Tromping through the Shudder Mountains, Part 5

Wherein I start breaking this story down into bulletin points, cause I'm way behind!

Chapter 3: The Serpents Beneath (continued)

When we last left the party (consisting of Pinky, the halfling brewer; Hans, the Mad Braar; Darcy, the elf bard; and Rynila the fighter) they were exploring the underground tunnels of an Ancient Temple in the middle of their town and recently defeated, or rather stalled the gears with chicken meat, a clockwork serpent guardian only to find that something foul has escaped from its slimy cocoon.

• The party follow wet strange footsteps through the tunnels; finding all the stone doors were booby trapped with spraying acid. Discovering the pattern in which to press the carved stones on the frame they were able to make their way further.
• They took a set of winding stairs that descended another mile below ground. The stairs led to a vast oval shaped chamber carved from the earth's crust. A ledge ran around the chamber and, below in a pit, were rows and rows of ledges lined with great and grotesque eggs. At the very bottom was a liquid fire like lava, heating up the chamber and making the eggs hatch. Across from them was a tall albino Serpent Man in red robes!

• The Serpent man was standing behind a set of crystal controls when the party arrived and immediately attacked, firing some sort of energy beam from his wrist!
• The party split up and ran around either side of the chamber.
• Pinky slipped and fell, but grasped the ledge at the last moment.
• Darcy played her flute, attempting to summon her patron Ubtu-galoo, but the Chaos Lord was not listening.
• Rynila and Hans were flaking the Serpent Man.
• As Pinky attempted to climb up; an egg just below him burst open and a hungry lizard thing with needle sharp teeth began biting at his dangling legs. 
• Darcy reached for Pinky when the Serpent Man shot out another ray of fire that burst open Darcy's chest in a blast of gore and flame!
• Rynila and Hans arrived and started beating the Serpent Man to a pulp. Rylina took a serpent styled gold bracelet off the fiends wrist.
• Pinky climbed over the ledge and checked on Darcy, but she was dead before she hit the ground. He grabbed her flute.
• With the eggs below hatching faster and faster, Rynila headed for the controls and started switching out crystals, the liquid fire below began rising, burning all the eggs in the pit as it rose.
• Hans picked up Darcy's body and they all fled back up the stairs as the boiling lava bubbled over the edge.
• Fleeing the party took a wrong turn and ended up in an unfamiliar corridor.
• They decided it was best to just leave Darcy here, she was literally dead weight after all.
• Exploring the hall, they found strange glass alcoves set into the rock wall. Inside the foggy glass here humanoids, some perserved, others mummified and still others skeletons. Then they heard foot steps...
• Following the sounds they found some of the glass alcoves busted open and then they were ambushed by a group of Proto-Shudfolk from the primordial age. 

• Frighten, the Proto-Shudfolk chose to fight! They outnumbered the party and after a round or two of fighting, forced them to flee down the halls!
• They found a door, forced it open, ran inside just before the rest of the Proto-Shudfolk could come through!
• Looking around at their surroundings they felt this hall seemed familiar, as it was rounded like the hall near the Clockwork Serpent. Exploring they found another set of doors, and after a bit of acid spray to the face they manage to open it.
• Inside was a long chamber with a great murals on the walls depicting a race of Serpent-Men all dressed in stylish robes while early man were depicted as enslaved. In the center of the chamber a green tinted metal gauntlet rested on a pedestal and behind it, between two statues of warrior serpent men, was a silver coiled snake. The silver snake's head was raised as if judging the party.
• To some of the party's objections, Pinky picked up the gauntlet and placed it on his hand. Painfully, the scales dug into his flesh while visions of sliding through humid jungle forests, chasing, enslaving and slaughtering hairy man-things filled his mind.
• Coming out of the trance he saw the silver coiled serpent in the back of the chamber and knew it was no mere trinket.
• Raising his gauntlet hand, the metal serpent came to life, uncoiling and sliding to rest in his gauntlet hand. It was a magical relic, half sword, half whip!
• They left the chamber and having found their bearings were prepared to leave this dark place when a shadowy form appeared out of the darkness of the ceiling to attack Rynila. The shadowy, ossified, cat-like demon swooped down on bat-like wings to snatch her, but the party fought it back until it disappeared again. They questioned what just happened, but could devise no clear answers...
• When they found the exit the great clockwork serpent was waiting, but this time it did not attack. They discovered the bracelet Rynila took from the Serpent Man could command the machine. She used it to assist them in climbing out of the underground chamber (and took her dismay her new serpent pet couldn't come with her).
• Back in the upper portion of the ancient temple they sealed off the entrance way and then hear screams from the village outside!
• Running out to investigate they found many houses ablaze, women screaming, men attempting to fend off shadow demons from stealing their children!
• 
  

To be continued in Chapter 4: The Farmhouse of Cosmic Horror!

