Adventure Planet Generator

A while ago after reading Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure (Le Cycle de Tschaï) I tried to write a setting generator inspired by it. While procrastinating I found back that old post and I completed the generator on Perchance.

The basic premise is that a human generation ship crashed on a earth like planet situated at the frontier of different alien civilizations. Each alien civilization built a colony on the planet and decided to uplift the surviving human population. Some humans continued to survive in the wild.

Centuries later a second human ship arrive in orbit to check on the lost human colony but one of the alien factions shot the ship down and only a few survivors make it to the planet surface.

The PC can be these survivors or they can be wild humans trying to survive in the shadow of the alien colonies.

In Vance's series each book is about one of the different alien colonies and their relation with the local human populations. The alien colonies have advanced technologies but they are also vulnerable as they are all far away from their home civilizations. The aliens should probably be non playable but the GM should create a few individual alien NPCs who have views or values different from those of their colony.

Colonialism would be the principal theme of this kind of campaign and it should be discussed with the group, probably using lines and veils.

The Adventure Planet generator create five alien colonies. their uplifted humans servitors and the local wild human populations. It also generate relationships between these colonies.

I guess that the generator could be also used for a campaign inspired by the SF comics Prophet.

I would recommend using Macchiato Monsters or a Sword & Planet RPG to run this kind of campaign.
(Some character sheets I drew for a old session of MM inspired by Prophet)

The Adventure Planet generator: https://perchance.org/adventureplanet 

Some covers of the excellent french comic book adaptation of Planet of Adventure:

Keywords maps

As a experiment I used keywords instead of names to fill up a map. I selected the keywords using free associations but I guess that you could also randomly generate them or use a mix of both techniques. Generating them collectively could also be fun.

I think that I like the result, I could easily use the map to improvise a point crawl session. The only annoying thing is that you have to figure out how to actually name things in the game world, I guess that you can combine the keywords with other words to craft names. Like the town with the keyword "sad" could be Sad Street or Sad Sparrow.

You could also use the keywords to generate random encounters. Let's try this.

The red keywords are regions or kingdoms, lets try with Diaspora of Remembrance. 

On one table we put up 20 keywords located in the region. 

1. Remembrance 
2. Sad
3. Moon
4. Quiet
5. Buried
6. Paintings
7. Healing
8. Light
9. Ghasts
10. Joy
11. Old
12. Memories
13. Abandoned
14. Forgotten
15. Ribbons
16. Milk
17. Exiled
18. Mourn
19. Roots
20. Rest

On a other table we put 10 types of encounters

1. Group of people
2. Loner or outcast 
3. Trader
4. Small beasts 
5. Large beast
6. Undead
7. Spirit
8. Monster
9. Conman 
10. Figure of authority  

If we combine some rolls to craft a d10 random encounters table we get:

1. Healing + Figure of authority 
2. Joy + Outcast 
3. Memories + Undead
4. Exiled + Spirit
5. Remembrance + Conman
6. Ghasts + Small beasts
7. Light + Undead
8. Buried + Group of People 
9. Milk+  Group of people
10. Forgotten + Trader

I could easily work with this. You can apply the same formula to generate treasures and magical items. 

Insects from Shaggai

Using the Insects from Shaggai in a fantasy setting. 

Campaign premise: 

The player characters are young from the same village, they will be soon initiated into the local cult. Years ago the insects landed in their temple ship, they domesticated the more useful monsters to use them as servitors. This was a good thing at first, while the woods gained the reputation of being haunted, the area became more peaceful. But soon the insects implanted their cult into the local human populace. To answer their need, the insects taught some technological innovations to their cultist while carefully controlling the villages' populations. The lands around the landing area became a sacred and forbidden place. Thing would go well but factions among the insects have different plans for the villagers. There is also these foreigners that were found in the woods, near the forbidden lands, a family is healing their wounds but the foreigners sinful influence have already infected some of the young, they call them adventurers.

• Each village is under the influence of d3 Insect's factions.
• Local families have their own petty ambitions.  
• The wounded adventurers want to use the young to get what they want. 
• (The surviving adventurer are ill or crippled, it will take them weeks to recover) 
• The players determine a personal temptation that push their characters toward the forbidden area.  

Alternate option: the players play a group of adventurers who stop in one of the cult's villages. They are probably seeking something in the forbidden area. Young befriend them while local families want to use them to achieve their petty ambitions. The insects don't care about them at first but once the adventurer get troublesome, the insects will want to control them or may have other uses for them depending of their faction.  

Alternate option: the players play the insects. This option is naturally harder to play but quite tempting. The player characters are insects who fused with the mind of villagers to influence their community. Since their fused mind tap into their victim memories, this help the players make sense of their characters (vs playing truly alien ones). The insects have to deal with rival insect factions, their servitors becoming more erratic, the petty ambition of the villagers' clans and the presence of adventurers.


The Insects from Shaggai

Castes d9

1. Oracles (Command & administration)
2. Seers (Navigation)
3. Shapers (Engineering)
4. Priests (Science)
5. Scribes (Archives)
6. Weavers (Medicine & biotech)
7. Shepherds (domestication and bioengineering of alien species)
8. Singers (Operation)
9. Watchers (Security & Intelligence)

Factions d9

1. Seeders: want to create multiple colonies on imperfect worlds. Secret sub faction: research Shub-Niggurath to adapt their biology to these new worlds and secretly want to remain on their present world.
2. Seekers: seek only the perfect new Shaggai and ways to divine it location. Secret sub faction: research Yog-Sothoth and Daoloth to create the possibility of the perfect new Shaggai. 
3. Mentors: want to uplift indigenous species to imprint them with Shaggai culture to make backups saves of their history and culture. Secret sub faction: believe that the uplifted specie can revitalize the Shaggai culture if they are allowed to retain some form of agency. 
4. Harvesters: fear indigenous species revolts and influence, want to harvest them as raw materials or to exterminate them. Secret faction: research necro-animation technologies to develop a new servitors and are secretly worshiping Mordiggian.
5. Puppeteers: believe that the insects should infiltrate and control indigenous species and never reveal themselves. Secret faction: believe in monitoring the indigenous species to actually learn from them. They sometimes influence them to observe their behaviors but to gain meaningful data the specie must retain it agency and not be controlled or modified.   
6. Renders of the veil: want to find new deities to ally with and new dimensions to explore. Secret faction: want to use local species to use as interfaces to contact and summon new deities and dimensions. 
7. Heralds (or Pipers): want to fully summon Azathoth into the material universe to create a new Shaggai, oppose alliance with other deities. Secret faction: research Nyarlathotep to use local species to interface with Azathoth.
8. Dreamers: want to enjoys sensorial stimuli and indigenous memories. Believe that they will never find a new Shaggai. Secret sub faction: devise drugs from indigenous brain matters and genetically alternate their brains to create different drugs. Secret sub faction: want to fuse with indigenous species to live their life and explore their Dreamlands.
9. Guardians of the twin suns: want to preserve the past and pre-Azathoth worshipping culture, favor science but are very conservative and traditional. Secret sub faction: research Liao drug and time travel to return to the original Shaggai and the golden age of science.

The Coven, campaign setup

I was rereading some old blog posts that I removed for personal reasons and I thought of rewriting the campaign setup that I wrote to play a coven of witches. To do so I want to get rid of the material linked to the LotFP book Vaginas are magic (VAM).

