http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?368265-Conan-Hyborian-Age-calendar
http://theblogthattimeforgot.blogspot.com/2011/12/hyborian-musings-conan-calendar.html
Contact Information:
jay@vanishingtowerpress.com
Saturday, November 7
Saturday, September 26
Taikang City, word on the street
While the PC's have only been in Taikang City for a short while, crew members have noticed the following about this large, old city:
- A bureaucrat caste sits astride a teeming underclass of tradesman, merchants, laborers and slaves. Pretty much the same as every city you have been in so far in the world of Xoth.
- From the magnificent houses of the Butterfly Palace shrouded servants tend to the city's spiritual leader who issues confusing edicts for the city's poor to follow.
- Mercenary warrior clans serve at the will of the city's treasury.
- Some tea shops sell lotus, all lotus dens sell tea and rice wine.
- The inane chatter of members of the various philosophical societies fill up the air of most tea shops and lotus dens.
- Tea shop can also be a euphemism for an assassin's poison workshop.
- Large cockroaches the size of chickens have been seen being herded through the city streets at night.
- Inns are very expensive, and have set dinner times with inscrutable prayers and gestures mumbled throughout the meal.
- The local guard favors 9' pole arms.
- The fishing is poor in the harbor, but clams seem plentiful on the tidal flats south of the city.
- The Harbor Master dropped off a voluminous pile of scrolls stamped in ornate insignia.
Wednesday, September 16
Lotus Politics in the World of Xoth
The PC's have come across several types of Lotus during their adventures in the World of Xoth, and I thought I would jot down this quick reference to these dangerous plants as is so far known in the campaign;
Yellow Lotus is most common and like most of the different lotus plants, must be turned into a powder before it can be used effectively. It is grown in Khazabad, Amanti, as well as some of the far western nomad nations. Favored by thieves and cultists, Yellow Lotus is highly addicative, can cause incredible hallucinations, and makes one susceptible to suggestion.
Red Lotus; a highly addictive powder which when smoked gives one increased physical and sexual attributes beyond normal ken. This lotus is also found throughout Khazabad and the other decadent western nations. The Red Lotus is favored by gladiators, and pleasure slaves for "seeing red" is one of the only ways to blot out the pain of their fates.
Silver Lotus; can only be found on the Silver Lotus Isles. Reported to give the user enhanced powers of the mind. This is all considered nonsense as none of this miraculeous powder has ever been seen in the markets of Xoth
Purple Lotus; the mysterious lotus of the far east. Known to deliver exquisite ecstacy beyond the comprehension of mortals, and produce the most powerful and subtle poisons in the hands of master poisoners. This powerful narcotic is grown only amongst the high peaks of the island kingdom of Taikang. Only the truly powerful have access to the hidden trade for the fruits of this elusive plant.
Black Lotus; the stuff of legend and mythology. It is believed that through alchemical formuli derived from the inscrutible texts of ancient gods the purple lotus can be transformed into black lotus, the essential ingredient of sorcery.
Silver Lotus; can only be found on the Silver Lotus Isles. Reported to give the user enhanced powers of the mind. This is all considered nonsense as none of this miraculeous powder has ever been seen in the markets of Xoth
Black Lotus; the stuff of legend and mythology. It is believed that through alchemical formuli derived from the inscrutible texts of ancient gods the purple lotus can be transformed into black lotus, the essential ingredient of sorcery.
Tuesday, September 15
Sailor Hiring Table for Taikang City in the World of Xoth
When PC's need to hire additional crew members
amongst the tea shops and lotus dens crowding the busy wharfs of Taikang City,
roll on the following table to see who responds to their job opportunity.
Don't forget to consider how the PC's go about their hiring campaign. While Taikang City is busy harbor town, foreigners can misstep and cause difficulties within the teeming streets.
Whether running afoul of the inscrutable bureaucrats which hold power, alchemical assassin guilds, or lotus drenched sorcerers, pulling off a successful recruiting drive can be an adventure in itself.
Taikang City Sailor Table; roll
1d12+4 for number of applicants. For each applicant roll 1d12 to determine who
he is.
1. Fleeing acrobat.
2. Disturbed psychotic.
3. Visionary beggar.
4-12. A seasoned clam harvester who is good with a net and knows
how to trim a sail.
Monday, September 14
gOnZo Adventure Generator
The following tables gives the Managing Editor gonzo content on
the fly for your Fear & Loathing USR, as the good Dr. would have you do it. Gonzo adventures by their very
nature are improvisational, and you are encouraged to go with your player’s
suggestions, respond to their crazy ideas and turn them into sordid, depraved
nightmares. I have seen others suggest that when you have used a result from a table that you cross it out and replace it with one of your own! This is excellent advice and is encouraged for this table as well.
Using other adventure hook generators I've found on the web and reskinning them with gonzo chrome has yielded the following forty one adventure hooks. Feel free to help me get to 100!
