davidvs.net
davidvs.net |
|
|
Rules • Themes • Bestiary • Religion • Races • Guilds • Families • Arlinac City • Maps • Adventures • Stories |
|
Themes Table of Contents
|
The other pages about rules and the sample setting include many short design notes to explain the reasons GAME uses its structures and themes. A few design themes require longer discussion and are presented here, after the rules but before the setting. |
A "frontier" setting works best with the Guilddom Adventures Made Easy rules to allow fun adventures with a GM and single PC.
What is meant by "frontier"? There are certain qualities common to this genre of adventure stories that allow a lone PC to survive and make a difference. Most traditional stories of this genre are set in the American West or in Edo-period Japan, but a fantasy setting works equally well.
First, the land around settled and governed territory is a frontier inhabited by dangerous animals and people. Nevertheless, most settled locations have a few loners living on the outskirts due to temperament, profession, or outcast social status. These loners are often in need of help from a single individual, or able to assist a single individual in efforts to clean up trouble in the nearby settled location.
Second, most adults (or perhaps only adults of one gender/class) carry weapons, because of the frontier's dangers. Also, most people cannot afford the price or encumbrance of significant armor, and wounds can be exacerbated by infection. Thus wounds from weapons are often fatal; a doctor near a conflict can only sometimes help the wounded. A lone protagonist need not be able to inflict tremendous harm to win most brawls and fights: being quick and agile enough to avoid being hit while hurting a few attackers will normally cause the rest of the attacking group to flee. Traditional frontier lone protagonists often have special options for effective healing involving rare medicines, herbal remedies, or meditative practices.
Third, society focuses on honor as much or more than law, because so many adults are armed with dangerous weapons. As a corollary, big government exists but does little, because it is annoying for big government to deal with an honor-focused, armed society at the geographical outskirts. Most adults pay little in taxation and receive little in services. When big government is present it is often an interruption to normal life (installing a trade route, chasing a criminal, claiming a resource, etc.). Local government is also of small scope, primarily doing law enforcement, because without big government bringing in wealth redistributed from a non-frontier location there is insufficient funding for local government to do much more that the basics. (Managing utilities, travel routes, and education may or may not be considered governmental basics.)
Fourth, most adults belong to multi-family social groups to provide support in crisis situations (births and deaths, loss of home or livelihood, natural disasters, etc.). Without government social services, people team up in other ways for protection from life's troubles. These social groups may be secular or religious; the various local groups may be peaceably cooperative or antagonistically competitive.
Fifth, corruption can control a settled location, because government is small and people are reliant upon social groups. A social group that grows into a dominating organization can often reign unchallenged. This allows for heroes to be "anti-heroes" who remain personally troubled and/or un-virtuous but are nonetheless able to save a settled location from local corruption or from dangers invading the settlement from outside.
How are these five elements of a fantasy frontier setting present in the sample setting?
Arlinac is isolated from other populated areas. The lands around it are dangerous because of monsters, bandits, evil lone Ogres or groups of Kobalts, and raiding Dweorgs. Yet Arlinac is strong enough militarily that the land just outside its city walls is the home of farmers, nobility, woodsmen, and others.
The culture of Arlinac allows carrying weapons. In theory alchemy can cure wounds very well but for most people such help is not reliably available or affordable. Fighting is accurately regarded as dangerous.
Arlinac lacks an effective central government. The city council claims to represent both the guilds and the nobility but in actuality does very little. Because the guilds maintain peace in their districts and the nobility on their manors, laws differ slightly throughout parts of the city and punishments can vary widely. Thus laws are few, government services are few, and the city's culture focuses on living a life that is respectable and honorable (at least when in public view) using broad terms.
Guilds, racial loyalties, family lineages, and religious groups provide support and security.
Most guilds and noble families govern their lands fairly. These factions compete with each other for power but treat their own members honestly and well. However, some leaders are corrupt and take advantage of their own people.
The GAME rules can be easily adapted for other settings: outer space science fiction, current day detective or spy stories, etc. When adapting the game mechanics please keep in mind the above five elements of a frontier setting which will help retain GAME's unique usefulness as a role-playing game designed for a GM and a single player.
The phrase "fantasy steampunk" is nearly meaningless. Many creative authors and illustrators have invented settings that blend magic and technology. In some magic fuels technology so that tiny fire elemental power steam engines or airships are luxurious cabins mounted underneath dragons. In other settings technology fuels magic so that factories churn out not only steam but a magical shield around the city, or mass production allows even beggars to ride flying carpets. In some settings either magic or technology is forbidden or carefully guarded lore used only by a few; in some settings one is forgotten lore from the ancients whose artifacts are a mysterious alternative to familiar; in other settings an invading army using one must be repelled by the locals using the other.
Nevertheless, through this great diversity of creativity a few themes do give some meaning to the phrase "fantasy steampunk".
Metaphorically, the introduction of machinery and golems into a fantasy setting symbolizes change, romantic scientific dreams, and wierd devices both impossible and replicatable. Most of all, the setting's heroes can no longer only be warriors because constructing or tinkering with gadgets is an important style of problem solving.
Visually, a fantasy steampunk setting is almost always urban. The city's machines and buildings have brass and rivets, boilers and gears, pipes, valves and thin smokestacks. In some areas of the city streets and machines are especially grimy and sooty, contrasted by other districts where the streets and machines are proudly polished and spotless. A few buildings seem almost alive, especially when deserted at night, because of the soft hum and rattle of lighting, heating or ventilation systems.
Culturally, a fantasy steampunk setting usually echoes the genteel etiquette of Victoriana, following after the earlier precedents of alternate history steampunk. Any character living outside the slums values art and in public will comport him- or herself with appropriate propriety. Yet the world is not prim and proper, for there is also an undertone of zaniness: absurd gadgets stand beside (or fly circles around) machines of gleaming grandeur.
Economically, a fantasy steampunk setting allows traveling merchants to thrive. In a setting without machinery, most settlements have craftsmen that make all common goods locally, which means only rare and luxury items are transported by merchants. However, in a fantasy steampunk setting a "rare" item can be any local inventor's specialty. Suddenly merchants have all sorts of marvels to hawk and peddle in town and city. Small quests about when a family's unique and sentimental gadget built by granddad is stolen by orcs, or an important prototype device plays a role in political intrigue.
