The Alchemist's Folly

Kael pressed his back against the cold stone wall, listening to the guttural hooting echoing through the alchemist's tower. Beside him, Mira checked her throwing knives for the third time, her dark eyes reflecting the sickly green luminescence seeping from under the laboratory door.

"I don't like this," she whispered. "Torven was supposed to meet us an hour ago."

"Torven's probably dead," Kael replied, adjusting the leather bracer that concealed his lockpicks. "Along with everyone else foolish enough to collect Magister Vohn's bounty."

The bounty had seemed straightforward enough: enter the alchemist's abandoned tower, retrieve his research journals, collect five hundred gold crowns. But abandoned was not the word Kael would use now. The tower was very much occupied.

A crash from below made them both freeze. Heavy footfalls on stone, then silence.

"They're hunting," Mira breathed.

Kael had seen one of the creatures from the courtyard before they'd climbed in through the third-floor window. It had been massive, easily eight feet tall, with shoulders like a bull and arms thick as tree trunks. But it was the intelligence in its eyes that had chilled him. This was no mindless beast.

"Vohn was experimenting with transformation elixirs," Kael said, piecing it together. "The city guard said he'd been buying apes from the exotic traders. He must have been trying to create soldiers."

"Well, he succeeded." Mira peered around the corner toward the laboratory door, which hung askew on broken hinges. "Question is, can we get past them?"

Through the doorway, Kael could see overturned tables, shattered glass, and the scattered pages of ruined books. Claw marks gouged the wooden benches. Whatever had happened here, Vohn had lost control of his creations.

A shape moved in the shadows of the laboratory. Massive, deliberate. Then another behind it.

"Two inside," Mira reported. "Both between us and wherever Vohn kept his journals."

Kael studied the room's layout. A balcony overlooked it from the floor above, and a heavy chandelier hung from iron chains over the center. Alchemical apparatus lined the walls, including several large glass vessels still bubbling with colored liquids.

"I have an idea," he said. "But you're not going to like it."

"I already don't like it."

"We need a distraction. Something to get them out of that room."

Mira's hand went to the small pouch at her belt. "I have two smoke bombs left."

"Perfect. Throw one down the main stairwell. When they go to investigate, we slip into the laboratory, grab what we can, and get out through the balcony window."

"And if they don't take the bait?"

"Then we improvise."

Mira gave him a flat look but moved silently toward the stairwell. Kael watched the laboratory entrance, counting heartbeats. One of the apes moved past the doorway, knuckles scraping the floor, its enhanced musculature rippling under patchy fur. It wore the remnants of a leather harness, probably from Vohn's attempts to control it.

The smoke bomb clattered down the stone steps with a pop and a hiss. Thick gray smoke billowed upward.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then came a deafening roar that shook dust from the ceiling. Heavy footsteps thundered toward the stairs—not two sets, but three. A third ape emerged from the laboratory, this one bearing a wicked scar across its face and wielding a broken table leg like a club.

"Go!" Mira hissed.

They sprinted for the laboratory as the apes descended the stairs in pursuit of the phantom intruder. Kael leaped over an overturned chair and began searching the debris. Papers everywhere, most torn or stained with chemicals. Mira rifled through a chest in the corner while keeping watch on the door.

"Here!" Kael found a leather journal wedged under a collapsed bookshelf. The symbol on its cover matched Magister Vohn's seal. He stuffed it into his pack and grabbed two more nearby that looked intact.

A roar, much closer now. The apes had discovered the ruse.

"Time to go!" Mira was already at the balcony door, forcing it open with her dagger. She swore. "It's locked from the outside!"

Footsteps pounded up the stairs. Kael looked around desperately. The chandelier. The alchemical vessels. The balcony above.

"Up there!" He pointed to the interior balcony. A rope used for hoisting equipment still hung from its railing. "We climb!"

The first ape appeared in the doorway, scarred face twisted in rage. It spotted them immediately and charged, table leg raised high. Kael grabbed a glass beaker of violet liquid from the nearest table and hurled it. The vessel shattered against the creature's chest, and the liquid began to smoke and hiss. The ape howled, clawing at its burning flesh.

