tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126989577495765882024-03-17T20:02:41.564-07:00Daddy Rolled a 1A dad raising a little girl geek talks about RPGs, Comics, Fantasy, Science-Fiction and other Geek Stuff.Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.comBlogger366125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-80121076803980039302024-02-12T16:48:00.000-08:002024-02-12T16:48:58.420-08:0013 YEARS OF DADDY ROLLED A 1 (BLOG ANNIVERSARY)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfGUz0Pbl2De2jzjQ_2mpNP5ssk8f9Orz_ZBFRbg1zCK4wWCpNtPkF4NOcADIcsaYEp_UtVo5syyUOHM16RxMZjRlp8WvQFLc4xoNV0cQZKC_j-ICa_z3BA2rRVCxrqDy2kAfSl0noqetODoiY91otne-KplbdfeCbwOSI83WVyI764kBXDc604O6Lip4E/s720/13%20Year%20Blog%20Anniversary.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfGUz0Pbl2De2jzjQ_2mpNP5ssk8f9Orz_ZBFRbg1zCK4wWCpNtPkF4NOcADIcsaYEp_UtVo5syyUOHM16RxMZjRlp8WvQFLc4xoNV0cQZKC_j-ICa_z3BA2rRVCxrqDy2kAfSl0noqetODoiY91otne-KplbdfeCbwOSI83WVyI764kBXDc604O6Lip4E/s320/13%20Year%20Blog%20Anniversary.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />Yesterday, February 9th 2024, was <b>the 13th Anniversary of my blog</b>. Sadly, I've rather neglected this space over the past 365 days while I prioritized things like trying to find a new client for my boutique advertising agency (always a challenge even in the best of times), <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGMqpcBD8n-oaPn8oxGVwqQ">improving my YouTube Channel</a></b>, and continuing to <b>run the 1981 Moldvay B/X game for my (now) 14 year-old daughter and her friends.</b> All that, combined with some family health issues and other "life" things, have contributed by my lack of presence here. <p></p><p>Hopefully my recent post on <b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2024/02/fantasy-rome-mini-setting-for-old.html">D12 Class Concepts for Fantasy Ancient Rome</a></b> is an indication that I'm not ready to let the blog just fade away. I really enjoy the community I spent time building here over the past 13 years, and I'd hate to see it go. </p><p>I have continued to create new content as well, but I've mainly been posting it on social media (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/DaddyRolledA1/?ref=profile_intro_card">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/daddyrolleda1/">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/DaddyRolleda1">Twitter/X</a> for the most part). I find that with many ideas, I can create better layouts and design to present the ideas as graphics/pictures in social media, but they don't really translate will to this blogger platform (as an example, I'm not thrilled about the way the table looks for the Fantasy Ancient Rome class concepts). That said, I do have some stuff ready to go in terms of <b>another D12 Class Concepts article</b>, some <b>thoughts on the Thief class</b> (that will probably be a video first but while I'll expand upon here), and <b>updates for my daughter's campaign</b>. They made their way through the Caves of Chaos, left the Keep, and are now in Saltmarsh investigating a haunted house... </p><p>One of the things I do struggle with is finding time to create content for various platforms while also keeping up on my work, planning for my daughter's campaign, and allowing time for other pursuits such as spending time with family, reading, exercise, etc. As an example, a typical video takes me between 4-8 hours to research (the history videos are on the longer side of that), about 2-3 hours to record, and about 8-10 hours to edit and include all the graphics/cards/etc. plus developing the thumbnail and even working on figuring out the best title. so that's between 14 - 21 hours per video in a week. Part of that also is that my computer is very slow, so just uploading the videos to the editing software can take a lot of time, during which my computer is basically worthless. </p><p>By the time I've done all that to keep up on my weekly video schedule, I'm usually out of energy to devote even more time to crafting a blog post. But, like I said, I'm working on it. </p><p>The final revisions and layout are done on my <b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/08/latest-projects-for-bx-d-andor-old.html">Experts and Specialists book</a></b>, and I'm looking to launch it on Kickstarter in March. If you've been following my blog for any period of time you'll probably know I started talking about this years ago. Part of my procrastination is that I really have no idea how to launch something on Kickstarter, figure out the pricing, figure out the print-on-demand option, etc. But, I think like I mentioned last year, I also have a very bad tendency to let exacting details get in the way of actually ever finishing things, so I think I just need to do it and figure it out along the way. The product is completely done so there shouldn't be any word of it not being delivered at the end of the Kickstarter campaign. I'm just looking to make back the money I spent on art and layout. </p><p>Thanks for sticking around with me, whether you've been here for all 13 years, whether you're new to the blog, or whether you're a lapsed reader who is returning. I really appreciate your support and I'm really looking forward to year 14! </p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>STATS (Feb 12 2023 - Feb 11 2024 compared year-to-year)</u></b></p><p>This is going to be impossible this year unfortunately, as I didn't migrate to the new Google Analytics 4, as I am very technically unsavvy and also wasn't really paying attention. So, my old tag stopped collecting data back in July. </p><p>That said, there are a few things I can figure out. </p><p><br /></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Page Views:</b> My new tag indicated I got 2.7k views from July 1st 2023 - Feb 11th 2024, which puts me much lower by far than any other year. </li><li><b>Top Referring Sites:</b></li><ul><li>Google is the clear leader</li><li>YouTube is now #2, about double that of Twitter, the previous #2 referrer</li><li>DuckDuckGo, FollowMeAndDie and Bing are all in there, as usual</li><li>One new one is Reddit, another surprise as I almost never use that site (I've never really understood how to use it)</li></ul><li><b>Location:</b></li><ul><li>The US is #1, followed by Singapore (!) and then Canada</li></ul></ul><div><br /></div><div><b><u>My Top 10 Most Popular Posts Over the Past Year</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Again, this is "flawed" in that it's not capturing the entire year, but the data I do have shows: </div><div><br /></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2011/06/character-classes-noble.html">Character Classes: The Noble</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2016/02/new-comics-wednesday-revisiting-my-post.html">New Comics Wednesday: Revisiting my Post About Why People Do or Don't Read Comics</a></li><li><a href="Finally: A New Post (Updated Currently Watching)">Finally: A New Post (Updated Currently Watching)</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/making-characters-weird-clerics.html">Making Characters Weird: Clerics</a></li><li><a href="Making Characters Weird: Halfling">Making Characters Weird: Halflings</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/02/open-game-content-new-3rd-level-bx-ose.html">Open Game Content: New 3rd Level B/X-OSE Arcane Spells</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2023/02/12-years-of-daddy-rolled-1-blog.html">12 YEARS OF DADDY ROLLED A 1(BLOG ANNIVERSARY)</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2019/08/2019-one-page-dungeon-contest-part-2.html">2019 One Page Dungeon Contest: Part 2 - Comments on the Winning Entries</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/04/making-characters-weird-thievesrogues.html">Making Characters Weird: Thieves/Rogues</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/01/open-game-content-new-1st-level-bx-ose.html">Open Game Content: New 1st Level B/X-OSE Arcane Spells, and Twists on Existing Spells</a></li></ol><div><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hanging: </b>Home office (laptop)</div><div><b>Drinking:</b> Maker's Mark (neat)</div><div><b>Listening: </b>"Incarnations" by Charles Mingus, in stereo (vinyl) </div><div><br /></div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-14191499605494678262024-02-02T10:11:00.000-08:002024-02-02T10:11:34.415-08:00Fantasy Rome: A Mini Setting for Old-School Fantasy RPGs<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEUzq4g9QLs1t8JHLW1ofSz2XAcCbQaZeobI_DsBtaJUnvPfe_Hf15h5d_GfWr4xAB_jezQ9bMabGsKsHLhuWU-aroy-elBbDLKCgbXIoYdvSygUPrGE04l0_7nUXVz13ePYky2cQmtpxMtj5zDwe0UoQXC1N8TMwu0H66gDkjuFOgpBDDtswsPXHwFJ71/s4096/queen_zenobia_addressing_her_soldiers_Giovanni%20Battista%20Tiepolo%201770%20NGA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2918" data-original-width="4096" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEUzq4g9QLs1t8JHLW1ofSz2XAcCbQaZeobI_DsBtaJUnvPfe_Hf15h5d_GfWr4xAB_jezQ9bMabGsKsHLhuWU-aroy-elBbDLKCgbXIoYdvSygUPrGE04l0_7nUXVz13ePYky2cQmtpxMtj5zDwe0UoQXC1N8TMwu0H66gDkjuFOgpBDDtswsPXHwFJ71/s320/queen_zenobia_addressing_her_soldiers_Giovanni%20Battista%20Tiepolo%201770%20NGA.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Queen Zenobia Addressing Her Soldiers"<br />by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1770<br />Pubic Domain</td></tr></tbody></table>It's been nearly a year since I've posted here, as I <b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2023/02/this-is-just-quick-post-to-let-everyone.html">started a new YouTube channel in February of 2023</a> </b>and that has taken up the majority of my gaming time, along with planning and running <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/search/label/Keep%20on%20the%20Borderlands">the D&D game for my daughter and her friends</a> which is still on-going, and finishing the second round of editing on my <i>Old School Essentials</i> supplement book <i><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/08/latest-projects-for-bx-d-andor-old.html">Alchemy, Explosives, and Inventions</a></b></i>, about playing expert and specialist characters in 1981 Basic Dungeons & Dragons or other related old-school fantasy games such as Old School Essentials. </p><p>However, I have continued to create gaming content that I've been posting on <a href="http://twitter.com/DaddyRolleda1">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/daddyrolleda1/">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DaddyRolledA1/?ref=profile_intro_card">Facebook</a>, and I wanted to reward all of you by posting my latest creation here first. If you've followed the blog for awhile, you know I've been creating what I originally called "B/X Subclasses" (which I'll now be referring to as "Class Concepts" to distinguish them from 5th Edition's subclasses, which are mechanically very different). These are small changes given to the seven classes from the B/X version of Dungeons & Dragons (Cleric, Dwarf, Elf, Fighter, Halfling, Magic-User, and Thief) to help give them some differentiation specific to a certain genre or setting. I've posted 13 such class concepts here before (see the full list at the bottom of this post).</p><p>This time, in addition to the class concepts based on a fictional, Fantasy Roman Empire, I added some details to blow it up into a small mini-setting. To emphasis the title, this is <b><i>FANTASY </i></b>Rome, so I've made decisions that deviate from historical Rome in order to make things more playable or to use a shorthand for describing things. The Vestal Acolyte, for example, can worship a variety of different deities, not just Vesta. While I could have just called the concept an "Acolyte," I felt that was not very flavorful and the original concept <i>did </i>start as being devoted to Vesta. </p><p>In addition to the class concepts, I've got themes a DM can use for a game in the setting, tables for generating Plebian Contacts, Deities, NPCs, Equipment, Adversaries, and more. </p><p>I hope you enjoy this and find it useful. Obviously you can mix and match these with the other class concepts I've published here on the blog and most of these ideas can be used in any setting, not just limited to a Fantasy Roman Empire. Let me know what you think in the comments. </p><h1 style="text-align: left;">Fantasy Rome Themes</h1><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>The Glory of Rome</b></li><ul><li>Emphasis on the grandeur, power, and splendor of the Roman Empire</li></ul><li><b>Intrigue and Politics</b></li><ul><li>Political maneuvering, power struggles, and Senate politics</li></ul><li><b>Gods and Myths</b></li><ul><li>Characters may interact with the gods or their agents and become legends</li></ul><li><b>Military Prowess</b></li><ul><li>Focusing on Roman legions, their discipline, and tactics</li></ul><li><b>Urban Life and Architecture</b></li><ul><li>Detailed cities, bustling markets, grandiose architecture, and public spaces</li></ul></ul></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"> D12 Fantasy Rome Class Concepts</h1><div><google-sheets-html-origin><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" data-sheets-root="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="100"></col><col width="124"></col><col width="909"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Roll"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Roll</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Concept"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Concept</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Class Modifications"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Class Modifications</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"CLERIC"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">CLERIC</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(243, 243, 243); color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Augur"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(243, 243, 243); color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Augur</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Influence political affairs by interpreting divine signs/omens to predict the future.\nBenefts:\nDivine Insight. Once per week, can undergo a ritual that takes one turn to complete. Afterwards, the Augur’s deity provides a prophetic vision regarding a specific course of action to be taken that day. The referee may reveal the omen shows good fortune, misfortune, or both. \nGains access to the commune spell at 4th level instead of 5th \nDrawbacks:\nCannot Turn Undead or use reversed versions of spells\nSpecial:\nWears flowing robes adorned with celestial symbols and carries a Littaus Auguralis (curved staff of divine wood oak, hazel, or olive, inlaid with silver celestial symbols, used to draw sacred boundaries and interpret omens"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(243, 243, 243); color: #f3f3f3; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Influence political affairs by interpreting divine signs/omens to predict the future.<br />Benefts:<br />Divine Insight. Once per week, can undergo a ritual that takes one turn to complete. Afterwards, the Augur’s deity provides a prophetic vision regarding a specific course of action to be taken that day. The referee may reveal the omen shows good fortune, misfortune, or both.<br />Gains access to the commune spell at 4th level instead of 5th<br />Drawbacks:<br />Cannot Turn Undead or use reversed versions of spells<br />Special:<br />Wears flowing robes adorned with celestial symbols and carries a Littaus Auguralis (curved staff of divine wood oak, hazel, or olive, inlaid with silver celestial symbols, used to draw sacred boundaries and interpret omens</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">2</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Vestal Acolyte"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Vestal Acolyte</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Guardians of hearth and home who protect Vesta’s eternal flame; usually female.\nBenefits:\nSacred Flame Mastery: Can cast fireball as a 5th level spell. Spells take on a flame-like quality which affects appearance but has no mechanical effect (e.g., light spell appears as flames, not simple light)\nDrawbacks:\nSuffers a -2 penalty to saving throws against cold effects (including weather, dragon breath, and cold-based magic\nCannot wear chainmail or plate mail\nSpecial:\nWears simple white robes and a golden pendant of Vesta"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Guardians of hearth and home who protect Vesta’s eternal flame; usually female.<br />Benefits:<br />Sacred Flame Mastery: Can cast fireball as a 5th level spell. Spells take on a flame-like quality which affects appearance but has no mechanical effect (e.g., light spell appears as flames, not simple light)<br />Drawbacks:<br />Suffers a -2 penalty to saving throws against cold effects (including weather, dragon breath, and cold-based magic<br />Cannot wear chainmail or plate mail<br />Special:<br />Wears simple white robes and a golden pendant of Vesta</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"DWARF"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">DWARF</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">3</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Genius Montis"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Genius Montis</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"A protective spirit (genius) of the mountain (montis).\nBenefits:\nMountain Guide: Cannot become lost in the mountains\nDetect Precious Metals: 2-in-6 to detect precious metals in mountainous terrain\nInspire Dwarves: Once per day may make a rallying cry; all friendly dwarves within 60’ gain +2 to saving throws versus fear effects and to morale checks for 1 turn\nDrawbacks:\nCannot detect construction tricks or room traps\nSpecial:\nCarries a warhammer forged from mountain ore and wears ceremonial armor adorned with symbols of the spirits of the Earth"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">A protective spirit (genius) of the mountain (montis).<br />Benefits:<br />Mountain Guide: Cannot become lost in the mountains<br />Detect Precious Metals: 2-in-6 to detect precious metals in mountainous terrain<br />Inspire Dwarves: Once per day may make a rallying cry; all friendly dwarves within 60’ gain +2 to saving throws versus fear effects and to morale checks for 1 turn<br />Drawbacks:<br />Cannot detect construction tricks or room traps<br />Special:<br />Carries a warhammer forged from mountain ore and wears ceremonial armor adorned with symbols of the spirits of the Earth</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"ELF"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">ELF</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":4}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">4</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Faun / Satyr"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Faun / Satyr</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"A playful nature-bound trickster, connected to woodland areas.\nBenefits:\nAnimal Friend: Can cast charm animal once per day (as snake charm, but affects any animal type)\nCan speak with animals at will\nDrawbacks:\nCannot wear chainmail or plate mail or use a shield\nSpecial:\nWears leafy clothing, usually carries a pan flute and wields a javelin"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">A playful nature-bound trickster, connected to woodland areas.<br />Benefits:<br />Animal Friend: Can cast charm animal once per day (as snake charm, but affects any animal type)<br />Can speak with animals at will<br />Drawbacks:<br />Cannot wear chainmail or plate mail or use a shield<br />Special:<br />Wears leafy clothing, usually carries a pan flute and wields a javelin</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"FIGHTER"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">FIGHTER</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(243, 243, 243); color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">5</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Aquilifer"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(243, 243, 243); color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Aquilifer</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Carries the legion's standard, inspiring allies and striking fear into enemies.\nBenefits:\nRally: Allies within 30’ gain a +1 bonus to morale checks when the Aquilifer is holding the legion's standard\nDemoralize: Enemies within 30’ suffer a -1 penalty to morale checks when the Aquilifer is holding the legion’s standard\nDrawbacks:\nCannot wield two-handed weapons (including bows) or use a shield\n-2 to Charisma score if standard is ever lost in battle\nSpecial:\nWears heavy armor emblazoned with the unit's symbol and carries a decorated standard"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(243, 243, 243); color: #f3f3f3; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Carries the legion's standard, inspiring allies and striking fear into enemies.<br />Benefits:<br />Rally: Allies within 30’ gain a +1 bonus to morale checks when the Aquilifer is holding the legion's standard<br />Demoralize: Enemies within 30’ suffer a -1 penalty to morale checks when the Aquilifer is holding the legion’s standard<br />Drawbacks:<br />Cannot wield two-handed weapons (including bows) or use a shield<br />-2 to Charisma score if standard is ever lost in battle<br />Special:<br />Wears heavy armor emblazoned with the unit's symbol and carries a decorated standard</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":6}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(243, 243, 243); color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">6</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Architect - Engineer"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(243, 243, 243); color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Architect - Engineer</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Master of siegecraft and construction.\nBenefits:\nDetect Construction Tricks: Gains the ability to detect construction tricks as a dwarf\nSiege Master: Proficient in the operation of all siege equipment and gains +1 on attack rolls made with siege equipment\nDrawbacks:\nSaves as an elf\nSpecial:\nCarries drafting tools, a spade, and a pickaxe"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(243, 243, 243); color: #f3f3f3; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Master of siegecraft and construction.<br />Benefits:<br />Detect Construction Tricks: Gains the ability to detect construction tricks as a dwarf<br />Siege Master: Proficient in the operation of all siege equipment and gains +1 on attack rolls made with siege equipment<br />Drawbacks:<br />Saves as an elf<br />Special:<br />Carries drafting tools, a spade, and a pickaxe</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":7}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(243, 243, 243); color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">7</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Legionary"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(243, 243, 243); color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Legionary</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Trained foot soldier, disciplined and proficient in combat techniques.\nBenefits:\nFormation Fighting: +1 bonus to attack rolls when fighting in formation with at least one other legionary \nBrace: Can brace during combat encounters, granting a +2 bonus to AC, but no attacks allowed that round\nSalary: Pay of 3 gold (30 sliver) pieces per month\nDrawbacks:\n-1 penalty to all attack rolls when not in a formation with another legionary\nAlways subject to orders from a higher-ranking legionary \nSpecial:\nMust buy a short sword, two javelins (pilum), a shield, and the most expensive armor affordable at 1st level before any other equipment"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(243, 243, 243); color: #f3f3f3; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Trained foot soldier, disciplined and proficient in combat techniques.<br />Benefits:<br />Formation Fighting: +1 bonus to attack rolls when fighting in formation with at least one other legionary<br />Brace: Can brace during combat encounters, granting a +2 bonus to AC, but no attacks allowed that round<br />Salary: Pay of 3 gold (30 sliver) pieces per month<br />Drawbacks:<br />-1 penalty to all attack rolls when not in a formation with another legionary<br />Always subject to orders from a higher-ranking legionary<br />Special:<br />Must buy a short sword, two javelins (pilum), a shield, and the most expensive armor affordable at 1st level before any other equipment</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":8}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">8</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Patrician"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Patrician</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Wealthy and influential leaders, entangled in political intrigues and power plays.\nBenefits:\nAristocratic Bearing: Gains a +2 bonus to reaction rolls with non-player characters\nWealthy: Starting bonus of 2d6 x 10 additional gold pieces\nShelter: Can demand shelter from those of lower birth rank\nDrawback:\nCannot use a shield\nMust pay 100 gold pieces per month per level to account for social status (deducted automatically before any actual spending for equipment, shelter, etc. takes pace)\nMust offer shelter to other patricians of lower social rank\nSpecial:\nWears fine clothing and carries a signet ring or other symbol of authority"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Wealthy and influential leaders, entangled in political intrigues and power plays.<br />Benefits:<br />Aristocratic Bearing: Gains a +2 bonus to reaction rolls with non-player characters<br />Wealthy: Starting bonus of 2d6 x 10 additional gold pieces<br />Shelter: Can demand shelter from those of lower birth rank<br />Drawback:<br />Cannot use a shield<br />Must pay 100 gold pieces per month per level to account for social status (deducted automatically before any actual spending for equipment, shelter, etc. takes pace)<br />Must offer shelter to other patricians of lower social rank<br />Special:<br />Wears fine clothing and carries a signet ring or other symbol of authority</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"HALFLING"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">HALFLING</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":9}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">9</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Lares Viales"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Lares Viales</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Spirit guardians of crossroads and travelers, protectors of those on journeys.\nBenefits:\nTravel Guide: Reduces chance of getting lost by 1 (cannot get lost when on well-maintained roads)\nPacesetter: Parties with a lares viales increase their movement by +50% as long as they are on a road or well-marked trail, and do not have to rest afterward (as if they were on a forced march)\nTravel Language: Gains one extra language common to travelers in the area (as determined by the referee)\nDrawbacks:\nCannot use two-handed weapons\nDoes not gain the halfling’s missile attack bonus\nSpecial:\nCarries a staff adorned with symbols of luck and protection\nWears comfortable traveling clothes with practical pockets and hidden pouches for herbs and charms\nCollects trinkets and tokens associated with different encounters on the road"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Spirit guardians of crossroads and travelers, protectors of those on journeys.<br />Benefits:<br />Travel Guide: Reduces chance of getting lost by 1 (cannot get lost when on well-maintained roads)<br />Pacesetter: Parties with a lares viales increase their movement by +50% as long as they are on a road or well-marked trail, and do not have to rest afterward (as if they were on a forced march)<br />Travel Language: Gains one extra language common to travelers in the area (as determined by the referee)<br />Drawbacks:<br />Cannot use two-handed weapons<br />Does not gain the halfling’s missile attack bonus<br />Special:<br />Carries a staff adorned with symbols of luck and protection<br />Wears comfortable traveling clothes with practical pockets and hidden pouches for herbs and charms<br />Collects trinkets and tokens associated with different encounters on the road</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"MAGIC-USER"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">MAGIC-USER</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">10</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Mystagogue"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Mystagogue</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Keeper of esoteric knowledge and mystical insight; perhaps leader of a mystery cult.\nBenefits:\nDetect Spirits: Can detect spirits once per day (as detect invisible but reveals spirits instead of invisible creatures; can be used to identify a disguised spirit)\nHypnotic Gaze: Once per day (as charm person, but the subject saves at +2 and the effect only lasts 1d4 +1 rounds)\nMystical Knowledge: 2-in-6 chance to know mystical lore (arcane secrets and forgotten rituals), as determined by the referee\nDrawbacks:\nMinimum INT 13+\nFireball is considered a 5th level spell instead of 3rd level\nMust take charm person at 1st level \nCannot be lawful \nSpecial: \nMeditates and prays for access to spells rather than studying from a spellbook (for flavor only; no mechanical changes)\nWears hooded robes and carries a sacred symbol"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Keeper of esoteric knowledge and mystical insight; perhaps leader of a mystery cult.<br />Benefits:<br />Detect Spirits: Can detect spirits once per day (as detect invisible but reveals spirits instead of invisible creatures; can be used to identify a disguised spirit)<br />Hypnotic Gaze: Once per day (as charm person, but the subject saves at +2 and the effect only lasts 1d4 +1 rounds)<br />Mystical Knowledge: 2-in-6 chance to know mystical lore (arcane secrets and forgotten rituals), as determined by the referee<br />Drawbacks:<br />Minimum INT 13+<br />Fireball is considered a 5th level spell instead of 3rd level<br />Must take charm person at 1st level<br />Cannot be lawful<br />Special:<br />Meditates and prays for access to spells rather than studying from a spellbook (for flavor only; no mechanical changes)<br />Wears hooded robes and carries a sacred symbol</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"THIEF"}" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">THIEF</td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="background-color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":11}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(243, 243, 243); color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">11</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Plebian"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(243, 243, 243); color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Plebian</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Streetwise informant skilled in gossip and gathering and disseminating information.\nBenefits:\nOutgoing: Gains a +2 reaction rolls bonus with non-player characters of the same or lower social rank\nShadow: Can trail someone in a densely populated urban area without being noticed with the same chance of success as a thief’s move silently skill\nContacts: Has a number of contacts equal to their maximum number of retainers based on Charisma score\n(See Contacts tables)\nDrawbacks:\nCannot find or remove traps or climb walls\nGains a -2 reaction roll penalty against non-player characters of higher social rank\nSpecial:\nCarries a worn cloak and a pouch full of trinkets"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(243, 243, 243); color: #f3f3f3; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Streetwise informant skilled in gossip and gathering and disseminating information.<br />Benefits:<br />Outgoing: Gains a +2 reaction rolls bonus with non-player characters of the same or lower social rank<br />Shadow: Can trail someone in a densely populated urban area without being noticed with the same chance of success as a thief’s move silently skill<br />Contacts: Has a number of contacts equal to their maximum number of retainers based on Charisma score<br />(See Contacts tables)<br />Drawbacks:<br />Cannot find or remove traps or climb walls<br />Gains a -2 reaction roll penalty against non-player characters of higher social rank<br />Special:<br />Carries a worn cloak and a pouch full of trinkets</td></tr><tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":12}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">12</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Saturnalian"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">Saturnalian</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"A festival reveler, mischievous and adept at using the guise of merrymaking for espionage.\nBenefits::\nMasquerade: Can disguise themselves as another individual or altering appearance with a chance of success equal to a Thief’s hear noise skill\nConfusion: If using the optional rule for individual initiative, gain a bonus of +1 to initiative rolls\nDrawbacks:\nCannot find or remove traps or open locks\nCannot use two-handed weapons\nCannot be lawful \nSpecial: \nUsually carries a masquerade mask (elaborately carved; hides identity and may contain secret compartments), musical instrument, and/or bag of tricks"}" style="background-color: #3a3a3a; color: #f3f3f3; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: middle;">A festival reveler, mischievous and adept at using the guise of merrymaking for espionage.<br />Benefits::<br />Masquerade: Can disguise themselves as another individual or altering appearance with a chance of success equal to a Thief’s hear noise skill<br />Confusion: If using the optional rule for individual initiative, gain a bonus of +1 to initiative rolls<br />Drawbacks:<br />Cannot find or remove traps or open locks<br />Cannot use two-handed weapons<br />Cannot be lawful<br />Special:<br />Usually carries a masquerade mask (elaborately carved; hides identity and may contain secret compartments), musical instrument, and/or bag of tricks</td></tr></tbody></table></google-sheets-html-origin></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Plebian Contacts</h2><div><b>D6: Contact Knowledge</b></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Criminal Underworld</li><li>Gossip: Merchant/Guild</li><li>Gossip: Political</li><li>Gossip: Religious</li><li>Navigating Bureaucracy</li><li>Secret Pathways</li></ol><div><b>D8: Contact Occupation</b></div></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Aqueduct Worker</li><li>Baker</li><li>Bathhouse Attendant</li><li>Debt Collector</li><li>Fencer of Goods</li><li>Gravedigger</li><li>Street Performer</li><li>Temple Scribe</li></ol><div><b>D8: Contact Quirk</b></div></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Always in Debt</li><li>Artist (secret; poems or songs)</li><li>Clutches a Lucky Charm</li><li>Drinks like a Fish</li><li>Mimics Accents/Voices</li><li>Obsessed with Superstitions</li><li>Riddle and Rhyme Master</li><li>Talented Pet (crow that steals keys, etc.)</li></ol><div><b>D8: Contact Name</b></div></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Aelia</li><li>Cornelia</li><li>Flavius</li><li>Julia</li><li>Livia</li><li>Marcus</li><li>Sextus</li><li>Titus</li></ol><h3 style="text-align: left;">Augur Deities</h3></div><div>Roll D4</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Jupiter: King of the gods; associated with omens and divination</li><li>Juno: Queen of the gods; guidance on matters of state security and public well-being</li><li>Minerva: Goddess of wisdom; omens regarding military success</li><li>Mars: God of war; omens regarding potential threats to the Empire</li></ol></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Vestal Acolyte Deities</h3><div>While traditionally a Vestal Acolyte would only worship Vesta, this setting uses the title more generically, so other deities are possible (e.g., Cererian Acolyte). </div><div><br /></div><div>Roll D4</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Vesta: Goddess of hearth, home, and flame; symbolizes continuity and stability of the state</li><li>Ceres: Goddess of agriculture, grain, fertility; invoked for bountiful harvests and stability</li><li>Diana: Goddess of the hunt, wilderness, childbirth; invoked for protection and her connection to nature</li><li>Venus: Goddess of love, beauty, pleasure; counterpoint to Vesta's charity and austerity</li></ol><h3 style="text-align: left;">Mystagogue Detities</h3></div><div>While the Mystagogue is a Magic-User class concept, they are closely tied to the gods of the Roman pantheon, so picking a patron deity is appropriate. </div><div><br /></div><div>Roll D10</div><div><br /></div><div><span> 1-2 Bacchus: God of wine, fertility, theater, altered states of consciousness and mystical experiences</span><br /></div><div><span> 3-4 Cybele: The Great Mother; cyclical mysteries</span></div><div><span><span> 5-6 Mithras: Light, truth, contracts, esoteric knowledge</span></span></div><div><span><span> 7-8 Trivia (Hecate): Magic, witchcraft, crossroads, power and dark knowledge</span></span></div><div><span><span> 9-10 Hermes/Thoth: Travelers, thieves, wisdom, arcane knowledge</span></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span>Deity Info</span></h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span><b>Jupiter</b></span></li><ul><li>Colors: White, purple</li><li>Symbols: Eagle, thunderbolt, oak tree</li></ul><li><b>Juno</b></li><ul><li>Colors: White, gold</li><li>Symbols: Peacock, pomegranate, scepter</li></ul><li><b>Minerva</b></li><ul><li>Colors: Gray, blue</li><li>Symbols: Owl, helmet, shield, olive branch</li></ul><li><b>Mars</b></li><ul><li>Colors: Red, black</li><li>Symbols: Wolf, spear, shield, laurel wreath</li></ul><li><b>Vesta</b></li><ul><li>Colors: White, gold, orange</li><li>Symbols: Flame, hearth, donkey, circular altar</li></ul><li><b>Ceres</b></li><ul><li>Colors: Gold, yellow, green</li><li>Symbols: Wheat, grain stalks, cornucopia</li></ul><li><b>Venus</b></li><ul><li>Colors: Pink, red, purple</li><li>Symbols: Dove, seashell, mirror</li></ul><li><b>Diana</b></li><ul><li>Colors: Silver, white, green</li><li>Symbols: Crescent moon, bow and arrow, bear, hound</li></ul><li><b>Bacchus</b></li><ul><li>Colors: Purple, red</li><li>Symbols: Vine, grapes, goblet</li></ul><li><b>Cybele</b></li><ul><li>Colors: Brown, gold, black</li><li>Symbols: Lion, drum, mountain</li></ul><li><b>Mithras</b></li><ul><li>Colors: Red, gold, white</li><li>Symbols: Bull, torch, snake, scorpion</li></ul><li><b>Trivia</b></li><ul><li>Colors: Black, silver, white</li><li>Symbols: Dog, torch, 3-headed goddess, crossroads</li></ul><li><b>Hermes/Thoth</b></li><ul><li>Colors: Gold, black, white</li><li>Symbols: Winged sandals, caduceus, ibis, papyrus scroll</li></ul></ul></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Equipment</h3><div><br /></div><div>Many of the pieces of equipment can also be turned into magic items. The Plebian's Lucky Charm might provide a luck bonus or the Calcei Fortunae of the Lares Viales might provide a speed bonus, for example.<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Augur</b></li><ul><li>Augurum: Bronze birdcage containing a sacred white dove used for augury through its flight patterns</li><li>Patera Divinatoria: Shallow, silver dish engraved with constellations, used for offerings and divinatory rituals involving water or fire</li></ul><li><b>Vestal Acolyte</b></li><ul><li>Pallas Flammeus: Flowing white veil woven with threads of gold, worn during sacred rituals and imbued with the warmth of the eternal flame</li><li>Sacer Ignis: Ceremonial silver lamp fueled by a special oil distilled from sacred herbs, burning with an unwavering flame</li><li>Urna Vestae: Small clay urn adorned with flames, holding a symbolic portion of the eternal flame from the Temple of Vesta</li></ul><li><b>Genius Montis</b></li><ul><li>Mountain Gear: Leather gloves and boots (for traversing mountainous terrain) and a backpack (including climbing gear and mining tools)</li><li>Sigillum Montis: Heavy silver ring engraved with the symbol of the mountain spirit</li><li>Aegis Terrae: Shield made with ore from the mountain</li></ul><li><b>Faun / Satyr</b></li><ul><li>Panula Sylvatica: Wooden pan flute adorned with leaves and feathers</li><li>Vitis Arboris: Necklace made from entwined vines and berries</li></ul><li><b>Aquilifer</b></li><ul><li>Vox Bellonae: Bronze war horn engraved with sceiens of battle, used ot rally troops and intimidate foes</li><li>Leather Belt Pouch: With maps and military seals</li></ul><li><b>Architect / Engineer</b></li><ul><li>Papyrus Scroll: With detailed plans for siege engines, fortifications, or ingenious traps</li><li>Leather Pouch: With a surveyor's compass, miniatures saws, hammers, and crafting tools, allowing for on-the-fly repairs, sabotage, or improvisation of battlefield tools</li></ul><li><b>Legionary</b></li><ul><li>Fortuna Dice: Pair of engraved die rolled before battle for good luck</li><li>Eagle Feather: Plucked from the legion's standard, carried as a token of loyalty and a reminder of the oath to the Empire</li></ul><li><b>Patrician</b></li><ul><li>Orator's Scroll: Carefully prepared speech on a matter of public interest, ready to be delivered</li><li>Detailed Map: With trade routes, political alliances, and potential threats, marked with personal annotations and observations</li><li>Bribery Purse: Discreet pouch filled with gold coins, gemstones, and tokens of favor, used for bribing bureaucrats or to secure valuable information</li></ul><li><b>Lares Viales</b></li><ul><li>Calcei Fortunae: Worn leather booths "enchanted" with blessings of luck and swiftness</li><li>Tabula Hospitae: Small clay tablet inscribed with symbols of hospitality, carried as a token of good will; used to gain shelter and assistance from those encountered on the road</li></ul><li><b>Mystagogue</b></li><ul><li>Liber Arcanorum: Leahter-bound book filled with cryptic symbols and rituals; a guide to forgotten lore and mystical practices</li><li>Pendulum Astrale: Silver pendant hanging from a chain, inscribed with celestial constellations, used to align with cosmic energies</li><li>Capitellum Mysterioso: Carved stone head representing an ancient deity or spirit</li></ul><li><b>Plebian</b></li><ul><li>Disguise Kit: Collection of wigs, facial hair, and clothing scraps used to blend in with any crowd, disappear into the shadows, or impersonate unsuspecting targets</li><li>Lucky Charm: Trinket of questionable origin imbued with personal superstition</li></ul><li><b>Saturnalian</b></li><ul><li>Carnival Dice: Set of loaded dice used to cheat at games of chance and fleece the unsuspecting during the festive chaos</li><li>Juggler's Pouches: Contain hidden smoke bombs, blinding dust, and/or itching powder ot use as distractions</li></ul></ul></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span> </span>NPCS</h3><div>These are just a few samples, and like many of the ideas in this mini-setting, are not always historically accurate but instead based on broad tropes associated with a fantasy fiction Roman Empire setting. Many ideas in this setting were selected for playability or inspiration versus historical accuracy.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>D6: Forum NPCs</b></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Diviner</li><li>Orator</li><li>Praetorian Guard</li><li>Senator</li><li>Shopkeeper</li><li>Street Performer</li></ol><div><b>D6: Temple NPCs</b></div></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Acolyte</li><li>Beggar</li><li>Diviner</li><li>Oracle Speaker</li><li>Pilgrim</li><li>Priest/Priestess</li></ol><div><b>D6: Tavern NPCs</b></div></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Barmaid</li><li>Drunkard</li><li>Gambler</li><li>Mercenary</li><li>Secret Agent</li><li>Traveling Merchant</li></ol><div><b>D6: Farm & Villa NPCs</b></div></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Artisan</li><li>Farmer / Herder</li><li>Hunter / Trapper</li><li>Merchant</li><li>Slave</li><li>Patrician's Family Member</li></ol><div><b>D6: Road NPCs</b></div></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Beggar / Thief</li><li>Caravanner / Merchant</li><li>Escaped Slave</li><li>Legionary</li><li>Messenger</li><li>Travelling Entertainer</li></ol><div><b>D6: Other NPCs</b></div></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Animal Trainer</li><li>Aqueduct Worker</li><li>Bathhouse Attendant</li><li>Fortuneteller</li><li>Gladiator</li><li>Gravedigger</li></ol><div><br /></div></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Adversaries: Humans & Humanoids</h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Corrupt Officials</b></li><ul><li>Power-hungry governors, scheming senators, and ruthless tax collectors</li><li>Tactics: employ assassins; manipulate the law; foment unrest to maintain power</li></ul><li><b>Fanatical Cults</b></li><ul><li>Zealous adherents to forbidden gods, ancient rituals, or revolutionary ideologies</li><li>Tactics: utilize fanatic assassins; mystical powers; guerilla tactics; forbidden rituals; psychic manipulation</li></ul><li><b>Bandit Clans</b></li><ul><li>Ruthless outlaws and raiders plaguing trade routes and looting settlements</li><li>Tactics: Ambushes; traps; ferocious warriors</li></ul><li><b>Rival Legions</b></li><ul><li>Ambitious generals and disloyal legions vying for power</li><li>Tactics: political maneuvering; coups; open warfare; betrayal; espionage</li></ul><li><b>Arena Champions</b></li><ul><li>Gladiators with dark secrets, monstrous enhancements, or divine favor</li><li>Tactics: powerful magic; forbidden fighting techniques</li></ul></ul></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Adversaries: Monstrous Threats</h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Chimeric Beasts</b></li><ul><li>Hybrid creatures forged from forbidden magic, warped natural experiments, or the remnants of ancient beasts</li><li>Powers: unnatural powers; regenerative abilities; devastating destructive capabilities</li></ul><li><b>Undead Legions</b></li><ul><li>Risen warriors from ancient battlefields, restless spirits driven by vengeance, and cursed souls trapped in undeath</li><li>Powers: coordinated tactics; fear-inducing auras; potent necromantic magic</li></ul><li><b>Mythical Creatures</b></li><ul><li>Reborn legends like vengeful minotaurs, cunning sphinxes, or monstrous gorgons</li><li>Powers: Legendary strengths; magical abilities; ancient curses</li></ul><li><b>Shapeshifters</b></li><ul><li>Deceptive creatures mimicking human forms to infiltrate cities, manipulate society, or feed on unsuspecting victims</li><li>Powers: stealth; disguise magic; mimicry; sow chaos and discord</li></ul></ul><h3 style="text-align: left;">Adversaries: Gods & Spirits</h3></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Elemental Spirits</b></li><ul><li>Corrupted guardians of fire, water, earth, and air, twisted by ancient curses, industrial greed, or the imbalance of magical energies</li><li>Tactics: unleash natural disasters; possess elemental magic; command lesser creatures of their respective element</li></ul><li><b>Forbidden Patrons</b></li><ul><li>Powerful entities offering dark gifts, forbidden knowledge, and shortcuts to ultimate power in exchange for sacrifices, service, or the corruption of the mortal soul</li><li>Tactics: tempt heroes with visions of glory, manipulate their desires, and demand ever-greater prices</li></ul><li><b>Trickster Deities</b></li><ul><li>Playful, potentially dangerous, divine beings</li><li>Tactics: use illusions, riddles, and unpredictable challenges to sow mischief, test mortals, and manipulate events</li></ul><li><b>Vengeful Spirits</b></li><ul><li>Betrayed ancient heroes denied their rightful rest or restless ghosts seeking vengeance</li><li>Tactics: ghostly powers, possess loved ones, malevolent curses </li></ul></ul></div><div><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: left;">Other D12 Class Concepts</h1><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/d12-expertsspecialists-for-bx-or-old.html">Experts/Specialists</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/d12-wilderness-subclasses-for-bx-or-old.html">Wilderness</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/open-game-content-d12-city-or-urban.html">City/Urban</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/open-game-content-d12-navalsea.html">Naval/Sea</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/open-game-content-d12-horror-subclasses.html">Horror</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/05/open-game-content-d12-fairy-tale.html">Fairy Tale</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/06/open-game-content-d12-sword-planet.html">Sword & Planet</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/10/open-game-content-d12-criminal.html">Criminal</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/open-game-content-slavic-folklore-fairy.html">Slavic Folklore</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/07/open-game-content-norse-subclasses-for.html">Norse Mythology</a></li><li><a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/12/christmas-subclasses-for-fantasy-rpgs.html">Christmas</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2022/07/military-subclasses-for-fantasy-rpgs.html">Military</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/03/open-game-content-revised-sorcerer-for.html">B/X Sorcerer Bloodlines</a></li></ul><div><br /></div></div><div><b>Hanging:</b> Home office (laptop)</div><div><b>Drinking: </b>Batch 22 Aquavit (neat)</div><div><b>Listening: </b>"<a href="https://www.discogs.com/release/28994191-Cal-Tjader-Catch-The-Groove-Live-At-The-Penthouse-1963-1967">Catch the Groove: Live at the Penthouse 1963 - 1967</a>" by Cal Tjader (two-LP vinyl)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-45213323977905510122023-02-11T14:51:00.005-08:002023-02-11T15:05:45.035-08:0012 YEARS OF DADDY ROLLED A 1 (BLOG ANNIVERSARY)<p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj24lixMuEquANKkqaKXqTVFaMbZsTotoeGLV-w0idfmdAhovrXlbDuQcyk7X4xtsvGUy8OV94NHTeQtc8RGP8nf1Y6i4EvCjGM6RauL-7ekY9CTUK8m1EAXffa-0U97yO3-rfv77K5SYJIyBdh5Zumtc0iYrY0N2mF5fVJ3o-P_fknu3f4StMsA91p2w/s719/12%20Year%20Blog%20Anniversary.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="719" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj24lixMuEquANKkqaKXqTVFaMbZsTotoeGLV-w0idfmdAhovrXlbDuQcyk7X4xtsvGUy8OV94NHTeQtc8RGP8nf1Y6i4EvCjGM6RauL-7ekY9CTUK8m1EAXffa-0U97yO3-rfv77K5SYJIyBdh5Zumtc0iYrY0N2mF5fVJ3o-P_fknu3f4StMsA91p2w/s320/12%20Year%20Blog%20Anniversary.png" width="320" /></a></span></b></div><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />It's been 12 years</span></b> since <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2011/02/why-blog.html" target="_blank">I made my first post</a> here at Daddy Rolled a 1. It's amazing to think it's been more than a decade since I jumped into a communications form that I knew very little about other than having read some other old-school gaming blogs, and without much forethought or plan. I just decided to pay a friend to design a logo based on a funny comment a friend had told me right after my daughter was born ("you should write a blog called <i>Daddy Rolled a 1</i>..."), read an article on how to start a blog on blogspot, and off I went. <p></p><p>While my nature is to plan, and to fret over every detail (my career is in advertising media planning, in which you have to plan things out to the smallest detail), I've found that my quest to know all the ins-and-outs of something before doing it means that I often don't even start. As Churchill said, <b>"Perfection is the enemy of progress."</b> </p><p>I've found this to be true time and again for my hobby-related stuff, as I've delayed things to make sure they're "just right." I delayed starting a D&D campaign for my daughter and her friends for years because I wanted to make sure it was good enough. I've put off publishing a book about <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/08/latest-projects-for-bx-d-andor-old.html" target="_blank"><i>Expert & Specialist </i>characters</a> for the B/X version of D&D for nearly two years now, and even that was technically a <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2012/04/of-aristocrats-and-experts-part-ii.html" target="_blank">delayed version of a book</a> I began writing for the 3.5 system way back in 2005 but which I never finished due to constantly wanting to do more research to make it better. </p><p>All that has been changing lately, as I've begun to realize that I really just need to jump in and get this stuff done. I recorded a video last summer, eight months ago, of a product unboxing but only <b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2023/02/this-is-just-quick-post-to-let-everyone.html" target="_blank">just posted it two days ago</a></b>, because I didn't have a current YouTube channel, I wasn't sure how to set it up, and I'm making all the graphics for things like thumbnails and end cards myself. My daughter had offered to help me, and I told myself that I just needed to wait until she had time, but it's been eight months and it's not really a priority for her (which is fine - I understand; she's got a ton of school work and other things to take care of). So, I just went ahead and put the video up. It might not be <i>perfect</i>, but it's at least <i>done</i>. </p><p>I sent the new final draft of my <i>Experts and Specialists</i> book to my layout designer; all that needs to be finished now are some maps, which a friend is already working on. Once that's done, I'm going to Kickstart it to try to make back all the money I paid for the art and layout. I have <i>no </i>idea how to run a Kickstarter, but I'm going to just figure it out and move forward. At least the book is done so there won't be any delays getting it to people. </p><p>As far as the past twelve months, other than setting up my new YouTube channel, I've been putting a lot of time and effort into the Daddy Rolled a 1 "brand" as far as continuing to push my <b><a href="https://daddy-rolled-a-1.creator-spring.com/" target="_blank">designs at my shop</a></b> on t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, posters, and more. I've increased my Twitter presence substantially over the past year as well, growing my account by 56%, from 1.7k followers to 2.7k. I've kept active on both Facebook and Instagram as well. As I mentioned last year, until I decide to set up something like a Patreon or start selling RPG supplements on DriveThruRPG or elsewhere, <b><span style="font-size: medium;">the best way you can show your support for Daddy Rolled a 1 is to buy something from my shop. </span></b></p><p>Also over the past year, I was interviewed a few times, but a variety of folks including <a href="https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2022/03/24/interview-martin-from-the-daddy-rolled-a-1-blog/" target="_blank">Steph C of the TTRPGKids blog</a>, <a href="https://anchor.fm/wobbliesandwizards/episodes/Daddy-Rolled-a-1-e1n30ig" target="_blank">Logar the Barbarian of Wobblies and Wizards</a>, and <a href="https://www.thirdkingdomgames.com/post/meet-the-publisher-daddy-rolled-a-1?fbclid=IwAR1ff8khjCiRv0AAwWCJBxkNjuvfY5S-Yq7gGe00lt6Iphg9pFy3hE2k7nk" target="_blank">Todd Leback of Third Kingdom Games</a>. And I was a judge once again for the <a href="https://www.dungeoncontest.com/" target="_blank">One Page Dungeon Contest</a>, still one of my favorite things that's come out of me starting this blog.