The Minotaur Player Class

Well, I haven't done up a character class in entirely too long, so a quick and dirty writeup of that labyrinth denizen and antagonist of disoriented heroes everywhere: The Minotaur! 

by www.deviantart.com/calebcleveland

(Made up for OSE-B/X, or similar old-school flavored games)

HD: D8

Saves: As dwarf

Allowed armor: Light or medium, shields

Allowed Weapons: Single or two-handed melee

Requisites: STR, CON 12

Prime Attribute: STR/CON

A denizen of the labyrinths and dark, twisting places, your chimeric, monstrous appearance keeps you on the edge of the civilized world. 

Unless, perhaps, some serious muscle is needed, a spectacle is demanded for the gladiator ring, or a party needs someone who does not get turned about in the underground. And then, who do they call? Your bull-headed self of course... Hulking and outcast, you tend to be a loner, but will join up if the coin is good and the maze is worthy of your nose for direction.

Your native habitat is the mazes and winding passages, either engineered or natural. You have an inherent sense of direction underground, and can readily track back to the last known exit or passage to a level change.

You’re a big boy (or girl). Your height is six feet+1d12 inches (watch your head). Armor costs 25% more to fit your majestic physique. That bullishness, though, has made you tough as nails. Add your CON bonus to your armor class.

You much prefer to get up close and personal for bashing, stabbing, and slashing, so missile weapons are not on your shopping list. That said, you can use two-handed weapons single-handedly. 

That whole man-eating thing is a myth... Isn't it? Whatever. You can forgo your weapon attack to bite or gore (1d6 damage) an opponent.

You may be big, but you're surprisingly light on your feet. You may move silently in the tunnels as a thief of the next higher level.

And, of course, you can see in the dark (infravision to 60'). Not much good underground otherwise, eh?

Download the maze-runner here (includes XP table and Move Silently matrix)

Contest Entry 2 - No ArtPunk Contest

Entry #2 for this month. Fortunately a deadline extended (August 31) so that I could wait for the muse-imps to finish their coffee or running errands and come give me a hand.

So plenty of folks aren't so hot with the pink and purple layouts or out-there artistry, or art for the sake of art game or adventure writing... I appreciate people stretching creatively, and especially the innovation in game and adventure design of the last few years, but much of it doesn't appeal to my esthetics. 

Or maybe I'm just a luddite who can't do layout to save his life.

Well, the Prince of Nothing rolled up a contest just for us unfortunates: the No-Artpunk contest. 

With tongue planted firmly in cheek, he announced the contest in the theme of just making some interesting adventure content.  

Well, I had a map floating around to start from, at least...

I don't know if it fits the criteria, of "exciting, fantastic, and fun," but I occasionally need a deadline to create. The idea of a 'hidden thing' stands out on multiple levels with this map, as the main edifice of the complex is hidden behind secret doors. So the 'hidden thing' theme came up a couple of times in my scribbling and drafting for this adventure. Let's see if it works. Oh, and the big bad may be a bit squidgy for some folks. I have no issue with it being reskinned by users.

Come take a walk down The Long Hall

Update: PoN's feedback here

Revised adventure here

Jam Entry - The Funnel

Oop - been remiss on my scribblings and paltry efforts....

Stumbled upon the itch.o jam page. I honestly haven't perused itch.io much other than a few recommended downloads, and only had a passing familiarity with their jams. But it's always good to have a deadline...

The one that caught my interest was the Funnel Jam - building a 0-level funnel game and/or adventure to run classless PCs into 1st level characters. 

I previously built a funnel adventure, complete with a 0-level character mini game in my 2018 One Page Dungeon entry. The 0-level mechanics are loosely based on the DCC method, with some added randomness and a brief framework for attempting class-like skills. Most importantly, a PC doesn't "know" if they are potentially good at something until the first time they attempt an action, at which point the player rolls the relevant stat.

Without the imposed space restriction, I could add to the 0-level character mini-game, as well as build a small adventure that our hapless mooks may find themselves in... In this case, they are The Help for a local mage, who has asked them to open and tidy up his summer house for the season. Unfortunately, it has squatters, as well as other tenants left from more diabolical activities. It's going to take some serious elbow grease to get these dust bunnies all swept up...

Anyway, here it is, for your perusal.

Download here

The Funnel Jam runs thru August 31.

Sapiam's Observatory

Good morning, 

Here's an island location, with its main occupant a skilled craftsman of some renown. 

Hopefully, a locale like this could be used for a number of possibilities: PCs seek to either purchase or commission a lens ground by Sapiam, gathering some astronomical information or interpretations, hired to infiltrate his compound and gain secrets of his methods and materials. An NPC like Sapiam can also become a patron, or commission the acquisition of raw materials, as well. 

Download me here

Just a quick dungeon stocking exercise

Not too long ago, I watched Daniel of Bandit's Keep roll up a random dungeon to illustrate the process.  I, too, am a proponent of the Moldvay 2d6 method, so this wasn't a new approach, but it's always good to see how someone else utilized the method. And a follow-up actual play, where he ran his players through the creation, was a fun bookend on the process. 

And this morning, I watched Red Dice Diaries quick dungeon generation video, which spurred me to do a bit of quick-and-dirty dungeon populating. 

Ok, I have an hour(-ish). Let's see what I can do.

Scrounge a Dyson map of approximately five rooms, and hit a few random generators for aid. Mostly rolled up general room contents by Moldvay 2d6, adjusting as it seemed appropriate. Treasure was rolled via the OSE generators, and occupants, unless noted, are bone-stock OSE. A couple other generators aided in color.

Addendum: Clearly notated map for rooms and details:

Numbered map for key: 

Source

1. A worn statue to Phaarus, god of massacre guards the entrance. The statue is carved of black stone, depicting a tall man with a head covered in bony plates, and wearing garments made of the bones of the dead.

2. The room was once a meeting hall, but has long been stripped of anything of value. Faded and damaged frescoes show scenes of the god lording over the deaths of innocents and vanquished soldiers. A few broken crates are scattered about, apparently formerly containing provisions or trade goods. A locked closet is filled with dusty jars. One contains 200sp and a potion of levitation. Running water can be heard down the corridor to the northeast.

3. A rough alcove on the west wall hold an alter to the worship of Phaarus. Four gnolls crouch here, snickering in their rough language, while offering up a number of severed hands as tribute. A shallow alcove at the north end of the room shows evidence of a removed statue or figure.

4. Rough stone steps lead to the bank of a subterranean river. Claw marks are visible in the sand. There is a 2 in 6 chance that anyone investigating the river will attract the attention of a giant crayfish (as giant crab). It will surprise intruders to its territory on a 3 in 6.  

5. A rough cavern has been hollowed out by some burrowing creature, now absent. A pile of bones, chitin, and nesting material fills the eastern end of the borrow.

6. A two-level room contains a monolith depicting Phaarus. The monolith is on an unstable footing, with a 2 in 6 chance to topple on someone investigating it (2d4 damage, requires 25 combined strength to lift from a trapped victim). Beneath the monolith is a coffer containing 100sp and 300gp.

7. A former small shrine is empty but for three broken columns. 

8. The chamber's southwest corner has been eroded away, falling into the river. The room contains some broken furniture. It is occupied by a gnoll shaman, Drogakk Barkclaw (as gnoll except: 4HD, spells: magic missile, protection from good, hold person) and his two gnoll guards. If the PCs encountered the giant crayfish (Area 4), the shaman will be warned of their intrusion. The shaman carries a pouch containing three gems of 100, 500, and 1,000gp value.

***

Ok, maybe closer to two hours, but I stopped and had a snack.