VAM could have easily been trans inclusive, I mean magic... you can easily writestuff to include trans women. This is a book about spells, you can even write a transition spell (even with all the nasty miscast effects) and add it to your spells list. Or you know, you can simply avoid writing that vaginas and fertility are the only ways of defining womanhood in your magical cosmology.

At the time of publication of VAM, some of us defended VAM by saying: "the book don't have to include trans women, this is the OSR, you can simply hack who can cast these spells or devise your own magical means for trans women to gain a vagina and a fertile womb if they really want to cast these spells." And at the time I was feeling uncomfortable but I thought: yeah I guess this is the OSR way of resolving problems…

At that time I was really trying hard to like VAM and to continue to like LotFP, I even ran a campaign entirely built around VAM. But as I took some distance from my initial love for LotFP, I saw how trans exclusive and shitty the game text of VAM was. Looking back on how I was ok with these excuses, I cringe a lot at my past self.

The text of VAM present the spells as women's magic and state that you need to have a fertile womb to be able to cast them (the book title also imply that you need a vagina).

"Now about this “only women can cast these spells”
thing. When creating new spells, It is perfectly fine
to say that certain spells can only be cast by one sex,
or people with brown hair, or people with no eyes.
Or by those in certain moods, or who are wearing/
not wearing jewelry or clothing made of certain
materials, or who are covered in squirrel shit. It can
be that arbitrary, that simple. If a caster wants to use
these spells without the specific restriction, she can
recover a spellbook with the spell in it and research
her own version without the restriction. Spell
research rules aren’t just there to fill out a page count.
For the purposes of being able to cast the spells
in this book, “woman” is defined as someone (or
something, non-human magicians can cast these
spells too) able to be impregnated and carry a child to
term. Is a character Postmenopausal? Prepubescent?
Infertile for any other reason? These spells are not for
them. Exceptions are made for those normally barren
if they have been infected with parasites which are
then naturally expelled through their normal birth/
life cycle.
Yup, these spells will have players of male Magic-
Users (and old crones, and etc.) begging you to run
Alien for them, just so their characters can get face-
fucked. Isn’t gaming grand?"
-VAM

What I get from the text is that in LotFP, the cosmic magical forces of the universe align with some of the arguments that TERFs use to exclude trans women. If I play a trans woman, VAM tell me that my character need to get impregnated by a alien parasite for the magical laws of the universe to consider her a woman or that she need to do some magical researches to rewrite these spells so that a “non woman” can cast them.

Again with all the trans people playing and creating gaming material in the OSR, I think that our allies can show more creativity and do better than this.

COVEN CAMPAIGN SETUP

The characters are all witches (magic-users) and they are all members of a secret coven that researched the dangerous spells list of a long dead Elder Witch. Something happened and the coven have been recently dismantled, the player characters goal is to rebuild their coven and to find a way to deal with what menace them. While doing so, there should be plenty of opportunities to impact the campaign's setting.

The campaign can be run as a sandbox build around a small town and a situation that is affecting everyone in the area. The player characters could first try to find back their former allies and resources, then personal goals would surely emerge and the game could become more about dealing with the big situation (or other emerging stuff). Naturally dealing with the legacy of the Elder Witch and other supernatural elements will come in to complicate everything.


THE ELDER WITCH

The Elder Witch should have lived some generations ago, she was a brilliant witch that grew obsessed with her magical researches and accessed dangerous planes of existences. After her death her spell book became a precious artifact, copies were made but errors slipped in. The original book eventually gained a “soul” of it own and became a magical entity, a bit like the necronomicon in Evil Death but maybe more alien than “evil”. Finding back the Elder book is something that witches booth desire and dread.

Keep the Elder Witch history vague and shrouded in mystery and rumors, give her some scary traits but also some positive and relatable ones. Echoes of herself still survive, trapped between the planes, she feel anger and regrets, her feelings are conflicted, maybe she can be redeemed or maybe not.

Crafting the Elder Witch’s spell list

The Elder Witch discovered a plane of existence that she explored until some of it secrets consumed her. This plane have it own ecosystem and rules, think of the Upside Down of Stranger Things or the Otherworld of Silent Hill.

Her spells are about accessing and manipulating the energies of this strange plane, define the plane and maybe around 10 spells to start with.

Spells effects (d20)

1. Perceiving the plane
2. Accessing the plane’s background energy
3. Locating portals to the plane or toward it orbiting sub planes.
4. Travelling to or through the plane
5. Using the plane to affect our reality
6. Contacting and influencing denizen of the plane
7. Imbuing someone with the essence of the plane
8. Unleashing the energy from the plane
9. Manipulating the plane energy or essence
10. Controlling a positive or beneficial effect of the plane
11. Controlling a negative or dangerous effect of the plane
12. Reaching or accessing the plane’s core, lower or higher levels
13. Harvesting the plane’s primordial or forbidden energy
14. Awakening sleeping parts of the plane
15. Contacting a primordial and elder entity of the plane
16. Draining or corrupting the plane to achieve a major effect
17. Warding or protection against the plane energy, influence or hazards
18. Sensing or harvesting the plane’s natural resources or hazards
19. Summoning minor flora or fauna from the plane
20. Imbuing a traditional feminine craft, art, activity or item with the energy of the plane.

Casting and miscasting spells

A part of the fun of the campaign is to see how much the witches are willing to use these dangerous spells and how using them will affect and impact their live, their world, the plane and reality itself.

You will have to hack a bit the game system that you use. Character of any levels should be able to cast spells of any levels. Spell of higher level than your own should be more dangerous to cast.

When casting a spell, a witch need to make a saving throw, depending of your system, greater spell effects should be harder to save against. On a failed roll the witch lose control of the spell and she must roll on the miscasting table. There is also the possibility of casting spells when you expanded your magical spell slots for the day, this should automatically lead to a roll on the fumble table. 

The conditions in which a character is casting a spell could also impact the miscasting save. But keep in mind that casting spells should always involve some risk. 

Miscasting Table (higher results are potentially more dangerous)

1. The area of effect is larger than anticipated (in a bad way)
2. The spell effect someone else you know, a ally (or a enemy depending of the effect).
3. The effect become contagious or move travel through potential targets
4. The effect have a extra horrible side effect
5. The effect is corrupted, twisted, toxic or dangerous
6. The effect is too potent and out of control (in a bad way)
7. The effect attract hostile supernatural creatures
8. The effect hide in someone you know, emotions may trigger it
9. Casting the spell displace things between reality and the plane
10. Casting the spell mess up your mind or perception
11. The spell imbue a object and create a cursed item, scroll, tattoo or mark
12. The spell effect become a dangerous elemental or construct
13. The spell create a doppelganger of the caster
14. The spell germinate inside you like a parasite (ask the player how it manifest).
15. Casting the spell mutate your body
16. The spell awoken a terrible threat
17. The spell rewrite itself and it effect and become a new spell
18. Casting the spell edit a part of your the local area, ecosystem or reality
19. Casting the spell edit a part of your personal life or history
20. The spell try to rip you apart (save or die)

THE WITCHES

Players characters are women (cis or trans) magic-users.
Characters can be from level 01 to 03
>Level 01 characters can reroll 2 stats and keep the best
>Level 02 characters can reroll 1 stat and keep the best
>Level 03 characters don’t get a reroll.
Any character can switch a stat with their magic casting score (probably INT).

