Conversion of creatures from other systems is for my own use and enjoyment and has not been authorized by the various copyright holders.
Thoughts on Role Playing Games and possibly beer.
Showing posts with label Runequest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Runequest. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 10, 2021
More RQ Classic Creature Generator Updates
As I convert adventures to Runequest, I'm creating templates for creatures from other systems, from lowly kobolds to demonic remenatns. In doing so I decided that it would be a good idea to be able to filter the "Races" by the game system in case anyone other than me is looking for something. So, there is a new control "Source" that toggle between the systems I've been converting from and seven new monsters - Manes Demons, Giant Rats and Centipedes and the lowly Kobold from Dungeons and Dragons along with a Demonic Revenant (should be Remnant, I'll fix it another day), Cannibal Molemen and Cursed Humans from Frog God Games, Swords and Wizardry adventure Grimmsgate.
Sunday, October 31, 2021
RQ Classic Character Generator Updates
I've been working on the code behind the scenes to get the Runequest Classic Character Generator to handle Encumbrance calculations and the effects on movement and defense correctly. I've also added in a text armor description to the stat block so the characters know what they're looking.
Human
STR 11 CON 13 01-04 R LEG 3/5
SIZ 11 INT 11 05-08 L LEG 3/5
POW 8 DEX 9 09-11 ABDOM 5/5
CHA 16 HP 13 12 CHEST 4/6
Move 8 ENC 4 13-15 R ARM 0/4
Def 0 TF 4 16-18 L ARM 0/4
19-20 HEAD 3/5
Skills: Fast Talk 45, Dancing 25
Move Quietly 20
Basic Magic: Dispel Magic 3, Healing 2
Lightwall 4, Strength 2
Armor Description: inner: Leather Greaves, Thin Leather Byrnie
Composite Helm
Outer: Thick Leather Trews, Linen Hauberk
Base Attack 0 Base Parry 0;Base Manipulation 0 Base Stealth 0 Base Knowledge 0 Base Perception 0 Base Oratory 5 Base Move 8 Max Encumbrance 11 Base Defense 0
Strike Rank (SIZ) 2 Strike rank (DEX) 3
Friday, October 30, 2020
Cross System Conversions
I like mixing and matching between multiple systems, genres and milieus, as my various random encounter tables will show. One of the things I have somewhere is a sheet of paper detailing my cross system AC conversions. But I can't find it so I'm going to rebuild it with a little help.
My basic approach for conversions has been to use armor description as the starting point, if you know what chainmail is in AD&D and Runequest, then you can figure out the rest of the armor classes from there. And since monsters are rated on the same scale as humans (at least for all the systems I can think of); the process is to look at the table I just derived and assign the appropriate AC.
THAC0, %to hit, attack roll - whatever you want to call is more subjective for me. Usually, I'll look for a comparable monster in the system I'm converting to and peg the attack roll to the comparable. Take for example, the 'Great Kommata', a gigantic Martian flying beast from Space 1889: it has two attacks Talons and Drop (rocks). Comparable is a Roc from AD&D, two 3-18 attacks at 18HD. Add in a rock attack like a stone giant throwing, but can only hit one character. Presto, all I need to run a combat encounter with one.
Converting to Chivalry & Sorcery is a bit different, as I all have to do is select the appropriately sized attack form, say 'MLB' or Monster Large Bite and it gives me the attack rolls against every armor class.
Magic is either a spell for spell translation to the target system or I need to define the effect in the target system. For example, "Crumble Wall" in Warhammer FRP is similar effects to "Transmute Rock to Mud", the stone dissolves into sand instead of collapsing into mud. The description is different, but the effect and therefore the level is really the same.
This shouldn't be a surprise to the grognards, system conversion has been around since at least the AD&D DMG, right there starting on page 113 where they give conversions for Boot Hill and Gamma World to AD&D (The text mentions both Metamorphosis Alpha and Gamma World, even though Jame Ward wrote both, they use different armor scales).
What I didn't realize until I was looking the the C&S Saurians book, which I was sure I'd reviewed last year, but haven't, is this little gem.
