I got to work on a couple of different projects this week, inching them ever closer to completion (though, of course, without any real goal as to when they will be complete, if they will be complete or what I’ll do with them when they are complete).
I do question whether this approach is doing anything for me at times. I definitely want to keep chugging along though and see what happens for a little while longer, though.
Sand & Stars is on the verge of being ready to move to the next step. That’s exciting.
Project Run down
Sand & Stars
(Desert survival x Cairn, Ashcan here [link])
Did a simple re-skin of the creatures in the Cairn bestiary (and not a very imaginative one either).
There’s not a lot of pressure to do much else in this book. The point crawl I’ll be releasing alongside will have unique creatures and I’d like to do a 100 monsters supplement for this at some point, too. I
That being said I might go back and add a few unique creatures to this list (Walking Flame has been one of my favourite monster ideas for a while).
The Creating Monsters section needs to stay as is to keep this compatible with Cairn and the like.
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Bestiary
Cavern Goblin
4 HP, 8 STR, 14 DEX, 8 WIL, spear (d6)
Avoid combat unless they have the advantage (such as greater numbers).
Guard their stolen goods to the death.
Prize Spellbooks; willing to trade.
Hooded Men
12 HP, 9 STR, 12 DEX, 14 WIL, leystaff (d8), a Spellbook (Choose one: Charm, Hypnotize, Push/Pull, Shield)
The Sons of the Serpent; a cult that derive their power from leylines, obelisks, and the like.
Critical damage: leech a part of the victim’s soul (1d4 WIL damage).
Bronze Jackals
12 HP, 2 Armor, 14 STR, 1 DEX, 8 WIL, bite (d10)
Immobile constructs typically used as guardians to great tombs or artifacts.
Unaffected by mundane persuasion techniques - but do love a good bone.
Rock Troll
12 HP, 15 STR, 12 DEX, 7 WIL, claws and bite (d8+d8 blast)
As an action, can recover lost HP.
Critical damage: Shards of rock begin growing out of target’s wounds.
Dusk Elf
14 HP, 1 Armor, 8 STR, 13 DEX, 14 WIL, dagger (d6), a Spellbook (Choose one: Sleep, Teleport, Detect Magic)
Beautiful, amoral, and long-lived.
Resistant to most forms of magic.
Sand Sprite
3 HP, 4 STR, 17 DEX, 13 WIL
A wild, hairy trickster that takes pleasure in being a minor nuisance.
Prizes relics and shiny trinkets above all else but unwilling to trade for coin.
Sand Sprite’s have names that describe their true nature. Knowing their true name allows one to control a Sand Sprite.
Creating Monsters
Use the following template to model any more sophisticated Monster or NPC:
Name
X HP, X Armor, X STR, X DEX, X WIL, Weapon (dX, special items, qualities)
Engaging descriptor of appearance or demeanor
Quirk, tactic, or peculiarity making this NPC unique
Special effect or critical damage consequence
General Principles
Ability Scores: 3 is deficient, 6 is weak, 10 is average, 14 is noteworthy, and 18 is legendary. Adjust as necessary.
Give average creatures 3 HP, give hardy ones 6 HP, and serious threats get 10+ HP.
Use flavor and style to help them stand out. Players will remember a pig-faced humanoid looking for his missing sheep more easily than a generic goblin archer.
Use critical damage to lean into the threat or strangeness of any aggressive NPC.
Remember that HP is Hit Protection, not Hit Points. It’s a measure of resilience, luck, and gumption - not health.
Converting from OSR Games
Give 1 HP per HD for most creatures.
Most humanoids have at least 4 HP.
Morale can also be used as a baseline.
Some pointers:
Is it good at avoiding a hit? Give it HP.
Does it soak up damage? Give it Armor.
Is it strong? Give it a high STR.
Is it nimble? Give it high DEX.
Is it charismatic? Give it high WIL.
Damage die are roughly the same, though armed attacks do at least 1d6 damage.
Steam Thieves
(Steampunk x Forged in the Dark, Ashcan here [link])
Minor copy and paste which acts as intention setting for next week…
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Fortune Roll
The fortune roll is a tool the Operator can use to disclaim decision making. You use a fortune roll in two different ways:
Goodnight Maus
(Mausritter adventure site inspired by Goodnight Moon)
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Looked at the graphics… not feeling the garish colours right now. Need to reassess. I might drop the idea of ‘writing this in Affinity Publisher’ and just lay it out as standard text first.
Trinakum
(Original design - 3d6 dice pool/grid-based/combat simulator with Iron Age Celtic/Gaulish flavour, Ashcan here [link])
Here’s the Brut, an archetype for the Fightere role. This role is STR focused (as is the Fightere role).
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Brut
STRENGTH +1.
Increase one ability from 0 to 1.
Increase one other ability from 0 to 1.
Choose a melee weapon with the heavy trait.
Level 1
Powerful strikes: Whenever a STRIKE is successful the total Wounds you inflict is equal to the number of dice you rolled for that STRIKE.
Effortless strength: When performing a STRIKE with a heavy weapon, you may use one less die than is required (according to that weapon’s description). When performing a STRIKE with a weapon that is not heavy you may roll an additional die than is required (according to that weapon’s description), Dice Pool permitting.
Level 3
Improved Defenses: When you are holding a heavy weapon you have a +1 bonus to Defenses.
Power block: When you are the target of a STRIKE, roll any dice available to you and add STRENGTH. Add this total to your Defenses against that attack only.
Level 5
Armour smasher: Instead of inflicting Wounds as a result of a STRIKE, you may instead reduce the target’s Defenses by 1 for every die rolled on the STRIKE. On a Critical Success this total is doubled. On a Brutal Success this total is tripled.
Level 7
Crushing miss: When performing the STRIKE action, you may re-roll a single 1 result. You must accept the second result. A Critical Success or a Brutal Success cannot be applied as part of a Crushing miss.
Level 9
Sweeping blow: When you take the STRIKE action with a heavy weapon you may target 2 or 3 creatures within range of that attack, as long as there are no other creatures between each target. If the STRIKE is successful all targets receive the total Wounds inflicted.
Gatekeepers
(Mythos inspired Breathless game for the Beyond the Gates Jam, Ashcan here [link])
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No progress.
WAKE
(Completed Breathless game inspired by Control, Inception and The Matrix, Game Page here [link])
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No progress.
GIANT PINBALL
(Dungeon Crawl Classic Funnel set inside a pinball machine)
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No progress,
See ya!