Thursday, October 6, 2016

Elementals Are Boring

This post here http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/2016/10/temple-of-elemental-bickering.html discuss how elementals are boring, and they are. So are lot's of other monsters that have no consequence to the campaign, the link mentions a cool way to make sure there is a consequence even a brief one, when using a tool to upset the fabric of reality.

What are elementals anyway beyond a fragment of reality, just an incomplete sliver of what is and can be. All the genuine responses of an elemental should be rooted in their elementalness. A fire elemental is all about fire just like gravity is all about gravity, no one ever seems to spend much time wondering about the goals of gravity but it's always there, it's a building block of reality. Elementals are an embodiment of a predictable and known force. What is ultimately important and interesting about elementals is how they are used by DM's and players.

All monsters and NPCs are no better than what is put into them by the people playing the game. I'm a fan of monsters but the place of each should be considered if one wants to have a complex and involved campaign.

That fire elemental is pretty boring, if it is going to have a conversation at all it's likely (almost certainly) going to be about fire. Setting you on fire isn't good or bad to a fire elemental, it's all about fire. The consequences of the presence of the fire elemental is the interesting part.


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I should have gotten more of this into my reply over at the blog in question but I didn't want to be rude and double post.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

One-Post Clown'pocalypse Survival Horror Mini-RPG

Can you and your fellow cast of PC's survive the Clown’pocalypse? Will they survive to the inevitable sequel?


Ability scores-
Players get 7 points to build a character. Put pts in each score.
Cool- Ability to keep it together and not freak out
Run- How fast you are
Shoot- how well one shoots guns and hits with other ranged attacks
Brawl- how well one fights in hand-to-hand combat
Brains- how clever, smart and perceptive one is

HP- players have 2dice worth of hit points + per point of Cool and Brawl. When damaged you lose HP, when HP reach 0 a player character is dead.

DF- defense factor = 2+ Run + Brawl

Weakness- every character has a weakness or phobia that will screw thing up for them, the player is free to pick such as Acrophobia, Afraid of Clowns, Sex addict, Drug fiend (or anything else that fits). A player gets bonus points in each scene their character can overindulge or over react  Havign a character Afraid of Clowns is probably not all that bright in this game.

Doing Things-
when a player character tries to do something and the GM isn't sure if it would be immediately successful the player rolls 2 dice + the relevant ability score and tries to roll over the DS (difficulty score) set by the GM. (usually a score from 7 to 12)

Hitting Things-
players attack clowns and the deranged by trying to roll over a foes DF. 2dice + shoot to hit something with a gun. 2dice+ brawl to hit something in Hand to hand combat. 2dice+ Brains to hit something with a clever trap or gimmick.

Getting Hurt and Infection-
when players are hit by foes they suffer 1dice or more damage (which is reduced from HP). If a 6 is ever rolled during a clown attack the PC is infected and will become helpless in 1die scenes from fever and then turn into a clown in 1die-1 scenes after that. (the GM makes these rolls in secret)

Hurting Clowns-
Clowns don't usually have HP like players do. Clowns have a Body score. Any time a die of damage equals or beat the body score roll on the Clown damage chart to see the effect of the damage. only check once for an attack except for explosives.

Die Roll
Clown Damage
1
Poked n Eyes, the clown will squint and wail, it is stunned until end of next turn.
2
Nose Beep. This is hilarious, the clown will be stunned till the end of the turn. All witnesses must make a laughter check.
3
Clown Falls Down. the clown will be knocked prone and helpless until it can get up at the end of any following turn it isn’t hit. When it first falls down anyone nearby but the attacker must make a laughter check.
4
Foot Flattened. -1 to clown speed.
5
Disemboweled Clown. Everyone but attacked must make Freakout chek 1st time they see this. If the clown attempts to make a balloon animal out of intestines there is a 50/50 chance any witness must make a laughter check.
6
Head popped like a Baloon, Clown Destoryed.



