The Epic of the Ur-Men (Awkward Treasure #3)

My PCs are always coming across hieroglyphs, runes or frescos when they explore ruins. As a GM, I use these to reveal a bit of that epic backstory that I have written (or am making up on the spot), to help the Players (and PCs) to make sense of the ruins and its place in the game world, and to foreshadow the dangers (and rewards) that might be found.

But these are also ancient (and valuable) works of art. When real-life looters stripped ancient sites (and, later, museums) of their treasures, it wasn’t just the gold they plundered. On occasion, it was aspects of the very structures that were taken as loot; statues, columns, masonry of artistry and significance. There is no reason why the PCs in a fantasy RPG should not take the same approach.

These marbles are powerful and valuable objects, even though Hermes and Dionysos (the seated figures with their backs to each other) are not real. In a fantasy RPG these depictions of Gods, myth and legend can not only be true, they can be imbued with the magic of these Gods, myths and legends. 

Carved into a wall, the PCs come across the Epic of the Ur-Men, a history of the First Age of Man ‘written’ in a confusing mix of carven images, metaphorical pictographs, and letter-like runes. It is stunningly beautiful – its aesthetic value alone would bring an expedition profit – and scholars would sell their souls for the opportunity to study and interpret the images, but it is also of great political significance. The lord or city who possess this artefact can assert a link back to the dawn of human existence, to the mythical heroes who challenged and threw down the very Gods.

The only problem is getting the Epic back to civilization. Intact. Removing the required section of the wall will require the skill of at least 2 master masons and a 3d4 journeymen. Loading and transporting the wall will require 4d4 labourers and teamsters and 4 carts. Removing the Epic at the site will take 4d6 hours of labour, with 8 hours work per day being the most that can be relied upon without there being consequences. The GM should allow a good plan, or a larger workforce, to modify this roll, but simply driving the men harder will come at a cost of loyalty and fatigue, both of which may prove costly on the return journey.

This is an expedition, and an expedition is visible. The PCs will need to operate in secret, to draw on trusted contacts, or to mislead (or outright press-gang) their workmen, or else they will find themselves in a race against time. The Epic is worth killing for, and rivals will mount their own expeditions once word of the PCs plans reaches their ears. The PCs will have a head start, but can they keep this as they journey into the wilderness, and can they remove the Epic before any rivals arrive at the site? Regardless of the PCs discretion and speed, the work camp will need to be defended from wandering monsters – if a marauding Owlbear eats their master masons, the PCs might end up bringing only ancient rubble back to civilisation.   

This ‘treasure’ could be used at a range of levels of play – it could found at a bona fide ‘adventure site’ such as deep within a dungeon (which presents additional problems) or a ruined city, but it could be a lucky find in the wilderness, a mere remnant of some long forgotten structure, with distance from civilisation the main obstacle. Low-level PCs could be recruited to join such an expedition, leading scouting parties, patrols and so on. The PCs might have discovered the Epic in a previous adventure, its location might have been provided to them in the form of rumours, advice from a sage, etc., or it might be presented to them as a straightforward ‘mission’. Or low-level PCs might lead such an expedition, though they would probably need to win the backing of an ‘investor’. Mid-level PCs might seek out the Epic in order to cement the allegiance of a Lordly patron, while high-level PCs might keep the Epic for themselves, to adorn their stronghold and legitimate their own political ambitions. Of course, the content of the Epic could also be useful in other ways. For example, it would make sense if possession of the Epic counted as a contribution to a magical library or laboratory, and it stands to reason that careful study of its narrative might reveal the locations of potential further adventures – perhaps even the last refuge of the Gods! 

A Grittier Domain Game

I am a big Kevin Crawford/Sine Nomine fanboy. I wish he’d been given the job of writing D&D5e using his Stars Without Number engine (crudely: Basic D&D with a Traveller-esque skill system), not for the simple, effective system itself, but for the sandbox tools he could build into the game – whether that is giving the GM the machinery to generating adventures, alien ruins, the actions of factions and domain, or the dark plots of those devoted to Elder Things. 

Now, it might seem strange, given that Other Dust is a post-apocalyptic game set in the far future, but the more that I have considered the ‘Groups and Enclaves’ rules in Other Dust, the more I think that they would be ideal – far more so than the higher level ‘domain game’ of An Echo Resounding – for the kind of fantasy gaming that I understand as being an aspect of distinctive RuneQuest play. That said, to my shame, I’ve always run RQ as more or less percentile D&D. The sort of play that I am talking about is that in which the Player Characters are members of a community (or communities, what with cults, tribes, clans, kingdoms, etc.) and their adventuring is often conducted for the benefit of those communities, not only for the personal gain of the PCs. In other words, Other Dust provides the tools to add some mechanical heft to a grittier kind of OSR domain game.

In Other Dust, Kevin Crawford proposes that the engine (and verisimilitude) of the sandbox can be maintained by running a ‘faction game’, determining and resolving the actions of the various Groups and Enclaves of the campaign region between ‘traditional’ adventure sessions. There are different kinds of Groups – Creeds, Raiders, Polities, Families, and Cabals – and it is easy to see how these could be translated into RQ-esque (or other Bronze to Iron Age inspired) fantasy equivalents. Creeds become (what else) ‘Cults’, Raiders could be renamed ‘Warbands’, Polities are ‘Nations’ or ‘Tribes’, Families stay as they are, or are perhaps are renamed ‘Clans’, and, well, Cabals cover just about everything from secret societies to merchant combines. These Groups have Tiers – ranging from 1 to 3 – which represents the level of their influence over the campaign region.

Groups have resources; Food, Tech, Morale, Influence, and Security, and by exceeding certain thresholds – which depend on Group type and Tier – Groups can earn ‘Progress’, which helps them perform actions, but groups also have a certain level of Ruin, which can impede actions (and might lead to the end of the Group entirely, if not checked). Of course, the best – as in, most fun – way to get rid of Ruin is to solve the problems that generate Ruin points by way of adventure.

