D30 folks you met in prison

D30-ish fellow prisoners and their disposition

1. Alice Lively:  Friendly
2. Aggravated Karl: Hostile
3. Cap'n: Neutral
4. Carnie Asada:  Neutral
5. Cat-Fart / Puke: Hostile
6. Chafey & Slick Nethers: Friendly
7. Gaurmish: Neutral
8. Grumbles / Mumbles: Neutral
9. Handsome Glauk / Prettyboy Thor: Neutral
10. Hapless / Lucky: Friendly
11. Jah-Balance: Friendly
12. Jenny Quid: Neutral
13. Li'l Debbie: Friendly
14. Maggie Pup: Hostile
15. Marigold: Neutral
16. Narr Neckbeard: Neutral
17. Og the Mot: Neutral
18. One-Two: Neutral
19. Piddling Pete: Neutral
20. Ponyboy: Neutral
21. Poxy / Sleazy: Neutral
22. Relioh: Neutral
23. Rubberlegs: Neutral
24. Shane McGowan: Uncooperative
25. Sours: Friendly
26. Slop / Wanks: Neutral
27. The Neck: Neutral
28. Three Teeth: Hostile
29. Ulk Big-Thumb: Neutral
30. Vorgrak the Voormi: Hostile

I'm doing a little leg work for a Savage Worlds conversion of SC-1 Perils of the Sunken City by +Jon Marr. Thanks to the G+ people, I now have an easy list of Extras to put through the funnel with the PC's. The idea is to get as much of the Savage Worlds system out in the open in stages as I can. Extras are a fun, and distinct feature of Savage Worlds, and the Extras that make it back alive with the party could become fixtures of the game.

If I wanted something closer to an actual funnel, I'd just give the players four chumps, and let them pick names from this list. I don't think the players in question are accustomed to that, so I'll probably have them build Novice level characters and throw them in with this bunch. The most important thing will be to throw in a quiet moment where they can talk about how they wound up in Mustertown's prison anyway...an interlude later in the dungeon to milk Bennies might serve that purpose. I'm actually thinking of starting the game "after" the group has been attacked by the opossum men and then "skipping back" to the start in a bit of a flashback, but that might be too fancy for me. We'll see.

Roll, or use any name that strikes your fancy, mark them off and write new ones in if you want to keep a living list of scum. Some are grouped to pair the list down to 30.x

2 to 4 per PC depending, they're designed to be fodder for the funnel. Flat d6 in everything. If a player takes a real interest in one, add D8 skill or to something implied by nickname. Nickname will imply personality unless you wish to roll for or invent one. Purple Sorcerer has a great little generator for 0-level that could throw up some inspiring info. +Ramanan S's generator could work too for quick ideas.

At least one extra should challenge the party for dominance, or try to turn on them at the first sign of loot, or balk at really freaky danger. This will let you go over Test of Wills. Extras will want armor, and weapons...will want to haggle over loot and shares. Extras take actions on controlling player's initiative card.

Savage Perils of the Sunken City.

So, I got the Sunken City Omnibus not long ago. The first "funnel" adventure is light enough that I'm going to grab it and use it for a Savage Worlds demo for folks who've never done Fantasy with the system. Here are my conversion notes of monsters in the module. This assumes you have both the module and Savage Worlds Deluxe. Hat tip to the Savage Free Bestiary as well. I've added traps and environmental hazards to the key also.

Cells of the Arena Slaves D-1

Healing pool restores all Wounds, and Fatigue on first contact. Repeated use in seven days heals all Wounds, but inflicts one level of Fatigue.

Collapsed Tunnel D-6

Dislodging the necklace here causes a minor collapse. Agility roll -2; fail 3d6 damage, success fatigue -1, raise negates.

Crocodillos (2)

As Aligator / Crocodile in SWDX.
Notes say that these two are "lethargic" from feasting on Opossum men that also roam the area. So if you're merciful you could step-down the die type on STR damage they do by one or two types, or as the text suggests "they do not pursue" those who flee their wallow.

Fellow (prisoners is how I'm running this) 

Extras for the players to "control" in fights. 2 to 4 per PC.
Flat d6 in everything. If a player takes a real interest, add D8 something implied by nickname. Nickname will imply personality unless you wish to "roll" or invent one. At least one extra should challenge the party for dominance, or try to turn on them at the first sign of loot, or balk at really freaky danger. Extras will want armor, and weapons...will want to haggle over loot and shares. Extras take actions on controlling player's initiative card.

Luck Shrine (Trap) D-4

Gas Trap as Venomous Poison, Medium Burst Template, 10 Mins to disperse. Vigor roll. Smarts or Agility roll for those who witness the opening of the trap to add +2 to the Vigor roll.
Flipping the brass marker on the vase from "Tragedy" to "Comedy" mask disarms the jar in question, 50% chance of each side facing out roll upon inspection. Treat "Electrum Coin" as a half-pound of meteoric iron hammered into a medallion bearing Malloc's tree sigil.

Madazkan's Arena (Death-Trap and Puzzle) A-5 

Theres a lot going on here. I haven't decided how to handle it. Contested Spirit Rolls vs. the arena crowd ghosts to act normally. Spears maybe Fighting d8 Damage 2d6. Flying murder-balls maybe Fighting d8 with Bash maneuver to drive people over the wall and into the pit. Crossing the wall without some kind of trick (Smarts roll -2 to time the climb, Agility -2 to finesse their way over...the book suggests climbing over a fallen companion...) will inflict 2d4 damage. The electrified screen maybe causes a vigor roll, and failure inflicts 1 Bumps and Bruises Fatigue each time as raw-elemental electricity courses through a body. Maybe do something really nasty if the character is "grounded" to another object when hit with this?

I think you could probably write a book about the merits of deadliness and translation to Savage Worlds. Some SW people might say its against the "Fun" in the FFF! motto, but if you can make it Fast, and make it seem Furious...two out of three ain't bad.

This is a bit of a railroad point...so careful clues and descriptions could turn some of that around. Inspecting the levers in the box could yield vital clues to the traps. Throwing the levers might start the whole thing...at least then they'd feel like it was there fault. Or it may demonstrate the arena's deadliness? Theres a few clues sprinkled into the description of the areas here, AND there's a few suits of decent armor. Be sure to have the Extras argue over who gets the good protection. *evil grin*

Malloc's Temple (Trap / Puzzle & NPC Patron encounter) D-8

Tendrils (8) Wounds as Extras, Rolls and initiative as Wild Cards
D8 for all Attributes
Pace 6, Parry 5, Toughness 7
Fighting d8

Malloc thirsts and begins at Reaction Hostile. Bearing a sigil of Malloc adds +2 to Persuasion attempts. Add +1 to Persuasion for deference, good acting etc. and let all the players get the chance to pile on this score. Even then Malloc is an ancient and twisted being that knows no morals...so play it like that.