DCC-DUNE: The Sister-witch

It's been a while, but I've finally got some time to get "back in the saddle," as it were, with all my writing. For those of you who haven't been following these posts or our just jumping for the first time, Feudal Universe (also known as DCC-DUNE) is a gonzo space faring setting to used with the DCCRPG rules. I'm still working out all the kinks because as one would think, it's a strange combination. Today we'll be looking at the Sister-witch character class and yes you guessed it, they're based off the Bene-gesserits!

Sister-witch

You are a sorceress living among a tribe, a concubine in a Great House, or perhaps a maid in secret service.  Every move you make is precise and calculated towards a specific goal, for above all else you are loyal to one thing, the secret organization known merely as the Sisterhood. Your fellow sisters have infiltrated every facet of the Known Universe and currently pull the strings from behind closed doors. Taken from parents you will never know, your childhood years consisted of physical and mental conditioning that have gifted you with almost superhuman powers. It is because of these abilities and the secrecy of the Sisterhood that outsiders often prefer to call you witches and that suits your needs just fine.

A sister-witch can control the gossamer threads that make up the universe controls in subtle ways using her voice or mind known as the Weirding Ways.  A sister-witch is adept in martial arts and with these combined abilities she makes a great ally or ferocious opponent.

A sister-witch, until proven worthy to become a Reverend Mother is subject to a Reverend Mother and must answer to and perform the duties commanded or face exile. Exiled Sisters lose their connection with the coven and their Weirding Ways suffer for it causing any spell to be cast using a d16.

Hit points: A sister-witch gains 1d6 hit points at each level.

Weapon training: A Sister is trained in the use of the blackjack, club, dagger, flip-dart, gomjabber, hidden poison, kindjal, needle-gun, shig-wire garrote, staff, and throwing knives.

Alignment: The Sisterhood as a collective are Neutral. There purpose is merely to observe and guide the Universe along the right path (as long as that path is chosen by The Sisterhood). Every option is open as long as the ultimate goal is achieved and the Sisterhood is benefitted.

Weirding Ways: Unlike the Guild Seers, the Sisters are limited in what they can achieve and fear that flaunting their “talents” will show their hand. When casting spells a Sister uses her Caster level and Personality modifier.

Weirding level: Weirding level is a measurement of a Sister’s ability to channel her weirding ways and is equal to her class level.  For example, a 2nd-level Sister has a weirding level of 2.

Action dice: A Sister’s action dice can be used for attack or weirding checks at any level.

Skills:

• Backstab
• Sneak silently
• Hide in shadows
• Religious Indoctrination

Weirding Ways:

• Truth Sense
• The Voice
• Prana
• Second Sight

• Other Memory (Reverend Mothers Only)
• Transform Substance (Reverend Mothers Only)

(Other weirding ways (aka spells may be added)

Reverend Mother: To become a Reverend Mother a Sister-witch must go on inner quest of the mind in order to unlock the secrets of her ancestors. The inner quest is brought about by an overexposure of the Fumes. The sister-witch does not have to take this journey only however as she is able to project her mind into those around her.

During the inner-quest, the sister-witch cannot be physically harmed as her body, but as she fights the fume exposure her mind may suffer temporary or permanent harm in the form of Intelligence loss.  If the sister-witch dies during the ordeal, she will perish in waking world. Her companions however are merely projections and if harmed will appear to lose hit points and die, but will wake unharmed.

The exact nature of the inner-quest is decided by the Judge, but can be seen as a dungeon crawl of the mind, with some escape which ends the ordeal and changes the character forever. A successful journey will see the sister-witch becoming a Reverend Mother while if her companions complete the journey in full they will see their luck restored. (More on this later.)

