I noted the other day that I don't exactly run swarms as written. That's very true. Here is what I do with them.
- You must roll "to hit" a swarm. They're treated as SM+0, so no bonus to hit. They (generally) do not defend, so Telegraphic Attack is useful for the +4 to hit.
- Swarms have a HP score for dissolution as an effective threat; however, they also have a HT score - generally HT 10, although HT 11 or 12 is possible. Once they reach 0 HP or below, they must make a HT roll to stay cohesive as a swarm. A failure removes that hex worth of the swarm.
- Swarms in general are mooks, and auto-fail HT rolls at -1xHP. In general doesn't mean always.
- You don't get "free" attacks against a swarm. You use your normal complement of attacks. Again, they usually don't defend, and they automatically hit, and you don't get to defend . . . so TG and All-Out Attack are useful to multiply your effectiveness.
Overall, this makes swarms more effective, but also a little more random when it comes to their ability to sustain damage. This removes some of the mechanistic "and I can auto-kill one swarm per second" that I dislike, but also allows fighters with more attacks to take advantage of them.
You could see this with the very nasty Stymphalian Bird Swarms from beyond the Olympus Gate.
Showing posts with label monsters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label monsters. Show all posts
Monday, June 17, 2024
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Felltower & the Rules for Monsters
When I run Felltower, I generally play using the DFRPG rules set, with some additions from GURPS Magic, GURPS Martial Arts, and GURPS Basic Set.
But I don't strictly follow the rules, even when I have not house ruled a particular rule to work differently.
Monsters are a great example.
I do monster writeups for myself first, and basically note whatever I think in important and useful in case I can publish it. In actual play, I'm bound by my intentions for what the monster does and what makes sense, rather than the letter of the abilities I put down on paper. If they clash, my intentions win. I'll edit the stats later to reflect what I think should actually better reflect how they play. Ultimately, it's about how I intend them to work.
It's not like the players get to read the monster writeups I use, so they won't be led astray. They will if they depend on a letter-of-the-rules interpretation to make something work, though, and meta-knowledge of the system to base it on. If they use in-game experience and some real-world guessing they'll likely be better off.
Rest assured the ones I wrote up for publication are supposed to work as written. But in my games, they're not always finished writeups . . . and I'm reluctant to share my notes until I know how they should work.
But I don't strictly follow the rules, even when I have not house ruled a particular rule to work differently.
Monsters are a great example.
I do monster writeups for myself first, and basically note whatever I think in important and useful in case I can publish it. In actual play, I'm bound by my intentions for what the monster does and what makes sense, rather than the letter of the abilities I put down on paper. If they clash, my intentions win. I'll edit the stats later to reflect what I think should actually better reflect how they play. Ultimately, it's about how I intend them to work.
It's not like the players get to read the monster writeups I use, so they won't be led astray. They will if they depend on a letter-of-the-rules interpretation to make something work, though, and meta-knowledge of the system to base it on. If they use in-game experience and some real-world guessing they'll likely be better off.
Rest assured the ones I wrote up for publication are supposed to work as written. But in my games, they're not always finished writeups . . . and I'm reluctant to share my notes until I know how they should work.
Tuesday, January 2, 2024
1d6 Variant Crushrooms
In the last Felltower session, the PCs wounded a Crushroom . . . and it began shrieking!
In Felltower, I like to mix the great old-school misery of shriekers - giant wailing mushrooms - with the new-school misery of ambulatory aggressive carnivorous mushrooms.
If you like old-fashioned killer fungi, you can add all sorts of "fun" features to Crushrooms. Some ideas? Roll 1d.
1) Shrieking. Monsters with this prefix emit a loud shrieking, whistling, hooting, or wailing sound (pick one!) when disturbed. What counts as "disturbed" varies by monster type but being hit definitely counts. Remove Mute, if present. Add Penetrating Voice. Some also have Compulsive Behavior (Shrieking) (9) and just make lots of noise.
2) Corrupting. Crushrooms that bite a limb or extremity can rot it immediately. The victim must make a HT roll or be affected as the spell Wither Limb, including the 1d toxic damage. Crushrooms will spend the next turn tearing the withered limb off and devouring it, giving the victim a chance to escape with the rest of their limbs or extremities intact. This effect is mundane, not magical - ignore Magic Resistance or mana levels!
3) Jumping. Jumping Crushrooms can leap yards equal to their Move. They love to jump on to foes; treat this as a Pounce.
4) Puffball. When injured, the crushroom blows off a bloom of spores in a 2 yard area. Treat as the spell Pollen Cloud, but the effect is non-magical. Lasts 1 second per point of injury inflicted.
5) Hallucinogenic. Anyone touching or touched by a crushroom - being bitten by one counts! - must roll HT or suffer the Hallucinating condition. Every subsequent touch gives a -1 to this roll . . . and who is to say this isn't addictive?
6) Speedy. Nothing says cheating like making a slow monster fast. Doubles the Speed of the Crushroom (and thus Move) to 8.