Most Dark Ages inspired gaming (and most D&D, in fact) is post-apocalyptic – even in heavily fictionalised settings there is a fallen (Roman) empire, barbarian invasions and ethnic conflict, the spread of an millenarian religion (Christianity), and a place for the wandering ‘hero’ and his warband. I have been looking for *my* Dark Ages game for some time now, and I might have to do it myself by reskinning Other Dust. 

Fear of Disruption - Guilty!

I was reading through The Doom-Cave of the Crystal-Headed Children, and in the introduction Raggi writes:

"This year we’ve got a dungeon that’ll work as a totally mental one-shot just as well as a completely disruptive part of an ongoing campaign. And if you’re not wanting disruptive, then what’s the point? “Oh let’s have an adventure that doesn’t look like it’ll rock the boat, I’m sure that’ll have a better chance of getting the players excited and of being something we all remember later on with fondness.” Pffft. You want carefully considered, scientifically tested, carefully balanced adventures that are constructed to have beginnings, middles, and ends, all of which can be slotted into your pre-plotted campaign without changing it? I call those types of adventures ‘fillers’ and once a regular progression of events becomes evident, once the outcomes of an adventure are discovered and known, that adventure becomes boring, and I’d never publish what I’d come to think of as boring."

I'm guilty. All GMs probably are, and a great many adventure designers are too - but that can be seen as necessity, they are writing material for campaigns unknown. But I hope I remember this passage more often than I forget it, and make sure that, as a GM, I'm not afraid of an adventure being 'disruptive' - and that I keep clear in my mind that if the campaign is more or less unchanged after the PCs have had an adventure then yes, Raggi is right; what's the point?

You don't prefer the Status Quo, do you?

A Complete Game in Four Parts

Of all the D&Ds, Frank Mentzer's BECM is the one that is closest to my heart. I leave out the 'I' as I never owned the Immortal Set. In fact, as I describe below, I'm not sure that I've ever needed the Master Set as part of my 'complete game'. Certainly I've never played in a campaign that has got beyond the 'teen' levels. Part of the reason that I hold these slim books in such high regard is, no doubt, nostalgia. In the 1980s we got a tremendous amount of play out of just four books – the Basic Player and DM books, the Expert book (which is my favourite D&D book of all time), and the Isle of Dread. We fought our way up from frightened dungeon grubbers, we travelled all across the Known World, by horse, ship, and – later – a variety of flying monsters, we built castles, ruled domains, and lead armies into battle (we didn't have the Companion set at the time so we made up our own rules, which isn't that difficult in an AC/HD system). We could do all this because BECM D&D is a wonderfully complete and well organised game that supports this range of fantasy adventure with a number of simple but effective play procedures.

"Well organised?! It is spread across seven books!" Sure. But do not overlook the virtue of procedures organised by 'tier'. First, it stops players and DMs being overwhelmed by trying to master rules and procedures that are of little to no relevance for their own games. But second and more importantly - and this is something that is missing from plenty of more serious, comprehensive games - it makes material the idea that the kind of adventures that a PC might engage in will change, as they grow. This change will be qualitative as well as quantitative. Play at higher levels isn't just about fighting bigger monsters for more magnificent treasures (though both are there, if you want them) but about different kinds of adventure altogether. The PCs are a 'real' part of the world. In my opinion, if 'serious' D&D has to be three big hardbound books, it would be better for the game (though not for WotC’s bank balance) if the material – the procedures that make up the game – was organised by tiers of PC power (and where these tiers mean something other than the addition of more kewl powerz) rather than the now standard PHB, DMG, MM division. 

Second, do not be fooled by the fact that these rules are spread across seven books. Each book is a pretty slim volume affair. I can use the weight of most RPG rulebooks to press flowers - if I was into that - and many RPGs don't settle for just one big book. These? I couldn't squash an ant with these books, even one on top of the other. Yet within these books there are not only the systems that are found in any fantasy adventure RPG - character creation and advancement, magic, equipment, combat, monsters, etc., but a whole raft of simple procedures that cement the place of PCs within the game world. My expectations of an RPG have been so coloured by the comprehensiveness and scope of BECM that I find other games inadequate in this regard (and end up porting in BECM D&D's procedures to fill in the gaps).

From the Basic DM book we have a procedure for dealing with retainers (BD20), a system for handling the reaction of monsters and NPCs (BD22), treasure tables that provide us with a system of determining appropriate levels of reward with the context of a D&D game world (BD40-42), a system for generating room contents and random treasures (BD47), and a system for determining whether the party will encounter wandering monsters, with sample wandering monster tables on the inside back cover.

The Expert book, as we all know, introduces wilderness travel and adventure (for example, encounter tables on E30 and 35, getting lost etc. on E41), but it also includes procedures for allowing PCs to build castles (E23), hire mercenaries (E24), conduct magical research (E25), as well as adventures at sea (E42-44).

The Companion book brings us rules for ruling Dominions (CD5-10), fighting wars (CD12-17), and, for those higher level PCs without the taste for rulership, guidance for engaging in adventures across other dimensions and planes of existence (C18-20).

And, given that in BECM we’re not talking about a race from 1^st level to name level in just under three weeks of actual adventuring (which, judging by the release of the free DMG pdf is the assumption of 5e), the Companion book also introduces some rules for aging (CD25).

In other words, across a handful of pages (not many - count 'em!), using pretty simple systems of resolution (okay, the Dominion rules could have done with a serious trim), we have the procedural skeleton on which a can be built play a campaign in which the players can enjoy their PCs exploring, shaping, ruling, and travelling beyond the game world.

And while AD&D churned out adventure module after geographic guidebook after splatbook, the BECM D&D supplemental line included material that further cemented the idea that this was the D&D for extended, meaningful sandbox campaigns. The C and M series of modules often involved the PCs not only as adventurers but as rulers. Hidden in the GAZ series was material than made them something more than mere geographical guidebooks and sources of variant Class options - consider the trade rules from the Minrothad Guilds and Darokin supplements. And in Red Arrow, Black Shield, the PCs were invited to take a meaningful, consequential part in a continental war - in the war itself, mind, which was not 'merely' the background for a quest for a MacGuffin.  

