The Ravensvale Coven

For anyone curious about the process I use when designing stuff...

Sitting here this morning, drinking coffee and surfing twitter. One of the many humans I follow on Twitter, a certain Madame Hyvemynd posted a little something of her life in Japan.

"Japan: Where gangs of old people wander through the neighborhood on winter nights, banging two blocks of wood together, as a way to remind residents to be careful with their oil/gas heaters and not burn their houses down."

Normally I not nearly focused enough in the mornings to give serious thought to anything. (Welcome to the life of a coffee zombie) However that one sentence sparked an interesting thought. Not having anything resembling mental discipline this early, I answered her with...

"There is background for a ttrpg town there..."

Almost immediately, my non-caffeinated lump of mildew laden gray matter spit out this...

"I'm thinking the old witch in town, on the eve of the full moon. Wanders the streets clacking two pieces of wood together, as a reminder to residents to lock their doors and shutters. Because a Night Hag wanders to town on the night of the full moon."

It didn't take long for that idea to romping off on it's own, opening up ancient story ideas I have filed away in the kludge of unrealized hooks and adventures that occupies the library dwarf living in my cranium. So know I ask you to picture and short, harried looking individual. Scurrying around a room, piled high with old books, small scraps of paper, and general untidiness. This is the great library of ideas and snippets that is my brain. In bursts an anemic looking clown that begins riffling thru all the stacks of paper, and starts stuffing random pieces of paper in it's mouth. The dwarf looks startled at first, then calmly picks up a trash can and catchers mitt, sedately waiting for the inevitable avalanche of the recently created wild idea that just wandered in...

The Ravensvale Coven

At the foot of Bushka mountain, in the region of Kharkusch, lies the small village of Ravensvale. If the PCs stop for resupply and rest, they might notice a few strange things about the town. First, there are no male children in the village. Yes, there are few older men, but none of them is under the age of 15. Second, all the children in the village wear masks depicting goblin faces. They never take them off. The PCs can ask anyone in town why all the children wear masks, and the locals will only point towards a small hut at the edge of town.

Approaching the small hut, the PCs will notice a wisp of smoke rising from the chimney and the pleasant scent of heavily spiced rabbit stew wafting from the disheveled dwelling. Should the PCs knock, a short, very plump old woman that calls herself Corrina will invite them in for tea. Corrina is actually the Faerie Queen Titania in disguise. During the course of their visit, Corrina will tell them of the Crazy Old Hag Dorothy Doorknobs, that lives on the mountain. The Old hag commands an army of goblins. The Hag has the Goblins watching all the villages in the area, looking for unattended children. If the children are spotted by the goblins, Dorothy will visit that child's house and spirit them away in the night. All the parents in the village hide their children from the goblins by giving them masks of Goblin faces to wear until they reach puberty.


So far, that's all the fluff I've come up with.  What is actually going on is...

Dorothy Doorknobs is Baba Yaga. She lives in a cave, high up on the mountain. Baba Yaga has imprisoned the Erlking (The Goblin King) and is using his power to turn children into Goblins for her army. Before she managed to imprison him however, he managed to curse Baba Yaga. She can longer go out of her cave as Baba Yaga, she must forever appear as Dorothy Doorknobs, a crazy old crone that will do nothing but scream obscenities and throw doorknobs at anyone caught on the mountain. This adventrure is just starting to coalesce in my head space. I know there will be a variety of Hags to battle, maybe a Wytchfire, and lots of Fae to deal with. The PCs will be asked by Corrina to free the Erlking and free the village of the murderous Goblins.

Here's to hoping it inspires some ideas of your own. So until next time...

Happy Gaming!

The Curse and the Legend.

"Where is your mistress, little man?' The armored man asked the boy. "She is in her hut by the corrals sir."
"Take me to her please." It was almost comedic, the sight of a six foot six inch man following a boy that barely came up to his waist. The duo set off at a brisk walk towards the old woman's home.

