OD&D/ Delving Deeper Weapon Variations

In a recent reddit post members of r/OSR were asked (probably for the one millionth time since that subreddit's inception) to recommend their favourite OSR "system". I used the invitation to reply as an opportunity to show my appreciation for Delving Deeper, the OD&D clone I favour. 

I've played in one play-by-post campaign and one discord-voice chat game using Delving Deeper as a base. Delving Deeper is also my current OS(R) of choice for the play-by-post game of Ruins of Castle Gygar (affiliate link) I'm running. It's proximity to the original LBBs gives it a particular flavour—a flavour I've come to savour... and part of that is the fact it uses D20s and D6s only.

The original Reddit poster picked up on this, pointing out that this means all weapons do 1d6 damage, and therefore have nothing to differentiate them: what's the point in spending more money on a more expensive weapon just for some flavour? 

Below are some reason why.

Pariah character classes for OSE or Basic Fantasy

Made by Igor Gadreaud 

If you prefer to explore the implied setting of PARIAH with a more faithful old-school system (as hinted at in my previous post, a design analysis of my own game, it's perhaps worth giving the players something they can sink their teeth into. I'm more than a little wary of doing this, but in the words (paraphrased) of Skerples of Coins and Scrolls:

Writing a... class is easy. It meets what I'd call the "minimum creativity threshold". To write a wizard you just need about 20 decent ideas. To write any other kind of class you need between 4 and 10. It's not difficult to make a class based on any random idea you've ever had. It's also a lot easier to think of elements of a class than it is to, say, a fill in a d100 table or write a dungeon.  

It is known.

Ritual Magic - The Chosen Arrow - City of Ghosts

I have a lot of posts relating to City of Ghosts that are teetering on completion, sitting in the quantum draft state, neither alive nor dead. If this blog is not flooded with a surfeit of material over the festive season, may the spirits strike me down. One of them has to go first, and I decided it was going to be this one, probably the least complete of the lot.

It's about ritual magic, specifically the ritual of the Chosen Arrow.

Before Simba's dad became Darth Vader, he was a wicked shot.

It's super effective!

THE CHOSEN ARROW

A ritual

GLAUCONS - (Creatures of a Darker Age No.1)

From the cold waters of the Old Sea to the murky depths of the Lake Ishmakh, legends abound of  aberrant creatures combining both dwelling beneath the waves and surfacing only to spawn and to feed. Across the known world, these legends take on my forms and terrifying shapes, yet none more frightening than the Glaucons... it is a terror born from a curious twist of fate: though these creatures despise humanity, their dependence upon us is total.

Illustration by Mani Vertigo

THIEVES LIKE US (Humans: the character class, a WIP)

Really, there are only two classes: fighters and magic-users. They come in various flavours, shapes and sizes, but ultimately there are i) bags of hit points who are good at melee and ii) squishy one-hit-wonders who, given the right set of circumstances, might actually evolve into glass cannons.

"But what about ro-"

Shh.

I'm getting to that.

A picture by the creator of Dungeon Robber, the author of Blog of Holding

NORMAL HUMAN
Fighters and magic-users may be born or made, but they aren't lifestyle choices. One has to possess a very particular set of characteristics to fall into either camp, characteristics that most of us simply do not have. That does not preclude 'normal' humans from picking up swords or unlocking arcane mysteries, but they will always be journeyman rather than a master.

THE LOST CITY PART 9

Actual play adapted from module B4: The Lost City. Will contain spoilers.

Lost in the desert, the four foreigners (Luke, Kostas, Romulus and Xavi) have been whittled down to two by their fourth day in the pyramid above the city of Cynidicea: Kostas nurses an injured leg and Romulus has been inadvertently poisoned! The remaining members of the party were plotting with their allies when news came that the Cult of Zargon had cut off their supply lines to and from the underground city. Will they still proceed with their plan to depose Auriga? Will Xavi forgive Luke for the death of Romulus? Will Kostas ever drink wine again? Find out below (maybe)! Read the previous instalment here

Day 4, Continued...

After hearing the terrible news, Luke ventured that they call off their attack on Auriga and seek to unite against the common threat. The other two leaders were not convinced that Auriga didn't have something to do with it. The Madaruan ally, Helena, volunteered to scout out the chamber of worship, and to see if the Magi made an attempt to travel to the city, after Luke postulated that were AUriga behind the scheme, they would be able to do so unimpeded.

With time of the essence, Luke and Xavi escorted her through their secret entrance, and stood guard as the stealthy woman snuck into the chamber....

THE CRYSTAL SEAS, Episode 14... The Bishophtu Bath House part One

After a week of rest and recreation in Romani, the remaining party members are seeking the favour of the local lord, Geta Shaoul. They are to carry out the assassination of the sorcerer Kharzan, at the behest of Geta Shaoul's second wife, Lila. The party spent the night in a massage parlour with a good view of the local bath house, wherein they anticipate finding the wizard Kharzan.