Those who offer to take the "mark of Malloc" must offer their blood by sticking their something into Malloc's maw willingly. These characters suffer two Thirst Fatigue levels. A Sigil of Malloc will prevent the fatal effects of Thirst Incapacitation if the character hits that level.

This is a deal that must be struck...its not automatic. Those who take the Mark must accept a taboo (Vow Hinderance), and receive the Common Bond, Luck Edges as well as a deformity that imposes the Ugly Hindrance until their taboo is broken. Common Bond only works with other marked characters. Breaking the taboo inflicts Thirst Incapacitation immediately.

Refusing the mark results in a psychic backlash, and characters are shaken for 2d6 minutes, making them easy to rebel against, or wound and offer to Malloc. Spirit roll will cut the time in half, raise will negate.

Crossing the "circle" on the floor without bearing a sigil of Malloc, or attempting some obeisance, triggers the grasping tendrils, they grapple and drag people towards Malloc's maw at their pace. Wounded tendrils are severed and wither. One round later, another sprouts from the vacant hole and is dealt into initiative.

Opossum men (Degenerate Opposummen) (8) 

Add more if its fun, or buff one with Wild Card status for a prolonged battle.
As Gnoll in Free Bestiary. Reaction starts at "Hostile"
On a fighting roll of 1, the creature "freezes" for 1d6+1 rounds and looses its bowels / excretes a powerful musk. Treat this as Stun power (Vigor roll -2 saves) with a "Nauseating" trapping. Small Burst Template, centered on the creature. Read: adjacent squares affected, or 10' radius cloud around "frozen" adversary...however you like to roll. Persists as long as the creature "plays" dead.

Purple Slimes (2) (Wild Cards) 

Wild Card status may be overkill, but provides better chance of raise on Fighting roll to activate Madness Touch. You're the GM, figure it out.
Modified "Cavern Crawler" blobs from Savage Free Bestiary.
Attributes: Agility d4, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Fighting d6, Notice d12
Pace: 2; Parry: 5; Toughness: 6
Special Abilities:
Fearless: immune to Fear, and cannot be Intimidated or Taunted.
Immunity: no damage from cold or fire based attacks.
Ooze: +2 to recover from Shaken; no damage from called shots; immune to poison and disease.
Can not Gang Up on.
Can’t be blinded or deafened, they ‘see’ by feeling vibrations, ignore all lighting penalties.
Reach: 1 (stretchy reach)
Size: +1
Slow: Crawlers have a Pace of 2, and can’t run.
Wall Walker: They can move up walls and across ceilings without difficulty.

Madness Touch: As Fear power with a Fear penalty of 2, by touch, Extras are "Panicked" until a successful Test of Wills is made against them to get them to calm down. Intimidate does not work in this case. A Raise on the Fighting roll imposes Spirit -2 to save.

Rod of Chains Arena area F

The Rod of Chains allows the bearer to Roll Spirit to "turn" the skeletons of the slaves once per encounter with Skeletons. Failure enrages them and they focus on the bearer, success emancipates 50% of them. Raise emancipates all of them. Stats as a Long Sword in SWDX, STR+d8 damage.

Skeletons (Chain Skeletons)

As Skeletons in SWDX.
Treat their barbed, slave-chains as Spears AND Flails: STR + d6;  Parry +1, Reach 1, 2 Hands, Ignores Shield Parry, and Cover Bonuses.

"Whiskers" the giant, catfish

As Shark, Great White in SWDX
Add "swallow whole" from Giant Sturgeon in Savage Free Bestiary

Comments Welcome

This is my first big-ish conversion like this, and commentary and discussion is welcome.

Savage Hall of Bones part 1

What follows is a re-counting of my on-the-fly conversion of Hall of Bones for my co-workers. I was asked about how the the OSR-style setup converted to Savage Worlds and wether or not the styles were mismatched. Its just reposted here on the blog to keep it from slipping away into the G+ stream. Theres a great bit of back and forth in the comments and you can find the original post here.

Anyway, the on the fly work I did is leading me to want to dual-stat things in SW and in LL / Swords & Wizardry...more about that later I believe. Here's my reply to Jack that turns into a re-cap & reflection on my GM style...which seems to be a position statement that is emerging form my time running, and playing lately:

+Jack Shear  I did my best to be a lazy GM and read the module bit by bit as they explored. I rounded out their party with a starting "healer" and "mage" from the template list in Deluxe. First thing I ran into was the dilapidated village, its got a map (as +Erik Jensen  points out) for very little reason. I think maybe I'll recycle that map for a combat above ground post-dungeon. The two players were very cautious, and Tork's player was enthusiastic and battled with being too cautious and being "the brick" but he did it with gusto. They explored and started running into a conversion problem (ie making good "notice" rolls but getting little information.) So I just began with surface details / obvious things and your roll would give you a second level of detail, and a raise would give you accurate information. I'm a big fan of +Courtney Campbell's work, so I kept trying to bounce the decisions back on them with some ideas, kept trying to summarize etc. though I'm not sure I'm super good at hewing faithfully to the ideal on that. (hey, its all practice right?) 

They ran into puzzles first, and since the fighter was ironically and sufficiently suspicious of the button he'd pressed they found the stair trap. He also set off the moldy room trap, but the other player was thinking quickly and dragged his sleeping form from the doorway pretty quickly. There was some great ham acting on his part and the two of them bantered with my two extras a lot, and had a good time. Since they thought to ask the "healer" and the "mage" about the mold after activating it they were able to get info on disabling it, and spent an "hour" with faces covered, burning out the mold with torches. They faced a bunch of "do you get discovered by dungeon monsters checks" and never had an encounter. They discovered the sanctuary room, beyond the mold trap and just before the end they faced down my re-skinned "ghouls" in the big, trashy ghoul den. I simply re-wrote "goblin" stats from the SWDX and gave them an extra power. Because they were super scared by the purple mold, I played that up in the description of the little, toothy dead-things with purple-ley patchy beards and body hair. I also doubled the number monsters in the room, and just gave the first two "surprise" THEN I had to react to the first initiative card dealt (a joker of course) to the Archer. So, I declared my actions, and then let him decide to interrupt or not. Then started the first round.

Rules I made up or may have mis-used:
Purple Mold: 
vigor -2 or fall asleep for 2d6 rounds; the end of the round you fall asleep it settles on you, colonizes and you make one more vigor check @ -2 save = fatigue, fail = 3d6 damage. If you're asleep then someone else has to take actions to help you, or the mold eats you. Mold continues to eat you every round as before.


Surprise:
Two ghouls in this room just get automatic surprise. Fine. If someone pulls a Joker, let them in on the first round before everyone else goes, then go in order of the initiative as the cards dictate.


