Tag Archives: Flavor

RPGs

2015 One Page Dungeon Contest – My Submission

Leave a comment

I said that I was going to submit something to the One Page Dungeon Contest (OPDC) this year, and I was beginning to wonder if I would make it happen.

Last weekend, the title I had for the dungeon finally gelled and the idea for it came together much more smoothly than I had hoped.

I wanted it to be about Druids, since I got on a kick and had a few articles about druids a few weeks ago.

Druids and Alignment

Druids and Their Environment

Druids and Undead

I also ordered Roberts Kunt’s module Dark Druids and when it came a week ago, I realized that I didn’t want to read it until I put together my idea for the OPDC.

I had determined that I would consolidate my notes and make this one page dungeon this weekend no matter what. I had to further get it nearly 100% today, since +Roy Snyder’s DCC game picks up after a hiatus of a few weeks, and I made a commitment to be there.

So without further ado, I present my submission to the OPDC – The Dark Druids of Delver’s Deep. I went “old school” on the OPDC and used the one page dungeon template by +Michael Shorten, AKS Chgowiz. He has links to his dungeon and wilderness templates on his old blog.

There are 36 listed submitted dungeons/adventures so far – at the time of this writing, minus my submission.

RPGs

Types of Currency

Leave a comment

The article on Rai Stones over on Sea of Stars for the 2015 A to Z Challenge, got me to thinking about various forms of currency. The aforementioned article, talks about them as involving magic, which is cool.

There are many different types of money:

Commodity money – Something that has a value and is used in trade for other things. It is a “step up” from the barter system.

Fiat money is money that has value because everyone agrees it has value, like most modern currencies, such as the American dollar.

If money is tied to the value of something else, it is representative money. Strangely, this can include both commodity and fiat money.

Types of Currency

  • Paper/cloth – Fiat money if it has a specified value, representative money if it is used in lieu of something else, or commodity money if bundles of paper or cloth are used in exchange.
  • Coins – Originally the coins were a commodity of precious metals, that in the modern world have become mostly base metals and fiat money.
  • Rai Stones – The linked article is on the actual rai stones used in Yap.
  • Beaver and other pelts
  • Salt
  • Tobbacco
  • Gold bars (or bars of other precious metals.)
  • Gold Dust
  • Iron Bars
  • Gems
  • Jewelry
  • Barter/Trade
  • Shells
  • Cows/other herd animals
  • Favors – Back in November, 2014, I wrote about how favors can be used as currency.

Nearly anything can be used as a currency, like this article about some ancient forms of currency.

In areas where coin is in short supply, barter or another commodities will become money. In areas where the wealth of the adventurers inflates prices, other things with a more stable value might rise to the level of money.

What kinds of unique or interesting things have you used or encountered as money/currency/barter in the RPG’s you have played?

RPGs

Slavery In RPGs

3 Comments

Slavery is often referred to in fantasy role playing games, FRPG’s, as evil. However, the scale of good/evil and how each game nation or culture views slavery would vary, as it did from ancient to modern times. Usually, on nine point alignment systems, chaotic good is viewed as opposed to slavery, while lawful good might be accepting of it, provided the methods of slavery and treatment of slaves falls within what is culturally and legally acceptable. This topic is touchy and some people see the word and might choose to think I am saying that I am in favor of slavery. I am merely discussing it from a gaming perspective. It is generally understood that the bad guys, such as orcs, keep slaves. Some human groups might keep slaves. I begin with some questions,  a brief historical and cultural review, and conclude with some thoughts for informing slavery. This article was spurred by the directions of my thoughts on this post. This is not a high scholarly article, only the briefest of overviews that touches on some general ideas. [For the record, in the real world, I think slavery is an evil, nasty practice, that should end. Many think that slavery ended over a century ago, but there are still people suffering in slavery today. If you have a problem with simulated slavery in the imagination, and don’t have a problem with all the imaginary killing, you have a logical disconnect. If you want to end slavery, go track down the jerks who BUY the slaves, thus making a market for the product. If there is no demand for slaves, it will end.]

