Magic Items and Creativity !

It is often hard to create magic items strange or original enough to surprise your players.
So here is a tip to get there, while restoring the incomprehensible side of magic : naming the object before describing it! Therefore, we can ask us : how can we name well a magic item ? 
And the answer is: rely upon abstruse and cryptic words...

Naming a magic item :
Step 1 : roll a d10. 
1. [Name]'s [Adjective] [Noun]
2. [Adjective] [Noun]
3. [Adjective] [Noun] of [Effect]
4. [Adjective] [Adjective] [Noun]
5. [Name]'s [Adjective] [Noun] of [Effect]
6. [Adjective] [Noun] of [Adjective] [Effect]
7. [Name]'s [Adjective] [Noun] of [Adjective] [Effect]
8. [Adjective] [Adjective] [Noun] of [Effect]
9. [Adjective] [Noun] of [Effect] and [Effect]
10. [Noun] of [Effect] and [Adjective] [Effect]

Step 2 : Choose or randomly determine each element of the name so that it is disturbing or difficult to understand. 
Adjectives 

Step 3 : Deduct / invent the history and the properties of the magic item based on its name.

Example : 
Thurgal's Acescent Potion of Evanescence is a suntail liquid that looks harmless as you do not drink it. If one identifies it magically, it seems to be a potion of teleportation. However, if you ingest it, it immediately turns in acid (1d6 damage per round, no saving throw) and makes you invisible (no saving throw) !
Thurgal was a sorcerer and a courtier who wanted to poison the Undying Sultan of Aarthal. To do this, he created a particularly vicious acid with many interesting properties. Unfortunately, he was captured before committing his crime and quartered in the public square. It is said that recipe was lost ... but is this really the case?

Nothing prevents you to do so with unique creatures and spells ! 

[Monster] Ogres

To celebrate the fourth member of this blog, here's another interpretation* of this iconic OD&D monster that I dedicate to Bruce Heard!

*Remember, in monsters and treasures, creatures only have characteristics and an explanatory text of three lines, which leave much to the imagination of the DM.

I also want to make a small tribute to Sham, who disappeared from the blogosphere for a while but whose blog remains essential.

OGRE : No. Appearing: 3-18, AC: 5, Move: 9, HD: 4+1
 
Ogres are huge humanoids with bulging muscles and long arms that hang almost to the ground. Their massive fists as hard as stone inflict 1d6 +2 points of damage. Curiously, their cranium is external and not internal as with other humanoids, so that people often believe that ogres wear skull helmets. 

"Ogres have a mysterious history. It is not known exactly how they came into being, whether they were created with this world, or whether the union of some eons past races gave spawn to them, as Ogres do not have gender nor do they reproduce. What is known is that there is a finite number of Ogres in he world, and their very existence is threatened by the rise of man. Ogres apparently are immortal, and even those Ogres who have been slain and laid to rest are never truly dead, for their souls are tied to this world."

When an Ogre dies, its body is reduced to dust and his demonic spirit is released. The spirit wanders in the depths until it finds an entire corpse and insinuates in it (however it must wait 1d12 rounds after his death before reincarnating), causing a horrible mutation. The body deforms and eventually transform into that of an Ogre in great shape. The spirit of the ogre can cross all materials except lead and silver. Locked in a cage shaped in such a metal, it can not escape and may then be put to sleep for decades before an oblivious looter releases it ...

Defeating an ogre is very difficult: One must find the gem that the dark sorcerer used to summon this evil spirit and destroy it. This gem is always valuable, but it is rarely in possession of the ogre. These stupid monsters are unaware of the power of these gemstones which are surely hidden somewhere, perhaps in the hoard of another monster. 

[Monster] Ophidian undead

I was not very active lately. However, I created a new monster to scare to death your beginners as high-level parties.

Ophidian Undead

No. Appearing: 1-10
Armor Class: 7
Hit Dice: 2
Movement : 60'
Attacks: See Below
Alignment: Chaotic

In the distant kingdom of Stygia, the priests of Set perform strange rituals in the heart of darkened temples.One of the worst is the Call of the Swarms of the Snake God. Nobody except the evil clergy of Set knows how to proceed the ritual, but what is certain is that it ends with the invocation of amphisbaenians. These two-headed snakes with fangs dripping with venom then creep into a corpse through the nostrils and animate it with an unholy life, blowing up the eyeballs if they are still in place. These walking corpses have therefore instead of eyes the two heads of the amphisbaena pointing in the empty sockets.

