Scatter Rolling Hex Interiors

This is my contribution to the RANDOM BLOGWAGON hosted by Prismatic Wasteland.  I recently played the Catan Dice Game and it got me thinking of how to use the dice for scatter rolling features for a hex's interior.  Use 4-8 normal D6s if you don't have the resource dice.

Dice	Plains	Forest	Hills	Lowlands	Mountains
1 (Brick)	Hamlet	Cottage	Hamlet	Hamlet	Cave
2 (Wood)	Copse	Grove or Vale	Lone Tree	Thicket	Thicket
3 (Sheep)	Pasture	Wolf Den	Shepherd's Hut	Bog	Shepherd's Hut
4 (Wheat)	Farm	Woodcutter's House	Homestead	Homestead	Abandoned Fort
5 (Ore)	Mine	Tomb	Stone Circle or Dolmen	Ruins	Cliff
6 (Gold)	Trading Post	Treasure Stash	Abandoned Mine	Treasure Stash	Cave

Use this Generator tool from Last Gasp Grimoire!

A Keying Oracle for Settlements and Points of Interest

When keying locations for the Pictish Campaign I use a variety of methods starting with researching the real life location's legends and history.  After this I pull from my Quests List (which I expanded to about 170 quests since posting and assigned each to a location) and check a spreadsheet of unassigned minor arthurian characters (which I made using the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Arthurian Legends) for any characters I might add.  After this I season with a rotation of tables for features and quests (d4 Caltrops Stronghold Quests, Murkdice Connective Tissue Table, My Knights Table) I modify these as needed once rolled to fit the quasi-historical arthurian vibes of the setting.  The last step I usually go through is drawing cards with a features Oracle.  I use a modified expanded version of the deck of many things for this (but modified this to work with a 52 card deck).  The prompts drawn from the deck are taken in with everything else and enmeshed with what I already have to give some additional texture and features when I'm writing the keys.  

Point of Interest - Draw 0 to 2, depending on need.

Settlement Size
Hamlet - 1 Draw
Village/Small Town - 2 Draws
Town/City - 3 Draws
Large City - 4 Draws

Card Oracle
Clubs
2 of Clubs - There is a creature's den.
3 of Clubs - There is a dungeon.
4 of Clubs - There is dangerous faye.
5 of Clubs - There is a creature's aerie.
6 of Clubs - There is something related to a neutral deity.
7 of Clubs - There is woodlands and a shrine to the king of the wood, or hunters.
8 of Clubs - There is a significant stone, stone circle, dolmen, henge, obelisk, cairn, or statue.
9 of Clubs - There is a site of an ancient battle with a tumulus and shrine.
10 of Clubs - There is a hidden place, stronghold or place of peace.
Jack of Clubs - There is an assassin, poisoner, or dangerous person.
Queen of Clubs - There is a significant warrior or something they left behind.
King of Clubs - There is a band of warriors.
Ace of Clubs - There is a place of death, knowledge or warning.

Hearts
2 of Hearts - There is a lost ghost.
3 of Hearts - There is a grim or black hound.
4 of Hearts - There is an orchard or significant tree. 
5 of Hearts - There is a maze-like warren.
6 of Hearts - There is a trapped spirit or faye.
7 of Hearts - There is a shrine to the dead, a resurrected one, or a false tomb.
8 of Hearts - There is a safe hidden place left by a powerful individual.
9 of Hearts - There is an eternal flame or shrine to a fire deity.
10 of Hearts - There a dangerous misunderstood creature.
Jack of Hearts - There is woodlands, bards or feasting.
Queen of Hearts - There is a fallen star, a place only accessible by night or a nighttime event.
King of Hearts - There is someone who is deeply in love.
Ace of Hearts - There is something left behind by a powerful sídhe.

Spades 
2 of Spades - There is a changeling, twins, or doubles of something.
3 of Spades - There is a sacred or hidden grove.
4 of Spades - There is a dark place.
5 of Spades - There is werewolves or wolves nearby. 
6 of Spades - There is something associated with the moon or a lunar deity.
7 of Spades - There is a place of illusions, magic, or beauty near.
8 of Spades - There is a bard, filí or skald.
9 of Spades - There is a shrine to a sun god or a place that is only open at dawn.
10 of Spades - There is something alluring but dangerous.
Jack of Spades - There is a treacherous friendly face, thief, or liar.
Queen of Spades - There is a plague, illness, or sick person.
King of Spades - There is a deceitful person or a situation that is not what it seems.
Ace of Spades - There is a place where one can see a glimpse of their fate or past.