Does or did slavery exist in your world? Is slavery more akin to some aspects of antiquity, where some or all slaves had certain rights and could somehow expect to return to or gain their freedom? Or is it more like more recent examples of slavery, where slaves are absolutely property to the point that their descendants are slaves, and their treatment varies by who their masters and overseers are? Would there be state slaves doing the work projects of the state? Would slaves be limited to conquered peoples, i.e. war prisoners, or criminals? What kinds of crimes would relegate one to slavery? Would all nations keep slaves, or only the most “primitive”, “evil”, or some such? Would slavery be such that even predominately good nations have slaves?

In the Bible, the Old Testament version of slavery was a form debt relief, or could be voluntary. Slavery was to be limited to six years, and then they were to be free, unless the master provided a wife during that time, then the male slave could opt to stay with his family and become a slave forever. The slave then was to have his ear pierced with an awl as a mark of his status. Women were not able to become free after six years, like men. Fathers could sell their daughters, but the master had to deal fairly with her. The only exception to this, was the year of Jubilee, every 50 years all slaves were to be set free and all debts forgiven. That was the law, but so far as we know, the ancient Israelites never did this. Those who were not Hebrews, however, were treated as we usually understand slaves. One can see how this informed the English concept of indentured servitude in colonial America.

Debt slavery is a way for one to get out of a hole by giving their labor for a set term in exchange for the master paying off their debts. This is related to voluntary slavery where someone becomes a slave so that someone else has to worry about where their food, clothing, and shelter comes from. This might be common in times of Indentured servitude, like was used by many young men from England and the German states to pay for passage to the English colonies in North America. It is estimated that between one third and one half of white males who came to the American colonies between about 1630 and the American Revolution were indentured servants. Indentured servants and their bond holders each had responsibilities to uphold. If an indentured servant ran off, they were found and sent back to finish out their term. Some bonds were re-sold, mid term, and the servant was stuck in perpetual indenturement, thus becoming a slave for life. Colonial apprenticeship programs where a master craftsman took on someone as an apprentice was much like indentured servitude, and could be initiated to bring the person to the colonies or for someone already in the colonies to get into a trade. This system could, of course, be abused, and apprentices ran away, much like other indentured servants. I did not find information on this with a quick google search, just going from memory from past history classes.

The first Africans brought to the American colonies in 1619 were indentured servants, because they had been baptized and were Christian, English law forbade enslaving Christians. So until 1640, African brought to the British Colonies were indentured servants, and not chattel slaves. Early on, slaves in North America could save up and buy their freedom, but that soon changed.

In antiquity, there was all variation of slavery. Slaves could be very well educated and entrusted with the education of the master’s children. Slaves could also be the ones doing dangerous and difficult jobs, such as mining underground.

Often, the largest supplies of slaves in antiquity were prisoners of war, that is, soldiers captured in battle after their defeat by the Roman Legions. At times, the Romans enslaved entire populations. Such slaves were sold to bring money into the state coffers. The needs of the state were maintained by keeping a portion of the slaves for government jobs. Famous examples of roman slaves are gladiators, who could win their freedom, such as Spartacus, famous for leading a slave revolt. See the movie with Kirk Douglas, or if you have cable, the TV series Spartacus.

In feudal Europe, there were varying levels or grades of serfs. In England, for example, there were four types of serfs, the lowest of which were actually slaves. Serfdom faded in Western Europe between the 14th and 16th centuries, and lasted in the Russian Empire until 1866.

The behavior and attitude of slaves is dependent upon their treatment. Underfed, poorly clothed and sheltered slaves who are mistreated become a powder keg and are ripe for revolt against their masters at the provocation that becomes the last straw. Some slave revolts, like that of Spartacus, come very near to reaching their goal of freedom, but usually, they end in a lot of death for the slaves, and sever punishments for those left behind to knock them back into compliance.

In my the online AD&D game I play in on Wednesday nights, the players discovered a conspiracy between powerful factions in two cities on the island, and we managed to expose it and end it, or at least drive off the slavers or send them underground. Obviously, this means in this case, that slavery is a no no. This need not be the default case in all games.

In my AD&D campaign, slavery only exists among the bad guys, however, I can see that it could be a normal part of life in another part of my world, if it even got developed.

If you have slavery in your world, here are some things to consider. NOTE: This assumes a human-centric world and a human government, from my interpretation. If you have a game where another race is in charge, the same questions need to be considered.

How does one become a slave?

  1. Losing side of battle or war
  2. Born into slavery
  3. Debt/Indentured/Voluntary
  4. Punishment for Crime(s)

Who can own slaves?