Of course, you can always make them intelligent, potion-making types, but that's been done elsewhere.
In Felltower, I like to mix the great old-school misery of shriekers - giant wailing mushrooms - with the new-school misery of ambulatory aggressive carnivorous mushrooms.
If you like old-fashioned killer fungi, you can add all sorts of "fun" features to Crushrooms. Some ideas? Roll 1d.
1) Shrieking. Monsters with this prefix emit a loud shrieking, whistling, hooting, or wailing sound (pick one!) when disturbed. What counts as "disturbed" varies by monster type but being hit definitely counts. Remove Mute, if present. Add Penetrating Voice. Some also have Compulsive Behavior (Shrieking) (9) and just make lots of noise.
2) Corrupting. Crushrooms that bite a limb or extremity can rot it immediately. The victim must make a HT roll or be affected as the spell Wither Limb, including the 1d toxic damage. Crushrooms will spend the next turn tearing the withered limb off and devouring it, giving the victim a chance to escape with the rest of their limbs or extremities intact. This effect is mundane, not magical - ignore Magic Resistance or mana levels!
3) Jumping. Jumping Crushrooms can leap yards equal to their Move. They love to jump on to foes; treat this as a Pounce.
4) Puffball. When injured, the crushroom blows off a bloom of spores in a 2 yard area. Treat as the spell Pollen Cloud, but the effect is non-magical. Lasts 1 second per point of injury inflicted.
5) Hallucinogenic. Anyone touching or touched by a crushroom - being bitten by one counts! - must roll HT or suffer the Hallucinating condition. Every subsequent touch gives a -1 to this roll . . . and who is to say this isn't addictive?
6) Speedy. Nothing says cheating like making a slow monster fast. Doubles the Speed of the Crushroom (and thus Move) to 8.
Of course, you can always make them intelligent, potion-making types, but that's been done elsewhere.
Saturday, December 30, 2023
DF Session 189 - More Notes
So the PCs had a goal today - kill a stone bull and a chimera. They managed to blunder into some crushrooms and maul one, wound a few more, and then retreat and head home.
The PCs had a good point - fighting an open-field monster (stone bull) and a flying monster with ranged attacks (chimera) outdoors is probably not ideal. Sneaking up on them out of the dark is probably better. The cost, though, for doing so, was well demonstrated in the session.
The problem with going through the dungeon include:
- it takes time. Game time and in-game time. There is no "fast forward" through the dungeon like we do for overland.
- there is no guarantee that you won't get into additional fights.
- there are distractions.
- there are hazards.
All came up today.
It took 2 hours to get to the crushrooms in the real world (10 am to 12 noon), that long or a bit more in actual in-game time delving.
They got into an additional fight which almost certainly alerted their target monsters.
They got distracted by the scrying room, briefly, and by the dead ogres, briefly.
They got stuck in a half-bent portcullis, fell in pits, fell down stairs, and used up FP on repeated attempts to force doors.
It also took some time as they fought the crushrooms in an area I didn't have set up for a battle map, so I had to pause the game for a few minutes and hurriedly draw walls on a scan of the map zoomed in and uploaded. I did it fast - I've gotten good at it over time - but geez, I had the other one ready to go. Foolish me, when they said they'd just go right there from the outside and attack the monsters, I believed them. I didn't prepare for the alternative.
Ironically, the problem with fighting flying monsters outdoors is that you can't melee them effectively . . . yet they have a scout, and the spell Flight. They also have Walk on Air and missile spells, so the ground-bound monster is likely out of luck against anyone who doesn't choose to fight it directly. I feel like they outsmarted themselves - convinced themselves that sneaking up was so valuable that they spent the whole session on it. The crushrooms are still intact, too, which is likely an obstacle to future delves in either direction.
Perfect Illusion says it fools all senses except Touch. Just FYI, I rule that to mean hearing, vision, and even smell - but not touch and therefore not taste (since you can't taste without touch.) I don't take it to mean "all possible senses." In DF, there are many ways to sense and target - the normal senses, plus various forms of Detect, Vibration Sense, and magic come to mind.
Someone wondered why no one filled the pit at the entrance full of cement. Probably because it's 60 x 20 x 30 feet. 36,000 cubic feet. You'd need 1333.33 cubic yards of fill. Create Earth isn't permanent.
Someone also wanted to use Shape Earth to shape metal. No, sorry, it doesn't do that - earth and stone, but not metal. There is a GURPS Magic college with metal spells which I very specifically do not use in Felltower.
The PCs had a good point - fighting an open-field monster (stone bull) and a flying monster with ranged attacks (chimera) outdoors is probably not ideal. Sneaking up on them out of the dark is probably better. The cost, though, for doing so, was well demonstrated in the session.
The problem with going through the dungeon include:
- it takes time. Game time and in-game time. There is no "fast forward" through the dungeon like we do for overland.
- there is no guarantee that you won't get into additional fights.
