Tag Archives: Take One Thing and Expand on It

Creatures Inspired By Song Lyrics

Over lunch today, when I ran out for a quick errans, the Genesis’ song, Invisible Touch came on the radio. This part stood out,  She reaches in, grabs right hold of your heart…. takes control and slowly tears you apart.

My Idea

Take a metaphorical song literally then give it an RPG spin. I googled the lyrics and this whole thing can be a horror show if read literally.

I’ve got ideas for a couple of genres rattling around in my mind just from this song.

One can easily take other love songs literally and see what ideas it sparks. It isn’t just love songs, but any song or poetry or metaphorical writing. Some can be weird, odd, creepy, and disturbing if taken literally. Which is perfect for RPGs!

Fantasy Monster

The first thing that came to mind was a variant on a succubus. In AD&D [Affiliate Link]a succubus has a charm ability, so that you can’t resist. What is worse than gladly going to the thing that will rip out your heart and dismember you?

Better yet, a new creature. Something with a charm ability, illusion, or mind power. A completely hideous creature that ensnares its victims to lure them in for the kill. A single creature would need to be very tough to deal with a party. So if not super tough, it would need cunning to avoid going against a large number.

I can see three options for this:
  1. Something tougher than a single person.
  2. Something about as tough as or tougher than the party.
  3. A group, family, or pack of the creature.

In all cases this could be a creature of animal intelligence with some sort of special ability and the cunning to avoid large groups. What would be scarier than a party member being charmed and cheerfully walking off into the forest when they’re on watch? The next day all that is found is what’s left.

It could be a cursed spell caster that has to eat the heart of someone on a regular basis and their use their magic to lure them in close, or some variant on lycanthrope.

A large intimidating creature that gives the party pause when faced with fighting it. A group that makes the odds of a straight up fight unappealing to the party.

I’m also reminded of how mindflayers use their mental powers so they can eat your brain. Another creature could do the same and eat all your innards.

Science Fiction Creature/Alien

I thought of the the salt vampire from The Man Trap, the first episode broadcast of Star Trek.  Either through a doppleganger effect or a mind trick, they get close enough to get you alone. Similar tricks might take place on other planets.

There could be a pheromone, since it’s an invisible touch.

An intelligent group of aliens may have developed technology to amplify the effect to be more successful in attracting food.

Beast or intelligent being from another planet has a symbiotic plant, bacterium, or small animal that attracts the prey. Or some sort of attached lure.

I had an idea a few months ago that I don’t recall if I wrote down. Have an intelligent species of alien with an attraction odor. Any species attracted by it’s odor that gets eaten is obviously not intelligent. Not all humans are vulnerable to it, but the aliens have trouble distinguishing those that claim to be a part of an intelligent species from prey.

Talk about a diplomatic issue! Respect each other’s culture. The rules come down to a planet controlled by humans follows human laws and norms, and any human on a planet controlled by the alien has to be tested for sensitivity to the attraction factor before they are allowed on the surface. Smugglers and survivors of crashes will have a “fun” time avoiding the locals long enough to get to the embassy.

Stats

I always do better with the descriptive part of creatures. The mechanics always frustrate me trying to come up with something good.

The easy way is to find something roughly equivalent in HD and special abilities of other creatures.

So for a beast, something like a lion or tiger in power with an attraction ability.

For intelligent creatures, take the stats of a doppleganger, or mind flayer.

For a pack, choose dire wolves.

For a large creature choose a bulette.

Then change the skins, AKA re-skin them to fit the description.

Example of Re-Skinning

I used Swords & Wizardry Core monsters and took the doppelganger, wolf, and dragon stats for a base for re-skinning.

Doppelganger
Hit Dice: 4
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Attacks: Claw (1d12)
Saving Throw: 13 (5 against any magic)
Special: Mimics shape, immune to sleep and charm spells
Move: 9

The doppelganger will be the basis for an intelligent creature that prowls lonely places seeking whatever mysterious things it wants, needs, or desires. It is strong and can rip open an adult. It uses its shape shifting ability to appear weak or injured.

Lone Prowler
Hit Dice: 4
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Attacks: Claw (1d12)
Saving Throw: 13 (5 against any magic)
Special: Mimics shape, immune to sleep and charm spells
Move: 9

Wolves will form the smaller creatures that rip one to shreds, and the whole pack can join in the fun. Stalkers are fearsome creatures, one of whom could lay low a hapless traveler. Then tend to travel in packs of 4 to 12 and can challenge a family or other group by themselves.

Stalkers
Hit Dice: 2+2
Armor Class: 7 [12]
Attacks: Bite (1d8)
Saving Throw: 16
Special: None
Move: 18

Finally, the red dragon will inform the large fearsome beast. the spiked devil is a ravenous creature, preferring the soft innards of its victims, but also know to swallow smaller prey whole. It is named for the pointy protrusions covering its body. It has been known to eat the tenderest parts of a herd then work its way through the bodies.

Spiked Devil
Hit Dice: 9–11
Armor Class: 2 [17]
Attacks: 2 claws (1d8), bite (3d10), tail slap (1d10)
Saving Throw: 6, 5, or 4
Special: Prehensile tongue rips out heart of victim within 20 feet before it can fall on a 20. DEX save for victim.
Move: 9/24 (flying)

 

My Process

Someone on my G+ post about Saturday’s blog post about prepping to launch a Patreon said they’d like to know what my process is. I will endeavor to lay out how ideas come to me.

Connections

I see connections between things that most people don’t see. Someone says ‘X’, and I almost immediately think of ‘Y’. When someone asks how I came up with ‘Y’, I lay out all the points between the two. It is all about what my mind picks up and adds to my knowledge store. I don’t have eidetic memory, but I seem to be good at remembering various facts. It makes me very good at Trivial Pursuit and Jeopardy. Even some categories where I have a weak knowledge, I am able to come up with answers.