Historically, a fantasy steampunk setting needs some background explanation to describe how widespread are inventors, gadgets, and factory infrastructure. Has machinery revolutionized travel and warfare? Has mass production entered the economy?
The GAME setting seeks to have magic (alchemy, transmutery, Mer cenotaphs, Bergtroll art enchantments, Unseemly enchanted items, strange things from the Enchanted Forest) balanced in influence and power with technology (chemstry, machinery, and Dweorg tempered tools and sthelmi). Because this particular fantasy steampunk setting is for a role-playing game, no Build skill should be vital or underpowered, no type of item should be absolutely needed to get through an adventure, and no skill should become useless if countered with a certain other skill. Similarly, some processes should help prepare for adventure instead of being useful for improvising a character's way out of a sticky situation.
What issues need to be considered so game balance is maintained when a fantasy setting includes just a bit of steampunk?
First, the creation and use of technology should be not scalable. It would upset game balance if a character could gain power just by building a bigger bomb, rocket, armored vehicle, military golem, or rifle. For this reason it is wise to keep the setting free of gunpowder and dry cell batteries. Let the characters deal with springs, steam, and capacitors instead. The setting should explain why villains that use machines or golems as person-sized servants do not all also use them as centimeter-tall spies and towering war constructs.
Second, technological creations should be temporary. Mass-production has implications that ruin most fantasy settings, and the smoothest way to avoid it is through a lack of demand for mass-produced machines caused by technology needing constant maintenance by skilled tinkers. Factories will be rare if each requires an army of expensive engineers for daily upkeep. Exotic vehicles will be entertainingly uncommon and unreliable if each is the pet project of its inventor.
Third, technology should be vunlerable. Characters who decide to use technology should acquire new worries as well as benefits. A clockwork tank or military golem should not be indestructible or have only one kind of weak spot. Sabotage by tinkering should be difficult to prevent if an enemy gains access to the machine, and some monsters should interfere with or be drawn to technology.
Fourth, technology should be sufficiently fantastical and wondrous to resist reverse engineering. Even a skilled engineer will not be able to build a robotic armored battle lizard by studying the broken remnants of the example that just attacked him. New skills and recipes are gained by apprenticeship and practice, not salvage.
All four of the above issues tend to be standard parts of fantasy settings. Mages cannot create arbitrarily huge fireballs, cast charm spells of eternal duration, create spheres of protection from evil that no foes can overcome, or learn to cast a spell just by watching another mage do so. Thus these four issues have significance because they are not new: since they already limit magic, for game balance they should also limit technology. The result is that magic and technology become equally arbitrary: both are inexplicable yet partially understood, both are reproducible sources of the unique, bazzar, and useful.
In the GAME sample setting, alchemy is an old, diverse, and widely-studied art. Its roots have flowed together from many cultures. Some recipes remain carefully guarded secrets, and a few have effects considered illegal or taboo in city culture. But alchemy itself is well-accepted everywhere in or near Arlianc City. The healing provided by alchemists has helped every family in the city. Professional alchemists are respected unless their business practices are unethical or their prices are unusually high. Amateur alchemists are common: knowing just enough alchemy to help heal scrapes, enhance a garden, or put a fussing child to sleep provokes neither distrust nor stereotypes.
Transmutery, the other "magic" art, is even more ancient and viewed as comforting and respectable. Its roots are so far in the past that they have been lost, and all that remains of the history of transmutery are legends that differ among the the intelligent races. Transmutery is widely used, with many people learning enough transmutery to more easily light a fire, check if water is safe to drink, and boil water without a stove.
Machinery was invented hundreds of years ago but through most of history kept secret by Dweorgs. It was developed by an isolated group of scholarly Dweorgs, led by the genius inventor Fraklon, who lived under Arlinac Mountain during the 300 years that rival Dweorg clans fought over Arlinac Mountain during the Age of Dragons. Only recently, as the number of Dweorgs who have made Arlinac City their home has grown, has machinery been seen or used by non-Dweorgs. Most of Arlinac City is still unaffected by machinery: its buildings and streets are lit by lamplight and served by pedestrian and cart traffic; the city's few electric lamps and steam-powered vehicles are either owned by Dweorgs or are the exotic toys of people both wealthy and eccentric. Machinists are welcomed into the Square Table and employed by the Grate family, but shunned in most other parts of society because Machinery is not trusted. It is too new, new unpredictable, and too often used by members of the Square Table to construct weapons or clockwork warriors. Even within the Square Table machinery is loved but not trusted: machines are tricky, and hopeful inventors abound but their significant inventions are few.
Chemstry, the other "technological" Build skill, is an ancient science. However, its use was lost until recently. For most of Arlinac Mountain's history golems were simply other "monsters" that lived under the city in ancient tombs and storerooms. But then explorers and archeologists from the Square Table discovered tablets under the mountain whose inscriptions revealed the basics of chemstry. Golems quickly become a part of Arlinac City's economy, helping with agriculture and industry. Other explorers have since found more tablets, resulting an many chem symbols being the secret property of an individual or organization (and thus the golems using those symbols are also protected). As news of golem use and construction spread to other kingdoms, golems and chems have become trade goods exported from Arlinac City. Golems themselves are accepted as useful tools, although many people are wary of the spreading use of golems as stories spread of golems (through poor chem design) ruining irrigation systems, furnaces, and doorways. No modern chems instruct a golem to aggression: if anyone did learn how to make warrior-golemns then the people of Arlinac City might quickly become opposed to chemstry.
Neither machinery nor chemstry are scalable. Machinery is not scalable because of how skill use works. The magic inherent in how chems work puts upper and lower size limits on golems, and how skill use works limits the usefulness of golems.
Technology is temporary because the products of machinery only run for a few hours before needing skilled upkeep. Golems lack that limited duration, but have a spatial limitation instead: in practice they can only be instructed to be useful in a physically small area (guarding or moving objects in a room or hallway, for example).