  1. King/State/Government
  2. Approved groups, like temples, military, certain types of industry, etc.
  3. Anyone who can afford it?

What form does slavery take?

  1. Temporary/Indentured for a set time.
  2. Permanent, but with possibility to save up and buy freedom, AKA redemption.
  3. Permanent, for life and descendants are born into slavery.
    1. This can take the form of no one can free a slave.
    2. A master can free, manumit, a slave.
    3. A slave can do something heroic and earn freedom.
    4. Perhaps a ruler or a deity could decree that it ends.

Who can become a slave?

  1. Anyone
  2. Only those born to a lowly caste/social class.
  3. Only prisoners of war.
  4. Criminals (types of crimes eligible would vary from any crime, to only the most severe, like murder)
  5. Only non humans
  6. Only those who don’t worship deity X

Who/What can end the institution of slavery?

  1. Nothing – That’s just the way it is
  2. Decree by ruler or representative of the main deity of the area.
  3. War
  4. Divine intervention – not likely, put possible.

Questions to consider:

Who is going to pay for this? Owners of slaves don’t want to just give up their property rights and inherent economic power, capital, tied up in their slaves.

Can the ones making the decree back it up with enforcement?

What jobs do slaves perform?

  1. Any job
  2. Any job designated as a slave job – Varies by nation/culture
    1. Skilled craftsmen
    2. Soldiers (sailors)
    3. Teachers of children
    4. Entertainers
  3. Only manual/menial labor
    1. Mining
    2. Galley Slaves (rowers)
    3. Farming
    4. Working with dangerous substances (poisonous, explosive, corrosive, etc.)

Social Strata

  1. Social Class, Loose – Possibility of moving up or down the ladder: money, valor, honor, connections, etc.
  2. Social Class, Rigid – Remote possibility of moving up or down the ladder: something exceptional, saving the king, defeating a powerful enemy, etc.
  3. Caste System – One is born into one’s station and there is no chance of movement, barring overthrow of that system. Becoming a slave in this system is a big deal, you upset the apple cart.
    1. If one does something to become a slave, they are the lowest of the low.
    2. OR, slaves stay in their caste, but no longer have the same rights and freedoms of others.

How does a slave become free?

  1. Never, or completion of contract if indentured.
  2. Manumission by master.
  3. Save up and buy freedom – Redemption.
  4. Earn it by deed(s).
  5. Freed by victorious army, ruler, etc.
  6. Run away and get clear of the slave chasers.
  7. Slave revolt

 Trivia: I came across a term in the Midkemia Press, Cities book, “coffle” – a line of slaves or animals fastened together. This gives me the image of old pictures and movies about processions through the jungle. Coffle is from the Arabic word for caravan.

RPGs

More on Follow Me, And Die!

1 Comment

If you think about it, wandering bands of homicidal vagrants seek hirelings to help guard the horses, carry lanterns and torches, fight monsters, haul loot, and most importantly, to die instead of a player character.

The enticements to follow a band of adventurers are all flowers, sunshine, and gold! Tales of success and riches, minimizing, glossing over, or ignoring foul, nasty beasts with mean, sharp teeth, undead, evil sorcerers, hungry trolls, etc.

The mumbled/whispered/assumed end result, “And Die! [So I don’t have to…]”, is never mentioned to potential hirelings, without a cost in treasure, or only the most untrustworthy and backstabby of sorts.

All adventurers do this, moreso with hirelings than with henchmen.

As for the realm of RPG bloggers, you might as well follow me, you’re going to die anyway, so do it, before it’s too late!

RPGs

Star Trek – Transporter Technology Is Far More Powerful Than Any Of The Series Explored

Leave a comment

Transporters are more than just for transportation.

The full potential of transporter technology was touched on briefly in a couple of episodes. Forget the episode where someone grabbed something out of the stream in TNG. How can someone reduced to their component molecules do anything? SMH

They can be used to combat all disease. You break someone down to the molecular level and put them back together and you can’t leave out the crazy germs from the planet below? Quarantine is only needed if you travel to and from the planet surface by shuttle. Even then, avoid two or three weeks in quarantine – just run them through the transporter.

Cancer? Just run them through the transporter.

Dementia? If it is from the build up of plaques, just run them through the transporter.

Heart disease? If there is a build up of a blockage, just use the all-mighty transporter.

