otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Oct 15, 2016 11:09:44 GMT -6
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 21, 2016 1:47:39 GMT -6
I like to add uncertainty and chaos by having the players secretly write their actions in combat down on index cards. We roll initiative after actions are declared.
I do side-based initiative; each side rolls 1d6 against the other, and the side that wins holds that initative for a number of rounds equal to the difference between the two rolls. Then initiative is rolled again.
As for written actions, I have in the past prepared a cheat sheet with basic actions covered by the rules such as attack, parry, charge, set vs. charge, withdraw, retreat, cast spell, turn undead, use item, etc. I included a 'support' action where a player can choose to support another character, and performs the same action as that character if able. I have allowed conditional actions like 'if charge, then set vs. charge'.
Even little things like that can make a huge difference.
*edit*
Another trick, used by a friend of mine, is to make weapon choice matter in tactical considerations by taking reach and area into account. Up to three man-sized characters may fit in a single 10x10' square. This is considered a tight formation. Two-man sized characters sharing a 10x10' square is considered a loose formation. One man sized character in a 10x10' square is not in formation.
Now, it is easier to prevent enemies from moving past you while you are in close formation, but you are more limited in the types of weapons you can use. Some weapons, such as long swords, battle axes, and especially flails require a wide clearance to use (which isn't feasible in close formation.) Close formation limits you to shorter weapons, or thrusting weapons only. Close formation frees up the use of swinging weapons with wide arcs (such as the aforementioned swords and flails) but it is easier for enemies to move past you. So you give some kind of mechanical incentive for characters to use long, arcing weapons. Long weapons strike first in initiative. And if you use some kind of 'cleave' houserule (I think Dave Arneson introduced that, if I am not mistaken) then this would only be applicable on long edged weapons. ' Most melee weapons can be used only in the front row. Spears and polearms, however, can be used to attack from the second row.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 21, 2016 0:14:11 GMT -6
The Zener-Tarot of CarcosaI like to think that Carcosans play games with modified decks of Zener cards: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zener_cardsCarcosans play with their own special Zener-Tarot deck with five suits of minor arcana numbered 1~10 and a major arcana themed around the Great Old Ones: 0. The Idiot (Azathoth) 1. The Frost (I'thaqua) 2. The Fire (Cthugah) 3. The Tomb (Nyarlathotep) 4. The Key (Hastur) 5. The Guardian (Hastur) 6. The Gate (Hastur) 7. The Dream (Cthulhu) 8. The Sphere (Yog-Sothoth) 9. The Tree (Shub-Niggurath) Most Carcosans mostly use this deck to play a game similar to poker, but sometimes they also use it as a tool to identify psychics. A few Carcosans even use the deck for purposes of divination, and a rare few can use the deck to perform sorcerous rituals! *Cartomantic Divinations of the Zener-Tarot*Invocation Ritual This ten minute ritual requires nothing more than a deck of Carcosan Zener-Tarot cards, and an offering of blood from any man (the sacrifice) whose fortune would be told. The sacrifice may take one to three points of damage to ask up to that many questions, and receive truthful answers provided that the answers can be communicated in the form of numbers from one to ten, colored shapes, or symbols of the eight Great Old Ones. Note, that if any of the ten major arcana cards depicting symbols of the Great Old Ones is drawn, this ritual will have an additional effect. The Idiot: The sacrifice loses 1-4 points of Intelligence. The Frost: The sacrifice loses 1-4 points of Constitution. The Fire: 1-4 Cthugah's Flame Creatures are summoned to claim the sacrifice. The Tomb: A Byhakee is summoned, and takes the sacrifice to a tomb inhabited by mummies. The Key: The sacrifice learns the location of a (probably cursed) treasure. The Guardian: 1-4 Diseased Guardians are summoned to claim the sacrifice. The Gate: The sacrifice is teleported to a random hex. The Dream: The sacrifice falls into a deep slumber for one die months. The Sphere: The sacrifice is granted 1-4 wishes by Yog-Sothoth. The Tree: The sacrifice is transformed into a random Spawn of Shub-Niggurath.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 19, 2016 0:30:14 GMT -6
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 13, 2016 23:06:10 GMT -6