The lack of factory infrastructure and isolation of Arlinac Mountain limit the amount of ore in the city. Since metal is valuable only very rare machines or golems are sturdy. Now and then a PC might meet an armored combat machine or a golem made out of metal, but most machines and golems are easily breakable.
The overall social effect is that only simple machines and golems are commonly bought or sold, and none are mass-produced. Notable machines and golems are the private or pet projects of their creators, who are among the few with the skill required maintain and instruct them.
For most characters in the GAME setting transportation is unaffected by technology. The common and economical methods of travel are still walking, riding an animal, using a wooden cart on a road, and sailing by boat on the river. Although trains and zeppelins are iconic in steampunk settings they are absent in the GAME setting.
Finally, magic and technology do not mix well in the GAME setting, except in a rule included in how Build skills work to preserve game balance by rewarding characters who diversify skill points among multiple Build skills. Also, neither magic nor technology can create intelligence. Thus there is no factory-magic that can mass-produce potions or scrolls, and there are no analytical engines working as the brains behind a city or army.
If a setting's evils are most often villianous people and corrupt government then a single PC can be capable in opposing those evils. Thus political intrigue is an ideal setting for a role-playing game with GM and a single PC.
How can a GM create a setting of political intrigue and fill it with interesting adventures?
In most ways a well-made setting of political intrigue is very like a well-made horror setting. This realization allows us to discuss the construction of political intrigue adventures using the clarity of compare-and-contrast.
I first read about this connection between intrigue and horror settings at the website Roleplaying Tips. The excellent book Heroes of Horror helped me generate the following lengthy list of similarities.
In both settings the player is never sure which NPCs are pulling which strings. Every opponent is actually controlled by someone else. There is always a deeper layer of intrigue. The adventures link together because each adventure's dénouement includes a clue about a deeper layer of intrigue (usually the next layer, but it works well to occasionally leap-frog with such clues).
For most layers of intrigue the plots begins on a personal note. The PC notices some small, intriguing situation that is gradually revealed as an introduction to a larger scheme. Sometimes this is a freakish thing that happens to the PC: for example, the PC might wake up in the night as a burglar flees the PC's home, or the PC might start the adventure framed for a crime.
For some layers of intrigue the plot ends on a personal note: the mastermind turns out to be a loved one or employer of the PC.
Not all the layers of intrigue involve problems that can be solved with a physical confrontation. There are many tensions but very few become violent. Furthermore, for some tensions the PC has the ability to either calm the tension or cause it to flare into violence, but the PC does not know which course is best.
In both settings some curses are real. Influence extending from a deeper layer of intrigue might be from a curse instead of political, social, or economic leverage.
In both settings deep evil forces are drawn to people of evil heart and deeds. Thus purity has real value in evading evil influence. The PC must not only investigage layers of influence, but he or she must remain pure to avoid attracting the wrong kind of attention.
In both settings many of the opponents are flunkies with good intentions but who are following villanous orders. This creates dilemmas because an evil plan must be stopped but it is implemented by people trying to do good.
In both settings many (if not most) opponents initially cannot be directly attacked. Each has a unique weakness or need that must be identified before the PC can visit, bargain, or fight with that contact or enemy.
Both settings have long-term villains that provoke the PC. These villains are initially untouchable. They are normally secluded or hidden but make brief appearances to mock the PC.
A setting of political intrigue resembles the subgenre of horror in which monsters exist but are always subordinate to villainous people (or a monster has escaped from a person's control). Furthermore, the PC might know about different kinds of monsters and how to best combat them but a specific monster is commonly different in some way and must initially be cautiously treated as an unknown.
In both settings a physical location can become infused with vice or virtue. The place is not haunted, nor does it possess someone. Instead, it affects the motivations or emotions of people in that location. Relationships are strained and broken as tempers flare or loves confessed.
In both settings diseases have no easy cure (unlike many fantasy settings). Furthermore, both settings commonly include a once-major person dying of disease, whose withdrawal from society creates a troublesome social vaccuum.
Finally, the typical creatures of the horror genre stand in for kinds of corruption that affect politicians or other leaders. Sprinkle these archetypes among the nobles, politicians, or guild leaders!
In both settings each of the PC's victories should give the player emotional satisfaction without significantly affecting the world. For example, someone can be rescued from a corrupt official but the official remains in power.
On the other hand, the PC can do some small good even though the larger forces are not yet seen or understood. The player knows there are layers of intrigue but each success is significant despite it not touching the enigmatic and deeper layers.
In both settings the town or city is decaying. The PC saves people with each small victory, but the town or city can only be saved at the climactic end of the entire campaign. This is noted each time the PC returns to the town or city after traveling to a distant dungeon, going underneath the city in the sewers, or otherwise being away. The PC always returns to witness that corruption has spread among political leaders; often there is a new traitor among old allies.
In both settings the campaign has an overall mood that builds slowly with a few releases of tension. Many small events contribute to this increase in mood. Most of these small events have the same type of mood but occasionally a secondary mood is developed.
In both settings it helps to construct a timeline of events that describes how the plot develops if the PC was not there. The adventure is made flexible by the GM knowing what would happen if no hero or heroine arrived to save the day.
Also, clues are distributed among witnesses in an overlapping manner. No one saw or knows the whole story, but everyone saw a few things and the accounts overlap.
The player will often feel fear for the PC's safety, and perhaps fear from the mood or setting, but never dread. In contrast, a well-made horror setting is based on a constant atmosphere of dread.
Although terrible things might happen to the PC or his/her loved ones, the PC will never need to do despicable acts to survive. In contrast, many horror settings place the hero in a situation where the only solution involves betraying one's morals or harming one's self.
The PC must reply on skill, wits and fortitude. In contrast, many horror settings portray heroism of any flavor with a sharp contrast by having a great evil poised to triumph, or the whole environment tainted by corruption.
The PC will have many doubts, but these will be doubts about what people are doing purposefully sown rather than doubts about what is real that exist simply as a side-effect of horrific things.
Political intrigue focuses on social influence, reputation, leverage, and arrangements. Horror seldom has people vying to discredit each other, cement control over an economic endeavor, or arrange marriages or social affairs.
In Guilddom Adventures Made Easy the most common opponents for the player character are normal people: members of the intelligent races.
