tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72102238205981488152024-03-19T05:44:28.606-07:00Back Screen Pass - A DM's SecretsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger194125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-8784132453736119422016-09-09T18:01:00.004-07:002016-09-09T20:06:33.915-07:00Adventures in the City of the DeadI am trying a new approach to dealing with sessions that multiple players have to miss in my new Waterdeep campaign. If I know in advance that multiple players can't make it, I am running some one shots in the same campaign for a second set of higher level characters. Basically each player has a 1st level character (now 2nd level) for sessions with a quorum and a different 10th level character to run if it is just going to be a couple of players in attendance for a one off. The high level characters are exploring the same areas and themes and the players will learn things that shed light on the lower level campaign. We have six players so if just one or maybe two players are going to miss I would probably still run the lower level characters, as happened the first two sessions. As the lower level characters level up I will have the higher level characters level occasionally so we will get to play the complete range of levels (I very much doubt that we will ever even reach level 10 with our lower level characters at the rate we play).<br />
<br />
For session three I knew in advance that several players would be absent so we had our first 10th level running.<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<b>In attendance:</b><br />
Shashi playing Level 10 Human Barbarian female "Nidalee" (aka Sir-jumps-around-and-kills-me-<wbr></wbr>in-my-face-a-Lot)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
Mike playing Level 10 Human Shaman female "Imzel" (sister of Nidalee) can see into other realities</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
Elliot playing Level 10 Human Wizard "The Third Incarnate of Darkon the Bold" - dedicated to service, perfecting selfless nature</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
These three were hired by the city guard to supplement a full moon night patrol of the City of the Dead, accompanying a small watch patrol and four young boys (members of the Guild of Chandlers and Lamplighters) and their useless old master. The Guild of Chandlers and Lamplighters holds a lucrative contract with the city to light the candles in the extra-dimensional tombs that Waterdeep uses to stow its recently departed. Last full moon something terrible happened and a watch patrol was killed during the night rounds, and although the Guild representatives survived they were so terrified and shocked that it was impossible to glean what had happened to them. The party is hired to prevent a recurrence this month under the full moon.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
City of the Dead - vast public gardens and tombs open in the day, closed off at night and usually some minor undead action. The last several full moons there have been more powerful undead of all descriptions arising.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
We jumped right into the action as the more perceptive party members saw a handful of ghouls lurking in the shrubbery across the path from the entrance. Not waiting for the ghouls, the party jumped right into action. Nidalee leaped up into a tree and then over onto the roof of a tomb, spotting another group of ghouls and ghasts. The party dispatched of the ghouls and ghasts in just a few rounds, and in just a few more rounds took care of some mummies that joined the party halfway through the fight. One hairy moment came when Galaunt, a particularly foolhardy young lamplighter, engaged a ghoul in hand to hand combat. The ghoul managed to grab Galaunt and tried to run off with him but disaster was narrowly averted. The city watch proved pretty much useless during all of this. Nidalee broke a tooth off the ghoul that grabbed young Galaunt and fashioned it into a necklace with a strip of leather. He surreptitiously gave it to Galaunt when the old master was not looking and told him to wear it as a good luck talisman. </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br />
The party then escorted the lamplighters into the House of the Homeless, one of the City of the Dead's extradimensional tombs. A vast two story mausoleum with a row of low steps leading to its high metal gates. Cleaned bones are stored catacomb style inside, and when the building was full an ancient wizard named Anacaster created a Gate to an "uninhabited pocket dimension". This Gate leads to an apparently infinite network of twisting natural passages and caverns, many of them containing bones of strange and alien creatures. The passages seem to be natural, but the rock is not known to this world. The city has barred off a section of the passages and uses them to store the bones of all the dead of Waterdeep who do not own (by merit, purchase or membership in a noble or wealthy family) a place in another tomb. The bones are cleaned off in a pool of torquoise acid that burbles in an orange mud pit in the tunnels. It takes less than an hour to reduce a fresh corpse to a pile of clean bones in the pool.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
The lamplighters are paid to light and replace large candles in glass sconces that provide dim illumination to the areas of the tunnels used by the city. The rounds begin with a twisting walk down and over, past several side passages, to a square gallery surrounding an open shaft down. Niches carved in the wall twisting down around the edge of the square gallery hold the skulls of the dead. If a name is known, it is engraved in the rock under the skull. Imzel detected an open connection or Gate to a plane of necrotic ooze, slime and abomination somewhere far down the open shaft, far below the areas used by the city to store skulls. <br />
<br />
Candles lit around the skulls, the lamplighters led on to the first of three large open chambers used to store the other bones. This first cave has not been used to store new bones for centuries. Piles of bones are mounded up, interlocking, to form cubes of like bones. One cube of interlocked arm bones, stacked high. One cube of interlocked femurs, stacked high. Small bones, vertebrae, phalanges, are tucked into gaps around the larger bones.<br />
<br />
As the lamplighters made their way around the perimeter of the room, the party heard what appeared to be the sound of combat coming from down a locked and barred passageway. The party talked the watch commander (despite his misgivings) into unlocking the gate so they could investigate. They saw three oddly clad human males clumsily wielding swords battling a bunch of skeletons. I am pretty sure it was Darkon the Bold who incinerated a bunch of skeletons with a spell and motioned the humans to join them. They turned out to be nice enough sorts, three very confused young professionals from Florence (Italy) who are into what they called "urban exploring" and must have taken a very wrong turn somewhere. Alessandro, Luca and Guiseppe had been lost for days, and picked up the longswords along their way to defend themselves from undead skeletons that seemed to be everywhere. Darkon the Bold, with the aid of a Comprehend Languages spell, figured out enough of what happened to the three that he knew they were a long, long way from home. The three Italians accompanied the party and lamplighters as they continued on their rounds, with the understanding that the watch would take them to meet representatives of the Lords of Waterdeep who could presumably help them along their way back home.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
Continuing on, the route led down and around, deeper into the labyrinth of passages, constantly descending in depth, passing many barred off passages. The party noticed a strange green slime or ectoplasm that was seeping out of the solid rock. The farther down they went the more of it there was seeping out. Imzel could see an astral connection to the necrotic plane of ooze and slime, a slim astral thread leading from each mote of slime out through the Gate detected earlier, down below the skull gallery and beyond to a necromantic aspect of the god Ghaunaduar, god of Abominations and patron of oozes and Slimes. Imzel was able to divine that the slime could take over pre-existing sentient undead and deliver them into the control of this aspect of Ghaunaduar. Imzel collected some of the slime in a glass flask.<br />
<br />
Hurrying on through the rounds now as the patches of slime were growing rapidly, the party made it through the second large catacomb chamber (also not in current use, but only filled a few decades ago) without incident. The ooze continued to multiply as the candle lighting expedition continued on to the lowest point used by the city, the third and currently used large catacomb cave. Just before the passage curved around a corner to reach the catacomb cave, the party noticed that the gate barring a tunnel exiting to the south had been torn asunder. Something large and covered in the green ectoplasmic slime had burst through the gate and entered the catacomb cave ahead of the party, judging by the splatters of slime. It had left a palpable aura of cold and undeath in its wake.<br />
<br />
At this point the party had the tremendous foresight to cast a magical ward against undead sealing the tunnel to the south from the passage, to prevent further ooze covered undead creatures from coming up behind them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
The party proceeded into the large catacomb cave and discovered a two headed bone naga ouroboros lurking in the stacks of bones, a giant snake skeleton with a huge skull at each end capped with a spiked bony knob for slamming into things. They also quickly discovered it could shoot lightning bolts as it responded to Darkon the Bold's magical assault with one of its own. Nidalee jumped all over the place and made the bone naga regret its dark unbirth. The bone naga animated a whole bunch of mismatched skeletons from the bones in the room, but Darkon wiped them out immediately with a spell. Another bone naga tried to join the fray but was prevented by the magical wards - curses! The party prevailed and discovered two glowing sapphires in the skulls of the bone naga which could be hurled as magical grenades, with an effect identical to a fireball (8d6) but generating a sphere of lightning.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br />
And that was pretty much that. No encounters on the long upward twisting passages leading back up to the Gate. We paused there.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br />
We may pick up at pretty much the same place the next time we play the high level characters, there was another pretty cool and probably more interesting encounter and area that I had planned which we didn't get to farther on, involving prepping the Hall of Heroes for a burial in the morning. The Hall of Heroes has a Gate to a dimension of endless grasslands, and soldiers and great warriors are buried there. A high ranking ranger, a warden of the wilderness north of Waterdeep, died recently fighting a giant demon shadow bear that had been terrorizing the north. The ranger apparently killed the demon in the same moment he was killed, but the demon took the ranger's soul with him in death and the ranger could not be raised back to life. His funeral is scheduled for tomorrow morning and the lamplighters are supposed to prep the grassland dimension beyond the Gate for the funeral by cutting back the grass on and around the paths and around the grave mounds.<br />
<br />
Another high level scenario I have plotted are a rescue/retrieval mission to snatch the young daughter of a noble house from the temple of the Cult of Ghaunaduar in a sub level of Undermountain (the young daughter is a willing convert to the cult, her family had paid someone to infiltrate the cult but their plant couldn't talk the daughter into leaving the cult - now the family wants to hire some badasses to break their daughter out whether she wants to go or not).<br />
<br />
I also have some sessions planned in the very distant past, in the third age (prior to the existence of Gods, Devils and Demons and the present which is the fourth age, there were three earlier and godless ages). A lot of the first two lower level sessions involved learning about relics of ancient Abolon, a kingdom of the third age, and encountering cultists of Abolon active in Waterdeep today. I have some fun scenarios involving a time gate back to old Abolon. <br />
<br />
May you bathe in the red light of Abolon's ever-open eye.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-5699558248568719522016-06-29T19:56:00.000-07:002016-07-01T00:19:51.597-07:00Giambattista's MegadungeonDoing some organizing in my D&D folder on my computer today I came across this incredible megadungeon map <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giambattista_Nolli">drawn by Giambattista Nolli in 1748</a>. I think I came across this one day while Google image searching for floorplans and recognized it for the masterpiece in dungeon construction that it is. You can <a href="http://nolli.uoregon.edu/map/index.html">visit an interactive zoomable navigable version of the map here</a> (thanks UO!).<br />
<br />
I am going to use portions of this for the ruins of ancient Abolon that my 5e Waterdeep campaign players are likely going to be discovering soon under the sewers. <br />
<br />
This is just a snippet - the full map is way too big to paste here. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4_QUw4dEuJtPorXG5kg3bG8OfNmrAZNEskbqA6YRmqX_j0dEFuLA0I0M1ZfHTAG9IXXWEYDhVf96EzkUVqgWAj45aBCgQZZDLpvMkQBleY3GNcBtB0DDeHA5PaIc9qbry7YbClmaGAk4/s1600/giovanni_battista_nolli-nuova_pianta_di_roma_1748_05-12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4_QUw4dEuJtPorXG5kg3bG8OfNmrAZNEskbqA6YRmqX_j0dEFuLA0I0M1ZfHTAG9IXXWEYDhVf96EzkUVqgWAj45aBCgQZZDLpvMkQBleY3GNcBtB0DDeHA5PaIc9qbry7YbClmaGAk4/s640/giovanni_battista_nolli-nuova_pianta_di_roma_1748_05-12.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-20597499514761348442016-06-28T14:06:00.001-07:002016-06-28T14:06:39.340-07:00As promised, more maps - Blue Opal HouseI promised my 5e Waterdeep Campaign group that I would post the above-ground, more-or-less public levels of the Blue Opal House before our next session. <div>
<br />One of these days soon I will finish up the recaps of session 1 and 2 and that will included some backstory on the Blue Opal House. Until then no further explanation of these scribbles will be posted here besides a note that the stairs between levels 2 and 3 were accidentally drawn in reversed direction (they should be leading <i>down</i> from level 3 to level 2, and likewise <i>up</i> from level 2 to level 3). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Blue Opal House Roof</h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGX3UwCsSoYRxBwKo0MEiiD9sRXTaecTTb6W7DQDE0bngUIZ27OsOopzamygBxuMUdGEvMx7sPMmUcCuqgeRthyPQL2YuSqwmyel2x1Upk-SzqoefSGAPgeyfpn89zpuzZOO8l47BRuL4/s1600/Blue+Opal+House+Roof.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGX3UwCsSoYRxBwKo0MEiiD9sRXTaecTTb6W7DQDE0bngUIZ27OsOopzamygBxuMUdGEvMx7sPMmUcCuqgeRthyPQL2YuSqwmyel2x1Upk-SzqoefSGAPgeyfpn89zpuzZOO8l47BRuL4/s640/Blue+Opal+House+Roof.jpg" width="464" /></a></div>
