A Product Endorsement!

I don't buy RPG products anymore, except for the occasional low-cost PDF. There's so much free stuff available on the net; clones, adventures, generators, blogs... plus, I've got a crapload of old TSR modules and a few modest ideas of my own, so I just don't have any need to spend cash on D&D. However, one of my favorite retro blogs is Patrick Wetmore's Henchman Abuse, and when he made his publishing debut with The Anomalous Subsurface Environment, I had to get me a copy... and I love it!

Grognardia has an excellent review of the product here. I agree with all the points there, except this: don't let the weird science/gonzo futuristic aspects of the work deter you, even if you are a diehard "traditional fantasy" aficionado. Personally, I like having some rayguns and such in my game. Including such has really been a great way to add some fresh excitement to a genre I've finally grown bored with after 20+ yrs of gaming. Still, if this doesn't mesh with your campaign world, such features can easily be "reskinned", adapted, omitted. A computer monitor can easily be described as a Crystal Ball, an electric switch becomes a mechanical lever, a powered light source can be a Continual Light Spell, etc. As James at Grognardia writes, "Buy This If: You're looking for a science fantasy spin on the classic megadungeon or don't mind reworking one for use in a more traditional fantasy setting."

If you do get it, make sure to take advantage of Mr. Wetmore's generous and considerate offer of the free PDF of the ASE Map Pack (larger, detached version of the maps found in the module)

Fun with Concealed Pit Traps

1. Pit o' Confusion. Getting your friend out of a hole when he is affected by Confusion is quite difficult, and often amusing, especially when someone else climbs in to help him out

2. Aerial Servant or Invis. Stalker lurks in pit, charged with throwing any who manage to climb out back in again, unless destroyed or Dispelled

3. Floor of pit coated with incredibly sticky, viscous glue (like modern rat trap). Victim can possibly disrobe or remove armor to escape, but the stuff stays in the hole

4. Pit surfaces coated with harmless but smelly bio-luminescent fungus which proves very difficult to wipe off

5. Magicked with Illusion that Pit is Bottomless, but only those falling in are affected. "Malengar, quit fooling around down there! Stop screaming and grab this rope! What the hell is wrong with you?"

6. Floor of Pit littered with large, spore-filled, psychoactive Puffball Shrooms

7. Pit filled with Mild Acid. Causes redness and extreme itching for several turns (penalty to AC, etc), slowly dissolves organic materials like leather, wood, clothing, etc. Does not cause HP damage or corrode metals

8. Classic Spiked Walls begin to close in, then suddenly halt with a loud snapping/grinding sound. As soon as victim sighs in relief, the spikes launch from the walls like crossbow bolts

9. Pit filled with a cloud of denser-than-air, vision-obscuring Sleep Gas. Think about it...

10. Floor of Pit is a single pressure plate, which violently launches the floor (a column of stone) upward if anything falls onto it, smashing said anything against the ceiling above the Pit area. Then, it either slowly descends back into the Pit, revealing whatever it has pulped on its way back down, OR it does not reset, leaving anything it has smashed stuck between the pressure plate and the ceiling, and also blocking off further passage down the corridor

11. Tiny holes along bottom rim of the pit release a creeping mass of flesh-devouring beetles, which flow over any fallen victims, and then rapidly climb up the walls of the pit, seeking further meals

12. Pit is actually in the ceiling above the indicated spot, and pulls victim upward via Magnetism or Reverse Gravity. Once victim has "fallen" upwards and taken damage, this effect ceases, and what went up... must come back down!

13. Oddly, Pit contains a rusty but relatively sturdy escape ladder bolted to one wall. The third rung is trapped to cause a second trapdoor in the ceiling above the pit to open, filling the pit with rocks, bits of ruined armor, broken blades, and other misc. dungeon debris

14. A series of horizontal panes of glass stretch from wall to wall, each a few feet below the previous one. Anyone falling in smashes through each successive pane, eventually ending up on the stone floor covered in shards of broken glass. Its really noisy, too

15. Floor of Pit littered with snap-jaw Bear traps, each chained to the floor. Requires multiple Saves. Also very noisy

16. Contact with floor of Pit Teleports victim to a spot 10' above the Pit opening. "Aaaah!" Thud. Zap! "Aaaah!" Thud. Zap! "Aaaah!"...

17. Bottom of Pit filled with 10' deep mess of metal-flake "glitter". Falling in does no damage, but does cause a sparkly cloud to coat everything within 5' of the opening, and anyone struggling to get out begins to sink in the stuff, which is apparently an inappropriately festive form of quicksand

18. Floor is single metal plate. Each of the walls is normal stone for the first one foot above the floor. Thereafter, up to the opening of the Pit, the walls are covered with metal plates. The floor is negatively charged... and yeah, the walls are positively charged

19. There is a Secret Door in one of the Pit walls. Behind it is (d4) 1. A stairway leading up to a second concealed trapdoor not far from the pit opening, 2. a closet filled with malevolent Skeletons, 3. a small room containing a long-dead adventurer, still clutching whatever treasure he managed to pilfer before dying alone in this hole, 4. an unmapped shaft &/or slide which eventually opens into a concealed trapdoor in the ceiling of a room on the next dungeon level down

20. Your own idea, or a second Random Pit Table you yoinked from some other RPG blog; I'm all out of fun holes

Cry "Havoc"...

