Monthly Archives: February 2012

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Blank Hex Drop Table Grid

February 9, 2012 4:45 pm / Leave a Comment / Chris

For you to enjoy. Examples of it in action are here, here and here. Please feel free to share what you do with the rest of the class in the comments below.

rolangs_drop_table_hex_grid (33K PDF)

Also: James Raggi at LotFP has put up his Indie-a-go-go page for The Monolith from beyond Space and Time and The God that Crawls. I for one would like to see this be a success. I love his original adventures and it feels like it’s been forever since the last one, so go on over there and sponsor what you can afford.

Posted in: content, encounters, legacy D&D / Tagged: dice drop tables, tables, tools

Dice Drop Table: Evil Temple of Evilness

February 8, 2012 5:16 pm / 2 Comments / Chris

Another dice drop table, the Evil Temple of Evilness and the Great God Orsobuffo (named for the guy whose request lead to these tables). If you haven’t followed by two previous posts (here and here), this is how they work:

You print these out and lay them flat on a table. Drop some dice on the paper and interpret the results. If you already have a map, this will help you populate it. If you don’t then you can let the results guide you.

Each die should land on one or more outer or inner hexes. The inner hexes have encounters in them. If a die lands partly on one, then the encounter and its surrounding items are present in the room. If a die lands on only the outer hex, then it probably is touching more than one. I tried to design this so that the trappings in adjacent large hexes are somewhat compatible, so see if you can put whatever the die touches in the room. I’d also suggest that whatever large hex the die covers more, put the encounter in that hex in the room as well.

Unlike straight-on tables, this allows for some interpretation and that is the key–do what makes a better scenario.

Here’s an example of a temple made from this table:

Dice dropped on the temple table

I have some acolytes, a mummy, an anti-paladin, the temple guards and a private sacrificial alter. I also have two dice on the head priest. I’ll take this to mean there are two priests/priestesses somehow.

The Secret Temple of Orsobuffo

Crypt: The previous high priests and saints of the past are buried here. There are several dusty crypts here and a list carved in stone details the occupants. It does not mention that one of the occupants is a mummy. Also on the wall is a mural of an unholy prophecy of the return of Orsobuffo. There is a giant nest of centipedes in place of a corpse inside one crypt. There is also a scroll of binding there, which details a ritual for enslaving a creature from an outer plane.

Acolytes Quarters: Here can be found the beds, trunks, books, correspondence and prayer books of the acolytes, who can be found throughout the temple (say there are 12, total). A careful search of the trunks will also reveal the accounting books used to manage the temple and a map of the outer and inner planes, including access points. One of the acolytes is a doppelganger. You might involve it somehow in the high priest succession mentioned below.

Sleeping Quarters of the Anti-Paladin: A bedroom, and privy. Here the party can find a whenstone, unholy books (yes, again with all the unholy this and anti-that), dishes on a table with the remnants of a fine meal and a whetstone. The anti-paladin is not present.

Temple Guard Quarters: Here you will find the living quarters of the guards, including bunks, belongings, sports equipment, dice and weapons of the guards. On the tables are the remains of an ordinary meal. There is some gold in the foot lockers. The guards are on duty or otherwise not present.

There are two dice on the ‘high priest’ hex. There would not normally be two ‘high priest’ quarters unless you wanted to have this religion require two for ceremonial purposes. I will go that way and say that this cult only has twin priests. A high priest is chosen by the Orsobuffo idol from the two twin priests. The chosen then sacrifices the other on the altar. If you are a big fan of coincidence in your adventure, the party’s entry to the temple is on the night of choosing.

High Priests Quarters: This suite has been temporarily set up into two sets of living quarters. In one quarters are the thangka collection and the flute. In the other, adjoining chamber, is a private shrine and the cat (a disquised and undiscovered efreet). Both quarters have access to the vestments closet and the privy. The high priests are a rotund pair, a twin brother and sister. Both are secretly hoping to find a way to manipulate the idol into choosing them.

In the main hall is the giant statue of Orsobuffo. He appears as a fat, horned devil with jewels for eyes. This statue will animate when the prophecy on the wall is chanted a thousand times and raise either the right or left arm to indicate which of the twin priests he wants sacrificed on the altar, which is at his feet. There are many drums and gongs that are played as the chanting commences.

