Free items

Items listed below can be obtained by PCs for free at various locations (marketplaces etc.). Treat them as a garbage (items, not the PCs!).

1. Slightly rusty chain, 1ft;
2. Short oar;
3. Half a loaf of bread, somewhat stale;
4. Clay mug with missing handle;
5. Small tallow candle;
6. Half-burned incense stick (3% that it's magical)
7. Mouse trap;
8. Fishing rod made of stick. Line is snapped after 3ft;
9. Short stick of chalk;
10. Club made of table leg;
11. Smoked sardine;
12. An apple (9% that it's a worm inside it);
13. Padlock without a key;
14. Knife / shank made of a half of scissors;
15. Small stool;
16. Horseshoe in perfect condition;
17. Dusty linen bag;
18. Flea-ridden felt hat;
19. Pair of wooden shoes;
20. Pot lid made of tin.

Legends of Krshal now with reduced price!

I've reduced the price for the Legends of Krshal supplement. Now you can grab a PDF (both on Lulu and RPGNow) for $2 and print for $7.50.

Perilous Ages - another review

I just found a review of the Perilous Ages, written over a year ago. Yeah, sometimes my google-fu sucks alot...

This game is not complete but it's 'rules-enough', there to be ruled. It's tough to produce a pleasing game in this style and still rein back on adding more details at the design stage but Albert has tastefully avoided rules-bloat and delivered a bold intriguing ruleset.
Refreshingly different for the OSR (but yet familiar) and inspiring.

LINK

Charon Prime - versions of the game

Previously, I wanted to make the Charon Prime standalone supplement, compatible with 0e and clones. However, now I plan to create two versions of the game. First one I want to do is a complete game, compatible with a ruleset already used in the Perilous Ages. Second (which I guess will be much more popular), will be of course compatible with most OSRish games / rules systems / whatever.

You probably wonder why I decided to create a version which most likely will be unpopular, plus will require much more time and effort to complete. The answer is simple - I want to run the game this way. Simple :)

I guess the next question is when - I do not know. Usually I work on several projects at the same time, which is not good in terms of publication time but - for me - is much better than focusing on just one setting and burn out relatively quickly.

More info soon. Next time, with more content.

Charon prime - map from The Archives

The map above was found in The Archives belonging to the House Strakarson. Most likely it was drawn by some adventurer. File is partly corrupted and no date was assigned to it, thus it's impossible to determine map's age.

Click to enlarge :)

HERE you can find the reason why the map is so primitive and lacks almost any names. In fact, it may be the most detailed map of the planet ever created (or rather ever shared with anyone)!

Charon Prime - Aldenson's Sorrel

The only one edible plant that can be found on the surface of the Charon Prime. Actually, Aldenson's Sorrel is the one of two plants that are known to be existing on the planet!

It has thick, rubbery leaves, usually two to three feet-long. They are the main source of food for the inhabitants of the Citadel of Rust, as well for all animals that are kept and bred for their meat. Unfortunately, the plant has one peculiar ability - and pretty dangerous and unsettling ability.

It can be best described as the collective psychic powers. Even the single specimen can affect one's mind. And the more Sorrels are gathered in single place, the more powerful they are.

• Single to few plants: humans experience the sensation of being watched;
• Few to dozen plants: strange whispers and noises can be heard;
• Several dozen Sorrels: nausea, headache, short and chaotic visions of distorted images;
• More: losing control of own body, coma, catatonia

Some people say that they saw their companions disappear in the Sorrel thickets, never to be seen again. Ordinary persons usually cannot overwhelm the psychic force of the plants but they just start act strangely (or try to escape the Citadel, probably to find Sorrels growing in the wild). Aggression, hyperactivity or paranoia were never noticed (or, at least, no one survived such occurrence).

So, who grows the Sorrels to feed the Citadel's inhabitants? Monks belonging to the one particular sect or people who were already insane.

More info soon (or in five years or so - it seems that I don't post anything about Charon Prime campaign setting very often)...

Legends of Krshal - first review!

"Legends of Krshal continues the tradition of Towers with imaginative and off the wall ideas, and it is definitely worth owning as a supplement to the original. It should be used more carefully, and some of the really good stuff is hidden in obscure corners you need to carefully and deliberately look for and attack with a highlighter. It is less immediately useful as a game material, but it is an invaluable idea mine – there's gold in them thar hills, if you are willing to do the digging."

- Melan

LINK

Legends of Krshal - sample entry (II)

CLICKY!

34. To date, seventeen people has committed suicide in front of a large, old sculpture standing to one side of the Black Cat Gate. All of them chose really painful ways to kill themselves.

Hypotheses about the nature of the statue, written by the Nameless Scholar (most likely member of the Inquisition):

• Minor Cthonian God is trapped inside the statue. Awakened by an unknown source, he draws power from death, preparing for breaking free;
• Statue was an important element of the ancient sacrificial altar. It must be embedded with powerful magic;
• Sculpture might be devoted to destructive aspect of the Lord of Dreams;
• Some pre-Krshal texts (unfortunately, they are incomplete) contain information about the God of Painful Forgiveness - the name itself can lead to some significant conclusions.

