Wessex returns... ?

So this morning Anthony, Mike and C Huth played a little adventure that I borrowed from Simon of and the sky full of dust and hacked up a bit.  I don't have my notes with me, but the party consisted of a nameless fighter, a ranger whose name I couldn't pronounce and then promptly forgot, and Farley the Dwarf, a Wessex veteran.  Too bad Farley was way over the level range for the adventure and showed up to the crawl with two diseases and two curses, as per the rules of Article 4 of the original FLAILSNAILS Conventions.  I'm trying to imagine how one ends up like that, and all I can come up with is a rather distrurbing scenario involving unspeakable acts with a witch's favorite goat.  Probably the best part was the one curse that shrunk him to just one foot in height.

The party followed a rumor that a certain set of centuries-old tombs, long pillaged, contained a secret area below a slab of stone.  This secret second set of tombs reputedly contained three magical weapons: a black sword, a trident, and a warhammer.  Okay, they weren't really after Blackrazor, Whelm and Wave, but three magic weapons is three magic weapons.  Our hardy hereos braved perfectly ordinary spiders, tacky religious iconography, and several annoyingly unkillable skeletal undeaders.  The ranger and the fighter escaped with one of the three magic weapons, the Holy Axe of the Knight-Marshal, and some miscellaneous loot.  Poor tiny Farley was punched right in the heart by the Three-Armed Skeleton Knight of Wessex-119 and died instantly, Arduin critical style.  Too bad he was carrying the Legendary Magical Beard of Wessex.  (Actually, being tiny, he was wearing it as a cloak.)  Pour a forty on the curb for a character that Mike has been playing since December of 2011.  He got to sixth level in the FLAILSNAILS multiverse and that ain't shabby, my friends.

Running a FLAILSNAILS game again was a hoot.  I really ought to get back into it regular-like.  Unfortunately, my family and I have moved since the last time and our new place doesn't work as well as the old one for running in the wee hours.  I woke my wife up early, which is something I don't want to repeat.  But I've got an office here in the English department now, so maybe I could run some games later in the day.  That ought to amuse the folks in my hallway.

Vanthian Prior Career Charts

WARRIOR
01-05 God City Starmerc
06-10 member of a Blackhawk Free Company (50% license revoked)
11-15 survivor of General Zo's Thunder Legion (34% suspected of treachery)
16-20 member of disbanded Steel Warlords Bastard Band (choose instrument)
21-25 Knight in service to the Lord of Crane
26-30 Knight in service to the Lord of Noth
31-35 Knight in service to the Hoarfrost King
36-40 Knight in service to the Zombie Princess
41-44 soldier in the Invincible Hosts of the Hobling Emperor
45-48 Viraxian Stormtrooper
49-52 God City Militia (half starting money)
53-56 Waepetian Palisade Guard
57-60 Sulduku Dervish (5% hunted by Holy Assassins)
61-63 Shunned Towns Axe Murderer (25% license revoked)
64-67 Phasic Swampwretch
68-70 Bleak Mountains Maniac
71-73 God City Sewer Psycho
74-77 Forbidden Wastes Road Warrior (12% bike)
78-80 Dino Islands Ape Cultist
81-87 Parathaxian Horde survivor (7% scarred)
88-93 Northern Mountain Hillbilly
94-00 Funfair Nomad

WARLOCK
01-03 Shunned Towns Unholy Roller (3% unicycle)
04-07 Phasic Swampwitch
08-11 Bleak Mountains Hermit
12-14 God City Voice Hearer (11% others can hear)
15-18 Dino Islands Kongpope
19-22 Forbidden Wastes Omega Zealot
23-25 Parathaxian Schismatic
26-29 Northern Mountain Wendigo Whisperer
30-33 Funfair Tent Revivalist
34-40 studied under an Ape Vizier
41-46 washed out of Waepetian College of Sorcery
47-53 Associates Degree for the Mystic Arts, Blackhawk Community College (8% fake)
54-60 Viraxian Illuminati (77% renegade)
61-67 studied at the Nothian Tower of Ensorcelment (54% outcast)
68-75 God City Computomage
76-83 Suldukan Glyph Master
84-91 Dreamer at the Angel Barrows
92-00 Funfair Tattoomancer