"Groovie Ghoulies": (goblins by the SWDX)
These four-foot undead have been colonized by a strain of mold or fungus that grows on their bodies and so just add a paralyze to their attacks. Any shaken, or wound they cause also gives a Vigor check. Fail = lose actions (not very sexy, but its how I translated it on the fly) for 2d6 rounds. Second thoughts about these monsters is that they should have 2, maybe 3 attacks since they're basically fighting d6 and are not likely to hit the fighter's 6 parry. Then maybe rework the paralyze by going to look at other examples of paralyze in SW products. If they are "purple mold ghouls" you could just use a the Vigor vs Sleep rules from the mold entry I guess, but I was going quickly and thats just hindsight...

The combat was quick and they did well. I'm going to have to do some kind of work on the spell casters that makes them easier for me to use...ie I need to know the Power Points system better or give them a set number of spells or something...

All in all, I felt like it was Fast for what we were doing, and we definitely had fun, I'm not sure about Furious but I can include that later. This was pretty good for a ZERO prep game though.

Thats everything I've got on it right now. I plan to take some down time and actually prep some of the module so I'll report back on that if anyone is interested. I should also get out the NPC pdf and see what kinds of personalities the "healer" and the "mage" have...right now, its like a 4 person buddy cop movie in there...which is also good.

Re-skinning for fun, not profit.

This is just a personal statement about use of stats. In a similar vein to +Jack Shear's Just Use Bears. I'm posting it here as a challenge to myself, and to provide a LINK to understanding how I intend to use / reference stats for things I post here later.

Economy:
Don't spend hours and hours rolling, or building bad guys. Pick some stats from one of the following lists...maybe add a really important, distinct power that uses existing rules. What stats you use depend on what game you're playing. Making baddies tougher is easy. 

For D&D / S&W / LL, you simply add a hit die, or raise AC or both. Lots of times its much easier to pick a new stat block from a humanoid or something up the scale a step, and just describe it differently. NO NAMES, DAMNIT. Calling it a goblin ruins it. Let the players call it whatever they want...if a monster appears more than once, they will name it. 

In SW, you make a stat block tougher by bigger or smaller degrees through manipulation similar to D&D and the clones. Parry goes up when fighting goes up. Edges can make a stat block harder to hit, harder to wound etc. Don't re-invent the wheel. Use what works for you. Steal what you need and describe it differently.

In either system: Pick one thing. You won't remember more than that for each type / individual bad guy. Make sure it uses existing rules, don't re-write rules and stay away from obscure rules that never get used. Head towards the core of either system and just play.

Quirks:
I really like +Brendan S's house rules for the "Finchbox"game he's running. Borrowing his HD mechanic for NPC's / Monsters / Adversaries is a good idea. Your milage may vary, but it makes sense to me. Same for adopting a flat AC score, and removing bonuses. Although, I'd say that for a GM, having the HD demonstrate prowess in combat is a nice, simple mechanic...so a 3HD whatever might still have a +3 to hit, or hit as a Fighter lvl3 or what have you. Do what makes sense, anything else will atrophy in use because its not suited to your style. Steal stats from the LL Monster Matrix, and keep going. Use special monster that follow simple rules you know, or duplicate spell effects that you know. Add an attack, or a special power use in the same round as experience dictates. Establish your own Ascending AC reference, and then refer to it.

For SW I steal a lot of stats straight from the SWDX explorer's edition, and might tweak if I feel the need. Of the scads and scads of settings I have, there are lots of stat blocks to sift when I'm feeling like it. Also, you can raise or lower a die type pretty easily on the fly, figure out a Parry or Toughness score by comparison, and if you run SW you'll become familiar with the typical "buff" style special powers pretty quickly. Even just rolling a d6 and sending in more copies of the stat block you have on the table is a good one in SW. If they're not Wild Cards, they can ratchet tension and not really slow players down. Wild Cards have their own wounds, and chance to soak wounds so they really seem to freak the players out when they show up, or you declare their actions. Lastly, 

Skin Factories:
The early attempts to commodify me are very useful as skin factories because I know them well and I love them...Thundarr, He-Man, Scooby-Do and all those other shows whose theme songs I still have memorized...they are skin factories that I should be stealing plots, characters, and situations from every chance I get, or every time I'm not feeling creative.

Freebie Stats:
LL Monster Matrix
SW FREE Bestiary

4 NPC's for the end of the world

Dawn of the Days of the Restless, Walking Dead

I'm currently awash in research that I'm hoping will help me run a Savage Worlds "the end is happening right the heck now" game of surviving in an urban environment while the dead return to life and civilization melts down.

So here are some Extras for use in your modern-ish PA setting. Three are "pulled" using the Zombie Run "cast of thousands" table, which is a lot like the SWEX NPC generator that used to be in the Explorer's Edition...and their starting gear is drawn from the Zombie Run and Hell on Earth scavenging tables...just to kick the tires on those tables, and redistributed in a sensible manner. The final Extra is more of a plot/quest generator that I just got the idea for based on my read of a contributing writer for a "prepper" website which Im finding to be great reading / entertainment.

Alec, Nate, and Sophia
These three are a little survival band to encounter early, either out scavenging or holed up in a place your PC's want to break into and loot.

Alec is: dirty, blue eyed, 20-ish, and bearded
Used to be: WRITER (local graffiti culture)
Loves: Cats (demonstrated by the cat with mustache and monocle on his t-shirt)
Carries: Aluminum softball bat (d6+d4); 1 flash-bang grenade (stun power)
Knows: a cache of 2d20 meals and 3d12 Liters clean water

Nate is: doughy, black-eyed, 50-ish, with steel gray hair
Used to be: ENGINEER (public works)
Loves: Conversation (the end of the world has killed a good talk over beers)
Carries: Large crowbar (d6+d4); 1 flash-bang grenade (stun power); 5 pints fuel
Knows: how to travel more quietly using the public utilities systems

Sophia is: tall, large-eyed, 50-ish with straight hair
Used to be: ENTREPRENEUR (start ups are her specialty)
Loves: Math (running the numbers brings her real satisfaction)
Carries: AR-15 (Use M16 Stats) +1 to Intimidation / 4 rounds left
Knows: how to organize and delegate to medium size groups of people

Goods held in common / up for barter:
25 rounds of .50 cal, 15 crossbow bolts, a case of 24 sodas, 9 extra meals

Captain Bart
This is a character with real potential: http://survivalcache.com/captain-bart/
But I see him as an etherial, ham-radio operating presence that relays possibly useful information. A kind of "Three-Dog" character with a survivalist / prep-er bent.

Bart is: a ghostly voice on the radio, 60-ish, 
Used to be: MILITARY, CHAPLAIN, MILITARY CONTRACTOR
Loves: preparedness and ham radio
Carries: Colt Commander (2d6+1)
Knows: that he's "too old" to "bug out" but hopes that he can still help people over the radio from his secret "bug in" location

Unbirthday Week:

I turned 35, and decided I'd give YOU a present. Maybe more if there's time over my little holiday...

