I am brand new to dungeon mastering OSR-style D&D.
For my inaugural session in the DM godthrone, I ran Logan Knight's fantastic adventure "The Sleeping Place of the Feathered Swine."
Spoilerish play report:
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Cuddles
In the jumbled
corridors Below, a multitude of vengeful spirits writhe in the darkness,
longing for the tactile satisfaction of physical form. They ache to fill any
vessel no matter how meager.
The dangers of the
twisted halls yield a battered bounty of broken bodies, void of their original
inhabitants. No corpse lies still for long.
Even so, the sea of
silent spirits seethes. No matter how many jars are spilled, there are never
enough empties to bottle the horde.
There is always a remainder, waiting and wishing for teeth to gnash.
Every scavenger
knows better than to turn his back on the deceased but deep in the maze of
abandoned rooms, the spirits are taking up new forms.
Possessed Teddy
When the glint of an eye belongs to the cast-off toy
of a long absent child, a delver is likely to sigh with relief but Below,
even the most innocent forms are often possessed by malevolence.
A teddy bear makes a
poor vehicle of vengeance, and even filled with an angry spirit, the boneless
toy can barely flop its way into a fray, and when it arrives, pillowy arms are
incapable of piercing armor or rending flesh.
After initial
surprise wears off, jerky movements and frequent tumbles may seem comical but
these creatures are not harmless. It is not a deficit of strength that draws a
spirit into such an inferior form, rather a surplus of desire. If a possessed
toy can touch an open wound, it's inhabitant may enter the wound and claim the
stronger body.
Hit
Points: 1
AC: None. Cutting weapons, fire automatically
successful. Immune to blunt weapons, bullets and mind effects.
Attack:
1d20 - 4 (stuffed limbs suck)
Damage: On a hit, save vs. will or become possessed
by the toy's spirit until you make a successful will save
Speed: 50% human
Sunday, June 16, 2013
The Chessmen
This is my first entry for the Hack Vornheim Contest. I am running a little late (contest deadline was July 27, 2011) but since I don't actually care about winning anything, I think that's ok. I'll be attempting option #3, "expand something."
Without further introduction:
The Chessmen
In Vornheim, Large Chess is "A bizarre and repugnant indulgence," in which specially bred halflings act out a game of chess, dressed as the pieces they represent. In my campaign, these are the only halflings in the world.
Large Chess is a brutal blood sport. When a piece is captured, the capturing chessman delivers a single blow to the chessman being captured (who must accept the blow passively). If, after the blow, the captured piece is still able to stand, he can re-enter the game from the back rank.
The chessman are bred and trained to deliver a blow that is as debilitating as possible. Each piece has their own capturing move.
Pawns (Punchies): When capturing, a pawn throws a punch. One arm is disproportionately large and overdeveloped with an enormous bony fist. HD1, AC10, Damage 1d4, Speed 75% human.
Knights (Jumpers): These chessman must be able to jump over the heads of other pieces and so they have grotesquely muscular legs. For making captures, they wield a wooden cudgel. HD1, AC10, Damage 1d4, Speed 75% human walking. Can make 15' lateral or 8' vertical jumps.
Bishops (Kickers): Bishops deliver devastating kicks but their feet are broken and fused so often during training that they find it difficult to walk. HD1, AC10, Damage 1d4 (if using hit locations*, Bishops get a +2 bonus instead of a penalty for targeting an opponents legs) Speed 25% human.
Rooks (Splats): Rooks must hold a large stone block above their heads throughout the game. When making a capture they bring this block down on the opponent's piece with tremendous force. If a rook lowers his block for any reason other than a capture, he is removed from the game. HD1, AC10, Damage 1d8 but terrible at hitting moving targets, Speed 75% human.Can carry 150% what a normal human can.
Queen (Widow): Queens walk on 5' stilts and capture with polo mallets. If a queen falls from her stilts, she may be attacked by all opposing pieces until she regains her stilts or leaves the board. HD1, AC10, Damage 1d6, Speed 150% human.
King (The Coin): Kings walk on arm crutches and deliver powerful double legged kicks when they capture. When a game is lost the losing team's king is literally captured. Often, a king will be redeemed for a large ransom. HD1, AC10, Damage 1d4, Speed 50% human.