<h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Blue Opal House 4th floor</h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7sNjxrMtXdTlvgR5VbUjv1Sam4eo-aEmeHTj7p2uOkCimMcvPR9HvqdkkLHT_ExfbDQpL3_OIZFt-diDP9O9O0Mm0qNoNy5Up7t1aFxcw2ndURqGa_4Hmw3LwVKq4YeBiMCD_YGQki34/s1600/Blue+Opal+House+4th+Floor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7sNjxrMtXdTlvgR5VbUjv1Sam4eo-aEmeHTj7p2uOkCimMcvPR9HvqdkkLHT_ExfbDQpL3_OIZFt-diDP9O9O0Mm0qNoNy5Up7t1aFxcw2ndURqGa_4Hmw3LwVKq4YeBiMCD_YGQki34/s640/Blue+Opal+House+4th+Floor.jpg" width="464" /></a></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Blue Opal House - 3rd floor</h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Ek0TIUT52qooMU5vfQDUm0xeOzdTnwHtun-dE6NldjybLE70KwzrLEbIbahS-7BjVRrpVRR0rkEUZmIOxKVt5VWVMvrgHNQ_FB33xnIICv9wUzayceAiMPRiRIdnmr0VlbCnFN-kuWY/s1600/Blue+Opal+House+3rd+Floor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Ek0TIUT52qooMU5vfQDUm0xeOzdTnwHtun-dE6NldjybLE70KwzrLEbIbahS-7BjVRrpVRR0rkEUZmIOxKVt5VWVMvrgHNQ_FB33xnIICv9wUzayceAiMPRiRIdnmr0VlbCnFN-kuWY/s640/Blue+Opal+House+3rd+Floor.jpg" width="464" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Blue Opal House - 2nd floor</h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09y1Ss-4-2VJof8Pr2igjCfGJUNCKON7e52Y_Db2TYkJLktmCUJIT0PYiCSGxlaAkMNxpAA-syAWtIhxYgjZu91owNvTH619o2-NC21epHn-G_969b13Xjschp-EbJvk9KRbdPqqX4f4/s1600/Blue+Opal+House+2nd+Floor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09y1Ss-4-2VJof8Pr2igjCfGJUNCKON7e52Y_Db2TYkJLktmCUJIT0PYiCSGxlaAkMNxpAA-syAWtIhxYgjZu91owNvTH619o2-NC21epHn-G_969b13Xjschp-EbJvk9KRbdPqqX4f4/s640/Blue+Opal+House+2nd+Floor.jpg" width="464" /></a></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Blue Opal House - Ground Level</h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bCLn-nM3u5IxUQj1HqygnqTBSj2QX6tkGhxMIqwT5SKl9pIb3eOtUZUfcYTsaQaSLq8ZLGoI0ttAM3Qd1fuAR9utShY2BGtgv3u2XSpoWddaY3eKf-PROd30xn8QXa7D2dzuuZepLuE/s1600/Blue+Opal+House+1st+Floor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bCLn-nM3u5IxUQj1HqygnqTBSj2QX6tkGhxMIqwT5SKl9pIb3eOtUZUfcYTsaQaSLq8ZLGoI0ttAM3Qd1fuAR9utShY2BGtgv3u2XSpoWddaY3eKf-PROd30xn8QXa7D2dzuuZepLuE/s640/Blue+Opal+House+1st+Floor.jpg" width="464" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-74571554086654578202016-06-26T18:30:00.001-07:002016-06-26T18:31:30.725-07:00As promised, some mapsWe just had the 2nd session of my new Waterdeep campaign yesterday. I promised the group I would post some maps for them to reference. <br />
<br />
During our first session the group had scraped together and paid a rush fee (50gp) to the Surveyors, Map & Chart-Makers' Guild for a copy of a map of the city sewers. Although rush jobs typically take two days, the guild had extra copies of the sewer map as they are under contract with the Cellarers and Plumbers' Guild to maintain and supply up-to-date maps of the sewers. <br />
<br />
The group also asked the Steward (and current employer of the PCs) of House Adalbrant (known for patronage of map & chart-makers in pursuit of their expansionist trade dreams) if there happened to be any maps of the city sewers in the house library. There was indeed an older map, drawn before the construction of many of the sewer mains which now connect the sewers of the different wards. This older map shows 3 sinkholes that drained out the sewers (down into subterranean levels unknown) of the North Ward, Trades Ward and parts of Castle and Dock Ward. There are some other differences between the two maps, and anywhere a passage shown on the old map bisects one of the new sewer lines, there is a bricked over passage. The party already knew that there were many old tunnels that were walled off in the sewer (thanks to the late great Marco, contact of party murder-hobo Lochelech. Poor Marco met an extremely bitter fate in last night's session, but that is a story for another post).<br />
<br />
Current Sewer Map (from Waterdeep and the North by Ed Greenwood)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmMgDNVSuWq9fVhcuRcholfwYg7wHJJZFg5HVW3HNuhNQ-2hAVVLjBYeX2o5BmxSAdMenkaPsF-5KvDVwrHhfklL-8epKJ4lpD7h4vJeuqjRwz_Q9ibNYxxKYHrgoBOR9NWdQmV6xkMdA/s1600/Current+Sewers+of+Waterdeep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmMgDNVSuWq9fVhcuRcholfwYg7wHJJZFg5HVW3HNuhNQ-2hAVVLjBYeX2o5BmxSAdMenkaPsF-5KvDVwrHhfklL-8epKJ4lpD7h4vJeuqjRwz_Q9ibNYxxKYHrgoBOR9NWdQmV6xkMdA/s640/Current+Sewers+of+Waterdeep.jpg" width="292" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: start;">Old Sewer Map showing 3 drain sinkholes</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtyCN5ruwO3Xdec1Ic_GqUB6f0aSt9TGplerhee6u5mAfo-i2tx7fnTJHD_ZrU1ZJgnclMb2XeP7onsFwaFhU6Ri55iE5ur99URpJIO_8s8_izMxU_UkpuiCv9fwnY97X3m_4uV4sljkY/s1600/old+sewers+of+Waterdeep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtyCN5ruwO3Xdec1Ic_GqUB6f0aSt9TGplerhee6u5mAfo-i2tx7fnTJHD_ZrU1ZJgnclMb2XeP7onsFwaFhU6Ri55iE5ur99URpJIO_8s8_izMxU_UkpuiCv9fwnY97X3m_4uV4sljkY/s640/old+sewers+of+Waterdeep.jpg" width="465" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-83857640911405481602016-06-11T13:06:00.002-07:002016-06-11T13:06:55.967-07:00Starting FriendsThe first session of my new 5e Waterdeep campaign is tonight - getting excited! Just finished up a table for determining some random "starting friends" that each PC will already know in the city. <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9oamUh3mPyNMHB5c0FhTHRGZ2M/view?usp=sharing">Here is it in one page .PDF format.</a> <br />
<br />
Table headings: You became friends how?; How would you describe the relationship?; Something unusual?; Useful contact that they have?; What physical features stick out?<br />
<br />
Here is the .PDF printable version of the massive list of THOUSANDS of canon NPC names from Forgotten Realms novels that someone at Candlekeep compiled and I formatted to print out for the names I need to generate in game: <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9oamUh3mPyNVTdKeEY5VmdxMVk">Forgotten Realms Name List .PDF Format</a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH6yh0RE8QHFZHirTkN1BAxZqsaBO-GjZSV6qmuy0ghEaFHU5tDr_z4iDTuuuweaJ9r3BjGfuYVHEbTb7FGO2lmgbd08NlzJ-ee3jB3ky7tEcvqeWG2HIEGzZmsbXwP8vkAX7idvpbUpk/s1600/Starting+Friends.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH6yh0RE8QHFZHirTkN1BAxZqsaBO-GjZSV6qmuy0ghEaFHU5tDr_z4iDTuuuweaJ9r3BjGfuYVHEbTb7FGO2lmgbd08NlzJ-ee3jB3ky7tEcvqeWG2HIEGzZmsbXwP8vkAX7idvpbUpk/s1600/Starting+Friends.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-87766994911079408932016-06-03T21:15:00.000-07:002016-06-03T21:15:00.744-07:00Three Magical Items<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtsMHjTkbBjVmBXva9VCunEZeO7Anv-R6LFshyphenhyphenpqnbw9hn364W_uLuJBq2K3cyW_8pmgQA8KPniw0yIzNNpgmXJsLI62Z0H7IyjoaCxSAd3wN26eOT4BYD-es-4nyutRxqDrYaApQLMus/s1600/Belt+Sash.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtsMHjTkbBjVmBXva9VCunEZeO7Anv-R6LFshyphenhyphenpqnbw9hn364W_uLuJBq2K3cyW_8pmgQA8KPniw0yIzNNpgmXJsLI62Z0H7IyjoaCxSAd3wN26eOT4BYD-es-4nyutRxqDrYaApQLMus/s320/Belt+Sash.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<h3>
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-99b744cc-198e-f115-cf73-39410927b563"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pouch of Concealment</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twisting the jewel clasp of this pouch in a particular pattern creates an illusory double of the pouch’s contents at that moment. This illusion will persist even if the contents are removed or other items are added. The illusion is all that can be seen if the pouch is opened, and a save is granted only if an item is placed into the pouch or it is reached into (Intelligence Save DC12). Twisting the clasp again will dispel the illusion.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4cc0a3pOvVngjRtKMIZcGuz-XW46Jso9wvmYmPSkzisCF4wL9Zzqv920e1FXcdi_ib4zbUk1PxBJyP6LaQF5KH0qDwnU1vbGJfj_YK6dIZZCAvgQuct7FBJLRZGTiI4W4a3L7_2ghDyw/s1600/Crossbow.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4cc0a3pOvVngjRtKMIZcGuz-XW46Jso9wvmYmPSkzisCF4wL9Zzqv920e1FXcdi_ib4zbUk1PxBJyP6LaQF5KH0qDwnU1vbGJfj_YK6dIZZCAvgQuct7FBJLRZGTiI4W4a3L7_2ghDyw/s320/Crossbow.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Crossbow of Illumination</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bolts glow brightly for one hour after being fired from this crossbow, shedding bright light in a 20’ radius and dim light for an additional 20’.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<h3>
<br /></h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6yTBVmdpwaZ2sS6dZkWbvriE1oKcnBZbvHqmg3GZD4ohnwQXYwft6YjJRVLZ9EYsXcC_WIRwAMfPZlA4wZON2lguw74l7lT6ybjU78AMa41UOQVBqvSCQYCF9Vapi-BuvdKvIisCdz7g/s1600/Quarterstaff.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6yTBVmdpwaZ2sS6dZkWbvriE1oKcnBZbvHqmg3GZD4ohnwQXYwft6YjJRVLZ9EYsXcC_WIRwAMfPZlA4wZON2lguw74l7lT6ybjU78AMa41UOQVBqvSCQYCF9Vapi-BuvdKvIisCdz7g/s320/Quarterstaff.png" width="254" /></a><span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<h3 style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Quarterstaff of Pain</span></h3>
This staff does not do real damage, but on a successful hit causes intense hallucinatory pain, requiring a CON save at DC = unmodified attack roll to take any action the following round except writhe in pain. If the save is failed by 2 or more the victim also drops prone to the ground.<br />
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All Art By Moi</span></span></h3>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-2950751492923131292016-05-19T02:11:00.000-07:002016-05-19T02:11:40.283-07:00Like Lewis Carroll on acid with Lovecraft thrown inThe <a href="http://drivethrurpg.com/product/178717/The-Fungus-Forest">Fungus Forest</a> was featured on the <a href="http://rfipodcast.com/show/2016/05/17/volume-6-issue-177-fungal-forest/">Roll For Initiative podcast</a>. I think they gave us a new tagline:<br /><br />
<h2>
This is like Lewis Carroll on acid with Lovecraft thrown in.</h2>
<br />Check it out!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-71723985780180939762016-05-02T22:37:00.001-07:002016-05-02T22:37:14.450-07:00Three Scrolls<br /><span id="docs-internal-guid-a8df2487-7515-f6e5-2c3b-d6a28c7d6434"></span>
<ol style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><h2 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scroll of Release</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: Reading this scroll aloud unlocks all non-magical locks and unties all knots within a 10’ radius. The magic consumes the scroll.</span></span></h2>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><h2 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scroll of Judgemen</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">t: Reading this scroll aloud causes all within earshot to believe that a declared target is guilty of a specified crime (Save DC BLANKITY). A new save is allowed each time new evidence is brought forward that exonerates the target. The scroll can only be used once, but anyone who has failed the save will believe the scroll to contain damning evidence upon examination. Anyone who makes the save sees the used scroll as completely blank.</span></span></h2>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><h2 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scroll of Temporal Passage</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: <span style="font-weight: normal;">Up to five willing targets are transported forward in time exactly 12 hours, reappearing in exactly the same spot (or displaced the shortest possible distance if something is now blocking that spot). No time elapses from the perspective of the temporal passengers. The scroll disappears after use only to reappear in the same place in 1d100 days. It can be used repeatedly.</span></span></h2>
</li>
</ol>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 20.24px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95OET9FUF-Opx5A6Do9pbd5GoSmEIr_A5Utj1KN4g40lSFxb-oSgdhiVGsndxXOMOmuO8yqmX5JplQVrz9fLUOg82e_o5_XCMukfmQxnM2NW9S4auvkFW3wWz8OIyjc1qRjGxG3CFfJ4/s1600/Scroll.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95OET9FUF-Opx5A6Do9pbd5GoSmEIr_A5Utj1KN4g40lSFxb-oSgdhiVGsndxXOMOmuO8yqmX5JplQVrz9fLUOg82e_o5_XCMukfmQxnM2NW9S4auvkFW3wWz8OIyjc1qRjGxG3CFfJ4/s320/Scroll.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Scroll by Moi</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-88481084616798887902016-04-28T02:05:00.000-07:002016-04-28T02:05:16.197-07:00Ring of Fluidity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLDOO7NlHbbqjqaL9Pa7s9Dumkac99whnFQlBUvPLNitQ8x48QukjfCDt4vMoec8vptys3TM24XRM2aAe99-UZG0aIS8vEtvp1O3uLOakhfro7wQCwz4LeV9c2kHAceKmMdxmFNmLYnkU/s1600/Ring+of+Fluidity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLDOO7NlHbbqjqaL9Pa7s9Dumkac99whnFQlBUvPLNitQ8x48QukjfCDt4vMoec8vptys3TM24XRM2aAe99-UZG0aIS8vEtvp1O3uLOakhfro7wQCwz4LeV9c2kHAceKmMdxmFNmLYnkU/s640/Ring+of+Fluidity.jpg" width="574" /></a></div>
<h2>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-a8df2487-5c1c-0383-31f7-ecb23aee101b"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ring of Fluidity</span></span></h2>
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once placed on the finger this ring can only be removed after death (unless Remove Curse is used). It transforms the internal structure of its wearer under the skin, replacing muscle, bone, and organs with an opaque green goo. Food is placed in the usual orifice and dissolved internally (nutrition requirements stay the same); nothing is defecated. The ring wearer can squeeze through finger-width cracks and finger-diameter holes. The ring wearer no longer ages.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-24741908753369405892016-04-26T11:08:00.001-07:002016-04-26T11:08:06.449-07:00White Water Wyrm and Wyrmlings[creatures and text by <a href="https://plus.google.com/106906384385323496032/posts">Lee Reynoldson</a> from <a href="http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/178717/The-Fungus-Forest">Fungus Forest</a>, art by moi]<br />
<br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><h3>
White Water Wyrm</h3>
A thirty-foot long beast with huge bulging eyes that are perfectly adapted to the darkness of its cave and its waters. It has rubbery white flesh, proto-gills and lungs, diminutive fins and semi-functional limbs. It secretes an oily substance that paralyses those that come into contact with its skin (Saving Throw at -1 penalty to avoid paralysis for 3d6 turns) or are exposed to the water around it (Saving Throw each round at +1 bonus to avoid paralysis for 2d6 rounds). It is also asexual and without another of its species gives birth to batches of White Wyrmlings. It feeds on its own young, forcing the Wyrmlings to flee the lake and inhabit the underground river system. It is a dangerous predator in the water, but it can, and does, waddle onto land from time to time.<br />
<h3>
White Wyrmlings</h3>
Offspring of the White Water Wyrm. These vile looking things resemble aquatic tapeworms
with teeth. They thrash about a single victim in a swarm. Anyone who succumbs to the paralyzing
poison that seeps from the Wyrmlings' skin or from their bites will be eaten. If they are successful in
paralyzing a victim, they will devour him in just four combat rounds. If left to feed they will not attack
anyone else. If the party tries to rescue their paralyzed comrade the swarm will retaliate. If a swarm is
reduced to four or less HP it will swim away.