Goblin Patches and their perils:
The light of civilization doesn't reach far in a wild, hard-scrabble fantasy world. At the dim, grey edges of organized sapient culture, there exists a twilight realm of unconscious fear and anxiety where fears take living shape and begin to colonize.

Goblin Patches are an aggressive fungus that can begin anywhere the refuse of civilization can be found...sewers, garbage piles, latrines...whatever you like. These patches produce a mess of plant goblins (read +James Young 's idea below). Use your favorite stats, and number of appearing stats.

Older patches may produce goblins with specialized functions, and higher HD or wounds. Low HD or non Wild Card "goblins" either explode when taken down (+Jack Shear 's idea below) or have a 2 in 6 chance if you're feeling nice. Large patches might inhabit entire sections of wilderness or dungeon and co-opt other boring encounter-type monsters making them fun again...(giant ant with a mushroom growing from its head anyone?)

Possible weaknesses to exploit:
Salt (or other common thing like Vinegar)
Fire
Sunlight

Evidence of possible problem:
Missing pets (or other vulnerable targets)
goopy-exploded slime where exploratory goblins have died errupted
someone turns up with a gross patch of skin after being "bitten"
another type of low-power monster turns up, with fungus sprouting from skull...

Possible complications:
explod-y goblins are spore-spreaders helping the patch expand...
fungus is also magical and therefore can't be starved out without some kind of arcane component (it feeds on FEAR I tell you!)
growth has a rapid "infection" rate in certain monsters or terrains
it never really "dies" until you destroy the progenitor growth spore (queen, CPU, mother-brain what have you)

Foundations of this idea:
http://tenfootpolemic.blogspot.com/2013/05/plant-goblins-for-lotfp.html

http://talesofthegrotesqueanddungeonesque.blogspot.com/2012/06/mucus-goblin.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiocordyceps_unilateralis

'Ravenous'

Been waiting to add this one to my DVD collection for a while. Got a crummy copy at Half-Price for cheap. In tribute to Bob Carlyle, and Guy Pearce and all the rest: a SWDX imagining of a monster...

Windigo:
(As SWDX "bear" but with different Special Abilities)
Pace: 8; Parry: 6; Toughness: 10
Agility d6, Smarts d6 , Spirit d8, Strength d12+4, Vigor d12
Skills: Fighting d8, Notice d8, Swimming d6
Pace: 8; Parry: 6; Toughness: 10

Special Abilities:
Woodsman
Pick One, or for a really mean monster add as many as you like:
Frenzy, or Improved Frenzy
Hard to Kill, or Harder to Kill (build in a special story based way to kill 'em)
Killer Instinct
No Mercy  (though, I'd rather see you using the 'Blood and Guts' rules)

Hinderances, to taste
Big Mouth, Cannibal (Windigo love to talk about...y'know)
Bloodthirsty (A bit obvious?)
Delusions
Habit, Major
(might be a good way to do this, but the Vigor check is likely offset by 'bear' stats)
Vow (lets start a master-race!)

Rules Hack to replace 'Habit' / emulate the, "insatiable" thing if you like:
Use the 'Hunger' rules from p.99 but replace 'food' with 'human flesh.' This has the benefit of being in line with previous fatigue rules and is a minor change. The drawback is that you gotta know those rules. Doubling the requirement might be a nice tweak as well...no one but the GM is gonna give a crap though. I'd say roll a d3 to randomly determine how many 'fatigue' levels if you like...or be really mean and start them at full.

Pro Tip:
Give your Windigo a BA back story with a few possible variations so that they can blab it when they're first discovered. Ravenous is a great introduction on a few ways to play it. Or for a more random / monster of the week vibe, simply replace "bear" on your animal encounter table with "Windigo" I guess.

Answering Jeff's 20 Questions for the Blackmash Hex Reassignment

"You can run D&D with just some PCs and a dungeon. I think that's totally legit. But if you have a campaign setting, here are some things for you to think about.  Better to muse on these before your players ask you, rather than finding yourself on the spot. Campaign worlds, whether published or just notes scrawled in some DM's binder, contain a lot of material that most players honestly just don't give a crap about.  That's entirely okay.  Answer some of these questions or others like them and you'll have yourself a campaign regular players can relate to." 
~Jeff Rients

What is the deal with my cleric's religion?

The Church of the Lady is a large, and far-reaching organizing element of human society. All clerics have functions and responsibilities as well as limited legal authority inside the Church. (big 'C' Clerics are special though...they can channel / manifest power) Four apostolic Martyrs act as ideological pillars of the Church. Taking up the order of one of these Martyrs is a formal way of declaring your personal politics. A shadowy inversion of the Lady of the White Way is a sort of open secret, and it is possible to be a 'Cleric' in this tradition as well, though to do so puts one at peril from both the Law and forces of Corruption.

http://talesofthegrotesqueanddungeonesque.blogspot.com/2013/03/religion-in-world-between.html

Where can we go to buy standard equipment?

Bone-stock equipment can be had at list pricing in the starting zone at Castle Blackmarsh. Dax Brothers Equipage is famous for its quality gear, but their prices usually ward off those with a light purse. It is possible to curry favor with different groups who could make getting gear easier: The Order of Bernus, the Wayfarer will supply Church sanctioned Wardens and Rangers with basic necessities at a very low cost. Becoming an agent of Abrams the shipping Magnate, or a mercantile guild might entail access to certain goods. In the wilderness, or near sparsly settled areas there may be some issues getting various types of items. It is possible to swap with folks met on the road, etc. 

Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended?

Taking a creature of Corruption anywhere near settled lands is a bad idea, Church Warden's Patents or no. Dwarves could do it most likely, particularly if your monster is anything like their Dwarf-dogs. Their prices are always bitter though. 'Sides, its a fools errand to wear a metal suit: can't swim in it, can't run or hide in it, and Summer in the swamplands would kill you, sure.

Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?

"They" all say that it has to be the "Wizard of the Isle" who dwells out in the Smoking Bay on that rock "they" say is the biggest piece of the "Mountain that Fell" course "they" are all damn-fools. Tyrilas, the Summer King is most-likely to be the mightiest sorcerer alive, and he sits the throne at Castle Blackmarsh.  

Who is the greatest warrior in the land?

The Summer King ceded the wild-lands to his greatest Champions, and they ward the lands beyond the Pact where Humans are forbidden. These are the seven greatest warriors ever to take up the blade: Ash, Oak, Yew, Alder, Elder, Hazel, Apple.  The Apple Knight is also called Sinerian, and she is the Chief of the Rangers based at Castle Blackoak.

Who is the richest person in the land?