Gonzo Adventure Generator; (roll 1d100) actual location
of event, foreign or domestic, is left up to the discretion of the ME.
1. The
police think the PC’s are responsible for a car bomb that went off in front of
a political campaign headquarters. Can the PC’s find the real culprit before
they are hunted down themselves? Do they dare, knowing that the criminal
operates with a frighteningly degree of sophistication?
2. The
PC’s are arrested by the local police upon first entering town. Once in custody
the police captain attempts to deliver the PC’s to a murder death cult.
3. A
woman falls into the street from the second story window in front of the PC’s
and dies on impact. Soon after, a man with a gun comes out and complains that the
sites were off, that him and his wife were playing a game of “William Tell”. He
hopes that the PC’s will help defend himself from a murder charge as witnesses.
As soon as the police show the man quickly disappears into a maze of side
streets. The PC’s are arrested and held for the “murder”.
4. The
PC’s are invited/sent on assignment/gate crashing a political fundraiser by an
important socialite. They could be looking for a potential job opportunity,
being extorted, what have you. At some point the PC’s are told to wait in an
empty room. Soon after entering the room, the PC’s realizes they are locked in.
5. The
PC’s stops to witness a funeral procession for a beloved celebrity. Soon after
passing, the PC’s hear an explosion and witness the hearse erupt into a smoking
fireball.
6. In
need of food and shelter from the elements (in the middle of a natural
disaster), the PC’s come to a ruined casino/restaurant/airport full of reveling
looters.
7. As
you step out of the bar, a disheveled girl smashes into you. "The dog is
loose again!" she exclaims as she attempts to hide behind you. You turn
back in the direction she came to see a; (roll 1d6) 1-2 metal construct. 3-4 loping
maniac. 5-6 alien entity charging toward you.
8. Someone you know has come
across a big story and wants to get together an investigative team. Later you
meet at a hotel room only to find murder, drugs, and mayhem.
9. While spending a day boating
your anchor gets snagged on something hard and impossible to dislodge. The
water isn't too deep and you have diving gear onboard.
10. You find a strange machine in
the basement of your new apartment. Do you turn it on?
11. You are asked to go find the
whereabouts of a coworker who went missing on assignment.
12. You wake up in an unknown
location with several other amnesiacs. What have you been doing over the last
few hours/days/years?
13. You wake up in a dumpster
behind a Chinese restaurant. You have $50, a .45 automatic, a cassette tape in
some strange language and no memory.
14. A contact of yours works in
the morgue, and he called to say a cadaver suddenly sat up and left the
building.
15. Smugglers are landing illegal
contraband onshore. Their supply ships remain anchored well outside any
exclusion zone. How does the stuff get ashore? No diving equipment is ever
seen, and no other vessel ever approaches.
16. You get lost outside of
Tijuana in the dead of night on Los Díos De Los Muertos.
17. A young activist calls you up
and tells you to come up to northern Canada. Due to global warming hideous
creatures trapped in the ice for millennia are coming alive. This has got to be
some mad, radical hippie stunt just to attract attention to their cause, right?
18. You are at home one night
when you hear frantic knocking at the front door. You arm yourself and open the
door to face....you! Thinner, haggard looking, wounded and yelling. "C'mon
they'll be here any moment! We've got to get away! Now!"
19. It was a Tuesday just like
any other Tuesday in the City of Lights, a cheap bottle of Whiskey three
quarters full beside a silent phone, when there is a knock on the door. Another
dame, another doll face. “How much do you charge for your services?” She has a
package she needs delivered.
20. You are picked up in a night
club by an intense young lady. She insists you come with her to a motel. Here
she shows you her; (roll 1d6) 1-2, city map filled with pins, lines, newspaper
clippings, fetishes, etc. 3-4, mass of tentacles and gaping maw splitting her
abdomen from throat to groin, filled with an insane conglomeration of razor
sharp fangs... 5-6, a kilo of coke, and transcripts from an illegal wiretap.
21. People who work at a PCs
place of work / at the local fast food restaurant, etc. keep turning up dead,
in the same bizarre way (Spontaneous combustion? Partially cannibalized?) Local
Police don't seem inclined to investigate.
22. You receive a complex paper
from a local university professor the same day he is reported missing.
23. Someone has stolen your lawn
flamingo, an unforgivable offense. To make matters worse they taunt you by
sending pictures from around the world of your beloved decoration in various
countries. But when you look at the photos and compare them to news articles
from these places you start to see a pattern emerge… Paranoid delusions or a
nefarious plot? Either way, you are going to get your damn flamingo back!
24. Something strange has been
captured on CCTV. When it was viewed, several people flipped out, and are now
residing in the local sanitarium. However, copies were made, and are doing the
rounds on the internet. The footage comes with dire warnings, about "What
you are about to see...was captured...while...and made people mad....etc."
It now has a cult following, with an online club who "Saw the film and
didn't go mad”.
