Valley of Blue Snails

Pallas Cat

2010-08-23T19:30:00.000-07:00

I am fascinated with the Pallas cat. If you notice, the pupil of their eyes are round, not slit-like other cats.

Since it is Monday, here is a random beheading.

Fast Zombies, Slow Zombies

2010-08-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

I have always had a rather clear idea of how I wanted undead in my games and what their origin would be. This ties fairly closely with Clerics, religion and has a bit of Dante's Inferno in it as well:

The Dead - Dead which are both faithful and buried on consecrated ground will never rise from the dead. If the consecrated ground is somehow marred or tainted, this is no longer true. The dead which are not buried on consecrated ground are vulnerable. The dead of the sinful are likewise vulnerable, although consecrated ground makes it significantly less likely they would rise. The sinful who are not buried on consecrated ground are very vulnerable, and this chance goes up the more horrible their crimes. Lastly, those murdered or slay themselves are also vulnerable.

So, clerics, priest and their acolytes definitely make it a priority to firstly consecrate holy ground and bury their dead therein. Otherwise bad things can happen, especially if you have some real bastards among your population. Site of mass battles are especially vulnerable considering the amount of violence was wrought and the likelihood of lost or forgotten bodies - or simply mass graves or otherwise desecrated remains. All a prime site of dead rising.

Consecrated ground, just like consecrated water, can harm undead. Most will not cross consecrated soil, but some of the exceedingly powerful undead can make a save vs Death to do so. Consecrated ground, even a handful, will harm undead if they touch it, 1hp per round. A Cleric's weapon can likewise be consecrated by himself to deal 1 extra point of damage to undead. Consecrated holy water is even more potent (as holy water rules). Consecrated relics are more potent still, especially in the hands of the person who consecrated it (turn undead rules).

Now for the actual undead:

Zombies / Skeletons - Skeletons and Zombies are more or less identical, but in different stages of decay. Zombies are Skeletons are the unwilling undead. That is, not particularly evil individual that have been made unto walking undead to serve a higher (evil) will. The bodies are unwilling, and so are forced into action that is not of their nature - and so their awkward and lumbering movements appear forced and strained. These undead are soulless vessels however will obey their master's will without question. (ie, slow zombies)

All undead after this point forward are the sinful dead and considerable more dangerous. Unlike the unwilling dead above, they do not hold back, and move quickly with deliberate determination (ie, fast zombies). These undead do have souls; often twisted, evil and malicious.

Ghoul - Ghouls are the remains of carnal malefactors. Those who went to extremes of lust or gluttony and now seek out the most perverse pleasures or to eat the most decrepit of things (with peoples on top of their list). They usually appear as they died - a corpse in the beginning stages of decay, smelling of rot, dirt stained with perhaps a seeping wound or noose around the neck.

Wight - Wights are the remains of the extremely avaricious or miserly (including many previous holy-men). Wights are distorted versions of their previous lives. They often have overly large hands, tongues or skin that is sloughing off of their body. All Wights drag around huge sack of what which they desire - usually heavy coins but sometimes other things such as small children. Wights attack viciously those who have more of what they desire (wealth, belongings, youth, beauty and so forth). They will ignore those who appear to have nothing that they want.

Shadow - Shadows are those that found no joy in life or god. They exist two dimensionally and are horribly wrathful beings who spite everyone and everything. They are humanoid shaped but are of the darkest black, and move very quickly. Shadows can be exceptionally malicious - carving out meticulous and deceitful plans who harm the living in any way possible.

Ghast - Ghasts are dead murders or those who took delight in unchecked violence. They appear as slightly dessicated dead that move with frightening speed and determination. Ghast will fly into a berserk rage in combat, leaping unto victims and ripping them apart with nails and teeth. Ghast have an innate cleverness but lack the comprehension for elaborate plans or motives. They are mostly driven to murder and violence with little thought to anything else.

Wraith - Wraiths are nearly insubstantial, and are the undead apparitions of those who killed themselves. They have given their bodies away through suicide and so linger in a mournful state that barely exists. Their presence brings forth despair and lonely emotions of all those in the area, and they consume anything joyous or vivacious around them leaving nothing left. Wraiths eventually drive the living near by insane, but are difficult to thwart in their near-invisibility state and lack of need to do conflict.

Mummy - Mummies are the remains of exploiters of their fellow people. This most often includes tyrannical rulers or others that were in positions of abusive power over others. They usually remain in the state which their body was placed. Maggots, vermin, insects or excrement form where ever they step - which represents the words they speak. Mummies seek power and exploitation and often control skeletons and zombies.

Vampire - Vampires are those which fed on the sorrow of others; opportunistic dealers of vice or sorrow. and deceivers who brutally harmed others for their own gain. these often include barrators, nobles, or authority figures which took advantage of others with no regard for their being. Vampires are very much the blood-sucking undead of lore, but also have dark hands which drip of sticky tar - this represents the sticky fingers and dark secrets which they fed upon. Vampires can occasionally hide their undead nature with ample clothing.

Ghost - Ghost are the worst of thieves or those who engaged in deceitful skulduggery. They have no substance and can not act upon anything. Ghosts loose their very identity, which occasionally gets lost onto the living. Ghosts, nearly invisible can wreck much havoc before being driven away if their personality is lost unto a living person.

Spectre- Spectres are falsifiers and frauds who have betrayed their core beliefs; either their liege, faith or those who trusted them. These undead are dessicated corpses burned black from cold, all except their head which remains perfectly preserved. Spectres deal in whispers, lies, and falsifying items. Spectres take joy in breaking the faith or trust in others, and relish in the chaotic aftermath. Spectres can occasionally hide their undead nature with ample clothing.

Lich - Liches are sorcerers, astrologers, and false prophets of malefic intent. Many have there have their heads twisted around on their bodies backward, so that they found it necessary to walk backward because they could not see ahead of them. Liches continue to decay, even in their undeath until they become dust. Some decrepit Magic-Users intentionally place themselves in this state to gain more power, for it is said to be the only true way to learn black magic.

Orcus - Orcus is a unique being, an undead blight. Others may exist like him, but they are unknown. Orcus, the lord of the dead, was once a mortal who personally affronted the great Deity in an unknown but apparently most dire manner. Because of his unknown crime, he was deemed to languish in a state of perpetual and horrific torment. Orcus appears as a crushed and mutilated body, like a piece of half-eaten food that is constantly being chewed up, some-what reconstituted and chewed up again. His pitiable wails and other unwholesome noises drive any sane being away from him. All animals flee from him. Any vulnerable dead who hear this noise, rise and then flee.

Birthright Maps

2010-08-12T17:58:00.000-07:00

Plain

For the past 10 years or so I have been playing in pbem/pbp Birthright D&D games and it continues to be one of my favorite settings. This setting does not quite seem to die, and it indeed has its own subculture - especially in Europe for whatever reason. Probably because it is as close as D&D will get to Europe without being Hârn.


With Provinces

I am currently playing in Empire's Twilight and Dawn of the Second Golden Age. They mostly have European players and honestly I think they keep inviting me because it is much easier to have a player be your villains instead of having to role-play one yourself. Europeans, not to be overly stereotypical, are all pussies. They are quite content to be the honorable Duke who is very slow to anger, but once you rouse it, he pretty much hates you the rest of the game yet rarely does anything about it. To them, it is very much a game of wordplay, small slights, and a gradual build-up to confrontation. Some call this maturity in RPing, I call it boring.


With Provinces & Text

To me.. well, its more of one atrocity after another, and half-assed attempts in blaming someone else for the horrible amounts of destruction and chaos that I bring to Cerilia. My regents usually last 1d4-1 turns before they perish, but let me tell you that is one Blaze of Glory - cities of fire, holdings reduced to ash, peasants nailed to the trees, and a whole lot of dead armies. The Europeans just hate that, let me tell you. But they know I will do it, and continue to invite me anyhow, so what does that say about them, eh? I think they just secretly like to beat the shit out of a stupid American - but I don't mind since I usually get to take a few out with me when I go.

Anyhow, it is all in good fun and I can assure I am exaggerating on the race baiting and chaos. The thing that strikes me the most is the setting is usually starts exactly the same. Same realm, same regents (usually), same tensions, same dichotomy between war and peace. Yet every game is quite different in actual play. Imagine Star Wars if you had different actors and the script was malleable. Al Pachino as Han Solo (which he almost did incidentally).. well that would change the story quite a bit now wouldn't it. He would freaking go out like Scarface before he even left Mos Eisley.

I babble.. back to maps. After looking at the same maps for 10 years, I decided to work up a few, enjoy. Click for larger. The Europeans made me put the distance in metric in the last map - commies.

FEAST!

2010-08-10T12:57:00.000-07:00

Otter’s post at Huge Pile spoke of having to spend gold to gain experience, which it very much in line with the type of feel I would like for my games. I have a tavern map in fact that is probably the most-used map that I have for all of my gaming.

So here is some feast-fluff:

BEST FOOD/DRINK AVAILABLE, D20

Description of average meal followed by max cost. City/village size should adjust this roll appropriately.

1.       Pond water and skimmed algae. Pile of unidentifiable ocher paste. 1c
2.       Pies made out of deer waste and yeast. Wilting celery with celery paste. Milky water. 2c
3.       Goat hooves marinated in brine. Boiled water. Wheat stalks with beeswax.   3c
4.       Beet gelatin on flatbread. Soaked pine-cones with melon drippings. Clean water.   5c
5.       Small, whole fishes cooked with onions and raisins. Water with mint. Hard grainy bread. 8c
6.       Cored pears baked with an egg. Oil and pepper soup with live fish swimming within. Root grog. 1s
7.       Salted corn husks filled with leeks with apricots. Hard and dark baked bread. Saltwater grog. 2s
8.       Green and Banian bean soaking in buttered milk. Grape leaves and oil, salted and spiced. Mustard rum.                3s
9.       Pine kernels mixed with minced eggs and cabbage. Soup with chicken feathers, carrots and broth. Coriander and dill laced ale.      4s
10.   Ginger, dates and pine nuts with cooked groats. Stew with spiced potatoes, goat broth and corn. Ale, mead or grog.      5s
11.   Lamb cutlets in liebstoeckl, baked with cumin. Fresh green beans with mussels and hazelnuts.   Ale, mead, wine or grog.      8s
12.   Peasant half with corned biscuits. Vinegar egg-yolks with apples. Fine stew with chicken, mixed vegetables and spices. Ale, mead, wine, rum, brandy or grog.                   1g
13.   Crab with honeyed-potatoes. Rue with flatbread and thyme. Peppered chowder with shrimp and vigaments. Hard cheese as desired. Ale, mead, beer, wine, rum, brandy or grog.                2g
14. Mutton filled-grape rolls with lard and anise seed. Mashed beans with lentils, sweet peas, chickpeas with a slide of oil and olives. Stout Ale, mead, beer, wine, port, rum, brandy or grog. 3g
15.   Skewered hare with pomegranates. Dried figs with sugar. Beechnuts and cabbage. Fine cheese with white bread. Stout Ale, mead, beer, wine, port, rum, brandy, barleywine or grog.       5g
16.   Whole grilled piglet or Kobold tail stuffed with salt, vinegar and grass peas. Fine cheese melted over flat bread with tomatoes and garlic. Sturgeon soup with sardines and white wine base. Stout Ale, metheglin mead, beer, wine, port, rum, cider, gin, brandy, barleywine .            20g
17.   Buttered beef rack with ewe cheese and salted plantains. Giant Ant soup in sweet oil and bay leaves. Svirneblin cake with raisins. Fruit brandy, metheglin mead, beer, wine, port, rum, cider, gin, or barleywine .             100g
18.   Baked song-birds or Stirges perched on the snout of a swordfish. Marinated eels in goose yokes and pine nuts (eel numbs the tongue). Herbed bisque of tuna and mulliten. Fruit brandy, absinthe, mead, beer, wine, port, rum, cider, gin, or barleywine .             250g
19.   Basilisk or Gryphon rack spiced with the finest of herbs, served in a tame mimic. Black pudding pudding sweetened with black sugar and cinnamon. Dragon-turtle soup with sliced shreakers and shallots. Fruit brandy, absinthe, sparkling wine, Grig milk, port, rum, cider, Violet Fungus liquor, or barleywine .                 2,500g
20.   Phoenix stuffed with persimmons that mews when eaten – heated under an enslaved fire mephit. Owlbear digits and gold-leafed Bulette fins marinated in sweetened figs and Sylph tears. Mermaid larvae soup, trussed with Naga milk and Couatl oil. Fruit brandy, absinthe, sparkling wine, distilled broken dreams, palm wine, port, Grig milk, cider, Bailigin (purple worm vomit), or barleywine - in cups that walk to the drinker.       5,000g+

BEST REVELING COMPANION(S) AVAILABLE D20
Charisma modified may adjust this if applicable

1.       A mostly dead leper who lost his lower jaw. He only emits pitiable moans.
2.       A vagrant old man who will agree to revel if you promise to dig him a grave
3.       A one-armed gnome who enjoys pulling out your arm-hair at awkward times
4.       Orphans who continually beg for food and shoes
5.       A yellow stripped cat with human-like eyes that draws woman with its pristine coat
6.       A runt of an Ogre that is fond of throwing people out of windows
7.       Sausage vendor with nothing better to do, always carries a sausage in one hand
8.       Lost foreign diplomat who does not speak the local language, assumes you are the leader of the people
9.       An animated stool which follows you around
10.   Group of sailors who keep calling you ‘lumb nips’
11.   A parrot which speaks curses and returns occasionally with money and discrete articles of clothing
12.   A disguised kobold who somehow came into riches and looks to you on how to properly spend it
13.   Bunta, beautiful barbarian woman who attempts to slay any other female who gets too close to you
14. Cult of albino Elves in pure white robes out for a night on the town – they apparently know many hidden where the finest mild altering drugs are sold
15.   A Halfling riding a large basset hound who serves drinks with a ladle and a bucket
16.   Noble with a heavy purse, wishing merely to hear your tales which later becomes a best selling novel
17.   Three dwarf-lords with a trove of treasure wanting an exotic drinking companion for the evening
18.   Infatuated theater troupe who sings a theme song where ever you go
19.   School of Magical Arts for young ladies from ages 16 to 24 whose tyrannical school mistress recently perished while on a study abroad trip
20.   Throgginor the Great Debaucher, high priest of missing nights – on the greatest holy day for his religion of the millennium.

ORDINARY EVENTS D20
As applicable

1.      You get lost in your revelry and find a new wondrous location in the city
2.      In your revelry you board the wrong ship/ wagon/ coach/ inn room
3.      Accidentally buy stolen goods (50% of being noticed with them)
4.      Stray cat or dog follows you and occasionally begs for food
5.      New romance with local dalliance
6.      Foolish behavior marks you with the local arbiters who track your movements
7.      1d6 new enemies
8.      1d6 new loyal friends
9.      New habit; beverage, drug or gambling
10. New retaining or hireling
11. Friends make utter fool of you while you are passed out
12. Massive bar fight! 3d20 participate in a melee with non lethal weapons. 6d100g in damage is incurred
13. Minor bar fight! 1d6 participants in a melee with non lethal weapons. 1d100g in damages
14. Gambling binge, roll a 1d6. If you roll a 1, gain 1d1000g. Otherwise loose 1d1000g.
15. Beaten and robbed, loose any obvious gold and jewels on your person
16. New Tattoo, random location and type
17. Romantic misunderstanding, gain a new (unwanted) romance
18. Criminal misunderstanding, you are now in jail for a minor offense (1d4 weeks or 1d100g)
19. Class misunderstanding, you are now in jail for insulting a noble (1d4 weeks or 1d100g)
20. No ordinary hangover, you gain -2 to all rolls for 1d4 days

ODD EVENTS D20
Should the DM wish things to indeed be eventful..

1.       Man flees the outhouse screaming of a monster living therein (a very upset Dryad who has awoken from her hibernation )
2.       Food is served from a municipal jar with imbues a sense of insight and focus you have never felt. Guests form a symposium who drink and speak of philosophy and grand questions. A new government or spiritual movement is formed that night with you as the leader.
3.       Colored powder is tossed from reveler to reveler – traditionally thought to ward infertility away. Most all revelers are coated head to toe in yellows, purples, blues and so forth.
4.       Local revelers engage in constant eye-gazing, fixating one person for an hour or more staring into their eyes without talking. You are unable to lie after this for 1d4 weeks.
5.       Establishment owner dies clutching his chest. Looking straight at you, he wills the establishment to you with his last breath – while his entire family looks on in horror.
6.       You see yourself walk into the establishment, order a drink and speak to some travelers. When you approach ‘you’ their face quickly changes in a sickly fluid manner into another person’s face. (doppelganger)
7.       You and your friends awaken on a ship of cat-people who enslave you dance and juggle at their hidden and bizarre tent-city
8.       Local priest enter the establishment and declare it a holy day of hedonism and demand an immediate mass-orgy. Priests sprinkle flowers on participants. (PCs can flee)
9.       You find a finger bone in your rum. If you search out the source, you find the ancient cask which was recently opened and if searched, a full skeleton inside. A rum-soaked map is jammed down the skeleton’s throat. The map is of a hidden isle to the far south east.
10.   A patrol of baboons enter the establishment in a berserk flurry. They grab throw a rock at your head that is inscribed with a time and place. The baboons then flee.
11.   You awaken on a giant turtle who calmly floats in a pond. On the far side of the pond is a massive ruin of stone buildings mashed between two huge standing boulders. You can find your way home in 1d6 days but are only able to find your way back if you map it meticulously.
12.   A moose walk into the establishment and eats from your plate. It is in no rush to leave. It will let you use it as a mount, although it never runs faster than a canter.
13.   It begins to rain with a thick mist. When the mist clears the establishment is in another city far, far away.
14.   A Halfing slices your hamstring with a deadly sharp dagger (1d6 dmg, ½ move for 1 week) and says, “Whoas-hit! Wrong Human!” and he scampers off, “Sorry!”.
15.   A black pudding has awoken and attacks through various cracks and crevasses from the floor boards of the establishment. At first small animals are wrenched through areas of the floor, then people.
16.   You awaken in a field surrounded by mushrooms and large toads. A smallish toad lifts a flower by the stem and croaks loudly, and all of the toads bow to you. Every now and then when you camp in the wilderness you find regurgitated fish and berries by your pillow.
17.   A Bard screams loudly after drinking the mead and begins to peel away his flesh. In 1d4 rounds he turns into a zombie and mindlessly attacks patrons. Anyone damaged likewise turns into a zombie and is likewise contagious.
18.   A man in a hood enters the establishment, calmly walks behind someone and slits their throat, slaying them. No one appears to notice except you. You notice his hands are like tiger-paws.
19.   You happen to look under the tables at the establishment and see a very large slug under each table. If you harm or disturb one, everyone in the establishment enters into an insane and berserk fury.
20.   You awaken on a flying Pegasus, nude, with someone’s severed head in one hand and banner of unknown origin in the other.

Free Adventure Sunday - Thunderdelve Mines

2010-08-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

I put this together for a buddy as an interlude adventure in Night's Dark Terror. Their is a part in B10 with Dwarven miners and a cave, but it is rather mundane, so this was written to replace it. Simply put, this interlude is loosely modeled from Disney's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - only with the chance for catastrophic collisions, big nasty spiders leaping on people, and goblins throwing javelins from adjacent carts ala Temple of Doom.

So, enter Thunderdelve Mines. I admit it is a bit campy, but with the length of good solid campigning in B10, I do not see that as a bad thing. Side note, I stole the name from an (unremarkable) model I owned as a kid, Thunderdelve Mountain.

Download here, 200k pdf.

The Land of Rabbits

2010-08-05T14:18:00.000-07:00

In the western most reaches of the Lodoga lay the Durns of Laskemma, a charmed land of pleasant vales and blue-green pines. Despite its natural beauty, therein lay one of the greatest perils of the west, the Kammarissa, and the raging battles therein. It is here where no men dwell and the animals rise up with unwholesome demeanor.

The Durns of Laskemma were long ago settled by a man rejected by hell who called himself Kammarissa. It was he who built a great mill call Voane, to grind mundane things such as corn, grain and even money into strange and unfathomable vile things in contempt of the world. Kammarissa had indiscernible goals and the great mill ran for decades ceaselessly by using the wildlife to power the mill while he sang. Kammarissa was an eternally malign above all else, and it is here that he played the ten thousand verses of spite that enabled men to betray one another. He played his vile music while the mill ran, most of which was lost to the winds thankfully. The animals which powered the mill however listened and learned - and so many gained unwholesome comprehensions beyond thier peers breed elsewhere.

Kammarissa is still thought to be in the Durns, and it is well known that many of the descendants of the animals he enslaved exist still in prolific numbers. They collectively call themselves the Laskemma, the first name they have known. The rollings hills of the Durns are the home to the Bode Warrens. A group of burrows which are dug by the Usu, semi-intelligent and large rabbits which migrate from warren to warren. They are semi-intelligent, like all creatures in the Durns, and form tight-knit bands for mutual protection. Usu females called does are the prime commodity among their race, and their go to great lengths to protect or gain new ones.

Within the patches of forests dwell the Meerswetch, or pig-coneys, which vie with the Usu in brutal and vicious battles over territory. The Meerswetch warrens are almost always in the pined woodlands, and these are static hole-dwellings rather than the migratory ones of the Usu. As such they are better built with deadfalls, snares and other fortifications to deter intruders. The Meerswetch jealously guard the Voane in the deep reaches of the ancient woods, and treat it as a holy site. They desire things unknown to them as to feed through the Voane, and so they will often stalk interlopers in hopes of stealing unknown objects - or perhaps to feed the interlopers themselves through the mill.

Tormenting both races are long-billed and multi-colored birds who dwell in the deep waters of the few lakes. It is they who cruelly and indiscriminately punish any who are so foolish as to be out of their burrows alone or be caught near the water's edge unprotected. Very few sources of fresh water exist in the Durns and those that do exist are likewise home to the great birds. Collecting water is perhaps one of the most dangerous but nessesary tasks in the Durns.

All of the races in the Durns operate with an intuitive and very clever intelligence. They can use rudimentary tools, but prefer their natural capabilities. They can speak with one another, but no man has ever learned what language they know. Most of the inhabitants are spiteful and vindictive creatures. By in large, they are extremely territorial, superstitious, and xenophobic. Their are some exceptions, but these are rare and usually short lived.

All of these races take their dead to a cork-screw hole in the ground that is a mile across and drills so deep into the earth that one can not see the bottom. It is here, a place unnamed, that Kammarissa himself is thought to dwell. All things which die in the Durns are dropped in to the deeps to a fate unknown.

The Durns are widely avoided by all civilized races. Intruders are beset by one or more of the prime races therein, and ceaselessly assaulted until they perish or flee. Indeed many of the battles from inside the Durns spill over into neighboring lands, causing great strife. It appears that the animosity of the races is at least contained within the Durns, and has not spread to other areas.

- - - -

When I was just out of High school I worked at a local software store and house-watched for one of my neighbors, who happened to be Roy Thomas. Besides being an absurdly brilliant individual, his house was eclectic to say the least. Every wall had scores of original art work from the silver age on up, a library of thousands upon thousands of book, and many many pets.

Indoors lived 6-7 birds, Toucans which tried to maul me at every opportunity, and wicked parrots as well. All ill-tempered and loyal only to their dark master. In fact I think he liked them vicious. The backyard was a landscape of two burrows, a trench around them both, with areas filled with water. One barrow was for rabbits, the other for guinea pigs. Geese patrolled outside of this area with a few ducks too. All of whom absolutely loathed one another.

I watched his house for a few weeks while Roy and his wife went on his many road trips. I had to bribe the Toucans with grapes to even get in the door and the parrots I simply had to keep caged for my own safety. The outdoor animals were quite curious of me at first - but when they got comfortable they when about their own routine - all out war. The rabbits and guinea pigs were the main aggressors. They would group up in large numbers and attack stragglers of the other side; the young, old and weak being the primary targets. Occasionally they would form small groups, running into the other's burrows and dragging out a lone victim, and proceed to chew the hell out of them. The high pitched squeal is something I will never forget, and this noise called for aid from their kin. Soon it broke out into an all-out melee, rabbits and guinea pigs running about all over the place in a brutal free for all. Sometimes one would be unfortunate enough to be dragged outside of the burrows and past the trenches, and that is where the geese would lay into them with unrelenting beaks that apparently never let go. The ducks were smart enough to stay the hell away from all of this and usually sat in the middle of the small ponds. As the only source of drinking water, they viciously protected it and would not hesitate to drag a bunny by the ear to a watery grave.

In all Roy must have had 25 or 30 of each rabbits and guinea pigs. They did breed but the population size stayed the same for the few years that I lived near him. Many perished in the great burrow wars but oddly enough I never saw a body. Even the ones that I knew drowned in the water were apparently retrieved and placed.. somewhere. Maybe eaten, maybe placed in some dark and deep burrow for the lost, who knows.


He will ~jack~ you up unless you have grapes

This was all rather traumatic for a kid who previously had the most loving pets possible. I admit I would be lying if I did not think it was also morbidly fascinating. More so because Roy would go onto his back porch in the morning, sit in a lounge chair and drink his coffee while reading some Lovecraftian book that no one ever heard of. All the while this bloody and vicious war was occurring as a trifle for his unnoticed pleasure.

Obviously Roys's personal little ecosystem is a trove of ideas to plunder. Considering how strange real-life is in this case, I feel that no fantasy write up can really do it justice.

Paper Art

2010-08-04T19:11:00.000-07:00

This is a small project I made with some left over Plexiglas and colored construction paper. Although image is small, the original is 18x24 (larger image here). The Plexi is 3/8 and I ended up using 6 pieces, each with a cave cut out. This was then stacked to give it some depth. Unfortunately photos are static so you can't feel the depth, but I asure you it is the shiz-nile. At least that is what I keep telling myself.

Cutting the paper was maybe an hour. Laying and cleaning the Plexi, maybe 20 minutes. The real problem was the frame - I had to build my own since 6 sheets of Plexi is something like 30 pounds. Building the frame took far more time and effort than anything else, so, I probably will not be doing too many more of these.

Next time (if their is a next time), instead of construction paper, it would be much easier to cut vinyl, although would be worried of an overly plastic feel. Also I think it would be better to not clean the Plexi, and even slightly dust it to really give the feeling of depth. Several people have looked at the peice and did not even notice it was in solid Plexi at all, but thought it simply free-floating paper.

Anyhow, if I happen to get renewed interest I think it would be good to try a dungeon map with 4-5 levels stacked, but with enough viewable area to see all of the layers as they lower and lower. Tricky perhaps, but something that would look excellent if it was decent executed.

All good things.. rise from the dead and make no morale check

2010-08-02T18:59:00.000-07:00

So, it has been a little over a year and the initial Valley of Blue Snails campaign is now complete. I think I can consider it a success considering my esteemed cousin survived his tour in Iraq with (relative) sanity intact and managed to almost reach level 3 in the process. So a quick review of the game from my point of view:

The Good:
A Giant Segmented Worm that spewed burning dirt-feces
A hireling who grew a lemur tail when the PC's Oculus power was used in an inadvisable location
Lord Maulden, who was bewitched by one of the users of the Occulus, was reduced to doing nothing but eating, fucking and sleeping in luxury. The question arose if anyone would really be doing him a favor by 'freeing' him, lol.
Using a giant (dead) nautilus,I got to reenact this scene:

The Bad:
Using Gmail exclusively to run it
We almost concluded the intro adventure in one year's time..
The Traumatic Childhood Background Generator is perhaps too traumatic
The Fighter's cleave on those under 1hd is enormously powerful

The Ugly:
Trying to track down names and details I invented 8 months prior
Find out that I am senile since I can't remember this crap

All in all, not too bad. My main complaint was the difficulty in turn-around time for play. I seriously think we could have accomplished the same game-play in 2-3 nights of in-person play. Cest la vie.

As for this blog, I will likely post again here and there as I have time. I enjoy the creativity exercises and a few folks have found some of it useful. I may eventually write up a short story or two set in the Valley of Blue Snails world. A few ideas have crossed my mind in the last year that I would like to put in writing. Further development of the campaign setting will be incidental and instead I will focus on being unfocused - generally blurting out what game related non-sense comes to mind.

At the moment we are playing Villains and Vigilantes. My PC is El Gato, a fat and old luchador wrestler that is a bit of a combination between Ron Jeremy and a Spanish Ric Flair. He has one stat above a 9 and he has to change luchador masks to use any powers worth a crap. The campaign is set in an alternate Las Vegas and our team's secret hideout is El Gato's run-down trailer parked in back of some seedy casino. Great fun.

Erol Otus Art Challenge

2009-05-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

I entered in the Erol Otus Art Challenge and picked up two honorable mentions (and free loot as well). It is rather strange to have an iconical artist of D&D give your chicken scratch a look over and give a nod. This certainly exceeded my expectations and I am quite pleased.

4-5 of the entries were spot-on works for the Erol Otus era of D&D art and I look forward to the enlarged versions when they post them. I recommend taking a loot.

As a general update, I changed jobs and am also contracting at my old job. Thus the cobwebs and crickets. This project is in the 'dry polish' stage so there is not much to post anyhow. My cousin who is going to Iraq is visiting in a few days and we will likely give Valley of Blue Snails a playtest and I will make the appropriate changes. It is certianly playable now but who knows what will change after we actually play the damn thing. I am sure I will update after such.

You spy your long time love laying eggs in the wilderness one evening

2009-04-17T19:43:00.000-07:00

These tables really have nothing to do with B/X or Valley of Blue Snails. Rather just anecdotal write-ups for my own amusement. I am fond of random tables, probably a side effect of growing up with AD&D.

Anyhow, this is the follow up to the traumatic childhood background generator. Onwards to the Traumatic Adolescent Background Generator:

COMELINESS 3d6
New ability score deriving physical appearance, roll 3d6. Discard this ability score at the end of adolescence. The memory will always haunt you however.

3 – Exiled from the village for being not of your race
4 – Ruthlessly tormented and forced to wear bag over head
5 – Beaten at random intervals for no apparent reason
6-8 – Brought along by your good-looking friends to stand next too
8-11 – Non-descript and utterly forgettable
12-14 - 1 in d4 chance to have a stalker (roll on Hirelings table)
15-16 – 1-3 in d4 chance to have a stalker (roll on Hirelings table)
17 – Ritualistically beaten by far uglier peers and family
18 – Extremely paranoid from lurid looks and random gropings from entire village

TEMPORARY WISDOM MODIFIER d6
The Wisdom for an adolescent can never be above 12. If the modified Wisdom is 0 or under, it is assumed the PC has gotten themselves killed in a spectacularly stupid manner.

1 – minus 6 (permanent injury incurred caused by lack of wisdom)
2 – minus 5 (temporary injury incurred caused by lack of wisdom)
3 – minus 4 (several scars caused by lack of wisdom)
4 – minus 3
5 – minus 2
6 – minus 1 (remarkably unscarred)

HIRELINGS d20
Aka – gullible friends. They will be available as future hirelings. Roll once unless your Charisma modifier is 0 (then you have no friends).