Abrams has the largest shipping concern in Blackmarsh. How he's gotten away with that is a mystery, as he's not even taken Orders. Tyrilas and the Summer Court pretty much "own" the entirety of the Pact Lands, they just let us live here...so they must be the richest Folk around. Then again, the Cardinals hold the handles  to the doors of Heaven so maybe they're the richest?

Where can we go to get some magical healing?

The easiest way would be to have an association with the Church. Barring that, there's some secret societies, and cults. A trick or two might be learned / found / discovered along the way if you're brave enough for that.

Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath? 

Same as for magic healing. Death is pretty permanent. The Orders of Coraline, or of Calbrius would be mighty hard to convince. But those who worship Mama Lazuul, or Papa Stimett might know a thing or two about calling across the veil of night.

Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?

A secret society is what you're looking for. Are you religious more or less? Are you okay with breaking the Law? Cultists know spells too. Its said you can learn spells by eating Fae, but that would be a sin against the Law and open your soul to corruption...

Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?
Inside the Church when near civilization, out in the wild you'd have to bargain with a witch or something. A member in good standing with a secret society could also gain easy access to experts.

Where can I hire mercenaries?

Typical rowdies can be had from any place with a population. Real mercenaries could be more difficult. If you were brave enough, you could always recruit out in the Fens where the brigands and pirates are.

Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law? 

The Church frowns hard on casting in public, and casting in general. Even with dispensation, it could bring trouble down on you for causing a stir. Real blades are marks of status, and society enforces the status pretty strictly, so you might be de-bladed as a sign of deference or something. People who can channel divine power run the risk of being pulled into a large and dangerous political game within the Church. The farther you go from the Church, the less likely you'll be met with Inquisitors.

Which way to the nearest tavern?

The Dancing Fool is just the other side of the wall from the harbor. Its big, its cheap, and everyone goes there; caravaners, sailors, capitans, guild-folk...y'know businessmen. (Read: Patrons)

What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous? 

Hells yes! Reports from Jorvik say that Giants may have ranged down out of the Westwall. The Dwarf merchants from Olden Hold claim there's a demon boar up there so big, and smart that no one can find or kill it. They've named it Tatari-gami and placed an immodest bounty on its head. The sailors and fishermen always tell tales of the Bay Kraken, which must be utter shite, but make good stories. Even just ripping up a Gobblin Patch by the roots or keeping some Kobolds from spiriting away an entire village would earn you a little fame, and maybe an offer to join the Wardens.

Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?

The Rangers are like to be gearing up for a push against the Gnolls sometime soon. Away east, the Cardinal Ragnar chafes under his cassock at being stuck out in a castle on the strand, facing a swamp. Its rumored he might be harboring wild, heathen men from the north rather than guarding against them. You could always take orders and join the Wardens in their war on Evil...

How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?

Aways south and west of here the Dwarf Lord Mazardan stages gladiatorial combats to honor the Dwarf Gods and to bring riches into the markets of Olden Hold. She has a reputation to maintain after all, even so far from home. Rumor has it she's seeking another husband for her Manner-serai.

Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?

Several esoteric societies inside the Church, cults, covens, and guilds. What's your fancy?

What is there to eat around here?

Snake-blood-porridge, giant crab-man stew. Fish, wild game (just don't poach beyond the Pact) & Halfling grain for brewing and baking.

Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?

There are a few relics holy to the Church at large. Any decent-sized piece of the Mountain that Fell will get you into some serious trouble too. Ancient dwarf weapons lost to time, and mysterious magical elf constructions surely must crop up as well.

Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure?

"The Lake King" lives in the bottom of one of the great swamp-lakes in the Blackmarshes, in a city made from solid gold.

Spring Cleaning

I'm not good for frequent posting. I'm still tinkering with Blackmarsh, trying to understand it, trying to make it less (in my humble opinion) vanilla-fantasy. Meanwhile there are a great number of creative, and productive DIY D&D projects just erupting around me, and lots of "I paid for this product and now I'm going to read it" type-situations to take my attention away from getting up a regular blog post.

The "Gygaxian-democracy" thing has been producing interesting and eminently useable crowd-sourced things for play. You can, were you inclined, simply pickup, prep a bit, and run things like Devilmount, The Kraal, and Hexenbracken. In their way, they are more distinct, interesting, and useful than many, many, many products that you and I have paid for. I love that, and I think you should look them over if you get the chance. Armed with any of your favorite versions of the rules, and maybe Zak's advice on "How To" do it...you should be in for a lot of fun and discovery.

There are a few products for Labyrinth Lord that I have found to be worth my money in terms of ideas and potential use, and they are from Sine Nomine. Red Tide: Campaign Sourcebook and Sandbox Toolkit, and An Echo, Resounding: A Sourcebook for Lordship and War are two products that seem like companion pieces to me. They explain the "sandbox" thesis of Sine Nomine pretty well, and give good examples to boot. Spears of the Dawn and Other Dust also look like great and useable games, but I'm not done really digging into them. I did help KickStart Spears, and the timeliness and the quality of it convinced me to go back and look at other products...well played +Kevin Crawford ...well played.

Things I have in the "to-do" plie for the Hex-Reassignment thing, which I feel will cap that thing off for now are as follows:

• post some sample encounter tables for the region and a list of useful links for running
• post a list of the things that inspired the work to begin with
• maybe post something covering the meta aspects of my take on this...maybe

Hex Reassignment Surgery: Turf

I really like the free Blackmarsh stuff, and I've been trying to connect in a more intuitive way with the Blackmarsh map, so I went through Welsh Piper's ideas about turf and started dotting the map. This is a conceptual map for now, trying to show different types of influence, knowledge  and allegiance. Since this work is ultimately for trying out  +Jack Shear's gothic flavor I'm using the Blackmarsh map key as a basis to launch the re-skinning from.

I've used green to show areas that have a loyalty to the Church, are settled, and relatively safe. Yellow is for specific adventure sites and / or encounters that aren't always going to overlap with the Church's laws, goals, etc. Red, is mostly for monster-controlled territory or ranges, specifically dangerous sites, and anti-human or anti-church things.

The zones of influence suggest a lot to me at a glance: who might know what about things in the area; who you might bump into when you're out and about; where the secret / valuable stuff is; what kind of re-skinned monsters ought to go where. Zak had a post about zones a short time back too. For me, the coloring works as a way to get some better info at a glance. (In reality, I don't know what the "X" with superscript next to them are intended to mean...so I did this instead.)

Its not quite finished, but I've certainly gotten a better idea of the map and the map key overall than I had before. Welsh Piper's thoughts about world building, turf, and letting random tables guide the wilderness exploration experience have produced some interesting results. I've not added all the overlapping territories yet, as I wanted to focus on the areas around Blackmarsh Castle to get a better idea what starting characters near there might face. If you're checking my work, you'll note that I didn't really fill in some of the full "ranges" suggested by the size of some of the encounter monsters...thats because I was in a hurry and more interested in settlements and the like.

