, I was just walking by the section on occult and arcane religions, when for whatever reason, a book from the bottom of a pile seemed to catch my eye. Many of the books were on thick wooden shelves, however the overflow, like much of the place, was simply stacked into heaps and placed hodgepodge everywhere. For whatever reason, I started moving books, to see more clearly the book which called to me. The letters were bizarre, in a script that I have never seen, almost runic; well, there wasn’t anything almost runic about it, it was definitely hand-written in runes that were definitely not Germanic, Nordic, nor Celtic; but besides the mysterious text, the inside was illustrated, also by hand, with strange beasts the likes I had only seen in my nightmares! Laughing hyenas which walked upright on two legs, like a man, yellow demons armed with bizarre instruments of war the likes I had never seen and couldn’t place culturally, the more I flipped through the pages, the more intrigued that I became. What kind of fantasy was this?

I’m not sure why I carried it up to the front and purchased it. I mean, I collect old books, but this was definitely beyond my means, paying for it set me back quit a bit, forcing me to live off of soup and little else for the next few weeks, all for some book which I couldn’t even read!

The cover was constructed of dyed leather, stained a lustrous blackish-red, and stretched across what I assume to be some high quality wood. It opened upon three tiny, silver hinges, and the title of the book was foiled in silver as well, mixed with some kind of gemstones which I have never been able to properly identify.

The paper inside is thicker then I’ve ever seen before, almost like that stuff that the trendy magazines use, but without the glossy finish? And the ink was strange too, in the light I noticed that it seemed to glitter, as if some sort of stone had been ground down extremely finely and mixed in with the ink itself.

I needn’t tell you that this book mystified me! It appeared to be ancient, yet it was just too polished, and too perfect. I tried to find a copyright date, but was unable to find one. Surely this was a hoax of some kind, but why?

While flipping through its pages, a slip of paper fell out into my lap. This was written in English, and it stated that this book was obtained and brought to shore by a Nantucket whaling ship called the Despot Pride. Apparently they spotted a ship a few hundred miles off the coast of Cuba, at first they thought that it was an Asian junk of some kind, but nobody could identify the style. Moving into investigate, they discovered that the men on board were not Asian, but almost gypsyish. The boat was too small for ocean travel, it took all of their efforts to keep the small ship afloat, the Despot Pride quickly arrived to their aid, pulling the little junk out of the water and giving the brown gypsy people a ride to the coast.

They reported that the gypsy junk was colorfully painted, the carpenter inspected the little ship and said that he couldn’t identify the timbers used to make her hull. The instructions that the gypsy captain gave to the Nantucketters was odd as well, they requested not to be taken to Cuba, but to some nameless patch of water between Florida, Cuba, and Bermuda, which the whalers did. Upon leaving, the gypsy junk presented the captain of the Pride with the book.

Needless to say that nobody ever reported the Junk again. The only thing left from this experience is this book that I purchased hundreds of years later. I was at a loss, but then it occurred to me that the Captain (or who ever wrote this history) stated that the gypsies spoke English. Could it be that the tome was written in English as well? Now, my grandfather and I would spend our Sundays doing Cryptograms. Just out of curiosity I decided to try and decode the bizarre runes by finding single letter words, and from there, I was able to begin translating the codes into a readable form of English. This worked after a few weeks of sticking to it. I admit now that I became obsessed, but I believe that I am finally making some headway.

Apparently, this book was written in 563, but not of this world, at least I don’t think so. The places described in the first few paragraphs describe no place that I am familiar with, and a few of the illustrations contain maps that are not matching with any known coasts.

I believe that this text was written in a dimension called Oerth, a world much like our own, however one which, if my theory is correct, could be bleeding off our magic to their own plane. I think that the gypsies were from this dimension and accidentally slipped into our own and became temporarily lost.

This book appears to describe humanoids, written by a man who chose to live among them, I will attempt to translate the runes into modern letters, but this process is slow. I only hope that the quality of the posts to come will make up for the lack of quantity.

Reversing as Story Element

2009-08-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

While I strive to play the game as close to core as I can, one of my greatest pleasures is pushing the boundaries of what was intended. One of the best ways to do this is, again, through alignment.