This instalment includes lots of material adapted or drawn directly from The Boswitch Bathouse by Arnold Kemp of Goblin Punch fame. Spoilers abound! 

22nd Sositi

At dawn, the party decide to get breakfast at the local noodle house. They are shocked to see that the proprietors are the fat men they were spying on from the massage parlour the previous evening. They did not let the fact that they had already seen the men naked ruin their breakfast of fine noodle soup.

Three Peoples

A few weeks ago the perennial question of the role and nature of race in [fantasy] RPGs once more became prominent (mainly on Twitter but to a limited extent on the OSR discord), prompting this post. As someone with a background in social sciences, I have never been happy with the way the terms "race" and "class" are employed in RPGs: the latter term being a clunky legacy of OD&D that shows no sign of dying any time soon (and probably relates to the idea of "classifying" combatants, war game style), while the latter has a older provenance in fantasy literature, from JRR Tolkien's pen.

What follows is not an essay exhibiting any of my opinions on the subject directly: I think the two disparate currents in this debate are very well addressed by this Lyndsay Ellis video (Bright: The Apotheosis of Lazy Worldbuilding) and this reddit post by u/horcipotulree/

(TL/DR: The former is a dismantling of using fantasy races as real world racial analogues; the latter is an alternative approach to D&D's racial "essentialism")

..instead, I present three pieces of in-game lore concerning three entirely human races, and a conclusion which (I think) makes my opinion apparent.

THE LOST CITY PART 8

Actual play adapted from module B4: The Lost City. Will contain spoilers.

Lost in the desert, four foreigners (Luke, Kostas, Romulus and Xavi) found refuge in the mysterious city of Cynidicea, joined the Brotherhood of Gorm and orchestrated a plot with the Sisterhood of Madarua. Now in their third day, the party continue to explore, in spite of losing Brother Theodosius to shapeshifting fox-people and Kostas nearly losing his leg.  The last instalment concluded with the bloody pulverisation of a pair of giant
tuataras. Read part seven here 

Aware of the sound of heavy breathing, the party dismiss the light cantrap and attempt to hide in the shadows. The heavy door flies open, trapping Luke behind, while Xavi and Romulus become aware of a dark lumbering shape squeezing through the door. Initiative is rolled!

THE LOST CITY PART 7

Actual play adapted from module B4: The Lost City. Will contain spoilers.

Lost in the desert, four foreigners (Luke, Kostas, Romulus and Xavi) found refuge in the mysterious city of Cynidicea, joined the Brotherhood of Gorm and secured an alliance with the Sisterhood of Madarua. Now in their third day, the party continue to explore in the hope of uncovering a way to get back to civilisation. In the large base of the pyramid, the party - accompanied by Brother Theodosius - happened upon a suspiciously charming pair of red-haired siblings praying before a statue of Madarua... read part six here.

DAY 3, END OF TURN 4 (just after dawn)::

The party rolls for initiative as the red-haired woman is evidently preparing some kind of spell!

THE LOST CITY PART 5

Actual play adapted from module B4: The Lost City. Will contain spoilers.

Lost in the desert, four foreigners (Luke, Kostas, Romulus and Xavi) found refuge in the mysterious city of Cynidicea, joined the Brotherhood of Gorm and secured an alliance with the Sisterhood of Madarua. After successfully mapping the uppermost tiers of the pyramid, the party ran into a group of gnomes who agreed to assist them in a spot of tomb robbing. Sadly, one of the gnomes was slain by a mysterious shadow and the party are currently hiding in a secret storeroom on the fourth tier.... read part four here. 

Respite from the Undead

Luke convinced the gnomes not to retrieve the body of their fallen comrade until the coast was clear. Confused as to their location, which was the gnomes showed them the secret door in the wall by which they had initially entered, and led the party into a large, sparsely furnished chamber which now served as a bedroom. A white robe was draped over a single chair in front of desk, bereft of all but a wooden holy symbol of Usamigaras. 

The party conducted a thorough search, and uncovered a secret door in the same wall as the one by which they'd entered, on the far left. It opened into an identically sized chamber, but  contained a large tapestry of a desert scene and a treasure chest., which the gnomes immediately began to inspect for traps. One of the gnomes grew distracted...

"Is that tapestry.. moving?"

Sorcerer of Thrane

This is a playable sorcerer class I have had running around my head for a little bit. If you would like to skip the fluff and bite down into the crunch (although I'm not sure that's how you eat cake), you can find a dedicated, B/X compatible page here: 

https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/p/sorcerer-of-thrane.html

If you like the some of the fluff but play a more modern system (5e, Pathfinder etc.), consider using your preferred sorcerer class but with the bard spell list.

