It was inevitable - whether Sarmaks, swallows or Indo-Europeans, folks have to migrate eventually. Thus, the good old Land of Nod blog is making a move to Word Press. The transfer is not 100% complete just yet, but new posts are happening over there rather than over here.
CLICK HERE FOR THE ALL-NEW*, ALL-DIFFERENT* LAND OF NOD!
* Actually, it's neither new nor different
ROLE PLAYING GAME CONTENT FOR YOUR EDIFICATION AND ENJOYMENT
Monday, August 21, 2017
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
The Antiquarian - Thumbnail Class Sketch
This fellow will probably find his way into Esoterica Exhumed in a more fleshed-out form.
The Antiquarian ...
- Rolls d4 for hit points
- Fights and saves like a magic-user
- Can read obscure languages
- Collects dusty tomes, books, scrolls - carries them on his back, so he's hunched over - provides protection from back stabs
- Can call up the ghosts of the past to help him (knowledge, fighting, etc. - "Julius Caesar, I choose you") - I figure this will work a little like an illusionist's shadow conjuration spells
- Legend lore, as a bard (or more so)
- Use magic scrolls to cast spells; can always identify potions and scrolls
- Can recall ways to fight monsters ("Egad, I nearly forgot that ogres are allergic to dust mites") - while fighting a monster, but only if the group doesn't have what they need - they can use the method in future fights, though, and get a +1 to hit the monster
- Has bad eyesight from all the reading - easier to surprise
- Resistance to magic - 3% per level to divination, enchantment and illusion; 1% per level to necromancy, transmutation, etc.
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Downtime and Special Guest Heroes [Notion]
Yesterday, I had an idea about how one could model a magic-user taking time off from adventuring to research spells or make magic items. It occurred to me that the mechanic could also be used to balance adventurers belonging to organizations. Here's the idea in a nutshell:
Magic-users should be able to get a palpable advantage from researching spells and making magic items. In the "real world", we have to make trade offs in terms of time - you can study to become a doctor, or to become a lawyer, for example, but probably not at the same time. If you choose one pursuit, you miss out on another.
In games, this can be tricky. You can declare that the spell research will take a month of time, which is a month the magic-user cannot spend adventuring ... but so what. The group merely schedules their next adventure for one month from now (in game time) and they go on their merry way.
Of course, this can be an obstacle in the course of some games, when the group has a limited amount of time to crack a code or stop an invasion. More often, it's no obstacle at all - perhaps some money that must be spent for room and board, and nothing else.
Here's an idea for how you can model this without entirely disrupting the game.
Downtime for Research and Development
Say our resident magic-user, Merlyn, wants to research the invisibility spell. The GM can decide that this will take Merlyn away from adventuring for, say, two game sessions. That means two meetings of the players to play the game. No XP or treasure for Merlyn while he's busy hunched over dusty tomes learning how to become invisible.
In the meantime, the party hosts a special guest hero, an NPC magic-user one level lower than Merlyn controlled by Merlyn's player. This guest wizard does not earn XP, but does get a normal share of the treasure. Each time Merlyn needs to take a break, the guest wizard can step in, always one level lower than Merlyn.
We have now to come up with a schedule for downtime required for various magical operations. Maybe something like:
Researching 1st to 4th level spells - 1 session
Researching 5th to 7th level spells - 2 sessions
Researching 8th to 9th level spells - 3 sessions
Scribing up to three scrolls or brewing up to 5 potions - 1 session
Making most magical items, including armor - 2 sessions
Making magic weapons - 3 sessions
You can use whatever schedule you think is correct.
Other classes that need to train might use a similar schedule. You could allow a fighter or monk, for example, to sit out for a couple sessions so they can learn some new special maneuver.
Downtime for Organizations
This brings up another time commitment - organizations. Clerics are supposed, in some campaigns, to belong to large temple organizations from which they should draw some advantages. The temple should provide some healing, maybe needed equipment or information, etc. To keep this from being an extra ability of clerics that other characters do not enjoy, it can be balanced by the cleric having to take time off from adventuring to serve the temple in other matters. Depending on how useful the organization is, a PC might have to take one of every ten sessions off or one of every six sessions off or whatever off to meet their obligations. The PC gets a benefit, and pays for it by missing a session now and again.
Downtime for Rest and Recuperation
The same mechanic can also be used to model recuperation time, say from a nasty disease or if you are using old AD&D healing rules from damage sustained in combat. The PC misses a session to heal up while a guest steps in to substitute for them.
Fringe Benefit
The fringe benefit from using this mechanic is that you develop ready NPC characters who can step in to become PCs when an existing PC dies. If Pauline the Wizardess has subbed for Merlyn several times, she can become the party's new magic-user when Merlyn is eaten by a dragon.
Magic-users should be able to get a palpable advantage from researching spells and making magic items. In the "real world", we have to make trade offs in terms of time - you can study to become a doctor, or to become a lawyer, for example, but probably not at the same time. If you choose one pursuit, you miss out on another.
 |
| "You'll have to slay the dragon without me, I'm busy." |
Of course, this can be an obstacle in the course of some games, when the group has a limited amount of time to crack a code or stop an invasion. More often, it's no obstacle at all - perhaps some money that must be spent for room and board, and nothing else.
Here's an idea for how you can model this without entirely disrupting the game.
