Saturday, September 22, 2018

Spells by Keyword

Another diversion...  In order to help myself in creating new weird spells I came up with the following method and four d100 lists of keywords.  The idea is to make a random spell name and riff off of it.  You will get some (plenty of) nonsense, but that usually happens with three or four word combinations.  Drop a word, move words around, switch parts of speech, hell rewrite the rules.  Some examples: Minor Chromatic Teeth, Sap Serpent, Acidic Smoke, Sensual Protection Warrior(!), Ethereal Spider Elemental, One Thousand Bursts, and my favorite Inverse Alchemic Armor Petals.  I post this in the odd chance that someone will find it useful, have fun if you do.


Monday, September 17, 2018

Random Encounters by Terrain - Mountains (d100)

 The sixth of nine expected random encounter lists divided by terrain.  Previous lists can be found here:  Plains, Forest, Swamp, Desert, Sea.  Still have Freshwater, Wasteland, and Subterranean left to finish, each has been started.  I feel like I keep saying it, but once I've finished these tables I can finally move on to stating and elaborating on each new monster... of which I've now amassed 116.


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Mountains – 20% / day




01-02 Mist Frother – long-limbed, fast-moving amphibian predators of the mountain forests. Frothers foam at the mouth constantly and can work themselves into a special froth that hardens and sticks to other creatures, slowing or imprisoning them.

03-04 Ceratosaurus – moderately sized therapod dinosaur with a broad and brightly colored nasal horn, a bright red face, and a mane of brown feathers that continues down the back.

05-06 Bonespear - insect monsters with a heavy carapace, pony-sized with two head-mounted harpoon horns that can be launched at and reel in prey. During their breeding season, males hunt continuously and often struggle between themselves over kills.

07-09 Chrichoral Group (1d6)
    1. Trading Group
    2. Hunters
    3. Ranger
    4. Thieves
    5. Songstealer (famous sorcerer/thief) and retinue
    6. Messenger

10-11 Skeen – large aerial predators also called bladebirds, rumored to be distant relations of the lancet stirge, their bodies are featherless, their heads and talons are relatively small. The front edge of their rigid, locking wings is a razor sharp blade that Skeen use to bisect prey in catastrophic dives.

12-13 Golden Cornucorn – giant, single-horned mountain goats with exceptional intelligence and their own language. Fond of the highest, snowy mountain peaks.

14 Ice Man (Peak Mummy) – body of a great hero or terrible enemy placed in the isolated mountains to be naturally mummified. They were often bound by cairns that have since collapsed, releasing them as enraged undead.

15-16 Bloat Cage – huge aerial invertebrate kept aloft by buoyant gas bags. Three arm-thick tentacles ring the creature's hanging mouth, each is strong enough to lift a man. Shem enslave Bloat Cages to use as captive transports.

17-18 Pterosaur Flock (1d4)
   1. Quetzalcoatlus – biplane-sized, these fish-eating pterosaurs are large enough to bear a man-sized rider, and cause one severe harm.
   2. Pteranodon – large, toothless pterosaurs with long cranial crests and 20' wingspans.
   3. Electric Eudimorphodon – tiny, toothed pterosaurs with 3' wingspans, they can store an electrical charge in their wiry fur and discharge it as a static shock or a tiny lightning bolt.
   4. Pteradactyl – small, toothed pterosaurs, with 4' wingspans.

19 Thermoclastic Dragon – brutal, lethargic volcanic wyrm whose skin oozes armor of hardening lava, and whose breath weapon is a mortar cannon of exploding rock and superheated gas. Another flightless dragon, it does have small specialized wings that aid it in tunneling through the ground.

20-21 Manticor - spirit cursed iele, usually lawful/poachers/defilers, now always hungry for other people.

22-23 Pinnacle Roper – multiple eyed, stone-skinned roper monsters of great size who favor high cliffs and peaks. Each has three huge vertical mouths and three to ten adhesive tendrils that can strike up to ninety feet away.

24-25 Gnocchom – pink spindly little humanoids who cloth themselves in magical snow. They use their minor atmospheric abilities to amuse themselves tormenting travellers.

26-27 Mororca Group (1d6)
    1. Hunters
    2. Warriors
    3. Trading Group
    4. Barbarian
    5. Shraosh/Naudde/Tyrant Shaman
    6. Druid/Ranger

28-29 Distortion Beast - akin to the Displacer Beast but smaller, lighter, and significantly more intelligent. This creature is able to control the effects of its visual distortion, and clever enough to get the greatest benefit for its effort. The beast may choose to appear up to 5' away from itself in any direction, blink as the spell, mirror image as the spell, or use the distortion as an purely visual illusion of itself performing any action it wishes.

30-31 Couerl – highly intelligent feline creatures with iridescent, patterned fur and finger-tipped always moving tentacles. They possess spellcasting powers and the ability to see truth, they despise distortion beasts and work against them whenever possible.

32-33 Ethyk - small black, grey and white monkey or lemur-like creature with a single black eye found in the mountain forests. As a defense, the Ethyk can influence the emotions of those around it.

34-35 Snapper Bear – great shaggy black and gray front-heavy ursine bodies with long, almost crocodilian jaws.

36-37 Rockslide / Mudslide / Avalanche – streaming, deadly torrent of crushing stones, suffocating mud, or burying snow.