Humanoid foes provide tremendous diversity. The first encounter with a Dangerous Ooze may be memorable as the PC discovers what the monster is like and how to deal with it, but after dozens of adventures, Oozes become a well-known type of opposition and the sense of mystery is gone. Not so with bandits, raiders, corrupt nobles, or mad scientists! Each can be memorably different even if the numbers on their character sheets are quite similar.
Mystery adventures (an ideal genre for a single PC) rely heavily on humanoid NPCs. If the task was simply to go slay a bunch of monsters, why would the PC get involved? A larger team of adventurers would be better suited for job! The bread-and-butter of mysteries is conversations with people to gather information followed by a climactic confrontation with the person who has been hiding a secret. Since this is a fantasy RPG then sure, there is a monster or enchanted item: buy why was the butler keeping it hidden in the attic?
Normal folk are the most flexible foe. Most monsters present a fairly predictable level of danger from a fixed range of abilities. Not so with normal folk! Skill levels vary and equipment can include enchanted items and built items, ensuring that there is no typical example for "normal" folk!
The GAME rules and setting are structured to help a GM easily improvise NPCs.
There are four steps:
As an example, imagine that the PC is traveling along a road and the GM decides, on the spur of the moment, to have some bandits attempt to rob the PC.
The information at the top of the character sheet is easy to improvise.
The GM picks the race, gender, and profession for the NPC. The naming conventions for each race make it quick to invent a name. The race also determines the maximum FP.
Remember that age means different things to the different intelligent races. The exact age of an NPC is usually unimportant; what matters is the lifecycle stage.
| Race | Stages |
|---|---|
| Therion | count their life in decades |
| Ogre | Tusked, Horned, or Grand |
| Dweorg | youths, raiders, artists, or elders |
| Kobalt | workers, hunters, warriors, or captains |
| Pixie | female then male |
| Bergtroll | double in size every 80 years |
Normally NPCs lack advantages and disadvantages, as well as unspent EXP. But the GM could decide to include these.
Recall the generalizations about which armor and weapons are favored by members of each race. These stereotypes are secondary to profession (any castle gate guard will wear plate armor, regardless of race) but are often helpful.
| Race | Common Armor | Common Weapons |
|---|---|---|
| Therion | none or light | spears and nets, bows and crossbows, other weapons also |
| Ogre | what disguise allows | blunt melee weapon, ranged weapon |
| Dweorg | scale or chain | hammers and picks |
| Kobalt | hard leather | melee weapon, claws and teeth, crossbow or harpoon gun |
| Pixies | none | any |
| Mer | none | nets, spears, and crossbows |
| Bergtroll | any | any |
| Unseemly | any | blunt melee weapons |
With these few, quick decisions the top of the character sheet is complete.
Let's continue with our example.
|
In our example, the GM invents the basic information for two bandits. The top of a blank character sheet guides the GM's creativity.
The GM needs to decide upon a race and name for each bandit. For this example, the GM decides that the bandits are a pair of Therion brothers. After glancing at the naming conventions for Therions, the GM designs the names Birp and Malx. As Therions, Birp and Malx have 8 FP. Among Therions, age is a matter of decade. The GM decides the bandits are in their 30s. The GM decides Birp has neither an advantage nor a disadvantage, whereas Malx has Danger Sense and Impovershed. Neither bandit has unspent EXP. As Therions planning on aggression, Birp and Malx probably wear light armor (DR 1, ENC 0). The GM briefly considers having them wear medium armor (DR 2, ENC 1). This would be unusual enough that it would feature as part of their back-story (they looted a battlefield, they are old and experienced bandits, they recently held up an armor merchant, etc.). The GM decides two foes in light armor are more appropriate to give this PC flexibility about whether to bargain, fight, or flee.
|
An experienced GM can instantly invent an interesting back-story for NPCs. The GAME sample setting attempts to be rich enough to help fuel this creativity.
|
The GM first thinks about the NPCs' race. Can both of the Therions use therianthropy with all animals? Birp can; Malx has no therianthropy. As Therions, did they grow up in Arlinac or a small town? A small town. Next the GM considers the build skills. Neither brother uses build skills. They grew up in a small town doing woodcraft and hunting. The GM then considers guilds. As adults the brothers moved to Arlinac to find employment with the Navigators. Their experience in woodcraft and weapons led them to become guides and guards for members of the Navigators traveling into the woods to capture animals to sell in the city as pets. The GM concludes by considering the noble families, and decides the brothers have no ties to any noble family. |
Once the NPC has a back-story, his or her skills become readily apparent. Recall what meaning each skill value represents:
| Skill | Meaning | Easy Success Rate | Challenging Success Rate | Hard Success Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | You are trying to mimic what you have seen others do. | 13% | 2% | 0% |
| 1 | You use this skill monthly. Sometimes you need help. | 25% | 6% | 2% |
| 2 | You use this skill weekly. You understand it poorly. | 38% | 14% | 5% |
| 3 | You use this skill regularly. You are considered proficient. | 50% | 25% | 13% |
| 4 | You use this skill daily. You understand it deeply. | 63% | 39% | 24% |
| 5 | You use this skill as a professional to earn a living. | 75% | 56% | 42% |
| 6 | You are the best in your town at this skill. | 88% | 77% | 67% |
| 7 | You are the best in your region at this skill. | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 8 | Your use of this skill is unprecedented. | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Third, recall which skills were dominant for each intelligent race. The GM could boost these dominant skills to three even if the NPC would not use them regularly.
| Race | Dominant Characteristic | Dominant Skills |
|---|---|---|
| Therion | none | Throw/Ensnare and Shoot/Fire |
| Ogre | Brawn | Lift/Smash and Wilderness/Escape |
| Dweorg | Build | Machinery and Block/Dodge |
| Kobalt | none | Hack/Slash and Perception/Track |
| Pixies | Balance | Leap/Tumble and Sneak/Hide |
| Mer | none | Transmutery and Chemstry |
| Bergtroll | Brains | Bargain/Appraise and Social/Etiquette |
| Unseemly | none | Alchemy and Ride/Pilot |
What skill ratings would our example bandits have?