Sometimes I hear a word and it triggers a train of thought with unanticipated results. It is also a curse, as this can find a connection that takes me back in time to some memory I’d rather not recall.

I have also seen words “sideways” that at a glance the word or phrase I think I see isn’t the word or phrase that is there. In some words, changing the order of a couple letters gives a different word. Or the order of the words is reversed.  I’m probably the only one to get a chuckle out of the weird things that result. An example is “Isle of Wights” instead of the Isle of Wight. An additional letter makes it a dangerous place of undead.

Visual

I am a visual person, so when I had the question in Trivial Pursuit of which state is surrounded by the most other states, I started by narrowing the focus. I focused on the continental US, and eliminated the coastal and border states. Next I eliminated the big Western states. Because I know the states and have a mental map of the state boundaries within the boundary of the US, I could count the states surrounding the states that didn’t have a coast or international border. I won’t give away the answer, but the state is surrounded by eight other states.

Metaphors

When I try to explain things to people, especially technical things, I have metaphors come to mind to help explain things. I work with financial software and users who don’t know accounting always want to treat the budget like how much money they have. I point out that the budget is like Monopoly money. You can have a budget of a million dollars, but if you don’t have a million dollars in the bank, you can’t spend that much.

My metaphors are sometimes ridiculous, but they can help me to develop ideas with an RPG.

Alliteration

I have gone on kicks with alliteration on several blog posts over the years. Sometimes I see it as a challenge to some up with a list that is all alliteration. I think the last one I did was a six word dungeon challenge, and I did A to Z with six alliterative words for each letter of the alphabet.

Narrow the Focus

The concept of narrowing the focus is the same one I use in my day job of troubleshooting client issues. I do high end tech support for financial applications. I’m the senior tech, so end up digging into SQL to figure out where the data went wrong. I’ve used the programs so long, that except for the newer features, I can see the menu options in my mind’s eye and can talk a client through all the menu clicks without looking at the program.

My brother used to tease me about my spouting off apparently random facts in the middle of conversations because someone would say something that fired off something in my mind. He’d say, “And yet another entry into the book of useless facts and worthless information.” I still slip up sometimes and don’t give the right contextual information when that happens and when I say something, I manage to put my foot in my mouth.

RPG Filter

When it comes to RPGs, I don’t always remember to flip the switch to think about some random thought in an RPG context. However, when I do, I can spit out a detailed string of ideas that are fun and interesting for RPGs. I usually take my real life knowledge and experience and just run things to a logical conclusion.

For some ideas, I can run out of steam before it looks complete. Kind of like McCoy going from “It’s so easy a child could do it!” to struggling to recall the simplest detail in the “Spock’s Brain” episode of TOS.

Then for other ideas, the ideas keep flowing and I can’t write or type fast enough to keep up.

Intentionality

I am sure that if I would be intentional about applying an RPG filter to what I think about on a consistent daily basis, I could leverage it more. Historically, I have tended to go in spurts where a lot of information flows until I hit an eventual drought of ideas. I have yet to identify a consistent set of rules that makes this work for me.

One year on the blog I posted an article every day. I did leverage the bursts of creativity, and I would write multiple articles in a day. Then I would schedule them to post on consecutive days, with the most pressing first. I managed to have several weeks of posts done in advance, and would have multiple posts on days when there was a timely idea.

Organization

I have been lax in my organization, and have multiple notebooks and computer files with all kinds of ideas. Applying organization to the madness will help.

Self Care

My greatest nemesis is the crazy busy time at work December through February. It ends up sapping my energy and creativity to a ridiculous degree. I have not found a solution to deal with that. I am sure it is diet, exercise, and enough sleep. I have always struggled with that.

Personal Knowledge Base

I’ve played different RPGs since back in the day. AD&D, Metamorphosis Alpha, Gamma World, Boot Hill, Top Secret, Gangbusters, Star Frontiers, Marvel Superheroes, Traveller. Also some exposure to, like one game of Tunnels and Trolls, Runequest, and some others. We also made our own space games. We had a space pirate game that was a board game. We had a planetary war game where two planets were at war. We also made a space RPG that had a little bit of something from every RPG we had or new about, with lots of our own ideas.

I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy back in the day. I don’t read as regularly as I used to but still read SF & Fantasy. I’ve been reading the Appendix N authors I never read back in the day. For example, in recent years, I have read the Dying Earth series and Conan. I’ve read many of the Tarzan books, John Carter of Mars, the Venus series, and some others by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Some, such as The Hobbit and LOTR I have read multiple times.

I have a strong interest in history and have a BA in history. My interest is on the ancient near east and Mediterranean, and Europe from ancient times up through WWII. I have pulled out old college history books and re-read them. I’ve read history of other regions and eras too.

I tend to get lost reading an article in an encyclopedia and all the side references. The arrival of Wikipedia online has caused me to lose many hours of follow the rabbit trails of connected knowledge. I see something that catches my interest, read it and see things mentioned that peak my curiosity. The next thing I know I’ve got a dozen or so tabs open of things I want to know more about.

I’ve studied four languages other than English or programming languages. Spanish for three years in high school, German for three semesters in college, and koine Greek and Biblical Hebrew in grad school. I also know a smattering of words and phrases in a few miscellaneous languages that have not been incorporated into the English lexicon.

My high school actually had a geography class. I have always liked maps. I wish I still had all the maps I colored in with colored pencils.

All the books and articles I’ve read, TV shows, movies, and plays I’ve watched, people I’ve met or observed, places I’ve been, and things I’ve done all inform how I view the world and I draw on them automatically when working an RPG idea.