Downtime for Research and Development
Say our resident magic-user, Merlyn, wants to research the invisibility spell. The GM can decide that this will take Merlyn away from adventuring for, say, two game sessions. That means two meetings of the players to play the game. No XP or treasure for Merlyn while he's busy hunched over dusty tomes learning how to become invisible.
In the meantime, the party hosts a special guest hero, an NPC magic-user one level lower than Merlyn controlled by Merlyn's player. This guest wizard does not earn XP, but does get a normal share of the treasure. Each time Merlyn needs to take a break, the guest wizard can step in, always one level lower than Merlyn.
We have now to come up with a schedule for downtime required for various magical operations. Maybe something like:
Researching 1st to 4th level spells - 1 session
Researching 5th to 7th level spells - 2 sessions
Researching 8th to 9th level spells - 3 sessions
Scribing up to three scrolls or brewing up to 5 potions - 1 session
Making most magical items, including armor - 2 sessions
Making magic weapons - 3 sessions
You can use whatever schedule you think is correct.
Other classes that need to train might use a similar schedule. You could allow a fighter or monk, for example, to sit out for a couple sessions so they can learn some new special maneuver.
Downtime for Organizations
This brings up another time commitment - organizations. Clerics are supposed, in some campaigns, to belong to large temple organizations from which they should draw some advantages. The temple should provide some healing, maybe needed equipment or information, etc. To keep this from being an extra ability of clerics that other characters do not enjoy, it can be balanced by the cleric having to take time off from adventuring to serve the temple in other matters. Depending on how useful the organization is, a PC might have to take one of every ten sessions off or one of every six sessions off or whatever off to meet their obligations. The PC gets a benefit, and pays for it by missing a session now and again.
Downtime for Rest and Recuperation
The same mechanic can also be used to model recuperation time, say from a nasty disease or if you are using old AD&D healing rules from damage sustained in combat. The PC misses a session to heal up while a guest steps in to substitute for them.
Fringe Benefit
The fringe benefit from using this mechanic is that you develop ready NPC characters who can step in to become PCs when an existing PC dies. If Pauline the Wizardess has subbed for Merlyn several times, she can become the party's new magic-user when Merlyn is eaten by a dragon.
Saturday, July 22, 2017
Eurafrika Attacks! [Campaign Idea]
Around about 1929, a German architect by the name of Herman Sörgel came with an idea he called Atlantropa. The idea was simple (no, not really) - he was going to create a new utopian continent out of Europe and Africa by building hydroelectric dams in the Strait of Gibraltar and Dardanelles and the mouth of the River Congo. This would allow the lowering of the level of the Mediterranean Sea, to create more habitable (and farmable) land, the irrigation of the Sahara Desert, and the generation of all the electricity the new continent of Atlantropa or Eurafrika could ever need. The idea was based on his desire for a massive, peaceful project that could bring the warring European nations together and which would improve the lives of millions.
Strangely enough, the idea was not pursued seriously other than by Sörgel and a handful of others. Perhaps the idea can be used to fuel a modern "fantasy" campaign, though.
Eurafrika Attacks
The Eurafrika Attacks campaign is going to take Herman's idea and mess with it a bit. First, we're going to move the idea back to the dark days of the First World War, and give Europe a running start at the project. For our purposes, by 1927 or so the project is complete and Europe is seriously deep in debt. Weimer Republic-style deep in debt. This facilitates the rise of a pseudo-fascist dictator called Hynkel, who now has the power of Europe and Africa at his disposal and uses it to start the Second World War in 1930.
Eurafrikan forces quickly move into the Middle East and Ukraine, and soon they convince a China desirous of revenge against colonial powers to join them. Thus, we get a WW2 with an axis composed of Eurafrika and China against the allied powers of the United Kingdom (who never quite joined the Eurafrikan cause, though a faction of the country is heavily invested in the project and desires Hynkel's success), the Soviet Union and Japan, with the United States practicing semi-neutrality until submarine attacks on its shipping draw it into the war in 1934.
The Hook
So what's the point of this campaign, other than novelty. Well, novelty is probably the main point - a sort of mixed up WW2 that occurs years before it is supposed to and without some of the more disturbing elements of that war.
The real hook, of course, is the use of a bunch of interesting military equipment from the "interwar" period in a hot war. Between the Spad and Spitfires in the 1920s and early 1930s there were all sorts of interesting aircraft, ships and land vehicles designed and constructed, but never really used. Now some of these vehicles have a chance to show what they were made of, and at the same time a few anachronisms might make their way into this WW2, especially cavalry.
A campaign could be organized around a particular military unit and its march into Eurafrikan territory, modeled on the film The Big Red One (1980) starring Lee Marvin and Mark Hamill, which followed a group of soldiers in the U.S. 1st Infantry Division from North Africa to Sicily to Normandy and eventually to the liberation of a concentration camp. A fictional campaign might move through Baghdad to the Balkans and Carpathians and finally into the heart of Europe.
There is also room for espionage in London, Paris, New York and Cairo, jungle fighting in the Congo basin, the Soviet couteroffensive against re-invigorated China in Mongolia, resistance movements in Europe, anti-colonial movements in Africa, or the defense of Japan against a new wave of seaborne invasions from China (will the "divine wind" protect the island nation again?). You can also play on the new geography of the Mediterranean and Sahara, tying in with notions of Atlantis buried beneath the sands of the Sahara being rediscovered, or pre-human settlements that were hidden under the Mediterranean being revealed.