- there are distractions.
- there are hazards.
All came up today.
It took 2 hours to get to the crushrooms in the real world (10 am to 12 noon), that long or a bit more in actual in-game time delving.
They got into an additional fight which almost certainly alerted their target monsters.
They got distracted by the scrying room, briefly, and by the dead ogres, briefly.
They got stuck in a half-bent portcullis, fell in pits, fell down stairs, and used up FP on repeated attempts to force doors.
It also took some time as they fought the crushrooms in an area I didn't have set up for a battle map, so I had to pause the game for a few minutes and hurriedly draw walls on a scan of the map zoomed in and uploaded. I did it fast - I've gotten good at it over time - but geez, I had the other one ready to go. Foolish me, when they said they'd just go right there from the outside and attack the monsters, I believed them. I didn't prepare for the alternative.
Ironically, the problem with fighting flying monsters outdoors is that you can't melee them effectively . . . yet they have a scout, and the spell Flight. They also have Walk on Air and missile spells, so the ground-bound monster is likely out of luck against anyone who doesn't choose to fight it directly. I feel like they outsmarted themselves - convinced themselves that sneaking up was so valuable that they spent the whole session on it. The crushrooms are still intact, too, which is likely an obstacle to future delves in either direction.
Perfect Illusion says it fools all senses except Touch. Just FYI, I rule that to mean hearing, vision, and even smell - but not touch and therefore not taste (since you can't taste without touch.) I don't take it to mean "all possible senses." In DF, there are many ways to sense and target - the normal senses, plus various forms of Detect, Vibration Sense, and magic come to mind.
Someone wondered why no one filled the pit at the entrance full of cement. Probably because it's 60 x 20 x 30 feet. 36,000 cubic feet. You'd need 1333.33 cubic yards of fill. Create Earth isn't permanent.
Someone also wanted to use Shape Earth to shape metal. No, sorry, it doesn't do that - earth and stone, but not metal. There is a GURPS Magic college with metal spells which I very specifically do not use in Felltower.
Monday, December 4, 2023
When Orcus isn't enough, add friends?
This post over on Old School FRP Tumblr caught my eye:
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
They're actually the four horsemen of Orcus.
Just eyeballing them vs. AD&D 1st edition's Orcus . . . I'm pretty sure they're a very serious threat to him. He's got 85% magic resistance and excellent combat abilities . . . but a 23rd level magic-user and everyone with weapons that can hurt him, even the summoned minotaurs . . .
Good thing they're Chaotic Evil, like him, so cooperation isn't likely to go very far.
It's interesting when you beef up a powerful unique monster with a coterie of allies who are also seriously powerful. I think in a way it diminishes the main monster, though. Instead of Orcus being a boss fight you can just have, there is this other layer of guys you have to get through first. So now it's a bit of an extended encounter. It can be another excuse to push off a fight like that later and later in a campaign. Put it off long enough, and you won't ever get to the big demon. And if it goes from "very tough encounter" to "campaign culimation" than they can't have 85 HP and go down in a 10 round melee. You need them to have hundreds of HP, piles of allies, more powers than can be handled . . . and the PCs need to escalate to match.
I've been trying to front load the scary stuff and even then it's tough to get people to engage. So while I like the idea here, I worry that it's just another way for the PCs and the GM to back off from using the cool unique monster that is Orcus.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
They're actually the four horsemen of Orcus.
Just eyeballing them vs. AD&D 1st edition's Orcus . . . I'm pretty sure they're a very serious threat to him. He's got 85% magic resistance and excellent combat abilities . . . but a 23rd level magic-user and everyone with weapons that can hurt him, even the summoned minotaurs . . .
Good thing they're Chaotic Evil, like him, so cooperation isn't likely to go very far.
It's interesting when you beef up a powerful unique monster with a coterie of allies who are also seriously powerful. I think in a way it diminishes the main monster, though. Instead of Orcus being a boss fight you can just have, there is this other layer of guys you have to get through first. So now it's a bit of an extended encounter. It can be another excuse to push off a fight like that later and later in a campaign. Put it off long enough, and you won't ever get to the big demon. And if it goes from "very tough encounter" to "campaign culimation" than they can't have 85 HP and go down in a 10 round melee. You need them to have hundreds of HP, piles of allies, more powers than can be handled . . . and the PCs need to escalate to match.
I've been trying to front load the scary stuff and even then it's tough to get people to engage. So while I like the idea here, I worry that it's just another way for the PCs and the GM to back off from using the cool unique monster that is Orcus.
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Nothing much, just VTT work
Little to post today - I'm just loading up monsters in Forge for Felltower. It's kind of a pain, although I'm grateful for the GCS files for many monsters out there. I need to make pictures, tokens, etc. for everything. It's just a royal pain. I envy people who play a system that has official, thorough VTT support!
I have some PCs to upload, too, but I keep getting "revised" guys, so I'm going to put them all in the morning of the next game.