One can be practically immortal. Even if they are killed, clones are no big deal. Run an appropriate amount of mass through the transporter and generate the last scan of the deceased, and there you have it, no more death.

The computing power alone is immense. Being able to store the data to transport 6 or more crew is more data than has been stored to electronic media to date.

Any major injury is easy to fix, use he technology of the transporter to mend bones, fix tears in arteries and veins, and ruptures in organs.

If it is possible to disintegrate a person and put them back together, then aside from metaphysical, religious, and philosophical arguments about the soul and what it means to be a person, no one would ever die again. I think of the Daffy Duck, Duck Dodgers cartoon where he steps into the disintegrater and emerges from the re-integrater.

The wealthy and powerful would have ultra secure computers to store scans of their younger selves in peak condition, and there would be a way to blend the healthy younger brain with current memories and knowledge. This would give rise to people hundreds of years old with the body of a 25 year old. They could even allow themselves to age for a few years, then use the transporter to refresh their bodies. They could work to reach a peak physical condition and make that their new baseline body.

The only injury one could not recover from is one that destroys all transporter scans of an individual. This would make the computers responsible for transporters the most secure and well defended. If anything happens to the computer responsible for handling all the data, even if the device itself is fully functional, no one could manage to make it work.

If one takes the idea of a transporter to its logical conclusion, you end up with something far more powerful and valuable than the plot device invented to limit TOS special effects budget.

I have not read a lot of the books and novels based on Star Trek, so I don’t know if this was ever explored, or retconned to say that the Federation and its allies have their transporters programmed to not allow this. However, what would stop the enemies of the Federation from doing so? there is always some rogue element in every society that uses things in a way that the rest of society considers immoral.

I read a science fiction short story, I don’t recall the name of the story or the author, back in high school or college, where they finally had the technology to revive those who had been frozen until cures could be found. The main character had to take care of his great-great grandmother or something. She was young and beautiful, and it touched on his thoughts of incest. I don’t recall if it got into actually acting on it. It turned out that those brought back were merely the shells of the actual individual and that some alien forms that did not have bodies had inhabited them and they went on killing sprees, eating their victims. They were able to access some of the memories of the deceased. I recently saw a preview online for a movie that explores this and a woman brought back from death is not really the woman. That was a few weeks ago and I don’t recall the name of that one either.

Talk about the walking dead….

RPGs

My “LARP” Experience

Leave a comment

The closest I have come to LARPing was make believe as a kid, usually cops & robbers, army, or cowboys & indians. I am old and that’s what we called it. This is a recollection, not a politically correct retcon of my childhood memories. But PC names for RPGs come to mind: LEO’s & Law Breakers, Wranglers & Aborigines, Military Confrontation.

Back in high school, our group spent several nights at a friend’s house who lived in “the country” outside of town, on various weekends. They had several acres with a creek, trees, hills, and more.

We played D&D around the campfire. We also split into teams, or did a free for all, so that the last one standing won. The contest was fought with “swords” and “spears” etc. Padding, what’s that? (I’m surprised fingers weren’t broken.)
We used weeds, called horsetails, for throwing spears. I had several and my brother was on the opposite team. He was on top of a hill. I threw this epic throw that would have nailed him in the back. It had to be 20 or more yards.
However, the sun was behind him and he saw the shadow of the spear, and he turned just in time to bat the thing aside with his sword.
Several of both teams saw this, so at least I got some kudos for my skillful throw.
We still mention my epic throw and his epic block.

After college, I met with a group involved in SCA, but I didn’t attend more than a few meetings. Some of that sounds interesting, but I have filled my time with things I like to do and don’t see myself making a new commitment without figuring out what to drop from my current activities. I did get to borrow a book with an explanation of how to do the marginal decorations in ink. We had a unit on calligraphy in my high school art class, and I was pretty good at it, and still have dip pens and some ink. I also have some felt tip calligraphy pens so I can “cheat” and do it the easy way. I haven’t really done anything game related with it, but I have a few ideas I may try out and share later.

The book also had a recipe for mead, which I made. It was quite tasty. I keep thinking that I’ll make more mead, but in over 20 years I haven’t done it. It was actually quite easy for anyone who can follow a recipe. As I recall, I liked my effort better than the mead I got at Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo last summer when a co-worker retired. My kitchen now is a lot smaller and less room for special projects than the kitchen where I lived 20 years ago. I can put on a feast for Thanksgiving, so the size of the kitchen won’t stop me. Like most things, I just have to make up my mind to do it and make it happen.