1 – An ill-tempered marmot capable of using tools but can not speak
2 – Friend of opposite sex, extremely attractive with no interest in you what-so-ever
3 – Lost Ogre who stays in the woods, friendly because you bring him small furry animals
4 – Disguised Fey creature entertaining himself for a few years
5 – Friend of same race, exact same interests, skills and traumas
6 – Friend of the same race, wholly inept
7 – A completely innocent, pure, and gullible friend of the same race
8 – Friend of the same race, who is better than you at just about everything
9 – A hopping bird with a smug look on its face
10 – Friend of different race, wholly inept
11 –The lone survivor of a decadent and extinct race
12 – Friend of different race, who is better than you at just about everything
13 – Some old hermit that follows you around
14 – A colony of lepers
15 – A dog that never stops barking
16 – A foreigner who can not speak your language but is remarkably loyal.
17 – The village retard with freakish strength
18 – Young orphan kid with a knack of finding snares and traps
19 – A blood-crazed and insane Knight who calls you ‘liege’
20 – A half-man half-cat that hides in your addict. Howls incessantly at the moon.

ACADEMIA d12
‘Trade skill’ is any knowledge applicable towards making a living. Fishing, begging, carpentry, pick pocketing, flogging, scribing, hole-digging, and so forth. Roll once.

1 – PC incapable of learning anything useful (hence their future career as adventurer)
2 – Trade skill learned but turns out to be wholly inept in any application
3 – Single trade skill learned and mastered
4-5 – No trade skills learned, but cursory knowledge of a great many things
6-8 – Two trade skills learned and re-roll (ignore 1)
9-10 – Two trade skills learned
11-12 – Single trade skilled learned

LANGUAGES d12
Roll as many times as your Intelligence language modifier allows (0-3 times usually). Player or DM choose the language they wish to learn, results below.

1 – Gibberish, the language was made up by a hard-up or insane instructor
2 – Language learned, but different language than intended
3 – Language learned with strangely alluring dialect
4-5 – Language learned and mastered with fluency as if born with it
6-8 – Language learned remedially, many words have entirely different meaning than what you think they do
9-10 – Language can be written and read, but unable to pronounce
11 – Language learned, and can understand all similar languages
12 –Language learned with annoying and irritating dialect

TRAUMATIC ADOLESCENT EVENTS d12
Count the number of odd dice rolls thus far. Roll on this table that many times (1-5 usually).

1 – Re-roll twice and combine the events. Ignore 1.
2 – Re-roll. You learn an appropriate trade skill from applicable event.
3-5 – Horror Event
6-8 – Romance Event
9-11 – Adventure Event
12 – Weird/Other Event

HORROR EVENT d20

1 – Head stuck in a hole in ground for 1d8 days. Something licks your legs periodically during your entrapment.
2 – Deranged hermit pulling a cart with unidentified meat follows you around at night for 1d4 years
3 – Walking barnacles abscond 1d4 members of your family and are never seen again
4 – Tawdry and irksome fey spirit prevents you from getting a good nights rest for 1d4 years
5 – Any deceased siblings or family reanimate and haunt your village periodically
6 – Another is blamed for a crime that you commit and is burned on a pyre. A revenant in a twisted amalgam of fire and that person seeks to slay you twice a year
7 – A Kalevope culls the lands around your dwelling once a year, no matter where you live
8 – A priest inadvertently turns you with his turn undead ability. It appears to effect you
9 – Strange ticks grow under you skin and must be burned out lest they multiply
10 – A wingless forest drake smashes your dwelling while you are not home and devours all inside. It used the remaining timbers for its nest
11 – A horrid Nakki drags you into its stagnant pool and forces you to clean the bones of its victims. In 1d6 years you manage to escape with many horrible tales.
12 – A water nymph enslaves you but is utterly boring. You are released 1d4 years later with few tales to tell.
13 – A group of carnivorous ape-men ransack your village leaving you as the only survivor
14 – Nomadic Frog-Yetis encamp near your village causing much horror and strife for 1d6 months. By the time they leave over half of the village is dead or maimed.
15 – You are enslaved by the Carpmen of Raelenac and forced to scrape abalone shells on a Meglo-Coy for 1d4 years before escaping.
16 – A small but playful Trent ensnares your legs in its roots. It does not release you for 1d4 months.
17 – You fall down a sinkhole permeated with the remnants of Vaunderfel, the Great Spring. You age in reverse until reborn into a different being (re-roll stats and race). This occurs within 1d4 months time and none recognize you after.
18 – Desert raiders enslave your village forcing you to act as pack animals. You escape 1d6 years later.
19 – An old and forgotten being of enormous power is released from its bygone prison by your meddling. It promises to repay you someday, searing your mind as it communicates.
20 – While sleeping in the wilderness you get enveloped by a Sky-Shell and live within a pocket of air and fluids inside of the creature for 1d6 months before escaping.

ROMANCE EVENT d20

1 – You have absolutely no romance in your adolescence and are mocked ceaselessly by your peers
2 – Desert raiders abscond you into slavery, forcing you act as a pleasure slave in the profane Ziggurats of the Man-Bull. You are released 1d4 years later. Gain a trade skill.
3 – The sexually frustrated Elf maids from the Village of Two Stars kidnap and fight with one another over mating rituals for 1d4 years. Still unresolved, you eventually escape.
4 – A moonlight date to some abandoned ruins result into running for life from crazed flesh-eating Halflings. Your date has 1 in d4 chance of escaping and naming you hero.
5 – A walk on the shores of nearby lake with your date results in a tribe of intelligent sand-crabs worshiping you both as a god.
6 – A winged fey creature becomes infatuated with you for 1d4 years, following you day and night
7 – Your hireling falls madly in love with you (applicable if you rolled on the hireling table, otherwise re-roll)
8 – You are forced into an arrange marriage by your family, roll for race and birthright of new family
9 – You fall madly in love with a Knights squire. The belligerent Knight hates you at first sight. They quickly travel away but you vow to find them one day (squire can be male or female or any race)
10 – An orphan vagrant falls madly in love you with and follows you around until death
11 – You find a potential mate to be amazingly beautiful and attractive. Everyone else you speak with talks about this person as if they are the ugliest person in the village
12 – The one you love cares not for you. An ancient family text speaks of a mushroom from the Great Rot that will infatuate all who look upon you should you devour it. A map of the location of where these mushrooms can be found are located in the book.
13 – A rival courtier of the one you love challenges you to a duel. You accept and accidentally geld the person. None in the village will be seen with you now.
14 – A wizard/sorceress falls in love you with you and is constantly changing their shape into alluring forms to gain your love.
15 – When finally alone with your date, you inexplicable turn into a fox-beast and attempt to devour them. None believe the tale.
16 – A wayward spirit steals a part of your spirit. You can feel no love nor lust until you retrieve it from them.
17 – You awake one morning married in Astrumdantalas with a mate of ill-repute whom you never recall meeting.
18 – An ogre of the opposite sex finds you and drags you off to their cave. You barely escape the event, but still hear forlorn cries from that area of the wilderness to this day.
19 – You awake most mornings with smallish fey creatures cuddled against you. They leave tiny offerings of flowers, sweet food and perfumes.
20 – You spy your long time love laying eggs in the wilderness one evening.

ADVENTURE EVENT d20

1 – The PC finds a nest with an opal-eyed fox in it. The fox follows the PC around and attempts to remove the skin from my other humanoids its comes across
2 – You follow some singing in the distance and find several of the village females dancing and singing around huge nodding toad. The women flee if confronted, but the toad-thing speaks to you of fantastic adventures to the far south.
3 – You find a pole in the wilds that climbs higher than you see. You climb it as far as you can but it appears to be endless.
4 – While traveling six screaming men run past you with ruined clothing and smoldering hair. One of them drops a half-burned tome that speaks of an underground desert.
5 – A traveling Bard plays a song of a Bard trapped in a keep who is forced to play music to keep an angry tribe of man-eating bears asleep. The next day when you speak of the Bard none know what or who you speak of.
6 – While swimming in a lake you find a large tablet of polished coral. You drag it up the surface and see upon it a miniature city of incredible detail. The city appears to be abandoned but you see tiny sculptures of minuscule shrimp among the coral.
7 – After stealing a shield from a wandering Knight, a magic mouth follows you endlessly insulting you in many strange tongues. A wizard agree to remove the magic mouth, but only if you find him some rare grasses from the Valley of Endless Summer.
8 – A colony of lepers imposes themselves into the center of town unless the PC find them a new home.
9 – The fields of rye turn ashen and start to rot from the ground up. On your land you find a small cave leading under the fields of rye.
10 – As penance for committing an act of heresy, the local Priest-Lord send you on a quest to find an ancient knight an honorable death in combat. He puts emphasis on ‘honorable’. (Gain ancient knight as henchman until he has found an honorable death)
11 – A troupe of Marggots build a carnival some miles away and the village sends you to find out what it is all about.
12 – A fetid and diseased rhino stumbles near your home. When dealing with the creature it vomits a ruby encrusted bracer (value 500g). When worn the PC hears faint chuckling.
13 – A huge flightless birds runs into your dwelling, takes your most valuable possession in its beak and flees and blurring speed. You track it the best you can but you only know it headed towards a thicket of foreboding woods that none enter.
14 – While near a waterfall you think you saw a pair of feline eyes behind it. Exploring behind the water fall you see a crevice that sinks into the depths. You also find a huge discarded cat-claw larger than you are.
15 – While looking for a camping site you come across a meadow with a dozen Dwarves that appear to be sleeping. They all are simply overcome with lethargy and stare upwards. When you look upwards you see a low hanging cloud with a near invisible rope hanging down.
16 – A theater troupe stages a play that insults the local lord. All are due to be executed in a week unless they can make the lord laugh. They are all foreigners who can not speak the native language. Only you can translate for them.
17 – A group of pygmies wearing feather-clothing jumps out as you walk on a road and toss spears at you, some wounding you. When they hear your angry cries they flee up the tall trees. You can see platforms in the high canopy.
18 – A PC is given the deed to a pawn-shop in a nearby city. The store is in complete shambles, vagrants often use it to sleep in, and a crazy dwarf lives in the walls.
19 – A crazed Tyrannosaurus assault your village and you miraculously defeat with legendary bravery and guile. The local lord is so impressed he sends you on mission after mission of nearly suicidal quests.
20 – A half-man half-raccoon stumbles towards you camp, lets out and chattering sound then tosses a pouch of regurgitated seeds in your lap. Before you can respond it flees to a taboo vale that none enter.

WEIRD/OTHER EVENT d20

1 – A fey creature leaves a child at your door step. (if taken) the child grows to adulthood in 1d4 years, looking exactly like you
2 – While working you see a cat standing on a strange pillow that flies above the ground. If followed it eventually lifts off high into the night sky
3 – While in a drunken brawl, a wounded friend appear to be bleeding water. When closely inspected they flee. When met the following day they pass it off as you being drunk
4 – A sullen painter asks you to pose for a portrait. After a few hours he starts screaming and runs off never to be seen again. The painting is of you sitting upon a bronze throne with ruby-eyed imps prostrating themselves at your feet
5 – You find a Cudgel like weapon wrought from fossilized wood embedded in the side of a hill The Cudgel is larger than your dwelling
6 – Your friend swears on his life that he saw the chair in his room beat the snot out of his table. His table appears to be in shambles and the chair looks remarkably smug
7 – When coming home one day you find a group of six trilobites carrying your (most valuable possession) under your dwelling
8 – A saber-tooth cat will periodically jump on your back out of no where, give you a quick mauling, and then scamper off leaving only superficial wounds
9 – After bathing in a small pond of tranquil and serene water your notice your hair is remarkably full, flowing and vibrant. It grows quickly past your shoulders and the slightest wind bellows it heroically
10 – After traveling to a cave you once found when a child, you find a skeleton of a child. Long since dead, a pair old cloths it wore that appear exactly like the ones that you once owned
11 – You find a tomb made of fossilized wood with strange glyphs carved upon it. After studying the glyphs you think you can read it, but hear ghostly sounds when you start to do so
12 – While traveling on a long forgotten road you come across a coaching-inn. You open the door and see fey and goblinoid creatures enraptured in a wild scene of debauchery and unspeakable acts. You flee but the scene in seared into your mind
13 – In your travels you find a huge flowering plant with a large silver sphere in the center of the flower. (if removed) The orb transforms into a malicious leprechaun that torments you at in opportune times with song and dance
14 – You find a geyser that erupts erratically, sometimes days, sometimes months apart. When showered by the geyser you gain great insights (+1d4 Int and Wis for 1 week).
15 – While tracking your lost horse, you find a tar infested canyon hidden in the wilds. Deep within you find your horse being eaten by a diseased and featherless Ruhk.
16 – You awake one morning with your feet painted red an a adorned crook at your side (value 150g). Occasionally you can see odd looking crickets in the trees above you peering in your direction.
17 – A carpet of rolling moss implants false memories into your head as you walk upon it. (roll again on the Adolescence Events Table, this event is merely a false memory)
18 – A small duck billed Hadrosaurid will periodically approach you when it thinks you are asleep and clean any parasites from your skin and hair. This is strangely soothing and does not wake you.
19 – After using a bar of soap given to you by a Dwarven trader, all of your body hair falls out. If eaten, the soap changes your gender.
20 – Lichen grows prolifically on a notably comfortable pair of boots you own and must be scraped daily to be kept clean. The lichen is eatable albeit not very tasty.

I am not sure if I will delve into adult events or not. I am getting a bit loopy after that last batch, and lets face it, adult life is boring anyhow.

Entry - One Page Dungeon Creation Contest

2009-04-17T16:45:00.000-07:00

I am generally a sucker for contests so I recently did a write up for one floating around the OD&D blogs. Here is my submission to the One Page Adventure Design Contest. My submission is streamlined version of a homebrew adventure which I've had decent fun running several times in the past year. Also I'm a bit lazy in drawing new maps so that is another factor in not doing something on the spot.

As for the promotion, I like the idea for the 1-page adventures but in all honesty I find the format to be uninspired. It is a simple 'big map here' 'other crap every where else' with no formatting to speak of. I tend to be more creative with limitations so honestly things like word count, font type, strict layout would have been a favor to me.

So, what is a good 1-page adventure? The box set From the Ashes came with about 30 or so 1-page adventures that were terrific. Some I still use some to this day. Too bad the format in the contest can't really cater to this plot-heavy type of adventures. It seems like it is simply old-school for old-school sake rather than being practical.

A fire-breathing were-mammoth destroys half the village while calling your name

2009-04-13T16:12:00.000-07:00

Yes, slow day at work today so this is my 'Traumatic Childhood Background PC Generator'. Perhaps I will work up an adolescent and adult events one day.. anyhow this is for childhood events.

So grab some dice and start rolling:

RACE d4
1 – Human 2 - Elf 3 – Dwarf 4 – Halfling

SEX (use roll above)
If your dice is to the right of you, Male. To the left, Female.

CLASS d4
1 – Fighter 2 – Magic User 3- Thief 4 - Cleric

ALIGNMENT (use roll above)
Light colored dice, good. Dark colored, evil. Mid-tone, Neutral.

SOCIETY d10
1 – Lost/Alien
2 - Decadent
3 - Nomadic
4 - Tribal
5 - Hierarchical
6 - Autocratic
7 - Feudal
8 - Communal
9 - Progressive
10 – Re-roll twice and combine. Ignore 10.

BIRTHRIGHT d10
1 – Slave/Exile
2 - Serf
3 – Lowborn Commoner
4 – Highborn Commoner
5 - Merchant
6 - Guilder
7 - Craftsmen
8 - Clergy
9 - Nobility
10 – Re-roll twice and combine. Ignore 10.

FAMILY d10
Even – Both parents alive
1 – Both parents dead
3 – Mother dead
5 – Father dead
7 – Bastard child
9 –No family, raised on the streets/wilds
D8-1 for Siblings, 8s are re-rolled twice and added.

TRAUMATIC CHILDHOOD EVENTS d12
Count the number of odd dice rolls thus far. Roll on this table that many times (1-5 usually).
1 – Re-roll twice and combine the events. Ignore 1.
2 – Re-roll. This occurred but the PC blocks the memory out.
3-5 – Conflict Event
6-8 – Criminal Event
9-11 – Adventure Event
12 – Weird/Other Event

CONFLICT EVENT d20
1 – Re-roll event, this event results in the characters death. Re-roll character
2 – Chagmen rampage your homeland stealing all pre-teen males (yourself included if male). You are to blame for enraging the Chagmen. (all male siblings die)
3 – Giant leeches erupt from the ground killing those to slow to flee. You are to blame for awakening the leeches. (1d4 siblings die)
4 – A headless Giants smashes every building in your village, except for yours.
5 – Your homeland was surrounded and starved by the Ladoga Imperial Army for 1d10 years.(1d4 siblings die)
6 – An army of semi-intelligent forest animals rampages through your homeland. Your people blame you.
7 – A belligerent drunk starts a riot that burns your village to the ground. The drunk is your closest family member/friend.
8 – A family of Tuehni live in your basement for 1d4 years, occasionally dragging the unwary to their doom.(1d4 siblings die)
9 – A swarm of hundreds of Molletuesks lay their eggs in your homeland. It is said you are to blame.
10 – The Elf Village of Ten Winds slays every able-bodied man in your village looking for the acorn of the World Tree that you stole from them.
11 – An small army of Fionn riding Toucans raiding your village cutting and stealing the dwellers hair. You are the only survivor with their hair unscathed.
12 – After you insult a stranger, the stranger uses an Oculus power to burn your village to the ground.(1d4 siblings die)
13 – A cadre of Dwarven clergy men defile every holy place in your village due to your presence.
14 – A walking tree chases you throughout the village after you angered its spirit. Nothing grows where it chased you to this day.
15 – A small army of water-monkeys steals everything metallic and shiny from your village after you stole a shiny stone from their stone pile.
16 – A fire-breathing were-mammoth destroys half the village while calling your name.(1d6 siblings die)
17 – A swarm of Marggots raid your village, feasting upon its children. You are the lone child survivor.
18 – The Walking Stone completely obliterates your village as it chases you through your homeland.(1d8 siblings die)
19 – A herd of decaying and water-logged horses erupt from the river and hunt you ruthlessly after you toss some salt into their river. Most of the village is destroyed.(1d6 siblings die)
20 – Re-roll twice and combine events. Ignore duplicate results.

CRIMINAL EVENT d20
1 – The PC is accosted for brigandage. The PC is forced to wear iron boots for 1d4 years.
2 – The PC is accosted for begging in the presence of a noble. The PC is forced to wear a halter for 1d10 days and walk through the streets of his homeland.
3 – PC is accosted for piracy and transfer of illicit slaves. The PC is racked for 7 days and nights. The PC is 1 inch taller.
4 – The PC is accosted for stealing dog food. PC is placed in a rat cage with 2d12 rats for 1d10 days.
5 – The PC is accosted for strangling small animals. PC is hanged until unconsciousness every day for 7 days.
6 – The PC is accosted for attempted murder of a high noble. The PC miraculously escape before certain death and starts a new life. Re-roll Society and Birthright.
7 – The PC is accosted for arson. PC is seared with boiling oil.
8 – The village witch accuses the PC of angering the spirits. The PC is lashed for 3 days and so is the witch.
9 – The PC is accosted for raiding the royal harem. They are chemically gelded. The PC is now a eunuch.
10 – The PC is accosted for horse theft. The PC released after the horse steals a child and is later captured and put down.
11 – The PC is accosted for capturing and bottling fey creatures. The PC is placed in a brass tub and soaked in rotten fluids for 1d6 days.
12 – The PC befriends a kindly blacksmith who later turns out to be Medlacklon the Black Vile, an infamous assassin. The PC is released out of fear.
13 – The PC is accosted to defiling holy relics. The PC is magically compelled to only tell truths.
14 – The PC is accosted for sedition. The laws of the kingdom are written upon the PCs flesh and remain to this day.
15 – The PC blatantly slays the village bully in a fit of rage. No one knows this.
16 – The PC is accosted for heresy after a water nymph follows the PC where ever they go and seduces all in her wake. The PC is later acquitted after the judge is seduced.
17 – The PC is accosted for horse mangling after a noble tramples the PC and lames his horse. The PC is imprisoned and beaten daily by the noble for 1d4 years.
18 – The PC is accosted for counterfeiting. The PCs hands were binded for 1d4 years with a coin in each.
19 – The PC beats a bully child only to find out the child is the disguised Prince of the realm. A large stone is tied to the PCs waist and they must drag it for 1d6 years.
20 – Re-roll twice and combine events. Ignore duplicate results. The PC is entirely innocent of said crimes.

ADVENTURE EVENT d20
1 – The PC finds a Chagmen who offers the PC a large sapphire if the PC bring him a child to devour. If the PC accepts, the gem is worth 2000gp but the child ghost haunts him.
2 – The PC finds a large leathery egg on the beach of a large lake. The PC kept it safe for years but the egg has not changed nor hatched (yet..).
3 – The PC sets off to kill mice for an odd job. After setting a trap the PC finds a mouse with a hat, a tiny crossbow and a tiny belt. The mouse speaks and offers the PC treasure if they free him. (If they agree) The mouse gives the PC thousands of tiny gold coins, value, 1gp.
4 – A Halfling mistress of Gnaeun accosts and marries the PC in a strange land. The PC is later released and wanders back home, only left with the words that she will return for them at a later date.
5 – The PC finds a underground chasm that leads to a underground valley still carrying the full effects of The Great Rot. Occasionally the PC sees walking mushrooms following them.
6 – A rotting river otter corpse follows the PC home one day, scratching at his window and door then scampering away when confronted. Eventually the corpse is found outside the PCs window unmoving. A silver otter amulet is clutched in its jaws, value, 200gp.
7 – A lone knight crosses paths with the PC while on the road. The knight speaks of the PCs eventual heroic deeds and honor before riding off. A few days later the PC sees the knight ‘s image on a mausoleum in his travels, apparently a Paladin who perished an age ago.
8 – A rancid behemoth hippo attacks the PCs village and the PC lured it away. Unfortunately the thing dwells under a well used bridge cutting off the main road too and from the town.
9 – The PC accidentally released a group of desiccated Halflings from a bygone barrow. The Halfling Ghouls stalk the village and terrorize the entire area.
10 – The PC finds a man in rich garbs in the deep woods being strangled by a feathered imp-creature. The PC scares off the imp but the man is dead. A book on the man contains information on spells and ritual to conjure creatures from other places.
11 – The PC finds a bush with plump orange leaves which are edible. The PC seems impervious to sickness if they consume at least one per week. Only the PC knows where this plant is.
12 – The PC finds a piece of ice that never melts. When carried the PC feels as if they are being watched.
13 – The PC find a large tar pit and strange fey creatures appear to live within. They have invited the PC into the pit to see their home but the PC has yet to accept.
14 – A traveling Elf maid gives the PC an orchid plant. The orchid never changes and is perpetually pointing towards one direction, even if turned or moved. If the Orchid is followed like a compass, it leads to a strange and wondrous place leagues away.
15 – The PC finds a lone bolder marbled with lapis. Before the PC can take any, a deer-spirit emerges and begs the PC to leave it. (if heeded) A yellow deer can be seen in the distance when the PC is in the wilds. (if ignored) Gain 1500gp in lapis.
16 – One hundred fat hamsters scamper across the road when the PC is traveling. If followed they dive into a sinkhole writhing through mud and compost. The PC follows the narrow path and finds an underground ziggurat on a miniature scale.
17 – The PC came face to face with the dread wurm Haecern while on the roads. The wurm demanded tribute but when the PC had little to offer, the wurm only mentioned it would ask again one day.
18 – In a pile of family books the PC comes across a map of an island west of Kaboria. This island is not listed on any other map the PC has found. Scrawled across the map in giant letters reads 'BEWARE THE PARROTS!'.
19 – An uncle visits the PC and tells them grand tales of adventure in the southern lands of Saltwhisker Glens. The uncle speaks of a Marggot King who owes him his life and says to speak his name should they travel to there.
20 – The PC is dragged away by a group of cat-men and taken to a desert city where the PC is forces to dance and juggle. After many months the PC escaped and find their way home, but none believe their tale.

WEIRD/OTHER EVENT d20
1 – Perfectly normal childhood. The PCs peers mock the child for his normalcy.
2 – Every morning the PC wakes up and finds a silver piece under their head, as well as a splitting headache.
3 – PC is ruthlessly hunted by Dwarven slave-traders for an unknown reason. The Dwarves have a very annoying war cry they scream when ever they see the PC, 'Vbblalalalbalalalalbala!'
4 – Rats and other vermin hate the PC and attack on sight. Other animals find the PCs skin very tasty.
5 – Strange words appear in the PCs mind when they dream and the PC can usually remember them. If spoken aloud nearby spirits take notice.
6 – The PC dreams of another life and other experiences. Generate another entirely new character for the PCs alter ego in this dream world. At some point of time the personalities will switch.
7 – Halfling precognition is always blank in areas where the PC should be. This greatly unsettles Halflings.
8 – Once per full moon a lead tablet with the PCs name will appear near them during the night. Should this tablet be harmed in any way, the PC will suffer the applicable effects as well.
9 – A crow will occasionally follow the PC and bark guttural words that appear to mock the current situation.
10 – When ever the PC has broken an egg, someone very close to that PC has died.
11 – A pearl button seems to appear on the PC clothing, no matter what they are wearing. Random buttons the PCs apparel are usually missing as well.
12 – The PC gains a sense of inexplicable serenity when pointing towards the north-east. The PC gains a feeling of loathing when pointed another direction.
13 – Occasionally when the PC is alone in the wilds, a talking hedge lizard will roam near the PC and gives them non-sense advice.
14 – After the PC was beaten ruthlessly with cattails by a group of fey, the PC seems to never get hungry and must be reminded to eat or else starve to death.
15 – Ashes appear in the PCs footsteps after they commit an evil act.
16 – When drunk, the PC can see and communicate with spirits, much to the chagrin of the spirits.
17 – The PC can play any instrument even though they have never learned how.
18 – The PC can speak and communicate with moving machinery. The machinery completely lacks humor or sarcasm but is fond of well-oiled puns.
19 – The PC is compelled to travel to Nifflaer during the Lightless Day of Loksos and dance naked for days on end.
20 – The PC is not actually of his race, but their form was forced upon them as punishment for some prior transgression. The DM should instead create another race for the PC which was their original form and former life.

Appropriate phobias, nightmares, paranoia, nervous twitching, and likelihood to burst into tears at random times should likewise be recorded.

Cleric Rationale

2009-04-06T22:36:00.000-07:00

Rationalizing Clerics has troubled me since starting Valley of Blue Snails, and I have thus far avoided the issue by skirting over all but the most basic details. Naturally this has to end as I am sewing up some loose ends as I am putting together a working copy of the rules and setting. I have about a month left however, which is enough time for some new ideas.

One idea I have been messing with is using a pantheon war between four or five pantheons. The pantheons would likely be fairly straight forward with vastly different agendas and philosophies. Naturally they come into conflict with one another and use their mortal power-base to wipe each other out. So which pantheons? I am not sure yet, but I need something that would have constant conflict within civilization. My first inclinations (and cheesy names off the top of my head):

Fiorse (Finnic/Norse) - Finnic and Norse have similar themes, stories and philosophies. A lot of the gods themselves are practically interchangeable. Hierarchical but independently motivated with vying agendas. Generally have the best interest of themselves and the world at heart.

Egyines - (Egyptian/Chinese) - Foreign pantheon encroaching on the civilized areas of the campaign. Thus while they are definitely human/humanoid, they have very different and alien philosophies. Similar to above with a hierarchical map of gods, although their vision of good/evil and right and wrong are vastly different.

Paragons - Each race has a paragon deity(or deities) which embodies the archetype of that race. They will have their own pantheon and it will include everything from humans to elves to fey to dragons to were-elephants. The deities are equally powerful and quite potent. They however rarely work together and only have the best interest of their patron race to care for.

Nehmerian - (Nehwon/Cimmerian) - These gods are identifiable as human or humanoid but usually more eccentric and defiantly more rogue. They have no organization and battle with each other as often as other pantheons. This is the largest 'pantheon', at least by sheer numbers of deities. This is the home of the 'failed' Paragons as well.

'Old Gods' - This will blanket anything that is not above including primeval deities, deities from long ago, elemental or natural force deities, loathsome unfathomable deities, and just about anything else that does not fit in.

The most important thing is that they fight with one another considerably. And so a good reasons for mace wielding, spell casting, holy warriors to be around. They would naturally vie with other pantheons foremost, and with each other secondarily. Temples would be erected either towards an entire pantheon or specific deities. Specific deities mostly, although other deities of the same pantheon could certainly be worshiped there, at least if the first few examples above.

Deities that are clearly historical will use a thinly veiled disguises with a name change and perhaps some small changed to fit the setting. Most of the others I will make up on the fly. Individual Clerics would support a specific deity first, and pantheon secondarily. They would fully be expected to battle on the front lines using martial skills in combination with divine magics.

The gods themselves are strictly tied to their nature and simply do not know how to behave otherwise. This makes them have little reason to interfere directly with mortals, unless it is simply to fuck with them. Most mortals are far too unpredictable for gods, sort of like a shovel with a hose for a handle. Gods will usually only speak to the most obedient and best trained priests who act as close to them as they possible - and so these priest end up being the most powerful. The gods are also not omnipotent; they may have prophecies to share but can not tell for sure what the future will hold. Gods frequently make mistakes when they delve into things that are not in their nature - and so most gods loath to do so. Gods can understand what all mortals say but can not listen to their minds. Lastly gods can and do die.

Anyhow, some of this will likely change as I mull it over. Perhaps drastically if I come up with something better.

Filler Art

2009-03-31T12:14:00.000-07:00

Some general filler art

Giant Fleas
Header Pic
Barnacle Man
You decide

Winding Down and Setting Design as a Hobby

2009-03-27T16:07:00.001-07:00

The bulk of the rule modifications and setting material is more or less complete. As a writer it I think it is important to know when to 'call it', and move on to the next step. One of the reasons I am using the B/X ruleset is because it is unrestraining and well suited to an open-ended world. I do not want to over develop it. It should be loose guidelines of what is where with a lot of sandbox material to play in as the players go. Anything further would be diminishing returns I would think, since the players have a good chance to never see it. As of right now I am fairly happy with the amount of material that is done and it should be an ample amount to rake fresh characters over the proverbial coals.

That said, the posts here will likely dwindle greatly as I concentrate on the fairly dry tasks of assembling the mess I've created in the past three months. This will include a lot of rewriting, organizing, editing and smashing it all together to form a single book 'Valley of Blue Snails'. A one stop rules/campaign setting, hopefully ready to go by the May Iraq deployment date. None of this process will be very interesting to share so I will not do so. I may do a few new articles (the two remaining great seasons, a cleric write up) but they should be uncommon at this point. Hopefully in MayI will simply post the PDF when its ready and stick a fork in it in this construction project.

Thereafter this blog will highlight the actual campaign as it goes and I will fill future setting details as the player(s) stumble across strange lands, high adventure, and butter supple loins.

I have a few notes in reflection, notably regarding setting design as a hobby:

I suppose part of the reason that I have worked on Valley of Blue Snails is that it is a hobby in of itself. It is not all preparation for a campaign, although that was definitely a motivating factor to get some actual work done (ie Iraq deployment date). It is quite possible that I will spend far, far more time doing the labor and toil than actually playing the game. Granted I hope this is not necessarily the case; but it is foreseeable that the setting sees very limited play for one reason or another. There is war going on after all.