Starting ages:
Level 1: 15 +1d6
Level 2: 16 +2d6
Level 3: 17 +3d6

• Each character choose one spell from the Elder Witch spell list.
• Each character roll a number of spell equal to their level on the magic user spell list of your game system. This spell can also trigger miscasts and is linked to the plane discovered by the Elder Witch or one of it sub planes.
• No duplicate spells between character are allowed (reroll duplicates).
• Character understand better the spells they chosen and rolled and get +1 to save against miscasting these spells. All the characters’ spells are pooled together to create the master spell book of the coven.
• The referee add a extra spell from the Elder Witch’s spell list that is harder to master and that always inflict a penalty when saving against miscasting it.
• All characters can use the master spell book to prepare spells.
• Your personal spell books start with level+2 spells written in it selected from the master spell book.

THE TOWN

The referee should name the town.
Go around the table and answer these questions together.
If a question don’t inspire you, pass it to the next player.

• What is the town main landmark?
• A local product that you appreciate?
• A local product that you find cringy?
• A local tradition?
• A place where you feel safe in town?
• A place where you feel unsafe in town?
• Someone in town who abuse of their power?
• Someone in town who try to restrain them?
• Someone new and ambitious?
• A old incident that disturbed the town?
• A distant calamity that is starting to affect the town? (war, natural disaster, plague, revolution, etc)
• A rumor about it? (ask each player)

THE COVEN

The game will be mostly about rebuilding the coven…
Go around the table and answer these questions together.
If a question don’t inspire you, pass it to the next player.

• Who founded the coven?
• How did she learn magic?
• What was her relation with the memory of the Elder Witch?
• Where was the coven situated?
• What special resource the coven had?
• What magical artifact the coven lost?
• What spell did the founder was never able to master?
• What native beings from the other plane the coven feared?
• Who was secretly allied with the coven?
• Who betrayed or abandoned the coven?
• Who raided the coven?
• Who of your sisters died in the raid? Who still perceive her?
• Who of your sisters ran away?
• Who of your sisters was captured?
• How the founder failed the coven before her demise?
• How the founder perished?
• Where were you instructed to go if things go wrong? (were the game will start…)

Personal questions for each characters

• How the coven recruited you?
• What did you glimpse from the other plane during your initiation?
• You admired or feared the founder?
• Who are you close with within the coven?
• Who do you trust in town?
• Who do you fear, hate or avoid in town?

For transgender witches

• How do you transition? (socially and or physically) 
• Do you use potions, herbs, rituals or other magical means of transition?
• Who taught you this secret? 

Campaign: Mothers of the Borderlands

I thought of revisiting my first blog post: a illustration of room #B12 of the B2 module Keep of the Borderlands.

For me, the most interesting thing in B2 are all of these "non combatants females" and their young, I often wondered what was their stories. Why not play them to find out?

"Orc losses cannot be replaced"

This detail gave me the idea of running a campaign about the survivors of the Chaos Caves.

Mothers of the Borderlands Campaign

Supported by the keep, adventurers raided the Caves of Chaos multiple times, the dust settle but the orcs tribe have been decimated, forgotten by the adventurers, the orcs females gather their young and try to rebuilt the tribe.

The players characters are the orcs females who survived these raids.

I would use Macchiato Monsters to run this campaign as the system is flexible and can easily be used to create different orc characters. But naturally any old school system could work.

Character creation (Macchiato Monsters) 

1) Roll your attributes but don't determine anything else. You start with the trait "orc".

2) Generate your family
You have 1d4-1 mates (you can add -1 or +1 if your prefer fewer or more mates)
(Roll 1d6 to determine their gender: 1-4 male, 5-6 female)

2A) If you have no mate chose one option or roll a d6

1. You took the blood oath and follow the path of the warrior. (start with a wound)  
2. You took a spirit as a mate and follow the path of the shaman. 
3. You did a crime and are shun for it, you follow the path of the outcast. 
4. You vowed to take no mate to follow the path of the witches. 
5. You consume the moist mother shrooms and follow the path of the gender change. 
6. Your mate died and you follow the mourning path of the wailing. 

3) Determine how many young you have. These young may be your natural or adopted children. If you have female mates, they gave birth to some of these young but you all consider them as your children.

Add +1 by mates (you may take a additional -1 or +1 if you want a smaller or bigger family)
You have:

• 1d6-2 daughters  
• 1d6-2 sons 

Young are 1d10-1 year old (0 year olds are d10 month old babies)

You also have  1d4-1 elderly parents. (Roll 1d6 to determine their gender: 1-3 male, 4-6 female) 

4) Roll who survived the raids.

• Adult males survived on a roll of 1 on a d6, survivors are wounded and incapacitated. 
• Adult females survived on a roll of 1-4 on a d6
• Young survived on a roll of 1-5 on a d6
• Elders survived on a roll of 1-2 on a d6, survivors are wounded and incapacitated.

Your surviving family is represented by a d6 risk die. When the risk die fizzle out, someone in your family is starving, sick, lost or troublesome. Reset the risk die to d6. You can step up your family risk die beyond d6 by taking care of them, providing them with: food, shelter, comfort and pride.

5) The tribe have been decimated, chose the path you will now follow (or roll a d6)
(If you already have a path, skip this step)

1. You will take the blood oath and follow the path of the warrior.  
2. You will take a spirit as a mate and follow they path of the shaman.
3. You will consume the moist mother shrooms and follow the path of the gender change. 
4. Your will mourn the deaths and follow path of the wailing. 
5. You will protect the tribe and follow the path of the guardian. 
6. You will take care of the young and follow the path of the mother. 

6) Generate your equipment with the Macchiato Monsters' tables. Your starting equipment represent what you salvaged after the big raid.

When you roll a piece of equipment determine who it belonged to...

1. my family or clan
2. a dead or wounded orc 
3. a adventurer 
4. a denizen of the caves 
5. no one, I found it while I was exploring area ... 
6. myself, I crafted it

The gm can ask you questions to get more details to craft plot or exploration hooks. 

7) Your path determine your character options, you start with your path as a second trait plus the option associated with your path. (These are your two starting character options)

• The warrior (take martial training, you are good with war and weapons) 
• The shaman (take magic training, you are good with spirits, bones and blessings)  
• The outcast (take specialist training, you are good at sneaking, tricks and traps) 
• The witches (take magic training, you are good with herbs, curses and the occult) 
• The change (add d6 to a stat of 10 or less, you are transitioning and you are good with mushrooms, drugs, poisons and transformations)  
• The wailing (take specialist training (wailing), you are good at mourning, remembering, raging and scaring others) 
• The guardian (take martial training, you are good with defenses, protecting and armors) 
• The mother (gain a hit die, you are good with healing, nurturing, teaching and organization) 

8) Make rolls to see if your character speak extra languages. Your character speak orc and the chaos tongue. The chaos tongue is very crude and using it often impose a disadvantage when dealing with other chaotic creatures.

1. Humans (common tongue) 
2. Lizardmen or Troglodyte 
3. Spider or Boar  
4. Kobold
5. Goblin
6. Hobgoblin
7. Bugbear
8. Gnoll
9. Troglodyte 
10. Ogre
11. Minotaur
12. Ghoul or Harpy 

9) Roll a event that happened during the last raid (d6) (these work like rumors or goals)

1. You lost something that you need to find back. 
2. You lost someone that you need to find back.   
3. You saw a opportunity to gain something. 
4. You found something that you must keep secret. 
5. Someone helped you, could they help you again? 
6. You saw something that worry you. 

The gm can ask you questions to get more details to craft rumors.

10) Players should write goals about their tribe, their family, their path and the caves.  