I have 80% of the first draft of a sci fi/fantasy novel. The idea came to me in 1985 or so. I didn’t start writing it down until 2009 or so. I only had the first chapter until I did NaNoWriMo in 2014 and got to where it is now. I exceeded 50,000 words so I “completed” the challenge. It actually wasn’t that hard to do. I just sat down and did it, and was cranking 3,000 plus words some days. As with most first drafts, it’s terrible. I really need to do the last few chapters so I can do the second draft.

Blogging

The hardest part of blogging is staying on topic. I can easily start off in one place, and go down a side passage of an idea, and end up entirely off the point I intended to make. This is why my posts are so long at times. I’ve got several posts in my drafts that don’t say what I meant to say, and I don’t know how to fix them (apart from starting over) but don’t want to delete them in case I can somehow use them. I have over 700 posts and can easily do a “new” post and later discover I wrote a nearly identical post a few years ago.

What I like about blogging, is that it allows me to capture my ideas, so I can come back to them later.

Conclusion

I think my process is similar to others. Each of us makes connections between ideas in our own way. Through repetition and intentional practice, we can get better at it.

Forgiveness Factor

While I was doing my dishes from supper, my thoughts wandered and for some reason, people from my past whose reactions to minor slights came to mind. I thought of those who had a negative reaction to something minor (in my perception), and some had a strongly negative reaction that colored how we interacted from then on.

RPG Angle

The RPG aspect of this came to me. What if we classified NPCs based on their reactions to slights, errors, and failures? This could apply to any NPC, but it would be more interesting to use it for pre-selected NPCs so you can plan out how a negative reaction manifests.

More simply, those who hire PCs to do a job might be offended by some cultural gaffe that is generally considered inappropriate. The leader of the town takes it personally and from then on only turns to the PCs for help when there is no other choice. Reneging on payment, setting them up to fail, and outright vengeance such as hired assassins. The reactions some people have to things can come across as flat out insane.

It could be that only one character has earned the ire of the NPC, and they try to convince the others to leave the offender out of their business dealings.

Rough Tables

Here are some rough tables to outline what I’m thinking. This definitely needs more polish, but I want to get the idea down while it is fresh. Keep in mind that these are for individuals who have a petty mind and make lemons seem sweet. They will be abrupt, just the facts, get the offender(s) out of their presence ASAP.

Some of the behaviors will be actively avoiding the offender(s). For example, never using the same door as the offender(s), pretending to not be home, pretending they don’t see or hear the offender, etc.

Minor Slight & how perceived by the offended:

  • Minor – No big deal (This doesn’t belong here because you didn’t make it to THE LIST.)
  • Minor but it rankles to their dying day. They tell everyone about it, and when the offender is present will point them out to all who will hear. Look down their nose at the offender(s).
  • Medium –
  • Major –
  • The worst thing ever! They see the offender as their nemesis.

Disposition to the Player(s):

  • Neutral – What can the player(s) do for me? Won’t voluntarily aid the player(s), without some great compulsion.
  • Negative, Minor – Will throw up red tape, delays, and generally unhelpful. Player(s) will sit in the waiting room and will always go in last, unless there is for some reason, another person or group higher on THE LIST.
  • Negative, Medium – Will instruct underlings to not help the player(s). Some underlings will be apologetic for their superior’s behavior. No guilt about sending player(s) on a suicide mission. Disappointed if they survive, even if a success.
  • Negative, Major – Underlings are instructed to actively delay, hinder, annoy, and seek to damage the offender(s). Damage may be to reputation, relationships, or life.
  • Negative, Ridiculous – Will hire others to maim or kill the offender(s).

Can it be rectified?

Is there anyway to remove the animosity? For some, they may just drop a notch on their disposition to the offender(s).

  • Charm Person and Suggestion can temporarily resolve it.
  • Forget if cast close enough in time to the affront.
  • Only a Limited Wish, Wish, or Alter Reality spell could do it.
  • Divine intervention.
  • Saving their life.
    • For some not even saving their life will make them change their mind.
  • Saving a loved one’s life.
    • For some this too is not enough.
  • Taking out someone higher on THE LIST than the offender(s).
    • May not work for some.

Conclusion

The above is only a rough idea of what can be done with this idea. A similar exercise with other traits of people you have encountered in life can be used to build a similar set of tables.  Not all tables need be rollable tables. They can be idea tables that you read to get a kickstart for brainstorming your own ideas.

Have you had success with filtering an idea through an RPG lense to get something to help you with game preparation or use at the table? Please share it in the comments!

Patreon On The Horizon

I finally realized that what I already do on my blog is worthy of starting a Patreon. I had a moment of clarity while cleaning and organizing my office. I work from home, and my personal computer and gaming stuff is all in the same space. I let things go for too long. I am not done, but the freedom that comes from less physical clutter has the added benefit of less mental clutter.

Back at the end of January, 2017, I did a blog post, Trap Idea – Take One Thing and Expand on It. There was a post on Reddit asking for trap ideas for a kobold infested dungeon. The first thing I thought of was a trap door that is so fast leaving a puff of smoke and a pile of dust that makes the players think that the individual was disintegrated. Then have the NPC or character show up later either on their own, or discovered by the others.

I took this idea and I ran with it in that blog post and came up with all kinds of ideas for how kobolds could leverage a trap infested dungeon.

After I read an article or other mention of how silver plates and utensils were used to fight germs, I wrote another article on my blog, Magic Item(s) – Table Service is about magical dishes that defeat poison. That article spawned another article, More Magic Dishes, about things other than poison. And another article, More Variation on Magic Items, to be something other than the standard rings, wands, and staves.

My idea for a Patreon is to let patrons both vote on ideas, or submit their own, for me to Take One Thing And Expand On It.

I can then collect all these ideas into a PDF and patrons get it for no additional cost, and I put it up on OBS for non-patrons.