PC’s might mistake this as choosing the one who lives. Use that. Also in this main hall the night of choosing will be the antipaladin, the acolytes, and most of the temple guard.

There is an on-off switch that animates the statue fully, allowing it to walk. It is surrounded by a poison dart trap, which is activated by all but a few floor tiles. The priests know the way, as does the antipaladin. Also here is a self-destruct mechanism for the temple, which is also set off if the statue is destroyed (not deactivated). There is a secret door here as well, which leads outside.

(Note to Orsobuffo: I named this after you, but didn’t put it in the title so as to not interfere with SEO to your blog. Not that this blog is big enough to do that…)

The Evil Temple of Evilness JPEG (2.3 MB)

Posted in: campaign window dressing, content, encounters, legacy D&D / Tagged: bring it, dice drop tables, tables, temples

Dice Drop Table: Institute of Deathology

February 7, 2012 5:32 pm / 4 Comments / Chris

This table I call the Institute of Deathology. It can be used to quickly populate a necromancer’s tower or hidden lab. It works almost the same as yesterday’s Kaotic Cave, but has fewer possible encounters. You get one die for each room on the same level and drop it on the chart. The large hex the die falls mostly in suggests the theme and use of the room along with a possible occupant. If the die falls in the inner hex, or the occupant is not mobile, then the occupant is there. Otherwise, wait and see where else it might be. If the die is on the border of a few large hexes, see what it touches that goes well together. This tool is meant to suggest, not dictate, so go with whatever makes sense to you and looks fun.

I’m going to populate four floors of a tower that has two rooms each. There are only 12 possible ‘encounters’ on this table, but some rooms might be empty and I’m going to have the head necromancer be in her quarters on the fifth floor.

First two dice come up square on the shoggoth and the traitorous demon familiar.

Dice drop for basement of Necromancer's Lab

Basement

A shoggoth is hidden in the corner of a room that includes a captive NPC (unconscious or crazy or mute, let’s say), a hideous painting, broken glass, a golden leash, a scroll of banishment and a slime trail near the door. I think I’ll make the cellar one big room and add the familiar, the ‘phone’ to other planes and the broken iron chains. I could have added the rest of the trappings around the familiar but the die fell only barely on the familiar and the room is already pretty rich with stuff. The familiar or the NPC might have useful information or want to help you deal with the necromancer. The demon is not to be trusted, of course, and might just forget to mention the shoggoth…

Ground Floor

Room one is where the talking head is. Let’s say they use it as an entryway decoration or mojordomo. The d4 doesn’t touch the inner hex, so he could be away (perhaps getting repaired next door). I’ll wait and see what else comes up then decide. In the meantime, the entryway has at least the column the head stands on, a music box, a tray of hard candies and a library (probably for show). Hidden away is a case for the head (to sleep at night) and vials of blood (for maintenance). The d4 also hit ‘cadaver’ but since I only want 2 rooms per level, I’ll just have a dead body in the entryway. Perhaps Igor needs to take it upstairs…
Room two. The d10 landed mostly on oil lamp and barrel of eyeballs and only a but on shovel, tools and rope. Let’s put the caged zombie(s) room in back with those things and also the straight jacket, lightning prod, mummified cat and the parts on the tables. Seems Igor is making a mess today…

Floor 2

The d10 landed square on the doppelganger apprentice. It has foreign coins, a sword, mirror, torn clothes, a wig and a bottle of poison. (Why does a doppleganger need a wig? I dunno. Maybe they don’t do hair so well. Maybe they need a magic wig? Maybe I made this late at night?). There’s also a secret exit here.

Now the tower isn’t going to have a special room for uninvited doppelgangers, so let’s look at the other die. It landed on the corner of library, sleeping quarters and is also touching privy, cadaver and parts in drawers (for the clockwork corpse). Let’s forget the parts, but use library and sleeping chambers. Let’s also use sleeping chambers but not for the head necromancer, who is on the top floor. Here’s what we get:

Sleeping quarters. There is a dead body here with a wig, torn clothes and a dresser with a mirror. On the dresser are some coins, which on close inspection turn out to be from a foreign land. In the pricy is a doppelganger who has killed the assistant Igor (in the privy no less) and has just shoved the body down the latrine along with its wig and old clothes. It now looks like Igor and is deciding what to do next. There is a secret exit at the bottom of the privy pit, but the doppelganger doesn’t know. Might be interesting if Igor is just unconscious for a few hours…
Library. There should probably be some scrolls and books here.