|
The bandits' primary activity is woodcraft, so the GM gives them 5 skill in Wilderness/Escape. Like many Therion, these two use spears and nets. They get a 4 skill in Throw/Ensnare. As bandits they experience some melee combat. They get a 3 skill in Hack/Slash. The brothers also take loot to a fence, so they get a 3 skill in Bargain/Appraise. As Therions, they also have 3 skill in Shoot/Fire. They own one bow, which Birp normally carries. Their other skills are either 1 or 2, based upon the GM's estimate of how often that skill is used. The GM decided to make these bandits unusually tough, and gives them a fair amount of TLs, spread among three combat skills. Since these NPCs are minor characters seen only in one encounter, they are not notable in any characteristic.
|
Fourth, recall what types of enchanted items are created or received by each intelligent race. The NPC might own or seek an enchanted item of this type.
| Race | Enchanted Items |
|---|---|
| Therion | none |
| Ogre | none |
| Dweorg | tempered tools and weapons that grant a +1 bonus, ancient Sthelmi that enhance skills |
| Kobalt | none |
| Pixies | none |
| Mer | statues called cenotaphs that turn into traps or fighting monsters |
| Bergtroll | artwork whose special power fits its theme |
| Unseemly | all sorts, usually with both usefulness and danger |
Let's conclude our example.
|
Since these NPCs play only a minor role in the adventure, the GM only worries about their enchanted items, armor, weapons, and loot. Birp and Malx have no enchanted items. (They once stole a few tempered tools, but sold them to a fence.) Both bandits wear leather armor. Both carry a net designed to ensnare a humanoid when thrown. Birp has a bow and quiver of 10 arrows. They each have a spear and long dagger. They carry a total of 20 coins. Their camp can be found with a Challenging Perception/Track skill check. At their camp is a supply of food (mostly meat from their hunting) and 120 coins in a small box. |
Monsters fit into the game mechanics in a few different ways. I'll call these "flavors" of monsters, as opposed to how the setting puts monsters into "categories" based upon habitat and origin.
The "flavor" of a monster provides generalizations about its intelligent, group size and behavior, lifecycle stages, typical combat behavior, goals, wealth and equipment, possible domestication, and other factors.
Most monsters are just like a normal non-player character. They have skills, talents, armor rating, etc. They act once per turn, as a normal non-player character does. They may have interesting equipment or special abilities.
Puddle Creatures are oozes, puddings, jellies, molds, and slimes. All are "colony" creatures made up of a large number of single-cell units which are each barely visible to the eye.
Puddle Creatures are the least intelligent foes. Their only activities are resting or looking for food: they have no other goals, and own no wealth or equipment. They are normally solitary, except when a Puddle Creature has been very recently split into parts.
All Puddle Creatures are semi-transparent and puddle-like. They are usually still, but may be slowly undulating across the ground or creeping along a wall or roof. In bright light they are easy to see, but in poor light they are difficult to notice unless moving: outdoors they may be covered by vegetation they have not yet digested, and underground they can be mistaken for wet floor. As a Puddle Creature ages it becomes even more difficult to see.
Puddle Creatures are able to detect heat and can track warm-blooded creatures by their footprints.
Puddle Creatures are completely resistant to therianthropy. Alternatively, some stories say that therianthropy works but entering a body that lacks a brain causes the Therion to go mad.
Puddle Creatures attack by Ensnaring prey. The portion of the prey Ensnared suffers damage each turn. The amount of damage depends upon how much of the prey is Ensnared, with extra damaged caused by very large Puddle Creatures.
The five traditional ways to attack Puddle Creatures are by cutting, smashing, burning, freezing, or electrifying. For each kind of Puddle Creature two of these are especially effective, two do nothing, and one causes the creature to split into smaller, unharmed pieces.
Each kind of Puddle Creature has a different, dangerous "death throe". As it dies it splatters, explodes, expels spores, etc. Adventurers who attack a Puddle Creature should try to kill them from a distance.
Puddle Creatures age through six lifecycle stages, nicknamed Compost, Outhouse, Nuisance, Dangerous, and Deadly. These correspond to its maximum colony size: the single-cell units need to age before being able to effectively network in larger numbers. A Puddle Creature advances a lifecycle stage about anually. Puddle Creatures are often kept by members of the intelligent races for waste disposal purposes, kept safely in the bottom of outhouses or garbage pits. These "household puddles" need to be destroyed before their third year, for by that age a colony can be dangerous.
The smallest Puddle Creatures (Compost size) can only dissolve cellulose (plant material). They are often purposefully put in compost piles. Slightly larger colonies (Outhouse size) gain the ability to also dissolve proteins, but can still be safely kept in a metal container or at the bottom of a rock-walled pit. When an colony has grown to about three feet in diameter (Nuisance size) it gains the ability to also dissolve fats, making it a threat to sleeping animals. An even bigger Puddle Creature (Dangerous size) gains the abilities of dissolving rock and releasing spores that cause sneezing and dizziness. The largest Puddle Creatures (Deadly size) can release spores that paralyze and/or cause hallucinations.
Living Traps are mindless plants or animals that cause explorers inconvenience or are an obstacle to travel. They are not intelligent but can be aware of their surroundings and poised to react. They can be dangerous, but do not "attack" as a normal foe by making a skill attempt each turn in a combat.
Typically, a plant Living Trap contains many individual plants growing close together, whereas an animal Living Trap is a solitary creature.
Normally Living Traps are not given sample stats, since they are not fought in combat and are too mindless to have skills. They do have Fatigue Points, and grow in size and sturdiness as they age. Some Living Traps progress through distinct lifecycle stages as they age; others do not.
Therianthropy works normally on Living Trap animals, although most are not very mobile: the Therion may acquire a good disguise, but not much other benefit.
A Living Trap is not intelligent enough to use equipment, but because it is stationary there may be interesting items beside it among the undigestible remains of prior adventurers.
Only a few kinds of Living Traps remain healthy if uprooted, transported, and domesticated. These are valuable on the black market as guardian creatures.
A few types of monsters cause problems with certain skills. By their very nature, proximity to one of these monsters fouls up the corresponding skill. The anti-skill monsters are all long-lived; the older they get, the farther extends the range of their ruinous ability.