38-39 Ogres (1d6)
   1. Freshly Cursed: hateful, sadistic, a great parody of an iele, berserker.
   2. Freshly Cursed, Mage: a great mad spellcaster, random magic specialization.
   3. Second Gen.: Warrior
   4. Second Gen.: Priest
   5. Second Gen.: Sorcerer/Wizard
   6. Second Gen.: "Paladin"

40-41 Lodestarr – mineral creatures like floating, somewhat diamond-shaped caltrops, believed to fall through the sky upon the high peaks. Lodestarrs are magnetic powerhouses who can kill or maim their foes with their own metal weapons, or even the very earth.

42-43 Brain Hoarder / Mind Thief – bloated worm or grub-like beast over twenty feet long, its head houses six compound eyes, a central mouth, and an array of jointed mouthparts similar to surgical tools. This creature seeks out wizards' and sorcerers' brains to consume/store, using a magic negating power and the stolen magical powers of its previous victims.

44-46 Peak Peepers - tiny bluish gray primates with stiff, brightly tufted tails, flat furless faces, and huge dark eyes. Semi-intelligent and peaceful, but can work together to surprising effect, may steal small attractive items. Damn good eatin'.

47-48 Megatherium - giant ground sloth, territorial, aggressive.

49-50 Plants (1d4)
   1. Pitchcone Pine – small conifer of the higher elevations whose cone naturally oozes a highly flammable resin. Lit on fire the fist-sized cones will create a blazing explosion that activates and hurls the seeds away. The stunted trees produce precious few cones, only a handful every twenty years.
   2. Coldbrush – shrub that drops the surrounding temperature substantially, brushing lightly against its tiny blue-gray buds is sure to freeze the parts touched.
   3. Glass Petal Roses – flowers with transparent petals and hollow thorns that quickly soak up blood. The blossoms blush with color particular to the blood they've tasted, and are quite valuable.
   4. Hookpod Grass – brushing against skin causes seedpods to release, and hooks on the pods to snap into flesh for one dmg. Tearing them out causes more dmg., though they will fall out on their own at an upward change of elevation great enough.

51-52 Great Mountain Eel - gargantuan terrestrial eels, live in smooth, clean caves in the mountainside and lunge out to catch flying or climbing prey. Appear as huge craggy brown, grey, and black moray eels. Many small scavenging creatures will attend the site of the eels' dining, some dangerous in their own right.

53-54 Suitable Elemental ( Air / Rock / Mud / Ice / Lava )

55-56 Lancet Stirge Flock - naked birdlike creatures with elongated, saw-edged lower jaws, cat size. Function as stirges but can pin targets in numbers and interfere with movement/spellcasting.

57-58 Vrikissk - “dual mantis” of the mountain forests and crags, moves like a centipede on many hooked legs. Each end of its body can raise up over eight feet, and has four snatching mantid forelimbs and a mouth like concentric cutting beaks. Able to expertly camouflage all parts of its body except the red, faceted, crystalline eyes.

59-60 Iele Group (1d6)
   1. Hunters
   2. Trading Group
   3. Ranger
   4. Explorers
   5. Random Priest
   6. Random Mage

61-63 Shem Formation - 4-10 Shem hunting for or returning with captives. Often accompanied by Bloat Cages (1-4), ground slaves (5-50), or aerial slaves (2-20).

64-65 Woolly Rhinoceros – huge, heavily skinned, and heavily haired twin-horned rhinoceri.

66-67 Xirvig – small insectile humanoids who carve magical runic patterns on rock. They are secretive and distrustful of other races, who through normal means are unable to speak their chittering language.

68-69 Masticator Swarm – eyeless feathered flyers about six inches long, with an oversized mouth full of teeth disturbingly like a man's. Masticators usually function as rapid scavengers of the higher elevations, but certain types will strip a living creature of flesh in a chattering storm.

70-72 Cave / Structure / Feature (1d8)
   1. Ruin
   2. Shrine
   3. Hot Springs
   4. Aerie
   5. Cairn
   6. Cave, Cleared Inhabited (by NPC group)
   7. Cave, Cleared Uninhabited
   8. Cave, Lair – roll additional encounter.

73-74 Grappa – round-bodied, long-armed orange and black-banded creature that strips bamboo with its huge beak in the mountain forests. Only dangerous if irritated, surprised, or with offspring.

75-76 Storm ( Wind / Snow / Thunder / Ash ) - appropriate inclement weather event.

77-78 Geodeorn – two limbed mineral being, orbited by 1d4+1 living, symbiotic ioun stone creatures.

79-80 Mutant Troll Pack - slightly undersized trolls that mutate as they regenerate. They can climb at 1/2 walking speed and have one hit die more than other terrain types. During regeneration of massive damage they can fuse together into larger abominations or break into smaller, independent, ruined parts.

81-82 Suitable Nature Spirit (1d4)
   1. Zainhest (Apex Spirit) – possessing spirit that commands its host to climb as high as possible.
   2. Sclarrianth – an attendant spirit of Skraosh the goddess of evolution, an amorphous entity with a will and strength to bestow a mutation, create a new species, bestow one of the lycanthropic raptures, or create a chaos blessed area. The Sclarrianth can be argued with and guided in its gift giving to a certain extent, but must give and expire in the process.
   3. Ea'ea - an instilling spirit of growth and energy. Can transform any living thing into a force to be reckoned with, at a cost.
   4. Waiwie "Tilted Scale" (Chaos Spirit) - from a distance a glowing dragonfly, closer just branching luminous nerves. A spirit that takes/erases elements of law and society from an individual and replaces them with natural elements (Example: the Waiwei steals your money and replaces it with meat or seeds, or maybe erases the Fasinaa language from your mind and replaces it with the tongue of flowers or birds).