With any luck, I'll be able to figure out a way to tag a PDF version of this map with "stickies" or annotations that I can simply click on during a session to get a bit of detail of each 5 mile hex. Then, maybe add some custom encounter tables for zones, and BAM...its all over but the treasure rolls...right?

A work in progress: Combining info from the Blackmarsh Hex key and Welsh Piper's Thoughts on Turf.

"Duke" Brassclaw

I've been looking for inspiring images of Goblins and Kobolds for the Blackmash work I'm doing, but the side effect is that I wind up finding more pics that make me think of +Erik Jensen's Wampus Country. So now this image won't get out of my head. So here I present to you the villan, Duke Brassclaw. I used the Wampus Country Striga Generator to give me an idea of what I wanted to know about it / him. So here's a story about the "Duke" Brassclaw...

Name: "Duke" Brassclaw
Once there was a Duke and Duchess back West, in Granddad's Country. They joined the wrong Magikcal Social Organization. The price they paid was loss of social capital and since they were mostly broke anyway they had to sell their titles and lands and head East in to Wampus Country. This was some time ago, and since they came out here they say they ain't never been heard from since. You and me, we know different though, don't we?

Origin: foul pact, foolish bargain
Being sorcerers of some skill, the two thought they knew the score. Just move West, make some ritual bargains, get rich. More's the pity, they only realized too late that Wampus Spirits can be fowler...er fouler, and blacker than any old demon.

Hates: newborn infants
Now you know that "Brassclaw" was once two people. Because they bargained away their domestic union, and their future heirs, babies and their cries only serve to remind 'em of their bitter loss.

Modus Operandi: harries travelers on "her road"
Away out in Wampus someplace, there's a road that leads to an ancient place. This is where the Duke and Duchess went to make their dark pact. It was the place they'd hoped to call their own. Now, their minions patrol the land around that road, and demand "taxes" of any who dare venture there.

Features: frightening primitive mask
There was a mask, once. A big, ol' owl-headed thing with a long nose on it and little owl legs made of bright brass just a-pokin' out the front next to some ivory tusks! It was the symbol of the pact for riches and glory between the couple and the ancient spirit in that old, old place. The thing is...they had pledged to display the mask in their great hall, ugly thing that it was, and never never were they to put that thing on. Of course, they knew the mask was the face of that ol' spirit. It was plain to them as the nose on your face is to me...they jest knew that they could cross that spirit, and make it work for them if they put that mask on...so they did.

Dress: shift woven of spider-webs
Well, I don't have to tell you that the ancient spirit not only tricked them, but cussed them good for breaking that bargain to boot! It didn't welch on the deal entire...now the two of them do have a title and lands. Though not the way they might have thought. They've got a crown, and a cape too. But the cape is made of cobwebs, and the crown is made of feathers.

Supernatural Quirks: she can remove any curse with a kiss - any curse but her own, that is
Oh, and they're still powerful, my dears, yes they are! They can break the foulest of curses with but a kiss from their long nose.

Vulnerability: mundane plant (holly-berry, potato) Obviously, baby's breath!
I heard from a Cupcake Man I met on the road once that ol' Brassclaw can be kept away by wearing a crown of Baby's Breath in your hair, and that in the Springtime they ain't seen in the meadows nor the glades.

Conveyance: chariot/coach drawn by (black steeds, skinless hounds, blinded orphans)
But sometimes in the dark of night, you can hear Brassclaw's royal-purple coach a rumblin' down a lonesome road. If you do, be sure to be clear off the road before those poor, blind, orphans pulling that thing can smell you! 'Cause if you ain't, and they ketch you...you'll have to pull that coach in their place my dears! Yes, and they'll get to go home to your folks just as reg'lar as anything, and won't nobody notice it. Only folks who'll remember will be the two of you, and of course, won't be no helpin' it 'lessen you can trick Brassclaw into kissin' you!

Implement: skull, corpse, or body-part (cat’s skull, mummified infant, fox-tail)
The Cupcake Man told me that sometimes the Feyan out in the wild get a little meanness in them and try to scare folks on the road at night by conjuring up a vision of Brassclaw and that purple carriage. I tricked him into tellin' me how to know the difference between the haint they use and the real Brassclaw too! The only way to know you're stuck in the dread presence of the real Brassclaw is the bright red Foxtail Brasclaw carries as a wand...

Minion: superior-to-the-norm specimen (lesser undead, goblinoid)
...and the whippity-clever Goblin footman wearing giant hip-boots and a wig who carries the Foxtail wand and is never far from its master.

There! Now I can get to thinking of something else! Whew! Also, if you want stats...I don't know...use Owlbear stats and have the thing cast as a 4th level Magic-User or something. "Warning DIY D&D product...never use as directed."

~IMCTT

Hex Reassignment Surgery: Deities

So, the basic tone of the re-skin is trending towards "grim" and that means I'm working against my typical inclinations. Not a problem, but a challenge. +Jack Shear's TotGaD: What I know about the gods of the World Between is the source I'm drawing from.

Really quick detour:
I have just begun my read through of +Andrew Shields ' excellent 'The World Between for Fictive Hack, and I believe if you've not seriously looked at his adaptation you're doing yourself a disservice. There are a lot of exciting ideas, and he expands The World Between in very interesting ways, and adds a beautiful map into the mix.

Okay, back to deities. Before I enumerate a buch of Jack's stuff, let me give you the outline of my idea on how these are going to be used: The source material is human-centric. The humans of the setting have a unified, organized church that is a major pillar of human culture. Elven law dictates that humans are not permitted to worship any gods other than their own, and human culture and religious practices reinforce that. The demi-humans have their own cherry-picked pantheons from Jack's lists. Not much invention, just re-mixing whats already there.

The weird, otherworldly, and capricious Nature Gods seem like a good fit for the elves in the Black-Mash. These gods should be linked to rites that make them seem primal, alien, and pagan. Blood, and sex magic as suggested by +Andrew Shields seem appropriate.

• The Crooked Moon
• The Forest Who Walks
• The Gods of the Grapes
• The Lamenting Mother

Dwarves should have some considerably "metal" deities...so I'll combine the Storm Sovereign pantheon with anything on the list that seems fitting to me. I notice a lot of female deities in the dwarven pantheon, and that's fine. I've always liked my idea of matriarchal dwarves anyway. It will make for great tales of their dalliances.

