Most Used Random Tables

For the games I run, the "Dungeon Master Guide" I use is nothing more than a homemade digest booklet - about 32 pages or so - that holds my most commonly-referenced charts, tables, and notes. I periodically review it and make a new one, dumping little-used tables, updating ones where a lot of the results are used up, and making any other tweaks I might want to make while I'm at it. It's interesting that I always find a few that I thought were awesome but they never saw use at the table. Conversely, some of the less sexy tables get used all the time.

So yesterday, while I was going through this process, I compiled a list of my most-used tables and posted it on G+. No one really responded with theirs, but Zak suggested it might be more suitable as a blog thing, since it does require a bit of thought and effort.

Here they are, in no particular order.

1. Crits & Fumbles I'm always using some form of crit and fumble charts, and I switch them up from time to time. Next session I plan to try out James Raggi's d30 crit/fumble tables from Green Devil Face #5. They're filled with ridiculous things! Here's one entry from the fumble chart, as an example: "15. Your attack actually hits for max damage, but you learn the wrong lesson from this lucky hit – you lose all accumulated XP for your current level." That's totally fucked!
2. "I Search the Body" From Zak Smith's Vornheim. Supremely useful, although I edited to get a few less "small number of coins" results. We've had whole adventures around some of the results on this table.
3. Carousing Mishaps courtesy of Jeff Rients. A few versions are available. Not sure how different they are. There is one in Fight On #4, one in The Miscellaneum of Cinder, and one on his blog.
4. Deck O Stuff Also by Jeff Rients. Copy/pasted from Fight On #5 and made into a d100 table. A shorter version is available here. Occasionally useful for unique starting items for PCs, but even more useful for when PCs are searching dressers and suchlike.
5. Wandering Monsters I use the Labyrinth Lord charts (page 104 & 105), but sometimes reskin the monsters or make on-the-fly tweaks like with Monster Mutations from the Miscellaneum of Cinder.
6. Mutations I use both Carcosa and Encounter Critical charts. Would love to use Mutant Future ones if they weren't so damn long.
7. Male & Female NPC Names Why name an NPC before they are met? Once a name is used, I cross it off the list and make a note about that NPC in my binder, except for when I don't because I forget to.
8. Unguarded Treasure from page 7 of Underworld & Wilderness Adventures. Super-boring and super-useful.
9. Whimsey Chart My own table created per the guidelines given in the Arduin Grimoire in the entry for Elvish Whimsey Wine. (or something like that)
10. Good/Bad/Indifferent Not really a chart, but I use a pair of fudge dice in a lot of situations to determine if something happens. Two plusses means good, two minuses means bad, anything else is indifferent/nothing. Most common use: "I cut open the monster's stomach. Do I find any treasure?" Double plusses indicate a good result, such as a minor treasure in the beast's stomach. Double minuses indicate a bad result, like a face-hugger-parasite-monster that was taking up residence in the manticore's digestive tract, that is now going to attempt to leap out at the character's face, choke him to death with its tail, and then crawl down his throat to lay eggs in his stomach. Any other result is indicative of nothing interesting happening - “Nope, nothing inside the manticore's stomach. Sorry dude.”

Feel free to make a post of your own list and post a link in the comments. It doesn't have to be 10 items. Just make a list of whatever you find yourself using regularly.

A note on The Miscellaneum of Cinder: Last I heard, this was available as a free download from The "OSR Conservation Process". The link isn't working for me at the moment, so I'm not sure what the deal is. If you want a copy and are having trouble finding it, just shoot me a note at jderam by way of google mail and I'd be happy to send a reply with the PDF attached.

Actually, looks like an awesome result to me...

OD&D ADD

Last time my "home group" played, the first ever TPK in my life happened. It was in the Tower of the Stargazer, in case you were wondering.

Anyways, as much as I LOVE DCC (let's call it my favorite in-print game), I couldn't help but find myself looking fondly at my ghetto homemade brown box every time I would pass it while walking through the house.