83-84 Stilt Scorpion – extremely long-legged ox-size scorpions that can climb steep faces with ease. Their neurotoxic venom ranges in intensity from convulsive, to paralytic, to deadly, depending on carapace color.

85 Glacial Dragon – great ice-coated wyrm of the glacial heights. Long, hoary and jagged, a winged dragon who wraps itself in a freezing storm to dive bomb its foes and breathes sleet. These wyrms have their hoards frozen within inaccessible masses of ice, but their favorite treasures are the stories of captives.

86-87 Cedarosaurus Herd – moderately sized sauropods, occasionally territorial they may serve as an environmental hazard, they also may attract the largest predators of the area.

88-89 Kyanbolo ("Bird Dragons") - huge (20', grey furred/feathered wyvern-shaped creature. Feathered wings, great toothed jaws. They have incredibly large and powerful talons, which they
wear pieces of armor, magic rings, and bracelets on. They make nothing and seek out magical items, both to use and to elevate themselves socially. They eat many races, but they despise the Chrichoral and merely murder them violently and brutally.

90-91 Primates (1d4)
1. Feenees - panda patterned lemurs, if unmolested they may follow the PCs and alert them to danger, or lead them to fruit, edible plants and clean water.
2. Black-bellied Slingers - large, aggressively territorial monkeys, create a riotous din and pelt intruders with sticks, stones, fruits, and feces, will not fight unless cornered.
3. Snatchers - carnivorous apes, attempt to stealthily drag a single victim into the canopy to be devoured.
4. Grand Apes - giant blue gorillas, intelligent and generally peaceful, if taciturn and indolent.

92-93 Mesonythia Pack – wolf-like animals with toes that end in individual hooves, rapid moving pack hunters with almost reptilian jaws.

94-95 Salamander – magical amphibians who spend their time basking in steam vents, lava flows, and atop red-hot stones. Amenable but simple minded creatures that have no understanding of how dangerous their native elements are to others.

96-97 Earthquake / Volcanic Eruption – 3d4-2 grade earthquake on the Richter scale, or a nearby volcanic event of the same intensity.

98 Scobocumulus Cloud – actually the large aerial nymph of an unknown adult insect, this creature creates a small cloud to hide it and buoy its body aloft. As long as it maintains the cloud around it, it can generate small lightning bolts, hail, or a sudden if very local rainstorm.

99 Umber Brute (1d3) infamous chitin-plated underground beasts.
   1. Yellow – smaller and faster than a Gray, the yellow-plated variety is known as a “Boggling Brute”, a crown of eight eyes caps its head and seeing three or more can fully cause confusion as the spell.
   2. Red – largest and strongest of the umber brutes, the red-plated variety has two extra forelimbs that are jointed to attack behind it and in front. It will never hesitate to collapse walls on itself or smash through the floor and bring everything in a room painfully to a lower location, covered in rubble only it can dig out from.
   3. Gray – standard gray-plated variety.

00 Special *



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Monday, September 10, 2018

GLOG Wizard - Jellimentalist

Another GLOG class I've been thinking about for quite a while.  Apparently the most exciting classes for me are the ones with pun names.  What can I say?  I'm weak.  This is probably another class that would make a better NPC than PC, since it takes a special kind of person to want to be a Slime Wizard. 

As usual the GLOG is a Goblin Punch invention, and my spells are greatly informed by Coins and Scrolls' various spell lists.  Spells marked with * are pre-existing GLOG spells, though Blubber! Ball and Gelatinous Form have been changed slightly.  It is great fun to make specialist wizard classes.



Jellimentalist


The Jellimentalists, the Ooze Wizards, are another newer school from Booezor, the city of riches... or rather the Oldcity sewers below it. They are by nature recluses and outcasts, even among solitary wizardkind. Their magics make them masters of slime, ooze, mucous, jelly, and acid, and their powers are those of transformation, destruction, and defense. While powerful, their spells will not function unless they keep from drying out, like elementalists. This confines them to the dark, wet, underground spaces where they keep company with the ameboid life they celebrate and emulate.


Perk


Enzymatic Resistance – You have a +3 bonus to saves vs. acidic or enzymatic damage, or the effects of ooze, slime, and jelly creatures.


Drawbacks

Slimeball – You have a disturbing appearance and exhibit constant moistness. -2 to charisma rolls against anyone who isn't also slimy and disgusting.


Friend of Filth – You have great difficulty bringing yourself to destroy a slime, jelly, or ooze creature. Make a charisma save to do so.

Moisturize Me! – You are unable to cast spells if you are dehydrated. You can use the Grease spell on yourself to prevent this effect for [dice] hours.
"HUG IT"


Cantrips


1. Dirty – (at will) – You may leave staining marks wherever you touch on a non- magical object, or pollute water or food.


2. Etch – (at will) – You can scour a small surface with acidic secretions from your fingertip. You can control the width of the line you make, allowing for fine designwork or a scrawled arrow. With practice, you can use this to do detailed etching, but only as fast as well-trained professional could.