The campaign offers many opportunities for realistic and supernatural gameplay in a period often forgotten due to its being sandwiched betwen the Roaring 20's and the Second World War.
Strangely enough, the idea was not pursued seriously other than by Sörgel and a handful of others. Perhaps the idea can be used to fuel a modern "fantasy" campaign, though.
Eurafrika Attacks
Eurafrikan forces quickly move into the Middle East and Ukraine, and soon they convince a China desirous of revenge against colonial powers to join them. Thus, we get a WW2 with an axis composed of Eurafrika and China against the allied powers of the United Kingdom (who never quite joined the Eurafrikan cause, though a faction of the country is heavily invested in the project and desires Hynkel's success), the Soviet Union and Japan, with the United States practicing semi-neutrality until submarine attacks on its shipping draw it into the war in 1934.
The Hook
So what's the point of this campaign, other than novelty. Well, novelty is probably the main point - a sort of mixed up WW2 that occurs years before it is supposed to and without some of the more disturbing elements of that war.
The real hook, of course, is the use of a bunch of interesting military equipment from the "interwar" period in a hot war. Between the Spad and Spitfires in the 1920s and early 1930s there were all sorts of interesting aircraft, ships and land vehicles designed and constructed, but never really used. Now some of these vehicles have a chance to show what they were made of, and at the same time a few anachronisms might make their way into this WW2, especially cavalry.
A campaign could be organized around a particular military unit and its march into Eurafrikan territory, modeled on the film The Big Red One (1980) starring Lee Marvin and Mark Hamill, which followed a group of soldiers in the U.S. 1st Infantry Division from North Africa to Sicily to Normandy and eventually to the liberation of a concentration camp. A fictional campaign might move through Baghdad to the Balkans and Carpathians and finally into the heart of Europe.
There is also room for espionage in London, Paris, New York and Cairo, jungle fighting in the Congo basin, the Soviet couteroffensive against re-invigorated China in Mongolia, resistance movements in Europe, anti-colonial movements in Africa, or the defense of Japan against a new wave of seaborne invasions from China (will the "divine wind" protect the island nation again?). You can also play on the new geography of the Mediterranean and Sahara, tying in with notions of Atlantis buried beneath the sands of the Sahara being rediscovered, or pre-human settlements that were hidden under the Mediterranean being revealed.
The campaign offers many opportunities for realistic and supernatural gameplay in a period often forgotten due to its being sandwiched betwen the Roaring 20's and the Second World War.
 |
| A trio of Siskins patrol southern England for French bombers |
Sunday, June 25, 2017
Yo Joe
If memory serves, I promised to do this post two weeks ago. How time flies! In between, the family has gone through a high school graduation and a college orientation, and I've written about 8 quarterly reports for my real job. But now it is time - some G.I. Joe vehicles for GRIT & VIGOR.
I've spent the last four weeks writing High Frontier, a setting toolbox for GRIT & VIGOR based on the "retro-future", or the future that people in 1950 dreamed they and their children would enjoy from the 1960s to the futuristic year ... 2000! We're talking moon bases, space stations, space colonies, lots of cool airplanes and concept cars, etc.
Along the way, I ran across a Wikipedia article on a G.I. Joe fighter plane, and realized I could probably stat those up as well. Where possible, I used the specifications published for these vehicles, and I filled in the gaps with info on the real vehicles on which they were based.
Notes:
Jet aircraft are given a generation [G]. This is added to the aircraft's maneuverability (and thus AC) and attack rolls during combat.
Damage followed by a single asterisk (*) is multiplied by 10. Two asterisks (**) means multiply by 100.
Conquest X-30 | G.I. Joe 1986
Type: Huge Fighter G4
Hit Dice: 30 (105 hp)
Armor Class: 21
Attacks: 2 x 25mm cannons (7d6), 4 x AIM-12 Light Sparrow AAM (1d10**), 7,000 lb of bombs
Speed: 1600 mph
Maneuver: +8
Climb: 8500 fpr
Ceiling: 55,000 feet
Crew/Passengers: 1/0
These G.I. Joe fighter planes are based on the real Grumman X-29 (which appears in High Frontier). It is notable for its forward swept wings.
Phantom X-19 | G.I. Joe 1988
Type: Gargantuan Attack G5
Hit Dice: 45 (158 hp)
Armor Class: 18
Attacks: 2 x anti-satellite lasers (10d6), 2 x BY-106 Little Guy (1d10**), 1 x Bullseye III cruise missile (xxx), 2 x 2000 lb bombs
Speed: 2400 mph
Maneuver: +6
Climb: 6000 fpr
Ceiling: 72,000 feet
Crew/Passengers: 1/0
The Phantom is inspired (loosely) on a model that purported to be the "stealth bomber" (the F-117 Nighthawk) that turned out to look nothing like it.
