Barbarians of the Ruined Earth Campaign Kickoff- World Building

Art for BotRE- by Kelvin Green

My online group and I have decided we wanted to take a break from Death is the New Pink: Going Medieval on Yo’ Ass and play some Barbarians of the Ruined Earth.

We played for a few months back and moved to GMoYA, but now with the book in the beginning parts of layout (being done by the awesome and sexy Matt Hildebrand), I’ve really been craving the heroic science, sword, and sorcery vibe again (it also doesn’t help I’ve started rewatching all of Thundarr the Barbarian AGAIN).

A few weeks ago I bought a Nintendo Switch and the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and was inspired by how open the world is (and approachable) and wanted to capture that with this BotRE campaign (I may have to do a post on BotW and lessons/takeaways for tabletop gaming…).

When you first start BotW, Link runs up to an expansive vista, showing the beautiful world.  Everything you see you can travel to.  That is exciting and is a perfect example of show, don’t tell.  I want to avoid info dumps…  We play once to twice a month and sometimes info gets lost, forgotten, etc. and that’s wasted effort on my part.

I decided that I would take a page from Beyond the Wall‘s Further Afield and do some fun and exciting collaborative world building with my group.  I figured this would be as close to show, don’t tell as I could get for a campaign kick off.

Only three of my six players could make the session on Sunday, but we came up with some great ideas and I’ve sent the info to the three who couldn’t make it to give them a chance to create a few things.

First I asked each of my players what state this was taking place in.  After each pitched their idea, they talked and decided on New Orleans, super swamps, mutated rednecks, etc.

Then we rolled characters.  John is a Sorcerer (alternate spell casting rules here), Liam is a Death Priest, and Fletch created a Vek (raptor people).

Sorcerer Art for BotRE by Matthew Adams

 

Death Priest Art for BotRE by Matthew Adams

 

After the group made their characters I had them each create two interesting NPCs that they have each developed a bond with and what that NPC does.  I’ll roll some secret stuff about them that the players will discover (i.e., ar they in a cult, selling people to raiders/slavers, do they have perpetual RBF, etc.).

After each group created their NPCs, I had them roll on a table that I lifted (and only altered slightly) from Further Afield to generate an interesting thing nearby their village.  Each of my three players did this twice.

Roll 1d8: 1) Major city; 2) Ancient ruins; 3) Human settlement; 4) Recent ruins; 5) Inhuman settlement (roll 1d3: 1) Vek; 2) Beastman; 3) GM Chooses from bestiary); 6) Monster’s Lair; 7) Source of power; 8) Interesting location (i.e., mushroom forest, natural canyons, etc.)

With these, I’ll roll to see how accurate what they came up with is.  Is it true, is there a twist to this location, or are they WAY off base.

Finally I had each of my three players come up with a descriptive term or phrase that would guide me in the creation of the town leader.  I told them that if it something was too off base with another descriptive term, we would discuss until we got to a happy medium/compromise.  Thankfully that didn’t happen at all.

The members of the group that made it to the session start with a magic item/piece of Stupendous Science.

The three players that didn’t make it will make their characters when they play, but I am allowing them to create a single interesting location (I rolled for what it is) and a NPC.  The town and leader are already determined.

Here is what the group came up with.  Once I get the entries from my other three players, I will do all my rolls and map out the village, layout the surrounding locations, and add a few myself.

Environment

New Orleans- Humid, swampy, mutated rednecks.

 

Settlement
“Mardi Grass”: Semi-floating landmass of junk and soil/silt.  Just slightly outside of New Orleans.

 

Town Mayor

Kane: Kane is known for his rambunctious spirit and ability to fight (Barbarian, 2^nd level).  He has defended Mardi Grass many times.  He always carries his prized spear, The Man-Splitter- a remarkable piece of Stupendous Science with an electrified, motorized blade.  Kane constant rubs himself with baby lotion to keep his skin moist and shiny.  He has a collection of Ancient Earth action movies and a working entertainment center.  He is obsessed with Chuck Norris and John McClain.

Interesting People

Cobb: A gardener who has some sort of innate magical abilities, but not a sorcerer (John).

Mama Cleo: A voodoo priestess who can speak with spirits and create strange alchemical concoctions.

Birch: Owns/runs the general store.  Became mutated early in life and has gills and webbed hands and feet (Fletch).

Nomi: Guard of Mardi Grass.  Decent fighter.  Escaped mines with group (John).

The Undertaker: Undertaker of Mardi Grass.  Scrawny and lanky.  Androgynous (Liam).

Jean: Junk dealer.  He is mad as a hatter, but smart and ornery (Fletch).

Nearby Locations

Monster Lair: Vicious and savage frog-dog creatures lurk in rudimentary huts (John).

Settlement: Strange Ones (sky blue skin and bulbous heads) inhabit an abandoned Ancient Earth television station.  They worship Ancient Earth technology (Fletch).

Source of Power: Giant undead rats run endlessly on hamster wheels to generate electricity (Liam).  Rumored to be created by Tygham the Fearless, the Sorcerer of the Swamps.

Crystal Towers: These crystalline towers are made of soft gems (ruby, etc.) and attract large beetles, the size of dogs, which feast on the structures (Fletch).

Lair of the Croconator: Massive crocodile monster that lurks in the swamps.  A few days travel from Mardi Grass (John).

The Ruins of Bourbon St: Mostly underwater.  Aquatic people live here.  Underwater ruins and avenues exist (Fletch).

Magic Items

Liam: Liam has a teddy bear named Balfour, which he found on the mummified remains of a small girl from Ancient Earth- The girl’s name is Maggie and acts as a spirit guide. Liam can speak to her as spirit (Death Priest ability) or increase Luck range from 4-6 to 3-6 once per day.

John: John has an attack drone that looks like a sphere with a giant lightbulb eye.  The drone hovers around him and attacks a target designated by John.  6HP, 1 RP, 1d6 damage, uses John’s stats to attack.

Fletch: Fletch has a shield that can be activated to absorb damage.  When turned on, roll 2d4.  That is how much damage it will absorb.  Once depleted, deactivates and take damage as normal.  Recharges when the sun rises.

