Secret Santicorn 2025: Downtime Happenings...

I was tardy in signing up for the OSR Discord's annual "Secret Santicorn" writing prompt exchange. But I let the organizer know that I'd be happy to pick up an orphan "gift" if need be. And so I was called off the bench.

Hello _ !
Your gift is for Houndmoon, who asked for:
“Set of useful downtime activities & the locations and characters they’re attached to.”

I can do this. In the tune of D66, of course...

Ooo! Downtime. Whee. Another Carousing Table! Can I roll a Suspicious Rash? Sketchy Business Venture? Notice from a Noble?

Nah, give me Something Better. I want a Cool Trick. Preferably from a Mysterious Stranger! Let's get us some Downtime Boons!

How does one come upon a Boon? Not by Gift or Grift but by Reputation. The PC must have Done a Thing that Caught Someone's Attention. Perhaps the fighter doing in the beast in the Arena, the cleric dispelling some Infernal Being, the mage Touching the Arcane, the thief Stealing the Thing. This Deed draws the Attention of a Mentor or Benefactor. Someone not affiliated with the current adventure, but who may become a Part of the World as the story continues. But most importantly, someone who thinks the PC worthy of a New Ability. 

They will contact the PC, perhaps directly, by messenger, or even subterfuge. After all, not all of these mentors are affiliated with Proper Channels or the Orthodoxy. In some cases, gaining this knowledge may even have the potential to Mark the PC as a Heretic or Iconoclast. So Beware. Many Gifts come with a Cost. Not to mention, now that the PC has been Found Worthy of a Boon, the Patron will likely want them to Run an Errand, Return the Favor, or Complete a Deed...

"The Noble Patron"

Blogwagon: A Rankin/Bass Themed Hex - The Drumlands

After my prior grimdark trench-fighting rabbits, I might as well lighten up my next hex contribution to the collaboration. 

Oh look, no one's selected this little bastard as their theme/inspiration:

Even St. Joan can't save this travesty.

Ok. To start from the most belovedly hated Christmas song, and hopefully make a place of less suck...

Welcome to The Drumlands

Not to be confused with drumlins...

...although there could be drumlins in the Drumlands...

The Drum-Cult arose around the storied night where an orphan was said to have found favor with yet another desert messiah. Legend said that the infant messiah was amused or soothed by the orphan's drumming, so much so, that the babe recruited their divine powers to heal the orphan's lamb. Or so said an itinerant astrologer, who claimed to have heard about it from a colleague who heard it from another astrologer who claimed to have been there. Anyway, you want your tarot read?

Blogwagon: A Rankin/Bass Themed Hex - Ēostre Fields

Blame Prismatic Wasteland, who announced a holiday-themed hexcrawl, based on the Rankin/Bass films and specials. Each hex has an association with those beloved childhood films. 

I'll never get invited to one of these holiday parties again...

source

Going Over the Top, with Peter Cottontail.

First there was Ēostre, worshiped all the generations ago. She brought spring and growth, the explosive joy and promise of a new season past the dark of winter. Among those who worshiped her and beseeched her blessings were the rabbit-folk. Both fervent and fecund, the numerous rabbit-folk were devout followers, poring over her holy books and keeping her days holy. Unfortunately, as with so many religious movements, schisms ripped the followers into two parties, now belligerents in a holy war fighting over dogma, land, and sacred relic eggs.

Each believe they are the chosen of the goddess, those in the right.

What started as meeting-hall debates and fists pounding on holy text, devolved into skirmishes and back-and-forth heists. Now, it has sunk into a war of attrition – the Cottontails on one side, the Irontails on the other.

source

What were once green swales and glens have been churned by years of warfare into a muddy, pockmarked and scarred land. Both sides have burrowed and entrenched, with the war now a cycle of mass charges, exchanges of explosive magics, and grim sappers.

source

Itch.io Zungeon Jam 2025

It's been a while since I've participated in a Jam on itch.io. I mean, I bookmark them all the time... Anyway.

I saw this blog post linked on the OSR Discord and took a look. It seems to be aimed at folks who may be intimidated by the idea of producing an adventure for public consumption or even their own table. But I like the intention, and creating a random writing prompt is always a good seed. And nothing has ever stopped me from putting half-assed adventures out into the world before. Maybe I'll be an inspiration, or at least a warning.

Well, I took their instructions to heart. Quick and dirty? yes. Unpolished? certainly. Amateur? very. Per the blog post, yes, the initial stocking and notes took less than an hour, and each covered about notebook page. The randomly-generated graphic maps are the adventure map - nothing drawn or otherwise generated. A couple of pieces of publicly-available or AI (ugh) art. Two pages each. A couple of paragraphs of setting and adventure hooks, and six rooms each of things to find, interact with, and fight. 