25. After turning out an old
house or University stores you discover a "Grow your own Top Secret
Life-Form" kit. With a few simple chemicals, and the protein goo contained
in the included glass cartridges, you can grow a weird living being in four
days! At first it is content to simply feed on scraps.
26. Invasion;
(roll 1d6) 1-2 giant snakes, 3-4 alien beings, or 5-6 the feds, invade the; (roll
1d6)1-2 resort 3-4, training camp, or 5-6 country farm you are currently
staying at.
27. You're working late in the
hospital one night, when; (roll 1d6) 1-2, Secret Service arrives with someone
who has been shot. You are sworn to secrecy. 3-4, a loud noise alerts you to a
break in at the pharmacy. What was taken? There is a blood trail. 5-6, the
ghost of a dead relative tells you where confederate gold is buried.
28. Someone gives/lends/asks you
to research a clock. The clock in question resembles a Grandfather clock.
Ornately carved in wood and inset with semiprecious stones. It has a fairly
mundane face, but has many other dials inset in it and around it. The clock
chimes at irregular intervals and with several different chimes. Some quiet,
some loud, some in frequencies beyond normal hearing. What is the purpose of
the clock? How does it work?
29. You are travelling by plane.
A star-vampire materializes in the cabin, and starts sucking the life out of
the passengers. If it makes it forward to the pilot, you’re all going to die.
Can you and your fellow investigators dismiss the beast with only an in-flight
magazine and a few bits of plastic cutlery?
30. A conservation agency wants
to hire you to stop a fracking operation from disrupting a natural cave complex
near a fault line. And they are prepared to use any means to succeed.
31. The old woman who lives
upstairs from one of the PC's, a recent stroke victim, divulges future
terrorist attacks in the middle of mundane sentences. She has no knowledge of
these other words she speaks but they are coming true.
32. In an overwhelming sense of
paranoia a powerful politician wants to hire the PC’s to find a mole within the
party leaking info to another campaign’s political operatives. Is it all a
twisted hallucination?
33. Invited to a dinner party by
an old physician friend of the PC's, they arrive to find out he is still at
work at the local sanitarium. His housekeeper informs them that the good doctor
has sent word they are to go ahead and eat without him. He will join them
later. A few hours pass and the doctor has still not shown up.
34. Someone sends them a warning
to “Leave town and never return” Are they brave enough to stay and find out
why?
35. All the PC’s electrical goods
go haywire and try to kill them.
36. The investigators are
travelling in the hills when they come across an old car. Inside the car is a
set of clothes that might be a disguise of some kind. They also find a suitcase.
Inside are; (roll 1d6) 1-2 some papers. 3-4 a million dollars. 5-6 antidote to
the zombie plague.
37. A music album is released.
The music is surreal and nonsensical, but it sells well... and a rumor
circulates that if it is played at the same time as a specific pre-existing
film, then the music synchronizes exactly with the action. No-one is sure
whether it is a coincidence, but a film student who became obsessed with the
sync is found mysteriously murdered. Some who watch the synchronized film/album
are able to see a hidden message in the combined works.
38. A coworker, and/or friend has
been kidnapped. You are going to get them back.
39. Activists
want to get evidence of animal rights violations on the circus in town. They
appeal to a man of your particular skills for assistance.
40. After
the (national sporting event) your neighborhood is placed under quarantine.
Some type of fever is what you are being told.
41. At
the bus station a homeless woman grips your wrists and says; (roll 1d6) 1-2 “I
reckon Melvin, he ignored it ’til it blowed up in his face. He was obsest ’til
it all come undone with this wallet Clarence lost.” 3-4 “Retrace your steps.” 5-6 “Code 20,
officer needs routine assistance. Commissioner’s Office reports possible
Promoting Prison Contraband, in 800 block of Adams Street. Suspect is 390W,
clearly intoxicated apparently biracial female, wearing silver tooth
decorations. Over”.
Tuesday, August 25
Critical Loathing
When making a Contested Attribute roll, and you roll a 1, ask your Game Master if you have rolled a Critical Failure, sometimes also known as a Fumble, or Critical Fumble. If the Game Master has rolled high # on the die for the NPC then the situation looks to have taken a black turn.
The drugs being consumed are bad, a conference of county sheriffs springs up at your hotel, the worst storm to ever hit Pittsburg, the draft board is looking for you, broke down in front of the alien invasion path, etc. It really is just a plot complication, and lethality should be varied by the GM to keep the PC's on their toes.
Critical Failures in Combat, on the other hand, afford the PC momentary grace in what would have been otherwise curtains. Instead of that gunshot wound leaving the PC for dead now he comes to after the clansmen drive off. The PC has cheated death one more time.
The drugs being consumed are bad, a conference of county sheriffs springs up at your hotel, the worst storm to ever hit Pittsburg, the draft board is looking for you, broke down in front of the alien invasion path, etc. It really is just a plot complication, and lethality should be varied by the GM to keep the PC's on their toes.
