Monday, November 30, 2009

Novellan Mountains d30 Encounter Table


The Novellan Mountains, which form the northern border of Telengard and extend eastward to the dwarven kingdom of Gannar, are known as a particularly dangerous place.  Bulettes abound in these high mountain passes, and the most dreaded of the Arandish red dragons, Razgar, is known to roost somewhere in this mountain range.  And of course the Arandish rock troll is another well-known denizen of the area. . . so adventurers beware!

Click here for the free downloadable pdf of this encounter table, including a 1d20 version.


Novellan Mountains Encounter Table – 1d30
   
1: Ape, Albino
2: Bear, Grizzly
3: Bear, Cave
4: Beetle, Spitting
5-6: Bulette
7: Cat, Mountain Lion
8: Cat, Sabre-Tooth Tiger
9-10: Cyclops, Horned
11: Dragon, Red (60% chance that this is Razgar the Red Dragon)
12: Dragon, White
13: Dwarf
14: Giant, Hill
15: Giant, Stone
16: Griffon
17-18: Hobgoblin
19: Lycanthrope, Werewolf
20: Men, Brigands (30% that the band includes dwarves)
21: Men, Ranger (50% chance Telengardian Roughrider)
22: Morlock
23: Neanderthal
24: Ogre
25: Orc
26: Roc, Giant
27-28: Troll, Rock
29: Wolf, Dire
30: Yeti (see Monster Manual p. 103)

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Accepting the d30 Blog Post Challenge -- And Cheating!

The Rusty Battle Axe recently posted a d30 table for Random Blog Topics.  I accepted the challenge, rolled a 15 on his Table, and got a result of "Lions, Tigers and Bears."  Secretly, I had really been hoping to roll an 18, for a result of "The Best Names for Taverns, Pubs, Inns and Bars," but I felt honor-bound to stick to the roll and started composing some thoughts on Lions, Tigers, and Bears:

I am quite fond of large predatory land mammals, and although I have more gut-level fear of sharks than polar bears, I harbor a healthy respect for large land creatures, and lions, tigers, and bears are all three types I would just as soon never meet in real life.  For that very reason, I think they make excellent low- to mid-level foes for wilderness-adventuring parties in D&D, and Ara's forests, swamps, and mountainous regions are populated with some particularly dangerous varieties.

I then planned to write up stats for a few such creatures -- only to realize I had no good ideas, or at least no new ones.  With big cats, I think I pretty much blew my wad with the Swamp Tiger, and although I'm obsessed with mountain lions right now, the mountain lion already has stats in Labyrinth Lord (p. 67).

I also wanted to do a B/X conversion / slight modification of the polar bears belonging to the Frost Giant Jarl in module G2 -- only to find that, once I looked them up, those bears are statted as Cave Bears, also already described in Labyrinth Lord (p. 64)!

So, at a total loss, I finally decided to do what so many of my great heroes and forebears throughout history and fiction have done: cheat!  I granted myself a bonus of +3 to my d30 roll, which gave me a result of 18, or The Best Names for Taverns, Pubs, Inns and Bars.  Here goes:

A great many of my inn and tavern names follow the formula:

"adjective" + "animal or monster name"

The adjective in this formula is usually sexually connotative, like "impotent," "randy," "horny," "well-hung," "cuckolded," "hermaphroditic," or "lucky." Examples: The Big-Balled Dragon, The Cuckolded Cheetah, The Randy Griffon, or even The Badger's Testicles Inn (a slight modification of the formula).  Sometimes the descriptive adjective is non-sexual, something more run-of-the-mill like "hairy," three-legged," or "rabid." Examples: The Greedy Lion, The Hairy Ogre, The Erratic Crow (this last a popular pub in Swampsedge).

What follows are some brief descriptions of a few well-known (and, I hope, well-named) bars in Ara.

The Impotent Owlbear 
The Impotent Owlbear is one of the most popular merc bars in Redvine, in northern Achelon.  Many of the best caravan guards, swords-for-hire, northern monster-hunters, and Achelonian rangers frequent The Impotent Owlbear.  The tavern's name is meant to demean the deadly monster so hated by most of the pub's frequent clientele, and the establishment is well-known for displaying a huge owlbear skull above the front door -- reportedly a remnant from a monster the pub's owner, an ex-monster-hunter named Orgle, killed single-handedly many years ago before he started the pub.

Immensely popular amongst adventurers, merchants, and local nobles alike, The Hairy Ogre in Tradefair (The Western Lands) is named for its proprietor, a hairy yet affable ogre named Bob.  (Some actually believe that Bob is actually half-ogre, half-human -- he is short of stature for an ogre -- but Bob is proud of his ogrish heritage so no one says this aloud.)  The Hairy Ogre's main competition in Tradefair comes from the Dragon's Teeth Inn, and upscale bar catering primarily to rich traders and the more pretentious locals who haven't realized (or don't care) that the food prepared by the chef at Dragon's Teeth is vastly outclassed by Bob's legendary stews and inventive home-baked breads.

Noffellian bars are usually named for Noffellian heroes, kings, and gods.  Tarandis and Noffel are the most popular king names in this context, and in northern Noffel lots of bar and inn names have "Frey" in them somewhere.  There is a famous pub in Jakama called Zapar's Fancy -- with the best seafood in Noffel, some say.  Many Noffellian pubs love to include the words "sword," "iron," and/or "blade" in their names.

Telengardian Inn names tend to be matter-of-fact and serious, e.g., Wayfarer's Haven, The Ironcrown Tavern (both in Ironcrown) and the Silver Dragon Inn (in Hollyn).

In the Free City of Kaladar, there are at least sixteen different pubs and eating establishments with the words "Green Dragon" in their names, but the most famous one is in the Lord Mayor's District, and is called simply The Green Dragon.  (This "Green Dragon" motif is in fact popular throughout south-central Ara; there are a few Green Dragon Inns and Green Dragon taverns in Achelon, and a Green Dragon Traveler's Hostel in Greywood in western Delzar.)  The Greedy Lion in the dangerous North Wall District of Kaladar is known in certain circles as a place to pick up dangerous and not-quite-legal mercenary and courier work.  The single most famous (and expensive) inn in the Free City of Kaladar is the Hotel Kaladarian, formerly the Queen of Achelon's palace back when Achelon ruled Kaladar prior to the Free Kaladarian Decree of New Calendar year 60.

Lastly, despite my better judgment I must mention The Aroused Barracuda in Thieves' Port.  This is probably one of the seediest and most dangerous bars in Ara.  No one enters unarmed, and only one in six patrons (on average) walk out alive.  A tough place catering to those who don't want to be found nor fucked with.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Four Horrid Spells


Who knows why, but I seem to love magic-user spells on themes of slime, scum, filth, and grotesquery.  So I present four horrid spells, two of which were actually created by more inventive people than me, as noted individually below.

Stickyfoot
Level: 2 (M-u)
Range: 100'
Stickyfoot creates a small (3’ x 3’) patch of a transparent, sticky substance which instantly bonds one person or human-sized being’s feet to the floor.  This patch may be cast anywhere within sight of the magic-user up to 100', and it sets instantly, so it must be cast directly under someone in order to be effective.   Once it adheres to its target’s feet and sets, the Stickyfoot substance immobilizes the target for 1d4 rounds, then vaporizes, freeing the target.  While immobilized, the target attacks at -1, and any DEX-related AC bonuses are negated.  The Stickyfoot spell can only be used against one human-sized target at a time (exceptionally large targets are not affected), and will only work in areas with solid floors (for instance, the Stickyfoot substance would not adhere to the side of a sand dune or to a patch of slimy swamp muck).

[Stickyfoot was conceived and written by Dave Miller for the original Crimson Blades of Ara game.]

Troglodyte Stench Burst
level: 3 (M-u)
range: 100 feet
Creates a 10’ radius spherical cloud of Troglodyte stench, enfeeblingly repulsive to humans and demi-humans, which appears within 100’ of the caster and lasts for 1d6 rounds.  Those humans or demi-humans trapped within the transparent cloud must save vs. poison or suffer a –2 to all attack rolls while still in the cloud.  Even those who escape the radius of the cloud find that the stench, and the –2 attack penalty if not saved against, will cling to the target for 10 additional rounds. 

Cannibal Curse
level: 4 (M-u)
range: 20 feet
Cannibal Curse turns one target within 20 feet into an uncontrollably ravenous cannibal for 1d6 rounds.  The cursed individual will viciously attack the nearest member(s) of its own species, biting at his/her/its/their flesh and attempting to eat him/her/it/them.  The cursed individual cannot be reasoned with while the curse is in effect.

[Note: The Cannibal Curse spell could be made available to evil clerics, in which case it would be a level 5 evil cleric spell.]