</td>
<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWfO-KU4t09PnqU5oaBKsNQ0Bsq5j17dL3v5Xsq9cD9g28K07OV9dq8OvRRqSHo4uDPavC8N2vUQzeSwQcabyLbXUtCoHxjx-kLITNmsEt57erJ5IftKYWn0RX6VeubO914Nhyphenhyphen3k9jlqw/s1600/White-Water-Wyrm-smaller-resize.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWfO-KU4t09PnqU5oaBKsNQ0Bsq5j17dL3v5Xsq9cD9g28K07OV9dq8OvRRqSHo4uDPavC8N2vUQzeSwQcabyLbXUtCoHxjx-kLITNmsEt57erJ5IftKYWn0RX6VeubO914Nhyphenhyphen3k9jlqw/s400/White-Water-Wyrm-smaller-resize.png" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><b>White Water Wyrm</b><br />
<b>AC</b>: 3 [16]<br />
<b>HD</b>: 5 (24 HP)<br />
<b>Move:</b> 4; 16 Swim<br />
<b>Attacks</b>: 1 Bite (2d6)<br />
<b>Save:</b> 16<br />
<b>Special:</b> Immune to poison; Secretes poison<br />
(on contact: -1 to Save, paralyzed 3d6 turns; in water: +1 to Save, paralyzed 2d6 rounds)<br />
<b>XP</b>: 600
</td>
<td><b>White Wyrmling Swarm</b><br />
<b>AC:</b> 9 [10]<br />
<b>HD</b>: 2 (9 HP)<br />
<b>Move</b>: 12 Swim<br />
<b>Attacks</b>: 1 Swarm Frenzy (Poison)<br />
<b>Save</b>: 18<br />
<b>Special</b>: Poison (Save or paralyzed for 2d6 rounds); Devour paralyzed victim in 4 rounds; Immune to poison<br />
<b>XP</b>: 50
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div>
<b><i>The Fungus Forest </i></b>is an old-school adventure location suitable for low level play, <a href="http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/178717/The-Fungus-Forest">available at DriveThruRPG as a pay-what-you-want .PDF</a> (please download it for free if you can't afford to contribute anything, we want this in the hands of gamers!). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Fungus Forest (C)2016 by Lee Reynoldson and Carl Nash</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-87029769510196978452016-04-06T02:56:00.000-07:002016-04-06T12:01:31.052-07:00Tusked Demon Mask of the Phoenix SocietyThis mask was fashioned from the flayed face of a minor demon lord named Anshagali whose soul was bound into the artifact during its making. The mask has been owned by the Phoenix Society for generations, and is associated with dance regalia of that society including a magnificent cape of purple and green iridescent feathers trimmed with red fox fur (<i>Cape of Speed </i>x2 Movement, +1 Attack) and a woven porcupine-quill chest piece beaded with a radiating geometric sunburst pattern (<i>Chest Piece of Defense </i>AC 2 [17]<i>)</i>.<br />
<br />
The mask is only worn by the mentally and physically strongest warriors during the private dance ceremonies of the society, particularly at the ceremonies marking initiation into a deeper level of the society, but its existence is well known throughout the tribe because of the tell-tale glowing red eyes of the society members who have worn it. These warriors are known as the Ashes of the Phoenix and must swear a lifetime vow of celibacy and ascetic living before donning the mask. Anshagali longs to be freed from the control of the Phoenix Society and constantly whispers in the minds of those unfortunate souls bound to him through chains of ancestral history to steal him from the Phoenix Society House away into the jungle. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2n7cIygcu00Yuw9hIQkNfzK_D2JMFO42_m1KEN1Fr723rMqX2_If74thY1pf7VLuUscA_QEk-KuxanuJPAcmtOMv5uPC_f9eczSBq5zX7I_VpIFJqyEK7jYkuWjsVndhZXYHbG-TpQ8s/s1600/Horn+Cheek+Devil+Mask+with+flames.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2n7cIygcu00Yuw9hIQkNfzK_D2JMFO42_m1KEN1Fr723rMqX2_If74thY1pf7VLuUscA_QEk-KuxanuJPAcmtOMv5uPC_f9eczSBq5zX7I_VpIFJqyEK7jYkuWjsVndhZXYHbG-TpQ8s/s640/Horn+Cheek+Devil+Mask+with+flames.jpg" width="518" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tusked Demon Mask by Emma Nash, Photoshop flames by Carl Nash</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Anyone who dons the mask even once gains permanent darkvision to 180' as well as eyes that always glow red in the dark with the strength of a candle (Remove Curse will reverse both conditions). When the sun is down Anshagali can communicate telepathically with everyone who has ever worn the mask and any of their descendants born after the mask was worn (nothing short of divine intervention can prevent this). A strict diet of fish and bland starchy vegetables (no fruits, nothing spicy, no red meat) reduces the volume of Anshagali's whispers to a low murmuring that can be easily ignored.<br />
<br />
While wearing the mask, Anshagali grants +2 to STR and DEX, immunity to fire/heat (although cold and water do double damage), and a natural bite and tusk attack for 1d8+2 damage +ongoing 2 HP damage until magical cure or Remove Curse. All damage dealt by the bite attack (including ongoing) accumulates as charges for the mask on a 1 HP = 1 Charge basis (charges reset with each new wearer). Charges can be spent as follows:<br />
1 Charge: +1d6 fire damage to any attack (maximum +3d6 to a single attack)<br />
1 Charge: +1 to hit on any attack roll (maximum +3 to a single attack)<br />
5 Charges: 30' cone of fire, 15' wide at apex, bursts from the mask's mouth (5d6, Save for 1/2)<br />
10 Charges: Bursts of fire from the eyes, 100' range, 5d6 (no save)<br />
10 Charges (must be night time): <b>Anshagali Possession</b> - become the fiery incarnation of the imprisoned demon soul for 2d6 rounds. The body of the mask-wearer completely disappears and is replaced with a hovering ball of fire that crackles around the mask. The mask wearer gains 50 temporary HP but takes 1d6 damage per round of the possession that is removed from the permanent HP pool. Instant death results if this damage reduces HP to 0, and the physical body never reappears in this case (completely consumed by the mask). If the temporary HP are exhausted by attacks or a cumulative total of 25 HP cold or water damage are received, the possession is ended instantly.<br />
<br />
While possessed by Anshagali the following attacks can be made (choose one per turn): Fire Lash x2 attacks, 25' range, 3d6 fire damage and pull/slide the victim up to 10', Save to avoid being knocked prone; Flame Burst 15' radius blast centered on mask, 5d6 (Save for 1/2) and pushed back 10', and knocked prone if Save failed; Fire Sword 5d12 melee<br />
At Will Spell-Like Abilities: Teleport (180' distance max, line of sight to destination required, no chance of failure); Knock/Open Lock; Major Illusion (concentration required to maintain); Silence 15' Radius; Telepathy (180' range);<br />
Once per Possession: Death Gaze, Save or Die, 180' range<br />
<br />
A Save is required at the end of the possession, failure allowing Anshagali to posses the individual once a day at any range for 2d6 rounds, during which time Anshagali is in complete control. A new save is permitted at the end of each day that Anshagli does take active possession, at a cumulative -1 penalty after each subsequent failed save.<br />
<br />
Anshagali has INT 17 WIS 9 CHA 20<br />
<br />
Anshagali was never the cautious calculated sort as a demon lord and has only grown more impatient and reckless as an artifact mask.<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-70555695662069360452016-04-04T19:32:00.002-07:002016-04-04T19:32:58.436-07:00The Most Interesting Treasure Trove In The World<img src="https://i.imgflip.com/11ypn9.jpg" /><br />
<br />
[Fungus Forest text by <a href="https://plus.google.com/106906384385323496032/posts">Lee Reynoldson</a>]<br />
<br />
Dark Fey are evil fairies. Like fairies, they are small (six inches) magical creatures with wings. They have small horns, protruding fangs, claws, scaly grey skin, and bat-like wings.<br />
<br />
The Dark Fey and their foul creations the Wassermen are evil through and through. Their only<br />
interest is in slaying anyone they come across... especially their neighbors the Draklings. They<br />
cannot be reasoned with and the only communication a party will have with them is being taunted<br />
and threatened. The Wassermen spend most of their time in the large underground lake and the rest patrolling the underground river system.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-l90lVFXairfDPnpmxWzU8cF6f1osIQ6qJLQHy1uU9AB5t9Hu5hx-GexUavxRQqnamswc1jLT9c11UvgGMW32iICdZLMX86Dd5jzW5S_82nZkxL325Bn5SPiZOItxJwmbmbhbw2m8yY/s1600/Dark+Fey+Tunnels+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-l90lVFXairfDPnpmxWzU8cF6f1osIQ6qJLQHy1uU9AB5t9Hu5hx-GexUavxRQqnamswc1jLT9c11UvgGMW32iICdZLMX86Dd5jzW5S_82nZkxL325Bn5SPiZOItxJwmbmbhbw2m8yY/s320/Dark+Fey+Tunnels+2.jpg" width="285" /></a>High above the ground, carved twenty feet up the wall above the south shore, there are hundreds of tiny cave<br />
mouths. These are the homes of the Dark Fey.<br />
<br />
If things go bad they retreat into their tunnels, which are 7-10 inches high and 5 inches wide. The tunnel complex stretches far into the walls, making the Dark Fey relatively safe once they retreat into them.<br />
<br />
Clever adventurers may shrink themselves, using magic or the Grow-Shrink Shrooms, to infiltrate the Dark Fey cave system.<br />
<br />
The Dark Fey raise tarantula-sized wolf spiders in their cave system. They will attempt to lure intruders deep into the complex to their temple, the large chamber shaped like a spider. The Dark Fey will flee out the far exit of the temple while dozens of wolf spiders attack from their nests in the “arms” of the spider cave. The Dark Fey keep no treasure in their complex.<br />
<br />
<br />
Straight from the water near the middle of the north shore of the lake there is a ten-foot cliff leading up into a cave. The Wassermen have covered the surface of the rock in slimy moss to make it treacherously slippery and very difficult to scale. For years the Dark Fey have been hoarding treasure in this cave that they or their Wassermen have salvaged from the Shroomenkin’s dump, stolen from other creatures within the forest, taken from adventurers and pilfered from the surrounding countryside. They spread rumors of their hoard as bait to lure new victims to slay.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckNVp5itOHFedsrRpqJ9H8O0fKBlDktYRJZAjwz0sQD5wL6fVkrEj7LM0j8ziMQHoBgQqtNRAMQD2n62Wsr79oQ2ayqu1U1xdVQuwsi_HNdubVfVL6T1GWJR4f6pO8Asyw6d5-EAH6xQ/s1600/Treasure+Trove+of+the+Dark+Fey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckNVp5itOHFedsrRpqJ9H8O0fKBlDktYRJZAjwz0sQD5wL6fVkrEj7LM0j8ziMQHoBgQqtNRAMQD2n62Wsr79oQ2ayqu1U1xdVQuwsi_HNdubVfVL6T1GWJR4f6pO8Asyw6d5-EAH6xQ/s1600/Treasure+Trove+of+the+Dark+Fey.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://drivethrurpg.com/product/178717/The-Fungus-Forest">Get the Fungus Forest yourself as a pay-what-you-want .PDF with full color illustrations and interior layout at DriveThruRPG.com</a> and find out what other strange delights lurk within!</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-80200001222050973822016-04-03T00:53:00.001-07:002016-04-03T00:53:32.603-07:00Fungus Forest ReviewsThe first few reviews for the <a href="http://drivethrurpg.com/product/178717/The-Fungus-Forest">Fungus Forest pay-what-you-want adventure location </a>are starting to roll in.<br /><br />Needles at "<a href="http://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/">Swords & Stitchery</a>" gave a <a href="http://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/2016/03/review-commentary-on-pay-what-you-want_29.html">very detailed and enthusiastic review</a>. I loved all the ideas presented in the review about how to integrate the Fungus Forest into different genres - great stuff! You should read the whole review but the last paragraph has a nice summation:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'helvetica neue', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">So why all of the serious fungal talk about the Fungus Forest adventure? Well because it happens to include a full OSR monster tool kit for creating your own fungus monsters and encounters;</span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'helvetica neue', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">"Ready Reference Appendices</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'helvetica neue', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">: Formatted in black and white with printable margins to enable home printing for easy in-game reference; Appendix I - Random Fungus Generator; Appendix II - Magic Mushrooms of the Fungus Forest; Appendix III - Fungus Forest Bestiary (30+ unique entries); Appendix IV - Printable Fungus Forest Map." </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'helvetica neue', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">This makes inserting the Forest and its monsters into your old school campaigns a snap! Do I think you should grab this adventure? Yes! Today,now, and start using one of the most underappreciated types of horrors for your game today. A hearty five out of five.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'helvetica neue', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> </span>"</blockquote>
<br />
A second (much shorter) review was <a href="http://drivethrurpg.com/product_reviews.php?products_id=178717">posted on DriveThruRPG</a> by user "Zero C":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I am vey impressed! I picked this up for a look, even though I haven't played OSR rules since the 1990's. I discovered this 71 page adventure site is well-written, well-formatted, and nicely illustrated."</blockquote>
<br />
But don't take Zero C and Needle's words on it - <a href="http://drivethrurpg.com/product/178717/The-Fungus-Forest">download the Fungus Forest</a> and see for yourself! "Pay what you want" means you are welcome to download for free if you can't contribute anything. I guarantee it is a great value for the money :) Full color cartography, art and layout including "The Ring of the Restless Dead" from cave C13 (pen & ink drawing by yours truly colored in Photoshop):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi09T6yaZ0-GHFtJ6u-Flnwm5TuPPURmuKlHo4jSTclwkuZAJ90ozMi_OV0ziukKdXjSQzHdQ3fWMnizRqq9pPIYl7WzhhruhTO2I93GVyOQdGWU29iPIHybbd-2EnED-T33tkVaHReBxc/s1600/Ring-of-the-Restless-Dead.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi09T6yaZ0-GHFtJ6u-Flnwm5TuPPURmuKlHo4jSTclwkuZAJ90ozMi_OV0ziukKdXjSQzHdQ3fWMnizRqq9pPIYl7WzhhruhTO2I93GVyOQdGWU29iPIHybbd-2EnED-T33tkVaHReBxc/s400/Ring-of-the-Restless-Dead.png" width="332" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-10362650932270544302016-03-28T11:14:00.000-07:002016-03-28T11:16:56.273-07:00Fungus Forest - Pay What You Want<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Fungus Forest is <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/178717/The-Fungus-Forest">available now as a Pay What You Want .PDF on DriveThruRPG.com</a>. Check it out and download now!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Fungus Forest is an OSR Compatible adventure location designed for use with Original, Basic and Advanced Editions of the world’s most popular fantasy role-playing game (and their modern simulacra).</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pay what you want for this sprawling 100+ cave complex suitable for low level play. Please download for free if you cannot pay anything; we want this thing in the hands of gamers, not mouldering away on a DriveThru bookshe</span>lf.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<h3 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Features:</span></h3>
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Unique creatures and magical items</strong>, including six feuding Fey factions that will try to pit the party against their rival factions.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Compatible</strong> with most editions of the game; stats are provided in a simple, system-agnostic format with both ascending and descending armor class listed. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Maps:</strong> 2-Page overview map spread of the caverns; four quadrant maps of sections of the caverns; inset map of the Tiny Tunnels of the Dark Fey; printable black & white single page version of the overview map.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Full Color </b>art and layout. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Ready Reference Appendices</strong>: Formatted in black and white with printable margins to enable home printing for easy in-game reference; Appendix I - Random Fungus Generator; Appendix II - Magic Mushrooms of the Fungus Forest; Appendix III - Fungus Forest Bestiary (30+ unique entries); Appendix IV - Printable Fungus Forest Map.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Bookmarked & Hyperlinked:</strong> Fully bookmarked .PDF with a clickable Table of Contents</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Two Formats Available: </strong>2-Page Spread or Single Page .PDF formats available for download.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Print Edition Coming Soon:</strong> The Fungus Forest is currently .PDF only but a print edition is in the works, loaded with more art!</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thanks to <a href="http://osrcompatible.org/" style="color: #a33737; text-decoration: none;">osrcompatible.org</a> for the "OSR Compatible" declaration, used under a Creative Commons <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" style="color: #a33737; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="CC-BY">CC-BY</a> license.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">OSR Logo by Stuart Robertson used under a Creative Commons <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" style="color: #a33737; text-decoration: none;">CC-BY</a> License</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD2C4yy7GuhslFz1RwxFGNYo7zs2pNf-VQ9_oo9d4fK9dz11wqZ_EYHVRUiX8B831u5c9ZRzIH-9QLVjwwW_vetoxZzDsJLhV3-IS2NTzMzXKLnYZY0qcLRWidafBssPpVnVYFAklLCKA/s1600/_Cover+preview6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD2C4yy7GuhslFz1RwxFGNYo7zs2pNf-VQ9_oo9d4fK9dz11wqZ_EYHVRUiX8B831u5c9ZRzIH-9QLVjwwW_vetoxZzDsJLhV3-IS2NTzMzXKLnYZY0qcLRWidafBssPpVnVYFAklLCKA/s640/_Cover+preview6.jpg" width="500" /></span></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-65547937740525483102016-03-06T03:17:00.000-08:002016-03-06T03:17:38.037-08:00Fungus Forest (upcoming release)I am getting close to releasing a product that started kicking and clawing its way to freedom way back in 2009. I drew a map for the now defunct megadungeon.net project and <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/106906384385323496032">Lee Reynoldson</a> made an awesome key for the map. We have kicked around the idea of publishing it in a few different forms over the years but in 2016 the stars aligned and I finally got off my butt and started tackling the editing, art and layout. Several intensive weeks of work later, we are so close I can taste it!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgurzMuVmn1-bW3voy8vjr0NbhD63YOQ55_H1_07fo2TTEzweOv0NnAN9-lPFfyA9-hwam_R_j89_W_xRrnzy0Cdqs9qRLisOueER9g8eT5I3kl9p66kTj1hjL8QwFnI3SmXzFe0vomwdo/s1600/Fungus+Forest+for+web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgurzMuVmn1-bW3voy8vjr0NbhD63YOQ55_H1_07fo2TTEzweOv0NnAN9-lPFfyA9-hwam_R_j89_W_xRrnzy0Cdqs9qRLisOueER9g8eT5I3kl9p66kTj1hjL8QwFnI3SmXzFe0vomwdo/s640/Fungus+Forest+for+web.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