Critical Failures in Combat, on the other hand, afford the PC momentary grace in what would have been otherwise curtains. Instead of that gunshot wound leaving the PC for dead now he comes to after the clansmen drive off. The PC has cheated death one more time.
Fear & Loathing in my USR
My latest rules hack, in progress, for the USR system;
PDF of the complete rules found here!
PDF of the complete rules found here!
Fear &
Loathing USR
A Role
Playing Quest into the Savage Heart of the American Dream
“A
generation of permanent cripples, failed seekers, who never understood the
essential old-mystic fallacy... the desperate assumption that somebody... or at
least some force - is tending the light at the end of the tunnel.”
The following is a rules hack of Scott Malthouse’s Unbelievably
Simple Roleplaying system for running games in the bizarre world of 1970’s
Gonzo politics, drugs, sports, sex and violence as envisioned by the late great Hunter S
Thompson. The basic USR text has been changed and modified. For the USR rulesas written by the author you will need to download his free set.
What the heck is
a Game Master?
A game master, or GM, acts as the game's referee as well as
controlling the people and enemies the players come across. The GM also creates
the adventure and the world the players inhabit. Essentially the GM is a god,
but don't let it get to your head.
Creating your Player
Character:
Each player needs a character to take part in the story. Since
this setting is specific to the Gonzo literary genre, characters will play quixotic,
brazen champions who act like a hammer to destroy the right people — who are
almost always your enemies, for one reason or another, and who usually deserve
to be crippled, because they are wrong.
Beginning characters will need to choose a character role, assign
their attribute dice, and then create their specialisms.
The choice of character role restricts how you assign your three
attribute dice, but more importantly, defines your PC’s approach to the main
goal of affecting political situations that bear down on the game environment.
Gonzo: a6/8, w6/8/10, e8/10. h(+1).
“This whole situation makes me feel nervous and weird and
thirsty.”
There are a lot of ways to practice the art of journalism, and
one of them is to use your art like a hammer to destroy the right people
Attorney: a6/8/10, w8/10, e6/8/10.
“Sounds like big trouble. You're going to need plenty of legal
advice before this thing is over. As your attorney, I advise you to rent a very
fast car with no top. And you'll need the cocaine. Tape recorder for special
messages. Acapulco shirts. Get the hell out of L.A. for at least 48 hours.”
The attorney is a stead-fast companion who is quick of wit, and
reliable in difficult situations.
Pig: a10, w6/8, e6/8.
“It was necessary, we felt, to thoroughly terrify our opponents,
so that even in hollow victory, they would learn to fear every sunrise ...”
A member of law enforcement, undercover, former special forces, informant…?
Shootist: a6, w10, e8. S. Firearms +1a.
“The most efficient way for us to do this is for each one of us
to try and attempt to imagine what it is like inside of the possessed mind.”
A liberal minded scholar, advanced in years, who enjoys firearms
and narcotics.
Biker: a10, w6/8, e6/8. S. Motorcycles +1a or +1w.
“A man who has blown all his options can’t afford the luxury of
changing his ways. He has to capitalize on whatever he has left, and he can’t
afford to admit — no matter how often he’s reminded of it — that every day of
his life takes him farther and farther down a blind alley…”
Fighting the future with a disdain for the present, and status
quo.
Hippie: a6/8/10, w6/8/10, e6/8/10
“I live from meal to meal. I have no money, no possessions. Money is
beautiful only when it’s flowing; when it piles up, it’s a hang-up. We take
care of each other. There’s always something to buy beans and rice for the
group, and someone always sees that I get ‘grass’ or ‘acid’.
I was in a mental hospital once because I tried to conform and play the game.
But now I’m free and happy.”
The leaders of the Establishment will be making
the mistake of their lives if they discount and ignore the revolt of the
hippies on the grounds that these are either disgraceful wastrels or traitors,
or else just silly kids who are sowing their wild oats.
Fascist: a8, w6, e10.
“In a nation
run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we
can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from
losing completely.”
Any type of character who work for a living in the real world, successful
or not. It is a wide ranging character class which basically covers any background
a PC comes up with which doesn’t fit into one of the other classes listed
above.
Attribute Dice;
You have three attribute
dice; a d6, d8, and d10. Each one of these dice needs to be assigned to one of
the three following attributes;
Action – This attribute
determines how well-versed in combat the character is as well as how quick and
dexterous they are.
Wits – This attribute
determines how intelligent and perceptive the character is.
Ego – This attribute
determines how the character acts socially. A high Ego means the character is a
good leader and able to charm the pants off most people.
Furthermore, how
you assign your die is will be limited by your chosen character role. For
example, a Gonzo character role won’t let you use your d10 as your Action
attribute die while the Hippie role can arrange their three die freely.
Hits – This determines
how much punishment a character can take before she dies or is knocked unconscious.
Hits are reduced when a character is hurt and can return to its initial score
when the character heals. Your PC’s Hits are determined by rolling your Action
and Wits attribute die and totaling the result.