Mira was already climbing, her lithe form scaling a bookshelf to reach the rope. Kael followed, hauling himself up as the second ape entered the room. This one was smarter. It grabbed the bookshelf and shook it violently.

Kael jumped, caught the rope, and scrambled upward as the bookshelf crashed down. The ape leaped after him with terrifying agility, its massive hand closing around his ankle.

Mira's knife flashed. The blade sank into the creature's wrist and it released Kael with a shriek. He pulled himself onto the balcony as Mira helped drag him over the railing.

The third ape appeared below, pointing up at them. All three began climbing—using the furniture, the walls, the very architecture of the tower itself. They moved with horrifying coordination, their enhanced bodies making them far more capable than natural apes.

"The window!" Mira ran for the balcony's exterior window. This one opened easily. Cold night air rushed in.

But escape meant a three-story drop to the courtyard below. Kael looked around frantically. The rope they'd climbed. The chandelier chains. An idea formed.

"Cut the chandelier!" he shouted, drawing his sword and hacking at the thick rope secured to the balcony railing. "When it falls, it'll hit those chemical vessels!"

Mira understood instantly. She sheathed her knife, drew a small hand axe, and began chopping at the chandelier's chain where it anchored to the balcony wall. The metal links parted slowly.

The apes reached the balcony level, pulling themselves up from below. The scarred one, still smoking from the chemical burn, was in the lead.

The last chain link separated. The chandelier plummeted, its iron frame crashing directly into the cluster of bubbling alchemical vessels below. Glass exploded. Liquids mixed. For a heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then the laboratory erupted in flame.

The explosion sent all of them sprawling. Kael felt the heat wash over him as he grabbed Mira and pulled her toward the window. Below, the apes' roars turned to screams as fire engulfed the chamber.

"The roof!" Mira pointed upward. A wooden beam extended from the window to the tower's peaked roof. It was narrow, precarious, but it led to the exterior.

They climbed out onto the beam as smoke poured from the window behind them. The night wind whipped at their clothes. Behind them, the entire tower was now burning, flames licking from windows on every floor.

The beam led to the roof's edge, where a decorative spire stood. And beyond that, the stone wall of the adjacent building, perhaps ten feet away.

"Please tell me you're thinking what I'm thinking," Mira said.

"Jump or burn. Easy choice."

They ran along the beam, footsteps sure despite the smoke and heat. At the edge, they leaped together into the darkness, arms windmilling for balance. Kael hit the adjacent roof hard, rolling to absorb the impact. Mira landed beside him with cat-like grace.

They lay there for a moment, breathing hard, watching Vohn's tower burn against the night sky. From within came one final, agonized roar before the roof collapsed inward.

"The journals?" Mira asked.

Kael patted his pack. "Three of them. Singed but readable."

"Five hundred crowns?"

"Split two ways." Kael grinned despite the pain. "Not bad for a night's work."

"Not bad?" Mira laughed, the sound slightly manic. "We were nearly killed by enhanced apes in a burning tower!"

"That's what makes it worth five hundred crowns." Kael pulled himself to his feet, offering her a hand. "Come on. Let's collect from Magister Vohn before he hears about this and decides to renegotiate."

They disappeared into the shadows of the city rooftops, leaving the blazing tower behind them as the watch bells began to ring across the midnight streets.

In his pack, Vohn's journals remained safe. And in their margins, scrawled in the alchemist's desperate hand, were the words that would have warned them all: The formula works too well. They're learning. They're organizing. Gods help us, they're planning.

But that discovery would have to wait for another night.

 

Optional Ideas for Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery

Starting to want to write again. This has got me looking at my USR products, especially Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery. I am about to start another campaign in the world of Xoth, and improving the total three-book gaming kit is starting to fester.

Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery is a fantastic, lightweight engine, but its "Unbelievably Simple" nature can sometimes feel a bit too abstract for a gritty pulp fantasy campaign.

To improve the game while keeping its minimalist spirit, I’ve brainstormed the following ideas: Streamlining the Janky Bits, Deepening the Pulp Flavor, and The "Blood & Grime" Combat Patch.

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1. Streamlining the "Janky" Mechanics

The Deluxe edition adds layers (like hit locations) that some believe clash with the core system's elegance.