I won't belabor the point since I don't want to give the wrong impression that I think this would be some horrible thing. I'm having fun designing my little maps and trivial lore. I'm sure I will use the better bits in whatever I run or play in. Even if I don't it was fun to write them and generally explore some ideas that I've been mulling over.

In retrospect I would change a few things from the get-go and move towards a more open approach to setting design. Preconceived notions seem to stifle creativity and I am surely caught up in that mix to some extent. I started from the ground up (B/X rules, 4 races) instead of the top down (And then there was light, what else is out there?). I should have taken the top down approach as I am sure I would have arrived at some more interesting conclusions rather than dipping into my prior gaming repertoire to fill in the blanks.

The closest thing that comes to mind in treating the actual game design as its own hobby is probably Traveler. DMs and players for that matter almost certainly spent far more time generating characters, ships, worlds, systems and so forth than actually playing. Traveler summed it up as so:

The Solitaire Game: One player undertakes some journey or adventure alone. He or she handles the effects of the rules as the situation progresses. [...] In addition, there are many aspects ideally suited to solitaire consideration. A single player can spend time generating characters, designing starships, generating worlds and subsectors, planning situations, and mapping out ideas to use in later group scenarios.

Note that this is reflected as its own game rather than simple preparation. And it is, I would recommend it to almost anyone with interest in D&D, old and new, or any general role-playing. Get to it and don't dilly-dally around. I know I would be interested and inspired with setting material that other people come up with who are more creative and talented than I.

A few NPCs

2009-03-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

Locations and NPCs I prefer to dole out in small allotments rather than attempting to do them all at once or do them on the fly. A few that may make an appearance.

Miviel, the Hands of Twin Cinders - A well known Sheriff known for his lust and remarkable fighting style with a dagger in each hand.

The Dweller in the Pit - Unfathomably ugly Dwarf that lives in the Miasma Pit of Klormb. He is said to be 1000 years old.

Romine, the Shield of Lime - A half-man half-bear who honorably carried out the will of Selecuid. Ostracized by most civilizations.

The Selfish Braggart Hothir - Well known warrior with an endless assortment of tall tales, some of them perhaps true.

Juilio, the Fleecing Shadow - Middle aged woman, thief and killer. Follows a strange cult in reverence to the Great Rot.

Coycoy, the Resting Magi - Wizard from distant lands who makes him home on the Plateau of Gnaeun. The Halfling women keep a wide berth from his citadel.

Twice Born Reguln - Renowned prophet and miracle worker. Said to raise the dead and died himself, only to return to his faith to serve once more.

Larnis the Clipper - Lecherous old man but remarkably skilled pickpocket.

Seilnoon of the Moons Edge - A lone Elf maid who sit near a lake during full moons. It is said she can be several place at once.

Gluberlane the Carnal - Grotesquely fat giant with insatiable thirsts for all carnal things. Endlessly seeking for exotic and forbidden pleasures.

Thrymil, the Settled King - Dwarf King dwelling among the Halfling of Neorn as their Lord.

Brother Cabil Douern - Elf brother struggling with his kin over the leadership in the Pearpines. His bastard brother lacks a claim for the throne but is far more popular.

Brother Vesper Douern - Bastard brother to Cabil, and romantic warrior. One of the few Elf men driven by passion, and has the heart of legions of Elf warrior women.

The Staring Child - Prophetic Halfling child who never blinks with a powerful Oculus. Said to see the future in perfect clarity.

Kaetlin, of Three Lodges - Dwarf maid who bludgeoned a Halfling Sheriff to death with an ale stien. Now an unwilling Dwarf folk-hero whom the Halflings resent.

Pereglorg, the Wizard Archeon - Powerful Wizard-Lord who dwells in the Shedding Peaks. A race of long-furred Muskrats serve him loyally.

Ulfius, the Fasting Knight - Viciously cruel and skilled knight known for his hatred in all things fey.

Kessel the Napper - Named for her propensity to rest with the abnormally large sheep-hounds, Kessel is known well as a hound trainer and breeder.

Atari Cover Mockup

2009-03-25T18:54:00.001-07:00

Not really sure what inspired me to do this..

Mageai and Sea of Boulders

2009-03-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

Southwest of Orobia is a pitted vale stretching the distance from the Orobian highlands to the western gulf. This span is over 100 miles in length and is known as the Caustic Plains or the Sea of Boulders. It is an inhospitable place that is laden with round boulders of all sizes, ranging from the size of a small house to a pebble. This creates a virtual maze of crags, canyons, pitfalls and other broken hazards. Sulfurous plumes seep into the landscape and create a perpetual low hanging fog near ones feet and a damn caustic footing. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the Sea of Boulders is the dark sheet of thick glass it is apparently sitting upon. Under the fog, under the boulders, and under the sand an endless sheet of thick smoky glass sits sturdy and ageless. In some places where the terrain can be cleared the glass can be seen clearly; meters thick, dark, swirling, with movement underneath, and seemingly unbreakable.

The terrain of the Sea of Boulders is free from grasses, shrubs or other low hanging plants. Spindly tree do reach up in some areas with foliage attached only to the very top. The most noticeable creatures are the Rock Tossers, bipedal tusked behemoths which move boulders in search of smaller creatures to devour. They do so by leveraging their tusks against the ground and boulder and shifting it weight while their flabby trunk reaches under to grab any morsels.

Smaller creatures have also adapted to the sulfurous fog and call the plains their home. Most are poisonous to eat or even touch. Swarms of putrid toads, lithe fog-snakes, boulder morays, sticky yellow slugs, furred flight-less birds and a plethora of other strange beings eek out a defiant existence. Lichens, molds and yellow toadstools often grow under boulders or in the damp crags. Few humanoids travel within but it is known that a few oasis are cast into the deeper areas of the plains, usually in large sinkholes with fresh water at the bottom.

One of these is Mageai, a small Dwarf village in a particularly large sinkhole. The sulfurous fog seep into the sinkhole but apparently is drained down into the crevasses. Water leaks from the side of the sinkhole and makes the appearance of constant light rain on the bottom. No more than 100 Dwarves dwell here and they are a paranoid and primitive lot suck in the age of bronze and copper. They will trade with peaceful travelers but it is difficult to attain their trust and most are not allowed to come inside their sinkhole home.

The Dwarves know of the thick glass that lay under the Sea of Boulders and say that another world lay beyond it. They believe it is taboo to travel under the glass but are well aware of several entrances, one of which is their own sinkhole home where the crevasse reach under the glass. The Dwarves also know of a handful of other breaks in the deep reaches of the Sea of Boulders, although they do not speak of such information and often intentionally hide these entrances. Once the Dwarves fully trust a visitor, that visitor is assumed to be a part of the village and is obliged to all manner of strange traditions, rituals and knowledge. Those who betray their trust are quickly exiled to the world under the glass and usually never heard from again.

What lay under the glass is a matter of speculation. No reliable accounts exist and no known explorers have returned from such a journey. It can only be said that glass extends throughout the Sea of Boulders and perhaps beyond under the mountains and under the sea as well.

This is loosely based upon the Moeraki Boulders. I had a distinct sense of deja'vu when I wrote this up. I looked over previous articles to see if repeated any ideas but did not see any. Hopefully I did not do so. I generally am prolific enough that I often forget what I previously wrote leading to the occasional contradictions. I suppose that is what editing is for when I eventually put the thing together.

- OF THIEVES

2009-03-23T22:40:00.000-07:00

Journal of Khazrel Nakhu “Journey to the Cities Afar” 32’s93

- OF THIEVES

“Let me be clear about one thing before I bedraggle my readers through the loathsome pits of skulduggery. When I speak of Thieves I do not use the term loosely to anyone finds their ways gravitating towards crime rather than honest toil. Wither it encompass offenses such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, mugging, trespassing, shoplifting, intrusion, deception, and criminal conversion (though consider a bad pun to be a theft of my time). Such folk that willfully act out such things are often the most wretched of people with few redeeming qualities. Whatever motivation they have, most sorts lack any sort of prosperity in their life, driven by petty impulses, and many are short lived.”

“And then there is an entirely other sort, which is the Thief. One that perhaps walked the same trails of these criminals, but is something more than them. I have met many folk who were skilled in many things. I once knew a manling archer who used his bow so often and was so skillfully, watching him pluck a bow was nothing short of magical. The speed, delivery, and accuracy was a singular fluid motion of perfection. Some Thieves are of this ilk and are far removed from their lecherous criminal brethren. It is these folk that I both admire and fear, and I dug deep into my reserves of bravery to learn more of them in my travels.”

“It is no coincidence that I sought the Thieves in the city of Astrumdantalas, the Opal of the World, the great Free City. I used nearly every connection that I had to see the cities inner workings and perhaps gain an unhealthy amount of knowledge within. I surmise that many of the most skilled Thieves come here to find a measure of prosperity and camaraderie that they could not find else where. It is no secret that the city operated with a number of guilds, councils and merchant troupes. I can only image what I do not know about the city. Astrumdantalas is one of the few places where such men openly organize and are in fact a both balancing power and an important tool for the Scryers Guild.”

“Once they knew of my interests, I was invited to a sect known as Eight Aerlin which is a member of the larger collective Thieves Guild. I was most respectful and forthright about my writings and I think they appreciated the boldness. Among them met many unassuming folk who could pass easily for a baker, a farmer, a clothier, a charcoal burner and so forth. All highly skilled Thieves and single minded professionals. It was here that I learned that this sect operates as a part of the Thieves Guild but separate as far as organization and operations. From what I gathered there is no single ‘Thieves Guild’, but rather it is a vague term for a collection of professionals, similar to any craftsmen guild. Sects come and go, unworthy upstarts are quickly snuffed out, and most true sects are well aware of boundaries, politics, and rivals. They are similar to large families and control territory. “

“Unlike petty criminal organizations, they rarely vie with one another over territory as it is usually passed on from generation to generation, from city to city and realm to realm. Astrumdantalas itself is merely the fulcrum for the organization; a place to find new talent, resolve disputes, find jobs, and otherwise organize. I was told that one of the most difficult things for a sect to accomplish is finding new skilled members. I suppose this is why so many make the pilgrimage to Astrumdantalas. While I was not privy to where Eight Aerlin operated originally, I did learn that it had a dozen members, most of whom where human, and that they operated in conjunction with the Scryers Guild.”

“The two seem to have a symbiotic relationship. The Scyers Guild trades in all kinds of knowledge, and the Thieves Guild attains particular bits that they need. In turn the nobles and great lords cultivate the Scyers information for an assortment of needs; from predicting the future, to usurping a rival’s throne. By no means is this the Thieves Guild only source of revenue, but it is usually one that they tend to nurture and not sully for petty reasons.”

“Just about all manner of folk could employ a Thief for a variety of reasons, and Thieves themselves cover the full gambit of demeanor and personalities. Some will only steal from wealthy Halfling Merchants, others still will merely track and follow important peoples. Others are heartless killers who will snap a child’s neck without a second thought. All have desired talents and ones price is purely on the behest of the Thieves reputation, thus most Thieves rarely back out on a deal or sully their name. Even law enforcement will seek out skilled Thieves if they are particularly befuddled, as Thieves have a knack at unusual means to accomplish their goals.”

"Not all Thieves are guilded. Most novice Thieves must earn a name for themselves to rise above common rabble. Fame can come from many ends, but only those who have a measure of honor, even a twisted one, would be approached. Lone Thieves who are not guilded are not unheard of, but are a distinct minority. Guild sects do not like competition from solo Thieves and will often push them out or worse. Still, many solo Thieves exist, either has loners, exiles, eccentric individuals, or merely filling a vacuum where no Thief sect exists. Solo Thieves often have it much harder than guilders. The Guild often provides means to escape the law or at least reduce penalties in most areas if a Thief is inadvertently caught. Guilders usually pay dues but it is often far more lucrative than a solo Thief could be. Also the Guild tends to watch out for itself in times of trouble."

"Still, it is a hard life and few Thieves reach a measure of wealth where they can quit the business and go honest. There is always the next job, the next mark and the next rush of pilfering a noble’s riches. Many Thieves find a sad fate at a guardsman’s blade or cross harsh words with the wrong master Thief. The politics of the Guild can likewise take its toll in exasperating struggles for contracts, pouching talent or even stealing from each other. With this in mind it is no wonder that some of the most talented Thieves seek more direct and tangible goals by adventuring in times of struggle."

The Scryers Guild is a bit like a Bene Gesserit think tank, minus the transhuman powers. The Thieves are their main means of getting hard information since they don't have the skill to do so themselves. I had a hard time justifying a Thief Guild, especially ones that span cities and realms, so it seems a good of a reason as any. Over all I think the Thief is pretty true to B/X and I didn't want to make the lore too specific where they are almost a different class. I may eventually rename the Scryers Guild, the Thieves Guild to something more setting specific. For now its a literary place holder.

I wanted to include some Spy vs Spy elements into the Thief class (hence the pic) but found it surprisingly hard to do without forcing PCs into one guild or another. I think I will use this element, but just on the RPing side of things rather than a setting level with forced conflict. I think rival Thieves would be good story elements so they would attempt to out-do each other, sabotage each other, kill each other off and so forth.

Quick Update

2009-03-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

We have had some major web incursions at my work and I am having to manually clean up some malicious code. Time consuming to say the least. Hopefully by Wednesday it will be straightened out and I can think about some more articles here.

Pointillism

2009-03-20T09:46:00.000-07:00

Here are the two pieces I spoke of yesterday. The first is The Molluetuesk (click to enlarge). This was done using a Micron pen and some pointillism. I like pointillism since you can use the same pen for the entire sketch and I suck at traditional shading (as you will see below). I originally planned to use pencil to draw some natural cave stalactites and stalagmites to see how the critter could blend in. I opted against it because pencil smears too easily and I didn't want to overly obscure the Molluetuesk. I may submit this one to the Erol Otus art contest. I would feel honored just knowing he saw one of my pieces.

This next one is practically a colleague. It uses pointillism, crosshatch, scribble-sketch, brush ink and whatever else I could think of. This is what I think approaching Throxia would look like (Otter's game, Thool). I don't like this one nearly as much but it is really a mandatory sketch since I need to get back into practice somehow.

I will probably try to do some pen and ink art work in the future since I enjoy it and have let it go for far too long.

The Molluetuesk Effect

2009-03-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

I've been a bit busy recently will endless meetings at my work, a job interview and some more pen art work. I picked up a sketch pad, micron pens, and some bottle india ink - the first time in many years I purchased art supplies. Really buying the supplies is a high of its own, as nothing is quite as promising to me as a empty book of really nice graph paper or a nice clean sketch pad. It is almost a shame to sully them with my meager scratchings. Good art supplies more so, simply because I could never afford the higher quality stuff as a kid. I distinctly remember doing Studio Art AP projects in high school on empty brown grocery bags. Not that there is anything wrong with that, brown-bag sketches had a unique quality to them, but its nice to have some options.

Anyhow I will post a few sketches tomorrow when I have access to a scanner. One is of the Molluetuesk, which is my favorite home-brew critter that I've done recently. Not necessarily because its particularly clever, but because it has single handedly brought three groups to their knees - even though these parties have conquered far more insidious critters.

8 – The north section of this cave is the home of the Molluetuesk, which appears as a tranquil pool of water with several small fish swimming inside. The pool is faintly radiant and is lined with stalactites and stalagmites. Should a PC disturb the pool the Molluetuesk will attack relentlessly. If the PCs are 15’ or further back and somehow disturb the pool, the mouth will snap shut and the creature will slowly ‘reset’, ignoring the party.
A passageway is in the South East section of the cave which vaguely reeks of sweet cooking smells, like heated fruit.
In the refuse under the Molluetuesk a Shield +1 sits along with the bones of its previous owner.
Molluetuesk – hd 3 hp 18 ac 5 att: bite 1d6, on max dmg swallow whole.
Very large cave-lurking beast that looks similar to a huge horseshoe crab, which opens itself up into a cavernous opening. Its ‘mouth’ very closely resembles an iridescent tranquil pool of water with some small fish in it, stalactites and stalagmites lining the sides above and below (teeth). Should the pool be disturbed, the ‘mouth’ will snap shut.

'Swallow whole' is intentionally vague to suit the DMs lethality. I had it do an automatic d6 per round until the critter is slain. Bad yes, but hardly save or die. I really have no idea why the groups I've ran have nearly gotten TPK'd from this thing; especially considering the stirge-breathing dragon is so, so much worse and they kick the crap out of that thing. I guess some critters are just bad luck.

The Seat of the Soul

2009-03-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

Philosophy interests me and I like to integrate a bit of it into Valley of Blue Snails where I can. Admittedly I am probably doing a poor job but I have made the attempt to offer themes with a philosophical slant. Some examples:

Elves and Descartes dualism. The males are heavily slanted towards the mind, introverted thought and consciousness. The females far more into the body and bringing things into motions. Two must interact, yet find it an abstract affair where they just don't share the same context. The conflict here is between body and mind.
Another would be Dwarves and naturalism. The Dwarves see everything as a machine. The mind being no exception, it is just a machine that they do not fully understand. The 'saints' of Dwarf-kind are the very knowledge whitebeards who do understand the brain as a machine (so they think) and can replicate consciousness into machinery. Ala Golems and their ilk. Spirituality is waning with the Dwarf culture but so is their society. Some Dwarves believe this is no coincidence and perhaps spirituality is not something to be ignored. Anyhow you have some conflict between spirituality and naturalism here.
The Oculus is based upon 'effortless action' in Taoism. Abilities through the Oculus are actions that are more like yielding to natural force rather than forcing an action into being. It takes great effort to swing a heavy broad sword, but using the Oculus powers is easier than watching water flow down a stream. I am not sure if I captured that well in the original articles at all, so perhaps it needs a rewrite. The Oculus is intended to be a very natural thing, an effect of the Great Seasons (Estaoculus) and operates far differently than magic, battle and divine types of conflict. All who have the Oculus have their own personal struggles on how to harmonize their ability with the rest of the natural world. This should include PCs as well.

Halflings like wise have a dilemma with seeing the future and the problems with changing it. Humans are more based upon the pull and tug of civilization vs nature. On a broader level I suppose Valley of Blue Snails operates with very symmetrical themes. The major theme is seasons; four seasons which effect all races drastically. Great Season are the major events in the campaign. The seasons dictate prosperity, society and basic survival. I've thought about making the Great Season much more common, as in one after the other rather than years apart. They need not necessarily be in the order of spring - summer - fall - winter, but I think it would be interesting to have seasons that were random in order, years long, and having drastic effect as I've spoke of before (fall, spring).

Still, it feels like something is missing to bring it all together. Some harmony to link it up and bring a greater sense of a singular campaign rather than a mish-mash of ideas. I suppose a mish-mash is not all bad, Greyhawk and Wilderlands are definitely that. It still nags me though, like a constant reminder that I forgot something.

Astrumdantalas – The Opal of the World

2009-03-17T10:20:00.000-07:00

Astrumdantalas is one of the few human cities that can pre-date itself before the time of Lodoga and when the Emperors walked the world. Elves say with certainty the city was founded by the Bard Deledago and his troupe of performers. It was originally intended to be a small trading post at a river fork between the Banshar Krush, the eastern seas, and the Elf Village of Six Stars. It was promoted heavily by Deledago as a free city, with no taxation, little police, and open to all who come in peace.

Within two generations Astrumdantalas had a population of several thousand, a functional port on both rivers, and rife bands of thieves, brigands, beggars, merchants and vagrants. All races participated in the growth of the city and even today there is no definitive minority or outsider race. Astrumdantalas has been sacked and burned to the ground innumerable times but it continues to be rebuilt over the ruins of the old. This has in effect created layers of previous half-destroyed dwellings that were further built upon or buried. Those newer buildings were likewise built upon when they start to crumble, or at the very least torn down and wrought anew. These under-structures are a labyrinth of ruins and passages that maze their way down fifty, sixty or more feet under the cities current roads and buildings. One would assume that these pits would be best avoided or only used by the most loathsome of folk, but on the contrary, the wealthy and powerful dwell underneath while the vagrants and beggars take hearth to the filthy streets above.

The Bardic colleges controlled what little law lay within Astrumdantalas for many years. Over time they simply lacked sufficient numbers and the proper ruthlessness to maintain power. The Bardic colleges still exist but hold little power beyond their well-financed dormitories. Astrumdantalas technically has no law, no police, and no civil services at all. It is kept from falling into complete anarchy by several powerful merchants, pirates, thieves, beggars, craftsmen and the Scryers guild. All of these have the mutual interest to keep Astrumdantalas thriving as a tax free haven to ply their trades. Ownership is held only by word of mouth and sword in hand. Permanent citizens known exactly who owns what and why, and this is referred to as Reeveless Law – that is a sort of common law that all are expected to abide by, or face vigilantism. A hand shake with some spit and blood in it is the proper means to barter ownership of something like a building or docking rights. Simply slaying the previous owner and taking what he owns will only get one mobbed by the cities hardened residence.

Reeveless Law caters heavily towards the current powerful patrons of the city. Naturally nothing is outright taxed, but protection payments for visitors, inspection fees, and writs for services are all collected by the dock-lords and merchant captains. This law changes from district to district, and in particular when one travels into the deeps of the city. Older sections of the city have stone walls to delineate them from the rabble and are generally more upscale with sewage drains and fresh water wells. The shack towns beyond the stone walls host the worst of the vagrants and few travel within for anything wholesome. The worst criminals, killers, and sociopaths make their way into these shack towns when they wish to escape the law of more proper realms.

The under-levels Astrumdantalas are situated under and between the two rivers and are of two distinct types - maintained and unmaintained. Unmaintained sections are considered to be uninhabitable and consist of sewers, caves, rubbled ruins and areas that are too damp to build. The Maintained sections are considered to be richest and most lavish dwellings within Astrumdantalas. Rich merchant lords and guilders will form their own private maze of under-dwellings with the finest goods and services that one may come across. These individual mazes are linked through a variety of smaller passages to the huge internal cistern called The Bards Bazaar. The cistern is long since dry and its ceilings rise thirty feet above the floor and the cistern itself stretches over a half a mile in length. Dwarves crafted it long ago and many Dwarven noble lords still make a vacation home that connects to the grand cistern.

The Bards Bazaar is the open market for the opulent and well connected. No permanent residence are allowed within the cistern so the floors are clean and trades come from all over the world to set up a shop for the daylight hours. Of all in the cities in the world, none can compete with Astrumdantalas and The Bards Bazaar for the sheer variety and quality of good it attracts. Bizarre races who come peacefully are welcome to trade within, and few are denied entry if they pay the proper guilder fees. The finest slaves, weapons, narcotics, cloth, grains, brews and crafted products of the world can usually be found within. The cistern is one of the few places with armed guards that are neutral in their loyalty and traders come to the bazaar only if they are invited by one of the local merchant of guilders.

Several smaller and far less impressive markets operate on streets of Astrumdantalas. These are seldom more than brigands selling their goods, but often quality goods can be had at barging prices. Barter is more common than exchange of coins, and the demand of certain goods changed from day to day or even hour by hour. Very powerful and important travelers will often stop at Astrumdantalas and pay nearly anything for their hearts desire. A flock of pygmy parrots may trade for a bowl of porridge one day, then a sack full of gems the next. Fortune tellers, card readers, bone scryers, and just about any Halfling are in high demand because of this.

Huge profits can be had at a moments notice if the proper information is known. One of the most powerful guilds in Astrumdantalas is the Scryers Guild because of this. Other guilds and powerful nobles will pay dearly for their services, and they often pay with favors rather than gold. This has thrust the Scryers Guild into a fulcrum role of information collection and leaking. The Scryers Guild is not limited Astrumdantalas. Many of their agents are sent to hot spots all over the known world to collect information. It is said the Scryers guild knows many secrets, including the nature and time of the next Great Season. Naturally lords of all races and demeanors find great interest in this secretive guild.

The Scryers Guild works in conjunction with the Bards Guild the Thieves Guild for their information collection. This is usually a one sided affair where the Scryers pay the Bards and Thieves for a certain collection of information, goods, or people. The pay is usually exorbinate and the best and most skilled Bards and Thieves are guilded. To a lesser extent beggars, vagrants, pirates and mercenaries are also used, but usually in less important roles for the Scryers Guild. Astrumdantalas is the nerve center of their operation so it is natural that most talent folk in those skills make the pilgrimage.

Smaller sects, cults, and guilds also make Astrumdantalas their home. As long as they do not molest the citizens and guilds, they are usually left to their own workings free from lordly scrutiny or moral restrictions. There are far too many to list but one of note is the little known, but powerful Indolesmanus. The Indolesmanus scours the world for children with the Oculus in their bloodline or child prodigies. It is unknown who their leader is, but it is clear who over he or they are, they operate a well funded orphanage in Astrumdantalas for these children. The children are said to be instructed with the finest tutors and skill masters, and honed into hyper-intelligent masters of many disciplines. Those who have been encountered are sociopathic killers, extremely intelligent, and highly dangerous to those in their way. No Indolesmanus agent has been captured alive, and few have been bested.

This is somewhat of a parody on the City of Greyhawk with a bit of Lankmar thrown in. I expect Astrumdantalas to act as a good travel-by location to find some bits of information that would otherwise be unavailable. Information for a heafty price of course.

Thoolish Art

2009-03-16T17:53:00.000-07:00

I did some pen art for Otter today for his upcoming Thool webzine. I did six, here is one (click to enlarge).

The agenda this week for VoBS, Thieves. I will talk about the class, the lore and their place in Valley of Blue Snails. Also a cities of thieves that will be somewhat of a City of Greyhawk parody - a free city gone too far where the thief and beggars took over. One of the locations therein will be an orphanage that seeks out child prodigies to mold into evil-geniuses.

Multi-Classes Revisited

2009-03-13T08:29:00.000-07:00

I will be changing a few of the multi-class titles though I'm a bit mixed on what direction to take it. The titles are similar to normal class titles (Veteran, Cutpurse, Wizard, etc) in that they are mostly for fluff with perhaps a minor ability to adhere the two classes better. I'm deciding on wither to make it very setting specific or use more intuitive titles.

Example, a Fighter-Cleric would be a Paladin. Pretty intuitive. Setting specific would be something like a Dwarven Fighter-Cleric would be a Whitebeard. Not so intuitive but perhaps a better choice since this sort of multi-class fluff is well outside of the realm of B/X anyhow. The main problem is the setting specifics titles would indeed be rather specific, slanting towards race with specific classes.

I've been reading up a bit on what Gygax had in mind for 2nd edition AD&D and here are the classes that seemed to be included Cavalier, Barbarian, Acrobat, Mountebank, Savant, Mystic, and Jester. The first three were in Unearthed Arcana of course. Savant and Mystic seem fairly similar, both being based on divination (a DMs nightmare). The Jester is not really for me, but I am sure some others would get some use out of it. Bards were to be revamped, Monk would removed and put into Oriental Adventures. The one that interested me the most is the Mountebank because I never heard of it, and because it seems fairly interesting.

The Mountebank is a bit of a a skilled liar, heavy with slight of hand and verbal trickery. They would depend a lot on speed, theatrics and disguise. From what I read Gygax had them in mind as primarily a Thief with a bit of Illusionist and Fighter. Judging by Unearthed Arcana they probably would have had a plethora of specialized abilities, their own theify skills and probably their own spell list too. Naturally I won't get that far into since this is B/X, but I will add the title to for a PC who fits the bill.

Monk I will probably remove and replace with Mystic or perhaps something else. This will be the 'Fighter-Mage' although I am not sure how the mechanics will go. This one is a bit tough because of the balance. I may allow any weapon but still disallow armor for spell casting, or something of the like. Bishop I do not care for overly, but I will probably leave it in as a homage to Wizardry. If that is the case then I will need to develop a strong clergy that would at least resemble something abbots, bishops and whatnot would be involved with. Stratogineer is just a placeholder name but I have yet to think of replacement. I do want a Dwarf title somewhere that will involve mechanical things.

The rest I will probably leave in and stick a fork in it. At the moment it will look something like this.

Fighter/Cleric - Paladin
Fighter/Mage - Mystic
Fighter/Thief - Ranger
Mage/Cleric - Bishop
Mage/Thief - Illusionist
Cleric/Thief - Assassin
Fighter/Thief/Mage - Mountebank
Elf (T/M/C) - Druid
Dwarf (F/M/T) - Stratogineer
Halfling (F/M/T) - Sheriff
Human (F/M/T/C)- Bard

Paladin - Zealous and self-righteous, the Paladin smites his foes with the holy might and clarity of purpose. Valorous and bold, the Paladin is is both a slave and a master of his Lawful nature.
Req : Lawful, Charisma 12
Abilities : Paladins may re-roll a failed save throw once.

Mystic - Mystic warrior who study with forbidden masters and ancient warschools occasionally return more than they once were. Unpredictable and aloof, Monks are both rare and unsettling, never quite at home away from the isolated training grounds they left.
Req: Wisdom 12
Abilities: Mystics may use any weapon and still cast spells.

Ranger - Often seen as well trained brigands, Rangers are masters of the wilderness, striding with ease where others loose their footing.
Req: Int 12
Abilities: Ranger may use ranged weapons for their backstab ability.

Bishop - Unbeholden to the influence of the traditional Clergy, Bishops wander the lands setting their own holy agenda collecting lore and reason in the world.
Req: Non-Neutral
Abilities: Bishops may attempt to identify the nature of magical or supernatural effects; this includes items, spells, phenomena, as well as flora and fauna.

Illusionist - Pragmatic tricksters who use magic and shadows to beguile both friends and foes. They are both the joker and the joked upon, as 'true' Wizards discount their petty ways as demeaning.
Req: Non-Lawful
Abilities: May cast spells listed with a * on their Magic User spells list (Illusionist spells).

Assassin - A super human fighting machine, the assassin is gifted as a spy, a saboteur and a killer. Universally loathed and desired, assassins walk a fine line between life and death.
Req : Non-Lawful, Strength 12
Ability: Victims of a successful Assassin backstab must make a save throw vs Death or immediately die.

Mountebank - Charlatan skilled with his hands as well as a his rhetoric; the Mountebank is a liar, a thief, and trickster. They use speed, theatrics and disguise to accomplish what a mere blade can not .
Req: Charisma 12, Dexterity 12
Abilities: If a Mountebank hold the attention of a humanoid(s) for more than 1 turn, he may Confuse them (as spell).

Druid - Druids are the keepers of natural lore and the order of the seasons. Compelled to travel to see the world, Druids yearn to wander the years in a new location every day.
Req: Wis 14
Ability: Druids can change their shape to any animal their size or smaller.

Stratogineer - Powerful and possessive, the Stratogineer of the deep workshops hold the might of sway of the cog, gears and steam at thier grasp. Bowing to no one man but to the power of the mechanical alone, Stratogineers tread heavily upon the world in their bronze-tubed boots.
Req: Int 14
Ability: Stratogineers can mechanically replicate any spell they know with mechanical devices.

Sheriff- The Halfling Sheriff is prophet, divining the future and setting upon the world to correct and thwart the horrors set in his mind's vision. Ultimately a protector of the Halfling people and the world, the Sheriff takes upon the role of prophet and corrector.
Req: Wis 14
Ability: Sheriffs presence may be called upon at will, once per day.

Bard - Both whimsical entertainer and traveling sage, Bards use dance and music to soothe those around them. Known as true polymaths, Bards seems to have knowledge in just about everything.
Req: Cha 14
Ability: Any intelligent creature listening to the Bards song for a turn or longer will be inflicted by a Charm as the spell if the bard so wishes. Save throw applies.