A one-roll hoard generator and VTT support would make my job so much easier; much of my work is not updating Felltower but ensuring I don't have to halt game to make tokens and monsters.
I have some PCs to upload, too, but I keep getting "revised" guys, so I'm going to put them all in the morning of the next game.
A one-roll hoard generator and VTT support would make my job so much easier; much of my work is not updating Felltower but ensuring I don't have to halt game to make tokens and monsters.
Thursday, July 13, 2023
Demons of Old & Chains
Ever wonder why GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1's Demons of Old use chains, not pitchforks?
There are a lot of reasons why it could be.
It could be because Sean Punch doesn't like to stick with pure standard iconography when depicting his monsters.
It could be because flails are pretty damn effective in GURPS.
It could be be because pitchforks have poor armor penetration.
Or it could be because of three words:
Ronnie
James
Dio
Let that possibility shine into your life like a rainbow in the dark.
There are a lot of reasons why it could be.
It could be because Sean Punch doesn't like to stick with pure standard iconography when depicting his monsters.
It could be because flails are pretty damn effective in GURPS.
It could be be because pitchforks have poor armor penetration.
Or it could be because of three words:
Ronnie
James
Dio
Let that possibility shine into your life like a rainbow in the dark.
Thursday, April 27, 2023
More Monster Seeds: Puddings
Here are two monster seeds for puddings, as requested by an anonymous poster on my previous post.
A Prince of Puddings: Puddings are smart, but not too smart . . . usually. Rarely, a highly intelligent pudding leader will arise. Such a pudding may be responsible for the sudden appearance in very organized packs of puddings in the local swamps. Not just the occasional lost sheep or traveller, but whole patrols of well-armed soldiers have disappeared along the fringes of the swamps. The few survivors report puddings in packs. Could a green prince of puddings be behind them? The local government has put up a reward to encourage delvers to take care of this problem. Complications can include rival groups after the reward, druids who don't want the swamplife harmed, wizards seeking to capture the pudding, and all sorts of non-pudding swamp monsters.
Nothing is Pudding Proof: Puddings are mostly a wilderness or dungeon problem, but occasionally they get into urban environments. They're quick, they're sneaky, they're capable of squeezing into small places, and they're always hungry. A pudding loose in a big city, preying from the sewers on the most helpless of victims - drunks, crime victims, and the aged or young - could do a lot of damage before being found. A "bug hunt" in the city sewers for a canny pudding can be dangerous and exciting. Smugglers, guild thieves, secret societies, and others use the sewers for their own ends, and would rather have a pudding on the loose than delvers on the loose. Their opposition could be subtle and oblique or direct and violent - and the pudding won't take sides!
Prince of Puddings: As a usual pudding, but with IQ 8, Charisma 2 (Puddings only), and Leadership-12. It's not clear how they communicate with other puddings, but all other puddings immediately recognize them as superior beings and follow them willingly.
A Prince of Puddings: Puddings are smart, but not too smart . . . usually. Rarely, a highly intelligent pudding leader will arise. Such a pudding may be responsible for the sudden appearance in very organized packs of puddings in the local swamps. Not just the occasional lost sheep or traveller, but whole patrols of well-armed soldiers have disappeared along the fringes of the swamps. The few survivors report puddings in packs. Could a green prince of puddings be behind them? The local government has put up a reward to encourage delvers to take care of this problem. Complications can include rival groups after the reward, druids who don't want the swamplife harmed, wizards seeking to capture the pudding, and all sorts of non-pudding swamp monsters.
Nothing is Pudding Proof: Puddings are mostly a wilderness or dungeon problem, but occasionally they get into urban environments. They're quick, they're sneaky, they're capable of squeezing into small places, and they're always hungry. A pudding loose in a big city, preying from the sewers on the most helpless of victims - drunks, crime victims, and the aged or young - could do a lot of damage before being found. A "bug hunt" in the city sewers for a canny pudding can be dangerous and exciting. Smugglers, guild thieves, secret societies, and others use the sewers for their own ends, and would rather have a pudding on the loose than delvers on the loose. Their opposition could be subtle and oblique or direct and violent - and the pudding won't take sides!
Prince of Puddings: As a usual pudding, but with IQ 8, Charisma 2 (Puddings only), and Leadership-12. It's not clear how they communicate with other puddings, but all other puddings immediately recognize them as superior beings and follow them willingly.
Monday, April 24, 2023
GURPS DFM Monster Seeds
Remember when we did a bunch of monster-centric adventure seeds for DFM1, when DFM2 was launched?
SJG is compiling them into a book. $1 in PDF, $5 in print. Ends in less than 3 days from now!
Pretty neat. I'd back it except as an author I'll get a copy anyway - re-use of materials, you see.
One seed they couldn't include - for space and for we-didn't-pay-for-it reasons, largely the first I'm sure - is this one. The Monster Seed to Rule them All - Draug Race!
