Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Scenarios!

So kids, what is your favorite kind of serial?
SCENARIOS!

Seriously one of my avid readers has requested a sample of lite and toasty scenarios. So here they be, crunchy and full of whole grain goodness.

Scenarios
Coliseum of Creatures - The party encounter two monsters battling. A mysterious and magical controlling person(s) is having the beasts fight each other for his or their amusement. With the arrival of the P.C.‘s he sends the monsters to attack them as a team. The controller may want to add the P.C.‘s to his fighting creatures collection. The P.C. can fight, escape, or defeat the controller and have him fight his monsters as just punishment.

Talking Animals Plea for Help - A group of talking animals arrive and seek help to defeat an Neutral Evil Druid that transformed them into animals. The talking animals are really human settlers in the area controlled by the Druid. The P.C.'s must force the Druid to reverse the curse, which is easier said than done. If he is killed the settlers will stay animals forever.

An Island called Mood! -The P.C.'s gain treasure map. The map leads to a island called Mood just of the coast. This dark rock island is shrouded by fog. It is home to a intelligent monster leader and a small band of servant creatures. The intelligent monster leader sends out fake treasure maps to lure adventures to the island. It does this for one purpose. It desires magical items and knows adventurers always have them. The villain is magically imprisoned on the island and cant leave it's shores. The villain needs a certain magical item so that it may free it's self from the magical island prison. The certain magical item of course is one of the P.C.'s magical items.

Un-fair Ground! - The P.C.'s are at a fair. Merchants and merrymakers provide entertainment and a chance for P.C.'s to spend money. Something is stocking the many fair tents and commoner’s tents at the fair ground. The guards at the fair and the local lord are trying to cover up the grisly deaths. The murders are being committed by a tent shaped killer mimic of enormous size. It snuck into the fair and is feasting upon the fair goers. It is up to the P.C.'s to find clues about the fairgoers and the murders and track the creature down and dispatch it.

Return what you have taken! - (This scenario is best run after the P.C.'s have looted at least 2-3 dungeons‘.) The P.C.'s are at a tavern (where else) a breeze picks up in the tavern and the fire goes out. A glow is coming from outside and slow strobe light. The doors fly open. Coming down the road is a transparent larger then life spectral face. It repeats 'Return what you have taken!
Return what you have taken!" It moves slowly but directly for the P.C.'s. Everyone panics. Then it disappears after coming face to face with the P.C.'s. This happens every night. They P.C.'s may brush it off, but the locals will not and demand that the P.C.'s leave the town or return what was taken (what ever it is the thing wants.). The P.C.'s will be dogged by this spectral face where ever they go and always at night. Eventually the P.C.'s will have to return loot to one of the former dungeons. Other adventures may trail the P.C.'s to steal the loot. Which dungeon was the being from and which loot do the P.C. return. The spectral face can't be destroyed and only avoid temporarily. The spectral face may be a guardian spirit or a magical illusion cast by a reveal adventurer to gain the adventures loot. What ever the reason what ever town the P.C. enter will not be happy the P.C.'s are there. Also their reputation is at stake.

Cloud Castle - So the P.C.'s are traveling the country side and then they find a rope dangling in mid air. The top of the rope disappears into the clouds. The cloud is slowly floating away with the rope and the castle. The P.C.'s have a short time to decide wither to climb the rope and into the castle or not. If the P.C.'s climb the rope they find a small castle in the clouds. The occupants are not home and the place looks very old and abandoned. The castle is a ruin and filled with squatting flying monsters. Hidden treasure are with in and danger. What keeps the castle in the clouds? (Magical crystals, chained air elementals, cloud giant spells.) How is it controlled? (A cauldron and the mixing of vapors and alchemy and magic. A map with a cotton ball and castle on it. Where the castle is moved on the map the real one is moved.) Could the P.C.'s use this as their base of operation? Will the occupants return some day?

Chain Link Scenario - A evil wizard casts a geas and curse on the P.C.'s They must find a spell book. He instructs them to kidnap a prince. The prince is prophesy to be the only one who can handle the magical key. The magical key is being guarded by both man and monster. The magical key must be used to unlock a tomb, temple, or tower. The location holds a magical book needed by the evil wizard.

Friday, March 13, 2009

BEASTS!


So I stumbles across an old TV cartoon. I'll let you deduce which one... This inspired me to create a beast based on it. So two themes clashed together. Oozes and friendly cute monsters.