Vomitus Deluge
level: 5 (M-u)
range: 500 feet
On command, a magical stream of viscous, pungent acid spews forth from the caster and bursts onto its target(s).  The effect has a range of 500 feet and creates a vomitus burst 20' in radius. The burst deals 2d4 points of initial acidic damage. Unless somehow neutralized, the acid lasts another 1d6 rounds, dealing another 2d4 points of damage per round.  All beings caught within the burst of the vomitus deluge are allowed a save versus spells; a successful save reduces all damage by half.

[Vomitus Deluge was created by Jamey Racer II for a D&D 3.5 campaign in 2007-08.]

And of course no list of horrid spells would be complete without our favorite "horrid" spell, the most requested spell scroll in the Kaladarian Grand Wizardry Archive every year since its debut in 1583, the ever-popular Scumbrella!!

Scumbrella
Level: 1 (M-u)
Range: touch
Scumbrella is a 1st-Level magic-user spell that is cast upon a single mundane umbrella.  The next time that umbrella is opened, it dumps sewage and filth all over the person(s) underneath it.  Scumbrella is mainly a “practical joke” spell with very little direct combat application, though the target scummed by a Scumbrella is considered surprised for one round.  Further, if someone with open sores or wounds opens the Scumbrella, a save vs. poison is required to avoid catching some nasty disease.

Finally, to cap off our exciting tour of horrid spells, I present a magic-using NPC who takes advantage of some of them (as well as some great ones by bat from Ancient Vaults), Elzar the Horrid:

Elzar the Horrid
Human Magic-User Level 6
Sex: male
Alignment: neutral
STR 6, DEX 13, CON 14, INT 17, WIS 10, CHA 5
HP: 13
AC: 7
Weapons: dagger (1d4 dam.)
Armor: unarmored (base AC 9)
Spells (1st): Scumbrella, Gobsmacked
Spells (2nd): Mutinous Limb!, Summon Peasant
Spells (3rd): Troglodyte Stench Burst, Vexation of Food and Drink*

*Listed as a Level 2 Druid Spell, but Elzar has adapted this spell for arcane use as a level 3 spell.

Elzar the Horrid is thought to dwell southwest of Wilkiss, somewhere along the northern edge of the Great Western Swamp, in a particularly nasty smelling hovel guarded by a loyal giant toad.  He spends most of his time working to develop new horrid spell scrolls and potions, which he sells (through an agent) in the popular public market in Tradefair.  Elzar is widely held to be the creator of the Troglodyte Stench Burst spell, but he has never publicly verified this fact.  Elzar likes to be left alone and will use his array of horrid spells, including the distinctly antisocial Mutinous Limb!, to deter visitors to his hidden swamp cave.  He wears a ring of protection +1, which, along with his high DEX, accounts for his lowered AC.  Elzar is a Council Adept in good standing (i.e., he pays his Council dues) but he never attends meetings or Council functions in person.

Ancient Vaults Spells - Available in Ara!


I have been following bat's Ancient Vaults and Eldritch Secrets blog for awhile now, and am impressed with the quality of the offerings there and the care with which they are presented.  I have been planning on pilfering a bunch of bat's stuff for use in my Arandish campaingn, and then just recently, Chgowitz at the Old Guy RPG Blog posted this incredibly handy index to Ancient Vaults spells!

So I hereby declare that all Ancient Vaults spells found at the above link are available for use in Ara.

Thanks to bat for the great content and to Chgowitz for the superb organizational effort!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Killer-Looking Harryhausen Cyclops


I recently obtained an awesome 3-DVD set of the Ray Harryhausen "Sinbad" movies: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974) and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977).  I dig all these movies (along with Clash of the Titans of course) and especially Harryhausen's monsters; my all-time favorite Harryhausen creations include the statue Talos from Jason and the Argonauts (1963), the baboon prince in Eye of the Tiger, and this awesome looking cyclops from 7th Voyage.

In celebration of this great cinematic creature, here are proposed B/X stats for it -- not substantially different from a standard D&D cyclops, but I figure those cloven hooves make him a bit lighter on his feet (hence the faster movement rate and lowered AC), plus there's his horn attack.    



Horned Cyclops
No. Enc. 1 (1d4)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 120' (40')
AC: 4
HD: 13
Attacks: 1 (Club, Horn or Thrown Rocks)
Damage: 3d10 / 4d6 / 3d6
Save: F13
Morale: 9
Hoard Class:  XVIII + 5,000 gp
XP: 2,400

Indigenous to the Novellan Mountains of northern Telengard, the horned cyclops is in most respects identical to its non-horned brethren (see LL p. 69), except that this type may opt to attack with its horn, which inflicts 4d6 damage.


"Hi!  I'm from the Novellan Mountains!  Let me eat you for lunch!"

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Telengard - Rugged Plains and Mountain Fortresses



The northeastern Arandish kingdom of Telengard is a vast expanse of wasted high plains and harsh eastern mountain slopes that has never fully recovered from the ravages of the Old War. Most Telengardians are sheepherders, miners (some working for the dwarves of neighboring Gannar) or mercenaries, the latter typically venturing south into Delzar to fight on the Mizarian frontier. Due to threats from monsters and outlaws, the major towns and villages of Telengard are walled, and most traffic in and out of the lonely kingdom moves along the northern trade routes. Telengardian characters tend to be lean, cautious and tough, respecting individual strength of character more than political power or wealth.

With twice the land area yet half the population of Noffel, Telengard nevertheless subsists largely on the taxation of dwarven goods coming from the east, iron mining, and sheepherding.  Lacking abundant fertile farmland, Telengard must trade with its wealthier neighbor (and former enemy) Achelon, and its southern neighbor Delzar, for many staple agricultural goods.  Telengardians are at peace with Achelon and few Telengardians hold Old-War related grudges, but there are certain proud locals who view Achelon as a rich, pampered country unworthy of Telengard's respect.  Due to its proximity to Gannar, Telengard has a particularly large dwarven population, many of whom serve key roles in local Telegardian town and regional governments.  This is also a region where goblins as Player Characters (an idea brought to my attention by James M. at Grognardia) could come into play.  Very few rodians venture this far north, however -- the climate does not agree with them.

The Telengardian Roughriders
The Roughriders are a well-trained and highly disciplined group of horse-mounted fighters and rangers who patrol Telengard's borders and wilderness areas in small (1-4 man) patrols.  The Roughriders technically take their orders from the king of Telengard, but in practice, each Roughrider precinct (based out of a different Telengardian town or city, the largest being from Ironcrown) exercises a fair amount of autonomy in establishing its regular patrol routes and keeping its region safe.  Originally established at the end of the Old War to hold Telengard's borders against Achelon and to hunt down any renegade Dark Magicians still at large, the Telengardian Roughriders are nowadays mostly kept busy saving citizens and travellers from local monsters and brigands.  Roughriders help maintain the northern east-west leg of the Endyn Trade Route and are easily found there, but their jurisdiction includes all of Telengard, including the region of the deadly Ghardash Wilderness.


The Ghardash Wilderness
The most dreaded wilderness area in Ara, and perhaps the single most dangerous region in Ara, the famed Ghardash Wilderness is actually a relatively small area in north-central Telengard, nestled against the southern slopes of the Novellan Mountains between the fortress city of Ironcrown (to the south and west) and the northeastern dwarven mountain kingdom of Gannar (due east).  The Ghardash Wilderness is where many of the strangest and most deadly monsters summoned to Ara during the Old War eventually settled, and therefore, unlike most other Arandish adventure locations, few humans are to be found within its environs.  Even certain low-level monsters think twice before settling in Ghardash.  Also, don't forget that Razgar the Red Dragon inhabits this area as well. . .


Ghardash Wilderness d30 Encounter Table

1: Bear, Grizzly
2: Bugbear
3: Bulette
4: Cat, Panther
5: Cockatrice
6: Dragon, Green
7: Dwarf
8: Ghoul
9: Hobgoblin
10: Lycanthrope, Werebear
11: Lycanthrope, Werewolf
12: Manticore
13: Men, Brigands (20% chance that the band includes rodians, 20% that it includes dwarves)
14: Men, Insane Magic-User or evil Cleric (level 5-9)
15: Men, Ranger (Telengardian Roughrider)
16: Ogre, Wild
17: Orc
18: Owlbear
19: Roc, Small
20: Shadow
21: Spider, Giant Black Widow
22: Throghrin
23: Troll, Hill (same as standard troll)
24: Troll, Rock
25: Troll, Tree
26: Wight
27: Wolf
28: Wolf, Dire
29: Wraith
30: Razgar the Red Dragon


Click here to download a free pdf of this Table, along with a 1d20 version.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Northern Arandish Forest d30 Encounter Table



To accompany my previous post on the geography and culture of Achelon, I here offer an exciting encounter table usable in any northern forest in Ara, be it in northern Achelon, the Western Lands, even near the Ghardash Wilderness in Telengard -- though the latter will also have its own particularly nasty encounter table (forthcoming).

