The Shadowrun Complete City Kit and New York City Guide: A Vornheim Hack

I had quite a bit of (albeit time consuming) fun doing this.  I hope that others enjoy it and find use out of it!

I’m copying the introduction from the kit because it pretty much says all I need to…

Edit: I should add that while I took some things from the Shadowrun books that happened to NYC, like the great Earthquake of 2005 and Manhattan, Inc. I rewrote them in a way that I found more exciting.  All the info on the neighborhoods and boroughs is from me and not taken from any other source (except I believe that one of the books mentions one of the airports also being used as a military base). 

So here it is: The Shadowrun Complete City Kit

Holy shit I clearly have too much time on my hands…

Basically I decided to run a Shadowrun game for my players and thought it would be fun and cool to set the game in New York City (as I live just over the bridge from it).  To get myself pumped (and hopefully not have to do that much heavily lifting) I read through the Neo-Anarchist’s Guide to North America by FASA and The Rotten Apple: Manhattan by Catalyst Game Labs and was floored by how boring these books are and how they provide nothing useful at the gaming table, which is essential to me.

Largely I’ve found that most RPG setting books follow the same philosophy as the two books mentioned above and that is boring to me.  I don’t want large blocks of text that describe people that I and my players don’t care about or will interact with.  I want useful stuff.

To put it simply: Vornheim by Zak S. has spoiled me.  I view it as the way that setting books should be done.

I took my Firefly: Hurtlin’ Through the ‘Verse hack I did of Vornheim and cannibalized it for my Shadowrun Complete City Kit and New York City Guide.  While there are a few things that have been re-edited/changed, there is also quite a bit of new ideas and stuff for this book.  As always the goal was to create this for myself as an easy to use tool for my gaming group, but with the goal of releasing it to the RPG community for their enjoyment.  While is a NYC guide and has maps and mentions several of the neighborhoods, it can be used for any Shadowrun sprawl.

I kept this book system-agnostic because I do not any of the Shadowrun rule systems.  I use Savage Worlds™.  I didn’t want to force that decision on others, so kept it easy to use to generate ideas for any persons system of preference.

This can also be used with any other cyberpunk book.  Just get rid of the magic and metahumans and you’re good to go.

Anyways– Grab some friends, grab some dice, and keep rolling!

Mike Evans (wrathofzombie)

http://www.wrathofzombie.wordpress.com

Setting Books Have Been Ruined For Me- And Why I Blame Zak S.

Up front I want to point out an important part of this post- It’s even in the title: ME.  I want to avoid calamitous outrage, arguments, hullabaloo, and hubbub.  I am stating that this is my beef with setting books, and not that I think that there is a right way or wrong way to enjoy them.

Tossing the Blame

I can sum up how setting books have been ruined for me in one word:  Vornheim.  It’s an amazing book and pretty much has set the precedent on how I now view and approach other setting books (even ones I’ve read prior to reading Vornheim). I did a review of the book when it first came out.

How and why I blame Zak for ruining setting books for me can be found in two examples- one is Vornheim itself.  The presentation is amazing and it has more useful information about Vornheim in its 75 page than other setting books do at 100+ pages.  It is usable (immediately) at the table and not only that, but it’s EASY to utilize as a tool!

Two- is a post by Zak that deals with things I’m going to babble about in this post (and his will probably be more succinct and eloquently than I will…  Oh well thems the breaks).

A snippet from Zak’s introduction in Vornehim would not go amiss here: “Too often, I find, city supplements start by inspiring you and finish by exhausting you.”

While his comment is about city supplements, it is easily transferable to most Campaign Settings and how they are, generally, laid out.  Campaign Settings spend too much time on exposition about things/events that *REALLY* don’t matter…

The reason I say that these things don’t matter is because they hardly ever come up in play.  Sure the exposition may be a great story, or background info, but why do I need to read four (or more) pages about the great war that happened 1200 years ago, and how it shattered the Elven kingdom?  I’d rather see the info imparted in a single paragraph.  Better yet, do it in a few bulleted points, l

ike so:

• 1200 years ago the Elven Kingdom summoned an Elder God.

