Cyborg class for DCC RPG

The Cyborg

This class is born of my dislike for other Cyborg classes created by other people.

by Ramon Perez

No matter your background, you were found by someone or something and changed into a machine.

Your living body was removed piece by piece until only your conscious brain remained. This was placed into a cybernetic body to be used as a shock trooper and slave by your creator. The process was torturous and mind-bending.

Something went wrong.

The implants and programming are not under the master’s control, but yours. You have free will and complete control of your new body.

Hit Points: 1D10 per level of experience. Hit points do not heal; you must be fixed.

Weapon Training: All weapons are traited as trained. You cann’t wear armor of any kind.

Alignment: You are free to choose any alignment.

Attack Modifier: Same as Chaotic Thief

Intimidation: Your artificialness is disturbing to most and you suffer a penalty of one step down the Dice Chain when making Personality Checks.

Luck: If you have a Luck modifier, it also affects your Action Die when attacking, making Self Repair rolls, and any attempt to interface with a computer.

Cyborg: Due to your body being over 90% artificial, you are effectively no longer human in the biological sense. 

• You require merely a cup of nutrient paste per day and a single cup of water to maintain what biological parts you have left.
• You still require oxygen, and so breathe with artificial lungs.
• You have a bonus of one die higher on the Dice Chain to Fortitude checks against poisons and toxins. 
• Tactile senses are virtually non-existent. Any check requiring a sense of touch is performed at a minus 4 penalty. 
• Your body is very dense and sinks to the bottom of water.
• You can hold your breath for up to 15 minutes
• An internal computer implant displays information within your vision much like a Heads Up Display. 
• Computer Interface: You can interface directly with other computers. Depending on the computer system's security, a skill check may be necessary. 

Self-Repair: You have an innate knowledge of how to repair damage to your body.  However, you are only proficient enough to repair 1 Hit Die worth of hit points or 1 point of Ability Score per day. To do this, you must make a Self Repair trained skill check of medium difficulty every time you attempt to repair yourself.

Armor: Your armor is your bionic body itself. 

• Your Armor Class is equivalent to Scale Mail.
• You cannot wear additional armor. 
• Critical Hits against you roll at a minus 2 on the critical hit table, with a minimum result of 1.

Physical Strength: Your muscles are a combination of hydraulics and myomer threading. 

• You have a base Strength Score of 16 now, replacing your previous Strength score. This can still be burned as normal, but does not naturally heal; you must be fixed.
• You inflict 1d4 damage with your punches and kicks.

Cybernetic Implants (choose two or roll twice on the following table at first level). Other cybernetic implants can be procured and installed as you adventure.

• Heavy Armor: Your armor is bulkier and provides an Armor Class of Full Plate.
• Sensor Hand: One hand contains a sensor suit
• Tool Hand: One hand can transform into any simple non-weapon tool.
•  Arm Weapon. A single weapon can be built into one arm. If ammunition is necessary, you have enough for 1d5 rounds of combat.
• Machine Strength: Your Strength score now has a base of 18. Punches and kicks inflict d5 damage. 
• Faster: Your movement speed is doubled. 
• Jumper: You can jump 10 feet high or across without a running start. Double distance if running. 
• Telescopic Vision: can magnify distances up to 15x. 
• Camera Vision: can take still or video images and store them. 
• Secret compartment: You can choose where the secret compartment is located on your body, but the amount it can contain is determined by the size of the location. 
• Self-Destruct Mechanism: This implant was originally installed so that your former master could control you. Somehow, you gained control of the switch. With a mental command, you can set it on a timer for up to one hour, or self-destruct immediately. How you self-destruct is up to you; however, the area of effect is no more than a five foot radius around you.
• Targeting Assistance: By taking time to compute targeting information, you increase your chances to hit. The first round grants a +1d3, the second a +1d4, the third a +1d5, and so on up the Dice Chain.

