[Actual Play] The World of Tomorrow, Session 12: I’m going deeper underground / there’s too much panic in this town

Back to dungeoneering!

 

• Psamtek, the psionic Grey pilot (Halfling 4)
• Keteus, the dark prophet or something (Magic-User 4 with Space Age Sorcery spells)
• Ugazum, the gladiator (Fighter 3)
• Phireus, priest of the Mountain Mother (Cleric 4)
• + Rex, riverboat captain (Fighter 3, NPC follower)

 

The party waited for the next anti-light phase, then moved out. Rex led them up the south ziggurat. They just barely avoided a Black Sun paladin patrol and reached the top platform. Here, nestled between a bricolage of latter-era habitats, they found a large round concrete platform and a small concrete building (which looked like the creepy abandoned building where Demi Moore picks up her doses in The Substance). They forced the door, cleaned out some rubble, then forced another door (its code lock without power) and found an elevator. This too was without power, so they opened a hatch in its floor, climbed down and managed to reach the ladder in the side of the shaft.

The descent was LONG, at least 500’. At one point, they disturbed a flock of small flying creatures, and Ugazum fell off the ladder. Keteus saved him with a Wand of Flying (they had picked this up back in the Spire of Iron & Crystal, an ivory wind with wings carved into it, they thought it might be for flight, but weren’t sure…).

At the bottom of the shaft, they dropped into a concrete-walled complex. In the first room, they flipped a switch and restored auxiliary power (small red lights along the corridors and door keypads online), but decided not to bring on full power just yet.

They explored the west-bound corridor and ran into a closed door marked “Workshop”. They tried 1312 (ACAB!) at the keypad to no effect.

They turned around and took the stairs at the intersection. At the upper level, the north-bound corridor was closed off with yellow-black “Danger!” tape, so they went east to another door.

They examined the keypad to see if any of the buttons were particularly worn: yes, 1, 2 and 4.

[For the keypads, I generated the codes by rolling 4d10, one for each digit. For this door, I rolled 1412 :D So I handwaved it that if they put in 1312 again, it would be close enough]

They entered the room, a storage area for tools, equipment, spare parts, etc. The north wall of the place had caved in, opening into a moldy underground tunnel.

Psamtek picked up some weird psychic vibrations from one of the crates. He managed to commune with a hive-mind. They opened the crate and found a formicarium with psionic ants! They decided to leave them be for now and marched into the moldy tunnel.

[Actual Play] The World of Tomorrow, Session 11: Seriously, who needs a SIXTH ziggurat?

We’re back in the World of Tomorrow, baby! Can’t stop the science fantasying. 

• Psamtek, the psionic Grey pilot (Halfling 4)
• Keteus, the dark prophet or something (Magic-User 4 with Space Age Sorcery spells)
• Ugazum, the gladiator (Fighter 3)
• Phireus, priest of the Mountain Mother (Cleric 4)

Soundtrack: The Hologram People

So, back in Cryopolis (proud city of the five ziggurats, sixth under construction), the party found a lot had changed in their absence.

Investigating their storage container, they found that it was entered through a ventilation shaft, by a clawed creature.

They found a place to stable the Stegosaurus for a month.

They spent some downtime identifying magic items: Ugazum’s ring-mail shirt (with electric circuits) has actually bonded to his body, but at least it provides ample protection and DOUBLE healing rate. The crystal tablets found in the dragon cave have genetic sequences encoded on them, which can be fed into a machine to cause targeted beneficial mutations.

More Moebius! Because OF COURSE.

Next, they went to the market to find replacement armor for Psamtek (we blamed the loss of the previous armor on the draconic acid breath, but, turns out, it was lost in a battle with skeletons – stop blaming the dragons for everything!!). Luckily, the market had a shop with kids’ size flak jackets (which says a lot about the state of this world). While getting Psamtek’s measurements, the armorer was ready to engage in some light banter: rumor has it that Zalter made a pact with the Black Sun Cult, and convinced the cultists to get rid of his rival, Ayesha.

Ugazum was still in debt to Zalter, the zombiemancer crime-lord, so the party went over to Zalter’s HQ at the north ziggurat. Only Ugazum and Psamtek were let in (and only because Ugazum said Psamtek is his servant/weapon-bearer). They were led to Zalter’s office to meet the big man himself. And he is big indeed, and not just a man, but also a giant toad thing. Ugazum paid up the 100 sp. Zalter proved to be quite well-informed, and kept asking weirdly pointed questions about Ugazum’s recent exploits, where he is staying in town, and especially whether he works for anybody in particular.

At Zalter’s place, they saw one of Ayesha’s men – turned into a mindless zombie drone…

After leaving, the party suspected that Zalter will surely have them followed.

So, instead of going back to their storage/home, they went to a fancy hotel and got themselves two rooms. On the rooftop terrace, they chatted with incense-trader Ipy of the Purple Sea, who shared some tasty “Turkish delights” and more rumors. He also shared info on the two main caravan routes (the North and the West). When asked about any places with constant thick fog covering a caldera (this had been shown to them in a vision, as the hiding place of the arch-enemy of the god-computer ETERNAL 6000). Ipy ventured that this might be in the dangerous volcanic mountains to the north-west.

Later, to shake off any potential tails, the party used ropes to climb off this rooftop, instead of exiting through the main door.