For the d30-less (poor forsaken souls!), I also offer a d20 version of this encounter table, included on the free downloadable pdf version of the Northern Arandish Forests d30 table.  See also two new Arandish forest-dwelling monsters at the end of this post!

Northern Arandish Forests Encounter Table – 1d30
1: Bear, Grizzly
2: Bee, Giant Killer
3: Bugbear
4: Cat, Panther
5: Dwarf
6: Elf
7: Ghoul
8: Hobgoblin
9: Lycanthrope, Werewolf
10-11: Men, Brigands (30% chance that the band includes rodians)
12: Men, Lone Mad Hermit
13-14: Men, Local Patrol*
15: Men, Ranger
16: Ogre
17: Ogre, Wild**
18: Orc
19: Owlbear
20: Roc, Small
21: Snare: One PC rolls initiative vs. the snare and is caught if s/he loses.  The trappers (50% chance human brigands, 50% chance tree trolls) appear swiftly and attack.
22: Spider, Giant Black Widow
23: Troll, Hill
24: Troll, Tree**
25: Wight
26: Wolf
27: Wolf, Dire
28: Encounter a Ruin***
29: The party stumbles across a partially decayed corpse
30: A dying Magic-User propped against the base of a tree hands a party member an indecipherable scroll, then perishes

* In Achelon, this would be the Queen’s soldiers; in Telengard, the Roughriders; in the Western Lands, any one of many possible local militias – maybe two competing ones!
** New Arandish monster, described below.
***I suggest you use the Random Ruin Generator by Robert Lionheart, in Knockspell #3.

New Monsters

Ogre, Wild
No. Enc. 1d4 (2d4)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 120' (40')
AC: 4
HD: 6
Attacks: 3 (2 claws, 1 bite)
Damage: 1d10 / 1d10 / 1d12 + rabies infection
Save: F5
Morale: 10
Hoard Class:  II + V
XP: 570

Faster, stronger, and far more bloodthirsty than normal ogres, the wild ogres of northern Ara are fearsome opponents.  Wild ogres are larger and hairier than standard ogres, and attack mainly with long, sharp, deadly claws.  Wild ogres are fiercely territorial and do not like to be disturbed by humans or other "civilized" beings.  A wild ogre's bite attack infects its target with rabies unless a save vs. poison is made -- the rabies infectee goes mad and dies within 1d6 days unless cured via the cleric spell Cure Disease.

Troll, Tree
No. Enc.  1d6 (3d6)
Alignment: Chaotic
Move: 120' (40')
AC: 5
HD: 3
Attacks: 3 (2 claws, 1 bite), set traps (see below)
Damage: 1d4 / 1d4 / 1d8
Save: F4
Morale: 8
Hoard Class: X
XP: 65

A smaller and more mischievous cousin to the larger trolls of Ara, tree trolls are in fact extremely rare EXCEPT in the forests of Northern Ara, especially in Achelon, where they seem to proliferate.  Tree trolls are not typically keen on direct attack strategies, preferring instead to soften their foes with tricks, psychological warfare, and rope or vine snares before attacking in large groups.  Unlike, say, rock trolls, who tend to fight to the death once they smell blood, tree trolls will retreat in the face of particularly strong foes and/or combat circumstances that turn against them.  Tree trolls have the same regeneration abilities and susceptibilities to acid and fire as their larger brethren.  Tree trolls live in treetops and hollow stumps and logs.  

Friday, November 20, 2009

Achelon - Matriarchal Prosperity

Pronunciation guide:
Achelon [ACK-el-on]
Achelonian [ack-el-OWN-ee-yun]

Achelon has seen many decades of restoration and growth since the end of the wizardrous Old War with its eastern neighbor, Telengard.  Due to prosperous trade with its southern neighbors, the kingdom of Noffel and the Free City of Kaladar, Achelon is presently one of the largest and strongest monarchies in Ara.  Almost all trade goods in Ara eventually traverse some part of the Endyn Trade Route, the most heavily traveled of all Arandish roads, most of the north-south length of which is maintained and taxed by the Achelonian Queen.

Matriarchal Rule
Achelon is a matriarchal culture, ruled by a Queen.  This is likely in response to the strongly patriarchal cultures of Noffel and Telengard, from which Achelonian people descend and against which they define themselves.  The southern half of the region now called Achelon was first settled around Old Calendar year 1000 by migrants from Noffel.  It would seem that those who favored matriarchal rule stayed on in this area, while those with a more patriarchal (traditional Noffellian) bent moved on northeastward to the Telegardian high plains. 
 
The castle of the Queen of Achelon is located in Achelonia, in the southern half of the Achelonian realm.  To the present day, this southern region is more politically stable and geographically beautiful than the north, being made up largely of pastoral farmlands, fields of abundant crops, and dense but scattered copses and wooded areas. Southern Achelonians, being from the more agriculturally cultivated and “citified” regions, have every opportunity open to them: they are traders, farmers, merchants, militiamen, magicians, thieves, politicians—you name it.

In northern Achelon, looser government control combined with greater monster-related threats keep the region in upheaval. The Queen's influence is less strong here, especially in the region west of Achelon proper known as the Western Lands.  This northern area -- the Western Lands and Northern Achelon proper -- is heavily wooded, with large evergreen forests housing great and terrible monsters of all descriptions.  While Achelonian troops loyal to the Queen do keep minimal guard in the north, especially of the valuable Trade Route itself, for the most part, local barons have the run of the land.   Thus Northern Achelonians favor heavy projectile and melee weapons like long bows and two-handed swords, weapons that deter the kinds of large monsters that dwell in the region.

The Endyn Trade Route
The Endyn Trade Route is is the major north-south roadway in Achelon and Ara, and is the most-used road in Ara.  It circles the interior of the Arandish continent, connecting the dwarven mines and forges of Gannar to northern Telengardian cities like Freetown and Ironcrown, then running south through Achelon to Riverhold, then eastward to the Free City of Kaladar and the villages and towns of Delzar (e.g., Greywood, Bilnhof).  One of my most frequently used adventure hooks is to have a merchant hire the party to work as caravan guards on a mission along the Endyn Trade Route -- especially in the particularly dangerous stretches of the Route passing through northern Achelon and the Ghardash Wilderness region of Telengard. This hook works nicely if you want to start the campaign in the economic and cultural hub of Ara, the Free City of Kaladar, which sits on the border between Achelon and Delzar but is its own sovereign realm.  The road leading east out of Kaladar into Delzar is officially named the Kaladar-Bilnhof Road, but informally almost everyone considers this road an extension of the Endyn Trade Route and calls it by that name.

In southern Achelon and near the free City of Kaladar, the Endyn Trade Route is well-patrolled, both by Achelonian soldiers as well as Kaladarian Royal Guardsmen, who claim an active jurisdiction of up to fifteen miles out on all sides of the Free City.  Despite this patrolling, brigands and monsters will attack travelers and merchant caravans on the Trade Route in all but the most heavily guarded places (e.g., within sight of the walls of the Free City).  In northern Achelon, one of its most feared stretches, the Endyn Trade Route is kept somewhat free of brigands and monsters by Achelonian soldiers, traveling merchants and their hired caravan guards, and troops working for the northern landholders bordering it.  But this is a much more dangerous area and in the forests just beyond the northern leg of the Trade Route, wild and dangerous beings hold sway.

Legends of Mornlyn
The Spire of Mornlyn, called by many Southern Achelonians The Haunted Spire or Arlon's Spire, is the source of most of Achelon's darkest legends.  Mornlyn marks the site of the prison constructed by Arlon to hold the evil necromancers at the end of the Old War.  Given its noteriety, the Spire of Mornlyn is a frequent adventure destination for fortune- and legend-hunters, and is also a place from which people frequently never return.  It is an evil place.  The Spire itself is thin, pitch black, and approximately 300 feet tall.  It is frequently rumored that no one now living understands its true purpose or power.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Musings In Response to Knockspell #3


I got my copy of Knockspell #3 in the mail today.  I am a print fetishist and like real books, for many of the same reasons that James Raggi IV has so insightfully discussed.  As I always teach my college writing students, print sources -- real books -- are more permanent and credible sources of information than most web-based sources in part because someone (the publisher) ponied up the money to have the text fact-checked, copy edited, vetted, play-tested, etc. BEFORE it reached the public.  Don't get me wrong, I love using online sources as well, and (obviously) I have discovered and advocate the particular joys of reading blogs.  I think blogs and other online media forms are indeed the future, and in many ways are already the present -- there is an immediacy and interactivity to be found on the web that is invaluable for trotting out the newest and freshest raw ideas and getting valuable feedback.  Yet I do perceive a difference (for me anyway) between what I post and read in blogs and what I get in a fine print publication like Knockspell #3.  There is something, well, weightier about having that bound publication with shiny covers sitting there in my hand.  Like what's in there is somehow precious.  (I sound like Gollum.)