This is a big project; there are over 100 keyed locations on the map, with 101 unique key entries (some entries covering multiple caves). Lee wrote a really terrific text for low-level play; each of the Fey factions that live in the magical Fungus Forest will try to pit the party against their rival Fey factions. Every creature in the Fungus Forest is a unique creation of Lee's (which is a big selling point in my opinion); the Bestiary in the appendices contains nearly 40 new creatures. And of course, there are tons and tons of magical mushrooms. You can never have too many magic mushrooms. It took a LOT of editing work to get the sprawling original 60 page Google Document print-ready, from making sure all stat blocks and abbreviations were standardized to compiling the appendices and of course going over the text with a fine-toothed grammar comb.<br />
<br />
I also wanted to make individual quadrant maps in addition to the main overview map, and of course I wanted more art than the couple few monster pictures I drew... so I talked my wife into doodling some awesome mushroom sketches in pen and ink, which I am coloring in PhotoShop.<br />
<br />
On top of that, it turns out that doing interior layout is WAY more time consuming than I ever imagined. I have learned a ton about Adobe InDesign throughout this process and I am very pleased with the way things are shaping up. A few sample spreads (not necessarily final layout but probably pretty close on these particular pages):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn9_V3lCedWVWJUKe-QkInM46BDbvKAhum7-8qU3dSMJ6MXjjJDBpldvzXjy3jmQ8xKdjzWqD0oRE5aL-pWnJaZQZaAM6QPX3PCsx8QJUqoHgK6wsAhQeC6S0co9uSCxAa3IFafnO1uC0/s1600/Spread+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn9_V3lCedWVWJUKe-QkInM46BDbvKAhum7-8qU3dSMJ6MXjjJDBpldvzXjy3jmQ8xKdjzWqD0oRE5aL-pWnJaZQZaAM6QPX3PCsx8QJUqoHgK6wsAhQeC6S0co9uSCxAa3IFafnO1uC0/s640/Spread+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPWvrl8YpIU0d2Gmq0_8QzjVP51_WNqOOoskh6cwsfnZNPfXkCd9xfpzwDcU4dhRfmXmlKnkMC3wyLTx72SWjMZ-0_tHRRM1z_8gO6fZaxXpSdpcJuW_sCyAz9cQJ3xfYWrEvH52v7i5A/s1600/Spread1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPWvrl8YpIU0d2Gmq0_8QzjVP51_WNqOOoskh6cwsfnZNPfXkCd9xfpzwDcU4dhRfmXmlKnkMC3wyLTx72SWjMZ-0_tHRRM1z_8gO6fZaxXpSdpcJuW_sCyAz9cQJ3xfYWrEvH52v7i5A/s640/Spread1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCTIoOtZSwlIdCcscW7k5oiyeZCFkaIVnot4WAXH_HLSZqENdx8uOT9kYK8vcQ_A9qoA3NcjNFVtaZ78y5ppcP0Dqy_VrsF6axHoonOEdC7NGwWqWV7PZ-RLT7j6ncJt51kmCLVL8Npj4/s1600/Spread+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCTIoOtZSwlIdCcscW7k5oiyeZCFkaIVnot4WAXH_HLSZqENdx8uOT9kYK8vcQ_A9qoA3NcjNFVtaZ78y5ppcP0Dqy_VrsF6axHoonOEdC7NGwWqWV7PZ-RLT7j6ncJt51kmCLVL8Npj4/s640/Spread+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-77849914281201590162015-11-18T00:34:00.000-08:002015-11-18T00:36:37.572-08:00Oh good, we are in the Tomb of HorrorsI just realized that my character in <a href="http://carterscartopia.blogspot.com/">Carter</a>'s <a href="http://carterscartopia.blogspot.com/search/label/campaign">Lands of Ara campaign</a> is knee deep in the Tomb of Horrors right now. I have never played or read the classic Tomb of Horrors 1e module, but I have certainly encountered plenty of references to the granddaddy of all deathtrap dungeons. Well imagine my surprise when I finally tracked down a copy and had a strong sense of déjà vu as soon as I began to look at the map and read the key. I recognized the long tiled hallway to an archway filled with green mist, and the giant skeletons that popped out of chests, but just to make sure I flipped a few pages... yup, there was the room with spheres on the walls and the room with the four-armed gargoyle statue with one arm broken off. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgf7N7EPw4lFLuxAQJhGnnGNuU4W15ARjYzMM_0Bn5EzNCrDezgS2BXd1ToW7q2qYuGfoZOwsjjmB4hfhf0WmrADKDrK0upMjWbA_VdvVYOViVWAoz3pnLqXqs2mEEtfhfHIXYBx9hmWM/s1600/tomb-of-horrors-classic-cover.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgf7N7EPw4lFLuxAQJhGnnGNuU4W15ARjYzMM_0Bn5EzNCrDezgS2BXd1ToW7q2qYuGfoZOwsjjmB4hfhf0WmrADKDrK0upMjWbA_VdvVYOViVWAoz3pnLqXqs2mEEtfhfHIXYBx9hmWM/s640/tomb-of-horrors-classic-cover.gif" width="640" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Our party has been exploring the frickin' tomb of horrors! No wonder we have been frustrated by that dang dungeon! We are chasing an ancient vampire, or possibly his not quite as ancient descendant vampire, and this dungeon below the sewers of Kaladar is his home.<br />
<br />
I stopped reading the module and had only skimmed it up till that point, but somehow just <i>knowing</i> that we are in the Tomb of Horrors is a mild spoiler. We had already realized that we needed to proceed with extreme caution in this place, so I don't think it will cause any difference in gameplay. Still, the knowledge that we <a href="http://backscreenpass.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-rise-and-fall-of-hakken-aksa-dak.html">teleported ourselves deep into an unknown section </a>of the tomb of horrors and are trying to work our way back out to an area we have already explored is terrifying! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-80738800582417696202015-10-12T00:47:00.000-07:002015-10-12T10:00:33.006-07:00Hallucinating Jungle Dogs - Jivaro Tribe pt.2Dogs are extremely important to the Jivaro, for aid in hunting, protecting the garden crops from rodents, and protecting the house from intruders by warning barks. The Jivaroan term for dog, Naiwa, is the same word used for jaguar. The Jivaro received dogs as a gift from <a href="http://backscreenpass.blogspot.com/2015/10/nunui-and-bloodsucking-manioc-garden.html">nunui</a> (earth spirits), so they fall into the women's realm. <br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When a new litter of pups is born, one of the women of the house sleeps with the bitch and litter to keep the puppies from being possessed by a malevolent spirit. The woman will breast feed the puppies along with the bitch. When the puppies mature, they are given the most powerful hallucinogen the Jivaro know (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura"><i>Datura</i> sp.</a>) so the dogs can find a beneficial spirit in their visions to give them power and possibly even make them invulnerable to normal injury and death (although they can still be a victim of sorcery). </div>
<div>
<br />
If a man wants to take a dog hunting, he asks one of his wives to accompany him to handle the dog. The woman, through her connection to nunui, is better able to control the dog and also brings good fortune to the hunt, silently singing to nunui for success in getting game.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At night the dogs are leashed to the bed in the women's side of the house and their slightest barking results in the household head seizing his weapons and preparing to defend the family.</div>
<div>
<img alt="Displaying 20151012_004403-1.jpg" height="400" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=9b181542b4&view=fimg&th=1505b030e2092c66&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=1514810561181777920-local0&safe=1&attbid=ANGjdJ8zSTat84MiepQuBnmRHTxFfQzuBIz-zFneDjw9U59Gf4EVMNtAjrJNe95UNgxwDe7EBWkvktnhUpuGlnaKD_Aqn9UdngYC5p21XDnK2H0vNTeHXZagI5WYayc&ats=1444635957687&rm=1505b030e2092c66&zw&sz=w1256-h779" width="291" /></div>
<h3>
<b>Jivaroan Dog/ Dog of Nunui (other statistics as normal dog)</b></h3>
<div>
(variable power depending on the strength of the spirit acquired during <i>Datura</i> hallucination)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Roll 1d6: 1-2: Weak Spirit, 3-5: Normal Spirit, 6: Powerful Spirit</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Weak Spirit Dog</b></div>
<div>
HD:2</div>
<div>
AC:4 (15)</div>
<div>
Bite: 1d6+1</div>
<div>
<br />
<b>Normal Spirit Dog</b></div>
<div>
HD:3</div>
<div>
AC:3 (16)</div>
<div>
Bite: 1d6+2</div>
<div>
<br />
<b>Powerful Spirit Dog</b></div>
<div>
HD: 4</div>
<div>
AC: 2 (17)</div>
<div>
Bite: 1d8+2</div>
<div>
Special: Immune to non-magical weapons and normal injury<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>Evil Spirit Dog / Demon Dog (Iwanci Naiwa)</b></h3>
Occasionally, despite the best efforts of the women, a puppy is possessed by a malevolent spirit. In this case, the dog will run away into the jungle and seek to cause harm to humans.<br />
<br />
HD: 4<br />
AC: 2 (17)<br />
Bite: 1d8+2 +poison (save vs. death/ CON save DC 12 or reduced to 0 HP)<br />
Special Abilities: immune to non-magical weapons and normal injury; invisibility (twice a day); change self (once a day - can appear as a human or jaguar, in human guise can communicate in a gruff, barking voice); move silently and pass without trace (at will)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-38194702957914887062015-10-10T01:12:00.000-07:002015-10-10T15:08:14.492-07:00Nunui and the Bloodsucking Manioc Garden - Jivaro Tribe pt.1The Jivaro <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jivaroan_peoples">(headhunters of shrunken head infamy</a>) live in the foothills of the Andes in the western Amazon. I will come back to their head shrinking, magical soul possessing ways in a later post, but today I want to talk about their vampiric manioc gardens.<br />
<br />
The Jivaro's land starts where the mountain waterfalls give way to tributary streams and rivers that are unnavigable because of rapids, and ends where the rivers begin to flow more slowly and can be traveled by canoe. They live in scattered houses, each containing a polygynous nuclear family and occasionally a married daughter and step-son who have no children. Each house is situated in the middle of a large cleared out garden, on a hillock near a stream. <br />
<br />
The garden is the province of the women of the house; the men clear the garden by felling giant trees (which in turn take down many smaller trees as all the trees are connected through their canopies by vines) but the women weed, plant and maintain the garden. The primary food crop is sweet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava">manioc</a>, grown for its large tubers. Manioc is not only the primary food, it is also provides the exclusive drink for adults and weaned children - the Jivaro drink manioc beer in prodigious quantities (3-4 gallons a day for adult males, 1-2 gallons a day for adult females, ~ 1/2 gallon for 9-10 year old children). The beer is typically weak, as it is usually drunk before it has fermented long enough to reach maximum alcoholic content (which takes 4-5 days). <br />
<br />
The Jivaro also believe that the manioc plant has the innate desire and ability to suck the blood from any person touching it. To protect themselves and their families from this ability of the manioc, the women turn to a type of earth spirit called Nunui. Nunui appear as 3' tall, very fat women wearing black dresses. Nunui are responsible for pushing plants up out of the ground and plant growth in general. Nunui like to dance in clearings in the forest, and often many of them will come to dance in a newly cleared garden. However, there is usually only one nunui associated with each garden once it has been planted. The nunui stays underground during the day, and at night dances in turn with each manioc plant. Nunui demand a well-weeded garden to give them the room they need to dance with the manioc. The women also sing special songs to nunui, to give them respect and warn them when they are coming early in the morning to the garden to avoid frightening nunui away. <br />
<br />
The female head of household will also hide three magic stones (unworked pieces of red jasper), known as the stones of nunui or the stones of manioc, in the garden - these magical stones are the babies of the nunui and ensure that the nunui will stay in the garden, the crop will remain plentiful and the women can call upon the nunui to make the manioc drink only the blood of trespassing enemies. The woman gets the stones of nunui after a nunui reveals their location to the woman in a hallucinogen-induced vision. Each vision only reveals the location of one such stone, which the woman must then immediately go out to find and place in the garden.<br />
<img src="https://repeatingislands.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/cassava.jpg" /><br />
<b>Vampiric Manioc</b><br />
Anyone moving through a stand of manioc must save vs. spells each round (or make a CON save DC12 for 5th edition types) or take 1d6 damage from blood loss. The plants are otherwise normal plants and can be easily cut down or uprooted. Carrying a cut branch of manioc (or sticking it in one's belt) grants a +2 to this save.<br />
<br />
<b>Stones of Nunui/Stones of Manioc</b><br />
Three pieces of magical red jasper. Detect Magic will reveal the form of a baby inside them. They are the babies of nunui and serve both to tie nunui to a garden and also as a conduit which allows their possessor to tap into the power of nunui to control the vampiric properties of manioc (and possibly ask other boons of nunui as well). The women that tend the garden and the husband of the house are rendered immune to the manioc's blood drain if there are stones of nunui in the garden and the women regularly sing this magical song:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Don't suck the blood of my husband</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>And also don't suck the blood of my daughter.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i>
<i>When you want to suck blood,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Suck the blood of my enemies.</i><br />
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>When my husband comes, </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>he will look very beautiful and very clear.</i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>But when our enemies come,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>They will come very pale</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>And in the form of demons.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i>
<i>And you will know</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Who will die,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Who will die.</i><br />
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>And when they enter this garden,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>They will have their blood sucked.</i><br />