And they went back to their storage container.

Here, a mysterious figure was waiting for them: Rex, river barge captain, one of Ayesha’s trusted men (see Session 3). Rex told them that most of the gang was captured and imprisoned – they are likely to be sacrificed to the Black Sun during the next great constellation. Ayesha evaded capture and is on the run. Earlier, she had told Rex about an underground tunnel system under the city, and that in case of shit going down, that would be the place for the gang to reconvene.

The party agreed to go and explore these tunnels.

To be continued!

[Actual Play] The World of Tomorrow, Sessions 4 – uh, like, 10?

I’m hopelessly behind on session reports for our science fantasy campaign, The World of Tomorrow! The thing is, we played two more online sessions, then we met up, holed up in our summer house for four days, and PLAYED A LOT OF D&D. A LOT. “Sessions” flowed into each other. So here’s a non-comprehensive re-cap of where the campaign’s at right now.

Session 4 was still online.

The party delved into the Salt-Encrusted Shrine of the Immortal Wave Cult (AKA Dank Cave of the Immoral Weed Gang), a cool little dungeon I wrote. They explored the main hall, caught a glimpse of a red glowing idol, encountered a giant crab, then met with the local cultists, decided NOT to join the cult just yet. They explored the complex, deciphered some reliefs, found the magical Seaweed Orb, then a secret door too, which gave them access to a hidden room. In this chamber, they found the high priest of the cult, dormant in a stasis pod. With a countdown timer set to about 60 years or so. They also gained access to the main temple. And they found a way to lower themselves into the idol chamber: gathered most of the loose treasure, but shied away from grabbing the large crystal from inside the idol. They fled the complex and went back to the city of Cryopolis.

Session 5 was for downtime and city crawling. They managed to hide some of the loot from their boss and divvied up the rest. Then they gathered some rumors. And rented a storage container for their stuff. They went to the Fighting Pits and gambled, winning some money on the gladiator fights. But their main reason to go there was to hire one of the gladiators. So that they have more muscle. They hired Ugazum the Fighter. Then, back at the Atomic Kitten, they got a new quest from their crime boss Ayesha. To go and find a weird dungeon complex in the Thunder Mountains. She assigned a guide and a porter with a pack Stegosaurus to them.

Ultimately, we ended up generating two more player characters: the gladiator and the guide.

So now the party consists of

• Psamtek, the psionic Grey pilot (Halfling 3)
• Keteus, the dark prophet or something (Magic-User 3 with Space Age Sorcery spells)
• Ugazum, the gladiator (Fighter 2)
• Phireus, priest of the Mountain Mother (Cleric 2)

 

Then we had all those long sessions of live play. IT IS SO GOOD TO PLAY D&D FACE-TO-FACE WITH YOUR FRIENDS. Ugh!

 

So, the party of four plus the Stego and the porter went on a big wilderness track through the labyrinthine canyons of Thunder Mountain. There were dangerous pits, undead dragonflies, etc. Then they reached a valley with tour giant crystal eggs.

Cue THE SPIRE OF IRON AND CRYSTAL by Matt Finch.

[Actual Play] The World of Tomorrow, Session 3: Exploring Cryopolis

We continued our science fantasy game. Session 1 was a dungeon crawl, session 2 was a trek through the wilderness, so it is only fair for session 3 to concentrate upon hanging out in the big city!

The characters are:

Psamtek, the psionic Grey pilot (Halfling 3)

Keteus, the dark prophet or something (Magic-User 3 with Space Age Sorcery spells)

Soundtrack: "Nuits de Printemps Avec Abdou El Omari" by Abdou El Omari

At the end of the last session, they reached, via ferry, Cryopolis, the city of the five black ziggurats. Their entry point was at the docks near the southern ziggurat. So instantly they were plunged into the bustling cosmopolitan atmosphere of the harbor quarter. As this was just the beginning of the light phase, there were a lot of dock workers carrying stuff, loading barges, merchants disembarking, etc.

The other passengers of the ferry (the zombies and the school field trip) all headed north towards the center of the city.

Keteus and Psamtek decided to hang out here a bit, find a place to stay, pick up some rumors, maybe find a job to earn money.

The architecture of the area proved to be quite eclectic. The main feature, the black three-tiered ziggurat, had clearly been built during an earlier period and was now covered with newer buildings: shacks, towers… So the levels of the ziggurat became like city streets. The river partially flows under the ziggurat.

Moebius... Why, what did you expect?

They headed towards the local watering hole, the Atomic Kitten tavern. Which is a two-storey metal building: Psamtek identified it as the repurposed habitation module of an ancient generation ship.

The Atomic Kitten at this time was rather underpopulated, as most of its patrons were busy at the docks. So Keteus and Psamtek ordered some drinks (Keteus can drink through his mouth, Psamtek has suckers on their fingers to suck up liquids from a sponge).

They chatted with the bartender and expressed a wish to get some sort of a job. The bartender took them up to the second floor to introduce them to his boss. He knocked at an inconspicuous door.

Psamtek managed to overhear a door opening and closing in that room. However, once in the room, they couldn’t see any other exit, so they surmised that there must be a secret passage here somewhere.

They met AYISHA, an older lady with rust-red hair and creepy fangs. Turns out, she is the boss of the whole harbor area.