Freaking Out!
Whenever something really gross or spooky happens a PC/NPC has to check against freaking out. Roll 2 dice  add Cool to the roll and consult chart for the results
2d6+Cool
Freak Out Result
5 or less
Lose-It/Collapse. Character is totally useless and must be dragged about for 1 die-1 of scenes
6 or 7
Panic. Must move away from all Clowns for next 1dir worth of turns,
8
Hesitate. No actions until end of next turn.
9
Drop things in hand.
10
Stagger/Jump Back. Not much happens unless falling or bumping into things in these scene could be bad.
11
Scream. Obviously reveal location and could attract other Clowns.
12+
Stayed Cool. 


Special equipment might offset freaking out as many as 3 times in a game but this is up to the GM. Booze could offset freaking out to a point and then make it far worse.

Equipment
Players start with equipment appropriate to the scenario set by the GM.
Only 1 piece of equipment will be available to a player in a sequel per level.
Players can sensibly collect equipment during a feature as it unfolds.

Attack Damage
Punch 1 die HTH
Knife 2 dice HTH
Bat 3 dice HTH
Machete/Sword/Axe 4 dice HTH
Chainsaw- 5 dice HTH
Low Calibre gun, thrown weapon 1 die
Med Calibre gun, Bow 2 dice
High Calibre gun 3 dice
Shotgun 4 dice
Dynamite stick 2 dice
Grenade 3 dice
Plastic explosive 5 dice
Seltzer Spray- 2 dice, temporary to people
Pie- 3 dice, temporary to people
Bucket of Glitter/Confetti- 4 dice, temporary to people
Rubber Chicken/Balloon Sword/ Goofy Mallet- 2dice HTH, temporary to people


Features,Scenes and Turns-
A Feature is an entire  Clown’pocalypse adventure (or session). A sequel is a new feature with new and surviving characters. A Feature should be playable in an evening but can stretch into 2 or 3 if players and GM are willing to do so.
A Feature can progress like a film or open RPG session as the GM feels is appropriate.

A scene is an encounter or situation in an extended encounter set up by player actions or GM decision. A scene has multiple turns and can have a clear objective such as "The Players have to run from the car into the house".

A turn is when the player get to do something it's usually a single action sometimes more can be done, sometimes an action can tie a PC up for the rest of the scene.


Run Away-
If players try to flee Clowns before an encounter they must roll 2dice + Run vs the Clowns rolling 1 die + speed to get away. This is usually only done once a scene.

Escaping from hand to hand combat without suffering any attacks from Clowns requires a roll of 2 dice +Brawl vs 2 dice + speed for Clowns.

Avoiding a Surprise attack from a Clown is 2dice+Brains vs 1dice+ Speed of Clown.

Levels and Experience-
Every 10 kills (or bonus point) a Player gains a level and gets to add a point to an ability score. A multi kill of 2 or more Clowns in a single attack is only counted as 2 kills towards experience. A Pc can only level up in the beginning of a scene they are active during and may level up no more than 3 times per feature.

Some Types of Clowns-
Mime- Defense 4, Body 3, Speed 1, React- 0
Hobo Clown- Defense 5, Body 2, Speed 2, React- 0
White Face - Defense 5, Body 3, Speed 2, React 1 (noisy clown a bunch can freak PCs out or possibly cause them to make a Laughter Checl)
Fat Clown- Defense 4, Body 2, speed 1, react 0 (destruction causes toxic bile to spray all nearby , PCs must save on DS-6 Brains check or become infected)
Auguste- Defense 7, Body 4, Speed 3, react 3 (can taunt: must make freak-out check  at -4)
Rodeo Clown- Defense 4, Body 4, Speed 4, react 3
Bumbling Clown- Defense 6, Body 6, Speed 2, react 1 (rolls 2 dice of damage)
Evil Clown- Defense 8, Body 5, speed 4, react 5 (can direct attacks of other Clowns, can taunt: must make freak-out check DF-7)
Famous Clown- Defense 9, speed 3 , react 6; Sharp witted-clown. They have 2dice +12 HP (same rules as PC wounds and can use weapons, control nearby Clowns and Cause Laughter.)