Night Raven S3P | Cobra Command 1985
Type: Gargantuan Fighter G4
Hit Dice: 47 (165 hp)
Armor Class: 19
Attacks: 2 x 20mm cannons (6d6), 4 x SRAAM AAM (1d10**)
Speed: 2200 mph
Maneuver: +8
Climb: 6800 fpr
Ceiling: 86,000 feet
Crew/Passengers: 2/0
The Cobra Night Raven was based loosely on the SR-71 Blackbird (which means Cobra was as good at hacking the Pentagon as the Chinese, Russians, etc.)
Rattler | Cobra Command 1984
Type: Huge Attack G3
Hit Dice: 30 (105 hp)
Armor Class: 18
Attacks: 2 x 20mm cannon (6d6), 1 x 30mm cannons (8d6), 2 x AAM (1d8**), 2 x Renegade ASM (6d6*)
Speed: 450 mph
Maneuver: +5
Climb: 1000 fpr
Ceiling: 45,000 feet
Crew/Passengers: 2/0
The go-to combat aircraft of Cobra in the cartoons.
Skystriker XP-14F | G.I. Joe 1983
Type: Gargantuan Fighter G4
Hit Dice: 42 (147 hp)
Armor Class: 23
Attacks: 1 x 20mm cannons (6d6), 2 x AIM-9 Sidewinder AAM (1d8**), 2 x AIM-54 Phoenix (6d6**), 2 x AIM-7 Sparrow (1d12**)
Speed: 1500 mph
Maneuver: +8
Climb: 7500 fpr
Ceiling: 51,000 feet
Crew/Passengers: 2/0
The Skystriker was G.I. Joe's principal combat aircraft (and clearly superior to the Rattlers).
I've spent the last four weeks writing High Frontier, a setting toolbox for GRIT & VIGOR based on the "retro-future", or the future that people in 1950 dreamed they and their children would enjoy from the 1960s to the futuristic year ... 2000! We're talking moon bases, space stations, space colonies, lots of cool airplanes and concept cars, etc.
Along the way, I ran across a Wikipedia article on a G.I. Joe fighter plane, and realized I could probably stat those up as well. Where possible, I used the specifications published for these vehicles, and I filled in the gaps with info on the real vehicles on which they were based.
Notes:
Jet aircraft are given a generation [G]. This is added to the aircraft's maneuverability (and thus AC) and attack rolls during combat.
Damage followed by a single asterisk (*) is multiplied by 10. Two asterisks (**) means multiply by 100.
Conquest X-30 | G.I. Joe 1986
Type: Huge Fighter G4
Hit Dice: 30 (105 hp)
Armor Class: 21
Attacks: 2 x 25mm cannons (7d6), 4 x AIM-12 Light Sparrow AAM (1d10**), 7,000 lb of bombs
Speed: 1600 mph
Maneuver: +8
Climb: 8500 fpr
Ceiling: 55,000 feet
Crew/Passengers: 1/0
These G.I. Joe fighter planes are based on the real Grumman X-29 (which appears in High Frontier). It is notable for its forward swept wings.
Phantom X-19 | G.I. Joe 1988
Type: Gargantuan Attack G5
Hit Dice: 45 (158 hp)
Armor Class: 18
Attacks: 2 x anti-satellite lasers (10d6), 2 x BY-106 Little Guy (1d10**), 1 x Bullseye III cruise missile (xxx), 2 x 2000 lb bombs
Speed: 2400 mph
Maneuver: +6
Climb: 6000 fpr
Ceiling: 72,000 feet
Crew/Passengers: 1/0
The Phantom is inspired (loosely) on a model that purported to be the "stealth bomber" (the F-117 Nighthawk) that turned out to look nothing like it.
Night Raven S3P | Cobra Command 1985
Type: Gargantuan Fighter G4
Hit Dice: 47 (165 hp)
Armor Class: 19
Attacks: 2 x 20mm cannons (6d6), 4 x SRAAM AAM (1d10**)
Speed: 2200 mph
Maneuver: +8
Climb: 6800 fpr
Ceiling: 86,000 feet
Crew/Passengers: 2/0
The Cobra Night Raven was based loosely on the SR-71 Blackbird (which means Cobra was as good at hacking the Pentagon as the Chinese, Russians, etc.)
Rattler | Cobra Command 1984
Type: Huge Attack G3
Hit Dice: 30 (105 hp)
Armor Class: 18
Attacks: 2 x 20mm cannon (6d6), 1 x 30mm cannons (8d6), 2 x AAM (1d8**), 2 x Renegade ASM (6d6*)
Speed: 450 mph
Maneuver: +5
Climb: 1000 fpr
Ceiling: 45,000 feet
Crew/Passengers: 2/0
The go-to combat aircraft of Cobra in the cartoons.
Skystriker XP-14F | G.I. Joe 1983
Type: Gargantuan Fighter G4
Hit Dice: 42 (147 hp)
Armor Class: 23
Attacks: 1 x 20mm cannons (6d6), 2 x AIM-9 Sidewinder AAM (1d8**), 2 x AIM-54 Phoenix (6d6**), 2 x AIM-7 Sparrow (1d12**)
Speed: 1500 mph
Maneuver: +8
Climb: 7500 fpr
Ceiling: 51,000 feet
Crew/Passengers: 2/0
The Skystriker was G.I. Joe's principal combat aircraft (and clearly superior to the Rattlers).
Saturday, June 10, 2017
Shameless Self Promotion
I don't normally do this, but I have three new books out and about at the moment, so a little self promotion seems appropriate. Tomorrow I'll find some time to do that G.I. Joe post I mentioned last week.
