dX What has it got in its eye socket?

dX What has it got in its eye socket?

Some creatures have odd things in their eye sockets , sometimes you need a table for that. while looking for tables to think about on G+ Chris H asked for an whats in the eye socket table, well here goes

1. splinter of a ancient slaying spear protruding from the socket and grown over with scar tissue. its just a piece of a holy relic, much discharged of its magic but it gives the creature a plus 1 to damage through the holy wrath that has twisted up inside it from the twisted magic. perhaps the splinter could be used to find the rest of the ancient artifact holy or unholy as it might be

2. Gem of Shadow seeing, this dark smoky green crystal  shard seems to have been pushed into the eye socket forcefully, and a weepy grey pus seeps from the wound. it allows the creature to see into the shadows much like they are not there. on a 5 in 6 can see creatures hidden in shadows. implanting the thing in ones own eye will blind that eye suffering dex penalties but allow shadow sight and 4 in 6 on seeing lower level invisibility magic

3. nest of magical miniature hornets  . careful observation will see small magical hornets fly out of what looks like an empty eye socket , they have nested in the socket and some of the brain area and feed off of the memory  of the host and others that they attack. they have formed a symbiotic parisite host relationship with the huminoid and alert it to danger in a 50 foot area (can not be suprised) if the creature is attacked and hit in the head they will swarm out and attack a 20 foot circle , there stings causing 1d2 intelligence loss as a swarm attack. they will always attack magic users with preference as they are attracted to the reek of magic

4. the orb of malice is a red pulsating crystal that grows out of a creature's eye socket. It is often placed in slaves or unwilling creatures  to create guards and allows the creator to “see” through the eye monitoring an area that the creature patrols.  a creature with an orb of malice will attack anything in it sight until death

5. The Tears of Aroz , Not the eye itself wich is now milky white but the tears that are seeping from they eye are the thing here. It is said that these creatures have been touch by some divine being or power and the tears they weep 1d4 and hour can remove curses like a high level spell. the problem being it is not easy to catch the tears (dex check) that must be procured from a still fighting creature and the condition is only noted in the most terrible and vicious creatures

6. Lens of capture is a concave mirror enclosed withing the eye socket. said to have originated from the terrible planes of hazzot and implanted in hunters of slaves. these have been found in other creatures placed for unknown reasons. the lens allows a gaze attack that will (save allowed) teleport the unwilling victiam of the gave to another plane or dimension. can capture teleport one creature a round, all to the same place a person holding the lens or the severed head of the creature is able to teleport back to the original plane or teleport others from that plane

7. arrowhead of Bazuigut the Finder. this brass arrowhead if attached to an arrow with the proper ritual is able to be shot and will find any known creature from any distance. once used by the mighty monster hunter wizard captain Bazuigut to find his prey. A person performing the ritual and shooting the arrow into the sky will be under the effect of a Gueis spell until they find the creature and slay them to retrieve the arrow. they will see and only them dancing lights illuminating a path to follow each night.

8. Crystals of the North is actually an eye infection given by demons of the eternal frost to creatures they have had carnal knowledge of during worship, it looks like small blue and purple crystals are embedded in the eyes and allows the infected resistance to cold and a minor 1d4 frost gaze attack. remove disease will cure the affliction but most who have it dont wish to be cured, they wish to freeze the flesh of the unbeliever

Into the Fetid Pit

One of the games i have missed the most on G+ is the +HMS Apollyon Google + Game . This week i got the chance to go venture again with the game of scavengers with a newly rolled up Frogling Shaman 

session report , episode 6, season 3

Phin-Gnawer walked carefully down the steep rusty stairs onto the balcony overlooking the chamber that held his old spawning pool, it was habit to visit even though he was too low caste to visit the pools directly. The chain manacled to his wrist swung slightly and he could still feel the hex that ran through it  from the previous days combat