[Actual Play] The World of Tomorrow, Session 2

The science fantasy campaign continues! (see the session 1 write-up here)

 

The characters are:

Psamtek, the psionic Grey pilot (Halfling 3)

Keteus, the dark prophet or something (Magic-User 3 with Space Age Sorcery spells)

 

After exiting the sanctuary of ETERNAL-6000, the duo took some time to examine the World around them, using the binoculars pilfered from the stocks of the sanctuary.

Off in the far-far distance, they noted a floating isle, a large chunk of earth with mountains and perhaps ruins on top of it. It seemed to move on its own volition.

They tried to scout out the way down to the city, but that was not easy. They did get a better understanding of the valley below, though: a river flows through it from east to west, empties into the sea. The city stands on the river and is made up of five large ziggurats/step pyramids: one in the middle, four on each corner.

After this reconnaissance, the party started their descent. Pretty soon they got lost between the rocks and in the narrow canyons.

After some time, they reached a larger flat area with an interesting feature: a GIANT SKULL embedded in the cliff-face! Small offerings (flowers, cups, simple pieces of jewelry) had been lain out before the skull on a stone platform.

Psamtek threw up a grappling hook and climbed up to the left eye socket. Beyond, they saw a small grotto with a pool of water inside. They climbed in and noticed many inscriptions carved into the inside of the skull. Keteus joined them and read the inscriptions: most of them were vows and prayers to the MOUNTAIN MOTHER. They didn’t touch any of the offerings and continued the way down the mountain.

They were still quite lost, and couldn’t find a way directly down towards the city. However, this off-the-beaten-path journey led them to another interesting discovery.

They noticed the sounds of metal against rock and soon reached an open-air quarry. The workforce was about 30 people, who chipped away tirelessly at the black basalt. The chunks of stone were then collected by a giant robotic walker and loaded onto a double-tracked vehicle… PULLED BY GIANT QUADREPEDAL LIZARDS! These brontosauri had some sort of mechanisms attached to their heads, probably for control.

Dinotopia!

Psamtek and Keteus descended into the quarry.

The workers didn’t seem to notice them. The robotic vehicle, however, turned towards them, opened its back hatch. A large, tattooed, four-armed person got out from inside.

[Actual Play] The World of Tomorrow, Session 1

I ran a game yesterday for my best friends. Hopefully the start of a casual campaign?

The pitch was dead simple:

“moebius jodorowsky tangerine nightmare oranssi mutant pazuzu heavy metal barsoom carcosa acid police surf”

Moebius, duhh

I asked them in advance to create a 3^rd level LotFP character each: just the stats, class, skills and hp. No name or concept. They rolled up a Magic-User and a Halfling.

At the start of the session, the characters were woken up from a long formless darkness by a distant, glitchy voice. The voice told them that “there has been an accident… but your personality, memories and body will soon be re-integrated… please watch these short promotional videos and signal if you see anything you recognize as your own memory…”

In the memory fragments, the Magic-User saw themselves:

1. Hurriedly grabbing everything from a library with crystal books, storing all the treasure in a vault (and remembering how to open it again!); then emerging to the surface only to see the ideal city swallowed by the ocean
2. Putting on a mask and conducting human sacrifice on top of a black pyramid; only for the gift of the dark gods to be stolen by an interloper
3. Performing elaborate magic tricks on a stage in a 1920s theater, feeding off of the adoration of the audience; getting sawn into two halves, but emerging again from behind the curtains, while the mutilated body was carted off-stage.

The Halfling saw themselves:

1. Riding through an ice age wasteland atop a woolly mammoth, controlling the beast with their mind; then a small flying lizard landed (hunting hawk style) on their outstretched left hand
2. Piloting a spaceship, exiting hyperspace, crashlanding on a blue planet (remembering the place of the crash!); only to be taken captive, probed, interrogated by men in white coats; then blowing up their brains with psionic powers
3. Crawling through underground tunnels, in total darkness, but seeing everything perfectly, breaking through to a large hall of the sewers, and knowing that the dwellers of the depth will rise again and they are to be their leader.

The Magic-User picked the sacrificial priest option and became KETEUS, a mummified sorcerer. With spells from Space Age Sorcery. The Halfling picked the Roswell option and became PSAMTEK, the psionic pilot. With psi powers cobbled together from various sources (Carcosa, LotFP, Realms of Crawling Chaos).

Thus Keteus and Psamtek emerged from their cryo-pods and found themselves in a depressing concrete room. There were old decorations hanging from the ceilings and walls, little festive flags, and a sign that read “WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW!!”, with a couple of letters already faded.

One other cyro-pod contained a dead body… And a fourth cryo-pod’s glass top was broken, with clawmarks on the inside of the pod.

[Solo] The Prussian Infantry Marches to Carcosa, Turn 3: Dinner Invitation

Continuing the adventures of the Prussians on Carcosa. See Turn 1, Turn 2.

