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Midjack posted:I;m thinking about thos benes. B-b-b-bene and the jets  Dear writers: please do not try to have your character "talk like a scientist" unless you have, at some point, heard an actual scientist talk.e: Also, the same thing, but for "artist"
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Jul 22, 2020 02:09
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mellonbread posted:There’s no picture at the end of this section. It’s an interesting area that serves as a nice break from the craziness of the rest of the dungeon. The puzzle to decode the book is bad, since it doesn’t actually include enough information for the players to solve it without just saying “we use book X on book Y and then Z”. But I’m not bothered by the gently caress-you trap if they finish the ritual. The wizards frozen in a state of screaming fear as golden statues is a good indication that solving the riddle is not a good idea. I know part of it is because this kind of product just isn't for me, but I felt really let down by this room in particular. It's nice that it serves as one of the few actual rewarding (at least monetarily) areas, but between the puzzle being a bust and just not being able to really interact with what little story it has it's really disappointing.
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Jul 22, 2020 02:31
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CASTLE GARGANTUA PART 12: THE FALL OF THE MESEMBRINE We’re in the home stretch of Castle Gargantua now. This is the last Gold area before the end. It opens with some lyrics from a song: Eclipse, Kirlian Camera posted:And in the great light, I cannot see no more where is the right side, where is the golden door. Castle Gargantua, Page 91 posted:The glorious Mesembrine, spire of the she-knights, a splendor of gold and fluttering flags standing proud above the castle walls, former abode of the cruel daughters of the giant Gargantua—if a giant Gargantua there indeed was — will soon be gone. After centuries of oblivion, the burial grounds of the marble-skinned maiden now resound with the echoing cries of the inquisitors of the Holy Church as they're on their way to torch whatever lore and riches remain of Mesembrine’s former grace, signs of heresy and marks of the Devil all of them—or so they believe  Without further ado, Room 1 is the entrance, a brass gate with a broken lock, guarded by two Swiss Guards, complete with partisans and brightly colored pontifical attire. Both are Fighters, level equal to the party average plus three. They’ve been ordered not to let anyone inside, so the only way in is to kill them or somehow sneak past. Would have been more interesting if there was a third option, like Lawful characters convincing them they’re with the church. Characters passing through the gate have their personality randomly altered for one week. There’s a D12 table, and you know what that means. Let’s roll for a four-player party and see what happens.
Before we get to the other rooms, there’s a section on the minidungeon’s architecture. Castle Gargantua, Page 92 posted:All the stairs found within the Mesembrine are winding stairs of porphyry, a dark red marble spotted with white. All the stairs are also decorated with hanging silver lanterns lit with eternal wisps of dancing lights. There are 8 such lanterns for each and every stairway. It requires a successful Tinker check to remove them without damaging them. If successful, each lantern can be sold for 100sp and their light will remain until the magic is dispelled. The walls and ceilings of the tower are made of part Numidian stone, which is a kind of yellowishly-streaked marble upon various colors, and part of serpentine marble, with light spots on a dark green ground. The doors are fair antique arches whose alcoves are lit by a magical and somewhat greenish sunlight. Room 2: is filled with giant coffins and dead inquisitors. Six of the seven coffins are open, the giantesses inside burned to ashes. There’s a purple haze in the air, leftover from the trap that killed the priests. Coffin number seven is the biggest yet, and is still closed. It takes a combined total of 62 strength to lever the lid off. Inside is the perfectly preserved corpse of Gargantua’s last daughter, holding a globus cruciger (like a Holy Hand Grenade but less useful) and wearing 1,750 silver pieces in bling. Touching her or the globe reanimates her body, and she attacks. She’s not tough to de-animate, her single attack per round only does D6 damage and she has base unarmored AC. While she’s holding the globe, she’s immune to Cleric magic and Protection From X spells, and she reanimates three rounds after she’s killed to do it all over again. The globe is a fun reward for the fight. While held, it upgrades Cleric abilities, increasing the power of Turn Undead. I’m going to use this as an opportunity to kvetch about the formatting decisions in the Gold section of the PDF  You know what would be awesome here? A paragraph space. Tap enter a couple times, separate the endless stream-of-consciousness flow of the text, make it clearer which sections of the text are immediately obvious to the players on entering the room, and which are DM advice that becomes relevant when they start investigating. All the Gold areas have this problem, and it’s gotten worse as we’ve gotten closer to the end. Room 3 is a painting gallery with eight paintings. If a character jumps into one, Mario 64 style, they have a week-long adventure inside the painting and then emerge unscathed one round later in the real world, as though they just woke up from a dream. Painting Gallery posted:1. A gigantic abyssal fish is about to eat a ship whole, the ship’s Arabian sailors wailing in a panic. Room 4 is a library. There are seven inquisitors here, burning the books and trashing the furniture. They’re clerics, level equal to the party average, unarmored but wielding longswords. If you’re Lawful or convince them you’re on the same side as the Church, they’ll let you in. Otherwise, they attack you when you try to go inside. If you recover the remaining un-burned books (and you basically can’t do this without killing the inquisitors) they’re worth 1,000 silver total. Rooms 5 are all bedrooms. The main point of interest here is the preserved body of a giantess on one of the beds. She’s wearing a giant silk robe and a runic silver ring that looks valuable. It’s a trap though - touching either will allow the mind of the giantess to possess the enterprising grave robber. She’s a Cleric of the Earth Mother, level equal to the players’ plus three. She has no idea what’s going on, but she immediately tries “to exact revenge upon all those who have fouled, destroyed, or pillaged the tower”. It’s not clear whether the intent is for the DM to play the possessed character, or whether they’re supposed to give them back the original player and allow them to be the giantess-Cleric. Either way, a Turn Undead or Protection From Evil will break the spell and un-possess the victim. Rooms 6 are the withdrawing rooms. Each has a magic mirror that shows the skeletons of everyone reflected in it. All are worth 500 SP. Room 7 is a wardrobe, filled with luxurious clothing. It looks like there’s about 10,000 silver pieces worth of fabric, metal and jewels in here, but it’s all an illusion. Once taken out of the castle, it all turns into worthless homespun junk. Room 8 is a chapel, filled with idols and shrines to every god in your setting, “regardless of alignment”. There’s a bloodstained sacrificial altar with a book on it. The book does nothing but erase your memory when you read it, the altar is slightly more interesting. Sacrifice an animal on it, and you get the ability to transform into that animal during a full moon. Unless the animal is female, in which case the altar kills you instantly. Sacrificing a human on the altar wakes up the stained glass golem in room 9. The text says that on possessing a character, the Giantess Cleric from Room 5 will make a beeline for this room and try to do just that, intent on using the golem against the inquisitors. It’s nice that she knows how to use this room, because I don’t think the players would ever figure out any of the interactions. Room 9 is the spire of the tower. There’s nothing here but a big stained glass window of Joan of Arc, history’s favorite child soldier. If a human is sacrificed on the altar in Room 8, or if someone tries to smash the window, the image animates and becomes the stained glass golem. So the Earth Mother Cleric doesn’t have to gently caress with sacrifices to animate it, she can just come in here and kick it. The stained glass golem is kind of cool. Every time it hits someone with its sword, it smites them with a random cleric spell. Though since it’s random, this has a chance to benefit instead of harming them. Because the golem is reflective, the more light sources in the room (such as torches and Light spells used by the players), the greater the cumulative penalty to hit the golem is, due to the blinding light.  Presumably the hagiographies edited out the part where the Maid of Orleans lost an eye to her giant gorget. This section wasn’t as good as I hoped. There isn’t much interaction possible with the inquisitors, other than killing them or letting them do their thing. The obvious set-up would be an option for the players to enlist their aid in a dangerous fight, at the cost of potentially losing the reward because the priests smash it to pieces. But then you could wait until they’re weakened by the fight, then stab them in the back and take the treasure. Not exactly the Riddle of the Sphynx, but a more interesting dilemma than the text as-written offers. That’s it for Fall of the Mesembrine. Up next is the final area of the dungeon: The End, or Almost. Nemo2342 posted:I know part of it is because this kind of product just isn't for me, but I felt really let down by this room in particular. It's nice that it serves as one of the few actual rewarding (at least monetarily) areas, but between the puzzle being a bust and just not being able to really interact with what little story it has it's really disappointing. mellonbread fucked around with this message at 17:38 on Aug 18, 2020 |
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Jul 22, 2020 03:40
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A lot of OSR stuff seems to have a problem where the mechanically optimum way to deal with literally everything is to pass on as quickly as possible while interacting with nothing.
