Campaign Pitch: The Dungeon Apocalypse

I enjoyed putting together my last campaign pitch, so here is another one that brings dungeon crawling to a broken Earth. This pitch is inspired by the tradition of megadungeons and what little I know of a Japanese RPG called Meikyuu Kingdom.

The Dungeon Apocalypse

People thought they knew what what the apocalypse would be, that they were ready for it. Some thought it would come in the form of nuclear warfare, gray goo, viruses, climate change or divine judgment. They were all wrong. The apocalypse, when it came, was something that nobody could have predicted.

The world warped. Buildings twisted and groaned as they were forced into new arrangements. Earth, trees, and even people were caught up in the rearrangement of everything. There was no stopping whatever unseen force molded the world into its new form: a labyrinth that spanned entire continents. The walls were made from whatever was in the area. Cars, bricks and bones were smashed and crammed together into the thick, tall walls that wind across the world.

Survivors scavenge what they can from the labyrinth walls. Those that are lucky might be able to find or fashion a tool they can use to bore through them and begin constructing some form of civilization, but the maze fights them at every turn. Whatever force reshaped the world didn't stop at just making a titanic maze. Something lingers, something that changes animal and man alike. The farther from other humans and what remains of civilization you go, the more people change. The labyrinth twists men and beasts as surely as it twisted the world, changing them into monsters. Those that get lost in the labyrinth lose their humanity.

Google Maps + The GIMP + Maze

Life Behind The Walls

People alway find a way to survive and that is just as true in a giant, world spanning labyrinth. The world population was reduced by the crushing creation of the maze, but enough men and women survived to create small pockets of civilization. They tunnel through walls to increase their living space and search the twisted rubble for useful items.

The Lost

Those that tray too far from what remains of civilization become as distorted as the world they live in. They become The Lost and their bodies change into monstrous forms a they wander the maze. The Lost are more than just the remain of humans. Animals, plants and anything else living that manages to live isolated in the labyrinth becomes lost and transforms into something both more and less than it was before.

The Lost are constant threat to survivors. Scavengers may be stalked or stumble across something dangerous or predatory Lost may even prey upon survivors while they are gathered in their homes.

Reclaiming The Earth

So you want to be a hero in this world of dungeons?  It can be done, but it won't be easy.  Destroy the walls of the labyrinth and bring back a world without walls. It is a bigger job than any one man can hope to accomplish, but there may be a way other than forcing the walls down with manpower and hammers. Scattered around the world are Origin Points, locations where the labyrinth seemed to grow out of as it bent the world to its design. Someone brave, skilled and very lucky might be able to make their way to these points and discover a way to bring down the walls.

How Would I Run It?

I would use D20 Modern or something like it to run the game. A nice medium crunch system that would make the actual dungeon crawling satisfying. As far as actually starting the campaign goes, I think I would fast forward a generation or two after the apocalypse happened, give it enough time for some communities to be built and monsters to be created. I would start the game with the PCs discovering a dying man while out scavenging and with his last breath he tells them of an origin point and passes a tattered map to them.

The mood of the game would be heroic. This might be a post-apocalyptic setting, but it won't have the depressed mood or as much of the horror element. This game would be about the quest and the growth of the heroes, a very traditional fantasy journey style of play.

Categories: Campaign Pitch, d20 modern, Dungeon Apocalypse, megadungeon, meikyuu kingdom, post-apocalypse

Flipping through FolkLore

F'olkLore appeared on my radar late last week and since it bills itself as a simple fantasy RPG with only a $1 price tag I knew that I would have to take a look.

What Is It?

FolkLore is an ultralight fantasy RPG from Seth Zaloudek. It weighs in at four half pages in total. I say half pages because the author's intent is for the game to be folded into brochures and handed to each player at the table. The game features a whimsical black and white art style which is sadly limited to only the cover panel. Still, the graceful cover design carries over into the rest of the product and places it a cut above most other ultralight RPGs.

How Does It Work?