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Death is the New Pink: Going Medieval On Yo’ Ass Session Six- The Mystery of the Pink Rubber Ducky!

We continue our playtesting of the new Death is the New Pink project I’m working on, Going Medieval on Yo’ Ass.  The group did another romp into the Forever Dungeon.

Players

Liam– Human- Mort (Morty for short)- Lives for combat- good at killing things dead and keeps on slicing.

John– Human- Cheshire- Stealthy.  Good at being cautious and grounded.  

Omar- Human- Cleaveland- Needlessly shouts aggressively and states the obvious.

Last session the group had gone after an extremely powerful Doodad in the Whispering Tunnels beneath the streets of Flotsam.  This time they decided to go after the chance of riches and more Doodads in the Forever Dungeon.

The session started with the group figuring out what happened to them in between sessions (Omar found a dead body in an ally way and looted it, finding a few useful items. John gambled and drank, but broke even.  Liam heard a rumor about a powerful witch that lives in an unsettled area of Flotsam.  People know she is near because hundreds of frogs are lurking about the area).

The group restocked needed items and Liam hired a torch boy (had some of the worst stats ever).

The Entrance

Omar lead the way through most of the dungeon, being the meatiest of the Medieval Meat Bags!  There were no traps on the door, so he opened it.

The Room With Three Doors

The group entered and found three doors standing in the middle of the room.  Nothing seemed to be holding these doors up and the Medieval Meat Bags could walk around them and view both sides.  They decided to open the doors.  The door opened and the group saw a a giant pot-bellied goat-headed demon who was staring at sobbing women.  The group became immediately concerned that they were gonna have to deal with this, but weren’t sure if it was real or if they could be seen.  To test the theory Liam pushed the torch boy through the portal.  “Yup.  It’s real.”  He closed the door.

 

A few moments went by and John decided to open the first door again and saw the poor torch boy on a rack being flayed alive by the sobbing woman as the demon watched, gently rubbing his nipples.  John closed the door, “Well he’s dead.”

Omar opened the middle and saw a wizard with stereotypical wizard clothing on sitting on a throne with a guitar made of an axe.  John and Liam recognized him immediately as the Heavy Metal Wizard!

I have no clue who drew this, but I love it!

 

The group talked to the wizard through the door and realized that he could hear them, but no see them.  They asked the Heavy Metal Wizard if he knew of a goat-headed demon, “Oh… Orcus is around, eh?  He has a portal in the dungeon that connect with his realm of Hell.  He’s a disgusting sexual deviant and bringer of suffering and waste.  Best avoid him if you can.”

John opened the third door and found the frame bricked up.  They decided was that way for a reason and did not break it open.

The group moved to the east.

HOW: As I’ve mentioned in previous session recaps, the Forever Dungeon is procedurally generated, so I pulled the dungeon tile with three doors on it.  When Liam opened the first door, I asked him to roll a d6 while I shuffled my dungeon tiles and pulled out six.  The result he rolled got the Orcus room.  John rolled a 1d8 and got the Heavy Metal Wizard room.  Since the third door was not opened, no rolling was necessary.

The Pink Rubber Ducky Room

The group entered the room and saw a small pond in the center of the floor.  The vegetation and lily pads around it were all fake (like those you would buy from a craft store) and by the bank was a plastic nest with an Easter egg in it.  Floating in the water was a pink rubber ducky.  It quacked and floated away from the group as a real duck would.

This lil bugger was the star of the session

This lil duckie fucked with  my group.  They were so scared of what this thing might actually be.  The group pondered it for a moment and then decided to push on to the east.

Aside: They later found out that the duckie is actually a Doodad, but guarded by something terrible- more on this later.

Adorable Windup Rubber Duckie Bomb (A.W.R.D.B.): This Mister Quack Quack was designed to distract Nefarious and blow shit up.  Wind it up and let it go.  It’ll walk 30’ and start quacking and doing cute little flips.  Targets within 10’ of the device succeed a MOXY save or stop what they’re doing and walk over to the device.  On the next round the A.W.R.D.B. explodes, dealing 1d12 damage to all in a 10’ radius.  Usable once per day.

The Lever Room

The group entered this chamber and saw that a gnarled staff resting in a display stand in the center of the room.   To the right of the door was a large lever.  Liam pulled it without hesitation.  The constant grinding and humming noise that is constantly in the background of the Forever Dungeon stopped.   Liam was immediately attacked by an anthropomorphic rat creature with bloody skin and clown face paint.  He killed the creature with his scythe before it even had a chance to attack.

HOW: Levers are strange (and possibly dangerous) things in the Forever Dungeon.  Aside from being trapped or guarded by tough Nefarios, levers usually do one of two things 1) stop the dungeon from resetting for 1d4 runs after the current group exits (as it normally rearranges itself upon the Medieval Meat Bags exiting); 2) Instantly causes the dungeon rearrange itself, meaning the group is stuck in there and has to figure their way out.  This time Liam was lucky and the dungeon is stuck in its current layout for 3 runs.  The first of these three will occur with my RL Rochester group on Wednesday.  I am keen to see how this works/fits with the Forever Dungeon design philosophy.

The group decided to give the staff a wide berth, worrying it was of sinister intent and head further east.

The Room of the Living Mole

Aside: Not gonna lie.  I’ve been waiting for this room for a LONG time.  When I was designing Nefarios for Going Medieval on Yo’ Ass, I always ponder what could be the “pink” portion of the piece (if I were to have it illustrated) and I pictured a giant skin mole with large thick pink hairs.  The thought grossed my wife out, so in the book it went!

Living Mole

BAD 10, DSS 10, MOXY NA, HP 20, AP 0

DRIVEN TO JUST BE GROSS AND PLAIN MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE

This disgusting creature is a gigantic dismembered growth, roughly 10’ in diameter that undulates and moves slowly on the ground as it secretes a layer of mucus underneath its body while it contracts and undulates its muscle structure, much like a snail.  The mole has five large hairs that gently wave in the wind and snatches unsuspecting prey.  Targets attacked by the mole must succeed a DSS save or become entangled by the hair and begin giggling as the hairs tickle them pink.  An entangled target is moved to rest atop the mole, where it suffers 1d8 damage per round until dead or freed.  A target that suffers critical damage is broken down into a sick-looking foam and fully absorbed by the mole.  The Living Mole is immune to all mind-altering effects.