NOD 32
NOD 32 features a new hex crawl that is right next door to the Nomo crawl from last issue. Nomo was a falling empire, but in Kisthenes the whole world might be going straight to Hell ... or Chaos. The nomads have conquered the great city of Ishkabibel and are now using its wealth and power not only to conquer the rest of Kisthenes, but to bring Tiamat (yeah, that Tiamat) into the material world from the Chaos beyond reality. Worse yet, the other cities of the plain are joining in, abandoning the old gods and gestating their own super-beasts to go toe to toe with the Queen of Chaos.
Other features include:
A new class that is fitting for this issue, the Prophet is a different kind of divine spellcaster, one who is bringing the news of a new deity into the world and trying to found a kingdom in that deity's name.
The gods and goddesses of Mesopotamia
Rules for running circus campaigns in GRIT & VIGOR
And some notions on how (and why) to make monsters interesting for players as well as their characters
$3.99 PDF at Lulu.com
$3.99 PDF at rpgnow.com
Pen & Paper Football
Pen & Paper Football is football without the commercials, endless merchandizing and prison sentences. A few dice and some paper is all you need to simulate an American football game. Just find some friends (or play solo), roll up some teams and pit them against each other in League Play, which requires eight simple dice rolls to play a game, or in Head-to-Head play, which simulates a game play-by-play.
P&PF has all the rules you need to play a whole season of football, with rules for passing, running, kicking, penalties, injuries and even off-season rules for team development. There are dozens of sample teams you can use and handy record sheets for teams, leagues and games.
$1.99 PDF at Lulu.com
$1.99 PDF at rpgnow.com
NOD 31
I finally have the paperback version of this issue of NOD up for sale at Lulu.com. Here's the description:
NOD magazine begins its fabulous eighth year with a full hex crawl covering the crumbling empire of Nomo, a Romanesque city that has lost its emperor. As the empire slowly falls, opportunity for adventures abound. The hex crawl includes three mini-dungeons and hundreds of places to visit.
Other features include:
Two old school classes, the Centurion and Dervish, as well as ideas for anti-classes designed to foil fighters, magic-users and thieves.
Rules for playing poker in GRIT & VIGOR, as well as a gambler sub-class
A host of new "eye monsters" for Blood & Treasure and other OSR games
Plus some ideas on votive orders and on introducing the most horrific concept into fantasy gaming ever conceived ... Taxes!
$7.99 Paperback at Lulu.com
NOD 32
Other features include:
A new class that is fitting for this issue, the Prophet is a different kind of divine spellcaster, one who is bringing the news of a new deity into the world and trying to found a kingdom in that deity's name.
The gods and goddesses of Mesopotamia
Rules for running circus campaigns in GRIT & VIGOR
And some notions on how (and why) to make monsters interesting for players as well as their characters
$3.99 PDF at Lulu.com
$3.99 PDF at rpgnow.com
Pen & Paper Football
P&PF has all the rules you need to play a whole season of football, with rules for passing, running, kicking, penalties, injuries and even off-season rules for team development. There are dozens of sample teams you can use and handy record sheets for teams, leagues and games.
$1.99 PDF at Lulu.com
$1.99 PDF at rpgnow.com
NOD 31
NOD magazine begins its fabulous eighth year with a full hex crawl covering the crumbling empire of Nomo, a Romanesque city that has lost its emperor. As the empire slowly falls, opportunity for adventures abound. The hex crawl includes three mini-dungeons and hundreds of places to visit.
Other features include:
Two old school classes, the Centurion and Dervish, as well as ideas for anti-classes designed to foil fighters, magic-users and thieves.
Rules for playing poker in GRIT & VIGOR, as well as a gambler sub-class
A host of new "eye monsters" for Blood & Treasure and other OSR games
Plus some ideas on votive orders and on introducing the most horrific concept into fantasy gaming ever conceived ... Taxes!
$7.99 Paperback at Lulu.com
Sunday, June 4, 2017
Teleporting With Style
Teleport and teleport without error are old spells, and in the old school they leave the look and feel up to the imagination. Here are a few ideas on what teleportation might look like ...