Specialisms:
Specialisms show specific skills and
knowledge the character has acquired and allows you to customize your fear and
loathing. Each Specialism provides a +2 to the relevant attribute when
making an attribute test. New characters get to chose three.
There is no set
skill list to pick your Specialisms from which comes with your free USR rules set. To cover every genre would
take a hell of a long time, and you should expect any rules-lite rpg game will
put this type of world building squarely on your shoulders. So you will need to
think of something yourself and run it by your GM to make sure it's
appropriate.
Character Example; Glenn decides that
his character ‘Paranus Arterios Steltman’ is going to be more balls than brains,
so chooses the Gonzo role. He assigns his attributes thus:
Action: d8
Wits: d6
Ego: d10
Hits: 8 (Randomly
rolled d8+d6, +1 from role.)
Now for his
Specialisms he selects; Investigative Journalism +2w, Bombast +2e, and Forgery
+2a.
All starting
characters begin the game with three pieces of equipment appropriate for their
role as well as $200.00 starting cash. Mundane items, housing, employment, etc.
can be established during play but keep in mind your PC is in a world of Fear
& Loathing and therefore should not be well-heeled or very secure
financially. For are man Steltman we will outfit him with a tape recorder, convertible,
and a bag of miscellaneous pills.
Playing the Game:
“I have
never seen much point in getting heavy with stupid people or Jesus freaks, just
as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we
have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal
happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They
will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I... And I have learned to
live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness,
either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands
on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high
spots.”
Contested Attribute
Tests;
There will come a time in every game when a player is put in
direct conflict with someone or something. This could be flimflamming a hotel
manager, lying under oath, or trying to win a motorbike race, whatever it is
there's a really simple way of working out who comes out on top.
When someone is actively competing against someone else the
player makes an attribute test. Both the player and the GM (or another player
if it involves another character) rolls a die corresponding to the relevant
attribute. If the player was locked in an arm wrestling match with a sex crazed
redneck, both would roll their Action attributes. The highest roll wins
the contest. On a tie the test is re-rolled until there is a clear winner.
Non-Contested
Attribute Tests;
Sometimes the player won't be in direct competition with anyone
else. Perhaps they're trying to hot wire a car or find a shut off valve for a
busted water main. Here they must roll their relevant attribute on a difficulty
table to see whether they succeed.
For example, Steltman is trying to force open a hotel window to
escape billowing smoke. The window refuses to budge so before Steltman succumbs
he decides to use his tape recorder to smash open the stuck window. The GM asks
for a medium Action roll to succeed, but gives the PC a +1 for the heavy tape
recorder. The player rolls his Action attribute die, a d8, and rolls a 5+1=6 which
is a success. Steltman breaks the glass and now can take stick his head out for
air.
Difficulty Table
Successful Roll Difficulty
2+ Easy (e.g. Jumping a low wall, bartering for
food)
4+ Medium (e.g. Riding a horse, rock climbing)
7+ Hard (e.g. Breaking into a safe, hot-wiring
a car)
10+ Very Hard (e.g. Understanding a foreign language,
building a robot)
14+ Impossible (e.g. Disproving relativity, downing a bottle
of tequila without vomiting)
Combat:
“When you
get in an argument with a group of outlaw motorcyclists, you can generally
count your chances of emerging unmaimed by the number of heavy-handed allies
you can muster in the time it takes to smash a beer bottle. In this league,
sportsmanship is for old liberals and young fools.”
Fighting is handled in the same way as contested attribute tests
but with a little extra added on.
All contested rolls use the Action attribute during combat, but
in this instance one participant is the attacker and the other is the defender.
If the attacker rolls higher than the defender then the attacker
has scored a hit and the defender's Hits score is reduced by the difference
between the winning and losing rolls.
When Hits reach 0 the character is dead.
Alternatively the GM may rule that the character is merely
unconscious.
Hits may be regained through healing, but may never go above the
initial score.
How combat flows;
It's up to you how you want combat to play out. You could play
it fast and loose, going round the table clockwise to determine the order
players act in, or you could assign each player an initiative score based on
their Action roll, the acting order going from highest to lowest.
Weapons and Armor;
Weapons can give bonuses in combat, giving one side the edge
over the other. Each weapon may give a bonus to the Action roll when attacking
and/or defending.
Weapon types are as follows:
Light weapon +1 (e.g. knife, improvised, small caliber handgun)
Medium weapon +2 (e.g. advanced melee weapon, typical small
arms)
Heavy weapon +3 (advanced small arms, explosives, autofire)
The character only gets a weapon bonus when they are able to
bring their weapon to bear. It should be noted firearms give a bonus to attack
only, they do not give any advantage towards defense. Defense capabilities of
weapons are usually only applied to melee weapons.
Similarly, armor can be used to negate the effects of being
hurt. Each armor type reduces the number of Hits taken in combat.