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Jul 22, 2020 03:50
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The level adjustment system in CG is pretty weirdly balanced. At level one, two guards at +3 levels is pretty brutal. A team of 4 level one players will have around 4 hit dice worth of hit points, while the guards will have 8, making them about twice as tough as the players. If they are level 4, though, they'll have a combined 16 hit dice, while the L7 guards will only have 14, making them slightly weaker than the party. I appreciate that the module is giving guidance on how to power the encounters relative to the players, but it seems like the way they're doing it has some real weird consequences
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Jul 22, 2020 04:11
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Cythereal posted:Villages and towns on Shurrock are smaller and much fewer in number than on Dothion, and always walled and manned by a veteran militia. OK, wait, what happens to petitioners when they die?
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Jul 22, 2020 05:15
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JcDent posted:OK, wait, what happens to petitioners when they die? If they die on the plane where they're petitioners? I'm pretty sure their souls get absorbed by the plane and they stop existing as distinct individuals. If they die somewhere else, their souls just dissipate.
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Jul 22, 2020 05:41
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The Lone Badger posted:A lot of OSR stuff seems to have a problem where the mechanically optimum way to deal with literally everything is to pass on as quickly as possible while interacting with nothing. That's basically what I've been seeing in these reviews. Some of these Gold rooms have interesting stories, but it feels like trying to interact with them (other than throwing everything into a sack and hoping that doesn't kill you instantly) is either futile or deadly, mostly both.
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Jul 22, 2020 05:42
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hyphz posted:And finally, at degree 4, you can bind the being into an object or place to haunt or control it; have it proactively follow you around as your ally instead of just doing one thing and then leaving; or have it follow you around telling everyone how great you are. Apparently, even having a demon nearby saying how much it likes you makes everyone else want to trust you, instead of the absolute opposite. This isn't enough to make me want to play Invisible Sun, but drat if I don't want a demonic hype man now.
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Jul 22, 2020 06:09
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Chapter 8: Bazaar, pt. 1 Degenesis Rebirth Katharsys Chapter 8: Bazaar ON THE ART OF CONCESSION TRADE The inventory chapter starts with a huge fluff piece. It's an excerpt from an African book about trade. There's a lot of talk about what preparations you need to make to go to Europe: crew, fuel costs, etc., which does give it some old timey charm. A fun bit recommends placating your hired Scourgers by splitting your food supplies in two and labeling their part “good quality.”   The Chronicler is about to drop some FBI crime stats as a bargaining tactics Another bit concerns Scourge Tanks and how you should definitely get one to be your mobile HQ/pimp shack/mothership. I mean, they’re big enough. Surge tanks supposedly weigh 600 tons. That's three times as much as that awful piece of poo poo Maus (:argh), or 2/3rds of a Ratte.  I checked, and the big German strip mining things clock in at about 13-14k, while the NASA crawler is “only” 2,7k. Still, it's a lot of weight for something that's supposed to be an all-terrain vehicle traversing the hosed up lands of... well, anywhere in Europe. In Franka, the trade goes via Montpellier and Perpignan. And yes, the Libyans do trade with the Pheromancers in Toulon - they are ruled by the “seductive Jaquiera.”  That's why you shank the Libyan right after you stab the Apocalyptic. Hellvetics are considered to be footpads. They charge for passage, mostly interested in oil and saltpeter. quote:It is said that the Surge Tanks, starting in old Genoa, had already made a furrow to the Hellvetic portal 130 km away, such that the Clanners believed a giant worm was wriggling its way from the sea to the cold mountains. They're great to hire as guards and they're amazing engineers when it comes to building bridges, bunkers and so on. Borca is cold and sucks poo poo, but don't take it from me: quote:The cold is biting, the food is bad, and the most prominent merchants, the Chroniclers, are incredibly taciturn. They try to haggle for prices with monosyllabic answers. There is no flamboyant demeanor: they don’t gesture; they don’t complain about the low price with which they will never be able to feed their ten children and their five wives. Oh those kooky Africans and their haggling, amirite, fellow Euros?  The recent Chronicler turn to racism is mentioned, but not much more. Whether there's a deeper reason for that aside from the recovery of some old /pol/ records is a hook for your adventure.  I assume the Scrapper is there to take the money as the Chronicler is too racist to touch black people. Purgare isn't great for trade as it's hella poor, apparently. It's good for making secret landings on the West coast (that's where all the anomaly poo poo is happening), avoiding paying taxes to Hellvetics for travel to the east of Reaper's Blow, and for looting the cultural treasures of the modern ancient Italy. The section about Balkhans talks about trading with people in the Psychovore-infested Turkey. You contact them via radio; the frequency is written on trees in giant letters. They buy old tech to salvage and sell drugs more potent than Duat Blood in extending life. The Africans load the goods on a dinghy and push it towards the shore. A few days later, they can pick up stuff from a buoy off the coast. Balkhan and Hybrispania are only good for two things: capturing slaves and looting tech. Remember, the people there hate the Africans. All in all, this fluff is probably the best in the book in both detail and writing. TECH LEVEL quote:The Tech Level is a gauge for this form of civilization. Even if it only describes the technological level of an item in the Bazaar, it tells a lot about the item’s context in terms of civilization Tech Level I: Primitive Cavemen, moon-worshipping savages, an-prims, etc. Tech Level II: Medieval This is a massive tech level boost, going straight to melting scrap, using iron tools, three-field rotation, building fortified cities and so on. Tech Level III: Progressive It also leads one to feeling euphoric: quote:It’s a time of invention and of countless new developments. The veil of superstition and religion lifts and reveals a clear, determinist worldview. Tech Level IV: Industrial Age Factories replace manufactories, and the reign of guilds is broken. Electricity and plastic happens. quote:Tripol and some other Neolibyan coastal cities have stepped across the threshold into this new, exciting era, even if they hide the progress behind colorful fabrics and traditions. THOSE KOOKY COLORFUL AFRICANS  Tech Level V: Transhuman Age After collecting 2000 meat, 2000 wood, 2000 gold, and 2000 stone, you can tech up to reach the Transhuman Age, which is the stuff that people enjoyed pre-Eschaton. This meant IoT and having JC Denton's upgraded healing nanobots. Currently, only Sleepers can establish a settlement that can enjoy this level of tech. I guess the nanobots weren't universally deployed if Europe got turbo hosed by HIVE.  Tech Level VI: Wonderland There exists a place that can leave behind stuff more advanced than Bygone artifacts. Nobody knows where it is (my money is on Turkey dinghy traders) – or why it hasn't singlehandedly taken over the world and eradicated Primer as a mere nuisance. Manufacture Side-section! Every settlement has a Tech level. Justitian is Tech level III and the authors of the book have mistaken impression that more democratic forms of government are tied directly to technological advancement. Maybe they learned their history from playing Civilization III (and not reading the Encyclopedia entries). At Tech III (and the city won't advance while Archot rules), they can produce Tech III muskets as well as level I and II crap. Traders and scrappers can bring in Tech IV stuff, but their prices would be twice as high as listed in the Bazaar. Glad this rule was brought up in a side-section. Currencies Only two currencies mean poo poo these days: Chronicler Draft in Europe and the African Dinar in Africa, Hybrispania and parts of Balkhan. Chroniclers quote:This way, the Cult stops the Neolibyans from cheating the Europeans, who are generally not good enough at math to calculate exchange rates. Gotta save those Europoors from getting swindled by the Next time: show me what passes for items in your misbegotten game
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Jul 22, 2020 06:42
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Hey F&F, first time poster here but I wanted to say thank you to Night10194 and how much I appreciated their WFRPG write ups. I knew the F&F threads existed, but only recently checked them out when someone in another thread specifically mentioned the Warhammer reviews. I got into Warhammer many years ago as a kid and while I don't play anymore (outside of Warhammer: Total War) I still love the setting. Reading through your posts in the last two threads took me a month or so, but it was nostalgic, satisfying and took my mind off the craziness in the world. I also felt your analysis and critiques of what makes the system and universe work were well explained and even handed. I love that it's a goofy setting, but that it still has 30+ years of history to flesh it out, resulting in a world where you can tell just about any story you like and still tie it in to the broader events happening around you. I also think it's probably my favorite RPG/fantasy magic system. The innately dangerous magic of the Warhammer world, the existence of the different winds and the strict control of the colleges of magic are a fantastic way to create interesting, thematic powerful characters without ending up with the D&D style of omniwizard that can do nearly anything they want and make non-magical eventually defunct. Long live F&F! I'm looking forward to seeing what else people cover.