"Salutations Brothers and Sisters, it is i Phin-Gnawer who has returned again to tell you more of the world outside the pool, you swim now safe among the reeds and rust protected by your elders, but soon you will be like me and cast out to prove yourself"

 he pauses to take a tiny jeweled crab off his chain and crush it with his fingers before tossing it in the pool " taste that children, it is just one of the many delicacy things that you will find, I have joined a small band of scavengers to explore a large area under the light of the daystar, down a giant chain and into the dankness"  

he concentrates thinking on the right words "they are mostly the pink skins who sink instead of swim and a flying fur man of the argent hairs, but they are not a bad lot, they look for things of value, things that the pink skins might need or be able to sell to the deamons upstairs" at mentioning upstairs he rubs the manacle, a constant reminder of his time of trials.

"we where attacked by flying worms while searching a room of iron and i used my magic to puff up into my mighty war stance and swing the chain of my torment, the others fought bravely also , even the mysterious spiritman who seems to be on another plane at times, the winged fur man was hurt sorely, i believe he was still recovering from the wicked kelp rum of the scavengers, you must be pure of body little ones for the great one to find room in your heart for his darkness of glory"

The jeweled crabs attacked us on the way out after the men had found much treasure in the form of black earth, it was a near thing for us as they were hard to crack, that is where i brought your treat from"  Phin-Gnawer shuffled on his feet a bit jingling the hex stones he wears for protection and his magic, " I must go now brothers and sisters, swim safly now, and i will see you on either this side or the other of the inky depths"

for more info on this game and setting go to http://dungeonofsigns.blogspot.com/

 

Wreck of the Golden Koi a mini adventure to put a little Ruins & Ronin in your S&W

song dynasty junk 13th century, Wikipedia commons




If you read the last post on ruins & ronin and thought you might give it a try, heres a little something i thought up that might help you put a little of it in your western fantasy setting.  A wreck of an oriental ship with some oriental monsters and loot
Getting it there can be solved in a variety of ways, If your adventure is near the sea  you can have it floating in a calmed bay after a storm , or beached. If your running a saltbox have it found in a calmed area way out at sea.  

OR due to the magical instruments you will find on board you can do one of these

middle of a large lake after a VERY large storm has passed through, OZ style

seen at the top of a cliff or mountain at dawn after a very dense fog, Mystery style

crashed into the tops of some Stout oak trees in the middle of a woods hex, gonzo style


from far away
you hear the drums, no not drums, but one drum very large drum, somewhere in the distance before you see the ship, it is a ship but it has very strange sails from what you've seen before and tattered long banners

closer but still not near
the drum is louder the closer you get to it and seems to be coming from the center of the ship, perhaps from under that thatched structure near the front. Light of a greenish hue shows through the port holes in the bow seeming like multiple eyes of a terrible ship shaped monster.  The drums echo in your ears making concentration hard and instilling terror ( throw a save in here if you want to shed some henchmen or mess with casting)

a little bit closer
you see what looks like empty cages broken on the decks and scattered on the ground or water. you see no movement on the ship except for the tattered sails and banners. The Drum is deafening at this point, hard to talk or think

at this point lets throw out some monsters
if its on water

Awabi (Sea Demon) Ruins & Ronin page 31
2d4, perhaps they escaped the cages or clung to the hull, they just want to eat you
about half will carry net bags with large oysters in them with a chance of a pearl inside. they will not go on the ship

or if its somehow mysteriously on land or in the trees 

scattered around the wreck will be 1d4 large oriental stone lanterns that seem very out of place



they are actually  Bakemono-Toro ruins & ronin page 32 waiting to ambush the party (stone goblins who shapeshift) at least half will carry katana swords that will revert back to stone with them when killed, the rest claws


The Ships top deck
The drum is defiantly coming from under the thatched shack and it is huge and deafening ( another save perhaps) and the thing drumming is even bigger 

closer inspection will reveal a chained Tusken Ogre dressed in once fine silks with one horn on his forehead and three blinded eyes. he will continue his drumming unless disturbed.    If disturbed in any way he will cast his mirror image behind the party on the deck and proceed to try to break his chains.  (start rolling break out dice)  he will use the chains as a weapon if possible , he roars at you in a far away language

the deck is covered in salty kelp (perhaps slippery?) and broken cages, barrels, and twisted rope (terrain, difficult ?)   

he carrys at his waist a large cleaver and a single key, If by some chance someone speaks eastern tusken ogre and he stops trying to kill you long enough to chat all he will say is, "I have failed to bring my brothers with the Taiko"  or " we locked her away to save ourselves, the dishonor is great"  but im just putting that in there because players surprise me, always.