I cannot really give a content-specific "review" of the mag, for I am already planning to use some of the adventures and trap ideas from Knockspell #3 in my forthcoming Arandish campaign, and I don't want to spoil any surprises for players of mine who might read this.  I suppose the fact that I found three or four offerings (parts of two mini-modules, one trap, and the badass random ruin generator!) that are of immediate appeal and use to me, all in one issue, says a great deal about the quality of this publication and its contributors.  The variety of stuff packed into Knockspell #3's 64 pages is impressive -- there are three complete mini-modules, a few random tables and one random generator, a few theory articles, and two particularly strong entries: the Swords and Wizardry-based Magician Class and alternative magic system by Akrasia, and the vile (and thus highly appealing) Anti-Paladin class by Kellri.  I don't allow paladins in Ara, but now, reading Kellri's great re-imagining, I sure as hell am allowing anti-paladins!

Which leads me to my big "aha" moment with this magazine.  As I leafed through it tonight, really enjoying the alternative magic system devised by Akrasia and thinking about its potential applicability to Ara, I began to get my first palpable sense of what the original 1974-77 iteration of D&D might feel like to play.  As I have mentioned before, I came of age with the Holmes Basic Set followed closely by many years with AD&D.  So it is no wonder that upon my glorious return to the old-school gaming hobby I should gravitate toward Labyrinth Lord (a clone of Moldvay Basic, which follows Holmes) and Goblinoid's forthcoming Advanced Edition Companion (which provides AD&D content in Labyrinth Lord terms).  But now, with the arrival of Knockspell #3 at my door, I may be hearing for the first time the siren song of the original Gygax and Arneson version of D&D.  I am at least encouraged, based upon the quality of Knockspell #3 including its terrific Pete Mullen cover, that an investment in Black Blade Publishing's Swords and Wizardry Core Rulebook would be a sound investment once some more cash rolls into the old coffers around here.  I know I would enjoy reading the book -- I couldn't get enough of gaming rulebooks as a kid, and I suppose I am no different now -- and I might even get inspired to play the S&W system in due time. . . 

In the end, for me and my primitive cave-man mind, I still like to read things in hard copy, in print, especially important things like old-school retro-clone game manuals and supplements.  It makes the consumer in me happy to know that there are artful, high-quality products like Knockspell #3 out there for me and the other members of my hobby to enjoy, use, archive, and cherish. I highly recommend this product for any old-school gamer.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Great Western Swamp d30 Encounter Table!




In ongoing celebration of my recent acquisition of a 30-sided die, I here present a new and improved Monster Encounter Table for the Great Western Swamp for use with a d30.  Note that this is a revision / expansion of the table found in this previous post on encounters in the Great Western Swamp.  I have put both the original 1d20 version from that post and my brand-new 1d30 version on a pdf available here for free download.

Remember that The Great Western Swamp is so notorious for being difficult to navigate that even skilled scouts and rangers from other regions have difficulty finding their way.  Thus local scouts and barge captains who specialize in traversing the Great Western Swamp get a +1 bonus to any scouting / tracking activity in the Swamp, and also add a +1 modifier to rolls on this Encounter Table.


Great Western Swamp Encounter Table – 1d30

1-2: Swamp Troll
3: Black Dragon
4: Carnivorous Beetle
5: Spitting Beetle
6: Babbler (see Fiend Folio p. 13)
7: Ghoul
8: Giant Bat
9: Giant Killer Bee
10: Giant Toad
11: Blaag
12: Swamp Tiger
13: Troglodyte
14: Stirge
15: Boar
16: Carcass Scavenger
17: Giant Centipede
18: Giant Carnivorous Fly
19: Giant Leech
20: Ogre
21: Insect Swarm
22: Rat
23: Giant Rat
24: Thork (see Fiend Folio p. 88)
25: Orc
26: Owlbear
27: Berserker
28-29: Brigand
30: Fugitive Magic-User.  This result includes a 2% chance of encountering the apparition of Awra; in all other cases, it is a typical magic-user (level 1-6, rolled randomly) fleeing from Noffellian authorities.
31: Vendetta Seeker (vs. the guide). This can be any type of monster or NPC that the guide or barge captain has wronged / made enemies with in the past.  The creature will attack the guide as well as the party indiscriminately.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Why "Game Balance" Sucks



Note: what follows is a report on last night's Mutant Future session from a player's perspective (mine). For the Mutant Lord's POV plus lots of fascinating background information, see Carl's blog.

Last night was Mutant Future night, and we had a somewhat thinner turnout than usual -- just three players plus our Mutant Lord.  I won't go into extreme detail about what we accomplished or did not accomplish -- I'll leave that to Carl -- but I want to reflect briefly on the phenomenon of real-world occurrences having a deep impact upon what unfolds in the game.

The party had returned to our "home base" town of Skinny Butt and were trying to establish an inroad to disrupting the balance of power between a few local groups: two warring factions of militaristic apes (recently escaped from Carl's megadungeon complex), and some peace-loving mutant badgers (called badders) whom my character Dataan is particularly friendly with (since we all worship Glargorion).  Since the PC party had fewer players than usual, and none of our usual mind-readers / empath characters showed up, we were in a situation where diplomacy was not going to be as effective for us as usual, yet we felt a need to intervene and stop the warlike primates from overrunning the badder's town.  So we snuck into the invaders' underground tunnel and played a commando-style session, sabotaging their vehicles, attacking them from heavy cover, and sending confusing messages over their comm-link system (a favorite activity of Dataan's).  By the end of the session, we had killed maybe four warangutans and confused a good many others, and one of our three party members was unconscious and very near death.  My synthetic android character Dataan never even entered the fray directly, but rather spied, stole a jeep, and shot some machine-guns using a remote-controlled spider-bot.  We did not have the strength in numbers we needed to mount a frontal assault on these guys --  an action I believe we may need to take next session, in order to press our advantage now that we have them confused and in retreat.  Hopefully more of our group members will be available to play next week.

But the point is, in a game where "balance" and "fairness" are valued, this situation might have seemed unjust, unacceptable, and possibly paralyzing to a party with a gamist agenda.  There was no way for us to defeat these well-armed warangutans who decisively outnumbered and outgunned us (not to mention their Terminator-esque robot friend).  But we made do with what we had, and even given our somewhat limited resources and my own character's physical cowardice, we actually wreaked some decent havoc there for several rounds, and managed to temporarily divert the bad guys from their immediate goal, i.e., blasting their way into the sub-levels of the fortress of Dataan's former masters, the Ooh-Oh Monks.  It was a deeply satisfying session, in large part because since we were under-staffed (i.e., three or four of our usual players could not show up for the session) we had to THINK and STRATEGIZE and INVENT ways to tackle our in-game challenges that much more intensely.  We had to develop an alternative strategy based upon our circumstances.  This kind of inventive response to "unfair" or uncontrollable factors is part of what sets the old-school RPG'ing experience apart for me, and I always welcome chances to play sessions where the risk factor is high (three players vs. multiple warangutan squads), much is at stake (the Ooh-Oh Monks are about to get reamed), and we have to use our party resouces wisely in order to accomplish anything and/or evade death (our commando-style approach to the session).

THANKS again to Mutant Lord Carl and my fellow players Danny and James for a killer session!

Deities of Ara


I've written in previous posts about Arandish clerics and sword-clerics, enticed you with the forthcoming elementalist class, and even mentioned a few ancient Noffellian deities, but now it is time to put forth, in broad terms, most of what I know about the principal deities worshipped in Ara.

Note that the deities discussed in this post do not constitute a comprehensive list of the available gods to be worshipped in Ara; in fact, I would personally allow clerics adventuring in Ara to follow whichever deity they choose, be it from Deities and Demigods, from this list, or even made up.  This post provides information about deities commonly worshipped in the Lands of Ara, a few of whom are culturally specific to certain kingdoms or regions (e.g., Noffel).  Adventurers in Ara can surely find temples to almost any god or worshippable thing within the walls of the Free City of Kaladar; but outside that city, full-blown temples to anything besides local deities or those entities specifically designated below are probably rare.  If an individual player wanted to make an argument for why some other deity might be widely known throughout Ara, I'd hear the argument out; but until then, I would say that while any deity may be worshipped and may provide clerics and sword-clerics with their spells, only those gods discussed below (and those I may discuss in future posts, e.g. the deities of the Mizarian people) may be assumed to be widely known or followed by any statistically significant group in the Lands of Ara. 