The Detachment:

• Captain Friederike “Freddy” Krüger, a woman who entered service disguised as a man, but is by now accepted as she is
• Brother Paul, Augustine monk and scholar
• Dr. Krowitz, field surgeon
• 20 disciplined Infantrymen with muskets

Turn 3

Day 2, dawn

Location: Hex 0410, Forest

Weather: 7, Neutral

Encounter: 1, Daytime: 58, 3 Mummies. Party surprise: 1, yes. Encounter surprise: 1, yes. Encounter distance: 100’. Encounter reaction: 7, Neutral

                    Soundtrack: "Mummified Fragment of Everyday" by Zofie Siege

With sunrise, the blackness of night first shifts into an indescribable blue iridescence, then into a purple haze. Light filters through the black leaves. The infantrymen lay wrapped in their cloaks, huddled together for warmth.

Four sentries sit, leaning on their rifles. The last shift was trying, the alien forest full off invisible insects and bizarre whispers. But they persevered – driven by discipline… or fear? 

///

But something else stirs in the forest.

Three dark, gaunt, sickly thin figures stalk between the trees. Their joints seem bloated, yet their movements are fluid. Ribbons and thin veils float behind them. Their gazes are trained downwards. From time to time they examine the leaves of certain trees.

[Solo] The Prussian Infantry Marches to Carcosa, Turn 2: Prussians in the Mist

Continuing the adventures of the Prussian on Carcosa. See Turn 1 here.

The Detachment:

• Captain Friederike “Freddy” Krüger, a woman who entered service disguised as a man, but is by now accepted as she is
• Brother Paul, Augustine monk and scholar
• Dr. Krowitz, field surgeon
• 20 disciplined Infantrymen with muskets

© Helene Schmitz. Alabama Fields. Digigraphie, 108 x 134 cm

Turn 2

Day 1, dusk to night

Location: entering Hex 0410, Forest

Weather: 7, Neutral

Encounter: 11, None

                    Soundtrack: "Aqua" by Edgar Froese 

Time seems to move in an unnatural way. The march towards the forest takes much longer than anticipated, the dark mass of vegetation seems just a few steps away, then snaps back into the unreachable distance the next heartbeat. Strange mirages flicker and the air vibrates around the Detachment. Perhaps a trick of the uncanny light emanated by the multitude of celestial spheres that chase each other through the sky.

Finally, the violet sun sets. The skyline lights up with an orange glow, then goes black. One of the twin moons rapidly wanes into just a narrow segment. The air grows colder and moist.

It is under the cover of this sudden darkness that the Detachment reaches the forest.

But what a strange forest it is. Lush, dense. Roots, branches, vines. The abundance of growth doesn’t feel healthy and natural: it’s a forest choking under its own weight. And this is only the edge of it; it seems to get denser in the deeper parts, but it is hard to make it out in the darkness.

Friederike leads the way, slashing at vines with her sabre. Her blade gets stuck. When she grabs the branch to pull back the weapon, the bark feels spongy and rugose.

However unlikely that seems, they eventually reach a clearing. For some reason, the trees don’t grow in this depression, just crowd around it somberly like mourners around the uncovered grave.

A fine white mist covers the ground.

“Careful, men. Probe ahead of you with your rifles,” Friederike warns her troops.

But it’s too late. The silence is broken by a scream as one soldier slips and disappears. There is an audible crack of bone breaking… Then the screams resume, coming from deep down.

[Solo] The Prussian Infantry Marches to Carcosa, Turn 1

I played a solo session today. A Prussian infantry detachment is somehow transported to Carcosa circa 1810. I was very much inspired by this cool session report by Underground Adventures: an Into the Odd one-shot for a single player, about a group of Napoleonic soldiers on Carcosa.

The Detachment:

• Captain Friederike “Freddy” Krüger, a woman who entered service disguised as a man, but is by now accepted as she is
• Brother Paul, Augustine monk and scholar
• Dr. Krowitz, field surgeon
• 20 disciplined Infantrymen with muskets

(Carcosa art by Rich Longmore)

How I play:

I rolled a random starting hex (0311).

Procedure: 1 Turn = 1 Day

For weather: 2d6 Reaction roll

Wandering encounter: 2-in-12 chance, 1 is daytime, 2 is nighttime

Turn 1

Location: Hex 0311, Wasteland

Weather: 7, Neutral

Encounter: 11, None

...Once the electrified mist disperses, the Detachment finds itself in a strange landscape, a purple wasteland. A violet-crowned sun hangs menacingly above and twin moons race through the light blue sky. The soldiers are nearly blinded by the alien hues.

Friederike checks her compass. The needle whirls around like a madman. It’s useless. So Friederike tries to get her bearings by the strange celestial objects.

Oracular exercise: Fallen starship in the Sargasso Sea

Benign Brown Beast posted The Minideck, a wonderful 18-card set with all kinds of themes combined on a single card. Let's see how it fares when used as a spark/inspirational tool for gaming content creation!

Here's a quick adventure location, generated based on the following draw of three cards:

Fallen starship in the Sargasso Sea

·       Cigar-shaped shining metal vessel, at 45 degree angle, half of it waterlogged

·       Residual cosmic radiation caused mutations in local flora & fauna:

o   Kelp monsters

o   Fire-vomiting seagulls

o   Sentient krill swarms

o   Seaweed which accelerates healing when applied as bandages + causes weird plant-based mutations

·       Inhabitants: Pike-people from Beyond the Dog-Star

o   Elongated silvery bodies, fluid movements, naga-style, four upper appendages

§  weaponry: anchor-guns and boarding hooks

o   Actually fear saline water

o   They kidnapped 6 people from the planet, who are now in suspended animation in the waterlogged area

o   Want to repair their ship and leave the planet

This took me about 5 minutes. Weird nautical adventuring is GO!