• Elder God tore the Elven Kingdom and their minds asunder.

• War ripped through the land.  Bringing plague, strife, and death.

• War ended after 50 years.  Elven kingdom was destroyed and Elves became strange, haunted things.  War saw the birth of the Dark Elves.

This approach is simple, easy to remember, and doesn’t overburden the GM with superfluous information.

I feel bad when I’m running a game and I HAVE to explain a piece of history or whatever to the players because I know that they are going to lose interest.  Their eyes glaze over, the phones come out, or whatever…  but they’re gone and then I have to wrangle them back in.

Largely I think the problem is two-fold in how it is handled in this format.  One- it’s just like a lecture and trying to focus on it is annoying and boring.  Two- The players can’t interact with it, kill it, steal it, fucking it, or worse…  So why bother?  Many players, in my experience, seem to take the, “The GM will remind me again of the important details when they come up again” philosophy.  I honestly can’t say I blame them, even if I do find it off-putting.

In the past when I HAD to do some sort of explanation of the past, I usually tried to handle it as a flashback.  Let the group actually live the history.  They played the famous historical characters and actually make the decisions and shape the history.  They sure remember it then.  Sure what I had “planned” in my head for the War of the Ragged Bone Spurs ended up turning out differently, but now it’s their war…  their history…  The negative to this approach (if it can be considered one- because in the end it is STILL role-playing) is that it takes up more time and can slow down a campaign…

In my experience the buy in for a campaign and its “history” needs to be low.  Players are not going to remember all of this crap, plus their character sheet stuff, plus all the other players info, etc.  The only time they remember anything (in my experience) is when it directly affects them. They may not remember the story about the greatest thief in the world stealing from a beautiful princess very well, but they’ll remember him when they wake up and he’s taken all of their hard earned loot.  Now when they research him in an attempt to find him and break off his toes with a tack hammer, they’ll remember the stories and events.  And that’s if you even feel the need to relate them.

Another issue I have with setting books is they contain (mostly) long-winded prose set up to inspire the GM, and give them the flavor of the world, but largely I think it bogs down play by having to flip through the book(s), keeping extensive notes of events and crap from the book, and remembering everything about it and your own session notes, etc.

Changing My Underwear Isn’t Hard…  So Reading a Campaign Setting Shouldn’t Be Either

When I look at campaign settings such as Eberron (one I ran games in for YEARS), Freeport, Pathfinder, etc the campaign info contained in these books are well over a hundred pages.  In the case of Freeport (which is a systemless setting) it weighs in at 257 pages…

I read the damned thing, tried to run a few games of it, and found I had to make most of the stuff up on the fly because I didn’t take extensive notes, and couldn’t remember the 80 shops and 300 NPCs per district…

Now some people may love this level of detail in a RPG setting, but that is unplayable to me.

When you look at Vornheim, the “setting” material goes from page 6-10.  Then there are 3 locations that are actually adventures, but still give the feeling of the weirdness of Vornheim (even if you never run the adventure).  After that it is all a bunch of glorious tables and charts that let you make the setting yours.  You don’t need to remember all the shops in all the sections of town or flip through the books pages.  Just roll a few dice and boom!  You’re good to go.

Personally I don’t think setting books need to contain long-winded explanations of how the world is in shambles (I’m sure that the players and GM will do that themselves as they interact with the world and cause chaos.).  Keep it simple, easy, and readily accessible so it can be used in play.  As I stated before, do it in brief points and then give them the tools to make the world their own.

Aside: I do have to give props to Newt Newport, author of Crypts and Things for keeping the explanation of his setting down to roughly 6 pages and giving a bunch of different suggestions, themes, and tools to help create adventures in his world.  

Also I have not read Carcosa yet (I’m so ashamed).  While I’ve heard that it is “bare bones,” I think that it’ll be more up my alley in terms of how it is presented and executed.