Kids game, huh?!

[Of course, there are a few things that I don't like about BECM. It is not the perfect D&D. Central to my complaints is the lunatic level spread (36 levels!), and the fact that that level spread is partly responsible for producing the worst iteration of the Thief class in any D&D.]

The Hanging Garden - (not quite) Skeleton Encounter #4

Another Skeleton encounter (well, sorta) that fits on two sides of a 6"x4" index card. Earlier encounters in this series can be found here:

#1 Archeologists

#2 The Cursed Holmgang

#3 A Travelling Show 

#4 The Hanging Garden

Alone in a meadow is a tree resembling a tall willow with a dense curtain of hanging branches. It sways gently, creaking and groaning, even without wind. If the PCs approach, the tree will burst into blossom; red, white and yellow flowers opening along the hanging branches. The tree reeks of sweet decay and small skeletal birds flutter here and there. This is a CARNIVOROUS PLANT, and the flowers are its ‘mouths’. An aberration, it fed on birds until people settled nearby and began to use it as a way of disposing of their criminals and other outcasts. Years of ritualised murder, combined with whatever residual magic produced the tree, keeps the dead from their rest. Tangled in the branches of the tree are 10 SKELETONS. Some are able walk a few feet from the tree, as if one a leash, while others are higher into the canopy and jerk ineffectively as they dangle. 

The PCs might well conceive of reasonable a plan to destroy the tree; if so they will recover the some trinkets and jewellery worth 3d6GP. However, the tree is difficult to set alight and the trunk cannot be reached without entering the hungry curtain of branches. Unreasonable plans might result in PCs being tangled in the branches – Save vs Paralyzation or be trapped, taking 1d4 damage per turn until a successful Saving Throw is made. Other PCs can help, granting a +2 bonus to the tangled PC’s Saving Throw, but risk being entangled themselves. Skeletons ‘freed’ have a 2in6 chance of attacking the PCs; otherwise they will head towards their ‘home’ village.

This encounter presents little threat to a party that doesn’t do anything silly. Unless the PCs decide to destroy the tree, this encounter serves as atmospheric foreshadowing. The next settlement that the PCs reach will be the one that uses this tree as its means of punishment. A sign outside the village reads, ‘Sinners Shall Tend to the Garden of the God’. PCs should watch their manners…

The 6"x4" index card format really restrained me here. I left out the Skeleton stats, something that I'd thought about before as which ever OSR (or other) game you are using has standard Skeleton that supercedes the Labyrinth Lord statline I would reproduce here. This wouldn't always be the decision - a monster or NPC that varies from a standard would need the statline included - what I want here are index cards that I can draw from a file and [almost] immediately play. 

It also isn't all that Skeleton-y. It started out as an encounter with a number of Skeletons in gibbets, but this gives the players much more to do. Or, well, much more to mess about with. I haven't provided any stats for the 'tree' as it doesn't need any. No more than an oak tree would, anyway. It is an environmental hazard, not a 'monster' to be fought. Of course, it is really an introduction to a proper 'Hammer Horror' village, and the PCs have more choices to make when they find that. 
 

A Travelling Show (1d6 Skeleton Encounters #3)

Another Skeleton 'encounter'. This (or these, perhaps) are might not be very adventuresome, but it is (they are) colourful. And there is the potential for the PCs to get tangled up in a heap of trouble (when isn't there?), particularly if they meet this travelling showman more than once.

A Travelling Show

Osteus Arcanus is the stage name of a petty Necromancer. Lacking the, ahem, backbone, for the deeper secrets of death magic, he has put his talents to use as a showman. His carriage is made from painted black wood, polished brass, and carved bone. It is pulled by two black shire horses wearing bull skulls as ostentatious champrons. Osteus maintains a sinister appearance, using theatrical make-up to give himself a deathly pallor and darken his sunken eyes. He wears a brass skull cap and the (tattered) funeral wear of the nobility. All this is a mistake; as often as he puts on a successful show, he leaves a village or town just ahead of the pitchfork and torch.   

OSTEUS = MU (Necromancer from Theorems & Thaumaturgy): 3, AC: 7, HP: 7, MV: 120’/40’, ATT: 1 dagger, DAM: 1d4, SV: MU3, MR: 6, AL: C, XP: 100

Osteus’ spellbook – an overwritten volume of the Hagensburg Register of Deaths – contains the Level 1 spells Exterminate (T&T p12), Read Magic, Scare (AEC p75), Skeletal Servitor (T&T p15), and the Level 2 spell Ray of Pain (T&T p14). He also has a collection of books on obscure funereal rites (worth 200gp to a suitable buyer), and a beautifully illustrated copy of Delvecchio’s Classical Clowning (200gp). A locked chest contains 50gp and 500sp. He also has four human skeletons, bones linked by wire, hooks drilled into their skulls. These hang on a rack in his carriage when not dressed in cheap costumes and animated using Skeletal Servitor for his act – a compendium of famous tragic, historical, and comedic scenes. Each casting of Skeletal Servitor allows him to animate a Skeleton for 9 turns.

There are many ways in which the PCs may (repeatedly) encounter Osteus, but here are three:

1 – At the edge of town, Osteus sobs over a charred skeleton. It is dressed in what remains of a ‘princess’ costume. 'She' was burned by angry, confused villagers. Distraught, Osteus will initially say little other than, ‘They burned her!’

2 – A clown picks berries from a roadside hedge. If approached, it will become clear that it is a Skeleton. Osteus is brewing a kettle of tea a few hundred yards away.

3 – Osteus enters a village with great pomp, with two Skeletons dressed a noble guards marching ahead of his carriage, from which he announces himself as a great dramatist. On behalf of the villagers, roll for reaction…

[This should (it does!) fit onto a 6"x4" index card. Maybe I'll have to put together a PDF at some point for easy archiving. As well as referencing Labyrinth Lord, spells have been drawn from Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion, and Theorems &Thaumaturgy - a free(!!) pdf from Gavin Norman of City of Iron.]