Look at that conversion from D&D and Runequest to C&S. Of course, the Runequest conversion is handwaving the difference between bronze and iron armor in RQ (iron is 1.5x as strong); so I'd take it with a grain of salt. Still it's a good reason to rebuild my AC conversion table that I've misplaced.
| Description | From | AD&D | C&S | ACKS | WFRP | MA | GW | RQ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banded Plate | ACKS, C&S, AD&D | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Brigantine / Brigandine | C&S, RQ | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
| Chain Mail | ACKS, AD&D | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 5 |
| Chain Mail Hauberk | C&S | 4 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Chain Mail Shirt | C&S, WFRP, RQ | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 5 |
| Chain Mail Shirt & Plate Cuirass | C&S | 2 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 5 |
| Cuirbolli | RQ | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0/1 | 7 | 8 | 3 |
| Cured Hide | MA, GW | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0/1 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
| Duralloy Shield | MA | +4 | +4 | +4 | +1 | 1 | +4 | 16 |
| Energized Armor | GW | -4 | 15 | 14 | 3 | -6 | 2 | 14 |
| Full Carapace | MA, GW | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Full Plate | C&S | 1 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Furs or Skins | GW | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0/1 | 7 | 8 | 2 |
| Hardened Leather Cuirass | C&S | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0/1 | 7 | 8 | 2 |
| Heavy Furs or Skins | MA | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0/1 | 7 | 8 | 2 |
| Heavy Scale Armor | RQ | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
| Heavy Shield | C&S | +1 | +2 | +1 | +1 | 6 | +1 | 12 |
| Hide & Fur Armor | ACKS | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0/1 | 7 | 8 | 2 |
| Inertial Armor | GW | -4 | 15 | 14 | 3 | -6 | 2 | 14 |
| Lamellar Armor | ACKS | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Leather Armor | ACKS, AD&D | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0/1 | 7 | 8 | 2 |
| Leather Jack/ Jerkin | WFRP | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0/1 | 7 | 8 | 2 |
| Light Scale Armor | RQ | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| Light Shield | C&S | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | 6 | +1 | 8 |
| Linen Armor | RQ | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0/1 | 7 | 8 | 2 |
| Mail Coat & Hose | C&S, WFRP | 4 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| None | AD&D | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 0 |
| Padded Armor | AD&D | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0/1 | 7 | 8 | 2 |
| Partial Carapace | MA, GW | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Piece Metal Armor | GW | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Plant Fiber Armor | MA, GW | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0/1 | 5 | 6 | 4 |
| Plastic Armor | GW | 0 | 11 | 9 | 3 | -2 | 3 | 10 |
| Plate Armor | ACKS, AD&D, RQ | 2 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Plate Cuirass | C&S, WFRP | 3 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Power Scout Armor | GW | -4 | 15 | 14 | 3 | -6 | 2 | 14 |
| Powered Alloy Armor | GW | -4 | 15 | 14 | 3 | -6 | 2 | 14 |
| Powered Assault Armor | GW | -8 | 19 | 18 | 4 | -10 | 1 | 18 |
| Powered Attack Armor | GW | -8 | 19 | 18 | 4 | -10 | 1 | 18 |
| Powered Battle Armor | GW | -4 | 15 | 14 | 3 | -6 | 2 | 14 |
| Powered Plate Armor | GW | 0 | 11 | 9 | 3 | -2 | 3 | 10 |
| Ring Mail | ACKS, AD&D | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| Scale Mail | ACKS, C&S, AD&D | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| Shield | ACKS, AD&D, WFRP, GW | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | 6 | +1 | 12 |
| Shield of Non-metallic Substance | MA | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | 6 | +1 | 8 |
| Soft Leather | C&S, RQ | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0/1 | 7 | 9 | 1 |
| Splint Armor | C&S, AD&D | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Studded Leather | AD&D | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
| Superior Chain Mail | C&S | 4 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Thin Metal Armor | MA | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| None | AD&D | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| None | AD&D | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| None | AD&D | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| None | AD&D | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| None | AD&D | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| None | AD&D | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
ACKS - Adventurer, Conqueror, King: Ascending armor class
AD&D - Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Descending Armor Class
C&S - Chivalry & Sorcery: Ascending Armor Class
GW - Gamma World: Descending Armor Class
MA - Metamorphosis Alpha: Descending Armor Class, starts at 8
RQ - Runequest: Armor absorbs damage rather than setting the target to hit. Also the armor can vary by body part, i.e. you can wear a plate cuirass and have only soft leather on you legs. Note, I hand waved the difference the system makes between bronze and iron armor.
