Art by John Bingham

John Bingham and I have worked together a lot in the Advanced Adventure line. I think he has a great style and perfectly fits with the tone. Here's his most recent for us for The Mouth of the Shadowvein (AA #24) in which a group of adventurers has just entered part of an underground tunnel covered with carvings on the walls and floors.

1e Game Update

We played the first session on Friday and much fun was had by all, and several surprises. I've decided to go very random in terms of encounters and treasure and try to figure out the story of what's going on based upon that creative force. Highlights of the 1st session:

- The elf F/T/MU got the drop on an ogre that was sitting in the road eating a mite and managed to roll maximum damage on a backstab. The other players were surprised to see an ogre's head rolling down the hill after watching the elf sneak off.

- A magic pool that had a 4-in-6 chance of resulting in something good when drinking actually resulted in something bad for 3 of the 4 players. Losing 1 hp really hurts at 1st level, especially when one's a magic user.

- The players came near death several times, but managed to pull it off. The smart use of hirelings saved their bacon when 11 zombies rushed up the stairs. All three hirelings went down, but the party survived. The hirelings did as well, but they're in bad shape and still unconscious.

- The party found the big randomly-generated treasure. It was behind two secret doors, but the elf was just on fire for the game and found secret doors like a fat kid finds candy. I was a fat kid, so I know of what I speak. :)

- Holy crap it was a big treasure! Much larger than I would have done without randomness, but that's what Fate has decided was there, so we'll see how it plays out.

- The mites that tried to cleverly trap the PCs in a flaming barn failed to consider the effects that fire has upon the oxygen levels in their lair beneath the barn. The PCs finally broke in from another direction and found them all suffocated. Opps!

Cover for Miss Adelaide's Soiled Doves

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Suzi's been working on a One Shot adventure called Miss Adelaide's Soiled Doves. We got the art in for it today and I think it's got a great vibe. Art by Joan Guardiet.

Sully Nor Feltothraxis Have Your Best Interests At Heart

Everyone walks through the dungeon thinking turn right or turn left, but Friends, there's another way: the middle road. This path is the one most-traveled, but least represented. It is composed of right-minded and sensible dungeon dwellers. It is the road for the gibbering and greedy majority, the dangerous and thoughtful masses. And where does this third road lead?

To the lair of Ullduthindor! Ullduthindor is the only rational choice between two paths that most of us avoid. Vote for Ullduthindor and you'll see that with your support and hard work, we can move forward and focus on turning your copper into silver, your silver into gold, and your gold into platinum! Ullduthindor for prosperity! Vote Ullduthindor for your Dragon's Name!

So go out today, Friends, and show that neither Sully nor Feltothraxis are the proper dragons to represent your interests!

Meet the New Boss

I've just started work on a competitive storytelling game using One Shot. The players take the roles of dons from different mob families that are at war with each other who have come together in a secluded location to discuss ending the war. So far, I'm pleased with it and hope to get a lot more done today.

Sunday Un-seriousness?

So it's not Sunday. Sue me. :)

More PDFs Uploaded to Lulu

I've spent this morning in a haze, but managed to get the most recent 4 Advanced Adventure PDFs uploaded at Lulu. Now, on to other things! :)

Waspion

Another unfriendly below the shattered moon...

Waspion
Mutated scorpion (Intermediate)
C6 A4 S6 F7 R-4 I3 W4: Ego 20: Health 46: Fortune 26
Movement 5/44 (fly at 50/440)

Description & Information: A horrible combination of wasp and scorpion, waspions are to be avoided. Their predatory nature and love of fresh meat coupled with their hive structure often creates wastelands of territory they claim as theirs.

Intrinsic Powers
• The waspion’s tough chitinous body reduces all physical damage by 4 points per hit.
• A waspion may attack with its front claws, dealing +8 piercing damage and a +4/rank 4 combat condition. It can do this in addition to a tail sing attack.
• A waspion may stings with its tail, dealing +6 poison damage and a +4/rank 4 combat condition. It can do this in addition to its claw attack. This is a toxic attack.
• A waspion can use its front claws to deflect a single melee attack every turn. It if does such, it cannot make a claw attack in the same turn, but it can make a tail sting attack.

Limited Use Powers
• Paralysis Poison (2 per day): Those struck by a waspion’s stinger may instead be stung with a paralysis poison, rather than the typical waspion poison. Those hit must succeed on a rank 10 Fortitude conflict or be paralyzed and unable to move for 1-6 hours.