Encounter #1 Archaeologists

Encounter #2 The Cursed Holmgang

1d6 Skeleton Encounters [2]

Continuing the series (encounter 1, Archaeologists, is here).

The Cursed Holmgang

When crossing land long lost to civilisation, the PCs hear the ring of steel on steel. If they hesitate for more a moment they will notice the curious lack of cries, shouts, or screams. If the PCs listen carefully, they will begin to hear a pattern in the blows as the same series of strikes, parries, and blocks is repeated. Endlessly.

The sound is that of a ritualised duel that has never ended. Two SKELETON CHAMPIONS in tattered chain fight skilfully but monotonously on a 10’x10’ square ox hide, the boundaries marked by five hazel stakes driven into the ground. To one side is a shield, upon which rests a large iron key. Carved into the shield, in an archaic runic script, is “While Brothers Fight, None Will Prosper”. The PCs should be able to decipher this.

SKELETON CHAMPIONS (2) = AC: 4, HD: 3, HP: 12, MV: 60’/20’, ATT: 1 sword, DAM: 1d8, SV: F3, MR: 12, AL: C, XP: 65

The SKELETONS were twin brothers, cursed by their sister as they fought over the inheritance of the family hall. The hall, a few hundred yards away, has crumbled to a few rotten posts and an overgrown hearth. The PCs will find this with if they search the long grass and bushes (perhaps 1d6 chance per turn). A treasure trove is buried by one of the posts (worth 1500GP, mostly copper and silver coins and jewellery - golden torcs, silver rings and broaches studded with semi-precious stones).

The hazel stakes mark the limit of the curse, forming the points of an invisible pentagram. Within, the Skeletons cannot be Turned and are immune to non-magical attacks. If the stakes are all torn up, the monotony of their fight is broken but the duel will not end. However, the Skeletons will turn as brothers to fight any PC that damages either of them, ending the duel. Other methods might also succeed. If the duel, and hence the curse, is not ended, the spirit of their sister protects the family treasure. She sits on the hearth, a weeping corpse, insensible with sadness.

VENGEFUL WIGHT = AC: 5, HD: 3, HP: 10, MV: 90’/30’, ATT: 1 grasp, claw, or bite, DAM: Energy Drain, SV: F3, MR: 12, AL: C, XP: 110. 

Again, this fits on two sides of a 4"x6" index card.

I went into the shop to have a look at 5e...

... I turned the box over in my hands, read the blurb, looked at the art and... decided that there was no reason for me to buy *this* version of D&D. I am with Newt on this one; I have more than enough versions of D&D in my cupboards, on my bookshelves and on my harddrives to not really need another version, official or not. Indeed, if I was to buy another D&D, it'd likely be another OSR game, or a hardcopy of one of the games I only own as a .pdf. I am not saying that 5e is no good. Hell, I'm not even saying that it isn't a version that I would like. I've skimmed through the .pdf of the Basic Rules and there isn't anything that screams, "play me, and put away your TSR D&Ds, your clones, and your OSR games". In my first draft of this post that was a huge list of classic and OSR rulesets, but I figured that I'd only leave out some deserving clone or OSR game, such is the genuine renaissance of gaming based on the simplicities of HD, AC, Class and Level. Indeed, there is so wit, wisdom, vim, and vigour among the hobbyists producing D&Dish material that 'official D&D' is largely redundant to someone like me who doesn't, for example, engage in 'organised play'.

Honestly, if Kevin Crawford would just tone down the creativity a bit (next up; a sandbox 'Cthulhu' OSR horror game?!) and embrace vanilla fantasy we'd be sorted. If he'd rebuild the classic D&D classes (in pseudo-Medieval costume) using the SWN/SotD engine, importing all his campaign construction and management options - domains, mass combat, factions, trade, etc. - spread out across Red Tide/An Echo, Resounding and various SWN products, combing them all into one big 'rules cyclopedia', well then I would have my 'permanent D&D'.

So I ended up spending about half the money I'd earmarked for a boxed set of D&D on Dead Names: Lost Races and Forgotten Ruins and Scarlet Heroes instead. Kevin Crawford, a one-man-band of OSR awesomeness, epitomises the best of the OSR (whether he calls himself part of the OSR or not). There isn't a bad product in the entire Sine Nomine line, but they're not just setting books, or collections new classes, spells, monsters, and useful tables. Almost every product is the distillation of a particular gaming philosophy, one that emphasizes player choice and agency in the context of a long-running campaign in a living world (or worlds, for Stars Without Number). If you are at all interested in sandbox play, read something written by Kevin Crawford. Stars Without Number has a free edition. So yes, they're packed with tables for campaign construction and adventure design, yes, the setting ideas are interesting, and put new spins on D&Dish games (Spears of the Dawn has some great African-inspired magic using classes), and yes, they are all cleanly written with non-nonsense procedures that achieve in game what other games seem to require GMs maintain spreadsheets. But they are also motivated by an idea; an idea of what a roleplaying game should be, and why playing a roleplaying game has unique qualities that set it apart from other forms of gaming.

So, even if I do end up buying 5e - and you know that I will submit in the end - you can be sure that I'll still have a whole bunch of Kevin Crawford's books loaded on my tablet as a reminder of what this game is all about. 

And of how productive one man can be! I would struggle to believe that Kevin Crawford wasn't some kind of collective identity for a whole bunch of writers, if there wasn't a singular vision running through all his books.

[God, that's a bit gushing isn't it? Still, click 'Publish'...]

The Goblin Tax (part two)

So, here are entries 7-12 on the 1d12 selection of GOBLIN encounters. These are not meant to be whole adventures, but some of these encounters might become significant events in a sandbox campaign. Or they might be just a little bit of colour to liven up the evening's goblin slaughtering session.

Oh, and I was wrong - these print on two sides of a 6"x4" index card when printed in Calibri at 11 point. If anyone actually wants the them in a printable format I'll see what I can do about putting a .pdf file up somewhere.