Light armor -1 (e.g. thick leather jacket, bike helmet, sturdy
suitcase)
Medium armor -2 (e.g. flak vest, knee pads)
Heavy armor -3 (e.g. riot gear, car door)
For example, The security guard shoots at some junkies. His
assault rifle is a medium attack weapon, but he is letting lose with full
autofire so the guard receives a +3 on his Action roll. He rolls a 5 and adds
the +3, resulting in a total of 8. The gang of street thugs each roll their
Action die and apply the various results from the barrage of bullets.
These examples are by no means the only weapons and armor that
you can have in a game. The GM could create a pistol that gives the character a
+3 for armor piercing rounds or psychotic drugs providing a +4 Hits for a short
period of time. Just use the above examples as guidelines and have fun making
up your own bad-ass creations.
Using Specialisms in combat;
Specialisms allow the player to apply their bonus directly to
the characters attack and defense rolls. Close Combat +2, Unarmed Combat +2,
Zulu Hand to Hand +2, etc. All these types of combat specialisms give a bonus
to the combat rolls. These specialisms can also be used to attempt difficulty
maneuvers during combat or otherwise gain an edge in combat situations.
Any specialism may be used. With role play you can gain an edge
in a combat situation.
For example; the ruthless drug dealer wants to find a
volatile solution on his cook's stained shelves to throw. As his action he uses his Street Deal specialism to try and find a
substance which might be useful in combat. The GM says it's a medium difficulty
roll with a 5 or greater needed for success. The dealer rolls a 2 and adds +2
for his specialism, giving a result of 4 – a failed roll! The GM tells the
desperate dealer the shelves are clear of the most combustible solutions. With
nothing but an empty flask, he turns to the noise of the apartment door being
kicked in by the cops.
Elements of Gonzo:
“He quit his
job and fled in the night to Baltimore, where he appeared the next morning in
U.S. District Court, which allowed him to stay out of prison for bribery and
extortion in exchange for a guilty (no contest) plea on income-tax evasion.
After that he became a major celebrity and played golf and tried to get a Coors
distributorship.”
Keep the following in
mind while driving your train wreck of an adventure;
-overlapping themes of sex, violence, drugs, sports and politics
-a tendency to move away from the topic started out with
PC’s should be rewarded for successful use of
- sarcasm and/or vulgarity as humor
- extremely creative use of the English language
Critical Failure:
“I hate to say this, but this place is getting to me. I think
I'm getting the Fear.”
At some point the PC’s will have pushed things too far. The
heavy weight of consequence will tremble on the edge of the abyss and the possibility
of physical and mental collapse is now very real.
(to be continued…)
2015
Sunday, August 16
Wednesday, July 22
USR Sea Encounter Mechanic
In this post I talk about how I've hacked together sea faring rules for my USR Sword & Sorcery campaign utilizing Sailing on the Seas of Fate by Chaosium and Zack S's Wavecrawl Kit.
I've modified how I roll for daily encounter in the following way; for every week of sea travel I roll seven d10's. Only events which get 2 or more results are considered and will come up in play sometime during the week. 3 to 4 matching numbers mean the event is significant and watery doom could be at hand.
The ten event categories are also further subdivided if they spurred decent ideas, but I have to say, custom tables for your game world are a lot of fun. But they take some time to lovingly craft. Fortunately the internet has all these resources available to help you out. Like the products I mentioned above, there are literary thousands of free PDF's available online which can help you make your own gaming tools.
I've modified how I roll for daily encounter in the following way; for every week of sea travel I roll seven d10's. Only events which get 2 or more results are considered and will come up in play sometime during the week. 3 to 4 matching numbers mean the event is significant and watery doom could be at hand.
The ten event categories are also further subdivided if they spurred decent ideas, but I have to say, custom tables for your game world are a lot of fun. But they take some time to lovingly craft. Fortunately the internet has all these resources available to help you out. Like the products I mentioned above, there are literary thousands of free PDF's available online which can help you make your own gaming tools.
Saturday, July 18
BRP World of Xoth
If I ever run another group of PC's through a Sword & Sorcery campaign I think I'm going to go with Chaosium's Elric!. I'm sure I would modify it with mechanics from the BRP Gold Book, mostly with defining the magic system, but for the rest of it; gritty combat, incredible stunts, fearless dimension hopping, etc., I think the rules set gets the job done.
I could recycle my World of Xoth campaign material for any Heavy Metal minded troop of PC's who want to turn their sword swinging savagery up to eleven. The flexibility of Chaosium's mechanics makes it possible to craft your own brand of Sword & Sorcery. You really can conjure any world of post-apocalyptic or pre-cataclysmic savagery and super science your imagination can devise.
I could recycle my World of Xoth campaign material for any Heavy Metal minded troop of PC's who want to turn their sword swinging savagery up to eleven. The flexibility of Chaosium's mechanics makes it possible to craft your own brand of Sword & Sorcery. You really can conjure any world of post-apocalyptic or pre-cataclysmic savagery and super science your imagination can devise.