 Advancement Table

Level 1: Attack: +1. Crit Table/Die: 1d10/III. Action Dice: 1d20. Ref: 0, Fort: +1, Will: +1

Level 2: Attack: +1. Crit Table/Die: 1d12/III. Action Dice: 1d20. Ref: +1, Fort: +1, Will: +1

Level 3: Attack: +2. Crit Table/Die: 1d14/III. Action Dice: 1d20. Ref: +1, Fort: +2, Will: +1

Level 4: Attack: +2. Crit Table/Die: 1d16/IV. Action Dice: 1d20. Ref: +1, Fort: +2, Will: +2

Level 5: Attack: +3. Crit Table/Die: 1d20/IV. Action Dice: 1d20. Ref: +2, Fort: +3, Will: +2

Level 6: Attack: +3. Crit Table/Die: 1d24/IV. Action Dice: 1d20+1d8. Ref: +2, Fort: +3, Will: +3

Level 7: Attack: +4. Crit Table/Die: 1d30/IV. Action Dice: 1d20+1d12. Ref: +3, Fort: +4, Will: +3

Level 8: Attack: +4. Crit Table/Die: 1d30/IV. Action Dice: 1d20+1d16. Ref: +3, Fort: +4, Will: +4

Level 9: Attack: +5. Crit Table/Die: 2d20/IV. Action Dice: 1d20+1d20. Ref: +3, Fort +5, Will: +4

Level 10: Attack: +6. Crit Table/Die: 2d20/IV. Action Dice: 1d20+1d20+1d10. Ref: +3, Fort: +5, Will: +5

Post-Apocalyptic Cybernetics for DCC RPG

Stolen from Image Search

This post mentions the Umerican Survival Guide. It's an excellent third party setting for Dungeon Crawl Classics.

The Umerican Survival Guide is the organized and edited setting book based on the zine, Crawling Under a Broken Moon.

Both of these are great resources for the DCC Judge who wants to add some post-apocalyptic flavor to their games.

Back in the day, I basically grew up playing Rifts and Ninjas & Superspies. Within those two games, cybernetics are featured very prominently. Even though there are classes in those games who specialize in having lots of cybernetic stuff, characters of any class can use cybernetics, albeit to a limited degree.

In a post-apocalyptic world where cybernetics are available, it would make sense for them to be available to everyone, for a price, and full-on cyborgs would be pretty rare (due to initial buy-in cost and then cost of maintenance on top of that).

So in my game, I'm ditching the Cyborg class completely, and making a list of cybernetics that are available to any character. These can be relics from the past found as loot or items that can be purchased and implanted for an expensive fee. Basically, cybernetics in my game are the same as magic items in a fantasy game. Some even have a limited number of 'charges' to use their effects before becoming useless. Some cybernetics are simply mimics of normal biological organs used for medical purposes. Others are tools and others are weapons.

Here is a short list of cybernetic parts organized by body location. I haven't come up with pricing or availability yet. I think it would probably be better for the less complicated items to be used as loot from adventuring (a found pre-apocalypse medical storage facility or something) but I suppose loot could also come from carving stuff out of dead bodies of slain bad guys. It's your group, man.


Eyes

• Polarized vision
• Thermo-Imaging
• Telescopic
• Video recording
• Microscopic
• Passive Nightvision
• Panoramic vision
• Full Spectrum

Arms

• Multi-tool hand
• Hydrolic extendable arm
• Jackhammer arm 
• Sensor hand
• Forearm computer
• Climbing cord
• garrote
• Finger camera
• Palm taser
• Retractable razor nails
• retractable wrist claws (like Wolverine)
• Hydrolic and/or myomer musculature for increased strength

Legs

• Hydrolic and/or myomer musculature for increased speed
• Increased jumping ability
• Hidden compartment
• Tank treads instead of legs
• Four legs instead of two
• Extendable legs

Torso

• Oxygen storage cell
• toxin filter
• Artificial organs
• Hidden compartment

Regardless of how it is acquired, cybernetics must be installed, and to do that a trained medical technician is necessary. A perfect piece of cybernetics won't work if it is installed incorrectly!

• Scummy chop shop: Cheapest installation price, part works for d4 weeks, 65% chance of infection from non-sterile equipment.
• Decent chop shop: a little more expensive, part works as it should, 50% chance of infection.
• Professional facility: more expensive, parts works as it should, 15% chance of infection.
• Super deluxe facility: very expensive, part works better than it should, no chance of infection

Maintenance costs would be 10 percent of the "cost" of the part, per week.

So a Wizard with a Microscope eye that has a cost of 1000gp, would have to spend 100gp per week to maintain the eye. 