Into the Future

My goal this year is to publish my Hubris setting, and I’ll be taking the inspirations, realizations, and lessons I’ve learned about how I want to use and present a campaign setting.

We’ll see how it goes.

City District Generator

Need to come up with a city district quickly?  Need a few interesting things that are going on in the meantime?  No problem!

Roll a d20 for each column.

The Event is happening as the players are arriving/walking into that district.

The distinctive characteristic adds a little bit of flavor and variety between the districts.

I plan on using this in conjunction with Zak S. Vornheim book, which gets quite a bit of use at my table.

City District Generator
Roll	District Name	Rumor/hook	Event	Distinctive Characteristic
1	The Scabs	The body of a young woman was found two days ago.  This morning another girl has disappeared.	Several people begin to get sick.  The government is caught off-guard and unable to deal with this possible outbreak quickly.	The nobility wear extremely extravagant and cumbersome hats.
2	Angles	The councilor for the district has been filching from the coffers for years.	A man kills a constable/soldier and grabs a young child as hostage and begins to back away towards an alley.	All the buildings have linens hanging from windows that are soaked in the blood of a goat sacrifice.
3	The Graves	It is believed that the oldest building in the district has access to forgotten ruins and treasure.	A runaway cart hits a group of people kill and injuring several of them.	All the windows are stained glass, depicting various religious ceremonies.
4	Cathedral	Every full moon the spirit of a man who was hung for a crime he didn’t commit returns to consume the life energy of those he comes across.	A festival celebrating life and happiness is currently underway!  Food, drink, and other carnal pleasures are all at the ready!	All the lanterns, candles, and torches burn a strange eerie blue.
5	Crystal	It is said that the museum houses an artifact that holds the bones of a long dead demigod.	A festival celebrating life and happiness is currently underway!  The Cleric in charge of the sermon misreads the wrong passage and causes people to drop dead and rise as zombies and ghouls!	All the doors in the district are upside down.  It is believed to ward off evil spirits, as it confuses them.
6	Craftsmen	The magistrate is looking for a few brave souls to venture into the sewers and track a strange monster that has been attacking and eating people.	The sewers begin to flood, sending filthy, disease, and excrement into the streets.	All the buildings are done in a mosaic fashion.
7	Bazaar	It is said that a prophet that a renowned prophet is in the district and in hiding after foretelling the death of a king.	An important member of the government or royalty is walking through the district.  They take notice of one of the players.	The heads of goblins, orcs, or other troublesome pests rest on pikes outside house doors as a deterrent and protective ward.
8	Textiles	A strange smell is coming from the mansion on the hill, but everyone, even the City Watch is afraid to investigate.	A local eatery is having a gorging competition:  The last one standing wins 1d100x2 gold, and a strange plate that can create food 1x/day.	All the buildings are made of a strange black metal that seems to vibrate to the touch.
9	Raving	It is believed that if you stand beneath the statue of the weeping woman on a certain night at a certain time, her tears will fall and heal all your ailments.	A body falls from the highest tower in the district and liquefies upon impact, except for the head, which is in perfect condition and whispers the name of a prominent city figure and then talks no more.	All the buildings lean against their partner creating an “A” like appearance.
10	Fires	It is rumored that old Batty Ann was actually a princess who was exiled from her realm by her father.	A small child points at a player, and speaking in a deep voice, makes a strange and disturbing prediction about the character.	All the poor people in the district are required to wear grey.  It is illegal for them to wear any color whatsoever.