1. You appear line by line, like being printed by a dot matrix printer in the 1980s
2. Appear as free-floating fetus and age into current form
3. Appear as skeleton and grow muscle, tendons etc until fully formed
4. Coughed out of the 4th dimension like a hairball
5. Appear in blink of eye, but all people in area have to pause briefly and then move slightly when you appear, as though on an old TV show
6. Trapdoor opens in sky and you fall out
7. Beam in like Star Trek - lots of noise and sparkles
8. Appear in puff of smoke with a musical fanfare
Level 9-12 – a fanfare of kazoos
Level 13-16 – a fanfare from a Casio keyboard
Level 17+ – a fanfare of trumpets
9. Hole appears and you crawl through it
10. Door of light (or shadow) slides open (like automatic door) and you step through
11. Miniature volcano grows from ground and you erupt out of it
12. Swirling cloud forms in your shape and then gradually becomes solidified until it’s you
13. Lightning strikes ground and leaves you when the dust clears
14. Your form is poured like silvery, bubbly liquid that falls from the sky – you emit a small burp when you finish forming due to the ethereal carbonation in your system
15. Space shatters like a mirror, revealing you
16. Velvet curtains held aloft by cherubs parts to reveal you in all your glory
17. A giant hand descends from the sky with a paint brush and paints you into existence
18. You appear as a wavering hologram that slowly becomes real to the peal of invisible gongs
19. Your hand appears holding a wand, and slowly rises from the ground revealing you (and of course ending on your arm extended above your head
20. Purple smoke seeps up from the ground and you appear, genie-like (or Jeanie-like, if I’m being honest)
1. You appear line by line, like being printed by a dot matrix printer in the 1980s
2. Appear as free-floating fetus and age into current form
3. Appear as skeleton and grow muscle, tendons etc until fully formed
4. Coughed out of the 4th dimension like a hairball
5. Appear in blink of eye, but all people in area have to pause briefly and then move slightly when you appear, as though on an old TV show
6. Trapdoor opens in sky and you fall out
7. Beam in like Star Trek - lots of noise and sparkles
8. Appear in puff of smoke with a musical fanfare
Level 9-12 – a fanfare of kazoos
Level 13-16 – a fanfare from a Casio keyboard
Level 17+ – a fanfare of trumpets
9. Hole appears and you crawl through it
10. Door of light (or shadow) slides open (like automatic door) and you step through
11. Miniature volcano grows from ground and you erupt out of it
12. Swirling cloud forms in your shape and then gradually becomes solidified until it’s you
13. Lightning strikes ground and leaves you when the dust clears
14. Your form is poured like silvery, bubbly liquid that falls from the sky – you emit a small burp when you finish forming due to the ethereal carbonation in your system
15. Space shatters like a mirror, revealing you
16. Velvet curtains held aloft by cherubs parts to reveal you in all your glory
17. A giant hand descends from the sky with a paint brush and paints you into existence
18. You appear as a wavering hologram that slowly becomes real to the peal of invisible gongs
19. Your hand appears holding a wand, and slowly rises from the ground revealing you (and of course ending on your arm extended above your head
20. Purple smoke seeps up from the ground and you appear, genie-like (or Jeanie-like, if I’m being honest)
Friday, May 26, 2017
Magic from the Masters
Fast forward to adulthood. What did not interest me as a G.I. Joe-loving kid now does interest me as a weird retro-loving adult. I can now appreciate just how bizarrely creative Mattel's toy makers were with the MOTU line, and I can even appreciate the cartoon, though more by way of laughing at it (gently and with love) than of thrilling to the adventures of He-Man (who I just now discovered shared his voice with Morris the cat - even weirder).
Over the last couple weeks, I've been watching a He-Man cartoon at night before bed to unwind, and in addition to the entertainment value I've been inspired to write a few spells that will find their way into Esoterica Exhumed. Here's a sample:
Battle Beast (Evocation)
Level: Druid 5, Magic-User 6
Range: 30′
Duration: 10 rounds
One animal targeted by this spell becomes a battle beast, doubling its size and Hit Dice, and increasing its damage rolls by +2 points for the duration of the spell. While under the effects of the spell, the animal is treated as a monster rather than animal, and its coloration changes to something weird and unearthly. The animal gains limited sentience and low intelligence in battle beast form.
Blinding Light I (Evocation/Illusion)
Level: Cleric 1, Druid 1, Magic-User 1
Range: 5′
Duration: 1d6+1 rounds
One creature immediate in front of you is dazzled by a sudden intense light that flashes from your eyes. The victim is blinded for 1 rounds, and then dazzled for 1d6 rounds. A dazzled creature suffers a -1 penalty to attack rolls and to all task checks involving sight.
Blinding Light II (Evocation/Illusion)
Level: Cleric 2, Druid 2, Magic-User 2
Range: 20′ cone
Duration: 1d6 rounds
This spell causes those caught in the area of effect who fail a saving throw to be dazzled, suffering a -1 penalty to attack rolls and all task checks involving sight.
Chasm (Conjuration)
Level: Druid 4, Magic-User 5
Range: 60 feet
Duration: 10 minutes
You can cause the ground to suddenly disappear, shifting it briefly into the elemental plane of earth. The resulting chasm has the following dimensions: Width is equal to 5 feet plus 2 feet per level; length is equal to 1 foot per level and depth is equal to 2 feet per level. After 10 minutes, the earth shifts back into position from the elemental plane, burying anything that was in the chasm or displacing gases and liquids (such as water or an obscuring mist spell) that might have been in the chasm to the surface.
Cosmic Comets (Conjuration)
Level: Magic-User 3
Range: Personal
Duration: 1 hour
You conjure three miniature comets which orbit you at a radius of up to 10′. While orbiting, they provide a +1 bonus to Armor Class. Melee attackers that miss their attack roll against you by only 1 point are struck by a comet for 1d6 damage + 1d6 fire damage. You can also send these comets streaking out at a single target, who can avoid it with a saving throw. Targets that are hit suffer 2d6 damage + 1d6 fire damage.
Homing Spell (Divination)
Level: Magic-User 1
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent
Once a magic-user has placed this spell on a nonliving item, she can, with mild concentration and while rubbing the temples, discern its location relative to her in terms of direction and approximate distance. This homing beacon is permanent, but can be removed with dispel magic or suppressed while in possession of a creature with magic resistance (dice to determine).