SJG is compiling them into a book. $1 in PDF, $5 in print. Ends in less than 3 days from now!
Pretty neat. I'd back it except as an author I'll get a copy anyway - re-use of materials, you see.
One seed they couldn't include - for space and for we-didn't-pay-for-it reasons, largely the first I'm sure - is this one. The Monster Seed to Rule them All - Draug Race!
Sunday, March 12, 2023
DF Felltower & monster slogs
Some monsters in DF Felltower - and in DF in genral - take a bit of killing.
Why is that? Why are there so many monsters you have to slog through?
In my experience, there are a few ways a monster can be tough:
- Offensive firepower
- Defensive prowess
- Damage absorption
In a little more detail:
- Offensive firepower means they can harm PCs. This can take a lot of forms, but generally is high damage (as PCs in DF Felltower tend to high DR . . . 8+ DR is common and 12+ DR is not rare at all.)
- Defensive prowess means the opponent has good Parry, Block, or Dodge.
- Damage absorption means the opponent is hard to hit, hard to hurt, or can repair or ignore hurts.
I find I need to make monsters either a glass cannon (high damage, low defenses), or hard to kill. There isn't really anything else to do to keep them worth spending the time on. Low damage, low defenses = fodder at best. Low damage, hard to kill = time killer. High damage, easy to kill = brief encounter, especially since actually landing a hit on PCs is hard. PCs, conversely, strongly emphasize reducing enemy defenses or swamping them. High damage, hard to kill = slog. The foes can take out PCs, but also need grinding to wipe out.
As a GM looking to make fights a challenge, not just an excuse to hand out XP and loot, means I need either the glass cannons or the slog foes to threaten PCs. I don't love this, but it seems to be how it goes. Every time I've used the other two quadrants of the diagram, it's just taken time and cost the PCs nothing . . . maybe a few FP they recover in a few minutes of game time as if the encounter never happened. The drive for PCs to make themselves incredibly hard to land a blow on - high defenses - and hard to hurt - high DR - and hard to deal with otherwise (high HP, HT, and Hard to Kill and Hard to Subdue and Fit and high Will) - means the only threats are those who can hit really hard and stick around when hit back.
I think that just means the style of a game centered on combat-as-challeneg pushes toward a slog.
Why is that? Why are there so many monsters you have to slog through?
In my experience, there are a few ways a monster can be tough:
- Offensive firepower
- Defensive prowess
- Damage absorption
In a little more detail:
- Offensive firepower means they can harm PCs. This can take a lot of forms, but generally is high damage (as PCs in DF Felltower tend to high DR . . . 8+ DR is common and 12+ DR is not rare at all.)
- Defensive prowess means the opponent has good Parry, Block, or Dodge.
- Damage absorption means the opponent is hard to hit, hard to hurt, or can repair or ignore hurts.
I find I need to make monsters either a glass cannon (high damage, low defenses), or hard to kill. There isn't really anything else to do to keep them worth spending the time on. Low damage, low defenses = fodder at best. Low damage, hard to kill = time killer. High damage, easy to kill = brief encounter, especially since actually landing a hit on PCs is hard. PCs, conversely, strongly emphasize reducing enemy defenses or swamping them. High damage, hard to kill = slog. The foes can take out PCs, but also need grinding to wipe out.
As a GM looking to make fights a challenge, not just an excuse to hand out XP and loot, means I need either the glass cannons or the slog foes to threaten PCs. I don't love this, but it seems to be how it goes. Every time I've used the other two quadrants of the diagram, it's just taken time and cost the PCs nothing . . . maybe a few FP they recover in a few minutes of game time as if the encounter never happened. The drive for PCs to make themselves incredibly hard to land a blow on - high defenses - and hard to hurt - high DR - and hard to deal with otherwise (high HP, HT, and Hard to Kill and Hard to Subdue and Fit and high Will) - means the only threats are those who can hit really hard and stick around when hit back.
I think that just means the style of a game centered on combat-as-challeneg pushes toward a slog.
Friday, November 18, 2022
Friday links for 11/18/2022
- A fire-breathing bulette . . so . . . a non-flying Gamera, then?
- Thanks to Tenkar for posting this.
$100 is a lot for 8 minis. The beholder is beautiful, but it's also around $13 even if you think the others are worth the same.
- The post yesterday about offense vs. defense was specifically occasioned by me listening to a bunch of Hawkwind recently, including Warrior on the Edge of Time (listen here) (Lemmy's last album with them.) It got me thinking about Elric, and the Chaos Shield, and why I'd rather give someone Stormbringer than the Chaos Shield. So, now you know.
- These guys are interesting.
Grognard's Grimoire: Gorodaka (Haughty Dead)
- Wargames Foundry has launched their Christmas sale for their main site and Casting Room Minis, too. Too bad I already have dozens of pirates!
- (Editing Later) Forgot one - collected information on the Egg of Coot. it has that weird technological/magical mix that characterizes a lot of Blackmoor and makes it feel more like Hawkmoon than generic fantasy.