I like Mundanity as a skill! It has an interesting symmetry with the Mythos skill. I like it when characters from other settings (like Hammer-horror Earth as envisioned by James Raggi) cross into Carcosa and vise versa. Mundanity could represent both resistance to the madness of the Great Old Ones and the character's connection to the "Quiet Side" as Zak S. calls it in A Red and Pleasant Land. With a higher Mythos skill your eyes open to the horrible truth of the cosmos and the Great Old Ones, and your mind shatters. With a higher Mundanity skill you withdraw deeper inward into comforting delusions of a quiet life on Earth, but at least you can enjoy short-lived reprieve against the psychic assaults of Nyarlathotep and Cthulhu. A character with low Mythos and low Mundanity would be more-or-less a 'typical' fluorescent colored nomad on Carcosa. A character with high Mythos and low Mundanity though would be like some kind of planeswalker straddling both worlds, passing through the interstice at will. *edit* Papa Lazarou! That's a black Sorcerer of Carcosa with high enough Mundanity to cross over into our world but high enough Mythos to maintain control. youtu.be/s2F4ZWTjwTU
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 13, 2016 17:18:36 GMT -6
Yeah, burningtorso, that sound's great!
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 13, 2016 13:02:57 GMT -6
Neat! Thanks.
It seems though that a lot of these, like kleptomania, are already things that player characters do by default.
A few I'd like to add to the list (from Being No One, by Thomas Metzinger)
Prosopagnosia The afflicted is unable to recognize faces, including their own face.
Hemineglect The afflicted is no longer capable of reading the left half of sentences or phenomenally representing events in the left half of their visual field. The afflicted may not dress the left side of their body or shave the left side of their face. Left, as a visual model of reality, ceases to exist for them.
Blindsight The afflicted has a phenomenal hole in their vision; their conscious mind is blind to the affected area, but the visual information still registers with the unconscious part of their mind. The afflicted is considered blind, but they are able to correctly "guess" colors, patterns, and the positions of objects in front of them.
Anosognosia The afflicted loses higher-order insight into existing deficit, and cannot update their self-model to account for deficits; if blind the character does not realize they are blind, if deaf the character does not know that they are deaf, etc.
Cotard Delusion The afflicted suffers a delusional belief that they are dead, does not exist, is putrefying, or has lost their blood/internal organs.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 13, 2016 11:23:40 GMT -6
What is insanity on Carcosa, though?
Mental illness has a context. What do we consider insanity within the context of a world where robots fire insanity missiles at jale-skinned Cthulhu cultists armed with radium pistols and dinosaur-bone clubs?
That might be a topic for another thread.
I like to imagine though that Carcosans retreat from their fluorescent-colored reality into a pastel-colored fantasy of Edwardian era clothes, horse-drawn carriages, and pleasant manors in the country.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 12, 2016 15:03:55 GMT -6
The 1E DMG also has a table for insanity. The 1E DMG is a treasure trove. Would you happen to know what page that's on?
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 12, 2016 13:53:58 GMT -6
The hyperlinked Carcosa Digital edition has insanity effects in some of the hex descriptions, usually as abilities used by Spawn of Shub-Niggurath. There is also robot that fires insanity missiles, a rock formation with insanity rays, etc. Actually, it seems that there are alien energy weapons with insanity effects. I'm one of those guys who likes to tinker with systems a lot, so stop me if anything I propose sounds too fiddly. Unknown Armies is fun. It's kind of a different take on Call of Cthulhu/the urban fantasy genre. Last game I was in played out like a Cronenberg film. It does get conflated with story-games though, and I think the rpg.net crowd latched onto it for a while. I just like it because of the insanity mechanics. There's this other game I really like, but that's much further removed from D&D and Rune Quest. It's a Japanese game called Nechronica. You play as the sutured and reanimated corpses of children called 'Dolls' in a dead world ruled by a necromancer. Anyway, that one has a fun sanity/relationship mechanic called 'fetters'. Each fetter gives you an attachment to a character or an item, accumulates stress, and has an effect upon the attached character or object when you accumulate too much stress. For example, you might have a fetter that makes you really fixated on another player character's beautiful eyes, and if you get too many stress points on that fetter your character is driven by impulse to rip the other character's eyes out and take them for yourself. It's a really unforgiving mechanic too; you accumulate stress after ever round of combat!