If the maintenance cost is not met, the part gradually loses its abilities. Use the following as a general guideline

• All abilities of the part are reduced by 25% after the first week of no maintenance.
• Reduce by 50% after the second week
• The part is unusable after the third week

Some parts may not have abilities that track in a way that they can be reduced as above. In those cases, the part simply stops working altogether. 

Science Fiction and DCC RPG

(NOTE: I'm spitballing here. Letting my frustrations out)

I had been puttering away on my own fantasy setting for DCC RPG, it was going to be THE GREATEST FANTASY SETTING EVER!!!

Of course, after making a lot of progress, one of my players said they are tired of fantasy games and want to play science fiction. Others echoed that sentiment.

Damn.

So, fantasy setting is on the backburner for the time being.

I still want to play DCC, though. What am I to do?

I did some research, that's what I did.

I bought the Crawling Under a Broken Moon companion, the Umerican Survival Guide, Mutant Crawl Classics, and Hubris (for some reason I thought Hubris was a post-apocalyptic setting).

• The Umerican Survival Guide has some great stuff, but I greatly dislike the Cyborg class. It could be used for a Road Hogs style After the Bomb setting.
• MCC is disappointing in that virtually none of it is useful to me. The AI Patrons, and animal and plant mutants are interesting.
• The Murder Machine in Hubris is pretty cool, but the rest of the book isn't geared for what I'm looking for. No fault of it's own.

All have good ideas that I can use. But none of them are really what I'm looking for. I need something else.

So I thought about what I want in a sci-fi game.

• Energy weapons
• force fields
• mecha/giant robots
• vehicles
• cybernetics/bionics
• mutations
• evil sorcerer/wizard bad guys
• Influences: Borderlands, Rifts Earth, Mad Max, Turbo Kid, Wizards, The Dying Earth, The Invisibles, After the Bomb

I also thought about what I don't want

• Fantasy races (dwarves, elves, halflings)
• Magic in the hands of the player characters. 

So what I'm thinking is having two classes; Warrior and Thief.

As they adventure and loot, they can get cooler and more powerful gear. They can also mutate. They can acquire cybernetic implants and body parts to replace those lost or permanently damaged. 

If I include magic at all, I want to combine the Cleric and Wizard spells and abilities. My idea for that is that a character can learn Patron Bond and attempt to use it. 

• The character can cast patron spells and use Invoke Patron for its effects. 
• The character can not learn other spells on their own; they aren't wizards after all.
• Multiple patrons can be bonded with, determined by character level plus Personality modifier, minimum of one.
• Only one Patron can be invoked at a time; the effects of the Invoking that patron must expire before another Patron can be invoked. 
• Patrons are represented as idols/fetishes that the character carries on their physical person. Perhaps these can be used the same as holy symbols.
• Spell failure works as a Cleric, with Disapproval (but from the Patron)

I like the idea that anyone can use magic, but no one can understand it, and it is very dangerous and unpredictable. 

But the more I think about it, the more difficult it is for me to pin down what, exactly I want, and how to include it. 

Thinking of the Invisibles, I like the idea that otherwise normal people can and do use magic on a daily basis, but don't even realize it. Or that a street kid who is more interested in doing drugs and burning his school is a master magician and an anarchic soldier is his guide into other forms of consciousness. 

Thinking of the Borderlands video game series, mutants abound and millions of gun types are available, each with variations in features and drawbacks. 

Rifts and The Dying Earth treat magic almost as a science, with the world being a shattered and bizarre future version of our own. 

As I sit here and write all this, I'm just getting more frustrated at my inability to focus.

If I could easily adapt After the Bomb to DCC, I would probably be happy with that...

How to create a Giant Snail for Dungeon Crawl Classics part 2

Part 1 was explaining the problem; that is, there is no published giant snails for DCC RPG. 

What the hell is that about?

Giant Snails should be a creature in every Monster Manual or Bestiary ever made, but no... no love for giant snails.

Anyway, I'm going to make one for you, right here, right now!

First, I'll take from what I have already.

Flail Snail (ADnD)

AC:4, -8 to hit body due to it's speed in retracting into the shell.
Move: 3"
HD: 4-6 (one HD per tentacle) Note: any hit to the body kills the creature.
No. of Attacks: 1 per tentacle
Damage per Attack: 1-8
Intelligence: low
Alignment: Neutral
Size: Large (8 feet high, shell weighs 250 lbs)
Special: Immune to fire (normal and magic) and poison. When target of a spell; 40% spell malfunction, 30% normal function, 20% spell failure, 10% reflected back at caster.

