OSR Creature/Encounter Specs

In this post, Wayne Rossi proposes the idea that OSR modules should adopt a relatively standard stat line for creatures, based on a synthesis of the best parts of the existing corpus of adventures. I won't reblog his full proposal, but in essence, he would have creatures (taken from his original post) listed in an encounter as:

Orcs (4) - AC 6, MV 90', Dx 8, HD 1, hp 5,4,3,2, #AT 1, D 1-6, Save F1, ML 8

Black Widow Spider (1) - AC 6, MV 60' (in web 120'), Dx 15, HD 3*, hp 13, #AT 1, D 2-12, SA poison, Save F2, ML 8

This should be pretty self-explanatory and familiar to anyone who has played a pre-3e version of D&D with the exception of Dx (dexterity, useful for breaking ties in initiative, retrofitting "touch AC" or other purposes) and "ML", or Morale Level, which only exists in some variants of OSR D&D. The idea is, throw 2d6 for ML or less to stay in the fight. An ML 7 has an average chance to stick around, whereas an ML 12 will fight to the death.

Wayne also proposes an INT listing, which I wholeheartedly endorse. I'd like to see a switch to modern dice notation also (so 2-12 becomes 2d6, for example), but I digress.

The ML stat gives me an idea for one additional stat that would not be part of the raw creature description, but would be part of the stat block for the encounter:

MO (Motive) - one of "Guard", "Defend", "Explore", "Rest"

Guard - The creature(s) are screening access to some nearby location.
Tactics - Stand and fight. Send one creature to warn the location if the players are winning.

Defend - The creature(s) are inside of a camp of some sort
Tactics - The creatures will not intentionally abandon their camp.

Explore - The creature(s) are investigating the location
Tactics - Fight until 1/2 are wounded or killed, then attempt to disengage

Rest - The creature(s) have set up camp and are unprepared to fight
Tactics - Will count as surprised for 1-3 rounds, then will Defend.

In all motives, a morale failure will result in the creatures fleeing as usual.

Traveller Universal World Profile extensions

I found these thoughts on Traveller world profiles the other day, and thought they might be worth spiffing up and posting. I hope you find them amusing, even if they don't fit into your view of what Traveller worlds can be like.

As a completist, the fact that in Traveller, certain Universal World Profile (UWP) codes do not extend to ‘F’ (15) has always bugged me a little. For some, like Hydrographic Percentage (0-A), it makes sense. But for Population and Government, it seems that there could be a good scifi use for these “extra codes”.

Population

The population digit is the exponent of 10, represented in hexadecimal. For example, with 7 billion people on Earth, our Population would be 9. Soon, we'll hit A.

Population D: Uncountable Population

These worlds are "Hive Worlds" with a large number of (most likely alien) sophonts who are not countable in a practical way, either due to their life cycle or living arrangements. Good examples would be “bugs” or a planet full of the creatures from “Pandorum”. The salient characteristic of Population D is that there are more physical creatures than can practically be counted.

Population D worlds often have Government type F (see below), but could be any government type. The Government would determine the character of the planet; whether it’s one giant mass of seething telepathically linked worms, a dense hive of SmartAnts™, or some other probably unsettling situation.

Population E: Incorporeal population

These worlds are peopled by non-physical or virtual intellects that can have zero or more bodies and thus are not easily accounted for, as they can create and destroy physical forms somewhat at will. The referee should generate a "True population" number that is the number of intelligences if the concept of individuals still applies. Note that the Gov type can be just about anything, and should be generated from the True Population number rather than the E rating.

Scenario Idea: It's possible that the inhabitants of the Pop E world have a way to determine their true population, and could desire to "set the record straight" with the Imperial Survey Department, depending on their cultural leanings.

Population F: Intelligent Ecosystem

Fully symbiotic intelligent ecosystem (ala Chtorr). In effect, the entire ecosystem is the population. May be difficult to communicate with, though often will have a member species that can interface with the outside world. As with a Type E government, the referee should separately determine the size of the "interface" population species, if one exists. Often but not necessarily paired with Gov F. 

Government

The additional forms of governments proposed allow for specifying some common scifi themed cultures. In some cases, (as with the existing Balkanization government type) the Referee may need additional notes to fully detail the situation.