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>All, all I can call,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Even the plantain itself.</i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I am a woman of Nunui.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Note that children are not excluded; they are instructed not to play in the garden lest their blood be drained!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-2517621881291369192015-09-30T01:34:00.001-07:002015-09-30T13:08:22.937-07:00Bororo - Tribe<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Bororo Indians of the Amazon</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am currently reading </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristes_Tropiques" style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Tristes Tropiques</i></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> by Claude Levi-Strausse, coming to this book after reading his </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythologiques" style="font-family: inherit;">Mythologiques</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> series, which introduced me to the Bororo. English </span>language<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bororo_people" style="font-family: inherit;">Wikipedia</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> is particularly uninformative on the Bororo, but I found some other websites and even some full text scholarly articles online that filled in some of the gaps from the Levi-Strausse reading. I have an ongoing Google Document (shared below) that I am using as a research file, dumping links, sources and information into it as I read (</span>I cite the source above the information gathered from that source - some information is paraphrased and some is direct quotation from the source material with some deletions/abridgment). Here is the link: <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EAQDf9WT7wFRN2WzX3PmHaE5RICvfUxaxF3b3sEyLq0/edit?usp=sharing" style="font-family: inherit;">Bororo Research Document</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-63edca5f-1d03-083e-6b5a-e6bb3b63e2a1"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img height="423px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/wUeclCsfKW9totxSbsW2rbuDlFKcsHh88RdkvzrKy68MRY9JKhHlFxjlS6tPnUg64qLbLcb6MAkzJZJmblUiipWrFGALHi683iISth1ixbtol1up_tnjhM--elR9heOGGGfZvuw" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="624px;" /></span></span></span><br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Quick RPG Takeaways:</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The division of each Bororo village into 8 clans, four each in two opposing moieties (Cera and Tugare) makes for ready made inter-village tensions and adventure opportunities. Despite a traditional hierarchy of the clans, each clan negotiates its own fortunes in each particular village and strives to gain more power in the form of access to new magic and clan roles. I particularly like how each clan has unique/proprietary decorative ornaments and magical markings to use on weapons and as body paint. I see each clan pattern bestowing a <b>minor magical property</b> onto the decorated spear, ornament or body (e.g. +1 to AC; +1 to hit and damage; double normal weapon range; +2 to STR; +2 to DEX; +1 attacks/2 rounds; cast a cantrip 3x/day; cast a 1st level spell once/day; etc.). Bororo believe in <b>reincarnation </b>as part of a complicated transmigration of souls (Bororo souls also pass into animal bodies after death and before returning in reincarnation to a new human body). Each Bororo shares the name of and is thought to be a partial reincarnation of a dead ancestor. I think encountering "normal" animals with a Bororo transmigrating spirit could be fun (perhaps human intelligence and one or two minor magical powers for these animals), and then meeting the same spirit reborn into a young Bororo could be good fuel for gaming.</span><br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Bororo Encounters:</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">PCs will either encounter the Bororo out in the jungle/on the river, or at the Bororo village. The Bororo spend more than half their time on average outside of the village<b>. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Roll 2d6: 2-7: Encountered in Village; 8-12: Outside of Village </span>(<b>Wet Season </b>add +1 to the encounter roll during the beginning or end of the wet season, add +3 during the peak; during the peak of the wet season bororo spend most of their time on higher ground away from the village)<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />8-12+ Results: <b>Outside of Village</b> (more common in wet season)</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>7-8: </b></span><b style="font-family: inherit;">Hunting </b><span style="font-family: inherit;">(more men)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>9-10: Farming/Gathering</b> (more women and children)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>11: On the River </b>(more men)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>12+</b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>: Walking through the forest</b> to a faraway destination (equal sexes/ages if visiting friends/relatives, more men if raiding). </span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Clans encountered outside the village =</b> one or two of eight unique clans, each clan with its own: proprietary names; tribal roles; magical decorations/signs on weapons and utility tools; magical stories and songs; personal adornments/body paint. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b># Encountered outside the village</b> = 2d6 (6's explode, add +1 clan per 12 encountered, e.g. three clans represented if 13-24 Bororo are encountered outside the village, 4 clans if 25-36 encountered, etc.)</span><br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Bororo Village</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">(The following largely after Levi-Strausse):</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A typical village plan:</span><br />
<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=bororo+village&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS513US513&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=856&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAmoVChMI4sKvypmeyAIVCVyICh2i0wZK#imgrc=uYmP2qUtHG6OEM%3A"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img height="400" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Plan_de_Kejara.png" width="348" /></span></a><br />
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The village will have at least one hut representing all <b>eight clans</b>, and it is more common to have several huts per clan, representing sub-lineages of the clan.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b># Houses per Clan (d6):</b> <b>1:</b> 1; <b>2-3</b>:2, <b>4-5</b>:3, <b>6</b>:4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b># Encountered per House: </b>2d6 (3d6 during village feast or clan ceremony)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Quick Village Population guide:</b> <b>Large: </b>300 <b>Average:</b> 150 <b>Small:</b> 100</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The village</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <b>is divided in two</b> by an imaginary line between the <b>Cera</b> <b>moiety</b> to the north and the <b>Tugare moiety </b>to the south. Clan houses form a ring around the men's house in the center of the village. The central plaza </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>is</i> the bororo. Many important rituals are regularly performed in the bororo, especially funerary rites which can continue for months after a death.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>four</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Cera clans</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> are arranged across the north end of the village circle, from </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">east to west as follows: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">badegaba cobugiwu (upper chiefs); bokodori (large armadillo); ki (tapir); badegaba cebgiwu (lower chiefs).</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> four</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Tugare clans</b> are arranged from west to east as follows</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">iwaguddu (the azure jay); arore (larva); apibore (acuri palm tree); paiwe or paiwoe (howler monkey).</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20.24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moieties and clans are <b>exogamous, matrilineal and matrilocal</b>. When a man marries he crosses the line separating the two moieties and goes to live in the hut belonging to his wife’s clan. But in the <b>men’s house</b> he continues to have his place in the sector assigned to his own clan and moiety (his mother’s clan/moiety). The m</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">en’s house</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> internal arrangements mirror the village at large - to the north the Cera men and to the south the Tugare. </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="line-height: 20.24px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Clans are divided into </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><b>subclans and lineages.</b></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> Each clan is ranked and certain positions in the village can only be held by members of particular clans (e.g. </span></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Village chiefs</b></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> must belong to a clan of the Cera moiety). </span><span style="line-height: 20.24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each clan has unique emblems, privileges and taboos related to the technique and style of manufactured objects, as well as proprietary ceremonies, songs, proper names and access to medicinal plants (e.g. </span><span style="line-height: 20.24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tobacco is associated with Bokodori clan, other aromatic plants smoked in a similar fashion include an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annonaceae">anonacea</a> controlled by the Paiwe clan).</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Men cannot talk to women of the other moiety in public</b> - even husband and wife would not bandy about in public, only being seen together in public when they leave the village to hunt, fish or gather together (which is seen as private). </span></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-63edca5f-1d14-0017-2315-10e1dad055ae" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><b style="line-height: 1.38;">Clothing/Personal Appearance</b><span style="line-height: 1.38;">: </span><b style="line-height: 1.38;">M</b><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>en</b> are usually naked except for penis sheath, but sometimes (and always on festive occasions) wear elaborate ornaments made of fur, multicolored feathers, or bark painted with various designs. <b>Women</b> wear a slip made from white bark (black when they are unwell) and a high girdle/corset, also made of bark, but dark in color. Feminine ornaments consist mostly of cotton straps colored with red urucu, and of pendants and necklaces made from jaguar’s fangs or monkey’s teeth, worn only on feast days.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-53502311375609437812015-06-10T01:41:00.000-07:002015-06-10T01:52:08.840-07:00The Rise and Fall of Hakken Aksa-DakI died on Monday in my friend Carter's <a href="http://carterscartopia.blogspot.com/2015/06/scrying-in-ll.html">Labyrinth Lord campaign</a>. Not the usual haul-the-body-out-and-get-raised kind either. I got the wrong end of the old school <i>Teleport</i> spell and materialized some undisclosed number of feet straight down into solid rock. I have been thinking about it a little and I don't think there would be any body to speak of or recoverable remains even if an attempt was made to excavate for it. Just little specks of blood and flesh and bone embedded in solid stone. <br />
<br />
In many ways this was a very fitting way for Hakken Aksa-Dak (a.k.a. Dak), the Steve Buscemi of dwarves, to meet his end. I tried to roleplay Dak's low wisdom (6) and decent intelligence by constantly coming up with risky harebrained schemes and throwing myself into any possible trap head first.<br />
<br />
Way back in Stonehell in our earlier adventures this resulted in Dak being blinded by poison gas from a trap. Not deterred, I removed the container of poison gas from the trap and used it and the fact that I was already blind as a weapon. Dak spent several sessions blind in Stonehell; when the party encountered monsters they would point me toward them and I would charge ahead, screaming bloody murder and releasing blinding gas. It turned out to be a remarkably effective tactic.<br />
<br />
More recently the party has been exploring a vampire's lair in the deepest dungeons underneath the free city of Kaladar. Confronted with a glowing red magical archway, I had my dwarven compatriot Yor (Yor for a better tomorrow!) tie a rope around me and I went through. I was expecting deadly poison gas <i>at the minimum</i> because I had tried this tactic in an earlier section of this lair when confronted with an archway of glowing green mist and it turned out to be a save vs. death gas (luckily I saved). Instead what happened is all my gear right down to my beard ring of protection was sucked from my body and I had some hazy sense of a misty cavern that I was being tugged to, and then Yor pulled me back out of the archway (naked).<br />
<br />
I did fight an encounter completely naked and wielding a borrowed hand ax that session.<br />
<br />
Losing all my gear rankled a bit, but we could not figure out a couple puzzle rooms in the dungeon and were stuck... unless we wanted to go through that damned archway and end up naked on the other side with no gear.<br />
<br />
Last session I had the bright idea of bringing a high enough level wizard to have the <i>Teleport</i> spell memorized down to the arch to send him through (naked). The idea was he would quickly examine the area that the arch led to, trying to mark it for a future <i>Teleport </i>destination, then <i>Teleport</i> out to safety. We persuaded/conned NPC Tim the Enchanter into this duty; he was eager to make up for the fact that his master in the wizard's council had recently been revealed by the party to be a balrog! Poor Tim walked through the gate, ended up in a misty cavern, and was attacked by something he didn't see which drained a level before he could <i>Teleport </i>out!<br />
<br />
Once back at the wizard's tower Tim and four other high level wizards scried the misty cavern with a crystal ball for an hour until they had a reasonably good lock on it to <i>Teleport</i> the party down there. There was a 10% chance of a missed destination "Low" result, which basically meant instant death in this situation, and we knew that. The "High" result wasn't as big of a risk as the misty cavern was quite large; in fact, two party members did arrive 10' in the air and dropped to the ground. While 10% chance of unraisable death is pretty iffy odds to be putting the whole party through, for once everyone else seemed ready to join in Dak's foolish plan.<br />
<br />
Remarkably, three out of the eight total party members that the wizards <i>Teleported </i>down arrived too low and instantly died. Dak, Arthurius (follower of Innominus the cleric), and Muckley (dwarf henchman of Dak) all met their ends in this unceremonious manner. A vampire attacked the remaining party members and was promptly destroyed in one round by Yor (thanks to his nightly d30 roll, his girdle of giant strength and his ancient Noffellian blade Mellion). The vampire turned out to be a lacky, not the vampire master we had been seeking.<br />
<br />
Dak is Dead. Long live Flipwayter, Dak's trusty follower, who shall pick up the mantle. Hopefully the party finds the real frickin' vampire and all Dak's old gear so Flipwayter can really keep the name of Dak alive. In particular, Dak's family heirloom <i>refilling flask</i> of dwarven whiskey will not go unused... as Dak would have wanted.<br />
<br />
I am looking forward to next session, a quick turnaround (for us) as we are meeting up again next Monday. Dak may have died, but his hairbrained scheme did get the party down to the lowest section of the dungeon which we had not been able to access before. As long as we kill the vampire, get the loot and find a way out it will not have been for vain! If we happen to save Ara from demonic invasion (another story) in the process, so much the better.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-54275173186654465962015-04-28T01:52:00.001-07:002015-04-28T01:53:39.185-07:00200 Word SorcererI submitted an entry to David Schirduan's <a href="http://schirduans.com/david/2015/04/200-word-rpg-challenge.html">200 Word RPG Challenge</a>. I already revised my submission once and David posted the revision, and since then I have revised it a couple more times - I am not going to keep resubmitting my revisions, at this point I am mostly just messing around with it because it is a fun exercise in conciseness. What can I take out and what can I add. Having read many of the other submissions I have no illusions about winning anything (nor are the prizes particularly exciting) but the process of writing a 200 word class/supplement was a great challenge and got my creative juices flowing. Some of the entries are pretty impressive in that they both give novel rules without reference to a common starting point like D&D (which I relied on) and also are very evocative in describing a setting or milieu.<br />
<br />
I don't think my D&Dish sorcerer hack stands up well to some of the other entries, but I still like it. My latest edit is a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9oamUh3mPyNa0dTaVRoeHJ0YnM/view?usp=sharing">.PDF with full color background image that I created of a burning hand / embers</a>.