No… this is not mine… however I DID have to look at too many disgusting pictures of moles to find this one…

The group saw hutch at the eastern end of the room with six vials in it.  Omar moved to investigate and a long pink hair uncoiled from the ceiling and attacked Omar, ensnaring him and tickling him pink.  He was giggling and laughing and couldn’t act.

This fight was fun, but not as deadly as I was hoping thanks to Liam’s quick use of his last vial of Frozen Tears of the Spoiled Princess (see below).  The body of the mole became frozen and unable to move (and unable to break down living tissue), but the hairs could move around and still ensnare people.  The mole was frozen for 9 rounds.  Even with having Advantage on attacks the group had a hell of a time hitting the fucking thing.  Finally killing it when it only had 1 round left.

Frozen Tears of the Spoiled Prince(ss): There once was a spoiled prince(ss) (or maybe he/she was just really sad) and he/she cried and cried and blah blah blah.  Anyways, these tears are magically frozen and when one is thrown at a target they must succeed a BAD save or become frozen for 2d6 rounds.  If the target is at 0 HP and fails their save, they are permanently frozen.  *If you start with this Doodad from a Starter Package, start with 2d2 of these.

Omar nabbed the potions and \got a few good ones (I can’t remember what they are as I use a table to generate them on the fly).  With that, the group headed back to the Lever Room and decided to head South.  The door to the southern area shimmered with magical energy.  Liam decided to throw something at the door (it may have been the partially dead parrot he found inside the carcass of the Living Mole, but may not have been).  The moment the item hit the door a cloud of black smoke filled the room, causing all to cough and sputter.  Liam failed his BADassery save and fell unconscious.   Omar pulled out his jug of spoiled milk he got from the infected udder of Mi Mi Mi Moo Moo Moo the magical talking cow from a few session ago and held it under Liam’s nose.  Liam woke up instantly, gagging and sputtering but managed to keep his chow down.

The group headed through the southern door.

The Potion Room

The group entered the room and saw an alchemist’s station at the eastern wall and the body of man in robes on the floor.  The group thought maybe he was knocked unconscious by the same trap as Liam.  Omar put the milk under the man’s nose.  Engorged veins shot out of the man’s nose, like sick nose hairs and wrapped around Omar’s forearm.  The man’s face began to bulge and his skin tore away.  The brain levitated out of the skull, a yellow blinking eye center mass of the frontal lobe.

The fight was difficult as the brain was hard to hit and Omar took several points of damage, including a vicious critical fumble attack by Liam, nearly severing his arm.  Omar used his Doodad, Friendly Symbiotes to heal the damage instantly (expending the Doodad for the day).

Eventually the brain was sliced in half by Liam (Liam killed the clown rat, the mole, and now the brain thing- man he is the Bringer of Death, which is his Muscle Up!).

The group found a few potions and Liam looted the body of the now-brainless man, finding a nice long sword.

The group moved back to the rubber duckie room, pondering it again, and then moved to the west past the room with three doors and into the next room.

Samuel’s Room… Let’s Barter

The room was much larger than any room they had been in before, forested, dirt on the ground, and a camp fire crackling merrily  in the center of the room, which provided a natural clearing.  In the middle of the room was a hooded and robed man.  He coughed and got to his feet and laughed.  He threw open his coat and said, “Well!  What are you buyin’?!”

Aside: Omar got a big kick of my including the merchant from Resident Evil 4 in adventure- but fuck yea!  He was my favorite part of the game!

The group talked to the merchant, who said his name was Samuel and found out some info about the Forever Dungeon and restocked on some supplies.  They also saw a door to the west in the distance and asked what was in there.  Samuel mentioned a drunken dwarf sleeping one off in there.

The group decided to go talk to the dwarf.

The Ale Room

The group found a passed out dwarf sleeping amid barrels of ale.  After waking him up he introduced himself as Grrrr Mustachio.  He is the last survivor of his band.  The group then asked him if he knew anything the pink rubber duckie.  Grrrr’s faced darkened.  His wife Grrrretta was just killed by the terrible guardian in the pond.  “Two hundred feet wide it was!  And two hundred feet tall!  Long tentacle things that ooze sulfuric pus!  Pulled my wife into the pond, it did!”

The group invited Grrr to join them and get revenge against the creature.  Then Liam used his Dwarven Party Helmet AND double fisted the strong ale in the casks to get black out drunk!  The group went back to Flotsam to carouse and we ended there.

Grrrr Mustachio (Dwarf Mercenary, 20 GB/day)

BAD 13, DSS 10, MOXY 12, HP 9

DRIVEN TO COLLECT ALL HIS EARWAX TO USE ON HIS AWESOME MUSTACHE OR TO ADD TO HIS IMPRESSIVE COLLECTION.

Gear: Bow (1d6), warhammer (1d6), shield, leather armor (AP 1), rations (X5), waterskin, 93 GB.

Race Stuff: Grrrr can see in the dark up to 30’.  Stout: Grrrr is immune to all poisons; Know Stone: Grrrr knows stone and can tell its secrets (MOXY roll with Advantage if roll is needed in a hurry- otherwise automatically succeed); Slayer: The thrill of combat excites Grrrr.  Each successful attack Grrrr makes grants +1 to damage.  Resets after each fight.

Here’s the final dungeon layout for this session

Leveling Up

Liam and John leveled up to Ye Olde Quarter Pounder- each gaining 1d6 HP, attempting to increase their stats, and each gained a Muscle Up!

It was a great session.  I’m excited to see what will happen on Wednesday.

The Graveyard

Dwarf With No Name (Kevin)– “Here lies the Dwarf With No Name,

He done got dissolved by a puddle of goo-

So pathetic, so lame.”

Tooth (Fletch)– “Not much you could say about Tooth,

Except faces he liked to smash,

And was disintegrated; gone in a poof,

Ain’t nothing left by ash.”

Scotch (Omar)– “No one seemed to care when Scotch died,

No one cared for his life.

No one cried,

Not even his wife.”