So I made an off-the-cuff decision to run OD&D for those guys the next game. I'm still going to run DCC at the game store, at least through the end of the year, since I made a commitment to myself to do that. I'm not sure if this will be a one-off, or if we'll stick with OD&D for a while - we'll just have to see what happens. I whipped up a quick house rules doc, trying to keep things short and sweet. I'm going to try a few things differently and see how it goes.

• Only the three classes: Fighting-Man, Magic-User, Cleric (never gone thiefless before!)
• I didn't bother writing up any wacky races. I'll just ask people what they wanna be and take it from there.
• Stole an idea for neutral clerics from Talysman's Beastmaster Class. (Note: I didn't actually read the post. I was just like, "Okay turning table, something about animals, got it!")
• Someone mentioned this on G+, and I think I might try it - Have everyone roll up a few characters and then shuffle them all up and hand them out randomly.

The rest is included in the doc:

Outland OD&D House Rules v.92.458243197587

Also,

The World's Most Boring and Utilitarian Character Sheet

So my love affair with those little booklets continues... I can't really explain it. It's the one iteration of the game that I feel best delivers on the promise of "You can do anything!" 

I'm excited for this Saturday. We'll see how these guys like it.

One-Page DCC Spell Charts

I've begun my attempt at reworking the DCC spells that span across multiple pages, and getting them trimmed down to fit on a single page. I've done the 1st-level cleric and wizard spells so far, and will do the rest as time allows. Check them out on the DCC Resources Page. I hope you find them as useful in your games as I have in mine!

Outland's Quarterly Campaign Newsletter

So last week, Alan Grohe pointed us odd74 readers to this dude's blog. I loved the idea of the campaign newsletter thing, so I immediately started working on one.

I have multiple groups, and I believe the sharing of information to be a good thing - conducive to meaningful choices regarding adventures the groups choose to undertake. However, I always have a lot on my mind at the beginning of a session, people have questions that need answering, I need to get my stuff situated and so forth, so it's very easy to forget to share information regarding recent events in the setting.

Further, I loathe writing session reports, and I have yet to encounter much in the way of players that are interested in writing them.

I figured a short, infrequent newsletter would allow me to share a snapshot of happenings in the campaign with the players, and wouldn't be too tedious an undertaking for me.

Here is my first stab at it:
Xusael's Unblinking Eye: Issue 1

Game Store Game Resumes Monday!

...and I am very much looking forward to it!

Outland Fully Migrated to DCC Rules

I only recently discovered this amazing Erol Otus piece

 
I've finished converting all my Outland stuff for use with DCC, which will be used as the system of choice going forward (at least until I change my mind again). If you are interested in such things, everything is accessible from the new page I added here.

I made a number of changes to the character generation process. I didn't have them documented at the time I ran the first game with my new home group, so it actually took a fair bit of time for me to help 6 people with making their characters, but it was a fun process in and of itself, and everyone got at least one wacky race - most people had two. Also, I can't for the life of me remember where I got my unique item list, but I think it was a d100 table where someone expanded upon Jeff's original Deck O' Stuff. If anyone knows what it is, I'd love to know so I can link to it. Hint: One of the players got a Sword of Shiva (+3 sword, whirlwind like a djinni 1/day). Also gotten were a tin of mustache wax and a WWI German army helmet.

Best Morlocks ever?

The players in that game completed Sailors on the Starless Sea (good times!) and my game store game will be resuming in about a week, and we will be converting their existing OD&Dish characters to DCC. I'm looking forward to getting back into a regular gaming schedule again, and I've got a few new players so that's double-awesome!

Which brings up a side issue... I'm not certain at this point when or if I'm going to resume running games on G+. I've got a game store game every other week, and a monthly game at my house now. For a gainfully employed father of two, that's kind of a full load. Plus, since the arrival of our new daughter, I lost my office so it could be converted into a kid's bedroom, so getting a semi-private spot in the house with some peace and quiet has proven challenging. Hopefully the opportunity will arise where I can run or play in the occasional one-off game, but I guess only time will tell if that's in the cards.

Even still, I consider myself a diehard FLAILSNAILS adherent, so if you were to show up to one of my games at Unique Gifts & Games with some sort of AD&D/Labyrinth Lord/whatever type of PC, I'd be happy to let him or her get killed in my game join in on the fun.