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgNL4Gg6Fhl4RWH_DRqnhoJUkyfhJBAtHopy3oLtocebRKeQUa0Kdr_Pqy6GDADf4QXbMt6nMnAuzfAc4NptHMpqxQNkq2tQP9NhcGr_0Dot3pDNFC23Ywn7f-wz_OgpB9p5aVXVcELfM9sQlEi7fdP4ZG-Y6UR99WmixvFhIvif6_UnAhHWeMttcqlA/s1324/D12%20Subclasses%205E%20Conversions%20Pages%20Layout%204%20Example.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="926" data-original-width="1324" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgNL4Gg6Fhl4RWH_DRqnhoJUkyfhJBAtHopy3oLtocebRKeQUa0Kdr_Pqy6GDADf4QXbMt6nMnAuzfAc4NptHMpqxQNkq2tQP9NhcGr_0Dot3pDNFC23Ywn7f-wz_OgpB9p5aVXVcELfM9sQlEi7fdP4ZG-Y6UR99WmixvFhIvif6_UnAhHWeMttcqlA/s320/D12%20Subclasses%205E%20Conversions%20Pages%20Layout%204%20Example.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />One thing you won't see is the amount of time I've spent <b>writing and creating</b>. I'm working on a book that will include a separate chapter for each of the <b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/search/label/subclasses" target="_blank">"D12 Subclasses"</a></b> posts I've written here on the blog. I'm changing the name to "D12 Class Concepts" to help distinguish them from 5E subclasses. Each chapter will include some creative ideas for running adventures in that particular genre (wilderness, city, naval, etc.). Here are a few screen shots of my current writing so you can see the ideas. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbKztc1bzxZRp4bpo0ytsOQEc-ifKOVs9ay1aiV5ex5ha2IzfHBVzbeio_effyA-Ljwrgf8jqJhwxsChSIiM7lKC0yMb5SQURnD73FRU5AipRbEzHLb2CQf5na3bgv_331x1Av6MfnIU_vAZneNLi_HXg2cyJ6RLjt-Nir85oypXa2fy0ka5y5LrcJQ/s1325/D12%20Subclasses%20Layout%20%204%20Pages%2028-29.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="1325" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbKztc1bzxZRp4bpo0ytsOQEc-ifKOVs9ay1aiV5ex5ha2IzfHBVzbeio_effyA-Ljwrgf8jqJhwxsChSIiM7lKC0yMb5SQURnD73FRU5AipRbEzHLb2CQf5na3bgv_331x1Av6MfnIU_vAZneNLi_HXg2cyJ6RLjt-Nir85oypXa2fy0ka5y5LrcJQ/s320/D12%20Subclasses%20Layout%20%204%20Pages%2028-29.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />I've also been adding a lot more to my <b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/search/label/weird%20fantasy" target="_blank">"Weird Character Ideas"</a></b> series beyond the seven characters I included here on the blog. I've written weird ideas for Bards, Barbarians, and Druids, and am about halfway done with Paladins and Rangers, and I have notes for Acrobats, Assassins, Knights, Monks, and Warlocks (to help cover classes from both Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy as well as 5E Classes, since the ideas are all edition/system-neutral). <p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3fdTlUt0OK3Nxl9Z-hlpX2bP7hi6B-o10F3bUvUYG6tYO3_X2PzD1X2UXnZf4ZxxVXaKcew6jxxbC0CZr5dI4nS87kqs0M4feFqsYLqgQEKdEfC5cEpZRPVLX7AomMmlnzRPFI5h1VRinLRPGBvAMZkj4o1GBkVKZqxJkvg14phUoZUzz5NKavVb1A/s1293/D12%20Subclasses%20Layout4%20Pages%2010-11.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="928" data-original-width="1293" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3fdTlUt0OK3Nxl9Z-hlpX2bP7hi6B-o10F3bUvUYG6tYO3_X2PzD1X2UXnZf4ZxxVXaKcew6jxxbC0CZr5dI4nS87kqs0M4feFqsYLqgQEKdEfC5cEpZRPVLX7AomMmlnzRPFI5h1VRinLRPGBvAMZkj4o1GBkVKZqxJkvg14phUoZUzz5NKavVb1A/s320/D12%20Subclasses%20Layout4%20Pages%2010-11.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Samples from me D12 Class Concepts book.<br />Text and layout are not final. </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />On social media, I've been posting <b>a whole series of weird ideas</b>, including Weird Goblins, Weird Goblin Skins, Weird Alchemical Effects, Weird Weapon Qualities, Weird Forests, Weird Gems, and a really fun crowd-sourced list of Weird Eyes. You can find all of these on Instagram or Twitter. <p></p><p>However, all of that has meant that I've sadly neglected the blog over this past year. Work on the Daddy Rolled a 1 "brand," as I mentioned, continued, but those efforts did not include updating the blog as much as I would have liked. The stats below bear that out. I plan to change that this year, with continued updates on the campaign I'm running for my daughter, including a post on the house rules we're using, and also a new campaign I'm setting up to run for friends I met at my favorite local pub who have encouraged me to run a game for them. I'm going to start putting my "Weird" ideas tables that I posted on social media over here on the blog as well to make sure everyone can see them. There will be more writing on the trials and tribulations of running a TTRPG campaign for teens. And, of course, I'd love to hear from you all and what you want me to write more about. Drop a comment below to let me know. </p><p>And, if you're looking for a more historical retrospective about Daddy Rolled a 1, <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/02/10-years-of-daddy-rolled-1-blog.html" target="_blank">check out my 10th Anniversary post</a> from 2021. </p><p><b>Thank you all for your support these past 12 years.</b> When I started doing this, I never could've imagined continuing it for 12 years and meeting all you fine folks and getting a chance to chat with you in the comments or on social media. </p><p>Here's to another year at Daddy Rolled a 1. Cheers!</p><p><b><u>STATS (Feb 12 2022 - Feb 11 2023 compared to year prior)</u></b></p><p></p><ul><li><b>Page Views:</b> 8,826 vs 15,217 (-42%)</li><li><b>Average Pages per Session:</b> 1.72 vs 1.77 (-2.76%)</li><li><b>Average Time per Session:</b> 1.19 vs 1.36 (-17.4%)</li><li><b>Bounce Rate: </b>78.73% vs 76.54% (+2.86%)</li><li><b>New Users %:</b> 90.7% vs 87.4%</li><li><b>New Users Total:</b> 3,774 vs 5,652 (-33.5%)</li><li><b>Location: </b></li><ul><li>United States (69.09% vs 68.54%)</li><li>United Kingdom (5.46% vs 5.57%)</li><li>Canada (4.67% vs 5.15%)</li><li>Australia (1.94% vs 2.67%)</li><li>Brazil (1.31% vs 1.69%)</li><li>Germany (1.31% vs 1.03%) (Went from #9 to #6)</li><li>Italy (1.26% vs 1.22%) (Went from #8 to #7)</li><li>Netherlands (1.1% vs 0.65%) (New Entry; bumped Sweden)</li><li>Russia (1.05% vs 0.40%) (New Entry; bumped France)</li><li>Spain (0.97% vs 0.79%) (New Entry; bumped Ireland)</li></ul><li><b>Top Referring Sites:</b></li><ul><li>Google</li><li>Twitter </li><li>Facebook (all; desktop, mobile, etc)</li><li>DuckDuckGo</li><li>FollowMeAndDie</li><li>Bing</li><li>From the Sorcerer's Skull (this is odd!)</li><li>"Other" (everything else)</li></ul></ul><div><br /></div><div><b><u>My Top 10 Most Popular Posts Over the Past Year</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>I was really happy this year that, aside from the top two posts, the remaining eight in the Top 10 were all "new" posts made during the past year. </div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2016/02/new-comics-wednesday-revisiting-my-post.html" target="_blank">New Comics Wednesday: Revisiting My Post About Why People Do or Don't Read Comics</a> </li><ul><li>This has consistently been a top performing post since I posted it back on February 10 2016 </li></ul><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2011/08/finally-new-post-updated-currently.html" target="_blank">Finally: A New Post (Updated Currently Watching)</a></li><ul><li>This one gets the #1 or #2 most views every year</li></ul><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2022/03/playing-d-with-tweens-part-ii.html" target="_blank">Playing D&D with Tweens, Part II</a> </li><ul><li>This was a new post from this past year</li></ul><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/making-characters-weird-halflings.html" target="_blank">Making Characters Weird: Halfling</a></li><ul><li>Another returning entry that was #3 last year</li></ul><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2022/07/military-subclasses-for-fantasy-rpgs.html" target="_blank">Military Subclasses for Fantasy RPGs</a></li><ul><li>Another new post from this past year, posted in July</li></ul><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-blogs-added-to-blog-roll.html" target="_blank">New Blogs Added to the Blog Roll</a></li><ul><li>This one dates all the way back to the year I started the blog in 2011!</li></ul><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/making-characters-weird-clerics.html" target="_blank">Making Characters Weird: Clerics</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2011/03/related-genres-animation-max-fleischer.html" target="_blank">Related Genres: Animation - Max Fleischer Superman Animated Shorts</a></li><ul><li>Another one from early 2011</li></ul><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2022/08/guest-blog-post-unique-joys-and.html" target="_blank">GUEST POST: The Unique Joys and Challenges of Playing Tabletop RPGs with Kids (featuring TTRPGKids)</a></li><ul><li>This was a "blog post swap" I held with Steph from TTRPGKids this past summer </li></ul><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/09/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">GUEST POST: Old School Essentials Campaign - Session 9 (My Daughter's Campaign)</a></li><ul><li>Another newer post, featuring a recap written by one of my players</li></ul><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/07/open-game-content-norse-subclasses-for.html" target="_blank">Open Game Content: Norse Subclasses for Fantasy RPGs</a></li><ul><li>Part of a series of making slight tweaks to old-school B/X character classes; the Norse ones seem to be among the most popular, as this is the second year in the row they made the Top 10</li></ul></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hanging:</b> Home Office (laptop)</div><div><b>Drinking: </b>Coffee (black)</div><div><b>Listening:</b> "Wrist Bands" by Paul Simon, from the album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/1ujZpTYHOc5XS0JIBKjUaI?si=ZTTFCYkkS7qIHtdPoUwMdw" target="_blank">Stranger to Stranger</a>" (2016)</div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-17543468369256487162023-02-10T10:53:00.001-08:002023-02-10T13:33:12.520-08:00NEW DADDY ROLLED A 1 YOUTUBE CHANNEL<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhztGxua8XZJO8ABUbrm20HzyI8lgGsKBERS8ahmUj10GpAt7ZESMigNeZocIcTOzCODCKapSnpj6NhxfKVOAOkG8SiEkf1XfdxGdeI-07H3vHIWyz5ZbcfkytFU_AThUvz6LZfhzf8NL08mpdWCDIEyPq7QV2IflFFWe0R4mbL-667YrYHGfWfVnNPLQ/s2560/Daddy%20Rolled%20a%201%20YouTube%20Channel%20Banner.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhztGxua8XZJO8ABUbrm20HzyI8lgGsKBERS8ahmUj10GpAt7ZESMigNeZocIcTOzCODCKapSnpj6NhxfKVOAOkG8SiEkf1XfdxGdeI-07H3vHIWyz5ZbcfkytFU_AThUvz6LZfhzf8NL08mpdWCDIEyPq7QV2IflFFWe0R4mbL-667YrYHGfWfVnNPLQ/s320/Daddy%20Rolled%20a%201%20YouTube%20Channel%20Banner.png" width="320" /></a></div>This is just a quick post to let everyone know that you now have yet one more way to engage with me and my content, as <b>I have started a YouTube Channel</b>. <div><br /></div><div>So far, I only have one video posted, which is an unboxing of <i><b>Big Terror in the Streets</b></i>, written and illustrated by long-time Daddy Rolled a 1 supporter <a href="http://kelvingreen.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><b>Kelvin Green</b></a>. This is an adventure written for the <i>Lamentations of the Flame Princess</i> rules system, but usable in any old school fantasy adventure class-and-level game. <br /><br />Kelvin is a wonderful artist, and as a supporter of both my blog and me personally, I wanted to give him something back. Also, this boxed set is so much fun with so many extra goodies that you don't get with the standard adventure book purchase. </div><div><br /></div><div>Please check out my review, and also <b>please Like and Share it to help me grow my channel</b>, and <b>Subscribe </b>and click on <b>Notifications </b>so you'll be alerted when I post new content. </div><div><br /></div><div>Lastly, in the comments here or on YouTube, <b>please let me know what kind of content you want to see me cover on my new channel.</b> I'm planning on more unboxings, reviews, occasionally chatting about what else I'm reading (like comics, novels, and non-fiction), the 1981 Basic D&D game I run for my daughter and her friends, and more. But, let me know what <i>you</i> want to see. </div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="316" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gl5mXht7a8w" width="434" youtube-src-id="gl5mXht7a8w"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hanging:</b> Home office (laptop)</div><div><b>Drinking: </b>A Martini with Roku Gin and a Lemon Twist</div><div><b>Listening: </b><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3qMetssWCiqQt8oI1WR2Sr?si=166539a341574fbd" target="_blank"><b>Tale of the Manticore</b></a> (a solo D&D podcast using 1981 Basic D&D rules)</div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-11818747392755469892023-01-27T16:38:00.000-08:002023-01-27T16:38:23.053-08:00TTRPGKids BUSINESS CARD QUEST 2023 JAM<p>My Twitter Friend, <a href="https://twitter.com/TTRPGkids" target="_blank"><b>TTRPGKids</b></a> (which is managed by <a href="https://twitter.com/StephCampb7" target="_blank"><b>Steph C.</b></a>) created a fun idea called the <b><a href="https://itch.io/jam/business-card-quest-2023-jam" target="_blank">Business Card Quest 2023 Jam</a></b>, and I'm participating. The idea is for TTRPG creators to submit a business card that on one side has their contact details, and on the reverse has either part of a map (that can be combined with the other business cards) or an NPC, item, or other TTRPG element to be used while playing a game. </p><p>I submitted my card with a short table intended to add variety to the map elements other entrants submitted. Given the small business card size, the table is a bit difficult to read, so I linked to this post with a QR Code on the card to provide an easier-to-read (and with a bit more detail) way to use the info. For regular blog readers, it's possible this post may go live before my business card is submitted. </p><p>I looked through the submissions and five business cards stood out to me: a campsite with a mysterious campfire and some shadows in the dark, a lake with eggs at the bottom, a bunch of different familiars, three trees full of a murder of crows, and some runes. Here's what I did with them. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>THE CAMPSITE SHADOWS... (1D4):</b></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Mimic the PCs' actions perfectly.</li><li>Feed on the campfire, taking away the heat. </li><li>Have no owners. The shadows move independently. (This was originally written as a small boy running into the campsite; he has lost his shadow and is in a panic. But, I couldn't fit the description into the table).</li><li>Are cast only by the PCs. Trees and other objects at the campsite do not cast any shadows. </li></ol><div><br /></div><div><b>THE LAKE WITH EGGS... (1D4):</b></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Is frozen. The eggs are sitting on top. </li><li>Is sacred to a local tribe of kobolds. </li><li>Is sentient, and speaks to the PCs telepathically.</li><li>If the eggs are eaten, they provide (1D4): 1) A curse; 2) a boon; 3) Indigestion; 4) A full day's sustenance</li></ol><div><br /></div></div><div><b>THE FAMILIAR IS... (1D4):</b></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>A dream that's been manifested.</li><li>The spirit of a deceased person. </li><li>A spy for the Faerie Queen. </li><li>A guide, but there's a 25% chance it will deliberately lead its followers astray.</li></ol><div><br /></div></div><div><b>THE CROWS... (1D4):</b></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Are visitors from the Ravenfell.</li><li>Cough instead of caw.</li><li>Protect against all shadows. </li><li>Can be befriended with poetry. </li></ol><div><br /></div></div><div><b>THE RUNES... (1D4):</b></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Were carved by local teenagers as a joke. </li><li>Summon a long-forgotten saint or hero. </li><li>Provide a cryptic answer to a single question, then disappear. </li><li>When read (1D4): 1) Cast a cantrip, determined randomly; 2) Explode; 3) Disappear; 4) <i>Bless </i>the reader. </li></ol><div><br /></div></div><div>I hope you enjoy these additions to the Business Card Quest Jam 2023! Let me know if you use any of these. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hanging: </b>Home office (laptop)</div><div><b>Listening: </b>Airegin by Miles Davis from the album "Bags' Groove (Rudy Van Gelder Remaster)"</div><div><b>Drinking: </b>Winchester Double Oaked Bourbon Whiskey</div><div><br /></div><p></p>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-2259574078132853862022-08-10T17:44:00.001-07:002022-08-11T10:53:27.224-07:00Guest Blog Post: The unique joys and challenges of playing tabletop RPGs with kids (Featuring TTRPGKids!)<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">A special treat today, featuring a cross-post discussion with "Steph C" of the excellent blog "<a href="https://www.ttrpgkids.com/" target="_blank">TTRPGKids</a>," talking about the unique joys and challenges of playing tabletop roleplaying games with kids. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">I met Steph on Twitter during the pandemic, and during that time, they have made an excellent resource for parents, guardians, and caregivers who are looking to start playing a tabletop RPG with kids but perhaps aren't sure how to start. Steph also plays a variety of TTRPGs with their little one, who is now four years-old, so I found it very interesting to compare and contrast my experiences of playing with my (now) 13 year-old versus the joys and challenges of playing with a much younger child. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steph </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">sums it up as follows: </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="font-family: times;">"There are tons of benefits for kids when it comes to playing tabletop roleplaying games, but there’s also a lot of impact on the grown ups introducing the game too! Check out these awesome joys and some challenges that parents, caregivers, and teachers can expect when playing tabletop RPGs with kids, featuring insights from Daddy Rolled a 1 on playing with tweens in addition to my own experience with my little one!"</span></i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">Please read and enjoy, and I would love your comments on the things you have experienced playing TTRPGs with your young ones. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-2da2b47f-7fff-6f25-aba4-92ccde54dd75"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;">The joy of sharing in your kid’s explosive creativity</span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiODaGHE4M22qYpjDbmOQZjCi7dBlX_t3Os_hcj9OQpEYlLCDEdWKqSFf_SzcVDsyhMhmhhKzz3CQZXYmYMxDByqzjX9ZL8L79cHH5_6AViWtyPLS8gQNl9sVrJBLYvGmqYhBQCxW33xoVR4cOXU5dP6_qq3vI34kxyaAWTeAmYJ0fqpE6rT3WK1uldDg/s871/Steph%20Quote%2001.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="871" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiODaGHE4M22qYpjDbmOQZjCi7dBlX_t3Os_hcj9OQpEYlLCDEdWKqSFf_SzcVDsyhMhmhhKzz3CQZXYmYMxDByqzjX9ZL8L79cHH5_6AViWtyPLS8gQNl9sVrJBLYvGmqYhBQCxW33xoVR4cOXU5dP6_qq3vI34kxyaAWTeAmYJ0fqpE6rT3WK1uldDg/s320/Steph%20Quote%2001.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Steph (TTRPGkids, 4yo player):</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">When playing tabletop RPGs with my kid, I love it when he comes up with wild stories based on the smallest prompts! Something as simple as asking what a fish looks like leads to a wonderful explanation from my kid about a magical rainbow carp that needs help finding sunken treasure, which becomes the central part of our next quest.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">It is not only amazing for me to see my kid’s dynamic imagination at work, but it’s awesome to get to participate as well. We bounce ideas off of each other the whole session, and it has helped me to grow as a storyteller as well.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Martin (DaddyRolledA1, 11 - 13yo players):</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">I have been running an old-school D&D game for a group of five players ranging in age from 11 years old to 13 (plus one dad). The three remaining kid players are all now 13 (two of them moved this summer).</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8wb7sL-ie6Am-KMPx-sh_hZrOpC6Q3UxEeeQlaGYTHfjQgOG32_dlzAPuM8_GE1xuO2cVV521-4q2x0reiQD4EsuuAPKCQCYTF-Uq2xBgXosV64EefjMehG-8ygxZJ3MF-7qxU8kK_BQxhH8hM9iIE8MxepNLcNa25ReFJq83mikmmwQ0smnyMAiRLg/s870/Creativity%20Quote.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="870" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8wb7sL-ie6Am-KMPx-sh_hZrOpC6Q3UxEeeQlaGYTHfjQgOG32_dlzAPuM8_GE1xuO2cVV521-4q2x0reiQD4EsuuAPKCQCYTF-Uq2xBgXosV64EefjMehG-8ygxZJ3MF-7qxU8kK_BQxhH8hM9iIE8MxepNLcNa25ReFJq83mikmmwQ0smnyMAiRLg/s320/Creativity%20Quote.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: times;">At this age, while still very creative, that creativity has started to be shaped by their consumption of pop culture as well as by what their friends think is “cool.” As an example, when I first began talking to my daughter about playing, she was around 8 and she wanted to play an Elf called “Jingles”. She drew a picture complete with striped socks and shoes that curled up, like the elves from the Rankin-Bass Christmas specials. But by the time we started playing, she was 11 years old and her character, while still an elf, was a much more traditional Tolkiensian version.</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">Creativity at this age is a lot less about coming up with original things, but rather about adapting things they all think are cool (whether it’s “Stranger Things,” or various manga or anime series, etc.).</span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;">The challenge of your kid’s extra dynamic stories</span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Steph (TTRPGkids, 4yo player):</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">
Along with that wonderfully explosive creativity comes the flip side - sometimes the stories can be a bit much to handle! I can’t really plan sessions out too much like I would for a tabletop RPG for grown ups because I know my kid will think of something that I haven’t, so it is 90% improv. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like I said before, this </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">has</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> made me a better storyteller with it being so dynamic, but it can also be a little exhausting trying to keep up! To work with this, I keep our game sessions a bit short for both my kid’s and my own sake, and I use a rough outline (like the chart in the beginning of </span><a href="https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2021/06/12/the-ttrpgkids-game-list-games-made-by-ttrpgkids-creators/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">StoryGuider</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) to help keep things on track without railroading my kid’s story.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Martin (DaddyRolledA1, 11 - 13yo players):</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">In this case, I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s that they’re “extra dynamic,” but rather that, especially at this age, the kids are looking for ways to have a sense of control, and they get extremely frustrated when their PCs do not have that control. I have a witch mentor in my game who has never let the PCs see her – she speaks to them telepathically and she’s quite rude at times. But the players had their characters agree to let the witch teach them the art of magic and they signed a contract to be bound to her for seven years. The witch assigns them menial tasks like scrubbing the floors, foraging for mushrooms, and even emptying her chamber pots. There are severe punishments for disobedience, which the players know. That ends up becoming a frustrating situation for them, because they want to tell the witch off and talk back to her, and often that leads to them completely breaking character and saying things that I know their characters wouldn’t say. So, I have to adapt to that quickly, and remind them to stay in character.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">It’s also interesting because of the three kid players I have left, two of them made characters who are their own age (11 or 12 when we started) and the other’s character is only about 15. So, the NPCs in the world treat them as kids, and I think they find that very frustrating. I explained to them when we started that they could make their PCs any age, but they chose to make them the same age as themselves. This directly impacts the sense of control they think their characters should have, because most people in town aren’t going to take orders from three kids, but I also don’t want the one dad player, who plays an adult PC, calling all the shots.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEYDjW_IVTSKfpkj5T9QQs5hwGlxubq0ouvLPr86z39Ir3sC80uZefQBX0SCBeAabAHcPJta6AxRS6A5IjoqGl0ybDbFtRmZghqZGB5Q0lgLe4m7m4XifOjWQt1DqCjY5avqPXqQASmsLl4Ukn4D73g7RMmPhbwFylP2XheYMjlhi-H4lviK2KXmKymw/s871/Pets%20Quote.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="871" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEYDjW_IVTSKfpkj5T9QQs5hwGlxubq0ouvLPr86z39Ir3sC80uZefQBX0SCBeAabAHcPJta6AxRS6A5IjoqGl0ybDbFtRmZghqZGB5Q0lgLe4m7m4XifOjWQt1DqCjY5avqPXqQASmsLl4Ukn4D73g7RMmPhbwFylP2XheYMjlhi-H4lviK2KXmKymw/s320/Pets%20Quote.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: times;">Another challenge has been pets. Before we started playing, one player bought a miniature figure that featured a character with a big wolf companion. She asked if her PC could have a wolf. That one question turned into every player wanting a pet, and they used to take so much time talking about their pets: what their names were, how to feed them, where to house them when they were adventuring, and on and on. The dad player started to get a little frustrated because the kids would spend so much time talking and joking about their pets instead of actually playing. This took a while to solve but I finally created an NPC who has a trained dancing bear. He offered to train all the characters’ pets while they are adventuring in dark dangerous caves, because that’s no place for a couple of wolf pups and a turtle. They check in with him whenever they’re in town, but otherwise the pets don’t play a big role, for now.</span><p></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;">The joy of learning with your kid through tabletop RPGs</span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRNeGYXnrnRgvkuFaFtcKfKp4ah6DtrwOzTXO6gzaAtDpHR3U-wwS3e3dzuXVzTbxiMpjMfm9nlzfCrDztjmNFwUf3VtFH62KP20A_y4tA3gCeVPAjBfw6zLHwrx4bQDvnhauH67_T72Pl49_wbyZxUcM__VWajhYXGDw4lNBBxunWikp-cr69c1GIlg/s870/Steph%20Quote%2002.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="870" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRNeGYXnrnRgvkuFaFtcKfKp4ah6DtrwOzTXO6gzaAtDpHR3U-wwS3e3dzuXVzTbxiMpjMfm9nlzfCrDztjmNFwUf3VtFH62KP20A_y4tA3gCeVPAjBfw6zLHwrx4bQDvnhauH67_T72Pl49_wbyZxUcM__VWajhYXGDw4lNBBxunWikp-cr69c1GIlg/s320/Steph%20Quote%2002.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b>Steph (TTRPGkids, 4yo player):</b></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve mentioned a couple times how playing tabletop RPGs with my kid has helped me to become a better storyteller - it’s helped me to learn in other ways too! While using tabletop RPGs to teach my kid about SEL or math or </span><a href="https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2021/07/28/how-ttrpgs-have-helped-my-son-and-me-a-review-from-ages-2-5-to-3-years-old/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">any of the number of other topics we’ve covered</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, it has helped me to revisit some of those as well. Things like remembering to stop and take a minute when I’m getting frustrated (because we ALL get frustrated sometimes) has gotten easier for me too as I’ve practiced it with my kid. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">I also have been able to really hone in on where my kid is at socially, emotionally, and academically through playing tabletop RPGs with him. I can see how well he puts what we’ve learned into practice through a consistent(ish) game environment and I can see where he is still working on certain skills.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Martin (DaddyRolledA1, 11 - 13yo players):</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">I definitely have learned a lot about my daughter specifically in this game and how she interacts with her friends. Usually when she’s hanging out with her friends, we give her space, so we don’t always hear and see everything. I used to volunteer at her elementary school so I would see her sometimes with her school mates, but ever since the pandemic and then her moving to middle school, my interaction with her friends has lessened.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">Playing D&D, though, and running the game for them, I’m front and center to see how she responds to certain situations. I’ve learned a lot about her personality and how to read her moods better. I can immediately tell when she’s upset with one of her friends, and then afterward, I can use the discussion of the game to begin broaching the topic with her to find out what specifically is bothering her.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">For myself, I’ve also learned how to interact with kids of this age better. They are looking to establish their independence, to prove that they are more mature and can make good decisions using the information they have learned. So, I give them a wide berth to come up with their own ideas of what they want their characters to do and encourage them to be as creative as they can. One of the benefits of using an old-school system like the one I use is that the answer is never found on the character sheet. My players never have their heads down reading their sheets to search for what they can do. Instead, they are looking up, looking at me or the other players, talking things out and coming up with strategies and ideas that I never would’ve thought of.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;">The challenge of working on developing skills with your kid mid-game</span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig9VAeTEBLZup3a4xJRa19rwyO7GnhngxmcaBvNGFVwF8rm88KqrqMh4pvkmThmM3fgOj3Wd6U2x2aSya1iroYDblSMjaPvka1yoc0hdMSm2xwKtwdwqDngvShmKCRMURVN2_EhYU8Gktj_TV65TmC7RJoLRtMMcI-eIjEjiPeO201ulzi81oVEa3AgA/s870/Steph%20Quote%201.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="870" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig9VAeTEBLZup3a4xJRa19rwyO7GnhngxmcaBvNGFVwF8rm88KqrqMh4pvkmThmM3fgOj3Wd6U2x2aSya1iroYDblSMjaPvka1yoc0hdMSm2xwKtwdwqDngvShmKCRMURVN2_EhYU8Gktj_TV65TmC7RJoLRtMMcI-eIjEjiPeO201ulzi81oVEa3AgA/s320/Steph%20Quote%201.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b>Steph (TTRPGkids, 4yo player):</b></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">I started playing tabletop RPGs with my kid when he was about 2.5 years old, and at the time of writing this, he’s 4 years old. With him being so young, there’s certain skills, like counting, reading, etc that he’s still working on and that are critical to some tabletop RPGs. It’s taken a lot of tweaking and puzzling out what works for him in particular to be able to play these games together. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That said, it is definitely worth it - by </span><a href="https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2021/11/24/tips-and-tricks-to-adjust-ttrpg-mechanics-including-dd-for-kids/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">learning to tweak games to fit his needs</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, we create a foundation for growing a lot of the skills that he’s working on so we can build things up over time. We introduce mechanics gradually, and it has been great motivation for my kid to want to learn math, reading, and even sign language. Modifying games to your kid’s level can be a bit of an extra challenge, especially if they are still working on core skills, but it was good practice for me to be flexible as well.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Martin (DaddyRolledA1, 11 - 13yo players):</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">What I’ve found at this age is that it’s less about skills like reading or math, for example, although I did share with them the math part at our session zero, explaining statistics and percentages, relating it to baseball stats as a way to try to connect with them.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">At this age, the developing skills are, I think, more on the emotional development side. They are learning to deal with changes in their bodies, hormones, and different social structures at school. The three kid players I have left have all known each other since they were at least two years old (my daughter and one player went to daycare and preschool together, so they’ve known each other their entire lives going back to around 3 months old). However, at this point, none of them go to the same school, so D&D is usually the only time they see each other. The challenges of navigating the very awkward middle school social structure becomes exacerbated because they all have this shared history, but they’re not really sharing it together anymore. They all have different friends now that they see much more often, and that has a huge impact on how they interact with each other.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">As an example, I had to make a “no phones at the table” rule while we play, because at one point, some of the kids didn’t have phones, and the ones who did were spending the game time on Snapchat with their other friends, then disrupting the game to tell the other players what their new friends were doing. This created a lot of social drama during our scheduled games, so I made a rule that they can’t use their phones during the game. They put them in the center of the table, and we take a short 10 minute break every 60 to 90 minutes so they can check them if they want. What’s funny now is that, after doing this for over a year, they almost never ask for breaks any more and when they do, they seldom check their phones.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;">The joy of generational connections through tabletop RPGs</span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Steph (TTRPGkids, 4yo player): </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">
Tabletop RPGs have brought my kid and me so much closer over the past couple years - we’ve learned to work together better, we have a shared hobby, and we have a special time and place for spending time with each other. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think that sometimes, as a parent, it can be easy during times of stress to fall into “doing mode” where we focus on </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">doing</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> what’s right for our kid and </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">doing</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> what we think they need. This is great and necessary, but… I figured out how to just </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">be</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> what my kid (and I) need too. To </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">be </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">there for my kid, I don’t necessarily have to be </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">doing</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> something, sometimes we just need to spend time together, and tabletop RPGs made me kind of stop and take that time. These games let us just be ourselves with each other in the same space, and I still see my kid as my kid, but I also see him as a person better too.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Martin (DaddyRolledA1, 11 - 13yo players):</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">This is such a great question and something that just came up recently while having dinner with my wife and daughter. We were talking about the game, and my daughter said that she didn’t realize that the parents were also going to play (we only have one adult player, the dad of her friend, who also plays). I explained to her how when we started, most of the parents were not aware what D&D is or how it was played, so to make sure they were all comfortable, I offered for them to all either join as a player, or at least sit with us to watch. One parent sat and watched our first game and that was enough to make her comfortable, so she’s not returned for that. But one dad player, with whom I have played TTRPGs before, asked if he could join the group.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">My daughter was saying she didn’t know why he wanted to play with us, and I asked her, “Do you know why I run this game?”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">My wife said, “It’s because you like to write and create things.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDweN80KNYVU7ZFVzHOPwhlmhQD011vMeN1C4PO-MxQ5E0j3XXiM3VijrWUKQBD6CO4xZGhKjm9a2VKhEpLUAkWAgmldetA5npcW0KGbAwJZpHY_7y6HZp5YKxvXbJdNTEnB3-jy8jYQL2qjA05L6NCdOyEenfhnKWBeMQGEl5-1BCpDbSaINsG-HXfg/s871/Our%20Thing%20Quote.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="871" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDweN80KNYVU7ZFVzHOPwhlmhQD011vMeN1C4PO-MxQ5E0j3XXiM3VijrWUKQBD6CO4xZGhKjm9a2VKhEpLUAkWAgmldetA5npcW0KGbAwJZpHY_7y6HZp5YKxvXbJdNTEnB3-jy8jYQL2qjA05L6NCdOyEenfhnKWBeMQGEl5-1BCpDbSaINsG-HXfg/s320/Our%20Thing%20Quote.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: times;">And I said, to my daughter, “No, it’s because, as you get older, you and I have fewer and fewer things in common in terms of music, books, movies, or just things that we can do together. We don’t play Legos any longer, and I don’t read stories to you anymore. You don’t like to go with me to the comic book store for weekly visits now. Your middle school doesn’t do activities that need parent volunteers on campus, so there aren’t any school things I can do with you. But, having this scheduled time once a month to play D&D, this is <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">our</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> thing. This is time that we get to spend together and have something where we interact instead of just watching a TV show or movie. And, I think that’s why your friend’s dad is playing – it gives him a chance to hang out and spend time with his daughter.”</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That seemed to resonate with her, and I think she has a better appreciation that I’m not running this game just because I like playing D&D (which, of course, I do), but I’m specifically doing it </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for her</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> because she’s my daughter and I love her and want to spend time with her.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;">Overall thoughts on the joys and challenges of playing tabletop RPGs with kids</span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFfxsvtnrhu4aUTOc5gNmsWhEq8bKhfj-eXgWZgg8EmYTpQMA6Cu_PzOuSDHKrHww6wiMZtD80kITJnxvlNQy0QvWOyDFiAnZjkVQwxdfR6hgzP273gXTKCcetLvvuxkHHUmulEiNqgnpSlL8pIIXY8jiUpGiuecS7EKL88-vGIhNZQjXs6yLBK0_c2Q/s558/Steph%20Quote%2003%20Overall.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="209" data-original-width="558" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFfxsvtnrhu4aUTOc5gNmsWhEq8bKhfj-eXgWZgg8EmYTpQMA6Cu_PzOuSDHKrHww6wiMZtD80kITJnxvlNQy0QvWOyDFiAnZjkVQwxdfR6hgzP273gXTKCcetLvvuxkHHUmulEiNqgnpSlL8pIIXY8jiUpGiuecS7EKL88-vGIhNZQjXs6yLBK0_c2Q/s320/Steph%20Quote%2003%20Overall.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b>Steph (TTRPGkids, 4yo player):</b></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">Playing tabletop RPGs with young kids can pose a lot of challenges for grown ups who are facilitating a game from the ones listed here to managing attention span, conflicts between siblings or classmates, and more, however, there’s a lot of joy in it too. I’ve seen my kid and myself grow individually, we’ve had a lot of fun being creative and silly, and we’re a stronger family because of it. A lot of this growth and fun came from overcoming some of the challenges that we faced, and I’m grateful for having the opportunity to basically level up in real life by taking this on with my kid!</span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Martin (DaddyRolledA1, 11 - 13yo players):</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Running this game for my daughter and her friends has been the absolute most fun I have had running an RPG in my 41 years of playing the game. I still remember our first session as I started setting the scene and watching that look in the players’ eyes as they became immersed in the game. And, knowing that this is something I’m doing not only </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> my daughter, but also </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> her, has also helped me feel better about my relationship to her as she grows older and more independent. It gives her a scheduled opportunity to hang out with friends she doesn’t normally see, while also giving her a chance to be creative, whether it’s through illustrations she does of her character, writing session recaps in the voice of her character, or problem-solving both as an individual and as part of a group.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn2j22UzlKHRydYBp33BsmPZxGZZ9K_bJFISIKOljoWXhkkATk2OJvoSjACdodFmWTkCofVhiPMwTW_BTlyVvFtCA_IUmK2yIAgUNmjEIhEC-OwZY1jpOBobiQmk8edi2RFUju_3Yz-Yr9iNZgmyfhtMNOiMagXsYpatm6wpYwWUEFQaJ87RKTkHdFEA/s870/Overall%20Quote.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="870" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn2j22UzlKHRydYBp33BsmPZxGZZ9K_bJFISIKOljoWXhkkATk2OJvoSjACdodFmWTkCofVhiPMwTW_BTlyVvFtCA_IUmK2yIAgUNmjEIhEC-OwZY1jpOBobiQmk8edi2RFUju_3Yz-Yr9iNZgmyfhtMNOiMagXsYpatm6wpYwWUEFQaJ87RKTkHdFEA/s320/Overall%20Quote.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: times;">There are challenges, of course. Sometimes real-life drama invades the game. There have been times when my daughter completely shut-down because she was upset with one of her friends. The attention span of this age group is very difficult to reign in, but it’s never consistent. One day they’ll want to take a break every 10 minutes to get snacks or chat about their other friends or check their phones. Other times, they seem so focused that we can play three hours straight without a real break. Getting them to read and respond to any between-session communications, such as confirming what dates they are available, or asking them to make sure they have leveled-up their characters, is almost impossible.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">But, overall, it’s been great, and the only thing I really regret so far is that I didn’t start this game when my daughter was even younger.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b>THANK YOU!</b></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">Thank you so much, Steph, for asking me to participate in this enlightening shared blogged post, and for sharing your experiences with playing and running tabletop roleplaying games for younger kids. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">For you parents, grandparents, caregivers, and teachers out there who are looking to introduce tabletop roleplaying games to your kids, your best one-stop-shop for information, reviews, and advice is the <a href="https://www.ttrpgkids.com/" target="_blank">TTRPGKids website</a>. Steph has done a phenomenal job curating the best creators and caregivers in the TTRPG space to share their knowledge and experience. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">Steph has interviewed me once before, which you can find on their website <a href="https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2022/03/24/interview-martin-from-the-daddy-rolled-a-1-blog/" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">Please do share this post with anybody you know who is looking to start up a tabletop game for kids, and don't forget to drop a comment below to us know your tips and advice for doing so!</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Hanging: </b>Home office (laptop)
<b>Drinking: </b>A whiskey sour on the rocks with Old Forester Rye Whiskey
<b>Listening:</b> "If I Should Lose You" by Keith Jarrett and the Standards Trio, from the album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6fvZds34e7H5ICQ5HOWNbd?si=ozNd5fldSii1sgj6MwTzLA" target="_blank">Standards, Vol. 2</a>"</span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-41591495320951537652022-07-14T20:04:00.000-07:002022-07-14T20:04:02.943-07:00Military Subclasses for Fantasy RPGS<div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEo4XYLM3rLysVxbCY-F3vw9Sye5f5ejBZa1abJZ2cEoLdotsmH6PWwVu1pH8VcHnS8LL9eVD7SzT113apd3aTPQra4xMp5Og_bnc9YbH2J40d-mhSvkSWlGfVd_aHCAbTGSi3YKTf8IWpAZAcwBZJwz5R9r_Ih_4wOcCBRkTtmNVJCWPlZ-yP2Ukfpg/s1024/Battle_of_crecy_froissart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="1024" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEo4XYLM3rLysVxbCY-F3vw9Sye5f5ejBZa1abJZ2cEoLdotsmH6PWwVu1pH8VcHnS8LL9eVD7SzT113apd3aTPQra4xMp5Og_bnc9YbH2J40d-mhSvkSWlGfVd_aHCAbTGSi3YKTf8IWpAZAcwBZJwz5R9r_Ih_4wOcCBRkTtmNVJCWPlZ-yP2Ukfpg/s320/Battle_of_crecy_froissart.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cr%C3%A9cy" target="_blank">Battle of Cr<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">é</span>cy</a></i> between the English and French<br />in the Hundred Years' War from an illuminated<br />manuscript of <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Froissart" target="_blank">Jean Froissart's Chronicles</a></i> is<br />in the Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.</td></tr></tbody></table>This is the 13th entry into my series of <a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/search/label/subclasses">subclasses</a> (perhaps more appropriate called "character concepts") for the 1981 Moldvay Basic D&D game. As reminder, once again, that all of these were inspired by me stumbling across <a href="https://dysonlogos.blog/tag/subclasses/" target="_blank">Dyson Logos</a>' original D12 Subclasses: please check out the originals, which are chock-full of great ideas for fantasy tabletop RPGs. </div><div><br /></div><div>This list of military subclasses specifically was inspired by a conversation I had with my friend <b><a href="https://twitter.com/redwyrmofficial" target="_blank">Redwyrm</a> on Twitter</b>. He has a fantastically creative Twitter presence in which he (mainly) presents ideas that he and his five year-old son ("the Wyrmling") have come up with while playing D&D, which they play together <i>every single day</i>. Redwyrm is one of those people who make Twitter a better place, and I highly encourage anyone who uses the bird app to follow, and more importantly, engage with him about his ideas. </div><div><br /></div><div>Shortly after posting my <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/07/open-game-content-norse-subclasses-for.html" target="_blank">Norse subclasses</a> last year, I went on Twitter and asked folks what subclass ideas they'd want to see next. Redwyrm said his son would be interested in seeing some military subclasses, so I got right to work, but as with many of my RPG ideas, it got pushed to the side for other projects, mainly continuous prepping for the <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/search/label/Keep%20on%20the%20Borderlands" target="_blank">campaign I'm running for my daughter</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Redwrym was kind enough to view and comment on many of the subclasses included in this table. I hope his son enjoys them. With no further ado, here are 12 modifications to the existing 7 B/X character classes to help evoke a military style campaign. After the table, I present a few ideas for making military campaigns easier to run, and end with links to all the previous D12 subclass tables I've made so far. </div><div><br /></div><div>Lastly, my ultimate goal is to put all of these subclasses into a book (I'm planning the smaller A5 size), probably hardcover, with each D12 table also including additional material related to that genre (e.g., for the Wilderness D12 subclasses table, I have tons of random tables for fantastic encounters and weather in various environments like Arctic, Desert, Hills, etc. as well as ideas for foraging for food, checking if water is safe to drink, etc.). Stay tuned for a future blog post talking about this, and also you can follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/DaddyRolleda1" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DaddyRolledA1/?ref=profile_intro_card" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/daddyrolleda1/" target="_blank">Instagram </a>where I share my works in progress occasionally. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>D12 MILITARY SUBCLASSES</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-insideh: none; mso-border-insidev: none; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr>
<td colspan="3" style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 451.25pt;" valign="top" width="602">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;"> </span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #3B3838; border-bottom: solid white 1.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background2; mso-background-themeshade: 64; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid white .75pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: background1; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: background1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 36.9pt;" valign="top" width="49">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Roll</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #3B3838; border-bottom: solid white 1.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background2; mso-background-themeshade: 64; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid white .75pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: background1; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: background1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="102">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Subclass</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #3B3838; border-bottom: solid white 1.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background2; mso-background-themeshade: 64; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid white .75pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: background1; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: background1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 337.85pt;" valign="top" width="450">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Class
Modifications</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" style="background: #3B3838; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background2; mso-background-themeshade: 64; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .75pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 451.25pt;" valign="top" width="602">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">CLERIC</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 36.9pt;" valign="top" width="49">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="102">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Chaplain<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 337.85pt;" valign="top" width="450">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Battlefield
Prayer:</span></b><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;"> 1x/day, pray for one round to grant all companions within 10’ +2 to
saving throws against fear effects or a second save at no bonus if they
already failed before the prayer was offered. <b>Rally the Faithful:</b> 1-in-6
chance to give allies within 10’ +1 to attack and damage rolls for one round
per level of the chaplain. Can be used once per turn. The chance increases to
2-in-6 at 4<sup>th</sup> level, 3-in-6 at 7<sup>th </sup>level, 4-in-6 at 10<sup>th</sup>
level, and 5-in-6 at 13<sup>th</sup> level. <b>Hindrances:</b> Cannot turn
undead.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 36.9pt;" valign="top" width="49">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">2<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="102">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Medic<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 337.85pt;" valign="top" width="450">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b>Combat Healing:</b> use turn undead
mechanics and table to heal. “Monster Hit Dice” is the highest level of
character or hit dice that can be healed (e.g., at 1<sup>st</sup> level, the
Medic must roll a 7 or higher on 2d6 to heal someone of 1<sup>st</sup> level
or with 1HD, and a 9 or higher to heal someone of 2<sup>nd</sup> level or
with 2HD). The second 2d6 roll indicates the total number of HD that can be
healed; e.g., a roll of 5 indicates up to five creatures of 1HD or 5 1<sup>st</sup>
level characters can be healed. A healed character gains 2 HP (but cannot go
above maximum hit points). Healed characters gain a very visible scar which could
affect their Charisma score. <b>Spells:</b> Must only pray for healing spells
(<i>cure light wounds</i>, <i>remove disease</i>, etc.). <b>Hindrances:</b> Cannot turn undead as normal.