I don't care about no stinking hard drive crash
So yeah my desktop crashed, and all the files scribbles, memos texts downloads pics I've harvested since I found you all her in the OSR is gone. All the story threads, rewritten adventures campaign material for current and never to be played games vaporised. And I don't give a shit. Unlike every other aspect of my life where the data, the material needed is stored and handled electronically RPG's I make or purchase I have to make manifest in some printed or bound copy.
I may not have all the material I've accumulated on my hardrive because if it didn't seem relevant at the time why print it out? If a game situation makes sense for said slumbering material I'd just print out the pdf out on my printer lick-edy split. So yeah, it isn't all there.
But I have three ring binders bulging out my bookshelves of the game material I would love to run or am currently running. Once again this OSR DIY push, this open free range field of awesomeness which you all throw around for pennies, if not for free, lets me just try and run a good game after work without sweating the small stuff.
I did have to buy a new printer a couple of months ago. The laser jet from my previous business finally gave up the ghost after numerous print odd page range flip print even page range all nighters. Not ashamed to say alot of that toner burn was spent on old D&D modules but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing the point. The point being that my hasty scribblings backed by awesome content/blog/osr posters will give me more game material on a daily basis than I can shake a dead, mummified finger at.
And the best stuff has been hand skinned and drying in my book racks. Hats off to you all gents.
I may not have all the material I've accumulated on my hardrive because if it didn't seem relevant at the time why print it out? If a game situation makes sense for said slumbering material I'd just print out the pdf out on my printer lick-edy split. So yeah, it isn't all there.
But I have three ring binders bulging out my bookshelves of the game material I would love to run or am currently running. Once again this OSR DIY push, this open free range field of awesomeness which you all throw around for pennies, if not for free, lets me just try and run a good game after work without sweating the small stuff.
I did have to buy a new printer a couple of months ago. The laser jet from my previous business finally gave up the ghost after numerous print odd page range flip print even page range all nighters. Not ashamed to say alot of that toner burn was spent on old D&D modules but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing the point. The point being that my hasty scribblings backed by awesome content/blog/osr posters will give me more game material on a daily basis than I can shake a dead, mummified finger at.
And the best stuff has been hand skinned and drying in my book racks. Hats off to you all gents.
Saturday, July 11
BRP Low Fantasy Campaign Idea cont.
Continuing the class descriptions from last post;
1.4.1.5 Gladiator; you have lived your life in a cage only to be released so as wagers can be placed on whether you will live or die in a blood soaked arena.
Common Skill Bonuses: Perform +25%
Advanced Skill Bonuses: Melee Combat +25%
1.4.1.6 Merchant; dangerous is the Bolfian Silk Road, but the riches to be had make dealing with the mysterious desert peoples draws the determined and the foolish to attempt it.
Common Skill Bonuses: Bargain +25%
Advanced Skill Bonuses: Choose either Navigate, Appraise, or Technical Skill(various) at a +25%
1.4.1.7 Thug; a hired hand, the muscle to protect life and property. Or steal it.
Common Skills: Hide +25%
Advanced Skills: Climb +25%
1.4.1.7 Ranger; a poor, mud pounding bastard who has to sleep outside.
Common Skills: Sense +25%
Advanced Skills: Track +25%
1.5 Skills
1.5.1 Choosing Skills
1.5.1.1 You are allowed to chose three additional skills at the base rating.
1.5.1.2 You may now spend skill points to increase any of the character's starting skills in the following manner; one skill receives a +75% bonus, one skill receives a +50% bonus, and one skill receives a +25% bonus.
1.4.1.5 Gladiator; you have lived your life in a cage only to be released so as wagers can be placed on whether you will live or die in a blood soaked arena.
Common Skill Bonuses: Perform +25%
Advanced Skill Bonuses: Melee Combat +25%
1.4.1.6 Merchant; dangerous is the Bolfian Silk Road, but the riches to be had make dealing with the mysterious desert peoples draws the determined and the foolish to attempt it.
Common Skill Bonuses: Bargain +25%
Advanced Skill Bonuses: Choose either Navigate, Appraise, or Technical Skill(various) at a +25%
1.4.1.7 Thug; a hired hand, the muscle to protect life and property. Or steal it.
Common Skills: Hide +25%
Advanced Skills: Climb +25%
1.4.1.7 Ranger; a poor, mud pounding bastard who has to sleep outside.
Common Skills: Sense +25%
Advanced Skills: Track +25%
1.5 Skills
1.5.1 Choosing Skills
1.5.1.1 You are allowed to chose three additional skills at the base rating.
1.5.1.2 You may now spend skill points to increase any of the character's starting skills in the following manner; one skill receives a +75% bonus, one skill receives a +50% bonus, and one skill receives a +25% bonus.