Floor 3

The d4 is on Igor’s hex, but he’s indisposed. This is the kitchen, pantry and Igor has a small cot in back. Under his cot is some tasteful woodblock ‘art’, a holy book, and the petty cash for buying household goods. I would suggest swapping this room out with the zombie room below. It’s more likely a servant’s quarters and kitchen are located below, far away from the master’s room.
Naga in tank. This captive naga lives in a large tank. There is a book on a stand near the tank, so it can read. There’s also a painting of a hell-like place, a kaleidoscope which with the book are probably carrots to get the naga to do as it’s asked. Then the sticks are here as well-a harpoon and feeding fish.

Top Floor

This is the necromancer’s quarters. She has sleeping chambers, a privy, a wine ‘cellar’ (let’s say several bottles and some cups), an hour glass, a potion of youth and a cat. There’s also a secret exit here that is most certainly not the privy. Perhaps it is a teleportal to a safe spot a few miles away, designed to allow one person and one cat through before deactivating. Whether she is around is up to you. She could be in the library, zombie room or the basement.

One thing I forgot–where’s the talking head? In the sleeping quarters on the dresser (on a pillow) where Igor sometimes let it nap. It saw the doppelganger kill Igor but played dead.

I hope you find this useful. It was fun to make, as goofy as it is.

Institute of Deathology v1 (1.8 MB)

Posted in: campaign window dressing, content, encounters, NPC / Tagged: bring it, drop table, necromancer, npcs, tables

Dice Drop Table: Kaotic Cave

February 6, 2012 6:09 pm / 4 Comments / Chris

It’s not often I get to show off how artistically my development is arrested, but here we go…

A multi column dungeon dressings/rooms/accessories table, with columns like ‘natural cave’, ‘necromancy lab’, ‘mine’, ‘underground prisons’, ‘evil temple’ and whatever you feel like including. Oh why am I the 15th!??!

I’m afraid I can’t do this in the format that you requested. Well I could, but I’m not going to. I understand the OSR fetish for endless tables, tables, tables, but in this case, I wanted to do something different that will hopefully still be useful for you.

Today’s post is the first in a series of drop tables, the Kaotic Cave (2.4 MB file). This is the ‘natural cave’ table. These tables are all hand-crafted with no real artistic skill whatsoever and are not intended to reflect high production values. To wit:

These are the dice dropped on the chart for level 1 of Kaotic Cave

Just grab a handful of dice and drop them on the table to fill several rooms and with trappings and possibly encounters or encounter hooks. Look under each die at every space it touches and arrange the items indicated on your map however you like. Each large hex has a smaller hex in the middle with an encounter. If the inner hex is not touched, have the monsters be away from their lair when the PC’s arrive. Maybe they are wandering, or perhaps they are in a battle with a neighbor. If multiple large hexes are touched, you can optionally include all the encounters together in a large room or hallway, battling it out.

I have tried to arrange these tables so that encounters that have similar window dressing are close to one another. The Kaotic Cave has several humanoid races close to one another with accessories that fit any group.

Smashed shriekers, mound of skulls, troglodyte corpse and garden

For example, the mound of skulls in the troglodyte hex could easily belong to the Kobalds. If I dropped a d4 on that space, as pictured, I would fill a cave chamber with smashed shriekers, a mound of skulls, a troglodyte corpse, a garden and some trogs fighting the kobalds in their home. Why in the Kobald’s home? If I didn’t have a preference, I’d just go where the larger part of the die is. If two dice cover the same large hex, I reroll the one furthest from the center.

I threw several dice with this, so for level one, I have:

a pack of kobalds [sic] defending their home from troglodytes. They were warned by the dying alarm of their shriekers, which were placed to guard their garden (of mushrooms, I suppose) and the shrine built with the skulls of their ancestors.
a room with troll bones,
an ale cellar with a secret door to the outside,
a corpse in the middle of a pentagram (no obvious explanation, perhaps a hook to later encounters),
an owl bear’s nest with owlbear(s) and all the surrounding trappings (worms, bones, beetles, roaches, centipedes and a half-eaten dwarf),
the mushroom mens’ home with its residents plus all the surrounding trappings (dung, glowing fungus, mulch pile, spore pods, guano and a mushroom garden)
a room with rats eating a dead adventuring party.