7 DOMINATED DRONES

EIGHT near naked GOBLINS labour tirelessly, moving at a single, inexorable pace. They are lean and fit, working in total silence. They have lifeless eyes and blank expressions – a result of the dull grey metal headbands that they wear: BANDS OF DOMINATION (7a). The reaction check is not for these goblins, but their master – CHARNUM the MAGIC USER – who hides, wasting away, in the cellar of a cottage a mile away.  

GOBLINS (4) = AC: 7, HD: 1-1, HP: 3, MV: 30’ per round, ATT: 1 tool DAM: 1d4 SV: NM, MR: 12, AL: C, XP: 5

CHARNUM (MU 2) = AC: 9, HD: 2d4*, HP: 4, MV: 10’ per round, ATT: 1 dagger (-2 to hit), DAM: 1d4-2, SV: MU2, MR: 7, AL: C, XP: 25

Charnum has Magic Missile and Charm Person (or Sleep) memorised. Charnum will use the Crown to enslave the party if he uses Sleep. This might not be interesting. They will be slaves of Charnum for the final 3d4 days of his life.

Charnum recently stole the Crown and Bands from his tutor and used Charm Person (or Sleep) to assemble his ‘retinue’, planning to become a mighty wizard. If the reaction roll is favourable, Charnum will attempt to use the goblins to guide the party to his cottage. He is educated and polite, but will plead to be returned to civilization. But not to his tutor. If the reaction roll is hostile, Charnum will reason that the party are bounty hunters, come to reclaim the crown and deliver him to justice. He will use the goblins to keep the party away from the cottage at all costs.

Charnum has 20GP in a box decorated with his family crest, and a spellbook containing Read Magic, Detect Magic, and the above spells. These items can be used to trace Charnum’s origin and the previous owner of the Crown.

7a THE CROWN AND BANDS OF DOMINATION

Each Crown of Domination is magically connected to 1d8 Bands. Both are made of a permanently warm, dull grey metal. The Bands are thin circlets, while the Crowns are heavy and broad.

The will of those wearing the Crown (‘masters’) immediately displaces that of those wearing the Bands (‘slaves’). Slaves lose one point from INT, WIS, or CHA per day. For each point lost so, masters lose a point from STR, DEX or CON. If INT, WIS, or CHA fall to 0, the slave is permanently without will. No more ability score points are lost by either master or slave. If STR, DEX, or CON reaches 0, the master dies. The Crown cannot be removed except by use of Dispel Magic, which cannot be cast by the wearer. The Bands can be removed by magic or one the death of the ‘master’. A Saving Throw vs. Spells in can be made to avoid the domination of both the Crown and the Bands. Ability points recover slowly, but only after the items are removed.

8 RAG AND BONE

A small cart rumbles along, piled high with bones and animal pelts. The cart is drawn by FOUR WOLVES. THREE GOBLINS (Gatta, Krun, Lod) ride and walk alongside. They are traders, travelling between petty goblin kingdoms. 

GOBLINS (3) = AC: 6, HD: 1-1, HP: 3, MV: 30’ per round, ATT: 1 short swords DAM: 1d6 SV: NM, MR: 7, AL: C, XP: 5

WOLVES (4) = AC: 7, HD: 2+2, HP: 10, MV: 60’ per round, ATT: 1 bite DAM: 1d6 SV: F1, MR: 8(6), AL: N, XP: 25

The goblins are minded to react positively (a +2 modifier to the reaction check). They are traders after all. If the party receives a favourable reaction, the traders will attempt to bargain with the party. They are especially interested in metal weapons and armour. Abstracted, the party can trade for pelts that will sell in a human settlement for double the value of the objects traded, but at double the encumbrance. Many of the bones are marked with intricate carvings; transcriptions of ‘epic’ poems, jokes, and other aspects of goblin culture – including erotica. These will also sell for double the value of the objects traded, at a one-to-one encumbrance rate, but only to a tiny market of secretive scholars and collectors. If the party receives a hostile reaction, the goblins will see the party as the sort of people who kill goblins and take their treasure. Their wolves make them dangerous opponents. The goblins will take the wolves by the reins and use them to menace the party. If the party do not retreat – or above the growls and shouts offer generous trade terms – the goblins will let slip the wolves.

Goods in the cart; 300gp of pelts, 200gp of carvings and a goblin gambling set worth 10GP (these artefacts of goblin culture will flood the tiny market). Strapped underneath the cart is a small box containing 50GP of silver jewellery. If the party have killed or driven off the wolves, how will they get the goods to market? 

9 ON TO ADVENTURE!

A ‘first level’ adventuring party of FIVE GOBLINS are exploring the same area as the party. The party consists of two ‘Fighters’ (Jagga, Prok), one Shaman (Wratta), one Wicca (Shonk the Magnificent), and one ‘Thief’ (Dirty Agg), together with a decrepit old mule laden with rope, torches, etc.

GOBLINS (‘Fighters’ and ‘Thief’) = AC: 6, HD: 1-1, HP: 5, MV: 30’ per round, ATT: 1 spear DAM: 1d6 SV: NM, MR: 8, AL: C, XP: 5

WRATTA (SHAMAN 1): AC: 6, HD1, HP: 5, MV: 30‘per round, ATT: 1 silver sickle, DAM: 1d4, SV: C1, MR: 8, AL: C. XP: 10

SHONK (WICCA 1): AC: 6, HD1*, HP: 5, MV: 30‘per round, ATT: 1 bone dagger, DAM: 1d4-1, SV: MU1, MR: 8, AL: C. XP: 13

Wratta has no spells, but can command the spirits (Turn Undead as a 1^st level Cleric). Shonk knows Light, which he uses to impress (and blind) other goblins. 

The standard behaviour of the PCs should be reflected back at the players. These goblins are adventurers, and the PCs have established what that means. Nevertheless: if the party receives a favourable reaction, the goblins will offer to trade information with the party. They will know details about 1d3 nearby adventure locales. The goblins may be persuaded to temporarily ally with the party if a profitable adventure is proposed. Goblins are unpredictable, and additional reaction rolls should be made mid-adventure. If the party receives a hostile reaction, the goblins will react much as the PCs would to a dangerous monster.