Government E: Trans-physical Ascendancy

All citizens live in a virtual environment or separate plane of existence, subject to the whim of who or whatever controls the environment. This situation implies either current or past High Tech ability (The Matrix) or some form of Psionic environment (like Avatar but more so, or Stargate "Ascended"). It’s possible that the inhabitants’ physical forms are still maintained in some way (as in The Matrix).

Scenario Note: It is likely that Travellers will only interact with whatever watchdog systems have been left to guard the planet from outsiders unless they can “get in” somehow. And once in, it may prove difficult to get back out.

Government F: Hive/Communal Mind 

All "citizens" share a common will and memory. The hive will either Ignore, Attack or Assimilate outsiders as determined by the Referee. Examples range from Starship Trooper “Bugs” to Star Trek’s Borg. The Referee should determine how many such hives exist on the planet, and if more than one, what “government” they operate under (roll from the number of hive minds, not population). Government F does not require any particular population codes, though the examples found in fiction often match up well with D or F.

Note: Law Level on these worlds represents how aware the commune/hive is of outsiders. An example might be the early Borg episodes of Star Trek™, The Next Generation™ - humans could move about inside their cube ships unmolested for the most part.

A Bunch of New Classic Traveller Characters

I found a notebook with some more Classic Traveller characters I had generated, so I decided to share them. Not that it's hard to generate characters in CT (in fact, it's a fun minigame), but I figure that maybe someone might want some NPCs to play around with.

They're in Courier font because it fits with the 70's and early 80's aesthetic of the game, and I used a slightly modified "index card" format, as you might see in The Traveller Book. Also, I bought some gear for some of these guys - their Credits and Possessions have been updated accordingly.

If nothing else, maybe I'll inspire someone to dig out Classic Traveller and play some. It seems unlikely that I'll get to play any CT anytime soon. (Yeah, I know, so sad. For a guy currently in two different D&D-flavored campaigns, I sure do whine a lot.)

Army Lt.                 59A6B6                  Age 22

1 Term                                           Cr19,150

Medical-1, Electronics-1, ATV-1, Blade Cbt-1, Rifle-1, SMG-1

Possessions:

  Cloth Armor, SMG

Notes:

  Slight, but athletic

  Has advantageous DEX for all trained weapons

Merchant 4th Officer     785767                  Age 26

2 Terms                                          Cr39,150

Vacc Suit-1, Electronics-1, Steward-1

Possessions:

  Blade, Autopistol, Cloth Armor

Notes:

Scout Explorer           7B986A                  Age 30

3 Terms                                          Cr49,400

Mechanical-2, Gunnery-1, Navigation-1, Pilot-1,

Air/Raft-1, JoT

Possessions:

  Autopistol, Cloth Armor, Scout/Courier

Notes:

Marine Captain Knight    98995B                  Age 26

2 Terms                                          Cr7,000

Cutlass-2, Revolver-1, Rifle-1, ATV-1, Electronics-1

Possessions: 

Notes:

Merchant 3rd Officer     B77CD7                  Age 34

4 Terms                                          Cr60,000

Engineer-3, Streetwise-3, Bribery-1, G-Vehicle-1

Possessions: 

Notes:

  Hypercompetent Engineer.

  Often gets deals on his own parts

Navy Lt. Cmdr Knight     67696B                  Age 30

3 Terms                                          Cr60,000

Gunner-2, Vacc Suit-1, JoT-1

Possessions:

  TAS, Low Passage

Notes:

  Gunnery Section leader

  Moves in High Society, recently knighted

  Very "By the Book" in approach

Scout X-Boat/Courier     6797A7                  Age 30

3 Terms                                          Cr50,000

Pilot-1, Navigation-1, Engineering-1, Computer-1,

Air/Raft-1, JoT

Possessions: 

Notes:

  Gained EDU while in jumpspace on the X-boat line

Army Captain             98B4A7                  Age 26

Terms 2                                          Cr40,000

Admin-2, Tactics-2, Gambling-2, SMG-2, Rifle-1

Possessions:

  SMG

Notes:

Army Colonel             77A894                  Age 38

Terms 5                                          Cr25,000

Rifle-2, SMG-2, Tactics-2, Leader-1, Computer-1,

Fwd Obs-1, ATV-2, Brawl-1

Possessions:

  Pension/4kCr, High Passage, SMG

Notes:

Merchant Captain         5B7CA9                  Age 42

Terms 6                                          Cr22,000

Streetwise-3, Steward-2, Electronics-2, Navigation-1,

Bribery-1, Pilot-1, JoT

Possessions:

  Blade, Gun, Free Trader

Notes:

Some Housecleaning

In the effort to make this blog a little less horrible to read, I'm trying out some templates and such. One blog had this neat thing where there were pictures of the games the blogger was playing in with the "links list", but I can't work out how to do that with the standard gadgets.