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 11, 2016 17:13:17 GMT -6
You might also consider using the 'level adjustment' mechanic where you simply count the character as being one level higher for purposes of determining how much XP is required to attain the next level.
So, assuming the use of AD&D experience tables A level 1 non-sorcerer Fighter would require 2,000 XP to attain level 2 A level 2 Sorcerer/Fighter would require 4,000 XP to attain level 2
It's a much steeper cost, but it requires less mental shorthand.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 11, 2016 16:55:44 GMT -6
There are some references to insanity effects in Geoffrey's Carcosa book, it's just very vague on the actual rules of insanity (which I understand is intentional.) I imagine that the men of Carcosa are much more resilient against the effects of insanity than Call of Cthulhu investigators (or, insane to begin with). I could see there being sanity rules for major things like encountering The Great Old Ones or even as a simple pool of mental hit points against psionic attacks, just that men of Carcosa don't roll sanity checks every single time they glance at a book. Sanity rules could still be useful here even if they aren't used to the same extent that they are in Call of Cthulhu. Sanity rules would also be really helpful in cases where men from other worlds get transported to Carcosa somehow.
I don't suppose you've played Unknown Armies? In UA you have track sanity on multiple axis such as 'Selfhood', 'Isolation', and 'Violence'. Furthermore, while failed sanity checks bring you closer to a psychotic break, successful sanity checks make you increasingly 'hardened', further distancing you from normal people but in the opposite direction.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 11, 2016 15:58:30 GMT -6
Now, does Stormbringer have sanity rules? Or should be port those over from Call of Cthulhu? Also, we briefly discussed (in another thread) the idea of having a separate skill for each type of sorcerous ritual: Conjuration, Binding, Imprisoning, Banishment, Torment, and Invocation. Do we still want to do that? How about psionics? Do we want to have one skill for psionics? Or break it up? I kind of like the AD&D 2e categories: Psychometabolism, Psychkinesis, Clairsentience, Telepathy, Psychoportation, and Metacreativity. Maybe include a Meditation advanced skill that sets the limit for your other psionic skills? What are your preferred houserules for Runequest/Stormbringer? I actually agree with Lindybeige in regards to weapon skills. youtu.be/_XMl5bmHmuII think I'd prefer skills vs. armor types. So you could have an Attack vs. Light Armour skill, an Attack vs. Medium Armour skill, and an Attack vs. Heavy Armour skill.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Grime
Sept 10, 2016 12:08:35 GMT -6
Post by otiv on Sept 10, 2016 12:08:35 GMT -6
I like the idea, but I would probably simplify it to something like -1 to reaction rolls per day in a dungeon, -1 per week in the wilderness. I think things like this can really aid the immersion of the game and remind players that their characters are in a somewhat living world as long as there isn't too much bookkeeping. It's not such a burden since it can be removed with a bath with soap and laundry. Also the laundry and bath will cost a few gold pieces - just because I like to separate players from their cash as much as possible. I don't regulate the bowel activity of characters, though I have used such solitary activities as the hook for a random encounter. Nothing like a stirge in the butt to keep players motivated. EDIT: Should've read the post by scottenkainen before posting...great minds think alike. I've recently been reading about viking/Nordic concepts of Innangard and Utangard. A character that spends too long in the woods without a bath is going to look more and more like some kind of outlaw "forest man", further removed from the lawful realm of the Innangard. I'll probably go with this system, but just add the extra penalty for looting corpses and wearing looted armor.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 6, 2016 16:42:52 GMT -6
A little familiarity is a good thing. That just makes it all the more poignant when I change things in subtle ways.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 5, 2016 22:43:09 GMT -6