Level	Attack	Crit Die/ Table	Action Dice	Known Spells	Max Spell Level	Ref	Fort	Will
1	+1	1d6/II	1d20	3	1	+1	+1	+2
2	+1	1d8/II	1d20	4	1	+2	+2	+2
3	+2	1d8/II	1d20	5	2	+2	+2	+3
4	+2	1d10/II	1d20	6	2	+3	+2	+3
5	+3	1d10/II	1d20+1d14	7	3	+3	+3	+4

Level	Title (all alignments)
1	Acolyte
2	Head Sister
3	Truthsayer
4	Proctor Superior
5	Reverend Mother

If you want to read more of my DCC-DUNE posts just hit the link!

DAMN EASY HEXCRAWL RULES

So the other night I was thinking my current game, set in the Shudder Mountains, and how the players are near the end of their quest and how they now must trek back to town in order to finish said quest. Usually I would just use my chapter rule of "You've been traveling for x days and you arrive here" and begin the newest adventure. This time things are a bit different as there is a time limit placed upon the the party to get to their destination or else bad things will happen.

So in the spirit of not overly complicating things and taking some hints from The One Ring ruleset I present my DAMN EASY HEXCRAWL RULES! Take it or leave it. I'm know other people have tackled this before, but what the heck!

The Rules:

During a hexcrawl journey the party must make the following checks as determined by the Judge. Usually one check for every hex travelled unless otherwise determined by the tables below.

Scouting: As the party moves through the wilderness they will need to make decisions regarding the direction they are taking and whether or not to abandon the road or set off on a new path. The guide or scout makes an Intelligence check and adds their Luck modifier. Depending on the land they are currently traveling the die may be raised or lowered according to the dice chain (see Terrain Table below).

Scouting Roll	Result
20+	The party is making exceptional time and may move two hexes away.
15-19	The party is making good time and easily moves on to the next hex.
10-14	The party must make an Encumbrance check before moving on.
5-9	No change. The environment is suppressing the party.
3-8	The party temporary loses Stamina according to their current encumbrance die and each PCs rations drop -1d.
1-2	Incident! (i.e. rotten food, animal attack, monster encounter, etc.)

Hunting/ Foraging: Determine if the PC is hunting or foraging. Hunting requires a Strength or Agility check; while forging requires an Intelligence check. A PCs Luck modifier is added to the roll for good or ill. Depending on the land they are currently traveling the die may be raised or lowered according to the dice chain (see Terrain Table below).

Hunting/ Forging Roll	Result
20+	The entire party raises their rations +1d.
15-19	The PC rolling raises their rations +2d.
10-14	The PC rolling raises their rations +1d.
3-9	No change.
1-2	Incident! (i.e. rotten food, animal attack, monster encounter, etc.)

Terrain Table

Type	Description	Die Type
Easy	Open Terrain, well-trodden path, plains, etc.	d24
Moderate	Pathless wilderness, hills, sparse woods, bogs.	d20
Hard	Marshes, wastes, fells, woods with good tracks.	d16
Severe	Dense woods or very rough ground.	d14
Daunting	Desert, blighted or ruined land, mountain passes.	d12

Rations: Each PC is assigned a die equating the amount of rations they currently carry. When making a rations check during a journey the PC will roll the assigned die. If the roll comes up a 1 the die is dropped -1d in accordance to the dice chain.

Meager Rations = d3

Standard Rations = d4

Plentiful Rations = d6

Rich Rations = d8

PCs can give their companions a portion of their rations by lowering their current die -1d while the acceptee raises their rations +1d.

Encumbrance: Each PC is assigned a die equating their encumbrance. The encumbrance die is determined by the Judge at the start of the journey. When an encumbrance check is required the PC attempts to roll under their current Stamina score using the die assigned. If the roll is higher than the PCs Stamina score they suffer a temporary Strength or Stamina loss (player’s choice) according to their current encumbrance.

Unencumbered = d16 (1d3 loss)

Light Encumbrance = d20 (1d4 loss)

Encumbered = d24 (1d6 loss)

Heavy Encumbrance = d30 (1d8)

I'll be testing this out the next time I play (gods know when that will be) so I'll have to get back to you on how well it works and how much fun the players have with it. If you decide to incorporate it into you game drop me a line and let me know how it goes.

Sky ov Crimson Flame Update!