At any rate, bear with me while I experiment. It will probably take a few days to settle down, and any advice from people less "aesthetically challenged" than I am would be welcome.

On Kobolds as "Dungeon Elementals"

Wayne R. proposed in this blog post that Kobolds might be more interesting as "Dungeon Elementals" - creatures that exist only to reset dungeon traps, lock doors, clean up stuff, etc. Almost more of a Dungeon Maintenance Crew than the race of Draconic Megalomaniacs that they've evolved into.

Go read his article, it's really quite inspirational. I'm not going to repeat much, but instead I'll offer some thoughts of my own.

I love this idea. It clings to the sort of weird ecology that one might find in a universe where D&D things are possible. Kobolds are to Dungeons (specifically dungeons, not just caves) what Faeries are to Nature. The deepest, darkest Dungeons (as proposed in this blog entry) may touch the elemental plane of Earth, and may not even truly have been "built" so much as "grown". Maybe Kobolds are the Earth Elemental's way of maintaining and driving their creations once they've slipped into the Prime Material Plane. If you subscribe to the "Malicious Dungeon" concept, then Kobolds may be the agents of that malice, like electrons are to electrochemistry. Or conversely, once mortals build their dungeons deep enough, they inadvertently catch the attention of the lords of the plane of Earth, who send their material-plane allies to work the dungeon. Why? Who can fathom the will of Elemental Lords? ;)

In any case, Kobolds themselves are rarely encountered in person. They are exceedingly stealthy and can create secret passages as necessary to move around a dungeon undetected. As minions of the Elemental Lords, they seek to bring order to any dungeon they are charged with. They will coexist with other dungeon inhabitants, but in a Kobold-infested dungeon, even the monsters know to tread lightly. The Kobolds may not interact with them directly, but any denizen who causes too much conflict will find themselves on the wrong end of a trap, or locked in a room they could previously leave at will.

A Kobold infestation is a very serious threat to any mining operation, and many a delve has had to be abandoned after it reached too far into the ground.

So how do you get rid of a Kobold infestation? If you can trap them yourself, you'll find that they are physically unimpressive and easily slain. But hunting Kobolds is almost more like hunting Poltergeists, and their numbers are always more than you imagine them to be. Rumor has it that in order for an Earth Lord to send Kobolds, it must establish a gateway somewhere in the dungeon, and destroying this gateway is the only known way to end the Kobold threat. Once the connection to their Lord is lost, the Kobolds will gradually fade away, perhaps in search of another dungeon, perhaps re-absorbed by the very rock itself.

Character: Vanir the Halfling Storm Sorcerer

I made this guy up for D&D 4e a little while ago, and just rediscovered him while updating another 4e character on the D&D Insider character builder. He's actually a response to a question I asked myself - "Now that I have a Pathfinder Elemental Sorceress, what would a similar 4e character look like?" I got kind of off the rails though, and Vanir shares little with Jinna aside from their elemental sorcery.

To borrow a trick from Numenera, you could describe him as a “Halfling Storm Sorcerer who Dances with Wolves”.

I imagine him as a nearly feral Chaotic Neutral character whose Dog sidekick (NEVER a mount!) is his closest friend. He was found in the wild as a youth, after an unnatural storm took his family from him. Whatever caused that storm left its mark on young Vanir, who has gained an intuitive grasp of the arcana of storms and air elementals. Being so charismatic, Vanir makes friendly acquaintances easily, though his storm-driven temper makes him a dangerous foe.

Vanir only recently came into his sorcerous birthright (typical "18th Birthday" type thing), and he adventures to push the limits of his powers and discover what his true limitations are.

Here's his Summary data. It's not as nice as the HeroLab Pathfinder data, but it will give you the idea.