...and let slip the Dogs of War!

Not quite the "War Dog" I usually picture in my mind, but I bet a little guy like this would be just right for flushing out a warren of Kobolds...

"GNAR CIRCLE"

A game played by the Nomads and Hunters of the Crimson Desert, usually accompanied by heavy wagering.

Needed to Play:

- Two teams of players, equal in number, max. of six per side
- One Club (optionally torch, same difference) per player
- A flask of Oil
- Several Blue Scorpions (AC 4; HD average 3; Dam 1 HP, + Save vs Unconsciousness for 3d10rnds, Size approx 1ft long) These ugly buggers are normally quite passive, and only attack (stinger only; not with pincers) when provoked, as when set ablaze. By all accounts, they ARE NOT fans of the game!
- a certain degree of moral... flexibility

Object: Win by Scoring the most Points, or by "Default" if none of the opposing team remains conscious!

Prior to Play: Number of players per team and number of Scorpions to be used are agreed upon. Three Scorpions ("innings") per game is the usual convention, but that depends on how much real time the Players and DM want to spend on this folly!

To Begin: The players form a circle, alternating players so that no teammates stand beside any others (this may change as players are rendered unconscious or dead). A coin is tossed, and a member of the losing team steps into the center of the circle, carefully removes the docile Scorpion from a sack by grasping it by the tail, annoints it with a small amount of oil, and lights it on fire, doing 1d4 dam (this maneuver is considered automatically successful so as not to over-complicate things). He then tosses it to the ground and runs back to his position in the circle.

Gameplay: The flaming Scorpion goes berserk, charging a random character in order to flee the circle. Initiative is rolled. If the PC/NPC wins and scores a hit, his team scores a Point, the Scorpion takes damage and is assumed to be knocked back toward the center of the circle, and rushes another randomly determined PC/NPC. If the Scorpion wins initiative, it attempts to sting the PC/NPC, and if successful, that team loses a point, and the victim takes 1 HP of damage and must make a Save vs Posion or be rendered unconscious. If the victim remains conscious, he may still keep the Scorpion "in play" by successfully hitting it. If this counter-attack misses, or if the victim has been rendered unconscious, the Scorpion attempts to flee the circle through the gap now created, unless prevented by the PC/NPCs which are on either side of the victim, who then rush together to close the gap allowed by the guy who was stung. At this point, initiative is again rolled, by the Scorpion, and by BOTH of the PC/NPCs which occupy the spots to the left and right of the previously mentioned guy-who-got-stung. If the Scorpion beats both parties, it escapes the circle and gets the hell out of there, meaning that the team of the guy-who-got-stung loses a second Point (the first for being stung, the second for allowing the Scorpion to escape), and the game moves into the next inning and must be started again with a fresh Scorpion. However, if either PC/NPC (or both of them) wins initiative, there is still a chance to keep the Scorpion "in play", by scoring a hit & gaining a point for their team. If BOTH miss, the Scorpion has escaped the circle. If the Scorpion escapes, the person who missed the final chance To Hit loses a Point for their team. Play continues until the predetermined number of Scorpions are killed, or escape.

In summary...

Scoring Points: 1 Point is scored by a successful hit on the Scorpion, which automatically drives the hapless creature back into the circle (known as a "Single"). A killing blow, or "Double" awards 2 Points. (OPTIONAL: A hit of a "natural" 20 automatically crushes the exoskeleton of the Scorpion irregardless of its remaining HP. This is a "Triple" and awards 3 Points.)

Losing Points: 1 Point is lost if a PC/NPC is hit by the Scorpion. (additional Points are not lost if the victim fails to Save, although this of course makes it more difficult for the victim's team to win. This is known as the "adding insult to injury" clause!) 1 Point is lost if the Scorpion escapes, applied to the team of the person who had the final opportunity to keep the Scorpion in play, but missed in their attack (the "escape" clause). Points lost cannot result in negative Point totals; "Zero" is the minimum number of Points possible.

Keep Track of: Current Point totals for both Teams, the remaining HP of any Scorpion in play, and the position of each PC/NPC in the circle, relative to the other players remaining in the game.

Wagering: Bets can be placed on any number of variables; which team wins (of course), but also on how many men are left standing, who may of may not score a Double or Triple, how many rnds each inning may take, whether or not somebody dies, etc.

Much thanks to Blair at Planet Algol for the inspiration for this sick and weird game-within-the game, based on an idea he, in turn, got from the master, Jack Vance!

Monster AC & HD as Average Values

This 10 GP gem has been in the loot bag for so long I'd forgotten to Blog about it! Nothing mind-bogglingly innovative (the Blog is 10 GP - not 1K GP- Gems!), but an easy way to add variance to encounters, and keep the meta-gamers and HP-counters on their toes.
As an example, your "standard" Carnivorous Ape; AC 6, HD 5. When planning an encounter, I roll 1d4 twice, and possibly modify both AC and HD:

1= -1,
2 or 3 = No adjustment,
4 = +1
So, for any group of Carn. Apes, the AC range is from AC 5 to AC 7, and the HD range is from 4 HD to 6 HD. Maybe this group is AC 7, but has 6 HD, maybe the next group has AC 5, but only 4 HD.
You'll know its working when a Player says, "Hey, a standard Ogre can't have more than 33 HP!" Well, this ain't your standard Ogre then, is it?