Raise Pillar (Evocation)
Level: Druid 3, Magic-User 4
Range: 30 feet
Duration: 1 hour
With the lifting of your arms, a pillar of solid rock rises from the ground. The ground in question must be solid – i.e. there must be rock to form into a pillar. The pillar rises 5 feet plus 1 foot per level, and is roughly 4 feet in diameter. The pillar can be raised under a creature’s feet, in which case they must pass a saving throw to avoid being lifted. If they fail this saving throw, they are carried upwards and could potentially be crushed if the pillar’s height plus their own would force them to violently contact the ceiling of a chamber or cavern. If they are crushed, they suffer 3d6 points of damage. After one hour, the pillar slides back into the ground. This spell can conceivably be used to raise buried treasure to the surface, but the soil in which the treasure was buried forms into solid rock and therefore may make the treasure difficult to access.
Sleeve of Holding (Conjuration)
Level: Magic-User 3
Range: Personal
Duration: 8 hours
The magic-user can stuff 100 pounds per level worth of non-magical, non-living goods up his left sleeve. After 8 hours, the magic-user must dump the goods out of his sleeve or they disappear into dimensions unknown.
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Mars, Venus and Beyond
If you have read Blood & Treasure Second Edition, you might already know that I had a sample planar system that resembles the old geocentric model of the universe combined with Gygax's idea of the outer and inner planes. At some point, I'm going to expand on these ideas and write a book called The Outre' Dark - sort of my version of the Manual of the Planes.
To that end, I've already written an article in NOD on the planet Pluto, which stands in for the negative energy plane in Nod's cosmos. This week, I've been playing with maps of Mars and Venus (or Martis and Veneris) for the Nod setting, and thought I'd show them off here, along with a few notes on the settings.
MARTIS, PLANE OF WAR
In the Nod cosmology, Mars is a planet of Neutrality, over which the forces of Lawful Neutrality and Chaotic Neutrality fight a never-ending war.
VENERIS, PLANE OF LIFE
Veneris is the positive energy plane in Nod's cosmos. I mixed the idea of positive energy = life with the old ideas of Venus as a jungle world. The map is still in the "rough draft" stage. It is partly inspired by this post at Malevolent and Benign.
MERCURIUS, PLANE OF ELEMENTAL EARTH
I'm adding this one after the fact, having just finished the map. I'm picturing a world almost devoid of plant life with a thin atmosphere where all the real action is under the surface, where the powerful elementals dwell. On the surface, where adventurers are likely to spend their time, there are cities of crystal people who dominate their fellows by dominating the mineral springs they must bathe in to survive, and plundering metallic men who serve the greedy shaitan. I'm using the old idea that Mercury always had one side facing the Sun and the other in perpetual darkness - in this case, the cities of Parahelios and Nyx mark those spots.
To that end, I've already written an article in NOD on the planet Pluto, which stands in for the negative energy plane in Nod's cosmos. This week, I've been playing with maps of Mars and Venus (or Martis and Veneris) for the Nod setting, and thought I'd show them off here, along with a few notes on the settings.
MARTIS, PLANE OF WAR
In the Nod cosmology, Mars is a planet of Neutrality, over which the forces of Lawful Neutrality and Chaotic Neutrality fight a never-ending war.
- The humanoid Martians come in a multitude of colors, from purple to amber to burnt sienna (and even some maroons living below the surface). They spawn via spores and do not nurse their young. They may have been engineered by a Zetan civilization that destroyed the plane with atomic weaponry before leaving Martis for Nod, where they were involved in founding the Nabu civilization (destroyed in a similar cataclysm).
- They are joined on Martis by green mutants in the wastelands and bat people in the mountains.
- The purple Martians are the most civilized (LN). They dwell in hive cities connected by canals.
- The amber Martians dwell in the north, and might be considered pragmatic Neutrals.
- The burnt sienna Martians are nomads (and former seafarers).
- Atop Olympus Mons there is a monastery of weird Zen Neutral monks.
- Martians wear little armor (or clothing) and arm themselves with swords, whip-swords, daggers, darts, jezzails and pistols.
- The Martians also use flying ships (skyremes) levitated by weird rays.
- There is a plant in the Martian deserts that oozes plastic nodules, which the Martians melt down and use to make a variety of objects.
- The moons of Martis (those little specs underneath the planet) are home to ghouls, who launch themselves into space when astral ships approach too close.
VENERIS, PLANE OF LIFE
Veneris is the positive energy plane in Nod's cosmos. I mixed the idea of positive energy = life with the old ideas of Venus as a jungle world. The map is still in the "rough draft" stage. It is partly inspired by this post at Malevolent and Benign.
- Humanoid Venusians come in two varieties - the cyan-skinned cave dwellers and the jade-skinned tree dwellers. They are beset by many evils on the planet, for it is populated by numerous beastmen.
- Venus has very little technology, and all of it in the hands of the gold amazons, who dwell in flying cities. Their sons, the myrmidons, are seafarers and defenders of humanity.
- Most of the peoples of Veneris have neo-stone age technology, maybe some in the chalcolithic age - giant stone cities, simple weapons, etc. Very Flintstones.
- There are dinosaurs (though not of the earthly varieties) and other prehistoric animals.
