The Pelgrane: A Monster of Vancian Splendor Part II

No. Enc.: 1-8

Alignment: Neutral

Movement: 450 (150)

Armor Class: 5

Hit Dice: 3

Attacks: 1

Damage: 1d8

Save: F3

Morale: 8

Pelgranes are a flying, semi-sentient race with a most unpleasant and aggressive demeanor. Displaying crested, polished black beetle-like heads--complete with beak and fangs--they can make for a formidable nuisance to air-borne travelers.

Like birds of prey, pelgranes prefer to circle at great heights waiting to dive down on unsuspecting prey. As such they surprise on a 1-3 chance when outdoors. Pelgranes failing to achieve surprise will often converse with their intended prey before attacking them.

Random Starting Equipment: LotFP Weird Fantasy RPG

[Editor's Note: I corrected a minor error on the chart (an asterisk was omitted on the armor chart). Also the PDF of this chart can be downloaded here. ]

Ok gentle readers, one last chart for the hopper before you all begin to think of me as some kind of random table obsessive. (I rolled a “6” on a d6 before deciding to post by the way.) I promise that the next post will feature another Vancian creature write-up; off-the-wall variant class; throw-away rant about the inherent superiority of the Holmesian five-fold alignment or the like.

Here's a version of yesterday's tables modified to work with the economic-tweaks James Raggi slips into Lamentations of the Flame Princess. His price lists haven't received as much hooting and hollering as his heavily-flavored magic system and character classes (or hell even his encumbrance rules), but they should. With weapons, armor, and mounts (available to all classes) fetching some hefty prices and retainers and buildings conversely lower ones, the economics subtly steer players' choices in interesting directions at lower levels. The distinction between urban and rural costs seem to do the same. (“Rats, to get that suit of chain mail looks like we're going to have to hump all the way back to Carcosa.”)

There's definitely an implied feel in the text of the boxed set—and certainly a bit more explicit in Raggi's brilliantly-written adventures--that the lives of PCs in such a setting are destined to be short, spectacular affairs. All the more reason for my tweakage in anticipation of my own Skype mini-campaign.

Modifiers for Armor and Weapon rolls

-1 if starting in a rural area

+1 for each level character starts over 1^st

Class-based equipment

Fighter, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling: +1 on any weapon table

Cleric: Iron holy symbol

Magic User: Spellbook

Specialist: Specialist's tool

Chart A: Armor (Roll d6)

1,2,3,4,5	Leather
6,7,8	Chain*
9 or more	Plate

*-2 on all others rolls if 1^st level.

Chart B: Melee Weapon (Roll d6)

1	Garrote, Cestus
2	Minor weapons, Spear, Staff
3, 4	Small weapons, Rapier, Whip
5	Medium weapons, Mancatcher
6	Great weapons, Polearm
7 or more	Roll twice or pick minor silver weapon

Chart C: Missile Weapons (Roll d6)

1	None
2,3	Sling, Dart (x3), Blowgun
4,5	Short Bow
6	Long Bow, Light Crossbow
7 or more	Heavy Crossbow

(one free batch of ammo assumed)

Adventure Packs (Pick one)

All packs come with backpack, two small sacks, bedroll, water skin, tinderbox, and one week of iron rations

Pack A (10 oil flasks, lantern, shovel, two caltrops, whistle)

Pack B (10 torches, 10 pieces of chalk/charcoal, blank scroll, mirror, crowbar)

Pack C (five torches, five oil flasks, 60 ft. rope, grappling hook, wooden pole)

Extra cash (Roll d6)

1	5 gold pieces
2,3	10 gp
4	15 gp
5	20 gp
6	30 gp
7	60 gp
8	120 gp
9	250 gp

Random Starting Equipment Charts

Buying gear for a starting character in old school D&D is often the most time-consuming step. For some players this is a favorite ritual. Should I go for that silver dagger this time or a mining pick and a bag of caltrops? Do I really need that lantern?

For others it's just a pain in the rear. The following random gear charts (revised from a year ago) are geared to the latter--or to the former who are crunched for time.

Note that I have integrated these charts with the chargen charts from the other day for a nice full package. You'll notice that the longer version, for instance, allows extra goodies and rolls dependent on your character's family background. The PDF of this version can be downloaded here.

Chart B: Equipment

Armor (Roll d8)

Cleric, +1 to roll

Fighter +2

Thief, Druid: leather automatically

Magic User, Illusionist, Monk: no roll

1,2,3	Leather armor **
4	Studded leather *
5, 6	Scale mail
7,8,9	Chain mail
10	Splint or banded mail
11	Plate mail

* 1 extra roll on weapon or shield chart

** 2 extra rolls on weapon or shield chart

Basic Game Armor Chart (Rolld6)

1,2	Leather
3,4,5,6	Chain mail

Shield (Roll 1d6 only if extra roll indicated)

1,2,3	Small Shield
4,5,6	Large Shield

Melee Weapon (Roll 1d6)