By the way, I am a big believer in making deities / gods / goddesses a proactive part of the gaming campaign, ESPECIALLY if there are clerics in the party or involved as NPCs.  There are some very insightful comments on this subject over at Chicagowiz's old guy rpg blog. 

I also like religious factional wars as story material, whether it be different temples vying for power in an urban setting like Kaladar, or a The Stand-esque end-of-the-world duke-it-out between good and evil forces that takes place in a remote, hidden evil crypt.  I specifically love the idea of the undead and the mortal races fighting it out on a grand scale -- hence the powerful necromantic vampires and Noffellian Sword-Clerics who inhabit Ara.  In fact, when Dave and I developed Crimson Blades of Ara, the homebrewed FRPG that used the Lands of Ara as its setting, we did not include a cleric or priest class (or, since CBOA was a skill-based system, I should say we did not include cleric-ing or priesting skills); we instead made the primary "religious" battle on Ara that between the undead and these badass mortal undead-fighters whom we called "palladins."  I definitely wanted to carry this palladins vs. vampires motif forward into my Labyrinth Lord conversion, but in order to avoid confusion vis-a-vis the popular AD&D "paladin" class, and because I think of our Arandish undead-fighters as being a bit closer to a priest/cleric than a fighter, I re-dubbed the old CBOA "palladins" Sword-Clerics of Frey in this, their latest iteration.

Anyway, on with the Arandish deity descriptions:

Frey
Frey, god of the mountains and iron, is the most widely worshipped deity in Noffel, and is held to be the principal deity of the Noffellians.  Noffellian clerics -- be they "regular" clerics or Sword-Clerics -- all follow Frey.  Frey has a huge (if spartan) temple in the Noffellian king’s capitol city, Highgate.

Zapar
Zapar, god of the waters, was the principal deity of ancient Noffel and may be the oldest god still actively worshipped in Ara.  Nowadays, Zapar has few bona fide clerics (if any), but he does have many witch doctors and shamans loyal to him (see “Tribal Spell Casters,” DMG p. 40), and Noffellian sailors and fisherfolk all pay their respects to the sea-god. 

Minar
Minar, god of copper, was worshipped by the ancient Noffellian tribe called the Minars, who migrated to the mountainous region now called  Minoch circa Old Calendar year 171.  It is thought that the ancient Minochian culture, along with worship of Minar, vanished at the time of the unexplained Great Catastrophe of Minoch in Old Calendar year 787; most present-day Minochians either worship local village gods, are agnostic, or give reverence to Awra, the creator-sorceress.

Aldor
Aldor, goddess of the wood, is now worshipped exclusively by the Aldorian elves of northwestern Ara.  (Though some human rangers and druids privately pay their respects to Aldor when passing through certain northern Noffellian wooded areas.)

Targos and Syrna
The practice of elementalism most likely began in southern Telengard around Old Calendar year 1520, almost seven hundred years before the birth of Awra.  Elementalist practitioners believe that their powers come to them by the will of two ancient gods, Targos, god of earth and fire, and his sister Syrna, goddess of wind and water.  Worship of these deities probably originated in ancient Noffel (though they are not mentioned in any surviving texts) and came north with the
early Telengardian settlers.  The four branches of elementalism, earth, fire, wind, and water, are divided into four different sacred Orders, each somewhat removed from the other.  These Orders call themselves The Servants of Targos (earth), The Warriors of Targos (fire), The Holy Followers of Syrna (wind), and The Children of Syrna (water).  Non-elementalists, especially those living in northern Arandish lands like Telenagard, Delzar, and northern Achelon, acknowledge Syrna and Targos and pray to them occasionally, but may also revere other gods alongside them, something an elementalist would never do.  Worship of Targos and Syrna is less popular in southern Ara.


Cryonax, Elemental Prince of Cold

Cryonax
I mentioned some while ago that Cryonax (Fiend Folio p. 31) was coming to Ara.  I have always loved Cryonax -- what's not to love about an incredibly powerful yeti-thing with tentacles for arms? -- and once I started brainstorming ways to convert the Lands of Ara into old-school D&D terms, I soon hit upon the idea of creating an evil order of elementalists who worship Cryonax. Whereas the original Crimson Blades of Ara RPG only had four types of elementalists and two elementalist deities, i.e., the brother / sister team Targos and Syrna, who for the most part cooperate with each other, I thought: what if there are some Evil Cold Elementalists who worship the terrifying demigod Cryonax and fucking HATE the mamby-pamby elementalist followers of Targos and Syrna?  Wouldn't that set the stage for yet another MAJOR RELIGIOUS FACTIONAL WAR??  Huzzah!!

Awra
Awra's history has been recounted elsewhere, but she is a widely revered and worshipped figure in Ara, perhaps the most popular in all Ara.  Rodians revere her (and depict her as a Rodian), as do most human magic-users and enchanters (who depict her as human).  Many Arandish natives refer to her (in awe) as "the creator-sorceress" and fear to speak her name aloud. Awra is believed to have fought the ancient Noffellian gods, particularly Frey, sometime around Old Calendar year 2287; according to many, Awra won, dethroning the old gods, but Noffellians insist that Frey triumphed, beating Awra back and driving her out of Noffel.  In any case, Awra is called “the arch-sorceress” or simply “the witch” in most areas of Noffel, and is despised by almost all Noffellians.  She is widely believed to have given up her human form long ago, and now mainly roams Ara (when she does at all) in gold dragon form. 

Here are the gaming stats for Awra when she appears as a gold dragon:

Awra as Gold Dragon (LL p. 70)
# Encountered: 0 (1)
Alignment: lawful (good)
Move: 90’ (30’), Fly: 240’ (80’)
AC: -2
HD: 11
Attacks: 3 or 1 (2 claws, 1 bite, or breath)
Damage: 2d4 / 2d4 / 6d6
Save: F11
Morale: fearless
Hoard Class: XV
XP: 3600+
Awra casts spells as a 20th-level magic-user and a 20th-level cleric, and she knows every possible arcane and divine spell ever invented.  She can (and should) have additional magical abilities available to her at will at the GM's discretion. 

Other Deities
Besides the various deities listed above, ancient dragons -- especially particularly powerful dragons like Krakko -- are often worshipped in Ara by so-called Dragon Priests and their followers.  Of course, demons are often worshipped as well, as are local gods and spirits of the forest etc.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

A Non-Numerical Approach To D&D Attributes

Well, there may not be much new Lands of Ara content from me this weekend, for although I am very close to having "Deities of Ara" ready to go, I keep getting distracted by various (real-world) housekeeping tasks (I changed the cats' litter boxes today) as well as some inspirational reading of other old-schoolers' blogs and websites.  Along this line, I caught wind (via P_Armstrong at Ode to Black Dougal) of a really provocative and smart proposal at Robertson Games' site about approaching attribute "scores" in a more qualitative, comparative way rather than a roll-dice-for-numerically-quantitative-scores kind of way.  It is worth checking out and something I will be pondering for possible future use in my own campaigns. . .


 
Charlie the cat says: Happy Sunday!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

A Better Writer Than Me Who Also Dislikes Feats

I have realized that while I am a prodigous creator of game content and a hell of a nice guy, I am not much of a philosophizer / theorizer about specifically how RPGs do or do not work for me.  I know what I like, and I play that, and for some reason I have trouble articulating why that is in many cases.  For example, I know I do not like D&D 3.5 or 4.0, and I know it has primarily to do with (a) overall tone and feel -- so different from the D&D I love and remember -- and (b) feats, which just don't make sense to me.  But I greatly enjoy reading other people's blogs and finding that there are so many sharp RPG theorists out there who come up with really eye-opening thoughts about what works well (or not so well) in different versions of the various games we play.  So, in this vein, please check out this insightful post by Akrasia about Why Feats Suck in D&D, written from the point of view of a self-proclaimed "old and lazy" old-school RPG'er whose view on this matter echoes my own, and helps explain why I had such a tough time getting comfortable with D&D 3.5.

I Finally Got Some Frikkin' Money



My parents were in town for a visit this past couple of days, and after a tasty Indian dinner last night, they and my girlfriend and I happened to walk past my favorite local game store, into which I couldn't resist poking my head, and guess what they had, to my delight?  A pristine used copy of the 1e AD&D Monster Manual, the last of the original AD&D core rulebooks I need for my (newly restored) collection.  Sweetening the deal was the fact that my mom bought it for me. . . just like she and dad bought me that first Holmes D&D Boxed set back in '82.  Truly, some things never change.  A big score -- thanks mom!