Running the Campaign

The Caves of Chaos have been hit hard by adventurers from the keep, those who are still alive are those non combatants that the adventurers ignored. Now that most of the combatants are dead, the survivors must reorganize themselves to survive.

Run the B2 Module as a sandbox, present the caves as a place that have been hit by a disaster. Monsters are protective and desperate, this may open doors to new alliances.

You can start play in room C15.

• Monsters survived the adventurers raids on a roll of 1 up to their HD on a d6. 
• Combatant humanoids only survived on a roll of 1 on a d6. 
• Non combatants humanoids survived on a roll of 1-4 on a d6. 
• Neutral creatures or NPCs survived on a roll of 1-3 on a d6. 
• You may also decide that a important or interesting creature is severely wounded and can be nurtured back to health with assistance. 
• Treasures have not been looted on a roll of 1-2 on a d6. 
• Traps are still activated on a roll of 1-2 on a d6, activated traps contain the corpse of a adventurer on a roll of 1-3 on a d6.   

The keep consider the caves as being under control now, they moved their attention to other issues. Don't trigger a other raid on the caves unless the keep notice something worrying or worthy of their attention.

Present the chaos cult as a cursed gift, gaining it favor bring power but it will also corrupt the tribe and endanger the young. Deciding to follow the cult or to abandon it should be a major theme.

Present the chaotic humanoids as brutal and territorial but also give them things that they respect and care about. They are more like people with a lot of issues than evil ones. Show that they have a lot of resentments toward humankind and how chaos is feeding on these wounds.

Use random encounters as troubles that need to be deal with. Like if they encounter a carrion crawler maybe this is the sign of a carrion crawler infestation coming up, encountering other humanoids or NPC may be signs of all kind of troubles.

Old Notes about a Call of Cthulhu "West Marches" campaign.

I found this while reading through some of my old notes.

Dreamlands using the West Marches model.

• The hub is the mansion of a old rich man.
• His secretary hire dreamers.
• The old man is never seen. 
• Lot of cats everywhere in the mansion.
• The old man also run a refuge for cats.
• The basement is off limit and contain mummified cats.  
• Basement is a temple of Bast and contain Egyptian themed spells. 
• Old man is dead and his soul habit the cats of the house. 
• Secretary is in fact following his will. 
• Mansion contain occult library and contain dreams related spells.  
• Dreaming in the house transfer you to the Dreamlands.
• You always appear in the same city, like in the West Marches. 
• The old man left a journal with starting clues for locations to explore around the city. 
• The old man is know in the Dreamlands as a woman and a priestess of Bast (she was a closeted trans woman). The characters profit from her good reputation in the Dreamlands (while maybe she had a bad rep in the waking world for being eccentric).  
• Area surrounding the dream city is a hex or point crawl.  
• Locations to explore are dungeon crawl locations (temples, ruins, etc). 
• Each location have archaeological clues that point toward a other location. 
• Some locations have clues that points toward waking world locations to investigate to gain bonus clues about Dreamland locations. 
• Many dungeon crawl locations lead to the Dreamlands' underworld for higher level play. 
• Moon cycles affect random encounters?
• Possibility of playing a cat or a Dreamlands denizen if you die in the Dreamlands?
• The characters wake up at the end of each sessions.

Potoo Island's building blocks

I am taking a break from drawing to work a bit on Potoo’s Island.

So this project is partly based on a joke and on a dream, I don’t really know where I want to go with this, I only know that I love potoo birds and that I want to craft something fun and strange based on them.

So I did some researches on the potoos and I took a good quantity of notes. I want to do something with the legend about the potoo being the spirit of a woman who fell from the moon and who call her moon husband at night.

Since I have no clear directions, I will begin by generating encounters to populate the island and then I will try to make sense of what will emerge. I will try to use the monsters building blocks method I posted earlier.

My building blocks will be things related to the potoo and the island.

Building blocks (d8)

1. Potoo bird 
2. Bugs (beetles, moths, grasshoppers and termites) (preys) 
3. Small birds (preys that potoo swallow whole!) 
4. Falcon (predators) 
5. Monkey (predators) 
6. Shipwrecked humans (who probably messed up the balance or ecology of the island) 
7. Rotting wood, tree stumps and mushrooms (thing that potoo camouflage as) 
8. Something fallen from the moon or the sky (reference to the legend) 

I also wrote some monsters archetypes to combine with the building blocks.

Encounter types (d12)

1. Sentient humanoids 
2. Mutated specialist function 
3. Strange chimera and hybrids 
4. Wild or primordial beasts (ancient ones may speak) 
5. Spirits (linked to a element or concept) 
6. Guardians (linked to a special location, gain advantage or power from it) 
7. Corrupted, cursed or undead 
8. Monstrous hoarder (accumulate stuff) 
9. Mimics, shapeshifters 
10. Deforestation, destruction of the environment 
11. Influenced or affected by a other building block (like falcons trained by humans or a ancient potoo spirit who hate humans) (Roll a d10 on this table to determine archetype and d8 on the building blocs table to determine relation) 
12. Roll two d10 on this table and mix the results, double result give a unique champion encounter with +1HD) 

I also crafted a random table that spotlight traits or aspects of the potoos. I will roll on this table when I need inspiration.

Potoo's aspects (d10)

1. Big eyes 
2. Big mouth, eat things whole 
3. Eerie call, induce fear or sadness 
4. Camouflage 
5. Stillness (or the need to avoid movements) 
6. Nocturnal, sleepy or lazy during day 
7. Eat insects and small birds 
8. Don’t hunt on the ground, mob defense 
9. Mate for life and lay a single egg, camouflaged hidden egg. 
10. Can be cartoony or spooky

I will probably start by generating creatures for each Hit Die I want to feature on the island. Then I will assign HD to areas of the island and craft random tables around these.

My template will probably be something like:

Area HD (d6)

1. Encounter from area’s HD 
2. Encounter from area’s HD 
3. Encounter from area’s HD 
4. Encounter from lower HD 
5. Encounter from +1 HD 
6. Encounter from +2 HD 

I will post next what I will have generated with these tables.

(cartoony)

(spooky)

Basic boring monsters as building blocks

I am playing on my computer Heroes of a Broken Land, a procedural grid based dungeon crawler and I noted that the monsters were all variations of basic boring creatures like bats, snakes, rats, slimes, zombies, etc… I wondered if it could be interesting to create a monster manual using a limited palettes of creatures as building blocks.

Why? I like low-fi basic stuff and I am intrigued by the thematic settings that may emerge out of these limited palettes. This is just a “lonely fun” experiment but it could be useful to generate local biomes. Well, I guess this link to my love of biomes too.