3. Luminous Blob – (at will) – You create a softly glowing lump of jelly in any color you like. It is adhesive enough to be attached to any surface, but can be easily unstuck. The lump dimly illuminates a 15' area, and you may only create one at a time.


Spells


*1. Grease – R: 50', T: object, D: [dice]x2 rounds
Can be cast directly on a creature or [sum]10' x 10' surfaces. Creatures moving across the area must Save vs Dexterity or drop held objects, or, if moving, drop prone.

*2. Gelatinous Form – R: touch, T: self, D: [sum] minutes

Your flesh and clothing become gelatinous. You can squeeze through gaps as small as keyhole with a great deal of effort. You take no damage from bludgeoning weapons for the duration of the spell. Any acid damage you take heals HP instead. Items you are not wearing will be uneffected.


3. Glue – R: touch, T: object, D: [dice] hours
You secrete a powerful adhesive from your hand onto a single object or creature, the next thing that touches the area is affixed for the duration. If you invest 4 or more [dice] the duration is permanent.


4. Gout of Acid – R: 100' jet, T: creature, D: 0
You spray a jet of acidic slime from your palm or mouth that deals 1d6 + [dice] damage each round for [dice] rounds. The acid eats through paper, cloth, and fur in 1 round unless scraped off, leather and wood objects in 2 rounds, metal in 3 rounds, and mineral matter in 4 rounds. It is inefficient for digging through materials. The gout is messy and splashes regularly at close range.

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5. Stone to Ooze – R: 50', T: stone, D: permanent
Stone transforms into ooze or mud in [dice] 10'x10'x10' areas. Creatures standing on newly formed ooze get a dexterity save to avoid sinking in. Sunken creatures save vs. constitution or suffocate.

*6. Blubber! Ball – R: touch, T: point, D: [sum] rounds
A small green sphere of goo appears in your hand and may be thrown at enormous speed, or immediately attached to an object/creature.
Any creatures struck must Save or be stunned for 1 round. If you cast this spell outside, or in a very large room with multiple exits, you strike 1 target before the spell vanishes into the distance. If you cast this spell indoors, in a room with a limited number of exits, the sphere is trapped and begins to bounce around at high speed. The effects depend on the room size. 400 square feet or less (20'x20'): all creatures must Save or be stunned each round for the spell's duration. All objects that could be shattered or broken have a 20% chance of breaking each round. This includes potions, flimsy furniture, windows, etc. 1600 square feet or less (40'x40'): creatures have a 20% chance per round to be hit. Objects have a 10% chance of breaking each round. Any larger rooms: creatures have a 5% chance per round to be hit. Objects have a 5% chance of breaking each round. These chances may be adjusted by the GM depending on the room size and contents. If you invest 3 [dice] or more in this spell, creatures that fail their Save also take 1 damage. If you invest 4 [dice] or more, creatures that fail their Save are also knocked prone.
If the sphere is attached to an object it creates a super-bouncy surface. Weapons fly out of hands, feet bounce wildly off of floors, if you spend 2 [dice] or more you may create two attachable spheres.

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7. Pudding Polymorph Potion Prison – R: touch, T: creature, D: permanent
You make a touch attack against any ooze, slime, or jelly creature which then gets a save vs. spell at – [dice]x2. If the creature fails, it flows into an empty flask (required by the spell) and is transformed into a random potion.

*8. Thicken Air – R: 50', T: [sum]x5 squares 50' high, D: [sum] rounds
Air in an area you select becomes as dense as water. You can still breathe it, but you can also swim in it. Projectiles passing through the area count as moving twice as far for range penalties. Flying creatures entering the area must Save or be stunned for one round. If you invest 3 or more [dice] the spell's duration becomes a year and a day.

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9. Cone of Goo – R: [dice]x10' cone, T: area, D: 0
A huge cone of green-blue goo sprays from your hand. It's as dense as porridge, but tastes like play doh. Creatures inside must save vs. constitution or begin to drown unless they struggle free. Any creatures covered in the thick slime have -2 to attack until they can wash.

10. Acid Rain – R: 200', T: 20' diameter, D: [dice]
All objects in area take [sum]-[dice] acid damage per round for [dice] rounds.

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11. Jelly Baby – R: touch, T: area, D: [dice] hours
You create a 6” tall humanoid shape of living gelatin with proportional strength. Physical attacks do no damage, but force the homunculus to reform in the next round, all other types of damage will destroy it. The baby can read and write and has an effective intelligence of 8.

12. Create Ooze – R: 50', T: area, D: permanent
You permanently create an ooze, slime or jelly creature that obeys one initial command. It will leave you be unless you attack it, but only you. The creature created is determined by the number of dice used: 1 die = grey ooze, 2 dice = gelatinous cube, 3 dice = ocher jelly, 4 dice = black pudding.


Mishaps

1. Magic Dice only return to your pool on a 1-2 for 24 hours.

2. Take 1d6 damage.

3. Random mutation for 1d6 rounds, then make a save. Permanent if you fail.

4. You are slimed! You must struggle out from the goo or drown, your attacks are at -2 until you wash.

5. You continuously secrete a fluid that greases your entire body, the effect lasts one whole day. It is difficult to hold anything, walk across very smooth or very uneven surfaces, etc.

6. Everywhere you go the ground below sucks at your feet like mud for three days, your movement is halved, you are always considered flat-footed.


Dooms

1. All secretions from your body become uncontrollably acidic. All of your possessions save vs. acid each round of contact or are destroyed.