You take a character or NPC which is normally always associated with one idea, and you reverse it. This is a common tool which writers use in an attempt to freshen up and revitalize old ideas, and it works! Well, sometimes it works, nothing is fool-proof.

Lets take a Necromancer, as an example. When you think of necromancer you always think of a old man with a beard who is chaotic evil and 20th level. They live in black castles out in the middle of noplace and . . . well, do I really need to go on? I’m sure that everybody gets the idea. There is nothing wrong with this description! Things should be as one expects them to be, that is a good formula and players absolutely love the scenario! It is fun! But what about this, instead of an old man, we’ll make him a young man, and instead of 20th level, we’ll make him 1st or 2nd level; and instead of him being Chaotic Evil, we’ll make this specialist Chaotic Good.

The boy dresses in black, he is extremely focused, his family was slain by an evil Necromancer and he plans on taking the evil-doers powers and using them against him. He constantly fights evil, choosing to fight fire with fire. If he can resist the ever-present draw of evil, he will grow to be one of the most powerful forces of good in the world. We can either create this guy as a PC or keep him as an NPC. The problem with him is that at low levels he is extremely weak, he is more of a liability to a party then a benefit. I think that I would keep him an NPC that travels with the party, agreeing to aid them if he can, and instead of them paying him, he’ll pay them. He’ll seek knowledge and experience, he is a minor character who will, hopefully, if he is protected, turn into a major one.

The Con of having him in your party is that you must keep him alive and protect him. The Benefit is that he’s smart, he knows much of the occult and you can use him to pass along myths and legends which the party wouldn’t normally be privy too. He’ll also have access to institutions of higher learning, and be seen as an authority figure on the subject. He is a specialist in all things undead. He will be opinionated, and it is his opinions which will bring the party into trouble from time to time as the wrong people will use his opinions to hide themselves, aiming him at the wrong target which he will attack with zeal only to find out that he has been tricked and maybe he done the wrong thing. He is walking a thin line, a line of evil and his judgment will be foggy at times because of this.

He won’t raise his own dead, he knows that this is wrong, but he will steal the undead from others and then use them until he feels that it is time to return them to their graves. The trick here, is of course to keep the game in balance, from time to time he can fuel an adventure, but we don’t want to turn the game on him, it should be more about the PCs then some NPC and we don’t want to put too much value in him early on, because if he dies then it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. This is a risky campaign idea that in the hands of a weak DM can easily turn into a Railroading situation where the DM will take over the game with his own PC which takes all of the glory. I know that it sounds like I’m making this guy out to be a hero character of the DM but I’m not. This character is essentially broken, it can take a party places where they normally wouldn’t go because they have more common sense then that. A Necromancer is pretty pointless until 6th level, then he can start doing some damage, but until that time he must be babied which I don’t think would be much fun for a full time PC.

Another thing that I like to do is remind folks that not all monsters are monstrous. Well, some are, but sometimes I’ll throw in a curveball. A horde of goblins is seen outside of town, and the public officials want these things killed. The trick is that even low level adventurers can easily wipe them out, they are pacifists who have been banished from the goblin kingdom for weakness. They just want to be left alone and the real goal of the adventure is to see how long it takes before the party figures it out. Then they have to relocate the goblins to a place where they will do some good, perhaps they have a magic item which they worship, and believe that their job is to cultivate a forest (which farmers wouldn’t like) in another part of the area lays a dead ranger, killed by a troll invasion and the forest has darkened and is dying. The trolls must be exterminated and the goblins moved in to restore the balance as the forest guardians.

Of course the trick to this type of adventure is to avoid being to preachy, whatever happens happens, right? But someday down the road perhaps the goblins will form their own little community which can spawn further adventures, and perhaps become a testing ground to see if this new race would make a good stock for PC characters to come from.

I think that that is my beef with the Humanoids Handbook, none of that stuff is play tested well, and dropping the wrong creature into a campaign can destroy it quickly. I believe in slow experimentation. When introducing a new race or class I think that it should be eased in, and I let the PC playing it know that I can pull it back out at any time. I also try to make the PCs as responsible for the world as possible. If the players play this scenario successfully, then they can earn the right to create Goblin characters, but if they fail at the goal, then this goblin stock will be lost forever. I don’t see why anyone would just drop something into their campaign for the hell of it! I have played by share of humanoid creatures, the most powerful being a Wolfwere, but the difficulty of the game was equal to the power. The DM also trusted me not to destroy the game with it, I was hiding in a human setting, and if I were to be discovered for what I really was I’d be killed. It takes the right kind of player to playtest a new race, preferably one who is interested in roleplaying and has experience DMing so that he knows how to be agreeable and not take this advantage to try and beat the system.