And

Slug, Underdark (DCC RPG)

Initiative: -6
Attack: Acidic Touch +3 melee (1d4 damage plus slime)
AC: 18
HD: 3d6
Move: 10'
Action dice: 1d20
Special: Slime
Saves: Fort +5, Ref -6, Will -2
Alignment: Chaotic 

Well, shoot... these are very different! How will I ever work them together??? Oh woe is me!

Just kidding. Someone already thought of that shizz. 

Using the DCC Monster Helper PDF from the above awesome site, I'm considering the Flail Snail to be of the Vermin persuasion. So that means...

Flail Snail

Initiative: +1
Attack: Smash +3 melee (d8 damage per tentacle)
AC: this is a judgement call, since the Monster Helper does zilch with Armor Class. I figure an 18 due to the shell is appropriate.
HD: 4-6, one per tentacle
Speed: This is tricky. I found this page that has a comparison chart. My math ain't too good, but it seems like a Flail Snail would only move 3 feet per round. Which is really damn slow!
Action Dice: 4-6 d20 (hey, why not?)
Fortitude: +4
Reflex: +1
Will: +1
Special: Same as before. There really isn't any thing to convert. 

Alright. So now I have a Flail Snail and a creepy underdark slug, DCC ready, so lets get down to business!

Giant Snail (Wild)

Initiative: -6
Attack: none. Snails do not attack, even to defend themselves.
AC: 18
HD: 2
Speed: 5 feet
Action Dice: 1d20
Fortitude: +3
Reflex: -5
Willpower: -2

The average wild giant snail is more of a nuisance than a monster. It leaves a slime trail, but nothing special. But now that we have a base, we can do so much more!

Giant Snail (hauler)Initiative: -6
Attack: none
AC: 18
HD: 6
Speed: 5 feet
Action Die: d20
Fort: +4
Ref: -6
Will: -2

The Hauler is used by sentients as a beast of burden to haul cargo to and fro. It is much larger than the wild giant snail but maintains the same speed. A Hauler snail can carry half as much cargo as an ox, but has the advantages of a much smoother ride, much better ability to climb steep inclines, and they are far more docile and easy-going. Haulers leave a pretty wide and thick trail of slippery slime. Walking behind one will force a Reflex save of DC 15 to avoid slipping and falling comedically in snail slime. However, other snails following the slime trail of a Hauler will see their speed increase by 25%. A hauler's slime trail will linger for up to 8 hours in ideal conditions (night time, high humidity), but will last only a half hour in daylight.

Giant Snail (Singer)Initiative: -3
Attack: none
AC: 15
HD: 1 (d6)
Speed: 10 ft
Action die: 1d20
Fort: +4
Ref: -3
Will: -1

The Singing giant snail is a popular household pet. Its shell comes in a wide variety of color combinations and breeders are always coming out with new colorations (that get more and more expensive). It gets its name because the snail sings when it is happy; sort of like how a cat purrs. Singers are the most intelligent of the snails, but that doesn't mean much. They are also the least slimey and the most tolerant to lower humidity and dry places. 

Giant Snail (Speeder)Initiative: 0
Attack: none
AC: 16
HD: 2
Speed: 20 ft
Action die: 1d20
Fort: +3
Ref: -2
Will: -2

Speeders are the fastest snails. They can not carry as much cargo as a Hauler, but are able to carry about 50 lbs of stuff strapped to their shells, and still travel nearly as fast as a human. For this reason they are most often employed by messenger services. Like their cousins, Speeders are docile, but eat far more vegetation than the other snails due to their higher metabolism. Speeders exude a thick slippery slime, similar to haulers, but their trail is much smaller and dries much more quickly (3 hours in ideal conditions, 10 minutes in daylight)

So there ya go. A Flail Snail, A wild snail, a labor snail, a pet snail, and a fast snail. Give me a shout if you use them and how they do in your game. 

How to create a Giant Snail for Dungeon Crawl Classics part 1

For the setting I'm creating, giant snails are an important part of the ecology for one particular area. So, I opened up my DCC rulebook to the bestiary and... no giant snail. Okay, well I'll just convert one from some other edition of DnD! Right?