2. Your bones become the consistency of soft cartilage or rubber. You can move ¼ of your movement rate but only for your constitution score in rounds. You will probably need assistance for many actions. You are still able to cast spells, but certainly can't attack.

3. You are permanently transformed into an unintelligent slime creature.



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That's it for now, but keep posted, I am quite close to done with another post.  Next time, back to Random Encounters by Terrain... Mountains!

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Mutant Trolls: d100 Mutations



Mutant Trolls
Trolls in my setting originally come from an area that was transformed into an irradiated wasteland. The combination of high background radiation and the trolls' regenerative healing powers have created a slightly smaller but significantly more dangerous species that can rapidly mutate. Now they have spread out across the continent through underground cave networks and adapted to each new environment in turn. They are kept well away from the great cities, and as a whole still fear the light of the sun. You'll see them on all of my terrain-based random encounter tables with a note about any automatic mutations they may have.
The 2nd Edition AD&D Monstrous Compendium Annual Vol. 4 is probably my least favorite of the series, but it contains an entry called “Troll Mutate” (pg. 84) that always seemed just shy of great. Mutating trolls are way more fun than regular trolls. Why even use regular trolls? Sadly, not only is the mutation table in the book merely a 1d12, it only has TEN? entries.
Whut?  We have Jon Pickens to thank for this.

I have expanded that weak list to one hundred entries, specific to these mutant trolls, but potentially useful as a general Biological Mutation table. The trolls in the MCA4 at half size were too small, I've made them one quarter smaller than normal (i.e. 6 HD in 5e). Also, I prefer the mutations to begin after twenty HP are regained, and that they are created fully formed and functional. It's also more fun to fight a monster that mutates during the course of a battle and the MCA4 trolls don't really achieve that the way they're written.
Beyond the ability of normal trolls severed body parts to keep moving and attacking, mutant trolls possess another power. If multiple trolls are reduced to zero HP (without using fire or acid) in the same area and allowed to regenerate, they may fuse together into a huge Troll Abomination, adding their HD together and increasing their combined strength and attacks.
You can use the table as a single d100 or two separate d50 lists. The first fifty contains all the “no effect”, low effect, and negative effect results (among some good ones), while the second fifty are all good rolls except for 00. Rolling for the first mutation with d50 and each subsequent one with d100 works. Some of the entries have a second, greater effect to use if duplicates are rolled.
You can randomize mutation placement, particularly if the obvious location gets crowded, by using a “body die” or rolling 1d12: 1 Full Body, 2 Head, 3 Stomach, 4 Chest, 5 Left Arm, 6 Left Hand, 7 Left Leg, 8 Left Foot, 9 Right Arm, 10 Right Hand, 11 Right Leg, 12 Right Foot.
 