Medusa Cactus

2009-08-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

Medusa Cactus
Climate/Terrain: Dry/Desert
Frequency: Very Rare
Organization: Solitary
Activity Cycle: Any
Diet: Water, Sunlight
Intelligence: Semi- (2-4)
Treasure: P,Q(x10),X,Y
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
No. Appearing: 1
Armor Class: 7
Movement: 4
Hit Dice: 3
THAC0: 17
No. of Attacks: 4
Damage/Attack: 1d3+1
Special Attacks: Needles cause flesh to stone
Special Defenses: see below
Magic Resistance: Nil
Size: M (5’-7’ tall)
Morale: Average (8-10)
XP Value: 650

The medusa cactus looks exactly like a normal cactus in the area, however close inspection will reveal eyes.

Combat: The medusa cactus stalks its victims, moving only at night and so slowly that it can’t be observed. It is covered in needles, many of them harmless, but some contain a venom which mimics the wizard spell Flesh to Stone. At will the cactus can project these needles, its range is 1/2/3 and can fire 3 normal needles, plus 1 venomous needle per round.

The Medusa Cactus regenerates all of its hit points by 8 hours of inactivity.

Habitat/Society:The cactus, because of its nature is almost impossible to spot, it lives with normal cactus plants which looks exactly like it, however they are not intelligent. Their lairs are filled with statues of creatures, forming a lush and beautiful garden oasis, which the cactus enjoys tending, and is always on the look out for new displays. The treasure in the medusa cactus’ lair will be incidental, it doesn’t value these items, except for either items of beauty or lures for more victims.

Ecology: The medusa cactus is a solitary creature, they will not attack their own kind, but they don’t enjoy each others company either. They reproduce upon death, seeds deep inside of it are released, the carcass spawning 1d6 cactuses which stay in the area until maturity, when they each fight for their parent’s garden. The winner of these contests keeps the established garden while the others leave to seek their own fortunes. The only way to stop this birthing process is to burn the dead cactus.

A few individuals have attempted to harvest the venomous needles, however it has never been successful, as the venom is only effective for 3 hours after being fired by the cactus, no magic seems to have the power to delay this natural reaction and it is yet a mystery as to the exact biology or anatomy of this dangerous intelligent plant.

Low Level Adventures & Monster Treasure

2009-08-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I’ll be taking your treasure now. You kids have found some good stuff!, but don’t you be worrying about it, I won’t leave you empty handed, you see, I’ve got some advice for you to take with you. I know that you are going to hate me for this, but some day, you’ll be thanking me because if you are as good as I think that you are, you’ll be doing this to when you get to be my age too. I also know that you think that you’ve earned it, but let me tell you something. You didn’t earn nothing yet!

You want to talk about earning something, try staying up all night in the pouring rain and having to march all day on the next! Try having to leave your brother behind because he broke his leg any you’re surrounded by half-mad ogres! When you can survive a week on your own in the Troll Finns, THEN, young one, then you have earned it.

You see, we in the business call this paying your dues. You can’t just come into the city and expect to find work! This is my work, I’ve got enough competition around here without lazy little piles like you stealing from me. You’re lucky that Strumtum didn’t catch you before I did, he would have taken more then your treasure, and that is a promise. You see here you are a very tiny fish in a very big ocean, and you’d think with a population as big as this city has, that it could sustain just one more band of adventurers, but let me tell you, it can’t! We who stay here, and call this place home, we are cut-throats because we’ve got to be.

I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to rent you a room for the night, and make sure that you get a decent breakfast, and then you and your friends here are going to leave this city, and I’ll tell you why you want to do that.

