A lich for Cairn

An experiment with mechanics. Looks really powerful, a final villain of some sort. I can't imagine anything less of a warband going against this thing.

It uses glog magic mechanics. If you don't know what that is, basically roll 1-3 d6. When the effects mention [dice], it means the number of dice spent. When they mention [sum] it means the total of the values rolled. Check out the mechanics here. This lich works a little differently though, see below.

Lich 3 hp, 6 STR, 6 DEX, 16 WIL

A lich has 16 WIL, one spell slot, and one magic die per point of WIL. They can only use the highest slot available. To use the spells, they have to spend WIL points to gain the magic dice necessary (max 3). A lich's magic dice never return to the pool until they perform a ritual. They don't suffer dooms or mishaps. At WIL 0 they don't go mad but they're exhausted and unable to act.

Example: The lich is left with 14 WIL. They can either use Fireball or hold the slot to use Counterspell. They use Fireball and spend 3 magic dice. They lose 3 points of WIL. Next turn they're gonna have one of the spells in the 11th slot available: Animate Dead or Counterspell

1. Dimension Door (costs 1 WIL) or Ray of Frost

2. Disintegrate or Globe of Invulnerability

3. Animate Dead or Counterspell

4. Animate Dead or Counterspell

5. Dimension Door (costs 1 WIL) or Ray of Frost

6. Fireball or Counterspell

7. Fireball or Counterspell

8. Disintegrate or Globe of Invulnerability

9. Dimension Door (costs 1 WIL) or Ray of Frost

10. Mirror Image or Acid Arrow

11. Animate Dead or Counterspell

12. Mirror Image or Acid Arrow

13. Disintegrate or Globe of Invulnerability

14. Fireball or Counterspell

15. Mirror Image or Acid Arrow

16. Mirror Image or Acid Arrow

Acid Arrow: Hits [dice] random body or hand slots, DEX save to avoid. If there's an object in the slot, it's destroyed. If the slot is empty, it's filled with acid that causes d6 STR damage per slot this round and at the end of every subsequent round until washed (only count the highest die if rolling multiple)

Animate Dead: Raise [dice] dead bodies under your control. Armor as worn, d6 hp, 6 DEX, 0 WIL, damage as weapon

Counterspell: Reaction. Negate the effect of a spell if the caster's WIL is lower than [sum]. You may also choose to reflect it back on the caster

Dimension Door (costs 1 WIL): Materializes a portal out of thin air that teleports you to a tethered location. An opponent has to DEX save to act before it closes.

Disintegrate: A ray that hits for [sum] damage. A creature that receives STR damage from this spell disintegrates instantly.

Fireball: [sum] damage blast

Globe of Invulnerability: A globe shields you from any attack or spell for [dice] rounds.

Mirror Image: Create [dice] illusory copies of yourself. If they're attacked, they're instantly destroyed

Ray of Frost: d8 damage. If STR damage is taken the opponent is slowed for [dice] round. Slowed characters can only take one action per round (either move OR attack, or any other action) and always fail DEX saves.

Let me know your thoughts.

individual weapon effects for Odd games and hacks

1. Battle axe, hefty, d10. On a roll of 5-, can forgo damage to attempt strip they target of their shield instead

2. Club, light, d6. Rolls of 4+ stun the target: they can't act next round.

3. Crossbow, long, slow, d8. Ignores armor.

4. Dagger, light, d4. Throwable, usable while grappled.

5. Flail, hefty, d8. Ignores shields.

6. Greatsword, long, d10, or d6 blast.

7. Handaxe, light, d6. Throwable.

8. Polearm, long, reach, d8. Designated adjacent ally has +1 armor.

9. Poleaxe, long, d8. Ignores armor.

10. Javelin, hefty, d8. Throwable.

11. Longbow, long, slow, d10.

12. Mace, hefty, d8. On a roll of 5+, target's armor gets damaged or destroyed: -1 armor.

13. Quarterstaff, long, d6, stops charges of enemies on foot.

14. Shortbow, long, d8. Can be fired while riding a mount.

15. Shortsword, light, d6. Riposte: make a DEX save. Success: remove a single attack die against you. Failure: the damage against you is direct STR damage and automatic Critical Damage.

16. Sling, d6. Can be used to throw bombs and other special projectiles.

17. Spear, hefty, d8. Prevents charges.

18. Sword, hefty, d8. Riposte: make a DEX save. Success: remove a single attack die against you. Failure: the damage against you is direct STR damage and automatic Critical Damage.

19. Two-handed axe, long, slow, d12.

20. Warhammer, long, d10. On a roll of 6+, opponent makes a STR save or is pushed away.

Tags:
+d: roll all dice, only the highest counts as damage
Charge: closing the distance to make a melee attack
Hefty: you can only wield effectively one hefty item at a time
Light: can be used together with another weapon without disadvantages
Long: impaired in narrow spaces (e.g. corridors), needs 2 hands
Reach: allow you to attack from 2nd rank and out of reach of other melee weapons
Slow: either move or attack

Stolen from Luke Gearing https://lukegearing.blot.im/odandd-reference-document
Tags from the Mythic Bastionland preview https://bastionland.substack.com/p/play-mythic-bastionland-for-free

Gotta catch'em all! Dungemon - Dungeon Monsters

Everything like Cairn, except:

Character creation: 

During character creation, whenever a PC would get a weapon, they get 2 dunge-balls instead. One of them contains their starter monster (max 1 at char creation). 1 dunge-ball takes up 1 slot.