Sadly, I do not have the budget to buy McKinney's new modules quite yet. I will, however, be using home-brewed encounters and I have been putting my own spins on the encounters out of the book. It's a good thing the encounters in the main book are so sparse in detail. The very first encounter led to the party embarking on a quest to sell a doll-house to a witch. I'll send you the discord link via private message.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 5, 2016 20:58:35 GMT -6
Would it be appropriate to discuss a Carcosa BRP hack (based on Call of Cthulhu and Stormbringer) on these forums? Because I'm scratching out notes for one.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 5, 2016 20:43:53 GMT -6
I'm looking for more players. This will be a drop-in-and-play sandbox-style of Campaign, so don't worry if you can't commit for a long term campaign. We are playing on a Discord server. Send me a private message if you are interested.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 5, 2016 20:41:00 GMT -6
I'm more familiar with Elric! than Stormbringer, but even that would fit perfectly. Elric! even has rules for human sacrifices (as an alternate way of paying off magic point costs.) I have a bunch of projects I'm already working on, but I'll try to find time to homebrew something... Carcosa BRP could be a really fun expansion for Call of Cthulhu and Rune Quest.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Sept 5, 2016 14:50:57 GMT -6
What about BRP Carcosa?
You could easily just hack Call of Cthulhu + Stormbringer/Elric! into a suitable system for Carcosa. I would greatly truncate the skill list for quicker character creation, scale everything into increments of 5% so you can just use a d20 for everything (I never saw much point in the percentile rolls since that extra digit doesn't seem to do much without funky dice tricks.)
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Aug 31, 2016 20:07:46 GMT -6
I have an update, from the second session!
Sadly, two of the players have dropped out, but I still have two left.
Kartur One-That-Sees-In-the-Dark and Adept By-Whom-All-See followed a scaly blue ooze East into the desert where they discovered an tower of the snake-men partially submerged in the sands. They were able to successfully recover 81 ancient books from the ruins appraised at a value of 1PP each. They have carried these books North to the fledgling empire of She of the Lake where they intend to sell these books. Adept has gained a level! He was asking about 'getting swole' and 'gains' during downtime, so I've ruled that the players can check for ability increases when they gain levels by rolling 1d20 against one of their ability scores for a +1 increase if they roll over (up to a maximum of 15).
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Aug 31, 2016 13:59:01 GMT -6
You could also just reskin the Specialist class from Lamentations of the Flame Princess, slow down the XP advancement, and give it a scientific equivalent of Sorcerous rituals.
Another idea I had, that I am using in a PBP Carcosa campaign I've started up on Discord, is to repurpose the spell research rules from LotFP as technological research.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Aug 30, 2016 4:10:43 GMT -6
I want to see more necromancy and suturing magic in Carcosa.
We need a Scientist class or subclass.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Aug 29, 2016 23:18:46 GMT -6
Here's an idea...
Sutures of Biological Melding [Science Ritual] An Ulfire mad scientist conducts horrific biological experiments in a castle in hex 2307. His research notes describe a procedure that would allow for the limbs, organs, or other body parts of one still-living creature (henceforth referred to as the "donor") to be grafted onto another still-living creature (henceforth referred to as the "patient"). This ritual is quick (by necessity!) taking less than an hour to complete. The patient loses one hit die, and gains a new body part. However, the patient must make a Survival roll based on their Constitution score to determine if hey survive the ghastly ritual.
Constitution/Survival 18/ 150% 17/ 140% 16/ 130% 15/ 120% 14/ 110% 13/ 100% 12/ 90% 11/ 80% 10/ 70% 09/ 60% 08/ 50% 07/ 40% 06/ 30% 05/ 20% 04/ 10% 03/ 01%
The Scientist adds an adjustment to the patient's Survival chances based on their own Intelligence score.