Mutant Troll Mutation Table
01 Suction Cup Fingers – scale sheer surfaces with ease, may be able to climb upside down.
02 Extra Fingers – no effect.
03 Extra Thumbs – no effect.
04 Longer Claws – slight increase to claw attack damage.
05 Extra Knuckles - no effect.
06 Extra Hands – slight increase to claw attack or damage.
07 Extra Arm Joint – extended claw attack reach.
08 Disease Vector – ten percent of bite, claw, or any other physical attacks transmit a randomly chosen debilitating disease (1d4). Double chance of transmission if rerolled.
  1 Nausea
  2 Weakness
  3 Boils
  4 Death
09 Extra Leg – increase to movement rate.
10 Extra Leg Joint – slight increase to movement rate.
11 Tentacle – additional grapple attack.
12 Suction Cup Toes – scale sheer surfaces with ease, may be able to climb upside down.
13 Horn Clubbed Tail – tail tipped with a mace-like knot of horn.
14 Extra Liver – additional external liver, no effect.
15 Prehensile Tail – dexterous tail able to grapple and manipulate objects.
16 Scaled Skin – armor class increases somewhat.
17 Chitinous Plating – armor class increases significantly.
18 Stinging Nematocysts – body covered in venomous cells that cause wracking pains.
19 Extra Bladder – additional external bladder, no effect.
20 Sticky Blood – highly adhesive ichor, weapons may stick in wounds, difficult to grapple.
21 Acidic Blood – oxygen activated acidic ichor.
22 Greasy Blood – slippery ichor may grease surfaces, difficult to grapple.
23 Stinking Musk – may spray nauseating oil from specialized glands once every three rounds. Spray once per round if rerolled.
24 Extra Teeth – slight increase to bite attack damage.
25 Extra Heart – additional external heart, no effect.
26 Madness – erratic behaviors, takes actions as if confused, attacking trolls and non-trolls alike.
27 Black Ink Spit – may spew blinding ink once every three rounds. Spew once per round if rerolled.
28 Bat Ears – highly developed hearing, enhances perception, more difficult to surprise.
29 Poison Immunity – immune to normal poisons, half effect from magical poisons.
30 Pincer – an appendage ends in a crab-like pincer.
31 Quills – substantial portion of body covered with hollow spines or quills, deals additional grapple damage and has a chance to harm melee attackers.
32 Telescopic Neck – extended bite attack reach.
33 Exaggerated Spinal Ridge – resists decapitation.
34 Heightened Immune System – immune to normal diseases, half effect from magical diseases.
35 Digging Claws – heavy fused fingernails that can tunnel through earth at half movement. Tunnel at full movement if rerolled.
36 Segmented Antennae – able to “taste” trace compounds in the air.
37 Vestigial Wings – no effect.
38 Additional Nostrils – enhances perception, harder to surprise.
"Nearly all troll mutates have additional eyes and a
third limb."  0/2, I wonder if this is Brian Despain's
fault, or whoever gave him the description?
39 Enlarged Eyes – natural infravision extends by fifty percent. Extends by one hundred percent if rerolled.
40 Albinism – lack of pigment results in white skin run through with green and black veins, minor issues with vision and hearing, hyper-sensitive to light to the point of damage.
41 Choking Smoke – when burned with fire or acid, oily black nausea inducing smoke is created in great volume.
42 Enlarged Mouth & Stomach – swallows creatures one size smaller on a critical hit.
43 Dorsal Fin – slight increase to swimming speed.
44 Tail Fin – slight increase to swimming speed.
45 Hand & Foot Webbing – slight increase to swimming speed.
46 Eyestalks – enhances perception, harder to surprise.
47 Extra Eyes – additional 1d3 eyes, enhances perception, harder to surprise.
48 Current Sense – able to detect the electromagnetic fields produced by living tissue, enhances perception, harder to surprise.
49 Semi-permeable Skin – amphibious.
50 Gill Slits – amphibious.
51 Sonic Shriek – deafens and damages those within earshot once every three rounds. May shriek once per round if rerolled.
52 Summoning Shriek – tone that can carry for miles, drawing more mutant trolls and potentially other interested creatures.
53 Extrudeable Tongue – frog or chameleon-like tongue, may use it to drag a target closer and bite once every three rounds.
54 Hypnotic Gaze – may attempt to paralyze a target meeting and maintaining its gaze.
55 Wizard Eyes – able to see invisible creatures, through illusions, and true forms.
56 Bone Blades – sharp protrusions of bone from the joints, additional slashing attack.
57 Extra Head – additional bite attack and higher intelligence, +2.
58 Stinger Tail – tail tipped with a venomous scorpion stinger adds a randomly chosen poison effect (1d4).
  1 Nauseating
  2 Paralytic
  3 Necrotic
  4 Deadly
59 Straight Horns – antelope-like horns, may use a charge attack.
60 Antlers – elk-like antlers, may use a charge attack.
61 Chromatophores – color changing cells allow near perfect camouflage.
62 Extra Arm – additional claw attack.
63 Spiral Horns – ram-like horns, may use a charge attack.
64 Proboscis – blood-sucking facial appendage latches on and drains continuously.
Scaled up spinnerets pointing at you.
65 Insectile Wings – functional veined wings allow flight at three quarters movement speed. Fly at one hundred and fifty percent movement speed if rerolled.
66 Spinnerets – silk-spinning organs, may ensnare a target once every three rounds. May ensnare once per round if rerolled.
67 Bioluminescent Organ – bulbous glowing organ, may use it to create a blinding flash attack once every five rounds.
68 Venomous Fangs – bite attack adds a randomly chosen poison effect (1d4).
  1 Nauseating
  2 Paralytic
  3 Necrotic
  4 Deadly
69 Chiropteran Wings – functional membranous wings allow flight at three quarters movement speed. Fly at one hundred and fifty percent movement speed if rerolled.
70 Solar Protection – unaffected by ultraviolet radiation, half damage from light attacks. Immune to light attacks if rerolled.
71 Extra Mouth – allows an additional bite attack.
72 Conductive Skin – half damage from electrical attacks. Immune to electrical attacks if rerolled.
73 Cold Resistant Fats – half damage from cold attacks. Immune to cold attacks if rerolled.
74 Acid Resistant Waxes – half damage from acidic attacks.
75 Fire Resistant Mucous – half damage from fiery attacks, cannot be set alight.
76 Mitochondrial Burst – may forego regeneration for a short period to act as if hasted twice daily.
77 Adrenal Rage – may auto-mutilate and enter a berserk frenzy twice daily.
78 Feathered Wings – functional feathery wings allow flight at three quarters movement speed. Fly at one hundred and fifty percent movement speed if rerolled.
79 Acidic Spit – may spew burning acid once every three rounds. May spew once per round if rerolled.
80 Sharper Wit – higher intelligence, +4. Gets 1d3 wizard spellcasting levels if rerolled.
81 Focused Mind – higher wisdom, +4. Gets 1d3 cleric spellcasting levels if rerolled.
82 Telekinetic – may forego bite to employ a crushing attack or manipulate an object up to intelligence x10 feet away.
83 Telepathic – able to communicate with or read the thoughts of intelligent beings up to intelligence x10 feet away.
Suriname Toad.  This picture is so good I'm tempted to make
trolls look pretty much the same.
84 Magnetically Repulsive – repels iron-based weapons and objects with magnetic bones.
85 Troll Spawn Carrier – covered with tiny parasitic troll-lets inside individual breeding pouches, they can be transferred to a target with a claw attack and behave like rot grubs.
86 Parasitic Cancers – covered with tumorous growths, the disease is transferable to targets with a bite, claw, or any physical attack, and begins to slowly transform the host into a troll.
87 Detachable Appendages – may drop an arm, leg, tail, etc. at will.
88 Dense Flesh – weight is doubled, half damage from slashing and piercing attacks.
89 Rubbery Body – skeleton becomes cartilaginous, able to squeeze through tight spaces, half damage from falling and crushing attacks.
90 Radioactive – causes withering effects on close contact with non-trolls. May create a radioactive burst once every three rounds if rerolled.
91 Rapid Mutation Cycling – reroll this mutation every three rounds.
92 Antimagic Organ – visible crystalline structure cancels half of nearby magics.
93 Double in Size – doubles evenly in size, adjust strength and constitution accordingly.
94 Triple in Size – triples evenly in size, adjust strength and constitution accordingly.
95 Regeneration Factor Doubles – recovers twice as many HP per round.
96 Regeneration Factor Triples – recovers three times as many HP per round.
97 Mentally Dominates Other Trolls – able to psychically control other trolls up to intelligence x10 feet away.
98 Physically Absorbs Other Trolls – able to undergo fusion with other trolls on contact.
99 Evolutionary Leap – progress further on the path of the Ãœber Troll, +2 to all abilities.
00 Collapse into Green Slime – troll's body loses cohesion and decomposes into a like amount of green slime.