Ok, with that, here they are in all their rough-shod glory:

Zungeon Entry #1: Lister's Laboratory

The party is tasked with rooting out the source of counterfeit gems (or strike a deal for their own machinations,,,). - Adventure for a few 1st level PCs of Old-School funny dice games. A 2-page mini-adventure written for the Zungeon Jam 2025.

source

Zungeon #2: Merkhad's Mine Misery

When one of the ancient ones shows up promising riches, well, some things are too good to be true...  An adventure for a few 1st-2nd level PCs of Old-School funny dice games. A 2-page mini-adventure written for the Zungeon Jam 2025.

yes, I used AI...

Anyway, if you think you can do better, the Jam is running all year. Plenty of time to procrastinate.

Secret Santicorn 2024: Another Horror

Once again, from the depths of the OSR Discord craws the Santicorn, leaving the gifts of writing prompts to the good(?) denizens of the server.

You got shutteredroom’s prompt, “The Real Monster of which the Shitting Log of Catalonia is the sanity-protecting bowdlerization.”

First, a quick visit to Webster's to check something....

bowdlerization:
noun
The deletion of all passages considered to be indecent.
Similar: bowdlerisation, expurgation
The action or instance of bowdlerizing; the omission or removal of material considered vulgar or indecent.
The act of deleting or modifying all passages considered to be indecent. 

OK, gotcha. That's what I thought...

***

The portal from the Void opened, and the Entity entered the world. Fools twisted by promises of power and ancient knowledges from before the time that Men walked the land had called it, at a great cost of life and sanity. For, they knew, great power comes at great cost. Particularly if it is others that are paying with their lives. So they had spread war and desolation in their pursuit of this favor.

And desolation they received in turn. For the Entity had no interest in wisdom or power. Just madness and destruction. And piddling little evolved apes were not of consequence. XXX walked the land, its energies from outside of space burning a halo of destruction where it went.

source

However, some of these apes had slivers of power. Whether by craft, or energies arcane or divine. So they fought XXX, desperately and to little effect. After all, fighting a being whose name itself caused fear and madness was a nigh-impossible task. Only the Sightless, paladins blinded of all vision except that which saw auras of evil, were able to stand long before its predations.

They called upon their god, YYY, to aid them against this desolation in living form.

Late Delivery: Secret Santicorn 2023

 Christmas gifts that keep on giving? 

For the OSR secret santicorn, you've been paired with wyattwashere, who wants “A list of modern/urban creatures for use in horror-investigation games like Call of Cthulhu or Delta Green. The weirder and more niche the better!”

Been on this one for a bit. 

I read through my Delta Green quickstart, and thumbed through my CoC. Through it all, the Hounds of Tindalos kept popping up in my imagination.

Good puppy (source)

So why not start from there?

<writing ensues>  

For inspiration, downloaded a glut of images from artist 0nedes, who heavily inspired a prior writing exercise, also with a dark horror/post-apocalypse vibe. 

I mean look at this cutie: 

Who could deny a darling creature like that? "Honey, it wants in!"

Additional inspiration via Dan Davis History, with a bit of Crecganford and Esoterica. Soundtrack by Cryo Chamber and other Dark Ambient channels.

So I'm not sure that I met the criteria for modern/urban, just for the fact that I created a mini-Mythos dating back to Neanderthal times and heavily influenced by Stone to early Bronze Age Indo-European cultures and myths. I mean, why use the published material when you can start from scratch? That said, I rounded up several modern references and occurrences that dovetail in with a potential 'reawakening' of beings/creatures, as well as some descriptions of the misguided or corrupted souls who may want to interact with it.

They Called Them Wolves (link permissions fixed)

Thanks also to Archon's Court for shepherding the project through this year.

D10 +1 Hex Denizens

Via Reddit: A group exercise of creating some hexes to share ...

Not so much hexes, as much as those singular features or encounters that may be found within:

ROUBAUD, FRANTS (1856–1928) Caravanserai by Gur-e Amir in Samarkand

1. A decrepit caravanserai sits along an overgrown trade road, its only resident a hill giant named Oblex, who reclines within its collapsed walls, carving rough animal figures from tree limbs using a dull short sword. He raises a few goats and feral hogs that roam the forest, and will trade for casks of ale or wine. For a few extra shinies, he will lead a party to the Caves of the Drumming Ghosts in the cliffs beyond his residence, although he will not enter.

2. A hobgoblin caravan approaches, carrying preserved beast-meats and lead ingots.

3. The village of Shropshire perches among the cliffs of the Heagearth Reach. Its residents are wan and pale, yet the village has avoided the incursions of Chaos in recent years. The lord of the manor is Vitomir Birsa, with his wife Luana Brkiæ, provide their protections to the village. Any villager will explain that they are very busy, but may take an audience after dark. Neither Vitomir or Luana will admit to being vampires.