The Torch Boy (NPC)

“Oh with torches this boy played

Until he ran across a demon

And got himself flayed…”

 

The Gunslinger Class for Hubris (and DCC)

This class will be released with the Orcs! A High Octane Adventure (3rd level module) for Hubris.

The Gunslinger

 

Art is from Darkest Dungeon- Not for Hubris.

Fighters are brutes that hack away at their enemies with swords, axes, and maces.  Thieves prefer small blades and like to strike from the shadows.  Neither fully appreciate the sleek feel and cold efficiency of firearms, but you do.  The heft and weight, the acidic smell of the lit powder, the feel of the kick as a bullet flies from the barrel and lodges itself into the head of your target, blowing out the back of their skull.

No mark is safe from your sights.  They can attempt to run, but they’ll feel the stinging pain of your shot, and the horrible realization of death will greet them as they bleed out, slumped against a wall, the light fades from their eyes.

Your ability to make impossible shots and take out targets with ease makes you highly sought after.  Whether you swear loyalty to a king or army, or pay heed to no one and make your own way killing for coin or just simply the joy of it, your path is what you make it.  And no one will tell you otherwise.

 

Hit Points: A gunslinger gains 1d8 hit points each level.

 

Weapon Training: A gunslinger is trained in the following weapons: bolas*, club, crossbow*, dagger, handaxe, short sword, wheellock pistol, and wheellock rifle.  Gunslingers can wear any armor up to chain without suffering accuracy to their shots.  Bulkier armor interferes with their ability to hold and fire a wheellock weapon properly and they suffer the armor’s check penalty to their attacks.

 

Alignment: Gunslingers tend to be a cocky lot, assured in their use and mastery of wheellock weaponry.  Gunslingers that are loyal to a cause, military organization, or lord tend to be lawful, while those who sell themselves as guns for hire, glory-seekers, or assassins tend to be chaotic.  Very few gunslingers gravitate towards a neutral alignment.

 

Quick Loader: The gunslinger can reload a wheellock weapon in two rounds instead of the normal three.

 

Point Blank Shot: A gunslinger can shoot targets with a wheellock pistol without suffering negative modifiers (DCC, pg XX).

 

Rifle-butt Attack: A gunslinger receives a free attack at a d16 against any creature that comes into melee range if they have a wheellock rifle in their hands.

 

Sharpshooter: When a gunslinger spends a full round aiming and doing nothing else, their attack is more devastating. If their attack is successful, it deals an additional 1d10 damage.  The threat range for a critical success is increased from 20 to 19-20 when sharpshooting.

 

Trick Shot: Gunslingers train tirelessly with wheellock weaponry.  They can perform tricky shots that function similarly to a warriors Mighty Deeds ability (DCC, pg 42) ONLY when using wheellock weaponry.  Prior to a shot, a gunslinger can declare a Trick Shot.  The gunslinger’s Trick Shot die determines whether this was successful.  If the Trick Shot Die is a 3 or higher, and the attack lands, the Trick Shot is successful.  If the Trick Shot Die is a 2 or less, or the overall attack fails, the Trick Shot fails as well.  Similar to a Warrior’s Mighty Deeds, the Trick Shot die does factor into a gunslinger’s attack modifier and damage.

 

Examples of Trick Shots include feats such as:

 

• Calling a shot to blast away an object held in an opponent’s hand.
• Using a shot to snuff out the light of a candle.
• Shooting a bullet and having it ricochet off a wall and hit a target around the corner.
• Sliding down a staircase banister and shooting at a target.
• When fighting enemies that are single-file, shooting a wheellock weapon and having the bullet pass through all of them, dealing damage.

Skeletal Gunrunners from  Hubris- art by David Lewis Johnson

 

Level	Attack	Trick Shot Die	Crit Die/Table*	Action Die	Ref	Fort	Will
1	+1	+d3	1d10/II	1d20	+1	+1	+0
2	+2	+d4	1d12/II	1d20	+1	+1	+0
3	+3	+d4	1d14/II	1d20	+2	+1	+1
4	+4	+d5	1d16/II	1d20	+2	+2	+1
5	+5	+d6	1d20/II	1d20	+3	+2	+1
6	+6	+d6	1d24/II	1d20+1d14	+4	+2	+2
7	+7	+d8	1d30/II	1d20+1d16	+4	+3	+2
8	+8	+d10	1d30+2/II	1d20+1d20	+5	+3	+2
9	+9	+d10+1	1d30+4/II	1d20+1d20	+5	+3	+3
10	+10	+d10+2	1d30+6/II	1d20+1d20	+6	+4	+3
*The critical success tables can be found in DCC, pg 82-83.

 

 

Gunslinger Titles
Level	Title
1	Marksman
2	Sharpshooter
3	Sniper
4	Deadeye
5	Master Blaster

 

 

Weapon Damage By Class
Class	Light Weapon	Medium Weapon	Heavy Weapon
Gunslinger	1d4	1d6	1d8
This is an optional rule found in Hubris, pg XX.

 

Gunslinger Starting Equipment

Adventurer gear:

• Backpack
• Bedroll
• Torches x2
• Rations x5
• Waterskin
• Flint and Steel
• 1 healing potion (1d6+1 HP)
• Hemp rope (50ft)
• Adventurer’s Clothing

 

Gunslingers also start with the following- Studded leather armor, 1 dagger or short sword, a wheellock pistol or rifle (20 shots), and a Black Power with pouch and fuse (Hubris, pg XX).

 

Starting Gold

As stated in DCC (pg 70) all level 0 characters start with 5d12 copper pieces and the weapon and trade good of their profession.

 

Class	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3
Gunslinger	3d10	3d10 +(1d6x100)	3d10 +(3d6x100)

Upcoming DIY RPG Productions Projects and Some Tasty Art!

I figured this is a great time to talk about several upcoming DIY RPG Productions that are in the works!  2018-2019 are looking exciting with some awesome work by some kick ass individuals.  For all currently released DIY RPG Productions, click here.

I decided to list all the projects alphabetically.

Barbarians of the Ruined Earth (BotRE)– is a game written by me and inspired by Saturday morning cartoons, specifically Thundarr the Barbarian (with dashes of Pirates of Dark Water thrown in).  The games uses the fun and simple The Black Hack rules.  Here’s the stuff I’ve posted on the blog.