1d10 pirate rumors and superstitions

For weird nautical and pirate campaigns!

1. The blood of a sea serpent can be used to create an infallible compass.
2. Commander Noland’s treasure is buried under the breeding ground of the man-eating crabs.
3. In calm weather on midsummer day, the reflection of your ship is real and you can climb over there to find all the treasure that was stolen from you.
4. Captain Kate “Ruthless” Hawk ascended to the night sky and became a patron saint. Pray to her every day, and she shall send down a mist to cover your escape route.
5. Patch up your sails with captured flags and ride the winds twice as fast.
6. The old pirate king is still alive, imprisoned in the Imperial fortress! The new pirate king is illegitimate!
7. Some shanties are nasty enough to dislodge nails from wood.
8. Every ghost ship has a heart. Steal it to claim command over the vessel!
9. The pearl divers of Taboo Island can talk to fish.
10. You can capture thunder in a brass bell. But beware, you can only keep it imprisoned for a week!

[Adventure] Beyond the Edge of the World - a small psychedelic hexcrawl

I wrote a small psychedelic hexcrawl for a friend's birthday... Inspired by Roger Dean album covers and Adventure Time. Judges Guild style terse descriptions and weirdness, on two pages.

Download PDF

Owl-people, a mountaintop sage with 2-mile long hair, ants, cacti, etc...

[Magic Substance] Selfsame Smoke

The withering leaves of the willows at the Swamp of Despair are gathered in the late autumn, dried, then smoked from a pipe. Over the duration of a full hour, the smoke gathers and attains a ghostly form resembling the smoker. The smoker then falls into a trance, and for another hour gains full control of the haze-double. The double floats and moves like smoke (like the spell Gaseous Form), can seep through narrow cracks, change form, etc., but whenever possible, regains the approximate image of the smoker. The smoker, while in trance, perceives the world through the smoke, and relays all or any information verbally. The haze-double dissipates when the hour is up. The user must save against Poison or remain in the trance for another 2d6 hours, fighting smoke monsters.

This post was brought to you by "OMG I HAVEN'T POSTED ANYTHING IN OVER A MONTH SORRY"

Solo science fantasy hexcrawl - Session #2

Read previous installment here. This short session is the resolution of the combat that began at the end of the last...

Day 5 – continued [investigation in 1707, plains, favorable weather, random encounter in the afternoon]

Posidonios is ensnared! The wires cut into his flesh – and, alerted by his screams, the inhabitants of the place crawl forward… Four grotesque, goblinish figures, their wrinkly sky parchment dry and spotted. Some are emaciated and skeleton-like, some are potbellied. Dry and twisted, like the plains around them. In fact, they seem to have emerged from the barren ground itself.

Duke Seneb and Eucarpus, who are scavenging nearby, also hear the scream, but don’t come running just yet… They approach cautiously, behind the cover of the wreckage. They split up, Seneb circles to the right, Eucarpus to the left, weapons at ready.

The four creatures move closer to Posidonois. They aren’t in a hurry, and savor the kill. “What do have us here?” one of them whispers in a raspy tone. “We have us here some fresh meat,” the others reply in unison. They bare their pointy teeth. Posidonios screams.

“Get away from him!” shouts Eucarpus and rushes forward, brandishing his scimitar. The creatures are startled, and turn towards the fighting-man. “Well-well-well…” intones their leader. “Say, intruder, if you like our place so much, why don’t you just… stay with us? F o r e v e r . . .” The creature’s yellow eyes light up with an uncanny suggestive force. The mind of Eucarpus bends to the demonic will. “Y-yes, I wish to become one with the dust,” he mumbles.

Duke Seneb jumps out from his cover and mutters a string of syllables in an alien language. A cone of clashing colors erupts from his outstretched left hand. Eucarpus and the four monsters cry out in pain, cover their eyes, and fall to the ground. Duke Seneb runs over to Posidonois and tries to free him, but the wires of the snare are hard to cut. Knowing that the duration of his spell is limited, Seneb instead starts slashing the throats of the unconscious monsters. The ground swallows the black ichor instantly, without a trace.

But one of the creatures regains consciousness and raises up, blood splurting from its neck. It lunges at Seneb, but misses. “Get him,” he gurgles, and, to Seneb’s surprises, Eucarpus, who is by now also conscious and standing, charges Seneb. Seneb deflects the blade at the last minute and starts backing away. Posidonios, although his movements are hindered, tries to throw himself at Eucarpus, but the wires pull him back and he falls. Seneb faces two enemies alone – and one of these enemies used to be his comrade. “Snap out of it! It is me, Seneb,” he shouts as he tries and fails to hit the monster. But the charm is too strong, and Eucarpus cannot overcome it. “Must… kill the intruders… the sacred place must not be polluted,” he mumbles and buries his blade deep into Seneb’s body. Posidonios manages to free one of his legs, and kicks Eucarpus – who loses balance and also drops to the ground. This gives a bit of space for Seneb, and the Duke delivers a final blow to the last remaining monster.