If you let him just keep drumming several things could happen.  he might die of fatigue,  a dragon might swoop down and fetch him (oriental of course) or an entire army of Ogre mages and tuskens might invade the countryside looking for the ship, your choice one or all


other things on the deck.

a very large hatch down to the cargo area, complete with pullys and cranes for loading stuff.  it is securely latched but there is the strong smell of alchoholic spirits wafting up

a door to the large deck cabin that has been securely closed and barred from the outside with nailed wood, black iron bars, and silver chain (200 lbs). there is a lock of ornate workmanship holding the chain together.    the lock is in the form of a tiger made of copper and jet inlay and yes the key will fit it BUT,   the door isnt trapped the lock is (electrical attack is the key is used unless disarmed or bashed to bits)

the crew and cargo level
Opening the cargo hatch its dark down there but you can hear movement if the drums are quiet .  The smell of booze is heavy (sake) and has about a inche of blood in the bottom that is littered with broken barrels, hammocks, debris and parts of bodies. hiding in the dark are 1d4 crazed Oktomon
http://www.d20swsrd.com/swords-and-wizardry-srd/for-the-referee/monsters/all-monsters/monster-details-o-through-r
they will try to fight there way out of the hatch and jump overboard either into the water or land, but they will fight, just to escape

there is a hatch down into the cargo area, players will note an even stronger smell of spirits and see that it is partially flooded with the contents of barrels of rice and sake


any one with a torch should notice that it sputters and flares when this hatch is opened

1d6 psudopods of a mixture of rice, blood, magic, and sake will rise from the murk of the flooded cargo bay and attack

NEW MONSTER
SAKE PARA -ELEMENTAL

4HD AC2 1d6 attacks a round for 1d6 to submerge and drown, 0 movement save 8
cl/xp 5/ 650 SPecial

Special, Fire attacks do double damage but will cause it to EXPLODE for 3d8 upon death and burn for 2d6 turns
Special takes half damage from slashing, piercing, or cold damage

this encounter should have a high chance of destroying the ship, any cargo, well everything in a great ball of flame if anyone uses fire or drops a torch


Treasure 2d20 barrels of good Sake if its not destoyed


The locked and barred Cabin

opening the door will take a while and is trapped with the lock as mentioned above but the door opens outward

or they can look into the portholes on the side and see

a hooded tall woman stands inside a circle made of blood and salt holding a large sphere cut with mythical writings, the circle glows a bright green and smells of the sea and decay, her hood is drawn over her face and she seems to be muttering a prayer or spell.   there are several chests and a weapons stand holding ruins & ronin weapons and armor stand with a blue complete suit of O-Yori

she will throw back her hood on sensing the party either at the door or porthole (save or dice off)

and we have a SEA HAG .   fight, parley, however, it might be tough any way, depending on if you have found her Oktomon's, reactions, or however, i leave that up to you and your players

She holds a Sphere of otherworldly travel, its cursed, it likes to go places that are bad, and if you use it you will go also, enough of the idea there


appropriate cool nautical treasure  and ruins and ronin stuff to be found in here, along with celestial maps, maps of far off places and a journal

long story short

Sea Hag and Oktomon attacked and boarded a ship and tried to use the Sphere to escape a storm but got swept up into it instead.  The Ogre worked for the Ogre Mage who owned the ship, who knows where the Ogre mage is now. most of the crew was killed and eaten and alot of caged monsters escaped (feel free to populate surrounding area with oddities, Sea Hag went crazy randomly zapping them from place to place and the Oktoms rebeled and helped the blind Ogre lock her in the cabin before they went below decks and he chained himself to the drum to summon help while she randomly zapped them around

too much blood, magic, and sake evolved into the sake para elemental below decks who the oktomons fear more than the locked away sea hag