CRIMINAL
01-09 Minor scion of a Slaver King (6% legitimate)
10-17 Funfair Freak Wrangler
18-25 Limbjacker (7% d3 spare limbs)
26-33 Ice Pimp
34-39 Suldukan Hashisheen (d6 doses)
40-47 God City Made Man
48-55 Blackhawk Thieves Guildman
56-63 Viraxian Killsquadder
64-68 West Road Toll Collector
69-73 Blacksteel Buccaneer
74-78 Spineywood Merryman
79-84 Unknown Highwayman
85-88 Bloodhaven Sausage Maker
89-92 God City Punker
93-96 Funfair Roustabout
97-00 Faerie Smuggler

DOXY
01-05 God City Socialator
06-10 Icy Lake Houri
11-15 Blackhawk Streetwalker
16-20 Surprise Limb Lady (d3 random limbs)
21-25 Bloodhaven Wench
26-30 Iron Kingdom Beardlass (free false beard if needed)
31-36 Viraxian Harem Girl
37-42 Waepetian Nymphomancer
43-50 Suldukan Nun (2% flying)
51-55 Priss Class Replicant (cyaborg if not robodroid)
56-61 Galaxinoid Astrobabe (cyaborg if not robodroid)
62-67 Rogue Fembot (cyaborg if not robodroid)
68-75 Recalled Massage Droid (cyaborg if not robodroid)
76-80 Suldukan Blessed Ballerina (57% tutu)
81-85 Dino Islands Hula Girl
86-90 Funfair Tattoo Lady
91-95 God City Valley Girl
96-00 Junktech Gypsy Hootchie Mama

PIONEER
01-07 Fissure Guide
08-13 Cave Unhider
14-20 Iron Poacher
21-27 Grounded Spacehopper
28-33 Astro-Scout
34-40 God City Upstation Techno
41-47 Mountaineer, Northern
48-53 Mountaineer, Bleak
54-60 Deadly Mountaineer, Southern
61-65 Salty Bay Seadog
66-70 Dino Islands Paddleboater
71-75 Icy Lake Kayaker
76-80 Sailor on the Sea of Great Peril
81-87 Junktech Gypsy
88-93 Galactic Hitchhiker (50% towel)
94-00 Mysterious Strider (34% hooded cloak)

PSI WITCH
01-15 True Psi Witch
16-29 Esper Corps Cadet
30-43 Vulkinian Academy washout
44-60 Psychic Wars veteran (12% wanted for mindcrimes)
61-75 Hedge Psychic
76-92 squire to a Galactic Psiknight (3% phasic prismatic sword)
93-00 Hypermind Fragment

Shimmering Swords of Shallamaballa

The Glittering Knights of Shallamaballa are a nearly forgotten memory.  Shallamaballa was one of the many tiny worlds accessible only via a Rainbow Bridge, of which Asgard is the most famous and most butch.  The Glittering Knights were the protectors of the Fabulous Realm until it was destroyed by the Slayers, the strange servitors of the Beast of the Black Fortress.  Now all that remains of that heroic order are a handful of its legendary magic swords.

A Shimmering Sword typically takes the form of a rapier or other light one-handed blade, usually with a basket guard.  Curvy scimitars and gigantic daiklaive style two-handed versions are sometimes encountered as well.  When drawn a Shimmering Sword produces a small burst of colorful sparks, typically baby blue, hot pink or deep purple in hue.  The same colorful sparks trace bright arcs through the air as the wielder swings the blade in battle.

Mechanically, the following rules apply to any Shimmering Sword
  • Magic Blade: +2 to-hit and damage
  • Friend to Magic Horsies: +2 reactions from unicorns, pegasi, and etc.
  • Too Damn Shiny: unable to surprise foes with eyes while blade is drawn
  • Argh! My Eyes!:once per day on a missed swing the wielder may attempt to temporarily blind his foe with a light display, save versus paralysis to avoid d6 rounds of blindness, -1 to save for each extra eye above two, if foe uses ultravision a failed save indicates they are knocked out for d6 turns instead
I have no idea what this screenshot is from.

random dwarf names

This is a quick and ridiculous extrapolation from the names of those wacky dwarves in The Hobbit.

