A quick skim through a "new" vision of Ortix

A short list of key features of the new version of Underworld Kingdom campaign:

• More REH and KEW influences. More Witch World, less Roadside Picnic and Dark Tower.
• Big changes in both Underworld and the surface world – perhaps I will be forced to make a new cross section map (good, because I love to make them);
• I abandon the idea of ancient human civilization - in the old days (3000+ years ago) people were slaves of the Old Ones. Human civilization began to flourish when the Old Ones exterminated themselves in a titanic wars;
• No demi-humans! (but I still consider the use of alien races);
• New pantheon of gods;
• No clerics – replaced by Mystics (more info soon);
• No alignment, although some “evil” creatures (evil in a very Lovecraftian way) will be present;
• Limited access to magic items; very limited access to ancient (alien) technology;
• No plate armors! Ancient, not medieval influences.

Bad news - I'm tired! Time for change!

(Last of dwarfs, facing extinction. Drawn by me :D)

Time for bad news - I'm tired of all these "Science-thingies" - probably too much playing Dark Heresy, too much work with Terminal Space, too much scavenging my old stuff to put this setting together.

I need a break.

At the first moment I wanted to change the purpose of this blog and start posting info about  something new. After rethinking the case I came to the conclusion that it would be easier to reboot the entire Ortix campaign than starting from scratch again. Ortix came to life as conglomerate of my old Sword & Sorcery campaigns and frankly, now when I plan to start playing it again, it turns out that I'm not satisfied with its current shape.

This means that some parts of the game world will change - for example,  Idecided to completely stop using demi-humans, also the timeline will change drastically.

Sorry for confusing you.

More info soon (probably even today).

PS. I'm still going to post here the old material ("kicked out" of the game), just to share it with you - maybe someone finds it useful. The old data will be marked with the "proper tag" :)

Advanced weaponry ideas

Repost from Terminal Space - these rules may also be useful in Underworld Kingdom campaign. Also it's possible that I'll make more house rules about weapons when we start running a new campaign.

• Mono swords and knife can ignore the AC of light armor such as void suits or primitive leather armor etc.
• Phase weapons due to their specific properties can ignore AC of commonly used armor, but it is possible that it will have no effect on natural armor made of bone, scales or carapace of monsters.
• Grav weapons do not work in places devoid of gravity. They can also decrease armor effectiveness.
• Automatic weapons, e.g. assault rifles or HMGs are able to hit more than one opponent.
• Flamethrowers, acid throwers and fire bombs can cause damage for more than one round (e.g. d6 rounds).
• Needle pistols are very easy to hide, darts usually are coated with a toxin that paralyzes or kills the target. A successful hit form the weapon should not cause more than 1-2 points of damage.
• Mi-go blaster does not require ammunition. It charges by itself after depleting the cell which usually takes a few hours.
• Instead of increasing the damage caused by powerful weaponry like lasers or plasma weapons you can roll a bigger amount of dice (Referee’s decision) and keep the highest score.

Also - you may find useful rules made by Blair for his Planet Algol campaign - look here and here.

Chronology?

My first and probably last attempt to stich together some facts about past of Ortix. Some of the events are based on my old campaign (1997-1999 AFAIR), some on events from my 2002-2003 campaign, and some are brand new, added to glue everything together.

Note: absence of dates is intentional - I encourage everyone who wants to play this campaign to adjust everything himself.

1. K'reen arrive to the Ortix.
2. Shaping the planet by K'reen (to be honest - one really knows what happened during their reign).
3. Arrival of the Shapers, the beginning of war between the newcomers and K'reen.
4. Shapers, after a long and destructive war, escape beneath the planet's surface. They create  vast underground cave complexes..
5. K'reen begin to remove effects of the war, they also build a giant spaceship.
6. K'reen descend to the underworld, to bring utter destruction to their mortal enemies.
7. Torgon Heartripper leaves the Grey Dimension and arrives on the Ortix.
8. Shapers create an underground city, which shall be attacked and ruined by K'reen in the future.
9. As a result of the last war between the Old Ones, K'reen are almost extinct and Shapers descend even deeper underground.
10. Rise of the Dargs and Alarri civilizations.
11. First humans arrive on Ortix.
12. War between Alarri and Dargs, Jewel of Creation dies. The first magic burn disrupts the flow of magic.
13. Human civilization flourishes, benefiting heavily from the remains of the Old Ones' technology. Architects' Guild is formed.
14. Total war breaks out between humans. Almost entire human civilization is destroyed and most of the planet becomes a contaminated wasteland.
15. First manifestation of Anomalies - distortions of the laws of physics, magic, time and space. People are starting to mutate. Some people escape to the Underworld.
16. Architects disappear without a trace.
17. First sights of the Grey Plague.
18. A being called the Great Father creates vampires and werewolves - the most perfect mutant species.
19. Kingdom of Aldarien arises.
20. Dead Ones find an ancient city deep in the Underworld.
21. Lord of the Plagues brings disease upon the Aldarien, king of Aldarien initiates ancient machinery, hoping that it help fight off the plague. Instead it destroys the entire city.
22. War erupts between the people of the Underworld Kingdom and Vrax & Morax - the two-headed dragon.
23. The lands east of the ruins Aldarien are united by the council of mages.
24. Mages discover a vast underground complex, called by them the Tomb of the Exiled. They build huge fortress over the entrance to the Underworld.
25. Hideous beasts start to appear in the Underworld.
26. Fall of Blackcrag.