Art by Matthew Adams

Art by Matthew Adams

Art by Matthew Adams

Art by Kelvin Green

Art by Kelvin Green

 

 

Death is the New Pink Projects (DitNP)

Note: Here’s the free character sheet for DitNP

DitNP: Fist Full of Circuits (or Rust Bucket Rampage) by Ian Hagan (art by Ian).  This will be a supplement for adding robots (called Rust Buckets) to a DitNP game.  They’ll have their own capital city (similar to Scratchtown).

DitNP: Going Medieval on Yo’ Ass- This book is the follow up to the original Death is the New Pink and written by me.  It is a fantasy version of DitNP and inspired by punk rock music, Tank Girl, and comics like Skullkickers.  Here’s info from the blog.  While the original DitNP uses the kick ass Into the Odd rules, GMoYA uses a blend of those and The Black Hack (linked above).

This is the cover- art by Kelvin Green

DitNP: Megarise Mayhem– This awesome adventure is being written by Kane!  This module is action packed, full of humor, and will surely put Meat Bags in zany situations and then kill their asses.

Kane did this mock up for Pax Unplugged

 

DitNP: Scenarios and Nefarios- I am planning to release a DitNP zine every quarter or so.  Each issue with have a few scenarios to run your group through, new Doodads, an interesting location, some NPCs, a faction or two, and very importantly- new Nefarios!

The Forever Dungeon– While this will be a supplement for Going Medieval on Yo’ Ass, the product will mostly be rules neutral, so really it could be used with any system.  The concept and words by me- the awesome dungeon art by Kelvin Green!  Here’s the info posted on the blog.

 

Demon City– a modern day horror rpg by Zak Sabbath.  Here is a link to his blog with all the stuff he’s posted thus far.  Zak gives awesome advice on how to run horror games, new and unique mechanics, fun and exciting classes, and of course- killer fucking art!

More news on our kickstarter coming in the near future!

 

Gathox: Quake Alley Mayhem– David Lewis Johnson has written the first module for his awesome Gathox Vertical Slum setting.  This module is exciting, contains easy rules to use in a tournament setting or as a regular adventure.  It is currently in layout and art development!

The Ghoul Prince– by Zzarchov Kowolski!  This nifty lil module uses the kick ass DCC rules and has the tools needed to fit it into any campaign and environment the group might be in!  Alex Mayo has done art for it and this will be released as PDF and POD VERY soon!

High Noon: A Gritty Whitebox Western- This OSR-style western book is written by myself.  The book has several classes, advice on keeping it bloody and deadly, bunches of enemies and tables (because I love those) and even a chapter on the Weird West (with classes!) Here is info on the blog.

Art by Alex Mayo

Art by Alex Mayo

Art by Alex Mayo

Art by Alex Mayo

Hubris Projects

Hubris: Downpour– will be the first supplement for Hubris (written by me) and will still embody the usable at the table/hack what the fuck you want attitude.  The new supplement will have new races as class, organizations, territories, at least one new patron, new monsters, magic items, spells, etc. and will be heavily inspired by Evil Dead, The Mist, Exorcist, The Thing, Marilyn Manson music videos (mostly from Antichrist Superstar), and the like.  I’m also taking a little inspiration from Warhammer and a taste of Ravenloft.  Here is info from the blog.

Art by David Lewis Johnson

Hubris: Orcs! A High Octane Adventure- is written by me and is inspired by the Mad Max: Fury Road and Snowpiercer movies and the Gears of War video games.  The adventure is designed for four to six 3^rd-level characters and set in the Hubris: A World of Visceral Adventure campaign setting, but can be used with other DCC settings (or OSR campaigns) as well with some tweaking of the locations and names.  The adventure is fast paced, with deadly combat encounters with orcs and their alchemically altered abominations.  A new class will be included in this as well!  The Gunslinger!

 

 

 

 

Death is the New Pink: Going Medieval On Yo’ Ass Session Five- Goin’ Doodad Huntin’!

We continue our playtesting of the new Death is the New Pink project I’m working on, Going Medieval on Yo’ Ass.

Players

Liam– Human- Mort (Morty for short)- Lives for combat- good at killing things dead and keeps on slicing.

 

John– Human- Cheshire- Stealthy.  Good at being cautious and grounded.  

Chad– Half-orc- BJ Orc (friends call him Bjorc)- Fights with a big two-handed axe.  

Omar- Human- Cleaveland- Needlessly shouts aggressively and states the obvious.

Coley- Elf- Makes snotty comments about others’ failings.  Has a fabulous pet hawk.  Good with a bow and acrobatic.  

Fletch- Human- Mad Mulligan.  Greatest swordsman who ever lived.  

The Session Begins

Now that we’ve had a few sessions (with both my Rochester group and my online group), I didn’t start them right at the entrance of the Forever Dungeon.  Instead I presented them with several options to pursue.

1. Another romp in the Forever Dungeon.
2. Track down the Doodad (The Tree Hand of Glamglug Glamall) that they were told was in the Whispering Tunnels beneath Flotsam (last session).
3. Take on a job offered by the halfling gangster, Mr. Laughy Taffy.
4. Go looking for trouble in Flotsam or out in the Yet-to-be-Wasted World (rolled randomly by me).
5. Investigate one of the rumors they heard last session (up to them to remember the rumors that spew forth from my face hole).

The group talked for a few minutes while I went and made myself a booze in a glass and decided that they would track down the Tree Hand of Glamglug Glamall (the Doodad they were told about last session).

HOW: I didn’t know if/when the group would go after the Tree Hand of Glamglug Glamall and I didn’t want to waste too much time prepping something that may never happen.  Soooooo…  Instadungeon time!  I rolled twelve d8s onto a piece of paper and marked the location and the number (pic below).  Then I used a table to generate things for the Forever Dungeon to see what was in those rooms.  The d8 from my favorite set of dice would be where the Doodad would be found.  Then I rolled a d4 for the number of different entrances/exits into the Whispering Tunnels there were in this “section” and got a four.  I then rolled four d4 and moved them each to the nearest location to determine the entrances/exits.

When the session start I had Coley roll 1d4 to see which of the four entrances/exits they started at.