That Monster Manual haul was a harbinger of further happy things to come, because today, after suffering through a bit of a cash flow slowdown over the past couple of weeks, some unexpected money came into the coffers, so I immediately rushed online and ordered my own print copy of the Labyrinth Lord Revised Edition -- up until now I have been making do with a print copy of the un-revised LL rulebook lent to me by my generous friend (and Mutant Lord) Carl, as well as a free download of the Revised Edition Core Rules pdf.  Further, while I was at the Goblinoid Games online print store I also bought an additional secret goodie that I will be reviewing with an eye for possible incorporation into my upcoming Arandish Labyrinth Lord campaign. Since I am one of those people who fetishizes books and printed things, I am extremely thrilled to think that my LL books are being bound as I type this and are soon to be shipped my way!   Huzzah!

Now I just have to wait for James Raggi IV to get The Grinding Gear up on the Lamentations of the Flame Princess web store. . .

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Mediocre Maps of Ara Part 3

This should be the third and final installment of the "Mediocre Maps" series -- see the first and second installments for my disclaimer about what a poor mapmaker I am.

Luckily, my good friend Carl, who is a remarkably talented mapmaker and visual artist -- see samples of his eye-catchingly beautiful cartography on this map and this map over at Megadungeon.net -- has decided to make a large-scale map of the Lands of Ara one of his next cartographic projects.  Hooray!

So what follows are the last two old maps of Arandish regions that I've had lying around in a plastic tub for a good number of years.  They include a Comline Hills insert map and another cartographic look at Ara's West Coast Cities.  In some ways these may be the most mediocre and/or least necessary of the maps I have posted, but I am having a "Clearance Sale" so you get them all.  Enjoy!

Click here to access maps 7-8.


Map #7: Comline Hills insert map
The Comline Hills are located on the northern border of Noffel, just west of the Frey Mountains.  I originally created this map for what turned out to be an incredibly short-lived (two or three sessions) campaign.  But I have always liked the map and I think it may prove useful for seeing the barge route into the Great Western Swamp in particular.  But as always, there are some minor inaccuracies on this thing, to wit: 
 
Scale:  I cannot vouch for the scale of this map vis-a-vis the larger region maps with whom it shares depictions of this area.  I have a feeling that "New Bay Town," the southern-most of Ara's West Coast Cities (see below) should actually lie a good deal further west than this map indicates.
Nonexistent Town: the town / village of Robin’s Hold should be eliminated altogether, making Swampsedge the last town you reach westward on foot before needing to take a barge or boat into the swamps.
The "New Swamp Road" exists--its skirts the southern edge of the Great Western Swamp -- but it may be located a bit further south than indicated here, closer to the Comline Hills themselves.  It is relatively new and not completely established.  It is mostly used by black marketeers and bandits on their way to Thieves' Port (see Large-scale map of Ara #4).  Benjamin's Cove may exist, but it is a very small village not too far to the northwest of the much larger town of Thieves' Port.
Shazahan Road is still Shazahan Road, NOT General Torpol road as indicated here.


Map #8: West Coast Cities
This map more or less repeats the information given on Grimlock's Map from the previous post, but what the hell?

Click here to access maps 7-8.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Two New d30 Spells




Not only is this a chance a blab some more about my recently-acquired 30-sided die, it represents the resolution of a fun little conundrum I've been facing in the arcane magic department.  You see, there was this spell from Crimson Blades of Ara, my co-homebrewed FRPG system, that I always really loved and wanted to create an analogue for for my upcoming Arandish Labyrinth Lord campaign.  The spell is called Alaxxx's Zib Flobble, and it is a kind of momentary fate-controlling (or at least fate-skewing or fate-randomizing) spell.  Here is the original spell description -- note that CBOA was a skill-based system that operated almost entirely on d% rolls:

Alaxxx’s Zib Flobble (CBOA version)
Range: sight. 
Duration: 1 minute.
Invented by the mad Achelonian wizard Alaxxx Leprongo Kulikkx, the Zib Flobble spell allows the magic-user to make all percentile die rolls for the target, choosing the ones and tens die AFTER the rolls are made (deliberately aiding or hindering the target as the caster chooses).  This effect lasts for one minute of game-world time.  Obviously, the caster does not necessarily have any say over whether or not the target will actually attempt any skill, trait or combat rolls within that minute.  He merely gets to manipulate the results once the target has announced an action that requires a d% roll.  Unless the target possesses some special means for detecting magical curses, he/she/it will have no way of knowing that Alaxxx’s Zib Flobble has been cast upon him/her/it.
 
I was having trouble translating the intended general effect of that spell into LL terms, and that minute-long duration seemed both too complex and too powerful.  Then it struck me that the d30 was the key.  Once I had that, it was a simple step to realizing that I actually need two spells to generate the same range of random effects possible under the old Zib Flobble spell: thus I invented a new companion spell, Alaxxx's Zib Floogle!  Enjoy!

Alaxxx’s Zib Flobble (Magic-User spell)
Level: 3
Range: sight. 
Duration: instantaneous.
Invented by the mad Achelonian wizard Alaxxx Leprongo Kulikkx, the Zib Flobble spell allows any character or NPC creature the caster chooses (except himself) to roll the referee’s d30 in lieu of whatever die or dice the situation normally calls for. The choice to roll the d30 must be made before any actual rolling has occurred. The d30 cannot be rolled for generating character statistics or hit points, nor can the Zib Flobble affect the outcome of secret rolls by the referee.  d30 roll substitutions granted by the Zib Flobble spell do NOT count against the d30 roll allotted each player once per session (see forthcoming Arandish Campaign House Rules).  Unless the target possesses some special means for detecting magical curses, he/she/it will have no way of knowing that Alaxxx’s Zib Flobble has been cast upon him/her/it.


Alaxxx’s Zib Floogle (Magic-User spell)
Level: 3
Range: sight. 
Duration: instantaneous.
Another of Alaxxx Leprongo Kulikkx’s odd fate-changing spells, the Zib Floogle spell allows the caster to roll 1d30 and subtract the result from any other character’s or NPC’s (but not his own) just-completed roll.  This spell’s effect does NOT extend to any secret rolls made by the referee, and the Zib Floogle spell cannot be used against someone rolling for generation of character statistics or hit points.  Unless the target possesses some special means for detecting magical curses, he/she/it will have no way of knowing that Alaxxx’s Zib Floogle has been cast upon him/her/it.

Arandish Goblins and Hobgoblins

Goblins
In Ara, goblins feature as a PC race only -- hats off to James Maliszewski for coming up with that idea.  That's right, you heard correctly, goblins are not used as monsters in Ara.  Use frikkin' orcs instead!





 
Hobgoblins
Like so many other monsters, Arandish hobgoblins are more powerful and feared than hobgoblins found elsewhere.  In fact, part of the reason for the virulence of Arandish hobgoblins -- and the source of the fearful legends that surround them -- may be the longstanding yet unproven rumors of a fiendish underground race of super-hobgoblins thought to dwell somewhere deep beneath Ara. . .  

Arandish Hobgoblin
# Encountered: 2d4 (5d4)
Alignment: chaotic
Move: 90’ (30’)
AC: 5
HD: 3
Attacks: 1 (weapon)
Damage: 1d8 or weapon
Save: F2
Morale: 9
Hoard Class: XXI
XP: 65
 
Arandish hobgoblins live primarily underground, and suffer a –1 penalty to all attack rolls when in full sunlight.  In Ara, hobgoblins are archenemies of dwarves, who they hate above all other humanoids (though humans run a close second). 
Arandish hobgoblins seem to prefer large weapons like battle axes, two-handed swords, and heavy flails.  When in the presence of a hobgoblin king -- a 6HD hobgoblin usually accompanied by 1d4 4HD bodyguards -- all hobgoblins have a morale score of 11.  Hobgoblins are sometimes, but not always, encountered in mixed parties that include bugbears (40% chance).

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Better Map #4 Uploaded

As previously promised, I went and got a better scan of Map #4, the Newer Large-Scale Lands of Ara Map.  The previously available version was scanned in two sections -- the western half followed by the eastern half.  This new version is one solid scan.

Recall that this map is intended as a companion piece to the older (but in many ways more accurate) large Ara map available here.  Please also refer to my previous notes on that older map, which are available as a pdf download.  Much of what follows repeats information from those notes, but since neither of these two maps is wholly accurate, I am trying to triangulate the cartography of Ara via comparison and contrast between the two.  Thus, herein, whenever I say “old map” I mean Map #1, the large-scale Lands of Ara map from my first maps post.  Whenever I say “new map” I mean Map #4.