Note that Blackcrag has fallen at least 200 years ago (although flow of time on the surface of Ortix can be Easily disturbed).

Hypotheses on the chronology

- Is the Floating Island a spaceship built by K'reen?

- Was the Jewel of Creation created by the Old Ones?

- Is Torgon Heartripper the same person as the Great Father and the Lord of the Plagues?

Because of significant changes in current shape of the campaign, consider this info as the "old stuff" - it will be heavily modified. 

Spiny Armadillo

I almost forgot about their existence - that covered with a black spikes creatures were a real pest of my games in 1997-1999. Since then I have not used them even once - time to change it!

PS. Yes, my artwork is really crappy :D

No. appearing: 1-6
Armor Class: 3
Move in Inches: 5
Hit Dice: 1+2
% in Lair: -
Treasure: none

They can burrow in even solid rock in the rate of 2 feet per one minute. For this reason trained armadillos are often used by goblins and Darg outcasts.

Links to other helpful materials

I created a page that contains links to other sites and blogs that contain material that might be helpful in running the Underworld Kingdom campaign.

List will be regularly updated, of course if I don't forget about it.

Here is a link to it, also it can be found on a sidebar.

Cross section map of the Floating Island

(click to enlarge)

1. City of Gods
2. Palace Tower
3. Landing Bay (unused / deserted)
4. Sensors
5. Mountain of Doom (cursed place)
6. Great City Hall
7. Core of the City
8. Thrash Pits
9. Underground Laboratory (status unknown)
10. Secret Mi-go outpost
11. Maze guarding the entrance
12. Natural caverns
13. Automated defense control room (deserted)
14. Water reservoir
15. Western Watchtower (lower levels deserted)
16. Eastern Watchtower (cursed place)

Words of the Oracle

During a character creation player can roll a die to determine words of the Oracle, which supposedly (in rather gibberish way) determine character’s fate. It don’t affect the game mechanics, but it can affect character’s decision, because he (or she) knows the words of prophecy. Of course, if the players puts less emphasis on role-playing, they can ignore this option.

1.    Dust of your ancestors’ bones will choke you
2.    Dead ones will lead you to the enlightment
3.    Behind the path of Night you will find madness
4.    Hero will find his death, fool will find his fortune
5.    Blood of the descendant of wizards will open the gate to the underworld
6.    Gods of the dead will turn away from you
7.    Prophet’s apprentice will find a graveland of the Old Ones
8.    Blessing will bring the curse
9.    The prophecy will become a doom of your descendants
10.    Sword of fire will cut the moon bridge
11.    You will bring a relief to the dead heroes
12.    Hunger will lead to the truth
13.    Tail of the comet will lead you to the book of the dead
14.    God of the city will fall into madness
15.    Theft will bring the insanity
16.    Fountains of poison will never satisfy your thirst
17.    When water will become an ice, death will become an undeath
18.    Slave of the gods will read the verses of the passing
19.    Throne of the earth end in flames
20.    Cursed sword will open the tomb of the monsters
21.    Third warning will never come, pestilence will come like a storm
22.    Dead ones will experience hunger because of you
23.    Minion of the Abyss will delete your name from the Book of Ancestors
24.    Answer can be found in the storm of fire
25.    Treasures will curse you
26.    Curse will lead to discovery, discovery will bring the darkness
27.    Words of the Priest are full of poison, words of the Demon are the answer
28.    Death of the king will be a monument of your glory
29.    Ice will bring the oblivion
30.    Red mist will become your shelter
31.    Beware of lone travellers
32.    Spark of understanding will be the flame of hell
33.    Shadow will be a beginning of absolute darkness
34.    Your doom will come with the tide
35.    You cannot kill what is already dead
36.    Whispers of the dead will bring the comprehension
37.    Eternal glory will be found at the bottom of the abyss
38.    Pride will be your poison, memory will be your curse
39.    Black peak will be the crown
40.    Dark Side is your blessing
41.    Road home will be your end
42.    You will remove the crown from the dead hands, but blood of the King will not be on your hands
43.    Forgotten labyrinth will become your grave
44.    Doomed city will open its gates before you
45.    River of blood will freeze beneath your feet
46.    You will dethrone the king of fools, but beware to not take his place
47.    Shelter of the wraiths will become your home
48.    In the forests you will find the causa of your fall
49.    Accursed you was born, blessed you will die
50.    Cold Light will burn your skin

Alarri (elves)

Former masters of magic, the Alarri civilisation collapsed when they were cursed by the Dargs' god. Apparently they were brought to life by the very essence of magic, source of which was in the center of their kingdom. Alarri didn't worship any gods, furthermore - because of their highly developed magical talents they saw themselves as equal to the gods (even though they represented only a fraction of K'reen or Shapers' capacity). It is said that this arrogance led to the conflict between Alarri and Dargs - children and followers of the Crystal God.