4. The bronze dragon Aythyd lounges in his lair within the Clarengami Tops. He is 900 years old, and recalls the battles of the Cornryn Flats, as humans and Chaos met at the Walls. Such amusing scrabblings and scufflings back and forth! He doesn't pay much attention to such struggles after all. They have very little of interest, unless great heroes or mages meet and leave interesting artifacts next to their broken bodies.   

5. The Lich-Bride Julija Repar and her legion of thrall-grooms hold the sacred Effinggan Pass against the fanatical battle-nuns of the Wynrey Theocracy.

6. The plains are strewn with iron ships' anchors, 100 miles from the closest ocean. They were dragged there as penance by the crews of a vanquished navy a generation past.

7. Barrows and mass graves line an ancient battlefield. Ghosts of the warring foes arise, their quarrels long forgotten, to exchange tales and commune with one another, or those who dare cross their field of war.

8. Feral, bloodthirsty horses bred by the vivimancer-warlord Gavril Florsech roam among the bluffs and forests, preying on unwary travelers and slower herbivores. Gavril was a adept creator, but a poor trainer...

9. Massive stone golems walk slowly in a circle, marching to the drone of some antediluvian song. Their walk has gone on long enough for them to beat a waist-deep trench into the earth.

10. The forest sports woven branches manipulated by a tribe of druid-goblins. The arboreal macramé is comprised of tree limbs, bones, and detritus from doomed caravans.

11. Bird-folk in their aeries trade raw emeralds for old books and scrimshawed dragon's teeth.

Tomas Honz

Writing Prompt: Secret Jackalope 2022, Part IV

One more prompt from the OSR Discord "Secret Jackalope 2022" writing prompts (Round 2 assignments). This time, "Nonstandard creatures with useful bits and how to harvest them" via user @wyattwashere.

Nonstandard creatures, eh? 

Well, OK. I guess I'll delve back to the lunacy that is the 1981 Fiend Folio and pull up a few uncommon (and at least one better-known) critters and make up some stuff.

The harvested organs and products are each one element in the creation of their respective products, and other undetermined ingredients or reagents will be required....

1d7 Unpleasant Monsters and Their Useful Bits

The Adherer - The adherer is a creature resembling a mummy, but is not an undead. Instead, it secretes a “resinous solvent” that causes any weapons to stick to it until the creature is slain. Fortunately, it is susceptible to fire, and boiling water, in sufficient quantities, can break the adhesive's grip. The adhesion breaks down 5-10 turns after the creature's death.

Product: Although the excretions from this creature have been rumored to be ingredients for sovereign glue or universal solvent, wise practitioners of the alchemical arts know that this is folly. However, the “glue” has been incorporated into another reagent to help deal with more ghostly foes:

Spirit Gum: An application of this viscous fluid will cause an incorporeal foe to become semi-corporeal for 2d4 rounds, allowing them to take half-damage from non-magical weapons during that period. 

Adhesive from two adherers is required to create one use of spirit gum. The adhesive must be collected immediately upon the adherer's death by dissolving the adhesive in four gallons of hot water. The water is then distilled off to provide raw material for creation of the gum. 

Crypt Thing – This is a moderately powerful undead whose primary defense/effect is to teleport its foes to a random location (100-1000 feet distant, or up/down one dungeon level). 

Product: Arcane research has determined that this ability lies within the shriveled pituitary of the creature, nestled at the base of its mummified brain. Upon slaying one of these challenging undead, a knowledgeable individual may be able to identify and remove the gland with a magical weapon.

These may be used to create a Wand of Teleportation at half the time and expense. However, because of the corruptions inherent within the crypt thing's preservation and reanimation, there is a 2 in 20 chance that use of the item will send the user in a random direction consistent with the crypt thing's inherent abilities (table from FF, below).

Disenchanter – This aggravating creature's ability is magic drain, as it "feeds" on magical energy, attacking enchanted items and sucking out the magic through its extensible snout.

Product: The capacitor-like organ where a disenchanter "digests" enchantments resembles a stomach, but is packed with filaments capable of absorbing arcane energies. From this organ, an expert biomancer may create one of two devices. 

The Tabaxi as an Old-School PC Class

User Sivinus at the OSR Pick-Up Games Discord server offered up to host a character class contest. 

It has been decided that we would run a contest to see who could make the best class! The way this contest works is that you sign up below and make a class, very simple. The start date (May 30th) is when you should have submitted your class and voting stars and the end date (June 2nd) is when voting closes. Anyone can join, the only requirement is that you sign up below and then make your own class, which you will submit by sending it @sivinus (me).

Good enough - I've done a few character classes in the past, some more serious than others. And it's a fun exercise to build out a class, typically with some help from random inspiration and some math help by Building a More Perfect Class.

And as much as I wanted to just enter The TechnoViking, I figured new class for new contest.

What to do... what to do...