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Jul 22, 2020 06:58
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JcDent posted:OK, wait, what happens to petitioners when they die? Epicurius posted:If they die on the plane where they're petitioners? I'm pretty sure their souls get absorbed by the plane and they stop existing as distinct individuals. If they die somewhere else, their souls just dissipate. Epicurius got it, though this isn't true on Ysgard due to that plane's special rules.
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Jul 22, 2020 12:21
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Wow, so you either scoot up that enlightenment mountain, or it's just death with extra steps.
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Jul 22, 2020 13:34
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Grumio posted:Hey F&F, first time poster here but I wanted to say thank you to Night10194 and how much I appreciated their WFRPG write ups. I knew the F&F threads existed, but only recently checked them out when someone in another thread specifically mentioned the Warhammer reviews. I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed it and it was certainly a pleasure to write it all!
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Jul 22, 2020 13:43
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JcDent posted:Wow, so you either scoot up that enlightenment mountain, or it's just death with extra steps. Or one of the super peaceful planes or layers. Shurrock (and Eronia on Elysium and whatnot) is a place for souls that just wouldn't be happy in an afterlife of peace and happiness without risk. These are layers specifically set aside for those whose natures demand risk and being challenged to their utmost even in eternity.
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Jul 22, 2020 13:51
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Rangers can choose a favored enemy at 1st level, such as Goblins, Dragons, or The Deck of Encounters Set Two Part 14: The Deck of Gnolls and Trolls 69: Lost Cause The PCs draw near a cabin where they might be able to take shelter, but it is in the process of being ransacked by a dozen gnolls who throw a dude out the front window at the most cinematically-opportune time. They’ll also take an (unconscious) mother and son as hostages if the PCs fight them and seem to be winning. Geez, oddly intense for a random encounter. Keep? 70: Splitting Hairs The PCs come upon a “score of gnolls” (30, specifically) fighting each other for some reason. If they hang back, “only 2-12 gnolls will remain standing” at the end. They’re fighting over a brooch of shielding that is worth dying over for some reason. Maybe they live in fear of magic missiles? Maybe the sale of it would fund someone’s retirement to Gnoll Havana? The broach was thrown clear in the fighting, though. No major problems, though it's kind of an easy magic item get. Keep. 71: A Most Dangerous Game The PCs are traveling through rough terrain when they’re overtaken by a “hardy-looking,” bastard-sword armed woman. If conversed with, she’ll share that she’s tracking a “gnoll brigand” in the area who killed her brother. She’s not interested in help. The PCs will find her body later, and then be ambushed by the gnoll a little while afterward. It is a single, standard gnoll. Attacking a whole party of adventurers. It’s a low-level encounter, I know, but still seems pretty foolish. The woman’s family will be grateful if her body is returned. It would be easier to track down her family if the card gave her a name. Grim, but I feel like I have to keep this just because it’s a woman alone in the wilderness who’s not actually a monster, and coming from the first Deck of Encounters, that’s pretty refreshing. 72: The Desert Thorn The PCs are asked in a town to kill a vicious desert troll that terrorizes the desert nearby. They’ll have to track it somehow, or bait it out by splitting into smaller groups - the card doesn’t go so far as to say the troll won’t attack a large group, but that would make sense. Eventually the troll, camouflaged, will attack one of the bait groups, focusing on killing one target at a time. 600 gp reward. It’s a boring quest but fine. 73: Deadly Pair The party camps in the wilderness and two trolls attack in the night. “If the party has not thought to set a watch,” haha, stop right there, card, that’s ridiculous. Anyway, one troll will try to make noise to lure away a sentry and jump them, while the other sneaks into camp for murder. They’ve got no treasure or anything, though the card reminds us that fresh troll blood is worth moolah. Pretty thin content. Pretty much just “1d3 trolls” on a random nighttime encounter chart. Pass.
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Jul 22, 2020 17:25
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I don't think 'woman alone in the wilderness who only exists to get slaughtered' is much of an improvement, honestly. Hard pass from me.
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Jul 22, 2020 17:58
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Which elder scrolls game is she in? All of them.
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Jul 22, 2020 18:03
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Leraika posted:I don't think 'woman alone in the wilderness who only exists to get slaughtered' is much of an improvement, honestly. Hard pass from me. I agree with you, but also don't think I've ever played with a group that wouldn't instantly follow this woman under the assumption that doing so has a far higher chance of adventure than anything else they're going to do, so in actual play her chances of getting killed by the gnoll are near-zero. I'd probably keep the card under that assumption, and just plan to alter it if for once PCs don't decide to meddle.