</span><span style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" style="background: #3B3838; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background2; mso-background-themeshade: 64; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 451.25pt;" valign="top" width="602">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">DWARF</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 36.9pt;" valign="top" width="49">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">3<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="102">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Engineer<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 337.85pt;" valign="top" width="450">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Repair:</span></b><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;"> 2-in-6 chance
to repair or reinforce weak supports or construction; replaces Detect
Construction Tricks. <b>Water Source:</b> 2-in-6 chance to purify a water
source to make it safe to drink; replaces Detect Room Traps.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 36.9pt;" valign="top" width="49">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">4<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="102">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Explosives
Ordnance Technician<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 337.85pt;" valign="top" width="450">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b>Disarm
Explosives:</b> 2-in-6 chance to successfully render enemy explosives
inert; replaces Detect Construction Tricks. <b>Create Explosives:</b> 2-in-6
chance of success; increases to 3-in-6 at 5<sup>th</sup> level, 4-in-6 at 7<sup>th</sup>
level, and 5-in-6 at 9<sup>th</sup> level. Replaces Detect Room Traps and
Listen at Doors abilities. <b>Explosives Details:</b> Cause 2d6 damage at the
point of origin and 1d6 damage in a 10’ radius; <b><i>save versus breath attacks</i></b>
for half damage. Failure indicates an early detonation, causing 2d6 damage to
the explosives ordnance technician and 1d6 damage to everyone else in a 10’
area. Explosives may also be filled with unique mixtures, such as green
slime, ochre jelly, yellow mold, etc. </span><span style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" style="background: #3B3838; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background2; mso-background-themeshade: 64; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 451.25pt;" valign="top" width="602">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">ELF</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 36.9pt;" valign="top" width="49">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">5<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="102">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Special
Operative<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 337.85pt;" valign="top" width="450">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Minimum INT:</span></b><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;"> 13. <b>Creature
identification:</b> Ability Check against INT – Creature HD to know a
weakness about the creature. <b>Intel:</b> Gains twice the number of rumors
when gathering information. <b>Spells:</b> Must always learn spells with
“detect” or “locate” in the name first and prepare them each day. <b>Hindrances:</b>
Not immune to ghoul paralysis. Cannot wear heavy armor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" style="background: #3B3838; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background2; mso-background-themeshade: 64; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 451.25pt;" valign="top" width="602">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">FIGHTER</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 36.9pt;" valign="top" width="49">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">6<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="102">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Dragoon <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 337.85pt;" valign="top" width="450">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b>Mounted Combat:</b> +1 to hit and
damage when mounted and firing missile weapons. <b>Mount Shield:</b> When
dismounted, may use mount as a shield in combat, adding +2 to AC. Each attack
that misses the dragoon hits the mount instead; mounts that lose more than
half their HP are frightened and immediately flee from combat. The dragoon
must <b><i>save vs paralysis</i></b> or be knocked prone by a fleeing mount, taking
1d6 damage.</span><span style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 36.9pt;" valign="top" width="49">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">7<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="102">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Legionnaire <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 337.85pt;" valign="top" width="450">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Formation
Fighting:</span></b><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;"> When fighting alongside other Legionnaires, each
Legionnaire gains +1 to attack rolls and AC. Fighting alongside means
adjacent to each other (e.g., if using a tactical grid, each Legionnaire
would be in adjacent squares), within 5’. <b>Expeditionary:</b> Legionnaires
wearing heavy armor are considered to be wearing light armor for purposes of
encumbrance. <b>Hindrances:</b> The Legionnaire loses all benefits if there
is not at least one other Legionnaire in the party. -2 Reaction Roll penalty
during encounters and when hiring retainers if the Legionnaire’s status is
known.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 36.9pt;" valign="top" width="49">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">8<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="102">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Levy<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 337.85pt;" valign="top" width="450">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b>Local Knowledge:</b> When on
campaign on local ground, reduces the chance of getting lost by -1. Parties
with a levy increase their chance of foraging by +1. When on military
missions, parties with a levy roll for surprise twice and take the best
result. <b>Hindrances:</b> Cannot wear plate armor. Only proficient in bows,
clubs, daggers, hand axes, and polearms. </span><span style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" style="background: #3B3838; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background2; mso-background-themeshade: 64; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 451.25pt;" valign="top" width="602">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">HALFLING</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 36.9pt;" valign="top" width="49">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">9<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="102">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Drummer / Fifer<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 337.85pt;" valign="top" width="450">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Keep the Beat:</span></b><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;"> Parties with a
drummer or fifer can complete a forced march (see <b><i>Wilderness
Adventuring</i></b>) two consecutive days before needing to rest. <b>Lift
Spirits:</b> Any mercenaries in the drummer’s/fifer’s party add +1 to their
morale score. <b>Hindrances:</b> Do not have the halfling’s hiding ability. Parties
with a drummer or fifer are always surprised.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 36.9pt;" valign="top" width="49">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">10<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="102">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Skirmisher<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 337.85pt;" valign="top" width="450">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b>Sudden Strike:</b> After a
successful hiding roll outdoors (<i>Core Rules</i>, Halfling, Hiding), may
backstab as a thief of the same level. The skirmisher takes -4 to AC for the
remainder of that round. To use this ability, may not wear plate mail armor
or use a shield. </span><span style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" style="background: #3B3838; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background2; mso-background-themeshade: 64; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 451.25pt;" valign="top" width="602">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">MAGIC-USER</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 36.9pt;" valign="top" width="49">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">11<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="102">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Air Cavalry<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 337.85pt;" valign="top" width="450">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Air Support:</span></b><span style="color: #262626; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;"> When casting <i>fly</i>,
can target one additional creature. <b>Death From Above:</b> When flying, can
use the “bombing” tactic (see <b><i>Other Combat Issues</i></b>). <b>Spells:</b>
Must learn fly when 3<sup>rd</sup> level spells become available and prepare
it as many times a day equal to the number of 3<sup>rd</sup> level spells per
day -1 (e.g., a 9<sup>th</sup> level magic-user must prepare <i>fly</i>
twice). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" style="background: #3B3838; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background2; mso-background-themeshade: 64; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 451.25pt;" valign="top" width="602">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">THIEF</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 36.9pt;" valign="top" width="49">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">12<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 76.5pt;" valign="top" width="102">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Linguist<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 337.85pt;" valign="top" width="450">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b>Polyglot:</b> +1 language at
1<sup>st</sup> level. Read Languages ability allows speaking as well as
reading languages. <b>Hindrances:</b> Chance to Climb Sheer Surfaces reduced
by -10% (e.g., 77% at 1<sup>st</sup> level instead of 87%). </span><span style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table></div><div><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div><b><u>DESIGN NOTES</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Cleric:</b> The Chaplain and Medic were two to the easiest concepts to develop, although the mechanics are the medic are a bit fiddly to explain. I know how I would handle this at the table but trying to write out the exceptions, etc., got perhaps too wordy. Of course, any army with a Medic or Chaplain better hope they're not sent to fight an army of undead. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Dwarf:</b> These ones were fun, especially the Explosives Ordnance Technician, although I confess I'm not crazy about the overly long name. The abilities of the Combat Engineer came from a conversation I had with Redwyrm, who, in a prior life, served as an engineer in the Air Force. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Elf: </b>This was the second most difficult subclass to develop after magic-users. I originally thought to have elves be "Intelligence" but that specialty seemed to fall closer to the classic Thief who could accomplish it without any tweaks. I finally chose "Special Ops," with encouragement from Redwyrm, mainly because elves in B/X are the only class with access to do fighter and magic-user abilities. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Fighter:</b> These were surprisingly more difficult to create, as the standard "by the book" fighter makes a fine military class. The levy was something I stumbled across while researching medieval army formations and it made sense to include, as they often formed the bulk of medieval armies. I liked the dragoon as an alternative to the standard mounted-combat knight or cavalier, as they really don't excel at mounted combat but are mainly a force of mobile infantry. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Halfling: </b>These were a lot of fun to create. I had the skirmisher from the beginning, but the drummer/fifer came later. I really dislike having a dual name for the class, but I didn't want to pick just one, and I couldn't think of an appropriate "generic" name (other than "musician" which didn't sound right). </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Magic-User:</b> This was by far the most difficulty I had with the concepts. I had the <i>idea </i>of Air Cavalry very early on, but coming up with a non-game breaking way to implement it was more difficult than I anticipated. I perhaps have a tendency to be a little conservative with new abilities versus the hindrances to ensure that balance isn't thrown completely off. In this case, there weren't that many hindrances I could conceive that made sense thematically or mechanically. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Thief:</b> Linguist was another idea that I believe was inspired by a conversation I had with Redwyrm. Languages are an area of fantasy RPGs that I think are ripe for excellent role-playing, but with which I've had difficulty implementing for dramatic effect in my own games. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>RUNNING MILITARY CAMPAIGNS</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Although D&D was built on the bones of miniatures wargames, running mass battle scenarios is not something the system does particularly well. Over the years, attempts have been made to introduce mass battle rules into the game, such as AD&D's <i>Battlesystem </i>(1985, with a 2nd Edition revision in 1989) and the <i>War Machine</i> rules from the 1984<i> D&D Companion Set</i>. With the advent of 3rd Edition, Wizards of the Coast revived the idea of mass miniatures battles with the 2001 release of <i>Chainmail</i>. But, in general, D&D's mechanics do not really support mass battles. </div><div><br /></div><div>My suggestion for running mass battles while running D&D is to focus on specific tactical missions. The DM determines <b>how many missions must be successfully completed</b> in a <b>specific time period</b>. Each successful mission means the army as a whole has advanced, while each failure means a retreat and/or regroup. This way, the game <b>still focuses on the PCs</b> (as it should) and ties the success of the whole army to the actions of the PCs. </div><div><br /></div><div>As an example, let's say the PCs are part of an army that is besieging an enemy castle. Rather than just rolling tons of dice over and over and determine the strength of one side versus another, <b>break the siege down into smaller objectives</b> where each PC could be given a chance to shine. </div><div><br /></div><div>Using examples from the D12 Military Subclasses table above: </div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Four missions must be accomplished successfully in 12 hours; otherwise, the PCs side has lost the engagement, with whatever repercussions the DM decides</li><li><b>The Chaplain</b> must <i>rally the troops</i> before a morning raid</li><li><b>The Engineer</b> needs to <i>find a source of clean water</i> so the troops can stay hydrated</li><li><b>The Special Operative</b> must <i>learn a rumor </i>related to finding a weakness in the enemy's lines</li><li><b>The Levy</b> needs to <i>lead its troops through the terrain</i> without getting lost</li><li><b>The Skirmisher</b> must <i>successfully backstab an enemy sentry</i></li><li><b>The Linguist</b> must be able to <b>speak to locals affected by the sieg</b>e to learn a way to sneak into the enemy castle</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>The DM sets the time limits and how many tries are reasonable to see if the PCs succeed. Success means the siege works and the enemy surrenders or is destroyed by the sieging army. Failure means the siege is unsuccessful and losses are taken. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>MILITARY CAMPAIGNS: THREE THINGS</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Three things to pay attention to while running a military style campaign are:</div><div><br /></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Supply Lines.</b> This is probably the most important thing. An army with secure supply lines is far superior to one with better tactics but no way to resupply itself.</li><li><b>Communication Lines.</b> Another crucial element of military combat is being able to quickly let other elements of your army know what is happening, and where, so supplies and troops can be redeployed where they will have the most effect. </li><li><b>Defensible Positions.</b> It sounds simple, but many battles throughout history have been lost even with superior numbers because one side did not take the time to dig in and create a defensible position to which they could retreat and regroup. </li></ol><div><br /></div></div><div><b><u>OTHER D12 SUBCLASSES</u></b></div><div><br /></div></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/d12-expertsspecialists-for-bx-or-old.html" target="_blank">Experts/Specialists</a> (soon to be a full book including three more subclasses for demi-humans, three new classes for Alchemists, Demolitionists, and Inventors, new equipment, information on guilds and patrons, and more!)</li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/d12-wilderness-subclasses-for-bx-or-old.html" target="_blank">Wilderness</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/open-game-content-d12-city-or-urban.html" target="_blank">City/Urban</a> </li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/open-game-content-d12-navalsea.html" target="_blank">Naval/Sea</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/open-game-content-d12-horror-subclasses.html" target="_blank">Horror</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/05/open-game-content-d12-fairy-tale.html" target="_blank">Fairy Tale</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/06/open-game-content-d12-sword-planet.html" target="_blank">Sword & Planet</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/10/open-game-content-d12-criminal.html" target="_blank">Criminal</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/open-game-content-slavic-folklore-fairy.html" target="_blank">Slavic Folklore</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/07/open-game-content-norse-subclasses-for.html" target="_blank">Norse Mythology</a></li><li><a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/12/christmas-subclasses-for-fantasy-rpgs.html" target="_blank">Christmas </a>(use them for a fun Christmas-themed one-shot!)</li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/03/open-game-content-revised-sorcerer-for.html" target="_blank">B/X Sorcerer Bloodlines</a></li><li>You can also check out the <a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/search/label/subclasses" target="_blank">subclasses tag</a> for the latest updates</li></ul><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hanging:</b> Home office (laptop)</div><div><b>Drinking:</b> A Negroni on the rocks (equal parts Gin, Campari, and Sweet Vermouth, with an Orange Twist)</div><div><b>Listening:</b> "Sepia" by Indigo Jams Unit, from the album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/3JXpqb40IwJuCGWYbZdzns?si=x7lpb9g0RU-hJ6G69b8BZA" target="_blank">Oonops Drops, Vol. 1</a>"</div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-55615089405270657022022-06-27T16:19:00.000-07:002022-06-27T16:19:40.533-07:00ROWENA'S WEDDING: SESSION 12 RECAP OF MY BASIC D&D CAMPAIGN<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ4rSxzUoSEuZ39l3ULJUgtIMiN718xxyRM27RSICoAq8x3CiZhxzOh-hm_0KL4rBF3J-Za2PcVoTOg5eFm_ohp0i31wTyfjShKWkqUMqrqrKdK-o3FDvySO5KscOjbbnt4h0lBi5qULA8OD4QZLImDPAQ5yJngQOr394HyLeashbQ64sdiJ3gSo_RaQ/s480/IMG_3674.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ4rSxzUoSEuZ39l3ULJUgtIMiN718xxyRM27RSICoAq8x3CiZhxzOh-hm_0KL4rBF3J-Za2PcVoTOg5eFm_ohp0i31wTyfjShKWkqUMqrqrKdK-o3FDvySO5KscOjbbnt4h0lBi5qULA8OD4QZLImDPAQ5yJngQOr394HyLeashbQ64sdiJ3gSo_RaQ/s320/IMG_3674.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Missing is the other dad player, who is <br />taking the photo. If only there were more snacks. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>A few months ago back in in November 2021, we held the 12th session of the Basic D&D campaign I'm DM'ing for my 12 year-old daughter and her friends. I'm using the old 1980 module B2: Keep on the Borderlands as the basis for the campaign so far, and sessions usually revolve around meeting with NPCs at the Keep who provide rumors and missions, and traveling to the nearby Caves of Chaos to retrieve magic items for the Witch or to hunt down brigands who have been attacking caravans of supplies headed to and from the Keep. <div><br /></div><div>Occasionally, other quests or missions come up unrelated to the module's structure, but I blend them in so it's all consistent. Such was the case with last session, a horror-themed adventure in honor of the Halloween time period during which we played the game. The following session, the subject of this recap, was another one that isn't part of the module but which fit in with things that had happened in the past. </div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSKcU3fr1uQxi9WFoZyHLUzRA9fXx22V1ry9qhOMX3rctbRUAUu64KMiTEfM3KPoJtxtn-0RzZD-jHPcSx91PHRJzGwPvq0hUe20Rca5eB7GCCqaPDSK8H3vbSXVghzL10OBOoesrTdPfflLOgGaAYG5FQ_6wyZxSzPoy9jef3bCZsBi9JjL-a7xC24w/s2208/20220627_160512.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2208" data-original-width="2208" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSKcU3fr1uQxi9WFoZyHLUzRA9fXx22V1ry9qhOMX3rctbRUAUu64KMiTEfM3KPoJtxtn-0RzZD-jHPcSx91PHRJzGwPvq0hUe20Rca5eB7GCCqaPDSK8H3vbSXVghzL10OBOoesrTdPfflLOgGaAYG5FQ_6wyZxSzPoy9jef3bCZsBi9JjL-a7xC24w/s320/20220627_160512.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A page from my DM's notebook. This is<br />where I transfer my handwritten scribbled<br />notes to make it easier to run the session.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>I've been asking the players, mostly 11 to 12 year-old girls (and one dad) to take turns writing the recaps in the voices of their characters, like a journal entry. Today's recap is by "Z" who plays a character named "Greta the Wanderer," a fighter PC I created for this girl when she decided to join our campaign. Greta is wanted for a murder she claims she didn't commit, and it's been a bane to her character's existence as she's had to dodge bounty hunters and hide her visage due to wanted posters of her posted all around the Keep. </div><div><br /></div><div>For more information on our previous adventures: </div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/03/an-update-on-my-upcoming-weird-fantasy.html" rel="nofollow">Influences</a>:</b> Some of the Weird Fantasy Tropes I'll be using in this campaign </li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/11/my-new-old-school-essentials-campaign.html" target="_blank">Sessions 0 and 1</a>:</b> Leaving the Village, the Bone Road & Capture by Goblins</li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/update-on-my-daughters-old-school.html" target="_blank">Session 3:</a></b> Escape from the Goblin Caves</li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/04/old-school-essentials-campaign-session.html" target="_blank">Session 4</a>: </b>The Goblin Cave Exit and the Return to the Keep</li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Session 5</a>: </b>The Keep and the Creeper Lair</li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/06/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Session 6</a>: </b>The Creeper Lair, Part 2</li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/07/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Session 7</a>:</b> Conversations at the Keep</li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/08/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Session 8</a>:</b> Return to the Caves of Chaos</li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/09/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Session 9</a>:</b> The Orc Lair </li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/11/return-to-goblin-caves-session-10-recap.html" target="_blank">Session 10</a>: </b>Return to the Goblin Caves! </li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-tower-of-time-thief-session-11.html" target="_blank">Session 11: </a></b>Tower of the Time Thief</li><li>Thoughts on Playing D&D with TweensUp first is a very short recap by me, followed by a longer detailed recap as though written by Greta. </li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><b><u><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDzgBOZ2xVQx9UlgdPsd3CURzujXinaBo-sIRYi1xDtfIPW0h4LzlO0n1GBbk9TWF_Aym3p_xVd5Vixkl4cVOvpt4GsPuMQWTMkyoQUHwSonbJUgA4_7eChuaprOkdYYHac8BT8xRvUo8GQaSMAlrZg_ady9ZjRtcES5fEdQwy2IvjiA_JvBt5xUN2DA/s2390/20220627_160633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2379" data-original-width="2390" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDzgBOZ2xVQx9UlgdPsd3CURzujXinaBo-sIRYi1xDtfIPW0h4LzlO0n1GBbk9TWF_Aym3p_xVd5Vixkl4cVOvpt4GsPuMQWTMkyoQUHwSonbJUgA4_7eChuaprOkdYYHac8BT8xRvUo8GQaSMAlrZg_ady9ZjRtcES5fEdQwy2IvjiA_JvBt5xUN2DA/s320/20220627_160633.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Hand-written planning notes. This is based<br />on me asking the players at the end of the<br />previous session, "What do you want to<br />do next time?"</i></td></tr></tbody></table>SESSION 12 SHORT RECAP (by Martin)</u></b></div><div>It's been 10 days since the Shadow Hunters killed the zombie Night Sister and her undead baby abomination and returned time to its proper course. At the Greased Goat Tavern, the Shadow Hunters learned that a rival adventurer's group, the Executioners, had been taking credit for their deeds. They also witnessed preparations for the Wedding Parade for Rowena, daughter of the Castellan, who has been betrothed to Leopold, son of Baron von Hammerstein of Lower Oldenstein. After the parade, her coach departed, and the Shadow Hunters headed off toward the Caves of Chaos to retrieve a lost pair of elven boots belonging to the Witch. </div><div><br /></div><div>On the way to the Caves, the Shadow Hunters came across Rowena's crashed coach and a few wounded guards who said they'd been attacked by bandits who kidnapped Rowena and her dowry and ran off into the forest. The guards begged the Shadow Hunters to track down and rescue Rowena and the dowry. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Shadow Hunters eventually found the bandit camp, but rescuing Rowena turned out to be a lot more difficult and mysterious than they imagined. <br /><br /><b><u><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9pvBbr-G4iqebc5mSpFXBu4M0dEB85iUEBF__1_t5QsTHeMQSrzAtqFEXQwHnAHfSD7yWfCz3lfto-WFhH1Sw4ubco2xDzOdX-27JNlFgdbWmREmZEaVVRKdLY8L6F8Nsj1pfU3Va3E-Gxyew8Y9cz37RWS_FIUfoNGtGk8e6_MJ93MyzlewLCijFXQ/s2200/Age%20of%20Twilight%20-%20Session%2012%20-%20Greta's%20Journal%20Entry_Page_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2200" data-original-width="1700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9pvBbr-G4iqebc5mSpFXBu4M0dEB85iUEBF__1_t5QsTHeMQSrzAtqFEXQwHnAHfSD7yWfCz3lfto-WFhH1Sw4ubco2xDzOdX-27JNlFgdbWmREmZEaVVRKdLY8L6F8Nsj1pfU3Va3E-Gxyew8Y9cz37RWS_FIUfoNGtGk8e6_MJ93MyzlewLCijFXQ/s320/Age%20of%20Twilight%20-%20Session%2012%20-%20Greta's%20Journal%20Entry_Page_2.png" width="247" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I always take the recaps and<br />format them to look like an<br />antique journal</i></td></tr></tbody></table>SESSION 12 FULL RECAP (by "Z" in the voice of Greta the Wanderer)</u></b></div><div><br /></div>The Shadow Hunters and I were chatting with Vasilov who was training his bear for the new parade. I have heard around that this parade was for the Castellan's daughter, Rowena, and Leopold, the son of Baron von Hammerstein. The parade was happening tomorrow in celebration of Rowena’s and Leopold’s marriage. Curphew Murphy, a friend of Rowena’s, was having a talk with Augustus and mentioned that she was worried because Rowena was acting strange. <div><br /></div><div>Walking to the Greased Goat Tavern we heard many people cheering and yelling for an adventuring group called the Executioners. The Executioners have gotten all the glory for saving the town from the Purging. This got me mad. We had almost died saving the town from the Purging and they were getting all the glory. </div><div><br /></div><div>Looking around in the Tavern we saw one of our members, Gruumsh. I had never seen him cry and I would have never imagined him to. He was a tough dwarf with a huge axe. Later, the three elves were called to the witch’s tower where they were “employed” a few days ago. They spent a long time in there. We were waiting outside forever. I was about to fall asleep. None of the elves told us what happened or what they did in there. They came out of the tower with long and tired faces. </div><div><br /></div><div>We decided to stay for their parade, and they were offering cakes and pastries with the Castellan’s and Baron’s symbols on them. Commemorative kerchiefs and pennants were also provided. There were also musicians, singers, and acrobats. The parade was boring except for the acrobats doing flips and spins in the air. It was magical. Rowena’s coach took off and we decided to head to the caves soon after. On the way there We saw a bandit attack on Rowena’s coach which was lying on its side. The bandits ran off at the sight of us and as we approached, we saw they had taken Rowena and the dowry, killing many guards. </div><div><br /></div><div>It was raining hard now. This made it hard to follow them. The gloomy sky and the rain spattering against the dirt was making me tired. In the pouring rain Cora led us to their camp. We were on the borders of the camp, hiding in the bushes. Their camp was beautiful. It looked like a magical forest with hanging vines and overgrown bushes and trees everywhere. We stalked a group in a bright lit room who were playing card games and were drinking hard. Augustus shot her crossbow and distracted them by laying holes in the walls. Me and the others were at the door and the elves had heard the secret knock to get in. They opened the door for us, and they were taken by surprise, and we Quickly knocked the guards out. </div><div><br /></div><div>Me, and the others signaled Augustus it was clear, and she hurried out at the sight of border guards. </div><div><br /></div><div>We made it across into a new part of the camp. We could hear bandits celebrating, drinking, gambling, and singing. We took the right side first. We opened the door and surprisingly it was the Lady’s maiden. We promised to take her when we were finished and got out. We burst through the door taking them by surprise. A huge fight broke out and as one of the bandits tried to hit us, he tripped and knocked a roasting rabbit off of the pit. The fire got onto furniture and then started burning. A huge fire burst into huge flames and barrels filled with unknown materials caught fire and started to explode. Then the bandit leader finally showed up. He started shooting cross bolts at the party. Both Cora and Claira decided to rush up there. We were having a hard time breathing at the bottom. With all of the smoke and barrels bursting it was getting hard to see. A barrel burst in front of me and then, I was unconscious.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>[End]</i></div><div>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br /></div><div>That's the end of Z's recap, as her character was knocked unconscious. What she didn't see was Rowena stabbing one of Greta's party members with a poisoned blade, then jumping out a window into the river below, along with the bandit leader, a name known as Angus the Black...</div><div><br /></div><div>After this session, we didn't play again until February due to the holidays and the various schedules of all the families involved. <br /><br /><br /><b>Hanging: </b>Home office (laptop)</div><div><b>Drinking: </b>Tap water</div><div><b>Listening:</b> "Take the L Train" by Brooklyn Funk Essentials, from the album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4MTudI2qwuB2eV3tbVvwBA?si=pfqdUfm0RIGLHxTMCX6BTA" target="_blank">Cool and Steady and Easy</a>"</div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-6924054495232050312022-03-15T19:23:00.004-07:002022-03-15T19:23:56.565-07:00PLAYING D&D WITH TWEENS: PART II<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivtK7DgmhlylTMfnSFIaUJwvOhSpeKOASKa82YuY2lkZpB_cF9dqh2PclbWUVd-Ut-dZK18beYYCyRff6NH4xUmTvqW6BWjaEiHJtnPIxofhGN71EeU9BcbDYKnvxC5qnHThQrbCxPcMV6LI4F3H3l4Sxt_7PUcmqWhhvP96vDDW5cJipg5EO9lwKF3A=s2941" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2941" data-original-width="2940" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivtK7DgmhlylTMfnSFIaUJwvOhSpeKOASKa82YuY2lkZpB_cF9dqh2PclbWUVd-Ut-dZK18beYYCyRff6NH4xUmTvqW6BWjaEiHJtnPIxofhGN71EeU9BcbDYKnvxC5qnHThQrbCxPcMV6LI4F3H3l4Sxt_7PUcmqWhhvP96vDDW5cJipg5EO9lwKF3A=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of my notes prior to Session 0</td></tr></tbody></table>Last year, I wrote about how my (at the time) 10 year-old daughter expressed interest in playing a D&D game, and how we approached the the parents of three of her friends to see if they wanted to play in an ongoing campaign. <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/playing-d-with-tweens-part-1.html" target="_blank">In that post</a>, I shared the email that I sent to the parents, all of whom (with one exception) had either no knowledge of the game, or in one case had very negative feelings based on the kids who had played it when she was in school. I also invited the parents to watch us play or even to join the game. One parent, my daughter's friend's dad (and my friend) chose to play, but so far, none of the other parents have joined us either to watch or participate. <div><br /></div><div>In this second part, I’ll go over <b>some of my pre-playing preparations</b>, some of the <b>questions I asked the players</b>, and also our “<b>Session 0,</b>” which we held via Zoom and, in retrospect, which I wish I had taken some screen captures from just so I had some fun pictorial evidence of our “first session.” </div><div><br /></div><div>After her group of friends had agreed to play, I asked my daughter two questions: <b>What was the favorite color for each of her friends</b>, and what was <b>their favorite animal</b>? </div><div><br /></div><div>Once we had the color question answered, she and I made a trip to our local craft store where <b>I bought a small notebook with a cover matching each player’s favorite color</b>. I also <b>ordered one set of dice matching the favorite color of each player</b> and had the dice sent directly to the players’ houses. Ideally I would have purchased the dice at my local game shop, but this was during the height of the pandemic and our shop was closed during that time. </div><div><br /></div><div>Once the dice had arrived at each player’s house, I started thinking about how best to teach them the rules. I had my old <b><i>Moldvay Basic D&D</i> </b>Boxed Set from 1981, but I was also planning to play using <i><b>Old School Essentials </b>(OSE)</i>, a 100% faithful restatement of the B/X rules but with better organization and layout. A side benefit would be that my original copy of the Basic Set wouldn’t get wrecked during our game.
I’d purchased the OSE boxed set which came with five books (<i>Core Rules</i>, <i>Fantasy Genre Rules</i>, <i>Cleric and Magic-User Spells</i>, <i>Monsters</i>, and <i>Treasures</i>) and with a PDF version of each book. I wanted to support Necrotic Gnome, the publisher of <i>Old School Essentials</i>, so I also ended up purchasing a hardcopy and PDF of the <i>Player’s Rules Tome </i>to have a table copy of the rules for the players and a PDF copy the players could look at in-between game sessions. </div><div><br /></div><div>With that out of the way, I set about organizing a time for a Zoom call to go over the rules and explain things about what the game was really all about (e.g., what a role-playing game is), the terminology (like D20 or Player Character or Campaign, etc.). I also emailed the group the PDF copy of the <i>Player’s Rules Tome </i>along with a few pages of notes about my world to help them have context to make their characters. </div><div><br /></div><div>It was at this point that I began to understand that <b>communicating with this group in-between sessions was going to be a challenge</b>. I was relying on them to read their emails, but this is an age group that didn’t grow up checking and reading emails. They didn’t know how, or didn’t bother with trying, to open attachments. They were being forced to use email for school but I wasn’t emailing their school accounts because those accounts are blocked (and rightly so, so that outsiders can’t email school kids). But, while each of them had a personal email address, none of them ever checked it. Some, but not all, had phones so texting them wasn’t a reliable way of communication. They were more used to chatting on SnapChat, TikTok, or Discord. </div><div><br /></div><div>At this point, <b>I began to rely on the parents to help coordinate and remind their kids to check their emails. </b>This was about 50% effective, as I’ve found some parents in my group also aren’t great about checking their emails. So, communicating between sessions for things like setting up when and where the next session will take place is a challenge for me, and I end up emailing and texting multiple times asking for input or confirmation.