The end result will be a collection of tables and ideas to help others with their game prep and help fuel their own creativity.

Many of these ideas are not tied to specific RPGs or versions of RPGs, so as long as I don’t mention or use rules based on OGL materials, it won’t need the OGL or other game license.

I think having a monthly poll in the form of [Creature] doing [x], or [Everday item with an RPG twist.], or other table to meet a need because there isn’t a table, or if some existing tables don’t do quite what you want.

Initially, I will pull together my existing blog posts that fit and put them into individual PDFs, with spelling and grammar cleaned up, and possible additional material. I’ll do the first one as a free download/PWYW. This will give something for potential patrons to see what I have before committing to a pledge.

I will also discuss development of my card game, no spoilers, just some mention of progress and struggles. Eventually, the card game will be on Kickstarter, once all the ducks are in a row.

I will have coordination between my blog, YouTube, and Anchor podcast for things relating to Patreon. I will continue my YouTube series, Roll20 For The Absolute Beginner. My blog and podcast will also continue to cover topics I have in the pipeline, and otherwise want to cover.

A few months ago, I laid the groundwork for a Discord channel, G+ Group, and Facebook group for patrons. Since I already researched the requirements for a Patreon, I know that it will take a couple weeks to get all the particulars in order of how I want it done. I also need to get set up on OBS as a publisher. It has been a few years since I first looked into what that takes.

My thoughts are for the Patreon to be a monthly pledge with sensible tiers. I have played around with various ways of handling tiers. I still don’t quite have tiers the way I want, so that will take some more time.

Finally, since I want to have something “ready to go” to offer patrons when the Patreon goes live, I need time to work on that. All of this juggled around work, chores, and grandpa time. At the earliest, I could probably pull it off in two weeks, but I want it to be done well. At the outside, I’d like to have it live by Labor Day. I also need to factor in getting up and running as a publisher on OBS.

I value what a supportive group of patrons can do with giving feedback and an eye to detail on PDFs that will eventually go on OBS. I’ve seen that model on other Patreons I support.

I have a seven part checklist for all the things I need to do for becoming a publisher on OBS and starting a Patreon. Most of these same steps are items on my to do to get ready for the eventual Kickstarter of my card game.

You can hear the Podcast episode about this here.

You can see my YouTube video about this here.

Trap Idea – Take One Thing and Expand on It

Take something simple, and think of all the ways this could be used, it could all be in the same dungeon, or series of dungeons/tombs. Perhaps all the tomb builders of a certain epoch used them.

I’m just now dipping my toes into Reddit and decided to build on a comment I made to a thread asking for trap ideas for a kobold infested dragon cave. [It’ll be at least 30 days before I can make my own subreddit. You can find me here.]

Have a giant rock or cube the shape of the corridor fill up the space.
It doesn’t have to kill. Use it to stop entrance or exit and otherwise direct the adventurers along the path most favorable to the kobolds.
Think of all the ways you can use a giant block of stone to impede and frustrate their efforts. Be sure to think in 3 dimensions.

Examples with a 10X10X10 dungeon corridor.

  • The block that falls can’t be pushed or pulled as it is a tight fit and there is a slight lip in the floor around its base.
  • The block falls just in front to make them turn back or aside at an intersection.
  • The block falls after they enter a room and exit on opposite wall has one that will fall before they can leave the room.
    • There can be no exit and the party waits for rescue or attack, or figures a way out.
    • There can appear to be no exit, but there is a secret door or trap door in the flor/ceiling.
    • The room is water tight or mostly water tight. Maybe there is a secret drain that opens up when the room is full and the occupants are passed out.
    • The room is airtight and the party passes out 1d6 rounds after the torches go out.
      • If no fire-based light and they have magic light, perhaps it lasts several hours or days before they pass out. It all depends on the size of the room.
    • The cliche walls/floors/ceilings of spikes close in.
      • Have it stop a few feet from the players independent of their efforts to stop it and the floor drops out from under them.
      • How can you make that fun & different?
        • Hallucinogenic poison makes them think they can see through or walk through walls….
        • Instead of filling with water or sewage, fill it with snow, ice cubes, or gold (molten if you’re mean.).
  • Have a giant stone fall so fast that the party doesn’t see the person in the lead simultaneously fall through a trap door. The person appears to have been squished into paste. If it’s an NPC, you can have them show up in a totally unexpected place. If a player, they will have to play along, depending on how strongly you want a big reveal that they aren’t dead.
    • Related to this have a cloud of dust roiling as the person who sprung a trap falls through a trap door so fast it looks like they disappeared. All that is left is a pile of dust on the floor. You know, like they were disintegrated.
  • Spring a trap door and a stone block falls:
    • It can crush those below it, or have enough of a lip to seal the pit.
    • The pit could be a container that is replaced by a block, i.e. slid aside, before the stone falls. Those looking down will see those in the pit slide away. think fast and step back….
  • Have ways the kobolds can easily move blocks out of the way, and players will come back around and the stones are gone….
    • Sliding walls can receive the block that is pushed across the hallway and an elevator contraption reloads the trap.
    • Other creative mechanisms. They don’t all have to be automated.
      • They could require kobolds or their prisoners to use a “hamster wheel” like used for ancient & medieval cranes.
      • It could require ropes and pullies and work gangs of kobolds to reset.
  • A stone block actually is a secret room but the players have to find it in the portion facing them.
    • The secret door could lead to the passage on the other side.
    • The secret door could lead to the room to the side of the block. The block could be two blocks wide with a portion of the wall part of the enormous Tetris-like block.
      • If not an extra big block in a Tetris-like shape, don’t [Oops, what did I mean to say?] the person who finds and opens the secret door…
  • Add in trap doors in the ceiling and floor for kobolds to drop down on the part or come up behind them, or to have cover/concealment for firing at the party.
  • Add in sliding walls to open firing platforms or direct players trough a maze. They can be automated when they step on a trigger or require the kobolds to have enough of them to keep up with the party’s advance.
  • You can even throw in a gelatinous cube being dropped from the ceiling…. They’re 10′ cubes, at least in the versions I play.
    • There could be a nesting ground of them above the dungeon level and when ceilings open up under their weight, they fall.
      • Or the dungeon designers seeded them and have triggers to let them drop at the right time and place.
    • Use sliding floors to reveal a 10′ cube pit with a gelatinous cube in it. Remember its pseudopods can draw in food.
    • Have a couple that are particularly full of treasure  and well back-lit to help overcome the party’s reluctance to fight it.
    • Drop cubes at opposite ends of corridors when the party is at halfway, and stone blocks drop behind the gelatinous cubes.
    • Swap out any other kind of slime, mold, or jelly.
  • In addition to all of the above, the blocks and such can be used to direct wandering monsters, whether intelligent or not, into the party. Why should the kobold fight when the big nasties they found in here can do it for them?
  • Swap stone for ice, have a Wall of Ice spell go off in the right shape. Remember in AD&D a falling wall of ice is like an ice storm….
    • Swap stone for anything else you can think of.
  • Use round stones, a la Indiana Jones.
    • Pick other fun shapes to make the trap stand out and either be a time waster for the party to puzzle over, or really be a puzzle.