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======

Vanir, level 1

Halfling, Sorcerer

Build: Storm Sorcerer

Animal Master Starting Feature Option: Dog

Spell Source Option: Storm Magic

Found in the Wild (Heal class skill)

Theme: Animal Master

FINAL ABILITY SCORES

STR 12, CON 11, DEX 18, INT 11, WIS 8, CHA 18

STARTING ABILITY SCORES

STR 12, CON 11, DEX 16, INT 11, WIS 8, CHA 16

AC: 14 Fort: 11 Ref: 14 Will: 16

HP: 23 Surges: 6 Surge Value: 5

TRAINED SKILLS

Arcana +5, Athletics +6, Heal +4, Nature +4

UNTRAINED SKILLS

Acrobatics +6, Bluff +4, Diplomacy +4, Dungeoneering –1, Endurance +0, History +0, Insight –1, Intimidate +4, Perception –1, Religion +0, Stealth +4, Streetwise +4, Thievery +6

POWERS

Basic Attack: Melee Basic Attack

Basic Attack: Ranged Basic Attack

Animal Master Attack: Distracting Attack

Halfling Racial Power: Second Chance

Sorcerer Attack 1: Lightning Strike

Sorcerer Attack 1: Storm Walk

Sorcerer Attack 1: Whirlwind

Sorcerer Attack 1: Howling Tempest

FEATS

Level 1: Sorcerous Blade Channeling

ITEMS

Cloth Armor (Basic Clothing) x1

Adventurer's Kit

Staff Implement x1

Dagger x1

====== End ======

The SWords & SWizardry game continues....

I got in a session yesterday for "D&D's Birthday".  A week or so ago, the party had gone on a successful firebeetle hunt in the Delve, and gained enough XP to level up. The wizard's new access to 2nd level spells had him spending tons of GP on researching new spells and creating scrolls, not to mention using "Continual Light" (which in S&W, as in the older D&D's, is permanent) to upgrade party's lanterns.

Last night, the town's mayor invited the part up to his estate for dinner and of course to discuss some business. It seems that the local abby is hot to purify and reclaim the tomb of Saint Ulther (which the party had discovered in the Delve a few weeks ago), but are not happy about the idea that this Delve goes much deeper, and and probably contains increasingly dangerous foes who may wander up during a veneration service to eat some acolytes. So the Mayor and Abbot wish to retain the party as a "cleaning crew", officially sanctioning their activities (in other words, identifying them as friends, not rivals), and are willing to provide some "technical support" in the form of two magical staves - raise dead (8) and cure light wounds (50). The party quickly did the math on the equivalent cost in healing potions and raise dead spells, and decided that was a fair deal. They're on a timetable now though, and needs to get that Delve cleared out inside of 3 months, since that's when the pilgrims are coming.

The next day, the party descended to Level 4 of the Delve, wherein dwelled a huge and fearsome beast (the eventually determined it was a Manticore - really a bit outside their "comfort zone" to engage). The fighter used the Mage's new "Strength" spell to boost himself from a passable 13 up to an 18 strength, the bonuses of which came in handy over the course of the adventure.

As it turned out, there were also a number of goblins holed up down there. As many of their kin had become food for the beast, they were pretty scared, and they were willing to make a deal with the party to help defeat the beast. In reality, they hoped to loot the treasure room while the beast was chewing on the party, but it didn't work out that way for them. Though they took the brunt of the beast's attacks, the goblins and party actually made a fair dent in the beast's health, and only a few goblins died before the fighter critically hit with his battle axe. (The fighter wanted to chop off the Manticore's tail. I decided that if the fighter rolled a 20, he'd succeed. And wouldn't you know it, the next attack was a 20.) The Wizard plugged the beast with a magic missile to finish him off.

The party rushed in to the treasure room (having a fairly good idea what the goblins were up to), and the fighter slew two goblins in one stroke. (The advantages of being a fighter in S&W - you can take out low HD critters quickly) The remaining goblins fled, and the party carried as much of the treasure out as they could (thanks to the Fighter's temporary 18 strength, he just hoisted the treasure chest on his shoulder and carried it out).

And that was the end of that trip into the Delve. The party plans to go right back in, even though that means they won't be able to replace the Strength scroll in time. They want to prevent the Goblins from stealing the rest of the treasure.

However, there is a second Manticore, and it's not going to be happy that they killed its mate. And this time, they won't have a half dozen goblins to distract it.....