WFRP - Warhammer Fantasy Role Playing: Armor absorbs damage rather than setting the target to hit. Also, the armor only protects certain body parts. Leather is rated 0/1, as it only absorbs damage from blows where the damage is <=3. If the damage is 4 or greater, all of the damage affects the character.
Converting RQ and WFRP armor to other systems, I'll use the highest value provided.
Thursday, October 22, 2020
Feudal Wilderlands: Severnais Random Encounters
The final aid I'll develop for adventuring in the Severnais is a set of random encounter tables. As before, I'm pulling in creatures from pretty much every game in my library to give encounters that sense of whimsy I enjoy.
I should also note that I have a set of Random Encounter Generation home rules that are consulted before I get to these tables. Over the years I've moved from most of my random encounters being combat and experience point oriented to designing a system that will generate information for the players about the area. What I have below are tables of challenges they may encounter, or they may just see evidence of and start looking over their shoulders for the monster to appear.
Encounter areas follow natural ecosystem and movement boundaries. Looking at the map of the Sverenais, I determined that there are four encounter areas.
North Dearthwood The area of the forest north of river flowing out of the Dearthwood into the Roglaroon and the tributary of the Conqueror's River as well as the Conqueror's river upstream from there. Looking at the Wilderlands of High Fantasy booklet, there are three "Lurid Lairs" listed in the area for Wood Nypmphs, Pixies and Hippogriffs. From that I have determined that I will use the "Fairy or Sylvan" table in AD&D and the "Elf Wood" table in Runequest when generating the appropriate encounters. I also ended up with two encounters from Call of Cthulhu in that area, so I've decided that the entire area is subject to planar instability, where 'nexus points' to use the Empire of the Petal Throne terminology naturally appear and enable all sorts of beings to enter the Wilderlands.
Victory Hills Not a canonical name, but what I'm calling the hills where the Conqueror's River rises. They extend up to the River Stillring, most of them are outside of the Severnais proper, so I can re-use them as an area when I detail the heartlands around the City State itself.
North of Severn and South of Severn The Severn provides a natural barrier to movement dividing the encounter areas.
Note that I'm leaving the actual boundaries of the encounter areas rather vague. These are all or almost all mobile creatures that can have overlapping ranges. Also, I can roll the encounter and if there's a reasonably close boundary, decide which challenge I want the party to encounter.
About half the challenge encounters are from AD&D and I expect are familiar to most readers, the source of others are indicated below.
| Roll | North Dearthwood | Victory Hills | North of Severn | South of Severn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elf War Party (RQ) | Humanoid #4 (MA) | Centisteed (GW) | Snake Python |
| 2 | Chimera | NPC Party | Halfling | Changer (MA) |
| 3 | Al'mi-raj (FF) | Giant Skunk | Orc | Ankheg |
| 4 | Wood Nymphs Lair Hex 2818 (5) |
Apparition (FF) | Gnome | Wild Dogs Lair Hex 3515 (18) |
| 5 | Star Spawn of Cthulhu (CoC) | Sphinx (ACKS) | Wild Horses Lair Hex 3311 (12) |
Amoeba (WFRP) |
| 6 | Men, Bandit | Weretiger (ACKS) | Patrol | Men, Merchant |
| 7 | Bearoid (MA) | Giant Ant | Merchants (EPT) | Arn (GW) |