Special note: the hit dice as spell dice mechanic was in part inspired by the GLOG, and you can read the original notes on spellcasters here

SORCERY IS BLASPHEMY

Throughout the territories within the iron grip of the crusading New Temple, the practice of all magic is criminalised as witchcraft: it is devilish, blasphemous, and punishable by burning at the stake. However, many of the Thranian families of Nahemot continue to practice sorcery in secret, whilst outwardly professing obedience to the tenets of their Kyran overlords' faith. Like their Kyran cousins, the Thranes have a strong oral tradition and their arcane traditions have withstood the New Temple's purge of literature and literacy.

The City of Nahemot

Pixelart on reddit by u/IRudim ...
(Kyrans aren't ersatz arabs, but until I draw a cityscape myself, this evokes the right kind of atmosphere)

A glistening white sliver on the narrow horizon - hugging the lip of the deep, still waters of the Ezran Oasis - comes into view. As the boat draws closer, the air is thick with the scent of shelfish and roses. An uncommon mix, but one that is redolent of Nahemot, the most Holy City of the Kyrans. These tall, dark-skinned men and women wrap themselves in robes of brilliant white, the bleaching of which keeps a whole quarter of the city gainfully employed. The rich and proud among them adorn their bodies with gold jewellery, while the poorer - whether man or woman - ornament themselves with fresh flowers.

Occasionally, the black-robed followers  of Belphegor, lord of the dead, might be witnessed among the crowded concourses at the harbour, pushing dung carts or collecting rotting fish. Perhaps more rarely, a bold young Thrane might eschew the fashion conventions for the colourful robes of their ancestors. The Thranes number as many as the Kyrans, but for the most part they have adopted the sartorial habits of their cousins.

So, here is Nahemot: where the flower sellers, herbalists, fruiterers and perfumiers of the local region congregate to sell their wares, and merchants from the west come to stock up before returning to their more affluent cities. But amongst the hustle and bustle of brisk commerce is a steady flow of pilgrims, travelling to what is also the most holy of cities.

THE LOST CITY PART 4

This post will be less narrative and more prosaic, for the sake of expediency! The last update for the Crystal Seas campaign took nearly two weeks to complete, and covered two sessions where virtually nothing happened.

Actual play adapted from module B4: The Lost City. Will contain spoilers.

Lost in the desert, four foreigners (Luke, Kostas, Romulus and Xavi) arrived at the mysterious city of Cynidicea, and have secured an alliance between two warring factions. However, during a recce of the lower levels, the party were intercepted by cultists loyal to Zargon: the most powerful faction in the pyramid... read part three here

Separated from his comrades, Luke ran into a chamber, awakening a nest of giant rats....

THE CRYSTAL SEAS... EPISODE 12: Rest and Recreation in Romani

After their incarceration by goblins in the Sunken Citadel, the remaining party members mounted an audacious escape, fleeing over the Ishmakh mountains towards the village of Romani...

14th Sositi

When he opened his eyes, Horace did not find himself on the floor of a barn. He was on a firm yet comfortable bed, swathed in a cotton sheet. He heard the sound of a woman singing. Soon the woman's face was immediately in front of his.

With sunlight cast from the window behind her, his eyes could not discern the details at first, but the shape was certainly appealing. Swiftly his eyesight adjusted, he could not help but wince ever-so-slightly at the enormous birthmark covering the woman's face, as though her dark skin had been bleached pink by a splash of bleach around her nose, eyes and mouth. He felt the shame double when the woman momentarily cast her eyes down, acknowledging his brief moment of revulsion, only to return to meet his gaze with a wide smile.

Rebekah: apologies to the real owner of the original face.

"Ah, you are awake!"

"Yes... where am I... my friends... ?"

THE CRYSTAL SEAS... EPISODE 11: ALL IS LOST

The following content borrows heavily from the 5e update for The Sunless Citadel, available in Tales from the Yawning Portal. There will be spoilers, although the module has been adapted for our Crystal Seas Sandbox. If you intend to play The Sunless Citadel, please look away now!

The second day of their expedition into the sunken citadel had ended in disaster. What began as a running skirmish with a group of goblins ended in a brief but bloody struggle with a blue dragon, Calcryx, resulting in the death of Kuriakos, as well as two recently acquired allies, Erky and Meepo. Captured by goblins, the party were stripped of their weapons and valuables... 

 ...and taken to the dungeon cells

Horace awoke. In truth he had not really been asleep. He had been holding his eyes forcibly shut, waiting for Analicia or Ursula to tell him what to do. But neither had done so, and now he realised it was up to him to make good of whatever fucked up situation they now found themselves in.