Vaunderfel - The Great Spring

2009-03-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

I initially laid out the history of the Great Seasons to look something like this:

24 year - 7 year Spring (Sapphiron) - 22 years - 4 year Winter (Hibernel) - 28 years - 6 year Autumn (Leafenfel) - 33 years - 9 year Summer (Estaoculus - the summer of eyes) - 32 years - 4 year Spring (Sinchola) - 41 years - 3 year Spring (Vaunderfel) - 21 years - 4 year Autumn (The Great Rot) - 31 years - present year

I am fine with this and have no plans to change it. I have talked already about The Great Rot and plan to write an article about each of the types of great season, using the most recent examples since they would be most pertinent to the game’s lore. Certainly some of the long ago Great Season would be considerably more severe, but for the most part these would be dreadful folk-lore.

Vaunderfel, Estaoculus, and Hibernel will be on the agenda. I will save Hibernel for last since it should be the 'best' one. By best I mean desiccated frozen zombies hunting the living like 28 Days Later sort of best – and that was a mild Great Winter. A severe one would practically be a mass extinction. Estaoculus is the most relevant to the setting since it beget the Oculus traits within the races. Vaunderfel is also very relevant as it represents a great rebirth, change and a time of prosperity that catapulted humanoids out of the deep wilds. And so, onto Vaunderfel:

Vaunderfel

One of the themes of Valley of Blue Snails is that of seasons. I like the cyclic elements and the occasions where this cyclic nature is disrupted. The endless seasons are probably the most important disruptions that pop up, and it is a generational event which all other things seem trivial. Halfling prescience is purely based upon predicting Great Seasons (everything else is just a side effect), the Elves physically and mentally change with them, the Dwarves build around them, and the Human are more or less a victim of whatever hits them.

Vaunderfel was the great spring that occurred around fifty years ago. The major effects of the Vaunderfel included a huge generational boom, a prolific flourishing of life, and a fulcrum for rebirth and change. This was amplified by the fact that the previous Great Season was Sinchola, another great spring. The two together lifted the humanoids into true civilization and prosperity.

Before - Prior to Sinchola it was a long period of civil warfare among the civilized races. Things were much more tribal, isolated, xenophobic and all-together sullen. Sinchola started to change this, and the Vaunderfel spurred the changes that wrought a level of prosperity for a time. During the autumn of 40’s89 the Halflings predict a Great Season, although they can not distinguish which it will be. Harvest is already completed and most races flounder around in hording resources. The winter in 41’s89 is particularly harsh and does not appear to be ending as thick blankets of snow are rife. Panic quickly grips most civilizations as preparations were wholly inadequate. Luckily spring quickly erupts into the fourth month of the year.

Year One – Spring ends winter with a vengeance and trees begin to bloom with snow still on the ground. All senses are far more intense than usual; color seems brighter, sounds are vibrant, fire burns hotter and creativity is rampant. The weather takes on temperate and mild tone that lasts for three years. Animals quickly come out of their winter holes and plant life flourishes very quickly. The first year is often remembered as The Lust, as the desire to procreate becomes overwhelming for nearly all species. Despite numerous problems with perpetual heat has on civilized society, it is generally a peaceful and serene time. Inter-species mating, once taboo, becomes a burning urge and all civilized races interbreed to some extent. This period lasts for well over 6 months and eventually causes a huge population boom among all living things.

Year Two – Sensations further intensify and creativity reaches a pinnacle; some of the greatest works of art are crafted during this time. The new generation is born and all children born at his time are healthy and vigorous. Inter-racial breeding produces offspring that otherwise would be impossible, creating hybrid races that were previously unheard of. Plant life accelerates in growth; trees bud flowers, bloom, grow fruit within a month during the Vaunderfel. Fruit that hits the ground sprouts almost immediately grows at an accelerated rate and propagates more. New forests and jungles appear in a matter of months. Strange animal hybrids run rampant through the wilds and many new species are wrought into the world. Resources seem endless and diseases vanish.

Year Three – Sensations are almost painful to experience. Colors seem to glow, fire quickly burns out of control, sound is deafening, and creativity is so rampant that it is impossible to focus. Some animals and plants that existed before the Vaunderfel grow to enormous sizes. Some plants take on a sentient quality that allows them to communicate to some extent, and in some cases move. Stranger and stranger hybrid races begin to crop up with bizarre mutations; bear-like creatures with snail shells and ram-head, dragons with crab shells and taloned limbs and so forth. This creates new species and also mutated versions of existing ones. This is not limited to animals and plants, but also to humanoids and strange children are being born carrying the traits of several races.

Year Four – Vaunderfel lasts for only two months into it’s forth year. During this brief period some of those who were long dead rise again, reborn out of the earth. All undead ceases to exist, either overtaken by the forces of life, or wrought with living flesh once again. Wounds heal instantly, animals age in reverse and it is nearly impossible to die. Most living things remember this time like a dream, only vague events and blinding sensations.

Afterwards – Vaunderfel ends in the third month of 1’s90 and summer takes hold. The ecosystem changed drastically with many new races. The new and old races begin to compete as resources begin to wane. Most hybrids and mutants succumb to the drastic change in their environment though a few prosper. The civilized races hold some disdain over the hybrid children and many are outright slain. Others are tolerated to a small degree assuming that they are not obviously aberrant. Many of the behemoth creatures survive in isolated pockets along with their sentient plant counterparts. Several pockets of the Vaunderfel still exist, and the Valley of Blue Snails can be considered one of these.

I initially had no inclination to include Half-Elves and like but this will be as good of a reason as many. These half-races will be a small minority at under 1% of the total humanoid population however. Any race can be a half-race. Half-Dwarf, Half-Marggot? Sure, why the hell not. Most of the more unholy combination would have been killed by now but they are not entirely unheard of. Most of these are not known as a specific race, but simply as an aberration to most of society. The Vaunderfel also offers a good origin to giant critter species as well as your monster-plants.

Ultimately I am thinking all races originated in one great spring or another. Call it Valley of Blue Snails evolution. Eventually older races would be out-competed and new ones will fill the void. This is gradual though as most new races do not have what it takes. Large changes would occur when a great spring follows a great winter, the largest voids would be available then. Those still alive who experienced the Vaunderfel would remember it like a grand dream, although a very vivid one. Reality did not work quite the same, particularly near the end of Vaunderfel.

Derogatory and Colloquial Names

2009-03-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

I am actually rather fond of racism, bigotry and general ignorant types of hate in my writing. Its a wondrous motivator that will make people do brash and strange things, and its a bit silly to ignore that sort of flavor in a fantasy RPG. Here he are some derogatory and colloquial names that would pop up here and again.

Halfling - Peck (my favorite, and the only good thing to come of Willow), Bigge, Hakkaches (Elf term meaning hack cheese), Fillecun or Wydecunthe (very derogatory Dwarf term towards a halfling female, best not described), Yrento (meaning iron-toe or hard-ass)

Elf - Brekelaunce (broken-lance), Mooner (many of their ritual are at night), Winesipper, Pichachas (very derogatory), Aydunken (Dwarf term, meaning acts like a drunk), Strokelady (very derogatory Halfling term, meaning an elf women who will never get any), Smalbyhind (Dwarf term for elf women of small assets)

Dwarf - Cogger, Hooder (many dwarves wear hooded garments), Mudape (very derogatory), Brekaldoun (all breaks down), Fayrandgode (elf term describing a very ugly dwarf), Turnhound (even hounds turn away)

Human - Windsfirst (essentially calling them cowards), Booster, Eyegone (blind to all but what they want to see), Gobyweye (Dwarf term, meaning get out of the way dumbass), Haldebytheheved (Elf term, basically meaning /facepalm)

Nobles - Swetemouth (a liar), Horsmongere (thief by the words of law), Vnderegge (out of his freaking mind), Nobscoiner (Nobles who mark gold coins to give to beggar, coins which are punishable by death to actually spend)

Commoners - Gidye (mad vagrant), Reedcruut (diseased), muck-dweller, inheffelde (one who knows toil), tauth (elf term, meaning without home), Orechinnio (dwarf term, meaning one who trades anything for ore)

Use some of these terms would be grounds for a duel to the death. Others are fairly light hearted.
I think I had far too much fun writing that..

Tome of Lost Ideas

2009-03-11T09:38:00.000-07:00

I had a decent idea late night but unfortunately I put too much hope in that I would actually remember it. More unfortunate is that it was a good idea, at least I thought it was a good idea at the time. and even more so is that I have a nice moleskin notepad right on my desk to dot down such things but I was simply too lazy to dot it down since I am usually good about recalling such things.

Well, I had a job phone interview the following morning so I suppose my mind was elsewhere. If I recall it I shall post it here in haste. I the mean time consider this post the tome of lost ideas and hopefully a lesson learned..

Women of Valley of Blue Snails

2009-03-10T09:53:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to talk briefly about gender in Valley of Blue Snails but never seem to get around to it. Gender stations of the historical medieval days were not very interesting, so I suppose that is why most Sword and Sorcery devolves into something completely not based upon reality. I am inclined to agree since half of all fantasy written in the past 150 years is motivated by getting laid one form or another. Gold, sure, sounds good. Power, yeah that cool too. Debauchery with the twenty nubile Elf maids of Anacor - yeah, screw gold and power, I'm there.

And so, I try to place women in as many different elements as possible since they are as fine of story elements and adventure seed as anything. Not to mention they can make PCs do things they would ordinary not even consider.

Off hand these are the primary themes of the core races:

Elf - Women are the primary forces of action within the Elven community. Males are lethargic and self interested. Women are brash, passionate and tend to act first and think later. I think of the men as a group a lazy gay dudes with a bunch of lusty straight women watching them 24/7. This is not the case I assure you, but its the sort of social tension I want to be present. So present, that it motivates almost everything the women do while the apathetic men barely take notice.

Halfling - On first glance Halfling women appear to be on equal terms with their male counterparts. However different communities take drastic swings towards one direction or the other. The Halfling maids of Gnaeun kill most males. Other communities enslave their females, or females of other races for one reason or another. Both extremes are considered odd to Halflings, but not truly aberrant as one may think. Slavery is another theme of of the Halflings although I am not sure how omnipresent this will be yet.

Dwarf - Dwarves I initially imagined as a hyper intelligent group with the appearance of squat Mongoleans. Their women have mostly been in the background, as most Dwarven women appear to be in D&D, but I really should include them more. I may make them the stern proctors, instructors and the like. Perhaps drill sergeant types and masochistic dominatrices. Also with your incredibly intelligent types mixed in, but socially awkward. Hot librarian types too (okay, well maybe not so hot).

Human - Two strands here, the nobles and the non-nobles. The non-nobles will be rife with drudgery, oppression and daily toil. Nobles will be more along the lines of your helpless females ignorant of peril and responsibility. A seldom few would tread outside of these themes, but those that do would quickly become folk lore.

Non-human women would run the full gambit. Water dryads would just as easily serve a savior for life in any way she could as she would be to lure a man to a watery grave. Most non-human women I would likewise make unpredictable, dangerous, and seldom what one expects. Surely they would be no less dangerous than their male counterparts, and in fact more so since they lull and seduce as part of their arsenal. Mythology is full of such creatures so there is no lack of source material here. In all respects they would be alien in their thought and mind with motives that no mortal would fathom.

Superstitions among the collective women of the world would revolve around fertility, family, nature and safety. Most of female-only traditions and rituals would revolve around one of those aspects. This is nearly universal and many such rituals and traditions pass between races and are recognizable between them. Bring a gift of a bowl of milk with stewed acorns to a group of Marggots and it would probably be more effective than carrying a white flag. I listed some of these superstions earlier. No doubt darker rituals of sacrifice and pain inflicted upon males is common, although rare. The Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser books are full of cold and vindictive women who do just that. Interesting stuff and I am sure to put it in some adventures when the need arises.

Microlite 74

2009-03-10T09:37:00.000-07:00

I ran across these rules on a blog which linked a blog which linked a blog - Microlite 74.

From the author's page:

"Microlite74, like its parent game, Microlite20, is a trimmed-down, sub-miniature version of the Primary Fantasy SRD rules that has been designed to be quick and easy to play. The goal of Microlite74, however, is to recreate the style and feel of that very first ("0e") fantasy roleplaying game published back in 1974. If you are at all familiar with any game based on the 3.5 edition of the Primary Fantasy SRD, you will find Microlite74 easy to play and easy to run as a GM, but with an extra helping of "old school" flavor.

While Microlite74 is designed as an introduction to "old school" play for players more familiar with modern rules systems based on the Primary Fantasy SRD, it is a rules-lite OGL based game system that old school grognards – especially those who cut their gamer teeth on "0e" – should find equally enjoyable. It is also easy to modify with your own house rules or rules drawn from your favorite edition of the world’s most popular fantasy roleplaying game."

Oddly enough I do not care for most open rule sets, even though I am hypocritical enough to write my own. I think they are mostly just a book of glorified house-rules done for self indulgence. Other people obviously think otherwise as it seems many of these open systems are becoming fairly popular. Anyhow, this compilation of rules hit a cord with me, mostly because of the brevity it illustrated with spells, monsters, and the like. It is interesting how minimal you can go and still have it very recognizable as D&D.

Cave Quarry of the Chalk-Dwellers

2009-03-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick sample adventure using the Chalk-Dweller Quarry I talked about below. You can download it here or just enlarge the image. I like the idea of a 1-page adventures, map included, and shall toy with more adventures as time goes on. The one-pagers have a a very OD&D feel since they are rules light and have plenty of room for sandbox DMing. Map + text took about 90 minutes to complete, so it is pretty easy to get several of these done.

Here is a clear version of the text

1 - A loathsome Ruhk Dwells here with 2 egg. It is thankfully deaf and has poor eye sight. The Skeleton of a huge tusked-snake makes up the border of the nest.
RUKH (1): AC: 4 HD: 12 AT: bite +9 (6d8).
2 - Near the eggs a host of Chalk-Crabs click about, each the size of a fist. The entrance to the under quarry is easily visible.
3 - Blocks of chalk in perfect squares are strewn about. Six Chalk-Dwellers are tapping the stone.
CHALK-DWELLER (6): AC: 8 HD: 2 AT: weapon +2 (1d8) S: Dust cloud (Save vs Breath or -2 to all rolls for encounter).
4 - Skeletal remains of a large Rukh. Among the debris are the offerings from the Chalk-Dwellers including salt, bluish chalk, jade (85gp), lapis (55gp) and ten staves of chalk that burn blue light when lit (acts a torch).
5 - Lot of grinding here with Chalk-Dwellers smoothing their stone. The entire area is saturated with chalk dust.
CHALK-DWELLER (10): AC: 8 HD: 2 AT: weapon +2 (1d8) S: Dust cloud (Save vs Breath or -2 to all rolls for encounter).
6 - A pile of debris left over from the chalk. Silver ore is visable, well over a ton of it (value 2200gp), but only recognizable by a Dwarf or one skilled in mining or smelting.
7 - A Chalk-Dweller overseer is here conversing with Myconids about trade. A pile of smooth blue chalk lay in the chamber corner. The Myconids do not engage unless attacked or the chalk is molested. Should anyone go down the eastern side of the river it will head towards the great Chalk-Dweller city (DMs discretion).
CHALK-DWELLER Lord (1): AC: 6 HD: 4 AT: weapon +4 (1d8+2) S: Dust cloud (Save vs Breath or -2 to all rolls for encounter).
MYCONID (8): AC: 5 HD: 2 AT: weapon +1 (1d8) S: Hallucination (Save vs Poison or as Confusion spell).
8 - Barricades block off this area from the east. Three Chalk-Dweller corpses lay within, torn to shreds and a battle was clearly fought here.
9 - A half-dead Ruhk is here, newly hatched, sikly and wounded. An impromptu nest is here made from Chalk-Dweller corpses.
RUKH (1): AC: 6 HD: 12(24hp) AT: bite +9 (3d8).
10 - Two boats lay along side of a underground river. The boats are well kept with oars and poles. The river is slow moving. Crates of live chalk-crabs lay in the boats along with rope, sacks of salt and blue chalk sticks.
11 - A natural pool ends on the western bank of the river where many fish live. A silver stave is driven into the western wall (Staff +1, Detects Magic on command). A Wraith of a long dead mage haunts this corner, a dreadful spirit of woe.
WRAITH (1): AC: 5 HD: 5 AT: touch +4 (1d6) S:Undead, Immune to non-magic weapons, Drains +1d10 hp on hit
12 - Natural crystals fill this cave like a geode, and chiming sounds can be heard. On the west side of the river a chalk bowl of offerings lays near the river. Silver ore, salt, chalk-crabs and a Dagger +2 lay within. A mated pair of Cave Fishers dwell in the upper reaches and will attack anything moving beyond the bowl.
CAVE FISHER (2): AC: 5 HD: 4 AT: bite +2 (2d8) S:Adhesion Line (Hit attached a line to PC and pulls them in at 30' per round).

Seed (lvls 3-4): My the grace of his Lordship Berhnel of the Fort Aspire you have been commanded to aid the Wizard in the Tower of Resting Leaves. Tournel, Elven Magic-User apprentice in the tower seeks your aid to locate his master, the Wizard Therdones. His master was last known to be collecting rare blue chalk in the chalk quarry. Returning his master, or his silver-staff if he is dead, would be his desire. Should his master be known to be dead, it would cause a dire vacuum of power with in the area of Fort Aspire. In return for your aid, the apprentice will give each Magic-User in the group a spell from his masters book (if he is dead), or 250 gold to other members. They are to seek the council of his Lordship Berhnel afterward.

Ruhk Eggs of the Chalk Quarry

2009-03-08T22:22:00.000-07:00

High cliff walls cascade down the western edge of the Plateau of Gnaeun into a reservoir of chalk quarries. These ancient quarries were once home to a benign race of albino chalk-caked dwellers whose name has long since been forgotten. These dwellers quarried lightly within the cliff walls and traded their fine chalk for amenities which they desired. They had unfortunately attracted a flock of Ruhks which took it upon themselves to nest in the quarry and feed upon the inhabitant who had no where to flee but deeper into their shallow caves.

The Ruhks found the chalk-dwellers to be a scrumptious meal and hunted them vigorously when they sought a delicacy. The dweller did strike back however, digging deeper caves and drawing the Ruhks into their domain, caking their feathers with chalk dusk as they feasted. Over a period of years the Ruhks were able to fly less and less because of the debilitating dust. Those Ruhks that remained eventually became non-fliers and tore out the majority of their feather so that they may more easily slip into the chalk caverns and hunt their favorite meals.

This battle continued for decades and descendants of the chalk dwellers carved out a marbled labyrinth of passages, huge and small behind the cliff face. They are no longer an easy meals for the featherless Ruhks which chase them clumsily through the quarry and into their caves. Both the dwellers and the Ruhks have adapted considerably and each picks up a new vicious tactic to deal with the other ever few years.

The chalk dwellers have large silvery eyes and a thin humanoid body which is perpetually caked with chalk dust. Their face has a small mouth and no ears or nose. They have carved large caverns over the years and they are now fearful creatures, timid and quick to beset upon interlopers. They raise chalk-crabs in the depths and consider food from elsewhere to be delicacies, including humanoids. They have a small city that clings onto a ceiling of a huge cavern like a barnacle. It is vaguely chandelier like and contains hundreds of the chalk dwellers.

The Ruhks are mostly featherless and appear diseased to some extent. Their flesh has cancerous sores, their eyes are heavily cataracted and they are a desiccated version of their former selves, although still huge at 40 feet or longer in length. The Ruhks nest in the open quarry and have circular patterns of large bones and skulls all over the area. The Ruhks are far from simple minded and have adopted the primitive customs of the chalk dwellers out of instinct. The Ruhks guttural crow even sounds like a tortured chalk dweller. There are around twenty Ruhks total which nest in the quarry and hunt within the cave and the surrounding area. They lumber awkwardly after prey and quickly tear it to pieces. There are few creatures they do not consider food and most beings in the surrounding area are adept at hiding from the loathsome things.

The Ruhks build nests in a mockery of the chalk dweller abodes. Layered like building with nodes that vaguely look like windows and doors. They lay their eggs in these nests which are usually sickly, thin and sopping with yellowish drippings. A layer of chalk-crabs quickly envelops the eggs to feed upon the nutrients but also hardens and protects the eggs. The chicks however are sickly and twisted things and few survive beyond a few days. Enough do survive to perpetuate the Ruhks of the chalk quarry however.

* Ruhk Egg is of course from MtG, and Rukh is the persian name and precursor to Roc. Those clever designers from Arabian Nights.. Rukh I will use as an apex predatory that perhaps only dragons would have a hope to take one down. I would surmise their great stature is from the fruit of the World Tree, so perhaps some races worship them as semi-divine. The ones above are twisted versions of their wholesome cousins and are greatly feared rather than worshipped.

XP and the Solo Player

2009-03-07T10:47:00.000-08:00

D&D never was a particularly elegant game for just one player/one DM. There is a word for PCs who take on daring heroics against impossible odds, and that word is dead. It is pretty reliant on the DM to cater heavily towards encounters that have some sort of back door, a lot of diplomacy, allow for stealth, and the like. Otherwise a bad series of die rolling will end the campaign and its back to square one. The one player party take a lot of punishment when luck does not go their way as opposed to a large party which as a whole is nigh indestructible.

Anyhow, there is no single solution so I am taking a multitude of smaller changes as opposed to making huge changes that would not longer make the game D&D. These include a slight buffs for PCs, removal of save or die scenarios, ease of npc inclusion (including animals), and in general a campaign leaning towards story-driven scenarios rather than hack n slash. XP is also included since the default B/X xp will have wonky results with little xp in fair fight but huge boosts for treasure hauls.

For XP I've always liked a method described in 3.0, which is a level gained every 14 encounters. In my 3.x campaigns I use this method purely since it simplifies things. 'Encounter' is not necessarily combat, it could be any relevant scene that has a chance of success, failure or moving the plot along in a major way. I think I will use something similar for Valley of Blue Snails since it should work with one player just as well as a group. Also it won't overly emphasis combat, since a solo player should be pretty damn cautious about unneeded battles. To cater to the B/X curve I will tweak the by-encounter xp gain:

Level 1 - 8 encounters
Level 2 - 10 encounters
Level 3 - 12 encounters
Level 4 - 14 encounters
+1 encounter per-level beyond that

General role-playing and trying wonky stuff will qualify as a encounter. If we happen to spend 4 pages of a thread to buy a bronze-longsword from a particularly hagglesome merchant, so be it. That shall count as an encounter so long as I am rolling for something. As for how this method compares to normal XP gains, I suppose it depends on the DM. I would say this is roughly about right in the games I had - but then again I tend to avoid the sprawling dungeon crawls and opted for more scenario driven games. Ala, Assassin's Knot as opposed to Keep on the Borderlands.

So lets say about 2 pages on a thread per 'encounter' give or take, by the above method to get to level 10 that is around 260 pages. I would say that is about right actually and definitely doable in a years time. If we are ambitious and double that, that would be around the level 'limit' of 15 (not counting dual classing). I doubt that would happen but you never know. This assumes we do a bulletin board thread type of play (I am leaning towards this now).

As a side note, I'm a big fan of crpgs, old and new, so it is a bit odd that I will kill 10,000 Furbogs in WoW over and over and over, yet repetitious combat in a table top is dull for me. Who knows. One mmo that rewarded things by encounter, similar to above is Age of Conan. The start of the game is heavily story driven and differs quite a bit between the classes you play. An assassin likes to stealth, barbarians like to kick in the door, mages like to .. do magic, and so forth. Also you get plenty of xp from replacing the virgin blood with whores blood during a dark ritual as you would from any major combat quest. Nothing wrong with either element, apples and oranges. Too bad Age of Conan went seriously down hill after the starter Tortage story.

edit: speaking of solo adventures.. http://www.kenzerco.com/free_files/KODT_solo_adventure01.pdf

Ability Checks and Save Throws

2009-03-05T15:03:00.000-08:00

Something that is not explicitly in B/X are ability checks and Save Throws for mundane things. I am just noting it down here so I remember to put in the rules specifically, as I have a habit of just making assumptions that folks would know these things. I use both prolifically and plan to do in Valley of Blue Snails.

Ability Checks will cover actions which the PC intitated. Save Throws will cover events that occur to the PCs that are out of their control.

Abilities checks will be used for actions which have a moderate chance of failure. These are usually actions the PCs have initiated intentionally in most cases. Want to mop your floor? no check needed. Want to climb a fence before the guard dogs get you? check needed. This will cover the crazy things PCs try to do, as well skills that the PC may know. I see no need for alist of skills in the game since ability checks and PCs background should cover it all. Probably anyone who is reading this will know how to perform an ability check but let me spell it out just in case.

Roll 1d20. If the number is equal too or less than the abilities that is being tested, the action is considered a success. For example, lifting a iron gate would require a strength check. Recalling the linage of a local lord would require a Intelligence check. Charming a reeve who is questioning you about a weapon that is not peace-bonded will require a Charisma check (and role-playing of couse). And so on and so forth.

These can rolls can be modified based on the difficulty, or the roll will simply not be allowed if the DM deems it impossible. Modifiers would not go beyond +4 to -4, and honestly I don't bother to use them much. A natural 1 or natural 20 I deem as dismal failure or great success.

Save Throws I use for mundane things that are usually out of the PCs control. If they are tossed in freezing water I may allow a Save vs Petrification to see how well they react. If a bar tender tosses a PC out of a window, I may allow a Save vs Wands to avoid damage. Attempting to out drink the town drunk would require a Save vs Poison, etc. Really its just another random event to see how the PCs luck is going. I like it because unexpected things can happen and the story is not so driven by the DM and fate get a hand in there too.

Save Throws can likewise be modified to +4 to -4. Save throws are more difficult to succeed, especially at the early levels. So it is important to keep in mind of the reprecutions of failing a saves, because it will probably happen. If this mechanic is used routinely the PC should notice they are noticeable getting more 'heroic' as they level up.

Otter mentioned in Tunnels and Trolls that PCs get experience when they make a succesful Ability Check or Save Thrown. I like this idea and will probably use it since it promotes trying stuff. I will talk about that more tomorrow however when I devote some time to XP.

The Fey Triumvirate

2009-03-04T20:52:00.000-08:00

As related to the article below, this is group of three races I shall be using as highly misunderstood do-gooders. For one reason or another they think that the four core PC races are antithesis of all things they hold dear. While normally peaceful, they will ultimately go well out of their way to thwart the plans and machinations of what they perceive are greatly evil acts – ie, anything the Elves, Dwarves, Halfling and Humans are up too.

The Fey Triumvirate

The Fey Triumvirate is highly attuned to with the spirits that inhabit the deep wilds. They co-exist with them as an every day part of life as opposed to mere superstition and fear of other humanoids. Most of their realms are in the distant northwest, far beyond the border of Kabdoria. This area is passed the Sands of Shells, a desert that was once an old sea bed. The Sands of Shells is high dangerous will high fluxuations of temperate between day and night, and loathsome creatures that dwell in the fossilized shells; dessicated slugs, enormous dried sea sponges, giant brine-fleas, land urchins, and coral morays to name a few.

The Elves speak of time when the Fey were far more numerous and reach further south, but they were pushed back in a series of brutal culling by Elves, Dwarves, Men and Halflings alike. This occurred mostly as a reaction to misunderstanding, but it is a common belief that these creatures are primitive, evil and generally up to no good. They are usually attacked on sight for said reasons, and they often respond in kind after years of butchery.

The Fey Triumvirate once held as many as nine races but only three remain; Marggots, Gnomes and Fionn. The three races do not dwell together, but they do work towards a common good. It would not be uncommon for the three races to band together to thwart a common threat. Any intruders passing beyond the Sands of Shells would be likely to see The Fey Triumvirate working in intelligent and highly organized warfare.

The Fey Triumvirate sees the ways of the humanoids as unnatural. They view them and fearful creatures that do not understand the spirits and inadvertently create malefic spirits. This is correct in some respects, although some ignorance on the part of The Fey Triumvirate fails to understand some of the greater good that the humanoids accomplish. The Fey Triumvirate merely sees the humanoids to south as an scourge upon the world, causing woe where every tread. Furthermore they are well aware that their territory has slowly diminished over the centuries and are now in desperation to seek a reprisal. Who can say what this is, but it is sure that they seek a way to harm their enemies.

Marggot (AC 3 or 10, shell HD 1 Att 1, weapon Save F1 Moral 4)

Marggots are hunched and diminutive humanoids that live in large shells that they find. They have slick olive skin, goat ears, large eyes and a parrot-like beak. Marggot shells usually originate from the Sands of Shells but any large shell would do. Turtle shells, hard gourds, a bronze helmet, and so forth. Marggots instinctively hide inside their shell when fearful, even if they know it does them no good. They are a skittish and fearful creatures out of years of being brutalized. Their years of torments have made them vicious when over powering an enemy, biting with sharp beaks and stabbing with thin stilettos.

Gnome (AC 8 HD 1 Att 1, weapon Save F1 Moral 11)

Commonly called Shrub Gnomes, these diminutive humanoids dwell in lowland shrubs in dwellings of moss, lichens and field stones. They are playful pranksters and full of mirth when in their own communities. Their peaceful demeanor is very different in unwelcome encounters however. Shrub Gnomes will amass in a group of rabid frothing limbs and mouths and over run their foes. This berserking rage consumes their consciousness until they utterly slay their foes. Afterward they seem to have little recollection as to what transpired. Shrub Gnomes worship a being known as 'The Toad that Nods'.

Fionn (AC 6 HD 1hp Att 1, weapon Save F1 Moral 9)

Fionn are sometimes known as a ‘quarterling’ due to their slight resemblance to Halflings and small size. This is misleading since they are quite different up close. Fionn are roughly the size of a large doll, hairy and rarely wear clothing. They use hands and feet equally well when manipulating objects and communicate by tapping on surfaces with their hard nails. Fionn are arboreal creatures and find themselves more at home in the heights than on the ground. Fionn are known to use toucans and other large-beaked birds as mounts. The female of their species is very slight, have hairless bodies and delicate wings. The females are very rare and are known as queens.

Unintentional Chaos?

2009-03-03T22:45:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite settings is WFRP. It is such a grim place with great enemies, we have used the setting and rules several times for several campaigns. In fact right now I am playing in a good Dark Heresy game, which is pretty much WFRP with bolters. One of the reoccurring themes in the setting is the 'great enemy' which is Chaos. The four primal chaos powers are ruinous forces, destructive and unrelenting things that threaten all things civilized. The only thing that holds them in check is their internal fighting. On occasion they unite for a short while to cause a potential cataclysm.

When I wrote the article this morning about Loksos, I noticed some similarities between the four PC races in Valley of Blue Snails and Chaos. An excerpt:

Many nobles bring men at arms to the event, although it is generally frowned upon. Luckily no overt warfare has occurred in Nifflaer but it is not uncommon for the Prince of Loksos to dismiss troupes who are overly heated. Jests, wagers and contests can lead to heated arguments and these are usually solved in melee, or simply resolve the matter elsewhere. In one such occasion the Dwarf white-beard Fisiul boasted that the Dwarves in his workshop thwarted a Marggot attack and claimed over one thousand Marggot ears in one night, an act impossible to overcome. Not be outdone, the Halfling Sheriff Tibil rallied his men along with the great Bohtan lords and the Elfish Village of Three Winds¹, and sacked the Margott realm of Cvefler. They utterly decimated its population. Over ten thousand ears were collected in one night and it is said to this day that Margott’s are mostly an earless race now, and a damn skittish one at that.