| 8 | Patrol | Wild Boar | Fire Lizards Lair Hex 3011 (3) |
Hawk (normal) |
| 9 | Cthonians (CoC) | Leprechaun | Yexil (GW) | Buzzers (MA) |
| 10 | Needlemen (FF) | Patrol | Llama (Dreamlands) | Rust Monster |
| 11 | Elf | Chénlh (EPT) | Men, Brigands | Wolves |
| 12 | Sprite | Stirge | Kobold | Cockatrice |
| 13 | Troll | Giant Stag Beetle | Basilisk | Throgrin (ACKS) |
| 14 | Hippogriffs Lair Hex 3318 (2) |
Men, Berserker | Goblin | Demon, Artificer (Infernum) |
| 15 | Pineto (GW) | Men, Dervish | Elf | Giant Centipedes Lair Hex 3612 (10) |
| 16 | Harpy | Elf | Url-worm (Dreamlands) | Sun Worm (WFRP) |
| 17 | Cockatrice | Men, Brigand | Men, Bandit | Rakox (GW) |
| 18 | Pixies Lair Hex 3017 (40) |
Dark Fungus (MA) | Men, Merchant | Patrol |
| 19 | Su-monster | Rényu (EPT) | Giant Toads Lair Hex 311 (11) |
Men, Merchant |
| 20 | Giant Stag | Hlýss (EPT) | Small Warrior (MA) | Wolves |
(ACKS) Adventurer Conqueror King, (CoC) Call of Cthulhu, (Dreamlands) H.P Lovecraft's Dreamlands, a CoC Supplement, (EPT) Empire of the Petal Throne, (FF) Fiend Folio, (GW) Gamma World, (Infernum) Mongoose's Infernum - Role Playing in Hell, (MA) Metamorphosis Alpha, (WFRP) Warhammer Fantasy Role Playing
(#) - A number in parentheses indicates the number encountered in the lair. All are from The WIlderlands of High Fantasy.
Creature notes:
Al'mi-raj (Fiend Folio) - Chaotic unicorn bunny
Amoeba (Warhammer FRP) - converted this one to Chivalry & Sorcery earlier
Apparition (Fiend Folio) - ethereal skeleton, can cause heart attacks
Arn (Gamma World) - a 1.3 meter bug that can be used as a riding mount by very small humanoids
Bearoid (Metamorphosis Alpha) - 12' tall golden psionic golden bear. Uses bows and clubs.
Buzzers (Metamorphosis Alpha) - mutated bees that can blast a party with pure energy. Enraged by psionics and magic use.
Centisteed (Gamma World) - 16 legged horse that can carry two. Comes equipped with a force field. No cupholders.
Change (Metamorphosis Alpha) - mutated robin with chameleon powers. No attacks, immune to spells and psionics (too bird-brained).
Chnélh (Empire of the Petal Throne) - ape mutants. Sharp claws and teeth. Use spears and clubs. Treat as cavemen, but look like Australopithecus
Cthonian (Call of Cthulhu) - immense thing squidly worms. Can crush with their bodies, constrict and drain blood with their tentacles. Oh, they can cause earthquakes too.
Dark Fungus (Metamorphosis Alpha) - psionic fungus brain. Don't touch
Demon, Artificer (Infernum) - a squat little demon, one of the Engineers of Hell. This one can understand and fix mechanical devices on a roll of 5+; has +3 natural armor and weeps poison tears that it uses to coat it weapons.
Elf War Party (Runequest) - 1d6 brown elves (look like deciduous trees) armed with bows and swords (bronze) . They have a decided resemblence to the local trees, oaks, chestnuts, laurel and pine, with bark like skin, interweaving bracnhes for hair and knobby fingers like twigs. They will be neutral or hostile to halflings and humans; friendly or neutral to 'meat elves' and down right aggressive to other races.
Hawk (normal) (Adventurer Conqueror King) - just a normal small raptor. If a character can plausibly attract it, it can be trained to hunt small game. Otherwise, 50% chance it attacks a wizard's familiar.
Hlýss (Empire of the Petal Throne) - six legs and a chitinous shell. FIght with weapons and a sting, ofetn have jewels set in their shell. Collect humans, probably for hosts for their eggs.
Humanoid #4 (Metamorphosis Alpha) - Walks on all fours, has poison claws, low intelligence.