NOTES ON OLD VS. NEW LARGE-SCALE ARA MAPS

Noffel and Southwestern Ara
The old map has far better topographical details in general, and should always take precedence in determining natural features unless otherwise noted.  This is especially true in the Noffel – Blint – Western Lands – Kaladar regions, which are out of proportion and too scrunched up on the new map.  However, Northern Telengard, near the dreaded Ghardash Wilderness, should be even more densely forested, as should the northern end of the Western Lands.  The old map’s placement of Kaladar and its arrangement of Noffel, Blint, Minoch, and The Western Lands relative to each other is perfect.  As are the Frey Mountains, which are scrunched in too far south and too close to Noffel on the new map.  As far as this southwestern area goes, the new map is mainly a good source for the latest and most correct city and settlement names.  For example:

In Achelon: the large unnamed city indicated in the middle of the old map exists and is called Achelonia.  Achelonia is where the Queen of Achelon resides and rules.  

In Noffel: the old map says Jakama, which is correct, though I may incorrectly refer to this same Noffellian port city as “Jakarta” in some places.  The old map lists no Highgate, which now exists (see new map; on the old map, Highgate lies just across the river from the top left corner of the “B” of “Blint”).  Highgate is where the Noffellian King resides and rules—such a city was implied to exist before, but was never explicitly named until now.

In Blint: Marshton (old map) has been replaced by Blintsport (new map).

The Western Lands and the Great Western Swamp
The towns of Vedik and Malak exist in the southern region of the Western Lands, as per the old map.  But follow The Western Lands insert map for all specifics of the rivers and human-made features in the northern two-thirds of The Western Lands.  Certain Western Lands cities from the old map, like Bozart and Garakthon, should be eliminated (though we could keep Bozart as a small village somewhere up there), and note that Tradefair, the largest and most important city of the Western Lands, does not even show up on that old map (it would go a bit east of where Bozart is now. . . see also my comments on the placement of Nurna below).  The features of The Western Lands shown on the old map may or may not always be accurate, especially as concerns those cities indicated in the southwest region: maybe one of them is Castle Morko, but I cannot vouch for any of them or their placement on the old map—see The Western Lands insert map instead.  

Note that where The Western Lands insert map says “to Redvine” it should more accurately say “to Holtboro and Redvine.”  Also note that The Western Lands insert map really only covers the northern two-thirds or so of the Western lands

The Great Western Swamp should encroach a bit further into the Western Lands, and the north half of the Western Lands should be much more thickly wooded (similar to northern Achelon).  Nurna, the great elven lake, is a bit misplaced on the old map; it should be much further north and a wee bit east, more ABOVE the Western Lands than off in the NW corner of it—see the new map as a guide.  Also, note that Marsh Town, the town built on docks in the middle of the southwestern region of the Great Western Swamp, lies just off the Western edge of the old map, at roughly the same latitude line as Swampsedge. 

Telengard, Delzar, Eastern Ara
I prefer Delzar to be more narrow and skinny than is depicted on the old map, and Delzar should be smaller than Telengard; thus I favor their relative proportions on the new map.  The new map is also an excellent resource for place- and city names throughout eastern Ara.

Click here to download new and improved Map #4!

Monday, November 9, 2009

My d30 arrived this weekend!




I just got my first-ever d30 in the mail this Saturday.  I had always heard about 30-sided dice when I was coming up in the RPG'ing hobby in the 1980s, but I never actually played in a campaign where anybody had one, nor did I own one myself -- until now!  Now that mine has arrived, I can proudly claim my membership in the Order of the D30, I was able to use it earlier tonight in Mutant Lord Carl's KILLER Mutant Future campaign, and I have been inspired to create a special new d30 table for random tavern encounters in Ara.  Enjoy!

30 Arandish Tavern Patrons - rural or wilderness area

Note: all NPCs are assumed to be human unless otherwise specified.
1:  A competent scout / guide approaches the party offering his/her services.*
2: An eccentric scout / guide approaches the party offering his/her services.**
3: A group of three dwarven miners sits at a table, drinking ale and talking amongst themselves.
4: A solitary young woman with a learned look sits nervously at a table.  She is a 3rd level Magic-User on the run from the Council or Noffellian authorities, and if approached in the right way, might hire the party as bodygards to escort her to the next town.
5:  A drunkard approaches the party and shares a (true) local rumor.
6:  A very erudite journeyman sage shares a (false) local rumor for 1gp.
7:  A young local scoundrel / cutpurse shares a (true) local rumeor for 1gp.
8:  At a nearby table, a 1st Level rodian illusionist is using his change self spell to appear human, allowing him to eavsedrop on another table of humans nearby.
9:  A Noffellian 6th Level fighter, who is an agent of the Noffellian High Guard, enters the tavern, scopes out the main room, and then circles the room, giving various patrons a description of someone the party knows and asking if they know where s/he is.
10: A drunk blacksmith approaches the party looking to start a fight with one of its members.  Armed only with a dagger, the blacksmith fights as a 1st Level fighter.
11:  A minstrel plays a song for the party then demands 1gp.
12:  A group of rowdy Mizarian barbarians is giving the tavern staff a hard time, and will attack anyone else who intercedes or intervenes.
13: A persistant traveling salesman attempts to sell the party some stolen goods for half their list price.
14:  A 5th Level Magic-User approaches any arcane magicians in the party and cautiously sounds them out about their opinions about the Council and the Invisible Hand; he is a recruiter for the latter.
15:  A rodian 2nd-level illusionist uses change self to impersonate someone the party knows, in order to lure one or two party members outside where the rodian and his colleague, a female rodian 3rd-Level rogue, mug them.
16:  Four richly dressed merchants get drunk at a nearby table, and eventually all but one of them leave, and the remaining fellow passes out.  The merchants each have 10-60gp on them.
17:  A man with an eyepatch enters the bar, approaches the characters, mumbles something about being followed, and drops a bag on the PC's table.  He then exits the tavern in a hurry.  Once on the street, he is followed by two assassins, who kill him on the next block.  The bag contains 50gp and an idol.***
18: A well-known local woman adventurer (Ftr - 2) enters tavern, swoons, and falls to floor clutching her neck.  She is dead, having quite recently been sucked dry by a vampire.  She will arise as vampire spawn tomorrow. 
19:  A Kaladarian exotic weapons buyer will haggle with any PCs who have ornate or magical weapons, trying to buy their items off them.
20:  The barmaid is actually an assassin (Level 4) hired to kill one of the party members.
21:  A pair of lovers at a nearby table is actually a duo of spies hired to follow the party.
22:  There is an invisible rodian illusionist / rogue (Levels 2 / 2) picking pockets in here.
23:  An insane hill troll attacks the tavern, ripping off the front door and attacking those nearest within.
24:  A local farmer is selling the sexual favors of one of his sheep, 5gp per go-round.
25:  The security chief (Ftr-5) for a merchant caravan passing through town is hiring mercenaries to work as caravan guards.
26:  An agent of an organization hunting / opposing the party or its employers sees the party, then exits the tavern hurriedly to go report to his / her superiors somewhere nearby.
27:  A jealous, hot-tempered local merchant mistakes a party member for his / her spouse's illicit lover and challenges the character to a fight.
28:  A group of five Noffellian soldiers drink and talk boisterously at a nearby table.  Anyone who appears too obviously to be an arcanist will get harassed, even threatened by this group.
29:  A large cloaked figure enters the tavern and heads to the bar, where, after a few heated exchanges with the bartender, he throws back his hood, draws a battle axe, and kills the bartender.  The stranger is a hobgoblin.  After killing the barkeep, he will make for the exit and leave if unopposed.
30: The barkeep takes an instant dislike to the party (or at least some of its members) and refuses the party service.

*  Near the Great Western Swamp or in the city of Tradefair, this could be Rogath the Swamp-Ranger.
**  Near the Great Western Swamp, this could be Rabbit-Head.
***  Customize the idol or item in the bag to function as an adventure hook in your campaign.


Endnote: Those interested in 30-sided dice and their lore should also read Jeff Rients' review of some out-of-print Armory d30 books.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Mediocre Maps of Ara Part 2

As promised, here are more mediocre maps of Ara available as free downloads!  Please recall my previous confession to being a lousy cartographer and visual artist, and be forgiving of these maps. 


Map #4 - Newer Large-Scale Lands of Ara Map
I just scanned this on my small home scanner in two sections -- the western half followed by the eastern half.  As soon as I can make it over to Knight Library to the fancy big book scanner, I will provide a nicer version of this map. 

This map is intended as a companion piece to the large Ara map available here.  Also, please refer to my previous notes on that older map, which are also available as a pdf download.  Much of what follows repeats information from those notes, but so be it – as I've said, neither of these two maps is wholly accurate, so I am trying to triangulate the geographic / cartographic realities of Ara via comparison and contrast between the two maps.  Herein, whenever I say “old map” I mean Map #1, the large-scale Lands of Ara map from the previous post.  Whenever I say “new map” I mean Map #4.  