It can indeed be frighteningly powerful what can occur when the four races act as one, and few things could ultimately challenge them united. Such unity soon breaks apart when cultural, moral and ethical divisions begin to make their appearance. Eventually they would war among each other if they stayed in such close proximity, but thankfully each race desires distance from the others.

If perchance the poor sods known as Margotts are actually good creatures, simply misunderstood most of the time, then the four PC races are acting pretty damn near in the same way Chaos would. Thinking about it more I took a look at the races as compaired to the four ruinous powers:

Slanessh - Inverted god seeking pleasure.
Fairly similar to reveling Elves.
Khorn - Extroverted god, seeking violence.
Humans Obviously.
Tzeech - God of change, plans and evolving.
Halflings are a close fit, definitely seeking change with their own agenda.
Nurgle - God of plague and diseases and decay.
Okay, Dwarves are not very similar here other than being a decedant decaying race.

Purely unintentional I assure you, and I thought it was just humorous that my subconscious perhaps put things into that light. Anyhow I may actively cultivate the setting so that the four primary races may be thought of as the 'great enemies' by some smaller, weaker and misunderstood races. I think it would be an interesting twist, and if nothing else a nod to WFRP.

The Lightless Day of Loksos

2009-03-03T11:08:00.000-08:00

The Lightless Day of Loksos occurs once every two or three years in the middle of summer. The name derived from the ancient term Lok’aosis which means ‘the day without season’. It occurs regularly every two years for six years then every three years for a two year period. This day is easily recognizable as it occurs in the middle of summer but has the rain of spring, the chill of winter, and the gale of autumn. It is also usually accompanied by an eclipse that last for the entire day.

Most races in Valley of Blue Snails have some sort of traditional rituals to perform on this day. For the likes of the civilized races it is a great conglomeration to meet in the highlands of Nifflaer. It is here where the great nobles of all the races meet in fellowship, tournament, and diplomacy. This is where they attempt to work passed racial conflicts, diplomacy and some sort of unity of civilization. It rarely achieves such lofty heights, but in truth it is one of the rare times that the great powers of the four races meet and speak with one another.

Commoners are usually not permitted unless they have a special merit to make an appearance. Nobles are invited but are warned not to bring men at arm (most do anyhow). The location is Nifflaer, just north of Kabdoria and it is said to be the navel of the world. Spirits and foul powers indeed avoid the place and a general serenity can also be felt here. No race or realm can claim the place as its own, as it is universally named neutral ground.

Once every few decades a fifth or sixth race will make an appearance Loksos. During the Great Rot, it was the Myconids who came, made circular rings of fungus, and then simply left. Before that, the palm-sized cricket men of Yithnai made an appearance but seemed distinctly out of place, and did not return the follow Loksos. Elves record all Loksos events and speak of days where long forgotten races joined in the festivities regularly.

In the heyday of the Ladoga Empire the Emperor himself attended it was a grand event rife with tournaments of melee, livestock, jousting, archery, craftsmanship and just about anything else that nobles entertain. It has lost is glory in recent years but is still the premier tournament for Ladoga nobles. Halfling, Dwarf and Elf are also obligated to steady their hand at such events although they mostly prefer dance, food and hole-digging contests. The best trained animals are also brought to these events and they compete with one another and exchanged among the races. Some trade is prevalent but strict merchants are generally not welcome.

The Lord of the Loksos shifts by race every time it occurs. The individual race then chooses a master of ceremony who will carry out the rituals of the event. This person is usually named simply ‘Prince of Loksos’ which is a great honor but at a great cost of wealth to themselves personally. The Emperor of Ladoga sponsored it on more than one occasion but recently a mishmash of Lords have taken the honor. Any arbitration of disputes will fall upon their shoulders, and that need rises often. Loksos itself is only one day, but the festivities usually last five days, two before and two after. Some will stay longer but are generally advised not to do so and any events are not sanctioned afterward.

Many nobles bring men at arms to the event, although it is generally frowned upon. Luckily no overt warfare has occurred in Nifflaer but it is not uncommon for the Prince of Loksos to dismiss troupes who are overly heated. Jests, wagers and contests can lead to heated arguments and these are usually solved in melee, or simply resolve the matter elsewhere. In one such occasion the Dwarf white-beard Fisiul boasted that the Dwarves in his workshop thwarted a Marggot attack and claimed over one thousand Marggot ears in one night, an act impossible to overcome. Not be outdone, the Halfling Sheriff Tibil rallied his men along with the great Bohtan lords and the Elfish Village of Three Winds¹, and sacked the Margott realm of Cvefler. They utterly decimated its population. Over ten thousand ears were collected in one night and it is said to this day that Margott’s are mostly an earless race now, and a damn skittish one at that.

It can indeed be frighteningly powerful what can occur when the four races act as one, and few things could ultimately challenge them united. Such unity soon breaks apart when cultural, moral and ethical divisions begin to make their appearance. Eventually they would war among each other if they stayed in such close proximity, but thankfully each race desires distance from the others.

Notable Loksos events:

Loksos 18’s90, Seleuicid, Emperor of Ladoga, slew the Elven Lord Thyraes in a duel carried out well outside of Nifflaer. The gaunt and sadistic Elf was as old as memory and was known to be one of the best swordsmen of his day. How the young Emperor defeated him or why the duel occurred in the first place is speculation. Many Elves were greatful of the demise of Thyraes but grew wary of the Emperor who bested him.

Loksos 20’s89, Lucor, Champion of the Infallible, won the joust and melee riding a Tapir given to him by the Elf Lord Chaesmael as a jest. The Tapir could not handle the weight of armor so Lucor wore none and used a bamboo lance. To honor him the Elf Lord Chaesmael uses a Tapir as a mount to this day.

Loksos 06’s87, Vaersis the Younger, a genius Elf who studied with the Dwarven engineers of Presamaesto, moved an island. She managed to move the island of Yuenil off of the coast of Kabdoria to a more suitable location several miles away. She did this to impress a prospective mate, a minor noble Elf Paeniv, who did not even bother to attend her demonstration. Vaersis is alive today, and still pining for the apathetic man who barely notices her attentions.

Loksos 12’s73, an Elf raised among men calling himself ‘The Grinning Knight’ challenged and slew the Emperor of Ladoga, Fevabemaer in a joust. He fled shortly thereafter disappearing into lore, and it is said he went mad in the deep wilds. Since this time jousts were carried out with heavily blunted lanced with thick armor.

Loksos 08’s70, the ancient white-beard smith Kebia and his prodigal Halfling student Shindo wrought 15 weapons during the Loksos. The weapon were forged from old stone, metals that fell from the sky, and cooled in the waters during the Sinchola, the life-water during the endless season of spring. The weapons were given out to the victors of the tournaments and are among the most legendary items known, each imbued with the might to steal the experiences of those they smite.

Loksos 15’s62, the Walking Stone decimated the race of water Nerieds. Only those who attended the Loksos survived.

¹ The Village of Three Winds is widely known to be a band of Elves to be best avoided. Other Elves even avoid them, hesitantly naming them killers of the unseen shadows. Other races know them as psychopathic killers who revel in delight at the suffering of others.

Lords and Regents

2009-03-02T13:36:00.001-08:00

Oddly enough Ardell and I have spoke only briefly about the setting and what the ultimate goals were. Most of this is my own initiative as far as style and the type of play. One thing that was expressed is some political regency play down the road. That is, allow the option for a PC to become a lord in his own right and establish a realm. We have done this sort of thing before to some extent. There is no shortage of land by any means so it is really a matter of followers, money and clout.

I will be roughly following the B/X model in that name level (level 9) will be the threshold for gaining followers, at least a good deal of them. Actual play on the regency level will be very rules light and I will be only supplying a modest amount of direction; such as castle costs, staff costs and the like. Everything else will just be too dependent on circumstances to write rules for. A Dwarf Thief with a little guild in Bohtan will be vastly different than an Elf Fighter lording over a large kingdom.

I expect this sort of play to be its own mini-game with its fair share of intrigue, politics, mass warfare mixed in with your standard D&D adventures as it suits the game. The wheels can get rolling around level 6 or so I would say, when the PCs are definitely becoming reputable and powerful. At level 9 is when it really takes off though. It would be possible to buy off title, land, and gain clout any time of course but a serious population would likely only start then.

I have plenty of experience with Birthright so this sort of game is pretty intuitive for me (in fact I am playing in a BR pbem now). Having one or just a few players will make it easier in fact, since one of the problems in Birthright is having many PCs all doing separate things. So, a solo direction will allow for better concentration of my efforts. The setting has a lot of opportunity for a fledgling lord who can perhaps make his name into a legend. I will eventually be adding in opportunities here for potential areas to ‘realm up’. Nasty places that once cleared are actually nice trading crossroads, npc that are suitable allies or enemies, lucrative ore-filled mines, a swampy-nest filled with tame hydras, and so forth.

I may eventually opt in for some more elaborate rules if indeed the game is leaning that direction heavily. This will not be in the first release of Valley of Blue Snails but it may seep in later if I find myself creating the rules for practical play. Something like influence points to manage and better allow for the player to direct his attentions, overland mage spells, faith and its power on the people, and perhaps some rough army vs army rules.

Old Age and Death

2009-02-28T21:54:00.000-08:00

Old Age

I wanted to briefly touch on old age in Valley of Blue Snails. Old age really is only felt by Humans. Elves do not die natural deaths. Dwarves are usually quite healthy until the very end of their life. Halflings likewise sense the dread sickness and wander alone into the deep wilds to meet their doom. Human on the other hand grow sick, and slowly die over a period that could take months or years.

This is mostly a foreign concept among the other races. Non-humans treat the impaired, physically or mentally, as broken things. That is things to be cared for, but put in their place of disuse. Sort of like a broken toy to a child that lays in the chest forgotten. Most non-humans do not like to be reminded of frailty so they keep it out of sight. There are a few exceptions, notably those who still produce a valuable service, such as advice or wisdom.

For humans, old age is a family affair and the solely the families responsibility. Those without families are much worse off. Old vagrants simply live where they can; begging, thieving, catching rats and so forth. Few human realms offer any sort of funded aid for the old. Within large cities this is obvious. Old folks as well as children are very visible plucking around the streets aimlessly. The folk who are able to work are usually doing so. Non-humans find the plethora of old vagrants particularly unnerving in large human settlements.

Death

Death is slightly different in Valley of Blue Snails because of the role that spirits play. Flesh is fallible and is malleable, while on the other hand spirit is permanent and in not malleable. Men operate in a strange dichotomy since they have both. When one dies, this ends the flesh and only the spirit remains which from that point forward is an unchanging thing. Most spirits move beyond the world into the divine. Some however do not for a variety of reasons, and so most races devise traditions and rituals to prevent a spirit from lingering in the world. Various customs are involved to protect the spirit and protect the living around it:

The Elves buried their women, but suspended their men from trees. There is no clear reason why this is so. Elves do not die naturally and very rarely from disease or other contagion. Most Elves die through war, accident or intentional acts that lead to their death.
Halflings believe anyone who touched a dead body would be powerless in ‘mind, tongue, and hand’. This paralysis can be inflicted by the evil spirits which were associated with the dead body. Most Halflings loath to touch the dead because of this and so their slave usually handle and bury the dead (sometimes the slaves along with them). Halfling prescience will sometimes allow them to predict their own death. When this occurs they simply wander off alone into the wilds never to be seen again.
Humans bury their men with their faces to the North and their women with their faces to the South. Small sacrifices are usually placed with the body, both by family friends and foes (who fear the spirit may return to terror them). More primitive humans will simply let the dead rot where they lay and flee in fear. Cemation is rare but not unheard of.
Dwarves will mixed the ashes of their beloved with mead and drink it. This is said to allow the spirits to recognize they are dead and move along. Dwarves also ring bronze chimes that are said to incite terror in spirits.

This does not always succeed in placating spirits and they may linger to haunt, terror or even kill. This is very dependent on the person’s life, personality and how they died. War, murder, and a host of other heinous crimes will often breed hateful spirits to tread the world. This is one reason why most races have laws in regards to foul play, deviant behavior, or crimes that could eventually allow such a thing to happen.

Death of PCs

Death for the PCs (or PC) is a bit of a conundrum in Valley of Blue Snails. If you have only one player then death ends the campaign and a lot of work along with it. Sure you can start over, but it is a lot more punishing when its all of the PCs instead of one of six PCs. Because of this I made PCs a bit more durable with allowing multi-classing and slightly better stats. I also removed save or die scenarios which I never liked anyhow. I plan to use npcs to bolster the ranks and I also plan on being more lenient on raising dead*. Still the sting of death has a good chance to show up and even with some DM fiat, things would just end. Don’t get me wrong, the PCs should feel the risk but there needs to some practicality too.

I remember an old NES game called Romance of the Three Kingdoms where PCs intentionally had large families with children so that the game could continue when the main PC died. This worked pretty well for the game in my opinion. It went so far that if your PC ignored your kids, when your kids took over they were freaking worthless mongers that would doom your game. On the other hand if you paid attention to your kids, trained them and so forth, they became worthy heirs. In some cases better than their progenitors.

So, a noble goal but hard to pull off in D&D and I will have to mull it over more. Dark Sun had character trees but the concept seemed silly to me. Something like, ‘our world is so deadly, you are likely to go through 4 characters a session!’. I am sure other games have something similar though off hand nothing comes to mind. Allowing a designated set of potential alternates of npcs whom the PC trusts seems doable though. Perhaps someone whom the PC kept up to date with, told his tales too, and likewise trusted. Old henchmen is a good idea as are followers. Children to some extent too, but that is very dependent on if the PC wanted to get into that sort of thing. It would be interesting to have the PCs plans and actions effect these alternates in a meaninful way as well. I'm not sure if any of that will happen. I suppose I will just have to see how the game goes and keep it in the back of my mind.

* Raising dead is usually very rare in my games, but another article for a later time. I will probably be allowing it, but also allow for things to go very wrong (Kadorto!). Indeed, a ritual that could led to some very nasty spirits indeed. Speaking of which, I will be going more into the malign spirits at a later date as well.

Money and Training

2009-02-27T13:16:00.000-08:00

Money will be rather straightforward in Valley of Blue Snails. I don't care to use alternate currencies much and 1g = 10s =100c is pretty easy to remember. I probably will not use platinum except for jewelry. Value is by weight and purity, most actual prints on the coins are interchangeable in most locations. Dwarves in particular are fickle about purity. Dwarves may also alloy their gold and silver with other metal to keep them safe, then separate them at a later point.

Large denominations are usually not passed along often since they are things like plots of land, houses, titles and so forth. When they are gold bars could be pressed to weight, usually 250gp or 500gp. Peasants usually do not deal with hard currency and favor to barter. If they do have coin it is usually a small amounts to be used in dire times. Merchants and nobles use coins often and also write each other writs of property, value of title. These writs are stamped by the local lords and are essentially a written contract to be fulfilled - breaking the contract is punished harshly. Peasants and the like would never come across such a writ.

The PCs will likely have both coin and barter material. I am fond of non-coin treasure, should it be furs, gems, arts, pottery, narcotics, wines, noddles, harlots, jewels, trained squirrils and so forth. PCs could easily barter this among the general populace for whatever they need. Money can buy just about everything - land, titles, wives, slaves, assassinations, children and just about anything else. Most noble lords will tax excessively and PCs had best be wary if they intent to simply take on a huge load of treasure and walk away without paying the local lord his due. I will leave this part vague for now since it will certianly vary from place to place heavily.

As a side note training is a matter I'm considering when a PC would level up. Adding a cost involved seems to be a time-honored tradition although I'm fairly apathetic to be honest. My main interest is to keep some role-playing value involved for major occurrences. Lets say if a 2nd level Fighter picks up a level in Thief. Clearly some role-playing would be involved, and likely an entire adventure. Normal in-class leveling I will likely keep it as DM fiat. New materials will need to be bought, time to train will be devoted towards and so forth. Loose figure, 20g and 1 week per level - hardly something to worry about in terms of breaking a PCs bank.

Travel in Valley of Blue Snails

2009-02-26T16:36:00.000-08:00

Travel in Valley of Blue Snails is usually a communal affair if one if going outside of the immediate area. Even when commoners walk to work it is usually in groups for safety. Safety from robbers, pilgrims, spirits, monsters and other malefic factors. Those who travel by themselves are seen as deviants and up to no good. Exceptions would be hermits, holy men, bards and the insane.

Commoners could expect to walk 10 miles or more per day to work and back. On rare occasions a communal wagon will be used or a donkey. Commoners almost never have a proper horse. They rarely travel more than a day or two from their home. They will on some occasions go to neighboring villages for weddings, festivities or to trade and this is usually a season event at best. The exception are Halflings which routinely wander in large groups of commons living a more nomadic lifestyle.

Nobles most often ride, and stable-craft is a serious respectable trade. Dwarven nobles usually ride carts pulled by Coelodontas, a sturdy but small variant of a rhino with a clubbed horn. Elven nobles travel far and wide, but usually do so on foot unless it is well outside of the deep woods in which they are acclimated too. Nobles usually travel more often than commoners and consider it one of the things that separates the two. Many travel simply to travel, and will pick any mundane reason to do so.

Those traveling from village to village or realm to realm could expect several options depending on the location, race and the density of populace:

Nobles Troupe - Nobles will group together for travel in well armed and ornate groups. These can come in any shape, race or size. Approaching them is usually a cautious event, as nobles are accustomed to taking slaves of those who displease them. Those who are obviously not a peasantry are occasionally invited to travel with them.

Caravanasi – Merchant clusters often as large as a village themselves have well known travel paths. They cater to all civilized realms for trade and usually allow travelers to accompany them.

Tread Toils – A traveling work community. Usually a group of villagers that travel to a work site that is a day or more from their homes. A camp is usually at the work site and they often make several stops at safe areas on their journey. The end destinations are usually quarries, mines, or other location not suited for a village.

River Barges – Seasoned and well respected barges will carry groups up and down rivers. These are usually well known operations who carefully follow the dogma of the river as to not upset the spirits therein. They can unpredictably be shut down by such dogma.

Pilgrimage – Pilgrims wander hither and too for a variety of reasons, and often to remote locations of lost battle fields, holy sites, benign spirits, or seeking knowledge of hermit-sages. They will take travelers under some conditions.

Bardic College – Small groups of Bards will travel with news, tales and song. They rarely contain more than a dozen members and are often seen as aloof groups who practice highwaymanship on the road, which is partly true. Still, they welcome travelers for a price.

Fernweh – Halflings and Elves in particular succumb to a type of wanderlust to explore the deep wilds. These groups are usually well seasoned travelers often not stopping by villages or civilizations for weeks or months. They will occasionally take on company assuming they are carrying a light load and competent.

Acadiea – Traveling Dwarven apprentices spend a year or more on the road. It is usually a mandatory to thing to see outside of ones workshop to better understand the world. They usually cluster under a chief instructor into groups of 20 to 30 apprentices. Those returning are usually granted mastership shortly thereafter and it is a time of great celebration. They troupes will take on travelers if they have some knowledge or craft to share.

Brigands – Thieves travel in groups in a number of disguises, or even openly acknowledging that they are thieves if sufficiently strong. Thieves will sometimes have a code that may or may not allow travelers to accompany them. It is still of course usually not wise to do so as these codes are likely one-sided.

Wildren – On rare occasion a large group of animals will group up and travel with towards or away from 'seomthing'. While this would certainly be an odd climate to travel among, it has been known to happen. As to why this occurs, who can say? ¹

These large groups are both a blessing and a curse. A large Caravanasi that gets little trade from a village have been known to rob the place blind and even take slaves. Pilgrims are just as likely to be brigands in robes than they are to understand any true calling. Because of this most villages are weary of outsider groups or travelers who are not expected. Especially if recent events have been unkind to a village.

Travelers who tag along with group are expected to offer a service as well as provide for themselves. This could be as simple as cooking or talking to a wagon driver, or something more involved. All passengers are naturally expected to defend the group from threats.

As for distances, 20 miles a day on foot or 40 miles a day on horse or wagon is reasonable. River boats vary heavily as to sea going vessels. The Dwarves have other complex machinery for travel but this is rarely used. Exotic mounts are not uncommon among Halflings, Elves and Dwarves although these would rarely go faster than a horse. Sea going vessels are also available, but these are usually operated by realms or very well off merchants. Few sea going vessels strictly cater to travelers.

¹ Note that animals in Valley of Blue Snails are a fair bit more intelligent than our counterparts. As for why they gather and travel, likely for the same reasons people do. If they seem intent on reaching or escaping a particular destination it is usually wise to heed their example.

Headers and Footers

2009-02-25T12:43:00.000-08:00

Fairly busy at work for a change so I have not had time to do much. I have been thinking some headers and footers and how I want them look. I drew up an example here (click to enlarge):

Basically just a little hand sketch to go at the top of a page of the 4 season with the Oculus in the center with a blue snail. I may do something similar for the bottom if I'm ambitious. I wanted something amateurish and not overly polished since I think any artwork that goes in will clearly follow that motiff. Also I wanted some color since text can be drab page after page and I don't figure I will get a whole lot of art going. An example page is here. I will probably apply a light blue gradiant on the bottom half of the page that gets darker the further it goes down. Adobe Pro is easy enough to use that it makes such things relatively easy to change around as you go.

- OF FIGHTERS

2009-02-24T11:01:00.000-08:00

Journal of Khazrel Nakhu “Journey to the Cities Afar” 32’s93

- OF FIGHTERS

“There are few things in this world that can not be done or undone by a group of well armed and grizzled veterans. I do not speak of levies and other armies that simply stand in line waiting to be broken, but rather the wholesome warriors who find death seemly. These are the ones that stand firm and change the world with the swing of their blade. These are the ones who find swords and blades a good alternative to otherwise vulgar affairs.”

“Among the civilized races there are some commonalities among the professional fighters. Most work for profit, and most fight for a cause. Note that these two things are hardly mutually exclusive. Most follow a liege or other strong authority. Most follow a code of conduct, although this is often very one-sided. Most find camaraderie among their sword-bearing peers, and likewise may be uncomfortable among peaceful folk. Most are a superstitious lot and pay particular attention to portents. And finally most train and hone their skills ceaselessly.”

“Aside from these shared traits I should note the many differences of warriors of the different races. Let me begin with Dwarf fighters, as they are what I am most familiar with. Most career fighters carry three weapons; one from their ancestors, one from their father in-law, and one from their spouse. The first is usually the most prized. It can take any form, but short sword, hatchets, short spears and flails are the most common. The second weapon is always a gift from a spouse’s elder or in the case of bachelors, a gift from ones mother that is often called a mellownail or a green-man’s blade. The third weapon, the one from a spouse, is likely a small blade or token weapon. These are usually returned to the spouse as proof that the mate has been slain in battle. They are also close quarter weapons where other weapon may be impractical.”

“Dwarf warriors train from early ages, although most of those who train eventually move onto other walks of life. All male Dwarves have a rudimentary understanding of warfare. Females rarely do so, although some exceptions are abound. Training consists of ancillary skills, there were long-distance foot races to teach him endurance, and races in cartwheels and somersaults to teach him balance and agility. It is not uncommon for the front row of a Dwarven line to act as shock troops and somersault and cartwheel towards an enemy. Veteran warriors are highly respected and treated with the utmost of courtesy. They are never one to be taken for granted or slighted and his dignity was to never be questioned or doubted. To do is a gross act of disrespect. After all, these fighters are the first ones to be called upon should a threat arise.

“Elves are a strange ilk and their womenfolk do most of the fighting. The men are lethargic and seem more interested in frivolous tasks and prancing rather than tasting blood. As I spoke of in my previous notes on Elves, the female are far more inclined to attempt to gain the notice from their prospective mates if they set themselves apart from their peers. Women warriors often do so with insanely foolish acts of bravery that more often sends them to an early grave. This makes them unpredictable and vicious foes. These fighters follow an agile style names Kauni, or ‘standing in ones shadow’, which is a combination of stealthy attacks, hitting vulnerable targets, and then vanishing before a counter can be launched.”

“Warrior-women have little notion of mercy. They never take slaves and only rarely take prisoners. Interlopers are usually hunted to the last man, or a few are maimed and left to escape so they can spread the tale. Elves do not have standing armies, only small tactical squads that are between 3 and 20 strong. They may have several of these per village and compete with one another often – for centuries. Thus they are among the most deadly and highly trained fighters in the world, and adept at thwarting large numbers of foes. Villages will band together in times of large strife. Elves are usually not aggressive occupiers of territory, thus have no reason for large standing armies.”

“On rare occasions a male warrior or a rogue female warrior will not participate in these assault squads. They are often seen as eccentrics, but not necessarily outcasts. More than one folk-legend is centered on a Elven hermit-warrior with unparalleled skills. Other times fighters simply move on and take their skills elsewhere. In particular recently when Elfish civil warfare has become commonplace and some view it as a pointless conflict.”

“Halfling folk operate in cavalier units and slave infantry. They usually drive their slave forces directly into harms way while harrying foes with arrows on quick moving steeds. Almost all Halfling warriors are skilled horse men and archers, and they loath melee combat due to their small stature. These tactics are undoubtedly effective albeit somewhat dishonorable to outsiders. Halflings are fond of terrorizing lesser humanoids for little reason or perhaps do so to simply be rid of unwanted slaves. In rare occasions Halflings will war against Human, Dwarf or Elf but these are thankfully uncommon and only when their sheriffs decree some need to do so as a portent. Halflings rarely seek to expand their territory as they require little space to begin with.”

“Halflings take slaves when they can and force them into an indentured servitude. While the promise of freedom is present, it rarely actually happens. Those refusing to do labor will have their feet torn off which are placed upon the boarder fences. In times of widespread conflict it would not be uncommon to have piles of feet placed upon a noticeable stone wall or the like.”

“Humans are by far the most war-like with a thirst for endless conflicts between their kind and just about anyone who boarders them. Their armies are usually ill equipped, easily broken, and prone to take heavy casualties. The exception is when a particularly strong ruler is properly motivated and has the means to raise a frighteningly large force with sufficient veterans to be a serious threat to any foes. These large armies can cause swath of unparalleled destruction even though they are short lived.”

“Human villages prize individual champions which fight solo battles versus other village champions. This is done to avoid prolonged or large scale conflicts. These fighters are highly prized and are the best trained the best equipped fighter of the village. On the other end of the spectrum, landed noble men are usually trained in battle as knights and are adept at forming and leading levied armies. Knights may homage to a futher liege and eventually the emperor – until recently that is.”

“Human tend to be expansionist and are usually check my other races when they move their gaze outwards. This so far has wrought a grudgingly mutual respect among the civilized races. It has also caused most human conflicts to be directed internally rather than towards other races. The deep wilds also tend to thwart most attempts at claiming new territory. Old forbidding threats in the deeps will quickly break even the best trained force pushing too deep, and so most of the world’s land is free of civilized men.”

From a mechanical point of view, Fighters will be changed little from their B/X core. I will allow them to roll 2 damage dice and pick the highest for two-handed weapons or using two weapons. In the case of two weapons, the appropriate die type would be used. Since so few things change Armor Class I think this is a good trade out for a shield. Critical hits I am still mulling over but I will likely use double damage on a natural 20. It just seems intuitive for me even though it was never really intended for B/X.

Raelenac – Village in the Sand

2009-02-22T15:51:00.000-08:00

Raelenac is one of the few Halfling villages that is well known to travelers and openly welcomes them. The village is part of the Halfling enclaves east of the Plateau of Gnaeun and the roads that go to and fro can be treacherous for the ill prepared. Merchants, nobles, pilgrims, and those seeking worldly pleasures risk the journey at all times of the year however. Raelenac is not a thriving trade port, nor is it in a particularly good crossroads. It is however renounced for its mineral hot springs and strange metals that seep into the water and sands.

Raelenac sits on the shores of a large lake in a deep wintry valley. The hot springs thaw the valley and form numerous natural pools that are speckled with metallic flecks. The sandy beaches are partially mineralized and most of the village structures use a combination of hard woods and sand. This creates the appearance of well crafted and life-sized sand castles. The structures are remarkably resilient and very malleable to different shapes and types of architecture. The weight of the sand does not permit buildings to be built on anything but the strongest bedrock however, so space is limited and only about two dozen sand structures exist. A good number of decorative sand sculptures landscape the area which depict famous Halfling folk-lore.

While the buildings of Raelenac are definitely an oddity, the true prize within is the large deposits of loadstone beneath the village deep under the sands. The quantities are so high that in some places that metal will be repelled and blocks of nickel hover silently above the ground. The loadstone is so prevalent that the air is constantly saturated with static electricity. Every unpadded footstep upon the flecked sands brings a mild shock, as does touching any metal surface or any person. The dwellers of Raelenac are all but ignorant of the effect after a lifetime of contact with it. Travelers consider the effect exotic and mildly intoxicating, at least at first. Over several days the effect quickly turns annoying and downright maddening.

This has turned Raelenac into a mysterious attraction among wealthy human nobles, well to-do merchants, and Elf courtiers wishing to gain the notice of their prospective mate. Some come for the supposed health benefits of the pools, some come for the grand amenities, and others come for the exotic mild shocks of physical contact in Raelenac. Whatever the reason the Halflings of Raelenac are happy to oblige and welcome visitors with many amenities for noble tastes. Lodges, wine galleries, exotic foods, strange slaves, and lake side tours are all common place. There is said to be elements of forbidden pleasures, but these are naturally not advertised – nymph baths, water-monkey duels, laced deathcaps, and the most exotic joy-girls one could imagine. Of course this is but speculation and rumor.

The wilderness around Raelenac is primarily taiga mixed with silver trees and high snow-topped peaks. The lake marks the bottom of the valley and is several miles across. The far side of the lake is considered deep wilderness and dangerous terrain. Lake side tours usually go no more than a mile, and even then a couple never return. Small rivers, boiling pots, mineral pools, geysers and other thermal sites coat the landscape. No grass grows and shrubs are rare in favor of lichens and moss. The deep steam pools are faintly electric. An unprepared dip into a pool can be painful if one is not carefully acclimated first. This is true with the lake itself to a lesser extent and it is known to have some particular ‘hot spots’ in the deeper reaches where the electric properties can kill. Other hazards are also present in the form of bubbling pots, sulfurous geysers, and boiling mud pools. These are usually easily avoidable but strange creatures occasionally lurk within and are known to drag wanderers to their doom. More than one tale of moss monsters and geyser-morays exist in Raelenac folk-lore.

Of particular note are the carp-creatures of the lake. These large boneless fish with flabby flesh and yellow-gold scales. They are elegant creatures in the water but awkward and writhing upon the land. They are highly protective of their egg clusters which they seem to lay in random areas along the lake and lake shore. This has created many accidental conflicts with the creatures, which attack in bezerk masses using sharpened abalone shells to hack apart their prey.

In the deeper recesses of the lake, meglo-coy drift aimlessly in the heated waters. The upper bridge of their body remains above water and is an ideal habitat for the carp-men to dwell. Although not terribly large, it does serve as a mobile floating island and it is large enough for a dozen muddy pods and egg pools to sit upon. The meglo-coy do not seem to mind and in fact seem to encourage the dwellings as it prevents painful parasites from infesting them. The meglo-coy are otherwise harmless creatures, albeit frightening to behold.