Llama (H.P Lovecraft's Dreamlands) - all the possible monstrosities and I roll a normal llama. Treat as a pony that climbs like a goat
Merchants (Empire of the Petal Throne) - 3 merchants, 8 guards, 23 slave bearers with merchandise. Merchants and guards have elaborate chlen-hide armor (treat as scale mail, but less cumbersome) and weapons (have 5% chance of being broken if parried by iron/steel weapons). They have exotic glass wear and chlen hide armor for sale - preferably will trade for iron. The leader has an "Eye of Abominable Detestation" (treat as double strength wand of fear) and an "Eye of Incomparable Understanding" (treat as area effect Comprehend Languages spell).
Needlemen (Fiend Folio) - humanoid zombie plant. Shoots needles at you
Patrol (Chivalry & Sorcery) - one knight, a squire and two sergeants from a local fortress. In the Dearthwood, 75% chance that it is instead 1d4+2 Duneal foresters (treat as rangers) or elves.
Pineto (Gamma World) - ambulatory plant that can carry heavy loads. Can be ridden, but without the proper saddle, you take damage every turn.
Rakox (Gamma World) - oxen with eight horns and a carapace.
Rényu (Empire of the Petal Throne) - Humanoid dogs. Can speak and use weapons, can't use magic. Can be captured and trained, exceedingly loyal servants. Detect secret doors like elves.
Small Warrior (Metamorphosis Alpha) - mutated ants with a mass mind that can generate a force field
Sphinx (Adventurer Conqueror King) - I called this out to remind myself to check for the differences between sphinxes in ACKS vs AD&D. Turns out you can generate a random encounter with a sphinx in ACKS, but there is no entry in the Monster section for it. Treat as a Criosphinx. -
Star Spawn of Cthulhu (Call of Cthulhu) - miniature, but still gigantic copies of Great Cthulhu, 60 feet tall. Tentacles claws to match their size. Use magic and cause insanity.
Su-monster (AD&D) - forty years of gaming, never encountered one of these or added it to one of my adventures. Cross between an ape and an opossum with psionic attacks.
Sun Worm (Warhammer FRP) Shjockingly, a 6' maggot that discharges electricity. Double damage if you're wearing metal armor.
Throgrin (Adventurer Conqueror King) - looks like a hobgoblin, paralyzes like a ghoul, regenerates as a troll. Nasty little buggers.
Url-worm (H.P Lovecraft's Dreamlands) - man sized worms that feed off oils secreted by the dhole. Used by the halflings of D'haz for unspeakable practices.
Weretiger (Adventurer Conqueror King) - treat as AD&D weretiger, with they are naturally stealthy and have a -2 on surprise checks
Yexil (Gamma World) - big (3 meter long with 8 meter wing span) orange furred mammal. Shoot frickin' laser beams from it's eyes.
Previous Posts in this Series
Sunday, February 9, 2020
Do Tusk Riders Brew Beer?
I saw this beer coaster recently. Is it wrong that my mind immediately went to Runequest Tuskers and their riders?
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Christmas in July (2019 Edition)
Had this waiting for me when I got home Sunday
and yesterday the final piece (I think) of the RuneQuest Classic Kickstarter became available.
Sunday, July 22, 2018
Interlude in Pavis
I started a RQ Classic campaign recently, with four players who have been
playing mostly a AD&D 1e campaign and an old grognard who primarily
played RQ in college in the early 80s.
playing mostly a AD&D 1e campaign and an old grognard who primarily
played RQ in college in the early 80s.
For a setting, I'm using Pavis & The Big Rubble. The characters started
off at Old Fort at the confluence of the Scritha and East Scritha at Sacred
Time of 1610, just after the Lunar occupation begins.
off at Old Fort at the confluence of the Scritha and East Scritha at Sacred
Time of 1610, just after the Lunar occupation begins.
To introduce the newcomers to the system, I started them with answering the
KoDP clan questionnaire, followed by a ‘how the clan survived’ heroquest to
demonstrate how skills are used and advanced and give the players a taste of
how spiritual as well as physical quests mix in Glorantha.
KoDP clan questionnaire, followed by a ‘how the clan survived’ heroquest to
demonstrate how skills are used and advanced and give the players a taste of
how spiritual as well as physical quests mix in Glorantha.
In the Great Darkness the Brothers
left the village to search for food.