Serendipitously, I've been perusing the Fiend Folio for some other inspiration on a writing prompt. And I noticed this somewhat familiar critter:

So yeah, the tabaxi have been around since 1981, but weren't an official character class until they were ported into the the current edition, as far as I can tell. There were a couple of other playable cat-folk races, but "tabaxi" as a player race appeared in 5e. And from occasional perusing of 5e actual plays - people apparently like to play cats.

Source

Ok, so back to the source material. I'm not a 5e player, so other than watching some cat PCs, I'm not a subject matter expert. But I do like to convert or create player classes back to B/X. And I have the Fiend Folio.

So here we go.

Cat - so obviously a DEX-based race. The "tabaxi rogue" is pretty much redundant. Let's grab some elements from the FF, and just because, add some climbing/falling qualities for a feline. 

Let's let this cat out of the bag...

Writing Prompt: Secret Jackalope 2022, Part III

Sneaking in another uncompleted Secret Jackalope writing prompt off the OSR Discord:

Goblin Glenn Close requested:  "Party time! Please invent 6 festivals for a town or city in the setting of your choice."

Here we go:

Several years back, I roughed out an insular halfling collective of interconnected villages out in the hinterlands somewhere, so I suppose that they need a few celebrations specific to their community and individual settlements...  

1. First Bloom: The village of Amberhallow tenses with anticipation in the spring as the buds swell on the sacred tulip tree, an ancient, twisted growth in the center of the market square. It is a unique tree, with none like it in the forests, and although it blooms, no seeds ever germinate. It also hearkens the end of the Hungry Gap, as herbs and leafy greens begin to emerge. Oh yes, the blooms. Lots are drawn and food and drink laid in for the fete. Eyes can't help but drift to the tree as it greens and buds. What day and hour will it bloom, and who will receive the blessed tiding of the year for having guessed the closest to the emergent moment? At the sign of the first bloom, all tasks are dropped, all duties set aside, as the town explodes in joyous exultation, with gaunt residents pooling the remains of their stores to feast and dance, for the spring can't truly arrive until this storied tree reveals itself.

2. Burning Minds: Upon the summer solstice, the Myconids silently emerge from the deep forest to join the citizens of Birchspell for a week of spore-driven hallucination and hive-minding. Secrets are revealed and thoughts stripped bare during this week of ecstatic dance, commutation, and clairvoyance. It is a time of soul-baring and forgiveness, going back generations for the community, since they first made contact with the mysterious mushroom-folk. The Myconids receive, in turn, wagonloads of manure and corn whisky, which they carry back to their enclaves hidden within humid caverns deep in the forest for their own cultivations and purpose. 

3. The Scouts' Honor: The Bogaert Scouts are the community's watchful eyes and outriders. In the summer, they are honored in Myrkan with a festival of food and competitions. This is one of the few celebrations where outsiders join, as halfling marksmen, hunters, and snipers from far-flung communities ride in to try themselves against the Scouts. The Scouts and their guests compete in archery and slinging, both in accuracy and trick-shooting. Many apples are slain, and arrows are split. The sling competition of “Bonk the Giant” is always a crowd favorite, as the large wicker figure takes abuse from sling stones until collapsing into a splintered wreck. The celebration culminates with a hide-n-seek competition lasting three days, with the winner receiving the honorary Green Hood of Peplyn.

4. Call of the Bread: Upon the grain harvest comes the Call of the Bread, the hallowed celebration of the baked crafts. This is often the most festive and raucous of the community celebrations as the halflings gather in Myrkan to celebrate and eat. And eat. All things baked are joyously and intensely celebrated, and baking contests of complex artworks of bread, sweets, and rolls are the order of the day. Last year the theme was “Bread as Hats” and quite elaborate and tasty headgear was flaunted by the competing bakers.

5. Return of the Brown Cow: The hamlet of Deepshire releases a blessed cow into the Ablan Timberlands every spring. She fades into the dark forest, rumored to be haunted by the dead of failed pioneers, or by ineffable fey. Upon the bovine's return in the autumn (and somehow, she always returns), the village feasts and fetes, with the village elders and seers gathering around the prodigal beast to read auguries writ into the scars on her hide and ferment holy draughts from her milk. 

6. Grim Dance of the Winter Wolves: Held on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, lean villagers gather to make a solemn dance in their halls, howling in imitation of the wolves that call at the edges of the forest. At midnight, an extra pig, or perhaps a totem of salted meat, is left in the market square, to be stolen away by the wolves in the night. There are rumors that in past times, or during particularly harsh winters, that a resident would be chosen by lot to be drugged and left out as offering for the beasts, but if anyone inquires to this tale, the villagers will politely change the subject.

***

And Some Bonus Festivals:

Writing Prompt: Secret Jackalope 2022, Part II

Folks over on the OSR Discord have started sniping one another's Secret Jackalope prompts, adding to the variety, creativity, and insanity of the writing prompts.