So i hope you liked this all i used was a picture, a copy of ruins & ronin, an hour drinking Monster on the porch and my imagination, please do with as you please

now im gonna go read about rocketships again 

S&W Appreciation Day a look at Ruins & Ronin Part One

EDIT (my formatting is screwy, please deal the best you can i dont know the majic to fix it and i was not one of the fortunate blogs to be given a code for a discount on S&W products, but if you look over at 2k coppers a bunch of the other blogs have discount codes for the 17th only )

For S&W Appreciation Day, I am not going to write about straight up Swords & Wizardry White Box  , but about one of the cool supplements for the game that i have found and use. The 7 of you who read my blog (you know who you are) will be aware that i like "different" things mostly so it should come as no surprise that today i will be so and suggest a supplement that is such.

How many of y'all grew up watching Samurai movies and playing D&D wanting to play a Samurai or a Ninja?  How many of y'all  where confused and befuddled with your copy of Oriental Adventures, before the spine fell of of it. Who here from time to time wants to eat fried rice and egg rolls instead of your Iron Rations.

Back in 2008 Mike D, over at SWORD+1 started talking about a supplement for S&W to simulate a oriental version of O D&D. (that link takes you to the original blog post, i think)  In 2009 this was published as a supplement for  Swords & Wizardry White Box 

                           Ruins & Ronin

 Pete Mullen cover 

Now, i didnt find this in 2009, i wish i had, i found it on a dark and stormy night looking for stuff to hack into my sci fi game and searching for compatible Asian flavor for a certain planet in sub-sector 567-84hj , but i liked what i read, enough to get a hardcopy to go along with the PDF.

soft cover at LULU

Just what is in these slim 79 page supplement for S&W, well i will let the introduction speak to that 

From the Introduction 

INTRODUCTION

"Why should Western-style clerics, fighters, and magic-users have all the fun of dungeon adventuring and 

fighting strange monsters like stirges and purple worms? What about samurai and monks? Don’t they get 

a chance? Absolutely – in RUINS & RONIN. This isn’t a game of tea ceremonies, haiku, or accurate historical depictions of medieval Japan; it’s a game where the fictional world of the samurai movie becomes the 

basis for swords & sorcery adventure in a mythical, medieval culture that’s almost like Japan.

In RUINS & RONIN, the players take on the roles of bujin (fighting-men, including samurai), spell-casting 

shugenja, and wise sohei (warrior monks). Will they choose to explore strange ruins in the wilderness? 

Deep, forgotten dungeons under crumbling pagoda-fortresses built by ancient sorcerers? Perhaps if they 

achieve great status and power, they might even become daimyos, lords of castles with private armies and 

fearsome reputations. But the wild places of this world contain strange and fearsome monsters as well as 

vast riches and magical items. Spirit creatures roam the wilderness by night, and the rocky hills abound 

with goblins and their kin, always looking to the civilized lands below as a source of plunder and conquest. 

This is the legend-world of RUINS & RONIN. Samurai up.

RUINS & RONIN is compatible with the SWORDS & WIZARDRY WHITEBOX rules, allowing you to mix and 

match the elements of the two games to create a truly unusual fantasy setting"

Its not a mess of Historical setting info and hard to follow rules, rulings and charts, its just what you need to throw some asian flavor into your game and go with all those cool things you saw watching Samurai flicks or Kung foo theater for the western mind, its the getting to taste the Sake without having to work in the rice patty and all the cool names from SEVEN SAMURAI

                        what you get that's not in S&W whitebox

Bujin, Half-Ogre, Shugenja, and Sohei

(4 character classes, yes you read that right Half-Ogre)