Clerics, Magic Users, Illusionists hand weapon only

1,2	Hand weapon (dagger, hand axe, short sword, mace, morningstar, staff, spear)
3,4	Medium weapon (long sword, battle axe, rapier, scimitar)
5	Polearm (polearm, pike)
6	Two-handed weapon (two-handed axe, two-handed sword, bastard sword)
7	Quality weapon of choice (+1 damage)

Missile Weapon (Roll 1d6)

Magic Users and Clerics sling only

1	Sling/Darts
2	Thrown (Hand axe, spear, javelin)
3	Light Crossbow
4	Short Bow
5	Heavy Crossbow
6	Long Bow
7	Pick any two

(one free batch of ammo assumed)

Adventure Packs (Pick one)

All packs come with backpack, two small sacks, bedroll, water skin, tinderbox, and one week of iron rations

Pack A (10 oil flasks, lantern, shovel, two caltrops, whistle)

Pack B (10 torches, 10 pieces of chalk/charcoal, blank scroll, mirror, crowbar)

Pack C (five torches, five oil flasks, 60 ft. rope, grappling hook, wooden pole)

Mount (Roll 1d6)

1,2	None
3	Mule
4	Pony
5,6	Light riding horse
7	Light warhorse

(saddles and other riding gear assumed)

Class-based equipment

Fighter, Ranger, Paladin: extra weapon roll, 10 gp starting

Cleric, Druid: holy symbol, 10 gp

Thief: Thieves tools, 5 gp

Magic-User, Illusionist, spellbook, 5 gp

Monk, 2 gp

Extra cash (Roll d6)

1	10 gold pieces
2,3	15 gp
4	20 gp
5	30 gp
6	40 gp
7	80 gp

The Deodand: a Monster of Vancian Splendor

Of all the influences on my own campaign perhaps no other author has held such a powerful place in my imagination than Jack Vance. Whether it's the fairy-tale medieval picaresque of Lyonesse, the somewhat melancholy pulp fantasy of the Dying Earth, or the vast array of lesser known but equally evocative space opera worlds, I can't read more than a few pages without reaching for my brainstorm notebook to jot down a new idea for an NPC, locale, absurd encounter, or just an elusive weird fantasy tone/theme to weave into a session.

Invariably some of my favorite scenes revolve around witty, deadly exchanges between the protagonist and a harm-intending creature. The crafty deodand is a particular favorite, so I present him as a monster to spring on your unwitting players.

Deodand

No. Enc.: 1 (1-3)

Alignment: Chaotic (Evil)

Movement: 90 (30)

Armor Class: 6

Hit Dice: 4

Attacks: 3 (2 claws, 1 bite)

Damage: 1d4, 1d4, 1d8

Save: F4

Morale: 7

Deodands are intelligent, man-eating humanoids rumored to be borne of a sorcerous experiment that combined a human with a wolverine and basilisk. Deodands appear as handsome, muscular men with dull charcoal-black skin, long sharp fangs, and slitted golden or white eyes. The typical deodand prefers to wear a leather harness with bits of velvet or other rich clothes attached. There is a 30% chance that the harness is adorned with ornamental gems worth 100-400 gp.

The solitary deodand prefers to ambush his prey by stealth and will hide in shadows and move silently at a 60% chance. If caught unobserved he will surprise an unwitting party on a 1-4 roll on a d6.

Though vicious and unremitting in his desire to eat other humanoids, the deodand is also particularly interested in maintaining his own skin. If obviously overpowered or reduced to less than 1/3 hit points he will beg and plead for his life, often offering to guide a party. Adventurers should remain vigilant however if they take the creature up on any offer, as the deodand may attempt to subtly lead them into danger.

Adding a Little Yummy Crunch to Your Old School D&D Character Generation

A little over a year ago I experimented with several versions of a character generator that would allow a player to get up and running with in about 10-15 minutes with a fully statted-out, equipped character with a kooky backstory. Two versions of the generator (which was based off of a heavily-modified version from a Paul Jaquays article in the The Dungeoneer.)were ultimately published: one for Basic Fantasy RPG and another for Castles and Crusades.

In the midst of all that tinkering the mini-game nature of the backstory charts made be hanker for mixing some Traveller-flavored chocolate in my D&D peanut butter. The rub being that I didn't want to go full hog and dump the marvelously simple D&D way, so I agonized a bit over how to make a hybrid that kept the core while added a little more fun crunch.

Long story short it took me over a year (hey, I do have a real life), but here is my first stab. The PDF version can be downloaded here. I will likely be adding something like the Traveller mustering out tables to help speed up starting money and equipment.

As always any and all feedback or criticism is greatly welcomed.

[Editor's Note: due to the ridiculous amount of space the tables were taking up, I have cut them from the blog page. If you'd like to take a gander, mosey over to that download link above and get you a copy of the PDF file.]

Righteous Battle Scenes from Eastern Europe

One of the surprising joys of my brief stint in the 90s as a teacher back in the Slavic motherland was being able to catch tons and tons of old Czech and Polish films. Some of them featured these truly epic battle scenes. A personal favorite is the trilogy of films on the Hussite rebellion and wars from the Czech director Otakar Vavra.

Now here's some inspiration for the end game of a campaign, no?