First Brother came to a barren
field, from it he heard voices calling out to him. Digging in the
field he found Ernalda's children and brought them back to the
village where they grew into crops.
Second Brother came to a cave where
a giant lived with his cattle. Second Brother disguised himself as a
cow and joined the herd when they went into the cave. When the giant
fell asleep, he led the herd out and back to the village.
Third Brother was walking along the
stream when he saw a strange girl drowning under the water. He leapt
in, swam down and saved her. She taught him how to catch fish.
Fourth Brother found a set of
tracks and followed them up a windswept hill. At the top he found an
alynx with it's fur matted and ribs showing. He fed it all the food
he had, in return it followed him back to the village and kept
Ernalda's children free from rats and chaos vermin.
Fifth Brother was lost in the
forest, finally he began to climb the largest tree in the wood. He
climbed all the way to the top where he beheld the first sunrise.
Foolishly, he climbed the sun's rays until he disappeared into the
sky.
The heroquest also functioned as a divination for the coming year. Based on their rolls, their village will probably be wiped out by famine.
A couple of side quests, where I split the group by family relationships, had
most of them tracking down a prize bull that had been stolen by a nomad.
Even though I gave them all some ability to speak Praxian, no one
understood what he was saying, so it ended in combat. The other character
is a son of a carpetbagger who returned from Tarsh with the Lunars. He
went out on a patrol with the Marble Phalanx detachment and was introduced
to the Morokanth slavers, baboons, trollkin and herdmen through the
Borderlands Scouting the Area encounter.
most of them tracking down a prize bull that had been stolen by a nomad.
Even though I gave them all some ability to speak Praxian, no one
understood what he was saying, so it ended in combat. The other character
is a son of a carpetbagger who returned from Tarsh with the Lunars. He
went out on a patrol with the Marble Phalanx detachment and was introduced
to the Morokanth slavers, baboons, trollkin and herdmen through the
Borderlands Scouting the Area encounter.
Then they set out for Pavis, losing a character in a drinking contest during an
encounter with a Troll caravan. A quick trip into the Rubble cost another
character half an arm and put most of them in bad odor with the local Mostali.
They then signed up at a variety of temples for training before we called it a
night.
encounter with a Troll caravan. A quick trip into the Rubble cost another
character half an arm and put most of them in bad odor with the local Mostali.
They then signed up at a variety of temples for training before we called it a
night.
Overall the new players seemed to enjoy it. The lethality surprised them, but I
had made a batch of pre-gens so they didn't get bogged down in character
creation.
had made a batch of pre-gens so they didn't get bogged down in character
creation.
One thing that went over well was I had grabbed pictures from a number of the
PDFs I've picked up, so I could show them a morokanth, a trollkin or the gate
at Pavis
PDFs I've picked up, so I could show them a morokanth, a trollkin or the gate
at Pavis
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Fishers - an ACKS race
A new race for Adventurer, Conqueror, King - the Fisher. Inspired by the Niffler from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (without being hunted to extinction as the primary component for Bags of Holding); the common platypus (although they're better described as unusual than common) and Runequest Ducks (when given a choice between being described as annoying or plucky, ducks will always choose to be considered annoying, when you have feathers 'plucky' has a whole 'nother meaning.)
For an upcoming campaign, I wanted to develop a race that fills the 'hobbit' spot without being completely senseless in a fantasy setting. Even within the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien admits that the concept of hobbits is untenable within his world. They are almost completely dependent on the services of others to defend them from enemies, i.e. the Rangers patrolling the North. Once that protection is withdrawn they immediately become a plantation of slaves to the first warlord to come around with a gang of a few hundred men. I can easily imagine a version of Middle Earth where a dragon lives in Michel Delving, and treats the hobbits as a source of wealth and livestock - and there's nothing they can do about it.
Runquest Ducks on the other hand, have been a source of derision by players for years. Yet they make sense within their world, they're despised, untrusted and victims of a massive pogrom by their erstwhile friends and neighbors. They respond by scattering into the swamps and marshes that humans don't want to live in and persevere in small groups.
Both races are depicted as small, natural thieves and often played humorously by the DM and players.