• Astariax (Goddess of Intrigue, Stratagem, and Mercantile Prosperity) – always depicted as wearing luxurious clothing and with her nose turned up in the air haughtily; like if Paris Hilton were Machiavelli
• Charlak (God of Imprisonment) – it is said that he carved out dungeons beneath the world before men ever walked the globe.
• Garm-Gorak (the Bloody Maw, God of Wolves and War) – like a Viking on an LSD-and-PCP cocktail *In Black-Mash, Dwarves are Wolf-Riders and have a special kinship with Canines. Over time, they have bred dogs for many purposes and Dwarven Dogs are a thing as much as Dwarven Weapons.
• Hulmora (Goddess of the Elements) – if Thor were a permanently pissed-off goddess who threw thunder and lightning and rain everywhere
• Merrihel (Goddess of Death and Glorious Battle) – the Morrigan via German opera and Romanticism; has Shadar-Kai Valkyries; hates Baba Yaga
• Thanalia (Goddess of forging, sailing, and cavorting) – party-time goddess *Sailing might seem contradictory, but embrace that...its a good detail.

The humans of Black-Mash have an elaborate and unified religion. Their church plays a part in nearly every aspect of human culture, and is often the connective tissue of human civilization in the wilds.

• The Lady of the White Way – a warrior-mother goddess, like Mother Mary crossed with Joan d'Arc; a monotheistic goddess—all other divine beings are considered to be false idols and demons; has a hierarchical priesthood, a pope, cathedrals, inquisitors, witch hunters, and templars; her church has four apostolic saints.
• Arianna, the Bloody Redeemer, a crusader who brought the fledgling Church of the Lady to the pagans. She is depicted as a mighty warrior in plate armor wielding a sword stained with the blood of infidels. She is especially revered by cavaliers, mercenaries, warlords, and nobles from military families.
• Bernus, the Stumbling Wayfarer, was a merchant who converted to the faith of the Lady after an encounter with an angel on the road. He is depicted as a blind-folded pilgrim leaning on a shepherd's crook. He is especially revered by travelers, traders, gypsies, and penitents.
• Calbrius, the Light Seeker, a monk who compiled the scattered theological documents said to be the holy writ of the early Church into the Book of the Lady. He is depicted as a cowled, hunchbacked scribe laboring over ancient tomes. He is especially revered by scholars, astrologers, wizards, and learned theologians
• Coraline, the Voice of Doom, was a mystic who became a prophet after wandering the wastelands of the north. She is depicted as a gaunt figure whose eyes burn with divine radiance. She is especially revered by oracles, inquisitors, templars, and witch-hunters.

I think it would be a good idea to put a kind of dark-mirror version of the Church of the Lady into play. The reverence of these gods is a kind of open secret tolerated by the Church of the Lady. These gods seem like a good fit for halfings too, since halfings somehow were once human.

• Killane of the Road (The Luck Lord, The Prince of Coins, The Keeper of the Crossroads) – revered by gamblers, pirates, bandits, and travelers; a happy-go-lucky god; definitely a trickster. *the archetypal man at the crossroads 
• Mama Lazuul (Lady of the Midnight Hour) – goddess of crimes that happen under the cover of darkness and late-night rendezvous; goddess of thieves and love
• Papa Simett (Lord of Secrets and Whispers) – it is said that anything that is whispered is heard by Papa Simett

The Beast-Gods
These primal deities are a collection of Gnoll-gods and the forgotten, elemental remnants of pre Church domination. Isolated humans may take up the worship of these gods, but it will cost them much of their humanity.

• Father Sothack (God of the Briny Depths, the Drowned King, Prince of the Kraken's Maw) – grim sea god; Neptune crossed with Dagon; his avatar looks like that Cthulhoid guy from Pirates of the Caribbean; his rites involve near-drowning baptisms
• The Golden Lion – Beast God; God of Pride, Honor, and Martial Prowess
• Hakhan (Demon Lord of Bestial Bloodshed) – depicted as a massive minotaur or broo-like creature covered in blood and girt with a belt of skulls; basically the god of death metal album covers
• Junox (The Ever-Flowing God) – a god more feared than worshiped; said to have created oozes, slimes, jellies, puddings, etc.; rules from a throne made of garbage and refuse
• Kumo-Thlis (The Snake God, The One Who Slithers) – definitely sinister; his rites involve snake-handling, speaking in tongues, rolling in the aisles
• Mong-Trall (The Capricious Monkey God) – a trickster god; his temples are defended by monkeys wielding razors
• Mother Lothack (Demon Queen of the raging sea, the Tempest Queen, Our Lady of the Sharks) – the demonic consort to Father Sothack; those who survive shark attacks are considered to be blessed by her
• The Luminous Hawk – a Beast God; barbarians believe that he drags the sun into the sky each day; he is the enemy of the undead
• The Unconquered Badger – a Beast God; he is the God of defending hearth and home; you've seen the honey badger video right? he's like Ron Swanson in honey badger form

That leaves me with Devils, Demons, and Extra-planar Menaces. This is a kind of tool-box to pull from when I might need ideas for Black-Mash later.

• The Carrion Marquis – super creepy and gross death; god of death in war; depicted as a rotting general surrounded by a cloud of black flies
• The Dismembered One – super creepy and gross death god worshiped in Mord-Stavian; depicted as horribly crippled and missing limbs
• The Flayed Maiden – super creepy and gross death god; depicted much like Julia in Hellraiser II before she gets her skin back
• Matakhan (Demon Queen of Assassins, Executions, and Poison) – purple-skinned and multi-armed; bloodthirsty; may be a female avatar of Hakhan
• Morgath (Lord of Undeath, The Corpulent Reaper) – a big fat fleshy grim reaper; fit for doom metal album covers; worshiped by liches, vampires, pennangalan
• Narlathia (Fey Goddess of Enchantment, Pain, and Plunder) – her servants are deadly red-caps and drow; revered by marauders; Lolth-y and Cenobite-y
• Skaylex (Goddess of Fungi) – more feared than worshiped; the mushroom men are her servants
• Slithian Vor (Demon Queen of Aestheticism and Carnality) – Slaanesh as designed by Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley; sends succubi as emissaries
• Sluurge (Demon Lord of Pestilence, Famine, and Gallows Humor) – always depicted as wearing a top hat; a diseased dandy
• Zzorch (Demon Lord of Mutation and Wild Magic) – like Tzeentch, but more interested in mutations and magical experiments; Victor Frankenstein would have worshiped Zzorch

Fun with Abulafia

I'm learning how to use Abulafia. HENCE: the Wampus Country Witch Generator.

I'm still learning how to make it work. Even with just a couple of entries automated...its kind of exciting for me to watch it work. I had to force myself to stop dog-piling entries into the tables. Obviously, I'm going to have to separate the generator into "Classic" and "Modified" versions or something. I immediately started wanting to make "private" pages that would help me run games...any ideas on that front would be welcome!

Here's one to come back to:
Black Betty Sumac or "Dame Sumac"
foul pact, foolish bargain

My adventures with Abulafia are all documented here:
http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Category:Coded_by_Bryan_Mullins

Hex Reassignment Surgery: Humanoids, assembled!