RPGs

Zombie Plague – Innnn Spaaaace!

Leave a comment

I’m sure that I’m not the first one to suggest zombies in a science fiction, post apocalypse, or Metamorphosis Alpha (MA) setting.

In my recent MA kick, I had an idea for one level to have some sort of zombie plague, whether by disease, radiation, or the effects of some plant or animal poison. Would it only affect humans, or mutated humans, or any animal forms. What about intelligent plants?

I don’t have any specific game mechanics in mind, but there are certain questions to be resolved.

    • What are the zombies after?
      • Do they want brains, entrails, or just to kill the living?
      • Are the zombies mindless killing machines, or do they have some level of intelligence.
    • Is this form of zombieism contagious? Does being killed by a zombie make you a zombie?
      • If it is caused by radiation, does any dead body left near the radiation become a zombie, or only those killed by the radiation?
      • If caused by a plant or animal poison, what are the limitations and possible antidotes to that poison?
      • If caused by a virus or microbe, is there a cure or inoculation?
    • Do you have to destroy the brain to kill them, or just do enough damage?
      • If the brain, then does it require a called shot, or some special mechanic?
        • I vote for just enough damage to keep combat moving.
    • Will their be warning signs on doors?
      • If so, will the characters be able to read or understand them?
      • What happens when the doors are opened?
        • Are their hoards of zombies on the other side, or a single one to give the players a chance.
          • I smell a random table!
    • How long will the zombies last?
      • If you have an ongoing campaign, will the zombies reach a point where they cease to be and there are no more new ones?
        • Who am I kidding? These suckers are going to happen whenever the players stumble upon them!
    • If the zombie’s quarantine/containment is breached, how far will it spread beyond the containment point?
      • Is the nature of the substance that makes a zombie able to spread throughout the ship?
    • Fast zombies or slow zombies?
      • I think let them move at 75% or so of their living speed, unless they are fresh.
        • Fresh zombies do surprise and initiative standard. (Can you tell I play AD&D?)
        • Really old zombies that are becoming skeletal would be the slow kind.
          • They could have tatters of colonists’ clothing, or crew uniforms.
            • Have a valued arm band on one of them in the midst of the swarm
            • Perhaps one of the captain’s rings could be here. (How bad do you want that ring, and will the player’s even know it is there?)
        • Not so fresh zombies only get initiative on an exceptional roll, and surprise is by chance when players stumble on one and are surprised.
          • Keep this mechanic simple and consistent.
    • Can the computer or medibots be of any use?
      • If the computer is cut off from this area of the ship, it may not be able to update the programs of the medibots.
      • There could be one or two medibots with helpful answers, including inoculations, or some sort of spray or foam that stops the zombies.
        • It depends on how detailed you want to be, and if you want to be this “nice” to the players.
    • If the players let it loose on the whole ship, are you ok with the rest of your campaign being about pockets of survivors who have zones where the zombies can’t or don’t enter?
      • If you are the referee, then you can control this however you like, just think it through to the logical conclusion. If you want a game like this, then you are OK with it being like that. If this is too much change to your vision for the campaign, you can make it work however you want; it is your campaign.
RPGs

Metamorphosis Alpha – Random Plants & Animals

Leave a comment

I posted a few days ago about my itch to dig into Metamorphosis Alpha. While starting to write this post, I realized that the Starship Warden is a megadungeon Innnn Spaaaaace. 17 levels plus the mid levels. Except like one may normally think of a dungeon, it does not have a clear 1st level equals easier. Particular locations double as both traversing the wilderness and dungeoneering. The inhabitants see themselves as travelling in wilderness, and the inter and intra level tunnels and so forth and the buildings on the habitation levels are the dungeons.

After getting that realization out of the way, on to random plants and animals.

On page 19 there is a procedure for Creating Non-Player Creature Mutations. This table focuses on animals, but is easily modified to substitute the plant mutations on page 16.

Begin by choosing the plant or animal type, then determining the number of generations for which a new mutation might be introduced. The rules say 1 – 10 generations, so a d10 easily handles that.

Then roll percentile dice for each generation to determine if a physical, mental, physical and mental, or no mutation for that generation.