“What happened?” gasps Eucarpus. A terrible hypnotic weight lifts from his mind with the death of the last creature. His two comrades are bleeding or bound. The bodies of the four monsters rapidly desiccate before their very eyes.

Duke Seneb shrugs, and tries to staunch his bleeding. Then together they free Posidonios. “Creatures of dust, the very soil of this wretched land,” Eucarpus verbalizes the weird phrases that still echo in his head. Then he points at a hole in the ground. “This is their burrow…” The underground hole hides a small hoard of 4,000 copper scales and a silvery metal diadem. This last object buzzes slightly when touched, and arcane glyphs light up on its inner surface. None of the adventurers feel up to the task of trying the diadem on… so this artifact will have to be identified at a later time.

For now, they set up camp in the cover of the wreckage and wait for the night to fall…

---------------

Notes: the generator gave me "spotted Dryads" with a Reaction of 2 - Hostile, so this is where I took it. Murderous barren plain dryads.

To be continued!

Solo science fantasy hexcrawl - Session #1

I played a ~2 hour solo hexcrawl session today, set in my weird pulpy science fantasy world. Every detail of the world is generated from a gigantic Inspiration Pad Pro file - it's over ten thousand lines, I've been working on it for a long time, adding new items, expanding word lists, etc. You might recall the settlements I posted before - they were sourced from this generator.

"Red Dward" by JustV23

So today I did a hexcrawl, with four random characters:

Characters:

Duke Seneb, hungry professional drunkard (Magic-User 1)

Sappho, heartbroken merchant (Fighter 3)

Eucarpus, exquisitely dressed archivist's husband (Fighter 2)

Posidonios, hideous servant of jeweler (Fighter 1)

Here's the write-up! Raw output (for comparison) in the comments.

Day 1 [entering hex 1309, plains with settlement, weather is neutral, no random encounter]

The story begins on the red salt-encrusted plains in the middle of nowhere. The village of Apollonia ad Rhyndacum stands here, a stop on the long north-south caravan road. A small community (pop. 170), clustered around a foul-smelling power plant (used to refuel any motored vehicles, but hated by locals) and a reconstructed caravanserai. Most buildings are of concrete. All of them are covered by a bright orange fungal infestation.

The exhausted party heads to the caravanserai’s bar. Their every movement is watched by the scary-looking human-shark hybrid bouncer. “Don’t cause any trouble here, fellas,” warns the barman, “Djed over there bites and is the best shot in town”.

Duke Seneb orders the cheapest, vilest drink, downs it, and orders two more.

The rest of the team consumes more cautiously. Sappho, who is currently unarmed, checks if there are any weapons for sale. The flamethrower on offer is too pricey, so she settles on a simple polearm.

Eucarpus inquires about the local situation. “Ask Pediamun,” says the barman and points towards a person who just entered: an older gentleman with unruly hair and haunted eyes, with a dirty puppet on his left hand. He immediately launches into a long-winded paranoid rant about how the orange mould is an alien organism and must be stopped. The only tool to stop the spreading is located in an ancient tech-orchard, some 30-40 miles to the north-east… and offers 800 silver shekels if the artifact (an occult microscope) is brought to him. Eucarpus agrees in the name of the party, then they drag Duke Seneb away from the bar and tie him to a bed upstairs in a rented room.

Day 2 [travelling from 1309 to 1408, jungle with ruins, unfavorable weather, no random encounter]

The party sets out towards the north-east first thing in the morning. Duke Seneb is hungover, so Eucarpus takes on navigational duties and pushes into the jungle that borders on the plains. The density of the vegetation, coupled with the slightly acidic rain makes the journey a nightmare. They don’t encounter hostile wildlife – or any wildlife, for that matter. An eerie silence sits over the jungle. By dusk, they arrive at some overgrown ruins. A collapsed gatehouse and explosion craters tell the story of a past conflict. The silence is deafening. And in the middle of all this – a pitched tent, intact, recent! Duke Seneb sneaks forward to inspect… after a minute of anticipation, he opens the flap – and finds the tent unoccupied! A large sack filled with stuff lies abandoned in the corner. Seneb rummages through it and finds some assorted adventuring equipment, but also a strange object: a discus, some 10” in diameter, made out of a diamond-like material. Seneb greedily grabs it – the discus flashes once – and Seneb is left with a weird sensation that something now is missing from his mind, or maybe not? He just sees that he is in a tent, which probably doesn’t belong to him, but who are these three people that rush in shouting “Seneb, what happened? What was that flash?”

Set the stage like it's 1681!!! [Inspiration/Random Table]

 I won't rest until I've turned everything into a random table!

Today's offering comes from "Des Représentations en musique anciennes et modernes" by Claude-François Ménestrier (link to scan; the passages of interest begin here, pp. 171-174). Published in 1681, this is a treaties on musical and theatrical plays. It also includes a list of the various types of set decorations. Eleven individual entries, and a twelfth one for "capricci", so this makes a great d12 random table!

Useful for quick inspiration when setting a scene, or describing a painting's contents. Great for historical RPGs, but also for weird / mythological fantasy (John M. Stater's Bloody Basic: Weird Fantasy Edition springs to mind).