And I need to loosen up my mind with a bit of free-writing.  So here's a request from user Sigmacastell: "1d10 Failed World-Ending Rituals"

Ok. 

First of all, a word from our sponsor: Tonight's creative muse is brought to you, in part, by Hellbent Kölsch.

Ahem...

Apocalypse 6. Opening the seals

1d10 (plus one) Failed World-Ending Rituals 

(or, Eleven Reasons That the World Was Inadvertently Saved From Certain Doom On This Fateful Night)

1. Dyslexia: The Ancestral Invocation of the Wraiths of Insanity was disrupted because Brother Llewellyn brought a vegan for the sacrifice instead of a virgin.

2. Scheduling Conflict*: Who could have known that both the the Creed of Greprithos and the Harbingers of Clarity would have foretold that their particular apocalypse rituals at the Stone of Perchaverack would occur on the same night intersecting a particular 200-year planetary alignment and gibbous moon? A serious kerfuffle ensued, followed by a coordination of Google calendars for the next bicentennial planetary alignment.

3. Pronunciation Error: The Chant of L'etllx inadvertently called up the Dark Lord's brother-in-law L'yttlx, who, instead of ushering in The Burning Winds, indoctrinated the Cult of the Wanderers of Aleflashi into a multi-level-marketing scheme, inspiring them to shill questionable dietary supplements and ergonomic sacrificial daggers to friends and relatives.   

4. Dress Code: Brother Simon wore the wrong socks to the Ancient Ceremony of Fiends. The Fiends are quite particular about their 100% merlino wool. Blends will just not do.

5. Procrastination: Fortunately the world-core-shattering Consuming Evocation of the Ghastly Monolith keeps getting postponed by the Cult of Our Holy Sister of the Frittering Nemesis.

6. Quality Control: No organic-certified(tm) sacrificial goats were available during the window of opportunity for the Paragons of the Comet's Star-Fall Ritual of the Chain of Disorder.

7. Divine Intervention: Planetary doom was delayed when the dark All-Father-God Croesten showed up when the Cult of Harrowed Emissaries summoned his son Antasban the Dire to enact the Bane of Mankind. Croesten admonished Antasban and grounded him for being out after the solar alignment, before likewise giving the cult a good scolding and leaving in a huff.

8. IT Problems: Vaccine-implanted 5G microchipping was found to be incompatible with the original coding used by the Antikythera mechanism for the Summoning of the Grave of Heaven.

9. Failure to Read the Terms and Conditions: Something-something first-born....

10. Global Warming: The Ritual of the Sallow Wolf has been canceled due to the death of the One-Tree Athachenth, which has been attributed to climate-change-driven invasive boring beetles.

11. Dead Language: The last native speaker of the Hallowed Tongue of the Hontintur passed away last week prior to the completion and quality-control verification of the final phonetic transcription of the Moon-Splitting Song of Vlu.

or perhaps pancakes...

Completed with some help from a few Random Name Generators.

* And, because user Jojiro was curious as to what constitutes a 'kerfuffle' when two apocalypse cults meet on the same foretold night:

Writing Prompt: Secret Jackalope 2022

What's in my Discord inbox today?

You've been paired with Rook#1407, who wants "Take a non-intelligent DND monster of your choosing from the 1977 Monster Manual, like a Roper or Bulette (or a couple of real world animals) and 'speculatively evolve' it into a few distinct evolutionary niches. Basically, take that creature and specialize it into a new environment or ecological role for several dozen million years and see what happens to it. It's more biological that putting gills on a Rust-Monster if it evolves into the oceans. Here's a great example; https://sites.google.com/site/worldofserina/home. Points for stats. Ten thousand million points for a couple of sketches of your new creatures. "

(Or perhaps After Man...)

Welcome to Secret Jackalope 2022. Been a couple of years (or maybe I just missed last year's effort)?

Anyway.

Meet the Hegemonic Cube.

Through assimilation of genetic material over generations of scavenging and predating, at some indistinguishable moment, the gelatinous cube reached a tipping point to gain an alien intelligence, after a fashion. 

Source

The body form modified from a cube into a lobed protoplasm that extruded throughout its territory, slowly creeping, branching and creating sensory nodes of massive neurons to "feel" its environment. The evolved "hegemonic cube" became a decentralized intelligence, with each nerve center sharing a portion of the creature's intelligence and memory, a redundant, multiple-parallel network.

Creatures of humanoid intelligences, or those similarly evolved, speak of feeling a 'static' in their minds upon approaching one of these slow-moving minds. Those who attempt to probe the cube's "minds" by mental means are often met with blasts of howling psychic energy that can stun, blind, or even destroy a mind. 