Catching monsters:

You can catch a monster in a dunge-ball. Throw it against them after they received Critical Damage. The target has to be in range (around 40 ft, or one combat movement action). The monster in the ball will still be damaged.

You can't catch intelligent monsters. Dunge-balls don't work on the likes of bugbears, dwarves, elves, gnolls, gnomes, goblins, and orcs. Even though these monsters are able to fight, sometimes they use tamed monsters of their own.

Fighting:

PCs can't fight, they deal 0 damage even when using weapons. They can still cast spells.

A monster you caught will respond to simple commands. Shouting a command takes one combat action.

Letting multiple monsters out of their balls at once is possible. But remember, you can only shout 1 command each round.

Monsters can get Scars, just like PCs

Starters:

Fire Beetle: armor 1, 1 HP, 6 WIL, bite (d8), or flash

- The gland keeps casting light for 1-6 days after its death

- Can spend x HP to blind x targets for a round, rendering them unable to attack. Attacks against the target are enhanced

- If it receives 5+ damage in a single round, it gets flipped on its back and needs help to get back on its feet

Stirge: 6 HP, 6 WIL, bloodsucking peck (d6, Critical Damage: the stirge recovers as much HP as the STR damage dealt with its peck)

- A monstrous cross between a bird and a mosquito

- Its loud buzzing can attract enemies

- Does not come off until it has sucked all the blood, even at the risk of bursting. xin6 chance of bursting, where x is excess HP. Trying to get it to come off requires a Save (STR by force, WIL by command)

Spitting cobra: 2 HP, 6 WIL, bite (d6, Critical Damage: venom, see below) or spit

- Venom: instant death if 16+ was rolled on the Crit Damage save. Otherwise, the target is deprived, and unable to move until they receive an antidote

- Spit (melee range) causes blindness, permanent if not washed within 1h

- The design on the "wings" is different for each individual. Folks say that you can see the cause of your demise in the pattern (usually it's death by venom)

Cosa amo dell'"OSR"

 I seguenti principi, che io associo all'OSR, sono quelli che rendono il gioco divertente per me:

- Player agency: non c'è una storia prestabilita, solo un mondo da esplorare, nell'ordine e nel modo che preferisci. Le tue azioni hanno conseguenze sul mondo.

- The answer is not on your character sheet: non sentirti limitato dalle abilità speciali del tuo personaggio, sfrutta tutte le tue risorse al massimo, compreso il tuo equipaggiamento, l'ambiente, i desideri e i punti deboli dei PNG

- Combat as war not combat as sport: se scoppia un combattimento, questo non è stato bilanciato in modo da renderlo uno scontro equo, una delle 2 forze potrebbe essere di gran lunga superiore in potenza. Scappare è un'opzione da tenere sempre in considerazione. E' comunque possibile rendere inoffensivo un avversario più forte usando l'ingegno

- Rulings over rules. Non esiste una regola per tutto, il che permette una grande libertà rispetto alle azioni che possono essere intraprese. In queste situazioni, l'arbitro farà un ruling basato sulle circostanze

Come iniziare a giocare OSR

A mio avviso il migliore gioco per iniziare è Knave. Perché? Perché è semplicissimo, è economico ed è compatibile con la maggio parte dei moduli.

Ora, Knave ha il grosso problema di non avere praticamente regole inerenti l'esplorazione, ma è facile ovviare. Basta rubare quelle di OSE (sezione 'Adventures' )oppure l'hazard system di Necropraxis, e il gioco è fatto.

Ora abbiamo regole e personaggi, ma dove andiamo? Puoi creare il tuo mondo oppure giocare un'avventura già pronta.

Di avventure ce ne sono un'infinità, consiglio di farsi un giro su itchio e trovare quella che ti piace di più, oppure guarda questa cartella di one-page dungeon, perfetti per inziare a bagnare i piedi.

Se hai problemi a trovare giocatori di persona, consiglio di cercare online, sul canale Telegram di Ruling the Game, sul gruppo FB OSR Italia, e sul server Discord della COSMO.

E poi... inizia a giocare! Buttati, non avere paura. Capisco il timore di fare perdere tempo agli altri, ma i GDR sono magici, creano tantissimo divertimento con pochissimo sforzo. Basta davvero mettere quattro personaggi in un posto misterioso. Sicuramente farai degli errori, troverai che una situazione si poteva gestire diversamente, ma è difficile che questo rovini la serata e, anche se fosse, vorrà dire che la prossima volta farai meglio. Ne vale la pena.

Training to Learn New Abilities in OSR Classless Systems

On the OSR Reddit, someone stated that classless systems ruin the immersion for them, since everyone can do anything: anyone can cast spells, anyone is trained in every weapon, etc.