11	Crowns	A man simply known as the “Flesher” has been prowling the streets at night and attacks people and harvests their organs for some diabolical purpose.	A robbery is occurring at a general story (or bank) as the characters enter the district.	The bodies of the dead are displayed in the district center for 3 days before being beaten with a stick to get out any evil contaminates, and then burned.
12	The Planks	It is said that the temple of a forbidden and dark god resides in the cellar of one of the more prominent and respected chapels of the city.	A wedding is underway and the players are invited to join the festivities!	The eerie and oppressive Asylum towers over all other buildings.  The screams of the demented echo through the streets.
13	Hall of Kings	For some reason, for the last 5 years everyone in the district begins screaming at 2:30am for one minute and then falls silent.	A circus is in the district!  Come see the freaks!  Games!  And exotic animals!	The houses of the wealthy are all painted in vibrant pastel colors.  All other houses are white, brown, or grey.
14	Mystic	Molly, who owns the Hangman’s pub just outside the gallows, is believed to be a very successful smuggler who can’t be tried for her crimes due to a failed execution attempt on her when she was a young girl.	An execution of a band of brigands is occurring when the players wander into the district.  Blood is splattered on the ground.  Cries of sorrow and excitement, and the smell of ale, rotten food, and worse fill the air.	Strange statues with ruby eyes are spread throughout the district.  The statues always seem to be facing you, even though they never move.
15	Vagabond	A strange new religious sect has moved into the district.  They all wear black Niqabs from head to foot.  The priests wear blood read Niqabs.  No one has ever seen their faces.  However a faint hissing has been heard when near them.	A gang war has torn this district apart.  People die and disappear daily.  The City Watch is powerless to do anything about it.	Many people have their children in collars and on leashes.  When questioned they state that obedience and discipline are the most important lessons in life.
16	The Outskirts	Whispers of plans to assassinate the despot king linger in the street.  The level of tension is palpable.	A bride sits at the alter waiting for her groom, who has mysteriously disappeared.  Only a small pool of blood was found in his tent.	A large pit in the middle of the district is used to dispose of waste and unwanted items.  There are many believe that it houses treasures unimagined.
17	Skye	A strange mist appears every night.  People have heard an unearthly music and tinkling laughter in it.	The tower of a crazy old wizard explodes, sending fiery debris through the district.  Screams and roars can be heard coming from the tower remains.	To be a citizen of the district you must visit a master blacksmith and be deemed worthy.  He will put you through some sort of “secret” test.  After passing you must purchase a special rapier worth 500gp and wear it at all times in the district.
18	Of the Shallow Stars	The magistrate is going to hold a tournament to find a new Knight Commander after the passing of the previous.  Tests will include feats of bravery, command, and martial prowess.	A textile factory that has many children workers is on fire!	A giant statue of a god is in the district square.  If a sufficient offering is made the statue will bless you with luck (reroll one failed roll).
19	Pleasure	A powerful Madame is looking to hire people to find out who has been beating up and extorting her girls and clients.	Goblins riding crocodiles and giant spiders come up through the sewers and begin attacking citizens!	It is forbidden to own any type of bird in this district, they are considered to be omens of ill-fate.
20	Prison	The Thieves Guild is believed to be actively recruiting after losing many of its novice members after an unsuccessful venture.	A bard begins singing in the streets in a terrible warble and breaks a lute string!  Oh the humanity!!	All the houses are made of stone and carved in the shape of a head and face, with the door being the mouth.