Anti-Skill Monsters are only barely intelligent. Many can detect the use of the skill they oppose and "feed" by using their ruinous power. Others interfere with skill use unintentionally, as a side-effect of some other activity.
Those Anti-Skill Monsters that interfere with Build skills are the most troublesome. Not only do they disrupt the active use of a Build skill, but their proximity also ruins any items created using that Build skill.
Fortunately, Anti-Skill Monsters are solitary and not dangerous in combat. They do not grow large or advance through lifecycle stages. Once noticed they are easy to transport or kill. Unfortunately, by the time they are noticed something disastrous has usually already happened.
Anti-Skill Monsters that are easy to feed are valuable black market commodities.
Swarmers are monsters (often insects or rats) that are dangerous because they attack in groups. A few Swarmers can teleport and use this ability to ambush prey and/or retreat if wounded. The size of a group varies with the kind of Swarmer.
Fortunately, most Swarmers are fragile. One hit will kill an individual Swarmer, because it has few Fatigue Points and no Armor Rating.
All Swarmers attack in groups. But different types of Swarmers attack differently. The group can run, leap, or fly into melee range together and then fall back after a joint attack. The group can use a ranged attack, with close group members attempting to stay out of melee range while farther away group members shoot the target. The most dangerous groups base their damage not upon the excess of a skill check, but instead use as many damage dice as half the number of group members attacking that turn.
Some Swarmers continue to attack after taking damage, with wounded individuals retreating to safety. Other Swarmers will all retreat as soon as any group member is killed.
Swarmers often have a nest or lair, but such places seldom contian wealth or treasure.
Swarmers are never domesticable.
Hybrid-Men are humanoids with have the heads and/or limbs of animals or plants. Most have bodies like a Therion's but a rare Hybrid-Man will resemble one of the other intelligent races instead. The size of Hybrid-Men varies: some are scaled so that their humanoid parts are of normal size, others are scaled so that their animal or plant parts are of normal size. None of the Hybrid-Men are shapechangers, although some behave like bears and use both a bipedal posture (for standing and tool use) and quadrapedal posture (for running).
Hybrid-Men are intelligent. Perhaps because of their animal/plant side, most Hybrid-Men are not very clever or creative but are very aware of their surroundings. They seldom craft items but may have found or looted armor, weapons, and equipment.
Hybrid-Men usually live in small groups and survive by raiding and thieving. In dangerous times these small group unite into a large band, in which Hybrid-Men take on the roles of scouts, messengers, raiders, and captains.
Each kind of Hybrid-Man is a distinct species that can only breed among its own members. The different kinds of Hybrid-Men are antagonistic towards each other, usually attacking on sight. Hybrid-Men do not age through lifecycle stages.
Some Hybrid-Men are tamed or bribed and become servants of a person or a Power. This is very rare, because Hybrid-Men only use the most primitive of language.
Biggies are huge, slow monsters. They can only attack every other turn. On odd turns they use Dodge/Block if able, or get no action. (When fighting a Biggie it helps to use Block/Dodge the turns it attacks, and make your own attacks on the turns it does not.)
Most Biggies are solitary creatures, who potentially have great age but do not progress through lifecycle stages.
Biggies normally live in lairs and drag their slain prey into the lair before eating it. Thus the lair may contain treasure, at least the weapons and metal equipment from past humanoid prey.
Biggies can raised in captivity if captured while very young or hatched from their eggs. Even though none ever become tame enough to be pets, they are kept as guardian animals. It is a source of great esteem in Bergtroll society to have a Biggie guarding your castle or keep.
Pack Hunters are notably intelligent creatures that hunt in packs. A pack may contian as few as 4 or as many as 20 members: the size of a pack is bigger where food is plentiful.
Pack Hunters cooperate to make best use of their natural abilities. Often several related kinds live together. Pack Hunters do not age through lifecycle stages, so related kinds of creatures living together provides the variety among a pack's members.
Pack Hunters may have lairs or be nomadic. They seldom have wealth or equipment, except what might be found amidst the remains of recent prey.
Therianthropy works on Pack Hunters, but it is seldom used because the pack is not fooled by the imposter.
Pack Hunters cannot be truly domesticated. An infant creature may be tamed for its first months or years, but eventually it will go wild.
No one knows why the condition named necromobility occurs, or why its different causes all produce the same symptoms on corpses. Undead can be created by curses from the Enchanted Forest, a famous meteor in the Ognost Plains, or mysterious disasters. Among the intelligent races, necromobility appears to even be possibly caused by a great emotional anguish that ensnares someone even beyond death.
As an Undead feeds to satisfy its specific needs its changes drastically, progressing from an initial stage in which it is a mindless creature animated by magic through developments of metabolism, strength, special abilities, and intelligence. Less advanced stages of Undead ignore each other; more advanced Undead can control lesser Undead. Undead can appear in any size group. Lesser Undead are nearly mindless, and are thus usually found near the source of their necromobility; large groups of Undead are usually limited to such locations.
All Undead have glowing white eyes. Undead do not age. Whatever evil power animates them prevents natural decay. Lesser Undead do not heal, so these are often badly wounded or sometimes even skeletal.
Undead cannot be affected by therianthropy. An Undead who was once a member of the intelligent races can still be affected by semblancy (an Ogre can to impersonate one).
Among humanoid Undead, the developmental stages are named Zombie, Ghoul, Ghast, Wight, and Lich.
A newly created Undead is a Zombie. Zombies are not intelligent. The power that animates them is primitive and works sloppily: they move slowly and jerkily, are almost mute (able only to groan and wheeze). They are unable to use any tool requiring more coordination than a club or thrown rock, and even with these they are not very accurate. Even though they are individually not skilled at combat they can still be dangerous when in groups. They have no sense of self-preservation and attack relentlessly without tactics or defensive actions. A group of Zombies will lack teamwork, and if there is enough room an adventurer can often lead the group so it pursues single-file. They only desire a Zombie has is to eat the brain of living or recently killed creature. If it does this it becomes a Ghoul. Zombies are supernaturally aware of nearby living brains. A Zombie that is not following the orders of a more advanced Undead will be idle unless it notices a brain to pursue. Zombies cannot sense brains through walls or glass-paned windows.