Then roll 1-50, d100/2 and look at the physical and mental mutation charts, and if the roll is off the chart, there is a sub-chart for physical mutations, and for mental it always means higher intelligence.

It is simple to do the same procedure and substitute the plant mutations for the physical mutations..

Finally, there is a note that if there are two or three early generations with a defect mutation, that that organism was not viable and start over.

One need not limit themselves to the mutations available in the rules. Make up your own, or borrow from other games. There are enough options here that one need not expand unless a busy campaign with lots of players digs into a lot of options.

I rolled up one animal and one plant using this method.

Chipmunks are small and cute, so why not randomly mutate one and see what happens?

I rolled a 5 on my d10, for 5 generations. So next I rolled percentile dice for each generation to determine what kind of mutation. I came up with physical, physical, no mutation, mental, and physical. Next I rolled d50 (d100/2) for each mutation. In the first generation, I rolled a defect of skin structure change. Then I rolled heightened strength, heightened intelligence,and ended with a defect of anti-reflection, which means that a mental attack or defense has a 25% chance to backfire.

My interpretation of all this is that these are normal looking, if slightly larger chipmunks, that are physically strong, but can’t take a hit. They are smart so they know to avoid a physical fight. They have a crude mental attack ability that sometimes backfires, so they need a few more generations for this power to strengthen and for the defect to fade. These small creatures can get into nooks and crannies and might have arm bands and other useful, but small devices; and know how to use them. They don’t have the power of speech or telepathy, so communication will be crude unless a member of the party speaks chipmunk, or has telepathy.

For a plant, I did not initially specify a plant, but let’s say it’s a dandelion. I rolled 9 on a d10 for nine generations of mutations. I rolled five generations of physical mutations, one generation of mental mutations, and ended with three generations of physical mutations.

The physical mutations are: electrical or heat generation, symbiotic attachment for both the second and third generations, contact poison sap, a defect of an attractive odor, poison thorns, manipulative vines, and texture changes. The mental mutation is telekinetic arm. Since there is no heightened intelligence, there is no communicating with this plant. It merely seeks to eat to survive and reproduce.

It can generate an electric shock to stun or perhaps kill small prey. It has two methods of symbiotic attachment that allow it to control another creature. It’s manipulative vines are a refinement of it’s ability to make symbiotic attachments. It has a contact poison sap, like poison ivy, yet it has an attractive odor that puts it at risk of being uprooted before it bears seeds. It also has poison thorns that keep away unarmored creatures. I interpret this defect to be attractive to some creature or other plant that is immune to its poisons, thus making it vulnerable to specific animals. It must be armored to resist the symbiotic attachment, and have some way to minimize the effects of the telekinetic arm. This means that another creature needs to be generated to fill this niche. Perhaps the skin of this creature will allow the party to pass through an area of these plants with minimal difficulty. Or it could get all the plants in the area to gang up on the party….

The manipulative vines and telekinetic arm server to draw in nutrition from the surrounding area, whether plant or animal. Its poison sap is a weak digestive enzyme that with prolonged contact helps speed the breakdown of plant and animal matter into the soil. It has a structure change to its leaves that are rougher in texture to normal dandelions, but its characteristic bright yellow flower and white seeds remain. One thing it will do with its symbiotic attachments is control a creature to blow its seeds to reproduce. Like dandelions, unless the root is sufficiently uprooted, it can come back. Like regular dandelions, I can see there being a thick patch of these that are slowly growing and spreading throughout their area. Their symbiotic/manipulative vines have a length of 1d3 feet. Perhaps in a few generations the manipulative vines will enable these plants to move towards food, rather than merely draw it in. They could become mindless predators only seeking food when their current soil becomes used up.

It is easy to create new creatures and plants for a variety of purposes, both helpful, neutral, and dangerous. Some dangerous things could be harnessed to be of use, like poison glands, or explosive fruit.

I like how simple this was, and in a few minutes I had two new creatures. The GM can determine how long a generation is and how many generations for negative mutations to fade and something new result. Exposure to additional radiation and other environmental toxins might speed up the possibility of new mutations.

Since some levels are sealed off from others, one could easily generate different plants and animals using the same type as a starting point. One chipmunk on one level has descendants who are intelligent creatures, another remains mostly unchanged, while another might be a deadly and vicious predator.