• Ditch Hit Locations for "Wound Descriptions": Instead of rolling a d20 for a hit location (which slows down the flow), use a Damage Delta (the difference between rolls) to describe the wound.
• 1–2 Damage: A shallow cut or bruise.
• 5+ Damage: A "maiming" hit—the Crypt Keeper (CK) applies a temporary penalty to a relevant attribute based on the narrative.
• The "Undefended" Rule Fix: The RAW (Rules as Written) says once you use your actions, you are "undefended" and hit on a 4+. This can lead to "gang-piling" where a hero dies instantly.
• Improvement: Allow a "Desperate Defense." If attacked while undefended, the hero can still roll their Action die, but it is halved (rounded down). This keeps the tension without making death a mathematical certainty.

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2. Deepening the Pulp Flavor

Sword & Sorcery is about high stakes and temporary riches. These rules reinforce that "Conan-esque" cycle.

• "Loot for Life" (Carousing Improvement): In S&S, heroes are often broke by the next adventure.
• Rule: To level up or increase Hits, players must spend their gold on carousing. 100 Silver spent = 1 XP. If they don't spend it, they don't grow. This solves the "hoarding" problem and keeps them hungry for the next quest.
• Corruption & Dark Sorcery: Magic should feel dangerous.
• Rule: Every time a Sorcery test is failed, the caster gains 1 Corruption Point. At 5 points, they gain a physical or mental deformity (milky eye, withered hand, paranoia). This makes magic a "nuclear option" rather than a reliable tool.

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3. The "Blood & Grime" Combat Patch

If you want combat to feel more tactical without adding a 300-page manual:

Fighting Styles (Bonus Specialisms)

Instead of generic specialisms, allow players to pick a Stance that modifies their dice:

| Stance | Benefit | Drawback |

| :--- | :--- | :--- |

| Berserk | +2 to Damage Delta on a win. | -2 to your roll if you lose (take more damage). |

| Defensive | Win ties automatically. | You cannot deal damage this round. |

| Precise | Crit on a "Max Die Roll" even if the enemy doesn't roll a 1. | -1 to total roll result. |

The "Shields Shall Be Splintered" Rule

• Rule: If a player takes a hit that would kill them or knock them unconscious, they can choose to have their shield shatter. The damage is reduced to 0, but the shield is gone forever. This adds a dramatic "last stand" moment.

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4. Summary Table of Action Difficulties

If you find yourself stalling to think of Target Numbers (TN), use this "Pulp Standard" scale:

Difficulty	TN	Example
Pulp Heroic	4+	Climbing a rough wall, intimidating a guard.
Legendary	7+	Deciphering a cursed scroll, jumping a 15ft gap.
God-Slaying	10+	Resisting a Sorcerer Supreme’s mind control.

 

Converting DCC/OSR stats to Mongoose Traveller (part 2)

 Time to finish up my Dungeon Crawl Classics conversion to Mongoose Traveller Stats. We are in the process of converting a Trillomite Guardian into the Traveller 2D6 system. 

The beast has the following DCC stat block: Init +2; Atk tarsal claw +2 melee (1d4) or barbed chains +2 (1d8) or special; AC 14; HD 2d8; hp 14 each; Move 40' or special; Act 1d20; SP cannot be surprised by normal means, wall-crawling, pheromone blast 20' radius once per turn - all living creatures in range must succeed on a DC 18 Will save or become confused and attack a random target in the area; SV Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +4.

All we have left is the "special" abilities the creature has as well as how to use the Saving Throws as Die Roll Modifiers (DRMs) on the 8+ target number scale. Like many special abilities there is an important narrative element involved in the action as well as rolling dice to adjudicate a result.  Here we have a creature which can never be surprised except by advanced forms of cloaking, can climb inverted as well as climb vertical surfaces, and has a pheromone blast in a 20' radius. These are details which need no dice roll to rule on. In fact, they inform the Game Master on possible behaviors and "best practices" these guardians may utilize prior to any encounter. 

So how does one handle the pheromone blast? The power lists a Difficulty Class (DC) of 18. That is a steep number to achieve on 2D6, no doubt. Here I need to scale the numbers down a bit. Keeping it simple, I just divide the DC in half. 18 becomes a 9. PC needs a 9+ roll to resist the confusion gas. I personally use the Endurance (END) stat on the Traveller character sheet as the roll-against ability. If the PC has a high enough END score to grant a DRM you add it. 