(or how I manage to find time to stay awake after an 80+ week)

Yes ladies and gentlemen of the court I present you with an update. These have become increasing sparse as of late and I do apologize! The show I'm working on is winding down (were currently shooting episode 9 of 10) but the hours are increasing and the madness is slowly setting in! Hopefully the next show isn't as hectic.

I digress, you're here for a much need fix on what the Owl Knight is cooking up. Well feast your wet gaping peepers on the second of two maps that come with the adventure!

Now this isn't the finished version of course as +Jordyn Boci is still working on the filler images that will make up the border. A couple of weekends from now it will all come together and we can all celebrate! Till next time friends!

The Owl Knight Still Flies!

By the gods it's been a while since I've posted an update! I apologize to all you players and judges eager for this adventure to come out. My work schedule has been pretty nuts!(Almost 80+ hours a week) Hence, leaving me with very little time to finish up Sky ov Crimson Flame, but fear not, for this project is still alive and well.

I've been working with Jordyn Boci on getting the details just right for the final piece of the puzzle, the map!  Below you'll find some images of the early sketches!

Once she is finished detailing and inking these, I'll compile them together forming one picture. Then I'll have her draw up a cool border featuring some of the monsters and items within the rooms and chambers. Once that's completed the entire module will be submitted for approval by Joseph Goodman!

Well that's all for now. Hopefully my next post won't be months apart! Till next time!

Status Update + Artwork

Hello again! For the past several weeks my schedule has been nuts! I recently starting working on the set of a t.v show called Shots Fired, which is shooting around Charlotte, NC. There have been some really long hours and needless to say that takes away from my other projects.

So What's The Status?

As of right now the adventure is 100% written and 95% of the artwork is complete. The layout work is just about finished and a printer is lined up ready to go! As I said in an earlier post I am planning on launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund a small print run of the adventure, which can be taken to conventions, sold online, etc. I'm currently working on the profile page for that and getting with some DCCRPG writers and artists for any stretch goals that campaign may reach.

In the meantime here is the latest bit of artwork I've received from +Jordyn Boci.

Map 1

Creepy Chamber Handout

Till next time, keep crawling!

BRAND SPANKING NEW ARTWORK! (and other good news!)

First the Art!

Progress on Sky ov Crimson Flame has been a little slow as of late; ironically due to everyone being too busy with other projects. I've been patiently waiting new artwork from +Jordyn Boci who has been hitting up some horror conventions with her studio Creature Revenge. Yesterday I got my new pieces in and as always they look SICK!

Here we have a scene from the adventure featuring an Adult Head Bat!

Next we have an extremely evil fellow your party does not want to run across!

& Now the Other News!

In my downtime while waiting on this artwork to arrive (and there are still some more pieces) I've been writing the next adventure that loosely ties into the current one. It's going to be a 3rd level adventure and currently I've written 40 pages which is only a third of the total adventure! So it's gonna be a doozie!

I've also been acquiring quotes from printers as I've decided I do not want to go the Print-On-Demand route. However, like most aspiring writers, I'm poor and so I am planning to run a Kickstarter campaign for a small print run of the adventure. The initial goal will be very low with some neat stretch goals if things take off. No matter want the adventure will be available on PDF once completed.

If all goes well I should have more artwork later this week or early next week. In the meantime, what pledge levels, stretch goals or other goodies would you like to see on this Kickstarter? I was thinking maybe I could get some cool little buttons or something made for when people run the adventure for the Goodman Games World Tour? 

Tromping through the Shudder Mountains, Part 4

Greetings y'all and welcome to another postin' dealing with the comings and goings of those "heroic" folk in the wild and beautiful Shudder Mountains! Now I know it's been a while since I last spun a yarn, so herein are some of the previous tellings so'en you might catch up!

• Part 1: Wherein we meet the current party who finds themselves in quite a predicament.
• Part 2: The party must unravel their past dreams...
• Part 3: More of the latter it seems, but it sure is interesting!

Now sit back whilst I tell you more about the adventures of Pinky, the halfling brewer, Hans, the mad Braar, and Darcy, the elf wanderer!

When last we left the band they had just barely survived a shadow that was stealing their life force while they were desperately trying to wake from the horrible nightmares it produced. They had finally returned to Hard Scrabble Valley, their home, after weeks of traveling through the mountains from Sour Spring Hollow, only to discover something was a miss! Tom Dankers, was a young man when they were spirited away and now he's in his sixties!