<div><br /></div><div>We held our online Session 0 in September 2020, about six months after we had first begun talking about playing. Part of this was me thinking about how to structure the campaign, but also dealing with pandemic-related depression for everyone, summer vacations, and other things. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>I prepped for the online session by writing down a list of things I wanted to discuss with the group </b>and I even practiced how to say a few things on my morning walks. While this might sound like overkill, my main priority was to make sure I didn't forget anything but also that I didn't talk too much, as I know I have a tendency to do. The attention span of the tween-age years was very much on my mind. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>SESSION 0</u></b></div><div>My list of topics to discuss, and the order in which I did them, was: </div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Is anyone familiar at all with D&D or with role-playing?</b> </li><ul><li>As expected, they all said "not much" or "no," but then I mentioned that they had all role-played before, most likely as younger children playing games like "cops and robbers" or "superheroes" with their friends, which is really just a version of live-action role-playing. I did this to help them feel less anxious about it, as I'd learned that at least one player was very nervous about playing because she had no idea "what to do."</li></ul><li>I explained how <b>they would be playing a role</b>, called a character, and that <b>we'd use a series of numbers and some rules to determine what their character was good at doing</b>, so that there were no disputes over who could do what and when. That was the main difference between a game like D&D and a game like "playing pretend."</li><li>Then I got <b>more into the numbers </b>and mentioned how <b>some were static/set</b>, and <b>others were random</b>, and those random numbers were determined by dice, which helped keep the game fresh and exciting. </li><li>I talked about <b>my job as the Referee </b>being like a combination of Director and Screen Writer to their Actors, but also more like a Judge to determine the rules as needed. </li><li>We <b>chatted about the dice </b>and I had them all hold up each of the dice I'd given them and we talked about how they're called D4, D6, etc. <b>I also mentioned a bit about percentages </b>(e.g., a D4 shows a 25% chance, a D20 shows a 5% chance) because I knew at the time that my daughter was discussing this in school so I figured the other girls, who were all in her same grade, were doing likewise, and this helped reinforce that what they were learning in school actually does have practical applications. </li><li><b>Then we chatted about the six ability scores, and I used the "Tomato" example to help define them </b>(I wish I could remember where I first saw this - I didn't come up with it): </li><ul><li><b>Strength </b>is used to crush a tomato.</li><li><b>Dexterity </b>is used to catch or throw a tomato. </li><li><b>Constitution </b>is used if you accidentally eat a poisoned tomato. </li><li><b>Intelligence </b>is knowing a tomato is a fruit. </li><li><b>Wisdom </b>is knowing that a tomato doesn't belong in a fruit salad. </li><li><b>Charisma </b>is the ability to sell someone a fruit salad with tomatoes in it. </li><li>Everybody laughed, but they all liked these examples.</li></ul><li>I talked about how <b>they would use the D20 most often</b>, and the D6 the next most, with the D12 being the least-used die (at least, in the version of the game I'm playing). </li><li>We then spoke about <b>creating characters </b>and I went over the seven basic D&D classes (Cleric, Dwarf, Elf, Fighter, Halfling, Magic-User, Thief) and the pros and cons of each, and then told them that they could either roll their ability scores first and then based on that, pick what class they wanted, or they could pick their class first, then roll their ability scores, and assign them where they wanted. They all decided to pick their class first. Three of the five players picked Elves because it seemed the best of both worlds (a combination Fighter/Magic-User). One player wanted a Thief, and then one of the Elf players asked her dad to be a Cleric since "we might need some healing and that undead turning thing sounds useful."</li><li>I also asked them <b>what kind of fantasy stories/movies/etc. they were familiar with. </b>All were familiar with <i>Harry Potter </i>and most also with <i>Avatar: The Last Airbender.</i> They had very limited knowledge of the <i>Lord of the Rings</i>, and I had to remind my daughter that I'd read the <i>Hobbit </i>to her when she was little, but she said she "didn't remember it." I also mentioned how stories like Star Wars and even some superhero movies can be classified as fantasy. </li><ul><li>This helped give me context as to their frame of reference for certain things that might come up during the game. </li></ul><li>At this point, I had planned to have them all roll their characters up and then I was going to engage in a short exercise in role-playing by just talking and asking them questions, but we never got to these two parts, as we'd already gone over our scheduled time and it was getting late. So, I asked them to create their characters over the next few weeks and I eventually made a video for them to show them how to go through the process and fill out their character sheets. </li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiB12IOwRNfU2mZ8ykvnjTIv7DWYXp3OgBtdEaGToDs3GA9XuiDu1gst1GhU0gPpR4Hiyzi8B0u1WxXxx-m6Jr438cQMTmo9ut0zua0i3Af7_YCkLguEZdKeIUphga8ptp6VmlIB-Hc5LduLOVNndWGU5YdIS2Poq69Wip-qUMVKOxSnzLhMzqd3hXGQg=s1795" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1795" data-original-width="1795" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiB12IOwRNfU2mZ8ykvnjTIv7DWYXp3OgBtdEaGToDs3GA9XuiDu1gst1GhU0gPpR4Hiyzi8B0u1WxXxx-m6Jr438cQMTmo9ut0zua0i3Af7_YCkLguEZdKeIUphga8ptp6VmlIB-Hc5LduLOVNndWGU5YdIS2Poq69Wip-qUMVKOxSnzLhMzqd3hXGQg=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Daughter's Post-Session Feedback:<br />"More interactive" <br />"Ask for breaks"<br />"It doesn't all have to be about D&D"</td></tr></tbody></table><br />After our online Session 0 was over, I asked my daughter how I did and if she had any suggestions or tips for me on keeping her friends engaged. She helpfully provided this post-it note of ideas for me to consider. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>KEY LEARNING</u></b></div><div>My main take-away from all of this is that <b>between-game communication with this group is tough</b>. </div><div><br /></div><div>As I mentioned, before our Session 0, I had emailed a PDF copy of the <i>Players Rules Tome </i>to each player as well as a blank character sheet and a few short documents about the campaign world (lists of nations with a short 1-2 sentence description, etc.). I learned very quickly that <b>kids this age just don't check email very often, if at all. </b>Even after I asked their parents to remind them to read their emails, I learned that <b>none of them had downloaded any of the attachments I had sent. </b>It's just not something they were used to doing. </div><div><br /></div><div>At my wife's suggestion, <b>I created a Google Drive for all our documents </b>and began sharing them there. At least this way, all of the kids are used to using Google Drive, since they use it for their school work. </div><div><br /></div><div>I still have trouble getting the kids (and, to be honest, even some of their parents) to read my emails between sessions to confirm dates and times. Now I've learned that <b>if we don't set a date for the next session at the end of each session, it's like herding cats to schedule it via email or text message.</b> </div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>NEXT TIME</u></b></div><div>In <b>Part 3</b> of this series, I'm going to share a long thread I wrote on Twitter of <b>all the tips I learned over the course of preparing to run this campaign and our first few sessions</b>. In <b>Part 4</b>, I'm going to talk about <b>some specifics of issues that have happened in our game and how I have navigated them</b>, such as keeping the group focused, dealing with real-life arguments or disagreements between friends, the need for breaks, and more. </div><div> </div><div><br /></div></div><div>Any other parents out there who are playing D&D with your kids, or considering doing so, please share your tips, ideas, and questions in the comments. Thanks!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hanging: </b>Home office (laptop and small notebook)</div><div><b>Drinking:</b> Templeton Rye Whiskey (6 Year), neat </div><div><b>Listening: </b>"<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/0DDcfwY8DPiRqXhKz1OXzg?si=P0oh5NMuQdSmtOxS0gqmYA" target="_blank">Charisma</a>" by Lee Morgan, 1969 (link is to listen on Spotify) </div><div><br /></div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-75429630782862711402022-03-08T19:36:00.003-08:002022-03-08T19:36:31.722-08:00RPG REVIEW: THE HUMORS OF WHISKEY<i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidqI0VWo71HeEwqeydOfKGwjgXausJsWHxlvou3RPB2jGD5EiqH12_eIWxS1G3mbla68xpXr0W9Do74auCzdVqCdKeTb1cPlBjcIisEOv5YjxPgXM1Gvn-SIEk1t2phd9MhjY47GOAPyy3T77PdRPcudtDrVajR3LsifrQM04WBK6zrzjWJeLVjGCK-A=s1165" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1165" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidqI0VWo71HeEwqeydOfKGwjgXausJsWHxlvou3RPB2jGD5EiqH12_eIWxS1G3mbla68xpXr0W9Do74auCzdVqCdKeTb1cPlBjcIisEOv5YjxPgXM1Gvn-SIEk1t2phd9MhjY47GOAPyy3T77PdRPcudtDrVajR3LsifrQM04WBK6zrzjWJeLVjGCK-A=s320" width="247" /></a></div>The Humours of Whiskey</i> is a 20-page PDF that provides some light mechanics for the consequences of consuming alcoholic beverages of varying strengths, and provides names, costs, descriptions and effects for over 90 fantasy alcoholic beverages that character might find at taverns in fantasy adventure games.<div><br /></div><div>As someone who loves to make and drink craft cocktails at home, I was very excited and happy when I got a chance to review this product. <div><br /></div><div><i>Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this PDF for review purposes.</i></div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>OVERVIEW</u></b></div><div>The tavern is a staple of almost every fantasy role-playing game; many campaigns start in such locations. Yet, often, the tavern is merely a convenient location for bringing together a party of adventurers, and little other attention is paid to describing its details. Some players may inquire what's on the menu, and the average Game Master or Referee will default to easily-recalled basics: joints of meat, bread, and cheese. For drinks, there is usually ale and wine. </div><div><br /></div><div>Given how often the tavern is used for a location in tabletop RPGs, adding more details to the menu will help it to come alive in the minds of the players. <i>The Humours of Whiskey</i> helps a GM do just that, but providing details on 96 different alcoholic beverages, along with any effects the beverage has on those who drink them. Clever Game Masters might decide that certain beverages are too powerful or too unpredictable, available only in dens of iniquity or in thieves' or assassin's guilds. Downing a powerful drink in one gulp might be a right of passage in some cultures, or gain a character respect with the locals. </div><div><br /></div><div>In those cases, the Game Master will need to know what happens to a character who drinks too much. <i>The Humours of Whiskey</i> has you covered with some mechanics that divide drinks up into six different categories based on the their strength, and details on what kind of ability checks or savings throws are needed to consume them without ill effects, and what happens of those checks and saves are failed. The six categories are also used for setting the price of the beverages. <br /><br />All this takes up only two pages. The meat of the product is the long list of drinks, some accompanied by whimsical full-color illustrations done in a semi-cartoon style (that's not meant as a complaint - I rather like the style a lot and it's actually one that I see used a lot in many different professionally produced cocktail books). Each drink has some sort of effect, whether it's magical, a small bonus to social encounters, or an unexpected weird effect. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>COOL BITS</u></b></div><div>One of the things I really appreciate about this supplement is the naming of the drinks. The author, who goes by "SmallRedRobbin13" clearly knows their way around the world of classic cocktails. There are some fun, obscure but classic cocktail names in here. One I really appreciated was the Old Pal, which is a drink I make often at home (equal parts rye whiskey, Campari, and dry vermouth, with a lemon twist). In <i>The Humours of Whiskey</i>, drinking an Old Pal is usually done with friends, and allows the imbiber to make a saving throw to recall a forgotten memory; on a failed save, the memory is only remembered until the drinker falls unconscious or until the next sunrise. Many of the various drink effects have this kind of stipulation in terms of how long the effect lasts. </div><div><br /></div><div>There are a lot of clever names that call upon cocktail nomenclature but with an added fantasy twist. The Stinger is a classic pre-Prohibition mixed drink consisting of cognac and white crème de menthe. In <i>The Humours of Whiskey</i>, the Amaretto Stinger is rumored to have wyvern venom as one of the ingredients, and the drinker grows a tail with a poisoned stinger that lasts until falling unconscious or the next sunrise. There are quite a few drinks with actual cocktail names, or slight twists that made me smile, such as the Bloody Mary, Flying Grasshopper, Harvey Wallbanger, and Magic Mule. </div><div><br /></div><div>The short rules section on stages of intoxication while drinking is a fun thing to have if the players are looking to turn a night at the tavern into more of an activity that something that is just hand-waved so they can get to the next part of the adventure. It's not something I'd use every time the PCs visit a tavern, but it could be a fun part of a caper to try to out-drink some NPCs to get information or just to win a bet. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>PROS AND CONS</u></b></div><div>The layout is well-done and easy-to-read. It follows a 5E aesthetic with an "aged parchment" background and headers done in a dark red, with black font for the main text. The interior art is good and somewhat whimsical in nature, which is a departure from the front and back covers which are done in a slightly more realistic style. </div><div><br /></div><div>The cocktails themselves are all very creative in terms of their names and their effects. I could see running and evening game and making some cocktails for my adult players and then incorporating some of the drinks from this book into that night's session. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some of the effects look to be quite strong given the price paid to acquire them. For example, the aforementioned amaretto stinger drink costs 5 GP, and gives the drinker a tail with a poisonous stinger automatically. The tail does 2d6 + STR piercing damage, and on a failed DC 13 CON save, the victim also takes 4d6 poison damage (half on a successful save). That's an average of 14 points + STR modifier damage on a failed save, or 21 + STR modifier on a successful save. As a comparison, Assassin's Blood poison (from the 5E SRD) costs 150 GP and does 6 points (or 1d12) poison damage if the victim fails a CON save. </div><div><br /></div><div>A very minor quibble I had was a few of the wording choices that could have been clearer or more concise to help with comprehension. Where I really noticed this was in the details on how to determine a drinker's level of intoxication. The rules aren't really that complicated, but the way it was written, it took me a few readings to comprehend. </div><div><br /></div><div>None of this is really detrimental to the usefulness of the supplement. There's a lot of fun, creative ideas in this for gamers who want to add a bit more details and descriptions when the PCs are ordering alcoholic beverages. While this supplement is written with the 5E rules in mind, while reading it, I realized it could very easily to converted to other versions of the game, such as the old 1981 B/X rules set I'm currently using. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>THE HUMOURS OF WHISKEY</u></b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Format:</b> 20-page full-color PDF file, including the covers and Open Game License</li><li><b>Where to Buy: </b>Available at either <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/357330/The-Humours-of-Whiskey" target="_blank">DriveThruRPG</a> or <a href="https://smallredrobin13.itch.io/the-humours-of-whiskey">Itch.IO</a> in two different formats (single-page or spreads)</li><ul><li>These are not affiliate links; Daddy Rolled a 1 receives no compensation for your purchase</li></ul><li><b>Price:</b> $10 USD (there is a version on Itch.IO for $5.00 that is rules only)</li><li><b>System:</b> Designed for 5E, but see the note above under "Pros and Cons"</li><li><b>More Information:</b> You can follow SmallRedRobin13 on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/smallredrobin13" target="_blank">here</a>. </li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hanging: </b>Home office (laptop)</div><div><b>Drinking:</b> Sazerac rye whiskey (neat)</div><div><b>Listening: </b>"Paul Simon" by Paul Simon, 1972, on vinyl (but you can listen on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/7npBPiCHjPj8PVIGPuHXep?si=5lZ8wl-1SVOi6Fy4utrTRQ" target="_blank">Spotify here</a>)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-7489771749199814422022-02-11T17:46:00.001-08:002022-02-11T17:46:08.570-08:0011 YEARS OF DADDY ROLLED A 1 (BLOG ANNIVERSARY)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiY13hH2Og6cNM38PSUtLCxMCzjPZVf2NymZBihmtrLZaJ-iMbmL4bOAE_H_mlpNGKntd5ZdXnyJKC7j-sj3t_h3BhriUEPmlntw7N3eIN76_qL4_-obLOOHRUtKGFTDCzU0J4ZUHI3pQTJxCCZoxWY1tb-us1D1tx2iwTBoont15pLDtdVUmFIwotC3g=s720" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="566" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiY13hH2Og6cNM38PSUtLCxMCzjPZVf2NymZBihmtrLZaJ-iMbmL4bOAE_H_mlpNGKntd5ZdXnyJKC7j-sj3t_h3BhriUEPmlntw7N3eIN76_qL4_-obLOOHRUtKGFTDCzU0J4ZUHI3pQTJxCCZoxWY1tb-us1D1tx2iwTBoont15pLDtdVUmFIwotC3g=s320" width="252" /></a></div><br />11 years ago, <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2011/02/why-blog.html" target="_blank">I made my first post</a> here at Daddy Rolled a 1, and that set me off on a course of rediscovering, or perhaps renewing, my interest in the hobbies I'd had as a kid. <p></p><p>I'd never really stopped roleplaying, or at least collecting and reading RPG books, <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-did-it-all-start.html" target="_blank">since I discovered the hobby in 1981</a>. My interest in reading comics had continued, off and on, <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2015/01/your-first-comic.html" target="_blank">since I first reading</a> Marvel's <i>Star Wars</i> #1 back in 1977. I still enjoyed Star Wars, Star Trek, Tolkien, and the occasional board game. </p><p>But, it was starting this blog that got me to focus, dig deeper, and make these hobbies a more regular and consistent part of my life. I began reviewing comic books, both here on my blog and as a journalist for ComicAttack. I began researching the history of tabletop roleplaying games, dug into the retro-clones and other adjacent games of the so-called OSR or Old-School Renaissance. I've been asked to be a judge for the fantastic and creative One Page Dungeon Contest for eight years running. I secured a freelance editing and writing position for a game publisher. I started running a D&D campaign for my daughter and her friends. And I began creating content for D&D (most often for the 1981 "B/X," aka "Basic/Expert" or "Moldvay" D&D, as well as for Old School Essentials, a B/X retro-clone). All of these activities directly arose out of that first post I made 11 years ago after I'd discovered what is now commonly referred to as the "old-school blogosphere" and seeing all the creativity among the folks there. <br /><br />Those of you who have stuck with me over the years know all this already, as I talk about these topics every year on this day. So, this is mainly for any new folks just discovering my blog and how it's impacted my creativity over the past 11 years. </p><p>Enough about the distant past. What's happened over the last 12 months here at Daddy Rolled a 1? The stats below will give most of the story from what's happened directly here on the blog. As far as the Daddy Rolled a 1 "brand," the main things that happened this past year are that I became much more active on #ttrpg <a href="https://twitter.com/DaddyRolleda1" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, something I never thought I'd do, and I've found a great community there to share ideas and talk about D&D and other tabletop RPGs. I also <a href="https://daddy-rolled-a-1.creator-spring.com/" target="_blank">opened up a small shop</a> selling products like t-shirts, hoodies, coffee mugs, tote bags, and more. Right now, as I don't have a Patreon (yet) or have any RPG books/supplements for sale (yet), <b>the best way you can show your support if you like the content I'm creating is to buy something at my shop. </b></p><p>One thing that did happen this past year is that I actually blogged <i>less </i>than I did the year prior. This is mainly due to a combination of an increase work load for the ad agency I run, more time spent on Twitter (which I hadn't really thought about but which is impacting the amount of time I spent blogging, for sure), and also working on two RPG supplements that I plan to sell. So, I'm still creating content, but rather than posting it on the blog as often, I'm writing stuff that I plan to sell. </p><p>My main goal for the blog this coming year is to get back to posting more regularly, and for the "brand," is to finally get my <b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/08/latest-projects-for-bx-d-andor-old.html" target="_blank">Experts & Specialists</a> </b>supplement available for sale, and also my <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/search/label/subclasses" target="_blank">D12 Subclasses</a> book for sale. That book is probably going to have roughly 10-12 chapters. I've finished one chapter so far, for a total of 43 pages. <br /><br />For a full retrospective, I encourage you to <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/02/10-years-of-daddy-rolled-1-blog.html" target="_blank">check out my 10th Anniversary post</a> from last year. </p><p>And, as always, if there's content you'd like to see me post more often, please let me know in the comments below. And <b>thank you all for your support these past 11 years.</b> Hearing your comments and suggestions is really what keeps me going. Here's to another year at Daddy Rolled a 1. Cheers!</p><p><b><u>STATS (Feb 11 2021 - Feb 10 2022 compared to year prior)</u></b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Page Views:</b> 15,194 vs 11,778 (+29%)</li><li><b>Average Pages per Session:</b> 1.76 vs 1.61 (+9%)</li><li><b>Average Time per Session:</b> 1.36 vs 1.25 (+14%)</li><li><b>Bounce Rate: </b>76.58% vs 79.43% (-4%)</li><li><b>New Users %:</b> 87.3% vs 88.4%</li><li><b>New Users Total:</b> 5,654 vs 5,104 (+11%)</li><li><b>Location: </b></li><ul><li>United States (68.47% vs 70.35%)</li><li>United Kingdom (5.58% vs 4.85%)</li><li>Canada (5.20% vs 4.58%)</li><li>Australia (2.69% vs 2.41%)</li><li>Brazil (1.71% vs 1.56%)</li><li>Sweden (1.64% vs 0.78%)</li><li>France (1.34% vs 1.31%)</li><li>Italy (1.22% vs 1.68%)</li><li>Germany (1.01% vs 1.58%)</li><li>Ireland (0.85% vs 0.18%)</li></ul><li><b>Top Referring Sites:</b></li><ul><li>Google</li><li>Twitter (this is a huge change; in the past, Twitter has not even cracked the Top 10)</li><li>Facebook</li><li>Bing</li><li>DuckDuckGo</li><li>From the Sorcerer's Skull Blog</li><li>Jeff Rient's Blog</li><li>"Other" (everything else)</li></ul></ul><div><br /></div><div><b><u>My Top 10 Most Popular Posts Over the Past Year</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>I was really happy this year that, aside from the top two posts, the remaining eight in the Top 10 were all "new" posts made during the past year. </div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2011/08/finally-new-post-updated-currently.html" target="_blank">Finally: A New Post (Updated Currently Watching)</a> - this one gets the most views every year</li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2016/02/new-comics-wednesday-revisiting-my-post.html" target="_blank">New Comics Wednesday: Revisiting My Post About Why People Do or Don't Read Comics</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/making-characters-weird-halflings.html" target="_blank">Making Characters Weird: Halfling</a></li><ul><li>This is the first "new" post I made during 2021, part of a series on weird characters</li></ul><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/09/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">GUEST POST: Old School Essentials Campaign - Session 9 (My Daughter's Campaign)</a></li><ul><li>Another newer post, featuring a recap written by one of my players</li></ul><li>M<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/making-characters-weird-fighters.html" target="_blank">aking Characters Weird: Fighters</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/making-characters-weird-elves.html" target="_blank">Making Character Weird: Elves</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/07/open-game-content-norse-subclasses-for.html" target="_blank">Open Game Content: Norse Subclasses for Fantasy RPGs</a></li><ul><li>Part of a series of making slight tweaks to old-school B/X character classes</li></ul><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/08/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">GUEST POST: Old School Essentials Campaign - Session 8 (My Daughter's Campaign)</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/04/making-characters-weird-thievesrogues.html" target="_blank">Making Characters Weird: Thieves/Rogues</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/06/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">GUEST POST: Old School Essentials Campaign - Session 6 (My Daughter's Campaign)</a></li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hanging:</b> Home Office (laptop)</div><div><b>Drinking: </b>Mike Ness Brewing Hard Charger Hazy IPA (Limited Release)</div><div><b>Listening:</b> "Cherokee" by Kamasi Washington, from the album "The Epic"</div><p></p>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-89400510653476992832022-02-01T14:24:00.004-08:002022-02-04T13:25:00.571-08:00THE TOWER OF THE TIME THIEF: SESSION 11 RECAP OF MY BASIC D&D CAMPAIGN<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIuth_FqfH3CiGaMgzmEMlRHK-cm-ws4AdnsfCpJa_PH7UE7T5Nm3tk5iVrD_geNb7vI7jxv6Q7MlpzCIlnUF1tuIaeIQXF2WZvTidWsWRo1cTzqrfG33WWIpeZqC_PyH3zmjKvkVMbwFWwa65Pes9DCTntl9kWSVbjZ0M91N8rKhrCdIxaXTdunFoFw=s2958" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2958" data-original-width="2958" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIuth_FqfH3CiGaMgzmEMlRHK-cm-ws4AdnsfCpJa_PH7UE7T5Nm3tk5iVrD_geNb7vI7jxv6Q7MlpzCIlnUF1tuIaeIQXF2WZvTidWsWRo1cTzqrfG33WWIpeZqC_PyH3zmjKvkVMbwFWwa65Pes9DCTntl9kWSVbjZ0M91N8rKhrCdIxaXTdunFoFw=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A page from my DM's notebook showing <br />some of my prep-work. <br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>We played the 11th session of the D&D campaign I'm running for my daughter and her friends (plus one dad!) way back on October 10th. While I'm mainly using the old 1980 adventure B2: Keep on the Borderlands as the basis for this first part of the campaign, I've been including things from other sources. In this case, since it was October, I wanted a somewhat Halloween-themed spooky session and decided to adapt a very intriguing one-page dungeon I'd judged as part of the 2021 One Page Dungeon Contest, called Tower of the Time Thief by Zach Trent, Noah Morriss, and Adam Nyhoff. When I first read it while judging, I made a note on my judging sheets that this would be something I could run for my daughter's game, and I felt confident I could finish the scenario in one session. </p><p><i>[As an aside, I highly recommend everyone check out the <b><a href="https://www.dungeoncontest.com/" target="_blank">One Page Dungeon Contest</a></b>. All of the previous year's entries are available as PDFs on the website, and you can also buy soft cover collections of the entries from most years. Now is the perfect time to start looking through them to get ideas so you can enter this year's contest!]</i></p><p>One of my favorite things I did while prepping this adventure was noting a room with a mirror that the description said would allow the PC's to speak with one of their lost ancestors. To increase the creepiness factor, I changed this a bit. Before the session, I emailed each player and asked them to send me a note describing one of their PC's ancestors, both physically but also what they loved most about them. I took these notes and twisted them. For example, my daughter told me that her PC's ancestor was her grandmother, who had black hair with purple streaks and purple eyes, and was known and loved by all as an excellent seamstress. I used this information and wrote a card, which I passed to me daughter when her PC looked in the mirror, describing a foul and twisted version of her grandmother's image, who smiled maliciously while sewing a dress, and then the PC realized that the dress her grandmother was sewing was made out of some kind of skin. </p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1IOiUt-JDo2-X596puOTLmb7ujkDjT4AQvzwH1QXql1l3Kc5SZcvtZ44bV9wjdsJ9U33z7jy8bkgNcIvWg_oVN0xiOCPN9EQ99lVCcc5tWSX9CVK5SxdPdGapUGiZHF_ntAVM0tJGsXyLjLpkV73ZGbg0QAP83o_tK8YGgd-13iY7iZa0dCqgbnwoEA=s1056" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="816" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1IOiUt-JDo2-X596puOTLmb7ujkDjT4AQvzwH1QXql1l3Kc5SZcvtZ44bV9wjdsJ9U33z7jy8bkgNcIvWg_oVN0xiOCPN9EQ99lVCcc5tWSX9CVK5SxdPdGapUGiZHF_ntAVM0tJGsXyLjLpkV73ZGbg0QAP83o_tK8YGgd-13iY7iZa0dCqgbnwoEA=s320" width="247" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here are the cards I gave out to <br />each player when their PC<br />looked in the mirror. Some were<br />less gruesome, depending on <br />the player involved.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Every player chose to look in the mirror and got a similarly creepy card, twisting the pure image their PCs held for their ancestors. Afterward, I had each PC make a composure check to avoid gaining a "Composure Point" (my version of "Sanity Points"). </p><p>As has become customary, I asked one of the players to write the recap of the session, and by this point, everyone has already taken a turn, so it returned back to the first player who volunteered, "E," who plays an Elf named Holly Short. This is the recap she wrote, in the manner of a journal-entry for her character. I really like the growth in E's comfort with writing in the voice of her character. It was fun to compare this recap to the first one she wrote. </p><p>Below is E's recap, along with some pictures of the fancy vintage-looking PDF I made for her and some photos showing my prep-work from my DM's journal for this session. As always, I really appreciate any feedback you'd like to offer to my players on their recaps. They work really hard on these and have to fit them in between school-work, chores, and other activities, so it's nice when they get to hear compliments from people who enjoy reading them. </p><p>For more information on our previous adventures: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Influences:</b> Some of the <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/03/an-update-on-my-upcoming-weird-fantasy.html" target="_blank">Weird Fantasy Tropes</a> I'll be using in this campaign </li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/11/my-new-old-school-essentials-campaign.html" target="_blank">Sessions 0 and 1</a>:</b> Leaving the Village, the Bone Road & Capture by Goblins </li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/update-on-my-daughters-old-school.html" target="_blank">Session 3</a>: </b>Escape from the Goblin Caves </li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/04/old-school-essentials-campaign-session.html" target="_blank">Session 4</a>: </b>The Goblin Cave Exit and the Return to the Keep </li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Session 5</a>: </b>The Keep and the Creeper Lair </li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/06/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Session 6</a>:</b> The Creeper Lair, Part 2 </li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/07/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Session 7</a>: </b>Conversations at the Keep </li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/08/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Session 8</a>:</b> Return to the Caves of Chaos </li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/09/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Session 9</a>:</b> The Orc Lair </li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/11/return-to-goblin-caves-session-10-recap.html" target="_blank">Session 10</a>:</b> Return to the Goblin Caves!</li><li>Thoughts on <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/playing-d-with-tweens-part-1.html" target="_blank">Playing D&D with Tweens</a></li></ul><div><b><u><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLbsAKj0bpnYqGKW5JJZDSGJ5oRejdFoKRmvcqDCFT8ozi5g93MOHo6D96keAbkFfY8ifMzy6ZMW44owahLlwtPtt6Vf0RTy46rH7MV-72IR4mnEaQf7oKu3mLFmNPneLr4cQiX8D-jj5irqulvDhG7fvYoN7n938SYFD0E71V0pQdHK-YlkKqyhn01g=s480" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="360" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLbsAKj0bpnYqGKW5JJZDSGJ5oRejdFoKRmvcqDCFT8ozi5g93MOHo6D96keAbkFfY8ifMzy6ZMW44owahLlwtPtt6Vf0RTy46rH7MV-72IR4mnEaQf7oKu3mLFmNPneLr4cQiX8D-jj5irqulvDhG7fvYoN7n938SYFD0E71V0pQdHK-YlkKqyhn01g=s320" width="240" /></a></div>SESSION 11 FULL RECAP</u></b> (As written by "E" in the voice of her character, Holly Short, the Elf)</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>Wardenday, Redleaf 25</i></b> </div><div>My eyes blink open. Where am I? I think to myself. Then the memories all come flooding back in. I’m in the forest with the other Shadow Hunters. Then, I become aware of the eerie silence. The others are still asleep. I take the opportunity to study my spells so I can use them later on if needed. </div><div><br /></div><div>The others eventually start to slowly awake and get ready for the day. All is still quiet except the crunching of forest floor under the Shadow Hunters feet and shuffling of clothes and belongings. Finally, as everyone is finishing up, we hear the first non-Shadow Hunter related noise. A whooshing, a flapping of wings. An unkindness of ravens flies overhead. </div><div><br /></div><div>“Oh no. Gruumsh knows that ravens very bad.” Says Gruumsh, the dwarf fighter, who we’ve hired as a retainer. We start walking to the keep with little banter. I only trip once. When we finally arrive at the keep all is quiet and still. We check in and as Greta the Wanderer checks in her sword, the guard asks her if she would help them tonight. </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizFVnyMMSEgsLxCA3rVoFUrFAjba1nY0wrUnoAJ10vmRlY1usli4MeWR_mP8qNqFr7rxuffypHsmaAdl0eZHxK5DeCyJQyrWFHAK_cWFUsBPIdTCfC1xCdHJBOnjqgkb8tE7rWHXJr6zQoSU0v0cHOsvF30ZXwyxWhtFQvmIL_vu20FwT-WBKMYb73yA=s1418" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="1418" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizFVnyMMSEgsLxCA3rVoFUrFAjba1nY0wrUnoAJ10vmRlY1usli4MeWR_mP8qNqFr7rxuffypHsmaAdl0eZHxK5DeCyJQyrWFHAK_cWFUsBPIdTCfC1xCdHJBOnjqgkb8tE7rWHXJr6zQoSU0v0cHOsvF30ZXwyxWhtFQvmIL_vu20FwT-WBKMYb73yA=w400-h259" width="400" /></a></div><br />“It is the anniversary of the Purging.” He says. We ask what the Purging is, but he says he doesn’t feel comfortable talking about it. We move on and meet Ulrich Von Munchburger and return his brother and his sister in-law. He gives us 50 gold pieces which we split equally amongst ourselves. He didn’t seem to be in the mood to chat and dismissed us immediately afterward. </div><div><br /></div><div>We head over to Doktor Schüttelt’s place, and he heals us and gives us mediocre haircuts. We were still curious, so we asked the doctor if he could tell us about the purging. His face suddenly snapped into a very shocked expression, and he started to back out of the room. But Cora Netflix, my beloved elf cousin, stopped him just in time and offered to teach him our traditional elf dance from our hometown, Wibbleville. </div><div><br /></div><div>After that, we head over to the tavern, The Greased Goat. There sat Vasilov, the man I had hired to train my wolf pup. Alex, a former group member who had since passed, had also hired him to train her wolf, but left that wolf to me. He was playing a strange song on a strange instrument. He informed us that the song calmed the wolves. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-4qFYPZ9CeBvK9tsW264U7o5hTf69YTMXx8J8t4d8T3GKk4P-zwJ52JHVfsu7VokhJUXNFxH9qCYekl14-pv3Zw5aKSo4ioK2LYmwwxXzIyqQw3DDd4BrChMvlYeVNrxC4Zyru3to-GIX-EIXhj8wRLr2SCfnK6QUs0TJKJkNpgsGoP80p43lu8sctA=s640" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-4qFYPZ9CeBvK9tsW264U7o5hTf69YTMXx8J8t4d8T3GKk4P-zwJ52JHVfsu7VokhJUXNFxH9qCYekl14-pv3Zw5aKSo4ioK2LYmwwxXzIyqQw3DDd4BrChMvlYeVNrxC4Zyru3to-GIX-EIXhj8wRLr2SCfnK6QUs0TJKJkNpgsGoP80p43lu8sctA=s320" width="320" /></a></div>We walked around and had conversations and gathered that the Purging was when a group of crusader knights drowned a group of "heretics" decades ago. Many think it's just a legend to frighten children. Even Gustav, the tavern keeper, used to dress up in scary costumes and go out with his friends to pull pranks on people. </div><div><br /></div><div>We leave and head over to the Witch’s Tower. Once inside, we give an ivory wand we found on our adventures to the Witch. My cousins and I are allowed to enter the tower. We hear a disembodied voice inside our head sarcastically congratulating us. She agrees to train us, as stated before we left on our adventure, but we have to wear anklets that won’t come off for seven years, binding us to the Witch. </div><div><br /></div><div>We leave, and Anslem the guard approaches us with a letter from the Burger Meister asking them to investigate strange happenings at an abandoned chapel on the outskirts of the Keep, past the Slaughterhouse District. We agree and make our way to the chapel. We got our weapons back for this special mission, so we feel a bit more prepared than we would’ve. We walk slowly and carefully into the graveyard, but despite our confidence and carefulness, skeletons began to rise out of the graves and slowly come toward us. My good friend Bartolo the Seeker called on his god, the Thrice Great Kule, and with great, mysterious power, the skeletons were turned away. Even with the epic power of the god, skeletons were still emerging and coming toward us. We quickly ran through and around them and made it to the chapel. We burst in and slammed the door. I then used my own epic power, and cast the spell Hold Portal, which held the door shut so nothing and no-one could open it except myself. </div><div><br /></div><div>Our newest member, a thief, named Augustus, found a curious pocket watch. She tried to set it, but instead it turned her into a very old woman. We tried to take it from her to avoid further damage, but upon touch, many of us turned various ages! </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg62pNE0TLiEzq7icA7rDK0CgLAGQmCGxsOu9mWDZNTG0lQT9aqU-qg9KPvMxwD94kryNM2o-_VrAiGrKyATr_U10_3xyRvcBQZqlGgQqE-b9JaPd7fbr-5bSkMOXUaWcMEo2IZTGMhnb2G0ih-aCIygjT8gPCe9pICAgF21qF0eC7AQISl1BbjCpk6dg=s2852" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1932" data-original-width="2852" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg62pNE0TLiEzq7icA7rDK0CgLAGQmCGxsOu9mWDZNTG0lQT9aqU-qg9KPvMxwD94kryNM2o-_VrAiGrKyATr_U10_3xyRvcBQZqlGgQqE-b9JaPd7fbr-5bSkMOXUaWcMEo2IZTGMhnb2G0ih-aCIygjT8gPCe9pICAgF21qF0eC7AQISl1BbjCpk6dg=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br />We decided to start exploring and found a room with a mirror in it. In the mirror we could see not our own reflections, but the reflections of long dead ancestors. I saw my Great Aunt Crystal. She was known for her baking and stories. I saw her long gray braids and flour covered apron, same as always. It appeared she was baking something. Then I knew. She was baking poisoned cookies. Her usual warm smile was replaced by an insane, menacing grin. The rest of the Shadow Hunters later claimed to have seen different distorted versions of various ancestors. </div><div><br /></div><div>We quickly left and entered another room where the was a party. The room was full of people, but they were slightly see-through. We asked them questions, but they avoided the questions, turned back food, and forgot we were there. If we got their attention again, they would speak to us as if they were seeing us for the first time in their life. </div><div><br /></div><div>We found another room where there were children, caught in a loop of waltzing. They would enter the room, waltz across, and slowly grow old as they swept the room, then start over. By waltzing with them, we gained access to another room where we had to fight an undead witch night sister. We defeated her, and found her infant son, which she had conducted awful experiments on and cursed to be undead for all eternity. We were forced to kill it and it melted to a puddle of goo. </div><div><br /></div><div>We left the chapel and upon leaving we’re reverted back to our regular ages and the weather was happier and the skeletons were gone.
</div><div><br /></div><div><i>The End</i></div><div>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br /></div><div>The ends the recap from our 11th session. We played one more time last year, in November. I'm still waiting for one of my players to send her recap from that session in advance of our next game, which is scheduled for this Saturday. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hanging: </b>Home office</div><div><b>Drinking:</b> Tap water</div><div><b>Listening: </b>"So What" by Miles Davis and his Quintet, from the album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4sb0eMpDn3upAFfyi4q2rw?si=AQ4Qs6FyR7OvNp0POAeF1Q">Kind of Blue: Legacy Edition</a>"</div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-41242198772431307792021-12-31T12:13:00.000-08:002021-12-31T12:13:55.738-08:00CHRISTMAS SUBCLASSES FOR FANTASY RPGS<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheaZj2iXoQuaMijZl7HZTmGk3vLjZcVzrdSrmzYu_UIqQX1fd3rFULp8knwxZVna6N7swtlXC3HQEV3HwgMTwidsMSajK8oBAfOLvAnF-syhoqnGRxlHMLwnpfqMvATuLlwEqPrHqyySgS11CqWnCDVq3zLOCxZPCjWMNdwBFYe2cmUq90eJtNg7wKQA=s1683" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1683" data-original-width="656" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheaZj2iXoQuaMijZl7HZTmGk3vLjZcVzrdSrmzYu_UIqQX1fd3rFULp8knwxZVna6N7swtlXC3HQEV3HwgMTwidsMSajK8oBAfOLvAnF-syhoqnGRxlHMLwnpfqMvATuLlwEqPrHqyySgS11CqWnCDVq3zLOCxZPCjWMNdwBFYe2cmUq90eJtNg7wKQA=w157-h404" width="157" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Images are copyright of<br />their respective owners.</span> </td></tr></tbody></table><br />Today's holiday-themed post is D12 "Christmas Subclasses" for fantasy adventure games, such as Dungeons & Dragons. These are specifically designed for the old 1981 "B/X" or "Basic" D&D game, which means they are compatible with Old School Essentials, but with just a few small tweaks, these could make fun concepts for most fantasy games, including 5th Edition. <br /><br /><div>I thought of the idea earlier this week while getting ready one morning, and banged out the ideas in just a few hours over a couple of days. These are intended to be fun and a small amusement for a game rather than anything balanced, so they're not quite in the same realm as the other entries I've done in my subclasses posts. </div><div><br /></div><div>I really enjoy the Christmas season and loved watching all the TV specials when I was a kid. As a young adult, I began collecting the ones I liked, first on VHS, then DVD and Blu-Ray. I also began reading a lot of books on the history of holiday movies and specials, and you'll find a lot of that history reflected in the subclasses below. </div><div><br /></div><div>I first began by creating a "Santa Claus" subclass, but realized it was limiting how the other subclasses came together, so I finally turned Santa and Mrs. Claus into NPCs to be used as the Referee sees fit. The other subclass ideas came pretty naturally from my study of Christmas legends, songs, TV specials, movies, books, and comics. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEig4Gwet79m5ltkitRxLPZYYdgcap-k6aUt_dChfiC1AKXTOpH_MqJ0lCgZ4JwQ-FI2dUVC2SXBtDJ8OnEvN-rq5Aphng3gk_VPONn_3BRg25MuNvpXCWMrV2zXsUvyHRALxNF5L995RhLVd7cuOmj-Jsgjy75yO6CZvolIOrKsHqAJ-P9hG2DD0gOTAQ=s500" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEig4Gwet79m5ltkitRxLPZYYdgcap-k6aUt_dChfiC1AKXTOpH_MqJ0lCgZ4JwQ-FI2dUVC2SXBtDJ8OnEvN-rq5Aphng3gk_VPONn_3BRg25MuNvpXCWMrV2zXsUvyHRALxNF5L995RhLVd7cuOmj-Jsgjy75yO6CZvolIOrKsHqAJ-P9hG2DD0gOTAQ=s320" width="213" /></a></div><br />While my memory of having watched so many Christmas specials and movies multiple times over the years was my main resource for these ideas, I did also consult two books from my library of Christmas books: The <i><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2014/01/what-ive-been-reading.html" target="_blank">Encyclopedia of Christmas</a></i> and the <i>Book of Christmas</i> from the Time Life Enchanted World series. </div><div><br /></div><div>Also, I refer you to the following movies and TV specials, mainly so I can post pictures from them below: </div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Arthur Christmas</i>: A really fun animated movie regarding the entire Santa family, including the title character, Arthur, who is clumsy and awkward, but full of Christmas spirit. A source for Klaus' Child. </li><li><i>Noelle</i>: This Christmas movie was made for Disney+ a few years ago and centers around two of Santa's children, Noelle and Nick, who try to figure out their roles after Santa passes away. I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. A source for Klaus' Child. </li><li><i>Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer</i>: I'm a sucker for old Rankin-Bass stop-motion animation from the 60's and 70's, and this was always a high-water mark of the Christmas season when it was shown on TV exactly one night during the season. If you missed it, you were out of luck. A source for Santa's Elves and the Prospector. </li><li><i>Fred Claus</i>: This really isn't one of my favorite Christmas movies, but it does have a few funny scenes and the soundtrack is good in terms of the mix of Christmas and non-Christmas songs. A source for Santa's Elves and Klaus' Brother. </li><li><i>The Year Without a Santa Claus</i>: Oddly, as a kid, this was one I didn't like as much, but grew to love it more as I got older. I found out it was based on a book, which prompted a quest for me to find an old out-of-print copy to give to my daughter as a Christmas gift one year. A source for Santa's Elves and the True Believer.</li><li><i>Rudolph's Shiny New Year</i>: I hate this special. Really, I can't stand it. I think it's mostly just because I always feel that New Year's is such a letdown after Christmas, and this special is a huge letdown after the original. That said, the concept of the Archipelago of Last Years is fun and the entire plot could make for a fun RPG one-shot. A source for the Knights of 1023. </li><li><i>Klaus</i>: An animated film from Spain that's available on Netflix with voices provided by Jason Schwarztman, Rashida Jones, Joan Cusack, J.K. Simmons as the titular Klaus, and Norm MacDonald as the Boatman. Tons of laughs, a really great art style, and a great story. I think it's safe to call this a "new classic." A source for the Village Child and the Postal Worker, </li><li><i>Santa Claus is Comin' to Town</i>: This is probably my favorite of the Rankin-Bass specials, which I know is a controversial thing to say. And yes, I, too, can't stand that weird psychedelic segment when Jessica sings her song, but thankfully that's been mostly edited out of broadcast airings lately. I loved the story of the origin of Santa Claus, and thought the German aesthetic for the bad guys, 25 years after the end of World War II, was a fun touch. A source for the Village Child, the Postal Worker, and the Winter Warlock. </li><li><i>The Christmas Chronicles</i>: This is another Netflix special that I went into expecting to hate, but ended up loving. This is another special that I think has safely entered the canon of "Christmas classics" in our household. A source for the True Believer. </li></ul><div><br /></div></div><div>The Santa's Assistant and the Julenisse ideas came from the books I mentioned earlier. </div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-insideh: none; mso-border-insidev: none; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr>
<td colspan="3" style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 441.0pt;" valign="top" width="588">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">D12 CHRISTMAS SUBCLASSES (B/X-OSE)</span></b><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" style="background: #3B3838; mso-background-themecolor: background2; mso-background-themeshade: 64; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 441.0pt;" valign="top" width="588">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">CLERIC</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.5pt;" valign="top" width="30">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 67.5pt;" valign="top" width="90">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Klaus’
Child<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 351.0pt;" valign="top" width="468">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Possible
names include Arthur, Noelle, Steve. 2-in-6 to know any language. Turn undead
works only on non-believers (e.g., Scrooge, Grinch). Speaks the language of
reindeer. Chance of getting lost only 1-in-6, no matter the terrain or environment,
if in the process of delivering a gift. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" style="background: #3B3838; mso-background-themecolor: background2; mso-background-themeshade: 64; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 441.0pt;" valign="top" width="588">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">DWARF</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.5pt;" valign="top" width="30">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">2<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 67.5pt;" valign="top" width="90">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Klaus’
Assistant<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 351.0pt;" valign="top" width="468">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Possible
names: Belsnickel, Black Pete, Cert, Knecht Ruprecht, Zwarte Piet. Only proficient
with the Whip (1d3 damage but can damage foes 10’ away) and Switch (treat as
a club). Always carries a bell to announce its presences (cannot surprise). 2-in-6
chance to detect alignment (replaces detect construction tricks).</span><span style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" style="background: #3B3838; mso-background-themecolor: background2; mso-background-themeshade: 64; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 441.0pt;" valign="top" width="588">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">ELF</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.5pt;" valign="top" width="30">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">3<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 67.5pt;" valign="top" width="90">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Santa’s
Elf<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 351.0pt;" valign="top" width="468">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Possible
names: Bernard, Crumpet, Hermie, Jangle, Jingle, Judy, Willie. Does not cast
spells. 3x per day, can use Minor Creation (as the 4<sup>th</sup> Level
Illusionist spell; see OSE Advanced Fantasy), but can only create small toys
(no weapons) and must be given to another person. If given out during an
encounter, the toy grants Santa’s Elf a +2 bonus on the NPC Reaction Roll
table. 1-in-6 chance to have a different skill than toy-making (e.g.,
dentistry). These elves are not accepted by general Santa Elf society, but this
different skill will be essential once per session (determined by the DM). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" style="background: #3B3838; mso-background-themecolor: background2; mso-background-themeshade: 64; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 441.0pt;" valign="top" width="588">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">FIGHTER</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.5pt;" valign="top" width="30">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">4<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 67.5pt;" valign="top" width="90">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Knight
of 1023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 351.0pt;" valign="top" width="468">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Pronounced
“ten-two-three.” Must always wear a centuries out-of-date suit of plate mail
with a helmet (that the knight never removes) and grow an overly long beard.