In the above examples, determine if the kobolds (or other intelligent monster) found these existing traps and embraced them, or if they are of their own construction. Or are the kobolds maintaining what they found, but “not up to code?”

For comic relief, roll for a chance for the kobolds to pull the wrong lever at the wrong time revealing their rope-powered winches and pullies. Roll for surprise to see if the Kobolds can recover before they are noticed. Except for the noise behind the party….

I started with a stone block and added in pits, moving walls, floors, and ceilings, and so forth. In the same way, start with something simple and look at it just a bit differently.

  • What can you do with it that you or a player wouldn’t expect?
  • What can you do with it with and without magic? (Technology for other genres.)
  • Find one of your child’s or grandchild’s toys or other household item.  What can you do with that?
  • Pay attention to the things you see at the big box stores or hardware store.
  • What overheard conversation from public places sparks an idea?

Don’t limit yourself to traps. You can do this with secret doors, hidden compartments, etc.

If you grab onto one of these ideas of taking one thing and going with it, you can end up with ideas coming so fast that you can’t keep up with them. Embrace those moments. Make notes, organize them, make tables and charts to help generate more ideas. (There’s another series of articles for the blog in all this too!)

 

 

Magic Item – Artist’s Pencil, Pen, or Brush

A continuation of articles in the vein of marionettes and mimes.

The artist’s tool, whether a pencil, pen, or brush allows the artist to draw anything they can imagine.

The ability to draw functional/believable/recognizable items is granted by this item. If desired roll d% to gauge the artistic skill of the user for the remainder of the time they use this item. Low being child-like, and high being skilled or masterful.

Doors or openings drawn on dungeon walls do not guarantee an empty room on the other side. If a wall only has an expanse of solid stone indicated on the map, a room of sufficient size to hold the user and any companions is created. However, such random rooms have a chance to be populated from one of the creatures on the wandering monster charts for the level, either as per the dungeon key, the monster manual or other source. Roll for a random encounter as per the rules or as indicated on the dungeon key.

Such a room may be exited by the prior door, or a new door drawn on the wall. If it is again on a wall with only solid rock beyond repeat the procedure. A room exists as long as it is populated. Once the last creature leaves that room, it fades in 1d6 turns. NOTE: There is a 10% chance that such a room contains a door to a random location in the dungeon, or anywhere in the multiverse. Be creative! HINT: One of the locations for one of the One Page Dungeon Contests is good!

Items are of temporary duration, i.e. a single use or number of rounds or turns as specified by the DM. For example, a key drawn for a lock will only be good for that lock. Some DM’s may choose to rule that a new key must be drawn each time a lock is used.

A weapon or armor, such as a sword and shield may be used for one combat, one day, or one adventure, at the DM’s discretion.

Items can be drawn on any surface, even mid-air, such as a wall.

Magical pigments enhance the duration and effectiveness of magical brushes. Likewise magical inks do the same for magical pens.

The DM can rule there is a set number of uses or a way to maintain its effectiveness.

Cursed Artist’s Tool – These items cause the bearer to become obsessed with some hidden knowledge and they cannot stop their writing of long passages of prose, poetry, and equations. If they stop to eat they will draw the meal they need. If they stop to sleep, they will draw the magical chamber with a guardian to protect them.

Woe be to those who disturb the writings and so forth of the artist! this will cause him or her to not trust the one(s) to do this, and treat them with disdain or send drawings to deal with them.

If any try to take the tool from them, they grow enraged and resist with the strength of an ogre and the dexterity of a master thief. Anything they draw or paint to assist them in continuing their efforts will last until they are destroyed or the curse is removed.

Items drawn such as weapons will animate and defend the user while he or she continues their search for the truth. Each item drawn takes one round, and takes action on the following round.  If the artist is attacked successfully mid-drawing, the object has a 50% chance of being malformed but still helping the artist, or a wild and malevolent creation that first defends the artist, and if all are slain, then going after the artist to retrieve the tool and take it to some random location in the multiverse. NOTE: One of the locations for one of the One Page Dungeon Contests is good!

The artist will insist that they are on to something. The DM can plan the seed or allow the player to suggest something. There is a chance that there is some kernel of truth to this quest for truth. If the player convinces others that there is meaning and they go in search of glory or treasure, let them.