Hubris Session 5- Plots Thicken in Vornheim

We started this session two months (in game time) later after the last session and the resulting player deaths…

Players– *= Present for the session

Omar- Half Elf Rogue*

Liam- Elf Druid*

Stephen- Human Barbarian*

Nate- Human Warrior Priest of the Corpulent One*

Fletch- Human Alchemist*

Dan- Human Witch

I opened up the session with discussing whether they still wanted to pursue the Criminal Organization idea that they when when we first started the campaign.  They all agreed and then set about talking about some ways to achieve their goal.

Highlights of Discussion–

Nate took over as proprietor of In His Honor from Orv the Rover, who is staying on as a partner and the bartender.

The group decided their name would be “Cloaks and Shadows.”  Oooooo.. Ominous.

They are going to put a coded job board in the bar that will allow people to post help needed for illicit activities.  The bar will charge a fee for posting and charge the person doing the job a % of their cut/reward.  If they do the job themselves,  more money for them.

Start of the Session–

The session pretty much each player doing their own thing, which is both the awesome and bane of an urban setting.  I did Round Robin with everyone and tried to not keep anyone waiting for too long..  Hopefully I succeeded in that.

Fletch– Created some extracts to charm patrons to make them think this was the best bar ever, got some extra tips and went walking on the streets to take a look around.  He then gets hit in the balls by one of the groups adopted children who screams that Stephen’s character is in trouble and needs help (see Stephen)!

Nate– Decided he wanted to hire a town crier and launch a flyer campaign to promote In His Honor.  Was visited by a well dressed man who said that his employer knew what they were attempting to do and suggested STRONGLY against doing it…  Recommended that they just join his fold.

Left a piece of paper with this drawing on it:

Mysterious Symbol (actually it’s the logo from Brooklyn Botanical Garden.. but fuck it… looks cool).

Omar– Omar went to the bordello in the Scabs (the district of Vornheim that they are living in), called Madame Volick’s House of Pleasure and Drink.  A rundown establishment that attempts to be more than what it is.

Omar has been talking to a young whore, Elwyn to discover information on a lead about his parentage that lead him here (during the second session).

He finds out that girls that have displeased patrons or annoyed Madame Volick have gone down to the basement (where the minute rooms are, hourly/nightly is on the second floor) to be disciplined, but are never seen again.

Omar hires an old woman for a 30 minute romp (geri jokes ensue) and then he kills her while she had her back to him and attempt to wrestle her breasts from her bustier.

He finds a cleverly hidden trap door and goes into a sub-basement.  He finds about 15 women hanging upside down, in various stages of decomposition, with entrails hanging out, their blood dripping onto this symbol on the floor (ignore the fact that it is a symbol from our world with its own cosmology and belief…  because I don’t give a shit about that):

Symbol of Orcus…

Omar looks around, then hightails it out of there.

Liam– Walks to the rundown and dilapidated park in the Scabs and begins cleaning it.  Hears noises from the brush and a grizzled Halfling and Half-Orc appear and threaten Liam for being on their turf.  Liam and his Animal Companion, a snow leopard attack and quickly subdue the little halfling who surrenders and they scamper away.

An old woman by the name of Annie Babbton approaches Liam and praises him for his courage and mentions the pitiful state that Outer Vornheim is in…  That with gold and a pass, getting into Inner Vornheim is easy, but it didn’t use to be so…  That anyone could pass and see the Palace Massive or the Citadel…  or go to the Wyvern of the Well and pay gold to ask a question and receive an amazing answer.

She gives Liam a gift for his bravery.  She says, “A strange creature will stumble over a bucket… (used Vornheim’s Fortune tables).  And then told him she owned a apothecary/fortune shop in the Scabs and to come see her when he felt inclined.

Stephen– Stephen decided to walk around the Scabs and get to know the prominent shops and people of the area.

As he is walking he hears a woman screaming and being hit.  He and the 5 Urchin children rush into the alleyway and he begins to feel euphoric, but it passes almost as quickly as it comes.  He wanders in the dark alley while the children try to light a torch…  the woman begins calling him Henry and eventually rushes at him.

Stephen came face to face with a Wailing Widow.  Before he could react, the creature had bowled him over and spit her euphoric hallucinogenic webbing on him.  He blacked out, but had a lovely mulit-colored dream.

Fletch was hit in the balls by one of the kids and he rushed into the alley, lit a torch, got caught in the webs, torch lit them all on fire and caused ouch damage to everyone….  then he threw a bomb at the Wailing Widow, which hit and she retreated, screaming at Henry, into the darkness…

We ended the session with everyone back at the hideout under the Bookworm Used book shop, all looking a bit disturbed and a little worse for wear…

It was a great session.  We all had a blast and through play and discussion have got a focal point on where the group wants to go!

Next session– In His Honor Drinking contest!!

Hubris Campaign Session 4 Recap and Steal the Quick Dungeon I Used

Last session of my Hubris campaign Nate and Stephen ventured into the sewers to discover what was causing their new hideout (a basement room in a used bookstore) to flood.