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Jul 22, 2020 18:52
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CASTLE GARGANTUA PART 13: THE END, OR ALMOST Post Theme This is it, our final Gold area, the ending of Castle Gargantua. Castle Gargantua, Page 99 posted:There are multiple ending situations to Castle Gargantua. Your players have made it their adventure so far and should know better than you if there indeed was a Gargantua or not and whether the giant, the blind and primeval Force of Nature, the sorcerer, the fraud or whatever they've come up with, is still alive or if he's long dead. In doubt, just ask them. It doesn't matter anyway because by the time their characters reach this square, Gargantua's not here. Yet, like in all the other Gold squares, there's a character party within: a band of Scottish gnomes still hesitating about the ending they'll choose, all of them half-mad with greed. Let’s get a look at the map:  It’s… one room. There are three runed gates, all inscribed with “Choose once and for all” in a language familiar to any character reading it. The three doors all have their own appearances and special open-conditions, but those are described later. Also in the room are six Scottish Gnomes, arguing about which door to go through - and how. The book goes out of the way to say they’re Scottish. Anyway, the Wee Free Men are powerful illusionists. Or not-so-powerful, depending on how many Hit Dice they have. If they’re just 1 HD gnomes (meaning your players are Level 1 by the time they reach the end of the castle) then they can only cast Fairy Fire once a day. The larger variants can create illusions, and the truly gargantuan gnomes can cast Shadow Monsters. All their illusions are of Hill Giants, and the Shadow Monsters are Shadow Hill Giants, because gnomes aren’t very imaginative. The author of the book wasn’t very imaginative either, because the Nac Mac Feagle attack you on sight, rather than give you a chance to one-up them and go through a door before them. The instant a single person passes through a door, the other doors disappear forever. The Gate of Fate is inscribed with runes. The only way to open it is to read the runes with Read Magic (not Comprehend Languages) and then cast Knock (a second level spell that opens doors). The runes read “Ashes to Ashes” and this is an incredibly clever pun, because behind the door are the roots of the World Tree, Yggdrasil. The giant squirrel Ratatoskr comes scampering down the story of your journey through the castle, including your most ignominious or humiliating escapades. If you tell him everything, he transports you to any location in the world of your choosing, and gives you a magic acorn that will resurrect you on death. He also telepathically transmits the story to every bard on the planet, ensuring that your saga, including the most embarrassing parts, will be told long after your death. If the squirrel thinks you’re holding back any juicy details, if you refuse his offer, or if you attack him, he tries to kill a character as a warning. This is likely to succeed, as his base stats (before adjustments based on part HD) give him six hit dice, AC as plate and shield (so in the neighborhood of 19) and a bite attack that does 3D12 damage. If you beat him (which isn’t impossible if you alpha strike him with powerful magic), the Norse gods punish you by lowering all your ability scores to 3. The Gate of War is blood red, covered in pictograms depicting blood sacrifice. The only way to open it is to kill a human being with the big knife dangling above the door. Open it, and Ogres, Hobgoblins and Giants pour out of the door every round for the next seven days, invading the castle and soon, the world. If the players somehow make it through the door (like by turning Invisible and Spider Climbing on the roof) they end up in Jotunheim, the realm of the giants. The Gate of Illusions is made of shimmering mica. Touching it turns it into a Prismatic Wall, which the characters must pass through to reach the chamber beyond. That means they need a whole battery of mid-level counterspells, or they’ll take massive damage and be petrified and/or teleported to other dimensions. But let’s say you make it through the door. On the other side is a dwarf on a ruby throne. When the players enter the room, he summons an illusion to fight them. The illusion is based on whatever the players have said they think is at the end of the castle, over the course of the scenario. The suggested illusions, based on the rumors at the beginning of the book:
If the players survive, the dwarf climbs out of his seat and runs away. He was an illusion too. The magical door he slips through leads to a treasure room, filled with 3,000 silver pieces, times the average party level. For those of you keeping score at home, this is the final boss, and 3,000 silver pieces is literally not enough treasure for a party of four Level 1 characters to reach Level 2 in either of the two systems recommended by the designer for this module. But that’s not all. There’s another option for the Hall of Illusions. Theater Mode. I’m going to present this wall of text as-written.  Ok, cool. And that’s it. Three endings, one of which is a trap, one of which is a boss battle, and one in-between. If your players somehow make it this far, these relative anticlimaxes won’t come as a huge surprise, after what they’ve been through. APPENDICES First, we get a list of names. I assume these are supposed to be handed out to NPCs when it becomes relevant. There are eighty names here, which is unfortunate. 20 more and it could have been a D100 table. Let’s roll a few D80 and see what we get.
Then there’s a list of inspirational texts, like in the Original D&D. Castle Gargantua, Page 108 posted:François Rabelais, Pantagruel After the appendix comes a series of record sheets, where you can record details for each of the rooms you generate on the snakes and ladders board. If you want, you can even roll up the whole dungeon beforehand, recording the die values here. This is a helpful tool, especially if the players end up visiting the same room twice (which is possible thanks to the Snakes and Ladders board) and you can’t remember what you rolled last time.  And that’s it! That’s Castle Gargantua! Tune in next post for the wrapup. OtspIII posted:The level adjustment system in CG is pretty weirdly balanced. I think the scaling should be viewed overall as a static difficulty that doesn’t change over the course of the adventure, but is set by whatever level the group is when they enter the castle. I don’t think the players are even going to find enough treasure to go from Level 1 to 2, let alone up to 10. Personally I don’t care for level scaling at all in dungeons, but I understand why the author tried to do it here. In a normal dungeon, if something is too tough for you, you can go around it, or go somewhere else instead, and come back later when you’re better prepared. Castle Gargantua is basically a straight line that randomly spits out encounters, so players strategically choosing what to engage is less an option. The Lone Badger posted:A lot of OSR stuff seems to have a problem where the mechanically optimum way to deal with literally everything is to pass on as quickly as possible while interacting with nothing. Nemo2342 posted:That's basically what I've been seeing in these reviews. Some of these Gold rooms have interesting stories, but it feels like trying to interact with them (other than throwing everything into a sack and hoping that doesn't kill you instantly) is either futile or deadly, mostly both. mellonbread fucked around with this message at 21:09 on Jul 22, 2020 |
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Jul 22, 2020 20:50
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mellonbread posted:If the players survive, the dwarf climbs out of his seat and runs away. He was an illusion too. The magical door he slips through leads to a treasure room, filled with 3,000 silver pieces, times the average party level. For those of you keeping score at home, this is the final boss, and 3,000 silver pieces is literally not enough treasure for a party of four Level 1 characters to reach Level 2 in either of the two systems recommended by the designer for this module. Don't the OSR variants which use a silver standard give you 1xp per silver, or do they still give 1xp per gold (so 1xp per 10 silver)?
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Jul 22, 2020 21:21
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Angrymog posted:Don't the OSR variants which use a silver standard give you 1xp per silver, or do they still give 1xp per gold (so 1xp per 10 silver)?
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Jul 22, 2020 21:26
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Ultiville posted:I agree with you, but also don't think I've ever played with a group that wouldn't instantly follow this woman under the assumption that doing so has a far higher chance of adventure than anything else they're going to do, so in actual play her chances of getting killed by the gnoll are near-zero. I'd probably keep the card under that assumption, and just plan to alter it if for once PCs don't decide to meddle. The card itself says you can't help her.
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Jul 22, 2020 22:08
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Leraika posted:The card itself says you can't help her. Dallbun fucked around with this message at 22:24 on Jul 22, 2020 |
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Jul 22, 2020 22:18
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Dallbun posted:Well, it says she's not interested in help, but in practice it would depend on what idea the PCS get stuck in their head. If the PCs want to engage I would hope the DM wouldn't be like, no, you can't derail this DOOM TRAIN To put it another way, I've no real interest in a card that introduces a woman and then expects her to get murdered because that's what the card's about (per the synopsis; I certainly don't have it in front of me).
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Jul 22, 2020 22:19
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Leraika posted:To put it another way, I've no real interest in a card that introduces a woman and then expects her to get murdered because that's what the card's about (per the synopsis; I certainly don't have it in front of me). That is definitely a fair description.