Out there in the country, they need people like you. Here wannabe adventurers are a dime a dozen, but out there beyond those walls, there are folks out there that are willing to work with you. You go find a town, a really small one, and you’ll find adventure, trust me. There are lots of bad things out there in the world right now, evil seems to be creeping up from the streets itself. You do that, you go to some little hole in the wall village that nobody’s ever heard of, and you call it home. You protect it, you make yourself known, you make yourself available, you make a real name for yourself, and you’ll get something that is worth more then this here treasure that I’m relieving you of, you’ll get respect!

Pay your dues. Folks like me and Strumtum are too damned old to be tramping around the countryside, besides, we’ve done our time doing that sort of thing. Our backs are twisted from sleeping on rocks, our bodies covered in scars, we’re tired, young one. But you aren’t, and that is exactly why you need to go out there. Leave the easy city-work to us old men, and you go take care of the crap that we can’t, and when you’re done, and if you survive it, you’ll find an empty soft bed that you can call home every night waiting for you long after I’m gone.

Well, I’ll be leaving you now. Once you get out of those ropes, you boys head on over to the Aging Dragon Inn and tell them that I sent you, they’ll fix you up good so that you can prepare for your journey.

City work is dangerous, yes you have more resources, better equipment, cheaper prices, and better chances to fence the stuff that you’ve earned for usable gold, however like the story above illustrates, the demographics aren’t in your favor. If you think about it, a large city has a huge population of real classed adventurers. The best fighters, the strongest wizards, the sneakiest thieves, hell there are probably Paladins in the city. This translates to loss of work, and it ruins a low level parties chance of success.

Leaving the city, and taking your adventures out into the country puts the demographics more in your favor, while a city houses hundreds, if not thousands of 1st level fighters, a tiny village being harassed by bandits probably has just 1 or 2 1st level fighters, if any at all!

ENTERPRISING

A player can really give a DM a headache, and upset the balance of the game simply by collecting all of the enemies weapons after a melee and selling them. We can quickly snuff this kind of deal by not having a market for them to sell their wares. A small town’s shop will be centered around the industry that it has access too, of course some arms will always be present, for personal defense, but not enough of a market for the merchant to justify buying a large lot of swords.

Also, if one thinks about it, bladed weapons require care and maintenance to keep them in functioning order, a classed humanoid may properly care for his weapon, but as a general rule, it is up to you to determine how industrious the humanoid in question is. A goblin horde with their own weapon-smith would be very dangerous! Typically a goblin will own a weapon which he found or stole from some place, and he won’t have the common sense, or know-how to properly maintain it. Instead, he’ll just replace the old dull blade with a better one from defeated enemies. More often then not, humanoids will use weapons that don’t require that much care, your bludgeoning-type weapons would be more desirable to them then a sharp blade, unless they know how to sharpen it, it would only serve well for a week or two, maybe less under lots of use.

Because of this, whenever we roll a 1 or a 20 with a humanoid weapon (or any found weapon really), we’ll roll a saving throw for the item against crushing blow. A broken weapon will have to be replaced. I know that lots of fighters, who when they change weapons, just drop what they were using and draw the new one to save on attack time, well a humanoid would be all over that! A good sharp sword would be a rarity, and something to risk your life for.

Armor is much the same way, the many humanoids don’t wear armor, especially not sophisticated stuff because it needs to be oiled and hammered out too, and they just don’t have access to that kind of skill. A critical hit (or a 20 since I don’t really use crits) would also have to make a saving throw else lose a point or be ruined completely depending on the situation and how the DM wants to call it.

Any found weapon or armor would be subject to this rule, with the exception of an enchanted weapon. Enchanted items are more durable and can be left unattended for long periods of time, they are magic! They cut through sharpening stones, resist bending, and repair themselves on their own. At lower levels of play, however, one is typically dealing with +1 weapons, these aren’t necessarily enchanted, they are just of a better quality then the normal blade. Their cost should be double, but if a 1 or a 20 is rolled, you can enforce the item saving throw, if it is failed, the blade doesn’t break, but the +1 is gone. Of course you should modify this saving throw in the players favor, because this is a quality sword and should be able to put up with some punishment. I have heard of folks giving items hit points which I suppose works, but is just way to much paperwork for my liking.

In other words, what I just did was lowered the value of humanoid weapons. They are tarnished and dull and junk, who is going to buy them? I suppose that a really industrious player could restore the blades, but would that really be worth their while?