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In case you are interested in the MCA4 Troll Mutate entry in its fully wonky glory.  The poor little things don't seem to mutate meaningfully unless you beat on them then run off and do something else for a day.  Which in my experience is not how players deal with trolls.  The queen troll thing is fine, if played, but I prefer sexless trolls that reproduce through hormone triggered fits of intra-species violence: limbs are severed and rather than reconnecting are compelled to grow into troll-lets.  But I also like trolls as cancer, trolls as virus, and the above parasitic troll spawn (Suriname Toad lifecycle) thing.

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Ordinary Starting Item / “I Search the Body” Table (d00)

A table of one hundred starting items for character creation or searching bodies.  Each item is worth 1d6 x 10gp to an appropriately interested person, and invaluable to clever problem solvers.  Heavily influenced by Against the Wicked City's "When All You Have is a Hammer", but designed for a more primal campaign with less technological sophistication.
This post sent me down a lot of rabbit holes where I tried to justify thoughts like "Wait, where do plums grow?  What's in a tinderbox really?  What is the oldest recorded music notation?"  Now that I've purged myself of this latest dalliance I can return to the megadungeon and encounter table work from earlier.  Till then, enjoy.



Ordinary Starting Item / “I Search the Body” Table (d00)

01 Telescopic Pole – a three foot bamboo rod that telescopes to ten feet.
02 Umash Teeth – the upper sixteen teeth of one of the baboon-like Umash in a leather bag, a divinatory aid.
03 Red Fireflies – glass bottle of the red light-casting waste fireflies, their light is capable of revealing certain invisible creatures.
04 Heavy Tinted Glasses – goggles made from darkened glass, excellent eye protection from bright lights.
05 Prizing Knife – short curved blade designed to open shellfish and hook out their meat.
06 Tuning Tines – twelve inch amask steel acoustic resonator.
07 Hrassacock Feather – the uniquely beautiful red, blue, green, and yellow tail plume of the hrassacock, a much desired hat decoration and magical component.
08 Small Accurate Map – very detailed map of a random nearby location.
09 Umash Kakuluk – medium sized bongo instrument.
10 Fasinaa Reed Flute – nimble instrument that produces flute and kazoo type sounds.
11 Goboda Bwamanna – three-stringed gourd instrument.
12 Spidersilk Rope – fifty foot length of excellent quality weave.
13 Flask of Jen Jandy – plain flask full of highly alcoholic spirits, has a flavor similar to spicy root beer.
14 Bottle of Lo Plum Wine – sweet soporific wine made from the fruit of the Lo plum trees that grow in the southeastern delta land.
15 Bag of Blue Herbs – one eighth of an ounce of smokeable herbage, analgesic, promotes feelings of well-being.
16 Fasinaa Machete – finely built steel machete, perfectly suited to hacking through the sticky eastern jungles.
17 Plush Peeper Doll – a child's wool-stuffed toy made to (poorly) resemble one of fluffy mountain prosimians called Peak Peepers.
18 Agate Marbles – fifteen blue, brown, and orange marbles, one slightly larger than the rest.
19 Vuus Hair Thread – spool of incredibly fine thread made from the hair of the Vuus tribe of iele, strong enough to fish with.
20 Violet Lady Mushroom – single fast-acting psychotropic mushroom, maintains potency if carefully dried.
21 Dried Spirit Pepper – a pungent chili spicy enough to burn in the ethereal plane.
22 Animal Pheromone – the concentrated musk of a random animal from a nearby environment.
23 Sea Salt – leather bag of crystallized sea salt, about two cups worth.
24 Umash Crackle Sticks – three somewhat dangerous “sparklers”.
25 Female Hensnake – two foot long tubby-bodied domesticated snake, lays one delicious unfertilized egg once each morning.
26 Cuttle Ink – blue-black writing ink harvested from a coastal cuttlefish.
27 Finely Carved Walking Cane – cane made from rare wood and carved with tiny scenes of decadent city life.
28 Shard of Cursed Glass – radioactive material from the Glass Waste, only dangerous if held over the course of years.
29 Lodestone – fist-sized rock with a powerful magnetic force.
30 Merchant's Scale – portable bronze scale with a selection of weights, all contained in a ten inch wooden box.
31 Large Inaccurate Map – poorly detailed or scaled map of a random nearby location.
32 Ceramic Pot of Lolsanthi Honey – quality honey harvested from the bees pollen-maddened by Lolsanthi nectar.
33 Crystallized Sugar – small packet of sugar crystals, attracts insects.
34 Fetish Doll – crude humanoid figure with a set of pins, currently unattached to a victim.
35 Barbed Fishing Net – thrown fishing net with barbed iron hooks.