Key for what’s in a room (roll 1d8): 1) Curse; 2) Doodad; 3)n Doors; 4) Event; 5) Hazard; 6) Item; 7) Nefario; 8) NPC.

The group walked through the streets of Flotsam and came a cross a rickety tent with a old haggard woman kneeling by an decent-sized stone idol of a creature with the head of a squid, the torso of a werewolf, long, bumpy tongues for arms, and no legs, seemingly amputated, but with tendrils of veins and nerve endings issuing from the folds, and its body covered in blinking eyes (I used my Deity Generator).

The group recognized it as a shrine to the Primordial God, Mythe Totep.  The old woman shook a bowl at them, “give some gold bits to the temple of Mythe Totep?”  John and Liam immediately said, “I will.”  Fletch ignored her.  Coley shouted, “I’m blessed enough! (fucking elves)”, and Omar put half a ration in the bowl, feeling that was good enough.

Liam and John were given a blessing from Mythe Totep.  The next Luck roll they made would be with Advantage.  Nothing happened to Coley and Fletch.  Omar felt pain in his palms and looked down to see two biting mouths on them (bite attack at a 1d6).

Into the Dungeon

The group started by entering the room in the NE corner (Start 2).  I rolled the hazard for this room was the Hallway of “Eye” Suck.  The walls were lined with faces with circular mouths.  The group couldn’t make out what was on the walls, but they saw dried blood, bits of meat, and other things.

This room was fun (and a good intro to DitNP for Coley).  She decided to have her hawk fly through the hallway to the other side to see if there was any danger… well…. there was.  From the hallway itself.  There was a sucking noise and both of the hawk’s eyes were popped out and sucked into one of the faces.  The hawk squeaked once and flew right into the wall, broke its neck, and died.

The group debated on what to do next.  Chad said, “just shut your eyes and walk across,” but no one listened.  Coley asked if she could find a secret passage.  I thought that was a good suggestion, so I had her make a Luck roll.  She did, it favored her- so there was a secret passage.  I then rolled a secret Luck roll to see if it was inhabited by something nasty.  The Luck roll once again favored Coley, so while the passage way was thick with spider webs, no Nefario there was.

 

HOW: The Hallway of “Eye” Suck

This trap is usually set up in a narrow hallway, which is lined with hundreds (or thousands) of small holes.  Many of these will have eyeballs stuck in them, perhaps there is a brain splattered against the wall.  When targets enter the hallway, they experience discomfort as the air is pulled through all these holes.  Each target must make a BAD save for each eye to avoid having them pulled out and stuck in a hole (this results in 1d6 damage per eye).  If the target takes critical damage, their brain is pulled out through their eye socket and splatters against the wall like a thrown plate of wet dog food.  Closing one’s eyes (and stumbling around blindly) will negate this.

The group proceeded south and came across a mutant with skin like soggy corn flakes, a tentacle for his left leg, and a melted face that looked like Sloth from Goonies.  The group pressed the mutant for information.  He said that to the south was his quarters and southern from that was a room with white and black checkered flooring and in the center of the room is a small coffee table with a single slice of delicious beautiful chocolate cake on it (inspired by Zak’s post).  The chocolate cake, of course brought up references of Trump and his description of his meeting with the Chinese president (go to 0:48 for that).  The mutant also spoke of a room off to the east with several dead bodies in it.  He won’t go there for fear of something lurking in there.

The group decided to go scope out the dead bodies first.  The room was covered in offal, blood, and garbage.  Oh and three dead bodies.  John, Fletch, and Liam each looted a body (allowing me to use my loot table again- this is for the Forever Dungeon, but works for anything, really).

The first to look through the goop rolled 3d6 and got multiples.  I rolled 1d10 and got a random encounter.  I decided to roll up eye monsters (makes sense from the Hallway of the “Eye” Suck, right?)

Kinda cute…

These things dropped from the ceiling and started blinking conjunctivitis discharge on the Medieval Meat Bags, which burned and dealt damage.  A few of the players got pretty banged up (Coley mostly), but no one was knocked unconscious.  The group found several items, including extremely sharp caltrops, some drugs, pop grenade on a stick, and Fletch found a Doodad, Goo Armor.

HOW: Goo Armor: You look like your encased in an ever-runny loogie.  It disgusts people and makes them feel queasy.  You suffer Disadvantage to all MOXY rolls that deal with schmoosing, intimidating, etc. while wearing it.  While wearing Goo Armor, you are able to melt into a puddle of mucous and slither on the ground at 10’ per round.  You can fit under most doors.  Treat the armor as medium (pg XX).  You can command the armor to be absorbed into your skin (and thus not being active), but you gag as it happens as it is an extremely gross sensation and you feel like you have constant post-nasal drip.  When you summon the armor, it spews forth from your nose as water from a faucet.  It takes 1 minute for the armor to encase your body.

There was a slight hitch for this armor…  it was broken.  So when Fletch transforms into a goo, he is stuck that way until he succeeds a Luck roll (heh).

The group then headed to the cake room and Liam quickly wrapped the cake in a cloth and stuffed it in his backpack… I can’t wait for him to really check it out.

The group then traveled south west and came across a filthy halfling covered in rags with a nasty scar on his face.  He introduced himself as Burgundy Blitz (I don’t know where I pulled that name from, but there it is).  He asked for help with killing a giant insect that was causing him trouble.  In return he would give the group treasure.  The group was wary at first, worrying about giant spiders or centipedes, but when told it was a giant beetle the group got cocky with a “I got this” attitude.

They didn’t expect to fight a beetle the size of a Volkswagon bus.

John got sprayed in the face with a hallucinogenic compound from the beetle and thought that his companions were actually beetle creatures, but didn’t attack them.  Instead throwing a Molotov Cocktail at it.

Chad was hit hard by the creature and knocked unconscious, but didn’t die.  Fletch pulled out his box-o-mallet and squeezed the handle, sending the boxing mallet flying at the creature, dealing 4 damage, 2 of which was critical damage.  I rolled the beetle’s BAD save and critically failed.  The box-o-mallet looked as if it wasn’t going to reach the beetle’s head, but just at the last minute the beetle moved and the boxing glove barely touched its head.  It shivered and a ripple effect moved from the head of the creature to the back and then it’s thorax exploded and goo spewed everywhere.