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Jul 22, 2020 22:25
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Manual of the Planes: 3.5E Baator (Lawful Evil) Planar Traits: Normal Gravity, Normal Time, Infinite Size, Mildly Law-Aligned, Mildly Evil-Aligned, Divinely Morphic, Normal Magic Baator petitioners are resistant to fire and cold. Baator is the home of devils and the heart of the infernal war machine. Baator is a plane of pitiless, methodical, unrelenting evil. Baator is a realm of plots and plans, all dedicated to subjugating creation. Baator is the furnace where the great conquerors of the cosmos and forged, and where they burn. Baator, known more commonly as the Nine Hells, is the best known of the Lower Planes to non-natives. Each of the nine layers is a different vision of eternal damnation and the promise of eternal power, and the River Styx flows through them all - it's believed that the fifth layer of Baator is in fact the river's headwaters. The fiendish and skeletal ferrymen who ply the river certainly seem to frequent Baator as their home port. Everything in Baator is under the control of the devils who call this plane home. There have been invasion attempts by demons from the Abyss and formians from Mechanus, but none have succeeded. Still, there are rumors that the devils did not always rule this plane, whispers of beings older than any lord of the pit whom even the so-called Archdukes of Hell fear. If there is any truth to these tales, the devils of Baator have managed to keep it secret. Petitioners in Baator typically resemble their mortal selves when they first arrive, but this rarely lasts long. Baator attracts the ambitious, the avaricious, and those with a will to see others kneel before them, and petitioners arrive in droves, each hoping to one day depose an Archduke of Hell and take their throne. Almost all are immediately enslaved by the devils, who call the petitioners 'soul shells.' Baatorian petitioners have highly mutable bodies that any devil can reshape, and most devils treat petitioners as a canvas for their own aesthetic preferences. Possession of petitioner slaves is a mark of status among devils, and it is an exceptionally rare soul shell that ever becomes anything but a menial servant or possession of a devil. Rare, powerful, thoroughly lawful and evil souls that arrive in Baator sometimes immediately take the form of lemures, the lowest rank of devil: a misshapen blob of flesh that barely resembles a humanoid. Petitioners who arrive as lemures are often interrogated by devils when they first appear, to find out why a soul made the grade to become a lemure, before being assigned to work gangs or the infantry. Very rarely, a devil will remake a soul shell into a lemure, promoting that petitioner to the lowest rank of devil. Lemure or soul shell, petitioners in Baator often retain some of their memories - particularly of the ambitions they held and grudges against those they felt wronged them - but rarely any class levels or skills. Society in Baator is rigid and hierarchical. Every soul in Baator, petitioner or devil, belongs to the next above them in the chain of command, a chain that ultimately ends with Asmodeus, Lord of the Ninth and King of Hell. However, politicking and infighting is common and violent. No Archduke earns or keeps their position on a whim, and power struggles within the Nine Hells are eternal, though only rarely do power plays dethrone an Archduke or seriously change how anything in Baator works. There's a curious stability to the order in Baator despite the violence and politics, and many devils have eked out perfectly comfortable positions in the infernal bureaucracy that leaves them safe and secure while others vie for thrones. Petitioners represent the very lowest rung of the infernal order, and the rare soul shell who does earn promotion into a true devil usually accomplishes that feat by managing to screw over not merely their rivals but a genuine devil as well in the process - often earning that devil a demotion to lemure. Avernus, the first layer, is a barren wasteland beneath a blood-red sky streaked with balls of fire. Even if the Blood War isn't a feature of the cosmology, Avernus is the primary barracks and mustering grounds for the armies of Baator, and often the site of extraordinary violence as armies compete and feud with each other. Portals to other planes dot the landscape, but most are well known to the devils and fortified, if not as the first layer of defense in the Blood War then as infernal customs checkpoints for travelers (tip: read the fine print). Rumors abound of portals that the devils don't know about, and certainly some portals do flicker in and out of existence at random places and intervals. Besides tributaries of the River Styx, some rivers in Avernus flow with blood of unknown origin, which devils like to claim is the blood of Baator's victims. Two permanent sites are visible in Avernus from anywhere on the layer. The Bronze Citadel is the seat of Bel, Lord of the First, and the citadel is an enormous fortress that is always under construction (or repair from demonic attack if the Blood War is on). Bel himself is notably apolitical for an Archduke, or at least he is after deposing the previous Archduke, and styles himself a general first and foremost whose duty is protecting the Nine Hells from invasion. The Pillar of Skulls is the other major landmark, a pile of skulls more than a mile high, each skull taken from an enemy of Baator. Close to both landmarks and overlooking the path down into the second layer is the palace of Tiamat, five-headed goddess of evil dragons. Tiamat rarely leaves her palace unless a particularly bloody battle or powerful enemy champion attracts her interest, but her hoard, said to hold the wealth of more than a hundred worlds, is never left undefended even if the goddess herself is not currently in residence. Dis is a layer made of a single, endless city of burning iron, and the layer is treated as having the Fire-Dominant planar trait. Dis is a bustling metropolis home to devils and petitioners beyond counting, and maintains a substantial foreign quarter home to traders and mercenaries and the like from other fiendish races, genies from the Inner Planes, and even formians from Mechanus who are studying how best to expand the hive into this plane. Portals to other planes and layers in Dis typically take the form of dead-end alleyways and doors with nothing behind them, but these portals are erratic and rarely seem to stay put for long despite the best efforts of the devils to map them. Dispater, Lord of the Second, maintains an extensive secret police in his city and any visitors can safely assume that they are always being watched carefully. The Archduke rules from his great Iron Tower in the center of the city, visible from anywhere on the layer, and he is virtually invulnerable within its confines. Accordingly, Dispater only leaves his tower at the direct call of Asmodeus. Rumor has it, though, that the great tower has a vulnerability of some kind that predates the existence of Dis the city. What that might be, or what else might even be in the layer beyond the city of burning iron, is a mystery. Minauros is a layer of toxic, acidic swamps filled with fiendish wildlife as happy to feast on devils as each other or visitors. Accordingly, devils on Minauros prefer to keep to the walled cities of the layer. These cities, including the eponymous city of Minauros itself, tend to be squat, foul smelling affairs perpetually sinking into the swamp as gangs of lemures and soul shells work endlessly to rebuild. Travel between the cities is difficult and dangerous even for devils, so in the absence of powerful magic, well-armed convoys are the order of the day (no road or bridge lasts long here). Hanging Jiter is the only city on Minauros not subject to these conditions, suspended by titanic iron chains that disappear into the toxic clouds above. What, if anything, they connect to is unknown. Mammon, Lord of the Third, rules from the city of Minauros, but his checkered history in infernal politics means that right now absolutely no one of rank in Baator trusts him (even by Baatorian standards). Should there be a rebellion on this layer, it is unlikely any of Mammon's peers would intervene on his behalf. Phlegethos is a layer of fire and lava, with the Fire-Dominant planar trait, where Archduke Belial and his daughter and wife Lady Fiernal rule from the city of Abriymoch in the heart of a mostly extinct volcano. Stygia is a partially frozen ocean, covered in part by a permanent ice sheet but even the open waters are dotted with icebergs. Planar scholars believe that Stygia is the headwaters of the River Styx, and so any ferry boarded in Stygia can reach anywhere in the Lower Planes. The ferrymen seem to keep a code of silence on the subject of the river, so this has not been confirmed. The rivers of the Styx are the only relatively safe way to travel on this layer, as the skies are a perpetual storm of hurricane force winds lashed with lightning, and the seas are filled with fiendish sharks, many of them colossal in size. Tantlin is the largest city on the layer, a port metropolis built into the ice sheet, and the presence of the Styx makes it one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Baator, seeing more traffic and trade than even the iron city of Dis. The pit fiend who rules Tantlin prefers a hands-off