The goblins have 25GP between them, along with poor quality adventuring gear. This gear has a 10% chance of failure in critical situations. They also have a map to an adventure locale with scribbled details (roll twice on the rumour table).

10 WRETCHED ESCAPEES

A group of FOUR GOBLINS (Ak, Jud, Brong, Degga) have escaped from a sorcerer. They are a pathetic sight; snivelling, terrified, near naked. They are being harried by THREE of the sorcerer’s SCOUTS (Bran, Krevan, Hart), humans with tattooed faces trained in bushcraft (PCs are surprised on a roll of 1-3 when in the terrain of the type inhabited by the scouts’ tribe, i.e. the terrain in which the initial encounter takes place). These will not be encountered together – once the party has encountered the goblins the next wandering monster rolled will be the scouts.

GOBLINS (4) = AC: 6, HD: 1-1, HP: 2, MV: 30’ per round, ATT: 1 rock, DAM: 1d3, SV: NM, MR: 5, AL: C, XP: 5

SCOUTS (3) = AC: 6, HD: 1, HP: 5, MV: 30’ per round, ATT: 1 short sword or sling, DAM: 1d6 or 1d4, SV: T1, MR: 8, AL: C, XP: 10

There are two reaction rolls here. A favourable reaction from the goblins will see them offer magical treasure (2d3 Potions of Healing in the form of pellets of sweet, thick paste wrapped in leaves) if the party escort the goblins to their tribe (a 2d3 day journey). A hostile reaction from the goblins will see them flee the party, who they presume to be agents of the sorcerer. If the goblins do escape, this will complicate further encounters with goblins in the area as news of the party’s affiliation spreads.

A favourable reaction from the scouts will see the party approached as possible collaborators in the schemes of the sorcerer – initially the capture of the goblins, for which the sorcerer’s agent will reward them with 2d3 Potions of Healing). A hostile reaction will result in the scouts seeing the party – particularly any magic using characters, as better prizes than a band of wretched goblins. The scouts wear silver medallions bearing the symbol of the sorcerer – worth 20GP when melted down – and 5GP a piece.

11 LOTTAGROB THE KNIGHT

A GOBLIN (Lottagrob) in shining plate armour sits astride a well groomed DIRE WOLF (Lope), a brightly coloured pennant flying from his spear. A second, smaller GOBLIN (Kip) serves as squire to this ‘knight’, holding a spear shield and two spare spears. Lottagrob was captured by human knights, and before escaping developed a fascination with chivalry.

LOTTAGROB = AC: 3, HD: 2, HP: 10, MV: 30’ per round, ATT: 1 spear or short sword, DAM: 1d6, SV: NM, MR: 8, AL: L, XP: 20

LOPE = AC: 6, HD: 4+1, HP: 18, MV: 50’ per round, ATT: 1 bite DAM: 2d4 SV: F2, MR: 8, AL: N, XP: 125

KIP = AC: 6, HD: 1-1, HP: 2, MV: 30’ per round, ATT: 1 spear, DAM: 1d6, SV: NM, MR: 7, AL: L, XP: 5

Lottagrob will block the party’s path. He will challenge the party member who most resembles a knight to a contest at arms. If the reaction roll is favourable, Lottagrob will challenge his opponent to a non-lethal dual- subdual damage only. If he wins, he will take the loser’s weapon to melt into ‘warrior rings’. He will also claim the loser’s shield, or other item carrying an emblem to keep as a trophy. Throughout, Lottagrob will be polite, and after the contest will offer the party the hospitality of his motley patchwork of a tent. If the reaction roll is negative, Lottagrob will list the crimes of the party (some real, some imagined, some cases of mistaken identity). He will then demand that the party’s champion face trial by combat. If defeated, and his life spared, he will see it as proof that the party is just, and will offer to serve the party until he has paid his debt (one adventure).

He is wearing a finely crafted suit of Halfling-sized armour. Of Elven manufacture, it is worth triple the price of plate, but encumbers only as much as chain. Lottagrob has no money, being of charitable nature.

12 HELP ME, OH BIG ONE, YOU’RE MY ONLY HOPE!

The party hears a whimpering from the underbrush. The whimpering is silenced. If they listen carefully, they will hear a gruff ‘hush’. THREE GOBLINS are hiding; a female (Nush), a youngling (Vankagh), and an old warrior (Vrang). Vankagh is the spawn the dead king of a local tribe. The new king killed Vankagh’s siblings, but his mother fled with the help of the old king’s champion. They hope that a rival tribe will see fostering a pretender to the ‘throne’ as a source of long term advantage.

NUSH = AC: 6, HD: 1-1, HP: 2, MV: 30’ per round, ATT: 1 knife, DAM: 1d3, SV: NM, MR: 7, AL: C, XP: 5

VRANG = AC: 6, HD: 2, HP: 10, MV: 30’ per round, ATT: 1 sword +1, DAM: 1d8+1, SV: NM, MR: 8, AL: C, XP: 25

GOBLINS (2d4) = AC: 6, HD: 1-1, HP: 4, MV: 30’ per round, ATT: 1 spear, DAM: 1d6, SV: NM, MR: 7, AL: C, XP: 5

With a favourable reaction, Vrang has assumed the party to be of a mercenary bent. He will promise them riches if they can be delivered to the rival tribe. They will be pursued by 2d4 goblins (the next wandering monster encounter). There is a -4 penalty to any reaction roll with the pursuers if the party is with Vankagh. With a hostile reaction, Vrang attempt to frighten the party with COWARD MAKER. The screams of his sword will trigger a wandering monster roll. Regardless of morale rolls, Nush and Vrang will not flee without Vankagh.

Coward Maker is a Sword +1. It is a crude falchion that screams as it is swung. This is part of the regalia of kingship of the tribe, and the new king is as concerned with its return as he is with killing the youngling. Hidden in Vankagh’s swaddling is 100GP of jewellery.     

Paying the Index Card Tax...

Much of my current sandbox game is run using index cards. Now, I need a better system of sorting and organising these cards - at the moment the principle, as with most of my campaign notes, is that they get shoved in the folder at the end of a session. Organisation aside, being able to flick through a stack of cards with concise and game-relevant details allows me to have the NPCs, locations, and encounters allows me to keep the engine of the sandbox to hand.  