Anyways, stay awesome, dudes (and dudettes!)

Looks like a 3rd copy of the DCC rulebook is in my future!

P.S. - Thanks to Jeff Rients for his suggestions with regard to converting the dwarf and the halfling into non-racial classes (and everyone else I stole ideas from).

Review: The WotC AD&D Reprints

I've been kind of surprised that I've seen very little talk of these books since their Tuesday release. Perhaps I've simply been too sequestered over on G+. At any rate, I just got mine yesterday, and here are my thoughts:

• The covers are decent, nice quality. They have a nice feel to them. Not as cool-looking as the originals, but pretty good nonetheless.
• The gold on the edge of the pages ("gilded pages?") is silly and tacky. So is the bookmark ribbon. Doesn't make sense in an RPG book, in my opinion. (Side note: I've been strongly considering undertaking Jeff's advice of reading the DMG front-to-back, and I guess it would be useful for that, but I'd probably choose to read the original book in that case.)
• The slick paper doesn't seem to fit right in a black & white book. It doesn't bother me with Pathfinder stuff, but it doesn't seem appropriate here.
• It's cool that they spent the time re-typesetting the entire thing, but the typeface is narrower and more difficult to read than the original, which is probably exacerbated a bit by the glossy paper.
• These books are having sort of an identity crisis. They are too crappy (although reasonably priced) to be collector's items, yet they have these little touches which suggest they are not meant to be everyday play copies.

Conclusion: If you are looking for books to actually play with, and have the patience to search on eBay, used book stores, etc., I'd highly recommend going with an original set. I think the originals are more durable and more legible. On the other hand, if you have the disposable income, and want to tell WotC that you think it's cool that they are printing older material, don't be afraid to buy a set of these. These books are perfectly serviceable, and my nitpicks are only things that a true OCD nerd (like myself) would even notice, much less find objectionable. I haven't scoured these with a fine-tooth comb, but as far as I can tell, the text and layout is true to the original, insofar as if you had to look up a spell, for example, you would find it on the same page in the same location in both versions. In terms of the identity crisis I mentioned earlier, I'm glad they erred on the side of keeping the books reasonably priced. If I were to start an AD&D game tomorrow, I'd have no qualms about recommending players who didn't want to fiddle with eBay to get a copy of this reprinted PHB for use in the game.

BUT WHERE'S THE PHOTOS?!?!?!
I thought I would take some photos of my books, but I found that Tim Brannan has taken some excellent photos of his, and did a far better job than I could have done with my crappy camera on my phone. (I also stand in awe of his beautiful set of originals.) Go check out what he has to say on the matter.

DCC RPG Character Sheet

An updated version of my DCC character sheet is now available on the DCC RPG resources page. Enjoy!

Do-It-Yourself OD&D Woodgrain Box

Since I'll likely never buy my own brown box, I decided to take a stab at making one. Here is what I did.

Step 1: Get the materials. You will need the following:

• 6x9 cardboard box (good luck with this part!)
• woodgrain contact paper (I used this one. Not sure if it matches exactly, but I don't really care. I'm sure it's close enough!)
• scissors (and a scrapbooking razor slicer if you got one)
• pencil
• ruler
• glue (I used some kind of clear scrapbooking glue)
• hi-res image of woodgrain box cover
• cardstock
• color printer

The hardest thing for me was the 6x9 boxes. I've looked all over for them online, but could never find the right kind. One day I was at a thrift store, and found two boxes of birth announcements and envelopes that were in these boxes. It was one of those privately owned thrift stores, so they charged way too much ($5.00 for two boxes), but since I couldn't find them anywhere else, I just went ahead and got them.

Step 1

Step 2: Cut out the contact paper to the right size. You need the surface area of the front of the box, plus one and a half times the height on all sides. The height measured 1-3/4", so I added 2-5/8" to each of the 4 sides.

Step 2

Step 3: Make four cuts vertically between the edge of the contact paper, and where it would meet the edge of the box (2-5/8" in length)

Step 3

Step 4: Peel the backing off the contact paper and place the box face down on the center, matching the box corners up with the ends of the cuts you made in the previous step. I left some of the backing on to try to help keep the contact paper from sticking to itself, but it turned out to not really be necessary, since this contact paper was pretty easy to pull apart if two pieces accidentally touched and stuck a bit.

