Author: jstater

NOD #3 – Getting Close

/ jstater

I’m almost finished with NOD #3. I have a little bit of writing left to do, some editing, some art to add, a few mini-dungeon maps to finish drawing and a cover image to find. Looks like this one will come in at around 120 pages, so the price might increase a little, at least on the print version. Slated articles are:

Nabu – The sandbox covering the eastern half of the wilderness map that first appeared in NOD #1 (free download just to the right). This time, there are about six mini-dungeons with maps. This sucker weighs in at almost 80 pages.

Gods of Nabu – A pseudo-Egyptian pantheon – around 20 deities and a few new spells.

Beastmen of Nabu – 13 bestial humanoids statted up as monsters, races and race/classes + art by Charles LeBrun.

The Druid – The druid done for S&W. I’ve made some alterations since posting it on the blog, mostly in terms of the spell selection and the special abilities.

The Elementalist – A magic-user who commands elemental spirits.

Phantastes – Second installment of George MacDonald’s fantasy story, along with annotations for role-players.

The plan is to publish by this Friday.

Thoughts on Henchmen

/ jstater / 4 Comments

I was reading Al Nofi’s CIC on StrategyPage today, and saw this …

“When the Duke of Alba set out from northern Italy for the Netherlands in 1573, his army consisted of about 9,600 troops and nearly 7,000 camp followers.”

Could be interesting if every henchmen you wanted to bring on an adventure had 0-2 followers with him – wife, kids, whatever – or perhaps the requirements for strongholds (1 armorer for X troops) were carried over to expeditions as well. In truth, the added annoyance would probably guarantee my players would never use henchmen (or henchman – 10,000 gp in their pockets, and the most they would ever hire was one guy, with a few hit points, who always managed to die within an hour of leaving town … Gygax help me, I tried).

Venatia – Porpoises and the Eye of Ra

/ jstater

Final 6 preview locales for the southeast map. Starting next week – the northeast map.

6831 Wrecked Galleass: A long galleass, its sides covered in thin plates of bronze, lies wrecked upon a small rocky island. Close inspection will reveal two interesting facts. The first is that the island appears to be a column of basalt that was raised from the ocean floor. The second fact is revealed by a visit to the ship. Below decks, the oars are attached to bronze spheres. The sphere have two L-shaped pipes sticking from them on opposite sides and pointing in opposite directions. They appear to contain brackish water. Beneath each sphere is what appears to be a brass torch, but is actually a pipe. The lowest deck contains dozens of glass tanks, each attached to the torches above. Most of the tanks have been broken, but one contains a small, dead salamander, now reduced to the appearance of charcoal. The salamander deck appears to have burned extensively, for the air here is acrid and the walls are pitted and scarred. Two chuul lurk in the lowest deck, hiding in the shadows and eager to make a fresh kill.

The upper deck is still intact, except for the masts (felled and now gone). The captain’s cabin has been trashed, but one might find fragments of charts and schematics. The captain’s head and entrails have been nailed to a door which leads to his sleeping chamber, now occupied by a massive chuul that appears to be waiting for someone to foolishly open the door. Each chuul on the ship has a golden amulet on a chain around its neck. The amulets are almost impossible to remove. One minute after death, the chuul and anything it is touching will be teleported (via the power of the amulets) to the tower of Ingostos in [7047].

• Chuul: HD 11+2 (76, 68, 58 hp); AC 0 [19]; Atk 2 claw (2d6); Move 12 (Swim 9); Save 4; CL/XP 15/2900; Special: Amphibious, constrict, immune to poison, paralysis.

6934 Playful Porpoises: A pod of six porpoises (treat as dolphins) resides in these waters. Folk in need of rescue will invariably encounter these creatures, who know a great deal about the surrounding seas and will be happy to communicate (via a speak with animals spell) with folk they deem worthy. They will specifically warn people away from [6926], [6938] and [6831].