The DCC Saves (SV) are self-explanatory, these alien fucks have a +2 Dodge. If they take some kind of concussive system shock the Fortitude +5 DRM gives you the factors you need, and Will +4 is the alien creature's resistance to psionics, mind control, truth serums, etc.

The trick with making conversions at the table fast is to pull out the basic numbers any NPC in any game is likely to have and find the corollary with the game system you are actually using. There are not many scales of values you are really comparing and contrasting. 3D6, D20, D100, 2D6, 2D10, Success #s, Dice Pools. This is all simple math in the hands of an experienced Game Master, or should be.

Converting DCC/OSR stats to Mongoose Traveller

This simple hack allows me to use Dungeon Crawl Classics modules, Lamentations of the Flame Princess modules, and any D20 system really, at the table in my classic game of science fiction adventure using Mongoose Traveller. The reason I do this is because to a certain degree fantasy and science fiction are two sides of the same coin. There is even a genre convention for when the line between fantasy visual medium and science fiction visual medium, Science Fantasy!

I find site location adventures the most straightforward example of this use. Where a "Tomb of the Ancients" would not be out of place in either adventure setting. So I am going to take some monsters out of DCC #84A Lost Tomb of the Ancients to demonstrate this hack.

A Trillomite Guardian has the following DCC stat block: Init +2; Atk tarsal claw +2 melee (1d4) or barbed chains +2 (1d8) or special; AC 14; HD 2d8; hp 14 each; Move 40' or special; Act 1d20; SP cannot be surprised by normal means, wall-crawling, pheromone blast 20' radius once per turn - all living creatures in range must succeed on a DC 18 Will save or become confused and attack a random target in the area; SV Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +4.

Kind of a bloated stat block for an OSR creature, but this is DCC and they go over the top with some fairly cool features built into monsters and PCs. But this DCC stat block does provide some very useful numbers to use in game for combat resolution or any other action a character in Traveller would attempt to do. 

First one is Initiative (Init). Just use this straight, no modification. For our Trillomite Guardian this is +2. Therefore the referee would add 2 to the creatures 2D6 initiative die roll. Same with Attacks (Atk). Just use as listed. A Trillomite's tarsal claw provides +2 melee and does 1d4 points of damage. 1d4 may not sound like a lot of damage, but don't forget the add-on benefits of "effect". The higher a die roll achieves the greater the damage of a successful attack. In Mongoose Traveller 2e. So a decent roll of 9 or 10 gets boosted two plus the d4 die roll giving you 4-8 pts of damage on an attack. If the opponent is not armored this can become a serious wound really quick.

Yes, just use the damage dice as listed. Traveller is a 2D6 game system. But I am not going to go through the brain damage of converting 1d8 into 2d6 terms. Just have the dice on hand and roll a d8. These DCC monsters are being converted into "alien humanoids" so any difference in mechanics can be hand-waved away. The aliens are well and different then humans so there.

Ascending Armor Class I use the value for the creatures innate armor, or at least reflects how hard it is to actually damage the creature. In Traveller armor absorbs damage, not make one harder to hit. Is this balanced? Does it make sense? My gut says "close enough to not give a shit".

Whether actual armored plates or reflecting special abilities, the armor factor does not have to mean physical protection. I can use this value for a game mechanic to adjudicate damage effects not covered in the basic Traveller rule set. Just like in superhero game systems where you have base, generically described powers, and it is up to the PC to color in the "effects" of the power. Describe the very nature of the generic 5d6 energy blast, is it frost, flame, etc. This type of in-game decision making is a hallmark of old school games and their OSR derivatives. 

Hit Dice for Hit Points, feel free to roll them. I just take the listed HP right out of the book. So these Trillomite bastards have an armor value of 14 and 14 HP. It will take at least 15 points of damage inflicted on a Trillomite to start hurting it physically. This makes autofire and lots of ammo the PCs' best friend, and that is just the way I like it!

I have to jet to work, so I will finish up the conversion in the next blog post.