- Thanks to Tenkar for posting this.
$100 is a lot for 8 minis. The beholder is beautiful, but it's also around $13 even if you think the others are worth the same.
- The post yesterday about offense vs. defense was specifically occasioned by me listening to a bunch of Hawkwind recently, including Warrior on the Edge of Time (listen here) (Lemmy's last album with them.) It got me thinking about Elric, and the Chaos Shield, and why I'd rather give someone Stormbringer than the Chaos Shield. So, now you know.
- These guys are interesting.
Grognard's Grimoire: Gorodaka (Haughty Dead)
- Wargames Foundry has launched their Christmas sale for their main site and Casting Room Minis, too. Too bad I already have dozens of pirates!
- (Editing Later) Forgot one - collected information on the Egg of Coot. it has that weird technological/magical mix that characterizes a lot of Blackmoor and makes it feel more like Hawkmoon than generic fantasy.
Saturday, November 12, 2022
Skeleton Weapons comic
This also describes my game. Thanks to the player of Ahenobarbus and all of the Barcas for sending this exact description of how I arm my skeletons. And how I feel about it.
Credit to slaughterkeys.tumblr.com.
Credit to slaughterkeys.tumblr.com.
Saturday, November 5, 2022
Nightmare Fuel - Last Chance!
Gaming Ballistic's Nightmare Fuel monster books for DFRPG is running into its last day.
I'd like to urge you to consider supporting it if you a) need more monsters for DFRPG or GURPS DF, and/or b) you want to keep Gaming Ballistic coming with more DFRPG support.
Just click here to connect to the page.
I'd like to urge you to consider supporting it if you a) need more monsters for DFRPG or GURPS DF, and/or b) you want to keep Gaming Ballistic coming with more DFRPG support.
Just click here to connect to the page.
Tuesday, October 25, 2022
Notes on DF Session 173
Some extra notes on DF Session 173.
- My players remarked on how much they enjoyed the twist of fighting on the same side as their enemies - especially skilled and tough ones like the golden swordsmen. They did express some disappointed when they suffered some damage right away from the mindwarper, because you know, foes they can beat one on one should be able to take on a boss-level monster without significant harm. It says something that they see a foe whupping on someone to mean the someone sucks, not that the foe is tough. It's a tough crowd.
They did realize that the golden swordsmen weren't fighting to save them, but to win the fight, which made sense. I was please to see them notice this . . . I was expecting some moaning about cowardly golden swordsmen who wouldn't sacrifice themselves for the PCs. It's not about them.
- I need to spend some time between now and next session noodling around with Foundry to get the injury tolerances and DR right. It sucks when I have to manually change the damage every time and uncheck the "use injury modifiers" box.
- Someone asked me if you could change facing as part of a defense, like a Retreat without changing hexes. NO. Categorically no. Retreat causes plenty of problems now. Opening up a "but I don't move" Retreat or "I just change my facing" Retreat would be extremely abusable. It would especially allow for people to start flanked and having a foe behind them, but then use a defense against one foe to prevent a back shot that would otherwise come from the foe behind.
- This was the first time my players encounted void brutes. The original idea for them was from a prior campaign - they were the physical hosts for symbiotic critters that rode them. I didn't get to use them in that game, so I converted them for DF when Sean and I wrote Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1.
The picture of them in DFM1 matches the description pretty well. But that's not really what they're based on. They're actually based on this guy - and specifically his action figure:
- My players remarked on how much they enjoyed the twist of fighting on the same side as their enemies - especially skilled and tough ones like the golden swordsmen. They did express some disappointed when they suffered some damage right away from the mindwarper, because you know, foes they can beat one on one should be able to take on a boss-level monster without significant harm. It says something that they see a foe whupping on someone to mean the someone sucks, not that the foe is tough. It's a tough crowd.
They did realize that the golden swordsmen weren't fighting to save them, but to win the fight, which made sense. I was please to see them notice this . . . I was expecting some moaning about cowardly golden swordsmen who wouldn't sacrifice themselves for the PCs. It's not about them.
- I need to spend some time between now and next session noodling around with Foundry to get the injury tolerances and DR right. It sucks when I have to manually change the damage every time and uncheck the "use injury modifiers" box.
- Someone asked me if you could change facing as part of a defense, like a Retreat without changing hexes. NO. Categorically no. Retreat causes plenty of problems now. Opening up a "but I don't move" Retreat or "I just change my facing" Retreat would be extremely abusable. It would especially allow for people to start flanked and having a foe behind them, but then use a defense against one foe to prevent a back shot that would otherwise come from the foe behind.
- This was the first time my players encounted void brutes. The original idea for them was from a prior campaign - they were the physical hosts for symbiotic critters that rode them. I didn't get to use them in that game, so I converted them for DF when Sean and I wrote Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1.
The picture of them in DFM1 matches the description pretty well. But that's not really what they're based on. They're actually based on this guy - and specifically his action figure:
I should have mentioned they wear wrestling singlets. Heh.