Saturday, July 4
Brainstorming a BRP Fantasy Campaign
Here is what I've sketched out so far;
Low Fantasy Adventures
in the world of Rom'Myr;
1. Character
Creation:
Only human characters may be chosen for race. The available
human racial identities are Rom’Myr, and the Fir'Bax.
Rom’Myr humans are citizens of the Blue
Borderlands, the farthest province east in the realm of The Trackless Empire. Sandwiched between the Cold Heath and the Groaning Mountains the Rom'Myr of the Blue Borderlands trade for Bolfian Silk from the non-human desert nomads known as the Strangled. The land of Fir'Bax lies just north of the Blue Borderlands. Uncouth barbarians who
scratch a living from the small arable land surrounding the high peaks of the Yani'Hor, the Groaning Mountains. They are extremely xenophobic and war incessintly with the Strangled. This small barbarian kingdom also resent the encroaching Rom'Myrians into their wilderness domain.
1.1 Characteristics
The primary building blocks of your PC are the seven
characteristics from Chaosium’s Basic Role Playing system. Roll 3d6 dice to
determine the values of your character’s Characteristics; these being Strenght
(STR), Constitution (CON), Size (SIZ), Intelligence (INT), Power (POW),
Dexterity (DEX), and Charisma (CHA).
1.2 Attributes
These are based on your Characteristics. They are four in
number; Damage Modifier (DM), Hit Points (HP), Major Wound Level (MWL), and
Movement Rate (Move).
1.3 Common Skills
This is a list of skills that every PC would have a base
knowledge in. They are modified by the PC’s Characteristics if applicable. Some
of your Common Skills will be increased by the bonuses given by your chosen
Character Class.
1.4 Character Class
Here you are able to shape your PC more to your liking.
Choosing a character’s Class will give your PC some Advanced Skills, increase
some of your Common Skills, and determine how much money the character has to
spend on equipment before play begins.
1.4.1 Class available for selection are as follows; Acrobat,
Assassin, Barbarian, Druid, Gladiator, Merchant, Thug, and Ranger. Class
choice provides the following relevant characteristic and skill advantages;
1.4.1.1 Acrobat; an entertainer in a bleak land devoid of
joy. Your physical contortions provide a more subtle interest to the paying
Lords then just flaying you alive would deliver.
Common Skill Bonuses: Athletics +25%, Unarmed Combat +25%.
Advanced Skill Bonuses: Choose either Teaching or Oratory and add +25%.
1.4.1.2 Assassin; those of wealth got there by eliminating their enemies. These enemies are mostly eliminated by paying for murder from secret sects which practice this nefarious trade. You are one who was trained by one these mysterious battle cults.
Common Skill Bonuses: Stealth +25%.
Advanced Skill Bonuses: Choose either Disguise, Ranged Combat, or Tracking and add +25%.
1.4.1.3 Barbarian; you find your home in the limitless wastes and wilderness of at the edge of a decaying civilization.
Common Skill Bonuses: Ride +25%.
Advanced Skill Bonuses: Survival +25%.
1.4.1.4 Druid; you claim understanding of the spirits and gods which walk unseen amongst man.
Common Skill Bonuses: Insight +25%.
Advanced Skill Bonuses: Chose one of the following; Beliefs +25%, Lore +25%, or Seduction +25%.
Sample pantheon of Gods;
etc, more to come...
§ Valett, the Goddess of the Night, having the form of
three-eyed warrior-maiden.
§ Hesrace, the God of Caverns and the Night, having the form
of calm boy holding a hammer.
§ Baldecigail, the Goddess of and Mother of Lies, seen in
dreams as hunting bear.
§ The Exalted God, having the form of fierce camel.
§ Fae, the Goddess of Travel and Woodlands, who visits in
visions as abrasive woman holding a scroll.
§ Pelixa, the Goddess of Darkness and the Sextal Goddess, seen
in dreams as a crone holding a knife.
§ Feliah, the Goddess of , most often depicted as howling hag.
§ Fryssa, the Unspeakable Goddess, visible to mortals only as
abrasive crocodile.
§ Daliica, the Goddess of Wealth, who appears as attractive
pregnant woman with the scaly skin of a crocodile.
§ Angiara, Princess of Spiders, having the form of a
warrior-maiden holding an obelisk.
§ Reytan, the God of Fate and Patron of justiciars, seen in
dreams as crow with horns like an auroch.
§ Suselda, the Goddess of Sin and Queen of Magic, most often
depicted as fat cat with the head of a snake.
etc, more to come...
So yeah, I think fleshing out some of these traditional AD&D classes into a simple BRP scheme on top of a flinty fantasy world built from a limited world palate will give me all I need for a wildly fantastic game world. Obvious adventures available within the starting small sandbox would be Deep Cavern Observatory and the free module Sky-Stone-River-Place found over at http://falsemachine.blogspot.com/
After that gut some of the desert and mountain modules from D&D, reskin them with pulpy sensibilities, and pillage all the new content being presented on G+ sources. You should have players turning grey before their time!
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