7250 Chasm: The western portion of this hex has been rent apart into a yawning chasm, some 400 feet deep and 3 miles long. Sand pours into the chasm constantly, and the chasm’s floor is covered in over 100 feet of sand, and acts as quicksand. The chasm was created during an especially vicious confrontation between two deities, and still bears the scars of their deific combat in the form of random magical effects. Each hour adventurers spend in or near the chasm, roll 1d6. On an even roll, generate a random effect (1d6 for level, and then the most appropriate dice for the spell) from the cleric spell list. On an odd roll, use the magic-user spell list, rolling 1d8 to determine level. The spell’s will always target one (or all) of the adventurers.

7428 Fractured Deity: Nine monstrous trilobites have attached themselves to the fractured head of what must have been a massive statue, well over 200 feet tall. The face is in the ancient Egyptian style, and is carved from a solid block of obsidian and is approximately 10 feet in diameter. Should human flesh come into contact with the stone head, they will feel that it is warm and it will send a tingle through their arm and up their spine. Prolonged contact will put one in contact with a voice from beyond, per the Contact Other Plane spell. These communications carry with them the chance of possession by an alien mind that knows only hunger (saving throw to avoid).

• Monstrous Trilobite: HD 4 (21, 20, 19, 19, 19, 17, 17, 17, 15 hp); AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 bite (1d4); Move 12 (Swim 24, Climb 3); Save 13; CL/XP 4/120; Special: Dissolve wood, glue.

7635 The Eye of Ra: The waters in this hex churn and eventually begin moving counterclockwise, drawing ships toward the center of the hex. This region is nicknamed the Eye of Ra. Ships drawn to the center of the Eye are dashed against the rocky island and destroyed. The noble families of Ibis, however, are privy to the Eye’s secret. By playing a secret tune on a reed flute, the Eye opens, the rocky island disappearing and a portal to the Astral Plane taking its place. This portal allows the merchant princes of Ibis to venture into the cosmic gulph, visiting far flung worlds and returning with their exotic cargoes. Few merchant princes ever dare venture into the Eye, for few know how to navigate the Astral Sea and return.

7736 Coral Battlements: What appear to be the crenelations of ancient battlements rise from the sea bottom’s silt in this hex. The battlements are ancient and worn, and are in the process of becoming a coral reef. Beneath the coral, one can still make out the shapes of five hunched statues. The gargoyles are really kapoacinths, aquatic gargoyles, and the reef is their lair. Their treasure, hidden in a hollow, consists of 500 ep, 1,000 gp, 10 pp, a pearl worth 5 gp and a brass icon of Sabazios worth 450 gp.

• Kapoacinth: HD 4 (23, 22, 19, 18, 14 hp); AC 5 [14]; Atk 2 claws (1d3), 1 bite (1d4), 1 horn (1d6); Move 9 (Swim 15); Save 13; CL/XP 5/240; Special: None.

/ jstater / 3 Comments

Playing around with potential cover art for PARS FORTUNA.

PARS FORTUNA - Cover

This possibility features really nice art by Burne-Jones of Fortuna and her wheel … and probably is not even slightly appropriate for a game about sword-wielding clones, wasp-women and anthropomorphic pangolins delving in dungeons for gold and glory. Looks nice, but probably not what I’ll use.

I’ll probably go with one of my commissioned art pieces, but that means a black and white cover. I’m very hesitant about doing a throwback to the original booklets since it’s been done a few times before, but they do have a classic look in black & white. Other option would be to commission for color for the black & white piece, but I’ve probably spent as much on art as is prudent for a one-man operation like myself. I’ll keep playing around – maybe I’ll come up with something both cheap and dynamic …

Deviant Friday Five – Akizhao Edition

/ jstater / 3 Comments

Another Friday, another five pieces of art from an artist I follow at DeviantArt. This week, I’m highlighting akizhao.