Food for thought!

Villisca Axe Murder

2009-08-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, the wife and I went on down to Red Oak, Iowa. My father-in-law runs the Montgomery County Historical Museum, and we were invited to the unveiling of the new Villisca Axe Murder exhibit. It was a big hoopla to draw in money for the museum, there was an author there who wrote a book about the murders, and my wife and mother-in-law baked a huge cake in the shape of the Moore House which looked wonderful.

The exhibit itself is brilliantly done! It’s a faithful copy of the Moore bedroom (without the blood), and tons of information about the murders, but this really isn’t what this article is about, something else came out of this vicious tragedy which can provide a model for our hobby. This article will mostly be focused on the social implications of this happening, as the social implications were huge and took a nasty toll on the town which lurks over it to this day.

Just as a quick biopsy of what happened, so that my readers who aren’t familiar with the case can grasp what I’m writing about: In June of 1912, the residence of J.B. Moore, a successful business man who sold farm implements, including the contract with John Deere, was broken into during the night. Whoever did this took the axe which Moore used to break up coal, walked into the house and right upstairs. He killed Mr. Moore, his wife, his four little children, then went down stairs to kill two more little girls who were staying in the guest room. The killer wrapped all of the bodies up in their bedding, covered all of the windows and mirrors, locked the door and walked away. The case has never been solved.

THE COMMUNITY

Before this happened, Villisca was a cosmopolitan little city. Located right on the railroad, the trains provided the blood which kept the towns heart beating. Many of the people in town were middle-class, the lower-classes kept to themselves on the other side of the tracks, but everybody got along. Everybody knew their place in the pecking order. Villisca had two churches, a Methodist and a Presbyterian. It was a classy place, providing arts and entertainment which included high class music (a rarity at the time), big acts, and festivals that brought folks in from all around.

Life was happy! It evolved into an almost British-like social society. Some people owned their own automobiles, and the first symphony to play in the state of Iowa was here. Typical of country-life, folks kept their doors unlocked, and they talked. They talked about their neighbors and it was impossible to get away with anything without the entire town finding out about it.

The biggest crimes that the police had to handle at the time were simple petty crimes, usually the doings of transients who also rode the rails. A hobo camp was just outside of town, new faces were always showing up. Transients could easily find work from the residence, helping around their houses, or working fields. Folks let them come in for dinner, and even lodged them like good Christians.

All of this changed when the murders happened, the police had no idea what to do! The first officer on duty had a local guy watch over the house while he called in a Detective from Council Bluffs to come help out. What happened next really pushes the limit on the imagination.

Once word got out that a grizzly murder had gone down in the Moore house, you would think that people would just whisper about it, and do some armchair detective work and that would be it. The Gentiles of Villisca, these high society people weren’t content to just talk about the murders, or to simply go to church and mourn their dead. Instead, everyone in town, and from miles around, showed up. So many people came to the house that folks were falling off of the porch. The man in charge of securing the house was mobbed, there was nothing that he could do to stop them from entering the house. He told them that if they go inside, then they’ll witness something that would haunt them for the rest of their days, I mean the killer bashed in the heads of children with an axe! Mr. & Mrs. Moore were so deformed that they couldn’t be identified! This was a BAD crime scene, the kind that if it happened today would require councilors on duty to talk to the officers who had to work it. It was nightmarish and folks were lining up to go inside, some folks were even taking trophies, and it wasn’t just restricted to stealing property either, but pieces of skull and flesh were taken by these normally happy people who were now acting like ghouls!

I really can’t stress how nasty this must have been. You’ve got eight dead, mutilated bodies sitting in a closed up house, cooking in the Iowa summer heat. The smell, the bugs, mud tracked in from outside by the hundreds of spectators walking around the place like it was a circus freak-show . . . and they were taking stuff.

To say that the crime-scene was tainted would be a severe understatement. Crime investigation at the time was yet in its infancy, especially in a place like this, where the biggest crime is horse theft. A so-called expert in finger prints came down, but he was so drunk by the time he got off of the train and showed up at the door, that the police sent him to the hotel to sleep it off. Not that finger prints would had been any good, the next day, after he sobered up and investigated, he only found one print in the victim‘s blood, but it was smeared; and even then, we still can’t tell if it was the killers prints, or one of the ghoulish visitors who played with stuff. Even if he had found the perfect print, there wasn’t yet a system in place which it could be checked against, not to mention that fingerprints weren’t excepted in court yet.