<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ghTx-IabF6O47J3wWW7jVUgHbpk_r5Y5QuArcx13Wjg/pub?embedded=true" width="725" height=
"900"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-58279451889910975742015-03-27T13:42:00.000-07:002015-03-28T02:38:13.204-07:00Temple of the Dragocroc - Isometric GraphingAll hail Dragocroc! I hadn't been exposed to isometric graph paper until I saw some <a href="https://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/">Dyson Logos</a> posts that inspired me to check it out. I found a <a href="http://www.waterproofpaper.com/graph-paper/isometric-paper.shtml">website with printable isometric graph paper</a> and printed some out. I present the Temple of the Dragocroc in isometric pseudo-3D view. This started out as doodling without a plan, and as consequence I have gone past the edge of the graph grid in a few places. I am going to keep working on the original drawing but I also scanned it in and messed around with it a bit in Photoshop just for kicks (Photoshopped scans at bottom of post, unaltered scan of work in progress immediately below). <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiS-neFsEw-dUWYNP1Q7v-I9SRQ1xHliSgtv4PoxaO-RchrcDoe66UiNijgZK0ehlJh_RcA3_L_8rjp0cRys0dh_RGxoUKLB0u_2uWehoMdp4OcDNN6QrmL4v0Hbgln1ED9dqy0kphl_U/s1600/temple+of+the+dragocroc+unfinished.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiS-neFsEw-dUWYNP1Q7v-I9SRQ1xHliSgtv4PoxaO-RchrcDoe66UiNijgZK0ehlJh_RcA3_L_8rjp0cRys0dh_RGxoUKLB0u_2uWehoMdp4OcDNN6QrmL4v0Hbgln1ED9dqy0kphl_U/s1600/temple+of+the+dragocroc+unfinished.jpg" height="640" width="540" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Work in progress - this is what I have done with pencil, pen and marker so far (no Photoshop)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There is 10' of liquid demonblood flooding the inside of the walled structure. I hinted at the towers and walls extending down past the interior surface area to suggest that it was a liquid surface, but this will be more obvious when I finish up the outer walls and color in the surface of the blood. I am thinking of using colored pencil for the demonblood surface to get some good color swirls going on. The blood spills out of the mouth of each of the Dragocroc statues down past the tower level immediately below them, landing on the third level up from the bottom, flowing through a channel system to waterfalls that cascade down each face of the tower.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The four Dragocrocs that make up part of the 5th tier of the temples are stone statues inlaid with jade mosaic. The red eyes are unnaturally large glowing rubies (single rubies each ~10' long, each 1/8 of the heart of the real Dragocroc (powerful demon bound below). If the ruby eyes are replaced in the heart of the real Dragocroc, the demon will arise, drink its stolen blood to restore its power and utterly destroy the entire structure and surrounding countryside before embarking on a murderous rampage.) </div>
<div>
<br />
The only entrances to the structure are on the fourth and fifth tiers. Archways open into the tower face on the fourth tier below each Dragocroc mouth. Each archway leads to a staircase that ascends the inside wall of the tower, giving access to the fifth tier and the walkways on top of the Dragrocroc statues. Open archways at the base of the tail-spire give access to an empty stone room with a sacrificial alter in the center and an engraved circular trench around its perimeter, the <b>Blood Circle</b>. The blood of approximately 20 human sacrifices is required to fill the circle. If the sacrifices are performed under the light of a full moon, the Blood Circle can be used as a powerful summoning and binding focus and a teleportation circle (giving access to the dungeon levels inside the blood-drained and bound Dragocroc demon imprisoned below). 20 ritual spellcasters are required to use the circle for summoning and binding, and 20 sacrifices is the <i>minimum</i> needed for this use. Every multiple of 20 sacrifices beyond the first 20 increases the power of the circle when used for summoning and binding. <b>Priests of Dragocroc</b> carry amulets which are linked to the Blood Circle. Chaotic individuals who hold an <b>Amulet of Dragocroc</b> can sacrifice 1d8 HP of blood to the medallion to teleport without error (including all personal gear and up to two other individuals, unwilling individuals can save to resist) from unlimited range to the circle on the 5th tier. There is a 1 in 6 chance every time anyone who is not a Priest of Dragocroc picks up an <b>Amulet of Dragocroc </b>that the amulet attacks as an 8HD monster for 1d8 damage and teleports the victim to the circle (save to resist). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The real <b>Dragocroc is a powerful demon</b>, summoned and bound by a cult which stole its blood to power their magic. Priests of Dragocroc draw their spellcasting ability from the stolen blood. They must drink fresh Dragocroc blood once between full moons (at the full moon) or permanently lose all spellcasting ability and go insane (1 in 6 chance of also becoming a were-dragocroc, transforming into a humanoid dragocroc under the light of the full moon, filled with a burning desire to destroy the Priests of Dragocroc). Any Priest of Dragocroc who suffers this fate will be killed on sight by the priesthood. Only fresh blood spilling directly out of a Dragocroc statue mouth works, so every full moon every Priest of Dragocroc returns to the temple to drink from the waterfalls. The potent demon blood provides two extra benefits to the priesthood while powering magic; all damaging spells do an extra 1d8 damage and all undead under the control of a Priest of Dragocroc have +1d8 HP, +1 to initiative and +1 to hit and damage.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here are two stages of me messing around with this in Photoshop - I don't like the effect and will finish the piece with pen, markers and colored pencil.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-VpDzI26xOtVsAg9vV5uiiAKAZZVav2lj3dGuF4g6PAeFJwYk8mK1RstuJhsyebGVmSHB-tO_6vc1zmw3RnuCpVxWCCqK-Zy7b8SNB7HyTyIqY0eo1h9TUtLYoDIxqrIyt7XYZOTW9h4/s1600/temple+of+the+dragocroc+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-VpDzI26xOtVsAg9vV5uiiAKAZZVav2lj3dGuF4g6PAeFJwYk8mK1RstuJhsyebGVmSHB-tO_6vc1zmw3RnuCpVxWCCqK-Zy7b8SNB7HyTyIqY0eo1h9TUtLYoDIxqrIyt7XYZOTW9h4/s1600/temple+of+the+dragocroc+2.jpg" height="640" width="540" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8GsJrnDkPIuTtew47yzHBGgoPS4s-3ErLmv0aUNmz-yI6qQYn7rl1QUWag_zEfFJPxpKHDKUKBxZH-9NQmR9x-sSQ7ONXx2R3Xb0or27esxKP1jVcgiwY_FpEAjzEhCIc58uOXXCfs6c/s1600/temple+of+the+dragocroc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8GsJrnDkPIuTtew47yzHBGgoPS4s-3ErLmv0aUNmz-yI6qQYn7rl1QUWag_zEfFJPxpKHDKUKBxZH-9NQmR9x-sSQ7ONXx2R3Xb0or27esxKP1jVcgiwY_FpEAjzEhCIc58uOXXCfs6c/s1600/temple+of+the+dragocroc.jpg" height="640" width="542" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-75725147319944931602015-02-18T02:43:00.000-08:002015-02-18T12:34:48.298-08:00Gorilla ArtI recently finished a fun piece of commissioned art, depicting an Experimental Ape from <a href="http://poleandrope.blogspot.com/">Michael Curtis</a>' upcoming Stonehell 2. I drew the <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuFjmQa7zZCyyzmFMhWJvzYwHPl5aVVjwiGL7VlfOMWhPwXLrN7MlSqDTiREqWq22LScfdmZNe1zWc47NeXli8dmmYskM3xRwTDdbaMjcofETHw6pBH0F7Re9ziYQnRy6v_cRwWaMwuEA/s1600/ogreface+arch+final+copy+at+300+pixel+res.jpg">Ogre Face Arch</a> (the image on the <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/stonehell">Stonehell tee-shirts</a>) and <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwlapeSVSiZM792QE38AF3aAJBilQg8uMyLs5jljBPQW2AUYrnaeBdAeuOGpdLGIfBplVpq7_2Hc9vWPXbUq9nW5SBMuQYoTCkcddY8ohFNDjL7FT3A-01Qhgc3l_VEiOVRX7BPSnq2Xw/s1600/black+bear+small.jpg">Coal the Black Bear</a> in the original <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/michael-curtis/stonehell-dungeon-down-night-haunted-halls/paperback/product-5974479.html">Stonehell Dungeon</a>, and was very happy to oblige Michael with a new piece. I never spend any time on artwork unless I have some specific project motivating me, but I always enjoy the hours spent when I do pick up pen and lay it to paper. I ended up using kind of an unusual technique in this drawing, so I wanted to post about the process here.<br />
<br />
I looked over the list of potential illustrations and "<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Albino Apes with Cybernetic Type Implants</span>" caught my eye. I introduced bionic chimps and orangutans into my Mutant Future campaign (<a href="http://mutagenicsubstance.blogspot.com/2009/10/bestiary-part-second-robots-and-apes.html">War Chimps and Warangutans</a>) and they were a big hit with my players. I have had soft spot for great apes with cybernetic implants ever since. Once I claimed that picture as mine, Michael sent me the following details:<br />
<br />
"<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Experimental apes are double-sized albino gorillas that have two additional arcanitech arms grafted to their bodies below their natural upper limbs. These magical/mechanical arms possess great strength (equal to that of an ogre). These arms also deliver a powerful electrical shock. Any target struck by either of the arcanitech limbs must make a save vs. spells or suffer an additional 1d8 points of damage. Experimental apes are conditioned to be fiercely loyal to the Plated Mage and the Mage-Engineers, and seldom flee from combat. Attempts to charm them rarely succeed and experimental apes gain a +4 bonus to all saving throws against mental domination.</i>"<br />
<br />
This presented an interesting challenge to me, as the easiest way to depict something as albino is to show it in bright light as mostly white, but I wanted to do a more shadowy drawing since the apes would be encountered underground in a dungeon environment. I first did a few gorilla studies to get in the mood and shake off any rust from my art muscles. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Hf4VeD1xnxJBdqqiCGpOHRoL9W-itSbsIUiDAoypxufdwBAUHV6N1_pcUCFpAthEeBj8AcVmK1jJE51wgAaSChM0JD_avWsNw_y2_fd6owyzQA5Q-adJtVZjz0g4LpWWKC56bsYTOps/s1600/gorilla+work.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Hf4VeD1xnxJBdqqiCGpOHRoL9W-itSbsIUiDAoypxufdwBAUHV6N1_pcUCFpAthEeBj8AcVmK1jJE51wgAaSChM0JD_avWsNw_y2_fd6owyzQA5Q-adJtVZjz0g4LpWWKC56bsYTOps/s1600/gorilla+work.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
I wanted to use pen and ink but kept struggling with the fact that I really would need a nice white ink pen and dark paper to draw the image I saw in my head. Then I hit on the idea of drawing the image with black ink on white paper and reversing it in PhotoShop. I reversed the larger sketch I had done so far as a quick proof of concept. Of course the image looks like a negative because the shadowing is in reverse (particularly obvious in the face), but I mostly wanted to see how the fur/hair looked and I liked the effect:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9p6CwWieUsAEd1AB0jfEFkX9EzthCLLwnmAInZOnzyOv0LTBFccCLD-NYncDMoKeQGycrE6v7WlkwFS1mT7q2GguXpnYS4qwPJR8gdomL1GFyZdAHHxoDnpboK2Lj6jQxNdw-YLqGUo/s1600/gorilla+work+negative+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9p6CwWieUsAEd1AB0jfEFkX9EzthCLLwnmAInZOnzyOv0LTBFccCLD-NYncDMoKeQGycrE6v7WlkwFS1mT7q2GguXpnYS4qwPJR8gdomL1GFyZdAHHxoDnpboK2Lj6jQxNdw-YLqGUo/s1600/gorilla+work+negative+2.jpg" height="640" width="450" /></a></div>
<br />
To avoid the appearance of a negative image once I reversed my final piece, I wanted to create a negative image to use as a reference point for my original drawing. In other words, I would draw a negative image in the first place, so when it was reversed the shading would be correct but all the pen work would be white and the background would be black. I spent some time collecting various pictures of gorillas, standing gorillas, crouching gorillas, leaping gorillas. The whole time I was looking for a good reference picture that I could easily insert bionic arms onto, which made the choice a bit more difficult. I finally settled on an action shot to use as a reference image for the drawing that looks like the gorilla just took a swat at something:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29LGEBH1y9I0_R3SQQ9aOsIvBksiyAYSGexKWsC_Ya9_U2lgB2Le0e9J-RJPoaxlyOOqHimR4jmF2nGI4GFH0kPBB_iPN5gWEtaJVfKDdbopZxtK61QDAHWRdHxz8RRsskian9HtifGw/s1600/gorilla+swat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29LGEBH1y9I0_R3SQQ9aOsIvBksiyAYSGexKWsC_Ya9_U2lgB2Le0e9J-RJPoaxlyOOqHimR4jmF2nGI4GFH0kPBB_iPN5gWEtaJVfKDdbopZxtK61QDAHWRdHxz8RRsskian9HtifGw/s1600/gorilla+swat.jpg" height="400" width="257" /></a></div>
<br />
One slight stumbling block was that the left arm of this gorilla was cut off; I could have just winged it, but at this point I had such a large collection of gorilla images that I picked a different image of a different gorilla with its left arm out in a similar fashion and literally just Photoshopped the other gorillas arm over the arm in this picture. Here is the 2nd gorilla image I used for its left arm:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAy64V9p_KTpRuRgIqmMskJpMzroC5saNWhzxt7MKhn0_lOt11IYakmclzTZ9foqryHO06dfFr0QI6FqtYEAqRTN-dMYTtow0ZYTNUP4JhVUJ4VPluzCkkWBa7Sr6gtey-N4aXtG7E0EI/s1600/walking+gorilla.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAy64V9p_KTpRuRgIqmMskJpMzroC5saNWhzxt7MKhn0_lOt11IYakmclzTZ9foqryHO06dfFr0QI6FqtYEAqRTN-dMYTtow0ZYTNUP4JhVUJ4VPluzCkkWBa7Sr6gtey-N4aXtG7E0EI/s1600/walking+gorilla.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
Next I added a second set of arms by copying the first set of arms, rotating them and moving them down below the armpit. Then I turned the image into a negative to use as a reference while drawing. Here is the resulting negative image of a four armed gorilla:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizFUGw2K4mUk1oYaJdP01oXp03w21-n9bC3gyh4qND7SOuUREow5cR4jjcIlBN6K9OMYfDjtI8lYsn1ZKBMsGu1G6anBCbatKh6kaNhpo4TalqJp2kDabnyz_PuasajMor3oX3xEYN7FY/s1600/four+arm+gorilla.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizFUGw2K4mUk1oYaJdP01oXp03w21-n9bC3gyh4qND7SOuUREow5cR4jjcIlBN6K9OMYfDjtI8lYsn1ZKBMsGu1G6anBCbatKh6kaNhpo4TalqJp2kDabnyz_PuasajMor3oX3xEYN7FY/s1600/four+arm+gorilla.jpg" height="320" width="268" /></a></div>