Steam turtles also inhabit the lake and will attack those who stray too near with heated steam blasts and sharp beaks. Their shells are high prized as cooking utensils since they are very durable among the heat. Their meat is quite scrumptious and is usually served in their own shells with a mix of shellfish, butter, and garlic. Turtle hunting expeditions are common excursions in which to take the adventurous nobility upon. The turtles sun themselves on large rocks and are usually easy pickings. Usually but not always, and some of these expeditions never return thus well armed escorts are often in demand. Some of the more ambitious expeditions hunt more formidable prey.

This is loosely modeled after Harrison Hotsprings in Canada which I visited. The Canadians are similiar to the carp-men of course.

The Walking Stone

2009-02-20T23:29:00.000-08:00

Few things terrify the stoic Elves, but one such thing is The Walking Stone. It is one of the few things that predates memory and its appearance is nothing less than horrifying to the sane of mind. The Walking Stone is a four legged colossus wrought from ashen stone and clearly ancient with many cracks, crevices, and pot marks. It appeared to once have a set of four wings but they have long since been broken off. It face defies description other than it is a twisted amalgam of no things living.

The Walking Stone is hundreds of meters in length and legends say it is alive and does walk the world on its own accord – although this has not occurred in many decades. The Walking Stone now stands in the lands south of Orobia in the jutting red-rock badlands of Medeoga. A strange race of twisted faceless men have built a small city of obsidian buildings under the creature and even onto its belly. The Elves warn the place is clearly only for the mad - the Walking Stone has sat itself down crushing the city and its inhabitants more than once. The insane dwellers rebuild the city again once the Walking Stone rights itself.

No reliable account accurately describe the city itself or its inhabitants.

I have no intentions to make Valley of Blue Snails a horror setting, but I do like a good variety of locations including a place where all should fear to tread. I also like the idea of a doomsday back-up plan should the need arise.

All Challenges Accepted - Chagman of Ideon

2009-02-20T14:04:00.000-08:00

Of all the foes that have crossed paths with the Elves and Halflings, perhaps the Chagman of Ideon are the best known. Tales of Chagman strife are as old as time and are common antagonist is many Elf and Halfling folktales. Chagman are found usually in the remote deep wilds where their own strange societies vie against one another. Humans have encountered the Chagman although far less frequently and many consider them myth only. They are far from myth however as Lucor himself had encountered the Chagman on more than one occasion.

The Chagman were first spoke of in a well known legend that is shared among both the Elves and the Dwarves. This is the tale of Hiljagaer, the heroic girl-aurora¹. The legend says that the Hiljagaer was an Elf who hunted waterfowl upon the mountain of Vanamoine, the Lord of Thunder and Prodigies. Hiljagaer kept her tracks light and only hunted by starlight as to not disturb the tame peak rife with tired wolves, sleeping bears, mirthless birds and groggy fish. Hiljagaer grew weary of the lack of challenge and bade the Bear-Giant Pondejja to throw a great rock to wake them. And so he did but incurred the ire of the God Vanamoine and was cursed. Vanamoine’s wrath also woke the beasts with an unnatural upheaval upon his mountain and set them loose upon the world. The Chagman are said the be these beasts turned dour and spiteful.

Whatever the truth may be, the Chagman are indeed violent and restless creatures. They resemble hairless bears with a vague men-like stature that fidget, scratch and nibble ceaselessly. They have large forepaws which are adept and handling tools and short legs that look vaguely comical – at least until they lope on all fours to maim their prey. Chagman live is wood and stone dwellings and have knowledge of fire, metal, masonry and the occasional inventive tool that they come up with. They eat their food raw but are highly social creatures that communicate with a series of grunts combined with blows to the head. The Chagman language is one of the most difficult (and painful) to learn.

Chagman worship the God Vanamoine, the Lord of Thunder and Prodigies. Vanamoine is a god which is physically know to sit on the peak of his mountain. The Chagman compete with one another to eventually pick the strongest among them to climb the peak and release him from his slumber. This is clearly successful when the lightning and storms overwhelms the area. This is a time of great celebration among the Chagman and they delight in such storm weather feverishly. The strong Chagman in question is theoretically taken to the afterlife in a tornado of fire-lightning. Lucor himself spoke of seeing such an event personally. To the Chagman this guarantees passage to a paradise of strong mates, ceaseless combat and general carnage.

Chagman vary incredibly in terms of their mental aptitude. Most Chagman would be ill-equipped to defeat a child in a folk-game, but some - those blessed by Vanamoine, the Lord of Thunder and Prodigies, are intelligent far beyond the norm². The Chagman refer to these prodigies as Ideon, or watchful-fathers. These natural leaders often direct the violent forces of the Chagman towards their own oddly motivated goals. On rare occasionally a particularly motivated Ideon will gather several nomadic tribes and put together a single minded army of Chagman. These armies among the most dangerous threats to the Elves and Halflings and they seek to thwart them at all costs.

In peaceful times, Chagman are surprisingly social with other races and have no quarrel with trading, competing and even dining with any others that find their villages tolerable. Travelers beware however, as Chagman constantly vie for authority and mates and routinely burst into singular combat with one another over such things. Being an outsider does not exclude one self to such things. Should one be assigned such a duel, it would be very unwise to receive any outside aid, as it not only notes disrespect but it also assumes the combatant is too weak to fend for themselves and thus worthy only as a meal for the whole village.

The Chagman as a whole are separated into many nomadic villages that have little concept of territory or ownership. This is where they conflict openly with Halflings and Elves, as they often share the same habitat. Clearly the Elves and to a lesser extent Halflings take ownership and pride in their realms and usually attempt to run the Chagman off. This is more difficult than it sounds as the Chagman are remarkably suborn and will usually only leave when the food is completely depleted, which has a devastating effect on the local lands. Also the Chagman have little concept of self-preservation and battle with complete disregard to harm. Chagman with intelligent leadership are far more dangerous still and can indeed wipe entire realms off of the map.

Edit: still looking for a pic for this entry. Proving to be quite a challenge..

¹ Hiljagaer, the heroic girl-aurora still lives and is currently sought out for wisdom by the many Eleven female warbands. It is surmised this is due to the internal Elven conflicts that have recently broken out.

² Luckily such leaders are rare, one per thousand at least. These intelligent Chagman are still very attached to others of their kind and consider them peers. It is an odd relationship to say the least. It is also no coincidence that the Ideon do well, but never win the competion to see Vanamoine - most have little interest in seeing the lightning-fire tornados personally.

Weather Shrines of the Water-Monkeys

2009-02-19T16:00:00.001-08:00

The rivers north of Kabdoria are home to a curious race of dog-monkeys that dwell in the river muck. They are collectively known as Tuehni; or money-dogs, river-dogs, bear-otters, muckdwellers, swamp-halflings or a host of other colloquial names. They are known to be are roughly the size of a Halfling with smooth shiny fur and small pointed ears. They have the face of a dog with eerie human-like features. Of particular note the creatures have thick tails nearly as long as their bodies with a hand at the end, similar to a raccoons hand. Tuehni are usually timid when alone and skittish when seen outside of the water. In the water however they are significantly more dangerous and will aggressively grasp and tear at anyone in their territory.

Men who have been caught by the Tuehni are grasped tightly with their five limbs until the victim drowns. The bodies are then carried off into their murky lairs. A few days later the bodies will float to the surface devoid of eyes, teeth and nails. The flesh and skin is usually unscathed, but the bodies are thoroughly softened, as if pounded with stones.

Once every few months the Tuehni will explore the land outside of their territorial rivers and seek moist wet places to dwell in the hot hours of the day. Mysterious crimes and odd deaths have been known to occur among the river dwelling villages, and they are very wary of such events. It is not unheard of for entire pens of pigs to be killed with their eyes removed, and later discovering the eyes have been collected among a large garden stone. Nor is it rare to hear a tale of a river-dog leap out of a newly opened cask of rum, much to the surprise of the tavern. More dreadful tales of outhouse patrons making an unpleasant discovery and being drowned in the pit of dung below are also spoke of.

If a Tuehni is caught, it will weep like a child and gnaw off its own limbs in order to escape. Few Tuehni will survive for more than a couple hours in captivity. Folk-tales suggest that Tuehni are abandoned children left near or set adrift upon rivers. Indeed villagers who live near rivers say that if you hear a weeping child near, you should avoid it at all cost. Many of these river villages forbid the weeping of children over the age of two and despise the sound over any other.

The wild rivers are by no means safe even without the likes of the Tuehni. River spirits in particular are spiteful things that will drag the unwary to a watery grave. What is unique about the Tuehni is that they routinely pile shiny objects next to singularly large standing stones along the river banks. These standing stones are clearly unnatural and are known by most as Great Rain Stones.

When a Rain Stone is found they are often decorated with numerous primitive treasures including amber, raw gems, shiny fruits, teeth, nails, eyeballs, shiny fish, scraps of metal, and just about anything else that is shiny that the Tuehni come across. While as curious as these stones are, what is of particular interest is the stones indeed work in calling the rain. Offering a shiny object to a Rain Stone will soon bring rain. Taking a few shiny objects away will cause a drought for months to come - and cause a great deal of ire among the resident Tuehni.

Cautious observers can spy upon the Tuehni and note that they carefully regulate the weather with their Rain Stones. The strength of the weather appears to be related to the objects they offer to the stones, although it is difficult to tell which are the most potent. Overly curious travelers have been known to defile or experiment with the rain stones often with catastrophic results.

Ruining a rain stone will rouse the river spirits for miles and doom the defiler’s kin to a watery grave. Brave (or foolish) folk have offered a plethora of other offerings to the Rain Stones with mixed results. Offering a child to a Rain Stone could very well bring a water Nymph to serve a lifetime of pleasure to the patron. Or it could simply bring a waterlogged horse-corpse to devour the interloper. For most folk it is a well known taboo to do anything with the stones, or even think ill thoughts of them. Thus, most villagers that are wary of the Rain Stones are reluctant to speak of them.

The World of Thool

2009-02-18T23:34:00.000-08:00

An adventure seed posted by Otter over on the World of Thool

The First Day of the Month of Spores, in the 914th Year of the Immortal Omnithrox

Gallagorgon the Man-Bull, ancient and mighty progeny of the Immortal Omnithrox, desires that there be brought unto him an intact Pnomak, a ghoul-maid of beauteous aspect and unspeakable thirsts. Those who bring the Man-Bull his prize will be granted an incredible boon -- a full day and night, dawn to next dawn, of unthinkable debauchery within his Pleasure Ziggurat.

It is said that Pnomaks, as well as other unwholesome things, haunt the Crypt of Llatai, though it goes without saying that such details are the sole concern of the boon-seeker. The Man-Bull cares not.

- - -

I have an affinity for 70s sword and sorcery stuff so this is gravy for me. Anyhow, it is always inspiring to read material that you would never think of on your own. Man-Bull Pleasure Ziggurats included.

Lucor, Champion of the Fallible

2009-02-18T08:34:00.000-08:00

Few beings in the world are as well known or as well regarded as Lucor, Champion of the Fallible. Lucor first made his appearance nearly a century ago we he bested the Emperor of Ladoga’s personal man-at-arms in single combat after the Emperor’s caravan pushed his fruit cart off of the road. After a heated argument Lucor became a friend and champion to the Emperor for decades to come.

The following years were rife with tales of Lucor besting overwhelming odds with the highest of chivalrous standards. He single handedly saved the 99 virgin maids of Plerth from the rampaging Hydras of Chagman. He slew the Beast of Twelve-Eyes unarmed, and carrying a wounded knight upon his shoulder. He saved the cinnamon crop in Vamarine by moving a river with a donkey and a spade. He freed the frost giants from the subdual of Reopejiaen and was proclaimed their Thane. He caught a falling star out of the sky saving Bohtan from certain doom. And so forth - Each tale was more lavish, and more unlikely than the last.

While almost certainly some of these are untrue, most of which did indeed have a grain of truth to them. Lucor’s reputation grew to such heights that a city was named after him, Lucorstead and many of citizens of old Ladoga are named Lucor to this day. Over time Lucor found himself besieged with the plight of peasant folk and nobles alike. He did his best however, and spent the following decades wandering the lands of Ladoga thwarting what evil he could and setting matters to a fair state. Indeed to the people of Ladoga he was a living legend - all would stop, kneel and stare at his passage.

The enemies of Ladoga likewise feared and respected him. Lucor was the only human to receive a ‘flee upon sight’ order from the Chagman of Ideon should he show his face upon a battle field. Lucor also aided the Elves, Dwarves and Halflings on numerous occasions becoming a hero to them as well. Lucor is said to be the only Human honorary Sheriff in Halfling lore, and likewise one of the few who are welcome in the verdant deeps of the Elfish forests.

Tragedy struck when Lucor’s wife fell to a simple robbers blade in the imperial city of Bohtan. Stricken with grief, Lucor grew listless and was pitied. Unknown to most, Lucor received a vision from the ghost of his wife who said they would once again be together once he found his honorable death¹. And so, Lucor was renewed with purpose and sought to finally find a death and an end to his legacy. At this time he was 50 years of age and he had though it would simply be a matter of time before he grew too old and too weak to thwart his foes.

This turned out to not be the case, and Lucor became stronger and stronger with each passing year². It infuriated him that those friends around him grew old and weak while he could best any mortal with little effort. Worst of all, he found it increasingly difficult to find events that would peril his life. Most enemies simply ran from him. Villagers would practically worship him, and even the worst criminals would lay down their arms and confess upon his passage. Even the supernatural beings of the world could sense something was drastically different upon this man and were very wary in his presence.

And so for further decades Lucor served the folk of Ladoga at an age where most men could hardly leave their death bed. Age did however effect Lucor’s mind. He became forgetful and his mind wandered even in the most perilous situations. In a well documented battle against the pirates of Sheneborne, Lucor swathed into a pile of bloodthirsty sea-dogs with nothing worn except loincloth and flail. Naturally the troops with him noted his extreme bravery, but in truth he simply forgot to don his armor and clothing. It was not too long after when Lucor simply vanished from Ladoga.

Lucor and his horse took the wrong road in Orobia and ended up in the sands of Derth. He was far too senile at this point to find his way back and wandered the lands aimlessly. Today, Lucor is well over 100 years old and likely the oldest human alive. He has long since forgotten his former life, but he does know that he needs to find his glorious doom (for some reason). He will plunge headlong into any peril and likely return unscathed.

For his age Lucor is remarkably able and hearty. He indeed appears ancient with a long wispy white beard. He is strangely well muscled underneath his wrinkled ashen skin however and otherwise seems inexplicably different. He clearly appears as an old knight, with a rusty breastplate, old shield and a chained flail strapped to his belt. Lucor is terrified that other folk will attempt to steal his bones, although he does not know why³. He will wander about at random times but thankfully his steed will usually follow him. Lucor is prone to take naps at inopportune times and will listlessly follow whatever interest him at the time. Lucor is fond of a pretty face and will (chivalrously) flirt with any young nubile women in his presence.

Lucor will gladly accept any aid from wanderers like himself who aim him in finding a death worthy of a knight4. He has also long forgotten his name and most who would know his face have long since perished. He truly does want to die and every night he will dig his own grave just in case he does die, someone can toss him in.

¹ In truth this vision was caused by the Spirit-Lady Jieria, whom Lucor bested on more than one occasion. She waited for years for an opportunity for payback and finally found it. The end result is not quite what she had imagined however.

² The many blessings of decades of heroism bestowed upon him from a plethora of spirit, divine, magic and natural powers. It is uncertain which one or which combination continued to increase his might, but it was undeniable that something drastic had occurred somewhere. At this time it was not uncommon to see this 80 year old man unhorse the best knight of the day.

³ Long ago there was a fad in Ladoga in which the bones of saints where highly sought after for aphrodisiacs. Attempts at Lucor’s bones as a living legends were attempted more than once.

4 A death worthy of a knight, which is usually some heroic or selfless act against overwhelming odds. Obviously simply stabbing or poisoning Lucor will not be honorable at all, and he likely would not die to such mundane methods anyhow.

- - -

Lucor has been a reoccurring character in most of my campaigns for about the last 20 years. Sometimes as a rude and perverted old-man with a cane, other times more prominently figured with a party actively trying (unsuccessfully) to get him killed.

Presamaesto, the Walking City

2009-02-17T10:35:00.000-08:00

One of the great triumphs and tragedies of Dwarven society is the great geared city of Presamaesto. The city hit its apex during the great season of Hibernal, the 4 year winter. Where other workshops went underground, Presamaesto continued to flourish under the guidance of the white-beard Dwarf, Kakoan Meago and his three young disciples who were collectively known as the three bitter geniuses.

Kakoan Meago was, by far, the eldest Dwarf in recorded memory at over 520 years when Hibernal occurred. His knowledge of gearcraft and magic was second to none and it is said only his three disciples even had the faintest hope of understanding the majesty and intricacies which he toiled upon. Not only could Kakoan repair any of the mechanics of old, but also create new inventions that boggled the imagination. The entire city of Presamaesto was built upon a clockwork sundial that rotated during the daylight hours and folding in upon itself during harsh weather or outside threats. Also the city itself could ‘walk’, albeit very slowly should the need arise.

Presamaesto was indeed the finest of the Dwarven workshops and it sponsored a learning academy where the brightest would learn gearcraft and magic. It is at these academies that most of today’s knowledge of gearcraft originated. It was also a stoic place of worship dedicated to the life-bringing God of Nannaron, whom Kakoan himself paid homage. It is said that some of the walking machines he built were imbued with the faith of Nannaron.

After the end of Hibernal, Presamaesto was pressured by the refugees from lost workshops and abandoned cities. With their resources strained, the city itself suffered under the deluge of people and was forced to turn some refugees away. Kakoan found this unbearable and created many clockwork golems to aid the refugees who were denied entry into the city. Although these bronze and silver gelded golems were simple machines, they could toil endlessly and were put to good use by the thankful outcasts. The three disciples of Kakoan; Suirom, Tsande, and Jurez toiled along with Kakoan for nearly a decade creating this army of geared golems.

Eventually the refugee crisis dampened and new workshop cities began to spring up over the ruins of the lost old ones. The clockwork golems were integral to the creation of these new cities with their endless toil. Estaoculus, the summer of eyes, occurred a decade later which put these workshops to the test - thankfully most managed to survive. Estaoculus also changed the three bitter geniuses of Kakoan; Suirom, Tsande, and Jurez. Each had gained the Oculus and with it a new demeanor. Suirom, the power to copy any action he sees. Tsande, the ability to stave off age and sickness. Jurez, the power to pass his knowledge to metal.

Kakoan was at first wary of the Oculus but was eventually delighted by these new gifts granted to his students. They added to his already ingenious creations and he thought that finally someone would surpass him in his ability. It was thought Suirom would be this person, who could copy any action flawlessly. He learned much of Kakoan’s repertoire and also those techniques of the others. While Tsande and Jurez had great gifts themselves, it seemed that Suirom would be the true protégé of Kakoan.

Unfortunately Suirom had a great lust for power and he eventually learned that he could copy other Oculus powers if he saw them in use. He spent a great deal of time finding other Oculus users and copying their powers for his own use. The Oculus however is a demanding a stressful thing even in the correct hands, and it crushed much of Suirom’s former self. In order to copy another’s Oculus, he would resort to deceptions, violence and even murder. It was some time later when Suirom tricked Tsande and Jurez to copy their powers and slay them. Kakoan himself managed to intervene and a great battle ensued. Kakoan stood with Tsande, Jurez to thwart Suirom and his amassed collection of Oculus abilities. Presamaesto was devastated in the battle as the clockwork machines of the city waged battle on behalf of both sides. Despairing over the carnage done to his city, Kakoan beseeched Nannaron to free the machines from the influence Dwarves and so it was done. The machines no longer obeyed the will of Suirom, or anyone else for that matter and Suirom was routed. Kakoan unfortunately did not survive and was laid to rest in the center of the city by Tsande and Jurez.

Tsande and Jurez led the refugees of Presmesto to other workshops, who remembering the kindness of Kakoan, took them in. Tsande went into wilderness and sought hermitage. Jurez wanders the world in search of Suriom and to bring him to justice. Suriom himself is assumed to survive and is known as a great traitor although it is not known where he fled. He would undoubtedly be insane with knowledge of so many Oculus lines within him.

Tsande has mostly stayed in hiding, although a few appearances have been recorded among traveling Elves and Halflings. Jurez walks the world in search of Suirom. In an interesting side effect of this, all knowledge Jurez gains seems to be passed along to the golems that he created with Kakoan. It is unknown how many of these clockwork golems still exist, but it can be deduced that quite a few can possibly still exist. Speculative white-beards surmise that Jurez has a meager amount of control over these golems, or at least the ones outside of Presamaesto.

Presmesto now exist in a partially ruined state. In the past century the city was expected to fall and decay. This is not true however as it seems the clockwork machines have managed to adapt and still toil among themselves, bless by Nannaron with free will and their own motives. It can be surmised that Kakoan’s last prayer has had a lasting effect that still is active today. Clockwork golems and strange geared beast can be observed within the city limits. Few venture in however, as the inhabitants are erratic and otherworldly in appearance and action. Interlopers are forced to flee soon upon entering or are simply never heard from again. To make matters more complex, the city itself wanders the deep wilds, forever in motion.

- - -

I have an affinity towards clockwork and steampunk elements in my games. I do not want these to be a dominating thing, but certainly to have elements that will leak out into the larger dark-age world. Something like pin-points of technology in an otherwise spear-chucking habitat.

Critter of the Great Rot

2009-02-16T10:15:00.000-08:00

Here are some critters I plan to use for the areas still containing the Great Rot. These critters will largely only be found in these isolated areas, or perhaps in equally comfortable corners of the world that may suit them. I will be using some critters from later editions of D&D simply because they will fit well.

Myconid (AC 6 HD 1-6 Att 1, weapon or spore Save F1-6 Moral 8)
Vegepygmy (AC 8 immune to piercing weapons HD 2 Att 1, weapon Save F2 Moral 8)

Perhaps a few others. Yellow/russet mold and the like, which will largely be unchanged from B/X.

Squill (AC 5 HD 4 Att 1, bite 1d10 Save F4 Moral 8)

Squills are semi-Intelligent squirrels about the size of a small cow. They have large forepaws and ringed tails, and communicate with a loose chatters. They vary widely in color and will sometimes paint their fur in decorative circular patterns. They are highly territorial even though they are primarily arboreal, and are difficult to trade or communicate with. Squills will most often attack in small war parties and nibble off the feet of any intruders rather than outright kill them.

Acorn totems – Squills will place large amounts of dried acorns in hollowed totems, reaching 40 feet or more. These totems will have animal carvings and are usually brightly painted. The totems will appear in erratic locations in the wilderness surrounding the Great Rot communities.

Eloewn (AC 7 HD 1 Att 1, weapon Save F1 Moral 8)

This is a race of intelligent leafy men. They appear as man-sized walking-sticks with autumn leafy filaments between their appendages. They are usually peacefully and quietly go about their unfathomable business in the remaining warm compost heaps in the world. With their ecology slowly dying the Eloewn are becoming more desperate and aggressive. Leadership figures grow cones which are attached them and procreate the species with the seeds inside. The Eloewn often are at odd with the Squill, whom find the cones of the Eloewn irresistible.
(This a nod to the Elowyn in Starflight)

Humgrois (AC 4 HD 3 Att 2, bash 1d8/1d8 Save F3 Moral 10)

Humgrois are mottle-skinned humanoids which have large distended bellies that perpetually drag on the ground in front of them. They have massive forearms and lope on all fours when moving with speed. Unclothed and unwashed, they seem about as intelligent as any ape creature. They may seem docile at first, even offering travelers a loose piece of fruit or hunk of raw meat. However they will just as casually brain any intruders with no warning.

Twilight Beast (as creature)

These are creatures born from the second year of the Great Rot. They are similar to creatures of their original heritage but are often desiccated, have a musty smell, mottle autumn colored skin, and speckled hair. Stat-wise they are identical to their normal peers but have different behaviors that could be described as eccentric.

Crawlurk (AC 2 HD 5 Att 2, claws 1d10+1/1d10+1 Save F5 Moral 11)

These fungi-encrusted crawdads can grow up to twenty feet in length and dwell in mulchy damp areas. Crawlurks prefer to cover themselves with damp leaves and ambush unlucky prey that walks too close.

Mulid Worm (AC 9 HD 1 Att 1, bite 1d8+1 Save F1 Moral 12)

These large flat worms have a segmented jaw that can latch onto fleshy prey. They prefer to scrape off anything they can digest and are usually content with a hunk of flesh rather than outright killing any prey. They dwell in rotting trees in small numbers but will unfortunately layer themselves in large colonies in large compost heaps.

The Folding Deep (AC 9 HD 5 Att 2d12, save vs stone for half Save F5 Moral 12)

This large sheet of lichen carpet will cake itself onto a rocky perch and fold itself upon anything that stands upon it. It is typically a frosty green and about one inch thick, and can cover up too twenty square feet. It will quickly seep any water and salt out of the victim causing an immense amount of pain in the process.

Polypods (AC 10 HD 1hp Att none Save F1 Moral 12)

These are polypores that attach themselves to anyone or anything venturing in the remaining areas perpetuated by the Great Rot. They can be scrapped off easily but have the propensity to return over time. If allowed to grow on flesh they are itchy, but eatable. They are otherwise harmless.

Spell List

2009-02-16T08:05:00.000-08:00

I am keeping the spell list fairly close to B/X, but the actual casting of spells will be more common. The major change many spells do not need to be specifically memorized and may simply be cast for 'free' when 1) not in combat, 2) in an unstressful situation, 3) 5-10 minutes allowable to cast the spell. Spells that are otherwise cast in combat or cast in stressful situations will need to memorized as normal and may be pronounced and released with a word of power and gesture.

All Cleric spells can be cast out of combat for 'free' essentially, which will make them a fair bit more powerful than normal. I am fine with this since this will essentially solve my problem with combat being completely bogged down with attrition - ala I kill 3 Kobolds then rest for two weeks. Besides, Clerics generally only memorize the healing spells which is counter productive to a fair sized spell list.

I can probably eliminate any combat changes, or at least save any combat changes for terms of flavor rather than mechanics. Some Cleric spells will probably need to be memorized assuming thier nature. Casting something like Sriking will almost always be used in combat, so they will need to memorize them. Generally though I'm surprised how few combat spells Clerics really have. The main limitation Clerics will have is time to cast out of combat spells, and the favor of their deity. Clearly over doing it will cause most deities to check them. Clerics will still start with all spells of level known, unless a spell is opposite of their deity. Anti-clerics can reverse spells by uttering the spells backwards - a profane act.

Magic-Users are a mixed bag and I really want to see spells in play that you otherwise never use - hold portal, floating disk, etc. The majority of their spells will naturally be combat related so they will need to be memorized, but I made sure a few non-combat ones were available as well. The main limitation is learning the spells. I am granting 1 spell-per-level gained (2 at level 1). Anything else must be found or painfully researched. an Intelligence check is needed to learn any researched or found spell - failing mean you can never learn it. So in this way Intelligence is very important to Magic-Users.

Bolded spells are Illusionist only (a status title), who gain both Magic-User spells and access to the Illusionist ones. Spells marked with * are only available in combat, thus must be memorized thoroughly and a word of power is required to release them.

Cleric

First Level Clerical Spells
1 Cure Light Wounds
2 Detect Evil
3 Detect Magic
4 Light
5 Protection from Evil
6 Purify Food and Water
7 Remove Fear
8 Resist Cold
9 Consecrate

Second Level Clerical Spells
1 Bless
2 Charm Animal
3 Find Traps
4 Hold Person
5 Resist Fire
6 Silence 15' radius
7 Speak with Animals
8 Spiritual Hammer
9 Exorcism

Third Level Clerical Spells
1 Continual Light
2 Cure Blindness
3 Cure Disease
4 Growth of Animals
5 Locate Object
6 Remove Curse
7 Speak with Dead
8 Striking
9 Banish

Fourth Level Clerical Spells
1 Animate Dead
2 Create Water
3 Cure Serious Wounds
4 Dispel Magic
5 Neutralize Poison
6 Protection from Evil 10' radius
7 Speak with Plants
8 Sticks to Snakes
9 Bind Spirit

Fifth Level Clerical Spells
1 Commune
2 Create Food
3 Dispel Evil
4 Insect Plague
5 Quest
6 Raise Dead
7 True Seeing
8 Wall of Fire

Sixth Level Clerical Spells
1 Animate Objects
2 Blade Barrier
3 Find the Path
4 Heal
5 Regenerate
6 Restoration
7 Speak with Monsters
8 Word of Recall

Magic User

First Level Magic-User Spells
1 Charm Person*
2 Detect Magic
3 Floating Disc
4 Hold Portal
5 Light
6 Magic Missile*
7 Magic Mouth
8 Protection from Evil
9 Read Languages
10 Shield*
11 Sleep*
12 Ventriloquism
13 Audible Glamer
14 Mirror Image
15 Detect illusions

Second Level Magic-User Spells
1 Continual Light
2 Detect Evil
3 Detect Invisible
4 ESP*
5 Invisibility*
6 Knock
7 Levitate
8 Locate Object
9 Mirror Image*
10 Web*
11 Wizard Lock
12 Obscurement
13 Alter Self
14 Phantasmal Force*

Third Level Magic-User Spells
1 Clairvoyance
2 Darkvision
3 Dispel Magic
4 Fireball*
5 Fly*
6 Haste*
7 Hold Person*
8 Invisibility 10‘ radius*
9 Lightning Bolt*
10 Protection from Evil 10’ radius
11 Protection from Normal Missiles
12 Water Breathing
13 Illusionary Wall
14 Phantom Steed
15 Spectral Force*

Fourth Level Magic-User Spells
1 Charm Monster*
2 Confusion*
3 Dimension Door
4 Growth of Plants
5 Ice Storm*
6 Massmorph
7 Polymorph Other*
8 Polymorph Self*
9 Remove Curse
10 Wall of Fire*
11 Wizard Eye
12 Hallucinatory Terrain
13 Shadow Door

Fifth Level Magic-User Spells
1 Animate Dead
2 Cloudkill*
3 Conjure Elemental
4 Feeblemind*
5 Hold Monster*
6 Magic Jar
7 Passwall*
8 Telekinesis*
9 Teleport*
10 Wall of Stone
11 Advanced Illusion
12 Improved Invisibility*

Sixth Level Magic-User Spells
1 Anti-Magic Shell
2 Death Spell*
3 Disintegrate*
4 Flesh to Stone*
5 Geas*
6 Invisible Stalker*
7 Lower Water
8 Projected Image*
9 Reincarnate
10 Wall of Iron
11 Mass Invisibility*
12 Permanent Illusion

Out Sick

2009-02-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

Bit a cold so I will not be posting for a few days.

Iteration Two

2009-02-11T11:46:00.001-08:00

Iteration two is up and is located here, or in the downloads section to the right. This is really just a compilation of the articles in the general layout I am leaning towards. Very little has been rewritten or cleaned up at this point, but you will get an idea of where this is heading.

I still have mixed feelings on combat and damage. Mutli-classing I am liking more but it will need some serious tweaking. The spell system I have nailed down fairly well and will just need to detail it more. Likewise for the spells list. Other than that most of the work should be going to the setting rather than the rules from here on out.