Another throw for level two gives me:

a room with a brazier and burnt bones,
the lair of the giant spider, where she is hiding, plus all the surrounding trappings (eggs, more bones, small spiders, a giant web, mummified corpses and a secret exit),
a room full of bats
a hallway with a full backpack and shredded ropes and a trap
a nest of flail snails with the snail family plus slime trails, trippy mushrooms, a dead party, a pile of bones, a pond and a bunch of baby flail snails.
a dead, runt adult albino ape, lying on a dung pile, holding a cow femur
a hidden room with weapons, armor and several jewels belonging to human bandits, who are away.

Level 3:

the d4 went off the sheet, so I’ll add one wandering/pursuing monster to this level: It’s a minotaur who wants the dragon’s treasure but will let someone else kill it.
The lair of the trogs, who have their own skull mound, human bones, a cave painting of demons, trippy berries, their own smashed shriekers and a half eaten kobald [still sic]. These would be the weak, young and elderly trogs, since the boys are out fighting. I wonder who started this?
another chamber of bats and guano–the same large chamber as on level 2.
A pool or stream with a secret underwater door, which leads to a lake outside.
an abandoned campsite (formerly belonging to goblins).
A gelatinous cube lurks in this chamber. A smart party will be wary once they find human bones, a map (of what? you decide!), a scroll of spells, a ring, gold coins and some bits of armor.
The dragon’s chamber, complete with dragon, hoard, ceiling exit, eggs, melted armor slag, pieces of armor and a flock of birds that clean parasites from under its scales as it sleeps.

Now this won’t populate your megadungeon, but I think the above isn’t too shabby for a night of adventuring. The die rolls took twelve seconds total, while the typing took twelve minutes.

Here’s the Kaotic Cave as a hi-res jpeg at 2.4 MB. I’ll probably update the images to make them smaller and more readable later this week.

I hope it was worth the wait, Orsobuffo. Tomorrow: The necromancer’s academy.

Kaotic Cave v1 (2.4 MB)

Posted in: campaign window dressing, content, encounters, legacy D&D / Tagged: bring it, dice drop, kaotic cave, tables

Ten Cursed Coins

February 2, 2012 5:38 pm / 4 Comments / Chris

John Johnson said:

Posted in: campaign window dressing, legacy D&D, magic items / Tagged: bring it, cursed items, curses, magic items, money

Eighteen Common Hireling Motivations

February 1, 2012 5:15 pm / 4 Comments / Chris

Lasgunpacker said:

Dear Sanity-clause,
Although I have not been good this year, I would like: a 3d6 table of hireling/follower/retainer goals and objectives
(traditional)

Thank you,
lasgunpacker

Since 3d6 is a bell curve, the most common goals and objectives will be in the middle. I tried to keep these traditional. I included some literary and film examples in some cases, although I don’t think they are necessary.

Roll 3d6	Objective
3	Maybe I will find a cure for this curse/disease/malformity.
4	One of the PC’s will be a great leader and I will be his right hand!
5	Restore honor to the family name.
6	Need money to ransom sister/mother/brother/son/father/pet owlbear.
7	Village/home burned to the ground (Luke Skywalker)
8	See the world! Meet interesting people! And take their stuff!
9	Get enough food (or gold) for family to survive winter/rainy season/drought. (Young Genghis Khan)
10	Prove worthy of a bride/groom/honor.
11	Just plain mean. Likes to kill. (The Comedian)
12	Prove that I’m better than Dad/Mom/Uncle Joe. (Jaime Lannister)
13	Former prisoner. No one else wants me. I’ll take what I want. (Jack Sparrow, Riddick)
14	Wants to learn the ropes. (Incrediboy)
15	Just one last score/adventure/war then I can quit. (Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon)
16	Really a peasant/woman/child, but wants to be accepted as a warrior (Kikuchiyo)
17	Works for the party’s enemies.
18	Believes fighting the dark forces/monsters is a religious calling.

Posted in: campaign window dressing, legacy D&D, NPC / Tagged: bring it, motivations, npcs