Speaks in a loud, choppy voice that echoes through the helmet. Allies in 20’
who can hear the knight gain +1 to their morale. </span><span style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.5pt;" valign="top" width="30">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">5<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 67.5pt;" valign="top" width="90">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Prospector<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 351.0pt;" valign="top" width="468">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Possible
name: Yukon Cornelius. 1-in-6 chance to detect gold or silver within 30’. Immune any fear effects caused by snow or ice
creatures (e.g., a yeti). Gains a +1 bonus to NPC Reaction Rolls vs. characters
from Medieval European fairy tales (the three bears, anyone named Jack,
wolves, etc.).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" style="background: #3B3838; mso-background-themecolor: background2; mso-background-themeshade: 64; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 441.0pt;" valign="top" width="588">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">HALFLING</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.5pt;" valign="top" width="30">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">6<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 67.5pt;" valign="top" width="90">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Julenisse<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 351.0pt;" valign="top" width="468">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Plural:
Julenissen. Hiding ability works inside houses if in a dark corner, under a
staircase, in an attic, or similar place. Can curse (<i>blight</i>; reverse
of 2<sup>nd</sup> level cleric spell <i>bless</i>) all members of a specific house
unless placated with porridge, liquor, and/or tobacco.</span><span style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.5pt;" valign="top" width="30">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">7<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 67.5pt;" valign="top" width="90">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Village
Child<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 351.0pt;" valign="top" width="468">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Most
likely human children but gifted with the ability to create a Klaus if one
does not exist (requires 2+ village children and a letter-writing campaign
lasting 2 weeks, after which a Klaus will appear in the village). Hiding
ability works on village streets. Gains a +1 bonus to all rolls if within 20’
of Klaus or a member of the Klaus Family. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" style="background: #3B3838; mso-background-themecolor: background2; mso-background-themeshade: 64; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 441.0pt;" valign="top" width="588">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">MAGIC-USER</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.5pt;" valign="top" width="30">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">8<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 67.5pt;" valign="top" width="90">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Christmas
Witch<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 351.0pt;" valign="top" width="468">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Possible
names: Names: Baboushka, Befana, Bertchta, La Strega, La Vecchia, Old Woman. Always
has a magical flying broom (in place of a 1<sup>st</sup> level spell). Can
bestow a gift (usually a small toy, but could be fruit, nuts, or sweets), granting
+1 to attack and damage rolls to people of the same alignment as the witch, or
a -1 penalty to people of opposite alignment. The effect lasts for one day.</span><span style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.5pt;" valign="top" width="30">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">9<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 67.5pt;" valign="top" width="90">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Winter
Warlock<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 351.0pt;" valign="top" width="468">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">All
spells manifest in cold, ice, or snow (e.g., magic missile if made of ice
missiles). This has no effect mechanically, but is just for flavor. Has a
very low self-confidence (-1 to saving throws unless within 20’ of Klaus or a
member of the Klaus Family). Always has 1d6 useless magic items. (Highly recommended:
300 Useless Magic Loot table from <i><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/345695/Knock--Issue-1" target="_blank">Knock!</a></i> issue #1; examples include pipe of
smoke rings, wizard’s beard (a strap-on beard that grows permanently), ratters
hat attracts rats who come for curiosity, etc.). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" style="background: #3B3838; mso-background-themecolor: background2; mso-background-themeshade: 64; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 441.0pt;" valign="top" width="588">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">THIEF</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.5pt;" valign="top" width="30">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">10<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 67.5pt;" valign="top" width="90">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Klaus’
Brother<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 351.0pt;" valign="top" width="468">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Possible
name: Fred. Gains a +2 bonus to NPC Reaction Rolls when bargaining or asking
for money. Can cast charm (as the spell) once per day, but when the effect wears
off, the victim is furious with Klaus’ Brother and will probably attack. </span><span style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.5pt;" valign="top" width="30">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">11<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 67.5pt;" valign="top" width="90">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Postal
Worker<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: #F2F2F2; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 242; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 351.0pt;" valign="top" width="468">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #262626; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=85000 lumo=15000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">Possible
names: Jesper, S.D. Kluger. Add 20’ to base movement rate. By weaving tales
about the legend of Klaus, can use the Enchantment ability as a Bard (OSE Advanced
Fantasy). Cannot pick pockets or remove traps. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.5pt;" valign="top" width="30">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">12<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 67.5pt;" valign="top" width="90">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">True
Believer<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 351.0pt;" valign="top" width="468">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Possible
names: Kate, Teddy, Jack, Iggy, Jovy, Michael. Once per day, allies within 20’
square area of a True Believer gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls,
morale and saving throws for 6 turns. </span><span style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>If you're planning to use any of these in a holiday-themed game, here are a few other ideas for you. </o:p></p></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>NPCs</b></li><ul><li>Klaus</li><ul><li>Alternate names: Kris, Nicholas, Nick, Santa. </li><li>As Cleric. </li><li>Can speak with any animal. </li><li>After 5th level, can speak any language. </li><li>Add <i>clairvoyance </i>and <i>invisibility </i>to spell list. </li><li>Cannot case reversed versions of cleric spells. </li><li>All healing spells are accompanied by a small toy. </li><li>Turn undead ability only works on Krampus and other evil Christmas-themed creatures. </li></ul><li>Mrs. Klaus</li><ul><li>Alternate names: Belle, Jessica, Mary, Merry</li><li>As Cleric. </li><li>Healing spells take the form of cakes, cookies, and hot cocoa, all of which can be saved and used similar to a healing potion. </li><li>Can magically mend torn clothing with a touch.</li></ul></ul><li><b>Adversaries</b></li><ul><li>Aeon the Terrible (a huge vulture, as big as a roc)</li><li>The Burgermeister Meisterburger</li><li>Burgermeister's soldiers</li><li>Clockwork Santa</li><li>Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future</li><li>The Grinch</li><li>Krampus</li><li>The Miser Brothers (Heat Miser and Snow Miser)</li></ul><li><b>Adventure Ideas</b></li><ul><li>Stop the plague that creates the Hungry Dead in order to save Christmas... and the world! (from Marvel's <i>Zombies Christmas Carol</i>)</li><li>Rescue the Baby New Year, lost in the Archipelago of Last Years (from <i>Rudolph's Shiny New Year</i>)</li><li>Stop the feud between the Ellingboes and the Krums so the village children can have a peaceful Christmas (from <i>Klaus</i>)</li><li>Ensure Christmas endures by making sure all the presents are delivered before sunrise in the North Pole (from the <i>Christmas Chronicles</i>, <i>Arthur Christmas</i>, and <i>Fred Claus</i>)</li><li>Evade the Burgermeister and his soldiers while continuing to deliver gifts to the village's deserving children (from <i>Santa Claus is Comin' to Town</i>)</li><li>Find Christmas cheer among miserable people in Southtown while evading the Miser Brothers and trying to convince Klaus that Christmas still matters (from the <i>Year Without a Santa Claus</i>)</li><li>Rescue Santa from an insane asylum and, with his help, convince a group of skeptical people that miracles can happen at Christmas (from <i>Miracle on 34th Street</i>)</li></ul></ul><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtU8EiBF0Ff3EwD38gDHJ--8pVdEPiYqD8LTr4zOQqfmTUqCGnEDWyNSa2Zbsj-X9oCirSBeawssVrkjin2u-Teum8hnbs365BpxeodhSyGCWq5cHb9aXDIgbvdCSSdFQ2glVW-o23Xc4WswC6XAPvHi5yNujX0HfldHChDU5-3q9ZodmkH5N6e3CWXA=s796" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="570" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtU8EiBF0Ff3EwD38gDHJ--8pVdEPiYqD8LTr4zOQqfmTUqCGnEDWyNSa2Zbsj-X9oCirSBeawssVrkjin2u-Teum8hnbs365BpxeodhSyGCWq5cHb9aXDIgbvdCSSdFQ2glVW-o23Xc4WswC6XAPvHi5yNujX0HfldHChDU5-3q9ZodmkH5N6e3CWXA=s320" width="229" /></a></div><br />You can mix and match the scenarios above and some could even be plotted out sequentially into a longer campaign should you wish. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>Let me know what you think! I know these are probably too late for this year, unless you celebrate Christmas later, on January 6th, but you could maybe fit the idea in during the 12 Days of Christmas which is happening right now, or just save them for next year. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hanging: </b>Home office (laptop)</div><div><b>Drinking:</b> 2020 Palmina Malvasia Bianca</div><div><b>Listening:</b> "Children Go Where I Send Thee" by Kenny Burrell, from the album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/2qecynSla5V5qcg8Xdqzgw?si=7Mx96uC8TvGNaEBRQjd8JQ" target="_blank">Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas</a>"</div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-20500179410000657652021-12-09T17:03:00.006-08:002021-12-13T15:29:56.173-08:00WHY ARE THE MONSTERS ATTACKING?<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhqskeBeiUk1k7ZPfne5e6IDjtlXBfMs3FG_SVsXVnJQI22UU6aGhBumiedXri_nafyr9XSRTMAGo4FF1jvgZxxsLbYryfpIzNILK5bD92x5ydTA-2OP4w2HfKqib0WsyhXjtXyIXdryGh/s1024/Mordor+Orcs.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhqskeBeiUk1k7ZPfne5e6IDjtlXBfMs3FG_SVsXVnJQI22UU6aGhBumiedXri_nafyr9XSRTMAGo4FF1jvgZxxsLbYryfpIzNILK5bD92x5ydTA-2OP4w2HfKqib0WsyhXjtXyIXdryGh/s320/Mordor+Orcs.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.deviantart.com/jlazaruseb/art/Mordor-Orcs-619799077" target="_blank">Mordor Orcs</a> by <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/jlazaruseb" target="_blank">JLazerusEB</a> is <br />licensed by <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/" target="_blank">CC BY-NC-ND 3.0</a></td></tr></tbody></table>One of the things I like most about old-school D&D, particularly the so-called B/X ("Basic/Expert" set from 1981) is the "<b>Monster Reaction Roll</b>" table. <p></p><p>Many gamers assume that the monsters are there to be killed, and proceed accordingly. Sure, in modern games, you have Charisma-based skills like Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidation, but they are mainly saved specifically for planned social-encounters; few parties think to attempt these skills in the middle of a dungeon. </p><p>The B/X Monster Reaction Roll table is divided into five categories on a scale of "Hostile, attacks" to "Friendly, helpful." A 2d6 roll, modified by a PC's Charisma modifier, generates the result and the DM adjudicates the details. </p><p>[<i>Note: </i>You could <b>use this table almost as-is in a modern 5th Edition game</b>, or in 3E/3.5 by simply changing the bell-curve from 2d6 to a linear D20 roll and setting different target numbers, or Difficult Checks, for each category. Adjust the numbers for the type of campaign you want to run; e.g., "Friendly, Helpful" could be a roll of 25 or higher (meaning you can only get there with a Natural 20 and a +5 Charisma Modifier), or it could be set at 20 or 15, with the other results adjusted accordingly.]</p><p>I began thinking about <i>why </i>a particular monster or group of monsters might react a specific way, leading to this post. The DM uses the Monster Reaction Roll table as normal, then based on the result, rolls (or picks) on an additional table to indicate <i>why </i>the monsters are acting that way. The intent is to provide some role-playing fodder and generate news ideas so the monsters aren't just waiting for adventurers to come by and kill them.</p><p>A few notes about the Monster Reaction Table: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Most “monsters” will attack automatically unless intelligent and faced with an obviously superior force</li><li>The PC's Charisma modifier affects the roll, but you may also consider alignment (e.g., creatures and party are the same alignment, such as both Good or both Lawful = +1; alignment is one step removed, e.g., Lawful and Neutral = 0; and alignments are diametrically opposed, e.g., Lawful – Chaotic or Good-Evil, -1)</li><li>Bribes offered and fear may also affect the roll (+1 and -1, respectively)</li><li>The table only works if the PCs can communicate with the creatures to parlay and make offers</li><li>The sub-tables assume that most monsters are, in fact, bad and want to hurt the PCs, so even most friendly monsters have an ulterior motive that isn’t necessarily helpful</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>Let me know what you think, and how you have made rulings on the Monster Reaction Table for your games. </div><div><br /></div><div><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td colspan="2" style="background: black; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 211.25pt;" valign="top" width="282">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span face=""FuturaCon-Bol",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: FuturaCon-Bol; mso-themecolor: background1;">Monster
Reaction Roll<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 80.75pt;" valign="top" width="108">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span face=""FuturaCon-Bol",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: FuturaCon-Bol;">2d6 </span></b><b><span face=""FuturaCon-Bol",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: FuturaCon-Bol;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 130.5pt;" valign="top" width="174">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span face=""FuturaCon-Bol",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: FuturaCon-Bol;">Result</span></b><b><span face=""FuturaCon-Bol",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: FuturaCon-Bol;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 80.75pt;" valign="top" width="108">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""MinionPro-Regular",serif" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular; mso-hansi-font-family: MinionPro-Bold;">2 or less</span><span face=""FuturaCon-Bol",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: FuturaCon-Bol;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 130.5pt;" valign="top" width="174">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""MinionPro-Regular",serif" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular; mso-hansi-font-family: MinionPro-Bold;">Hostile, attacks</span><span face=""FuturaCon-Bol",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: FuturaCon-Bol;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 80.75pt;" valign="top" width="108">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""MinionPro-Regular",serif" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular; mso-hansi-font-family: MinionPro-Bold;">3–5</span><span face=""FuturaCon-Bol",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: FuturaCon-Bol;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 130.5pt;" valign="top" width="174">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""MinionPro-Regular",serif" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular; mso-hansi-font-family: MinionPro-Bold;">Unfriendly, may attack</span><span face=""FuturaCon-Bol",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: FuturaCon-Bol;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 80.75pt;" valign="top" width="108">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""MinionPro-Regular",serif" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular; mso-hansi-font-family: MinionPro-Bold;">6–8</span><span face=""FuturaCon-Bol",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: FuturaCon-Bol;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 130.5pt;" valign="top" width="174">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""MinionPro-Regular",serif" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular; mso-hansi-font-family: MinionPro-Bold;">Neutral, uncertain</span><span face=""FuturaCon-Bol",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: FuturaCon-Bol;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 80.75pt;" valign="top" width="108">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""MinionPro-Regular",serif" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular; mso-hansi-font-family: MinionPro-Bold;">9–11</span><span face=""FuturaCon-Bol",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: FuturaCon-Bol;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 130.5pt;" valign="top" width="174">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""MinionPro-Regular",serif" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular; mso-hansi-font-family: MinionPro-Bold;">Indifferent, uninterested</span><span face=""FuturaCon-Bol",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: FuturaCon-Bol;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 6; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 80.75pt;" valign="top" width="108">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""MinionPro-Regular",serif" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular; mso-hansi-font-family: MinionPro-Bold;">12 or more</span><span face=""FuturaCon-Bol",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: FuturaCon-Bol;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 130.5pt;" valign="top" width="174">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""MinionPro-Regular",serif" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular; mso-hansi-font-family: MinionPro-Bold;">Friendly, helpful</span><span face=""FuturaCon-Bol",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: FuturaCon-Bol;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Based on the result above, roll (or pick) on one of the following tables. Create your own entries and extend to the tables to D8, D10, D12 or D20! </div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr>
<td colspan="2" style="background: black; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 467.5pt;" valign="top" width="623">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: background1;">Hostile,
attacks</span></b><span style="color: white; mso-themecolor: background1;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 31.25pt;" valign="top" width="42">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>D6<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 436.25pt;" valign="top" width="582">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>Result<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 31.25pt;" valign="top" width="42">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 436.25pt;" valign="top" width="582">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">They’re just having a really bad
day (got yelled at, lost something, fighting with a friend or romantic
partner, stubbed their toe, etc.).</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 31.25pt;" valign="top" width="42">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">2<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 436.25pt;" valign="top" width="582">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">They’ve
confused the PCs for someone else.<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 31.25pt;" valign="top" width="42">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">3<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 436.25pt;" valign="top" width="582">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">They’re on some kind of drug
that increases aggression.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 31.25pt;" valign="top" width="42">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">4<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 436.25pt;" valign="top" width="582">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">They are
participating in a ritual of adulthood and are required to kill to complete
the ritual.<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 31.25pt;" valign="top" width="42">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">5<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 436.25pt;" valign="top" width="582">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">They’re being manipulated by
someone else to attack.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 31.25pt;" valign="top" width="42">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">6<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 436.25pt;" valign="top" width="582">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">They’re just
defending their territory, which has been shrinking lately due to other
predators.<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 31.25pt;" valign="top" width="42">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="color: #444444;">Possible ways to interact<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 436.25pt;" valign="top" width="582">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">Fight or flee! These guys are determined
to fight unless they fail an upcoming morale roll.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> </p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr>
<td colspan="2" style="background: black; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 467.5pt;" valign="top" width="623">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: background1;">Unfriendly,
may attack</span></b><span style="color: white; mso-themecolor: background1;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>D6<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>Result<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">They’re angry and hungry; food
might dissuade them.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">2<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">They’re angry
and poor; gold might dissuade them.<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">3<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">They’re grouchy because they got
stuck on guard duty (or some other menial task).</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">4<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">The PCs
shouldn’t be here; it’s sacred/territorial ground and they are trespassing.<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">5<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">They recently lost two of their
friends to greedy adventurers.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">6<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">They’re under
the influence of a spell or some kind of narcotic that makes them
antagonistic; normally they’re pretty cool.<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="color: #444444;">Possible ways to avoid attack<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">Substantial material good offers
(e.g., gold, treasure, food) accompanied by eloquent persuasion.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr>
<td colspan="2" style="background: black; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 467.5pt;" valign="top" width="623">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: background1;">Neutral,
uncertain</span></b><span style="color: white; mso-themecolor: background1;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>D6<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>Result<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">Adventurers come and go, and
these guys can’t be bothered.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">2<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">They’re bored
and don’t really care about the adventurers one way or the other.<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">3<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">One of the PCs reminds one of
the adversaries of someone, but not in a good way.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">4<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">The last time
they worked with adventurers, they got burned.<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">5<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">The monsters think the
adventurers look tough enough to take on the monsters’ rivals; maybe they’ll
destroy each other.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">6<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">The
adventurers have interrupted mealtime.<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="color: #444444;">Possible ways to avoid attack<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">Convince them you don’t want to
fight accompanied by something of value, which could include healing or
information instead of material goods.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr>
<td colspan="2" style="background: black; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 467.5pt;" valign="top" width="623">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: background1;">Indifferent,
uninterested</span></b><span style="color: white; mso-themecolor: background1;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>D6<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>Result<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">They’re in the middle of a game with
the winning move about to be decided.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">2<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">They’re in
the middle of an important performance (e.g., song, dance, poem; could be
religious).<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">3<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">They’re arguing or fighting
among themselves.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">4<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">It is mating
season. Enough said. <o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">5<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">They are with young/infants who
need tending.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">6<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">They’re
tired, sick, drugged, or hungover.<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="color: #444444;">Possible ways to interact<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">Just leave them alone to avoid
an attack, or offer them something of value to assist you.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr>
<td colspan="2" style="background: black; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 467.5pt;" valign="top" width="623">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: background1;">Friendly,
helpful</span></b><span style="color: white; mso-themecolor: background1;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>D6<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>Result<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">It’s an act; they want something.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">2<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">They’re
leading the PCs into a trap for easy pickings.<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">3<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">They think their leader will
reward them for bringing the PCs.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">4<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">They are
genuinely helpful, but it’s because they want the PCs to leave the area.<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">5<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">They’re empathetic; the PCs look
exhausted and hungry.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">6<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">They’ve been
trained to be helpful in order to set a good example for others.<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.75pt;" valign="top" width="72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="color: #444444;">Possible ways to interact<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(217, 217, 217); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 413.75pt;" valign="top" width="552">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;">Persuade them to provide aid or
information, have them act as guides, convince them to set up an audience
with their leader, etc. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><b>Hanging: </b>Home office (laptop)<br /><b>Drinking:</b> Eggnog<br /><b>Listening: </b>"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," by Duke Pearson, from the album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/2Px6XKffVuuPx6zaTEDwlx?si=w665EE3ETFiJR59k-4FKIA">Merry Ole Soul</a>" (1969). </o:p></p></div><p></p><div><br /></div><p></p>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-25606015589458381682021-11-15T16:10:00.001-08:002022-02-04T13:25:10.953-08:00RETURN TO THE GOBLIN CAVES: SESSION 10 RECAP OF MY BASIC D&D CAMPAIGN<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjwNJ7jhb8DDf2l0WXyR5bFE8Em9svDaPANqp_nqBBXi9AqndqqNWLVJMVGPV6fhPvx3idQEaa3Wh5aeN4LcxhpTsxnwrgtVFhPOYGA-f-PK5_KK6Uqtf30TgrRFM7acNHgVWDNtVz88dW/s2048/20211115_145935.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2029" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjwNJ7jhb8DDf2l0WXyR5bFE8Em9svDaPANqp_nqBBXi9AqndqqNWLVJMVGPV6fhPvx3idQEaa3Wh5aeN4LcxhpTsxnwrgtVFhPOYGA-f-PK5_KK6Uqtf30TgrRFM7acNHgVWDNtVz88dW/s320/20211115_145935.jpg" width="317" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some notes from my DM's Notebook <br />for this session</td></tr></tbody></table><br />We held the 10th session of the D&D campaign I'm running for my daughter and her friends (plus one dad) back on September 5th. This post is a recap of that session, and as I've done for the past few sessions, I asked one of the players to write the recap. This particular recap was written by the last player, "I," who has yet to write one, and <b>it's also very interesting as between the 9th and 10th session, "I" <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/09/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">chose to retire her first character</a> and create a new one. So, among other things, Session 10 served as the introduction of her new character, and she wrote the recap from her new character's perspective. </b></p><p>As a reminder, I'm using the <b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-did-it-all-start.html" target="_blank">1981 Moldvay Basic</a></b> rules for this game (aka "B/X"), but we game with the<b><i> Old School Essentials</i></b> set of this version of the rules, as they are easier to get and have better layout and include some fun additions such as the <i><b>Advanced Fantasy Genre Rules.</b></i> I've also incorporated a lot of rules and ideas from other games and supplements, particularly <b>Advantage/Disadvantage from 5E</b>, and I use <b>target numbers for tasks</b> modified by the PC's ability scores (rather than making traditional ability score checks from B/X), and I've grabbed a lot of ideas and rules from <b><i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDrbK6OG_Ic" target="_blank">Veins of the Earth</a></i></b> when they are exploring underground, as well as using a card-drawing mechanic while exploring (to simulate them not being able to see and getting lost and confused while underground) and a rock-paper-scissors chase mechanic I pulled from the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L15x2kd2Ww" target="_blank"><b><i>Neverland</i></b> Campaign Setting</a>. <br /><br />I, and my players in particular, <b>really appreciate any feedback you'd like to offer on the recaps.</b> With one exception (the dad player), there are all young 11 and 12 year-old girls who are busy with school and extra-curricular activities, so having to take time in between sessions to write the recap can be a challenge. I think it's good practice for them with their writing, which ultimately will help them with school. Also, it's really fun to see what each player focuses on. Some write a very linear "this happened, then that happened" summary, while others focus on what was important to their players. I really enjoyed "I's" recap, in particular because I thought it was a challenge to have to write it from the perspective of a brand new character to the group, and what that character thought, without relying on the player's past knowledge of things that this new character wouldn't know about. </p><p>First up is a short summary by me, followed by "I's" recap. </p><p>For more information on our previous adventures: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Influences:</b> Some of the <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/03/an-update-on-my-upcoming-weird-fantasy.html" target="_blank">Weird Fantasy Tropes</a> I'll be using in this campaign</li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/11/my-new-old-school-essentials-campaign.html" target="_blank">Sessions 0 and 1</a>:</b> Leaving the Village, the Bone Road & Capture by Goblins</li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/update-on-my-daughters-old-school.html" target="_blank">Session 3</a>:</b> Escape from the Goblin Caves</li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/04/old-school-essentials-campaign-session.html" target="_blank">Session 4</a>:</b> The Goblin Cave Exit and the Return to the Keep</li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Session 5</a>: </b>The Keep and the Creeper Lair</li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/06/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Session 6</a>:</b> The Creeper Lair, Part 2</li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/07/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Session 7</a>:</b> Conversations at the Keep</li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/08/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Session 8</a>:</b> Return to the Caves of Chaos</li><li><b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/09/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Session 9</a>:</b> The Orc Lair</li><li>Thoughts on <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/playing-d-with-tweens-part-1.html" target="_blank">Playing D&D with Tweens</a></li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p><b><u><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo1ctUiqMIplJ_eCSMzu-ixTvQR-5RJj0GTbOSqwnSceRqoaXXnA6TBI8gwQjFuKSww06owIfPH_cMBBawiXDM2Z1KLu8Gxwekks94jKMDU_X7q6WEDKQco6ZfvjZia2R133utYqJsXfqB/s2048/20211115_150042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo1ctUiqMIplJ_eCSMzu-ixTvQR-5RJj0GTbOSqwnSceRqoaXXnA6TBI8gwQjFuKSww06owIfPH_cMBBawiXDM2Z1KLu8Gxwekks94jKMDU_X7q6WEDKQco6ZfvjZia2R133utYqJsXfqB/s320/20211115_150042.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More planning notes from my DM's Notebook</td></tr></tbody></table><br />SESSION 10 SHORT RECAP</u></b> (by Martin)</p><p>Last session, the Company <b>negotiated a truce with the Orc Chief so he wouldn't kill them</b> (he was upset they killed his mutant guard dog & also realized he was surrounded). They chose to leave and go <b>back to the Goblin Caves</b> with the hope of finding <b>Olaf Von Munchberger</b> & his wife, <b>Therese</b>, who they heard were being held captive after the orc chief traded them to the goblins for hallucinogenic mushrooms.
Their companion <b>Alex the Thief ran back</b> to the Orc Chief to exact her revenge for him having killed their loyal retainer, Isentrud.<b> Alex was never seen again. </b></p><p>As the group moved through the ravine out of the caves, they came across a mysterious young woman clad in dark blue and black with a scar across her face and a blue bandana covering the bottom half of her face. She introduced herself as <b>Augustus Fletcher</b> and asked to join the company of Shadow Hunters, whom she had heard of back at the Keep. She felt she had skills to offer them, including sneaking, gambling, and getting information. After much discussion, the group allowed her to join. </p><p>The adventurers re-entered the Goblin Caves and negotiated the treacherous area, remembering their escape last time as they ran through areas of huge spider-webs and a narrow tunnel, where a few adventurers got caught and <b>had to drop some of their equipment</b>, including the tragic loss of five torches and a grappling hook. Four adventurers were adversely <b>affected by the hallucinogenic mushroom forest</b>, causing much distress and noise as they claimed to see or hear things that weren't there. They also found the remains of an <b>ancient Dwarven mine where a vein of moonstone was located. </b>The caves were in complete disarray and full of smoke, which the adventurers realized was <b>caused by the fire they started in the Goblin Alchemist's laboratory</b> last time. </p><p>Three goblins attacked them and threw bombs, one full of urine to blind them, one full of yellow mold to choke them, and one full of green slime to disintegrate their armor and shields. They also encountered <b>two different factions of goblins</b>, one of which had taken chemicals and powders from the burned laboratory and used it to color their hair and apply warpaint to their faces. These factions seemed to have arisen in the wake of the adventurers <b>destroying the delicate balance of power in the goblin society</b> on their last visit, including <b>stealing the huge maggot whom the goblins believed was their god, the "Great Grub."</b> They saw the former Shaman's body, hung in effigy after his failure to protect their god. </p><p>During a tense fight with some goblin guards, one of the goblins threw a sack of gold at a wall, which echoed with a loud thud, indicating the wall was hollow behind. <b>A huge creature emerged, which the adventurers later learned was called an "ogre."</b> Armed with two huge, rusty cleavers, the beast nearly bested the brave adventurers but they were eventually victorious, after which they finally found the goblin prison cells again along with Olaf and Therese, whose heads had oddly been shaven. </p><p>The adventurers rescued the two prisoners and made their way out of the caves and headed back to the Keep, needing to navigate the dangerous Bone Road at night. On the way back, the adventurers came across <b>a pair of manacles on the side of the road</b>. Obviously, whoever had been held in them had escaped. Later, <b>they spied a clutch of eggs</b>, each about the size of a mango. A cracking noise alerted them the eggs were beginning to hatch, and they decided to leave immediately, fearing the mother might be nearby, as they were already low on supplies and health. </p><p>They arrived at the Keep, but the gates were locked, being after sundown, so they camped nearby and awaited the dawn.</p><p><b><u><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuAe13FlTq5r1InTs2HkGPSWZauTSCm6Iibp7D0OQBkkhkemRlFkmbsFcZdsOrh342xAzJOBWIqj_wMnl7p0VlaMMKz-nRf8WupigB30zqW9skvHw9ziQwHPOWpvQlWVYE21PCsDMIv2Li/s1056/Age+of+Twilight+-+Session+10+-+Augustus%2527+Journal.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="816" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuAe13FlTq5r1InTs2HkGPSWZauTSCm6Iibp7D0OQBkkhkemRlFkmbsFcZdsOrh342xAzJOBWIqj_wMnl7p0VlaMMKz-nRf8WupigB30zqW9skvHw9ziQwHPOWpvQlWVYE21PCsDMIv2Li/s320/Age+of+Twilight+-+Session+10+-+Augustus%2527+Journal.png" width="247" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An example of the journal pages<br />I make for the players after they<br />send me their recaps</td></tr></tbody></table><br />FULL RECAP</u></b> (As Written by "I" in the voice of her character, Augustus Fletcher, the Thief)</p><p><b><i>Journal 1356</i></b></p><p><b><i>"New Acquaintances"</i></b></p><p>Following eight people without being seen in broad daylight is hard. Harder than you might think, especially with all of the dead leaves on the ground. Night was approaching, so I wouldn’t have to hide behind every tree in sight. I knew the way, so it wasn’t that hard to find my old footprints to walk on. Crunch. Oh no. They knew I was there. They walked a few steps and so did I. They stopped, I stopped. I was a bit late though. </p><p>“Who’s there! Make yourself known!" came a voice. </p><p>Wondering what to do, I didn’t move. It rang again, but a little higher pitched. </p><p>“Hello!” </p><p>I decided to step out of the shadows. </p><p>“Who are you and why are you here?” </p><p>The sudden question I was waiting for. </p><p>“I heard about you at the keep and sought to find you.” I answered. A subtle lie I usually saw through to the end. </p><p>“Then why were you hiding?” Said another voice. </p><p>I rolled my eyes, but they couldn’t see.
“It’s in my nature.” </p><p>We talked for a while. At some point I took off my mask to pretend like I trusted them. It worked. The older being, I think his name was Bartolo the Seeker, let me semi-temporarily join their group. They called themselves the Shadow Hunters. I wasn’t part of their group officially, but I was there for now. I didn’t know how I felt being part of a group, but there was loot involved, so I guess it’ll be fine. They started talking about a certain goblin cave that they were adventuring in, so I decided to join them. I learned the rest of their names. There were three elf cousins, Holly, Claira, and Cora. There was Bartolo and their hires, Ossana, Gruumsh, and Raddler. There was also a fighter named Greta. Wait, Greta? Did I hear that right? Isn’t she wanted in about every keep around the area? I didn’t ask though; they might find out about me. I reluctantly told them my name and we were off. Bartolo, Gruumsh, and Cora went first. </p><p>The pile of bones that they jumped onto collapsed. That was the goblins’ way of trapping their attackers. I hopped down with ease and chuckled. We kept walking for a bit, and we came to a gap in the wall. We started walking through, but Clara and Bartolo got stuck. They let go of some items and we kept walking until we stopped at a large pit. There appeared to be no way across or around. I found a rock on the floor and threw it into the pit. It took about a second to hit the floor. I climbed down into the pit and climbed back up the other side. I looked around and found an opening in the rock on one side of the pit. I walked through and came out the other side. </p><p>“Was that there before?” Claira asked. </p><p>I shrugged and they walked on. Once we got to the other side, we decided to make torch arrangements. I had my fair share of torches, so I lit one and gave it to Ossana. She looked terrified. I felt a bit bad, but crossbows can't aim themselves. We walked for a bit and ended up in a musty room. A smoky, earthy smell filled the air as we walked in. The scenery in what looked like an underground terrarium was interesting to say the least. There were mushrooms growing all over the floors and on the walls. The farther we walked through the room, the stronger the smell was. At least for me. Tiny people? Tiny rooms? Am I this tall? I walked through the room. </p><p>I blinked. We were walking towards some kind of dark forest. It was a bit hard to navigate the solid pillars in pitch black with a weak torch. We were moving slowly, but everyone seemed to have recovered from the hallucinations. Suddenly, I heard a faint noise in the distance. It sounded like someone was in pain. Bartolo seemed to be interested in the noise, so we followed him. Bartolo stopped quickly but Holly and Claira kept walking. </p><p>“Watch out!” Bartolo whispered. Holly and Clara couldn’t hear him. Their footsteps stopped. They were stuck in a giant spider web. </p><p>Cora said in a worried tone, ”Oh, no.” I was confused, so I waited for them to finish dropping their items and we walked on. </p><p>We walked until we found a door. Behind the door seemed to be where the noise was coming from. Bartolo stepped forward and opened the door. Eight goblins turned their heads to look at us. They start running toward us. As Holly took out a longsword, I took out my dagger, ran behind one of the goblins, and stabbed it. I pulled out my dagger and saw a larger goblin pick up a small pouch and run right through a wall. We walked toward where the ogre disappeared. In a flash, he hit Gretta. I moved away from the fighting and let the others finish him off. Something felt a bit wrong about the room’s flooring. I checked under the bear rug in the middle of the room. An ivory wand sat on the cold stone ground. Cora seemed to be interested in it, so I gave it to her. </p><p>After that, we walked again for a while until the smoky smell came back. We rounded a corner to find a charred, old looking lab with two goblins waiting there. They had multiple bottles in their hands with strange different colored substances in them. As soon as we entered the room, one of the goblins threw a glass bottle at Bartolo. Yellow gas came out, but it didn’t seem to affect anything. Another bottle was thrown at Holly. A yellow liquid splashed out. Nothing changed either. This time, I got hit with a bright green liquid. Unlike the two other concoctions, this one was acid. I quickly took off my bow before it burned anything else. </p><p>We destroyed the last two goblins and started walking to a room that everyone else wanted to investigate. We found the room and started rummaging through the items. After the others found souvenirs, we traveled toward another unfamiliar passage. We arrived at the destination. A damp, stone dungeon. </p><p>We heard a raspy and tired voice begging to let them out. There were two people in the cell, both looking extremely weak. The man gave their names and the group seemed to recognize the name. They must have respected the people because they decided to carry them all the way to the Keep. We started to head back to the exit.