Landmarks Addendum

2009-02-11T10:15:00.000-08:00

Now that I have a rough map to go by I will be filling up some more of the landmarks. Also I need to consolidate some of my earlier notations about locations. I will probably only do one or two more set of these so I don’t overload the place with landmarks. Also I want to allow a fair amount of sandbox areas to fill it at a later point. Either way, when completed it should provide a virtual lifetime of adventure seeds.

Vice of Leaves – Groves north of Kabdoria that lay as the one of the remains of the Great Rot. Compost piles and strange autumn creatures still lurk therein.

Settling Falls – In mid-Vamarine, a large river originating from the Banshar Krush takes a dive down a sink hole. Where the water ultimately goes no one knows.

Lake of Orchids – Western Vamarine, a large lake that blooms carpets of orchids year round. The elves consider this a holy place and routinely make the pilgrimage.

Jasper Wall Thrones – In the Halfling realm of Yivmey, a large outcropping of chair-shaped rocks litter the landscape along with a petrified forest of still-standing tree. The chairs are wrought from jasper like rock.

Echo Deeps – A deep set of canyons in northern Orobia, said to be one of the last remaining vestiges of the Estaocculus, the summer of eyes. Many explorers who enter come back blind. They speak of mirror-like rocks and diamond rivers, although none are so fool hardy as to find out for themselves.

Gates of the Eons – Two pillar of purplish light that shine from plates of black glass in the ground. The pillars of light flow upwards of 100 meters. This is located in southern Orobia near the Desert of Derth.

Desert of Derth – This desolate desert is full of white-sand dunes, and underneath is a slick sheet of black glass if the sand is cleaned aside. In some places it is said one can see things underneath the glass.

Falor’s Rest – A high ridge in the eastern reaches of Vamarine and the Elf realm of Agaesun. A light glade and otherwise unremarkable but great serenity can be found here, and it is said one’s inner turmoil can be put to rest in this place.

Fade Water Lake – In central Kabdoria a large lake with endless depths is a dominate feature here. Strange creatures will pull large vessels underneath, no one sails upon its waters.

Downlight Mines – Once a series of iron mines, the Dwarves abandoned it when strange lights seeped up from the cave floors. Located in northern Orobia.

Sungraze Spine – A lonely mountain in the center of the Elf Lands of Tharillim. Yellow trees can yellow grass sparkle with mist and dews at all times of they year. It is known to be one of the last places of the 3 year spring, Vaunderfel.

Rotholme – A dank valley in the northern reaches past Kabdoria. This is a large outcropping of the Great Rot. The lost Elven lands of Amanpih lay within.

Dwarf Isle – Contrary to the name, no Dwarves live on this isle east of Kabdoria. Instead the ecology is a wide assortment of miniature creatures. Cows you could hold in one hand, Elves no larger than a doll, even dragons no larger than a bird.

Isle of Whites – a large isle far from the coasts of Vamarine, this place is in a perpetual winter, lost from the endless winter of Hibernal. Strange walking corpses of all manner of creatures are said to lurk within.

Crossing of Whispers – A deep pass through the Banshar Krush that is routinely patrolled by sticky newt-men. Luckily they are deathly afraid of fire.

Agate Dam – A dam of unknown origins along the Kabdoria and Orobia border. Geodes and agate make up much of its construction. Strange crystalline creatures lure on its walls and is thus avoided my most.

Strand of Reeds – Great reeds can cattails create a forest where lost creatures dwell. Talking lizards and behemoth snakes lurk within. The strand is located south of Orobia bordering the Dwarf hills of Meahon.

Inner Circle of Four Winds – Standing stones in the Dwarven peaks of the Banshar Krush. Those seeking spiritual enlightenment occasionally travel to the peaks.

The Shifting Dark – The depths of this primeval forest create a perpetual darkness with many nocturnal creatures. It is rumored that a lost strand of Halflings from the Hibernal now live within.

Jungles of the Coil – Thick Jungles far to the east of Vamarine. Decrepit wasp-men implant eggs in interlopers thwarting most explorers.

Neverdawn Isle – Series of islets forever changed from leafenfel, the 6 year autumn. Albino Dwarves roam these isles on the backs of bleached hydras. It is said a race of elves lives beneath the waves that smell akin to rotting seaweed.

Western Tide – A long beach on the coast of northern Vamarine that is the mating ground of Dragon Turtles. Their eggs are often laid in the mulchy sands. Obviously no one comes near this place.

Pyretops Isle – A strange isle with trees that spontaneously engulf in flames. The ground is littered with ash and quick growing shrubs. The isle lay south of Orobia.

The Wandering Patch – A large orchard of pumpkins that will pick up and move around in the early morning hours. It lies within the Dwarven realm of Roodg.

Saltwhisker Glens – North of eastern Kabdoria along the Elven lands of Gulouge, a large swampy glen lines the great sea. Strange dwellers make these salty flats their home including upright lobsters, whiskered Halflings with soft-shells, barnacle men, and crabs with open shells.

Azure Coves – A chain of smaller isles between Kabdoria and Vamarine. They are said to be a paradise, and a left over from the endless spring of sapphiron. Many pirates and merchant rogues make their homes here.

- - -

Ladoga – The human empire that was sundered into three parts, Vamarine, Kabdoria and Orobia.

Bohtan (ruins)– The former imperial city, now a large series of foreboding ruins.

Last Distillery – Famous Dwarven distillery using oak barrels that are said to be a thousand years old. It is located north of Kabdoria in the Dwarf lands of Chilfens

Silvermist Mills – Cluster of Halfling dwellings along the Banshar River. Although technically in Kabdoria, they are known as a free realm or loose laws.

Yivmey – Halfling realm in the western deep wilds. Prolific traders with the rare travelers that travel that far.

Chilfens – Dwarf Lands northof Kabdoria, known as great hosts to travelers and traders. Widely known for their near magical feats of engineering and metal crafting.

Agaesun – Near Vamarine, this Elven land has been warring with inner strife among many small villages. Once peaceful and inviting, travelers are now wary when entering les they be accused of aiding an enemy

Trisnev (ruins) – Dwarven spires southwest of Kabdoria, lost to clerical strife during the Great Rot. Many Dwarves have returned to claim the place and remove the stain from their honor. It is often used as an example of the harm unchecked religion can cause.

Tharillim – Elves to pay homage to the Sungraze Spine, and have made their livelihood here.

Amanpih (ruins)– The Great Rot consumed this lost Elven lands. It is said those elves that remained were consumed as well, turned into folk with fungi bones and polypore flesh.

Roodg – Dwarven realm west of Vamarine. Home to the ‘Nine Whitebeard’, a clan of sages and also The Wandering Patch.

Gulouge – Elves and Halfling land in the distant north that are nomadic elk-riders. They are territorial and not prone to let travelers pass.

Meahon – Guttural and foul Dwarves who worship dark powers and create machines of war. Located south of Orobia.

- OF MAGIC-USERS

2009-02-10T11:16:00.000-08:00

Journal of Khazrel Nakhu “Journey to the Cities Afar” 32’s93

- OF MAGIC-USERS

”Magic-users, sorcerers, wizards and the like I have been intrigued by since I was a youth within the spired workshops of Brikmel. I have always had a fascination with their otherworldly demeanor, endless depths of power, and general majesty - and then I met a magic-user and any conceptions such as these were wholly dashed.”

“The first magic-user I met was the Dwarf white-beard Romfaer, older than dirt and even less scruples than dirt. I have never met a more utterly despicable, more degenerate, wholly perverted old codger in the thousands of miles of my travels. When one thinks of an elderly Wizard perhaps they may think of a kindly old man who uses his power for a greater good. This could not be farther from the truth, and in fact Romfaer spent more time stealing sweet cakes from children and spying upon the baths of the woman folk than approaching anything close to being useful.”

“Romfaer was hardly alone in this among the wizardly sort. I can altogether say that they are capricious and hateful lot with a panache to make one loath them within the first few moments of meeting one. They are a spiteful, self-absorbed folk who rely on otherworldly power to intimidate those they deem as lesser (just about everyone). They are quick to anger, slow to forget, and never compromising. Their only redeeming quality is that they are over-confident enough to speak with spirits and will likely be carried off by hungering claws at some point.”

“Many children are told to avoid Magic-Users, and ill events follow them. Naturally these are folktales designed to scare children. Unfortunately this is true! Listen to your mothers! They were right! The most unfortunate events of my life have almost always occurred in the presence of a Magic-User, and I forward any humble readers to take this to heart.”

“Perhaps the most noteworthy and informative Magic-User I have met was the Halfling Gobinue (Gobinue the Infallible as he says). He traveled with my caravan for several months, and by the end of the trip most everyone within had wished great injury upon him. A vile and self-consumed being, Gobinue cared little for the suffering of others and indeed went out of his way to hobble stray cats, pry dark secrets of others, and demand the utmost respect in the process. My time with him was luckily not entirely miserable as I learned a great deal about the practical nature of Magic-Users.”

“The first most noticeable things upon meeting a Magic-User is their otherworldly demeanor. Their hair will fluster with no wind, smoke will mist out of their ears when angered, their eyes will flash like lightning, and all sorts of mystical occurrences can forewarn you of their general mood. As I learned over the course of several months, this has to do with the spell they have knowledge of and have prepared.”

“As I am told there are three sorts of spells. The first are common spells which a Magic-User can cast as often as they wish. These sorts of spells can hold a book closed, clean a stable, light a dark night, unlock a door, and many other sorts of things. Gobinue said these spells are limited only by a Magic-User’s knowledge of them. Spells are rare however and require a great deal of research, wealth and time are required to fully understand them. It is an endless process for Magic-Users to enhance their repertoire of magical knowledge.”

“The second class of spells are dreadful incantations which slay or fascinate foes. These spells I am told are mostly used in defense (though the wizards are often the first to strike) and are quite draining upon the Magic-User. It seems that spells which are cast in stressful situations are cast with such speed and power as they have a meaningful drain upon their caster. Older more powerful Magic-Users have learned to stretch these limits very far, while younger ones may only cast a spell or two in the midst of combat before becoming exhausted. Furthermore these spells must be memorized specifically with the correct aptitude to bottle up the magic might within the caster. Then, at a later point the caster can utter a short phrase and gesture to release this bottled up power which is let loose like a geyser.”

“This bottled up power has a side effect upon the caster which affects his physical being. Should the Magic-User contain a spell of fire, then ghostly flames will appear when he is angry or steam will shout out of his ears when flustered. Should be know a spell of fascination, sparkles of magic will rain down over his skin and his eyes will sheen like a mirror. Should they bottle up a spell of conjuration, small birds and squirrels will appear out of no where and scamper off in the wizards presence. There are endless permutations to this bottled up magic upon the Magic-User, and is one of the things that is most wondrous about them.”

“The third and most dreadful class of spells are those that Magic-User do not intend to cast. These spells are sometimes placed into the Magic-Users mind by the spirits when it is vacant - and the mage must cast them to be rid of them. Such spells are usually powerful and not of the realm of men. Few Magic-Users intentionally gain spells from the spirits as they often have an unpredictable and baleful effect upon anyone near when cast. These spells occasionally occur when a spell is incanted improperly or is cast when the Magic-User is already exhausted. I saw this first hand when a horse stepped on Gobinue’s foot while he was casting a simple spell to light a camp fire. The result was all of the leaves for acres around fell off of the trees, rustling many nearby spirits. Luckily we fled before they could come upon us. This was one of the few times that I saw Gobinue (the Infallible) to be flustered and unsure of himself.”

“All Magic-Users script their spells into spellbooks which are designed to safe house their knowledge. Older more powerful wizards often have several books or even libraries while young mages usually only carry one. These spellsbooks are highly magical in nature themselves and contain far more pages than they appear too. I found the script to be unreadable when peering over Gobinue’s shoulder but I did see blots of colored liquid, strange circular pictographs and occasionally illustrations of hand gestures or strange creatures. Magic-Users usually edit and add to these books in their spare time. I am told by Gobinue that they can learn from another Magic-User’s spellbook, thus they are very wary around one another lest they be thieved upon.”

“When Gobinue attempts to bottle up some of the magic might into him self he carefully incanted a series of phrases while reading the book. I felt the magic seep from the world into himself and could hardly stand the reverberations even being near it. I can not fathom being the one to be the fulcrum of such things. Afterwards he rested a brief while as the magic settled within him. He spoke of such as eating a fine meal, which is best eaten slowly lest one become irritated in the bowls. He also said that once the magical might is released, his mind was like an empty flask, waiting for something to pour in. At these times he said it is most dangerous for outside powerful to seep within, granting him a baleful boon of forgotten incantations.”

“Ah, I babble. I am glad to know some truth of Magic-Users even though it dashed the glorious illusions I had of Wizards in my youth. While I indeed think of them in a different light, I am still generally intrigued by magic in general. One last word - Gobinue spoke of foul Magic-Users (which is sort of like a camp-fire calling a torch a hot bastard). Evil wizards he said are a very dangerous and chaotic sort who can steal souls and rips the limbs off of travelers with but a word. I sincerely hope he was jesting in an effort to put some fear into me once again. I am unsettled by the sullen tone in his voice however when he spoke of such things however.”

Superstition

2009-02-09T21:03:00.000-08:00

One of the daily themes in Valley of Blue Snails will be that of superstition. This is mainly due to the prevalence of spirits. Most of the folklore is simply true, and the unwary and unwise can find themselves dragged into a stagnant pool of water by a horse-headed water spirit if they do not take heed. Needless to say these superstitions are taken rather seriously by most intelligent races. Even your run of the mill Kolbold will make an offering of regurgitated fish on a lillypad before crossing a flowing river.

So since superstitions will be an every-day role-playing opportunity I should denote what exactly they are. This will obviously be a growing list and it is certainly malleable towards which ever races or culture are played. No two races would do things the same. Even nearby towns will delineate somewhat on the exact practice of these superstitions, so they are by no means written in stone. The main thing is the effort is made – the spirits will definitely take notice if they are intentionally ignored, and will repute spitefully.

Shooting an arrow into a body of still water is said to slay an innocent many hundreds of miles away. Thus, archers never fire towards enemies standing near a still lake or pond.

Blue beads braided into the horses manes prevent spirits from dismounting them.

Snail shells which are broken while under the call of a spirit will break the spell.

Many wizard place their spellbooks under their pillow when they dream. It is said spells from other realms will seep into a vacant mind should they not do so. Indeed strange spells are known appear to in a wizards memory when they asleep if they have not done so.

Should one suffer from indigestion, taping a wooden spoon on the table and pronouncing ‘unberufen’ will ward the illness away so that the person may continue eating.

Dwarves use grains of the purest tin and fold into a cloth under moonlight. It is usually placed in the nose-guard of a helmet, where only the wearer can see it. It is said to grant a quick and painless death should their time come.

If an owl crosses ones path and hoot the traveler should stop and toss some salt in front of him, waiting at least the time it takes to eat a meal. Else their road will be treacherous.

Repeating any holy words backwards will have a malefic effect. Doing so is definitely evil and only anti-clerics or the insane do it intentionally.

If someone wishes ill of you and you want them to stop, it is common to take the heart of an onion and burn it over open flame while repeating the persons name.

Any flowering plant that grows on someone corpse is very potent. Eating the petals will grant the memories, demeanor and nature of host into the devourer.

Dwarves believe if you measure exactly the height and circumference of an object, it will be doomed to fall (buildings, mechanical things and the like)

Halflings believe if they are insulted behind their back, they must slay the youngest child of the person whom insulted them, else the insult will be predestined to come true (obviously most other races avoid doing so).

Elves believe placing salt in another mans hand will doom them.

Placing a pious dead-mans hair under the threshold of a homestead will protect it from evil spirits for a year.

Dwarves believe if you spit three times upon an enemy when meeting them, they will cease to be your enemy (rarely taken as such however)

Peasantry believe if you spit in your right shoe before entering a dangerous place, it is a wholesome thing.

Standing on a mans shadow for too long will cause them to become short of breath.

Shooting an enemy with a silver arrow and slaying them will cause their spirit to be trapped within the realm of the living.

Tossing a brick through a window during a feast averts any bad luck that may occur in the home (note that windows are not cheap).

Should a man survive the same great peril twice, it is said he will always be greatly injured the third time.

When passing stagnant water, always face it unblinking as you pass, lest the spirits drag you in.

To regain a families honor, boil in water 9 nails, 9 pins and 9 needles. Then place it under the fireplace of that family to regain what they have lost.

Should an innocent child wound itself while staring unblinking at someone, that person will be cursed until they confess their most vile sin.

A lock of hair is very dangerous in the hands of an enemy (intentionally vague)

When baking bread, the coals are often saved and tossed upon the road when traveling long distances. It is said to prevent any hunger upon the trip.

Should you see a spirit, write your name on a pebble and throw it as far as you can into the wilderness. There the spirit will go.

Elves incant a phrase when in great peril of fire or water ‘When thou passest through the waters I will be with three, and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.’ They say if you are able to finish the incantation you will always survive.

Lead tablets can be engraved with a persons or an animals name. Should a spirit call for that person’s or animals sacrifice, the tablet can be used in its stead.

If a leaf of the world tree is wrapped upon the clay likeness of a man, he will be immortal for one year (obliviously leaves from the world tree are quite rare)

Driving a silver spear into ones shadow will cause the shadow to erupt with life and its own malevolence. (silver spears are thus contraband almost everywhere)

A flock of crows on the ground is a doomed road to take.

Ashes from yellow paper will grant a boon should they be given to a forest spirit.

Should a very young child be slain in front of its parents, it will become a great evil spirit forever tormenting its killer.

A wife may have her husband burn her alive so that they may become an evil spirit to molest any enemies they had in life.

Should clay be made into the likeness of a person and placed in a shadowy water, when that person died they will become the walking dead.

Cone-shells offered upon a lillypad will grant one safe passage across running water (many races use many different things)

Gold offered to a twisted tree is said to grant protections of ones kin for a year.

Red ribbon tied around a twisted tree is said to sooth the spirits therein.

An evil look can be passed from person to person, but one who sleeps with out passing the look is said to dream of only evil spirits.

Lavender leaves which are carried will protect one self from the sight of a corpse.

A charm of silver, holy water, birch and gold gild will ward the walking dead (indeed most cleric holy symbols are made of such).

Breaking an eggshell while under a fascination of a spirit will break the spell but enrage the spirit.

Dipping ones feet in an honest mans urine will prevent them from stumbling or falling, ever. (easier said than done)

Painted hands shown boldly will ward against aggressive spirits that show themselves.

It is said spirits can not look directly into blue eyes, so those with blue eyes are somewhat protected against their charms.

Halflings believe symbols of the crescent moon are placed by spirits to disrupt their prescience.

A live rabbit released will distract hillock spirits who seek to do one harm.

Open jugs will attract spirits who seek to do harm to drunkards.

Elves believe fairies will overlook anyone who carries a charm of feathers.

Eating a meal alone can result in a spirit sharing it with you.

Placing 50 fish heads in a stork stomach, then boiling and devouring this will cause the next spirit whom wishes you harm to erupt into flames. To drink the water of in which it was boiled to make the persons smell terrible to spirits.

Glass beads offered to a snake will ward one against mischievous spirits.

Melting brown wax will attract the most vile spirits into ones home, certainly causing it to be nigh uninhabitable for quite some time.

Blowing a ram horn in ones home will scare many spirits away (done commonly in most taverns and inns at least once a day)

Beating a child with a pine branch will beat any evil spirits out of them.

The ashes of a rope in which a man was hanged will obliterate any good spirit touching it.

Coral that was stepped upon causing a wound will attract spirits who will have power over that persons blood.

Brightly colored eggs will ward ones garden against mischievous spirits.

Should a beggar eat the fat from a stolen goat, it will transform them into a hungering spirit.

Bloodshot eyes and an unwashed face are said to protect against the spirits of the morning hours.

Fear can be dispelled by adding a drop of blood to fresh water and washing ones face with it.

A white feather upon the road will grant a safe journey.

Cherry seeds worn upon the stockings of maiden women are said to attract fertility spirits (and lustful men as well).

Finding a empty mouse nest is said to grant an unexpected boon from a friendly spirit.

Finding a lost button will grant someone a new friend. Finding a pearl-button is said to grant a spirit-friend who will forever guard that person.

List is getting a bit large now so I will call it here. Clearly the list can go on and on and I expect to add them as I go. Much of the folklore is done out of habit, but not necessarily true. The Elves likely have the most accurate ones to follow and the wise do as the Elves do, no matter how silly or superfluous.

Sky-Shells

2009-02-09T13:30:00.001-08:00

I mentioned last week I intended to make a location ‘Valley of Blue Snails’ as a sort of newbie starting area. This area will be relatively self-contained with a couple smaller villages, some critter lairs, and a couple of plots of intrigue to get ones feet under their legs. Naturally this place will be a valley, and I am thinking it will be clustered between the free provinces north-west of Kabdoria so it touches all four of the major races territories.

The most noticeable thing about the valley is the blue snails (surprise surprise). I have dubbed them Sky-Shells, and intent on making them larger then life at well over 100 meters tall and just as long. They will have lustrous blue shells that gleam like mother-of-pearl in bright sunlight. Their flesh is a lighter blue and very durable beneath a perpetual coat of slime. There will not be very many of adult Sky-Shells, maybe a dozen. I will say three of the largest ones have villages on top them, sort of a mobile outpost that can hold a few hundred peoples.

There are two reasons for these outposts. First off any villages built in the Valley of Blue Snails have a fair chance of getting run over by a Sky-Shell at some point. A painful lesson and the dwellers in the valley can tell horrid stories of watching a behemoth wreck a village in slow motion (very slow motion). Secondly the outposts on the Sky-Shells are a remarkably safe place to build a village. The Sky-Shells have no predators and are straight forward creatures who roam about the valley munching on the fast-growing forests. The Sky-Shells themselves are all but invulnerable and it would be very difficult to dislodge any inhabitants on one. Sieges do not work well because they are mobile and unpredictable.

The valley walls prevent the Sky-Shells from crossing over easily. Not because of the height but because of the large amount of salt deposits that are imbedded in the rock. No adult Sky-Shells are known outside of the valley, although smaller ones make an appearance here and there. Several small specimens do exist in the valley, everything from about the size of a fist on up. They are social at time and will sometimes gather in slow colonies. It is not unheard of to have 5 or more Sky-Shells cluster together for some unknown reason. The Sky-Shells are not trainable and they can not be prodded into a particular direction – it has been tried several times with no luck.

Sky-Shells produce a fair amount of lucrative by-products for the inhabitants of the valley. The smaller ones are edible, and their shells are a sparkly blue that shines like opals. The large shells are duller but still valued to some extent. Some armor is even made from thick pieces of shell which are surprisingly strong. Mushrooms and herbs grow in the larger snail droppings and are prized by all manner of chefs, alchemists and wizards. The thick coat of slime that cakes the trail of the larger snails dries very quickly and is known as a potent hallucinogenic if devoured. In sufficiently high doses it can be a poison if concentrated enough.

As for their origin, the Elves say they grew during the great season of Shorfjaer, a 13-year Spring a millennia ago. Other behemoths also originated during this time but most of these have long since disappeared. Rumors exist in the far wilds but thankfully if others do exist they appear to avoid the civilized societies.

The Sky-Shells do not need a stat-line as you would have better luck beating on a hillside than to have any hope of doing any real damage to one. The outposts on the Sky-Shells will not be the only villages in the valley, but they would be well known places to trade. Other village locations would need to be on salt-flats or other locations that would deter Sky-Shells from crossing over them (and sometimes it doesn’t work). I expect to not have very many villages that are not on the Sky-Shells.

Catan Hex Maps

2009-02-06T12:09:00.000-08:00

I have a Settlers of Catan box set that uses sculpted hex pieces. A bit similar to Dwarven Forge, fairly high quality. Anyhow it occurred to me that it looks remarkably like a 3-d hex map when laid out. It even has town, cities, walled cities. To bad I only have about a dozen pieces, it would probably look great covering my whole table with the things and having the party move from tile to tile. (click to enlarge)

Dichotomy of Spirit and Beast

2009-02-06T11:46:00.000-08:00

Scala Naturae is medieval concept of a hierarchy among all things. It is mostly an excuse to put religion at the top of all things, but I do like a few ideas it offers. Notably that flesh is fallible and is malleable, while on the other hand spirit is permanent and in not malleable. Men operate in a strange dichotomy since they have both. I think this relevant in Valley of the Blue Snails for two main reasons.

The first is that I already have lore heavily based upon the existence of worldly spirits. While these are certainly not the sort of angels in the Scala Naturae, I like the idea of spirits of basically having an unchanging nature. Sort of a force of nature. That is, they are what they are and nothing will change that. There is no such thing as a benevolent Nakki or an un-mischievous Menninkaine.

Secondly in the Scala Naturae all I like how critters each have their place, their own rung in this hierarchy. Among Valley of Blue Snails I wanted to condense this hierarchy quite a bit to allow for greater animal and culture interaction. Not in the sense of Narnia or an uplifted animal kingdom, but to the extent where quite a few animals that are trainable and malleable. Not only by humans and demi-human, but by all races fair and foul. Animals could do straight forward duties when properly trained and motivated. They would be finicky creatures, but just about anything could be domesticated to some extent. Naturally ill-treatment or other neglect would have adverse side effects. Also animals have little natural disposition towards war so they are not often used as such. The exception would be mounts, but only a few would fall into this category.

So in that sense animals and spirits are opposites of one another. One is a stagnant being of spirit, the other an extremely malleable being of flesh. I think there should be some inherent conflict between the two – a natural distrust, a sense of wrongness, general unease when the two are near each other. I suppose this would be a good of a reason as any for animals to go ape-shit just before supernatural things occur. I would expect animals would definitely be uneasy in the presence of the spirit and perhaps seek to chase them away. Likewise spirits would loath certain types of animals and seek their demise.

I think most of the playable races would be much more in harmony with animals than spirits. Not always the case of course, but it would give a place for crazy witches that people (and animals) avoid because they deal with spirits. I think people would use animals to ward spirits away as much as anything else. In general people want to stay away from spirits, period.

Anyhow, I have intended for some close animal/culture interaction. When walking into a village it would not be uncommon to see a bear working the blacksmith’s billows, a duck washing the stone tiles with a rag in its bill, or a porcupine prodding along an ill tempered cow into the barn. Here are some others that come to mind:

Spotted Finches – These small birds use their beaks in a number of ways. Most notably to remove ticks and fleas from those in their vicinity, which Halflings are particularly fond of. They have been known to be trained by thieves to manipulate sticks and wires for all sorts of mischief.
Squirrels and Chipmunks – These tree dwellers are adapt at storing and remembering the location of food and all sorts of other items. It is not unheard of for a key or gem to be given to a squirrel for safe keeping. They are timid enough to only obey those who handle them daily.
Olive Crawdads – Other than being quite tasty, these crawdads will gladly will gladly use their mouth filaments to clean dead skin from hands, feet and even wounds.
Crows – Crows and occasionally rare jungle parrots can memorize phrases and repeat them. Even offer different phrased based on a particular reply. This can be misinterpreted as the birds actually conversing with people but in truth it is only a memorized response. While the animals do not understand the words they can carefully and diligently act as messengers.
Bearcats – These rust-colored beasts appear as a large wolverine with a prehensile tail. They can be trained as mounts and to sniff out prey. They are one of the few beasts that can be hardened for open warfare.
Blue Snails – These large snails act as (slow) beasts of burden. Rope is covered with glue and salted, then attached to the snails shell. The Snails can then pull many times their own weight for days at a time. The snails are oddly social creatures and appear to have a very alien intellect.
Dragonflies – Huge primeval dragonflies glow in the dark of night and are set loose upon the dark net-covered streets. This offers shifting lights that coat the night lit buildings in shades of purples, blues and greens.
Snakes – Stripped snakes can be trained to climb trees and swallow large amounts of bird eggs they find. They will then return from the tree and regurgitate them in a basket.
Bulb Toads – A platter of bulb toads can mimic many types of wind instruments and repeat them flawlessly. The toads are quite adept and can play this odd music for hours at a time.
Bile Wasps – The large wasps are highly territorial and can be placed in cylindrical tubes to form an impromptu fence. They in fact only sting those who cross their direct path, thus are easily avoidable by those who simply move well around their fence.

And so on. I will eventually create a large lists for the place of domesticated animals but it should be fairly open. If someone really wants a moose as a mount, well it is probably out there somewhere. Most animals will have a predisposition towards certain activity and would be very hard to train it out of it. Teaching a cat to fetch is iffy at best. Teaching a bird to fly down and pick up shiny objects on command is very doable.

'Blue Snails' I may change up to have a bit more of an impact than slow beasts of burden. Perhaps some meaningful by-product ala Sandworms of Dune. The newbie location Valley of Blue Snails will have them of course, out in the wild. Since the name of the setting is Valley of Blue Snails I think the actual Blue Snails or the Valley itself it should have a bit more weight - hmm.

Barnacle Men

2009-02-05T09:35:00.000-08:00

As I spoke of below, this is typical of a starter homebrew adventure for me. The first half of it is mostly role-playing, the second half is a small excursion into a nasty place with a couple 'what the hell is that thing' moments.

I wrote this for Scott Driver sometime last year. I have ran it a couple times and I think Ardell is running it now for a group of soldiers (I would give my left nut to see a group of Rangers and Green Beret players run through something like that - just damn curious how they would play the game). I would say I give out magical loot and treasure in an average amount. Note that his is written for OD&D although it is easily modified for B/X or 1st. This is made to be ran in one session.

PDF here if you prefer to download.

Hook: The PCs are asked to deliver a lockbox to the Ulerishian Temple, which is 12 miles outside of town. The path can occasionally be treacherous with highwaymen and forest drakes, so no one heads that way alone. It is preferred a known contact of the PCs give them this task.

The lockbox contains a magic amulet that is fairly valuable. The PCs arrive to Ulerishian Temple unmolested and are invited to stay the night by the priestess and the two nubile maid acolytes. The PCs will be fed, bathed and generally treated well for transporting the amulet. The temple has some other guests, three vagrants, which are invited to come and go (the temple inherently repels evil, so they feel safe with those who come).

Amulet of Ulerishia – Amulet of ESP. Must hold to use and can read the thoughts of anyone in 20’. Roll 1d6, on the '6' the user's thoughts and transmitted to everyone in 20’.

Ulerishian Temple - Ulerishia is the goddess of ‘noble causes’ and ‘rewards that are well earned’. The temple has a permanent Protection from Evil effect upon it which wards most horrors from its vicinity. Many of the town folk make the trek here at least once per season, as do many pilgrims from distant lands. Avrareen (44 years old, Cleric 2) is the Priestess and is always escorted by two virgin maids that assist her (Aileena 16 and Bingood 15). Avrareen is practical enough to drink and tell jokes with the travelers and is down to earth to speak with. She is highly respected, wise and it is said she can perform genuine miracles (clerical spells).

The two maids that escort Avrareen are chosen among the village girls and it is seen as a great honor. They serve for three years, taught a great number of things and then released to be married.

Merchants, drunks, vagrants and others with out a place to sleep are welcome to spend the night in the temple should they travel this far. Free meals and drinks are offered by the trio of women. The villagers are highly protective of the temple and prevent its services from being abused (along with the Protection from Evil).