Step 4

Step 5: Flip it over carefully, and squeegee any bubbles out, going from the center out. I just used my driver's license.

Step 5

Step 6: Fold up the long sides, starting at the center and then squeegee in an outward direction.

Step 6

Step 7: Pull the end bits around, and squeegee those into place as well.

Step 7

Step 8: Make some cuts in the corners so you can fold the thing down without it getting all wrinkly. Then fold the long sides down first, starting in the center and squeegeeing outwards from there. If there is a part that you can tell will go into the corner when you fold it down, go ahead and trim a bit off to prevent that.

Step 8

Step 9: Fold the short ends down, trimming if needed to prevent a bunch of contact paper gathering in the inside corners. First you'll do the pieces that stretched around from the sides. Then you fold the end piece down over that.

See how its sticking out past the edge of the box?

Just cut a little sliver out so it doesn't bunch up in the corner when you fold it down.

Fold it down in the center and push down and out.

Voila!

Step 9: Go over it and squeegee any remaining bubbles out the best you can.

Should be looking good at this point.

Step 10: Print out your cover image on cardstock and cut it out. My wife had this scrapbooking razor slicer thingy she never uses, so I used that, since I cut about as straight as a kindergartener when it comes to scissors. I scaled the image down to 5.25" width, since if I printed it at 100% it would have been a bit too big.

Step 10: Before the trimming

Step 10: Not gonna lie. I ruined one with sloppy cuts and had to print out another one.

Step 11: Glue that thing on. I lightly dabbed that clear glue stuff all over the back and brushed it lightly with a paper towel to get a thin layer of glue. This is to prevent it soaking through the paper and leaving spots or oozing out the sides when you press it down onto the box.

Step 11

Looking good!

Step 12: Do the same thing to the box bottom with the contact paper that you did to the top. Obviously, it's a tad smaller, so adjust your measurements as necessary.

Done!

The digest-sized stuff I use most often. Some originals, some of them are "play copies".

Okay, maybe it doesn't quite all fit...

Final thoughts: This was a relatively simple project. The cost was about $12.00 plus stuff I already had lying around. I have enough materials to make a second box, and enough contact paper to do a few more beyond that if I can find more of those type of boxes. It took about an hour of my time, and that includes simultaneously taking smoke breaks outside, cooking a pizza, and dealing with babies barfing and kids pooping. Should be a snap for anyone to do.

I think for my next one I'll do a custom cover. I also have this aspiration where I would like to run my games with only whatever I can squeeze in that box. Not sure I can pull it off, but it's worth trying!

If you make one, please post a link to a photo of it in the comments. Enjoy!

Races of Outland (updated)

I've been silently working on a project that is an OD&D supplement that includes all my Outland stuff in it. I normally don't like to talk about things I'm working on until they're done, because of the very real (and likely) possibility that I'll never finish. My hard drive is littered with half-baked ideas and unfinished projects. Further, Outland steals from is inspired by so many other sources, I often have doubts about whether sharing such a document would be a good idea to begin with.

Anyways, I figured it would be a nice thing to use in my game and sort of a cool souvenir for my game store players. I really enjoy reading other people's homemade game supplements, and I can appreciate the time and effort that is required to document one's lifted material ideas in a way that can be used by others.

Anyways, to make a long story boring, I at least have the Races part done, so I figured I'd at least share that much, in case I never get any further. It can be found on the "Outland OD&D Game" menu item above, or just get it HERE.

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DCC RPG Reference Sheets Updated

Check the DCC RPG Resources Page for the updated document. Feel free to drop me a note if you think I missed an important table, or made a mistake. I worked very quickly to crank this out, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was an error or two.

Cover I threw together for my personal copy!

No art, no frills, just the tables you need to help you run a fast-paced game without having to crack open that massive tome of a rule book!

Enjoy!

Awesome New (to me) Blog

Apparently this blog has been around over six months, but I just became aware of it today. I've been reading it all day, and really enjoying it! If you haven't already you should check it out:

http://in-the-cities.com