GET YOUR DWARF NAME HERE (roll 2d12)

First Part
1-3. B-
4. D-
5. Dw-
6. F-
7. G-
8. Gl-
9. K-
10. N-
11. O-
12. Th- or T-

Second Part
1. -alin
2. -ifur
3. -ili
4. -in
5. -ofur
6. -oin or -loin
7. -ombur
8. -om_ur
9. -ori
10. -orin or -horin
11. -ri
12. -walin

Notes
  1. When you get double letters (e.g. Dwwalin) you can drop one or keep them both and try to figure out what it means.  Maybe you could even insert an apostrophe, like so many bad fantasy and sci-fi names. "Dw'walin."
  2. If you get "-om_ur" you have two options. A) Simply insert the first part you rolled again, such as Tomtur or Glomglur.  B) Roll a second "first" part, for names like Tomglur or Dwanur.
  3. Option B) above can also work with the middle f of -ifur and -ofur if you want.
  4. You're on your own with pronounciations of some of these results.

not to be confused with the Karkus, which is from Dr. Who

So this semester I'm in this trippy class called Literature and the Related Arts: Sfumato, Synesthesia and Spirit, which I took mainly because the prof is the right kind of crazy.  (Also, "William Blake: WTF?" is an ongoing literary interest of mine, so any class about literature and the visual arts is Right Up My Alley.)  We had a guest lecturer this week, a local landscape painter whose work has gone from fairly straight representational oil-based cornfields to psychedelic watercolor cornfields.  Apropos of nothing, this dude recommends listening to Emerson, Lake & Palmer's second album Tarkus, which I am doing as I type this.  Some kindly miscreant uploaded the whole thing to YouTube.  Thanks, kindly miscreant!

While poking about the internets for this album, I stumbled across this image, from inside the album:
?

click to embiggen

I just thought all you all needed to see that, especially my Encounter Critical homies.

Bonus Classes of Sarpedon

For my next campaign I wanted something like AD&D style subclasses with less of the hassle.  So I'm calling the result Bonus Classes.  A Bonus Class is a very simple layer over an existing class, with an additional stat prerequisite.  So unlike AD&D subclasses, you don't hassle with their own rules anywhere else.  No custom spell lists or experience point charts, for example.  So here's a first draft at a Bonus Class for each of the canonical seven BX classes.  Note: no attempt has been made to balance this stuff.

Blaster Knight (Fighter Bonus Class), Prerequisite: Cha 13+, you get a random blaster gun (chart forthcoming) and all the social perks of being a knight

Psi Lord (MU Bonus Class), Prerequisite: Wis 13+, you may use the psionic rules from pages 19-21 of the LotFP version of Geoffrey McKinney's Carcosa.  Also, you have a big bald head.

Ninja (Thief Bonus Class), Prerequisite: Str 13+, you get access to the list of cool ninja gear (forthcoming) and whenever attacking from surprise you get d4 additional attack rolls

Adept (Cleric Bonus Class), Prerequisite: Int 13+, each level starting at first you get one random MU spell added to your cleric spell list, this means you actually get a spell at first level

Malformed (Dwarf Bonus Class), Prerequisite: Cha 9-, you may roll d4 mutations/defects

Gray Elf (Elf Bonus Class), Prerequisite: Con 18+, each level you gain a random MU or Cleric spell (you choose which list to roll on) as a daily power

Psycho (Halfling Bonus Class), Prerequisite: Int 9- and Wis 9-, may flip out like a maniac in combat for d6 rounds, during which Psycho gets 2 attacks/round at +2 to hit (melee only), but must fight for the entire period rolled even if that means attacking allies

Celestial Sects of Sarpedon, part 2


7.
SECT NAME:
The Alphomegans
GOD:
Oneg the Prober, Lord of Mutation
SYMBOL:
ridiculous mustache (handlebar, Franz Joseph, Hulihee, etc); clerics unable to grow a mustache wear an artificial one in order to turn or cast
GARB:
purples and/or pink robes with long sleeves and concealing hoods plus a shoulder strap satchel or a fanny pack
SPECIAL RULES:
at every even numbered level (2, 4, 6, etc) the cleric gains a random mutation/defect
at 5th level their satchel functions as a bag of holding
OTHER STUFF:
worship sites including standing stone circles, huge Uluru (Ayers Rock) style outcroppings of natural stone, and the location of unexploded nuclear missiles
some of the Malformed dwarves of Sarpedon are Alphomegans
Priests of the Eternal Regeneration (see below) are welcomed as brothers and sisters of the same strange birthright.