Alien Was Even Scarier Than I Thought

Here's a pic of how the alien looked underneath that head carapace... *shudder*

The Granger Tripod

Perhaps the most dangerous thing below the shattered moon...

Granger Tripod
Adaptive Robot (Ultra)
C40 A10 S25 F30 R16 I6 W10: Ego 124: Health 210: Fortune 137
Movement 50/440
Components: (A) 10, 15, 20 (x10); (U) 2, 4, 5, 10 (x4); solar cell (U) 10, bio-mass cell (U) 10.

Description & Information: A greater warbot, common in the wars at the end of the 21st century, the Granger Tripod stands 50 feet tall upon three massive and flexible legs. It has full manipulative ability, possessing human-like hands upon the ends of three retractable, flexible arms. The Tripod is designed for tank-like duty.
    Tripods have three .50 caliber machine guns, each mounted on retractable tentacles exiting from the central body core high upon the three legs. In the center of the robot is an armored ammo storage area containing 12,750 specially-designed armor piercing rounds. Unlike normal .50 caliber ammo, the granger tripod .50 caliber ammo ignores 25 points of armor instead of the normal 20.
    Atop the core body, a large solar cell array provides the majority of needed energy. The array is retracted when facing potential enemies. The tripod additionally features a developed bio-mass cell power source, allowing it to feed when sunlight is rare and to regenerate damage.
    The main weapon of the warbot is a bright-red disintegration ray. This ray seems to cut through armor as if was not there and utterly destroys unarmored targets.

Intrinsic Powers
• Tripods have the best senses possible, possesses a +15 to sense conflicts. In addition, they have a +6 to extraordinary sense conflicts. They can see 10x as well as a human in the day as well as at night, effectively possessing full night-vision.
• Regenerate 20 additional Health per day. They also regenerate from any permanent injuries in a week’s time. Both require access to suitable food : grasses or wood.
• Reduce all damage (except ego) by 50 points per hit. Additionally, tripods are coated with a sheen of reddish ablative material, reducing damage from laser or disintegration rays by 75 points per hit. This coating can be removed and it retains it’s properties for two months if stored in (relatively) air-tight containers.
• Powerful hand-to-hand combatants, tripod punches deal +20 bludgeoning damage per hit and +4/ rank 12 combat condition.
• A tripod can make two .50 caliber attacks on two separate targets per turn, dealing +16 to damage, +4/ rank 10 piercing in single-shot mode. At normal firing speed of 30 rounds per turn an tripod deals +28 to damage and a +4/ rank 12 piercing combat condition. At burst speed (100 rounds per turn) it deals +40 to damage and a +4/ rank 16 piercing combat condition. Damage from the tripod’s .50 caliber machine gun ignores the first 25 points of damage resistance or armor of the target, or the first 20 points of damage resistance if normal .50 caliber ammunition is used.
• A tripod can use its bio-mass cell to replenish depleted .50 caliber ammunition at the rate of up to 1,000 cartridges a day. This requires consuming at least 10 tons of bio mass.

Limited Use Powers
• Disintegration Ray (20 per day): A tripod can blast one target with its disintegration ray per turn (to a range of 10 miles), dealing +100 damage and ignoring the first 25 points of damage resistance or armor of the target.

Best of The Dragon IV article years

Looking over my Best of collections of The Dragon, I noticed something I thought rather odd about #IV. The copyright on IV was 1986, but the most recent articles were from 83. Additionally, only 4 of the 20 articles were from '83, with 6 being from '82 and '81. I wonder why this is so? Why no articles from '84 or '85?

The Large Map

Well, here's the big map I've been working on. I've got the geographical features down (mostly, I have quite a bit of fine-tuning to do) and I haven't even thought about political or cultural aspects yet. All in all, I think it's a good map and I'm pleased with it. Each hex is 30 miles. (Terrain is dictated by at least half of the area being composed of that particular terrain. For example, a forest means that it's more forest than plain, but it could be 55% forest or 100% forest.)

Divergence

Much of what I read on the OSR blogs is about making things different. This is, of course, one of the main points of the game - the creation of unique objects that can be shared among friends. This divergence from canon is tremendously important when dealing with experienced players steeped in lore, but there is little need for divergence from canon if the players are not very aware of the canon to begin with. As I contemplate the chance of running a 1e campaign for the first time in a long time, the canon beckons and I think I shall take the road more traveled. It obviously goes somewhere that a lot of other people have enjoyed...

The Map I've Been Plunking Away At

I've been working on a large map recently. Below is an excerpt. So far, I'm pleased with it. (the dotted areas are hills - the map is done in a somewhat Harn-like style).