Folks try to yell about the police screwing the job up, but I personally don’t see this as the case. It was the ghouls and gawking which made this crime scene unspeakable. Folks were even playing with the axe which the murderer had left leaning against the wall outside of the guest room when he’d finished.

There was enough evidence to piece together what had happened, and blood-hounds were brought in, they led the entire town to the river where investigators found a bloody cloth, but this could had been somebody else’s, as it was a popular fishing spot, and anybody whose ever cleaned a catfish knows how bloody those things are.

In other words, the killer had escaped. After a short simmering of the minds, the good folks of Villisca started realizing what this meant. What happened next is a bit more understandable, but yet again, it went to an extreme that couldn’t be foreseen.

TERROR

There was no motive to this crime. Nothing was stolen, J.B. Moore had no obvious enemies (yet), but even if he did, why kill the children? And it wasn’t just the Moore family, but the two girls who just happened to be spending the night! A local dispute had erupted between the city officials and the power company, because of this, all of the street lamps had been left off on the night of the murder, thus the streets were dark. There wasn’t any moon out that night neither, so it was even worse! The children had attended a Children’s Night at one of the local churches, and the two girls were afraid to walk home in the dark and had gained permission to sleep in the Moore’s guestroom. The oldest girl was friends with one of the Moore children, so this wasn’t a problem.

This crime though, which no matter where you lived at in Villisca, was right down the street, and was so random that it could happen to anybody. ANYBODY! And you and your family could be next! More insanity erupted. Of course nobody believed that it was a local who had done this, it was a monster!

The hobos, who were in the camp outside of town, broke up the moment that they heard, all jumped trains and were out of town before any violence could befall them. Many of the transient workers ran too, of course it didn’t end there. The minorities were next, physically ran out of town if they didn’t go of their own free will. Visitors were no longer embraced, but looked upon with suspicion. The transients which did find work in town were treated oddly too. Before the murders they were usually allowed to sleep in the barn, but now people were putting them in their sitting rooms, while they and their families locked themselves up in one bedroom. The idea was that they could hear the transient getting murdered and they themselves could escape.

People rigged up cans on wires, so that in the dark, the killer would trip the wire and rattle the cans, alerting those inside to their presence. Of course the problem with this is all of the critters that also call Iowa home, many of them nocturnal. Coons would rattle the cans and folks inside the houses were to terrified to even come out and use the out-house!

Everyone bought guns, and there was a run on new locks; no hardware store was prepared for this, and many fights broke out because folks felt that they needed to protect their families and to hell with everybody else (a distinctly UN-Iowan sentiment).

Even today this can be felt, but in 1912, and the decade that followed it, the only way to describe the public is TERRIFIED! Everybody was armed, when folks came home late at night (about 9:30) they were warned to make as much noise as possible, else risk getting shot by their fathers. Nobody screwed around, doors were locked, but rumors stated the mysterious murder took place in a locked house, so nobody felt safe. In effect, everybody was victims of this crime, and the police (also locals) didn’t like it one bit either, this general feeling of helplessness overtook them as well. Before the week was out, every barn, alley, outhouse, and shadow was checked in the hunt for the monster that did this, but nothing came about it. Folks who were kids at the time recalled their terror of watching armed officers surrounding their barns, and them just knowing right then and there that the killer was hiding in there.

SHARK TANK

Emotions in Villisca had ran the gambit, or at least one would had thought that they had. You’d think that the shame of their ghoulish behavior would sink in, but unfortunately people out there saw money to be made from this. Papers from all over were interested in this story, and the quiet, simple people of Villisca were not used to folks as far away as New York caring about what happened to them. One of the first reporters, and one of the biggest trouble-makers soon hit the scene. He didn’t care about the crime, he only saw a chance to make money. This man was a drunk and addicted to opium, originally from California, he was fired from his job as a respected journalist because there wasn’t anything respectful about him. Shock reporting is nothing new, and at the time of the murder, he was in Kansas City working for their paper, and he instantly jumped on the story like a rattler strikes a rat.