A Ghoul, having eaten a brain, seeks more flesh. But Ghouls do not mind long-dead flesh, and often find graveyards where they can satisfy their craving. They stay in groups if possible, aware of their slow and weak state. They are not mindless but are very slow to make a decision. As Ghouls feed they gain coordination until they only occasionally betray the jerky and staggered movements to which they were once limited. They also being to regain a metabolism, and slowly heal, but loose all their hair and may carry disease. Ghouls sweat and have saliva: their sweat is poisonous and accumulates under their fingernails, their saliva causes paralysis. When a group of Ghouls attacks, each Ghoul will have a large rock and most will have a club or other one-handed weapon. The rocks are thrown first, if possible from an ambush. Then the Ghouls scratch/bite unarmored prey, or strike at armored prey with their weapons. Wounded Ghouls retreat to allow others to take their place. The paralyzing bite of a Ghoul uses twice as many Damage Dice on unarmored opponents, but its loss of Fatigue Points only lasts half an hour.
A Ghast is a Ghoul that has become satiated with dead flesh. Now it wants living prey. Ghasts have developed a fully functional metabolism. They heal normally and have regrown a little of their hair. They no longer have poisonous sweat or paralyzing saliva. Ghasts have regained the coordination and agility they had before death. They move quickly. If they were a member of the intelligent races they are cunning and predatory, use weapons and tools, and often plan ambushes that give them the first attack. They will flee combat if they loose their initial advantage. Ghasts develop a keen ability to track living prey, and have an excellent sense of smell. Ghasts may travel in groups, but often prefer to travel alone or in pairs to better rely on stealth. They often set traps: they realize they do not make good traps, but even a dud trap can distract adventurers long enough to facilitate an ambush.
The "Ghast" stage is the most advanced form of necromobility possible for animals and most creatures. However, among members of the intelligent races two more stages can happen.
A Wight is a Ghast that has become satiated with eating the living. Its next yearning is to absorb magic by keeping enchanted items next to its skin. Wights can detect nearby magic and will often stealthily follow a trade caravan or other group that owns a magical artifact to steal the item late at night. Wights are very sneaky, avoid combat when possible, and may leave if given the item or items they desire; some are even intelligent enough to bargain with. A Wight almost looks like its old race, but still has glowing white eyes and little hair. It regains its former racial ability, and also develops a strangely disorienting breath: those they breathe upon become dizzy and sleepy, usually succumbing to a brief, harmless, hallucinogenic stupor. Wights normally equip themselves similarly to a living adventurer: armor, missle and melee weapon, and trap materials. Some Wights practice the Build skills, and many carry useful alchemy potions (healing, speed, or sleep gas vials) even though alchemy potions do not directly contribute to their accumulation of magical energy. Wights normally dwell and attack alone or in pairs.
A Lich is a Wight who has consumed enough magic to progress to the final stage of necromobility. A Lich is an ironic Undead, for it has lost its old life but has developed new hopes and dreams. Vigorous in metabolism and satiated with magic, it now wants to blend into society to rule or accomplish other objectives. Some liches hate their Undead existence, but most view necromobility as a slowly-realized benefit they enjoy and celebrate in twisted ways. If a Lich has a weakness it is in its cruelty: most Liches that are discovered are identified because there are needlessly and inexplicably sadistic and cruel. Liches are keenly intelligent and strong-willed. They completely regained their original appearance, including losing the Wight's disorienting breath and regrowing their hair, except that in darkness their eyes can still be seen to glow slightly white. They are practiced with many skills and the use of their racial ability; ancient Liches have exceptional skills and talents. Liches also have a stare that can momentarily hypnotize intelligent creatures; a few stories tell of a Lich able to mentally command animals (most often rats but in one story beetles) but these accounts, although frightening and memorable, are unreliable. Killing a Lich is difficult because they naturally heal from most wounds, poisons, disease, and any other damage; the only sure way to kill them is beheading, which causes their eyes to briefly flare brightly with light. There is no typical Lich appearance or behavior in combat; Liches differ as much as any living, intelligent warriors.
Dragons are large, thick-skinned lizards with a breath weapon who gain power from hoarding treasure. They are initially slow and ponderous, only attacking once every other combat turn.
As a dragon ages it increases in size and FP similarly to most large creatures. But most of a dragon's abilities depend upon the types of treasure in its hoard:
Many unintelligent dragons are immune to Therianthropy. This could be due to hoarded armor, but stories also say this is because at least half of the unintelligent dragons are actually Therions who have been in the form of a dragon for so long that their own personality and intelligence has been lost, replaced by a dragon's.
A Therion using a dragon's shape retains that shape (including whether it has wings, its potential speed, and its AR) irregardless of how the dragon's hoard subsequently changes. Draconic breath, hypnotization, transmutation, and transformation into an elemement are not copied with therianthropy.
The more intelligent dragons may have higher skills than listed on the following character sheet.
Why would a role-playing game designed for a single PC involve adventures in dungeons? A dungeon crawl is the genre of adventure that normally has the most need for a party of many PCs! But there are good reasons the sample setting incldudes dungeons as well as Arlinac City.
First, tradition! For many players there is something enjoyably nostalgic about ten foot wide corridors, monsters guarding locked chest, and tricky yet avoidable traps. (Maybe lots of traps. Some players adore them, although I never personally understood this flavor of play.)
Second, dungeons are easy to narrate for a young or inexperienced GM. An adventure involving political intrigue is more difficult to run than a maze filled with monsters, traps, and treasure.
Third, a dungeon offers distinct environmental hazzards. Darkness, mazes, slippery slopes, secret doors, submerged rooms, and other problems are common in dungeons, but seldom found in cities. In a dungeon line-of-sight is usually quite limited, handicapping many kinds of magic and missile weapons. The dungeon may also pose the threat of getting physically stuck in a location, which is also rare in a city setting.
Fourth, dungeon adventures provide a challenge involving preparation and resource management. In a city adventure, the PC can almost always take a quick break to shop for more supplies or hunt around town for more clues. Part of the traditional challenge of a dungeon crawl is that entering the dungeon cuts off the PC from civilization, so the PC must be extra thorough in his or her preparations and once inside be wary of using up consumables (healing potions, one-use items, etc.).