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
Welcome Back Durak
Yesterday was 666 days after Durak, the Lord of Spite, was defeated and banished in Felltower.
So, he's back!
Time to crack open a few delvers and celebrate with a song!
"Welcome back
Your defeat was your ticket out
Welcome back
To that same old place that you terrorized
Well, the names have all changed
Since you last appeared
But those souls have remained
And they’re all a-feared
Who'd have thought they'd lead ya (Who'd have thought they'd lead ya)
Here where we fear ya (Here where we fear ya)
Yeah we flee him a lot cause he's got us on the spot, welcome back,
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back."
(John Sebastian, with Jon Lay and Peter Dell'Orto)
So, he's back!
Time to crack open a few delvers and celebrate with a song!
"Welcome back
Your defeat was your ticket out
Welcome back
To that same old place that you terrorized
Well, the names have all changed
Since you last appeared
But those souls have remained
And they’re all a-feared
Who'd have thought they'd lead ya (Who'd have thought they'd lead ya)
Here where we fear ya (Here where we fear ya)
Yeah we flee him a lot cause he's got us on the spot, welcome back,
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back."
(John Sebastian, with Jon Lay and Peter Dell'Orto)
Sunday, August 14, 2022
Felltower Bosses - What's in, and What Issues
The most votes on what I should publish for Felltower are boss monsters.
There needs to be a list of what's in, and there are some issues. Let's tackle them in turn.
What monsters go in?
I'm sure these are the bosses people would expect to see:
Durak, the Lord of Spite (and his boars - his doomchildren are from DF2)
Mungo the Giant Troll
The Dragon
The Evil Tree
The BIG Dragon
Sakatha
The Draugr (Added 8/15/22)
Baron Sterick the Red (Added 8/15/22)
. . . and who else, then? The gnome? The lizardman chieftan is already published. And there are other bosses awaiting discovery.
The issues on doing a boss book are really threefold:
- Art. You can't have boss monsters without boss art.
- Big reveals. My players will end up reading the book. Most of the bosses they haven't permanently disposed of, so I'd be revealing details they don't know.
- Publisher. I can do some of this myself, but not with GURPS stats. So I need to convince SJG to publish a stat-heavy book (which they haven't done a lot of) or convert this to DFRPG and a different world system and see if it falls under Doug's license.
There is a minor issue in that I'd need to rename a few things. Sakatha is a direct copy of a monster from a TSR adventure, even if what I did with him was somewhat different. Durak and Mungo are based on minis, one from TSR and one from Paizo.
Let's see what's doable here. This would be a fun book to do, but at the moment there might be too many issues to easily do it.
There needs to be a list of what's in, and there are some issues. Let's tackle them in turn.
What monsters go in?
I'm sure these are the bosses people would expect to see:
Durak, the Lord of Spite (and his boars - his doomchildren are from DF2)
Mungo the Giant Troll
The Dragon
The Evil Tree
The BIG Dragon
Sakatha
The Draugr (Added 8/15/22)
Baron Sterick the Red (Added 8/15/22)
. . . and who else, then? The gnome? The lizardman chieftan is already published. And there are other bosses awaiting discovery.
The issues on doing a boss book are really threefold:
- Art. You can't have boss monsters without boss art.
- Big reveals. My players will end up reading the book. Most of the bosses they haven't permanently disposed of, so I'd be revealing details they don't know.
- Publisher. I can do some of this myself, but not with GURPS stats. So I need to convince SJG to publish a stat-heavy book (which they haven't done a lot of) or convert this to DFRPG and a different world system and see if it falls under Doug's license.
There is a minor issue in that I'd need to rename a few things. Sakatha is a direct copy of a monster from a TSR adventure, even if what I did with him was somewhat different. Durak and Mungo are based on minis, one from TSR and one from Paizo.
Let's see what's doable here. This would be a fun book to do, but at the moment there might be too many issues to easily do it.
Thursday, June 16, 2022
Nordlondr Ovinabokin: Bestiary and Enemies Book - Arrived!
Hurrah! This arrived!
It arrived right as I headed out to martial arts class, so I haven't had a chance to do much besides flip around and look at a few entries. I have been able to do so on PDF for a while, but the joy of a hardback monster book is worth waiting to experience all at once.
I'll get started alongside reading The Traveller Book.
It arrived right as I headed out to martial arts class, so I haven't had a chance to do much besides flip around and look at a few entries. I have been able to do so on PDF for a while, but the joy of a hardback monster book is worth waiting to experience all at once.
I'll get started alongside reading The Traveller Book.
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
Nordlond Bestiary available in PDF
In case you missed the announcement:
The Nordlond Bestiary is available
I'm still waiting on my hardcopy to really give it a read, but if you can't wait, there it is!
Unboxing Video from Doug:
Bestiary Unboxing
The Nordlond Bestiary is available
I'm still waiting on my hardcopy to really give it a read, but if you can't wait, there it is!