I had been planning on introducing Ducks into ACKS for my next campaign, when my much better half took me to see the latest JK Rowling money pump. And I was entranced by the Niffler, greedy little SOB that he is, but too small for a potentially playable race. So I worked with the concept, starting with the platypus and came up with:
Using the rules for creating monsters from ACKS Lairs and Encounters,(pg147) here's my worksheet:
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Dragonewts: Mystery of the Tail
Looking through the Classic Reprint, as I'm working on a generator for RQ2, I'm struck by the unaddressed changes of the Dragonewt Hit Locations.
Dragonewts (and Newtlings) don't have individual Hit Location entries and being upright bipeds would seem to fall under the standard Humanoid Hit Location template.
Right Leg 01-04
Left Leg 05-08
Abdom 09-11
Chest 12
Right Arm 13-15
Left Arm 16-18
Head 19-20
Yet, Newtlings are stated to have a (delicious) tail and "are very like a crested dragonewt in stature and can be mistaken for one at a distance." From which I infer that crested dragonewts also have tails.
This is the dragonewt illustration from the book. It's holding a spear and a Klanth, (which is too heavy for most Crested Dragonewts to wield) so I believe that this is meant to be a Beaked Dragonewt. Again it has a substantial tail.
The next stage is the Tailed Priest, by definition it would appear to have a tail.
There's no physical description of the Full Priest, but in the final stage the dragonewt is "revealed as the Inhuman King, gaining wings and, again, a tail." Indicating that the Full Priest is the only tailless stage of Dragonewt development.
Given these deductions I will be adding two Hit Location templates to my RQ2 work. Crested, Beaked and Tailed Priests, along with Newtlings, will use the first template, Full Priests will continue to use the Humanoid template and the Inhuman King fittingly gets its own template.
Dragonewt & Newtling Inhuman King
Right Leg 01-04 Right Leg 01-04
Left Leg 05-08 Left Leg 05-08
Tail 09 Tail 09
Abdom 10-11 Abdom 10-11
Chest 12 Chest 12
Right Arm 13-15 Right Arm 13-14
Left Arm 16-18 Right Wing 15
Head 19-20 Left Arm 16-17
Left Wing 18
Dragonewts (and Newtlings) don't have individual Hit Location entries and being upright bipeds would seem to fall under the standard Humanoid Hit Location template.
Right Leg 01-04
Left Leg 05-08
Abdom 09-11
Chest 12
Right Arm 13-15
Left Arm 16-18
Head 19-20
Yet, Newtlings are stated to have a (delicious) tail and "are very like a crested dragonewt in stature and can be mistaken for one at a distance." From which I infer that crested dragonewts also have tails.
The next stage is the Tailed Priest, by definition it would appear to have a tail.
There's no physical description of the Full Priest, but in the final stage the dragonewt is "revealed as the Inhuman King, gaining wings and, again, a tail." Indicating that the Full Priest is the only tailless stage of Dragonewt development.
Given these deductions I will be adding two Hit Location templates to my RQ2 work. Crested, Beaked and Tailed Priests, along with Newtlings, will use the first template, Full Priests will continue to use the Humanoid template and the Inhuman King fittingly gets its own template.
Dragonewt & Newtling Inhuman King
Right Leg 01-04 Right Leg 01-04
Left Leg 05-08 Left Leg 05-08
Tail 09 Tail 09
Abdom 10-11 Abdom 10-11
Chest 12 Chest 12
Right Arm 13-15 Right Arm 13-14
Left Arm 16-18 Right Wing 15
Head 19-20 Left Arm 16-17
Left Wing 18
Head 19-20
Monday, January 11, 2016
Late Christmas - RuneQuest Classic PDF Rewards Start Arriving
Hmm, think the packing slip will have a note from Treasure Trove Hurbi?
Thanks +Rick Meints
Friday, November 27, 2015
RuneQuest Kickstarter Launched Today
 |
| My slightly foxed copy of RuneQuest 2. |
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Mapping Pavis II - Building the Neighborhood
Switching to the Infrastructure layer, I'll add in the city wall, which starts near the bottom right and exits about half way up the left side of C9. A simple rectangle for the Griffin Gate itself and then a straight road leading out from the gate. There needs to be other major streets in the town, so I'll add one in branching off of the gate road and going through C9. It roughly parallels the wall, but I don't want it to be straight, as my conception of Pavis is that, unlike Greek and Roman towns, it was laid out haphazardly.