• ADnD Monster Manual? nope. 
• ADnD MM Two? nope. 
• ADnD Fiend Folio??? There is the Flail Snail but that's not really a giant snail. It's a magical goofy snail. 
• Critters, Creatures & Denizens by J.A. Rhodes-Gloor? no giant snails. 
• Palladium's Monsters and Animals 2nd edition? No giant snails. 
• Basic Dungeons and Dragon's Creature Catalogue? nothing
• Castles and Crusades' Monsters and Treasure? Nada
• 5th edition DnD Monster Manual??? Zero, zilch, zip.
• TMNT After the Bomb: Mutants in Avalon? The only RPG I've found that uses giant snails, and is the actual inspiration for me wanting to use them in Strathos.  

Apparently, Giant Snails are non-existent in a wide swath of tabletop RPGs over the last 50 years. What the hell???

So I've been researching snail ecology and behavior in order to create Giant Snails for my campaign.

I have some criteria I must meet that is more or less setting-specific

• They must fit a niche within their natural habitat.
• They must have abilities that make them desirable as beasts of burden over other choices of animal (like horses or oxen).

The campaign area these Giant Snails will call home is heavily forested with giant trees like Redwood's. It would be considered a temperate rain forest. Essentially the Pacific Northwest of North America.

Giant snails have the ability to haul cargo strapped to their shells, and can move easily over the broken terrain of the forest floor. They can also climb vertically up the trunks of the trees - potentially to safety from dangers on the forest floor.

Giant Snails are docile and never attack, even in self-defense. Making them safe to have around children.

Snails come in a rather large variety. Some eat fungus, some eat decaying plant matter, some eat fresh vegetation, and some eat other snails! So, my giant snails should also share these aspects, as well as more fantastic attributes since this is a fantasy game;

• Generic Wild snail - feeds on fungus, including intelligent fungoids
• Cargo snail - for hauling cargo
• Speed snail - faster than a cargo snail but can't carry very much
• War snail - might as well use the Flail Snail for this.
• Singing snail - smallest of the giants, kept as a pet. Sings like a song bird. Wide variety of colorations. 

Now that I've determined what I want with the Giant Snail, and how it fits into the game world, the next step is to figure out stats for it. That will be in part 2.

The Hundred States Generator

So while working on the Strathos setting one day, I thought, "Man, this would go quicker if I used a random table to generate kingdoms for the Hundred States area." So I looked and looked and couldn't find a generator on the internet for building kingdoms! Lots of dungeon generators, lots of name generators, but no kingdom generators.

So I made one.

Actually, I made two!

The first is divided into seven parts.

1. Type (Kingdom, Regency, Union, Collective, Principality, Duchy, etc)
2. Name; Names are kept simple. How it is named is up to you, the user of the document. For example, rolling a 7 and reading straight across can give you the Enlightened Republic of Ibesh, or the Enlightened Ibesh Republic, or the Republic of Enlightened Ibesh.
3. Title of Ruler; Roleplaying games always have a hard-on for naming rulers, as if the player-characters would be on a first name basis with the ruler of a kingdom. However, the title of a ruler adds flavor and inspires ideas as to the nature of the kingdom. 
4. Type of Government; is it a feudal kingdom? an anarcho-socialist collective? A matriarchal plutocracy? 
5. Economy; what is the economy based on? wines? sheep's wool? beans? silver mining? beer brewing? 
6. At War With; what other state is this one at war with?
7. Allied With; what other state is this one allied with? 

Hundred States Generator One

You can either roll once and use everything in a row to make a kingdom, or roll separately for each column. In this way, you can make thousands of different states.



The second kingdom generator is a bit different. It too has seven columns.

1. Kingdom Type; basically the same as the first document.
2. Name A; along with the next column, these two columns combine to make more possible names for your nation-state.
3. Name B
4. Title of Ruler
5. Type of Government
6. Language; this was the big change. I decided I wanted to Hundred States to be the vestiges of the Old Elbonian Empire, which united many smaller nations and tribes under one banner. When that fell apart, the people balkanized and formed their own communities based on shared cultural and language heritage. 
7. Economy

Hundred States Random Generator two

Since creating these documents, I have made some changes to the setting, but I thought I would share them with anyone interested in using a handy Random Kingdom Generator.

Moss Dwarf Class for Dungeon Crawl Classics

Moss Dwarf!