The PCs will notice Avrareen chains a small nameless creature in the garden. The humanoid creature is diminutive, has no hair, no eyes and has vestigial wings on its back that look vaguely like chicken wings with no feathers. It toils until told to stop. At night the creature is chained in the kitchen where it is fed and curls up next to the stove on a pile of wood. If asked, Avrareen tells the party the creature, Hooduk, arrived on an Ulerishian holy day and has served the temple faithfully for three years.

Three Missing - The PCs wake up the following morning and the Hooduk, one of the acolytes (Bingood) and one of the vagrants (Dronlar) are missing along with the amulet. The Priestess will ask the PCs to investigate. In truth the Hooduk stole the amulet after escaping its bonds in order to present it to its God in the cave (the Derkomai), one of the Acolytes was studying, tried to prevent the theft but failed. Not wanting to fail her matron, she followed the Hodduk to the cave to get the amulet back. One of the vagrants (Dronlar) saw her leave in the dead of night and followed her to spy on skinning dipping or whatever. Once at the cave the Acolyte was forced to flee and hide deep within the cave from the Shell-less Crab. Dronlar was attacked by the steam turtles and barely made it out alive.

The PCs will find the vagrant Dronlar, badly mauled nearby, struggling to return. He says he saw the Acolyte wandering the woods alone and night, and followed her (to protect her of course) to a cave. He can describe the cave location, about 2 miles away in the hillocks. He was attacked by a dark shapes near the cave entrance and he fled. His wounds are burns cause by steam and a few large beak marks are on his legs.

Caves

1 – From a distance, the outside of the cave has steam billowing forth from its 10’ x 5’ entrance. Smallish ehite and blue toadstool cover a large area outside the entrance, along with bones from a variety of creatures that are bleaches clean.

2 – The entrance climbs up a 10’ incline with rocky debris built up to the entrance. Dragging tracks can be seen (from the steam turtles) but it is difficult to tell what the tracks would be from.

3 – A white ‘river’ of crystalline rocks lines the floors in this large cavern (30’ x 90’ roughly). Large toadstools cover erratic areas and the floor emanates heat. Six Steam Turtles are here, milling about in no particular method. They are not hostile (well, not yet), but will defend themselves if attacked.

Cave paintings can been seen on the walls, painted by primitive hands many ages ago. They depict mammoths, large lizard beasts, and vaguely humanoid creatures with wings that look quite a bit like Hooduk.

4 – This chamber opens up into the main gallery which spreads as far as lantern or torch light will reach. Toadstools here can be as large as tall as 10’. A large waterfall cascades from the southern wall, fifty feet tall. A small lake and whirlpool violently drain the water coming from the waterfall. A plateau can be seen to the north and another to the east, each rises 10’ off of the ground.

The toadstool have a number of large barnacles attached to them, among them are 10 Barnacle Men. Who attack when a good opportunity presents itself, preferring to force PCs into the whirlpool. When half of them are slain, they will sucker themselves to the underneath of the toadstools and retreat in their shells (AC 2). Then the following round if any are left alive they will make a shrill droning noise that will summon the steam turtles from area 3, indicating dinner time. The turtles will attack when they arrive, two rounds later.

The polished coral spears the Barnacle Men carry valued at 5g per (50g).

5 – This large crystalline cavern radiates subtle golds and purples from the various fungi here. The cavern is very warm and smells sweet, like heated fruit or honey.

This is the home of the Derkomai that sits atop a rocky outcropping and is easily seen from the center of the cavern. The Hooduk is here also, prostrating itself and offering the amulet, which the Derkomai seems to be wholly unaware of. Seeing a large group of intruders, the Derkomai will unwind itself and attack. The Hooduk will be genuinely baffled at the conflict, and attempt to aid the Acolyte if she is present. Otherwise the Hooduk will stand back and watch in awe of the battle.

The Hooduk will offer the amulet to the victor and will gladly follow the PCs or Acolyte to the temple. It will flee if attacked.

A pile of coins and objects are scattered about the Derkomai lair. 575g, 732s., 822c. Also among a pile of ancient lichen-covered skeletons, a Hammer +1 that radiates golden light and three potions (random).

6 – This is the main room of the gallery, with a large central plateau. The top of the 50’ chamber is very hot, with blankets of steam rolling along the roof which radiates downward. The chamber is very large with many rock piles, toadstools, piles of sand, and farms of fossilized coral. A sandy path leads up towards the central plateau. The chamber continues far the west and a passageway is to the North East.

12 Barnacle Men and the No-Shell Crab inhabit the upper plateau which rises 10’ from the floor. Piles of sand are neatly stacked between the toadstools along with fossilized coral growths and lichens. They will attack if the upper plateau is trespassed upon.

The barnacle men have a stash of polished coral (value 350g) and coral spears (5g each, 60g value).

7 – This plateau is scalded clean of anything living. A muddy geyser is here that erupts every 4 minutes. The Barnacle Men make offerings here, 7 pearls, one of which is Black (total gp value 1200). The pearls are jammed in the muddy walls and will take 2 minutes to work out for each one. Geyser spray will cause 3d6 damage to someone foolish enough to be hit.

8 – The north section of this cave is the home of the Molluetuesk, which appears as a tranquil pool of water with several small fish swimming inside. The pool is faintly radiant and is lines with stalactites and stalagmites. Should a PC disturb the pool the Molluetuesk will attack relentlessly. If the PCs are 15’ or further back and somehow disturb the pool, the mouth will snap shut and the creature will slowly ‘reset’, ignoring the party.

A passageway is in the South East section of the cave which vaguely reeks of sweet cooking smells, like heated fruit.

In the refuse under the Molluetuesk a Shield +1 sits along with the bones of its previous owner.

9 – This sloping cave holds dozens of mineral pools and toadstools. The Acolyte Bingood (hp 4 ac 9) lays hidden in the very north section and 6 Barnacle Men are hunting for her methodically. If found Bingood will gladly join the party and will insist on finding the Hooduk and the amulet (see area 5).

The coral spears the Barnacle Men carry valued at 5g per (50g).

Four of the three dozen pools radiate magic if detect magic is cast or if the pools are tested one at a time.

Pool A – A yellow pool with long spindly mineral crystals within. If drank, the drinker vomits profusely for 4 rounds. Any metal coated in its waters no longer rust or dull.
Pool B – Murky gray water which has dozens of fist sized Molluetuesk swimming within (harmless). If the waters are drank, the drinker will gain 1 permanent hp and will feel profoundly rejuvenated for the rest of his life. The drinker will no longer catch normal ailments or diseases and their natural lifespan is increased 1d20 years. This effect will only work once.
Pool C – Blueish water drips from the ceiling into this shallow pool. The water appears to drip and move in slow motion. This is in fact fossilized magic, harmless if drunk but potent in the hands of a very skilled Wizard (applicable bonus for creating magic items and whatnot, DMs discretion). It will take much investigation to reveal its true nature, but can be stored in any vial or other waterproof container.
Pool D – Clear pool with a muddy floor. An albino frog lives in this pool, it is the size of a dog. Should anyone reach down and pull it out, it will follow that person and obey simple orders until its death.

Critters:

Hooduk – hd 2 hp 10 ac 8 att: bit 1d6
Hairless humanoid creature is diminutive, has no hair, no eyes and has vestigial wings on its back that look vaguely like chicken wings with no feathers. Can be told what to do and toils tirelessly. The Hooduk has a simple and straightforward mind. He stays at the temple simply because he wandered that way one day and they fed him. He knows of the Derkomai in the cave and worships it as a god. He seeks to appease it with sparkly goods, which is why he took the amulet to it.

Steam Turtles - hd 1 hp 4-8 ac 4 att: steambreath or bite, 1d6.
Large loggerhead snapping turtles. Usually quite docile unless spurred on by the promise of food. They are very hot the to the touch and can breath super-heated water in a 5’ cone (1d6).

Barnacle Man – hd 1/2 hp 1-4 ac 4 att: short spear (melee or short range) dmg:1d4
Large barnacles, about the size of waist-high trash can. The barnacle men can detach whatever they are adhered too and protrude lanky arms and legs from out of their ‘shell’ opening. Their head, eyes and torso remain in the shell, thus they walk in a gangly fashion while throwing and stabbing with coral spears. (ac 2 when fully retreated)

No-Shell Crab – hd 3 hp 15 ac 7 att: 2x soft-claws, 1 dmg. open digestion 2d6
Shell-less Crab is 15’ wide with all of its organs exposed, mostly bound together with transparent sacks (organs will spill out when breeched). If both claws hit the same target the no-shell crab will pick up the victim and drop them on his back, which is a mass of exposed organs; gills, ropey tubes and an open sack of digestive juices (2d6 acid damage, save petrifaction for half).

Molluetuesk – hd 3 hp 18 ac 5 att: bite 1d6, on max dmg swallow whole.
Very large cave-lurking beast that looks similar to a huge horseshoe crab, which opens itself up into a cavernous opening. Its ‘mouth’ very closely resembles an iridescent tranquil pool of water with some small fish in it, stalactites and stalagmites lining the sides above and below (teeth). Should the pool be disturbed, the ‘mouth’ will snap shut.

Derkomai – hd 4 hp 22 ac 5 att: bite 1d6 or breath (20’ cone of stirges, 2d6 first round, 1d6 second round, save vs breath for half)
Twenty-foot cave lizard with black oily scales, an overly large head with large milky white eyes. Similar to a dragon but with no wings and not nearly as intelligent. Can live on eating minerals and rocks but prefers squirmy prey. Likes shiny objects and will make a home near such things. Breaths stirges that reside in its overly large head, can only do so twice in a encounter. (stirges will fly off after 2 rounds)

Campaign and Adventure Methodology

2009-02-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

Although I prefer B/X and OD&D for rules, I usually do not care for the sorts of adventures that have players meandering in a dungeon for session after session. At least not in a continual fashion. A good example of this is Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil; which was fantastic until you actually got to the temple and are besieged with battle after battle, room after room, in an endless extermination procedures. I suppose this is because role-playing takes a backseat to fiddly mechanics and it is very repetitive.

My favorite types of adventures are exploration ones, where there is in fact little plot to speak of. Really these are just strange places for the PCs to meander around finding stranger things in a wide-open fashion. Isle of Dread and Dwellers of the Forbidden City are two such adventures that are almost completely non-linear with no beginning or end. I think every time I have ran these, the end result is usually very different depending on the group. Most importantly this can be a very good device where the PCs tell you what they want (even if they don't know it); mystery, action, investigation, heavy RPing, starting kingdoms, whatever. From there you should have a very good idea of what to run next.

Anyhow, I have run enough separate campaigns to put forth a little methodology that I construct for the campaign. Really I think the actual rules are fairly moot, so long as they don't bog things down overly (ala 4th edition, heh). B/X, OD&D, 1st-2nd, 3.5 edition, WFRP and so forth are all perfectly fine so long as the players are comfortable with it.

First Adventure - Usually a one shot homebrew adventure that is heavy on starting RPing in the start with a small excursion of some kind for action and accomplishment. I will be posting a typical starter adventure in my next post (Barnacle Men). This adventure is purely for the PCs to get to know one another and find their 'voice'. Also to get to know their class. I usually build the encounters to specifically cater to the played classes so everyone is doing something. Players can write a background if they want, but I prefer if they wait until after this adventure to do it since the players perception often changes after this first game.

Second Adventure - Usually multi-session. I often use a published adventure here since they are (usually) well balanced. For an urban area I like Assassins Knot or The Veiled Society. For non-urban areas, something like Night's Dark Terror work very well. I also like The Sentinel/The Gauntlet, the Saltmarsh series. These are not overly difficult and let the players act like a team as well as stand out individually. They also have a good climax and sense of accomplishment to end it up with. I usually make enough modifications to keep it fresh, and so that only a few monsters are recognizable (IE, no 'you see 10 goblins', instead PCs should be saying ' what the hell are those).

Third Adventure - Here is where I insert the exploration adventure. It can be as simple as finding a map or a contact informing them of a strange place. The PCs at this point should have enough resources to travel around. As mentioned before, Isle of Dread and Dwellers of the Forbidden City go well here - although I tone them down for lower level PCs. The lost Valley in Night's Dark Terror also works well. I have also homebrewed a few of these since they are great fun to write. This exploration adventure I feel is the most important adventure you will probably run for a campaign since they PCs can do whatever they want, and they likely have the gold to do many different things. It will probably set the tone for the rest of the campaign. Most importantly it tells you what the PCs want in their game so it is a good idea to set up several available options. Rumors of lost artifacts, evil cults sacrificing nubile maids, strange boats the sail up waterfalls, weird bark-men who ritually shave the native animals, bizarre murders among the native people, two warring factions with political intrigue - whatever. Give the plenty of options and see what they come up with. Alter progressive sessions accordingly until it runs it course.

Fourth Adventure+ - From here on out it should be rather distinctive on what the PCs want as far as a game. I generally set up a large campaign-wide plot at this point and have any adventure here on out based upon it, even if its minor. It can be something grand like thwarting the World-Emperor, building a castle and maintain a realm, or smaller things like giving an old man an honorable death or avoiding a particularly nasty ex-wife of a PC (yes, both have happened). The actual adventures I run at this point are usually a mix from a variety of adventure types and sources. I will do a homebrew followed by a published adventure followed by a purely out-of-my-ass spontaneous thing followed by a set-piece battle with a 100 minis on the table and so forth. Variety is important, so long as it is somewhat linked together as strongly as the PCs would like and that they follow the ultimate enjoyment that the group is looking for.

I have no aversion to new adventures and many good ones are around. In particular I like a lot of the old short-but-sweet adventures from Dungeon magazine. They often have a lot of flavor with out repetitious game play. I also freely plunder adventures from other game systems, new and old. I rarely modify them before hand, and instead just simply do that sort of thing on the fly as I run combat.

And so, there you go. Most of my campaigns will typically run between 6-18 months. I think after 18 months the players get bored with their PC or the rules or the setting. This is not a bad thing by any means and I think it is just as important to recognize when to end it, and end it on a good note. Ending it with a major story arc, a massive battle with siege engines and castles, going out in a blaze of glory and so forth.

Valley of Blue Snails was actually going to just be one of these 'exploration adventures' and nothing more. It was only later that I decided to make it a setting since the ideas were getting too large for a single adventure. I will still include an actual Valley of Blue Snails location and likely make it an open-ended exploration adventure. In fact I would like the Valley to be an all-inclusive area, sort of a newbie land for levels 1-5 and cover the first 3 adventure types I had listed above. As a side note I plan on placing the actual valley west of Kabdoria, near the river and between the many pink blotches of demi-humans.

FAQ

2009-02-04T13:40:00.000-08:00

I keep meaning to post a FAQ for folks that stumble across the site. I will link this post to the right and update it as necessary.

> What is Valley of Blue Snails?

Valley of Blue Snails is a Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting. It is created for a cousin (Lt. Moree) who will soon be in Iraq. We chose to do an online game to prevent boredom and as a escape from the realities of things sucking over in Iraq. Incidentally this opportunity seems a decent time as any to write some homebrew material and chronicle it for self indulgence.

Mainly this blog will cover my notes in the creation process. I don't even know what exactly I will be creating yet; perhaps a new rule set, most likely a setting, and definitely some kind of starter for a online rpg.

I will occasionally post other things I am interested in. I am in a Dark Heresy game at the moment. I play World of Warcraft. I paint minis, and so forth.

> Why 'Valley of Blue Snails' name?

It was a technical error on the part of my cousin. He misread the title of an adventure in Dungeon 'Valley of the Snails' as Valley of Blue Snails (the pic in the adventure had some blue snails in it). Simply put, I like the name so it just a matter of semantics.

> What is the scope of Valley of Blue Snails?

To clarify the scope of the Valley of Blue Snails, it is intended to have a working rule set and setting in May / June of this year (2009). Namely because this is when Lt. Moree deploys and I work better with deadlines. The rules will be primarily written for a DM and 1 or 2 player model with online play in mind - email, pbp most likely since live play will almost certainly not work with the time difference. I will leave open the possibility that some other soldiers can be included but probably no more than a couple.

The setting will be more broad and will likely be applicable beyond this campaign so I am hoping to get a refined version out by May / June and adapt it as we go. It should be broad enough to not be limited to a specific rule set and probably any D&D rules would work fine, but I will keep B/X in mind if I need to stat something out. I want the campaign to last the full tour of duty, so possibly 12-14 months. After this point it will be finished and I will adapt the events of the campaign for the setting and make it official canon. I will probably rewrite it at this point, get a couple pieces of art, and publish a couple copies and give it to a handful of people. I will also put it up somewhere as a .pdf for free. That is assuming it is not a steaming pile of crap and worth the effort to do all that.

> Are you looking for other players?

Sorry no. The only exception would be any soliders that Lt. Moree wishes to include. I am not counting on any other players however. I may post some game sessions or make the forum threads public, but I am not looking for other players. There is a slim possiblity this could change but I would say it is unlikely.

> Will this be useful to other gamers?

Maybe. The setting is be based upon a single player (with the possibility of a few more) and DM model. The setting material should be open enough to be useful for those interested. I will likely post maps, adventures and other material that may be useful.

> What rules will Valley of Blue Snails use?

I am not sure yet. I may create a modified version of B/X and intermix it with the setting. I may just settle for standard B/X and be done with it. Ultimately the setting should be open enough to be workable for any D&D rules (well, except the travesty that is 4e).

> About Me

I am Sam Kisko, 36 year old D&D fan. I am systems administrator at a non-profit company. I have played D&D off and on since I was about 10. I do some amateur art and writing.

> About my Cousin

(I will let him this in)

Calendar

2009-02-04T11:12:00.000-08:00

I don’t really relish the idea of creating my own Calendar for the Valley of Blue Snails settings. They have always struck me as a bit fruity for some reason. On other hand saying 'February 23rd' displaces you from the setting, so I think I will go with the former evil rather than the later evil. I have only mentioned a Calendar incidentally in a few previous posts:

Journal of Khazrel Nakhu “Journey to the Cities Afar” 32’s93

Off the top of my head 32’s93 is referring to year since the last great season, with 93 great seasons total. For the general populace it would simply be ‘year 32’ as everyone presumes this record was since the last great season, and in this case, since The Great Rot which I spoke of below. Since seasons are the theme, there will be no such things as months. Things like moon or star movements are insignificant compared to the seasons in Valley of Blue Snails. The folk would use the seasons by name, and perhaps descriptors like 'early, mid, deep' if they want to be specific.

I doubt I will even bother with things such as delineated weeks. While a few educated folks would keep track of such things, but the vast majority of the population does not. Most folks would refer to these educated individuals in the rare cases when they need such information. Holy men, alchemist, scholars, and engineers would keep track of when important days would arise and inform the necessary powers. Anniversary, harvest days, festivals, solstice and so forth. By in large the general population goes no further than this.

As for the 93 great seasons prior, very few know them all and almost all of those are Elves with very long memories. The other races just assume the Elves are correct and there were 93 prior great season. 93 great seasons would be in the area of 2800+ years - I am generalizing an average of 25 years between every great season, each lasting 5 or so years. Why 93? Fuck if I know, I picked it at random. Maybe no one remembers that long ago or some great season was so bad, that everyone before that time died. In fact I’m leaning towards the later. I generally like small-scale cataclysm events rather than huge world shaking ones such as the twin cataclysm in Greyhawk or the dropping of a mountain in Dragonlance. However I think I can stomach a great season that was so bad, so catastrophic, that it killed everyone. No legends, no myths, no rumors, no anything. Everyone, and I mean everyone was killed. After that time it took divinity to bring any sort of life back from that ultimate doom.

Anyhow, I don’t think I will be fruity enough to name every individual year since The Great Rot. I think it is perfectly sufficient to say ‘year 32’ and leave it at that. Other descriptors would be something like ‘mid-spring’, ‘deep-autumn’, or ‘the spring-summer turn’. I don’t see any particular need to be more detailed than that for the average folk. The clerics, town council and Dwarven clock makers can bother with the details. The average peasantry would be interested in the former great seasons however and these I will name. A lot of legends, strange events and big changes occur during these great seasons after all (the Occulus of note). These are the recent ones I had listed in a previous post.

24 year - 7 year Spring (sapphiron) - 22 years - 4 year Winter (hibernel) - 28 years - 6 year Autumn (leafenfel) - 33 years - 9 year Summer (Estaoculus - the summer of eyes) - 32 years - 4 year Spring (sinchola) - 41 years - 3 year Spring (vaunderfel) - 21 years - 4 year Autumn (the great rot) - 31 years - present year

This goes back more than 300 years so I think that is sufficient for most history that is pertinent in Valley of Blue Snails lore. I may occasionally refer to greats season before that time, but these would likely be very powerful and important ones. Ones that created new races or drastically changed the world for instance.

The Great Rot

2009-02-04T10:39:00.000-08:00

One of the themes of Valley of Blue Snails is that of seasons. I like the cyclic elements and the occasions where this cyclic nature is disrupted. The endless seasons are probably the most important disruptions that pop up. I suspect among the populace of Valley of Blue Snail in every turn of the seasons there would be a big sigh of relief. Everyone pretty much knows that if the winter does not end and last for 10 years, it is doom for all. So endless seasons are the things that calendars are based upon, the demeanor of the Elves are based upon, and Halfling prescience is ultimately based upon too (to predict when they come, other prescience is just an incidental effect of this survival mechanism). I would like to include Dwarves in this somewhat – so far I have them as simply burrowing in their workshops and caverns when things get too rough outside and that may be good enough.

The last great season was the 4 year autumn of The Great Rot. This occurred 31 years ago and like all great seasons it had a massive impact. I will probably throw in races that vanished during The Great Rot, certainly civilizations died, and definitely many new things that cropped up as well. So what exactly happened during The Great Rot? Good question and I think I shall delineate it year by year.

Year prior to The Great Rot – Halflings begin to sense the approaching great season but do not know which it would be. Like worker squirrels, they begin to collect massive amount of grain, salted meats, pickled fish and other non-perishables. The Sheriffs are sent out in droves in an attempt to discover which great season it shall be. The Elves quickly follow suit when the notice the flurry of activity among the Halflings. The Elves tend to be less meticulous and do not have these sense of worry that the Halflings do (they all have done this before many times), but they do build new stores of supplies. The Dwarves are likewise warned and begin to cultivate their underground shelters. Human are oblivious, do not listen, or simply lack the means for meaningful preparation. There are a few well-to-do exceptions but by in large the Humans are unprepared.

Start of The Great Rot – Halflings eventually predict that autumn will be the great season and make the necessary preparations. Fall comes as it usual self but does not end. By the end of what should be winter, all races are now sure the endless season is autumn, much to the relief of the Elves who know how brutal an endless winter can be.

Year One – Harvest is particularly bountiful, perhaps double or even triple their usual yield. Tree, bushes and plants all still grow leaves and fruit but the yields start very mature and ripen/fall to the ground quickly. At first this is seen as a boon but it quickly becomes a problem when the food stores rot far more quickly than they can be consumed. Ancient trees grow prolifically but only bier large autumn leaves (3+ feet in diameter) which fall to the ground within a month or two.

Year Two – Grain and harvest yield lessen considerably, and much of what is produced rots almost as soon as it grows. Orchards with massive amounts of rotting fruit still on the trees are common. Foliage of autumn leaves piles up considerably forming an under-mesh of compost in all of the forests. This is almost a second canopy on the ground level. Large piles of compost and decaying material form dunes of rotting material and huge piles along the rolling hills, plains and valleys. Mold and lichens grow on just about every surface and must be routinely removed to prevent damage to buildings.

Year Three – Sunlight is perpetually in a sunrise/sunset type of lighting, even at night. Yield from grain and fruit turns non-existent and they rot as soon as they bud. Newborn animals are half-alive when born and soon die afterward (no creature is born in year 3 or 4 of The Great Rot – at least none that live more than a few month). Large numbers of human begin to die out due to the lack of food and famine. A new ecology forms along the compost canopy; huge mushrooms, walking toadstools, lichen-beasts, and other strange leafy creatures. Large piles of compost generate considerable heat, which attract dens of bizarre creatures which make these compost piles their homes. Many trees start to fail and fall to the ground rotting from the inside out.

Year Four – Sunlight is dimmer, almost a perpetual twilight. All but the strongest trees fall creating forests of rotting bark. The new ecology begins to edge out the old ecology and many animal races begin to die out. Molds, zygotes, and blastopods appear on just about everything. It is not uncommon for the humans and demi-humans to walk around with polypores attached to their skin. The Human population is decimated with about a 35% mortality rate. The demi-humans fair better but still take losses. The Dwarves retreat into their underground workshops full-time, letting none inside. Intelligent fungus and leafy creatures stalk the wilderness and begin to encroach into civilized areas.

Year Five – Winter hits rather suddenly about 4.2 years of The Great Rot. Luckily the cold kills a fair amount of the mold and fungi creatures. The winter is thankfully short and spring followed which started the process of recovery among the greater ecology.

Afterward – Most of the young forests have died out but seedlings began to spring up in their place. Today these forests are only a few decades old and are relatively small in size. A few ancient forests survived The Great Rot. These trees are usually enormous with leaves that span in feet. The legacy of The Great Rot is still visible through the remaining piles of composts and fallen leaf canopies that exist in the deeper wilderness still today. Every year they decrease in size but there are enough of them around to still be a dangerous landmark. These fallen leaf canopy and huge compost piles are still a haven for the strange mold, leaf and fungi creatures, many of which are intelligent.

Many survivors who lived through The Great Rot have an innate fear of fungus and the twilight hours of the day. The younger generation naturally finds this perplexing but the fear is genuine. I suppose those who lived through The Great Rot would speak of it in the same tones that old-timers would speak of WWII. 31 years is not that long ago, especially among the non-Human races. So the lessons of The Great Rot are still fresh in their memory. No creature was born in the 3rd or 4th year of The Great Rot. Those born during the 1st or 2nd year are usually marked in some form. They are appear older than they are, have a musty scent, mottled skin and speckled hair. These rare individuals are as intelligent as their peers but often have eccentric minds and tastes. It is said Emperor Seleuicid was born during this time.

Darkest Bohtan

2009-02-03T13:38:00.001-08:00

The former imperial city of Ladoga was known as Bohtan. It was build an age ago on a set of abandoned canals along the river which divides Vamarine and Kabdoria (Banshar river, which streams from the Banshar Krush). Bohtan is one of the few human cities with an elaborate network for both fresh water and sewage. This is mostly thanks to the ancient canals, but the people of Bohtan slowly added new masonry to improve the water works.

Although not the grandest of Human settlements, Bohtan was eventually chosen as the seat of power because of its central location. Besides an lucrative trade route, the Emperor requires every noble family to send several members to his presence two months of the year. Noble families thus made Bohtan a second home, staying therein on predefined villas as according to their title (and title alone). The families made the journey for the academic amenities as well as to socialize and plot. Bohtan indeed was the political capitol of the Ladoga and also one of the foremost clusters of learning academies in all of humanity. Possibly second in terms of education, only to the Cities Afar.

Bohtan was eventually destroyed by the eunuch Shuno with his supporters and the army of Roumbus of Orobia. This was a slow and bloody affair that neither side was prepared for. The conflict quickly beget ever-increasing incidents of brutality and most of the city and its population was decimated in the process. Most of the nobles and merchants fled before the bulk of the fighting starting. The nobles hail from distant holdings and simply returned home. The merchants likewise fled to safer locals. Most of the able bodied citizens were levied either by the eunuchs or by the imperial guard led by Roumbus.

Shuno's forces fell in the depths of winter and both sides suffered heavy casualties. The winter was particularly brutal and supply lines were weak to begin with. To compound the problem the four year autumn of The Great Rot occurred recently and food was generally in short supply. During that winter most of the nobility from all three sundered realms horded what food they could and only paid a paltry amount in imperial taxes - so the city was quickly decimated by hunger and famine. With the river frozen and the cities stores broken, most citizens who stayed perished.

With several years of wars to follow, Bohtan’s legacy was that of a city looted and forgotten. The wilderness encroached with a vengeance and after a decade the city at first glance appears to be no better off than when it was first build on the old canals. It is no secret that the eunuchs used powerful and malevolent magic when battling the army of Roumbus. What ever foul magic was used, it can be sure it lingers there still. The magic also seems to have stirred the spirits which have now seeped into the city and Bohtan now has a reputation as a festering magical sore which has a long ways yet to heal.

Small populations of humans have returned to Bohtan, their once proud home. They fight a loosing struggle to return it to its former state. A small civilized quarter was wrought from a good deal of toil and blood on the eastern section of the old town. Despite being sacked and pillaged, the city still holds an assortment of value, much of it hidden during the razing. So the small settlement in the vast ruins is more of a scavenger camp than any sort of proper government. Travelers quickly learn that it is by no means safe, and a multitude of dangers thwart most incursions into the city districts. It is well known that strange creatures lurk in the vast ruins.

Large haired frogs are commonly seen through the waterways and are loving called Frog-Yeti by the locals. They have been known to kill and eat men but luckily they are timid and slow – most of the time. Scavenger races of all types are known to make an appearance. Marggots in particular are known to nest in the sewer ways along with the disgusting animals that often follow them. Odd gilled newt-men have also made an appearance and they seem to be at odds with the Humans of the east old district, destroying their walls and poisoning their grains. Bohtan was built upon a series of ancient canals of an unknown origin and it appears that many restless spirits wreck havoc upon wanderers and explorers to venture too far into the foreboding recesses of the canals. Walking corpses can occasionally be seen meandering the streets, as if to accomplish some forgotten task. It is said that these are the vanquished eunuchs who still hunger for whatever they were seeking in life. Undoubtedly many other unseen horrors lurk in the ruins as well.

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Bohtan is loosely based upon the ruins of Phlan in the Pools of Radiance – a large ruined city with a small civilized area. I figure this will be good for expeditions into the ruins since some relatively safety is close by. In particular with low level PCs. I figure the Bohtan ruins will be a bit of a mishmash of sprawling ruins with various factions warring with one another for supremacy, ala Forbidden City and likewise most of these non-human. I also plan on various secrets that were lost during the fall of the emperor to be found within.

Art of Valley of Blue Snails

2009-02-02T09:59:00.000-08:00

I am a rather large fan of good art and I believe it can make or break the feel of a product. A single picture or two can definitely inspire the reader and to the tone as well as the atmosphere of the game. While browsing internet-prime for misc pics to throw in my posts I will occasionally come across one that says 'that's just what I wanted'. This one, and this one come to mind off hand, and indeed they change my outlook on what I originally intended to write. And trust me, it isn't easy to find a good piece when you have something specific stuck in your head 'Halfling +Image +Prescience', lol.

Ideally I'd like to take $2000 and hire some of the old school RPG artist to product their craft with some themes I have in mind. I'll have to see how much Otter paid for this Jim Roslof piece and get his email. I think more than 1 or 2 of these would be out of my budget so I may end up with a mishmash of other things. I do not like to steal copy written pieces (well other than on blogs, lol), so may end up doing a few peices myself or looking into some old public domain peices (though I'm fuzzy about what I'm actually allowed to do with them).

I don't mind doing the art work but it tends to be time consuming and has mixed results with my unpracticed hands. I will at least do a couple mundane things like 'table with beer and weapons on it' or 'forest with very large mushrooms', and so forth. And I need to do a map too.. and so the work starts to pile up. I wonder if Jim Roslof does maps..