 

The group made their way back to Burgundy Blitz and got a golden monkey idol as reward (worth 400 GB).  With that the group left for the room where the Tree Hnad of Glamglug Glamall was believed to be.

Fletch almost died after triggering some Fire Eating Moss, but found the staff.  The group exited the Whispering Tunnels and decided to carouse after that.

HOW: The Tree Hand of Glamglug Glamall: The staff of the great living tree Glamglug Glamall is known for its expert craftsmanship, beautifully etched runes, oh and its ability to summon a massive hand out of the ground that grabs people (sometimes it can get a little pervy).  When the staff is stabbed into the soil, the user can summon forth a 10’ high wooden hand with jagged bark fingernails and shoots of branches at random spots.  A target must make a DSS save (with Disadvantage) to avoid becoming ensnared by the hand.  The hand remains until the staff is pulled from the ground or the sun sets.  The user can command the hand to crush a target for 1d6 damage per round.    The ensnared target can make a new DSS save each round to break free.  This can be used once per day, however a Medieval Meat Bag can attempt to force the staff to work additional times by passing a MOXY save.

Carousing Highlights

Chad- Got a magical tattoo that allows him to cast a Mystic spell once before fading.

Live Fast Die Young: You can touch a target and cause them to speed up, moving as if just outside the normal spacetime.  They gain Advantage to dodging attacks and gain an extra movement and attack action.  The target must make a Luck roll- if it favors them, nothing bad happens.  If it doesn’t, the touched target ages 1d10 years.  Lasts 1d4 rounds.

John– got a really stupid tattoo.  Liam got to choose it and picked this as a whole back tattoo:

Liam- Drank a mystery potion and had his Dodging Some Shit increased by 1 for the next session.

Fletch- Dominated in a halfling mud wrestling competition (not being a halfling himself made it all the funnier) and critically succeeded on his roll on how well he did…  Good times.

The Graveyard

Dwarf With No Name (Kevin)– “Here lies the Dwarf With No Name, he done got dissolved by a puddle of goo- so pathetic, so lame.”

Tooth (Fletch)– “Not much you could say about Tooth,

Except faces he liked to smash,

And was disintegrated; gone in a poof,

Ain’t nothing left by ash.”

Scotch (Omar)– “No one seemed to care when Scotch died,

No one cared for his life.

No one cried,

Not even his wife.”

 

Inspirational Images for Hubris: Downpour

I am continuing my delve into getting in the “mood” to write my next Hubris book, Hubris: Downpour.  Thus far I’ve released the Lupine (Race as Class) and the Blood Acolyte class.

The new supplement will have new races as class, organizations, territories, at least one new patron, new monsters, magic items, spells, etc. and will be heavily inspired by Evil Dead, The Mist, Exorcist, The Thing, Marilyn Manson music videos (mostly from Antichrist Superstar), and the like.  I’m also taking a little inspiration from Warhammer and a taste of Ravenloft.

Here is some art, pics, gifs, and music videos that I’m using for inspiration.

This is a piece for Hubris: Downpour by David Lewis Johnson

Enjoy!

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The Blood Acolyte Class for Hubris (and DCC)

Now that I’ve finished the first draft of my new Death is the New Pink project, Going Medieval on Yo’ Ass!, it’s time to jump back into other projects, including GMoYA: The Forever Dungeon and some good ol’ Hubris writing!

The new supplement will have new races as class, organizations, territories, at least one new patron, new monsters, magic items, spells, etc. and will be heavily inspired by Evil Dead, The Mist, Exorcist, The Thing, and the like.  I’m also taking a little inspiration from Warhammer and a taste of Ravenloft.

I started writing notes about a year ago, but not much beyond that has been done.  Previously I posted the first race as class, the Lupine.  Now it’s time to look at the class, Blood Acolyte.

Blood Acolyte

 Art is not for Hubris- artist found here.

For years you trained for countless hours in the practices of Blood Combat, the mystic arts of using the blood of your foes to fuel your rage and destroy them.  These arts have been taught to mortals by the God-king himself and you sacrificed your freedom to serve the Him, acting as emissary of His will, brutal enforcer of His punishments, and as a deadly weapon in His army.

You understand the irony of using a creature’s own blood to subjugate and slaughter them, but you have been taught to not let this cloud your judgement, for showing any pride can weaken one’s position, allowing a foe to gain an upper hand.

And now, whether you heed the call of the God-king, serving loyally as He commands, or you are an exile, banished from His glory and cast aside, you use your abilities to survive in the sodden, fog-choked lands of Downpour.

Hit Points: A blood acolyte gains 1d8 HP per level.

Weapon Training: A blood acolyte is trained in the following weapons: blowgun, bolas*, club, dagger, dart, garrote, polearm, shortbow, sickle*, spear, spiked chain*, and staff.  Blood acolytes tend to wear no armor or nothing heavier than studded leather as it impacts their abilities.

*Weapons in the Hubris campaign setting (see equipment- Hubris, pg 54).

Alignment: While the use of Blood Combat is a violent and invasive act, blood acolytes must keep calm and focused, keeping their fury in check until the moment of violence arises.  This practice makes most blood acolytes Neutral.  However, there are extremists in the order with elevated devotion to the God-king and they could be considered Lawful or Chaotic.

Combatant: Blood acolytes have been trained to use their fists as deadly weapons.  A blood acolyte’s fists deal 1d6 damage.

Blood Combat

Art is not for Hubris- artist found here.

A blood acolyte uses the blood from their foes to power special abilities, called Blood Combat.  When a blood acolyte uses a melee weapon, they generate a number of Blood Points equal to half the damage done (only that listed on the dice, no modifiers).  If the blood acolyte is using their fists, they generate Blood Points equal to the full amount of damage done (only that listed on the dice, no modifiers).  A blood acolyte uses Blood Points to power their Blood Combat abilities.  Blood Points reset to zero after a night’s rest.