The colours, they mean nothing. NOTHING!

But, I figure it is time to start paying my taxes. One of the things that I've been doing is creating 'interesting' encounters to flesh out the perfectly ordinary Wandering Monster tables. And if I'm paying my tax, I have to do something a little more organised, a little less piecemeal. So a 1d12 table of GOBLIN encounters, fleshed out as index cards ready for use at the table, ready for use in Basic D&D/Labyrinth Lord games...

Goblins?! Boring! Yeah, well, I like goblins. Goblins are a big part of Basic Level D&D. And interesting doesn't have to mean weird, or gonzo. And (hey, I'm getting defensive here!) I know that these are nothing that you couldn't do yourself. But then, that's part of the point. Here's my contribution to the collective body of things that we *could* all do ourselves, based on how I run things at my table.

After I've posted up the goblins, I'll probably do some low-level undead.

All of these fit on two sides of a 6"x4" index card when printed in Times New Roman at 12pt Calibri at 11pt. 

[EDIT: Oh, and while I know you can't remember NPCs from one session to the next, but if you are playing in my game (yes, YOU!), there are spoilers ahead.]

GOBLIN ENCOUNTERS 1-6 (of 12, 7-12 tomorrow)

1 THE BOAR HUNT

FOUR scrawny GOBLINS (Polg, Hruk, Jargo, Bukk) are hunting. Armed with long spears and slings, they have bagged several birds, and are now on the trail of a dangerous BOAR. They call the Boar Old Tusk-Gore, and by all accounts it is a large, dangerous alpha male.

GOBLINS (4) = AC: 6, HD: 1-1, HP: 3, MV: 30’ per round, ATT: 1 spear or sling, DAM: 1d6 or 1d4, SV: NM, MR: 7, AL: C. XP: 5

No modifiers to the reaction check. If the party receives a favourable reaction, the goblins may invite the party to share lunch with them, even inviting them to help with the hunt. A hostile reaction will likely not see the goblins attack directly, but the party will be tracked for some time (check for Hear Noise) as the goblins evaluate the prospect of taking bigger game: the party!

The goblins are wearing simple silver jewellery worth 15GP in total.

Old Tusk-Gore is a hulking boar, bigger than a wolfhound and covered with scars. As the boar charges through the undergrowth he will seem much bigger to startled low-level PCs. Remember to check Goblin Morale as the beast’s grunts and snorts towards them, a squealing roar heralding its charge, with snot and drool dribbling from its scarred mouth!

WILD BOAR (Old Tusk-Gore) = AC: 7, HD: 3, HP: 21, MV: 30’ per round, ATT: 1 tusk, DAM: 2d4, SV: F2, MR: 9, AL: N. XP: 35

A -3 modifier to the reaction check – Old Tusk-Gore is very aggressive. A favourable reaction will see the beast retreat, almost as if the party were not there. A hostile reaction will see the boar charge at the lead or largest PC.

2 DUNJA DEM THE MYSTIC

A SINGLE GOBLIN dances and sings and waves his gri-gri around as the party approach. High on mushroom tea, DUNJA DEM is on a spirit journey and is only half in this world. He wears layers of animal pelts, giving him the appearance of a quite horrible toy bear.

DUNJA DEM (SHAMAN 2): AC: 6, HD2*, HP: 10, MV: 30‘per round, ATT: 1 silver sickle, DAM: 1d4, SV: C2, MR: 7, AL: C. XP: 35

Dunja Dem knows Protection (from Evil/Good), which he casts waving his gri-gri and singing a guttural ‘nursery rhyme’ about bugbears eating children.

No modifiers to the reaction check – Dunja Dem is unpredictable. If the party receives a favourable reaction he is liable to give them plenty of information about the area, and gossip as to the politics of the local tribes, which he intersperses with empty aphorisms. He will offer to brew up some mushroom tea. PCs drinking the tea must Save vs Poison if they wish to resist the effects, which involve a hallucinatory(?) visitation by whatever beings would reinforce the already existing motivating ideas and principles of the PC. If the party receives a hostile reaction, Dunja Dem will attempt to curse the PCs (though he has no real magic in this regard). His promises of doom, however, should unnerve, even though they are hopelessly general; he will promise that they will die when they pass between the stone teeth, that when they will lose all that they love under the green roof, that the blue salt desert will devour them, skin, blood, bones, and all, etc. The next time the PCs travel through the mountains, into a dense forest, or across the open sea they should shiver at the memory of Dunja Dem’s curse/s. Dunja Dem may attack the PCs – he is high and a little unhinged after all. 

Dunja Dem’s only treasure is a simple silver sickle (used for cutting herbs and fungi for his ‘potions’), worth 30GP.

3 THE PLAGUE PILGRIMS

FIVE pathetic GOBLINS (Tunk, Regba, Weel, Nesh, Sokka), wrapped in bandages, trudge wearily. Four carry sacks while the goblin taking the turn to lead the procession scourges itself. They stink, and green pus stains their dressings. They are suffering from the Weeping Buboes*. They are travelling to a stone circle nearby, where they plan to burn offerings to Bargrivyek. The sacks contain small animals (chickens, a kid, two puppies, rats), except for one that contains a naked, bruised, concussed, and bound and gagged HALFLING (Bundy Strawhair). Returned to his village, the party will be rewarded with the family heirloom; an elven Dagger +1.

GOBLINS (5) = AC: 7, HD: 1-1, HP: 2, MV: 20’ per round, ATT: 1 dagger (-2 to hit), DAM: 1d4, SV: NM, MR: 6, AL: C. XP: 5

If the party receives a favourable reaction, the goblins will beg for a little food. The goblins will tell the party where they are going, and will welcome an escort to the stone circle. Travelling with the goblins will expose the party to the Weeping Buboes. Avoiding close contact grants a +3 to the Saving Throw (being spattered in infected goblin blood will result in a -1 penalty). If the party receives a hostile reaction, the goblins will offer the party 25GP to escort them to the stone circle. They will wheedle and beg, and make extravagant promises. Once at the stone circle, they will attempt to add the party to the burnt offerings.