It's the opposite for me. Since everything is a consequence of the character's choices in the game world, rather than their pre-determined path, I find it more immersive.

You could easily hack some "training" rules on a classless system, or something similar. For example, I use Unions and Rituals in my Bastionland game. I like something instant better than just "spending time to train" because it's more fantastical, and more involving for the player.

I'd rather put in the game the option of being possessed by the soul of a famous swordsman and instantly learning his skills, rather than having players pick the training option from a menu of downtime actions

And that is because the latter option doesn't involve the player, while retrieving the swordsman's soul could be a quest, or carry some dilemma.

An option to involve a player in a training, is to give their characters challenges. Want to learn Lightning Bolt? Ok, first you have to be hit by an electric monster's attack, to get the feel of electricity running through your body. Once this is achieved, you have to down a monster by yourself, with electric melee attacks dealt with your bare hands. Only then you will be good enough to cast ranged lightning attacks.

Can PCs train their skills in your game? What does that look like? Let me know in the comments.

How to create a sandbox suitable for a campaign, in 3-4 hours, step by step

 1. Roll 3d6 on this chart for Climate, Elevation and Humidity of the region

Latitude/10	Climate	Elevation	Humidity
0	Tropical	Sealevel	Inundated
1-2	Subtropical	Low	Humid
3-4	Temperate	1k ft/ 300 m	Dry
5	Boreal	2.5k ft. / 1000 m	Semi-arid
6	Subpolar	5k ft. / 2000 m	Arid
7-9	Polar	Treeline	Super-Arid

        ex: I roll a 3 (Temperate), a 2 (Low), and a 4 (Dry)

2. Cross reference this chart to find biome, this is the default biome of the map

        ex: Temperate and Dry gives me Woodland

3. Draw a Hex Flower of 7 hexes in the middle of the paper

4. Draw the borders with a thicker line

4. Write a H in the center hex: this is the Safe Haven

5. Roll the Terrain of this region

d10	Terrain	Effect
0	Rocky
1	Cliff/Canyon
2	Wetter	Shifts Humidity one row down and adds a (d8) 1-2 Nothing, 3-4 Pond, 4-5 Fed by a Spring, 6-8 with a Stream
3	Thicker Plants	Thicker Vegetation also shifts Humidity one row down, but water source is ground water/rain
4	Flat
5	Lower Ground	Go one row down on the Terrain and Elevation tables. If the Elevation drops to Sea-level, 2in6 chance that a large body of water is found (sea or lake).
6	Sandy
7	Mountain Chain
8	Higher Ground	Go one row up on the Terrain and Elevation tables
9	Rolling Hills

        ex: I roll a 10, which gives me Rocky Terrain 

6. Draw the Terrain and Biome on the map, or color it accordingly

    If you don't know how to draw it, google "[biome/terrain] from above" and try to copy the textures that you see

7. The rest of the regions will have 2 different kind of terrain per region

    

    Roll 1d10 for Terrain and 1d6 for how many hexes it covers, 2 times, and draw them on the paper, thickening the borders

        ex: First terrain, I roll 2 (1d10) and 5 (1d6). A Wet Forest covers 5 hexes

              Second terrain, 4 (1d10) and 4 (1d6). Flat Terrain, biome stays our default, which is

              woodland

    

              Reroll if a new kind of terrain doesn't pop up

8. Thicken the borders of the 2d6 region

9. Randomly place a Lair and a Waypoint

    

    Waypoints are structures that allow people to teleport from one to the other once they're found

    and repaired

    They can also store objects in dimensional pockets that are available in any other Waypoint

    Lairs offer shelter to whatever monster controls the territory

    

        ex: The region is 9 hexes big, so I roll a d9 (d10, rerolling 9s) for the Lair and then a d8 for

              the Waypoint. I roll a 7 and a 1 and I place them on the map

10. Mark them on the map with a L and a W

11. Repeat steps 7-10 going clockwise around the central hex flower until it's surrounded. Remember to have a new kind of Terrain pop up in every region.

12. Make the map even

13. Draw coordinates

14. Place Features

      There are 6 Features

      Roll 1d6 and then the coordinates and place a Feature in that hex, signaled by a roman

      numeral

      Reroll if there's already a Feature, a Waypoint or a Lair in that hex

      If it ends in a region that was not fleshed out yet, roll the Terrain for that region    

      If you roll a Feature that is already on the map, roll a d6 again

      If it's a new Feature, place it on the map and draw a Path between the new feature and the

      one already on the map

      

      If it's an old Feature, draw a path between those 2 Features

15. Drop a d4 on the map

      It will point to 3 directions

      If there are any Paths in those directions, starting rom the Haven, draw some Paths from the

      Haven that lead to those Paths

16. Flesh out the monsters and the Features around the map. I like to use Spark Tables for

      inspiration

      

      Features could be landmarks, loot, hazards, wonders, machines, architecture, events, etc.

Thanks to Dave Lombardo for the idea of Waypoints, the author of the blog 9and30Kingdoms from where I stole the tables and the admin from r/mapmaking that uploaded that biome chart on Imgur

Stay tuned for my rules for travel that leverage this kind of map