 

Players

Omar- Half Elf Rogue

Liam- Human Fighter*

Stephen- Human Sorcerer*

Nate- Human Warrior Priest of the Corpulent One

Fletch- Human Alchemist*

Dan- Human Witch

*= Players that were at session.

They fell down a waterfall and discovered Fletch and Liam covered in spider webs and just coming to.  Nate was attacked by a spider and Stephen shocked it, electrocuting everyone.

They fled down a tunnel and began attempting to map out the dangerous nastyness of everything.

Highlights: 

• Avoided being eaten by a big nasty mutant by hiding in a hole.
• Found a rope leading down into the pits of hell made from demon hair that causes nasty boils to appear when touched.  Fletch caused a rats spine to burst from its back by rolling a 20.
• Killed some nasty fishmen.
• Made it (well some of them did) to the exit and up into their hideout.

Sad Stuff:

• Missed a bunch of treasure.
• Stephen failed two sanity saves in a row while fighting the Fishmen and fell unconscious.  Fishman coup de grade him and went to attack the others.
• Liam attempted to loot Stephen’s body.  Nate’s char (I NPCed) warned him not to loot the body of his friend.  Warned that there would be dire consequences..  Liam did it anyway.  Nate attacked.  Liam went down.  Managed to be saved, however decided he didn’t like the character, allowed him to drown in the sewers.
• They had no bananas.

Aftermath

Nate and Fletch made it up with Stephen’s belongings.  Stephen and Liam rolled new characters.  Stephen a barbarian and Liam a druid.  They are both together, recently arrived in Vornheim from the savage and frozen reaches of Ingvar.

It will be interesting to see how the dynamic changes with these new characters and the attempt to build up a crime syndicate considering that 1 of the founding members bit the dust.  Looking forward to next session.

Now onto the dungeon… 

This is the portion of the sewers I created for them to dive in..  Sadly they barely explored any of it, but thems the breaks.  I figured I’d put it up here for peeps to steal/use if they feel so inclined.

For the keying of the dungeon (Vornheim Sewer section Key and Info) I wanted to use Courtney’s awesome and simple approach and I have to say that it works really fucking well.

Alright, well enjoy.

Quick Taverns and Inns Generator for Wilderness Kit Vornheim Hack

I’m getting closer to being done with my Complete Wilderness Kit Hack of Zak’s awesome book, Vornheim.

Here is a way to generate quick Tavern/Inn with some interesting stuff going on inside if the player should come across one.

Roll a d20 twice to generate the name.

Then roll all 7 of the standard fantasy polyhedral dice and consult the

Taverns and Inns
Roll	Name 1	Name 2
1	Barmy	Stone
2	Salty	Urn
3	Hacked	Bear
4	Bleeding	Orc
5	Cursed	Hammer
6	Hanged	Corpse
7	Sleepy	Noble
8	Bloated	Cat
9	Exiled	Wolf
10	Shadowed	Maiden
11	Demonic	Serf
12	Singing	Fox
13	Angelic	Hag
14	Lucky	Axe
15	Haggard	King
16	Crass	Dragon
17	Dead	Goblet
18	Rusted	Bard
19	Angry	Horse
20	Talking	Priest

D4- Number of Patrons

1)      3

2)      5

3)      10

4)      15

D6- Games/Music

1)      Lone minstrel

2)      Bones/card game

3)      Hootenanny

4)      Brain maggot fighting

5)      Band of bards

6)      Pickled rat brain eating contest

D8- Interesting Features

1)      Singing moose head.

2)      Rickety piano plays tune the player knows by itself.

3)      Pit in middle of bar that people throw food and drink down.

4)      Zombie fighting pit.

5)      Hot spring- soak for a bit- see what will happen…

6)      Long feast table loaded with rotten food.

7)      Large exquisite portrait of the bar.  Painting moves.  It shows things 5 seconds in the future.

8)      Strange blue torches that hum a lullaby.

D10- Interesting Patrons

1)      Exiled Prince/Princess.

2)      Leper with amazing voice.