Recovering
The scene after a player is hurt they can use bandages/medicine to recover 1/2dice worth of lost hit points after DS-6 Brains check . Resting for a scene restores 1 HP. No resting while nearby Clowns are groaning or taunting.

Clown Reactions
Roll 2dice+react score for Clowns encountered to see how they react to PCs unless the GM has designed a special encounter.
2d6 +Clown React score
Clown Reaction
2
The Clowns seem oddly distracted by something else and don't pay you any attention this scene
There is a 1 in 6 chance the clowns will do something funny.
3-4
The Clowns seem confused by the stimulus of fresh meat (roll again next turn)
5-6
The Clowns are surprised by the walking talking meat before them, they stand there for a turn salivating and attempting bad jokes(roll again next turn)
7-11
The Clowns stumble and cavort onward ready to attack
12+
The Clowns howl, laugh, and prance as they attack. More clowns are sure to be attracted to the scene.


Laughter
Clowns are occasionally funny, sometimes unnaturally funny. If something funny happens all that witness it must make a Laughter Check. PCS and NPCs rolls 2d6 adding Cool and Brains.

roll
Laughter Result
5 or less
Gut-Buster, character helpless until shaken out of it and suffers 2d6 damage at the end of turn following incident
6 or 7
Break-Up, character helpless for next  1die turns,
8 or 9
Wet Pants, character laughs so hard they wet their pants. This increases the chance of clown encounters in following turns and makes it impossible to hide from clowns until cleaned up.
10 or 11
Cackle, helpless until end of turn, increases chance of clown encounters in following turns.
12
Chortle, anyone hiding will reveal themselves if they chortle.
13
Giggle, a soft harmless laugh
14+
Dead-pan, no reaction



PCS are immune to laughter for the remainder of a feature if they have witnessed the death of 3 or more other PCs so far during the feature.




Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Impending Clown'pocalypse

It started as rumors and internet stories, soon there were 911 calls and school closings, and right from the beginning you knew this was different.
Because it was happening in small towns, north and south. It was in the newspapers and on television.
And then it wasn't just online or the TV any more. They were in the street outside.
They were coming in through the through your windows.
It was a virus, an infection.
No one needed a doctor to tell say it was the grease paint
There was something in the make-up.
By the time they tried to evacuate the cities, it was already too late.
The infection was everywhere, confetti littered the streets,
The army blockades were overrun and puddles of seltzer were everywhere.
People started to flee, but there were little cars full of them roaming the streets.
The day before broadcasting stopped, there were reports of Infection in Paris and New York.
We didn't hear anything more after that besides the horrible laughter.


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Growing clown hysteria here in the United States is just a harbinger of the end times... the Clown'pocalypse is coming.

That's a lot of Humanoids

Yesterday I was working on a list of humanoid (and folk some are centaurs) from my notes, classic D&D sources, and current OSR sources. I might make a more useful version of this list some day but here for now are the names.  I'm sure I have omitted many and may have effectively duplicated the same one with different names in different versions of game books.  I ended up with 200 humanoids that could have their own civilizations or be part of another with jobs and occupations, a few faeries were bumped as were a few tougher solo monsters that aren't really part of a society.