approach to her city, leaving gangs of devils, petitioners, and even genuine mortals to vy for turf and dominance, which keeps the pit fiend herself endlessly entertained. The actual Lord of the Fifth, Levistus, lies imprisoned in an iceberg floating in Tantlin's harbor after pissing off Asmodeus. Levistus can communicate telepathically with any being for ten miles around his prison, but his authority has been on the wane since his imprisonment. The other problem for marine traffic in Stygia is the divine realm of Sekolah, shark god of the sahuagin, where aquatic fiends and monstrous fiendish sharks cavort and feast and make sport of attacking and sinking ships on the Styx as blood sacrifices to their god. Malboge is a layer of an endless mountain slope, and the Hag Countess (not an actual devil, but a night hag) rules from a mountain-sized boulder that perpetually tumbles down the slopes. In a handful of places, crevasses and caverns break the rocky landscape from which a pale green light and horrifying sounds that petitioners cannot hear emerge. No devil sent into these places has ever returned. Maladomini is a layer of city built on city built on city, the remnants of the cities below mined and quarried to build the city currently on top. The labyrinthine catacombs of the undercities are a popular place for escaped soul shells and other sorts looking to hide to flee to, and so devilish bounty hunters are common. The current fruit of Maladomini's endless, infernal industry is an astonishingly beautiful planned city built primarily from black marble, widely agreed by visitors to be one of the great architectural marvels of the planes. This city is home to most of Baator's universities and training centers for devils with a drive to learn, whether about mundane subjects or other planes, and the infernal teachers here are some of the most knowledgeable scholars in the planes to the point that non-Baatorians can sometimes be found enrolled here. Baalzebub is Lord of the Seventh, and he demands - and works tirelessly for - perfection in all things. Rumor has it that he was once an archon of Mount Celestia, though the government of Maladomini officially denies this story. That the Archduke is currently a vast, melted, slug-like creature is a statement of Asmodeus' displeasure towards him. Cania is a layer of glaciers and permanent, lethal cold. If the cold doesn't kill (and it rapidly will kill anyone not heavily resistant to cold), the constant grind of colliding glaciers, titanic avalanches, and howling blizzards with whiteout conditions might do the job instead. Sometimes visible in the ice are strange sights entombed in the glaciers - not simply unfortunate devils and mortals, but strange beings that match no known creatures and cities of bizarre and even alien appearance. To date, no attempt at excavating any such frozen beings or cities has succeeded, and in fact the devils of the layer take a very dim view of anyone trying. This is the home of Mephistopheles, Lord of the Eighth, who rules from his mobile palace of Mephistar. Mephistar is one of the most opulent and luxurious locales in the planes, and Mephistopheles' agents often treat valuable assets to see the palace as a display of their lord's power and splendor (touch nothing, trust no one). Little is known of Nessus, the ninth and final layer of Baator, beyond that it is a vast, lifeless plain broken by ravines and craters that descend thousands of miles into dead stone. Malsheem, the largest and most heavily fortified citadel in all the Outer Planes, lies at the bottom of the greatest of these ravines. It is here that Asmodeus, King of Hell, holds court, and his fortress has survived massed assaults by the entire rest of Baator. Of course, there's always the rumors that Malsheem is actually a decoy and 'Asmodeus' is some kind of projection from the real body of Asmodeus which lies elsewhere, probably in the deepest rift on the plane. If anyone in the planes knows the truth, and if so where Asmodeus' true body can be found, they're not talking - and only a place like Demogorgon's personal library in the Abyss or the deep archives of Yetsira in Mount Celestia might have such information. Next time, Acheron!
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Jul 23, 2020 01:22
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CASTLE GARGANTUA PART 14: WRAPUP OVERALL THOUGHTS Castle Gargantua is a basket of pieces that don’t fit together, but could be used as components in a much better product. One you’d have to build yourself, without instructions. Pros
EXAMPLES OF PLAY I was able to find two writeups of Castle Gargantua:
I sited the castle on a hill above an abandoned city that appeared out of nowhere. The players were part of a mercenary band of hoodlums and footpads, come to pillage the mysterious city. The rest of the brigands set up a base in the city and searched it for treasure, while the players went to investigate the castle. The town served as a base of operations, with the mercenary captain and his personal accountant paying them for treasure recovered, and the expedition’s magic user selling them scrolls, potions and supplies. The players loved climbing around on the giant furniture, loved all the weird rooms and monsters, and loved the crazy NPCs and monsters they encountered. They really did not like the lack of any overall structure to the dungeon, which robbed them of a sense of progression and rendered all their progress effectively meaningless. I’d been running my Esoteric Enterprises open table for about nine sessions at this point for some of the same players, and it really suffered by comparison. We only got two sessions in before interest dropped off. HOUSE RULES If I ran Castle Gargantua again, I’d scrap the Snakes and Ladders board, and instead use a dice-on-a-page style dungeon generator, like in Esoteric Enterprises or other OSR map creators. Drop some markers on the page for the Lust, Stone, Blood and Wine areas, connect them with lines to represent passages, then link them to the castle entrance at one end and a Gold area at the other. The Gold area blocks the stairs to the next floor of the dungeon, but maybe there’s also a secret staircase somewhere. Then each of the themed areas gets its own smaller map, where you toss a bunch of dice on the page to make the individual rooms. Link those up, roll them up using the same room creation system as the base rules (except for the number of exits). Repeat for each floor going up until you’ve used all the Gold areas and reached the end. As for scaling, I either wouldn’t use it at all, or have it set by-floor. Floors one and two are normal size, floor three is big, floor four is giant, etc. With the dungeon’s stingy treasure tables, this creates the risk of monster scaling outpacing the players’ level progression. In my system this wasn’t a problem because I deliberately made levelling cheap (since it’s easy to die regardless of how high up you get). If I used a retroclone that required a bigger number (most ask about 2,000 to get from Level 1 to 2) then I might multiply all the XP rewards by 5 (which is what I did in Esoteric Enterprises for the same reason). Levelling up is fun, and doesn’t really make the characters more resistant to death, so why hold back? That’s going to do it for Castle Gargantua. Thanks for reading, FATAL and Friends. My next review will probably be another map or dungeon generator. One I like better.
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Jul 23, 2020 01:35
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mellonbread posted:My next review will probably be another map or dungeon generator. One I like better. Have you done anything with How to Host a Dungeon 2.0 ?
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Jul 23, 2020 03:52
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Cythereal posted:
This was changed later on in the edition. Soul shells were just seen as fuel for the infernal machine of Hell and had an exact system for the soul shells coming into Hell. Soul Shells would turn up on the banks of the River Styx which are littered with forts with patrols that keep an eye out for them. Soul Shells are rounded up by the devil patrols and given a dunk in the River Styx to erase their memory. The devils then sort the shells based on the brands that appear on their flesh representing the devil that corrupted them, and their overall lord. (If no devil is considered responsible for them being in hell then ownership is determined by the souls location on death. The devils having broken the world down into many districts for each Archdevil that lets them determines the ownership of unclaimed damned souls.) A soul shell is taken to processing plants belonging to the Lords of Hell, where they await being traded as currency and or torture. Shells are given to the Devil Torturers, were they extract the souls divine energy by tormenting it, which serves as Hell's fuel, being used to empower the lords of hell and promote devils to stronger forms. Stronger souls have more energy in them, and the torturers are rewarded for how quickly they can extract it all. After extracting all the energy they can, the devils take the husk of the soul shell to a Lemure Pit, which will cause the soul to melt and mutate into a lemure. The lemures can then be promoted into higher forms of devils in exchange for divine energy. Which can also be refunded by demoting devils into lesser forms.