Fifth, the dungeon provides narrative boundaries. Most, if not all, of the campaign plot is unaffected by what happens in the isolation of a dungeon. This is especially helpful when a player's friend wants to be a second PC for only one game session: if the visiting PC is in a dungeon he or she cannot inadvertantly offend the important diplomat, break the important item, or cause the criminals to kill their hostages.
Sixth, the narrative boundaries of the dungeon provide a traditional reason for monster clumping. Monsters whose biological niche is dark caves, damp grottoes, or quiet ruins gather in such places. A setting with many creatures who prefer those locations offers an excuse for why the nearby small village has not been overrun by monsters.
Seventh, a dungeon allows the PC to be exceptional and heroic. Most players have the most fun doing their own fast talking and diplomacy while letting the dice make their character proficient at killing monsters. Thus many PCs are only average at navigating social situations but unusually skilled at combat. A dungeon requires many battles but few social graces, and so is a place for that kind of PC to shine.
Finally, it is traditional to divide a big dungeon into sequential regions (usually descending levels) that correspond to increasing difficulty. This allows the player to select the difficulty he or she wants. Note that no dungeons this big are included in the GAME sample setting.
So dungeons serve worthwhile purposes even in a role-playing game with a GM and a single PC. But why would that PC go near such a dangerous place? The setting needs to provide different motivations for adventuring in a dungeon and varied kinds of dungeons to explore.
In the GAME sample setting the Powers create different kinds of dungeons and assist adventurers who enter them.
MORE HERE...
Caves are under the authority of by Speleoth the Grin, and most caves suitable for adventuring were created directly by Speleoth as challenges for explorers.
Speleoth commonly aids those who enter a cave simply to experience the joys of exploration and discovery. The Griffin may aid a PC who enters a cave to hunt a crazed or rampaging Fall Animal. The Archeologist may ask a PC to retrieve a historically significant artifact lost in a cave. Old Man River may oppose those whose activities in the caves of Arlinac Mountain harm the Arlin river, either directly or by calling on his Navigators to administer justice.
Common cave creatures include any from the Cave Dweller category and Pookish humanoids. Sometimes Wilder-ness creatures inhabit the portions of caves nearest the entrance.
A cave ecosystem will normally lack mechanical traps, but many similar perils are part of caving. Explorers must deal with darkness, steep slopes, narrow ledges, thin floors, slippery dampness, and falling stalactites. Many of the Living Trap category of Wilder-ness plants also thrive in caves.
Big Blackie often helps members of his Dragon Dominon set up a defensible lair. Large dragon lairs are complex enough to be a type of dungeon. To keep most visitors away and drain the resources of those who persist in finding the lair, a worthy lair is hidden in a remote location made perilous by difficult terrain, dangerous creatures, and false trails. The nearest villages or towns are often coerced or bribed into helping the dragon by reporting and sabotaging visiting adventurers. The lair itself is large and maze-like, with many rooms large enough for the dragon to hide or fight as well as multiple hidden escape routes. Traps make corridors dangerous and minor treasure rooms dangerous diversions. Troublesome plants, oozes, and anti-skill creatures compliment the traps. Secret rooms hide most of the dragon's hoard but also have the most devious traps.
The Lamia often helps dragon-slayers, for she is the ancient enemy of Big Blackie. The Archeologist also frequently aids dragon-slayers, for dragon hoards contain artifacts from many cultures. Gnash may also help a PC slay a dragon, for Gnash benefits anytime an old, powerful and ruthless creature is toppled.
Creatures include both the dragon who owns the lair, plants and oozes brought into the lair to hinder dragon-hunters, and any minions hired or coerced to guard the lair or keep watch in the surrounding Wilder-ness.
Traps beyond what a dragon can normally build might exist due to Big Blackie's assistance.
The nifty collection of qualities of a worthy dragon lair is mostly taken from this discussion at You Met in a Tavern.
Both Dweorgs and Kobalts live in sprawling underground cave-complexes. After such a settlement has been abandoned it may become a type of dungeon. Perhaps only a section of it (the old palace, the deep tombs, etc.) becomed dungeon-like. These whole or partial abandoned settlements are called catacombs. Note that, for greater security, Dweorg settlements often used tempering to make their walls immune to Transmutery and too hard for most burrowing animals to breach.
None of the Powers oversee or have special authority over catacombs. Nor do any Powers normally alter, create, or wreck catacombs. The Archeologist often helps adventurers explore catacombs if they bring back important historical artifacts. Sometimes Kitsunay asks someone to enter a catacomb to resolve a curse or find information that would end a feud. A few catacombs are old and varied enough that Speleoth encourages exploration there for the simple delight of discovery.
Most catacombs lack light, water, and food, so creatures are seldom encountered (unless in an entrance room open to the land beyond). Some catacombs resulted from a tragic event that created Undead that remain trapped in the catacomb. Occasionally a group of Pookish humanoids uses a catacomb as a lair.
Both Dweorgs and Kobalts use traps to defend their settlements, and most such traps remain after the settlement is vacated. A Dweorgish catacomb will also usually have machines and golems.
The Unseemly...sleep-entranced monsters that serve as living traps. Also Flame Guardian Tiles. Humanoids may be tricksters or deal-makers instead of enemy combatants.
The Pooka... creatures and traps...
The Archeologist (to retrieve artifacts)... Yarnspinner (to make a good story)... Gnash may help if the Unseemly halls are being invaded because the inhabitants were acting ruthlessly to neighboring settlemens...
Useful skills include Hack/Slash, Smash, Bargain, Perception, Block/Dodge, Sneak/Hide, and Alchemy.
The shrines of the Abominable Snowman create ...
Speleoth helps... Gnash often helps, for the armiers of the Abominable Snowman are often ruthless in warfare...
Both creatures and traps...
Any skills might be useful.
The Griffin...
Kitsunay may help when what will be learned about the self is helpful for unraveling problems.
Neither creatures nor traps are numerous.
Useful skills include Lift/Smash, Bargain/Appraise, Perception, Social/Etiquette, Wilderness/Escape, Block/Dodge, and Leap/Tumble.