Although light sensitive, the "hegemonic cube" has no true vision, relying instead on the sensory input of chemical means. Likewise a "cube" will communicates with other colonies of its type via chemical means - establishing boundaries, or sharing memories and resources.

Another Itch Jam entry - The Tomb of Spear and Smoke.

Been quiet but not unproductive (I hope). Besides reworking The Long Hall (see yesterday's post), I took a whack at itch.io's recent Dyson Logos Jam.  After all, a theme and a deadline is always good for the creativity. Perhaps. 

Per the jam requirements, I scrounged through the maps made available for commercial use. I downloaded several, and of course there are now multiple notated maps scattered about. But this one came through in the end:

It's an interesting complex - certainly not linear, and with multiple zones to work with. At first glance, it doesn't have a clear 'goal' location. The adventurers enter into the center of the maze, with four doors to choose from - which way to go?

Some process notes:

The entry room with three columns and an apparent broken fourth column implied an incomplete story. 

The five-chambered room looked to hold five small sarcophagi - were they small individuals, or other remains? Who were they?

And why is there a separate larger sarcophagus in the upper center? Obviously an honored dead - what was their relationship to the other remains, and why were the two sets separate??

And what's with that capstan-looking thing in the hall adjacent?

Subterranean water is always a good feature to hide threats... Besides, I'd just watched this video.

The number of small alters, statues, shrines, implied a temple or center built in stages, or maybe repurposed to fit a need.

There will be traps - some telegraphed, some not.

In the end - we have the tomb of a hero, interred to watch over those he defeated. And because the hero is here - so is his favored weapon, a magic spear... But of course it's not in his tomb. That would be silly.

And those he defeated? Like many evils, they do not rest easily...

So welcome to the Tomb of Spear and Smoke.

Where's the smoke? Well, the adventurers will just have to discover that themselves...

The Dungeon Poem Dungeon

Late to the game, as always - Saw a couple of folks post up keyed dungeons off a suggestion offered by Patrick over at False Machine.  Take the proffered Dyson map, make it artpunk, functional and incorporate the idea of poetry somehow ("condensation of utility, beauty, meaning and originality into a functional and interesting micro-adventure...")

I guess I can do one of those three things. Although I did put in a clue poem (don't worry, it rhymes in the original Klingon). Design-wise, it's written mostly stat-less, with qualitative descriptors for the various challenges and treasure.

I stared at the map for quite a while. Picked it up and put it down. Something about the three pits(?) on the north side of the eastern large room didn't quite jibe for me (Yozzat might have something to say about that). This morning, I finally just sat down and pounded this out in about a 2-hour exercise (delayed slightly by my laptop keyboard mysteriously freezing). Trust me, the quality shows...

Welcome to the Temple to Thoas

Link to submitted creations

Possum Junction, or Tim drew too much.

Sometimes you get an unexpected gift around Christmastime. Tim prefers to create smaller spaces (five-room dungeons and the like) for his mini-adventures. But apparently he got carried away with this piece, working on technique and experimenting with textures and the like. So sure, I ganked it. 

This is a most excellent space, with looping corridors and multiple pathways, as well as a fine smattering of interesting features to tell a story. Hazards are built in, and there are enough room details to fix a number of points of interest and potential encounters.

A few elements stood out: a pool, a few statues, an apparent chapel space, a lot of collapsed corridors, and started filling in the blanks from my end. Helped by a few die rolls, of course. 

Like many subterranean spaces (and historical ones), I figured there had been multiple tenants. And each had left their mark. For reasons unknown or partly explained, selected features from prior occupants were left in place. Some out of respect, some due to their inherent hazard. And of course, there are the new squatters here, making a mess of things, perhaps.

And since Tim recently mentioned some content and a contribution to Expanded Petty Gods, I had to pull the tome off my shelf and add a couple of names out of that mighty group project of the G+ days... just for fun.

Statted with OSE, a bit of 1e, and some homebrew...

So let's see who's up to mischief in The Caluromys Chambers.

I did abandon Idea #1: Dwarven Frat House. But there is always time to return to that...

Edit: Updated scenario with specific stats for the water spirit (figured that since I'd written a build-your-own-monster formula, I might as well use it), and made minor language and format edits.

Happy Jackalope 2020! A Writing Prompt...

James Young has helped run the Secret Santicore community writing 'gift' project over the last secret years. With the demise of G+, the project was ported over at the OSR Discord Server. And with the current state of the world, James added the Easter equivalent for a bit of creativity and levity - Behold, the Secret Jackalope!

I've played in these projects on and off, so threw my prompt into the list. In return, I received my Secret Jackalope prompt:

Hello Vance!

The Jackalope is here, and requires a SACRIFICE.