Of course he didn’t work alone, another man showed up, and with his charisma and the writers gift of writing, they caused one of the biggest shit storms this state would ever be privileged enough to witness, and fabricated one of the greatest Iowa myths of all time . . . well, unless you’re from Villisca.

This story which they concocted had it all! Sex, Violence, and Rock & Roll long before Elvis would be swinging his junk around on the stage. You see they provided a suspect, all this time folks believed that the killer had to be a transient, no way could he come from ‘this’ community. No way could it be one of ‘them’. It had to be a foreigner, only a foreigner could be monstrous enough to do a whole family in like that. But this lawyer and newspaper man said otherwise. Not only was it one of ‘Them’, but it was the most powerful guy in town!

Now before Moore was murdered, he owned and ran a successful hardware store, but before that he worked for this guy, Frank F. Jones. This guy was a blowhard, opinionated bully. He seemed to have his grubby hands into everything, he operated not just the hardware store, but the bank as well. He was a politician who was running for Senator at the time of the murder. Now I’m not going to lie to you, the story is good! There was real bad blood between the two. Not only had Moore robbed him of the John Deere contract when he quit and opened his own shop, to you folks not savvy in country matters, there is no bigger name in farming implements then John Deere, it is the FORD or Chevy of tractors, and while not everybody owned their own automobile, almost everyone in town used a John Deere, it was a status symbol, and it still is to this day. Thus, this contract was a big deal, but remarkably this wasn’t the only thing that Moore was into in regards to Jones’ affairs, it also was a matter of common Villisca knowledge, that J.B. Moore was involved with his wife!

Great story, right? You can see how this kind of scandal would feed a small community rumor mill faster then the grain elevator fills up train cars, but it gets better. It is said that the suspect hired a professional criminal, a Blackie Johnson, a guy who was in Illinois at the time, not to mention never even knew that he was being called Blackie, this was just a name that the reporter decided to give him; you see, before landing his gig in KC, he wrote a series of fictional stories about this lovably rogue named Blackie, he just applied the name to Johnson, a career criminal, how and why they decided to finger this guy out of everybody else is beyond me, but folks ate it up!

According to the story, J.B. Moore’s old boss and biggest rival let Blackie into the house while Moore and his family was at church. Blackie went upstairs and hid in the attic closet until he was sure that everyone was asleep, then he crept out and butchered everyone with the axe. The two even found 3 witnesses who would testify in court that they had seen or heard this plot taking place. A mysterious group of three men plotting the murder, one man even claimed that he saw the suspect let Blackie in the house! Of course all of these witnesses, but one, caved in or changed their testimony once they took the stand. Jones got sick and tired of being slandered and attempted to shut the lawyer up for good in court, but it didn’t work, instead the lawyer twisted the case so that it wasn’t about slander anymore, but all about the fact that the suspect was the real mastermind behind the murder. Movies aren’t this dramatic! This lawyer would preach his theory everywhere he could. On the street corner, in barns, on porches, and folks were just drawn to him!

Well, the police saw through this. With the collapse of the case against the senator, their attentions were draw to a crazy little preacher from Nebraska who was in town that night and was telling everybody about it in lurid detail.

Rev. George Kelly was not a good person, he was what we here in Iowa refer to as a kook. He was brought into Villisca to cover for the normal preacher who was out of town. He was staying in the home of a church member, and there was always lots of complaints about his behavior. He’d yell at the children, and one of the residence, who was a child back then, reported that he stayed the night at her house once, and her mom was so unnerved and scared that she spent the night on the steps with a rifle to protect her family. She had her husband tell him that he’d have to find a different place to sleep the next night.