Chessman are born in pairs. It is considered disrespectful to your opponent to play with unmatched pieces and most leagues forbid the practice. As a result, any chessman whose twin is debilitated becomes unplayable. These leftovers can be purchased very inexpensively at the slave market.
Chessmen know nothing about the world outside of their game. If they are freed or if Large Chess is banned, they are sure to come to wretched ends.
*I use a hit location similar to Zak's except that I allow players to target specific locations with a penalty to hit.
Without further introduction:
The Chessmen
In Vornheim, Large Chess is "A bizarre and repugnant indulgence," in which specially bred halflings act out a game of chess, dressed as the pieces they represent. In my campaign, these are the only halflings in the world.
Large Chess is a brutal blood sport. When a piece is captured, the capturing chessman delivers a single blow to the chessman being captured (who must accept the blow passively). If, after the blow, the captured piece is still able to stand, he can re-enter the game from the back rank.
The chessman are bred and trained to deliver a blow that is as debilitating as possible. Each piece has their own capturing move.
Pawns (Punchies): When capturing, a pawn throws a punch. One arm is disproportionately large and overdeveloped with an enormous bony fist. HD1, AC10, Damage 1d4, Speed 75% human.
Knights (Jumpers): These chessman must be able to jump over the heads of other pieces and so they have grotesquely muscular legs. For making captures, they wield a wooden cudgel. HD1, AC10, Damage 1d4, Speed 75% human walking. Can make 15' lateral or 8' vertical jumps.
Bishops (Kickers): Bishops deliver devastating kicks but their feet are broken and fused so often during training that they find it difficult to walk. HD1, AC10, Damage 1d4 (if using hit locations*, Bishops get a +2 bonus instead of a penalty for targeting an opponents legs) Speed 25% human.
Rooks (Splats): Rooks must hold a large stone block above their heads throughout the game. When making a capture they bring this block down on the opponent's piece with tremendous force. If a rook lowers his block for any reason other than a capture, he is removed from the game. HD1, AC10, Damage 1d8 but terrible at hitting moving targets, Speed 75% human.Can carry 150% what a normal human can.
Queen (Widow): Queens walk on 5' stilts and capture with polo mallets. If a queen falls from her stilts, she may be attacked by all opposing pieces until she regains her stilts or leaves the board. HD1, AC10, Damage 1d6, Speed 150% human.
King (The Coin): Kings walk on arm crutches and deliver powerful double legged kicks when they capture. When a game is lost the losing team's king is literally captured. Often, a king will be redeemed for a large ransom. HD1, AC10, Damage 1d4, Speed 50% human.
Chessman are born in pairs. It is considered disrespectful to your opponent to play with unmatched pieces and most leagues forbid the practice. As a result, any chessman whose twin is debilitated becomes unplayable. These leftovers can be purchased very inexpensively at the slave market.
Chessmen know nothing about the world outside of their game. If they are freed or if Large Chess is banned, they are sure to come to wretched ends.
*I use a hit location similar to Zak's except that I allow players to target specific locations with a penalty to hit.
Friday, June 14, 2013
The Slothful Arbus, Galumphing Compheathalan and
The following monsters were created using the Spawn of Shub Niggurath Table in Carcosa (Geoffrey Mckinney, LotFP).
The critter names were created by mashing together the first syllables of 1d6 random Wikipedia article titles.
The first creature I rolled up had a multicolored insectoid body with a suckered hide, 5 eyes and multiple beaks. Thus, the arbus:
Arbus:
Arbuses use the suckers on their backs to adhere to the underside of branches or mossy cave roofs with their legs dangling like vines. They wait for prey to pass underneath, drop on them from above and attack with their beaks.
Number Encountered: 1d4
Armor Class: 8 [11] Tough rubbery skin, covered in suckers
Hit Dice: 1 (3 hit points)
Move: 30 ft. Can climb across walls and ceiling at full speed.
Attacks: 1d4 beak attack.