Simplicity shines in FolkLore with an easy to use dice pool mechanic acting as the backbone of the game. Players designate points into the governing attributes Body, Mind and Social and these make up the basis of every character. Whenever a conflict/challenge/test/check occurs players roll a number of d6 equal to the relevant attribute, add additional dice for player-defined character traits and equipment and then count successes. It all reminds me of Marvel Heroic Role Playing, albeit on a much smaller scale.

There are a few other neat mechanics crammed into this little game and the one I found most interesting was the gamble feature. Instead of fumbles working the way we all know and love, in FolkLore anytime a player fails a check they have the option of gambling. If they lose the gamble roll they suffer a fumble, but if they win they succeed at a challenge they would have otherwise failed. Each time a player wins a gamble subsequent gambles become more difficult. I can't say I have ever seen fumbles handled like this before and I think it is nice, elegant take.

FolkLore also makes use of a simple relationship mechanic that ties player characters together. It isn't nearly as robust as Fate's starring aspects or Apocalypse World's Hx, but they get the job done.

Final Thoughts

FolkLore may just become my favourite ultralight RPG. I don't often use ultralight RPG systems, being content with merely light games such as Dungeon World or Technoir; however, FolkLore is a nice little package. It is attractive and easy to hand out to players. I could see myself using it with RPG beginners or at conventions. If you are in the market for a very light RPG then you could do far worse than FolkLore. Other ultralight games might be free, but FolkLore's layout alone is worth shelling out a dollar for.

FolkLore is available from DriveThruRPG for $1 and it already has an equally light adventure to go with it.

Categories: fantasy, FolkLore RPG, Review, Seth Zaloudek, Ultralight RPGs

Monday Monster: Deadwood Fungus

Anybody that has taken a look at Seedfall will know I have a thing for killer plants. Here's another one for you.

View this monster on DW Codex.

I used this monster during my last game and, to be honest, it wasn't as much fun as I had hoped. Once the players realized it was a plant and it couldn't chase them they just ran away.

Categories: deadwood fungus, Dungeon World, fantasy, fungus, killer plants, monday monster, monster

Halfling Name Generator

It has been a few weeks since my last name generator and today I am finishing off the short races with a halfling name generator. I used a mix of hobbit, middle english and paizo halfling names to seed the generator and added some things into the gaps that felt like they would fit. I am also trying something a little bit differently in how I handle the name generation, but I doubt many of you are interested in that.

Categories: fantasy, generators, golarion, halflings, javascript, middle earth, names

Monday Monster: Castoff Golem

The Dungeon World crew has launched an online tool for building monsters. It's very cool and also doubles as an ever-growing monster manual. I decided to take it for a spin and you can find what I came up with below.

View monster on DW Codex.

This tool took all the pain out of monster creation for me. I like coming up with ideas for monsters, not figuring out the stats to make them work. All I had to do was come up with a cool idea, check some boxes and write a few Moves. My only complaint about the tool right now is that I can't do line breaks.

Categories: castoff golem, Dungeon World, fantasy, golem, monday monster, monster

The Sewer Solution

Sanitary Sewer (Photo credit: K e v i n)

Sometimes I GM myself into a corner, I can't help it.  I have never been the meticulous type that plans in detail or crafts elaborate set pieces; although, occasionally I wish I was.  I am the kind of game master that flies by the seat of his pants and relishes in batting the curveballs pitched by others at the table. Unfortunately, sometimes that means I GM myself into a corner.

In the ongoing Dungeon World campaign that I run my group of players traveled to a desert city, Lambatar, to seek out a forgotten treasure trove beneath the city. My mistake was giving the city an extensive sewer dungeon crawl. Nobody at the table said anything, but it wasn't long before I started thinking about it. How does it work? Where does the waste go? It isn't getting flushed out into an ocean or river. They can't be sending it into their drinking water supply. Is there some kind of gigantic, thousand year old septic tank?