Well, to make a long story short, the police arrested the little preacher, but then the next social problem took the town by the throat! There was evidence which the preacher did it. A cloths washing company in Omaha reported that they had cleaned a bloody shirt. Normally one puts all of their cloths on a train, it got sent to Omaha and then returned to the pharmacy were you could pick them up. Well, the preacher took his cloths to the company himself, and didn’t leave his name, he just told them to send it to Villisca when they were clean. He then returned to Villisca and told the pharmacy that he was expecting the bundle. The problem was that the cleaners cleaned the shirt before alerting the police, so we’ve got no idea how much blood was on the shirt. When questioned by the cops, the preacher even stated that it was blood, but said that it was his blood because he had cut himself shaving and just let himself bleed all over his new shirt. Cops didn’t buy it and they grilled him all night until he confessed. HE CONFESSED!!!! He said that the voice of god told him to grab the axe and to “Slay, Utterly”. So he did. He also said that this wasn’t the first time that god talked to him, the good lord also wanted some buildings burned down in Nebraska, for whatever reason, so he done that too.

Another good lead was the preachers previous charge of ogling little girls. I was very brief in my description of the murder, but whoever took the lives of the children took extra care with one of the girls murdered down stairs. The police felt confident that they had their man! But all of the Presbyterians, who knew that the preacher was odd, and really weird, couldn’t believe that he was an axe murderer. Couple this with the fact of the lawyer and the reporter preaching about this scandal to anybody who would pay to listen, to everybody’s surprise, this drove a wedge between the town.

Folks formed two camps. Those that believed that the Senator did it, and those who believed that the preacher did it. Once the little preacher was held for trial and taken to Red Oak, a mob formed outside of the courthouse and he had to be transferred to a secret location, not for fear that the mob outside would lynch him, but because this mob was trying to set him free!

With all of this evidence against the little preacher, the lawyer and the reporter had corrupted every resident in the state of Iowa, titillating them with the story of the Senator. No jury could convict this guy, even though all of the evidence pointed directly to him, including a signed confession! The little preacher was allowed to walk, and the town went nuts.

The factions of the town attacked each other for the miscarriage of justice. Folks who believed that the Senator did it refused to shop in stores owned by folks who believed that the preacher did it. The children of the Senator’s supporters couldn’t play with the children in the Preachers camp. Violence erupted as well, none as serious as taking an axe to each others heads, but fights and arson did happen. It was insane! Surprisingly enough there are even pictures of the father of the two girls murdered in the house shaking hands with the little preacher. He believed, until the day that he died that Blackie Johnson had killed his daughters.

This debate still continues, the Senators life was ruined, he lost everything and was just as much a victim as anybody else effected by the tragedy, probably more so! As he didn’t lose his life, out-right, but he did loose all of his businesses, his prestige, and his money, not to mention that his name is still on the suspect list, and no doubt always will be. The Preacher was busted looking at little girls again up in South Dakota, he spent some time in an asylum before disappearing from the eyes and ears of history forever.

Years later, after all of this drama was over, a new suspect joined the list, a serial killer who could be tied to being in Villisca at the time of the Moore murders with the exact M.O. of this sort of crime. He had killed his own mom and sister in this exact way, not to mention it would solve a string over murders along his path . . . but of course this man is now dead too and this case has cooled to the point were solving it is irrelevant.

THE AFTERMATH

The repercussions of this tragedy can still be seen to this day. The house was immediately rented to a different family, nobody lived their long as the place is one of the most haunted houses in the country, and perhaps that is part of the social implications too. This case still ruffles feathers. The axe was kept under lock and key in the Red Oak Courthouse, it was suppose to be delivered to the museum for the unveiling, however a group in Villisca wishes that the house would burn to the ground and that the axe be buried in the cemetery. The thought of the Museum being burglarized during the night was not out of the question so the axe never made it to the exhibit.

The town was dealt a near fatal blow when the railroad died out, today it is much smaller then it once was, but it still struggles against what happened all those years ago. This could had happened anywhere, it just happened there. In a little-big town in central Iowa which was once known for pork and butter is now infamous for their bad behavior and tragedy.

THE ROLE PLAYING ANGLE

I know that I like to explore murder cases in my games. Nothing entertains me more then presenting a who done it, but something like this can really influence a who-do-it on a much grander scale! A successful village turned absolutely upside down over-night. A reasonable cast of characters. This could make for some really good vegetables in our mystery campaign soup! At least I see the potential, if you don’t then I hope that you at least got a good story out of the deal.

For more on the Villisca Case, there is a good supply of media out there. The Official Website, A documentary called “Villisca: Living with the Mystery” on DVD, and the new book by Roy Marshall called Villisca. There is more, out there then just this brief introduction.