Right now I'm still reading the Blackmarsh hex list. It's interesting to note that the material looks pretty sandbox-y to me on the surface, but actually has some story baked right in.

Today I'm looking at races and making notes on how to use them. Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque takes an approach that I think is interesting:

"Since my campaign setting is humans-only for the player characters, I tend to associate each human-like race with a fear linked to the human condition; that is, each demi-human race represents some problematic aspect of mankind that we like to pretend doesn't exist."

So, I'm making a list of things that will help me keep towards the uncanny side of demi-humans. Its intended to be a kind of quick-n-dirty reference to remind me what I'm aiming for when I use or re-skin demi-humans from the Blackmarsh source. I intend to "lump" some of these together and so they are listed together.

Dwarves: the fear of Avarice

Dwarves should always have a price. One that is high, strange, and inflexible. Dwarves should always have the most unique gear and / or services that can be crafted and bought. Dwarves will always insist on being paid in the clearest of terms. They should be blunt to the point of rudeness about what they will and won't do; do and don't want etc. Dwarves should also behave as though their greed is normal. They will expect those they interact with to have a price, and will want to know what that is. Graft and nepotism are expected...then you'd want to run their societies kind of Roman. Patrons, and favors and bribes, and obsessions. They might be kind of Hanseatic, or Mafioso...I'm not sure. The entire race should be in some sort of protracted war against another non-human race over a failure to pay a debt. These are the folk who created the idea of interest as a thing that accumulates, they may have invented money too.

Drow, Eladrin & Elves:  fear of Decadence, Alien-ness, & Chaos

My first lumped group, and one of the more problematic demi-human races for me personally. I don't really like fantasy elves of any stripe, its just a problem I have. I like that Jack has removed the color coding from his elves, so I'm keeping that and renaming them all Faeries until I come up with something better. Every Elf, Nixie, Sprite, and Mermaid in the Backmarsh source needs to be filtered as I go. That shouldn't be hard to do because one of the stories baked into the setting has to do with Elves and where they stand on the idea that they have the right to govern the other races. That can be spun in a gothic way, right?

Where you find a Faerie will tell you a lot about them. If they are rustic, they might be Elves; urbane and social, possibly Drow; aloof and hermit-like...maybe Eladrin. Fey should have a modestly knowable set of logical operators. They should keep their word (perhaps strictly), have long memories, and have a hard time relating to shorter-lived races. They should not use magic, but rather be magical. They should distribute boons and curses frequently per the TotGaD source.

My list from before applies here. Making them weird and unique will be necessary as they have a large part of the Blackmarsh back story, and I might get bored with them if I don't lean into the challenge.

Giants, Trolls, & Ogres fear of inebriation, the abject, & cannibalism

Two words for you...Troll Hunter. There is plenty of swamp in Blackmarsh and plenty of Trolls in the TotGaD Compendiums. A broad selection of Troll-ish goodness lets me have good, old-fashioned monster fun times. I like that Jack gives Trolls a kind of antipathy. Their nearness assaults the mind and drives out reason. They curdle milk, and pollute clear streams of water. They rage through the countryside and consume mass quantities. If they do talk, they talk of the greatest meals they've ever had (or the bravest people, or the most valuable item) and may be goaded and tricked easily. This includes Hags though, too so don't get too triumphant there, Finn McCool.

Gnolls: fear of Animality

Maybe it was all the He-Man and Thundercats in my early days, but Hyena / Jackal dudes are completely rad. They should attack in packs, have alphas, and be red in tooth and claw. Anytime you start to put a wolf encounter in, change it to a Gnoll encounter instead. Gnolls are often linked to slaving in D&D...who are they taking people to? They don't keep them.

Gnomes: fear of the Unheimlich

If used correctly, the players should assume the Gnome in question is a kind of representation of Satan. Maybe there's only The Gnome, and it serves some similar cosmological role as the adversary / tempter. Rows and rows of shark-like teeth is a great image to use to startle and disarm. They should offer great power at a terrible price, or seemingly easy solutions to tough problems.

Goblins & Kobolds: fear of science run amok & misrule

Basically Gremlins. They should spawn like crazy, die in droves and be mostly reptilian...keep the "dog head" for extra strangeness if you like. Should be known for eating the flesh of Humans, diabolically-trapped warrens, dangerous war machines, weird magical automatons (made of what: wood? bronze?), and unexpected explosions. Their leaders should be a major cut above, with ageless shamans and wizards maintaining enough organization to keep the Man-flesh supply steady. Goblin as a name has a lot of baggage attached to it for me, so I will probably use Kobold in its place. "Kobolds ate my baby!"

Halflings: fear of place

What happens to a Human when they have no hope? What does it look like when they succumb to the mundanity of life? Hobbits. Thats the answer. Over time, Humans can literally shrink as their spirit of independence withers and they become a caricature of the free-willed individual they were once. Halflings, are therefore mundane in every outward aspect and sinister in every interior manner. Interactions with them should be a kind of "hey this could be you, if you'd settled down and started pig farming..." or "Damn, down-and-out is really down and out..."They might be used as a kind of house-fairy analogue as well...the ones you leave little gifts for in hopes they don't ruin your life. They should certainly be a kind of gleeful parasite on human societies.

Orcs: fear of savagery

Bred for war, but by whom? Everywhere you find a Faerie who does not want to get its hands dirty, or whatever...there will be an Orc. Guards, brutes & enforcers. Orcs without masters leave the "civilized" areas and wind up with even more sinister masters. TotGaD has them listed as a created race, so there may not be any sexual dimorphism. Being created raises lots of interesting questions. How do you control them? Can they be commanded to do anything other than delight in savagery? What vile rituals and ingredients come together to create them? 

Tieflings: fear of racial degeneration

Caliban & Half-bloods. Interbreeding rarely goes well, and there are dark, corrupting forces out there everywhere. Curses, diabolic-pacts, and magical mutations are just a few ways you could wind up with a messed up humanoid. I personally don't like Tieflings (see Elves above) so I wont be using them in the strictest sense. Maybe some cultists and sorcerers have to hide their forked tongues, and file their horns down...thats fine. What I'm thinking of is more along the lines of Mike's Half-Elves. Setting aside the willfully mutated, I want some slice of half-blooded freaks to be victims, or innocents. That might be too Quasimodo...I don't know.

That's everything I have that overlaps between what I want in the game, whats in Blackmarsh, and what Jack has written. I'm resisting the urge to kitchen sink a whole bunch more monsters. Snake-men, for example, make an appearance in any game that I run (...too much V: The Final Battle for me as a kid...) My counter-argument to myself being that any more 'monsters' should be unique rather than assumed as a 'species' ... which serves my ethic of trying to fight the Vanilla Fantasy Creep.

~IMCTT