The Twelve Types of Scenery

1. The Celestial; the assembly of gods, clouds, spheres, rainbows, the celestial firmament, sunrise or sunset, lightning and storms
2. The Sacred; the temples, altars, sacrifices, sacred places, abodes of priests, augurs, vestals
3. The Martial; the towns under siege, ramparts and walls manned with soldiers, artillery, war machines, weaponry, camps of tents, the General’s quarters, arm stores & arsenals, trophies, spoils of war, battlefields covered with corpses
4. The Rustic; is endless, for it can represent rough landscapes, mountains, valleys, crags, camps, lonely, forlorn places, forests, grasslands, meadows, grottos, streams, groves, hills, shores, villages, hamlets, rustic festivals. According to the season, they can be covered with snow, flowers, greenery, fruits, vines
5. The Maritime; the Sea, ships, galleys, ports & harbors, islands, reefs, storms, shipwrecks, sea monsters, naval battles
6. The Royal; the palace, the throne, facades adorned with columns, statues and other embellishments, balconies, great halls, galleries, private chambers, cabinets, gardens, fountains, magnificent beds, stables full of prize horses, exquisite garments, treasuries
7. The Civic; the city streets, shops of merchants, studios of painters & sculptors, workshops of artisans, markets & fairs, particular buildings, prisons, burning houses, edifices under construction, ruins
8. The Historic; famed cities such as Rome, Athens, Constantinople, Thebes, certain locations of Greece and Thessaly, or Europe, where important events take place, such as the cave of the Sybil or the lair of Cacus
9. The Poetic; the palace of the Sun, or the underwater abode of Thetys, the mansion of Aeolus, Keeper of Winds, the palace of Fortune and of Curiosity; the temples of Death, of Honor, of Fame. The dwellings of Homer, Virgil, Ariosto & Tasso
10. The Magic; the enchanted isles & palaces, the Sabbath, the dreadful & forlorn abodes of Demons, Hell, Pluto’s Court, the Elysian Fields, Styx, Cocytus, Acheron, Avernus, the cavern of the Magician, where everything is dark and full of specters
11. The Academic; the libraries, studies of scholars, the books & instruments of the mathematician, cabinet of antiquities & curiosities, school of painting
12. Capriccio; which can infinitely diversify the appearance of the place [roll twice and mix]

[Actual Play] A Delve into the Outpost of Stone & Silver [Carcosa / OD&D]

Yesterday I ran the Outpost of Stone & Silver for two players (as a quick and dirty one-shot when the regular game was called off). They grabbed two characters each from R. Sivaranjan's generator and off we went!

Kahlo (He of the Fabulous Eye-Brow), Red Fighting-Man 1

Steel of Woe, Green Fighting-Woman 1, one-armed and psionic

Luu, Orange Fighting-Man 1

Ranko (She of the Superior Hit Point Pool), Brown Fighting-Woman 1

Our ragtag group of adventurers, all outcasts of their respective tribes, learned about the existence of a sorcerous or scientific outpost, with shining metal walls built into the purple rock. They set out with high hopes: perhaps their tribes would take them back if they came bearing treasures...

They arrived to the place with their pack-lizard and cart. They saw two entrances: one set in a niche, and another set between two tower-like edifices. The bravest, Luu, approached the first one, and noticed that it had no door - but the passage was barred by a flickering curtain of light. He threw some objects at it, trying to match his projectile with the on/off phase of the curtain, but learned that all objects just bounce back, cause electric discharges, and overheat when connecting with the field.

He was about to head back, when he noticed some sounds from beyond the curtain, but he couldn't see the source, as the corridor was only slightly illuminated by the twin suns.

To his surprise, he received an answer in a child-like voice. The friendly creature on the other side invited him to join a knife-throwing contest. Luu was wary, and called a group meeting. In the meantime, they could hear that the contest commenced inside. There were sounds of knives hitting the wall, and the disappointed murmurs of a small crowd. And then, finally, a cheer -- and, to their surprise, together with the cheer, the curtain of light dissipated! 

Mythos Spells to OSR: quick & dirty conversion rules

Over the years, Call of Cthulhu has amassed a great amount of spells and rituals. The 7th ed. Grand Grimoire lists over 550! Such a horrific source of cosmic grandeur cannot go untapped... So, here are some quick & dirty untested rules for converting CoC spells to OSR spell levels. Of course, case-by-case conversion and fine-tuning is better, but with these rules you can get a rough approximation.

Magic point cost	Spell level
1-5	1
6-9	2
10-12	3
13-15	4
16-19	5
20+	6

For variable costs (e.g. 1d10), assume maximum roll.

Sanity cost	Spell level increase	Save penalty
1-1d5	+0	-0
1d6-1d10	+1	-2
1d12-1d20	+2	-4

Optional: OSR “Sanity check”

When casting a spell that comes with Sanity loss, save against Magic (with the penalty in the third column). On failure, gain a random “insanity” that lasts 1d8 days. If the margin of failure is more than 5, the effect is permanent instead.

The 3.5e/d20 SRD has some examples (scroll down to tables 6-9 and 6-10).

Or just treat this as risky casting/miscast.

POW cost	Spell level increase
0-9	+0
10-19	+1
20+	+2

Optional: OSR stat drain

Map POW onto a stat (Wisdom, Intelligence, Charisma? Maybe let the Magic-User pick each time?), and divide the cost by 5.

Optional: Sanity+POW
If the spell has both a Sanity and a POW cost, but individually they don't raise the spell level, increase the spell level by 1.