I printed this out, and drawing directly onto the print out, I transformed the lower set of arms into robot arms and added some bionic parts to the torso. This printout is what I used as a reference while drawing the final image:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM2QXxJ8kA2_BsFFb0U8sBwDzdGRXrzImVzdqv7OGGI1ca_Quev53JBy1cI2ZF6UKLyEje2bDwdQS1oao0rKMQRsKrQRu-YOVi5vXm-Bi97-StP5Xq0jw2j3NziJyIbVaI_3dqkN9U33w/s1600/4+armed+gorilla+scan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM2QXxJ8kA2_BsFFb0U8sBwDzdGRXrzImVzdqv7OGGI1ca_Quev53JBy1cI2ZF6UKLyEje2bDwdQS1oao0rKMQRsKrQRu-YOVi5vXm-Bi97-StP5Xq0jw2j3NziJyIbVaI_3dqkN9U33w/s1600/4+armed+gorilla+scan.jpg" height="640" width="464" /></a></div>
My purpose in using a negative reference image while drawing with black ink on white paper was that I would be able to scan and create a negative image of my final drawing; this way the inked fur of the gorilla would be white instead of black. I hoped this would create the albino effect I was looking for while still allowing me to draw a mostly shadowy, low lit image. So in other words, I went to some great lengths because I didn't have a good white ink pen and black paper! My plan was to only reverse the image of the ape itself and leave the robotic arms the way I drew them, since I didn't have a negative reference image for them and also because I thought it would be an easy way to make the metal arms stick out as different from the rest of the ape. After some work on the drawing I scanned it in to reverse it and see how the process was working - I immediately realized the image I had chosen as a reference image was too shadowed to create an obviously albino ape even if the fur cross-hatching itself was white. The shadowed areas of the ape were just too dark and made it seem like a normal ape with a bright light shining on some of its fur:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZyJklGQiplk5OHrc4rcnp62pJ6p0xEZU-f3DQHCnfL-Uz_qyfHcZARhlgLMNvy_vUFf9awCVbeTVw7Y2xn3bT5g8HZbBQS2xB9lmPsjGD3nUD-NVOs1_9r2jsn-3gtFlr3KmdyTHzGM/s1600/gorilla+invert+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZyJklGQiplk5OHrc4rcnp62pJ6p0xEZU-f3DQHCnfL-Uz_qyfHcZARhlgLMNvy_vUFf9awCVbeTVw7Y2xn3bT5g8HZbBQS2xB9lmPsjGD3nUD-NVOs1_9r2jsn-3gtFlr3KmdyTHzGM/s1600/gorilla+invert+1.jpg" height="640" width="464" /></a></div>
<br />
I ended up adding a lot more fur detail than was visible in the original reference image in the chest, stomach and rear leg. I went back in with a pencil in addition to the pen, to lighten up the ape in relation to the background. Even the most shadowy areas got at least some light pencil fur added. Several times I called it done, scanned it in and reversed it and decided I still needed to add even more pen and pencil work. Finally, I decided I had done all I could do and was running the risk of muddying up things if I kept adding more fur. I added some more pencil shading to the robot arms and scanned it one more time to reverse it and do some more touch up work in Photoshop. For reference, here is the original (un-reversed) scan of the final drawing and then the reversed image at that point. I found it very interesting how the entire time I was drawing from the negative image the head just didn't look right, but the second I reversed it, it looked awesome! My mind had a hard time looking at the original (unreversed) drawing and processing where the eyes were I think. I just had to trust that I was following an actual negative photo of a gorilla face and as long as I faithfully shadowed where I saw shadow everything would work out okay once I reversed the image.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj8V217VCbYV8xLDaG2QEcMTvP7COeet7p55Z0PhZjy4kk56vL99JqHeMFUqkK3hImSvL600nQuOGDwxXKafyBp1TSvCM4JMvP1-6KR3PrApyuNaMcWSKMvRkwLNTcnnTQu94lYYbWY4g/s1600/Gorilla+scan+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj8V217VCbYV8xLDaG2QEcMTvP7COeet7p55Z0PhZjy4kk56vL99JqHeMFUqkK3hImSvL600nQuOGDwxXKafyBp1TSvCM4JMvP1-6KR3PrApyuNaMcWSKMvRkwLNTcnnTQu94lYYbWY4g/s1600/Gorilla+scan+4.jpg" height="640" width="464" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original *unreversed* Drawing (pen and pencil)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF95giIj5c5wPAkI03bkTjsrV9aiERXKSKxyGq3hTHe2t_v7n0seIDfisHVY5YZ8jI1Re06YSH9UXyahxgWFUOVXdO9GyD5JkINUnF_UIblHnQxd7QoXYF5pD3iIiW8nhdbAd8_xOfvBg/s1600/Gorilla+scan+4+negative.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF95giIj5c5wPAkI03bkTjsrV9aiERXKSKxyGq3hTHe2t_v7n0seIDfisHVY5YZ8jI1Re06YSH9UXyahxgWFUOVXdO9GyD5JkINUnF_UIblHnQxd7QoXYF5pD3iIiW8nhdbAd8_xOfvBg/s1600/Gorilla+scan+4+negative.jpg" height="640" width="464" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Negative of the final drawing - before separating the bionic arms out and leaving them unreversed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I carefully went in and selected just the bionic arms to put them in a separate layer of the Photoshop document and leave them un-reversed. this also allowed me to use a Photoshop effect (Outer Glow) to make it look like the arms were glowing - I was hoping this would evoke the electric shock they could deliver. I also fixed up the feet and left hand a bit in photoshop since I was unhappy with the way they looked when scanned in (I had made the mistake of drawing an outline around the feet in pen which ended up being a glowing white edge around the toes, and the shading I had done on the left hand I was never happy with). Finally, I had to figure out what to do about a background. I didn't really have the time to draw a background (my wife and I recently had our first child, and between working ~55 hours a week and spending as much time with baby Leo as I can, I really don't have any "free" time these days) so I played around with some different things in Photoshop. I added a gradient to suggest a surface at the bottom, and played around with different ways to crop the image. I settled on a black circle around the ape, with a slight gradient to gray toward the bottom right, and the ape itself protruding past the background in places to suggest that it was coming out of the page at the viewer. I know this is kind of cheesy but as soon as I tried it out I really liked the effect it had in this case. Ultimately I probably didn't save any time versus drawing in a background by hand onto the original drawing and rescanning, because to add the photoshop background I had to carefully carve the entire image out of the black background so it could be on a separate layer from the circle gradient (otherwise I couldn't add the gradient and have the ape look like it was standing on top of it). This took quite a while as I didn't want it to be a sloppy select job. I had to go in pixel by pixel in some cases to remove everything except the ink strokes I wanted to keep around the edges.<br />
<br />
I have to say though that I am very pleased with the end result - and I can't wait for Stonehell 2 to come out! Maybe some of you will get to sick one of these bad boys on your players (or meet an untimely demise at their robotic hands if you play on the other side of the DM's screen!). Final image:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAres-Ae3Ma0y1nukX6hEBdUSwmq2KxifYjJrTBNl8p1eTCC2SpEAnJ_mgiUG8zuvssoPs8PZ_ZnkdSmFM6Zsk7Cv0R9BpmQf8O3mktVyCv0Dne3oqaplgzzHtL4PiE-ZXB8FhuOzuTk/s1600/Albino+Ape+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAres-Ae3Ma0y1nukX6hEBdUSwmq2KxifYjJrTBNl8p1eTCC2SpEAnJ_mgiUG8zuvssoPs8PZ_ZnkdSmFM6Zsk7Cv0R9BpmQf8O3mktVyCv0Dne3oqaplgzzHtL4PiE-ZXB8FhuOzuTk/s1600/Albino+Ape+4.jpg" height="640" width="562" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Experimental Ape - Carl Nash 2015 - Pen, Pencil & Photoshop</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-38963944869737419542015-02-10T02:12:00.000-08:002015-02-10T11:36:35.736-08:00Figs and Faeries<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some hastily jotted and assuredly unfinished business that has been languishing in my Google Drive, pasted here for your pleasure</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I only completed the random d8 ripeness/potion charts for two species of fig trees. I did not detail any of the faerie courts which inhabit the fig trees, or their unique potions (nor a single parasitic wasp imp species for that matter). More to come?</span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b">
</span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b">
</span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<h2>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Figs = Potion Trees</span></span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b">
</span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The ripe fruit has magical properties - see d8 potion tables in individual fig tree entries below.</span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b">
</span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each fig tree also has a special <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syconium">syconium</a>, a particularly large fig (~2-4'), magically protected, with a single gate that shrinks those entering it - it is a difficult challenge to force entry past the gate if the keepers are unwilling. Each syconium is a faerie kingdom of blooming fig flowers bathed in a soft golden glow that dies down to a flickering glamer at night - the faeries dwell in the fig flowers.</span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b">
</span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each fig tree species has a unique relationship with a type of faerie that dwells in the syconium - the faeries each have a set of unique spells that they derive from the potion fruit. </span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b">
</span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fig_wasp">Parasitic Wasp Imps </a>seek to take faerie syconiums as their own and have their own spells and magical abilities - great variation exists among the parasitic wasp imps. Syconiums that have been taken by these parasitic imps are quickly filled with their offspring, the magical wards of the syconium perverted to feed the growing brood.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b">
</span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Giant ants</b> tend giant aphid-like bugs which secrete potions as well - ants protect their trees against any intruders deemed a threat</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b">
</span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Giant insect</b> ecosystems on the forest floor below depend on the fruit</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b">
</span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also <b>magical birds</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b">
</span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Fig sap</b> hardens into a rubber, can be treated when fresh to make magical oils</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b">
</span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Syconium Physics</b> - objects are reduced to 1/8 their normal size and 1/4 normal weight when entering a Syconium. </span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b">
</span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b">
</span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Syconium Time</b> - time passes very slowly inside the syconium compared to the outside world. One day inside the syconium = 14 days outside. From the faerie perspective every other fourth day they either leave the syconium to visit a neighboring kingdom or receive visitors from a neighboring faerie court that inhabits a different fig tree. To the outside perspective these excursions or incursions are roughly 2 months apart. When visitors come to the syconium it pollinates the tree; each tree bears a harvest about once every four months. </span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b">
</span>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1b1a1e02-72dd-d89c-770f-1a463a8ed54b">
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Visitors, pollination and the special potion fruit </b>- each visiting faerie court has a unique special potion associated with it. Any roll of an "8" on the d8 potion roll for a fig tree requires a second d8 roll - a second roll of "8" explodes, resulting in the unique potion of the visiting faerie court that pollinated the tree. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm_rbqadYKcVoLv2u7t54EDjTcuSYZ2R8tn7bRw2Pvscp5SO0B1eCDciO9Ix2xdy4iiJ_QhtLLbN_pRmGU1FcxBhOXj-lsNgaEHK9KuaF5G6ccF4u6Uml_sKxJSTCmT7q_friPnhWh2m4/s1600/strangler+fig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm_rbqadYKcVoLv2u7t54EDjTcuSYZ2R8tn7bRw2Pvscp5SO0B1eCDciO9Ix2xdy4iiJ_QhtLLbN_pRmGU1FcxBhOXj-lsNgaEHK9KuaF5G6ccF4u6Uml_sKxJSTCmT7q_friPnhWh2m4/s1600/strangler+fig.jpg" height="640" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Banyan or Strangler Fig</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Banyan or Strangler Fig</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - <a href="http://www.eattheweeds.com/wild-ficus-who-gives-an-edible-fig-2/">sprawls out, sends down aerial roots</a>, covers other trees or stone structures indiscriminately with strangling roots. </span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ripe Fruit: Reddish brown skin, brown flesh - bitter - get darker and softer as ripen, 1d8 - fig properties, from unripe to ripe:</span></div>