The type of crazy the artist has is player’s choice, calm, quiet, and brooding; Jack Nicholson in The Shining; crazed and wild eyed and excited, or raving etc.

Variation on Cursed Artist’s Tool – Instead of the mind altering version, this version causes any item drawn to benefit opponents of the bearer, a la Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.

Magic Item – Beret of the Mime

After yesterday’s spell and magic items, I have the idea of mimes.

The item is a beret that when worn requires the wearer to not speak to gain its benefits. Upon wearing the hat, they will know its requirements. NOTE: Some berets are accompanied by white gloves, and the most impressive items are a complete outfit of beret, white gloves, black and white striped shirt, black pants, and black shoes. If a complete outfit, the wearer must wear the entire outfit for the item to be effective. If only a hat or gloves, the wearer may wear armor. If a magic ring is worn, and they have a hat and gloves or full suit, they may wear only one glove….

The player will have to speak only to describe the actions of the player, or better yet, act them out!

Instead of using a bow, make a great demonstration of drawing and shooting a bow, and the imagined missile(s) become real and do real damage. These are magical items with a plus based on how well the player describes or mimes their actions. The damage will be a die based on how well they describe their actions. Minimal effort d4, good effort d6, really getting into it and drawing a powerful bow with fine arrows d8.

The mime beret allows the bearer to mime any action.

If they are being charged by a huge foe, like a giant or an army, the bearer can mime raising their arms as if there is a huge barrier now erected before their foes. This barrier will likewise limit/protect friends on the correct side.

When food and water run out, they can mime eating and drinking motions and satisfy their needs.

If they are injured, they can mime sewing up their wounds, binding them, or merely wiping them away.

They can mime loading and firing a ballista or siege weapon, or drawing a sword.

If the player can “sell it” the DM can allow it. Damage, healing and other effects in game are at the DM’s discretion.

For example, mimicking prayer for divine intervention will give an added chance to their normal roll based on how well they sell it. If a diety has not been specified prior to the attempt, a random diety will be attracted by the petitioner.

If the wearer speaks without first removing the beret, its operation is interrupted for 1d12 rounds after speaking stops.

Cursed Beret of the Mime – The wearer is trapped in a box every morning until they mime pulling a key out of their pocket and opening the door. The first time they put on the hat, this box immediately appears. Speech is prohibited, the wearer can make no sound. NPC’s will automatically understand the mime and go along with him or her, but fellow players will have to figure it out for themselves. The hat cannot be removed without remove curse.

Over time the face of the wearer of the cursed item will become more and more pale, until it is white, while the lips will redden.

Magic Item – Marionette

All I needed was this image that showed up in my G+ feed on this article. I haven’t read the article, I’m just going with what the image spurred in my imagination. I then had ideas for two more posts for the following days.

My idea is for both a spell and related magic items.

[I had this and subsequent ideas and couldn’t help myself other than to hurry up and write them down.  This is not polished, but gives the general idea.]

Spell: Marionette

AoE: one marionette and “twin” (or one higher value marionette)

Range: Touch/Control Range:

Components: V,S,M (the marionette or set, they are not consumed)

Duration: 2 turns plus 1 turn/level.

Level: 3

An independent “doll” free of strings is controlled by its “twin” connected to the strings of the control bars. The twin does not have to be identical in size. For example, it could dance on the caster’s palm and be easy to conceal/carry. In all other ways it must be substantially identical. Both items must be made by the same craftsman. One cannot mix and match the full-sized marionette with a different twin with a control bar. So if one item is ruined, the same craftsman is required to fix or replace it. Minimal sets of 100gp value are needed. Finely crafted sets of at least 1,000 gp may be crafted into magic items.

After the spell is cast, the caster may let go of the control bars, which will hang suspended in the air, to add protection spells, such as fire, cold, normal missiles. If the caster is interrupted while the control bar is thus suspended, the marionette will run away and behave in a mischievous manner that will be troublesome to friend and foe alike for the remainder of the spell’s duration.

Variation: A single marionette with control bar may be constructed of 3 times normal value. The marionette will walk free of the strings when the spell is cast. If the strings are damaged/separated from the marionette before the casting of the spell, it will not function, and the spell cast using such a component will fail.

Weight limit –20 gp/2 pounds.

Assisting Spells: Invisibility to make it stealthy, in addition to soft feet or shoes. Other types of protection spells may be cast on the marionette by the caster to make it more resilient/capable in its “mission”

Good for scouting, retrieving small items, etc.

Size: Small
HD: d4
Atks: none
AC: 6

Higher level casters can control tougher/larger dolls.

Wood –

Bronze –

Iron –

Other metals, such as adamantite or mithril require the ability to cast the spell for an iron marionette.

Design can be very plain or  very detailed but must be high quality materials and high quality workmanship the base wooden model minimum value 100 gold pieces.

Variation of spell – The marionette is able to leave the strings while the spellcaster manipulates the control bar.

If the spellcaster is damaged while controlling marionette there is a chance to lose control of the marionette. If the marionette is out of control there is a chance for the spell caster to regain control if control is not regained the marionette will act independently based on the last commands given, but will have the chance of a variation of that or random behavior.

If the control device is damaged the marionette is free and acting in a random manner there is a 1% chance per level for the spell caster to regain control long enough to end this behavior.

If the marionette is damaged while during the course of the spell the magic user must make a  saving throw or be stunned for 1d6 rounds.
If the marionette does not return to the control device before the ending of the spell, the magic user has 1d 6 hours to retrieve a marionette. There is a 50% chance that the spell will not work on this marionette for 1d6 days
The magic user may have multiple marionettes but only one marionette spell may be active on one marionette or set at a time.

Opposing spell casters of a higher level have a 1% chance per level to counter the spell and take over the marionette if they have a control device specified for this purpose there is a 30% chance + 1% chance per level of achieving this action.