We got to the exit and hopped out. We started heading back in the middle of the night on the Bone Road to the Keep. We decided that we needed to sleep right outside the gates in order to be safe. As we were walking, a shining object in the distance caught my eye. A pair of shackles lay open on the ground… </p><p><b><i>-To be continued-<br /></i></b><br />------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>That's the end of this session's recap. I hope you all enjoyed it. Again, I appreciate any comments I can share with these young players about the way they write their recaps. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Hanging:</b> Home office<br /><b>Drinking: </b>Tap water<br /><b>Listening: </b>"Slowly" by Max Sledgley, from the album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/22NT7us8z9ykigIg07cAdy?si=dsi7duD8RL20EG4JSqlUzQ" target="_blank">From the Roots to the Shoots</a>"</p>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-6253091873113753292021-09-02T11:23:00.003-07:002021-09-02T11:23:50.065-07:00GUEST POST: OLD SCHOOL ESSENTIALS CAMPAIGN: SESSION 9 (MY DAUGHTER'S CAMPAIGN)<p>Recapping the 1981 Moldvay Basic (aka "B/X") D&D campaign I'm running for my daughter, using a combination of <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-did-it-all-start.html" target="_blank">my original boxed set</a> from back in the day along with the newer <b><i>Old School Essentials</i></b> rules set continues with this last installment, written by one of the players. I'll call her "H" and she is one of the last two remaining players who have yet to write a recap. <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/08/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Last month's recap</a> was written by the only other adult in the group (besides me). </p><p>It's always fun for me to see the different styles of how the players write, and what they choose to focus on. In this particular case, the session was almost all combat along with some pursuit of a fleeing, bleeding monster. So, this particular recap focuses a lot on "who hit whom" and what happened as a result of those actions. </p><p>"H" plays <b>Claira Boba, the Elf</b>, one of the cousins of <b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Holly Short</a></b> and <b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/07/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Cora Netflix</a></b> (my daughter's character). These three girls all decided when making their characters to have them all be cousins from the same village, Wibbleville. Shortly after the session, "H" sent me an email asking me if she could use the name of the monsters they fought (orcs), because I kept accidentally using that name during the session but then would remind them that their characters don't know what those creatures are. However, I told her that one of their retainers, the gruff and direct Gruumsch the Dwarf, could tell them that his Dwarven people refer to the creatures as "orcs," which in their language means "warriors of the dead god." I just made that up on the spot, but I thought it sounded suitably cool and evocative. From a world-building standpoint, it started to help me define the role of orcs in my campaign. I came up with this by reading the etymology of the word" orc" online. Interestingly, I found two very different origins in terms of the original language (one claimed it came from the Greek word "orkos" which means oaths) and one claimed it came from the Anglo-Saxon word "orc-nea" meaning monster or demon). Both definitions eventually pointed back to the Roman god Orcus (related to the Greek god Hades), the god of oaths and the dead. So, I just took "god of the dead" and reversed that to "the dead god." It'll be interesting to see how that plays into the culture of the orcs in the campaign moving forward. </p><p>As always with the other recaps I've shared, <b>I would really appreciate any feedback and comments you'd like to offer so I can share them with the young 12 year-old girl who wrote this recap.</b> The kids especially get a lot of happiness and encouragement from hearing what people have to say about their writing. </p><p>I particularly liked "H"'s detailed descriptions of the combat, which helps the reader to picture what was really happening. She also included some comments on what her character thought or how she perceived what was going on. You'll also see something unexpected happens at the very end of the session based on the actions of one of the players. </p><p>This session's adventures took place in <b>Cave B</b> of the Caves of Chaos in <b><i>B2: Keep on the Borderlands</i></b>, which I've modified some based on the excellent "Caves of Carnage" series of videos on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD6ERRdXrF2IZ0R888G8PQg" target="_blank">DungeonCraft YouTube Channel</a>. </p><p>For more information on our previous adventures: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Influences: Some of the <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/03/an-update-on-my-upcoming-weird-fantasy.html" target="_blank">Weird Fantasy tropes</a> I'm adding to the campaign</li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/11/my-new-old-school-essentials-campaign.html" target="_blank">Session 0 and Session 1</a>, including what I learned and decided to change after our first game</li><li>Our <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/update-on-my-daughters-old-school.html" target="_blank">Third Session</a> (I never posted the recap I did for our second session)</li><li>Our <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/04/old-school-essentials-campaign-session.html" target="_blank">Fourth Session</a></li><li>Our <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Fifth Session</a></li><li>Our <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/06/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Sixth Session</a></li><li>Our <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/07/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Seventh Session</a></li><li>Our <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/08/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Eighth Session</a></li><li>General Notes on <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/playing-d-with-tweens-part-1.html" target="_blank">Playing D&D with Tweens</a></li></ul><div><br /></div><div>First up, a quick summary of the session by me. Then, H's full recap. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><u><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBWCLrIoxS_vYDO0j8FInJD5rbKPmHEriNVg3i90k7BOkG71s460afq_WIXJXCnR2fhvP1s4JniFx0Sn4I59mLqob4NUKun6dC6qz6dsjOIzd9sjn6mDcjuwKy47TEoG4w1c_oItQaPdXp/s2048/Session+9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1650" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBWCLrIoxS_vYDO0j8FInJD5rbKPmHEriNVg3i90k7BOkG71s460afq_WIXJXCnR2fhvP1s4JniFx0Sn4I59mLqob4NUKun6dC6qz6dsjOIzd9sjn6mDcjuwKy47TEoG4w1c_oItQaPdXp/s320/Session+9.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>A page from my DM Notebook</b><br />The plans for this session. You can <br />see I had a flowchart with 3 possible<br />outcomes just so I could be prepared.<br />The players ended up choosing the<br />left-path, but now I have the other<br />ones ready for the future.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />SESSION 9 SHORT RECAP</u></b> (by Martin)</div><div><br /></div><div>The company stood in front of a huge wall of severed, decaying heads. One was green and looked "fresh." Later, Alex and Bartolo noticed the green head was gone, and a decaying goblin head was in its place. Undeterred, they moved toward the noise they heard coming from down the right passage. Making their way through the dark, they came to a door which they opened, immediately finding themselves in a fight with four large, green-skinned, muscle-bound warriors, each with one broken tusk/fang and a lot of tattoos, who chanted a war cry in unison as they attacked. </div><div><br /></div><div>The fighting was furious, but luck was on the side of the company, including a few very well placed hits (<i>a natural 20 on my daughter's "YEET!" die!</i>). The Shadow Hunters seemed on the verge of victory when a loud cry behind them indicated the arrival of four more of the creatures (<i>I had rolled a D4 "Timer Die" to indicate when "something bad will happen at that time</i>), looking to trap them. Bartolo had already healed Claira the Elf with a magical cure spell, but in so doing, was out of divine magic to save the life of Raddax the Red, a stalwart retainer of the company, who was felled by one of the creature's wicked looking blades. </div><div><br /></div><div>After a few more seconds of viscious fighting, the last creature, bleeding profusely, ran away (<i>he failed his morale roll</i>). The company wrapped Raddax's body and Bartolo the Seeker performed the funeral rites of the Thrice-Great Kule, despite knowing that Raddax followed the rival faith of the Great Church. Bartolo felt sure the Thrice-Great Kule would still bestow traveling mercies upon their fallen comrade. </div><div><br /></div><div>With this act completed, the Shadow Hunters began to follow the bloody trail of the creature that led deeper into the caves, eventually coming to a T-shaped end, with the choice to go left or right. The blood trail went to the left, but a very spirited discussion erupted among the members of the company as to which way they should go. The group wishing to follow the blood trail won the disagreement, and the company headed to the left, where they encountered a huge version of the same creatures they had been fighting, emerging from a small cave where the blood trail disappeared, and who caused the ground to vibrate every time he swung and missed with his giant sword. He also seemed to heal some of his wounds every time he struck one of the company with his blade. He had been warned of the company's incursion by a huge dog/wolf hybrid who furiously attacked the members of the company, eventually biting and latching onto Cora's leg. </div><div><br /></div><div>Holly was blinded by a foul magic spell cast by some kind of cloaked witch who also had what appeared to be iron finger-nails. The company succeeded in killing her, but as they did, loud shrieks erupted from the back of the small cave and another cloaked figure, looking almost identical to the first, appeared and attacked. She cast the same blinding spell at Bartolo, effectively removing him from the combat. Cora and Claira struck down the mutant dog creature and the second witch, but upon killing the dog, the huge leader creature bellowed out a mournful cry and then cut poor Isentrud, another of the company's retainers, in half. However, at this point, the leader realized he was surrounded, and his dog and two witches were dead. The creature who had led the company here by his blood trail, was nowhere to be seen. </div><div><br /></div><div>The leader lowered his sword and began to speak in a very choppy version of Common, mentioning he was <b>Rulkin the Blooded</b>, chief of the <b>Broken Fang Tribe</b>, and demanded to know why the intruders had killed his dog. He also mentioned that his tribe had been so much better off before he led them to these caves, and that terrible things had befallen them since coming here. During their conversation, the company learned that Rulkin had captured some humans, whom he had traded to the goblins in one of the adjacent caves. The Shadow Hunters could hear the shouts and cries of more of the creatures coming, so they made a deal with Rulkin that they would leave him along and never return as long as he called off his warriors. </div><div><br /></div><div>Bartolo recovered from his blindness and quickly performed funeral rites for Isentrud, and then the Company left, with the intent of returning to the goblin caves to find the human captives, one of whom they believed was Olaf von Munchberger. </div><div><br /></div><div>However, as they began making their way out of the caves, Alex grabbed a torch and ran back alone in the direction of Rulkin, intent on getting revenge for the death of Isentrud. The company called after her, trying to talk her out of her impulse actions, but Alex ran forward undeterred and disappeared into the darkness of the caves. The rest of the company continued toward the exit to honor their deal with Rulkin, who had spared their lives in return for them leaving his home... </div><div><br /></div><div><b><u><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5JWtNoQJ88D1cibgESTmIIfmwV5Z6XFylDjL3raGKViYU92tPf1PZDDYO5e3mc5Oh3s8jHk5U_ep5uknU_ixw3aBKd68VP4STxPxzZ7DhO32rEzGgb0eTg0sGotwB-Z5U3GUrCxArqcyz/s1422/Session+9+Pages+1-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="1422" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5JWtNoQJ88D1cibgESTmIIfmwV5Z6XFylDjL3raGKViYU92tPf1PZDDYO5e3mc5Oh3s8jHk5U_ep5uknU_ixw3aBKd68VP4STxPxzZ7DhO32rEzGgb0eTg0sGotwB-Z5U3GUrCxArqcyz/s320/Session+9+Pages+1-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A sample of how I copied H's recap into a fun<br />template to make it look like a vintage journal.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />FULL RECAP</u></b> (as written by "H" in the character of Claira Boba, the Elf) </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <b><i>The Journal of Claira</i></b> </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i> Treeday, the 24th Day of Redleaf </i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Walking from the wall of heads, Bartolo notices that the green head from earlier was replaced with a goblin head, and looked like it was starting to decay, unlike the other green head. As we walk forward, we turn to the right, we can hear yelling, throwing, and crashing. As we wander to the right the smell changes from a poop smell to a body odor smell. </div><div><br /></div><div>We approach a door, Cora and Holly try to listen but don’t hear anything. So, Greta opens the door and there are these very muscular green armed giants waiting for us, as if they knew we were here. As they are attacking, they are chanting like they are cursing us. They all try to hit but all miss us, so I draw back and shoot with my crossbow but miss. Bartolo swings his war hammer and hits one of the green guys, but he just swallows the hit like it's nothing. Cora takes a big hit and slices his neck and kills him, Greta stabs it, but he just pulls the spear out like it was nothing, meanwhile bleeding out. Alex hides in shadows and just disappears, Holly stabs one, and he falls to the ground dead. Gruumsch walks up, swings his axe and almost cuts these things in half. Raddax stabs another one, but does nothing, now we have 3 down and 1 still up, and in the distance, we can hear more creatures running in our direction while doing that same chant. But out of nowhere the last one standing hits Raddax and he falls and eventually dies. </div><div><br /></div><div>Now the other creatures that were running are now here, one hits me, and I now am severely wounded. I cast my shield spell in trying to protect myself. At the same time Cora kills another one, Alex shoots her crossbow from the shadow, hits the creature’s eye and he falls to his death. Holly hits but the creature is now just bleeding. Gruumsch tries to hit another like before but misses. Isentrud hits but doesn't hurt it very much, and Osana misses. Bartolo casts a cure light wounds spell, and heals me, Cora again kills another creature. The last one standing runs off, as he is running, we notice that he looks a lot like the green head from earlier, but it could just be that they all look really similar. </div><div><br /></div><div>Now walking forward from the fight, we see lots of the same straw bedding in other rooms, in those same rooms we can see there is metal armor and weapons. Now we are moving back toward the heads. As we move, we can smell something like smoked meat and rotting veggies, we can hear a crackling fire and bubbling liquid and we can see a light glow. Alex sneaks ahead, she walks in a dining hall and goes into the kitchen and sees a trail of blood going to the right. After Alex had told us what she saw we all headed into the kitchen following the blood trail. </div><div><br /></div><div>Following the trail, we see it moves off to the left, and we still follow it. As we move to the left, we can hear growling and barking very loudly, and we see a dog that looks like a dog-wolf mix. It starts to attack us, it first lunges at Bartolo but completely misses him, Cora gets bit and thrashed around. Holly gets blinded by a cloaked woman. Now there is another creature, but this time he is huge! Whenever he takes a step the ground shakes. I attack and shoot him in the shoulder, but he just breaks the bolt in half while still in his arm. Greta hits the dog, and it lets go of Cora. Isentrud also hits the dog, and it gets really injured. The big creature tries to hit but misses. </div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile in the other room where the cloaked lady is, she tries to claw Cora but misses. The big guy hits Isentrud and she collapses to her death. Greta tries to hit but completely misses with her spear, Alex tries to hide in the shadows, but fails. Gruumsch hits the big guy, and Raddler also hits. In the distance we can hear others running in our direction. But after, the big guy starts talking to us in Common, he introduces himself as Rulkin the Blooded. We ask him if he has seen other humans around, he says, “Yes, I have traded them to the goblins.” We all make an agreement that we (the Shadow Hunters) will never come in this cave again and the creatures will not kill us. So, all of us are walking out, and we see Alex run off with a torch, and that's all we see of her. As we walked out of the cave we started to think on our next move, and we decided to go to the Goblin Caves once again. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>TO BE CONTINUED IN THE GOBLIN CAVES</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br /></div><div>That's the end of the recap. I hope you all enjoyed reading about the further adventures of this fun group of players! </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hanging:</b> Home office (laptop)</div><div><b>Drinking:</b> Black coffee (Italian Roast)</div><div><b>Listening:</b> "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye, from the album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/2v6ANhWhZBUKkg6pJJBs3B?si=wEhFPnYYTD68pZvLfgZjfw&dl_branch=1" target="_blank">What's Going On</a>" (1971) </div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-88274109229818230062021-08-12T11:18:00.004-07:002021-11-12T11:58:07.424-08:00Guest Post: OLD SCHOOL ESSENTIALS CAMPAIGN: SESSION 8 (MY DAUGHTER'S CAMPAIGN)<p>As readers know, I've begun asking the players in the D&D game I run for my daughter (using the <b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-did-it-all-start.html" target="_blank">1981 Moldvay Basic rules</a></b>, which I still have from when I learned to play, supplemented by the excellent <b><i>Old School Essentials</i></b>) to write the recaps after our sessions. Our last session was held back on July 12th, just a few days after my daughter's 12th birthday. This time, the only adult player in the group, John (the dad of my daughter's best friend dating back to when they were infants at daycare together) offered to write the recap instead of one of the younger players. I happily accepted his offer, as did the two remaining younger players who have not yet had the chance to write the recap (and whom appear to be stalling for who can be last...).</p><p>Due to the circumstances of our daughters growing up together at the same daycare and preschool, and being in Girl Scouts together, I've become friends with John and his wife. John is part of <b><a href="http://cocktailcadre.com/" target="_blank">Cocktail Cadre</a></b>, a blog and social media presence we created with another of our friends to showcase our amateur cocktail creations and techniques, and he also joins us on our Record Store Day quests every year, and at Free Comic Book Day at my local shop. <b>John is an archaeologist by trade</b>, which has a fun impact on the way he wrote his recap. </p><p>John plays a cleric in our game, <b>Bartolo the Seeker, Acolyte of the Thrice-Great Kule</b>. In John's role as an archaeologist, he has discovered and studied a variety letters that were written by Spanish missionaries in California who frequently reported on their accomplishments to their church superiors back in the Old World. It was because of these letters that John knew there was a rudimentary mail service pre-dating what most people think of when it comes professional mail carriers, at least here in the U.S. (the Pony Express). He used them as inspiration for writing his recap, under the pretext that Bartolo is required to report on his adventures to his superior in his faith. I loved this idea, and <b>John really got into character building with his recap.</b> As a DM, I now have a much better idea of how Bartolo views the world, his fellow adventurers, and their various missions. We did have to make a few concessions for this style of report; as you'll see, the adventurers had just re-entered the caves at the tail-end of our last session, so technically there would not have have been any opportunity for Bartolo to stop, write the letter, and have it sent off. But, I overlooked that in the spirit of the game and figured if something dreadful happens and Bartolo dies, we can decide that he'd dictated this to one of his companions before passing away. </p><p><b>As with the other recaps I've shared, I'd appreciate any feedback you have to offer. While John is an adult and doesn't need the complements that my younger players crave, I'm sure he'd appreciate your thoughts.</b> </p><p>A few things John did that I really liked were <b>including some world-building comments that didn't come from me</b>, such as his opening about an undead plague in the city-state of Venoa. I've not mentioned that, <b>but now that it's part of the recap, it means it happened. </b>Time will tell if it has any impact on the adventurers. </p><p>Another thing John did, inspired by my post on <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/making-characters-weird-clerics.html" target="_blank"><b>Weird Cleric Ideas</b></a> was to pick a day each week that he wouldn't adventure (for prayer), a food he won't eat, and some superstitions (which included a day he considers unlucky). I like that John is really getting into the idea of what it's like to be a cleric, instead of just being a walking medic for the group. </p><p>One last thing that cracked me up was John mentioning that <b>his superior is "Brother Thelonious"</b> which he used because he was drinking <a href="https://northcoastbrewing.com/beers/year-round-beers/brother-thelonious-belgian-style-abbey-ale/" target="_blank">a Belgian Style Abbey Ale</a> named, you guessed it, Brother Thelonious (and named after the famous jazz pianist, Thelonious Monk). John and I are craft beer buddies (John even brews his own!), so I found this little aside quite amusing.</p><p>As a reminder, we're going through the old-school module <b>B2: Keep on the Borderlands</b>, which I have modified a bit using inspiration from the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD6ERRdXrF2IZ0R888G8PQg" target="_blank"><b>DungeonCraft YouTube Channel's</b></a> "Caves of Carnage" campaign, and also various blogs and message boards I found online, such as <a href="https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/my-notes-on-running-the-keep-on-the-borderlands.745381/" target="_blank"><b>My Notes on Running Keep on the Borderlands</b></a> by Necro on RPG Net.</p><p>For information on our previous adventures: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Influences: Some of the <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/03/an-update-on-my-upcoming-weird-fantasy.html" target="_blank">Weird Fantasy tropes</a> I'm adding to the campaign</li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/11/my-new-old-school-essentials-campaign.html" target="_blank">Session 0 and Session 1</a>, including what I learned and decided to change after our first game</li><li>Our <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/update-on-my-daughters-old-school.html" target="_blank">Third Session</a> (I never posted the recap I did for our second session)</li><li>Our <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/04/old-school-essentials-campaign-session.html" target="_blank">Fourth Session</a></li><li>Our <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Fifth Session</a></li><li>Our <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/06/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Sixth Session</a></li><li>Our <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/07/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Seventh Session</a></li><li>General Notes on <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/playing-d-with-tweens-part-1.html" target="_blank">Playing D&D with Tweens</a></li></ul><div>First up, a quick summary of the session by me. Then, John's full recap. </div><div><br /></div><div><b style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8yasGJzVGJBmfH8jOWOKCLAM1SaCewAfzXVySgqL3PInFPazadrFNea-Pe-xaexr_436WtxeayIkDsTZYIqnhhX7yZSRGzmMrhVbkQLEvLoScOtuy8MeQzYAS_eQ8gWol1E9u2N_6JwkJ/s2048/20210812_105944.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1639" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8yasGJzVGJBmfH8jOWOKCLAM1SaCewAfzXVySgqL3PInFPazadrFNea-Pe-xaexr_436WtxeayIkDsTZYIqnhhX7yZSRGzmMrhVbkQLEvLoScOtuy8MeQzYAS_eQ8gWol1E9u2N_6JwkJ/s320/20210812_105944.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A page from my DM's Notebook <br />for this session</td></tr></tbody></table><br />SESSION 8 SHORT RECAP</b> (by Martin)</div><div>The adventurers once again spent much of the morning talking with the guests at the Greased Goat Tavern. Gustav made sure they had food and drink. Some in the group looked at the updated message board to see if any new jobs or information had been posted. Alex, as usual, had a private conversation with Scabs, and the others heard some more local gossip, including that the Castellan was a former adventurer of some renown but had a falling out with Baron Grimmig, resulting in his exile to this remote bastion on the borderlands. It is said that the witch was one of the Castellan's adventuring companions but that they two hadn't spoken in years, despite both living in the Keep. The news on everyone's lips, however, was that the young daughter of the Castellan, Rowena, had been betrothed to none other than the son of Baron von Hammerstein of Lower Oldenstein, an adversary of Baron Grimmig of Five Towns. </div><div><br /></div><div>One new retainer was hired, a gruff and boastful dwarf named Gruumsh, who referred to himself in the third person and was curious why Bartolo adventured with, as he put it, "women and children." The others in the group did not take kindly to this and two of the slight elf girls, Cora and Holly, challenged Gruumsh to an arm-wrestling match. Not one to back down to the fey creatures, Gruumsh accepted but was handily beaten. Accepting his defeat, he agreed to lower his rate "for one mission only." </div><div><br /></div><div>Ulrich von Munchberger called upon Clara, whom he had decided was the leader of the Shadow Hunters, and bid her to make good on their promise to find his brother, lost on the Bone Road and presumably a captive somewhere in the Caves of Chaos. Clara deftly managed to explain that they would leave on Tree Day, two days after, as they were "busy" on Moonday. In reality, Bartolo the Seeker refuses to travel on Moonday, as it is the holy day of his faith and he planned to spend the day in prayer and meditation. </div><div><br /></div><div>At last Treeday arrived and the adventurers set out for the Caves. Despite ill weather hampering their travels, they arrived and chose to investigate a cave on one of the middle levels of the ravine. Inside was a huge tableaux built into the wall, in which the severed heads of various creatures (humans, dwarves, halflings, goblins, and other things) were placed as a warning. Shocked, but undeterred, the adventurers chose to continue on and began making preparations to head further into the caves... </div><div><br /></div><div><b><u><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtV-aBO80yCF9kuZ54miY8rum6uc_4KeMXsH1TxbzeQx9oNgwW-dtxzb19x9tZYRBlxL9o34VIcnzm2oLKlRDoRh2n1THKBwlEXdnQ9xlnpyPpoP3cp5ynzeWun8AB7moiLwZMcRQyig8K/s1431/Session+8+Pages+1-2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1431" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtV-aBO80yCF9kuZ54miY8rum6uc_4KeMXsH1TxbzeQx9oNgwW-dtxzb19x9tZYRBlxL9o34VIcnzm2oLKlRDoRh2n1THKBwlEXdnQ9xlnpyPpoP3cp5ynzeWun8AB7moiLwZMcRQyig8K/s320/Session+8+Pages+1-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />FULL RECAP</u></b> (As written by John in the character of Bartolo the Seeker)</div><div><br /></div><p></p><b><i>Treeday, the 24th day of Redleaf</i></b> <div><br /></div><div>Very Reverend Father Thelonius, my Brother in Mystery, </div><div><br /></div><div>Hail His Exalted Godhead, the Thrice Great Kule! </div><div><br /></div><div>It was with great joy that I received your last letter to know that still you live, and my heart swelled with pride to hear of your successful turning of the foul undead that troubled the proud City-state of Venoa, where you have labored these long years to bring the light of Kule to the populace. Verily many souls were preserved on that great day, and praise be to the Thrice Great Kule for giving you but a fraction of his strength! </div><div><br /></div><div>Mine own adventure continues, and I have much to relate to you. It is my earnest hope that this letter gives you the courage to sustain your holy mission, as your missives have done for me. I pray that this news finds you hale and growing in his glorious mysteries. </div><div><br /></div><div>My fellow Shadow Hunters and I spent Soulday in the Keep at the Borderlands in the Province of Stadhof, in the Barony of the Five Towns. We gained much knowledge this day about the inhabitants of this lonely bastion in the wilderness. In the tavern, we heard tell that the castellan of this keep used to be an adventurer himself, and a revered war hero as well. He reportedly had a quarrel with the Baron Grimmig and was sent to live out his days on the edge of the known world at this very keep. The besotted tavern urchin who shared this news went further in describing the castellan’s adventuring days, saying that he was a guildmate of the very witch who lives beyond the keep’s walls, with whom my beloved elven friends seek to become apprenticed in magic. This poor woman today is rumored to be so hideous in aspect that men who have the misfortune of gazing upon her turn to stone! Surely she has befallen victim to a curse of the gravest nature, and mayhap the blessings of his Tripled Greatness will reverse her fate someday. Rounding out the rumors we heard in the Greased Goat was a story telling of the engagement of the castellan’s fair daughter to the son of none other than his liege baron’s mortal enemy, the Baron von Hammerstein of Lower Oldenstein. Such a union between these two households would no doubt drive a further wedge between the castellan and the favor of Baron Grimmig. Perhaps he intends to shift his loyalties entirely? Kule only knows what will come to pass, but his faithful servant can only hope that this reported rift does not lead to war. </div><div><br /></div><div>In happier news, I was pleased to learn, as we continued to mingle among the folk of the keep, that the fame of the Shadow Hunters as righteous adventurers grows. Our reputation as bold and successful miners of truth and treasure has enabled us to bring more followers into the fold of our band, including a dwarven fellow from the east known as Gruumsh. With a colorful shock of hair atop his head, a braided beard, and a stoutness of build that would be the envy of a centuries-old oak, this compact combatant for hire was in the Goat seeking gainful employment to sharpen his axe against the bones of those who would oppose him. Turning our negotiation over wages into a feat of strength, our party challenged the wee warrior to an arm wrestle—his fit forearms against two of our dear elves, Cora and Holly. While I have always held Soulday to be unlucky, Kule’s fortune was with us this day, and the fey friends won the contest, while I gained a more fearsome servant than I have in Eisentrude, who is already in my service. With these retainers by my side, I have every confidence that we will have continued success in our quest to unlock the mysteries of these lands and smite the enemies of 3xG Kule. </div><div><br /></div><div>We spent the rest of the day engaging in commerce, selling the curiosities collected in the cannibal caves to a collector they call Conrad, and purchasing provisions for the journeys to come from Hans Muller. Speaking of those cursed cannibals, Elf Clara of our party, who they mistook for our leader, was threatened by one Ulrich von Munchburger that if our party could not find his missing brother, Olaf, in three days, he would blame and punish her directly. Kule help us find this lost soul. </div><div><br /></div><div>Our party learned from Friar Tublo Gorstowd of the Great (fah!) Church, who continues to smugly hold court among the easily impressed commoners in the tavern, that Brother Malleus of that same church resides in the center of the keep. Knowing from the posted notices that he was seeking information on a strange symbol resembling an eye and hoping that he would pay handsomely for this information, which we possess, our party sought him out. The keep’s center is well guarded by 24 soldiers, led by the captain of the guard, and protected by a sturdy gate manned by the sergeant at arms. We left a message for Malleus. It is my hope that these close interactions with that thrice-damned church, which I detest to my core, do not draw unwanted attention upon our holy adventures. I would not want that unholy institution to meddle in my mission once again. While we have right on our side, we are well and truly outnumbered, and I dread the thought of open conflict. </div><div><br /></div><div>On Moonday we rested, and I observed the holy rites. Spending the day in meditation and in commune with my ancestors, I pray that Kule will accept my offering of wine and burnt flesh and thrice bless me with knowledge, courage, and righteousness. </div><div><br /></div><div>On Treeday we ventured forth from the keep once more, gathering our arms and companions and setting out on the cursed Bone Road to the Caves of Chaos. What an awful day met us! The cold, clouds, wind, and rain depressed our spirits and made us weary ere our adventure had truly begun. Companion Alexandra sighted a majestic elk with glittering antlers, which Gruumsh proclaimed to be an omen of good fortune. Kule knows not what magic walked beside us that day, but I did notice a certain new boldness to Alex. Though she clings to the shadows like a cub does to its mother, I continue to hold hope that I will one day bring her to walk in the light our faith, brother. </div><div><br /></div><div> At long last we reentered the ravine that hosts the mouths of the caves that we have spent these past weeks exploring. That entry march carried the sensation of walking into an open grave, and it was difficult to remain focused on the object of my exploration—additional sources of moon rocks and the mysteries that they alone can reveal. We entered a lower cave in the center of that grim gallery, and our senses were instantly assaulted by the foulest sights and odors. The reek of rotting decay and the offending odor of offal gave warning that death walked that corridor. As if to confirm that warning, the entryway of that cavern was decorated with severed heads of humans, elves, dwarves, goblins, and halflings. What terrible fiend had assembled the flesh-covered skulls of the fallen in such a gruesome and unholy way? Among this row of ghastly trophies was the head of a creature that I did not recognize, for many are the mysteries yet to be revealed. It was pale green, with pointy ears, and its teeth were formed into fangs. I knew well that it was not a member of the cursed undead, but to what class of being it belongs, I could not fathom. </div><div><br /></div><div>We were faced with a choice from the moment of entry, as the cave immediately forked into east and west branches. Alexandra threw a stone to check for ensnarements and discovered none. Our other senses providing no useful differentiation, we chose to rely on the elves’ keen hearing to divine the proper path for our Shadow Hunters. The eastern route resonated with the stillness of a tomb, and the empty promises of death itself. The west, in contrast, stirred with a faraway din of uncertain origin. We knew not the source of this sound, but the party favored this route over the wretchedly silent alternative, for where there is sound, there is life. And where there is life, there may be answers for those who seek them! Onward, for His glory! </div><div><br /></div><div>Kissing the hand of Your Reverence, </div><div><br /></div><div><i>Acolyte Bartolo, First Seeker of his Name, and Keeper of the Faith </i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Glory to His Greatness! Glory to His Greatness! All Glory to His Greatness, the Mighty Kule!</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br /></div><div>That's the end of the recap. Hope you all enjoyed it!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hanging: </b>Home office (laptop)</div><div><b>Drinking:</b> Tap water</div><div><b>Listening: </b>"Harlem River Drive" by Bobbi Humphrey, from the album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/3qCbEDmne9t6hDBFRVQ6fK?si=ZnivkkPdS0CYor9ZLp9pSQ&dl_branch=1" target="_blank">Blue Break Beats</a>"</div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-35312482750675864242021-07-22T10:28:00.000-07:002021-07-22T10:28:37.814-07:00OPEN GAME CONTENT: NORSE SUBCLASSES FOR FANTASY RPGS<a name='more'></a>
<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcj5S8XfZUpnOIwOvYIgJerCX_m0sfOaOw4W97QhIH7colW4_syW02WV34FlhJbt1VfgY-ljcYHLjfGTaymLL-e1BqQZ-wxHGCqAgD4hUtsdxsBesp6l0hATigL1RzfRIwFblEgWFBhA5J/s1252/Peter_Nicolai_Arbo-Hervors_d%25C3%25B8d.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="1252" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcj5S8XfZUpnOIwOvYIgJerCX_m0sfOaOw4W97QhIH7colW4_syW02WV34FlhJbt1VfgY-ljcYHLjfGTaymLL-e1BqQZ-wxHGCqAgD4hUtsdxsBesp6l0hATigL1RzfRIwFblEgWFBhA5J/w400-h251/Peter_Nicolai_Arbo-Hervors_d%25C3%25B8d.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Peter_Nicolai_Arbo-Hervors_d%C3%B8d.jpg" target="_blank">Hervor Dying After the Battle of the Goths <br />and Huns,</a> by <a href="Peter Nicolai Arbo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons" target="_blank">Peter Nicolai Arbo</a> is in the <br />Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr></tbody></table>This is another entry in a series I've been doing since last year, creating "subclasses" for the seven standard Basic Dungeons & Dragons classes, using the 1981 Moldvay Basic classes. I like to always remind people that the idea of creating subclasses was inspired by a series <a href="https://dysonlogos.blog/tag/subclasses/" target="_blank">Dyson Logos</a> did. Please check out the originals for really great, creative, and easy-to-implement ideas.<p></p><p><b>For links to my other D12 Subclasses Tables so far: </b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/d12-expertsspecialists-for-bx-or-old.html" target="_blank">Experts/Specialists</a> (soon to be a full book including three more subclasses for demi-humans, three new classes for Alchemists, Demolitionists, and Inventors, new equipment, information on guilds and patrons, and more!)</li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/d12-wilderness-subclasses-for-bx-or-old.html" target="_blank">Wilderness</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/open-game-content-d12-city-or-urban.html" target="_blank">City/Urban</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/open-game-content-d12-navalsea.html" target="_blank">Naval/Sea</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/open-game-content-d12-horror-subclasses.html" target="_blank">Horror</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/05/open-game-content-d12-fairy-tale.html" target="_blank">Fairy Tale</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/06/open-game-content-d12-sword-planet.html" target="_blank">Sword & Planet</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/10/open-game-content-d12-criminal.html" target="_blank">Criminal</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/open-game-content-slavic-folklore-fairy.html" target="_blank">Slavic Folklore</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/03/open-game-content-revised-sorcerer-for.html" target="_blank">B/X Sorcerer Bloodlines</a></li><li>You can also check out the <a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/search/label/subclasses" target="_blank">subclasses tag</a> for the latest updates</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>As I began working on the Slavic Folklore subclasses, I immediately began thinking about a few other cultures that would be fun to explore. Norse mythology has been a part of the D&D game dating back to at least the 1976 release of Gods, Demigods & Heroes for the original version of the game. I first encountered the Norse myths for D&D in the Advanced D&D Deities & Demigods book around 1982 or 1983, but I'd learned many of the myths long before that, having studied them independently at the library after learning about Greek mythology in my 4th grade class. Learning Greek myths made me interested in wanting to learn about myths from other cultures, so I began studying on my own, and both my school library and the local public library were huge helps in this regard. </div><div><br /></div><div>Additionally, shortly after I was introduced to D&D in 1981, those same friends began letting borrow their comic books, most of which were Marvel and many that included Thor and the Avengers. In school, we began learning about the history of Erik the Red and the rest of the Vikings during the Dark Ages and early Medieval period. It was a perfect storm of history, mythology, comic books and D&D supplements all inspiring me to learn more about Viking culture. </div><div><br /></div><div>As with the Slavic folklore subclasses I created, these are Norse-inspired subclasses, with certain elements exaggerated, expanded, or pulled from fantasy fiction, movies, TV shows, and comic books in order to create some interesting and fun concepts for tabletop role-playing games. They are not intended to accurately reflect true Viking culture. </div><div><br /></div><div>As always, I appreciate and welcome your comments and suggestions, whether it's with regard to the mechanical changes made, the substance of the subclasses, or if you have ideas for new subclasses to add. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>ON LANGUAGE:</b> I should also point out that many of these classes have gender-based names to them; for example, a female seiðkona is called a seiðmenn, and the völva were always female. However, I decided to just use the version of the name that I encountered most often, and also dispensed with any ideas that any of these characters had to be male or female. If you wish to use the gender-specific terms, you can easily search them up online. A shield maiden could just as easily be a shield warrior, as an example. Also, not speaking the languages from where these names come, I am using standard English pluralization by just adding an "s" to the end of each word when describing more than one. I'm also not capitalizing any of the words unless they are at the beginning of a sentence.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>RESOURCES:</b> I used a variety of resources for these subclasses, including the 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons <i>Vikings Campaign Sourcebook</i> by David "Zeb" Cook, the <i>Frost & Fur</i> third-party campaign book for 3rd Edition, and various books on mythology and historical books on the history of the Vikings. I also pulled in some ideas from the <i>Vikings </i>TV series, <i>Thor </i>comic books, and other fictional sources. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV3tiGXM0M7B-yU8tKFXzC0MPuzIYSa2m3L9QwwHtsUZ3qISLo8X1L9l9XYf9Fnczjb9AS_-dWQo-drRopiRLBGoYYe8yodgEwKvzq_falhIcLzsNCeywjo7BgU6r7-ZXngfDR7kFJ6PTz/s1050/Offering_by_Lund.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV3tiGXM0M7B-yU8tKFXzC0MPuzIYSa2m3L9QwwHtsUZ3qISLo8X1L9l9XYf9Fnczjb9AS_-dWQo-drRopiRLBGoYYe8yodgEwKvzq_falhIcLzsNCeywjo7BgU6r7-ZXngfDR7kFJ6PTz/s320/Offering_by_Lund.jpg" /></b></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Offering_by_Lund.jpg" target="_blank">Offering by Lund</a>, by <a href="Johan Ludwig Lund, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons" target="_blank">Johann <br />Ludwid Lund</a>, </b>is in the Public <br />Domain via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr></tbody></table>CLERICS & MAGIC-USERS: </b>There's quite a bit written about magic-using characters in Norse epic sagas, Eddic poetry, and Skaldic poetry, but the terms get muddied quite a bit so that what may appear to at first be two different types of sorcery users are in fact just different terms for the same thing. Combine this with historical priests who were also claimed to have magical powers, and it's quite a chore to determine whether a magic-using Norse character should be classified as a cleric or a magic-user, a sorcerer or a witch or a priest. No doubt some will take issue with how I divided them up, but I tried to create differentiation between them by exaggerating certain elements, when in fact their descriptions weren't all that different. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>DWARVES:</b> The <i><b>dverge </b></i>of Norse mythology tend to be the classic form of fantasy dwarf as popularized by Tolkien and found in the D&D game. However, again, names can be tricky. The dverge are said to come from Svartálfaheimr, and in fact other scholars have noted that the Svartálfar ("Black Elves") are one and the same as the dverge and that they are simply different names for the same creatures. In order to keep things separate, my subclasses consider the dverge to be classic D&D style "dwarves."</div><div><br /></div><div><b>ELVES: </b>I first heard the term <i><b>álfar </b></i>from the old TSR mini-game <b><i><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2011/03/memories-saga-minigame.html" target="_blank">Saga: Age of Heroes</a></i></b>, where you play a Viking "hero", attempting to perform deeds to gain glory and ensure that your memory will live on in the glorious songs and stories ("the sagas") of the age. Again, there is some confusion if you try to map these old myths to the standard definitions of D&D dwarves and elves. The Norse had svartálfar, dökkálfar and ljósálfar ("black elves", "dark elves", and "light elves") which many scholars now believe actually reflect our modern traditions of dwarves, demons, and angels. I chose to just stick with álfar and include a fun idea I read in one book or website that in some Norse myths they were thought to be the reincarnations of humans. As a quick aside regarding elves, while many people think the idea of half-elves originated with Tolkien, the concept has much more ancient origins and appeared in Norse sagas dating back as far as 13th and 14th centuries. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>FIGHTERS: </b>As probably expected, these were the easiest concepts to turn into subclasses, although I did need to work a bit to separate the <b>Berserker </b>from the <b>Viking </b>(and the latter from the raider subclasse for Thieves), and also I had to exaggerate the <b>Shield Maidens</b>, whom I based on the idea of Valkyrie form <i>Marvel Comics </i>but who in reality were just female warriors and not all that different from their male counterparts. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>HALFLINGS:</b> Perhaps not all that surprisingly, but in researching the <b><i>Nisse</i></b>, they're really not all that different from the <b>Domovoi </b>that I used for the Slavic folklore halfling subclass. I tried to pick specific things that were different and exaggerate some other things to differentiate them. In description, Norse mythological scholars often associate them with gnomes or goblins.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>THIEVES:</b> The Skald was the first thing to come to mind and it's not that much of a stretch, although if you're using the <i>Advanced Fantasy Genre Rules</i> from <b>Old School Essentials</b>, or playing another version of the game that has bards, then it would more likely fall under that class. Classic B/X D&D doesn't have bards, so I made it a non-magical thief subclass more focused on inspiring others with tales of epic sagas than casting magic. As I finished my list, I was one subclass short to get to 12 and after doing some more research, I ended up including the <b>Raider </b>subclass, which really isn't all that different from a Viking in terms of social status and role in society, but rather in terms of the personality of the person. The Viking is more of a straight warrior, whereas the Raider is more concerned with increasing status due to having been dealt a poor hand in life. </div><div><br /></div><div> </div>Here's the chart of the subclasses. As with my other subclasses, the idea is to eventually include all of these in a single publication, along with design notes and supplemental material for each "genre" of subclass. <b>Let me know what you think of the idea.</b><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; margin-left: -54.25pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 738px;">
<tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="background: black; border-bottom: solid white 1.0pt; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid white 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: background1; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.5pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span face=""Century Gothic",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1;">Roll<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: black; border-bottom: 1pt solid white; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid white 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: background1; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 94.5pt;" valign="top" width="126">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span face=""Century Gothic",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1;">Subclass<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: black; border-bottom: 1pt solid white; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid white 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: background1; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span face=""Century Gothic",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1;">Class Modifications<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td colspan="2" style="background: black; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 153pt;" valign="top" width="204">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1;">Cleric<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: black; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: background1; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.5pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">1</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 94.5pt;" valign="top" width="126">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Godi</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">A leader responsible for religious structure and
communal feasts, and one who does not engage in sorcery.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> Turn undead ability only works on arcane magic-users
(not undead). Must cast runestones when using cleric spells. Must shave their
heads and paint their lips, eyes, and upper ears black.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.5pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">2</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 94.5pt;" valign="top" width="126">
<div style="border-bottom: solid #A2A9B1 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #A2A9B1 .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #A2A9B1 .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%B6lva"><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Völva</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">A seeress
with the ability to foretell future occurrences.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> Can
use magic wands as if a magic-user. Once per week, can make a Wisdom ability
score check (roll 1d20 under Wisdom score, rolled in secret by the referee)
to divine the answer to one yes or no question. The ceremony involved to ask
the question takes 24 hours of uninterrupted meditation. The referee may
impose penalties on the roll based on the nature of the question. Cannot wear
plate mail, chainmail, or use a shield. Usually female, and possibly addicted
to henbane.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td colspan="2" style="background: black; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 153pt;" valign="top" width="204">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1;">Dwarf<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: black; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.5pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">3</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 94.5pt;" valign="top" width="126">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Dverge</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Wise smiths born of the blood and bones of
primordial giants.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> Can use magical research to
create magic armor, shields, swords, and weapons (see <b><i>Classic Fantasy: Treasures</i></b>).
Does not have the dwarf ability to detect construction tricks. It is possible
they know, or even guard, the location of doorways between worlds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><i><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td colspan="2" style="background: black; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 153pt;" valign="top" width="204">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1;">Elf<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: black; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 245.9pt;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.5pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">4</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 94.5pt;" valign="top" width="126">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Álfar</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 126.05pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Luminous beings, related to the
race of gods known as the Vanir</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">. Can cast either
<i>cure disease</i> or <i>cause disease</i> as a cleric once per week, but
the spell only works against humans. The offer of a gift and a roll of 12+ on
the <b>Monster Reaction Roll</b> table (see <b>Encounters</b> in <b><i>Core
Rules</i></b>) against an NPC álfar can counter the disease. Does not have
the elf ability to detect secret doors. Expects others to celebrate them at
an annual ceremony every autumn. May or may not be reincarnated humans.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td colspan="2" style="background: black; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 153pt;" valign="top" width="204">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1;">Fighter<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: black; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.5pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">5</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 94.5pt;" valign="top" width="126">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Berserker</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Warriors who fight in a trance-like fury, and part
of an animal cult dedicated to bears (Berserker), boars (Jöfurr), or wolves (Úlfhéðnar)</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">. Immune to non-magical fire. Reduces all damage
from iron weapons by 1 hp. Cannot wear armor. Gains +2 to AC if not wearing
armor. Must wear the skin of its cult animal.</span><i><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.5pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">6</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 94.5pt;" valign="top" width="126">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Shield Maiden</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Powerful, battle-scarred warriors who charge at the
forefront of battle, inspiring others and noting the bravest fighters for
recognition in the afterlife.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> Must use
a shield. Any companion fighting within 10’ of a shield maiden gains +1 to
saving throws versus fear effects. Anyone who dies fighting alongside a
shield maiden is considered worthy to enter the realm of the gods. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 11;">
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.5pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">7</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 94.5pt;" valign="top" width="126">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Viking</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="Default"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Seafaring raiders, warriors, explorers, and traders
who farm, fish, or craft when not at sea</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">. Not affected by
fighting on unstable surfaces (see <b><i>Unstable Surfaces </i></b>under <b><i>Other
Combat Issues</i></b> in <b><i>Core Rules</i></b>). As an expert navigator,
has only a 2-in-6 chance of becoming lost while at sea. Cannot wear plate
mail. </span><span style="color: red; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 12;">
<td colspan="2" style="background: black; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 153pt;" valign="top" width="204">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1;">Halfling<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: black; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 13;">
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.5pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">8</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 94.5pt;" valign="top" width="126">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Nisse</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">A
household spirit and guardian who protects a family and its animals from evil
and misfortune. May choose to go adventuring to keep its charges safe.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> Must
pick another family to watch over and protect. Once per day, can try to scare
a target within 10’. The target must be someone who has threatened the family
protected by the nisse. If the target fails to <b>save versus spells</b>, it
believes the Nisse to be a powerful monster and will attempt to flee. The
target may make a save attempt each round to break the effect. Undead and
non-intelligent creatures are not affected. Short tempered and will play
tricks on those who offend it. Probably has a white beard and a red hat.
Loves to celebrate the winter solstice.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 14;">
<td colspan="2" style="background: black; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 153pt;" valign="top" width="204">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1;">Magic-User<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: black; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 15;">
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.5pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">9</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 94.5pt;" valign="top" width="126">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Vitki</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">The vitkar are sorcerers and magicians who seek
knowledge through learning new runes and have a special connection with
animals.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> 2-in-6 chance to know a rune
concerning history, animals, or magic. Increases to 3-in-6 at 3<sup>rd</sup>
level, 4-in-6 at 7<sup>th</sup> level and 5-in-6 at 11<sup>th</sup> level. Can
have one animal companion with a total number of Hit Dice not exceeding the
Vitki’s level. The referee makes a monster reaction roll with a result of 9
or higher indicating the animal becomes the Vitki’s companion. Only wild
animals may become companions and once attached to a Vitki, they never check morale.