___
The next creature I rolled was a feathery brown plant creature with 5 eyes and multiple suckered mouths. Introducing the compheathalan:
Compheathalan:
This strange feather-fronded tree looks very out of place in the icy glade where it lurks. Beady eyes stare out from crevices in its trunk and when it spots movement, it uproots itself and ambulates at an alarming rate on a swarming mass of its roots. It runs over the top of its prey and a host of small mouths at the nexus of its roots strip the victim clean of flesh.
The compheathalan's tiny eyes can only see moving objects.
It has been eating local villagers for years, so unless adventurers have angered the populace, they are likely to be warned of the vegetal predator and rewarded for its destruction.
Number Encountered: Unique
Armor Class: 7 [12] The soft bark and wispy branches are vulnerable to fire, invulnerable to cold.
Hit Dice: 5 (15 hit points)
Move: 50 ft. Accelerates and decelerates slowly. Wide turning radius
Attacks: Overuns victims. Save vs. Reflex (to jump out of its path) or die.
___
Finally, a four-eyed fish-bodied flier with a circular gaping maw. Not that any campaign world really needs another flying land shark, but that's what came up on the dice.
The Augmy:
A fierce, flying fish found far from the surf. The augmy floats over the fecund Flats of Flubel. If found, flee!
Number Encountered: Unique
Armor Class: 5 [14] Hard, natural scale-mail.
Hit Dice: 4 (14 hit points)
Move: 60 ft. floating above ground. Short bursts of flight (10 ft.).
Attacks: 1d8 chomp. Often attempts to bite off a targets head.
The critter names were created by mashing together the first syllables of 1d6 random Wikipedia article titles.
The first creature I rolled up had a multicolored insectoid body with a suckered hide, 5 eyes and multiple beaks. Thus, the arbus:
Arbus:
Arbuses use the suckers on their backs to adhere to the underside of branches or mossy cave roofs with their legs dangling like vines. They wait for prey to pass underneath, drop on them from above and attack with their beaks.
Number Encountered: 1d4
Armor Class: 8 [11] Tough rubbery skin, covered in suckers
Hit Dice: 1 (3 hit points)
Move: 30 ft. Can climb across walls and ceiling at full speed.
Attacks: 1d4 beak attack.
___
The next creature I rolled was a feathery brown plant creature with 5 eyes and multiple suckered mouths. Introducing the compheathalan:
Compheathalan:
This strange feather-fronded tree looks very out of place in the icy glade where it lurks. Beady eyes stare out from crevices in its trunk and when it spots movement, it uproots itself and ambulates at an alarming rate on a swarming mass of its roots. It runs over the top of its prey and a host of small mouths at the nexus of its roots strip the victim clean of flesh.
The compheathalan's tiny eyes can only see moving objects.
It has been eating local villagers for years, so unless adventurers have angered the populace, they are likely to be warned of the vegetal predator and rewarded for its destruction.
Number Encountered: Unique
Armor Class: 7 [12] The soft bark and wispy branches are vulnerable to fire, invulnerable to cold.
Hit Dice: 5 (15 hit points)
Move: 50 ft. Accelerates and decelerates slowly. Wide turning radius
Attacks: Overuns victims. Save vs. Reflex (to jump out of its path) or die.
___
Finally, a four-eyed fish-bodied flier with a circular gaping maw. Not that any campaign world really needs another flying land shark, but that's what came up on the dice.
The Augmy:
A fierce, flying fish found far from the surf. The augmy floats over the fecund Flats of Flubel. If found, flee!
Number Encountered: Unique
Armor Class: 5 [14] Hard, natural scale-mail.
Hit Dice: 4 (14 hit points)
Move: 60 ft. floating above ground. Short bursts of flight (10 ft.).
Attacks: 1d8 chomp. Often attempts to bite off a targets head.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Little Churches
A shrine to an obscure saint. Galleries along the outer walls display murals of his exploits and trophies of his victories. The blessed walls protect these items from magical detection but if the treasures are removed, they will definitely attract the attention of malign entities.
A trendy new cult worships here. Their god demands novel sacrifice and so the cultists are eager to find previously unknown creatures to slay on Her altar. Several wealthy merchants are adherents and they will pay top dollar for live specimens.
"Scanned" with my camera phone.
Feel free to use these for whatever purpose you see fit.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Thursday, May 9, 2013
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