Detection spells for information gathering maybe cast on the marionette prior to leaving the caster’s presence or a high level spell caster May enchant a marionette with these abilities 10% of all marionettes found will be marionettes with one or more detection spell capabilities.

Greater Marionette – Enables control of larger versions of medium or even large sized. This is a 5th level spell.

Magic Items:

Control Bar and strings for a marionette. Designed to control an independent marionette without the need to have its “twin”. Give the bearer a 30% chance + 1% per level to take control of an opposing caster’s marionette. It does not allow taking control of the marionette of a user with their own control bar. Some street performers have amazed their audiences with such items. Some of these are thieves who use their marionettes after the show for their foul purposes. The rich and powerful often pay handsomely for such an item for themselves or a spoiled child.

Necromancer’s control bar – Allows one to control a bone marionette, basically a skeleton. It animates an otherwise non-animated skeleton for 1d6 turns. The skeleton is in all respects as a skeleton, but able to do complex actions while under the control of the user. At the end of the duration of control, the skeleton falls to dust. Bodies of dead creatures still having flesh will have their flesh fall away. If used on an animated skeleton, it adds one to the HD for 1d6 turns. At the end of the time, if the skeleton makes its saving throw vs. magic it returns to being a normal skeleton, with any damage taken coming from the extra HD first.

Golem Control Bar – This control bar allows a magic user to control a golem. Roll to determine if the device controls flesh, clay, stone, iron, or all. Those that control clay elementals may be used by clerics. If the user of the item is not the same alignment or deity of the cleric that created the clay golem there will be additional difficulties involved.

____ Control Bar – A few texts reveal hints that some control bars have been designed for controlling different creatures. The user of the item is able to see and hear what the controlled creature hears. The user must understand any languages the creature hears or writing is sees. The creature gets a saving throw verses magic.

Cursed control bar – Anyone who picks up this item and makes a motion of controlling a marionette is now “stuck” in place and under the control of the next person to use the control bar. A remove curse will free the individual and great care must be taken to hide or destroy the control bar before someone else is affected.

Clerics have been known to craft marionettes covered with the symbols of their religion as an image of a deity or hero of their faith. Temples or holy places where clay golems are or have been constructed in any numbers are likely to have one of these in case of a rampaging golem. The chance to regain control of a rampaging clay golem is 10% plus 1% per level, unless the cleric who created the golem, then the base chance is 20%. Any clay golem that has rampaged and been brought back under control that rampages again, cannot be brought under control. If the control bar is destroyed within 1d6 turns of regaining control, the rampage will resume. After this time, the golem returns to its normal state and the control bar is no longer needed to control its actions.

Druids have been known to craft marionettes of only wood with wood and string controls.

Illusionists have a variation of the spell that lets them control one of their humanoid illusions beyond their sight.

Ideas For Hidden Items/Secret Doors

This is an exercise to help me with my own planning and preparation of adventures for hidden and secret items/treasure/doors/etc. I wanted a quick page to have all the things I wanted to make sure I considered when planning hidden item(s).

See this article on locks. My article on trade goods has some insight on items that might be hidden. Last year’s entry on V – Vaults for the A to Z Blogging Challenge. See also E – Entrances & Exits and D – Dungeons.

The d30 Sandbox Companion, d30 DM companion and other tools are a great way to figure out locations, guards, etc. Don’t forget the many tables in the 1st Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide.

I took these ideas and expanded them in my publication on DriveThruRPG: Locks, Vaults, and hiding Places [Affiliate Link].

Type of Hiding:

  1. In Plain Sight*
  2. Container**
  3. Magic***
  4. Hidden****
  5. Trap*****
  6. Combination of the above.

*This can vary from the object is in plain sight, but could be obscured in a minor way, it is very plain looking, it is in a room with multiple similar or identical objects, illusion, magic, mirrors, etc.

**Containers may be hidden or in plain sight. Containers are anything that holds something. Sacks, bags, bottles, kegs, casks, barrels, scroll cases, cups, glasses, chests, luggage, rooms, planets, pocket dimensions, etc.

***Includes magic and illusions. Any way that a spell can be used to hide something. Darkness, polymorph, invisibility, duo-dimension, etc.

****Hidden can vary in how well something is hidden from not well to devilishly clever. This type of hiding is non-magical.

*****One or more normal or non-magical traps that are part of the hidden location of the item(s).

Effort Given to Hiding:

How much time and effort the possessor and/or owner of an object spends hiding it determines how easily is is found and retrieved.

  1. Quick/Rushed – For example, a pickpocket hiding his new loot.
  2. A few uninterrupted minutes. – This is slightly better hidden, but without a known location to deposit it or a magic item or spell to place on it, one will not hide it too well.
  3. An hour to think and plan it.
  4. Days or more to plan it.
  5. Special building project, craft project, etc. to hide/conceal it.
  6. Magic and/or illusion to hide it.
  7. Guardian(s) placed to defend and prevent finding the hidden location.
  8. Inaccessible location – top of mountain, bottom of sea, middle of desert, etc.

A good example is the myths about Oak Island indicate that it is a vastly complex route to a hidden treasure. If it really is a hidden treasure chamber with various obstacles along the way, it shows maximum effort. Tides, weather, geology, hydrology, atmosphere, traps, barriers, etc.

Guardians:

  1. None* – Solely reliant on how well it is hidden.
  2. Obstacle – In addition to traps or hiding, there might be a moat, cavern, etc.
  3. Lock/Seal/Glyph – From physical locks to magical or holy/unholy protections.
  4. Normal creatures – from unintelligent to highly intelligent
  5. Magical creatures – from charmed normal creatures to magical creatures or even extra planar creatures.
  6. Combination**

*There might be no guards for other reasons, such as the guardians are dead or defeated by those who have gone before, but the hidden location/item(s) was not found.