Cool Oriental Equipment with just enough detail

 New Oriental Monsters

and some pretty experienced advise on things to do in the game and how to run it

Now this 79 pages is not a huge treatise on role playing, oriental culture, traditions, Honor systems and all that, its Oriental Flavoring for the game you want to play and isn't geared towards new gm's but to people that want to have some new and fun flavor in their game as reviewed back in 2009 by Grognardia

also if you go over to SWORD+1 (look right for downloads)

R&R Character Class: Headhunter

R&R Character Class: Hengeyokai

R&R Character Class: Kensei

R&R Character Class: Ninja

R&R Character Sheet

R&R: 100 Bujin (NPC)

R&R: Katsushiro Castle Level 1

R&R: Random Pits & Occupants

yep thats 4 new classes and a adventure to start you off

and if thats not enough i found on the Swords & Wizardry White Box page a  Random Adventure Table for R&R 

Part Two to Follow

"The Wreck of the Golden Koi"

for Ruins & Ronin Swords & Wizardry White Box 

WE SHALL PREVAIL BEFORE TEATIME

Im reformatting my online Stars Without Numbers  game on G+ now that im comfortable enough with the system to see where i want to go with it and it looks like i will have a little more time to play at the random times i do.

and as to rocketman blue, i know nothing about this painting of him, but i would so hang it on the wall

First days on the road....... Snakes, and trees, and toddler monkees

Dead Cow Eating Tree

Our "Pilgrims" left FrenchPost today on a journey of exploration and discovery 

 Murderhobo expedition .   

Cast of characters

The 7 foot tall vivimancer armed with 15 flasks of oil and a bow and one eye, two mouths 

The Diplomatic Speaker covered in moving tattoos , always the Optimist

Never Sleeps, Scrounger with a hankering for spare parts and explosives

And Lastly, Our Sociopath Lady Illusionist who needs a laser rifle

Having been recently expelled from the town in a yearly ritual our adventures head out into the radioactive paradise to investigate the rumor of " a witch tree broke down the corral at farmer pugs and ate his cows". Arriving at the farmstead to the sound of screams from the barn loft they fling open the doors to find a giant snake, mid meal and trying to fit through the hatch it came in from.  A few well placed arrows and a sleep spell and one snoozing snake is dispatched with a well placed but perhaps mis spent revolver shot to the head. Skinning and snake ration harvesting ensued. 

Seems the little lady trapped in the barn loft is the only one at home as her pa and brother are out trying to round up the cows that escaped when the corral was broken down by a witch tree with a hunger. Following the trail they sneak up on a witch tree slurping out the insides of the farmer and a battle ensues. 

you will remember one of the players has 15 bottles of oil rolled randomly , well he only has 7 now.  through some well placed Molotov cocktails and a entangle spell no more evil tree and a minor forest fire that takes the rest of the day to put out. (yes they mentioned putting out the fire, as i already had an idea for the night time part of this segment if they didnt )

The next morning led to some tracking to see if the tree had any loot at its lair, yep that was the phrasing. This led to a clearing with some kind of one wheeled vehicular track that lead to a ashpalt-crete ancient roadway leading into the Piney Rads. Someone remembered a rumor of a underground truck full of guns near here so they strike out looking for that with no real clue as to find it.

searching the ruins looking for anything leading down did lead to a lucky roll and a stairway down into a parking garage fell into a sinkhole, salty brine and twisted old vehicular transports, and lo and behold two of them where box trucks, one unlocked, one locked

everyone climbed down into the sink hole and quickly searched the unlocked cargo area of the truck finding a box of guns, super soaker water guns.  the pyros in the bunch then reminded the rest that they still have 7 flasks of oil and a few lighters, this is gonna be interesting

searching through the other locked truck they find some lifestyle stims , a map, and some fake head sized jewels right before they looked up to their unguarded rope and saw another scavenger team at the rope, guns pointed at them and looking stern

Tune in next time for DIPLOMACY OR BUST: Parley in the radioactive wastes 

 

Getting Adventures on the road in the Radioactive Paradise

The Feast of St. Armstrong of the Church of Mournful Rejuvenation of FrenchPost

It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.
Saint Armstrong

On the 13th of the month that it might still freeze and the beast overrun us it is tradition to hold a large feast with savory stews and sweet breads, baked inside the sweet breads are little metal tokens. Those that find these tokens are chosen to leave the town for a day and a year on a journey of exploration like the patron saint of the church of mournful rejuvenation, St. Armstrong.