Although the technology of Dargs was very powerful and led to the destruction of large areas of the eastern forests, it cannot be compared to the magical powers of Alarri. Dargs' Kingdom has been broken and devastated, and the survivors fled into the underworld. However, this victory turned into a total disaster - The Jewel of Creation decided to avenge its children.

Crystal God broke through the magic shields guarding the capital of the Alarri kingdom. Although its crystalline "body" was destroyed, when Alarri tried to repel the attack, the dying god freed his life energy, destroying the power source and cursing all Alarri, severing them from their ancient magic.

Since the war Alarri number have decreased significantly. The old masters of magic completely isolated themselves from the world - a magical shield still keeps them out of the deserted and decaying kingdom, preventing access to anyone who is not invited. Now their power is only a shadow of their former abilities - even human wizards of Blackcrag would be able to overcome current Alarri masters.

Because of significant changes in current shape of the campaign, consider this info as the "old stuff" - it will be heavily modified. 

Dargs (dwarves)

A dying race of short humanoids, created in ancient times by the ancient god of Ortix's mountain roots, known as the Jewel of Creation. Deity, whose domain was grievously wounded during the wars of Old Ones, cast its essence in the crystal to avoid destruction. Dargs, guards and followers of Gem, were created from stone and life essence of troglodytes, wild tribes that inhabited the limitless plains of the planet.

Many years later, just when first humans appeared on Ortix, blooming kingdoms of Dargs began a war with the Alarri - race inhabiting the vast, virgin forests stretching eastward from the Plains. Technology of Dargs could not match magic of Alarri, so their kingdoms were smashed, temples destroyed, and they themselves forced to fall back into the underworld, like the Shapers millenia before.Legends say that the direct cause of the wars and, and the coming of the inevtable death of the two races was a result of the Darg's god's wrath. The diety, who was mortally wounded during a magical storm unleashed by the magi-kings of Alarri - used his last reserve of energy to curse the winners of war in a single magical eruption.  Unfortunately, the consequences of that act also reached the children of the Crystal God.

Dargs are a race close to extinction - death of the Jewel of Creation deprived them of their will to live. Through centuries, their outstanding achievements in engineering and construction turned into dust, and their desire to develop knowledge changed into a meaningless vegetation. Currently, only a few Dargs leaves Calthiboros - their last stronghold, hidden deep in the bowels of the Underworld Kingdom.

Because of significant changes in current shape of the campaign, consider this info as the "old stuff" - it will be heavily modified. 

Gary Gygax's OD&D house rules (2005)

I suspect that this set of house rules has already appeared on every OSR / retrogaming forum, website or blog. Nevertheless, I believe that I should include it here. It's very good (almost perfect in its simplicity) set of house rules after all!

• Not using the supplements. Only the three little books.
• Ability scores rolled as best 3 out of 4d6. Arrange scores to taste.
• All PCs get 1d6 hp/level. HP rolls are rerolled on a 1.
• Fighters get +1 HP/die. All PCs get +1 HP/die if Con > 14.
• Fighters do +1 damage if Str > 14.
• Dex doesn't affect AC. (It does affect missile attack "to hit" rolls.)
• PCs started at 3rd level.
• PCs are unconscious at 0 hp. They can go as low as level +1 before death. (A 4th level fighter can be brought as low as -5 hp & just be unconscious.) A healing potion or cure spell restores them immediately.
• 1d6 for surprise. 1=1 round. 2=2 rounds. 3 or more=no surprise.
• PCs must declare actions before initiative. Casters must declare the specific spell being cast.
• 1d6 for initiative. A tie means simultaneous.
• A casting caster who loses initiative will lose his spell if hit.
• No training necessary to gain a level.
• To acquire new spells: Casters must find scrolls, spellbooks, or a friendly higher-level caster.
• Clerics don't need spellbooks. (The original books can be read to imply that they do.)
• Gary IDs most magic items immediately (charging large sums of money when they return to town to rest & recuperate for this service). (This is because the players are anxious to get back into the dungeon & don't want to bother with in-town adventures.) Potions must still be tasted to ID, though. Unusual items require a trip to the striped mage.

World of Ortix

Ortix is a planet with a diameter of approximately 1.2 diameter of Earth. Its large, metallic core produces a magnetic field strong enough to protect the planet from deadly radiation of the Cold Star. Gravity on the planet is close to the Earth's, the day lasts 24 hours.
The three main features distinguihing Ortix from our planet is total lack of tectonic activity, a smaller amount of oceans and seas and chaotic orbit, of which the last two features are probably the result of the titanic-scale war, waged thousands of years ago by the creatures recently known as the Old Ones.

Planet has two moons, called simply the Grey Moon and the Red Moon. Red has its own cycle of day and night, and gray - just like most typical moons - is in synchronous rotation with Ortix, always showing the same face.

Because of significant changes in current shape of the campaign, consider this info as the "old stuff" - it will be heavily modified.