3)      Decorated war hero.

4)      Spirit of old patron.

5)      Hunted man seeking refuge.

6)      Soldier who deserted.

7)      Famous pretty bard.

8)      Grizzled monster hunter.

9)      The perfect mime- very annoying and can’t die.

10)  Whore- spouts fortunes as she fucks.

D10 (%)- Jobs

1)      Harvest the dreams of sleeping patrons.

2)      Farm nearby hasn’t been heard from in awhile.

3)      Barmaid fainted and is having violent night terrors.

4)      Beast is stalking in the woods.

5)      Story: Speaks of a wandering giant fire worm.

6)      A strange creature played a flute and wandered off with all the children.

7)      Strange sounds in a field at night.

8)      Story: The mists whisper secrets at midnight.

9)      Story: Woman who committed suicide after spurned lover.

10)  Story: Goldie Locks type story but about players and drinking.

D12- Random and Strange Food

1)      Maggot Paste Pasta

2)      Zombie Eyeball Stew

3)      Bear Liver Pâté

4)      Ooze Jello

5)      Pickled Rust Monster Eggs

6)      Bone Marrow Suckles

7)      Goblin Fried Fingers

8)      Horse Hooves Flambé

9)      Succulent Spider Sacks

10)  Dwarven Kidney Stones

11)  Owlbear Afterbirth Pudding

12)  Ghoul-ash

D20- Random Event

1)      Summer Solstice!  Time for the blood letting in hope of safety!

2)      Oktoberfest!

3)      Food poisoned at feast, several dead.  Unknown perpetrator.

4)      Has Demon Beds! The Beds that eat people!

5)      Singer suddenly loses her voice.  Then dies.

6)      Baby left on door step.

7)      Druids gather around the inn.  Why?

8)      Woman comes in covered in scratches and scared.  Says forest attacked her.

9)      Carnival is nearby.

10)  Noble demands tribute.

11)  The King or a high noble rides by, causes ruckus.

12)  Thick fog appears for days, when lifts a graveyard surrounds inn.

13)  Young prince gets in a fight and wets his pants.  Accuses other of trickery.

14)  Cook is doing a Sweeny Todd.

15)  Man burned at steak as chars approach.  Villagers roast marshmallows.

16)  Woman pukes up pea-green soup, speaks of nasty prophecy.

17)  Fighting match to the death.

18)  Were-creature hunting those foolish enough to stray into the woods.

19)  Ancient hero, long dead, stumbles in alive.  Doesn’t know where or how.

20)  Family member arrives at inn, they are in way over their head in trouble.

 

Example:

The Rusted Urn.  Specialty Food- Horse Hooves Flambé

5 current patrons that are engaged in watching Brain Maggots fight in a box.  A room off to the side has an enticing hot spring that all the patrons seem to be away from, yet eagerly watching to see if one of the characters takes a dip

An exiled Prince/Princess has been hiding here for several days.  One of the patrons is complaining about strange sounds in their field at night, but most are too busy getting ready for Oktoberfest!

Strange and Nasty Diseases Table

Here is another table I did today (first one here) for my Complete Wilderness Kit: A Vornheim Hack.

Diseases should be cool and disgusting and awesome… However, as with the Pathfinder RPG, they are reduced to nothing but evocative names and then ability score damage..  That equals snoozetastic in my book.

On G+ I had a conversation with Stuart of Strange Magic and Cole of Abraxas and they came up with some cool ideas on the Pathfinder plagues… This inspired me to finish my disease chart

Works easy- Pick a disease and have the character roll the appropriate save.  If failed have them roll a 2d6 and a d4.  The d4 is the length of time; even- weeks and odd- days.  The 2d6 is the amount of time.  (IE- 7 on the 2d6 and a 3 on the d4 is 7 days before the disease starts to take effect).

I like to keep things simple and sweet and not have random incubation times for each disease.  That’s more shit to remember when I could be focusing on the game.

I want to thank Cole for allowing me to steal his creative awesomeness on Demon Fever (which I renamed Devil Fever) and Red Ache (I changed to Red Plague).

