Here, take this trap...

I rarely create my own traps, since I have a crap imagination, but I made this one and I thought it was pretty cool and worked well in play, so here you go.

The setup: A mostly-empty 30x40 room with a door. When the door is opened, a single torch set in a sconce on the opposite wall lights up - as the players said, "like a refrigerator light." This is just a gimmick to draw attention to the thing.

The torch itself is obviously magical. It is an everburning torch that can be set to ignite/extinguish when certain conditions are met, similar to magic mouth.

What isn't so obvious, is that the sconce is also magical. It is styled to look like a hand holding the torch. Mine was made of stone, but it could be anything, really. Most notably, the ring finger bears a gold ring with a large gem set in it (say 1d6x1,000gp or so). Close inspection will also reveal a small nozzle sticking out under the hand.

Directly beneath this thing is a 10x10 pit trap in the floor, which could be detected by anyone crouching down and examining the floor beneath the torch/sconce.

There should probably be one other thing somewhere in the room, well clear of the pit trap. This creates the possibility that the party will split up, with some messing with the torch/sconce, while the others mess with the other thing.

Here's how it works: The torch can be removed from the scone without issue, but in order to remove the valuable ring, the sconce would need to be damaged or broken. If the sconce is touched at all, even with an item like a 10' pole, the trap is triggered, and the following things happen:

Round 1: The nozzle sprays a powerful sleeping gas in a 10x10x10 cloud. Save or get knocked out.

Round 2: The pit trap opens, dropping 20' (2d6 falling damage) into a pit filled with 6 inches of your flammable liquid of choice. The liquid is not deep enough to reduce any of the falling damage, but it sure is strong-smelling! Any characters that didn't get knocked out by the gas can make another save to grab the edge of the pit before plummeting down into it. Characters that were knocked out will be awakened by the fall.

Round 3: The magical sconce-hand opens up, dropping the torch into the pit and igniting the fire juice. It burns real hot, so its probably going to cause about 2d8 damage per round, or somewhere thereabouts. Whatever the number, it should be scary. A character might be able to catch the torch as it's falling before it ignites the liquid, but I would not present them with this option. They would need to think of it on their own. Even then, I'd probably make it a hard DEX check (3d20s - ALL of them equal or under dex score).

Handle escape to be consistent with how you'd normally handle such a thing. Personally, I'd say a round to get a rope set, provided one is available along with a grappling hook, and then the rope could be climbed at a rate of 10' round. Once they are 10' up, they take only half of the flaming hot damage.

The oil in there will burn for several hours, probably requiring the group to return the following day if they need to retrieve any items that may have been dropped in there. For double the fun, have the trap reset!

OSR Search

This awesome dude called "Untimately" on the OD&D forums made up a custom search thingy that will search OSR blogs/sites. It's pretty rad, and you should use it.

OSR Search

Labyrinth Lord AEC Spell Reference Booklets

I put together some spell reference booklets for the cleric and magic-user. The source material is the Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion, but I pulled out the IP and also fixed the spell entries that say things like "this is the same as the cleric spell, so go look up that one even though you are a magic-user".

The PDFs are interior pages only, so you will have to make your own covers for these booklets using your favorite copyrighted art. I would have included the one I made for myself, but the art I used is from a currently in-print book that is less than 30 years old, so I figured I'd try not to piss those people off.

Enjoy!

Labyrinth Lord AEC Magic-User Spell Reference
Labyrinth Lord AEC Cleric Spell Reference

P.S. - If I ever get a player that plays a druid or illusionist, I might do those as well, but I don't see that happening in the near future.

Feast of the Gods

Adapted from one of the Arduin books (I forget which one).

This large golden platter is usually held by a statue in some deep, dark, and super-dangerous dungeon. At the foot of the statue is a plaque which reads in a long-forgotten tongue, something about eating if you believe the gods are on your side, etc. Read languages will easily decode the message, or possibly an intelligence check for a bard or some PC with a background in linguistics.