I scratched my head over this for a while. I couldn't go back on this city I had created. I had told my players there was a sewer and they had already spent some time exploring it, I was stuck with it. Naturally, I started looking for a way to make it work. My solution? A link to the elemental plane of water. That's right, Lambatar was exporting their waste to another dimension. It was a good solution, one that explained how the sewers worked and where a city in the middle of the desert was getting their fresh water. It also allowed me to mix in some non-standard encounters into the sewer environment. I was riding high on my fix all week while gleefully imagining the fun I could have with unusual dungeon stock. Unfortunately, players always have a habit of throwing those curveballs.

The dungeon crawl began smoothly enough, the PCs battled their way through thieves, traps and collapsed tunnels. Everything was going my way until a chuul I had placed in the sewage managed to drag two characters into the water. They defeated it, but lacking any kind of swimming skills they were soon swept up in the increasingly strong current as they rushed towards the hole that lead to you know where. Before long they were swimming in much larger waters and I needed to do something unless I wanted to drown two player characters in order to justify my desert sewers.

Enter the tritons, roman inspired, militant and none too happy about the waste that has been pumping into their territory for centuries. They saved the drowning PCs in exchange for their aid breaking into Lambatar. This is where things started to go off the rails. The players were happy to aid the tritons, having no real attachment to the city or its inhabitants and even once they realized that the first wave of triton tidecallers were up to no good they made no effort to stop them. What is a GM to do, and how do aquatic monsters invade a city in the desert?

The tidecallers brought in the tide. They widened the rift between planes and let loose the waters of their home dimension. All said, something like 1000 cubic kilometers worth of water came pouring through and that was more than enough to allow the tritons to go about their grisly revenge. The players? They were fine, caught up in getting their own revenge on a drug lord and were lucky to be high enough above the city to avoid getting washed away.

And that's the story of how one simple decision on my part lead to a city in the middle of the desert being flooded and invaded by mermaids.

Categories: chuul, curveballs, Dungeon World, Elemental plane of water, fantasy, Game Mastering, sewers, tritons

Campaign Pitch: NW Mounted Monster Hunters

In all of my years of playing, reading about and otherwise enjoying RPGs I have come across very few games or campaign settings that are set in Canada. There are definitely some out there, most notably as supplements for games such as RIFTS, oWoD and Deadlands; however none of them really have any kind of connection to the Canadian identity or history outside of superficial elements (cold weather and polar bears). Maybe there isn't much demand for games set in Canada, but as a Canadian I'd really enjoy a romp around our history with a good campaign. I have had an idea for just such a campaign percolating in my head for some time now and I'm going to hit you with my pitch.

NW Mounted Monster Hunters

It is 1880s Canada. The winters are harsh and the land is wild, dangerous and aware. The Northwest Mounted Police ride out to protect the land and its people. There are things out there in the dark forests and forgotten valleys, shadowy things spoken only of in the myths and tales of native peoples. There be monsters living out there in the wilds and they don't see any reason to hide from this latest wave of men trying to make homes in their hunting grounds.

The NWMP might act as a police force and they do police the land, but their real mandate is to hunt and kill the monsters that pray on men. The campaign would follow a group of new recruits as they hunt down monsters of all kinds and the campaign, should it last, would occasionally place the PCs at historical events which had been given a supernatural twist, such as the Klondike Gold Rush or North-West Rebellion. The game would also jump forward in time between hunts so that we could follow the characters as they get older and also so that we could hit more major events.

What Game Would I Use?

There are for potential games that I would use to run NWMMH. Whichever game I  ultimately picked would depend on the players I had sitting at my table. In no particular order the games are:

• FATE
• GURPS Monster Hunters 
• Call of Cthulhu 
• World of Darkness
• Dogs in the Vineyard

All of the above would require some adapting to make work. FATE would be the easiest to get going. GURPS and CoC would be the more deadly options, but would require the most work to get going. nWoD sits in the middle somewhere. DitV is a weird one that I hadn't been considering until I started writing this; however, I think that the style of the game fits with what I have in mind for this campaign. It would be trivial to replace Mormons with NWMP and go from there.

I guess Deadlands might work as well, especially if I used that supplement I linked to way at the beginning of this post. I'm not really a fan of classic or D20 Deadlands, though.

