Santicore 2015 entry

 I made a contribution to the 2015 Secret Santicore project.  For those unfamiliar with this holiday extravaganza - contributors make a "gift" request for a bit of gaming material - a list, dungeon, plot, items, etc. and receive a random request from another contributor to fulfill.  The whole kit and caboodle is eventually compiled and put out for public consumption.  The project hasn't hit the streets yet, so figured I could post up my contribution for funsies.

I missed entering/contributing to the prior installation by one day, so watched my calendar more closely for the Santicore's 2015 announcements.  (I don't remember what I asked for at this moment - I think a list of interesting hats.)

Here's the request I received.

Santicore,
I've been a good person this year (except for those poor goblins) and I'd like more gonzofantasy material about goblins, possibly expanding on previous gonzogoblin material you previously delivered.
I'll leave the eggnog and the goblins hogtied in the usual place this xmas.

OK, I could work with that withing the two-week deadline.  What I came up with:

Gonzo Goblins, part the nth.

Cerantai, a seafarer's goddess

A petty goddess to add to the pantheon - inspired by this animation:

(slightly nsfw for nekkid cartoon butt and boobs...)

Name: Cerantai: Goddess of the Hanged Sailor
Symbol: An octopus riding a broom
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Movement: 60' (fly)
Armor Class: 6
HP/HD: 38/8 (Cerantai): 20/4 (head-octopus)
Attack: Octopus tentacle slap (up to 6/round)
Damage: 1d3, successful called hit to foe's weapon hand will disarm
Save: M10
Morale: 10
Treasure: nil
XP: 2,400

Moleskine Maps stocking #2 - Drokki's Tomb

I previously reviewed and stocked a random dungeon from +matt jackson's Moleskine Maps IV, so time to desecrate, er, stock a random map from Moleskine Maps V.

Like MM IV, the maps are compact one-pagers, suitable for quick populating for one-offs and the like.  I rolled the die, and set to making a story for the second map in the booklet.

P. 5-6 of Moleskine Maps V, numbering mine.

It's not often that you're asked to put something back into a tomb.  After all, you're tomb robbers...

But here you are, with the skull of Drokki Flintbraid, tasked by his older brother Flokki to inter it into Drokki's tomb.  Drokki tried to follow his brother's footsteps as a warrior against the under-fiends, but was slain, his head becoming just another trophy on some ogre chief's war-staff.  Fortunately, the skull was recovered in a subsequent battle, and through some clever auguries, its original owner was identified.

Dayden Fort: Staffing a Dyson Logos joint.

Via the indomitable Dyson Logos, a stout roadside fortress, which needs a brief write-up and scenario.

Original post

Dayden Fort watches the South Road leading to the Citadel at Sabre Lake.

The fort is commanded by Halvard Gega (FTR 7, 28 HP, plate, Longsword+1 ['Hellbringer - foes slain by this blade are consumed in flames], 411 gp, gems worth 30, 40, 60, 110, 130 gp, potion of cure moderate wounds, potion of remove fear). Halvard appears to be a loyal subject to the Lord of the Citadel, but chafes at being passed over for command of the Citadel Gatehouse, a promotion he felt he deserved, if it weren't for political pandering by his colleagues.  So now, he festers away in this tiny frontier redoubt, watching an isolated ford along the South Road for merchants to toll, Adaqian spies and smugglers of hallucinogenic 'dragon-bark'.

Moleskine Maps quick review and dungeon-stocking

I recently won one of Inkwell Ideas' Geomorph Mapping contests, and the prize package included two volumes of Matt Jackson's Moleskine Maps.  

The maps are typically mini-dungeon size, most having 10-12 encounter areas. Each map is paired with a complementary notes page for keying the map with a brief outline of background, locations, critters, and treasure. This makes for a very usable on the fly creation format for a side adventure, ancillary area for a larger scenario, or when those pesky PCs wander off the map...

Matt's mapping is spare and clean, with features indicated but not crowding the spaces (along with the ever-popular crosshatching borders...).  Plenty of information, or inspiration, is hinted at.  And for being small dungeons, several have either multiple entrances, or enough tortuosity, that they aren't a bunch of one-way streets.  

Matt is one of the more proficient and prolific OSR mappers.  His Patreon maps include colored variants, as well as designs suitable for SF gaming, such as maps intended as futuristic bases or spacecraft interior layouts.  

So, I randomly selected a map from Moleskine Maps IV, and did a evening's worth of populating and storyline creation:

P. 19-20 of Moleskine Maps IV, numbering mine.