In addition to the attack by the undead (1d6 damage), each head of the amphisbaena tries to bite every round to inoculate their poison, suddenly arising of the eye sockets and retracting the second after. Bites that are benign do not damage but if a saving throw versus poison is failed, the victim convulse for 3d6 rounds. Two simultaneous bites on the same person entails a saving throw against death.

Killing the undead does not necessarily kill the snake: if it is cornered and alone, it is killed automatically by the characters if they specify it. Otherwise, in a melee, the amphisbaena has a chance to escape and animate another body.

They are repelled by clerics as ghouls. 

One Page Dungeon Contest - The Subterranean Maze of Aarthal

A while ago, I was planning to write a small dungeon for the Nicolas Dessaux (aka snorri)'s French retro-clone Epées et Sorcellerie (english version). Here it is, adapted for the contest!

The Subterranean Maze of Aarthal.  

Random events explanation with dices ! - Part 2

Hecatomb (sacrifices) : roll 2d6.
d6 : 1-2 slaves, 3-4 monkeys, 5 jackals, 6 foreigners.
d6 : 1-2 abused, 3-4 cared, 5-6 glorified.
d20 : because of... *consult the event table*  

Declaration of war : roll 2d6 and a d20.
d6 : against... 1 Aarthal, 2 Qroalz, 3 Zulgar, 4 Ürt, 5 Fayimza, 6 Xakh
d6 : 1-3 secret war, 4 public war, 5-6 massive war.   
d20 : because of... *consult the event table*
 
Attempted pronunciamiento : roll 3d6. 
d6 : 1-2 rebels Jaadu gar, 3 Caustic Sorcerers, 4-6 slave lords.
d6 : supported by... 1-2 nobody, 3-4 foreign power, 5-6 a city class.
d6 : 1 overbearing coup, 2-3 powerful coup, 4-5 unpredictable coup, 6 weak coup.  


Conspiracy :  roll 2d6 and a d20.
d6 : 1 widespread, 2-3 a city class, 4-6 small circle of conjured.
d6 : supported by... 1-2 nobody, 3-4 foreign power, 5-6 a city class.
d20 : because of... *consult the event table*


Handover of power : roll a d20.

d20 : because of... *consult the event table*

Conflict between two or more important figures : roll 3d6 (and maybe 2d20).
d6 : 1-5 two factions, 6 three or more factions.
d6 : because of... 1 an insult, 2 a power struggle, 3 a misunderstanding, 4-6 an event (roll a d20 and consult the event table).
d6 : results on... 1 amicable resolution, 2 exacerbated tensions, 3-4 long term rancor, 5 open conflict, 6 an event (roll a d20 and consult the event table).   

 
To be continued...

Random events explanation with dices ! - Part 1

Slave revolt : roll 3d6.
d6 : 1-3 minor revolt (part of an ethnic group), 4-5 large revolt (one ethnic group), 6 widespread uprising (several ethnic groups). Square the result and multiply by 100 and you get the number of rebels.
d6 : 1-3 no leader, 4-5 one leader, 6 multiple leaders.
d6 : multiply by 10 and you get the percentage of armed men. 

Cult relic theft : roll 3d6.
d6 : 1-2 successfully smoothered by the cult officials, 3-4 unsuccessfully smoothered by the cult officials, 5-6 large-scale manhunt.
d6 : 1 commissioned by an elder Jaadu gar, 2 commissioned by a Caustic Sorcerer, 3 commissioned by a slave lord, 4 commissioned by a powerful merchant, 5 freelancers, 6 commissioned by two sides (one or two (group of) thieve(s)) : re-roll twice. 
d6 : multiply per 1 000 and you get the value of the relic(s) stolen.


Important figure assassination : roll 3d6.
d6 : 1-3 slave lord, 4 elder Jaadu gar, 5 Caustic Sorcerer, 6 powerful merchant.
d6 : 1 poisoning, 2 death spell, 3 stabbed, 4 disappearance, 5 killed by one of the "One Hundred and Twelve Sneering Jesters", 6 ominously (hanging, slaughter...). 
d6 : 1 commissioned by an elder Jaadu gar, 2 commissioned by a Caustic Sorcerer, 3-4 commissioned by a slave lord, 5 commissioned by a foreign power (lawful cult, assassins' guild, other city, desert nomads etc.) 6 freelancers. 