Animal companions that die may be replaced at the following level. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 16;">
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.5pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">10</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 94.5pt;" valign="top" width="126">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Seiðkona</span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">A practitioner of magic relating to both the telling
and shaping of the future, including the ability to commune with the dead.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> Adds <i>remove curse</i> and <i>curse</i> to the list
possible spells known and must learn both spells at 5<sup>th</sup> level. Victims
of a </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">seiðkona’s
curse save at -2. Once per week, can attempt to speak with the dead with a 1-in-6
chance, limited to three yes or no questions. The dead speak with the same
language they had in life. If the body has been dead longer than a week, only
two questions may be asked, and longer than a year, only one question may be
asked. Answers are brief and often ambiguous. Speak with dead increases to 2-in-6
at 4<sup>th</sup> level, 3-in 6 at 7<sup>th</sup> level, 4-in-6 at 10<sup>th</sup>,
and 5-in-6 at 13<sup>th </sup>level. Usually wears a blue cloak with a
headpiece of black lamb’s wool trimmed with white ermine and carries a
distaff to represent the spinning threads of fate.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 17;">
<td colspan="2" style="background: black; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 153pt;" valign="top" width="204">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1;">Thief<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: black; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 18;">
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.5pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">11</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 94.5pt;" valign="top" width="126">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Raider</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Younger people who do not stand to inherit much from
their parents; ambitious but dissatisfied with their lot in life, and who
want to better themselves.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">As an expert navigator, has only a 2-in-6 chance of becoming lost
while at sea. +1 to attack rolls with swords or spears. At 2<sup>nd</sup>
level, gains 1d4+1 raiders (see <b>Pirates</b> in <b><i>Classic Fantasy
Monsters</i></b>) with +1 morale. Does not gain the thief abilities to Read Languages
or Use Scrolls.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 19; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.5pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">12</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 94.5pt;" valign="top" width="126">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Skald</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 400.5pt;" valign="top" width="534">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">A composer and reciter of poems that honor heroes
and their deeds. </span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Companions within 10’ of
the skald gain a +2 bonus on saving throws versus fear effects, and NPCs in
the skald’s party within 10’ gain a +2 bonus to loyalty and/or morale. The
skald must recite epic poems or stories during battle using fanciful wordplay
known as kennings. Companions who cannot hear the skald do not gain the above
bonuses. 2-in-6 chance to know lore related to history, folk tales, and
legends. Increases to 3-in-6 at 3<sup>rd</sup> level, 4-in-6 at 7<sup>th</sup>
level and 5-in-6 at 11<sup>th</sup> level. Does not have the thief skills of Climb
Sheer Surfaces, Find/Remove Treasure Traps, Open Locks, or Pick Pockets.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><b>Hanging: </b>At home (laptop)</div><div><b>Drinking: </b>Just returned from the pub, drinking a Martini with Amass Gin and Dolin Dry Vermouth, with a Twist</div><div><b>Listening: </b>"The Sidewinder" by Bobbi Humphrey, from the album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/27HrSgcAA1yFB63vy9cvlt?si=I2AtMEr4RrqQav28XkrHkw&dl_branch=1" target="_blank">Flute-In</a>"</div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-20016132533514882322021-07-16T13:59:00.000-07:002021-07-16T13:59:03.468-07:00GUEST POST: OLD SCHOOL ESSENTIALS CAMPAIGN: SESSION 7 (MY DAUGHTER'S CAMPAIGN)<p>Beginning with the 5th Session of the campaign I'm running for my daughter, using <b>Old School Essentials</b> (an exact emulation of the 1981 Moldvay Basic D&D rules, but with modern layout and design for ease-of-use at the table), I've asked the players to write the recaps for our sessions rather than me doing it. <b>I did this for two main reasons:</b> </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>One, it gave me a break from focusing on writing the recaps so I could instead spend more time prepping for the next session.</li><li>Two, it encouraged the players (all save one of whom are young women 10-12 years old) to take better notes, a skill that their teachers are asking the to focus on as they move from elementary to middle school. </li></ul><p></p><p><b>After you read the recap below, if you could please leave your comments here on the blog (where it's easier for me to keep track) so I can share them with my daughter, I would appreciate it. Thanks!</b></p><p>We're going through the vintage adventure, <b>B2: Keep on the Borderlands</b>, that was included in the 1981 Moldvay Basic Boxed Set. This was the adventure I started with, and I wanted my daughter to have a similar experience. I've changed some things, mostly based on ideas from the <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD6ERRdXrF2IZ0R888G8PQg" target="_blank">DungeonCraft YouTube channel</a></b>, such as changing kobolds to underground cannibals, adding a brigand presence around the Keep and in the caves, and adding in some fun pop-culture influences, such as the <i>Apocalypse Now</i> touches I added to the last session. I also used ideas from some notes I found on RPG Net called <a href="https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/my-notes-on-running-the-keep-on-the-borderlands.745381/" target="_blank">"Necro - My Notes on Running Keep on the Borderlands."</a> These notes have been really helpful, in particular for adding details to the Keep, such as the Chickenhawk Gang and their leader, "Curfew" Murphy. </p><p>You can read more about our game here: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Influences: some of the <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/03/an-update-on-my-upcoming-weird-fantasy.html" target="_blank">"Weird Fantasy" tropes</a> and ideas I'm adding to our campaign</li><li>I talk about our <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/11/my-new-old-school-essentials-campaign.html" target="_blank">Session 0 and our first in-person game</a>, and what I learned and decided to change, rules-wise, after that game</li><li>Our <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/update-on-my-daughters-old-school.html" target="_blank">Third Session</a></li><li>Our <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/04/old-school-essentials-campaign-session.html" target="_blank">Fourth Session</a></li><li>Our <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Fifth Session</a></li><li>Our <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/06/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">Sixth Session</a></li><li>General Notes on "<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/playing-d-with-tweens-part-1.html" target="_blank">Playing D&D with Tweens</a>"</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>We've played twice since the last time I posted the notes from our Sixth Session - once on June 13th, and again this past Sunday, July 11th. My daughter had volunteered to write the recap for the June 13th session, which I'm posting here. The only other adult in the group, a dad like me, is writing the recap for this past Sunday's session which I will post in the future. </div><div><br /></div><div>As always, I'm going to write a quick summary first, then post the recap my player wrote in the voice of her character. This particular session was the first one that involved role-playing only. The only dice we rolled were for gaining rumors and making NPC Reaction checks to determine whether potential retainers and hench-people might be hired. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><u><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFGNyAQrpM52QZF9KmdSVVFzaexMpg8q4s4XAAUijJ7_znFrLFWFvrxml7ReToh1Hwe3wGnVM3dHQPIaYZrniwi8ubKoTjHBAzcx1wsbelZNdLChlrC8ps6At7cNGIxNaS820BSfjSWEG/s2048/Session+7+Notes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1396" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFGNyAQrpM52QZF9KmdSVVFzaexMpg8q4s4XAAUijJ7_znFrLFWFvrxml7ReToh1Hwe3wGnVM3dHQPIaYZrniwi8ubKoTjHBAzcx1wsbelZNdLChlrC8ps6At7cNGIxNaS820BSfjSWEG/s320/Session+7+Notes.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of my notes for the Session. I started <br />typing these instead of hand-writing so I <br />could read it easier & also save, copy & paste<br />some of the notes from session-to-session.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />SESSION 7 SHORT RECAP </u></b>(by Martin)</div><div><br /></div><div>The adventurers, now known as the Shadow Hunters, left the cave of the cannibals after having defeated their leader, the former commander of the Keep's guard, Colonel Kurtzman, and headed back toward the Keep. Bartolo's hands began to itch and he realized he possibly should have used gloves when handling the moonstone that he liberated from the caves. As they ascended out of the ravine, the adventurers were able to make out cave entrances situated in the ravine wall at various different heights, with different trails leading to each one. </div><div><br /></div><div>On the Bone Road, the adventurers saw yet another crashed coach, riddled with arrows and with drag marks indicating bodies had been taken away. Inside was a body holding a book and a scroll. The book was illegible, but Cora was able to read the scroll and realize it was a scroll of Detect Magic. They also passed by what looked like a dwarven funeral march, but they let the dwarves pass without bothering them. Arriving at the Keep Gate, they again checked in with the Bailiff, who had two brand new mastiff hounds with him, gifts from a traveling priest named Tublo Gorstowd. As Greta checked in her shield, the young guard who took it from her seemed particularly interested in her and her friends and where they had been. </div><div><br /></div><div>The adventurers and their retainers got healed at the local barber-surgeon, then went back to their rooms at the Inn and finally checked-in at the Greased Goat Tavern for an evening meal and gossip. At the tavern, they heard rumors that all the cave entrances were trapped, that a halfling caravan was on the way with a lot of unique goods, that a magic wand had been lost in the Caves (presumably belonging to the Witch), that they should beware of a Mad Hermit who lived outside the Keep, and they learned of a local group of young ruffian children called the Chickenhawk Gang and their leader, "Curfew" Murphy. A very popular visiting friar, Tublo Gorstowd, wanted to speak with Bartolo the Seeker, but Bartolo showed no interest. Instead, Cora and Alex spoke with him for a while. Bartolo also hired yet another retainer, a young fidgety woman named Isentrud, who was interested in working with the Shadow Hunters after hearing their other retainers, Raddax and Osanna, speaking highly of them to other swords-for-hire. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><u><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJmw3M0snATqDJc9uq0PdMYl4cH1OMDuL13iH6SUQ6-6W7CQEprIentIJ7yEOMVxCaT32TdTeLpoc1y4cM-SDssC9kFQ_3zaRlrGEx36H_3oj0T43sfRo3kr_FvhZagKap2qNxN0CdJ-pV/s1427/Session+7+Cora+Recap+JPG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="1427" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJmw3M0snATqDJc9uq0PdMYl4cH1OMDuL13iH6SUQ6-6W7CQEprIentIJ7yEOMVxCaT32TdTeLpoc1y4cM-SDssC9kFQ_3zaRlrGEx36H_3oj0T43sfRo3kr_FvhZagKap2qNxN0CdJ-pV/w400-h259/Session+7+Cora+Recap+JPG.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />FULL RECAP</u></b> (As told by my daughter, "J")</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>The 20th of Redleaf, Evening </i></b></div><div><br /></div><div><span> </span>Our adventure began walking back to town to put our findings away. As we were walking, I was thinking about how I was still looking for a list of items in the caves. Firstly, the wand that the witch wants in order to train my two cousins, Clara and Holly, and me. Also, Ulrich Von Munchburger’s missing brother, Olaf, and if we can find Olaf’s wife, we would bring her back, too. And Bartolo the Seeker has already found his moon stones, (they gave him a rash). </div><div><span> </span>Then a sudden stop happened, and we found an overturned coach with a dead body inside. I found a scroll inside the man's hand, and I picked it up and VOILA we could see marks on the floor that looked like people dragged some bodies away off to the side.. </div><div><span> </span>We passed by what seemed to be a funeral for a dwarf, but we didn't want to be rude and interrupt it, so we kept walking. We made it to the Keep just before they closed the gates for the night. We saw that Bailiff had gotten 2 new guard dogs. Then Greta checked in her shield. She started talking with a boy named Anselm who was very interested in what we were doing in the caves. Greta didn't tell me much about him or what happened, but I think he might like her or something..? Or maybe he might want to join our group….I’m not sure. </div><div><span> </span>After a lovely conversation with Greta and Anselm, we went to Doktor Schütelt, the barber-surgeon, to heal our two henchmen, and I got my hair cut short into a bob because my hair was getting too long, and I could barely tie it up. </div><div><span> </span>Then we went to the tavern, and we met a priest that was interested in talking with Bartolo the Seeker, but Bartolo had no interest in talking with him. Alex and I talked with the same person who Bartolo didn't want to talk to. His name is Friar Tublo Gorstowd, and he has been helping the Chicken Hawk gang that me and Alex are interested in joining if we can get in, but I don't know if we will have time for two different groups. Holly and Alex went to check on their wolf pups, and I checked in on my turtle. Alex talked to Scabs in secret. Part of me felt like spying on them, but at the same time was too lazy to get up from eating my delicious hot pie. Our henchman started spreading the word about our so-called “wonderful” adventure in the caves, and everyone in the Tavern started talking about us. I felt famous, and I almost shouted, “No autographs today!” but I stopped myself, because then I would have ruined the glorious feeling of being famous. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>~ From the Diary of Cora Netflix</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br /></div><div>That's the end of my daughter's recap. If you've been following along, you'll start to really notice the difference in writing styles between the different players in my group and what they choose to focus on. I fixed a few typos and grammatical errors, but for the most part, this is exactly what my daughter sent me. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hanging:</b> Home office (laptop)</div><div><b>Drinking:</b> San Pellegrino Sparkling Water</div><div><b>Listening: </b>"Family Affair" by Sly Stone, from the album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/52C9QFWsfF3Kzb8riRPJzj?si=zmsLerLHRmO9Qv6xaRA2_w&dl_branch=1" target="_blank">I'm Back! Family & Friends</a>"</div><div><br /></div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-2683679341227423322021-06-28T18:02:00.003-07:002021-07-02T15:27:37.331-07:0020th Year of my Ongoing D&D Campaign<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPuDV-fxFkrUxnqWxVt4hRRlMtbUm6nhyprNTMqfP9-PVpqEbxYOfN0Wtjuf7mdTYGxyCiDcWjSf_x0HL2RyiXFKbS_1j5VQLx_87xz4YWnw4ZIzKm2LAvmmvk5Q0vy-t6-qEcVFM7foD/s278/World+of+Samoth.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="226" data-original-width="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPuDV-fxFkrUxnqWxVt4hRRlMtbUm6nhyprNTMqfP9-PVpqEbxYOfN0Wtjuf7mdTYGxyCiDcWjSf_x0HL2RyiXFKbS_1j5VQLx_87xz4YWnw4ZIzKm2LAvmmvk5Q0vy-t6-qEcVFM7foD/s0/World+of+Samoth.jpg" /></a></div><br />I missed posting about this on the actual day last month, but May 19th, 2021 marked the 20th anniversary of my <b>World of Samoth</b> campaign. I blogged a bit about <a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2015/05/campaign-setting-anniversary.html" target="_blank">the history of the campaign in 2015</a>. In that post, I showed pictures from my "Campaign Setting Notebook" which is where I kept all of my original hand-written notes, scraps of paper, dot-matrix printed pages, and drawings, some of which I re-wrote into the notebook and many that I just glued inside. Those notes and drawings will help you see how the world came into shape in the nearly 13 years that I worked on the world before actually using it as the basis for a campaign. <p></p><p>Looking back through my old posts, I think I either haven't talked about how and why my actual campaign started, or it's at least been long enough that it probably bears repeating, but, after having actually worked on my campaign world from roughly 1988 until 2001, I finally had the opportunity to use it as a backdrop for a game <a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/search/label/Wizards%20of%20the%20Coast" target="_blank">when worked on advertising for Wizards of the Coast</a> and was put in charge of their account by the agency I worked at, right around the time 3E had come out. Although I was familiar with earlier editions of the game, I hadn't looked into 3E at all, and none of my co-workers whom I oversaw had played the game before. One of my co-workers, Malinda, suggested that I run a game for our group so they could see what it was like, and the client sent me the 3E core books, along with the beginner's boxed set, the Star Wars D20 RPG, and the Invasion of Theed boxed set (for Star Wars) so we could get familiar with the games. I quickly began converting my old AD&D stuff to 3rd Edition, without actually realizing at first just how completely different they were, and joined a friend's 3E game as a player to help familiarize myself with the rules and style of play, and then about three months later, I started my World of Samoth campaign with module <i><b>B6: The Veiled Society </b></i>(originally written for what has come to be known as the BECMI version of the game from 1983) as our first adventure. </p><p>Over the years, I've incorporated a mix of older adventure modules (B6 and also <i><b>B7: Rahasia</b></i>) along with a few 3E adventures from WotC and 3rd Party as well as from the WotC Website (notably, <b><i>Crucible of Freya</i></b>, <b><i>Speaker in Dreams</i></b>, the <b><i>Alchemist Eyrie</i></b>, the <b><i>Burning Plague</i></b>, and <b><i>Wizard's Amulet</i></b>) as well as the huge mega-campaign, the <b><i>Banewarrens </i></b>(by Monte Cook), and in later years, incorporated bits and pieces from 3.5 adventures from <b><i>Dungeon Magazine </i></b>(too many to count). </p><p>For today's anniversary celebration, I thought I'd show off pictures from my <i>other </i>campaign notebook, which I used for actual game play. This notebook includes tabs for each player character, which includes a copy of their character sheet and print-outs of email exchanges I've had with them between sessions about their characters, as well as sections for my house rules, character building guidelines, history, religions, and more. I used this notebook quite extensively for about the first 10 years or so, but these days I tend to rely more on electronic records because the volume of paper was just too overwhelming and often times we didn't play at my house and lugging this huge notebook around became a chore. </p><p>While this campaign is still "active," we unfortunately did not play at all last year primarily due to stay-at-home orders (I really don't like trying to play tabletop RPGs online) but even before that, as the DM, I did hit a bit of a funk with running the game as the characters were 19th level and I was finding it difficult to challenge them any longer in combat. When a PC can dish out 300 points of damage on a round and whose AC is so high that minions can't really hit them, combats became frustrating for me and planning for my sessions stopped being fun and became something I really didn't look forward to. I'll get back in my groove and figure out a way to wrap up the campaign, and I've already put many of the lessons I learned from running this game into the campaign I'm running for my daughter and her friends to make it more fun for me as a DM. </p><p>The pictures from my campaign notebook are below. If you want to read more about the <a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/search/label/World%20of%20Samoth" target="_blank">World of Samoth</a>, you can click on the tag I just linked, and also in particular check out these posts: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/search/label/Design%20Decisions" target="_blank">Design Decisions</a> (these get into specific game mechanics for my campaign, like my choices about which races and classes and use, how I handled magic and religion, etc.)</li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2018/08/early-documents-for-my-world-of-samoth.html" target="_blank">Early Designs of the World of Samoth</a></li><li><a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2011/03/world-of-samoth-first-two-adventure.html" target="_blank">The First Two Session Recaps</a></li><li><a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2018/08/early-documents-for-my-world-of-samoth.html" target="_blank">Early Documents for the World of Samoth</a> </li><li><a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2011/06/character-classes-noble.html" target="_blank">The Noble</a> (a Pathfinder PC class I created for my game)</li><li>Game World Inspirations (these all talk about how I adapted and borrowed, or was inspired by a different creation and incorporated all or parts of it into my campaign world):</li><ul><li><a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2011/02/game-world-inspirations-world-of-conan.html" target="_blank">World of Conan</a> (the Marvel Comic)</li><li><a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2011/06/game-world-inspirations-d-known-world.html" target="_blank">The "Known World"</a> (from 1981 Basic/Expert D&D)</li><li><a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2012/01/game-world-inspirations-for-world-of.html" target="_blank">General Overview of Inspirational Fictional Game Worlds</a> (books, movies, TV, comics)</li><li><a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2013/01/game-world-inspirations-world-of.html" target="_blank">World of Greyhawk</a></li><li><a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2013/02/game-world-inspirations-friday-dl5.html" target="_blank">DL5: Dragons of Mystery</a></li><li><a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2013/05/game-world-inspirations-friday-liavek.html" target="_blank">Liavek </a>(a shared world anthology novel)</li><li><a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2013/06/game-inspirations-friday-shogun.html" target="_blank">Shogun</a> (TV mini-series)</li></ul></ul><div><br /></div><div>In addition, you can visit my <b><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/worldofsamoth/" target="_blank">Campaign Website</a></b> that includes a lot of information including session recaps and new rules for D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder (feats, skills, classes, and custom races) and more. I haven't updated it forever but the first 10 years or so of the campaign are pretty well documented there. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1ZIPxgKlo4UxhV1OCt0fVnE7kSaM2W3lr_el-DwdUn7UbqdpZ2pbHH1pzAeNtM0kJ4G2nwspqQYW8FbJKutB4s-xe-9ak5kRQPQtItIn9EH_1fC7vtzQxLfDFpXVqiuY5_qzZW0Wf6Kc/s2048/WoS+Notebook+Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2031" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1ZIPxgKlo4UxhV1OCt0fVnE7kSaM2W3lr_el-DwdUn7UbqdpZ2pbHH1pzAeNtM0kJ4G2nwspqQYW8FbJKutB4s-xe-9ak5kRQPQtItIn9EH_1fC7vtzQxLfDFpXVqiuY5_qzZW0Wf6Kc/s320/WoS+Notebook+Cover.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is an old drawing I made around 1988 or so.<br />It was based on an image from adventure module<br /><i>X5: Temple of Death</i>. I put it on the cover of<br />my World of Samoth notebook. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR5D5Zrw-Rp6oh4VJ-X-qhgr0EMPH6hFWKjx-LcRcF7LitWtbeUx-CODRvPbIJHm4yy834FGKN-PRp1gcuWkP0-6HFZ4X_9_HaJOGTkfat27BgO_htJSp3W2RXXyiev7gXlbW6OIoJJdnu/s2048/WoS+Notebook+Tabs.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1553" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR5D5Zrw-Rp6oh4VJ-X-qhgr0EMPH6hFWKjx-LcRcF7LitWtbeUx-CODRvPbIJHm4yy834FGKN-PRp1gcuWkP0-6HFZ4X_9_HaJOGTkfat27BgO_htJSp3W2RXXyiev7gXlbW6OIoJJdnu/s320/WoS+Notebook+Tabs.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This just gives you an example of all<br />the tabs I have in my notebook to keep<br />track of stuff. Sometimes I'm almost<br />too organized. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolWuRG5MbjrO_-h8kXuPFM_xu0ov-IEeOEHLLIWMb_U5HaiMSdYAn7Sl1iESGtm8xQPYGhcx8ue7kuhPVI83P-FxcJms-ABBoEX2ODQ6A2PpE-PUqRXjDP6iT_TbdhCWq75dHP7VS1-K6/s2048/WoS+Barrid+Map.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1369" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolWuRG5MbjrO_-h8kXuPFM_xu0ov-IEeOEHLLIWMb_U5HaiMSdYAn7Sl1iESGtm8xQPYGhcx8ue7kuhPVI83P-FxcJms-ABBoEX2ODQ6A2PpE-PUqRXjDP6iT_TbdhCWq75dHP7VS1-K6/s320/WoS+Barrid+Map.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's a map I made as a handout. As I recall, it's <br />based on the map for Module <i>B6: The Veiled<br />Society</i>, but I changed it and distressed it a bit. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyna5Dp0-PNRruoJak6WpuLMxKKFDZhOarYY1eM79ZtdHmm3NVfepY81BCO7bGe4No0Hej1kJ65i4gpjDrHcdNkOV0vHEknmpsYDJ03kTiDey75FIYypNhUud4dAJFi3OVum1LroOJn-if/s2048/WoS+Campaign+Primer.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyna5Dp0-PNRruoJak6WpuLMxKKFDZhOarYY1eM79ZtdHmm3NVfepY81BCO7bGe4No0Hej1kJ65i4gpjDrHcdNkOV0vHEknmpsYDJ03kTiDey75FIYypNhUud4dAJFi3OVum1LroOJn-if/s320/WoS+Campaign+Primer.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A page from the Campaign Primer I sent to the <br />players before we started, to give them context<br />for the kind of game I was wanting to run. My <br />expectations weren't really met, as I had envisioned<br />a very low-magic world, something between the <br />Sword & Sorcery of Conan with a more advanced <br />technology of the late Renaissance. The 3E system at<br />the time didn't handle that style of play very well. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi59BbCpQuwBm_wZKfN7tPwnVVSLtswA4wvIg9Jlx8J_eHkrjlgJVLNJaboRPm7m05IcbWfBc7PhIpnVszJPkQpQrDa51Uyb3KM7sKAo_41jhgCiZCh_Wl48KQTM6m9Q5H9EgIw_ukeLHZk/s2048/WoS+Character+Builder.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi59BbCpQuwBm_wZKfN7tPwnVVSLtswA4wvIg9Jlx8J_eHkrjlgJVLNJaboRPm7m05IcbWfBc7PhIpnVszJPkQpQrDa51Uyb3KM7sKAo_41jhgCiZCh_Wl48KQTM6m9Q5H9EgIw_ukeLHZk/s320/WoS+Character+Builder.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notes from a "Character Builder" I sent the players<br />to help them ground their characters in the world. <br />In hindsight, I sent them way too much information.<br />There was no way I should have expected them to <br />read it all. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQf9X6X4L8cRzEpB8i2wDMuXlqBB_UMbg4JyLEMLa1VRk0JcOYMhriTBcpTTB56ttqMQDZ0X5XSJwrO1RKWbyJZs6LD9gczT98WbedE9dj4SW5_ANJIusodmP2qUO_OWpyLIvC507W46h/s2048/WoS+Hero+Builder%2527s+Guidebook.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQf9X6X4L8cRzEpB8i2wDMuXlqBB_UMbg4JyLEMLa1VRk0JcOYMhriTBcpTTB56ttqMQDZ0X5XSJwrO1RKWbyJZs6LD9gczT98WbedE9dj4SW5_ANJIusodmP2qUO_OWpyLIvC507W46h/s320/WoS+Hero+Builder%2527s+Guidebook.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another document I created to help my players <br />create their characters. When 3E came out, WotC<br />published a book called the "Hero Builder's Guidebook."<br />I used that as a model and created this supplement to <br />that book that was specific to my game world. It <br />was really long and covered how each different class <br />might integrate into each different country & continent<br />of my campaign world. </td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kUDFbjbxhFwVndrkjvfFSklbSIuJ-VvAfqhju-OYIK72s45Lk0k0ZwZSrdA7EUZgbJcD7aQbTn00HgAfYJDHJcD9vUJuKCU55R-o-sp5ql9WqNjErF_sm-glQsU7ukC8N865L4WI8yQH/s2048/WoS+Chronicles+of+Morlund+Estrelle.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kUDFbjbxhFwVndrkjvfFSklbSIuJ-VvAfqhju-OYIK72s45Lk0k0ZwZSrdA7EUZgbJcD7aQbTn00HgAfYJDHJcD9vUJuKCU55R-o-sp5ql9WqNjErF_sm-glQsU7ukC8N865L4WI8yQH/s320/WoS+Chronicles+of+Morlund+Estrelle.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A page from what I called the "Chronicles of<br />Morlund Estrelle." He was sort of my version <br />of Eliminster from the Forgotten Realms, except<br />he wasn't a wizard, but rather just an historian. <br />I presented in-game lore in the form of this in-world<br />book Morlund was writing about the history of Samoth.<br />I put in a ton of clues about mysteries the PCs could deal<br />with in the game, but quickly realized that none of the<br />players had read it. I no longer do this kind of thing but<br />instead do things like the "Job Board" at the tavern <br />to provide in-game lore and clues. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd-0vVEYPfaTkjltTm89rWkX4VjE6gTuUAIJYMOn4PZGK0s_kF2XdPk2YVSh_wKAGIHJG6gLdhK8nfeii8Z1cJ-KneQPsBhN-CJEvIP4QRwYjLIYHCh7CGOOu-YescbSMa4LQAb7zTybgt/s2048/WoS+AEtonist+Religious+Titles.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd-0vVEYPfaTkjltTm89rWkX4VjE6gTuUAIJYMOn4PZGK0s_kF2XdPk2YVSh_wKAGIHJG6gLdhK8nfeii8Z1cJ-KneQPsBhN-CJEvIP4QRwYjLIYHCh7CGOOu-YescbSMa4LQAb7zTybgt/s320/WoS+AEtonist+Religious+Titles.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Religious Titles and mechanical benefits for<br />Clerics of one of my campaign world religions.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>How do you all keep track of your campaign world notes and plots? Have any of you run or played in a 20-year campaign? Leave a comment below. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hanging:</b> Home office (laptop)</div><div><b>Drinking: </b>Tap water</div><div><b>Listening: </b>"Castles Made of Sand / Little Wing" by Tuck & Patti, from the album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/0UIb9T8zEAh4fynrtpcpHu?si=jN1MeyP7S6e6znpFq2Scxw&dl_branch=1" target="_blank">Pure Tuck & Patti</a>"</div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-38858467484455965602021-06-09T13:26:00.001-07:002021-06-09T13:26:32.859-07:00GUEST POST: OLD SCHOOL ESSENTIALS CAMPAIGN: SESSION 6 (MY DAUGHTER'S CAMPAIGN)<a name='more'></a>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXj5DC_VkA6n7FhpVoDlwjxMWyKW2mfLGUfP2cM-ziXi68W8qduSGN2lLMfqWgiqsVbf5JwprTkVYZqjb0zEArn3H7cahMCUC5ffD7uS0P10tEucq8H581bW1kE3_-nZM58WdZ55DS3jf/s1430/Session+5+Pages+1-2.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="1430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXj5DC_VkA6n7FhpVoDlwjxMWyKW2mfLGUfP2cM-ziXi68W8qduSGN2lLMfqWgiqsVbf5JwprTkVYZqjb0zEArn3H7cahMCUC5ffD7uS0P10tEucq8H581bW1kE3_-nZM58WdZ55DS3jf/s320/Session+5+Pages+1-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An example of how I took Z's notes and <br />put them on a template that looks like an<br />antique journal entry.</td></tr></tbody></table>We played our last D&D session (using the <i>Old School Essentials</i> rules which emulate the <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-did-it-all-start.html" target="_blank">Moldvay Basic D&D</a> rules I started with back in 1981) back on May 23rd, and once again, I asked the players if one of them would like to volunteer to write the recap of our session in the voice of their character. After much hemming-and-hawing, one of the players stepped up to volunteer. As a reward, she got to take her pick of a different flavored packets of dried Filipino pancit noodles (kind of like dried ramen packets). I did this because there are four families who are playing in this D&D and three of us are at least part, if not all, Filipino and we had decided to have a homemade Filipino potluck dinner after the game that night as a way to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. <div><br /></div><div>This friend, whom I will call "Z," is actually the youngest in the group (she's the younger sister of another player who is my daughter's age) but she takes really great notes. I'll be featuring a copy of her notes in one of my "<b><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/search/label/RPGs%20with%20Tweens" target="_blank">Playing D&D with Tweens</a></b>" posts in the future, as an example of how taking notes during a game session can be good practice for taking notes in school, which is a skill that all tweens will be developing as they progress through Middle School. My daughter's teacher this past year in 6th Grade focused a lot on teaching them to take good notes. </div><div><br /></div><div>As with the notes I posted for the <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/guest-post-old-school-essentials.html" target="_blank">last session</a>, I will start out by providing a quick summary of the session from my standpoint, and then I'll post the recap that "Z" wrote in the voice of her character, <b>Greta the Wanderer</b>. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'd like to once again thank Professor Dungeon Master from the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/DUNGEONCRAFT1/featured" target="_blank">DungeonCraft YouTube channel</a> for the idea to incorporate elements from the movie <i>Apocalypse Now</i> into the Caves of Chaos, specifically by changing the kobolds into sub-human cannibals and their leader, the former commander of the Keep, Colonel Kurtzman. I took the idea a bit further by also creating the character of Hopper, a mentally-unstable "Keep Investigator" who had previously been sent out to find Kurtzman and instead got caught up in the madness happening in the caves. Hopper was a big hit with the players, specifically because of the way I role-played him and his mannerisms, patterned directly off the Dennis Hopper reporter character from <i>Apocalypse Now</i>. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Also, once again, I would like to ask folks to please leave their comments below so I can share them with "Z" to let her know how people enjoyed her recap. Thanks! </b></div><div><br /></div><div><b><u><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg2GY8hWjqhBLOtEnXbP_GhKzpTRWSTYhkRQmc6JqQstCsvQzQVl9L907M4G13_25Y8X6nOOKr70XfnzOG659Zy86ObPzKmy2BqQ65KzIV6F7DDwxvZ2NiN1q8o5Xysoplf6okDeza27N1/s2048/20210609_114217.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1369" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg2GY8hWjqhBLOtEnXbP_GhKzpTRWSTYhkRQmc6JqQstCsvQzQVl9L907M4G13_25Y8X6nOOKr70XfnzOG659Zy86ObPzKmy2BqQ65KzIV6F7DDwxvZ2NiN1q8o5Xysoplf6okDeza27N1/s320/20210609_114217.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A page from my DM's notebook to run<br />the session including some pictures of the <br />Creepers I found online. </td></tr></tbody></table><br />SESSION 6 SHORT RECAP</u></b> (by Martin)</div><div><br /></div><div>The adventurers faced a dilemma, having been attacked by some unknown foes, whom they began to call "creepers," with many in their party wounded and unsure of their next course of action. The decision was made for them when more creepers attacked, specifically always going after the members of the party who carried their torches or lanterns. </div><div><br /></div><div>Holly Short, who was able to make out some of the creepers' odd clicking language realized that they hated the light and also were sending one of their comrades to warn any other creepers further in the caves. A short combat broke out, but after two of the creepers were killed, the remaining creepers dragged their comrades off into the darkness. Sounds of drums in the dark began to grow louder and the adventurers decided to follow the three creepers rather than face an unknown number of other creepers in front of them. They came across the creepers feasting on their fallen comrades, and after another combat, the adventurers killed the remaining three creepers and made plans to defend themselves. </div><div><br /></div><div>More creepers came, and Cora Netflix cast a light spell from a scroll, driving them away. A human named Hopper, whom the adventurers recognized as a former Investigator from the Keep, approached them and, talking in nonsense and riddles, led the adventurers to the creeper's chief, who turned out to be Colonel Kurtzman, the missing commander of the Keep's guards, who had killer the former chief of the creepers and set himself up as a kind of god. The adventurers fought him and Kurtzman was defeated in a violent clash. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>FULL RECAP</u></b> (As told by "Z")</div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Redleaf
Folkday, 20th. Shadow Hunters!</span></b><o:p></o:p></p></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br />
We are walking through the Caves of Chaos. Everyone is severely injured except
for me, Greta. Torches help lead the way. We can hear the clicking noises
again, but this time with drums. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Six savages
come at us saying, “Kill the light. Warn the others.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They
attack Raddax and Alex who both have torches. Bartolo tries to get one with his
hammer, he misses. Holly goes for one, also missing. I tried, but I also
missed. Cora takes her arrow and shoots one in the neck killing it. Raddax
dodges all spears coming for him. Bartolo uses his slingshot and does damage to
one of the savages’ head, they just shake it like nothing happened. Holly
misses her shot at one of the savages. I get my spear and hit the one that
Bartolo did damage to and kill it. Alex attempts to hide in the shadows, she
fails. Cora goes for another one but misses. Clara also goes for one, misses.
The savages who threw their spears at Raddax don’t have any weapons anymore,
just their bare hands. One goes for Raddax, choking him. Raddax has fallen. We
hear the drums, louder and louder by the second. The three savages that are
left go to the dead savages and grab them. They pull them into the shadows. The
drums get louder and faster. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While all
of this is happening Cora and Holly take healing potions. Cora and Holly both
heal a little bit. Raddax is still unconscious. Bartolo gets Raddax on his
shoulder and we move toward where the savages pulled the dead ones to. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It smells
disgusting but we move through. We see the savages from earlier. We have caught
their eye with the light. Bartolo goes up to one and hits him but not enough.
Holly slices into one, but just not quite enough. I go for one, but I miss it.
Alex attempts to hide in the shadows but fails again. Alex tries to kill the
last one and kills him viciously. We have killed them all and have time to
explore. We understand that this is a guard room. This is a cave that is made
of all natural rock. We find jewelry and take it from the savages, we think
that someone might buy it. The drum noises get louder. We have found some
rotten planks that we think we could use to get across the pit trap. We move
out of the room. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All the
noises, clicks and drums, they all get louder. We build a barrier trying to
protect ourselves. Cora decides to use her light spell. She puts it in the
middle of the hallway and stuns them with the light. All the savages run
away. There is a man shaped figure still heading our way. Speaking gibberish,
he comes toward us. He starts talking about the chief and how great he is. We
agreed to go see the chief with him. As we are moving through, we see that
natural rocks are replaced with worked rock. We move through and realize that
this place is ancient. It has a horrible smell, and every once in a while, you
can see glowing rocks. We assume they are moon rocks. We can smell spices, one
like cinnamon. As we go in, we start to get the little light needed. We arrive
at a staircase and there are savages guarding. There are chanting and gongs. We
move closer and we can see bodies hanging from pillars. Hopper (the manly
figure who told us his name on the way) tells us we are wrong, thinking it's
weird. The guards move so we can walk through. Me, Holly and Bartolo walk up
the stairs. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As we go
up there is another man figure, He is bald, and has a very powerful look to
him. He has sweat beads dripping down his head. He looks at us and we realize
it is Colonel Kurtsman!! He gave a speech. We feel shocked. He pulls out his
sword and slashes at us, it hits the floor, and it breaks.. Bartolo hits him
and he falls to the floor. I slash him. Alex fails to hide in shadows once
again. Cora runs up the stairs and hits him. Cora has set his cape on fire and
has done damage. Holly swings her sword at him, and he has died. We search the
room. We find a chest and get the key from a necklace he is wearing. Inside
there was gold, silver, and copper. We split it equally, and we head out of the
Caves of Chaos.. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>We are
safe.. For now. End of Session 6. </i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> --------------------------------------------------------------------</o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">That's the end of Z's recap. She actually had inserted in her notes how much damage was healed when the two PC's drank the healing potions, but I removed that part since the rest of her recap was written in character. It's always interesting to see what things the players focus on and what parts they gloss over. In this case, while Z is very good at taking notes, she also got notes sent to her from at least three other players (and it's possible her sister also shared her notes with her, but I wasn't copied on that). </p><p class="MsoNormal">We'll be playing again this Sunday, so be on the lookout for another recap written in character by one of the other players. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Hanging:</b> Home office (laptop)<br /><b>Drinking:</b> Trader Joe's Sparkling Water w/ Lemon and Ginger Flavors<br /><b>Listening: </b>"Don't Look Back" by John Lee Hooker, Charles Brown, and Van Morrison, from the album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/7iUwuzzdacWSscWGjGmdyt?si=ba899f09183c48ce" target="_blank">Best of Friends</a>"</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br />Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-5667130398546670392021-05-25T18:12:00.003-07:002021-05-27T12:50:57.717-07:00Making Characters Weird: Magic-Users/Wizards<a name='more'></a>
<b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZbsr6ypp0ZdXYG-u9-Y2hihK13ZyqqRGGo8kvu3ZKSVlHriKhGfijMISMyUk9XmAXliq_3-l35lEK-hYyJt6zlLwU7mZeZl2N3bDpEbiRWsex6DiXXSS15cVvwywf9G-IYJeXlWVgM5i/s1140/Azimuth+the+Planer+-+Magic-User.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="730" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZbsr6ypp0ZdXYG-u9-Y2hihK13ZyqqRGGo8kvu3ZKSVlHriKhGfijMISMyUk9XmAXliq_3-l35lEK-hYyJt6zlLwU7mZeZl2N3bDpEbiRWsex6DiXXSS15cVvwywf9G-IYJeXlWVgM5i/s320/Azimuth+the+Planer+-+Magic-User.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.deviantart.com/jlazaruseb/art/Azimuth-the-Planer-732481889" target="_blank">Azimuth the Planar</a> <br />by <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/jlazaruseb" target="_blank">JLazarusEB</a> is licensed by <br /><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/" target="_blank">CC BY-NC-ND 3.0</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />What's included in this post? </b><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>A quick background on my "<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/search/label/weird%20fantasy" target="_blank">weird characters</a>" series of posts</li><li>A short history of the magic-user ("wizard") class in Dungeons & Dragons through the editions (to help with terminology/definitions)</li><li>Three things to consider when playing a magic-using character</li><li>A table of 20 "weird" (non-traditional) traits for magic-using characters </li><li>What's next in my "weird" series</li></ul><div><br /></div></div><div><b><u>WEIRD CHARACTER BACKGROUND</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>This series of posts began with a way to give players and DMs <b>ideas to differentiate the Fighter class</b> (particularly fighters from earlier editions) <b>with flavor instead of with mechanics and rules.</b> In earlier editions of the games, Fighters didn't gain any powers or feats as they gained levels. They got more hit points, better saving throws, and could attack more often per round and could hit better, but that was about it. Many people complain that "all Basic D&D Fighters are the same" and while, mechanically, they <i>might </i>be, they can be just as varied as a magic-user with access to a lot of spells. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Why "weird"?</b> It's a fun way to differentiate these characters from the more typical, Tolkien-based "vanilla" fantasy worlds to show how you can push the boundaries of what defines your characters. <b>A lot of these ideas also imply the benefits of "<a href="http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2020/09/artifacts-relics-and-minimalist-world.html" target="_blank">minimalist world-building</a>,"</b> meaning that a DM could take one or more of these ideas and used as the basis of a plot point or even an entire campaign. My goal is to provide ideas and inspiration that spark your own imagination. </div><div><br /></div><div>The series so far includes all of the other Basic (1981 edition) D&D Classes: <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/making-characters-weird-fighters.html" target="_blank">Fighters</a>, <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/making-characters-weird-clerics.html" target="_blank">Clerics</a>, <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/04/making-characters-weird-thievesrogues.html" target="_blank">Thieves </a>(Rogues), <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/04/making-characters-weird-dwarves.html" target="_blank">Dwarves</a>, <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/making-characters-weird-elves.html" target="_blank">Elves</a>, and <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/making-characters-weird-halflings.html" target="_blank">Halflings</a>. Today's entry is the last of the seven <i>Basic D&D</i> Classes. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>A SHORT HISTORY ON MAGIC-USERS (FOR 3E/4E/5E PLAYERS)</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>New players to the game who started with 3rd Edition or later and never explored any earlier editions may be wondering <b>why I'm using the term "magic-user" instead of "wizard."</b> In the original version of the game, published first in 1974, there were <i>three </i>classes: <b>Fighting-Men</b>, <b>Clerics</b>, and <b>Magic-Users</b>. The magic-user term was a catch-all to incorporate any kind of spellcaster who wasn't a cleric. </div><div><br /></div><div>In these earlier editions of the game, each class had a different title for each level. For magic-users, the level titles included Medium (1st Level), Seer, Conjurer, Theurgist, Thaumaturgist, Magician, Enchanter, Warlock, Sorcerer, Necromancer, and Wizard (11th Level). </div><div><br /></div><div>5th Edition players who note three different level titles there that now are used to represent three different classes: <b>Sorcerers</b>, <b>Warlocks</b>, and <b>Wizards</b>. Back in the early days of the game, <b>these weren't three separate classes</b>. They were merely descriptive titles given to differentiate magic-users of different levels. There were no game mechanics or rules differences between them: They were all just "magic-users." If you wanted to play a Witch, a Mage, a Demonologist, or anything that cast spells, <b>you just played a magic-user and you role-played it a certain way</b>, partially by picking what spells you took (a witch might select charm person and clairvoyance, for example) but also just by your personality. </div><div><br /></div><div>Starting with the 3rd Edition of the game, the rules separated sorcerers and wizards, with the main difference being that sorcerers could spontaneously cast their spells while wizards had to prepare them. Their spell lists were the same. The warlock class showed up late in 3rd edition timeline, in the 3.5 supplement <i>Complete Arcane</i>. They were later refined in 4E and 5E. </div><div><br /></div><div>Currently, although I'm running a long-term campaign using <i>Pathfinder </i>1st Edition rules (which is a revision of the 3.5 D&D rules), I'm also running an older edition of the game, <i>Basic D&D </i>(the "Moldvay" or "B/X" edition from 1981) that used the term magic-user, and <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/search/label/B%2FX" target="_blank">most of the content</a> I create here on my blog is for that edition. However, aside from the use of terminology, <b>the ideas below are, again, about flavor, not mechanics, meaning that they're applicable to any edition of the game or indeed almost any fantasy role-playing game in general. </b></div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>PLAYING A MAGIC-USER: THREE QUESTIONS</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>As I began preparing the campaign I'm currently running for my daughter, I discovered pretty quickly that my players, all around ages 10-12, had a different context for fantasy than the books and movies with which I grew up, so they had a bit of trouble understanding basic concepts like when I mentioned goblins or elves in terms of how tall they were or what they looked like. </div><div><br /></div><div>Magic-users are a bit more universal so their understanding of "wizards" was better (most of them envisioned Harry Potter, but some thought of Merlin or "the guy from <i>The Hobbit</i>"). While none of them are currently playing any magic-users, I prepared a list of questions for them to think about should one of them choose to play one in the future (one about their appearance, one about their magic, and one about their background/history): </div><div><br /></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Appearance. </b>Most magic-users go through years of study and apprenticeship before they become adventurers. Do you look like a classic wizard, elderly, with gray or white hair and (if male) a beard? Is your hair wild and unkempt? Or, do you buck these trends?</li><li><b>Manifestations. </b>What are some unique things that happen when you cast your magical spells? As an example, maybe each time you cast a spell, the temperature around you drops by 10 degrees for a few hours. Perhaps a haze of colored vapor appears, or the air smells of cinnamon. </li><li><b>Background/History. </b>How did you learn magic? Were you born with talent, did you somehow teach yourself, or did you have a master? If you have a master, what was he or she like? (See the tables below for a few ideas on unique wizard masters). </li></ol></div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>WEIRD MAGIC-USER TRAITS TABLE</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>The traits below can be used for individual magic-users to differentiate them and make them unique in the world, but a few of the ideas could be used to Dungeon Masters to create schools or societies of magic-user factions in the campaign. </div><div><br /></div><div>For more magic-user variants on my blog, see: </div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Arcane Artisan, Arcane Investigator, and Sage (<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/d12-expertsspecialists-for-bx-or-old.html" target="_blank">Expert/Specialist Subclasses</a>)</li><li>Hedge Wizard and Witch (<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/d12-wilderness-subclasses-for-bx-or-old.html" target="_blank">Wilderness Subclasses</a>)</li><li>Mesmerist (<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/open-game-content-d12-city-or-urban.html" target="_blank">City/Urban Subclasses</a>)</li><li>Sea Witch (<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/open-game-content-d12-navalsea.html" target="_blank">Naval/Sea Subclasses</a>)</li><li>Mad Scholar and Necromancer (<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/open-game-content-d12-horror-subclasses.html" target="_blank">Horror Subclasses</a>)</li><li>Evil Queen and Wizened Mentor (<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/05/open-game-content-d12-fairy-tale.html" target="_blank">Fairytale Subclasses</a>)</li><li>Cunning Mentalist and Merciless Ruler (<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/06/open-game-content-d12-sword-planet.html" target="_blank">Sword & Planet Subclasses</a>)</li><li>Chemist and Mastermind (<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/10/open-game-content-d12-criminal.html" target="_blank">Criminal Subclasses</a>)</li><li>Koldun and Charodey (<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/open-game-content-slavic-folklore-fairy.html" target="_blank">Russian/Slavic Folklore Subclasses</a>)</li></ul><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr>
<td style="background: black; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span face=""Century Gothic",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: background1;">Roll<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: black; border-left: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span face=""Century Gothic",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: background1;">Weird Trait<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">1</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Magic Is Dying:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Magic is
a dying resource. Most remaining magic is contained within magic creatures.
The creature’s head retains the magic when severed from the body & can be
used in place of components to cast spells. The head will constantly complain
about this state of affairs. It can also be stolen. </span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">2</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Unique Spell Book:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Instead
of a traditional spell book or scrolls, you use one of the following (Roll 1D8):</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">1: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A collection of homemade dolls, each representing a different
spell. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">2: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A quipus (aka “talking knots”); colored, spun, and waxed threads.
</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">3: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Bag of the Nine Fiends.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">4: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Drawings on animal skins.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">5:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Fragile papyrus.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">6:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Medicine pouch.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">7:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Mystical tattoos.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">8:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Colored scarves.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">3</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Arcane Source:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Your
source of arcane power comes from (Roll 1D8):<b> </b></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">1: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ancient ley lines. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">2: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Residue from an ancient magical apocalypse. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">3: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Astrological phenomena.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">4: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sacred numbers.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">5:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The void.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">6:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Dreams.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">7:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Bits of debris from an asteroid that crashed millennia ago.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">8:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Collective memory.</span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">4</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Animal Components:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The
material components of every spell you cast consist of parts of dead animals
(feathers, fur, bones, tails, and/or other unsavory parts such as organs).
You’ve been caught once or twice collecting them. Most people think it’s
gross. It’s the ones who don’t mind that you should be wary of.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">5</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Casting Focus:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> You cast
your spells by using (Roll 1D8):</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">1: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rare spices. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">2: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mirrors. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">3: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Different color smoke.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">4: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dice.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">5:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Cards.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">6:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Dried insects.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">7:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Rare coins.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">8:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Un-meltable frost from the polar ice caps.</span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">6</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Strange Component Pouch:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Every
time you reach into your spell component pouch, there are new items you
didn’t place there. Roll 1D10. On a 1-9, it’s a random mundane item
(multi-colored bits of string, a braid of hair, playing cards with unknown
symbols, keys, dried food, etc.). On a 10, roll a 1D8:</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">1: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Small carved figures of the magic-user’s party members, but they
are missing the eyes. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">2:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> A jar of giant bee honey. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">3:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Letters from descendants of the magic-user who haven’t been born
yet.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">4:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The dagger used when the first elf slayed another elf.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">5:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> A glowing space rock.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">6:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> A manticore hairball.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">7:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> An answer to a sphinx’s riddle, but written in a forgotten
language.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">8:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> An entire galaxy, shrunk to miniature size, inside a jewel.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cross items off as they are discovered and replace with your own
ideas.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">7</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Magic Guardians:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Magic-users
are part of a corps of highly trained individuals from every corner of the
world. A Council of Guardians makes the rules on how magic should be used
properly and decides who gets to use magic. The Guardians are insufferable twits.</span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">8</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Human Masters:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">Humans
discovered magic. Other races and creatures stole it. They’ll regret it one
day.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">9</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Haunted:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">A
spell backfired when you were young and inexperienced, and someone died.
