Super secret sneak peek

What I'm working on right now:

A circle and squares within even larger squares! I can smell your intriguedness... intriguity... from here.

The Dwarves' battle song

You know you're officially spending too much time on all things fantasy when... a socialist drinking song makes you think of Tolkienesque Dwarves on their way to epic battle. :D Hence: a very loose translation of "Wat zullen we drinken", to the tones of Son ar chistr.
I think I also officially have too much time on my hands.

What shall we be drinking, seven days and nights,
what shall we be drinking, such a thirst!
There is enough for every man, so let us drink as one,
Tap the keg my friend! Yea we will drink as one, not alone!

Then we will be working, seven days and nights,
then we will be working, all for all!
There will be work for every man, so let us work as one,
seven days and nights! Yea we will work as one, not alone!

But first we must battle, no one knows how long,
but first we must battle, for our doom!
For the freedom of every man, so let us fight as one,
together we are strong! Yea let us fight as one, not alone!

Flintlock Firearms Fumble table

While writing a steampunk/fantasy one shot I suddenly got the urge to make a table of possible mishaps involving flintlock weapons... because what more diabolic pleasure does the GM have than tables upon tables for anything that can go wrong for his/her hapless players. :D I love them, really.

Flintlock Firearms Fumble table

The character first makes a to-hit roll. If the shot misses, the GM rolls 1D2 to see if the shot simply goes wide, or if a fumble occurs. In case of the latter, a roll against the character’s Firearms skill is made (D%). A to-hit roll of 1 always either results in a fumble or the shot hits an adjacent ally, whichever is more appropriate to the situation.

 

* The Firearms skill check succeeds: This results in a misfire. The shot missed, and reloading will take one extra round. Possible causes:

 

            - an excess of powder leaves burning embers in the barrel, which first must be extinguished

            - the barrel has become fouled, making it more time consuming to seat the round

            - during reloading the firearm goes off at half-cock, necessitating loading to start anew

 

* The Firearms skill check fails by less than 25%: This results in a simple failure to fire: the character has to spend three rounds examining the firearm to rectify the cause of the failure, before an attempt at rearming can be made. Possible causes:

 

- a dulled or improperly cut flint fails to strike a spark in the pan

- the hammer fails to strike the frizzen, becomes stuck in half-cock

- the primer in the flash pan fails to ignite, due to a damp, insufficient or inferior charge

- neglect or poor craftsmanship has caused the frizzen to become jammed

 

* The Firearms skill check fails by more than 25% but less than 50%: This results in a mechanical failure: the character has to spend an hour clearing or repairing the firearm and make a successful Firearms check. Possible causes:

 

            - the sulfur in the black powder has eroded the lock mechanism

            - the lead shot and wadding have become caught in the barrel

            - the half-cock notch breaks, removing the safety mechanism

- fouled by accumulated black powder discharge, the touchhole clogs

 

* The Firearms skill check fails by more than 50%: This results in a structural failure: the character has to spend 4 hours repairing the firearm and make a successful Firearms check. Possible causes:

           

            - sulfuric acid or weak integrity has corroded the inside of the barrel

            - the trigger mechanism jams

            - a faulty powder charge ignition destroys the combustion chamber

            - the breech of the firearm becomes obstructed

 

* The Firearms skill check fails with a roll of 100: This results in a critical failure:

 

- improper loading has left air between the powder and lead shot, causing the firearm to start short and the barrel to explode. The firearm is destroyed and the character takes 1D8 damage

- during reloading the powder charge ignites as the powder is being poured down the muzzle. The character is caught in the blast, takes 1D6 damage and is stunned for 1D4 rounds

- during reloading the frizzen is struck by accident before the pan is primed. The main charge ignites and the firearm discharges. The firearm is dropped and damaged: 8 hours of repair need to be spent. The character is caught unaware by the blast and stunned for 2D4 rounds

Some goings-on

- Erik Tenkar over at Tenkar's Tavern is putting together the first issue of the new Unofficial OSR zine, slated for appearance beginning of September. Watch for a contribution by yours truly: Malaveen's Regalia: five items imbued with wondrous power (and a malevolent spirit).

- As part of the stretch goals of the recent Low Life Redredged kickstarter Andy Hopp will be releasing an anthology of Low Life stories, verses and illustrations under the title Low Brow High Adventure, and I'm proud to announce this will include my short story 'Peppersian Letters'. Look for it in the near future in one of the better pools of muck near you!