Create Myst of R'lyeh (2 magic points) = level 1.
Knot Flesh (2d6 magic points, 1d8 sanity) = level 4.
Reincarnate (10 magic points, 10 POW, 1d6 sanity) = level 5.
Soul Trap (6 magic points, 5 POW, 1d4 sanity) = level 2 (or level 3).
Wave of Oblivion (30 magic points, 1d8 sanity) = level 7.

Random aviary generator! BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS

I wrote a set of random tables for generating aviaries and populating them with birds. It runs the gamut from more or less "realistic" to the weird and surreal. 

The Ignatian Aviary was partially inspired by Ignacio who runs an actual play channel on youtube and an old-school blog. If you've seen any of his videos, you know that he has birds. It was also inspired by stuff like The Gardens of Ynn.

I won't copy the generator here, because it's a lot of tables... ~7 pages. But you can see them all in the PDF, and read an example aviary below!

Download PDF

Example aviary:

The aviary stands in the far reaches of the city’s public park. The aviary is an impressive structure, but the funds allocated by the city council are clearly insufficient. A single caretaker and the occasional scholar struggle to maintain order. The pavilions are small and crowded with flapping, cawing birds. The structures are in good condition, but the foul smell scares away most visitors… At least the place is guarded by night by a watchman with dogs.

The aviary consists of a central pavilion, surrounded by three smaller ones.

The Central pavilion, a large, rectangular, domed structure, built in trelliswork. The pavilion is overgrown with grass and plants. A fruit-bearing tree occupies the middle, with a small pond nearby.
Inhabitants:

• A single elderly vulture (an ex-hunting bird, now on “pension”), with grey and yellow feathers. Its wings are damaged, and it cannot fly any more. It munches on the fallen fruits.
• Nine tiny flightless magpies feast on the fruits. Their bodies are red with black and white highlights, and during mating season, the males walk around huffing and puffing their chests. One of the magpies has a chameleonic disguise. The locals think the magpies bring luck and are very-very tasty.

Pavilion “A”, a hexagonal building, domed, with plate glass walls. A barren, artificial glass box…
Inhabitants:

• Fifteen chicken-like birds from a far-away land. They flutter around in the pavilion, eating everything they are given. Their plumage shimmers in all the colors of the rainbow. When aroused or angry, they open their fan-like tails and wiggle their long necks. When the stars are right, eggs laid by these birds hold a great magical power…

Pavilion “B”, a rectangular, flat-roofed building; glass windows in a trelliswork frame. It’s disappointingly empty.

Pavilion “C”, a round building, like a small glass circus tent, divided into four equal segments. A small fountain provides refreshment to two pairs of birds, inhabiting opposite segments:
Inhabitants:

• A pair of larger than average exotic, weirdly elongated hummingbirds, with eye-pleasing patterns: white, with blue highlights and green spots, but no other qualities to talk about. They like to eat fruits.
• A pair of enormous exotic ducks, about 4’ high. They lost their wings during transportation, and now have mechanical replacements. Despite their size, they survive on a diet of insects. The male is of a plain grey color, but performs elaborate mating dances to attract the glowing white-grey female. The female, surprisingly for a duck, sings, and its voice lulls people to sleep.

Have fun, keep on flapping & cawing!

[Spell] Strings of Marionettic Attachment

Strings of Marionettic Attachment

Magic-User Level 3

Duration: 1 Round/level

Range: 30’

The tiny dust particles always present in the air coagulate into strings, connecting the caster’s fingers to their targets’ limbs.

The maximum number of strings created is equal to the caster’s level. They can be attached to one or more creatures in range. Each string can target one of the following body parts individually: arms, legs, eyes, mouth. The target is allowed a save against Paralyze for each string.

The moment the spell comes into effect, the targets lose control of all their body parts that have strings attached. The caster becomes a puppeteer, able to force the movements of all such limbs. Arms and legs move as those of a puppet. Eyes can be closed or opened. Controlling the mouth allows for an uncanny ventriloquist effect.

The spell doesn’t allow for much nuance in movement: e.g., the caster can force the victim’s arm to execute an attack, to pick up or drop an object, maybe to turn a key in a lock, but not to pick a lock or draw a picture. Writing executed by a controlled hand, however, will be almost identical to the target’s own handwriting and signature.

Severing or breaking a string takes a successful attack roll against AC 12 (as unarmored). A natural 1 on the attack roll damages the target, a natural 20 severs all strings attached to the target.

Miscast effects:

1. The spell is reversed – the initial target gains control of the caster. The number of strings and their “attachment points” are unchanged.
2. The caster is entangled in malformed, twisting strings. The strings can be severed (per the rules above), but while they are present, the caster takes 1 damage for each string per round.
3. Unbreakable wires shoot down from the sky, unhindered by ceilings of layers of earth, and attach themselves to the caster’s body. For 1d6 turns, the caster is but a puppet to an unknown force.
4. Puppetization! A randomly chosen body part of the caster (1-3 arm, 4-5 leg, 6 head) changes into a puppet version of itself. It retains all function, albeit in a mechanic and choppy form.
5. The spell Web is cast, centered upon the caster (who is automatically entangled).
6. The caster and all targets fall unconscious and cocoon up. See the moth mutation table for the effect of this event.