- Beneath the surface of Veneris is a core of positive energy, which erupts from time to time from volcanoes.
- The plant life of Veneris is a riot of color. It grows very quickly - a trail cut with machetes would disappear in mere minutes.
- There are massive oozes on the planet that rise from the seas and cause ecological havoc.
- The mountains are made of solid gemstone.
MERCURIUS, PLANE OF ELEMENTAL EARTH
I'm adding this one after the fact, having just finished the map. I'm picturing a world almost devoid of plant life with a thin atmosphere where all the real action is under the surface, where the powerful elementals dwell. On the surface, where adventurers are likely to spend their time, there are cities of crystal people who dominate their fellows by dominating the mineral springs they must bathe in to survive, and plundering metallic men who serve the greedy shaitan. I'm using the old idea that Mercury always had one side facing the Sun and the other in perpetual darkness - in this case, the cities of Parahelios and Nyx mark those spots.
Sunday, May 7, 2017
Scads of Magic
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| Imagination! |
So, here's a scad of magic items in thumbnail sketch form, plus a couple with names I loved that even I wasn't sure how to flesh out with actual gamable abilities.
+1 Banded Mail of Heat Resistance: Stay comfortable in hot weather (summons cold air from elemental air plane), -1 damage per dice of fire damage
Amazon’s Pill: As heroism spell, females only
Barrel of Monkeys: Can summon 3d4 monkeys, once per week
Beggar’s Sandals: Feel no hunger or thirst if one eats/drinks once per week
Celestial Cube: When subjected to magic light, produces a prismatic/rainbow spell of the same or lower level
Coat of Sludge Repulsion: Cannot be engulfed by oozes
Coat of Slyness: Better pick pocketing, hides stolen goods
Earrings of Dancer’s Grace: +1 to AC, +1 to saves involving movement, gain ability to dance (fascinate as bard) once per day
Elemental Gauntlet: Gauntlet can on command turn into one of the following – an elemental earth gauntlet that smashes stone and +1 save vs. acid; a white hot gauntlet of metal that deals +1d6 fire damage and +1 save vs. fire; a gauntlet of ice that deals +1d6 cold damage and +1 save vs. cold; a sphere of swirling air that grants +2 AC vs. missile attacks and +1 save vs. electricity
Elixir of Blood Control: One can cause their own wounds or others to stop bleeding with a glance
Ethereal Brew: When poured out, it causes a whirlwind on the ethereal plane
Evil Drum: Bonus to hit for goblinoids
Flute of Ooze Alteration: Forces oozes to save vs. dancing; bards can cause them to move as they wish within sound
Fork of Time: When banged against metal, it forces all time displaced creatures within 100 ft. to shift into the present; against adamantine or mithral, it shifts the adventurers ahead 1 hour (do not move in space)
Hand Axe of Wind Shield: Can be swung around to create a wall of wind, when thrown, accompanied by a gust of wind
Hauberk of Revealing: Light reflected from this mail dispels illusions and reveals hidden and secret things
Haunted Tower Shield: Once per day can become a portal into the negative zone, releasing a single incorporeal spirit (HD no higher than users) to attack a foe
Helm of Ritual Fish Seduction: Hmmm ... next!
Infernal Sitar: Playing causes people’s shoes to heat up (as heat metal)
Jar of Thought Absorption: One can hold a thought in the jar by putting against the ear and thinking; the thought cannot be accessed by mind reading – mage’s can do this with spells; can put thought back into head in same way – others can try, but may take Int damage
Massive Helm: A large, spherical helm – silly looking, but +3 to AC
Mechanism of Amazon Slaying: I have no idea, but what a great weird name
Pendant of Magma: Allows one to walk across magma and lava with no damage or sinking
Rainstick of Calming: Berserkers and barbarians cannot go nuts in its presence
Ring of Knocking: As knock spell, 3/day
Ruby Draft of Abjuration: Drink liquid to gain abjuration spell – water (1st), wine (2nd), other potion (3rd, and gain abilities of that potion); usable 1/day, spell remains in memory for 1 hour
Salve of Gold: Like fool’s gold spell, enough for ten tiny items
Sapphire Net: Becomes a large web of blue energy that can entrap air elementals and gaseous creatures
Sphere of Ursus: Metal sphere with a copper, silver and gold bear; copper bear summons a black bear, silver brown and gold polar; 1 bear per week, from a ray that fires from the sphere up to 30 feet away; destroying the orb summons a cave bear
Staff of Slime Absorption: Can absorb up to 6 HD of oozes or slimes (1 HD = 5 square feet); when broken or released, they all appear adjacent to staff; can also be ejected as a 30’ cone of acid (damage dice equal to HD absorbed)
Titan’s Wand: Can cast one third level magic-user spell per day, but requires two magic-users to swoosh it
Traveler’s Stick: +5 ft. per round to walking speed, walk twice as long without being fatigued
White Javelin: When it strikes undead, it absorbs their negative energy, up to 6 HD, turning the javelin black – the black javelin then absorbs levels/HD of living creatures until it negates the negative energy, so don’t touch it without a mithral gauntlet
Okay - one more, inspired by watching MST3K's take on Cave Dwellers ...
Helm of the Black Swan: Once per day, a roll of "1" can be turned into a "20", or a roll of "20" can be turned into a "1" within sight of the wearer.
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