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Jul 23, 2020 05:56
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Chapter 8: Bazaar, pt. 2 Degenesis Rebirth Katharsys Chapter 8: Bazaar CULT EQUIPMENT Insignia Cults take cosplay very seriously, which means you better not be carrying Cult items if you're not a member. quote:Those who wear false symbols and get caught thus have to expect the worst: Hellvetics chase all those who carry a Trailblazer without legal cause naked into the Alps’ world of snow; Justitian tattoos a red bar from mouth to forehead on the faces of those impersonating a Judge; if the Scourgers catch someone wearing one of their masks, they first ridicule him as a phony and then smack him through the village. Ugh, yeah, expect the worst *gives two examples that are minor ridicule at best* Anyways, how angry someone gets that you're carrying lore-unfriendly equipment depends on who you are and what the relations between the Cults are. First, you'll be politely asked where'd you get something that doesn't belong – and get -4D to Charisma action rolls (I guess when dealing with the offended Cult). And if you're outnumbered, you will be attacked. So I guess what they're saying is that if you're trying to powergame by transferring Cult equipment to members of the group most suitable to using it, get it back before you talk to people, or you might have some vaguely-defined inconveniences. OK, off to the good stuff. And by “good stuff,” I mean “paragraph upon paragraph of the items described with the same clarity that we've come to expect from Degenesis.” You'd think editor- and designer-types would show more inclination to differentiate rule and lore texts with font choices or some clever formatting, but no. Or, you know, have a table or at least some mention on the regular stats of the weapon, like damage and encumbrance. But no, you get a heady mix of fluff, abilities and item types. SPITALIANS  Your splayer head has rusted shut and your Mollusk has gone bad. Splayer The doctor staff was supposedly a de-escalation weapon used by the UEO back in the day. quote:Supposedly, the plug-ins that are usually seen today served as interface to control the blades for AMSUMOs. I have no idea what this means. Did AMSUMOs also use splayers? Did they interface with them for some reason? This is a bit dumb, as there's nothing fancy to interface with. There's a lever you can pump to store energy in the “kinetic storage cylinder” which can then be used to rapidly close the outer blades of the three-pronged splayer head. This is the special “Cutting” attack that needs 2T. It allows you to roll 1D to get more damage. The 2T used that way don't count for damage, so the book says that rolling a 1 on that D means you'll have done 1 less damage. As the damage bonus tops out at +4 (arbitrarily), Cutting gives you only 50% odds of dealing increased damage (and I guess 25% to do less), which feels like a poo poo deal. Splayer is classed as “armed melee.” What follows are the sweet mods you can put on the end. >Mollusk: a bit of infected muscle tissue that starts freaking out when within 30 meters of Psychonauts, high Burners, seed carriers (Leperos?), or – curiously enough – Anabaptists annointed with Acheron oils. GMs can technically gently caress with players as “completely despored Psychonauts or Spore beasts” only make Molusk shiver, but this is probably a dick move. >Coldlight: imagine you were paid to describe a bicycle generator/lamp in the most  way possible:quote:The kinetic energy of the Splayer is turned into electrical energy in the base of the attachment. This energy sparks a gas within the piston that blazes in a very bright, pure white light. It can theoretically burn forever, as long as the kinetics storage fuels it, i.e. is being pumped. Uh, yes, a lamp can burn forever as long as it has an endless power supply, loving genius writing there. >Grabber: grabby claw for “fine motor salvaging efforts or firm grabbing.” It also allows you to grab a Psychonaut by the neck to make them keep distance by using BOD+Force at -2D, and it takes 5 successes on BOD+Force to free yourself. It doesn't say how it impedes the Psychonaut (or, I guess, some Apocalyptic – why couldn't you use it on them?) - like can it move laterally or use powers – because that’s Degenesis for you. Numeon Vocalizer Mollusk radio for detecting Psychonauts over 100 meters or so (if they're in a group, it can go out to 500 meters and probably more). It needs 4 successes to work and Triggers determine the effect, with no Ts resulting in “yep, there are Psychonauts” and topping out at “there be Psyconauts in thar hills, there be the location, type, and numbers” at 3. >Gauging Substances: not listed as a mod, but they’re substances that can be used to attune your Mollusk to specific Rapture (I guess this means Psychonaut type) for easier Numeon Vocalizer work. I guess it's not a Vocalizer mod because it can be used on your Splayer attachment, but since it works to decrease difficulty of detection and Mollusk attachments are notably passive, it makes no sense. You can only modify the Mollusk once – trying to do it the second time will destroy it. Seems like a small issue as you're probably going to spend most of the time in a single region and dealing with its local Psychonauts. Like the Vocalizer, it's classed as “Orientating/Tracking”  Pros: you can now detect Vocaloids. Cons: the proximity sensor work by playing Moldovan pop at increasing volumes Spitalian Suit +1D for social interactions with people because you're the savior of the wasteland (says nothing about Africans, Palers and other people who may not love Spitalians). If you're fully sealed (fluff suggests this means suit, gasmask, and using chalk on the scalp), it gets quality “Sealed (+4S)” (or, as the book likes to do, describe a thing as having the same qualities as <Trait> without just saying “gets <Trait>) against poisonous gases, spores and other such nonsense. The suit comes with a level II gasmask, and buying a special filter increases stats to “Sealed (+5S)” Hygienist Suit Bulkier, and comes with an enclosed helmet and air tank for proper SEVA suit adventures. Heavier (no stats yet), but is basically Sealed (+6S) and the air tank counts as a level III gasmask. Field Kit Has everything you need to be a Spitalian on the move. Gives +2D to INT+Medicine five times before needing to restock at a Spitalian base. Neat. Bugs and Listening Devices The stuff Hippocrates use to listen in on happenings at the Spital. Boring. Surgical Instruments The scalpels, bone saws and other tools of the Spitalian trade, from Spital supplied instruments that “were taken out of their sterile packaging five centuries ago” (what is entropy) to top level poo poo made my master steel smiths. In effect, every level of fanciness (there are three) gives an additional +1D to treating Trauma. Hilariously classed as both “Armed Melee” and “Medical” equipment. Apothecarium With no geneseed to harvest, an Apothecarium is the Pharmacist's mobile analysis and drug synthesis lab. Sequencer A blood analysis machine that allows Epigeneticist can customize the drugs and poisons to be 2 points stronger against a specific person. Fungicide Rifle The name is a lie: it's more like a flamethrower for spreading fungicide, chemical agents, incendiary fluids and such. The stock can store up to 10 doses of antidote for the user, which is kinda useless unless Spitalians have invented the cure for fire. Catridge Launcher What if you wanted a Fungicide Rifle with range and Dispersion (scatter)? That's what this grenade launcher is. Grenades can also be thrown by hand or used as mines with some modification. Classed as a “heavy weapon.”  Don't look too heavy to me, fam Injector Gun Actually an Armed Melee implement that, upon success, allows injecting a dose of drug into the target, bypassing up to Armor 4. Only one dose in the gun, tho. Favorite toy of the Aenestheseologist. Agents >SP 4016 TH: think Agent Orange for Sepsis, but it also works as a Potency 4 blistering agent (-2D to actions, doesn't stack). Doesn't work with Injector guns. >Pheromone marker: the stuff used to draw in Pheromancer bugs within 20 meter radius. Obviously not suitable for Injector Gun. >Irritant: what if SP 4016 sacrificed defoliant abilities for increased potency and causing the Poisoned (-3D to actions) status? >Ex-Aerosol/EX-1: mutant power blocker that for Psychonauts, induces “Pseudo-desporing” for 10 minutes, which seems like a million years in combat-time. >Fire Dust: :burn: phosphor that deals fire damage only once(?). >Black Band: I think it takes its name from chemical gas agent markings in WWI (“Maybe?” - editor JcDent), but it's actually maximum strength aerosolized horse tranquilizer that leads to immediate loss of consciousness. Technically only Aenesthesiologists use it, but Preservists want to deploy it as well. As for actual gameplay effect, it causes Ego points damage and we're told to look for the full rules in the Narcotics section. >Chlorine gas: can you even do warcrimes if Geneva Convention doesn't exist anymore? Potency 5, can't be used with the Fungicide Rifle or Injector Gun, deals 1 Trauma (!) per round but can be resisted by BOD+Toughness (Force) roll as detailed in quality “Poisoned” - a description that raises more questions than answers. Preservalis Sword As sword as sword can get, but the book somewhat rightly says that it isn't as dangerous as the Preservist holding it.  Newcrest horse Literally the best horse in the world, need to be a Renown 5+ Preservist for Kanzler to even think about giving you one. Next Time: others will be shorter as the devs care less about
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Jul 23, 2020 06:57
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mellonbread posted:You get 1 XP per silver. So 3,000 silver pieces divided among four characters nets you 750 XP per character, less than half of what you need to reach Level 2. Good point. Forgot you split.