   Many of the tavern denizens could only stare at the pair of tall strangely dressed women as they took seats across from one another in the dimly lit common room. "Why are we here?" asked the the rougher looking of the two sisters. "Because Liam is looking for the monster that slew his sister and father. Quit asking May." Missy replied in obvious annoyance. "You've asked me that question every day, sometimes twice a day for three weeks now." the half-elven sisters continued their conversation in low tones, until a leather clad, slightly built elf plopped down at the end of the table. "Find us any decent work Ferix?" May asked of the new arrival. "Nothing that won't require judicious use of steel and brawn." The elf responded. "I'm always up for a good fight" Missy's sister broke in, "May we're supposed to be searching for the lich, not running off and getting in fights at every turn" Missy has always struggled to keep her sister's wilder urges in check, when they were not at home in their mountain village. "Liam is dad's oldest friend. We BOTH promised dad we would help him."
May leaned in close to the table and asked in hushed tones "Have you guys seen Paladras?" "Not since we got to town, he tied off his horse and disappeared." Ferix looked around nervously "Typical, half dragons are sneaky." The three companions continued talking while they waited for their friend to return.

   The armored warrior almost had to crawl through the tiny door to the witch's hut. Once inside, he stood up to his full height. The witch looked impressed. "If anyone can destroy the evil in the valley, it must be you." she mused. "How did you know my sister's name?" Liam eyed the old woman warily. As he did anyone that wielded the mysterious powers. Yes, his god answered his prayers, but he still did not fully trust arcane practitioners.
   "It is a gift given to me by virtue of my bloodline." The witch could sense the large man's distrust. "I am distantly related to the monster." She had never confided in anyone, but felt that this warrior of the heavens could actually defeat the evil that has terrorized her homeland for so long. "You may want to sit Liam, this is quite a long tale." The witch sat down next to her fireplace and gestured to a chair opposite.

   "This tale comes from my Grandmother's grandmother. The original Lord of the Valley, Jean Marc D'Amberville, had a prosperous life in the valley. He and his kin have spread out and thrived. He and his wife had five children.
     As the Fates are fickle, Jean Marc's happiness did not last. His wife died suddenly making him distraught and bitter towards the world. Jean Marc, being not happy with the Fates, started studying the Arcane arts to master the Fates and prevent and further trauma to his family.
     Jean Marc spent many years studying the Arcane arts. He called on many supernatural entities to aid him. Some of them were only appearing to assist him, some were genuinely interested in helping. During his time of studying, Jean Marc met Androgoras. She was beautiful, talented in the arcane arts, and willing to assist Jean Marc. It did no take long for Androgoras to fall in love with Jean Marc, if she had only known.
    What Androgoras did not know, is that Jean Marc was being courted by dark powers. What Jean Marc did not know, is that Androgoras was a Sphinx. It was only after Androgoras revealed her true nature that the Dark powers promised Jean Marc limitless power, if he would sacrifice the powerful being that loved him.
    Jean Marc was so blinded by visions of power, he didn't hesitate to betray Androgoras. Jean Marc subdued her and dragged her to a cave at the head of the valley. There he performed the dark rites and rituals meant to allow the dark powers to bestow the infernal gifts upon him. He was not prepared for the events that followed.
    With her dying breath, Androgoras cursed Jean Marc. Not only did the curse afflict Jean Marc, it afflicted all the D'Amberville children, save the youngest child of his youngest daughter, my grandmother's grandmother. Thus she did leave a way for her love to be returned to the light of truth.

The tainted blood will be redeemed, by true blood that is yet unseen.

    My grandmother's grandmother was told that couplet by the maid that smuggled her out of the valley, just before the curse took her. The maid worked for the youngest of the D'Amberville daughters, Ophelia. A darkness of 500 years descended on the valley, and it is still there to this day. It was at that time, the Bloodroses started taking over the valley. Now they are everywhere. These roses seek out and drink blood.

    So many adventurers have forayed into the valley over the years, none have returned.

    As promised Champion, I will name the monster that murdered your sister. Elizabeth, the oldest of Jean Marc's daughters, was cursed to roam the eternal night of Bloodrose Valley as a Vampire. It was she that murdered your sister."
    The old woman poked idly at the small fire in her hearth and awaited a word from the stunned knight sitting across the room from her.