Blood Combat abilities are divided into four categories: Tier I through Tier IV.  Each tier’s is stronger than the previous and costs more in Blood Points.  To use an ability the blood acolyte must succeed a test (DCs are marked with each tier).  The blood acolyte rolls 1d20 + blood acolyte level + Stamina modifier and attempts to beat the DC.  If the blood acolyte critically fails, they cannot use Blood Combat for 24 hours, lose all blood points, and suffer the effects of Hemorrhage (pg XX) appropriate to their level.

Accumulated Blood Points are consumed when the ability is successfully cast.

 

Blood Combat Abilities

Tier I Abilities (10 Blood Points)- DC 12

Cat-like Reflexes: Your reflexes become heightened.  You roll all Initiative and Ref saves one step higher on the die ladder for a number of turns equal to your level.

Fists of Fury: Your attacks are swifter.  You gain an additional attack at 1d20 for a number of turns equal to your level.

Healing: You use the energy of the blood to heal yourself for 2d6 HP.

Hyper Movement: Your movement is swift.  You increase your movement speed by 10’ for a number of hours equal to your level.

Tier II Abilities (15 Blood Points)- DC 14

Agile: Your body becomes lithe.  You gain Sneak Silently, Hide in Shadows, Climb Sheer Surfaces as a Thief (DCC, pg 38) of equal level for a number of hours equal to your level.

Focused Mind: Your mind becomes calm.  You roll all saves against mind-altering effects one step higher on the die ladder for a number of turns equal to level.

Healing Touch: You use the energy of the blood to heal an ally for 2d6 HP.

Hemorrhage: Your attacks hurt, rupturing internal organs.  The next target hit by you must succeed a Fort save (DC equal to 10 + Blood Acolyte level) or suffer an additional 1d6 damage per round for 1d6 rounds.  At 6th level increase damage to 2d4 and duration to 2d4.

Iron Fists: Your weapon (or fists) become encased in blood energy, increasing damage one step on the die ladder.  Lasts for a number of turns equal to Blood Acolyte’s level.

Stun: You channel blood energy into your weapon (or fist).  The next target that is hit by you must succeed a Fort save (DC equal to 10 + Blood Acolyte level) or become stunned and unable to act or truly defend self (lose AC bonus).  Lasts until the affected target makes another successful save + 1 round.

Thickened Skin: You absorb the blood energy into your flesh, causing it to harden.  If you are wearing no armor, gain +8 AC.  If you are wearing armor that grants an AC bonus of +4 to +1, gain +4 AC.  Anything with an AC of 5 or higher gains no benefit from this ability.  This effect lasts a number of hours equal to your level.

Tier III Abilities (20 Blood Points)- DC 16

Block Energy: You channel blood energy into a target that is capable of wizard spells, effectively blocking their ability to do so*.  The target must succeed a Will save (DC equal to 10 + Blood Acolyte level) or be unable to cast wizard-type spells for one day.  *A Judge is more than within their right to say a creature is too powerful or magical to be affected by this ability.

Confuse: You use the energies from blood to encompasses weapon (or fist).  The weapon is considered magic for the purposes of dealing with monsters who can only be harmed by magical weapon.  The next target hit by you must succeed a Will save (DC equal to 10 + Blood Acolyte level) or become confused.  Each round, on the affected targets action roll 1d5: 1) do nothing; 2) act as normal; 3) attack ally; 4) stumble and fall prone (lose next action to stand up); 5) flee from Blood Acolyte at standard movement.  Lasts a number of round equal to your level.

Feast: You consume the blood energy and are immediately satiated as if having had food, water, and 8 hours rest (although your blood points reset as if you have rested).  You do not gain an HP associated with resting (DCC, pg 94), but do not suffer adverse effects of fatigue.  You can only do this once per day.

Greater Healing: You use the energy of the blood to heal yourself for 4d6 HP.

Tier IV Abilities (25 Blood Points)- DC 18

Greater Healing Touch: You use the energy of the blood to heal an ally for 4d6 HP.

Purity: You use the blood energy to cure any disease, poison, or mutation (only mutations gained within the last hour).  You can only use this ability once per day on self.  If you use this ability on another target, cannot use this ability for one week.

Toxic Wave: You release a purpleish-black cloud of miasma in a 5’ radius around you.  All targets in the cloud must make a Fort save (DC 10 + blood acolyte level) or become sickened, making all rolls one step lower on the die ladder and suffer 1d6 damage per round in the area.  On the second round, the cloud extends to a 10’ radius.  On the third round, the cloud extends to a 15’ radius.  It dissipates on the fourth round.  Targets are sickened until after they are out of the miasma and one round after.  Targets that succeed on the Fort save cannot be affected by this again for 24 hours.

Vicious Attack: Blood Acolyte Levels 1-6: Increase your critical threat range to 19-20 and roll current Crit Die on Table IV.  Blood Acolyte Levels 7-10: Increase critical threat range to 18-20 and roll current Crit die on Table V.  This effect lasts a number of rounds equal to your level.

Self-Mutilation: A blood acolyte can cut on themselves, draining their own Stamina to power their abilities.  Each point of Stamina sacrificed equals double that in Blood Points + 1d6.  Lost Stamina recovers at a rate of 1 per day.

Luck: A blood acolyte’s Luck modifier factors into their roll when rolling their save for Blood Combat.

Languages: At 1^st level a blood acolyte automatically speaks common.

 

Art not for Hubris- I found it here.

 

Table X-XX: Blood Acolyte
Level	Crit Die/Table*	Action Die	Ref	Fort	Will
1	1d10/III	1d20	+1	+1	+0
2	1d12/III	1d20	+1	+1	+0
3	1d14/III	1d20	+2	+1	+1
4	1d16/IV	1d20	+2	+2	+1
5	1d20/IV	1d20+1d14	+3	+2	+1
6	1d24/IV	1d20+1d16	+3	+3	+2
7	1d30/IV	1d20+1d16	+4	+3	+2
8	1d30/IV	1d20+1d20	+4	+4	+2
9	2d20/IV	1d20+1d20	+5	+4	+3
10	2d20/IV	1d20+1d20+1d14	+5	+5	+3

* The critical success tables can be found in DCC, pg 82-83.

Table 1-14: Blood Acolyte Titles
Level	Title by Alignment
1	Servant
2	Disciple
3	Breaker
4	Rupturer
5	Devastator