Akizhao paints in what might be termed an “anime” style, or at least with anime sensibilities. This style can be a bit controversial in old school RPG circles, but I like it – hell, if it’s good, I like it. Orthodoxy does not appeal to me.

Barbarian

Lao Dao
When fantasy games look to Asia for inspiration, they usually look to Japan. They might want to start looking at China, whose stories of “knight errants” is almost tailor-made for adventure games.

Spider
When the eight eyes peering back from a cave turn out to be this guy instead of the four kobolds the players were expecting, well then the game gets interesting.

Hope, Water and Heart Stop

Dragon

Savage Swords of Athanor

/ jstater / 2 Comments

Got my copy today of the Savage Swords of Athanor. Brilliant little book! Everything you need to get a campaign started, including a sandbox, races, religion, magic items, monsters, a new class (the rogue, a sort of minor magic-user). The design is excellent – easy to read, well organized, clear and concise. A real inspiration, and well worth the price! My compliments to Doug Easterly for a job well done.

On Venatia – Part Six

/ jstater / 2 Comments

I noticed my last Venatia post had three “ancients” in it – man I need a thesaurus …

4545 Cursed Pirates: A herd of six hippocampi dwell in these waters. They are all that remains of a crew of pirates who were polymorphed by Horrges, the sea hag in [5045]

4633 Yawning Chasm: A chasm splits this hex in two from north to south. The chasm is 100 feet deep, and the keen eyes of an elf might spot numerous piles of bleached bones in the bottom of the chasm. A rope bridge crosses the chasm, but is actually a rope golem in disguise. The golem was placed here by a long dead wizard to guard the approach to his tower, now located on Saturnis after a particularly powerful teleportation spell went awry.

• Rope Golem: HD 6+1 (26 hp); AC 4 [15]; Atk 2 slams (1d8); Move 12; Save 11; CL/XP 10/1400; Special: Magic immunity, reduces damage from hits by 3, slashing, strangle, suffers double damage from fire.

4748 Sea Hags: A covey of three sea hags has set up shop in a sea cave located deep beneath the waves. While they do eat human and demi-human flesh, and find wrecks at sea the height of hilarity, they are actually less violent and evil than their kin and are willing to cast spells in exchange for favors. The hags are named Cacia, Morgis and Sthorah. Their treasure, kept in a casket holding brine zombie named Xavier, consists of 10,000 cp, 10,000 sp, 500 ep, 100 gp, a porcelain chamber pot worth 105 gp and a moss agate worth 175 gp.

• Sea Hag: HD 3 (18, 14, 10 hp); AC 6[13]; Atk 1 bite (1d4); Move 6 (Swim 18); Save 14; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Death gaze, weakness gaze.

• Xavier the Zombie: HD 4 (18 hp); AC 6 [13]; Atk 1 cutlass or 1 slam (1d6); Move 12 (Swim 12); Save 13; CL/XP 4/120; Special: Half damage from fire.

4850 Root Cellar: Under a few inches of soil there is a wooden trapdoor that covers an old root cellar. Travelers through the hex have a 1% chance of stumbling upon it. Inside the cellar there are jars of picked radishes that either cause horrible stomach pains (1d6 damage and disabled for 1d3 days) or give one the ability to breath fire (2d6 damage, 10’ cone) three times over the course of 24 hours. When adventurers eat the radishes, have them roll a saving throw to decide the outcome, with a -2 penalty for every jar consumed over the course of a week.

5136 Deadly Dam: Two giant death watch beetles have felled a number of trees, creating a dam that partially blocks navigation on the river. The valley has become swampy as a result, and the giant mosquitos have already moved in, with 1d6 of the creatures encountered on a roll of 1 on 1d6, made every hour adventurers spend here. The beetles lair inside their dam under a cover of leaves, waiting for a band of adventurers to check things out. One has a dented bronze helm in its stomach that, when worn on the head and the command word “Azkabat” is uttered, covers the wearer in a bronze chitin that resembles the exoskeleton of an insect, complete with bulging eyes of amber glass that allow one to see in the dark. The armor counts as platemail.