Of course, as with any RPG, the GM is free to ignore or tweak any random roll, or just make up a creature to suit their tastes or needs.

RPGs

2015 A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal – Cities/Cities As Ruins/Cities As Megadungeons

5 Comments

Initially, I was struggling with the idea of a theme for this year’s A to Z Blogging Challenge. Last year I just picked a topic that fit the letter for that day and went with it. Then I remembered my half started project to help me deal with cities, ruined cities, and my thoughts that a large city was in many ways equivalent to a megadungeon. Indeed, a ruined city is but the surface level of a megadungeon.

I will be fleshing out general ideas and ideas for tables, and on-the-fly information for navigating a large city or ruin without advance preparation, or with a set base of preparation, like a map and a general idea of where the different quarters are, etc. Planning a ruined city relies on planning one that is inhabited, the only difference is that a ruined city needs a reason for why it is now in ruins.

This project is as much a tool to help me as it is to share my insights with others.

I will reference past articles on some of these topics. Some information I may have previously only collected information and not yet made an article. I wrote at least a rough outline of each article and have them scheduled to post. I have been going back to each one and adding, revising, cross linking, and otherwise trying to improve them. So far, I don’t have as many tables as I initially envisioned, but I do have many lists I will work to develop tables or clean up for a list of ideas on various topics. Since this topic is so much on my mind of late, I am linking to posts that have come up and continue to be published by others. One relatively new blog, Lost Kingdom, has coincidentally, published articles that tie very well into mine, and I link to their articles for more details. Trying to find the time to read all of their past articles is a challenge, but well worth the effort.

Building a city for an RPG, whether a living city, or a fallen, ancient one, requires thinking it through and populating it in a pattern that fits. Not everyone needs this level of detail to guide them in creating their cities. I often just determine that there are so many of this or that business and don’t worry about a map. This project is for improving the level of preparation by creating a sort of checklist to touch on, to help DM’s that aren’t so good at spur of the moment to have some ideas to help with improvising their cities.

I look forward to feedback and ideas to fill in gaps.

There will be new tables for some things, and my detailed slant on how to build cities/ruined cities. Of course, in the A to Z Challenge format, it won’t be a complete system, but will contain points and questions to ponder for anyone developing a city. Some of these ideas will translate into building cities for any genre of RPG.

I will quote myself from my Post-Con Write Up of Marmalade Dog 20 and a relevant conversation I had with Adam Muszkiewicz:

When Adam and I were talking the topic of random tables and drop tables and all the dice tables came up. I mentioned that I am slowly crafting an all the dice type table to help me generate area of an ancient “abandoned” city for houses, building, and other features. Adam pointed me to a display at Roy’s booth for Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad, Winter 2014, Issue #1. Pages 10 and 11 have a neighborhood generator, and pages 12 and 13 have a gang generator. The neighborhood generator has a lot of ideas that I am looking for so I bought it.

I am going to enjoy this!

All my posts on megadungeons, and cities.

I also have a list of those RPG bloggers that used the (GA) tag on the A to Z Sign Up Page. I didn’t have time to look for those that didn’t use a tag, so if you want to be on my list, just let me know your number on the sign up list. My list, 2015 A TO Z CHALLENGE – RPG BLOGGERS, is on the right side of my blog under the A To Z Challenge logo.

[UPDATE] I went to each of the RPG blogs signed up for this year’s challenge, and only a couple of them appear to be participating in the theme reveal, so I wait, as do all of us until perhaps later today, or April 1st, when the posts begin.

[UPDATE 2] Here is a link to the List of Those Signed up for the April, 2014 A to Z blogging challenge.

RPGs

Grimtooth’s Ultimate Traps Kickstarter Update

Leave a comment

I came home from running some errands to find this announcement in my email. This Kickstarter was funded at just over ten times its initial goal, and all of its stretch goals were funded.

Hello, Grimtooth backers! Just wanted to give you a quick status update on one fun part of the project: the DCC/Grimtooth crossover adventure module. Jobe Bittman has finished the manuscript and Doug Kovacs has finished the cover art. Here is a preview of the current cover design! We are still playing with the typesetting so the final font details may change a bit, but I thought you might enjoy seeing Grimtina in action!

If art and typesetting is the only fiddly bits they have, it won’t be long now. Estimated delivery is July, 2015, and unless something totally out of the blue happens, there is no reason to think that this won’t ship on time.