Intelligence/+Survival 18/ +50% 17/ +40% 16/ +30% 15/ +20% 14/ +10% 13/ +0% 12/ -10% 11/ -20% 10/ -30% 09/ -40% 08/ -50% 07/ -60% 06/ -70% 05/ -80% 04/ -90% 03/ -100%
Finally, the Scientist applies additional adjustments to the patient's Survival chance according to the procedure's complexity. Donor and patient are both men of the same race; -0% Donor and patient are men of different races; -10%* Patient ends up with more than two eyes; -20% Patient ends up with more than two arms/legs; -40% Patient ends up with more than one head; -100% Patient receives body part from non-human animal; -30% Patient receives body part from Spawn of Shub-Niggurath; -60%
*Patient now counts as a member of both races.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Aug 29, 2016 16:38:15 GMT -6
So... What happens if you construct a flesh-golem out of Carcosan body-parts? Or even just tissue grafts?
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Aug 25, 2016 20:48:51 GMT -6
I've been using X in d6 as well. It works well enough. There is one dice trik I add though for things like foraging where I need to determine how food the players manage to find; I use the actual die result itself for degrees of success. You want to roll under your skill rank, but you also want to roll as high as you can under your skill rank for best results. So if you make a foraging skill check with a rank of 4, and you roll a 3, you succeed and find three days of standard rations.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Aug 25, 2016 14:46:01 GMT -6
Downtime has been fun so far. Two guys rolled successful Bushcraft checks and managed to bag a couple of wild saigas in the plains. They've butchered enough meat for five standard rations, started tanning skins, and are using the bones to craft various common adventuring tools including needles and fishing hooks.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Aug 24, 2016 12:38:51 GMT -6
Your calender sounds really cool. Please keep us advised on that as it develops. Thanks. I'm trying to get a thing going where each real-time week is equivalent to one in-game month; some of that time is to be spent in weekly 'exploration' sessions, and the rest of the time is to be spent on downtime activities (such as rest & recovery, research, crafting, and domain management.) Exploration sessions are to be handled weekly at a scheduled time, while downtime activities are to be handled via PBP between exploration sessions.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Aug 24, 2016 10:00:04 GMT -6
Date: Cthuday, Hydrogen 1st, in the year of the Lamprey LOL Awesome! Thanks. I really like the resource management aspect aspect of D&D, particularly as it applies to time as a resource. So I'm having the party keep a journal and track the days. The twelve months are all named after elements from the periodic table from Hydrogen to Magnesium. There will be 28 days in every month (perpetual February!) The days of the week will be named after the Great Old Ones. Years are named for random animals. I don't have a zodiac planned out yet.
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
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Post by otiv on Aug 23, 2016 22:35:50 GMT -6
Today I ran my first session of a Carcosa hexcrawl campaign via Discord.
The party: Zolin Stone-Skull, neutral ulfire male fighter 1 Erin Cromwell, The Scarlet Mistress, neutral white female fighter 1 Kartur, One That Sees in the Dark, neutral ulfire male sorcerer 1 Adept By Whom All See, neutral brown male fighter 1
Fighters are as LotFP fighters plus specialist skills Sorcerers are as LotFP magic-users plus specialist skills, and the possibility to learn rituals
Date: Cthuday, Hydrogen 1st, in the year of the Lamprey
The party started camped out in hex 1815. They experienced strange dreams of a certain bone sorcerer's fungal gardens after consuming the flesh of a particular kind of four-eyed plant creature. As they attempted to interact with the dream space their lucidity and their equipment turned to mushrooms that writhed like worms. They managed to wake up by running into darkness. The party then found a village of ulfire men. The chaotic fighter living there showed them a dollhouse he looted from a toothy beast he slew, and has hired the party to find a buyer. The party managed to haggle their way to a 16% cut of the profit plus their choice of teeth or dolls, and some provisions up front to aid them in their quest.
The party journeyed eastward to hex 1916. They encountered a dolm pudding along the way, but succeeded in walking around it.
The party found a village of jale men. They found the children there hurling books and stationary at their elders, because they did not want to study math. The lawfully aligned leader of the jale men regarded the party with complete indifference. The party consumed rations, and decided to rest in the jale village after their eventful day.
Thus concluding the first session.
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