*The Weeping Buboes: SAVE VS POISON. On a failure, after two days swellings develop in the groin, the neck, and the armpit (-1 to hit, -2 penalty to CHR modifier). After two more days, these begin to ooze a green liquid that smells unpleasant, reminiscent of strong cheese (-2 to hit, -2 to CHR modifier, penalties to other rolls). The character will die as their lungs fill with ooze in 2d4 days after that. A Cure Disease spell is the only sure cure, though a sage or other knowledgeable person might know of a remedy, the ingredients of which are expensive or dangerous to recover.    

4 RAIDERS!

EIGHT GOBLINS (Gurgan, Hukk, Lendol, Skan, Iggmal, Posk, Bosk, Jrunt) are armed and armoured and looking for plunder. Dressed in leather armour, decorated by copper coins sewn in rows, they each carry a spear, a short sword, and a shield. These are more dangerous than the average goblin (see AC and Morale). Gurgan is the leader of the war band, and is one of the champions of a local goblin ‘king’. He can be easily angered.

GOBLINS (7) = AC: 5, HD: 1-1, HP: 5, MV: 30’ per round, ATT: 1 spear or short sword, DAM: 1d6, SV: NM, MR: 8, AL: C. XP: 5

GURGAN = AC: 5, HD: 2, HP: 9, MV: 30’ per round, ATT: 1 spear or short sword, DAM: 1d6, SV: NM, MR: 8, AL: C. XP: 20

If the party receives a favourable reaction, the warband are returning from successfully desecrating a temple. Gurgan has no wish to risk his plunder by taking on a party of adventurers. He will offer to trade with party, and is particularly keen to acquire a good steel longsword, and other weapons and armour of human (or better) craftsmanship. The war band have a chest containing 200GP, two tapestries that could be sold for up to 100GP each, and an altar piece made from silver and semi-precious stones worth 100GP. The tapestries and altar piece will be difficult to sell except through a fence, but could be returned to a temple.

If the party receives a hostile reaction, the pickings have been lean – though they have still to probe the defences of the temple. Gurgan is minded to kill the PCs and strip their corpses of loot. In this case, the only treasure is a golden torc worth 25GP worn by Gurgan. If he is surrenders, he will attempt to preserve his own life by claiming, truthfully, that his king will ransom him (for 100GP).

5 BRAINZ ARE BEST!

The party encounter FIVE savage GOBLINS (Esh, Kift, Grutt, Wast, Puv), naked but for daubs and red-brown across their bodies and a few scraps of poorly tanned leather. The daubs are, of course, dried blood, and the leather is flayed human skin. Their teeth are filed to points. They are members of a flesh-eating cult, treated with fearful reverence by the local tribes. They carry no treasure except an ornate brass key for a private box in the city bank.

GOBLINS (5) = AC: 6, HD: 1-1, HP: 5, MV: 30’ per round, ATT: 1 flint dagger or thrown stone, DAM: 1d3, SV: NM, MR: 7, AL: C. XP: 5

The goblins know that they are little match for a well-armed party. They are not concerned with self-preservation but with feeding the evil deep under the roots of an enormous tree. They worship a shrine that whispers promises of power in exchange for brains. Five marble skulls sit on the altar with empty brainpans. If a brain is placed in each of these, the ‘worshipper’ is granted a +2 to all to hit rolls and saving throws for a week (with other bonuses as appropriate), while the shrine consumes the brains. There is 50GP in loose coinage scattered about the remnants of the eaten. The entrance to the shrine is trapped with a staked 7" deep pit. The disguise (branches and leaf litter) is obvious if approached carefully (at exploration speed) but not if moving quickly (SAVE VS DRAGON BREATH to avoid falling and taking 1d8 damage).   

There is a -4 modifier to the reaction check – these are beings of rare malevolence. If the party receives a favourable reaction, it is because the goblins have even worse enemies. Two bugbears are searching the area, looking to seize the shrine. The goblins will wheedle with the party, trying to persuade the party that the bugbears are carrying great treasure.  If the party receives a hostile reaction, the goblins will encourage the party to pursue them back to the shrine, to lure the party into their trap and onto into the twisting, narrow tunnels that lead to the shrine.

6 THE SLAVE CARAVAN

The party encounters SIX GOBLINS (Lom, Bont, Grund, Gedd, Ploo, Henk), their eyes piteous, an air of total defeat about them. They are bound by chains that link them, neck and wrists, to the goblin behind and in front. A pair of mules brings up the rear, laden with travelling gear (tents, food, wine, etc.). They are being led by THREE large, ruddy-faced, pot-bellied MEN (Vint, Pascal, Antrem) – slavers. They are armed with nets, whips, and swords, and wear leather armour.

MEN (3) = AC: 6, HD: 1 HP: 6, MV: 30’ per round, ATT: 1 Sword, DAM: 1d8, SV: T1, MR: 8, AL: C. XP: 10

The slavers carry little treasure (just 30GP between them), though they have plenty of useful (but worn and poor quality) equipment. The goblins are their main treasure – but even these sell for little more than 10 GP each. The goblins are wretched, and will do little to win their freedom. If they can be armed and given some inspiration, they will fight as normal goblins.

If the party receive a favourable reaction they may be invited to share a meal. The slavers are looking for more merchandise – they have chains for up to 30 goblins – and will quiz the party about local humanoid tribes. If the party appears to find the business distasteful, the slavers will try to recruit the party to their goblin hunting by telling them a tall tale(?) of missing children – a brother and sister – they are been tracking, kidnapped by goblins. If the party appear interested in slaving, the slavers will suggest that they could introduce the party to their patron, a rich merchant in the city always on the look-out for enterprising men. If the party receives a hostile reaction, the slavers will see the party as either 1) rival slavers, out to steal their ‘goods’, and will not entertain any dialogue, or 2) valuable merchandise, if only an iron collar could be slipped around their necks.