So for our basic palette I thought of six basic boring monsters types:

1. Flying harrowers: bats, birds, flying bugs 
2. Slow and slimy ambushers: frogs, slugs, snails, leeches 
3. Poisonous predators: snakes, centipedes, spiders, scorpions 
4. Smart scavengers: rats, crows, monkeys (ants?) 
5. Stubborn turtlers: crabs, beetles, turtles 
6. Formless dissolver: slime, ooze, jelly, moss (plants could be fun too)  

We could start with something very generic like:

1. Bats 
2. Frogs 
3. Snakes 
4. Rats 
5. Crabs 
6. Slimes 

Or we could go with something more whimsical like:

1. Fireflies 
2. Anemone 
3. Centipede 
4. Hyena (a bit too big for a basic monster but let's try it) 
5. Trilobites 
6. Jellies 

So then I created 10 types of flavors or types of creatures we find in the monster manual.
(I put exemples in broad order of HD in parenthesis)

1. Humanoids (goblins, orcs, burbears, ogres, giants, titan) 
2. Domesticated beasts (pets, messenger, hunting, burden, war, mount, cattle) 
3. Ferocious packs, lone predators or territorial grazers (wild beasts, from small to gigantic) 
4. Strange chimera (satyrs, harpies, centaurs, pegasus, griffons, manticores) 
5. Artificial construx (animated statues, clockwork beings, golems) 
6. Nature spirits (sprites, faes, blinking, nymph, unicorn, elemental, swampthing) 
7. Watchful guardians (skeletons, gargoyles, medusa, minotaur, sphynx, naga, mummies, beholder) 
8. Creatures of the night (zombies, ghouls, shadows, werebeasts, ghosts, vampires, demons) 
9. Monstrous hoarders (hydra, abomination, dragon) 
10. Mimics (doppelgangers, carnivorous traps, parasites, shapeshifters) 

Now the idea is to mix our palettes of monsters with these special flavors. I think that I would generate 6 creatures for each step of HD.

Generic palette

1HD

1. Hunting Bats (trained to hunt giant bugs) 
2. Tiny Faes riding on Frogs 
3. Cameleon Snakes 
4. Ratfolk Carpenters 
5. Collector Crabs 
6. Slimes Hounds 

2HD

1. Clockwork Bats 
2. Clawed Frogs 
3. War Snakes (warbeasts) 
4. Wolf-Rats 
5. Mule-Crabs (beasts of burden) 
6. Coins slimes 

3HD

1. Bat maidens 
2. Work Toads (beasts of burden) 
3. Snakemen shapeshifters 
4. Ghoul Rats 
5. Mace Crabs 
6. Ectoplasmic Slimes 

…9HD

1. Blind giants with batlikes features, live deep underground. 
2. Titan Toads (grumpy but gentle giants) 
3. The Watcher of the Ivory Tower (100 eyes giant snake) 
4. The Eater of the Deads (gigantic many headed humanoid rat queen) 
5. Old Molten (gigantic steam breathing Crab) 
6. War shamblers (gigantic slimes mind controlled for war) 

Whimsical palette

1HD

1. Blood Fireflies (drain blood with their light) 
2. Shoulder Anemone (pets) 
3. Temple’s Centipede (ivory carapaces) 
4. Laughing sticks (hyena made of tied sticks by witches) 
5. Trilobites Tribe (humanoids) 
6. Jellies Gloves (jellies that wrap around hands) 

2HD

1. Fireflies-Mentis (dog sized nasty hybrid) 
2. Guarding Anemone (dog sized crawling anemone) 
3. Rollers (centipede who roll on itselves and hunt in packs) 
4. Thirsty Watchers (hyena with eyes on their fur, must be summoned) 
5. Mermaid’s Masks (trilobite that sing like mermaids, their shell look like a woman face) 
6. Butterflies-Jellies (shimmering flying faery jellies, dissolve hopes) 

3HD

1. Ghost Fireflies (their ghostly light lure people like will-o-the-wisps) 
2. Shadow-Anemone 
3. Centipede-Gargoyles (take a lot of patience to sculpts the legs) 
4. Trap Jaws (clockwork big jawed hyena who eat metal bits) 
5. Crawling Masons (big land trilobites colonies who form stone structures) 
6. Jellies Ruffs (graft around neck to control host) 

...9HD

1. Balefirefly (demonic firefly that eat souls with it light) 
2. Anemone-Naga (guardian giant anemone-headed snake with multiple women heads hidden inside the anemone) 
3. The Horde (fire breathing giant centipede, named for it thousand legs) 
4. The Laughing Mother (giant centaur hyena woman) 
5. The Elder (Gigantic fossilized undead Trilobite) 
6. Carmina Jellies (vampire jelly that can take a humanoid form) 

Maybe I could use this to generate the biome of the Potoo Island.

Rolling on my random tables...

You arrive at the City of a Thousand Baths 

Travelers on the road told you (rolling on the people talking about towns tables):

• The city folks are relaxed, sensuous and open minded. 
• The city is a combination of new and very ancient architecture, the oldest building are linked together by underground tunnels. 
• The Folded Lotus is one of these very ancient bath house, it inner bath decorated in lapis lazuli is a marvelous sight. 

You settle first at the Folded Lotus (rolled on the city of a thousand bath houses post) 

• The building is a very ancient bath house.
• The bath house is run by a private administration (a old lady from a forgotten noble bloodline) 
• The staff wear special gloves and veils decorated with blue lotus flowers. 
• The lapis lazuli bath boost saving throws by 4 points...
• ... if you mix blood in the bath (at least a total of d6 dmg) ... 
• ... but you Gain a obvious non human trait (bio-luminescent spots)  
• the bath house is linked by labyrinthine passages to ancient city vestiges full of poisonous traps 
• While venturing in the tunnels you encounter outcasts, human hybrids of a ancient aquatic race. They seem scared and flee. 
• While resting at the bath house you discover that one of the baths is forbidden to some type of people. 

The ancient city vestiges contains (rolling on Random cultural influences for dungeon building tables)

• Artworks influenced by... a sworn enemy or competitor: water fountains and statue inspired by the Shadow Water School (forbidden stuff). 
• Philosophy tablets influenced by... a allied race or nation: tablets from the ancient coastal city of Xephir.  
• Luxury goods influenced by... a sworn enemy or competitor: perfumes from the kuo-toa (forbidden stuff). 

While resting at the Folded Lotus you learn about the issues of it personnel. 

(Rolling on the troubleshooters sandbox tables)

You learn that the old lady who own the Folded Lotus...

• actively seek help.
• her problem is stable.
• the problem is about a group or creatures.
• if resolved she will gain access to a useful location.

You learn also that a girl from the staff...

• don't seek help, but her problem is obvious. 
• her problem is very unstable
• her problem is about a special event, project.
• if not resolved, she will gain a negative reputation.

While helping people in the city you also visit other bath houses.

The Quiet Flame

• is a ancient building newly converted into a bath house 
• it foundations belonged to a ancient temple 
• the bath house is run by a guild
• the staff is well trained to protect the bath house
• one of the bath boost one wisdom by one bonus step...
• ... if you bath during the rising or setting of the sun...
• ... but you get a penalty of 3 in your saving throws when you are in the dark. 
• the bath house is linked to a place of knowledge (a old library full of stone tablets) 
• while travelling in the tunnels you meet shady people, smuggler of knowledges. 
• while resting at the bath house you notice that someone seem strangely out of place.

This out of place person...