Inspired by the Moss Dwarf class found in Wormskin vol 1, by Norman and Gorgonmilk

*used with permission

Booyah!  The Moss Dwarf of Strathos are short, squat humanoids with brown wrinkly skin, long stringy green hair and beards, and often covered with all manner of moss, mold,  and fungus.  They typically forgo wearing clothes apart from a loin cloth, and never cut or crop their hair or beards, which are also tangled with creeping plants, and maybe a bird's nest or two. Moss Dwarfs live for centuries; when they die, their bodies quickly rot away like fallen tree trunks, forming a rich compost. Moss Dwarf prefer to live in the darkest parts of the forest or underground in shallow, natural caves.

Zero level characters are rolled up as any other character. Moss Dwarf backgrounds replace those of the Elf on the background table. Starting coin, however is only 5d6 copper pieces. On the plus side, Moss Dwarf weapons and armor (as found in Wormskin vol.1) are half the price of their regular equivalents.

Moss Dwarf backgrounds replace numbers 29-38 on the DCC background table.

Roll	Occupation	Trained Weapon	Trade Goods
29	Forester	Staff	Herbs, 1 lbs
30, 31	Artisan	Trowel	Clay, 3 lbs
32, 33	Farmer, Mushroom	Shovel	Mushrooms, 8 oz
34, 35	Rancher, Worms	Hoe	Compost, 10 lbs sack
36, 37	Birdwatcher	Net	Loyal songbird
38, 39	Assistant Brewer	Large Paddle	Gallon of beer

Here is what you can do...

• You can see in the dark!  Up to 60 feet.
• You can speak the Moss Dwarf language, which is squelchy and wet and dank sounding. 
• You as a Moss Dwarf can attempt to identify animals, monsters, or other beings native to Strathos as a Trained Skill.
• You are invulnerable to harmful fungal poisons/infections and spores.
• You are, however, have a curious vulnerability to metal. You suffer a -1 penalty to hit your opponent when wielding a metal weapon, and a -1 penalty to Armor Class (AC) when wearing metal armor. Moss Dwarf do make their own armor out of plant and animal materials, and weapons of wood and stone.
• Weapon Training: While fighting isn't usually a Moss Dwarfs first choice of action, living in wilderness areas gives them cause to defend themselves. You are trained in the following weapons; blackjack, blowgun, club, stone axe, sling, spear, and staff.
• Hit Points: A Moss Dwarf gains 1d6 Hit Points each level.

At first level, roll on the Talent Tree table to determine your Moss Dwarf Talent. Talents can be thought of as natural magical powers innate to each Moss Dwarf. Each Talent Tree has a total of four Ranks before it is mastered. The talent you roll at first level is permanent and cannot be changed. At each subsequent level, you have the choice of rolling again on the Talent Tree table to start an additional Talent Tree at Rank One, or you may increase a currently known Talent Tree by one Rank. Talents of any particular tree must be learned in order. 

Note: In the source material, Talents are called Knacks. I've changed the terminology in this particular case because in this version of the class, there is no upper limit as to how many talents a Moss Dwarf character can have, unlike the source material. 

Level	Attack Bonus	Crit Die/Table	Action Dice	Reflex	Fortitude	Willpower
1	+1	D6/III	d20	+1	+1	+1
2	+1	D6/III	d20	+1	+1	+1
3	+2	D8/III	d20	+1	+2	+1
4	+2	D8/III	d20	+2	+2	+2
5	+3	D10/III	d20	+2	+3	+2
6	+3	D10/III	d20+d14	+2	+4	+2
7	+4	D12/III	d20+d16	+3	+4	+3
8	+5	D12/III	d20+d20	+3	+5	+3
9	+6	D14/III	d20+d20	+3	+5	+3
10	+7	D14/III	d20+d20	+4	+6	+4

Particular Talents are unchanged from Wormskin vol. 1 (where they are referred to as Knacks), so to see those, you should definitely purchase at least volume 1 of the series. Once you have that, though, you'll probably buy the rest of them (like I did).

Unlike other classes, Moss Dwarf titles are based on Talents mastered, instead of level attained. Those titles include the following; Critter Friend, Lock Siren, True Sniffer, Pouch Filcher, Root Summoner, String Charmer, Timber Listener , Master Fermentor.

Changes to the blog

In an on-going effort to improve the blog, I've made a few changes.