New important figure rising : roll 4d6 (and a d12, a d8 or a d4).
d6 : 1-3 slave lord (roll the d12), 4 elder Jaadu gar (roll the d4), 5 Caustic Sorcerer (roll the d8), 6 powerful merchant.
d6 : 1 small, 2 tall, 3 obese, 4 long-haired, 5 strong, 6 special feature (albino, hairy, with a scar, dwarf... or roll two times)
d6 : 1 very clever, 2 restless, 3 haughty, 4 enigmatic, 5 megalomaniac, 6 cultivate.  
d6 : 1 reckless, 2 vicious, 3 spiteful, 4 aggressive, 5 capricious, 6 stylish.
d12 (symbol) : 1 pale mask, 2 cracked egg, 3 white baboon, 4 desert serpent, 5 severed head, 6 blind eye, 7 blue lizard, 8 two-headed jackal, 9 pallid crescent moon, 10 gypsum flower, 11 char galloping, 12 bloody gold dagger.
d8 (area of expertise in magic) : 1-2 demon summoning, 3 diseases spells, 4 mind-affecting spells, 5 curses, 6 magic item creation (potions...), 7 golem creation, 8 darkness spells. 
d4 (politics) : 1 allied with the Patriarch of Gandaar, 2 respectful of the ancient priests, 3 expansionist, 4 against the Patriarch of Gandaar.

Oracle of Gandaar : roll 2d6 and a d20.
d6 : 1 good oracle, 2-3 neutral, 4-5 bad oracle, 6 very bad oracle.  
d6 : 1 very surprising, 2-4 unexpected, 5-6 expected.
d20 : (un)directly, this oracle causes a... *consult the event table*

Religious feast : roll 4d6.
d6 : 1-3 everybody, 4 foreigners, 5 city inhabitants, 6 Jaadu gar.
d6 : 1-3 must, 4-6 musn't. 
d6 : 1 mate with, 2 give money to, 3 make an orgy with, 4 harm, 5 touch/see, 6 make a procession with.  
d6 : 1-2 slaves, 3 foreigners, 4-5 baboons, 6 jackals.

Nomads raiding : roll 4d6.
2d6 : multiply by 100 and you get the number of nomads riders.
d6 : They attack... 1-2 caravans, 3-4 Larhanas, 5 foreigners, 6 slaves armies.
d6 : 1-3 led by a Khan, 4-5 led by a Shaman, 6 no leader.

To be continued... 

Adventure hooks/Random events for Taqat

Here are some ideas to make unforgettable the staying of your players in the Forbidden City of the Black Idols. I might detail more Taqat and its surrounding world (I consider the original idea quite inspiring). What do you think?

Random events/adventure hooks table (roll a d20 every other month for events).
1. Slave revolt.
2. Cult relic theft.
3. Important figure assassination.
4. New important figure rising.
5. Oracle of Gandaar. 
6. Hecatomb (sacrifices).
7. Religious feast.
8. Nomads raiding.
9. Declaration of war.  
10. Attempted pronunciamiento.
11. Conspiracy.
12. Handover of power. 
13. Conflict between two or more important figures.  
14. City under siege.
15. Black Lotus shortage.  
16. Failed ritual.
17. Other good shortage.  
18. Epidemic.  
19. Conflagration.  
20. Unnatural event.

I will post a short explanation of each entry. ;)

Taqat is mapped !

Yesterday, I posted a description of a Sword and Sorcery city - Taqat -, but as you may have noticed, the map was missing (I was running out of time to achieve it for April 17). This lack is now fixed ! I've uptaded the pdf of the previous post and I've added the text document so that you can edit it, adapt it, improve it and expand it at your leisure... 
Happy ? 

Swords and Wizardry Appreciation Day Blogfest - D-Day

The day has come! The stars are aligned! Nine hundred and nighty nine maidens were slaughtered! Everything is ready for... the awekening of the Old Ones ... the Swords and Wizardry Appreciation Day Blogfest !

Here is my contribution (a 5-page pdf) : The Forbidden City of the Black Idols. 
The text version which you can use. 
Enjoy !

PS : Please excuse the grammatical errors.