• actively seek help
• her problem is stable
• her problem is about a NPC neutral toward her
• resolving this situation would grant her a positive psychological trait 

The Jade House

• is a new construction build by a avant-garde architect.
• the bath house is run by a mysterious oracle blessed by the gods  
• the staff are all betrothed to him  
• one of the bath boost hit points by one hit die...
• ... if you bath with a magical fish... 
• ... but you get a penalty of 1 AC point. 
• the bath house is linked to a private house
• while travelling in the tunnels you meet members of the bath house staff.
• while resting at the bath house you notice that one of the people bathing know one of the PC 

The oracle

• actively seek help
• his problem is stable
• the problem is about a creature neutral toward him (a magical fish)
• if the problem is resolved he will gain a new blessing

The person bathing who know one of the PC

• is secretive, he hide his problem and want it to remain secret. 
• his problem is unstable
• the problem is about a a special project 
• if the problem is not resolved he will enter in conflict with a faction

The Aquatic Tribes

While exploring the ancient levels of the city, you begin  to know the ancient aquatic folks who live in the underground lakes. (Rolling on the why these orcs are "evil"? table) 

• 6000 years ago, sad with the lost of a loved one, their leader made a dark pact with a dark deity. But a wise sorcerer was able to break the pact and sealed the dark goddess in one of the underground lakes. 
• 300 years ago a booming and ruthless economy followed by a crash destroyed their alliance with the upper city. 
• 100 years ago their territory was colonized by the forbidden Shadow Water School. Many hybrids were born during this time. 
• 6 years ago new rumors about the tribe started circulating, people fear that they want to awaken their dark goddess. 
• 1 month ago the Water Engineer Guild claimed ownership over one of their ancient cisterns to exploit it magical waters.  
• 4 days ago. human refugees from the city started to build a shanty town near one of their underground lake.
• The aquatic folk do everything as a family unit, children or elders are always present.  
• They have a good relationship with many of the declining human noble bloodline 
• They dislike the Oracle of the Jade House.
• They have a different historical version of a the city foundation. 

One day you discover a baby aquatic hybrid (rolling on the orc baby generator table):

• You see a giggling little thing with chubby arms, breaking things with a blood soaked doll, she look at you and wince,

Why these orcs are "evil"?

Recently there was some interesting discussions about evil monsters and I thought of writing some random tables that tell why a group of humanoids monsters are considered "evil" or more interestingly "enemies".

My goal is with these tables is to help make that tribe or orcs or bugbears you just rolled more interesting then just being "evil" or "chaotic". That said, a other solution can be to simply avoid using humanoids monsters and to use human factions instead.

Other interesting readings:
http://zedecksiew.tumblr.com/post/172688967221/of-palm-wine-women-and-war
https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.ca/2018/05/osr-invading-orcs-part-1.html

What happened?
These tables assume that these monsters were simply "neutral" in the past and that something happened to constantly put them in harsh situations that lead to them becoming harsh and being considered evil by humans.

You can roll multiple times on each tables if you want to generate a harsher and more complex history.

The mystical past (d10) (These events happened a very long time ago, maybe 1d6 x 1000 years ago. Their stories focus on how their heroes have free their people from these hardships. There is also the possibility that the supernatural elements of these legends are interpretation of more mundane historical events)

1. Their greatest guide or champion was corrupted by a powerful magical item.
2. Their leaders were under the control of a supernatural influence (mind parasites, demons, etc).  
3.  A evil deity or demon took over their old religion and corrupted their priests.   
4.  A giant monster (dragon, giant, kraken, etc) ruled over them for many generations. 
5. A dark lord befriended or subjugated them for his or her own dark goals. 
6. A petty and vengeful deity cursed them for the "sin" of a important hero. 
7. A greedy or misguided leader made a dark pact with a dark deity and regretted it.  
8. They pursued a dangerous art or science that unleashed a disaster or a curse. 
9. They exploited a corrupted resource that slowly corrupted their bodies and their civilization. 
10. They were hunted or enslaved by a magic using civilization (elves, dwarfs, titans, immortals, etc) 

The distant past (d10) (These events happened at least a 1d6 x 100 years ago) (different factions may have different interpretations of these events) 

1. They were exiled and forced to settle in a harsh or hostile environment.  
2. They were allied with a human faction that lost a major war. 
3. Their land was colonized by a human faction that was considered a enemy. 
4. The great war happened over their territory and devastated their lands. 
5. A positive leader or champion was assassinated and this created a moral vacuum. 
6. A corrupt dynasty supported by a outside faction ruled over them for generation. 
7. A natural disaster or calamity destroyed the new city they were building. 
8. Scarcity of a key resource destroyed their new way of living and pushed them toward harsher work. 
9. A booming and ruthless economy followed by a crash destroyed or ruined the new society they were building. 
10. A long and disastrous civil war violently teared them apart. The original conflict may be about allying themselves or not with a human faction.  

What recently happened to stir the anger? (d20) (The first event happened 1d6 years ago, the second one 1d6 months ago and the third one 1d6 days ago) 

1. Trespassing: a human faction is establishing a route through their territory.
2. Murder or hateful crime: a murder was committed on the tribe territory and accusations go both ways. (it could be a accident).  
3. Border dispute & skirmishes: local factions fight over the their territory.  
4. Land appropriation: a human faction claim ownership over their land and want to sell or exploit it. 
5. Population movement: the arrival of human refugees or settlers into their territory. 
6. Criminals: local criminals are hiding in the tribe territory. Humans accuse them of protecting them.  
7. Mercenaries: a mercenary band arrived in their territory to recruit new blood. Humans (and some of their own kind) fear their militarization. 
8. Rise of a biter leader: a biter and vengeful leader is rising in their ranks (or in a human faction targeting them). 
9. Scapegoating: someone have been wrongly accused of a crime or blamed for a accident. 
10. Rise of a populist leader: a populist leader target the other side and blame everything on them to gain political momentum. 
11. Corruption: a criminal or outside faction influence one of their clan or leader. 
12. Calamity: a natural disaster or plague devastate the land, blames go on both sides. 
13. Scarcity: a local resource is becoming rarer and force them to venture outside of their territory or human to venture into their territory.  
14. Succession war: a important clan leader died and the power vacuum risk to trigger a succession war. 
15. Bad trade: a trade with a human faction went very badly or was very exploitative. 
16. New predator: the arrival of a new monster push some of them toward human territories.
17. Harsh competition: the tribe and the human compete over a trade or the use of a resource or a location.  
18. Attacks: orcs or human travelers were attacked by unknown assaillants. 
19. Rumors: new rumors about the tribe or the humans circulate and generate fear. 
20. Break of treaty or pact: a pact or a treaty was not respected or broken (by necessity, accident or malice).

How they are not always seen as evil? (d20) (You can roll multiple times)  

1. They respect the quality of one of the six attributes (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA) (You may use this stat for reaction adjustments).
2. They master a craft and respect who master or respect it.  
3. They respect a common historical figure meaningful to a faction allied with the PCs. 
4. They respect the teachings of a old and still respected philosophy, religion, school, guild, army or faction.   
5. Some tribe members are know to work for humans (or to hire humans) and are appreciated for their competence. 
6. They like to trade goods and enjoy a good trade. 
7. The tribe have a mutual relationship with a faction allied with the humans. 
8. They always help strangers in a bad situation.   
9. Outcasts from their tribe live with humans and adopted human culture. 
10. They oppose a common enemy (for a relatable reason). 
11. They create and trade a unique resource.  
12. They have a good mentor of one of the PC class and respect members of the same class. 
13. They always show great hospitality and like to share food, drinks and laughters. 
14. They have beast companions that they respect and they show the same respect for other beast companions. 
15. They are very curious about the world and like to trade knowledge. 
16. They respect a old historical location set on their territory and respect history and who also respect it.  
17. They take great care of their sick and wounded.  
18. They show respect for their dead and to the land. 
19. They always honor a special greeting or sign that reference a historical alliance. 
20. They do everything as a family unit, children or elders are always present.  