On the platter are three items - a loaf of wonderful-smelling bread, a large piece of juicy roasted meat, and an ornate chalice filled with a rich, dark wine.

Should the PCs be brave enough to partake of this feast, here is what happens.

Guidelines: There is only enough of each item to benefit (or screw over) one person. A single person may only benefit from one of the items.

For each item consumed, roll a d10. All effects are permanent.

Meat
1-3: Strength/Agility/Stamina (STR/DEX/CON) are reduced by 1d4.
4-10: Strength/Agility/Stamina (STR/DEX/CON) are increased by 1d4.

Wine
1-3: Personality/Intelligence/Luck (INT/WIS/CHA) are reduced by 1d4.
4-10: Personality/Intelligence/Luck (INT/WIS/CHA) are increased by 1d4.

Bread
1-3: PC loses 1d4 levels.
4-10: PC gains 1d4 levels.

Theoretically, one person will get screwed over, but of course it all depends on the dice gods. PCs should have at least a hint of what they are getting themselves into - perhaps rumors could be dropped in well beforehand. Just be sure you are okay with following through with it if a PC with bad luck loses 4 levels!

In our game, the level 5 cleric lost 3 points of Per/Int/Luck. The level 6 barbarian gained 4 points of Str/Agi/Sta. And the level 6 ranger leapfrogged to level 10!

Best Laid Plans...

We ran our Pathfinder/DCC mashup game last weekend, and I was really excited for it because we were starting on this 4-level dungeon that I completely stocked myself, and I had a lot of fun doing it.

One of the things I had in it was this:

I thought this was really cool, but the statue is on level 2, while the amazons are on level 4, so the PCs would have to put in some effort to be able to take advantage of this thing. Furthermore, the goal of their expedition into this dungeon is on level 3, so there is a very real chance they will get what they are there for and leave (which is probably the smartest thing - level 4 is pretty nasty). So I knew going in that this was one of those things that might not get used.

However, I failed to realize that as soon as they encountered the thing, they would smash it to see if there was treasure inside.

Facepalm.

Well, who knows. Maybe they'll find the penis and decide to hunt down a make whole spell. Yeah, right!

Oh yeah, just to clarify, the amazon leader is wearing the thing like a strap-on. Maybe there is someone else out there with an equally disgusting mind that would like to use this? Go for it!

The Book of Vile Darkness

As time goes on, I get more and more comfortable taking stuff from any version of D&D (except 4th) and using it in my games. Back on Free RPG Day, I bought Monte Cook's 3E Book of Vile Darkness from one of my local game stores. I imagine it must have been quite popular at the time it was released (I wasn't playing then), because it's damn good. There are a ton of great ideas in here to kick the creepy factor up a notch. Here is one example:

Demonic Graft Machine: This machine is a mass of metal tubes, gears, arms, and wheels that turn and move silently. At the front of this machine, a wide iron plate fashioned into the form of a hideous face grins with a wide, open mouth. Through the mouth, the innards of the device are visible. The device is part machine and part demon, infused with fiendish essence and powered by evil magic. It is used to graft demonic additions onto the bodies of willing or unwilling victims.
Anyone that comes within 5 feet of the open mouth must succeed at a Reflex save (DC 15) or be grabbed by a tonguelike appendage and dragged into the machine.
Within the bowels of the machine, the victim’s body is sliced, burned, punctured, and torn. These operations deal 6d6 points of damage to the victim in 1 round. In the next round (if the character is still alive), demonic flesh and essence is added to the victim’s body, restoring 5d6 points of damage. On the third round, the character is spit out with a new demonic addition in place (roll on the following table).

d%: Demonic Addition
01–25 Left arm. The arm is long and flexible like a tendril, with a crude, three-fingered claw at the end. It functions as a natural weapon dealing 1d4 points of damage plus the character’s Strength bonus. Weapons used in the hand take a –2 penalty on attacks. Once per day, the arm can produce magic missile as the spell from a 5th-level caster.