Glop
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Subterranean or Any Surface land
FREQUENCY: Very Rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary or pair
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Always
DIET: Omnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Low (7)
TREASURE: nil
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good
NO. APPEARING: 1-2
ARMOR CLASS: 7
MOVEMENT: 12"
HIT DICE: 2
THAC0: 19
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: 1/2 damage from blunt weapons, immune to energy attacks.
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 50%
SIZE: M (5') -L (7')
MORALE: Steady (12)
XP VALUE: 200

The Glop is bronze colored amoeba with two eye-spots and a mouth orifice. It speaks its own simple language and understands common.

Combat: The glop strikes like a snake slamming the target and causing 2d4 damage.

Habitat/Society: Their society composes of a parent and a offspring. They typically shun others other own kind outside of the parent and offspring bond. The offspring reaches adulthood within 5 years and leaves the parent. The adult then reproduces again. Some Glop about 25% have a strange habit of imprinting on other creatures and forming a proto-family unit with the creatures. They will act to defend and protect them. In this case both the parent and the offspring stay together.

Ecology: A Glop is a proto-plastic creature distantly related to the oozes. They reproduce by division once every five years. It is normally solitary but my be found with its own divided offspring.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

MY TOP TEN D&D MONSTERS

OK, Everyone is doing it and so why can't I.

10. Berbalang - (FF) - These creepy fiends is into meditation and astral projection. It also engages in bizarre and complex courtship and mating rituals with other berbalangs.
9. Kampfult - (MMII) - These grumpy tree creatures are known as 'sinewy mugger' by their friends. They enjoy lurking in forest and dungeons and attacking many foes at once.
8. Drider - (MMII) - These creatures are a cross between a spider and a dark elf. They are pushed by the spider queen and are are bitter, fearsome and cruel. Plus they like bows and arrows. The arrows are coated with spider venom by the way.
7. Flump - (FF) - These little flying discs with protruding eyes and tiny tentacles are goodie two shoes. They are too cute or ugly to kill and have a habit of squirting foul smelling liquid.
6. Lurker Above - (MM) - These carnivorous creatures hang out in subterranean chambers aka dungeons. They pretend to be part of the ceiling and drop on a foe and smother them. They have many cousins like the Lurker Below, Lurker Beside and Lurker Beyond.
5. Peryton - (MM) - These creatures have the body of a eagle and the head of a buck deer. They like feeding on human hearts with they need for reproduction purposes. They also cast a shadow in the shape of a man.
4. Crypt Thing -(FF) - This urbane and sedentary skeletal undead guard tombs the world over and enjoy chatting with visitors briefly then teleporting them in random directions and distances.
3. Dire Corby -(FF) - These jet black subterranean bipedal avians enjoy chanting 'Doom! Doom! Doom!" They are fond of warring with giant bats as well.
2. Penanggalan - (FF) - These cunning undead look like living humans. They eat and sleep as well. But at night their heads fly off to feast upon the flesh of the unwary. Organs and tissues trail out of the neck as they fly about. They enjoy deceiving people and gaining their trust then revealing themselves.
1. Disenchanter - (FF) - These sneaky spindly dromedary-like animals have a long flexible snout which they enjoy draining enchantments from magic items. Plus they shimmer and their coats are electric blue and translucent too.

Totals: FF - 6, MM - 2, MMII - 2

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Random Encounter as Campaign Tools




So when crafting a campaign setting making encounter tables is very useful tool to flesh out a region. It both answers questions about the region and provides inspiration. Below is a sample encounters table for a people one would meet on the road. To spice it up a bit you can have 2-4 travellers traveling togather for protection or they could all be going to the same location. Really great inspiration for this is Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales." Another interesting option it to combine two encounters into one. For example combine "Honeymooners" and "Cultist", and you get a pair of Honeymooners who met at a cult coven and got married. They may want to make their first sacrifice together as a newly wed couple. What is the back story of the travelers. Is the "Fugitive" a hardened criminal who killed his way out of prison or a political prisoner escaping with his loyal retainers. Are the "Wandering buffoons" really entertainers or are they deadly assassins in disguise so they can enter and exit high society. A random encounter table is not simple a table of encounters but a tool to add depth and flavor to the campaign setting.


Road Travelers
Table 1-1
Roll 1d20
1. Pilgrims
2. Actors/ Bards/ Wandering buffoons
3. Wandering tinker
4. Gypsies
5. Refugees
6. Honeymooners
7. Courtiers
8. Merchants
9. Knights
10. Brigands
11. Monks
12. Settlers
13. Priests/Cultist
14. Curriers
15. Diplomats
16. Farmers
17. Teamsters
18. Caravan
19. Fugitive
20. Soldiers/Sheriff - with deputies.

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