Low Life Redredged kickstarter

Low Life: Rise of the Lowly, a unique and hilarious post-apocalyptic setting for Savage Worlds is getting kickstarted for a new edition, with more stuff, more full color art and just general more? Why yes, yes indeed!

Within the Radiant Dome review

Within the Radiant Dome, written by Gavin Norman, is the second module in Geoffrey McKinney’s Psychedelic Fantasies line, which focuses exclusively on original adventures filled to the brim with new monsters, spells and items. The modules are home printed and devoid of any artwork, keeping the cost down, though a map of the Radiant Dome is featured on the inside of the detachable cover.

 

Fairness compels me to state that a) Gavin is my friend and GM of several years and b) I’ve recently written a module of mine own for the Psychedelic Fantasies line, so obviously I’m not going to be trash-talking either! So why write this review? Two reasons. Firstly I genuinely believe Within the Radiant Dome is an original and most importantly fun module that you should pick up, you’re missing out every minute that you don’t! Secondly I can write this review from the unique position of having played through the adventure twice with the author, which has given me a good feel for how the module can be/is intended to be played. How much enjoyment you get from any role-playing session is of course dependent on the people you play with and the quality of the GM; but reading through the module afterwards it’s clear to see Within the Radiant Dome is just a very well-thought-out product! Now on to the review proper shall we? A warning for my more erudite readers: this is a module designed for use with any basic (clone) D&D ruleset, and not, as the title would suggest, a Percy Bysshe Shelley pen & paper game!

Any adventurer worth their salt has heard of the Radiant Dome, a fabled place filled with riches that on certain occasions materializes in the earthly realm for a brief period of time. Some enterprising adventurers return as very wealthy men and women, some never return at all... tying it all together are rumours of a wizard that had a hand in the construction of the Dome.

The Dome features three distinct levels, each with their own feel and unique encounters. Some of these can be rewarding, others quite dangerous, but they’re all exciting and once you get your head around the oftentimes weird logic of the place, clever players who enjoy puzzles and a different approach to dungeons than simply loot/smash/kill should have a field day. There are quite a few social encounters, something which is always a nice change of pace in a dungeon crawl, which put the player characters’ alignments to the test.  I think it’s possible to run the module more ‘straight’, but playing and reading it I very much got a funhouse dungeon vibe. Your enjoyment of the module may vary depending on how much you desire ‘realism’ in your D&D game. As anyone reading this blog may have noticed, I’m a fan of wacky fast-paced adventures and all things gonzo, so for me it is an excellent fit.

Once the party makes it way down to the lower levels of the Dome, they start running into a variety of the more dangerous inhabitants of the Dome. I felt the combat encounters work well and are quite memorable thanks to the monster design. Players will do battle with a necrotic flesh golem, happen upon clockwork automata, flush a fetid fecal fiend back to the nether realms and run into a nasty beastie which the locals worship as a god. The adventurer who braves these perils will find him or herself rewarded with a number of interesting magical items which you could easily incorporate in other science fantasy games.

A minor gripe for me was that there are one or two instances where the adventure as written does not allow a save to prevent something from happening, something which I would change if I’d run the module, but on the scale of “screwing players over” it still registers quite low, and as it is easily changed to your personal preference it doesn’t matter much. Also as written there are occasions where the adventure might go off the rails if the players were to decide to take certain actions (i.e. boarding a space ship prepped for departure). Such eventualities should be prepared for beforehand, but otherwise the adventure is ready to be played out of the box, so to speak.

In conclusion, if you’re still reading this and haven’t already rushed over to Psychedelic Fantasies to get your copy of Within the Radiant Dome this instant, then I advise you to take the rest of the day off to do some soul-searching and find out why you hate fun so much, you poor creature.

Psychedelic Fantasies module #3

In the spirit of shameless self-promotion I'm very happy to announce module #3 in the Psychedelic Fantasies line by Geoffrey McKinney, author of Supplement V: Carcosa among other things. If you like the sort of thing that has appeared on this blog over the last few years (disclaimer: some of the monsters already posted here show up in the module again), you might also like The Fungus that Came to Blackeswell: a tale of a small subterranean village suddenly overrun by aggressive fungi. I can guarantee it's the best module penned by me that you'll read all year!