How Would I Run It?

I would want a game where it costs the PC's dearly to win the day, but not one that is hopeless. I see this as a game where limb loss is much more common than outright PC death. The game would be equal parts sight-seeing through Canadian history and action-horror. Think CoC, only most of the game is outdoors and the party is made up of highly competent rifle and frontiersmen. It would be Monster Hunter Alpha set in the late 1800s and without all of the American south trappings. The campaign would be episodic in nature, with each session being a self contained adventure surrounding a specific monster.

In a perfect world the game would continue until the formation of the RCMP and at that point I would like to retire the characters and the game. From there I would like to like to fast forward to a monster hunting RCMP unit in another point in time (Could be any interesting period of the 1900s or even present day.) or move on to an entirely different game.

Categories: Campaign Pitch, Canada, DitV, Fate, GURPS, Monster Hunting, Northwest Mounted Police, nWoD, RCMP, RPG

Gnome Name Generator

I'm slowly working my way through the typical fantasy races and this time gnomes are getting the name generator treatment. I seeded this one with Golarion gnome name fragments, but there weren't a lot to work with and I had to expand into my own thematic interests. As per usual, resulting names will be on the cheesy side.

Categories: fantasy, generators, gnomes, golarion, javascript, names

Dwarven Stone Whisperers

My Dungeon World campaign keeps trucking along and recently two of the PCs uncovered a secret dwarven item. I don't have a name for the item and, since it was destroyed shortly after the PCs discovered it, I'll likely never have to give it a name. What I can tell you is that it was a small stone sphere covered in runes and other etchings, etchings that contained the secrets of the order of Dwarven Stone Whisperers. Let's call it a Memory Stone for clarity's sake.

A Memory Stone is a small spherical rock with ornate runes carved into the surface. The runes are complex and written in a ciphered dwarven script. The cipher key is known only to members of the Brotherhood of Stone Whisperers, although it is not impossible to crack should someone have the means to do so. If the stone is subjected to direct light, natural or otherwise, it will whither away to dust in seconds.

Memory Stones contain the secrets needed to understand the language of the earth and rock. Stone Whisperers use them to pass along the techniques and magics used to coax stone into shapes, pass through solid walls and even create servants of the earth. These stones are guarded jealously and the price for allowing one to fall into the hands of an outsider are dire. Dwarven Stoneshaping is prestigious and closely guarded secret even among the clans and no non-dwarves have ever been taught the art.

Stone Whisperer Compendium Class

Once you have studied the secrets etched upon a Memory Stone, you may take this move when you level up:

Earthen Memories
When you discern realities when touching stone you may ask: "What does the stone remember?"

Once you've taken "Earthen Memories," the following moves count as class moves for you. In addition to your normal list of moves, you may choose from this list when you level up.

Stoneshape
You wield the power to shape earth, stone and rock with your magic. With enough time you can even do so in the finest of detail.
10+ You are able to shape the stone into the desired shape.
7-9 You are able to shape the stone, but must choose one of these defects: fragile, misshapen, or incomplete/significant time investment required.
6- The stone does not react to your shaping.

Pass Through Stone
You have the power to walk through non-magical stone as if it were no more resistant than a curtain.
10+ You may pass through 1' of stone per level.
7-9 You may pass through the stone, but it either takes much longer than expected, you do not come out where intended or your equipment is lost along the way.
6- You are not able to pass through the stone.

Create Golem
With enough time you are able to craft a magical companion from the earth. This golem may be of small, medium or large size and can be altered with Stoneshape as desired. Follow the monster creation rules to create your golem. Golems can only understand simple commands and the larger the golem the dumber they are. Small golems can understand three word commands, medium golems two words and large golems only a single word. Golems will execute any order given to them by their master until commanded to stop. Small and medium golems may be given multiple commands so long as the total number of commands does not exceed two or three words (depending on size).

Categories: Compendium Class, Dungeon World, dwarf, fantasy, Homebrew, Stone Whisperer