Diamonds
2 of Diamonds - There is a small forgotten stash of loot.
3 of Diamonds - There is ancient ruins.
4 of Diamonds - There is a wondrous steed.
5 of Diamonds - There is a merchant with rare goods.
6 of Diamonds - There is a scholar or something scholarly.
7 of Diamonds - There is a hidden way to or from the otherworld.
8 of Diamonds - There is a wise elder.
9 of Diamonds - There is a dragon or something associated with dragons or sea serpents.
10 of Diamonds - There is great wealth or treasure hidden.
Jack of Diamonds - There is an individual who is widely acclaimed but a fraud.
Queen of Diamonds - There is a seat of power. 
King of Diamonds - There is a tower or hidden fortress nearby.
Ace of Diamonds - There is an important item for a far away quest.

The Slumbering Castle Devlog 6: Playtest Thoughts

Playtest 1

In my last update I said I would be playtesting the Slumbering Castle at Total Con 40, but I chickened out because I didn't feel I had enough to go off of.  Now I have finally tested this adventure at a different convention (Nerdfest).  The playtest went fairly well, and I ended up with plenty of notes.  

What Happened?

At the start of the session I gave players a crude map of the kingdom revealing the back entrance of the brook.  This was a last second decision and a mistake as players immediately believed this to be the best way into the kingdom.  3 bandits were waiting in the lowlands along the brook, in ambush for folk leaving the kingdom to take their treasure.  They ambushed the party and killed them within a few rounds.  The players found this amusing and asked to re-use the same characters and attempt to enter through the front gate.  They re-entered through the front gate and explored the kingdom on the path to the castle, slowly losing stamina (the stamina loss rate seemed perfect to me - just biting enough to cause a bit of constant fear). Eventually they made their way into the castle and stayed there a bit too long.  I want to save the details of what they found so no future playtesters get spoiled :)  Only one adventurer made it out and the others fell asleep while running back to the front gate.  

Difficulty

One of the players commented that the adventure was too difficult to finish in one session.  This is the intent so I didn't find it overly concerning.  As I mentioned earlier I felt like the stamina drain happened at a perfect rate, at least for this first test.  

Dragon Movement

The Dragon's current movement setup was perhaps a bit too fiddly and had it firmly nestled in the corner of the kingdom (zones 1 and 5) for the entirety of this playtest (as its movements kept pushing up against the boundaries of the hex zones and therefore it wasn't moving at all).  I believe I will change this to have it move counter-clockwise if the movement dictated by the dice is impossible.  

The Slumbering Castle Devlogs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 

Spark Tables for Visions

Roll a D6, D10, D12 and D20 at once, and consult the tables for inspiration:

Arthur Rackham

What message is imparted? (D6)

1. A warning
2. A rebuke
3. A request
4. An instruction
5. A question
6. Nothing Clear 

Where are you? (D20)

1. A hill
2. A mountain 
3. A lake
4. A battlefield
5. Ruins
6. A graveyard
7. A tomb
8. A castle
9. A tower
10. A forest
11. An island
12. A beach
13. A cave
14. A desert
15. A swamp
16. A bridge 
17. Your birthplace
18. A grove
19. A fountain
20. A ring of standing stones

Location Descriptor (D10)

1. Misty
2. Dark
3. Moonlit 
4. Putrid
5. Ancient
6. Snowy
7. Rainy
8. Frozen
9. Ethereal
10. Gleaming 

Who else is there? (D12)

1. A pack of creatures
2. A great noble beast
3. An army
4. A shrouded figure
5. A fallen one
6. One you know
7. A great power
8. A magical being
9. A warrior
10. A trickster
11. A monarch
12. No one

The Spy Action RPG

This is a game inspired by Conqueror of Kamelia, and the Bourne Movies.