Humanoid
1
Snorf
2
Tibbit
3
Dwaddle
4
Mip
5
Yapper
6
Irk
7
Headless
8
Crawlman
9
Lopjack
10
Lank
11
Gump
12
Slather
13
Lurk
14
Pale
15
Cruel
16
Daro
17
Ur-Man
18
Eldren
19
Dvark
20
Hammer Goat
21
Whark
22
Octon
23
Fachan
24
Knockers
25
Drakyle
26
Kaboldi
27
Sootling
28
Fryst
29
Salamin
30
Prynac
31
Boglin
32
Squeak
33
Brin
34
Blood Cap
35
Skimp
36
Veem
37
Crunde
38
HausHob
39
Rackle
40
Trollkin
41
Molemen
42
Mousefolk
43
Beaver Brother
44
Brumble
45
Knurle
46
Moggles
47
Hulder
48
Badgerman
49
Gravel Gremlin
50
Metal Mite
51
Pebble Gnome
52
Fungus Faerie
53
Ice Gnome
54
Faun
55
Brownie
56
Hobwyn
57
Hobbart
58
Svarty Hobar
59
Higglewyn
60
Goblin
61
Snarga Orc
62
Orc
63
Arak (Black orc)
64
Orgog (Bog Orc)
65
Hobgoblin
66
Norker
67
Gnoll
68
Thoul
69
Bugbear
70
Boggle
71
Minotaur
72
Centaur
73
Pygmy
74
Cyclopsian
75
Amazon
76
Valan
77
Apeman
78
Hillman
79
Morlock
80
Ogre
81
Troll
82
Trow
83
Trolde
84
Many-headed Troll
85
Spelte Vaetter
86
Drauth
87
Trelf
88
Drolde
89
Traelf
90
Rotwood Elf
91
Moon Elf
92
Wood Elf
93
Ael (High Elf)
94
Elfin
95
Bullywug
96
Lizardman
97
Troglodyte
98
Dark Elf
99
Skulk
100
Gibberling
101
Qualn
102
Quaggoth
103
Flind
104
Xvart
105
Ice Troll
106
Fire Newt
107
Ogrillon
108
Aakockra
109
Pixie
110
Arivel
111
Hyperborean
112
Batfolk
113
Vulcher
114
Mossie
115
Skullman
116
Troglozak
117
Goblinman
118
Half-Orc
119
Vygon
120
Wendle
121
Mant
122
Buggane
123
Gark
124
Hoglin
125
Bugaboar
126
Squit
127
Scorboon
128
Hoon
129
Goom
130
Trid
131
Jackolin
132
Hindor
133
Shroot
134
Dwelf
135
Hoblock
136
Lagonuck
137
Ranite
138
Selenite
139
Calytaut
140
Centaur, Cyprian
141
Cyclorc
142
Dunter
143
Dwarf, Black
144
Dwarf, Red
145
Octoman
146
Orling
147
Skinkmen
148
Whitewinder
149
Atomie
150
Buckawn
151
Dakon
152
Dark Creeper
153
Dire Corby
154
Frost Man
155
Gremlin
156
Grippli
157
Half-Ogre
158
Kech
159
Mite
160
Pestie
161
Mongrelman
162
Nilbog
163
Ogren
164
Orc, Blood
165
Orc, Ghost-faced
166
Orc, Greenskin
167
Quickling
168
Silid
169
Spriggan
170
Sprite
171
Tabaxi
172
Troblin
173
Troll, Cave
174
Tsathar
175
Ubue
176
Nokker
177
Amazon, Yellow
178
Bird Man
179
Centaur, Eland
180
Centaur, Giraffe
181
Centaur, Zebra
182
Drakkar
183
Draken
184
Dwarf-Barbegazi
185
Eloko
186
Fly Man
187
Insectaur
188
Invisible Folk
189
Jabberling
190
Lout
191
Monkey Folk
192
Noroob
193
Reaper Goblin
194
Rotter
195
Shamshir
196
Squid-Man (hiigh tech)
197
Svart
198
Varj
199
Wildman
200
Lionmen

That's a heap of humanoids/folk and it could surely grow more so by straying into the elemental and outer planes and d20/3e era monster books. Most of the top of the list is from my notes including stuff "borrowed" from elfmaids&octopi and renamed, classic D&D humanoids, Fiend Folio, Blood & Treasure Monster book (1st edition), The Complete Tome of Horrors, and others.
I just have to wonder: why so many? Is it because the role of humanoids has changed over the years, the need to provide some new eye candy ? They are all essentially someone else with a club that has stuff you can use and possibly talk to before you take said stuff by force or trickery.
I myself can't stop creating them and know of a few more OSR sources that would likely allow me to add in even more. Why do we need so many goblins, wildmen, and trolls scampering in the darkness?