• Death Watch Beetle: HD 9 (39, 37 hp); AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 bite (3d4); Move 15; Save 6; CL/XP 10/1400; Special: Vibrations – save (4d6 damage) or die.

• Giant Mosquito: HD 1; AC 4 [15]; Atk 1 touch (attach); Move 12 (Fly 21); Save 17; CL/XP 2/30; Special: Drain blood (1d4 constitution per round).

5332 Halls of the Titans: A yawning cave opens in the side of a hill. The cave has a sharp drop, almost 200 feet, to a cavern filled with strands of glowing fungus (act as assassin vines). Set in one wall of the cavern is a large set of double doors. The doors are composed of titanium and ensorcelled to absorb light, making them very difficult to find. They are also wizard locked. Beyond the doors lies an extensive underworld carved out by the ancient titans and their mortal slaves to house their fabulous treasures. The underworld is haunted by a number of criosphinxes, each considering itself the lord of the dungeon. One level has a vast subterranean prairie of grey grass grazed on by a menagerie of elemental beasts. Another is composed of a massive mechanical puzzle consisting of the very chambers and tunnels, all movable by massive wenches (or winches, if the idea of giant women frightens you) and haunted by a tribe of kobolds armed with hammers, wrenches and oilcans, as well as mechanical assassin beetles, mercury oozes and a creeping patch of rust that not only feeds on armor and weapons, but on one’s very blood. While in the underworld, it is important to avoid doors that appear overly friendly.

Knacks and Skills in Pars Fortuna

/ jstater / 2 Comments

I was thinking yesterday about the PARS FORTUNA stuff – mostly developing the race/classes and the idea of knacks and skills hit me. Nothing ground breaking, but they go like this …

TASKS, KNACKS & SKILLS
When playing a game of PARS FORTUNA, there is no limit to what your character can try to do. Please note that trying to do something and actually doing it are two different things. Many tasks a character attempts are easily accomplished and do not require you to dice for the results. In simple terms, if the average person could do it, your character can do it.

However, some tasks require above-average physical or mental abilities, or years of training to have a chance of succeeding – breaking down a bolted door, deciphering a lost language or climbing a sheer wall, for example. When a player wishes his character to attempt a task such as this, this game assumes that they have a 1 in 6 chance of success – in other words, the player throws 1d6 and, if they roll a “1”, they succeed. This translates into a slim (17%) chance of success, so Referee’s should only use this mechanic if the task the character wishes to undertake has a high probability of failure.

A high ability score (15+) in a relevant ability can extend this chance by +1 (to 1-2 on 1d6) if the Referee permits it. Referees might want to give other bonuses based on the situation and any clever ideas a player might have for improving his chances.

Some races have a knack for certain tasks, usually because of their physical or mental make-up. If a racial description notes a “knack”, for something, that race accomplishes it on a roll of 1-2 on 1d6. Oraenca, for example, are stout and solidly built, and have a knack for busting down doors.

Some classes put a portion of their training into mastering certain tasks – the Kyssai, for example, train to move about silently. When presented with a task encompassed by one of their skills, a character’s success or failure is determined by rolling a saving throw. In this way, the character becomes more likely to succeed at that task as he rises in levels. For example, to successfully sneak past some tower guards, a 1st level Kyssai must roll a 15-20 on 1d20 (i.e. a 30% chance of success), while a 10th level Kyssai would have to roll a 6-20 (a 75% chance of success).

To sum up, any character has a 1 in 6 chance of succeeding at a difficult task. Characters with a knack for something have a 2 in 6 chance of success. Characters who are skilled at a task roll a saving throw to determine success or failure.

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I’d love to know what people think of this basic system for non-combat task resolution.