NOTES ON OLD VS. NEW LARGE-SCALE ARA MAPS

Noffel and Southwestern Ara
The old map has far better topographical details in general, and should always take precedence in determining natural features unless otherwise noted.  This is especially true in the Noffel – Blint – Western Lands – Kaladar regions, which are out of proportion and too scrunched up on the new map.  However, Northern Telengard, near the dreaded Ghardash Wilderness, should be even more densely forested, as should the northern end of the Western Lands.  The old map’s placement of Kaladar and its arrangement of Noffel, Blint, Minoch, and The Western Lands relative to each other is perfect.  As are the Frey Mountains, which are scrunched in too far south and too close to Noffel on the new map.  As far as this southwestern area goes, the new map is mainly a good source for the latest and most correct city and settlement names.  For example:

In Achelon: the large unnamed city indicated in the middle of the old map exists and is called Achelonia.  Achelonia is where the Queen of Achelon resides and rules.  

In Noffel: the old map says Jakama, which is correct, though I may incorrectly refer to this same Noffellian port city as “Jakarta” in some places.  The old map lists no Highgate, which now exists (see new map; on the old map, Highgate lies just across the river from the top left corner of the “B” of “Blint”).  Highgate is where the Noffellian King resides and rules—such a city was implied to exist before, but was never explicitly named until now.

In Blint: Marshton (old map) has been replaced by Blintsport (new map).

The Western Lands and the Great Western Swamp
The towns of Vedik and Malak exist in the southern region of the Western Lands, as per the old map.  But follow The Western Lands insert map for all specifics of the rivers and human-made features in the northern two-thirds of The Western Lands.  Certain Western Lands cities from the old map, like Bozart and Garakthon, should be eliminated (though we could keep Bozart as a small village somewhere up there), and note that Tradefair, the largest and most important city of the Western Lands, does not even show up on that old map (it would go a bit east of where Bozart is now. . . see also my comments on the placement of Nurna below).  The features of The Western Lands shown on the old map may or may not always be accurate, especially as concerns those cities indicated in the southwest region: maybe one of them is Castle Morko, but I cannot vouch for any of them or their placement on the old map—see The Western Lands insert map instead.  

Note that where The Western Lands insert map says “to Redvine” it should more accurately say “to Holtboro and Redvine.”  Also note that The Western Lands insert map really only covers the northern two-thirds or so of the Western lands

The Great Western Swamp should encroach a bit further into the Western Lands, and the north half of the Western Lands should be much more thickly wooded (similar to northern Achelon).  Nurna, the great elven lake, is a bit misplaced on the old map; it should be much further north and a wee bit east, more ABOVE the Western Lands than off in the NW corner of it—see the new map as a guide.  Also, note that Marsh Town, the town built on docks in the middle of the southwestern region of the Great Western Swamp, lies just off the Western edge of the old map, at roughly the same latitude line as Swampsedge. 

Telengard, Delzar, Eastern Ara
I prefer Delzar to be more narrow and skinny than is depicted on the old map, and Delzar should be smaller than Telengard; thus I favor their relative proportions on the new map.  The new map is also an excellent resource for place- and city names throughout eastern Ara.


Map #5: Grimlock's Map of the Two Continents
This is a map I made fairly recently, as part of my 2008 attempt to introduce the Lands of Ara to my D&D 3.5e group.  As is embarrassingly usual, there is no scale given, but it does correctly depict the placement of Ara's West coast Cities and even reveals some of the (funny) names of port towns on the western continent that lies across the Algar Sea from Ara.  "Grimlock" is in fact a denizen of that western continent, a cartographer working out of Snotream Harbor, the principal port city of the region known as Iggle.  Note that Grimlock mistakenly identifies the Noffellian city of Jakama as "Jakarta."


Map #6: Southern Achelon
I cannot really vouch for the scale of this map -- it is given but I do not know how accurately it corresponds to the larger-scale maps of this same region already provided.  Also noteworthy is that Achelonia, the seat of the Queen of Achelon, is incorrectly placed here: it should be much further north, as on Map #4 (above).


Click here to access Maps 4-6.


Yet to come: a Comline Hills insert map and another cartographic look (besides Grimlock's) at Ara's West Coast Cities!

Three Badass Dragons

I happen to agree with noisms at Monsters and Manuals that D&D dragons should be more powerful than they are, more godlike and feared.  Thus, as with Arandish vampires, Arandish dragons are much more powerful than the ones listed in the Labyrinth Lord rulebook.  Dragons in fact rarely appear in my campaigns; I am much fonder of using humans and the undead, with a dash of orcs, hobgoblins, and trolls thrown in, as my main foes and villains.  When a dragon does appear -- and I cannot even think of a time in the recent past when one has -- I feel it should be immensely powerful, godlike, and absolutely terrifying.

Therefore I present three badass Arandish dragons

Krakko the Iron Drake
# Encountered: 0 (1)
Alignment: lawful (evil)
Move: 90’ (30’), Fly: 300’ (100’)
AC: -3
HD: 21 (168 hp)
Attacks: 3 or 1 (2 claws, 1 bite, or breath)
Damage: 2d6 / 2d6 / 6d8 
Save: F11
Morale: fearless
Hoard Class: XV
XP: 13,000

[Note that Krakko’s basic stats are based loosely upon Bahamut from MM p. 33.]

Krakko [CRACK-oh] the Iron Drake, the only dragon of his kind ever encountered in Ara, is not a native of the Arandish dimension.    Krakko hails from some unknown neighboring dimension, and can travel inter-dimensionally at will.  Due to his inter-dimensional travel ability and sadistic nature, Krakko occasionally appears in Ara and wreaks momentary but catastrophic havoc. 

Iron scales render Krakko’s hide resistant to almost every form of physical attack. Only magical weapons of +1 or higher, or weapons made of dwarven steel, can harm Krakko.  He is utterly immune to fire attacks.  Krakko's breath weapon is as a red dragon's, a 90' long, 30' wide cone of fire, and his spell abilities are equal to those of a gold dragon.  Krakko loves torture and oppression, and seemingly has no regard for life other than his own, at least not when he visits Ara. 

Certain incomprehensibly powerful summoners are rumored to have first summoned Krakko to Ara during the waning days of the Old War -- in effect showing him where Ara is and royally pissing him off -- but this is the stuff of legend and cannot be verified.   Whatever his origins, Krakko is undoubtedly the most feared creature in Ara.  Though his legend has been in place since the earliest conceptions of the Lands of Ara, I have never actually deployed Krakko in an Arandish campaign -- he is too powerful.





Razgar the Red Dragon
# Encountered: 0 (1)
Alignment: chaotic
Move: 90’ (30’), Fly: 240’ (80’)
AC: -1
HD: 18
Attacks: 3 or 1 (2 claw, 1 bite, or breath)
Damage: 1d8 / 1d8 / 4d8
Save: F11
Morale: 11
Hoard Class: XV
XP: 5,250

Razgar [RAZ-gar] inhabits the Novellan mountains in northern Telengard, and is the de facto master of those mountains and the dreaded Ghardash Wilderness just to the south.  Razgar is legendary throughout northern Ara.  He actually does not need to do much to enhance his reputation anymore, so he typically only hunts humans and humanoids for food and to acquire their treasure.  He rarely raids a city or larger settlement unless someone there has directly wronged, challenged, or insulted him.  Besides Krakko, Razgar is the most feared dragon in Ara.



This is one of my favorite illustrations from the Monster Manual.

Bublar the Black Dragon
# Encountered: 0 (1)
Alignment: chaotic
Move: 90’ (30’), Fly: 240’ (80’)
AC: 1
HD: 9
Attacks: 3 or 1 (2 claw, 1 bite, or breath)
Damage: 1d6 / 1d6 / 3d8
Save: F9
Morale: 9
Hoard Class: XV
XP: 3,100

Bublar [BOOB-lar] dwells in the northern end of the Great Western Swamp, somewhere in the southern foothills of the Gray Mountains.  He is as ill-tempered a dragon as you could hope to meet, and delights in frightening, terrorizing, torturing, killing, and mutilating almost anyone.  Note that parties traveling in the Swamp and randomly encountering a black dragon are very likely encountering Bublar (100% chance in the north, 60% chance in the southern half, closer to Noffel).

Other Arandish Dragons
Note that since I think that D&D dragons are generally under-powered, even “run of the mill” dragons randomly encountered in Ara should have 2 or 3 extra Hit Dice beyond their standard Labyrinth Lord listing—for example, the typical Black Dragon encountered in the Great Western Swamp should be a 9- or 10-Hit Die monster (like our friend Bublar).