<ol style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fig of Climbing</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fig of Growth</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fig of Plant Control</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fig of Undead Control</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fig of Animal Control</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fig of Giant Control</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fig of Human Control</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fig of Dragon Control</span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinXIEGu4OwuKb09koKOAbGumu0r1PMV02uvSmx0tX3BEX7D4k6VKDLPQ8njIm4kicr7S6YZnMWiZDmYjxFbD8pkHifUX17zVzWqMn2XlQtDQPIFQk2EhpHEf_MTWculrp5Y0Vb4FAbcxI/s1600/Cluster+Figs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinXIEGu4OwuKb09koKOAbGumu0r1PMV02uvSmx0tX3BEX7D4k6VKDLPQ8njIm4kicr7S6YZnMWiZDmYjxFbD8pkHifUX17zVzWqMn2XlQtDQPIFQk2EhpHEf_MTWculrp5Y0Vb4FAbcxI/s1600/Cluster+Figs.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cluster Figs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cluster Fig</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - figs grow in clusters directly from the trunk, bark has healing properties, grind into paste in water to make healing potions -<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus_racemosa"> LOTS more on wikipedia</a>, lots of cool Buddhist / Hindu traditions</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ripe Fruit: green skin, white flesh, very sweet and soft when fully ripe, firm and pleasant when younger - roll 1d8 on ripeness table: </span></div>
<ol style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vitality</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Philter of Glibness</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Philter of Persuasiveness</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fig of Treasure Finding</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fig of Giant Strength</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fig of Heroism</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fig of Invulnerability</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fig of Super-Heroism</span></li>
</ol>
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210223820598148815.post-38894432917369273532014-11-28T23:57:00.004-08:002014-11-29T01:21:28.924-08:005e Dungeon Master's Guide and 5e mini reviewI picked up my pre-ordered DM's Guide at my local game shop the day before Thanksgiving. First a mini review of 5e, then some random bullet points from the DM's Guide that stood out to me.<br />
<br />
Color me thoroughly impressed with D&D 5e now that I have the three core rulebooks in my possession. Compressing the modifier range, AC and to hit bonus across levels almost makes it more old school than old school, but there are plenty of cool options available to appeal to new school players. Compared straight across, 1st -3rd level 5e characters will be much more powerful than their B/X or AD&D equivalents, but that quickly evens out and probably even flips towards the older systems being more powerful at higher levels. Consequently, converting B/X or AD&D material to 5e looks to be extremely easy.<br />
<br />
I still had some unanswered questions and gripes about the game after reading the PHB and MM, but the DM's Guide really took care of most of these for me. If I had to choose my top D&D edition just based on the core rulebooks, I would have to take 5e at this point (although 1e still gets the nod for best DM's Guide even with it's Gygaxian organization). Player options are presented without being overly complicated or resulting in too much power inflation. Monsters strike a nice balance between simple to run and having some memorable and unique abilities (I particularly like the lair based powers of the legendary creatures). The core system is very solid, as is the treatment of the planes and the cosmology presented in general. There are an awful lot of rule variants and DM's tools provided that allow you to customize the game in many different ways. If you don't want to play with skills, the DM's guide gives you a purely attribute based resolution system for a more old school feel. The default, relatively "heroic" (read practically superheroic) out-of-combat healing presented in the PHB is now just one of many options available to the DM. Tools for running a Call of Cthulhu style campaign (Sanity attribute) fit in nicely with the focus on factions, organizations and secret societies. High marks for consistently emphasizing that the game can be customized, and providing many extremely useful examples of how you can do so.<br />
<br />
Also, laser guns, antimatter rifles and frag grenades. Need I say more?<br />
<br />
Of course this is not a perfect game. I have many small quibbles. Some areas of the DM's guide seem like unpolished, hasty add-ons that could easily have taken up the same amount of space and accomplished so much more (e.g the hodge podge of maps that is Appendix C) and almost every single random chart should have been expanded upon significantly. Maybe I am spoiled from years of browsing the amazing (and free) online content produced by D&D players and DMs, but I expect a lot more than 10 results for a "Short-Term Madness" table (especially when two of those results are <i>stunned </i>and <i>unconscious </i>- p.259) or 9 entries on a "Lingering Injuries" table (p.272). Rolling on a table to see what kind of injury your PC gets should be one of those awesome d100 moments where the world stops and hangs on the rolling dice, all manner of calamities looming, not "Oh I lost another (insert 'eye' or 'arm/hand' or 'foot/leg')" or "I got another scar".<br />
<br />
The art is also all over the place between and within the core rulebooks, and ultimately that is good and bad for me because I don't trust the art direction at WotC enough to want them to go all one direction or another. This way I at least get some stuff that I enjoy. <br />
<br />
Physically the books themselves are relatively impressive but I have some complaints here. My MM is the best quality with no obvious printing errors, but there are noticeable problems with my PHB and DM's Guide. My PHB had numerous instances of smeared ink from illustrations blurring text on facing pages and in several places there is fuzzy text in side bars (which almost seems like a layout error not a printing error, it seems like digital fuzziness). The only printing flaw I noticed in my DM's Guide was that the black ink from the illustration on page 124 bled all over the text on page 125, smearing and blurring the entire first column. I can still read everything on that page but it is a very noticeable smear. I like the look and feel of the books, especially their heft in my hands when holding all three together, but I do not like the red and white Dungeons & Dragons logo on the spine and front cover and the white lettering for the book name. I'm not sure why, but I just really don't like the new red and white banner logo. I think it is mostly the red color, and now that I am focusing on it and asking myself why I don't like it, I think the stylized tearing at the end of the banner also grates on me.<br />
<br />
Now for some bullet points from the DM's Guide:<br />
<ul>
<li>The generally flattened power curve of 5e is reflected in the bonuses for magic weapons and armor, which only range from +1 to +3 in this edition.</li>
<li>Speaking of magical items, the magical item creation rules on pages 128-29 make it impractical for PCs to make anything but a common or uncommon magical item. It would take a single PC 200 days of working 8 hour days to create a rare magical item (<i>+1 armor</i> or <i>+2 weapon</i> are rare magical items for reference). It takes 2000 days of working 8 hour days to create a very rare item (<i>+2 armor</i> or <i>+3 weapon</i>) and 20,000 days (54 years!) to create a legendary item (e.g. <i>cloak of invisibility</i> or <i>iron flask</i>) . Multiple PC spellcasters can split this time up, but I don't see any party using the rules as written to craft anything but common or uncommon items. It takes 4 days to craft a common item and 20 days to craft an uncommon item <i>(potion of healing</i> is common, <i>broom of flying</i> is uncommon - illustrating a seemingly arbitrary assignment of rarity to magical items, as the broom of flying is pretty bad ass, carrying up to 400 pounds and coming with the ability to park itself anywhere within 1 mile and then come when summoned - compare with the <i>carpet of flying </i>which is nearly identical in terms of flying and lifting capacity, does not have the 1 mile self park and summon ability, and is rated as very rare!).</li>
<li>Still on magical items, some of my favorite illustrations in the book are of the items but I go back and forth on their inclusion. The item illustrations are awesome and mostly very well done. I really enjoyed seeing familiar items from my gaming past rendered in full color. On the other hand there are a LOT of them - if the magic items were presented sans illustrations, it would have opened a lot more space for even more content. And ultimately, as cool as it is to see one artist's rendition of a <i>Ring of Feather Falling</i>, magical items have to be unique in appearance in game and are probably better left the province of the imagination. I would have loved to see a lot more space allotted to random encounters and honestly if those had been lavished with illustrations instead of the magic items, they probably would have been the showstoppers for the book!</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOt84VhwWxWHlsWW_oeTGTTCHFEIRYnizq6C8TMK9ztmktJCwIOX82o5CmRmh6-Z-uRlg3E-MQjPbbuJ47PodmWOjn2-CtfpVH50pRhqJIKei4DhzIfEyhn-oBXzuhhyphenhyphenYvbyGiySEs1Jw/s1600/5e+ring+of+feather+falling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOt84VhwWxWHlsWW_oeTGTTCHFEIRYnizq6C8TMK9ztmktJCwIOX82o5CmRmh6-Z-uRlg3E-MQjPbbuJ47PodmWOjn2-CtfpVH50pRhqJIKei4DhzIfEyhn-oBXzuhhyphenhyphenYvbyGiySEs1Jw/s1600/5e+ring+of+feather+falling.jpg" height="246" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOt84VhwWxWHlsWW_oeTGTTCHFEIRYnizq6C8TMK9ztmktJCwIOX82o5CmRmh6-Z-uRlg3E-MQjPbbuJ47PodmWOjn2-CtfpVH50pRhqJIKei4DhzIfEyhn-oBXzuhhyphenhyphenYvbyGiySEs1Jw/s1600/5e+ring+of+feather+falling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOt84VhwWxWHlsWW_oeTGTTCHFEIRYnizq6C8TMK9ztmktJCwIOX82o5CmRmh6-Z-uRlg3E-MQjPbbuJ47PodmWOjn2-CtfpVH50pRhqJIKei4DhzIfEyhn-oBXzuhhyphenhyphenYvbyGiySEs1Jw/s1600/5e+ring+of+feather+falling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOt84VhwWxWHlsWW_oeTGTTCHFEIRYnizq6C8TMK9ztmktJCwIOX82o5CmRmh6-Z-uRlg3E-MQjPbbuJ47PodmWOjn2-CtfpVH50pRhqJIKei4DhzIfEyhn-oBXzuhhyphenhyphenYvbyGiySEs1Jw/s1600/5e+ring+of+feather+falling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOt84VhwWxWHlsWW_oeTGTTCHFEIRYnizq6C8TMK9ztmktJCwIOX82o5CmRmh6-Z-uRlg3E-MQjPbbuJ47PodmWOjn2-CtfpVH50pRhqJIKei4DhzIfEyhn-oBXzuhhyphenhyphenYvbyGiySEs1Jw/s1600/5e+ring+of+feather+falling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>There are some strange/illogical decisions made on the many (otherwise helpful) charts provided as DM's tools. For example "Improvising Damage" (p.249)suggest being struck by lightning is equivalent to falling into a fire pit (2d10 damage), while I would have guessed a lightning strike to be at least worth 5d6 if not more. Also the "Maintenance Costs" (p.127) of an abby or keep seem extremely high (20gp/day for an Abbey and 100gp/day for a keep) considering that any money the property could earn to offset maintenance costs by charging fees, collecting tithes or donations or selling goods is supposedly taken into account on the table. You have to spend 3000 GP a month to have a keep <i>on top</i> of sinking all the taxes you take in for protecting the surrounding lands back into upkeep and <i>on top</i> of what you save by consuming what your own fields produce? Ouch! </li>
<li>I like the quick resolution rules for mob/group attacks (p.250). Large groups of low level combatants are much more of a threat to even high level PCs than they have been in any other edition with the compressed AC ranges and attack modifiers, and this is a great way to run that style of combat quickly.</li>
<li>The "Epic Boons" (p.231) are a cool variant to allow progression past level 20, for those who like a high powered end game. E.g. "Boon of Planar Travel" allows plane shifting once a combat (once between short rests) to one specific plane (and back to the Material Plane); "Boon of the Fire Soul" grants immunity to fire and the ability to cast <i>burning hands</i> at will.</li>
<li>I wish Appendix C Maps had been replaced with something more closely tied in to the content generators provided for dungeons, settlements and wilderness areas. I am probably spoiled by <a href="http://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/">Dyson Logos </a>and many more, but 6 full pages dedicated to maps could have delivered a lot more content. Two pages each of dungeon, settlement and wilderness geomorphs comes to my mind. </li>
<li>The "Random Settlements" generator (p.112-114) is great. The PCs are wandering up to a town that is not detailed. Let me roll a few d20s and give you an example: Mostly wealthy townsfolk, known for its flowers, with tension between races, ruled by a religious leader. Undead are stirring in the cemetery. A tavern named "The Mysterious Lamb" is a gathering place for a secret society. All in all a relatively uneventful set of rolls but they would give me plenty to riff on. A few ideas that these rolls prompted in me just now: While the undead stirring in the cemetery is beyond hackneyed, the detail about flowers made me think of tulips, then bulbs, and I think the secret society is developing new varieties that required the bulbs to be planted in undead flesh but produce stunning flowers which are upsetting and outcompeting the established, racially divided flower growing guilds; and the undead flowers probably also have magical properties that allow the secret society to manipulate people (pollen emitted in the homes of the wealthiest and most fashionable). </li>
<li>The chase rules (p.252-254) are simple but seem like they would work well, and I hope to see some bloggers publish expanded chase complications charts because I think they are a cool idea.</li>
<li>I really like the illustration on page 248 that shows examples of creature sizes Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, Huge and Gargantuan:</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqa8p4WsaCZheukaW4S9f0uYfUW9357Vyrc42GUlXAZ34KGg5GTotfudB2BVreols0vZNZRIbJ61PIwEeyNhb5i1Wyr1SSWZe2HsM6nqj5VNrU5MkVKFRLt7-xMz5plJcmB7Kc8PIXu4I/s1600/5e+size.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqa8p4WsaCZheukaW4S9f0uYfUW9357Vyrc42GUlXAZ34KGg5GTotfudB2BVreols0vZNZRIbJ61PIwEeyNhb5i1Wyr1SSWZe2HsM6nqj5VNrU5MkVKFRLt7-xMz5plJcmB7Kc8PIXu4I/s1600/5e+size.jpg" height="441" width="640" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648499022366444265noreply@blogger.com0