How dealing with them can be complicated? (d20) (again you can roll multiple times)  

1. Their language is complex and hard to master and require skill rolls to avoid errors. 
2. They eat something strange and hard to digest (but delicious). 
3. They dislike a type of gear and look down on it use, they may use a alternate solution.  
4. Some members of their society have specific greeting or introduction habits that can be complicated to honor. 
5. They dislike a type of teachings or religion from the PC's culture.  
6. They dislike a historical figure or hero from the PC's culture. 
7. They dislike a type of creature allied or beneficial for the PC's.  
8. They dislike a type of spells or magic.  
9. They dislike a allied faction.  
10. They respect a enemy faction for their own reasons. 
11. They have beast companions that seem repulsive or dangerous. 
12. They have a special character class that do something that seem repulsive. Like fire bugs eaters who vomit fire. They can eventually offer to teach that class.  
13. They have a dangerous combat tradition that buy social currency. 
14. They dont eat or drink a type of food. 
15. They frown on the use of certain material for a specific function. Like gold can be good for sacred jewelry but they frown on it use for coins. 
16. They have a different version of a specific historical event.  
17. They don't trust a character class and it methods (but they could be actually good at it) 
18. They ritualise a specific activity and it take a longer time to do it. 
19. They do a specific activity only at a specific time, location or with a specific person. 
20. They respect and refuse to kill a specific monster (or type of monsters) that the PCs have to deal with. 

Elven Firefighters campaign

After drawing the elf maiden travelling in a water bubble I posted some drawings about elven firefighters having to protect their forest against fire based menaces and monsters. Sadly I lost those posts when I deleted my public collections on G+.

So here is a repost of what I remember.

The idea was to setup a non grim-misery-crawl OSR campaign. I mostly got inspired by the post "Playing Cute" on Gloomtrain.

• Most of the characters are elven firefighters (fighter-mages) apprentices who wield water and vegetation based spells. They are level 01 trainees. 
• The campaign start after their graduation but something happen and the firefighter veterans are cursed into a eternal sleep or are somehow magically disabled. 
• The safety of the forest now rest on the shoulders of those newbies PCs.
• The characters have access to some of the artifacts of the firefighter guild, but they have to learn how to unlock their potential. 
• XP is awarded for doing firefighter stuff. 
• The sandbox is build around the forest and it inhabitants. 

• The elves have a firefighter treaty with the other forest dwelling races, including the chaotic races like the Bullywug. The newbie firefighters will also have to keep the respect of those races to avoid losing their help.
• To add variety, some replacement or backup characters can be from the races that honor the firefighter treaty. It is often a political move for those races to send away a annoying member of their specie on firefighting duty to get rid of him or her.  
• For exemple this bullywug moss shaman who can summon moss spirits. 

• Most of the monsters encountered need help with some fire based menace or incident. 
• Like a troll that was stupid enough to eat something on fire. Now he can't contain the fire in it regenerating fire belly. He is afraid to set the fire of the forest but he dont dare to speak because he fear belching fire out of his mouth. So he get in a lot of trouble and incidents. Simply killing the troll is a solution but there is a big risk that he will explode and set up more fire!
• So the players have to find inventive solution to deal with the fire based menaces and monsters.

• As the character level up, the campaign escalade with the apparition of the Dark Fire. A corrupting fire that twist what it burn into monsters. 
• For exemple a dark fire treant, who is angry and resentful of the firefighters for failing at their duty and letting him burn. The fire treant become a dark fire king that try to spread the fire in the forest.

• Defeating some of the big monsters should also bring some hope and a opportunity for reconstruction. 
• Like when the dark fire treant die, if you open it bark you can find a Embers Dryad. If well nurtured this dryad can use her power to help the vegetation regrow after a fire, she can also sense the dark fire and travel between burning trees. Maybe she also have some limited fire control power. People dont trust her but she could be a new replacement character.   

The end game could be about lifting the curse from the firefighter veterans to awaken them or to accept that they are gone forever.

The City of a thousand bath houses

There is a labyrinthine city build around a thousand bath houses and a magical source of water.

Roll on those tables to generate the bath houses and to link them together.

TABLE 1: Bath house foundations
d4

1. Natural flooded caves. 
2. Ancient constructions, vestiges of a older city. 
3. Newly converted building (roll on table 1a).
4. New construction build by a avant-garde architect.

TABLE 1a: converted building
d4

1. Temple or noble house (forgotten religion or noble house) 
2. Bridge or tower or fortifications (defended against forgotten dangers) 
3. Theater or arena (decorated with forgotten plays or champions) 
4. Market or guild house (forgotten trade or craft)  

TABLE 2: administration

d6

1. Private (often noble) 
2. Cooperative (run by citizens) 
3. City official ( can be the city guard) 
4. Guild (choose a trade or craft) 
5. Temple (lawful, neutral or chaotic) 
6. Mysterious (supernatural) 

 

TABLE 3: staff

d8

1. Youth / old people
2. Blinds / mutes / disabled 
3. Males / Females
4. Single / Betrothed 
5. Free artisans / Slaves 
6. Nude / Wear special clothes 
7. Well trained to protect the bath house
8. Roll twice on this table or roll on table 3a

TABLE 3a: special staff

d8

1. Blessed
2. Cursed
3. Charmed
4. Possessed 
5. Invisible / never seen 
6. Non humans
7. Animated statues 
8. A single creature  

TABLE 4: one of the bath grant a magical boon... (until next bathing, falling in water & rain count as a bathing) 

d10

1. blessing (as level d6 cleric or a special blessing linked to a divinity) 
2. remove curses & cure diseases (permanent effect)
3. heal wounds & damaged attributes (permanent effect)
4. boost one attribute by one bonus step (randomly determined) 
5. boost hit points by one hit die 
6. boost one type of saving throw by 4 points 
7. boost armor class by 1 point 
8. grant useful visions near water 
9. cast a spell on someone or something (determine one random spell of level d4 or d6)  
10. Roll two time on this table but also roll on table 4b

TABLE 4a: if you... 

d10

1. bath during the rising or setting of the sun or moon or a star 
2. mix blood in the bath (at least a total of d6 dmg) 
3. chant a secret a difficult chant 
4. bath with poisonous jellyfishes 
5. bath with a special magical fish or water bird 
6. use a special and rare perfume 
7. have sex in the bath
8. drink moon milk that affect your personality 
9. consume a dangerous drug 
10. roll twice on this table 

TABLE 4b: but you... (until next magical bathing) 

d10

1. are cursed (as level d6 cleric or a special curse linked to a divinity) 
2. risk drowning or poisoning 
3. loose a bonus step in one attribute
4. loose one hit die (minimum 1 hp) 
5. get a penalty of 3 in one type of saving throw
6. get a penalty of 1 AC point 
7. get nightmarish visions near water  
8. attract a type of supernatural creatures 
9. Switch gender
10. Gain a obvious physical marking or non human trait 

TABLE 5: the bath house is linked by labyrinthine passages to a... 

d12

1. bath house build on natural caves foundations
2. bath house build on ancient constructions
3. bath house build in a newly converted building 
4. bath house of avant-garde architecture 
5. noble or private house  
6. guild house or market 
7. place of entertainement
8. place of knowledge
9. sacred or public place
10. natural cave or forgotten ancient city vestiges
11. architectural cistern or water conduit or source  
12. To d3+1 places (roll d10 on this table to determine their natures)

TABLE 5a: random encounters while travelling between two linked places

d12 (going to bath or looking for something or someone) 