The first of the Wanderers of Hgathe

The Bellcaster

I’ve been tinkering with 5^th edition stuff lately. Been tinkering with lots of stuff, but primarily 5^th edition. The old school vibe I got from 5^th, immediately made me of the 1^st edition AD&D Bard class. So I started thinking of what interesting combinations would yield nifty things. I’ve had an idea for a character concept for a while, just haven’t had a chance to play one. A Bellcaster. A wandering craftsman that roams the countryside from village to village, casting bells for towns and villages. As I’ll probably never get to play one in a game, I starting thinking of a way to incorporate into a 5^th edition game.

Letting my mind wander off with an idea, never leads to anything simple. It actually sparked an idea for a whole new game world. Hence, The Wanders of Hgathe was born. There won’t be any gods in this world. There will however be Wanderers. These will be super High level entities, maybe not immortal, but very long lived. They will be able to create magic items.

I have several ideas for the various Wanderers, the first of which is the Bellcaster. These are what I will be calling composite classes. Like the 1^st Ed. AD&D Bard, they start off as one class eventually switch to another class, and then ending up as the third and final class which then bestows unique abilities according to the flavor desired.

So far the Wanderers I’ve come up with are…

Bellcaster

Mystic

Seeker

Seer

Councils of Wizards

Lore Keeper

Witch

 

I’ve only got the Bellcaster done, and I’m still trying different combinations to yield the right layers of experience to bring about the various Wanderers. What I’ve come up for now I present to you here. Feel free to use it a starting point though I would advise against trying to spring this on your DM.

 Bellcaster

A Bellcaster is a wandering craftsman. S/He usually starts their career as a fighter, then at 8^th level they will switch careers and become a bard. Learning the magic contained in music, the prospective bellcaster will again switches careers at 8^th level of bard, to that of wizard. The Bellcaster is at this point an apprentice bellcaster and should be studying under a bellcaster of at least Craftsman rank.

After a year of apprenticing under a Craftsman Bellcaster the character can strike out on their own as a Journeyman Bellcaster.

Lvl        Prof Bonus       Feature                                                            Title

 1                +5             Chime of Opening                                           Apprentice

 2                +6             Bell of Calling                                                 Journeyman

 3                +6             Bell of Alarm                                                   Foundryman

 4                +6             Bell of Calm

 5                +7             Bell of Inspiration                                           Sr. Journeyman

 6                +7             Clockwork Bell tower                                      Craftsman

 7                +8             Wisdom of the Spheres                                  

 8                +8             Gaze of the Astronomer                                 Master Craftsman

 9                +9             Clockwork Orrery

 10              +10           Secret of the Music of the Spheres                Master Bellcaster

 

 

Random Terrain Generation for HexCrawl type games

Sorry it's been a while. I was distracted by 5th Edition D&D and tinkering with Miss Peregrine's game in Cypher system.

One of my pet projects since I started playing the game. Has been random terrain generation. The tables in the 1e DMG, are ok. Not exactly what I was looking for, but they do exist. There are tons of random map generators online, most of them are for dungeons. The few that exist for terrain generation are sortaokmaybenotsomuch. They are missing something vital to outdoor exploration. Most of them, that I have found, lack any sort of table that will give you terrain features or items of note. Northing for an intrepid band of adventures (or a random generation crazy DM/GM) would find out in the wild.

Hence my latest project…

First task was to define all the different terrain types that I would be using. I did a basic google search that yielded the usual grunchtun of results, and after perusing a few of the lists I settled on 20 items for terrain types.

Terrain Type Table

1 Arctic

2 Tundra

3 Scrub Forest

4 Conifer/Evergreen Forest

5 Boreal Forest

6 Mixed Forest

7 Broadleaf/Deciduous Forest

8 Grasslands

9 Plains

10 Prairie

11 Marsh

12 Swamp

13 Wetland Forest

14 Tropical Forest

15 Jungle

16 Savanna

17 Desert

18 Rift/Crevasse or River

19 Sink Hole or Lake

20 Hills or Mountains or Ocean

The original plan was to just roll a 20 sider and generate terrain…. Yeah ok, stop laughing. I probably rolled 10 to 15 times. Had I used that map, one would have thought Mother Nature was smoking an elicit substance… For the life of me, I’ve never heard of an arctic swamp.

So I sat down and tried to figure out some way to even out the results. What I finally came up seemed to work a bit better.