Unboxing Video from Doug:
Bestiary Unboxing
Saturday, December 18, 2021
DF Felltower: Six-fingered research
The PCs hired a sage to dissect and research the six-fingered fellow's corpse they dragged home last time. I sent them this based on the money spent and the roll made.
Here is what your researchers are able to determine by dissection and research:
Physical:
- it had six-fingered hands with four joints including the knuckle, pale yellow-gold skin. Its face was powdered white with makeup. It has vaguely elvish features but fanged like an orc, with a slightly pointed head and lobeless ears. Its pointy helmet left a lot of empty room above the top of the skull. Its hair is black and straight.
- the eyes were destroyed in combat so it is unclear what they were like
- the skin is very tough (enough to give DR)
- it has a "heart" but no blood
- it has a well-developed human-similar brain
- its stomach and digestive system is very small and underdeveloped and very fine, delicate teeth. It probably can't eat anything solid.
- its age, etc. were unclear
- the body decomposed rapidly, and its bones fell apart equally rapidly, almost as fast as the flesh
- it is very sturdy and well-muscled, especially for its short stature.
Other:
- based on its equipment and appearance, it might be from a race variously called a "Bale" or "Bane," "Dark Elf," "Gith" or "Goth," simply a "Vampire," or supposedly self-described as "the Masters."
- Elven scholars deny any connection, and say that "Dark Elf" is a term for a fallen, evil elf, not a separate race of any kind.
- there are many, many rumors about six-fingered "elven" vampires with great knowledge of demonology, mastery of the demons of the Pale and Beyond the Pale, and capable of depraved magical experimentation. However, the truth of such isn't known, and Divination hasn't been able to prove anything.
- there is a whole cult of humans centered around the aping and worship of these beings, but the cult itself is very secretive, and describes itself as the "Black Brotherhood." This is also the name of the demon-worshipping evildoers (so they say) who used to live in the dungeons underneath Felltower. But it is possible they ape without understanding.
I'll let the PCs connect this with the information they already have . . . which is quite a lot, as I see it from my side of the screen.
Here is what your researchers are able to determine by dissection and research:
Physical:
- it had six-fingered hands with four joints including the knuckle, pale yellow-gold skin. Its face was powdered white with makeup. It has vaguely elvish features but fanged like an orc, with a slightly pointed head and lobeless ears. Its pointy helmet left a lot of empty room above the top of the skull. Its hair is black and straight.
- the eyes were destroyed in combat so it is unclear what they were like
- the skin is very tough (enough to give DR)
- it has a "heart" but no blood
- it has a well-developed human-similar brain
- its stomach and digestive system is very small and underdeveloped and very fine, delicate teeth. It probably can't eat anything solid.
- its age, etc. were unclear
- the body decomposed rapidly, and its bones fell apart equally rapidly, almost as fast as the flesh
- it is very sturdy and well-muscled, especially for its short stature.
Other:
- based on its equipment and appearance, it might be from a race variously called a "Bale" or "Bane," "Dark Elf," "Gith" or "Goth," simply a "Vampire," or supposedly self-described as "the Masters."
- Elven scholars deny any connection, and say that "Dark Elf" is a term for a fallen, evil elf, not a separate race of any kind.
- there are many, many rumors about six-fingered "elven" vampires with great knowledge of demonology, mastery of the demons of the Pale and Beyond the Pale, and capable of depraved magical experimentation. However, the truth of such isn't known, and Divination hasn't been able to prove anything.
- there is a whole cult of humans centered around the aping and worship of these beings, but the cult itself is very secretive, and describes itself as the "Black Brotherhood." This is also the name of the demon-worshipping evildoers (so they say) who used to live in the dungeons underneath Felltower. But it is possible they ape without understanding.
I'll let the PCs connect this with the information they already have . . . which is quite a lot, as I see it from my side of the screen.
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Mini: Weird Tentacle Beast
Here is a mini from Felltower for a monster the PCs haven't encountered yet. It's from a set of weird rubbery monsters one of my players has. I took a few of them and painted them up.
It's hard to get the paint to stay on, the toys lack useful details, and the paint reveals the flaws instead of hides them.
This slimy white-eyed critter probably is a relative of the Caustigus (from Orcslayer, originally) or other tentacle beasts, like the Ubiquipus, or a relative of the mysterious Spheres of Madness.
Also, it's pretty much unique, so I couldn't get another without some real work. That doesn't mean I won't tokenize it and deploy them by hoards.
It's hard to get the paint to stay on, the toys lack useful details, and the paint reveals the flaws instead of hides them.
This slimy white-eyed critter probably is a relative of the Caustigus (from Orcslayer, originally) or other tentacle beasts, like the Ubiquipus, or a relative of the mysterious Spheres of Madness.
Also, it's pretty much unique, so I couldn't get another without some real work. That doesn't mean I won't tokenize it and deploy them by hoards.
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