Chapter 3: The Serpents Beneath

The old man put a hand to his chest and stated, "Pinky it's me. It's Tom Dankers..."

Pinky was astonished. How could this be? They were only gone a few weeks.

"You don't look a bit older," stated Tom. "Come have a drink!"

They sat with Tom and drank and told him their tell of how at his wedding they awoke and fought evil spirits. He told them that was 40 years ago and that, "We all thought you was dead! But I reckoned you might return one day. My boys have been keeping up the brewery, though the ale is never as good as when you made it."

"What about Grandma," Pinky asked. And he found out she had past away only few years after he left. Tom's wife was in the heavens. 

The next day the party decided to split up and explore what they remembered of the town, finding it quite the same as when they left. Though the old stone temple, that was used by the Shud Folk as a House of the Sovereign, was grown over and no longer in service as the old Braar had died and no one took his place. They had questioned Han's if he was to be the new town Braar, but he only gruffed something under his breath and left to see his old farm. The farm was dilapidated and the people shunned area and lands surrounding it saying there was a permanent gloom there and that no food would grow since his family had died.

Similar to this Mayan temple, though not as large.

Eventually they decided to explore the temple as it was a center point of interest in all their dreams. Inside they found a stone door buried beneath the sand pulpit. They went to get supplies and tools to lift the stone and met Tom Dankers only daughter, Rynila, a bit boyish and willing to help the party on their new adventure. (My sister joined the game at this time. Creating a 1st level warrior.)

They succeeding in lifting the stone door the next morning and found a large pit beneath. Using a rope they descended into the pit which was round and had four doors in either direction. In the centre was a stone pedestal with a crystal embedded it in. Three columns with serpentine carvings held the ceiling up and sand covered the entire floor.

They found walking through the sand was very difficult and the doors had to be opened by pushing in the right series of blocks, otherwise acid would splash out on them. As they explored, the sun moved to the apex of the temple and shone down on the crystal pedestal which began to hum. Something stirred beneath the sand and churned the floor up. Then a large mechanical serpent with three heads rose from the sand. It's three heads each had a different coloured crystal embedded in the metal that gave it a cyclopic appearance. The heads spun at random and shot out laser beams of different varieties!

There was chaos in the chamber as both Darcy and Rynila climbed the columns in order to jump on the mechanical serpent. Hans stayed at one of the doors attempting to open it as acid burned his flesh and Pinky was stuck on the centre pedestal fearing he would be ground to bits by the metal scales that churned the sand.

A beam like the light of the sun shot out from one of the serpents crystal eyes and cut a column in half forcing Darcy to dive into the sands. Rynila jump off her column onto the serpents back and with a hand full of meat she had stored in her pack she quickly forced it into the exposed gears of the serpent forcing the head to stop swiveling. (This was a Mighty Deed my sister came up with on the spot! What a natural!)

Eh.. Something like that!

Hans finally found the right combination to open the doors and as the meat clogged up the gears the party made for the door. Rynila was the last one through and just as the doors were shutting a beam of cosmic energy struck her from behind. Sores opened all over her body and stunk of death, but otherwise she was unharmed. (This was a laser beam from the serpent guardian that caused insta-corruption!)

Beyond the door they found winding passage ways that lead deep under ground. There they discover three more coded doorways and, using Han's staff so as to not get sprayed with acid, opened them. The first door lead into a chamber with a dried up cocoon hanging from the ceiling and a console before it with crystal levers. The levers did nothing and they soon left to explore the next chamber which was exactly the same as the previous one.

Here they found another cocoon and the console crystals were lit. Touching the crystals opened the cocoon. Out slid a white scaled humanoid to splat against the stone floor. Hans took no time in leaping over the console to attack the vile thing and tripped missing the creature and breaking his staff on the floor. The others followed his lead and smashed the thing into a slimy pulp.

They decided to search the room a little more and found a hidden alcove that contains some well preserved robes. They proceeded to leave the room and heard the slapping of wet feet down the corridor. They ran, following the sound, only to find the third room was empty. The cocoon was split open and a wet steaming pile of goo lay under it.

Following the strange footprints, of some three toed creature, they discovered a secret tunnel sloping down into to darkness. Something was loose and they were sure it was going to be bad news for the town. They decided they to follow it.

To be continued in Part 5...