First, and most obvious, is the change of color. The black background is gone!

Second, I've removed a lot of the stuff on the sides. I felt that it was distracting having links and lists and other stuff crowding out the actual blog posts. So now there is just some navigational tools. Which leads to...

To ease navigation and make it easier for you, the reader, on the left you will see a list of links to the main categories of stuff on the blog. Click one of those links and you will be taken to a page that has all the posts on the blog that are relevant to that topic.

Ramon Perez jr

Elbonian Empire culture

The old Elbonian Empire unified numerous smaller cultures under the umbrella of a single government. After the Empire fell and chaos reigned, these individual cultures separated once again. In some instances, old regions reverted to their old ways, army units who identified mostly with a particular culture imposed that culture on the area around which they were stationed, or a past kingdom went on a conquering spree before itself falling apart.  In this way, neighboring kingdoms can be very different from each other, while sharing similarities to kingdoms they do not border.

Some cultural quirks instituted by the old Empire are still common among all the kingdoms, and serve to keep at least some amount of cultural unity among the people of the continent.

Among these quirks are social class and identifiers of one’s social class.

Borrowing from TMNT: Mutants in Avalon, social class is divided into five levels, based on a rating system. The rating system is based on individual occupation, and is identified by an animal type. In ancient times, the people were divided into various clans who held animal totems. When the Empire rolled over the continent and united the people, these animal totems gradually indicated the social status of descendants of those clans. The leaders and allies of the Empire formed the highest classes, while the lower classes were composed of those clans that fought against the Empire. Eventually, the lower classes were integrated and formed the mass of laborers, farmers, and unskilled workers of the Empire.

This continues to this day. In most kingdoms, individuals are required to wear some identifying mark to show their social class. This mark is in the shape of the animal that represents their class. This can be conspicuous jewelry, a patch, an armband, a flag, a tattoo, embroidered clothing, etc.

Social Rating

Each rating has dozens or hundreds of sub-ratings within it. Player-characters may roll on the appropriate table (by occupation) to determine their social class animal.

E: slaves, criminals, tramps, hobos, most foreigners (from outside the kingdoms), pretons.

1. Rat
2. Weasel
3. Magpie
4. Adder
5. Frog
6. Lizard
7. Newt
8. Toad
9. Tortoise
10. Wolf
11. Skunk
12. Raccoon
13. Possum
14. Porcupine
15. Aardvark
16. Bat
17. Vulture
18. Flounder
19. Eel
20. Lamprey

D: serfs, laborers, artisans, travelling merchants, mercenaries.

1. Mouse
2. Goat
3. Hamster
4. Hedgehog
5. Rabbit
6. Sheep
7. Shrew
8. Squirrel
9. Chicken
10. Crow
11. Duck
12. Goose
13. Gull
14. Bluejay
15. Pidgeon
16. Sparrow
17. Turkey
18. Beaver
19. Boar
20. Monkey

C: skilled laborers, soldiers, wizards, squires, wealthy merchants.

1. Woodpecker
2. Robin
3. Puffin
4. Heron
5. Horse
6. Seal
7. Lion
8. Pig
9. Mole
10. Donkey
11. Cow
12. Cat
13. Trout
14. Bass
15. Catfish

B: military officers, clerics and priests, courtiers, land-owners, knights, extremely wealthy merchants.

1. Dog
2. Fox
3. Otter
4. Dove
5. Falcon
6. Owl
7. Pheasant

A: nobles, royals, high priests/clerics, generals/admirals. 

1. Elk
2. Eagle
3. Peacock
4. Swan
5. Mink

Species and Race in Elbonia

The old Elbonian Empire was founded by dwarves, taken over by humans, and infiltrated by halflings. 

• Dwarven history starts with the founding of the Empire and its spread from the Sunward mountains and across the fertile plains. 
• Human history starts with their pledge of unity with the dwarves, and the rapid expansion of the Empire throughout the continent.
• Halfling history is long, going back before the dwarves appeared. However, halflings love keeping secrets and never discuss their origin. One of their favorite secrets is how they tricked the dwarves and humans into thinking the Empire began with them.

The Manse of Silence, a library of repute.