Here it be:

Diseases of the Wild
Roll	Name	Save	Effect
1	Lunar Burning	Con	You’ve become sensitive to the moonlight.  You burn horribly as if you were out in high sun for days.
2	Madness of the Witch	Int	Your hair goes lanky, skin pallid, warts on your nose.  When you laugh, it’s a cackle and bats, rats, black cats, toads, and ravens show up to say hi.  People want to burn you at the stake.
3	Necrotic Rot	Con	You skin turns dead and rots off.  It’s disgusting and smells bad and is highly contagious.  You take 2d4 Con damage per day until zero- then you die and rise up as a ghoul.  Nasty.
4	Brain Fire	Int	You’re brain hurts and you scream and claw and scratch at your scalp and face (you suffer -4 to all actions).  You must succeed a Wisdom check to hold it in or it bursts out in a 5 ft area doing 1d6 damage.
5	Weeping Pustules	Con	Small pustules develop on your body that look like little mouths.  They ooze, bleed, and weep.  The pus is acidic and will destroy anything if is in contact with it long enough.  You take 1d6 damage each day.
6	Twitches	Con	You twitch and shake and tremble.  You cannot perform delicate tasks and suffer -4 to all actions including bladder control.
7	Withering	Con	You wither and closely resemble something that has been mummified.  You suffer -2d6 from all physical stats, however your cough is toxic and does 2d6 damage (1 time per day).
8	Sludges	Con	You’re melting into a puddle of goo.  Eventually you will join the ranks of the mindless oozes.  Anyone who touches you takes 1d4 acid damage.
9	Blighted Eyes	Con	Your eyes swell and become covered in a fuzzy mold.  After 2d4 days your eyes burst and spores are spread in the air.  Anyone in the immediate area must make a save or become infected.
10	Rock Hunger	Con	You develop an insatiable hunger for rocks.  All other food seems disgusting to you and you must make a Wisdom check to force yourself to eat.  After a few days all your teeth are busted and gone and your gums are bloody and bruised.
11	Necrotic Frenzy	Con	You think dead people are out to get you.  The sight of a corpse, any corpse, you fly into a blind rage and hack and slash and mutilate the body.  You are not popular at funerals and you disturb people after combat.
12	Red Plague	Con	You turn coop-devil red and are nearly blind beyond 1′ but gain 30′ infravision. Yu can only move half speed due to pain. If immersed in water you create a weak red dye.  Anyone who touches you must save or become infected as well.
13	The Swelling	Con	You retain water and swell to epic proportions.  When you walk, sloshing is heard.  You lose 2d6 Dex, but are able to ignore 2 points of physical damage.  You cannot fit into tight spaces and if you fall, you’re fucked.
14	Ghost Pox	Wis	There is nothing there, but your skin itches like hell.  You scratch until you bleed.  But there’s nothing there.  However when you scratch a faint moaning can be heard.  -4 to all actions.
15	Whistler’s Lament	Wis	You can’t stop whistling.  Ever.  Even in your sleep.  It’s annoying and people hate you.  They want to beat you and break your face.  You can’t hide or stealth.
16	Devil Fever	Wis	You sweat unholy water, count as evil in all case where that’s a bad thing, and are ritually impure to most religions.  Your sweat makes people itch.
17	Weak Bones	Con	You’re bones become brittle and break easily.  All physical damage to you is doubled.  Criticals are quadrupled.
18	Hangman’s Curse	Wis	You develop a strange bruised ring around your neck, your eyes bulge, and you have a hard time breathing.  -4 to all physical actions.  You cough up blood too.
19	Retching Laughter	Con	When not distracted you laugh and laugh and laugh until you throw up and throw up and throw up until there is nothing but bile and dry heaving.  You can’t act when this happens.
20	Hive Mind	Wis	Your head develops holes and bees make their nest in your head.  The buzzing is distracting (-2 to all perception/concentration checks) and honey drips out of your nose constantly.