SherlockHole requests the following gift:

Weird monsters to stalk through some post-apocalyptic ruins in a world with lovecraftian horrors & GLOG sorcerers, or some plot hooks/ a dungeon for investigations within a walled-off city at the edge of the world

And a prompt needs inspiration. Serendipitously, a piece of 'appropriate' art popped across my DeviantArt recommendations:

https://www.deviantart.com/ondes7

All things considered equal, this fit. And so did the rest of Ondes7's work, a collection of surreal and adequately creepy pen and ink and graphite pieces that fit the imagery of Lovecraftian horrors...

So off to the races with several atmosphere-pieces of creatures that have invaded the world from the Void.

So these monstrosities aren't statted out - more notes, impressions, and perhaps a few strategies that have been found effective to counter them. But hopefully something useful as think-pieces and inspiration for a twisted world.

And I did have to shoehorn some background for the city of Redoubt, and some rumor seeds, as well. Because apparently prompts for last cities is a thing for me...

So, thanks to SherlockHole for the prompt, and thanks to Ondes7 for a batch of inspiration.

Welcome to a City on at the edge of a ruined world, and the things that prowl beyond the walls. 

A Collaborative Dungeon, and one guy scribbling in the dark...

Matt Jackson (http://www.msjx.org/) uploaded a collaborative dungeon, inviting all to fill the individual rooms as they saw fit. The original piece and its traps, curiosities and denizens are here: http://www.msjx.org/2020/01/collabodungeon-01.html.

And he was nice enough to release it for free use for us randoms in the interwebs to cobble together our own works.

Mark Chance grabbed it and filled the entirety for Dungeon World stats:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1dWzHqw_IrZ7bSVBy6kGQt9RsGEKxHF__

And I needed to practice and focus a bit, so why not?

Bega Nigkoev was dead and buried long ago - so what's the harm in snooping around his chapel and tomb? I'm sure there's nothing to worry about... right? Right...?

Download Nigkoev's Uneasy Rest

Revised 07/22, grammatical changes, revised treasure.

Secret Santicorn 2019 - The Last City

With the downfall of G+ and other distractions, I didn't track down last year's Secret Santicorn RPG "gift exchange." Fortunately, I stumbled upon its current manifestation within the Discord OSR group. Approximately one day before this year's entry deadline.

Whew.

And what request did the Santicorn have for me?

"It's time for the best part of Santicorn - making things!
Valker requests the following gift:
A summoning gone wrong has caused the sea level to rise significantly and almost destroyed civilization in the known world. Which being was responsible for such cataclysm, how are the standard cultures and/or races of your stereotypical fantasy setting dealing with the change and which factions are emerging in the wake of the disaster? Alternatively: there's only one island, and one city, left in the world. Tell me more about the city, who's inhabiting it and what prevents others to seize it."

I took on the second alternative - so Welcome to Bytlav, the Last City...

flickr.com/photos/seaharris

Thanks again to James Young for shepherding this thing through!

OSR Guide For The Perplexed Questionnaire - My $0.02

OK, my take on the OSR Guide For The Perplexed Questionnaire.  Since all the cool kids are doing it.  Trying to come up with some personal favorites, a few points not already mentioned, and some general relevant irreverence...


1. One article or blog entry that exemplifies the best of the Old School Renaissance for me:

All Hail Max.  Re-reading it still warms this stony heart.  We all need to be more child-like.

2. My favorite piece of OSR wisdom/advice/snark:

Don't make me choose!

Although Courtney Campbell's Hack&Slash Compendiums are dense with game theory, content, and advice. Let's go with that.

3. Best OSR module/supplement:

Midderlands is green and dark and beautiful.
Slumbering Ursine Dunes.  Because Warbears.

4. My favorite house rule (by someone else):

Random Headgear.

5. How I found out about the OSR:

I suppose the simplest explanation is from my inaugural blog entry in 2014:

"About a year ago, I wandered back into a game store, after a brief (30-year) hiatus from RPGs.  I came out with a Pathfinder Beginner Box, tore it apart, and said, "Hmm, this is what gaming is now..."  

About that time, a friend mentioned that they still played 1st-gen D&D, and I found the thing that is the OSR.  So I've been reading the blogs of the community, studying, and filling a couple of notebooks with a few of my own crackpot ideas. "

6. My favorite OSR online resource/toy:

Not exclusively OSR, but https://donjon.bin.sh/
Random inns, pickpocket loot, treasure, and demographics, among other goodies.

7. Best place to talk to other OSR gamers:

G+, for the time being.  I'll probably eventually walk my luddite ass over to MeWe...

8. Other places I might be found hanging out talking games:

Just this blog, I suppose.  I'm not much of one for forums or chat apps.

Or just mentioning gaming in passing to a coworker, friend, climbing partner, random person at bar.  And being surprised at the number of folks who say, "Yeah, I played..."

9. My awesome, pithy OSR take nobody appreciates enough:

Ok, here goes.  The newer editions focus on 'heroic' play.  PCs are upgunned from the start.