And the list of deaths. It may be extremely difficult and / or time-consuming to gather information about all of them

• Six years ago. Self-disembowelment;
• Six years ago, just two days after the first suicide. He drank a mug of acid;
• Four years ago. Gate’s caretaker set himself on fire;
• Four years ago, at the autumn equinox. Apparently, she infected herself with the Plague of Falling Leaves. She fell apart in front of the statue;
• Three years ago, during the new year’s day. Self-impalement. Apparently, the victim used a ladder to end his life in a very nasty way;
• Three years ago, during the Festival of the Frog. Three people decapitated themselves by jumping from the top of the gate building with iron wire around their necks;
• Two years ago. He died by electrocution by stuffing the Lightning Worm into his… well, uhh...
• Two years, exactly thirteen days after previous suicide. Two children inhaled some kind of gaseous poison, which caused their skin to turn black and fall away. No one ever discovered who provided them with the poison, not even the Inquisition;
• Two years ago, again thirteen days after the death of two kids. Old and respectable wizard struck himself in the abdomen with the Wand of Thousand Thorns;
• A year ago, again during the Festival of the Frog. Knight belonging to the Order of the Twin Angels fell on his magical Flaming Sword;
• Five months ago, during the new moon. One mercenary shot off his own arm with a blunderbuss. When he bled to death, his companion, who just moments before tried to save his friend, took his weapon, reloaded it and did the same thing to himself;
• Two months ago. Member of the Alchemists Guild swallowed a small magical bomb, which exploded in his bowels, tearing him in two;
• Yesterday (day before the rumour was heard by the adventurers). She somehow strangled herself with bare hands...

Legends of Krshal on Lulu

As I said yesterday - Legends of Krshal is now available via Lulu.com, both in print and PDF format.

Buy the printed version via Lulu

Buy the PDF version via Lulu

Buy the PDF version via RPGNow

Legends of Krshal out now!

I managed to finish it really quick!

Legends of Krshal is a huge expansion of the Rumours about the City table from the Towers of Krshal. It contains dozens (over a thirty!) new random tables, lots of adventure hooks, as well as some items, monsters and diseases.

LINK

Right now it's available via DTRPG / RPGNow. Tomorrow I'll try to upload it on Lulu.

Towers of Krshal on RPGNow

LINK

Legends of Krshal - sample entry

If you missed my gibbering about it on G+, Legends of Krshal will be the huge expansion (or rather - explanation) of the ToK rumours list. Here is one sample thingie from it.

14. Strange, deformed corpse was found in the Chapel of the Lost. It was really huge and didn’t looked like human body.

Extra-Dimensional Abomination. This bizarre and somewhat hideous creature looks like a bloated hybrid of humanoid and worm. Its body is covered with thick, rubbery skin, limbs are short and deformed and it lacks head. It has d3 long, whip-like tails, covered with cnidocysts.

Abominations are only able to clumsily crawl on the ground but - obviously - they can slip through the various dimensions, as well as places within the one plane. When attacked, they start levitating and release clouds of dense, violet gas. Gas has no other effect than hindering the attackers’ vision (-1 to-hit). Monsters are able to perform one attack per tail (standard damage + save vs. poison or paralysis for 2d8 turns). Typical Extra-Dimensional Abomination has AC 4 and 4-7 HD.

Some potentially useful information about this particular, recently deceased specimen. First - where it came from:

1. Cthonic Realm of the Worm Demons;
2. Huge gas pocket deep down under the City, used to gather gas to fuel the street lanterns;
3. Vault of the Noble House of Zanth (maybe it swallowed some valuable treasure?);
4. The Reversed Pyramid (entry 29);
5. Accursed Waterway, connecting all the City’s sewers;
6. The Netherworld. Maybe it brought some spirits of the dead with it back to Krshal.

Why it visited Krshal? Note that even most of the places from the table above are placed in the City, Extra-Dimensional Abominations are not native for City’s plane of existence:

1. It was summoned by d6: 1) a Warlock; 2) Cultists; 3) apprentice wizard unaware what he/she was doing; 4) wizard hired to do it by the noble/merchant; 5) the Thieves Guild; 6) inhabitant of one of the Inner Cities - see entry 5;
2. It wanted to lay eggs. 50% chance that it manages to plant them somewhere in the City’s guts;
3. Just “passing by”;
4. It was escaping from something really terrible. Of course there is a big chance that its opponent is also able to travel through the dimensions and its on its way to Krshal and will wreak havoc in the City;
5. The Nether Storm has swallowed it and spat it out in the Krshal;
6. Cultists / Priests from the Chapel asked their god to grant them the Abomination. They treat it as the angel / messenger of their deity.

And the reasons of death:

1. It died of old age (they are not immortal!), so its body may be in pretty bad shape;
2. It was killed by the cultists being in opposition to the Chapel’s keepers;
3. It was killed by the extra-planar plague. Most likely it’s highly contagious;
4. The All-Seeing Eye of the Inquisition was aware that monster will come and where it will appear, rest was just a formality (really bloody formality);
5.  Band of adventurers killed it;
6. It was badly wounded before it appeared in the Chapel and died of blood loss. There’s 10% chance that its blood is poisoned.