D12 roll         Effect

1                                 Water Feature

2                                 Transition Up

3                                 Stays the same (feature)

4-9            Stays the same (empty)

10              Stays the same (feature)

11              Transition Down

12              Terrain Feature

You start off by picking a starting terrain type. Then roll a d12. These are prompts so the aspiring cartographer can create a basic framework for overland terrain. Water feature means there is something of note in that hex. Same terrain, just add a water feature. River, stream, lake, pond, just something. Transition Up/Down means you a roll a d20 note that terrain from the terrain type table, and work your way to that new terrain type. If you roll an 18,19, or 20 just add that particular feature to the hex you a currently in like a rift. Or add some cliffs or a beach and start and ocean. Keep in mind this whole thing is to give you prompts, not do the work for you. If a result doesn’t make sense, reroll it. I only start off a map using this method, eventually as I get some of the hexes laid out, I will abandon these tables and just lay out what I think makes for an interesting area of the world.

For the “Stays the same (Feature)” entries on the table I came up with a list of features.

Items                                                              Descriptors

Well                                                                Abandoned

Sm Tower                                                     Forest

Sm Keep                                                        Arctic

Lg Tower                                                       Desert

Fortress                                                         Ruined

Castle

Village

Walled Town

City

Shrine

Cairn

Tomb

Graveyard

Necropolis

Dungeon

Sm Church/Temple

Lg Church/Temple

Stone Circle

Fairy Ring

This is where Google image search is your friend. Take an item, add one or two descriptors in the search bar, and Bob’s yer uncle, you got a feature now. Again, and I can’t stress this enough… These tables are meant as prompts only. If you get it into your head that you’ll be able to roll up a complete wilderness map with these tables, you’d be wrong. It’s merely meant to make it a little easier. Feel free to alter them to suit your own style of world building.

 

Happy Gaming!

EDIT:  A MUCH IMPROVED LIGHTER FLUFFIER SYSTEM HERE.

New Career path for 1st edition Mongoose Traveller

Because the TCS is not a Feudal society, but a massive star spanning bureaucracy, I've had to make a few adjustments to the career paths. This is one of them.

Replace Nobility with Bureaucrat. Keep the Administrator and Diplomat paths, but replace the Dilettante with Politician.

Politician
Career progress: Survival: Edu +4
                           Advancement: Int +8

    Rank                    Benefit
0  Attache                Admin
1  Selectman            Advocate
2  Assemblyman
3  Councilor            Persuade
4  Provost                Advocate
5  Prefect
6  Prelate                 Advocate

Skills and Training
Roll                  Personal Development                    Service Skills
  1                     Carouse                                           Leadership
  2                     +1 Edu                                            Persuade
  3                     Deception                                       Admin
  4                     +1 Soc                                            Advocate
  5                     Gambling                                       Diplomat
  6                     Streetwise                                      Social Sciences

                        Advanced Education                      Specialist
  1                    Diplomat                                        Carouse
  2                    Deception                                       Diplomat
  3                    Advocate                                        Admin
  4                    Language                                       Advocate
  5                    Investigate                                     Gambler
  6                    Persuade                                        Deception

Muster out Benefits
  1           d3 Contacts
  2           +1 Soc
  3           100,000 cr
  4           Ship Shares
  5           100,000 cr
  6           Ships Boat
  7           Yacht

So there it is, as soon as find the list of departments within the TCS, I'll be posting it  so there will be a use for the new positions.

Happy Gaming!

SN 1054

For approximately 2 Terran Standard years starting in 1054, the populace of the small blue world, in an orbit 93 million miles around the star called Sol, were witness to a stellar event. From the surface of their world, the inhabitants would have seen one of the pinpoints of light in their night sky grow very bright. A few of the humans noted the event. Several hundred years later the descendants of those humans developed the technology to see beyond the confines of their planet's immediate vicinity, and they discovered that the source of increased brightness of that particular pinpoint of light, that which now called stars, was a star gone supernova. Several hundred years after that, the humans of Terra had discovered the secrets of interstellar travel. As a species humans have an unparalleled curiosity. This curiosity drove them to the location of the supernova. Many years before they had named the cloud of gas left by it the Crab nebula.