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Jul 23, 2020 07:03
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Degenesis seems to have a surprising lack of weird-rear end weapons.
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Jul 23, 2020 10:51
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PurpleXVI posted:Degenesis seems to have a surprising lack of weird-rear end weapons. On one hand, yes. On the other... you'll see some stuff once we get to the stats section (but also yes)
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Jul 23, 2020 13:47
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mellonbread posted:You probably already know this, but: Lamentations of the Flame Princess was the default OSR game for a couple years. Most of the first party modules were either con scenarios designed to maim or kill the characters in amusing ways, or "negadungeons" designed to degrade and punish the characters for entering them. The most famous of these in FATAL and Friends is probably Death Frost Doom. There are a lot of people out there who read those modules and thought that's what the whole genre was supposed to be like. I actually didn't know that; almost everything I know about OSR is what I've gleaned from the last couple of reviews in here. It basically sounds like if a group of people who's only experience with D&D was Tomb of Horrors decided to make their own set of RPGs.
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Jul 23, 2020 16:16
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Leraika posted:I don't think 'woman alone in the wilderness who only exists to get slaughtered' is much of an improvement, honestly. Hard pass from me. For the record, this is also very fair. Everyone remembers the moral panic in response to the publication of The Deck of Encounters Set Two Part 15: The Deck of Mers and Fishmen 74: Momentary Solution The PCs are on a ship not far from a port, and see a man out to sea, waving - but they’re not overboard, they’re a merman. This guy wants to trade, basically - his peoples’ legends say they once had legs to walk on land, but “a mysterious power changed their form.” He wants to trade his wand of fire (with 76 charges!) for a potion of polymorph self, and he can meet them back there later if they need to go find one to trade. Wouldn’t a polymorph spell from a mage work just as well? Apparently not, because he specifically won’t accept one of those. For… reasons? Other than the odd potion focus, seems OK. Keep. P.S. The wand of fire is good, but can we hold out for something better, like his voice? 75: From Beneath the Sea Port city, dockside tavern at night, the PCs are waiting for their ship to depart the next day. Sailors burst in shouting about “creatures from beneath the waves.” Oh no! Sixteen sahaugin are attacking, and they’re already fighting a bunch of sailors! Well, that’s… not super interesting! One of them is wearing a helm of comprehending languages and reading magic, though, and the card says they’ll relay any strategies the PCs shout at each other to their fishy allies. Kind of lame fight, kind of really good treasure. But at least it sets up an ongoing conflict, if you eant to run with it. Keep. 76: Boarding Party The party’s ship takes some damage on rocks, and they need to land and make some repairs. “After a day of bailing water,” they near land; however, the party is then attacked by sahaugin with nets and crossbows. Nice saltwater-proof crossbows you’ve got there, sahuagin. I guess it’s okay, if you don’t have another mechanic in place that allows for the possibility of random ship damage while travelling. Keeps things potentially eventful. Keep. 77: Food Fight The party stops in a crossroads inn that is clearly fuller than usual - the staff are frazzled, etc. There’s a short cut-scene where a “gruff dwarf” spits some cold stew into the face of a companion, who throws the gruel at her but misses and hits a half-orc, and then a food fight is on throughout the whole tavern. (Is it a tavern, or an inn?) It probably ends with everyone laughing, unless someone accidentally gets hurt. Random, inconsequential, cute. Keep. 78: Curfews of the Mind The PCs are heading to their lodgings after carousing when they are accosted by uniformed guards who are on the lookout for “unhumans.” If there are any nonhuman party members, they’re arrested for being in violation of curfew, as are any human “treacherous sympathizers.” Humans might be able to talk their way out of it; nonhumans would have to fight. Still, even if arrested, nonhuman characters will be released in the morning with a warning. This is, like, the first sign that the party is supposed to have encountered that the local government is repressively anti-demihuman? I’m not sure I buy that. You might do this level of fantasy racism as a THING in your campaign, but I wouldn’t do it as “a thing I drew from a deck of cards just now.” Pass. Dallbun fucked around with this message at 18:35 on Jul 23, 2020 |
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Jul 23, 2020 17:29
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mllaneza posted:Have you done anything with How to Host a Dungeon 2.0 ? Angrymog posted:Good point. Forgot you split.
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Jul 23, 2020 18:06
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Dallbun posted:For the record, this is also very fair. Sure, if you can find some way to contain said voice. Also, what if he talks like a male Roseanne Barr? Not every mer-person is Ariel. Also, the potion vs spell makes a bit of sense. Two considerations. Maybe he's an undersea alchemist who wants one to analyze so he can make his own potions. Second, If he gets the potion he can perhaps check it to see that it actually is a Potion of Polymorph and not one of Poison, etc. If a wizard is casting a spell you kind of have to hope it's the one you wanted instead of something else. Also, the spell is Polymorph Self, so it can't be cast on others. Polymorph Other, as I recall is both permanent (and the dude doesn't want to be human forever) and requires a system shock roll to survive with your own mind intact. Yeah, I'd want that potion, too, instead of the spell. Dallbun posted:75: From Beneath the Sea Honestly, saltwater-proof crossbows would make for some pretty decent treasure as well - especially if you can reverse-engineer them and sell the plans for them to some naval-based nation. Dallbun posted:77: Food Fight Very much agreed. Dallbun posted:78: Curfews of the Mind Well, it could make for an interesting encounter on a re-visit to some previous town/city to act as a sign that something is Really Wrong here that requires our heroic murder-hobos to make right through some judicious murder-hoboing.
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Jul 23, 2020 18:10
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mellonbread posted:I had never heard of it until you brought it up. I can't tell from looking at it if the end result is actually a playable dungeon that you can take a group of players through, or if "dungeon creation" is just the theme. I does make functional dungeons. I think. The end result is a network of tunnels with monster groups with their own sets of treasure (some of which can be ancient artifacts), abandoned vaults, and a powerful enemy to serve as the final boss. It looks right, but it could really use someone experienced with running dungeons like it going over it with a fine-toothed comb.
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Jul 23, 2020 23:34
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Falconier111 posted:I does make functional dungeons. I think. The end result is a network of tunnels with monster groups with their own sets of treasure (some of which can be ancient artifacts), abandoned vaults, and a powerful enemy to serve as the final boss. It looks right, but it could really use someone experienced with running dungeons like it going over it with a fine-toothed comb. I've also got Scenic Dunnsmouth in the hopper, but I'm waiting for Lamentations to go out of business before reviewing it. It's a first party module, and I don't want anyone giving the company money because of something I said.
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Jul 24, 2020 00:13
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