You’re convinced their soul is haunting you. It might be. It also might just
be your imagination.</span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">10</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Memory Loss:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">After
your master taught you your first spell, you lost all your memories up until
that point. Your master claims that’s never happened before</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">11</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Magic Gift:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">You
discovered a gift for magic after having been bitten by (Roll 1d4):</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">1: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">A
plague rat</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">2:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">A newborn with a full set of teeth</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">3:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">A mysteriously glowing spider</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">4:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">A two-headed dog</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">12</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Magic Prodigy:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">You
have no memory of when or how you learned to cast magic, or where your spell
book came from. You just know how to read it and cast the spells it contains.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">13</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 26.3pt;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Voice Inside Your Head:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">When you read spells out of your spell book, you
hear a voice that’s not yours inside your head reading the words. The voice
seems to be mispronouncing words on purpose. You wonder if it might be
affecting your spellcasting</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">14</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">All Magic Is Equal:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">You
uncovered a secret: all magic draws from the same source. Clerics and
magic-users only <i>think</i> they can’t cast each other’s spells because
that’s how they were trained. Nobody believes you. You also notice you’re
being followed now</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">15</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mysterious Master:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">You
learned magic from a master whose face was always obscured by a featureless
mask. Once you graduated and learned your first spell, the master said, “You
now serve the King…” and disappeared</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">. </span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">16</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fiendish Counselors:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">Ever
since learning how to cast magic, you occasionally think you see small
fiendish creatures hovering over people’s heads, clinging to their backs, or
sitting on their shoulders. The fiends seem to be talking to them. You’re
afraid to look in the mirror</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">17</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Secret Journal:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">You
recently found the journal of the deceased master who taught your current
master. The journal mentions fears of having secrets stolen and being
murdered by a pupil</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">. </span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">18</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Unusual Master:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">The
master who teaches you the art of magic is (Roll 1D8):</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">1: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">Someone
claiming to be the world’s oldest elf</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">2: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">An
eccentric bear who sees nothing odd about being the only bear that talks and
casts magic</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">3: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">Three
female identical triplets who take turns speaking every other word</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">4: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">Someone
who refers to himself only as “The Antediluvian Man”</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">5:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">The ghost of the magic-user who first created the
spell you are trying to learn; there’s a different ghost for each spell in
your spell book</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">6:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">A tiny caterpillar that speaks to you
telepathically</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">7:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">An exile from a proper school who was trying to
blackmail the headmaster. She won’t say why or what her evidence was</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">8:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">The whispering wind</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">19</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Magic Balance:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">Every
time you cast a spell, you get the feeling that an opposite version of that
spell is being cast at the same time on the other side of the world</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">20</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Magic Addition:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">A
secret no one told you is that casting magic is addictive. The more you cast
it, the more you want to cast it</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .75in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #444444;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">If
desired, you can make up mechanics for this like penalties (saves, INT, INT-based
or WIS-based skills, CON, HP damage, taking twice as long to prep spells,
etc.). </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .75in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">The
mechanics should be specific to your campaign world and they’re broadly the
same across each edition. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .75in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif;">For
those who play using safety protocols and content warnings, could be
considered a trigger warning for addition, so make sure your players/group
are comfortable with this idea.</span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div><div><b><u>WHAT'S NEXT FOR WEIRD CHARACTERS?</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>There will be a complementary post to this one, about "Making Magic Weird" that will revisit some ideas I began earlier this year, which was re-writing the flavor text of the standard arcane spells for magic-users to show how you can make them stranger and a bit creepier without actually changing the mechanics, as well as providing new ideas and random tables for things that might go wrong with magic by adding in a level of unpredictability. </div><div><br /></div><div>Once that's done, my plan is to take this series from my blog, refine and slightly expand it, and then add in all new "weird character traits" for other races and classes such as barbarians, bards, paladins, rangers, dark elves, half-elves, half-orcs, etc., and then publish it as a booklet with a focus on making campaigns less vanilla fantasy and embracing the weird. Let me know if this is something you'd be interested in. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>Making Your Characters Weird © 2021 Martin R. Thomas</i> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hanging:</b> Home office (laptop) and living room couch (small notebook to develop ideas)</div><div><b>Drinking:</b> Old Forester 1920 Prohibition Style Bourbon (neat)</div><div><b>Listening:</b> "Even After All" by Finley Quaye, from the album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/7wvOewuyOTcqyE5Xog0dp8?si=ac543d36ccaa4214" target="_blank">Maverick A Strike</a>"</div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-35927447314789910392021-05-20T11:17:00.001-07:002021-05-20T11:17:43.560-07:00GUEST POST: OLD SCHOOL ESSENTIALS CAMPAIGN: SESSION 5 (MY DAUGHTER'S CAMPAIGN)<a name='more'></a>
<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFhqx1mkAiHCq1ZTit47RuT5Oe2BbwaMHQgzysYUUOK3C2LEdaQXlpRjOyD41hEmlAJttalvAbt5FOAYW_W-rxHbMPTm6NHZvNsABcTPhzZ5CC2ENoAO8YOBZOZcdW4lfQ7ja4c9mXdGTd/s1429/Age+of+Twilight+Session+5+Recap.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="921" data-original-width="1429" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFhqx1mkAiHCq1ZTit47RuT5Oe2BbwaMHQgzysYUUOK3C2LEdaQXlpRjOyD41hEmlAJttalvAbt5FOAYW_W-rxHbMPTm6NHZvNsABcTPhzZ5CC2ENoAO8YOBZOZcdW4lfQ7ja4c9mXdGTd/s320/Age+of+Twilight+Session+5+Recap.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An example of how I took my player's notes<br />and put them on a background to look like<br />a journal entry. </td></tr></tbody></table>Today's post is a bit of a treat for the players in the D&D campaign I'm running for my daughter and her friends. I've been <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/04/old-school-essentials-campaign-session.html" target="_blank">writing recaps</a> of the past sessions here on my blog and also creating them for my players so they can refresh their memory prior to the next session. <b>The last time we played, I asked for a volunteer to write the recap in the voice of her character, and that as a reward, I would post her recap here on my blog.</b> One girl stepped up to volunteer and has spent the past few weeks or so diligently going through her notes, as well as some notes supplied by one of the other players, in order to put together the recap. <p></p><p>While this is part of my series of recaps for this campaign, it's also a cross-post as part of my series on playing <a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/search/label/RPGs%20with%20Tweens" target="_blank">D&D with Tweens</a>. I'll be featuring some notes that one of the other players took for this session in a future post, as an example of <b>how playing D&D can encourage good note-taking, which is a very useful skill for kids in school</b>, especially as they enter Middle School and need to learn the value of taking good notes in order to succeed. Writing notes by hand has been proven to help the brain return and later recall the information much more effectively than typing notes on a computer. So, be on the lookout for a fun post about that later. </p><p>In the meantime, below I'm going to write a short summary of what happen, followed by the recap from the player in my game, whom I will call "E." <b>I particularly liked how E wrote the recap as though it were her character relating a story of what happened</b>. I ended up copying her notes onto a background that made it look like a journal entry, which E really loved. <b>I also really enjoyed that E incorporated game mechanics into her recap by mentioning that she prepared her spell from her spell book in the morning after she woke up. </b>You'll also notice, as I've mentioned before, that the players are really into their pet animals, which all too often just fade into the background, but which I've made an effort to try to remember them and where they are or what they're doing while the characters are adventuring. </p><p><b>NOTE: </b>I put the names of characters, NPCs, and places in bold in E's recap the first time they are mentioned, just to help them stand out. </p><p>As always, a special thanks to Professor Dungeon Master at the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/DUNGEONCRAFT1/featured" target="_blank">DungeonCraft YouTube Channel</a> for a lot of the inspiration for how I'm running <i><b>Keep on the Borderlands</b></i>, including some of the names of the NPCs and the name of the tavern. </p><p><b>If you like E's recap, please drop a comment below - I know she would love to hear them! </b></p><p><b><u>SESSION 5 SHORT RECAP</u></b> (by Martin)</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjE1c5LdK7xkQH5hGcbwlcTCxRi0ThhWtzXdCPmnIo3pzz7oRa1UX44KkBxARGUdBOq3kKAXHqW9FhxvE0w4wuJAsATViYeStUHwbtsWiaL3mpCd2v-dzhhAWVZWizRdDNrGeyvGpQbq6/s2048/Age+of+Twilight+Session+5+Notes.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjE1c5LdK7xkQH5hGcbwlcTCxRi0ThhWtzXdCPmnIo3pzz7oRa1UX44KkBxARGUdBOq3kKAXHqW9FhxvE0w4wuJAsATViYeStUHwbtsWiaL3mpCd2v-dzhhAWVZWizRdDNrGeyvGpQbq6/s320/Age+of+Twilight+Session+5+Notes.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A page from my DM's notebook prepping<br />for the session. </td></tr></tbody></table><br />The adventurers met in the morning for breakfast at the Greased Goat Tavern, and learned that the proprietor, Gustav Gobblegut had fed their animals overnight and the local eccentric entertainer and bear trainer, Vasilov, had played a tuned to calm them down. After chatting with a few of the locals at breakfast, the adventurers hired two retainers to accompany them when they head to the Caves of Chaos. Provisions and supplies were procured, and adventurers also visited the Witch's Tower. Although the witch didn't appear, the adventures spoke to a magical doorknocker and learned that the witch would accept the three elves as apprentices if they recovered an ivory wand that was lost in the Caves years before. The witch also agreed to identify some potions the adventures had liberated from the laboratory of the goblin alchemist on their previous encounter at the Caves. After being told by several people that they should stick only to the lower caves, the adventurers set out, and after stumbling into what appeared to be a primitive alarm system of a wasp's nest that created a lot of buzzing noise that echoed through cave opening. The group pressed on, entering a dark cave and almost immediately a few of them fell into a pit trap, after which they were attacked by lanky, pale human-like creatures covered with blood and using weapons made of bone and who communicate by weird clicking noises. The adventurers repelled the creatures, but not before taking severe damage. Their torches give off a faint, smoky light as the flame dance, creating ominous shadows on the walls of the cave. In the distance, they can hear the clicking sounds of the creatures all around them...<p></p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>FULL RECAP </u></b>(As told by "E")</p><p><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Soulday, Rainfall 25 </span></i></b></p><p>This is <b>Holly Short</b> speaking, and I have an unbelievable tale to tell. </p><p>I woke up in my bed at the <b>Travelers Inn</b>. I immediately noticed that my wolf pup, <b>Drake</b>, was gone. I hopped out of bed, got dressed, and studied my spell book so I would have a spell for later if I needed it. I got the rest of my group of adventurers, and we headed downstairs. <b>Alex </b>said her wolf pup was missing too, and <b>Cora </b>said her turtle was missing. In the main lobby area of the Inn, the owners, <b>Brita </b>and <b>Hans</b>, told us the animals were very loud during the night and had been moved to the <b>Greased Goat</b>, and fed bones and table scraps. (Not the turtle, of course!) We thanked them and moved on. When we got to the tavern, we found them tied up outside and sleeping peacefully. We headed inside where <b>Gustav Gobblegut</b> told us Hans had brought the animals over and a man named <b>Vas </b>had given them food and put them to sleep. He was known for being good with animals. We talked to him and he said he would train our wolves for one gold piece per month per wolf. I also found a man named <b>Raddax the Red</b> that I had seen an advertisement for the previous day. The advertisement said he was looking for jobs and was good with a sword. I hired him so he could carry some of our things, and I planned on buying him a sword. He also mentioned that he would like to go to the <b>Caves of Chaos</b>. </p><p>After we untied our wolves, we headed over to the <b>witch’s tower</b> to have her identify potions and some herbs we had collected on our previous misadventure to the goblin caves within the Caves of Chaos. When we arrived, we knocked the door knocker three times just like her advertisement said to. A male voice responded, “What do you want?” </p><p>We looked around to locate the speaker, because they definitely weren't inside the castle. We realized that, to our surprise, it was the door knocker itself talking! Once we regrouped, we told him that we wanted some items identified. A basket was lowered from an unseen window, and we placed the potions and herbs inside, and were told to come back the next day to retrieve them. The knocker also said he had noticed that <b>Clara</b>, <b>Cora</b>, and myself, <b>Holly</b>, were elves and he was very interested in elven magic. He said he doesn't usually do this, but he would like us to be his apprentices. He said that we had to get his ivory wand from the goblin caves to prove ourselves. Next, we went to the <b>Provisioner </b>and I bought a sword for <b>Raddax </b>and some rations. We wanted to sell the Great Grub (or as I call it the Grody Grub) but the provisioner told us we should go to his brother, <b>Crazy Ygor</b> because he collects stuff like that. So, we headed over there and told Crazy Ygor our story and said we wanted to sell the grub. He said the grub was not worth much and did not take it. We did sell him the mushrooms Cora and Alex had collected for one gold piece per mushroom, plus he gave Cora a used shield that she was already thinking about buying. </p><p>By then it was around noon, and we headed back to the Greased Goat. We met up with a woman named <b>Benedicta </b>who had advertised that she was missing a ring. When we had been along <b>The Bone Road</b>, we’d stumbled upon a young fellow named <b>Leopold </b>who was very close to death. He had begged us to find his fiancée, Benedicta, in <b>Ostenscheig </b>(where we were currently) and give her their engagement ring. He gave me the ring, then went limp. He had died right there in front of us. Now, back to the present. We walked over to a woman that fit the description of Benedicta. </p><p>“Hi, Benedicta?” I said to her. </p><p>“Yes? Do I know you?” she replied. </p><p>“You don’t know us,” I said, “but we saw your advertisement, and we think we have your ring.” I pulled the ring out of my bag and handed it to her. </p><p>“Oh my, yes this is my ring!” she said. “But what ever happened to my dear Leopold?” </p><p>We solemnly explained what happened as realization hit her and she started weeping. We apologized deeply for her loss and went on our way. We then started heading towards the Caves of Chaos to retrieve the ivory wand. </p><p>As we walked, the trees in the forest got denser and darker. Everything seemed unwelcoming and unnatural. A large vulture gazed at us through hungry eyes. We came upon a rock face with many openings. We saw bones--white, glimmering, bones--strewn around us. We remembered that others had told us the lower caves are safer than the higher ones. We entered the opening to the lower caves that was closest to us. </p><p>As we entered, we made a line, two by two. I stood next to <b>Greta the Wanderer</b>, Cora next to Alex, Clara next to another hired person named <b>Osanna</b>, and <b>Bartolo the Seeker</b> next to Raddax the Red. As we continued walking, Greta and myself started to trip. I managed to steady myself, but I watched in horror as poor Greta fell into a pit trap! Before I could warn them, Cora and Clara stumbled into the trap as well. Bartolo, Alex, and I decided that we must use the bits of rope we had to pull them out. Alex stood guard while Bartolo and I lowered our ropes and the others attempted to start pulling themselves up. Meanwhile, Alex heard a small shuffling noise, and she whipped her head around to locate the sound. Out of what seemed like nowhere, tall, blue, humanoid creatures leaped out of the shadows and started to attack Alex! </p><p>They seemed to be attracted to light, or maybe scared by it, and attacked everyone holding torches, including Osanna and Raddax (who was holding most of my things!), and they both got dragged off. Bartolo went after the nearest savage and hit it in the stomach with his warhammer so hard that it went flying into the cave wall. We heard a loud crunching noise and saw it slide to the ground. Alex went for another one and stabbed it and threw it against the wall. I went after one of the savages that I had seen take Raddax and stabbed it with my trusty sword. Greta climbed as fast as she could up to the top of her rope and joined the fight. Clara climbed up some time after her and joined the fight as well. Cora used her daggers to stab crevices in the walls and managed to hoist herself up. Alex retreated into the shadows, and we could only see her the slightest bit. Bartolo went for another savage and bashed into it so hard that it flew off and we never saw it again. Greta tried to hit one with her spears, but she missed. Alex readjusted herself so we could not see her at all. She started moving toward the savage that Greta had missed and stabbed it in the neck. Then she jumped on top of it and stabbed it again. The savages then retreated to the shadows.</p><p><i>To be continued...</i></p><p style="text-align: center;">_________________________________</p><p>That's it for E's recap. We're scheduled to play again this Sunday. I hope you all enjoyed this guest post by one of my players. Reading over it again, I really liked a lot of the attention to detail, including the description of the environment in the forest as the adventurers made their way to the Caves. She really captured what I had said, so hopefully my description (which was an edited version of the text that Gary Gygax wrote in the adventure over 40 years ago) helped her visualize the scene in her mind. I do recall that I'd made a playlist of some music and forest sound effects and I timed my description of the forest sounds perfectly so that when the birds stopped chirping happily and instead began to sound more ominous, the bird sounds on my playlist changed to the croaking of ravens. E even mentioned, "That was perfect!" when it happened. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Hanging:</b> Home office (laptop)<br /><b>Drinking:</b> Stumptown Original Cold Brew Coffee<br /><b>Listening: </b>"50 Ways to Leave Your Love" by Paul Simon, from the album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4A366gjTrYQwmRtkTezF2W?si=210619e67ca34462" target="_blank">Still Crazy After All These Years</a>" </p>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-25943941079061300242021-05-18T12:36:00.004-07:002021-05-18T13:03:50.663-07:00Playing D&D with Tweens: Part 1<a name='more'></a>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjEpESX04YZO-wMqEvyX3GWE0dx8rMSAQqUQbPRg4XWeQJLr9HEvRDeP9wjnww_MHjyRSX2267XQ7WvSh12Enb-T4GtqUUrzqsaG9dw95HBVt4H8aNrNCAjtO1HutUlBCjuwkPbLWhDZiC/s2048/20201027_102616.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2014" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjEpESX04YZO-wMqEvyX3GWE0dx8rMSAQqUQbPRg4XWeQJLr9HEvRDeP9wjnww_MHjyRSX2267XQ7WvSh12Enb-T4GtqUUrzqsaG9dw95HBVt4H8aNrNCAjtO1HutUlBCjuwkPbLWhDZiC/s320/20201027_102616.jpg" /></a></div><br />Since I started running a D&D game for my daughter (11) and her friends last Autumn, I’ve also gotten a bit more involved on <a href="https://twitter.com/DaddyRolleda1" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and fell in with a cool group of folks who are all parents and playing some form of roleplaying games with their kids. The core group I engage with on Twitter have much younger kids than my daughter, but everyone has really interesting ideas to share about playing roleplaying games with young ones, and the challenges you can face as a GM running a game for different age levels. One of the parents even started an entire blog dedicated to playing tabletop RPGs with kids, and I encourage other parents to check it out here: <a href="https://www.ttrpgkids.com/" target="_blank">https://www.ttrpgkids.com/</a>. <div><br /></div><div>A particularly engaging series of conversations that began popping up was dedicated to playing with different age kids, and I sparked to the thread about playing with Tweens. I wrote a long Twitter thread about it, which is not my preferred way to share ideas because the threads get so long that I think it would usually be easier and more efficient to share the information as a series of blog posts, which brings me to today’s topic.
This is a summary of some of the ideas I shared on Twitter about Playing Tabletop RPGs with Tweens, but I’ve cleaned it up, expanded on some of the ideas, and including a few other topics that I thought about after my tweet-storm. You can see the original discussion on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/DaddyRolleda1/status/1389288596968931329" target="_blank">here</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>For this first part of this short series, <b>I’m going to talk a bit about how I broached the topic with the parents of my daughter’s friends, how I replied to some of their thoughts/comments, and how I began to set-up my new campaign. </b></div><div><br /></div><div> As I start, after my daughter had expressed interest in playing, I asked her which of her friends she wanted to invite. She picked three, all the same age as her, and I then sent the following email to the parents of those three girls: </div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><i>As most of you know, I've been playing role-playing games, particularly Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), on and off since about 1981, and I'm currently running a game that [my wife] plays in, as well as playing in another one with [one of the parents]. [My daughter] has expressed interest in learning to play, and after chatting with her about it, she has selected your three girls [names redacted] as three friends she would like to join her. </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>We won't be starting until after Girl Scout Cookie Season is over (March) which will give me time to get ready to run the game. For you and your girls' part, there's really nothing to do at this point other than to let us know if your daughter would be interested. Ideally, we'd try to get together about once a month, and we'll pick a day and time that is convenient to everyone. We'll provide snacks and/or meals for your girls while they are here, and each game session would probably last around 2-3 hours, but if the girls are having fun and/or in the middle of something they want to finish, we could go longer. We'll also go shorter if they are getting tired or need a break. </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>For the start, I can provide everything the girls will need (I have plenty of dice here at my house they can use during the game), and I can provide PDFs of the basic rules that they'll need and/or just explain things to them the first time we meet as a group. You definitely won't need to buy any of the current versions of the rules ("5th Edition"), as I will be using an older version of the game that I grew up with back in the 1980's that's more simplified. </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><b>What is a Role-Playing Game?</b> For those of you who don't have experience with the game or have a bad association of it based on what you've heard non-players say about it, a role-playing game is essentially just shared storytelling. One person (me, in this case) will act as a Referee and present a series of options for the players (the girls) to choose from. Each player will create a character that has certain abilities that are all numerically-based and determined by rolling dice, so they will know how strong, fast, and smart their characters are, and what other abilities they have (they may be good at fighting, finding traps and treasure, or casting spells). Playing a game of D&D isn't acted "live" - that's a different type of game. In our games, we'll be sitting around a table with rulebooks, dice, character sheets, and a map, and the girls will tell me what they want their characters to do (either in the "voice" of their character, or just by saying, "I'd like my character to do..."). As the Referee, I determine if their actions are reasonable and what chance of success they have, based on the numbers of the dice they roll and consulting charts in the rulebook. They will encounter monsters they may have to fight, or other characters in the game (controlled by me) that they may choose to befriend, and they may want to go on a quest to find gold or a missing magical sword. It's really up to them what they want their characters to do, and as the Referee, I will guide them and present them with some options they may choose from, or they may decide to do something completely different. If any of you have played video games in which you control a character and are given options of where you want to go in the video game and what you want your character to do, it's very similar; in fact, video games like this were created by people who originally played the tabletop version of Dungeons & Dragons in the 1970's and 1980's. The main difference is that in a video game, you are limited to what the game designer pre-programmed as the options you can take. You aren't allowed to go "off-script." In a tabletop game of D&D, the players can decide they want their characters to do anything, and as the Referee, I'll typically go along with it and let things play out to see what happens. They aren't limited other than by the abilities of their characters and the rolls of the dice. </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Benefits of Playing an RPG:</b> Role-playing games teach a lot of things to players: teamwork and cooperation, social skills, public speaking, imagination and creativity, spontaneous problem-solving, statistics (the players will learn that using the dice gives them a % chance to accomplish something, and as they get good at doing math in their head, they will usually know their chance of success before rolling), compromise, and confidence, just to name a few. Many educators and psychologists promote the use of role-playing games for a variety of benefits. </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Please let me know if your girls are interested, and also please provide a few options of what kind of days/times are best (obviously we won't be playing on a school night, so is a Friday night better, or would you prefer a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, or a Saturday night?). Parents are also welcome to come hang out and watch, or even play if you are so inclined. </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Thanks everyone. I welcome any questions you have, especially for those of you who have never played a game like this and want more information. </i></div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>The parents of all three girls replied back in the affirmative that their daughters wanted to play, and one dad asked if he could play as well. Nobody at this point asked for more information about the game. One of the parents mentioned her daughter was a bit nervous because she didn’t know what to do or how to play, but she was also excited.
At this stage and over the following few weeks, I learned a few things: </div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The parents as a group seemed very interested in having a set scheduled time for their kids to be able to see their friends and also give the parents a break. </li><li>A couple of parents used our game sessions as rewards for good behavior for their kids, as well as letting them know they couldn’t go to the session if they hadn’t finished their homework or chores. </li><li>One parent got a bit confused because she was trying to help her daughter be a bit more prepared for what we’d be doing, so they began watching live stream videos on YouTube, but the terms and the rules and the options were all different because the streams they were watching were all based on 5th Edition. </li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>That’s it for this introduction. In the next part, I’ll be discussing the “Session 0” I had with the players, including how to use the dice, what the different character roles/classes/races were available, and also gave them a quick overview of some rules and terms, and discussing comfort levels with things like descriptions of violence and horror. </div><div><br /></div><div>Future entries in the series will discuss specific things as relate to playing role-playing games specifically with players of tween age and how to navigate those challenges to ensure everyone is having fun. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you're playing (or have played) an RPG with kids, especially tweens, I'd love to hear from you. Please drop a comment below and let me know how you approached it. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hanging: </b>Home Office (laptop) </div><div><b>Drinking: </b>Coffee (dark roast Italian blend) </div><div><b>Listening: </b>"California Soul" by Marlena Shaw, from the album "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6TRHI63AVabVkLPou2biv8?si=8035321a515e4887" target="_blank">The Spice of Life</a>"
</div>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312698957749576588.post-13906020254067403242021-05-10T16:26:00.003-07:002021-05-27T12:52:02.322-07:00Making Characters Weird: Halflings<a name='more'></a>
<p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCqunP0ZPLOGGojOp8nGBUFMl0Q3fMy0-rlfwgGkdh4BQXpBrY5qsLHvoLJHM61GQgY-B26HG6WatGp9MfPn7FnlSQ4ZaEfAnVvxZ-NKJ2-S9h1bI7pcjTeDtCoJ8ts39coftD8NvSC332/s1811/Confidence+Bright+-+Halfling.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1811" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCqunP0ZPLOGGojOp8nGBUFMl0Q3fMy0-rlfwgGkdh4BQXpBrY5qsLHvoLJHM61GQgY-B26HG6WatGp9MfPn7FnlSQ4ZaEfAnVvxZ-NKJ2-S9h1bI7pcjTeDtCoJ8ts39coftD8NvSC332/s320/Confidence+Bright+-+Halfling.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.deviantart.com/bipicado/art/Confidence-Bright-A-Cage-Sustained-Illustration-820981803" target="_blank">Confidence Bright - A Cage <br />Sustained Illustration</a> by <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/bipicado/gallery" target="_blank">BiPiCado</a><br />is licensed by <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/" target="_blank">CC BY-NC-ND 3.0</a></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />What's included in this post: </b><p></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Three things to think about when playing a halfling</li><li>A table of 20 "weird" (non-Tolkien) traits for halflings</li><li>Some design philosophy/theory on how to adapt these changes to old-school (pre-2nd Edition) D&D, 3.5 Edition, and 5E, to show how simply and easy it can be </li></ul><div><br /></div><div><b>Quick Background:</b></div><div><br /></div><div>This is the 6th entry in my series on <b>"<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/search/label/weird%20fantasy" target="_blank">making characters weird.</a>"</b> The idea is to make small, unexpected tweaks to the standard versions of the difference classes and races to create versions that aren't vanilla fantasy or the Tolkien variety, but at the same time, ones that are still recognizable without all the crazy gonzo or violent grim-dark that sometimes accompanies the word "weird." And, to be clear, I <i>like </i>vanilla fantasy, Tolkien, and gonzo (I'm less enthused by gore-porn, however). But this series presents something different than any of those as a way to re-think what makes fantasy more magical and unpredictable, and to provide role-playing hooks for players and DMs looking to make their PCs and NPCs a little different. </div><div><br /></div><div>The mantra of this series is <b>"flavor, not mechanics."</b> The idea is that these changes are system and edition-neutral. If there are any rules changes, I'll put them in italics. And, at the end of this entry, I'm including some design philosophy to show why I don't think these changes need any mechanics to accompany them, but also to show, if you do want mechanics, how you can apply them to a variety of different editions of D&D. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>What's Come Before:</b></div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/making-characters-weird-fighters.html" target="_blank">Fighters</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/making-characters-weird-clerics.html" target="_blank">Clerics</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/04/making-characters-weird-thievesrogues.html" target="_blank">Thieves/Rogues</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/04/making-characters-weird-dwarves.html" target="_blank">Dwarves</a></li><li><a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/05/making-characters-weird-elves.html" target="_blank">Elves</a></li></ul><br /></div><div><b>My goal</b> with these is to clean up and expand these posts a bit (for example, the first post on Fighters doesn't include my "Playing a Fighter: Three Questions" section, and publish them, along with ideas solicited online in social media and here in the comments, and also adding in new ideas for other classes and races like bards, paladins, gnomes, and half-orcs. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>PLAYING A HALFLNG: THREE QUESTIONS</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>I don't currently have any halfling players in the game I'm running for my daughter (age 11) and her friends, and I <a href="http://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2012/01/design-decisions-gnomes-and-halflings.html" target="_blank">didn't actually allow halflings</a> in the other long-running game I have going (a 3.5/Pathfinder game that began as a 3.0 game in 2001 and is still running, although it has been on hiatus for a while primarily due to the pandemic). </div><div><br /></div><div>However, for my daughter's game, I wanted to give the players some ideas to think about with regard to playing a halfling, should any of them choose to do so. The background information on halflings in <i>Old School Essentials</i> (the rules system I'm using, which is really just a cleaned-up version of Moldvay Basic, aka "B/X" D&D with better layout and presentation) is extremely light, and these players don't really have the context of the<i> Lord of the Rings</i> or the <i>Hobbit</i>. Outside of Tolkien and maybe the old 1980's movie, <i>Willow</i>, there really aren't any common depictions of halfling-like creatures <u>outside</u> of D&D, so my players are having a hard time wrapping their heads around playing a smaller species that seems to prefer spending time feasting than doing pretty much anything else. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here are three questions I'm asking my players to consider when playing a halfling: </div><div><br /></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Do you live among the "bigger" races for safety?</b> This is a common trope among many D&D style halflings, in which halflings choose to build their communities alongside those of dwarves, elves, or, most commonly, humans. While this idea makes a certain amount of sense given the way a typical halfling is described in the rules, it's not a guarantee that halflings will always come from a society like this. How you view the larger races is probably directly related to whether you grew up around them, and whether they treated your people as allies, as children, or as a nuisance. </li><li><b>How important is food and drink to you? </b>The 1981 Moldvay Basic D&D rulebook mentions that halflings are "good-nature" and seek treasure as a way of securing the "comforts of home." This description of the halfling race has changed little over the years within the mainstream campaign settings and rules (Dark Sun halflings being a notable exception); the 5E rulebook mentions that the "comforts of home are the goals of most halflings' lives... a blazing fire and a generous meal; fine drink..." The longing for food and drink seems to be a driving force behind many halflings day-to-day lives. But, how important is it to your particular halfling? What kinds of foods and drinks do you prefer? Do you prefer company, or dining alone? Do you prepare your own meals, or prefer to acquire them at a tavern or other establishment? </li><li><b>Do you like adventuring, or do you see it as a necessary evil?</b> This is somewhat related to the second question. The depiction of halflings throughout most editions of the game has been that they would much prefer to be home than out adventuring. While every race might share at least some of that sentiment, with halflings it is described as a primary motivation for them: treasure = buying the comforts of home. Is your halfling one of these reticent adventurers, or are you one of those who bucks the trend and enjoys leaving your village to explore the wide world around you? </li></ol><div><br /></div></div><div><b><u>WEIRD HALFLING TRAITS TABLE</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>The traits below might be applicable to all halflings, or you could use them to create a sub-race of halflings. Alternately, they could be specific and apply only to a unique PC or NPC of the halfling race. </div><div><br /></div><div>For more halfling variants, see: </div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Halfling Vanguard (<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/d12-wilderness-subclasses-for-bx-or-old.html" target="_blank">Wilderness Subclasses</a>)</li><li>Halfling Shantyman (<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/open-game-content-d12-navalsea.html" target="_blank">Naval/Sea Subclasses</a>)</li><li>Halfling Jinx (<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/04/open-game-content-d12-horror-subclasses.html" target="_blank">Horror Subclasses</a>)</li><li>Halfling Burglar and Courier (<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/10/open-game-content-d12-criminal.html" target="_blank">Criminal Subclasses</a>)</li><li>Halfling Squire (<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/05/open-game-content-d12-fairy-tale.html" target="_blank">Fairy Tale Subclasses</a>)</li><li>Sly Catman (<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2020/06/open-game-content-d12-sword-planet.html" target="_blank">Sword & Planet Subclasses</a>)</li><li>Domovoi (<a href="https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/2021/03/open-game-content-slavic-folklore-fairy.html" target="_blank">Russian & Slavic Folklore Subclasses</a>)</li></ul><div><br /></div></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr>
<td style="background: black; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span face=""Century Gothic",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: background1;">Roll<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: black; border-left: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: text1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span face=""Century Gothic",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: background1;">Weird Trait<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">1</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Burrowers:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Halflings are burrowing
folk with a hive-like structure. </span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">2</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cavalry Warriors:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Halflings
are cavalry warriors who use one of the following as mounts (Roll 1D4):</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">1: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Giant bats. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">2: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mobile fallen tree trunks.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">3: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Giant beetles.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">4: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Clouds.</span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">3</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #444444;">Collaborative Creation:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #444444;"> Halflings
were created because somebody wrote about them in a book, and enough people
believed halflings existed that they willed them into existence.</span><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">4</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Magical Cycle:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Innate
magic power rotates every cycle (millennium/ century/ whatever) between the
races. The elves got it this time, but it happened in recent memory. The
halflings had it previously. They’re not happy about losing it. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">5</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mysterious Death:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> No one
remembers ever seeing a dead halfling, even if when long-time halfling companions
die. The knowledge of person remains, but knowledge of seeing the dead body
is simply “gone.”</span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">6</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mirror World Projections:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Halflings
are “projections” of beings on another plane. On that plane, they are the
tallest species. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">7</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Song of Creation:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The song
that sang halflings into existence was interrupted and the deity singing it
was slain. The halflings are aware of this and dedicate their lives to
hunting down the renegade who stopped the song. </span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">8</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Halfling Luck:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Halflings
are said to be lucky. In reality, they’ve sold a piece of their souls to an
unknown entity to give them a little boost while they are alive. No one knows
what happens to them when they die.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">9</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Speaking in Questions:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Halflings
speak only in questions. This infuriates other races, but the halflings have
learned how to use this to their advantage. Particularly obnoxious ones will
also rhyme their questions.</span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">10</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Monster Protector:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Halfling
communities are always situated far too close to a large monster den. The
monsters keep bigger folk & invaders away. Occasionally the monster gets
greedy & a halfling goes missing.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">11</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Three Subraces:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> There are
three halfling sub-races, one each very closely related to dwarves, elves,
and humans. You do not want to mention the word “experimentation” among them.</span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">12</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Three Subraces, Part 2:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> There are
three halfling sub-races, like the previous entry, but this time, they are
closely related to elves, goblins, and orcs. Somebody might have some
explaining to do.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">13</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 26.3pt;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Magic Corruption:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Contrary to known belief, halflings are extremely talented
magic-users, but arcane magic always corrupts them. They avoid using magic,
and special halfling agents called Mage Runners hunt down & destroy halfling
arcane magic-users.</span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">14</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Recent Appearance:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The
halfling race only appeared within recent memory, a few decades/centuries
after a horrific incursion of fiends from beyond time and space appeared. The
halflings don’t seem to fear the fiends.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">15</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mysterious Festival:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Halflings
disappear once a year for a three-day festival related to celebrating the
first halflings. Outsiders are not welcome. Following the festival, halflings
are quiet and depressed for a few weeks. </span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">16</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Battle Lust:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Halflings suffer from
battle-lust, and therefore have adopted a sedentary lifestyle of farming,
gardening, and brewing as a way to keep control. Halflings who lose control
in battle suffer a form of mental illness, which is why most halflings refuse
to go on adventures. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">17</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Epic Poetry:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Halflings claim to
have invented the pantheons of the other races through a series of
elaborately constructed epic sagas that were part of a poetry contest. </span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">18</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Forest Protectors:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Just as
dwarves are creatures of stone, halflings are creatures of the forest,
created by the Assembly of Trees to be its protectors. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: white; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">19</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">World Defenders:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Halflings
are the youngest of the sentient races. They were created to defend the world,
as the other races (dwarves, elves, humans, whatever) were discovered to be
flawed and corrupt. The halflings know this. The other races do not.</span></span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 35.75pt;" valign="top" width="48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">20</span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(197, 185, 175); border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 431.75pt;" valign="top" width="576">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Strange Replacement:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Halflings
live near other, larger races, and begin to adopt many of the other races’
mannerisms and customs. After a few years, the halfling population slowly
disappears, but is replaced by an equal number of members of the other race. </span><span style="font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><b><u>ADDING MECHANICS: DESIGN PHILOSOPHY</u></b></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>As I've mentioned many times, I designed this series with the intent that the majority of these entries don't need any mechanics associated with them. They're about flavor and providing role-playing hooks. That said, whenever I post these in social media, particularly on Twitter, a lot of enthusiastic fans and followers will comment back about how a particular idea could be applied in their system of choice (which, mainly, is 5E, so people talk about short and long rests, Advantage/Disadvantage, bonus actions, etc.). I usually write back to compliment their ideas and thank them for their enthusiasm, and then mention how I deliberately left out any mechanics because I personally don't think everything needs to be codified in this manner, and also to let creative players and referees figure out what mechanics would work best for their system of choice, should they really wish to apply some. </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">That said, I wanted to show a few examples using four ideas from the table above (#2, #4, #13, and #16) to show how you could apply mechanics, if you really wanted to, and also, how similar those ideas could be, across editions. </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Halfling Cavalry Warriors</b></li><ul><li>Let's say you want to add some mechanical differentiation for these types of halflings to distinguish them from other races. Here are my ideas: </li><ul><li>Basic - B/X D&D</li><ul><li>Give the halfling a +1 bonus to hit while mounted; this replaces the standard halfling missile attack bonus</li></ul><li>3.5 Edition</li><ul><li>The halfling gains the Mounted Combat for free, replacing the +1 racial bonus on attack rolls with throw weapons or slings</li><li>(Note that you could also just decide to give them +1 to attack rolls while mounted if you wanted; it's not going to "break" anything)</li></ul><li>5E</li><ul><li>Create a halfling subrace that adds +1 to CON and gets Advantage on missile attacks while mounted. </li></ul></ul><li>You'd probably also want to generate some kind of stats for the mounts. </li><ul><li>Basic - B/X D&D</li><ul><li>Giant Bats: Use the "Giant Bat" entry</li><li>Mobile Fallen Tree Trunks: Treat as a cart that doesn't require draft animals</li><li>Giant Beetle: Treat as a Giant Fire Beetle, but without the glowing nodes</li><li>Clouds: I'd probably treat this as a Flying Carpet, but I'd impose some restrictions such as how often it could be used per day and also what level the halfling needed to be in order to use it, etc. </li></ul><li>3.5 D&D</li><ul><li>Giant Bats: Use the "Dire Bat" entry</li><li>Mobile Fallen Tree Trunks: Treat as a cart that doesn't require draft animals</li><li>Giant Beetle: Treat as a Giant Bombardier Beetle without the acid spray attack</li><li>Clouds: Again, I'd probably treat this like a Carpet of Flying but reduce its effectiveness a bit and impose some restrictions, etc. </li></ul><li>5E D&D</li><ul><li>Giant Bats: Use the "Giant Bat" entry.</li><li>Mobile Fallen Trunks: Treat as a cart that doesn't require draft animals</li><li>Giant Beetle: Treat as a Giant Fire Beetle without the Illumination ability</li><li>Clouds: As above for 3.5 and Basic; treat as a Carpet of Flying with some restrictions</li></ul><li>You'll see that each of these is pretty intuitive; there's really no need to provide stats because you can easily just figure it out from the context. Also, if you don't want the mount to make attacks, it's easy to just hand-wave that it's there but that it doesn't get any attacks. </li></ul></ul><li><b>Innate Magic Power Now with the Elves</b></li><ul><li>This is really easy - just don't allow halflings to be arcane spellcasters</li><ul><li>Basic - B/X D&D</li><ul><li>Halflings weren't even allowed, per the rules, to use any sort of magic</li></ul><li>3.5 D&D</li><ul><li>Restrict halflings from becoming sorcerers or wizards</li></ul><li>5E D&D</li><ul><li>Restrict halflings from becoming sorcerers, warlocks, or wizards</li></ul><li>For 3.5 and 5E, you'll need to decide if bardic magic is different enough (even though it's technically arcane per the rules, and you'll also need to decide if clerical and druidical classes are allowed, since they cast divine magic, not arcane)</li></ul></ul><li><b>Magic Corrupts</b></li><ul><li>Again, this is easy in terms of cautioning your players against playing a halfling arcane caster</li><ul><li>Basic - B/X D&D</li><ul><li>Per the rules, halflings can't cast arcane magic, but you could create some halfling NPC magic-users who have become corrupt, and any PC halflings are members of the arcane magic hunters. </li><li>If you want more mechanics, replace the standard halfling missile attack bonus by giving PC halflings +1 to hit and damage against any NPC halfling arcane casters. Be aware this is very situation and likely to not be used as often as the standard missile attack bonus throughout the course of the character's career, so you might want to adjust accordingly. </li></ul><li>3.5 D&D</li><ul><li>Perhaps you allow halflings to become arcane spellcasters, but doing so, they need to make a Will saving throw every time they cast an arcane spell, with the DC equal to 10 + spell level. Each time they fail, they gain a "corruption point." At Corruption 10, their alignment becomes evil. </li><li>There might be degrees of corruption (mild, medium, severe) with different physical, mental, or emotional consequences at each stage (find appropriate random tables online), and there might also be ways to remove corruption. </li></ul><li>5E D&D</li><ul><li>Use the ideas above for 3.5 D&D, but make the Corruption Save a WIS save.</li><li>Alternatively, you could use the Corruption rules by Matt Mercer, available as a free 3-page PDF on the <a href="https://www.dmsguild.com/product/230784/Corruption-Rules" target="_blank">Dungeon Master's Guild</a>. </li></ul></ul></ul><li> <b>Halfling Battle Lust</b></li><ul><li>This could very easily just be role-played, but if you want some mechanics to go along with the flavor, here are some ideas. </li><ul><li>Basic - B/X D&D</li><ul><li>Save vs. Death after each battle, or: </li><ul><li>Suffer -2 INT and a -2 Reaction Roll penalty for 1d4 weeks</li><li>Gain +1 to attack rolls during your next encounter</li><li>Battle Lust is not cumulative (once you have it, you can't get it again until it has worn off) </li></ul></ul><li>3.5 D&D</li><ul><li>DC 12 Will Save after each battle, or:</li><ul><li>Suffer -2 to all INT and WIS based skill checks for 1d4 weeks</li><li>Gain +1 to attack rolls during your next encounter</li><li>Battle Lust is not cumulative (once you have it, you can't get it again until it has worn off)</li><li>Does not stack with the Barbarian rage ability</li></ul></ul><li>5E D&D</li><ul><li>DC 12 WIS Save after each battle, or: </li><ul><li>Suffer -2 to all INT and WIS based skill checks for 1d4 weeks</li><li>Gain +1 to attack rolls during your next encounter</li><li>Battle Lust is not cumulative (once you have it, you can't get it again until it has worn off)</li><li>Cannot be used while in a Barbarian rage</li></ul></ul><li>The DC for 3.5 and 5E could be altered to account for the amount of damage done or damage taken during an encounter, etc. </li></ul></ul></ul><div><br /></div><div>These are just a few ideas, and they're not fleshed out (obviously, there are other mechanics within the 3.5 and 5E rules systems that could be applied to any of the above ideas if you really wanted), but the purpose was to illustrate that these types of ideas don't really need mechanics, and even if you want them, they're not difficult to create for the system you want, and many of them could be interpreted on the fly, especially for a B/X or other old-school game. </div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>As always, I really appreciate comments, whether positive or negative. Let me know which traits or ideas you liked or didn't like, and feel free to suggest new ones. <b>As I look toward the idea of publishing these in the future, I'm looking to include ideas from the community and will credit them accordingly.</b> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><i><br /></i></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><i>Making Your Characters Weird © 2021 Martin R. Thomas</i></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Hanging: </b>Home office (laptop)<br /><b>Drinking: </b>Tap water<br /><b>Listening: </b>"<a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/0TqIWD1VyKeWwuQ5IPElnH?si=9c579ea103d74f13" target="_blank">George's Dilemma</a>" by Clifford Brown & the Max Roach Quintet, from the album "Study in Brown," 1955. </p></div><p></p>Martin R. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672657745232101753noreply@blogger.com11