What the humans discovered was what was left behind. Since it's discovery so many years ago, Terran scientists have been unable to determine what turned an entire star system with numerous planets,  into an asteroid field. The star at center, the source of stability had been crystallized. A star, an enormous ball of burning gas, crystallized. Current science cannot fathom how this was accomplished. Measurements approximate the span of the star system at 400 billion kilometers. What remains is a field of rocks spanning that distance. The humans that discovered it named it Alghumud, the mystery.

Important locales of the Alghumud asteroid field

Fortuna Refinery: Hollowed out of the Rhombus asteroid, one of the largest in the field, this is a high capacity refinery and smelting facility. Taking in raw material from the independent miners across the field, this facility produces some of the purest metals and gemstones in the TCS.

Spaceport Gloria: Located on the coreward edge of the field, the spaceport handles all commercial and private traffic for the Field. Gloria is a Class A spaceport capable of refueling and repair of any space craft manufactured with the TCS.

Crystal Core: At 1500 kilometers across, Crystal Core is the largest crystal structure in the known universe. Currently TCS PhySCI is the only department allowed to have facilities on the massive crystal. This is a purely scientific station run by the TCS authority.

Fortuna Refinery - No Hex reference - C000435-11
Spaceport Gloria - No Hex reference - A000513-13
Crystal Core - No Hex reference - ??00?9?-??


As with all things in the TCS, this is a work in progress. I'll be adding to it the farther I get into building the TCS setting.

Happy Gaming!

New Traveller Equipment

   I am still working on the finer points of Close Aboard Combat repeaters, but I got the rest of my special additions done.

   I don't use standard jump drive or gravity plating in my Traveller setting.


                                                Keflen Tachyon Tunnel Drives

Keflen Tachyon Tunnel Drives are bought on externally fastened pods. The pods weigh 20% of the ship’s tonnage.

Keflen drive pods expend Lorentzium with every jump. After travelling 100 light years the drive must be refueled. Refuelling can be done at any Class C or better spaceport.
Private/Consumer drive pods can only be used on ships of less than 10,000 tons.

Commercial drive pods can only be used on ships of less than 50,000 tons

Military drive pod weight capabilities are unknown.

Super heavy ships cannot use KT drive pods, they must use conventional drives and the crew must hibernate during transit.

Super heavy transport modules include: Automated refinery modules, Gas hauling tankers, terraforming modules, Navigation buoy construction/placement/repair modules, Automated Space station construction modules.

Due to the nature of how a KTT drive works, a “Spin Up” and “Spin Down” cycle is required for correct operation. Before FTL travel, the booms of the KTT drive must be spinning. This process takes 3 hours for the Lorentzium booms reach the correct speed. Spin Down procedure only takes 1 hour. All space ports require spin down to be complete before docking or landing. In order to replenish the Lorentzium slugs, a cool off period of 1 hour must also be allowed. This process cannot be combined with the Spin Down period.

 

Graviton Dam

A Titanium Osmium alloy surrounds a Promethium Oxide plasma field that runs the length of ship’s keel. The reaction between the casing and the plasma field generates gravitons. By varying the density of the casing to allow a less dense alloy along a line across the bottom of the casing, the escaping gravitons create artificial gravity in a ship equipped with such a device.

Gravity plating does not exist in my universe. Just in case there are any rules lawyers out there thinking they could exploit that loophole.

A graviton dam weighs 2% of the total ship’s weight.

Ion Cannon

One of the most devastating weapons ever developed is the Ion Cannon. Not only can disable an enemy’s screens, if used in double fire mode, it can temporarily disable a ships’ drive field.

An Ion Cannon works by overloading the electrical control systems of an opposing ship’s screens, thereby shutting them down and allowing weapons that would normally be reduced by screens to be more effective.

All Ion Cannons are only available in spinal mounts. All ion cannons must have their own power source. The single shot version requires a K size power plant a double fire version requires a Q size power plant.

A single shot ion cannon weighs 50 tons and uses 3 hard points, a double shot ion cannon also uses 3 hard points and weighs 70 tons. A single shot can only disable a ship’s active screens, the double shot version takes out screens first, a ship’s drive fails on a successful second hit. An ion cannon has a range of very long.

Attack rolls for each shot of a double shot ion cannon must be made separately. Only M drive fields are effected by an ion cannon, and on a successful hit the ships drive is inoperative for 1d6/2 rounds. For a maximum of 18 minutes.