**Combination could indicate competing groups out for the honor of guarding the item the best. This could lead to one group sabotaging the other or making it appear the other is the one who let the item(s) get found and removed from hiding.

NOTE: Guardians that are intelligent can be highly organized, like a secret society dedicated to keeping something hidden, or a tribe whose goal is to keep something hidden.

Guardians will also vary in how efficient and effective they are. A single guardian that has to eat will have to be away seeking food, unless there is a ready food supply. If the guardian eats adventurers, there will have to be a steady stream of new ones to feed the guardian to keep it from hunting.

Guardians with a large area to patrol will only be as effective as the amount of area they can survey/patrol.

The loyalty and dedication of guardians will also be a factor. A bound magical creature might have learned loopholes that it might use to let the item be found to spite the one who bound them. If the binding has a bit that will harm the bound if the item is recovered, it would motivate the guard to do a good job.

Lack of food, pay, discipline, etc. will have an impact on how motivated and loyal guards are.

NOTE: It is possible for the guardian to be the hiding spot, i.e. a large creature, like a dragon or some such has swallowed the item(s) and you have to slay the creature to get it.

Tools for guardians:

Intelligent guardians will be given tools they can use. Unintelligent guardians will have the environment designed to maximize the effectiveness of the guardian. For example, a ten foot cubic passageway around a room that is a ten foot cube patrolled by a gelatinous cube fed by the refuse from the sewers of the city above. Rats and other denizens of the sewers would be between the hiding spot and the character’s starting point.

A great aid to helping guardians do their job is that they don’t know the secret(s) needed to retrieve the item(s) or even the exact location of the hiding place.

  1. Knowledge – lore, map or other secrets to help protect item(s)
  2. Items – Specialty items whether normal or non-magical specific to keeping it hidden.
  3. Magic – Spells, charms, or magic items designed to help with the mission of guarding the item(s).

For a science fiction or modern setting, replace scrying devices with closed circuit TV, add motion sensors, laser defenses, etc.

What is hidden?

  1. Good guys hide something from bad guys.
  2. Bad guys hide something from good guys.
  3. Money
  4. Gems & Jewels
  5. Money, Gems & Jewels.
  6. Magic.
  7. Magic & Money
  8. Magic & Money, Gems & Jewels
  9. Unique interesting item – could be magical.
  10. Nothing*

*The reasons for this are manifold. The place of hiding was prepared, but the item was never put in place. The item was moved for cleaning and lost. The item was acquired by a prior person or group. More examples could be found.

To whom is the hidden valuable?

  1. The person who hid it. Others consider it junk, odd, etc.
  2. Specific species/race.
  3. Specific class.
  4. Specific alignment/affiliation/group with a common goal.
  5. Specific person/creature*
  6. Everyone who knows about it.**

*The big bad, the big good, some average Joe, like a farmer, player character, dragon, lich, diety, demon, devil, etc.

**Watch It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World to get an idea of how this might work.

Multi-part items with multiple hiding spots

Just like Harry Potter seeking the horcruxes of Voldemoort, each hidden in its own unique way, a multi-part item or treasure could contain clues or the requirements to find other location(s).

This gets complicated. Each individual location is subject to each of the above criteria, in addition to the specifics of the item.

Take a mythical 7 part item. In the initial hiding the only way to find the items is to find them in the correct sequence. If you find item 7 first you can’t find item one or six, since an item only tells you how to find the next item. In addition, over the ages, some items have been found or moved, or the custodian(s) of the items did not place the item in its hiding spot.

I need to start an adventure with finding the last item in a series and seeing if the party takes the bait to figure out how to find the rest of it. Lots of money spent with one or more sages, wizards, and clerics seeking clues.

Custodians – Similar to guardians, and may be a subset of elite/senior guardians who actually know the secret location and many of the secrets to get close to the item, and even interact with it. As a last resort, custodians can move that which is hidden.

More Variation on Magic Items

The last two days I wrote posts on magic dishes here and here.

This got me to thinking about ways to mix up magic items so that they are not the same rods, staves, wands, rings, scrolls, or expected miscellaneous items as listed in the DMG or other resource.

You roll up a ring of invisibility, but what else might it be besides a ring? How to decide?

You can make up a table and roll (Go ahead, I’ll wait while you make a table….)

Oh, good, you’re back.

Another way to do it is when sitting at your desk or table or other location prepping for the next session, or at some other time between sessions and prep time, look for an ordinary every day item. What might it be? If you keep your work area spartan, you may have few choices. If like me, you best efforts to minimize falter when things get busy, you might have a wealth of things to choose from. Letter opener, paper clip, business cards, pen, pencil, eraser, coffee cup, index card, scissors, ruler, flashlight, battery, eraser, etc.

Go to your junk drawer in the kitchen and see what unexpected thing is in there.

Generating ideas doesn’t have to come from rolling dice or struggling to come up with yet another idea to round out your table to roll up something.

What is the weirdest thing your locker mate in high school ever had in the locker?

What object(s) did your grandparents or in-laws have that stood out until you got used to them? They might be the item you think of if you imagine being inside their house.

Go to a flea market or swap meet and make a list of all the things that catch your imagination.

A meat grinder that plays Danse Macabe and animates d12 skeletons once per day.

A feather duster that causes a gust of wind once per day.

A frying pan that is +2 vs. all who rob or invade the home.

A cutting board that functions as a lid to a portable hole. You can fit a lot of scraps in there….

A piece of furniture that functions as a portal to another world….

CAT 5 cord of strangulation or tripping.

I need to remember to keep a list of things I see that are ordinary but would make an interesting magic item. I made a list in Evernote, since I use it for all kinds of other lists.