The Lightless Manse of Silence is well-known as one of the greatest libraries in the world. It is said that any subject can be researched in detail at the Manse, and its Librarian keeps the place organized in such a way that research takes less time than at other libraries. There are some drawbacks to this library, though. It gets its name because there are no candles or torches allowed within the library, so for most people it is only useful during daylight, and even then only in the areas near enough to windows that allow light to illuminate the shelves. No book, scroll, or text is allowed to leave the library. Speaking aloud is forbidden, even at a whisper. Breaking the rules brings down the wrath of the librarian, an elderly woman with glasses and hair in a bun and a severe frown at all times.

Fall of the Elbonian Empire

The ancient Elbonian Empire was the largest of the human kingdoms at its height. It’s fall began with the conquest of the land known as Pretonia. The native Pretonians were a savage and barbaric race said to cavort with foul gods and bestial demons. When the Elbonians came in their triremes and built colonies on the coast in preparation for an invasion, the Pretonians united their various tribes to drive off the invaders. This war lasted for generations, sucking up vast amounts of wealth and manpower from the Elbonian Empire. Eventually, when the Elbonians thought they finally won, the last of the Pretonian shamans appealed to their gods and brought forth a great disaster in a suicidal attempt to finally defeat their enemy. Bankrupt, in political turmoil, war-weary, and beset by enemies in other parts of the empire, the once-great Elbonian Empire crumbled and fell. Today, in its place, are dozens, perhaps hundreds of petty kingdoms and city-states fighting not just amongst themselves, but with the remnants of the ancient pretons who still rule the deepest forests.

Free Cities Bar Association

In the Free Cities, law and order is maintained by an elite corp of attorneys. The Free Cities Bar Association is the guild that controls the pricing of the services of attorneys. While the people of the Free Cities call them attorneys, the rest of the world considers them to be duelists or assassins. Free City Attorneys do not argue cases in a court of law, rather they are paid to duel on a patron’s behalf. They are also rumored to take payment in exchange for quietly eliminating anyone a wealthy patron wishes. As such, the wealthiest attorneys are also the most deadly, feared, and expensive to keep on retainer or hire.

Some of the eldest attorneys have created partnerships, where successful attorneys pay younger attorneys with little to no reputation to take on cases for them.

The Ship in the Trollands

On the Dark Side, in the Trollands, is a ship. This ship fell from the sky years ago and lodged itself into a hillside. No one has ever been able to gain entry to the ship. It’s smooth metal surfaces are seemingly impervious to any axe, pick, or battering ram. Strangely, since the ship crashed here, the native life to the area has… changed. The trolls and giants native to the region have mutated in strange ways. Multiple heads, hunchbacks, bestial limbs, and extra eyes are all common with even stranger mutations rumored.  

The Silt Sea

The Silt Sea is a shallow sea, named for its bed of silt formed from the runoff of hundreds of rivers and streams that empty into it. The body of water is also called the Gold Sea, as small gold nuggets are frequently found by sifting through the silt. Prospectors have formed boom towns all around the sea, and theft and murder is a common occurrence among the prospecting towns. Fortunes can be made at the Sea, but getting that fortune out to real civilization, past the other prospectors, pirates, and highwaymen, not to mention monsters, is easier said than done. Vast caravans travel by land to and from the various towns selling wares and trading for gold.

The Rim

Strathos, the world, is made up of four sections. The first is the Axis, which is the central spoke. The vast majority of the world is made up of the Disc, which is actually two separate sections stuck together like wafers; the Light Side, and a Dark Side. The outer edge of the Disc forms the fourth section; The Rim.

Rimward is the word used to describe travel away from the Axis towards the Rim.

Regardless of which side of the world one is on, The Rim is considered the Unknown, due to its isolation. Many myths, legends, and stories exist pertaining to the Rim, and many of these tales involve intrepid but doomed adventurers falling off the end of the world, or being taken away by celestial beings for use as playthings.

The lands leading toward the Rim are cold and desolate. On the Light Side, there are often coniferous forests or tundra. On the Dark Side, there is simply tundra or glaciers or barren rock. Mountains often tower at the edge, overlooking the interior. In a few spots, the ocean drains down from the Rim in massive waterfalls, to be collected and funneled back toward the Axis through the center of the planet and belched forth back to the surface from springs within the central continent. 

It is said that the lonely towers found on the rim are the retreats of monks who have given up on the world. Some say these monks oppose the lords of the Axis. Some say they call themselves the Children of Gith.