26–55 Right arm. The arm is muscular and sinewy, with a clawed hand. The arm confers a +2 inherent bonus to Strength. As a natural weapon, the arm deals 1d6 points of damage plus the character’s Strength bonus.

56–70 Thick and muscular legs. The character gains a +2 bonus to his Constitution score.

71–85 Slim and agile legs. This addition increases the character’s speed by 10 feet when not wearing heavy armor or carrying a heavy load. The character gains a +5 competence bonus on Climb and Jump checks.

86–100 Familiar. Grafted onto the shoulder, back, stomach or hand, a demonic familiar is a small face with an evil expression. This face has Intelligence 12, Wisdom 9, and Charisma 6. If the character is a wizard, the face can teach him one new spell for every spell level he knows. If the character is a spellcaster, the familiar povides a +2 inherent bonus to the ability score that determines his bonus spells.

Now, this thing is obviously loaded with 3E mechanics, but the underlying idea is very simple to convert to any edition you happen to be playing.

Personally, I love giving PCs power that is clearly tainted with evil or some negative side effect, and seeing how they proceed. I also love mutating the shit out of them, so something like this is right up my alley. Currently, I have a half-elf cleric covered in hair from head to toe, a half-ogre barbarian with goat legs, and a female goblin with a moustache in my campaign (Thank you Dave Hargrave for your Whimsy Wine idea!).

But this thing is really cool. A trap spits out the victim with demonic modifications? I can almost guarantee that once the first PC comes out of this thing, the others are going to want to line up to go in voluntarily. I think I'll have to rule that the thing broke after one person goes through it.

I don't feel like tracking charges...

I like the idea of players not knowing how many charges a limited-use item has, but I have better ways to spend my time than tracking every PC's items. In the past, I always just told them how many charges an item had an let them track it. This is lame, so I came up with this system...

Each wand/laser gun/whatever has a light on it when found. For a wand it could be a glowing crystal, for technology it could be a battery indicator LED or something like that.

Next, you just figure out an approximate number of charges you want the thing to have and use that to guide your decision as to what type of die to use to check if the thing was charges each time it is used. The super-simple method would just be that with a wand, every time you try to use it, you roll a die and if the result is a 1, the attempt fails, and the light extinguishes, indicating that the wand is out of charges.

A more complex method could be for a laser gun. Say it is found with a green glowing light, and you decide to use a d8 to check for charges. Just have the player write "green" next to the item. Whenever they try to use it, they roll a d8. On a result of 1, it works, but the light changes to yellow. Have the player change "green" to "yellow" next to the item on their sheet. On a result of 1 while the light is yellow, it works but the light changes to red. Again, have the player update their sheet. Then finally, if a 1 is rolled while the light is red, there isn't enough juice to get the shot off. That turn is wasted.

You could add even more fiddly bits to this if you'd like. For example, using an item when the light is red could trigger a % chance for overheating/backfire/explosion/timewarp. I like that sort of thing myself, so why not?

My Only Pro DM Tip

I still consider myself quite a noob when it comes to being a DM, so I don't have three table tips to use in response to Hill Canton's GM Challenge Thingy. But there is one that I actually came up with all by myself that seems to work well.

Have players roll their own wandering monster checks.

Not necessarily the ones that happen every fixed number of turns, but the ones that come about as a result of their actions (or inaction).

For example, I usually have a failed open door check trigger a wandering monster check. This actually gives meaning to the failures, and makes it worthwhile to attempt to pick a lock when possible.

Also, the most important one is when the party is standing around in the dungeon while the players are debating a course of action at the table. More than just a little of this, and I ask them to roll a wandering monster check as a result of their bickering in the dungeon corridors.

This lets them know that they need to keep things moving both in game and out.

Score!

These things are beat to hell, but it doesn't matter, because the words on the pages are fucking awesome!