1. strangers or adventurers 
2. city guards 
3. guild members 
4. nobles 
5. priest(ess) or religious devots 
6. kids or very old person 
7. shady people or criminals 
8. outcasts
9. bath house staff 
10. members of a non human race 
11. someone needing help (roll a d10 on this table)
12. creatures or monster that haunt the dark (or work at a bath house) 

TABLE 6: special details or events

d20

1. one bath is polluted or corrupted and need to be cleansed or blessed 
2. one bath is being redecorated by a strange artist 
3. one bath is dedicated to a special event or ceremony 
4. one of the baths is forbidden to some type of people 
5. someone was murdered in one bath 
6. a miracle happened in one bath
7. one of the staff of the bath house know one of the PC
8. one of the people bathing know one of the PC 
9. one of the bath house staff is missing (or sick)
10. someone seem strangely out of place or forgot something odd or strange. 
11. the bath granting boons is hidden behind a secret or locked door
12. the bath granting boons is protected by a secret trap
13. guards (or a single creature) are protecting the bath granting boons
14. the bath house administration is changing for a new one 
15. the bath house also offer exotic products or services 
16. the staff change at night (roll on table 3)
17. strange or occult paintings or ceramics in some of the rooms 
18. a map or a message have been carved in one the rooms 
19. exotic decorations with special effects (lights, illusions, perfumes) 
20. A supernatural creature haunt this place 

Cardinal origins and languages

Cardinal origins and languages for my Lost City campaign. 

Cardinal origins:
When you create your character roll a d6 and choose his or her cardinal origin. 
(The campaign is set in the eastern lands). 

• 1- 2 Northern or Western
• 3- 4 Western or Eastern
• 5- 6 Eastern or Southern

Each cardinal region host many kingdoms and cities. I keep them vague for now, but later if we develop the campaign, I (or maybe the players) will be free to invent villages, towns or kingdoms of origin. 

• Northern lands: the untamed north, cold and icy. 
• Western lands: pseudo medieval-Europe, farms, hills and dark forests.
• Eastern: pseudo medieval Middle-East, majestic mountains and lot of desert.  
• Southern lands: vast savannas, jungles, rocky cliffs and volcanic islands. 

(But those are only broad and general traits, it is totally possible to deviate from them.) 
(And there is also the "far" north, west, east and south.)

Languages of men:

• Cardinal Commons: each cardinal common (northern, western, eastern and southern common) can communicate with each other but with a reaction adjustment penalty. 
• Great Empire: the language that unified the Great Empire before it fall. Can understand Ancient Empire with a reaction penalty.  
• Ancient Empire: the near forgotten language of the first Empire of men. Can understand Great Empire with a reaction penalty.   
• Thief speak: local secret and coded language. Can understand rat speak and other thief speaks with a reaction penalty. (Thieves quickly learn local thief speaks and loose their reaction penalty after they spend some sessions in a new city). 

Languages of the Earth:

• Dwarven: can understand gnomish and old dwarven with a reaction penalty. 
• Gnomish: can understand dwarven and old gnomish with a reaction penalty.
• Old Dwarven: can understand dwarven and troll with a reaction penalty.  
• Old Gnomish: can understand gnomish and troll with a reaction penalty.  
• Troll Tongue: the old language of the Trolls (and giants). Can understand old dwarven and old gnomish with a heavy reaction penalty.  
• Cave speak: common language of the underdark, there is so many variants that it always used with a reaction penalty. 
• Old Folk: the language of house and field spirits. 

Language of the Forest:

• Elven: understand fae idiom with a reaction penalty. 
• Fae Idiom: the strange way of speaking of the faery. Understand elven with a reaction penalty. 
• Sylvan: the language of the sentient threes and plants creatures. 
• Slow Tongue: lizard men and reptilian creatures speak this ancient language. They can understand the Dark Egg Speak with a reaction penalty. 

Desert, Sea and Sky:

• Sea Tongue: the secret language of intelligent sea creatures. 
• Sky Song: the secret language of of intelligent avian creatures. 
• Desert Tongue: the secret language of the desert. 

Chaos Spawns:

• Spawns Tongues: the crude tongue of the cruel and brutish humanoids born from chaos (goblins, orcs, etc). They can understand each other with a reaction penalty.
• Dark Egg Speak: the language of Kobolds and chaotic reptilian cults. Understand the Slow Tongue with a reaction penalty. 
• Rat Speak: the coded language of were-rats and rat-creatures. Can understand thief speak with a reaction penalty. 

Alignment and magical languages:

• The Tablets of Law: the lawful language in witch the gods wrote the Tablets of Law. 
• The First Words: the neutral language that beast and human shared at the dawn of time. 
• The Changing Tongue: the changing language of magic and chaos. (Read Magic let you read the ever changing magical variations of the language). Can speak with chaos spawns with a heavy reaction penalty.   
• The Dark Utterance: the dark language of evil spirits and demons.
• Elemental Runes: elemental languages only usable as written runes. Can be slowly "spoken" as a sign language with a reaction penalty.    
• Gem Speak: the vibration language of gem creatures.

Any creature have a chance of 1 on a d6 to speak their alignment language (even animals). 

Magical creatures always know their alignment language (this include spell casting creatures). 

Extra languages

• Humans, Halflings and Half-Orcs start with their cardinal common language. 
• Dwarfs, Gnomes, Elves and Half-elves start with their racial language, a cardinal common language and a free additional language.
• Thieves and assassins also start with Thief speak.
• Clerics and Druids also start with their alignment language. 
• Magic-users and Illusionists also start with the Changing Tongue.
• Fighters learned a enemy language during a military campaign. But they now have a reaction penalty when dealing with this ancient enemy.    

A character origins and alignment determine his or her choice of additional languages: 

• Northern : western or eastern cardinal commons, Great Empire, Dwarven, Sea Tongue, Sky Song, Troll Tongue, White Spawn, Blue Spawn.
• Western : northern or eastern cardinal commons, Great Empire, Ancient Empire, Old Folk, Sea Tongue, Elven, Dark Spawn, Carrion Spawn. 
• Eastern : western or southern cardinal commons, Great Empire, Ancient Empire, Desert Tongue, Elven, Gnomish, Sky Song, Blood Spawn, Wish Spawn. 
• Southern : western or eastern cardinal commons, Great Empire, Dwarven, Old Folk, Slow Tongue, Sea Tongue, Ash Spawn, Green Spawn. 
• Elf : any cardinal commons, Great Empire, Ancient Empire, Dwarven, Sylvan, Sea Song, Sky Song, Fae Idiom, any of the Spawns Tongues, Storm, Ice and Stars Runes. 
• Dwarf : any cardinal commons, Great Empire, Ancient Empire, Old Dwarven, Gnomish, Elven, Troll Tongue, Cave Speak, Deep Spawn, Stone, Iron and Fire runes.
• Gnomes : Great Empire, Ancient Empire, Old Folk, Old Gnomish, Dwarven, Gem Speak, Cave Speak, Deep Spawn, Dark Egg Speak, Stone Runes.
• Halflings : any cardinal commons, Great Empire, Old Folks, Sylvan, Gnomish, Rat Speak.
• Half-Orcs : any cardinal commons, Great Empire, Troll Tongue, any of the Spawns Tongues, Dark Utterance, Rat Speak.

• Lawful : The Tablets of Law.
• Neutral : The First Words. (Druid only: Sylvan and Fae Idiom).
• Chaotic : The Changing Tongue. (Cleric & Magic-User only: Dark Utterance). 

• Thief: rat speak.
• Magic users: storm, ice, iron, stone, dust, water and fire runes.