8.
SECT NAME:
Bringers of the Light
GOD:
Tefral the Surveyor, the Great Lantern-Bearer
SYMBOL:
lit lantern, clerics of this sect cannot cast spells/turn unless holding a lit lantern (continual light and electric illumination count, so long as they are lanterny shaped)
GARB:
either pinks and reds or purples and greens (see below)
SPECIAL RULES:
turned undead do not flee, they explode in big balls of white light
OTHER STUFF:
Among all the Celestial Sects of Sarpedon there is a minority position that holds that the Celestial Gods should never be named outside the holiest of ritual observances.  E.g. 1 in 6 Crimson Arbitrators will refer to their god as the Judge or He Who Judges, never calling him Arishem.  This heterodoxy is most common among the Bringers of Light.  Fully half of their temples consider naming Tefral to be blasphemous.  These priests wear robes of purple and green.  The more mainstream Tefralist temples wear pinks and reds.  The rivalry between the two schools of the Bringers of Light is intense and sometimes violent.

9.
SECT NAME:
The Eternal Regeneration
GOD:
Ziran the Tester, the Great Beneformer
SYMBOL:
skull displaying various nonhuman attributes or additions such as batwings or tentacles, a third eyesocket in the forehead, fangs, etc.
GARB:
hat or helmet with red wings (bat or bird), blue robes with red trim
SPECIAL RULES:
1st level clerics of Ziran begin play with one random mutation/defect and gain an additional one every odd level thereafter (3, 5, 7, etc).
OTHER STUFF:
Some of the Malformed dwarves of Sarpedon are members of this sect.
Alphomegan clerics are considered allies, joint heirs of the grand blessing of genetic instability.

10.
SECT NAME:
Sisterhood of Infinite Patience
GOD:
Yasmana the Abider, She Who Watches the Skies
SYMBOL:
The Divine Phuthan (Foothand), which looks kinda like this:
GARB:
Purple robes decorated with circles of red and/or blue, masks with third eyes painted on forehead
SPECIAL RULES:
Laser eyebeams: number of attacks per day equal to level, for d6 damage per level to a range of 10� level (e.g. 5th level cleric gets 5 attacks per day for 5d6 each to a range of 50�)  No to-hit roll required, but creatures immune to normal weapons save for half
OTHER STUFF:
The Sisterhood was once an exclusively female sect that now admits male members.  Male clerics of this sect are refered to as Man-Sisters until they reach third level where Man-Mother becomes the correct title (even higher ranked are the Man-Matriarchs).
This sect is more centrally organized than most, with the Mother Temple of the Holy City of Yasmana dictating policy for most other temples.

11.
SECT NAME:
The Holy Hunters
GOD:
Thoryon the Smiter, Hunter of Evil
SYMBOL:
double headed axe or hammer
GARB:
red robes with white and gold trim, elaborate helms
SPECIAL RULES:
may use hand axes and battle axes
OTHER STUFF:
the clerics of this sect are more self-righteously interventionist than a lot of these organizations, they seem pretty confident they can fix the world by smashing in the right skulls

12.
SECT NAME:
Students of the Silence
GOD:
Amalagar the Proclaimer, Utterer of the Final Word
SYMBOL:
The Negatron, a metal tuning fork-like instrument sometimes with a cube, sphere or pyramid at the bottom
GARB:
black robes with white or light blue trim or white robes with black trim, often involving lots of zigzags
SPECIAL RULES:
can use Lightning Bolt as a third level spell, Transmute Rock to Mud as a fourth level cleric spell (but not its reverse), and Disintegrate as a fifth level cleric spell
OTHER STUFF:
lots of members of this sect take vows of silence, a randomly recruited NPC of this sect has a 2 in 6 chance of never speaking save to cast spells