Dear WotC...

If you are going to reprint old stuff, consider this my wish list:

• Some kind of OD&D box set
• All old modules available via print-on-demand
• Last, but not least, a single-volume B/X hardcover, with all the rules integrated, but changed as little as possible.

That last one is something I've been trying to do myself here and there, but it's just a big pain in the ass and will probably never get finished.

Of course, all products should be priced in accordance with them being GAMES and not collector's items.

Super-Simple Initiative for Large Groups

I was thinking about this last night as I was falling asleep. I'm sure someone's already come up with something similar, but here it is:

Step 1: Order PCs by their DEX score, then alphabetically by character name in the case of equal DEX scores. It works best if the players are actually sitting arranged in this way, with the highest DEX PC immediately to the DM's left, and the rest going down from there (clockwise around the table). If the players are already arranged at the table and this is found to be impractical, that's fine, just write the PC names down in the correct order.

Step 2: Assign a player to be the initiative roller. The DM will never roll. Each round, the player rolls a d6 with the following results:

1-2: Monsters go first this round, then the PCs
3-4: The first half of the PCs (the fastest ones) go first, then the monsters, then the remaining PCs.
5-6: All PCs go first, then the monsters.

You can modify this however you like, including a result for simultaneous action, if that's your thing. The PCs can be split into smaller groups, such as thirds or quarters instead of halves. The sky is the limit, but remember that the point of this system is that you shouldn't have to think about it much, and faster PCs still get the advantage of acting earlier.

The main advantage is that the PC order is never altered, so the DM can use the same list to check off which PCs have acted for the entire session. Anyone who's ever run a game with a large group using individual initiative as written in 3E/Pathfinder knows why this would be a great boon.

Is Vanilla D&D More Fun?

As I've lately been wracking my brain over what sort of game I would like to run next (even though all my choices are only slight variations), it struck me like an epiphany that vanilla D&D with humans/dwarves/elves/hobbits might actually lend itself better to actual fun.

Sacrifices and silliness: can they co-exist?

I've been looking a lot at a more S&S or Carcosa-style game, but I find myself getting very self-serious when I start going down that path. Perhaps it is more of an issue with me than the genre. Sure, S&S makes for the best novels and such, but personally, I have the most fun when people are joking at the table and goofing around and doing crazy shit. When there is the ever-oppressing and uncaring Outer Dark in your game, is it still possible to have such antics? Does having an all-human campaign remove the opportunity for jokes at the expense of the effeminate elf, or the short dwarves and hobbits? Is it possible to run something a bit gonzo like Anomalous Subsurface Environment using only barbarian/sorcerer/thief-type characters?

I've never really run anything too far from vanilla D&D, with the exception that we tend to have a lot of monster PCs, which certainly don't detract from the silliness, so I'm curious about this. I would love to hear from anyone that's run an S&S-style game that could give me some insight on the matter.

Sex Up Your Sorcery

Fire Woman by Steven Jacques

Having recently read Dying Earth, I found myself completely enamored with the way magic was portrayed and how spells and the sorcerers that wielded such spells were named. Using this cool site I found and a thesaurus as inspiration, I renamed a few traditional D&D spells in an attempt to bring a bit of wonder back into a game that is approaching 40 years old. Here is a sampling:

• The Improbable Charm of Narban-Zo (Charm Person)
• Excellent Prismatic Spray (Color Spray)
• Spell of Dweomer Detection and Analysis (Detect Magic)
• Byssetzol's Buoyant Hauler (Tenser's Floating Disc)
• Mortheeti’s Impassible Portal (Hold Portal)
• Oumexah’s Potent Projectile (Magic Missile)
• Lunylla’s Linguistic Cognizance (Read Languages)
• Arcane Discernment (Read Magic)
• Whisper of the Pacifist's Slumber (Sleep)

Go ahead and give it a shot (but don't forget to share).