The townsfolk cheerfully will give the adventures Salt, Torches, Rations, a fresh shave and enough rope to hang themselves if they so choose.

No one has ever chosen not to go, it would be bad mojo for the town as everyone believes that the church keeps the lights on in town and the beasts at bay.  

“Pilgrims” as they are called are not completely cut off from FrenchPost during the year and a day, they are welcome at Gastons Catfish Farm and Salvage Works on the north side of town. It is a gathering place on the river for various nefarious river folk and expeditions west to Lunar and East to Thorney Pines


cool piece of stained glass seen on the internet http://peaceloveglass.com

and instead i create a radioactive paradise

So, after a holiday break the homegame starts back up and they all say "we want to play something wasteland, Fallout-esque, something with mutants all on one planet"

So, we rolled up Other Dust characters and a couple of mages from http://the-city-of-iron.blogspot.de/p/publications.html

and i came up with this.....

This is just a player map, it goes with this little bit of info on the places

FrenchPost is an ancient settlement dominated by a large Stone church on a hill above the River Red . for the most part it is a peaceful farming community but lives in fear of its neighboring enclaves and areas. Once a year there is a festival of St Armstrong in which several members of the community are exiled for a year and a day to go on pilgrimage (that is you player). mutant friendly
(church site, ancient hate hill beasts to north, ancient settlement 900 people tech 2 oligarchic )

To the East is the small community of Thorny Pines organized by a strict caste system of farmers and woodsmen who are very distrustful of outsiders and mutants. They are mostly formed of a reform group from Pharo Elvis who escaped to lead a pure and simple life farming
(caste based, splinter group, reform, tech 1,  200 people , tribal)

Pharo Elvis was once a great city along the River Man but is now a site of depravity and anarchy led by religious zealots who live in the waste of the city, there are rumors of great food supplies and demons stalking the night  (400 people, tech 1 , anarchy)

Far to the east along the stone road is the remains of a city known as Jax.  Little is known except there used to be a government city here where 6 great roads met and that now it is a land of degenerate cannibals . there are rumors of a large government complex in the area somewhere near a lake

The Port Rads Zone  is north of FrenchPost and is said to be a scavengers paradise and the radiation seems to be going away in the area.  but travelers report sightings of more and more hill beasts in the area from the north

The Pine Rads Zone centers on the remains of a large military base and rumors abound about strange lights in the night sky and aliens, but know one knows if that is true, what they do know is that the trees will eat you

Across the River Sacrament   is the land of the Iron Star, a pre collapse government whose borders are patrolled by robots that shoot on site and dont bother with questions.

Little is know about these western lands except for the occupants of Lunar a heavily fortified ruined spaceport whose occupants barter for lost tech, and grain in exchange for printed books and medicines (300 people, industrialized, tech savants, mutant friendly)

Far to the North are the savage lands of the Hill Beasts who lead raiding parties south in the spring of the year and the sunken swamp lands known as the SuckMucks where odd violent creatures are known to chop men in two with heavy claws and armored hides

Somefolks say that if you can get through the swamps you come to the sea and that many people live on metal islands and have fabulous technology, but thats just rumor, perhaps





So i guess we will play a little Other Dust with Wild Magic, no worries
i can still use a lot of stuff i used in SWN

Books i will be using are

ASE 1-3TotGaD 1-2CarcosaOther DustTheorems & Thaumaturgy

and watching