He was on the floor of the cell, his hands secured with iron manacles chained to the wall. There was no light, but his dwarven eyes could discern the location of his comrades, Analicia and Ursula, the former breathing softly beside him, the latter motionless on the far side of the room.

"Analicia."

"What?"

"Are you awake?"

D100 Fey Mutations

The following table is also accessible as an online random generator at the following link:

https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/p/random-fey-mutations.html

When one of the players in the Crystal Seas campaign wanted to play an elf, I was a little sad: I'd hoped to keep elves mysterious and strange and rare. Then the player wanted said elf to be called Analicia and have antlers, and a bit of retroactive worldbuilding was called for.

I'm going to make another post about our hispanically monikered organised crime elves, but here is where I talk about some of the random mutations afflicting 1 in 6 of their ilk due to their fey ancestry. The final 20 of them are (mostly) lifted directly from The Gardens of Ynn (follow that link and buy it), as Emmy Allen's concept of the sidhe fits quite snugly with my own concept of the eldar's ancestors. Plus, she's already included antlers as a mutation, so it made sense.

Use this table to add a random mutation to anyone with fey ancestry. Roll as many times as necessary.

THE LOST CITY, PART 3

Actual play narration adapted from module B4: The Lost City. Will contain spoilers.

Lost in the desert, four foreigners (Luke, Kostas, Romulus and Xavi) arrived at the mysterious city of Cynidicea, and decided to align themselves with the Brotherhood of Gorm. Believing their best way to find a way home to be the restoration of order to the chaotic city, Ser Luke sought to forge an alliance between the Brotherhood of Gorm and their rivals, the Sisterhood of Madarua. Initially rebuffed (and receiving a spear-wound for the trouble), Luke struck a deal: to assassinate the leader of a third faction, the brotherhood of Usamigaras. Explaining his plan to the his reluctant master, Kanadius, Luke then grabbed his men in order to explore the pyramid a little more. 

Read part two here

Once they had their combat gear together, the four comrades set out to explore the lower tiers of the pyramid. They had already explored an estimate 25% of the next level, and Luke was keen to unravel the deeper mystery of the place.

Down to the third tier they travelled, and once again to the mysterious twisting corridor. They opened the sliding granite panel and crossed the corridor without activating its turning mechanism, finding themselves at a t-junction. Taking the left-hand path, the party quickly found themselves in an abandoned storeroom. The men rummaged through the crates, before Xavi noticed that the room was rapidly filling with water. Kostas checked the door through which they had entered: it had sprung shut behind them, and possessed no handle with which to open it!

THE CRYSTAL SEAS... EPISODE 10: More Than They Could Chew

The following content borrows heavily from the 5e update for The Sunless Citadel, available in Tales from the Yawning Portal. There will be spoilers, although the module has been adapted for our Crystal Seas Sandbox. If you intend to play The Sunless Citadel, please look away now!

After raiding the Sunken Citadel, falling foul of one or two traps and finally defeating an ancient elf-troll, the party decided to spend the night in the abandoned tomb of the dragon priest, only to have their sleep troubled by dreams of a quaist-demon.

13th Sositi

As soon as the party had begun to stir from their slumber Analicia was excitedly informing them all about the "dream" she had experienced. The party were mildly interested but not entirely convinced of its value, although Ursula did seem a little perturbed that she had not been granted the opportunity to strike a deal with the devil. Sadly, Analicia's inability to recall the name of the demon she had spoken to meant neither Horace nor Ursula could shed any more light on it. Kuriakos shivered: he had had his fill of devils and demons.

The party made their way back through the hallowed halls of the dragon priests towards the crumbled turret, trying their luck with an unopened northwestern door. After examining an uninspiring cistern (in spite of the very sophisticated plumbing, they elected not to investigate it any further), they burst into a large, slightly smelly hall. The room contained a small shrine, and crude graffiti in the draconic language. A large metal cage sat on the southern wall, empty. A whimpering sound emanated from a pile of rags against the far wall...

THE LOST CITY, PART 2

Actual play narration adapted from module B4: The Lost City. Will contain spoilers.

After losing their way in the desert, the four surviving members of a pilgrimage to the Holy City - Ser Luke, Kostas, Romulus and Xavi - stumbled upon a seemingly abandoned ruin of a metropolis. Desperate for food and water, they entered the structure and were accosted by a group of masked men. Provided refreshment and respite from their hardship, the survivors had a difficult choice to make. Read part one here

After gorging themselves on a simple yet copious meal, Ser Luke's party lay down to rest. The Holy Knight's conscience was troubled, however, as he wrestled with a dilemma. He went next door to parlay with leader of the group some more.

The party had not yet been divested of their weapons, and the leader seemed comfortable to allow Luke to join him in his study for a private conversation. Luke pressed the leader, Kanadius, for more information. Kanadius answered Luke's questions as fully as possible, yet all the while remaining masked.