I'll start with the block four down and three in from the left and map the buildings with in the bock on the 10x10 square drawing I made earlier. Again export from GIMP as a PNG file, open the PNG in Inkscape and save a an SVG file. I only need two layers on this drawing, 'Grid' and 'Buildings'. Again, I move the background grid to the Grid layer and add the wall section so guide my layout. I'll need to leave a gap for the street cutting across the corner of the square too.
Now to generate the buildings, of course I built a generator, I always do. It's linked over on the sidebar. When I built the generator, instead of setting to always build a 100x100 meter block of buildings, I set it so that it randomly selects a 'Nominal block size' and creates contents until it meets or exceeds the nominal block size. I'll just run it until I have enough buildings to fill the area. In this case twice, I've reformatted the numbers to make a combined list for the block.
No
|
Type
|
Floors
|
Size
(meters) |
Description
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
C9.43.1
|
E
|
30x40
|
The area is covered with tall weeds. The cellar is made of field stone and has 3 levels. The cellar can be accessed by a open stair inside the left rear corner of the building site. The access has been hidden by brush and weeds. Any cellar floors in the building have a 10% chance of collapsing the first time they are stepped by any individual character. Any stairs or ladders found in the cellar have a 15% chance of breaking the first time they are used. |
|
C9.43.2
|
D
|
10x20
|
The front right corner foundation of yellow
brick remain behind to mark where a building once stood.
|
|
C9.43.3
|
D
|
10x10
|
The rear left corner and right wall
foundations of brown brick remain behind to mark where a building
once stood.
The area is covered with brush, a small tree grows within. The cellar is made of packed earth and has 1 level. The cellar can be accessed by a hatch without a stair outside the right rear corner of the building. The access is hidden by debris. |
|
C9.43.4
|
D
|
10x10
|
The front right corner , rear wall and left
wall foundations of yellow brick remain behind to mark where a
building once stood.
The interior is a shallow pit covered with weeds and bushes. |
|
C9.43.5
|
Empty
|
10x10
|
The area is covered with brush, a small tree grows within. |
|
C9.43.6
|
C
|
1
|
20x20
|
The broken front wall and rear right corner of
adobe remain standing to mark the building.
The area is covered with thorns. The cellar is made of packed earth and has 1 level. The cellar can be accessed by a trapdoor with no means of descent inside the right front corner of the building. The access has been hidden by brush and weeds. |
C9.43.7
|
D
|
10x20
|
The front right corner foundation of yellow
brick remains visible to mark where a building once stood.
|
|
C9.43.8
|
D
|
40x40
|
The left wall foundation of adobe remains
behind to mark where a building once stood.
The interior is a shallow pit covered with weeds and bushes. A pool of water has collected at the bottom. Check for wandering monsters. |
Building Types paraphrasing from Pavis and the Big Rubble.
'A' - Intact and inhabited; 'B' - Open to the weather, but inhabitable; 'C' - Shell of the building; 'D' - Foundations poking up through the grass; 'E' - No remains above ground, may still have intact cellars.
The final step is to turn off the grid (Shift -Control - L) Then click on the eye icon next to the Grid layer in the right sidebar, so that the eye closes.
Click on the drawing, Select All (Control-A), then reducs the scale of the drawing by Object->Transform. Click on the Scale tab in the Transform dialogue on the right sidebar. Set the scale to 20% of the original and apply.
Copy the reduced image to the Neighborhood drawing for the C9 block. Then using the cursor controls, slide it into position in the square 4 down by 3 from the left. Delete the wall segment that was copied over, tweak the building locations to align at this level, including editing the Path for the main road transiting the square and you achieve this.
Repeat for successive sub-squares.
Now I'm not planning on mapping all of Pavis at this scale, just the pieces where the adventures are. I'll keep a couple of generic areas for random encounters.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)