36 Ara Leaf Oil – insect repellent made from the Ara bush.
37 Set of Gaming Dice – three six sided bone dice.
38 Seeing Tube – primitive telescope, one end makes things look smaller, one end makes things look bigger.
39 Solidified Amber – an insect trapped within hardened resin.
40 Resin Incense – a small wooden box of rich-scented incense with a heavy languorous smoke.
41 Colored Chalk – set of five different colors.
42 Fur Blanket – heavy blanket made from woolly rhinoceros hide.
43 Oyeb Seeds – pouch of the incredibly fast growing oyeb vine, a strangling gourd.
44 Nuncia Bird – tiny message carrying bird.
45 Puzzle Box – small simple release wooden puzzle box.
46 Hollow Bracelet – copper bracelet with a secret compartment.
47 Oiled Hooded Cloak – nearly waterproof cloth outer covering.
48 Lye Soap – large bar of harsh soap for serious washing up.
49 Pallenseil Poppy Seeds – from the eastern plains and hills, can be planted or eaten as a pain reliever.
50 Minor Noble Finery – association with a random noble wizard house.
51 Sachet of Scouring Sand – razor sharp particulate, good for permanently damaging eyes or lungs.
52 Cloud Lotus Powder – when made into tea or a paste for the chest brings a heavy, restful sleep impossible to resist.
53 Tapping Spile – a steel tap that can be pounded or drilled into liquid storing vegetation.
54 Heavy Heat Resistant Gloves – insulated hand wear able to resist heat and open flames.
55 Wooden Yoyo – carved wooden toy, useful as a diversion or an improvised weapon.
56 Quartz Prism – five inches of clear, faceted quartz crystal.
57 Low Quality Rickshaw – foot powered conveyance for a single passenger.
58 Presis Conch Shell – beautiful pastel colored sea snail shell, nearly as large as a man's head.
59 Vial Necklace – chain necklace with a metal vial that can be filled with a small amount of powder or liquid.
60 Clay Funerary Mask – placid and nearly featureless white clay funerary mask.
61 Deck of Divining Cards – most decks contain only the prime arca, the face cards.
62 Loppett Shears – wool cutting scissors used to shear herds of loppetts.
63 Three Small Colored Bean Bags – good for juggling or kicking about.
64 Raku Tea Set – simple but beautiful teapot and cups for two.
65 Back Strap Loom – personal and portable loom.
66 Idol of Se'vensaera / Immacula – lapis or jade idol of one of the more hopeful of the eight goddesses.
67 Dry Compass – sensitive portable compass.
68 Pack of Dominoes – twenty eight gaming bones.
69 Skywatch Pamphlet – detailing the threat of the Shem and the city's complacency.
70 Stegotetrabelodon Ivory – six inch piece of uncarved elephant kin ivory.
71 Shrunken Iele Head – the dried and shrunken head of an iele man, created by a remote tribe to trap the soul.
72 Bronze Oil Lamp – oil burning decorative lamp in the Form of Naude, goddess of mysteries.
73 Abacus – stone beads in a wooden frame.

74 Bronze Hookah – decorative bronze personal hookah with snake skin hose.
75 Stuffed Tree Shrew – taxidermy of a fearsomely posed omnivorous tree shrew.
76 Tinderbox – flint, pyrite, and amadou.
77 Wax Tablet with Iron Stylus – re-writable surface and implement.
78 Iron Choke Collar with Leash – good for medium and some large size animals or people.
79 Sack of Sponges – large cloth bag full of dried natural sea sponges.
80 Tin of Bitumen – small container of viscous tar.
81 Song of Hours – carved, words and music, into a wooden cylinder.
82 Cipher Key – simple code based on the iele common language.
83 Barbed Iron Arrowheads – five wickedly hooked arrowheads.
84 Bag of Snake Vertebrae – nine of the bones in a felt bag, used for divining.
85 Performance Cosmetics Kit – bold makeup including face white, rouge, and kohl.
86 Leg Irons – reinforced steel leg restraints, able to fit any medium sized humanoid.
87 Mamun Coin – a large gold coin from an ancient civilization, one side shows the sun, the other a man's face.
88 Fief Farm Bell – small but loud bronze bell commonly used to keep track of domesticated animals like loppetts or crenchies.
89 Medicinal Leeches – glass jar of “polite” leeches, applying one to a fresh wound will drain venom.
90 Stone-working Chisels – four chisels in various sizes with various heads.
91 Jeweler's Loupe – low quality single eye magnification device.
92 Steel Crampons – sharp and sturdy steel crampons.
93 Rolling Stone – an insect larva encased in stone, rolls the stone around when hot enough.
94 Bird Cage – finely woven wicker animal cage, capable of holding up to three tiny creatures.
95 Container of Grease – oily animal fat grease.
96 Pamphlet of Minor Sigils – protections for the common man.
97 Goboda Relic – a tarsal bone of a minor saint, a blessed traveler who fell while walking the great wheel.
98 Skeleton Key – generic key that will unlock a family of simple locks.
99 roll twice, re-rolling 99 - 00
00 roll three times, re-rolling 99 - 00