Rules:

• Characters have no traditional attribute stats.  Only year of birth, backstory, passports (name and country), and equipment (each can carry 1 pistol without being noticed in urban environments)
• All fights are 1-on-1 even if they aren't.
• A fight between 1 PC and 20 enemies is resolved as a series of 1-1 fights. 
• The cooler character always wins in a fight.
• Coolness is determined by consensus based on the following in order of importance:
• The character with more unique attributes is cooler. 
• The character with more unique training is cooler. 
• If two characters are equally cool, the older/more experienced character is cooler.
• If two characters who are equally cool fight, the one with more wounds at the start of the fight wins but begins slowly dying after the fight. 
• Slowly dying takes 10 minutes in real time and while slowly dying a character may not be killed by anything.
• If a character falls into a body of water while slowly dying they automatically live but may not return within the same session.  
• After this they appear a month later in a location determined by throwing a dart at a world map.  
• Wounds can be physical or emotional but always slow a character down slightly and make them more noticeable in a crowd.
• Player characters know the language of every country they have a passport in and speak as a native.
• If a character points a gun at another character within arm's reach the gun may be disarmed and taken without any risk.

Characters start with a backstory, 2D4 passports and associated aliases, a pistol or switchblade, a sniper rifle in a duffel bag or 3 burner phones, and 3D100 Euros in cash.

Spark Tables for Bandit Companies

Roll a D4, D6, D8, D20, and consult the tables.

Louis Rhead

How many are there? (1D4)

1. Three
2. Half a dozen
3. A Dozen
4. A Horde (10 + Add up all dice rolled)

Where is their hideout? (1D6)

1. A cave
2. A ruined fortress
3. A small wooden keep
4. A rocky overpass above a trail
5. A cliffside grotto
6. A river island

Background (1D8)

1. Dispossessed nobles
2. Runaway children
3. Deserters
4. Born outlaws
5. Escapees
6. Political dissidents
7. Angry peasants
8. Religious folk

Descriptor (1D20) 

1. Mangy
2. Cruel
3. Kindly
4. Merry
5. Musical
6. Just
7. Destitute
8. Wise
9. Dangerous
10. Well-Regarded
11. Foolish
12. Notorious
13. Nocturnal
14. Cowardly
15. Lazy
16. Dolorous
17. Silent
18. Putrid
19. Unknown
20. Reckless

Idiosyncratic Knight NPCs

This is inspired by Zelda-Style NPC Personalities.  I am a big fan of using a variety of NPC generation tools in a single campaign to keep things fresh for myself and players.  I am not using this generator for every knight in my setting, but sprinkling them in as seasoning.  

Knight Behaviours (Flip a coin and roll a D6 and D8)

Heads: This knight will always... 
(1. bow 2. fall in love 3. speak in the third person 4. offer aid 5. pray 6. drink from a wooden flask)
when... 
(1. meeting a stranger 2. challenged to a duel 3. threatened 4. asked for help 5. insulted 6. entering a settlement 7. slaying an enemy 8. the sun rises)

Tails: This knight never... 
(1. removes their helmet 2. reveals their true name 3. speaks outside of riddles 4. kills 5. accepts coin 6. puts down their sword)
...
(1. until the enemy is slain 2. unless it is past dusk 3. other than on full moons 4. until the quest is completed 5. except when asked politely to 6. except during rain or snow 7. while watched by any flying creature 8. except on holy days)

Traits (Roll 1D10, write another based on prior prompts)

1. Haughty
2. Beautiful
3. Woeful
4. Fearless
5. Vengeful
6. Peaceful
7. Ominous
8. Aged
9. Violent
10. Naive 

The Knight Always Challenges (Roll a D12)

1. Foreign warriors
2. Anyone with a larger sword
3. Mages
4. Druids
5. Those perceived as disrespectful
6. Knights wearing a crest with a predatory animal
7. Warriors with a more beautiful horse
8. Warriors who do not bow first
9. Oath Breakers
10. Boastful knights
11. Thieves
12. Nobility

Garb and Armor (Roll a D20)

1. Crimson
2. Blue
3. Green
4. Black
5. Yellow
6. Wintry
7. Tarnished armor
8. Ancient 
9. Ragged
10. Cape is too long
11. Cape is too short
12. Woolen boots
13. Roman
14. Celtic patterns
15. Holy
16. Enchanted with minor magic
17. Unarmored
18. Fractured Armor
19. Jeweled
20. Shining