OSR PCs are average Joes/Janes, occasionally a bit above average.  But even a high level PC can still be nearly one-shotted in the right situation.  You aren't 'heroes.'  So you play cautious, creative, sneaky, figure out how to get around in a scary world.  What's the phrase - 'You are not your character sheet'?

One of the great tenets of fiction is taking an ordinary character, putting them into an extraordinary situation, and seeing what happens.

Do that.

10. My favorite non-OSR RPG:

Crap, I dunno - haven't gamed much outside of our silly elf-game.  Twilight 2000?  "You're on your own..."

11. Why I like OSR stuff:

The low entry fee - ha.  There is so much free or reasonably priced content out there, particularly rulesets.  One doesn't need to drop $50-100 in rulebooks, just to find out that they don't like the system...  Everyone can take a look, mix and match, homebrew.  This has led to a vigorous DIY ethic, with increased production volume and quality in the few years that I've been aware of the movement.

12. Two other cool OSR things you should know about that I haven’t named yet:

Matt Finch's Jordoba campaign.  Two groups, one OD&D, one 5e, exploring and affecting the same world (I include the 5e group because chargen was 3d6, in order.  And because the 5e group has had more character deaths than the OD&D group... [See #9]). And pack-centipedes.

The indomitable Jeff Rients' Miscellaneum of Cinder.  Especially since it includes his carousing house-rules, and 'What are the Goblins Up To?'.

13. If I could read but one other RPG blog but my own it would be:

http://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/ Not sure now Chris can consistently come up with his gonzo d100 lists, but I want some of it, whatever it is...

And I wish Jim Garrison was still posting his Bujilli campaign, but he's gone dark ...

14. A game thing I made that I like quite a lot is:

Getting to take part in various crowdsource projects - Expanded Petty Gods, Tenkar's Island, From the Vats, a few random hexcrawls and other prompts on G+, etc.

In-blog, I suppose my '4 scenarios' writing exercises, with four separate adventures built off a single map. Although people seemed to quite like my Technoviking.

15. I'm currently running/playing:

Taking part in a monthly B/X game, but need to roll more!  Had an inordinate amount of fun in a couple of con drop-in 5e games, so open to going down that dark path, as well...

And I need to get past social anxiety and just say, "Hey, I'm running a game. Wanna play?"

16. I don't care whether you use ascending or descending AC because:

I'm bi-AC-ual.  I write most of my game content stuff for S&W, and Delta's Target 20 math works.

17. The OSRest picture I could post on short notice:

Just do an image search for Henry Justice Ford:

Henry Justice Ford Monster Manual Project - The Multicerebral Ogre

Apparently, the watch-lions are too busy ogling the bathing beauties to help our hero out with his little conundrum.  "Oh, don't worry about me, I'll just be over here, slaying the ogre in the dark...."

Multicerebral Ogre
Armour class: As Chain
Hit dice: 1 HD per head (2d4)
Move: walk/run, medium
Attacks: claw x2 (1d8 ea), or by weapon, plus head effects
No. Appearing: 1-2
Morale: 10
Treasure: 50-100 GP/head, 5% chance 10-100 GP gems/head
Alignment: Chaotic
Special: Individual head effects

A multi-headed ogre-kin, perhaps some odd crossbreed between an ogre mage and an ettin, with a healthy dash of infernal influences mixed in... Each ogre will have a random number of heads (2d4), with each head having a particular characteristic or ability (see below).  The variable heads and abilities make them a formidable and unpredictable foe, with each ogre encountered having a nearly unique collection of abilities.

As a being of multiple heads, the ogre is only surprised on a 1 in 6 chance, even when slumbering, as one head always tends to be awake. Fortunately, the heads can be fractious, arguing and occasionally delaying the creature from taking an action or making an attack (-1 initiative).  Negotiating is nearly impossible, unless you can somehow get the heads to agree on a vote. Even then, one head will probably accuse the others of cheating.

Head effects* (d20 per head, reroll duplicate #s):
1-8: None, just yells a lot
9: Bite (1d6 damage)
10: Bite, venomous (1d4 damage, +4 save or die)
11: Tongue-lash (1d3 damage, successful hit may entangle or disarm opponent)
12: Cast Darkness (15' radius)
13: Cast Spook
14: Cast Protection from Good
15: Cast Hypnotism
16: Glare (save or be petrified, 1d4 rounds)
17: Spit acid (1d6 damage, 15' range)
18: Breathe smoke (obscures 10'x20' area)
19: Hock a loogie (gross wad of mucous, half speed for 1d4 rounds)
20: Halitosis (Effect as troglodyte)

* Physical attacks (9-11) at-will; Spell effects (12-16) 1/day; breath attacks (17-20) 3/day

Written for Eric Nieudan’s The Henry Justice Ford Monster Manual Project. This monster ('Multicerebral Ogre') is released under this license:  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/