Summer Games - B/X at Work

May is wrapping up, and with it the frenetic energy of a graduation, multiple field trips, class parties, and championship soccer games.  What it heralds, though, is a few months without any evening responsibilities beyond normal chores.

Which means that I get to play this summer!

So I'll be running some work colleagues and their spouses through a B/X megadungeon.  

It's a new ruleset for them and a new/old location for me, as it starts in the city of Skara Brae. It is a simple premise - the good citizens of Skara Brae awoke one morning to find a stairwell descending into darkness right in the middle of the main market square.

In the three months since its appearance, many people have tried their luck exploring the place.  Of the ones that returned, sometimes they are fabulously wealthy, other times they are just happy to be alive.

The government of Skara Brae soon garrisoned the market around the stairs, charging a small fee to enter, and a cut of the treasure to those that exit.  In addition, the garrison is charged with ensuring nothing monstrous leaves the dungeon.

If only they knew...

Regardless, I enjoy running and playing in a megadungeon because it allows for exploration, faction play, puzzles (of all sorts), and the occasional fight.  Most importantly, it provides a means for lots of laughter.

As some of the players have been enjoying Delicious in Dungeon, they are familiar with the concept.

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To help set the tone, I made sure that a small pile of blank Death Certificates was visible to all players during PC creation (an idea I lifted from a company commander I once knew in the Army, who would keep a copy of AR 190-55 Procedures for Military Executions visible on his desk whenever he had to call in a soldier for disciplinary reasons.  He never executed anyone, but terrified lots of people).

Free from Stormlord Publishing, found at the link above

We used Dyson Logos' free BX character sheets and soon had a likely band of adventurers ready to go.

Let me introduce our heroes:

Dave the Fighter

Roro the Halfling

Dack the Thief 

Varda the Elf 

Brother Frank the Cleric (acolyte of Avrae, goddess of chance)

I prefer to run games with the PCs already knowing some of the others.  In this case, the thief and fighter owed money to the cleric's faith, the halfling had been fired from her job with the elf and knew the fighter from work, and the elf had been helping the thief steal money from her job, which is what got the elf fired.  My players - please correct me if I am wrong on any counts!

Normally, I have players roll on a rumor table, but mine (the linked one is for a different place) wasn't ready, so I just provided a few to get them started:

Lots of gold and magic has been brought up from below.

Not everyone returns from the dungeon.

Ebenezer Hardbottle will pay for maps of the dungeon.

There are whispers of additional entrances to the dungeon.

The dungeon runs deep and all sorts of strange creatures exist there.

Not all of the creatures want to (immediately) fight the surface-worlders (because I use reaction rolls).

Relationships established around a common theme of being in debt and needing money fast, our team found themselves at the top of the stairs talking to a Sergeant of the Guard, as his bored troops looked on.  There they learned that the government of Skara Brae charges a small fee to enter the dungeon - a paltry silver piece per person.  Each person paid and then registered their name and profession (unemployed) with Halaster, the day shift wage mage assigned to this duty.

Having paid and registered, the intrepid heroes make a quick marching order and head down the stairs, finding themselves in a large chamber featuring six doors (three in each wall), a large round pool, and a statue near the pool.  

Two doors immediately caught their interest - one that was spiked shut and had fresh-ish bloodstains on the floor in front of it and one on the opposite wall that had a large hole chewed through the bottom of it.

Roro and Dack moved to check out the door with the hole while the other three moved to check the pool.  Roro noted that she couldn't see the pool anyhow, due to the height of low wall around it.  

Limited light showed a dark room through the hole in the door, but not the full size of the room.  That being the case, Roro boldly stepped through, only to find herself face to face with a GIANT FREAKING SNAKE staring at her from across the room from a hole in another door.  Lifting her handaxe, she boldly charged it, slamming her axe down into its head!  The head collapsed, revealing it was just a shed snakeskin, and it was blocking further progress - all she could tell was that there was a corridor beyond the snake door.  Not about to try that alone, she headed back out to tell her companions.

Meanwhile, Dave and Varda first tested the water (cold and clear and not too deep) by dropping a sling stone into it.  That having no effect, they moved on to the statue and discovered that its outstretched hands might move and maybe trigger something.  Varda placed a sword in its hands and they were rewarded with the sound of stone grinding and water draining quickly as the bottom of the pool turned into a spiral staircase heading deep into darkness.  As the rush of water receded, laughter could be heard rising up from the depths, laughter that turned into sobbing.

Varda reclaimed her sword, and the stairs folded back up and, inexplicably, the pool began to refill.

Throughout all of this exploration, the DM using the Hazard System from Necropraxis failed to roll up any wandering encounters, just torches expiring.  So tragic.  

Our explorers were faced with a dilemma: what to do next.  So many options (six doors, stairs down, and they didn't even look behind the stairs that entered the room!) and so little time!  At first, they used a spear to reopen the stairs down, but as they couldn't see the bottom, they decided one of the normal-looking doors would be the better choice.  Not wanting to leave the stairs open behind them, Varda went to take her spear, but before doing so, spoke down the stairs "do not despair - we'll come back for you!"  All within earshot were shocked when her voice echoed back up the stairs, saying, "I'll be waiting for you!"

With that, the stairs ground shut and the nearest door cautiously approached.  

Dack stepped forward to check the door for traps, and finding none, pulled it open.  When asked where everyone was standing, players got real specific about not being in line of sight - I wonder why?

They found a corridor and cautiously moved down it, and at the midpoint, Dave noticed two things: a closed door at the far end of the corridor and his torch flame was guttering, as if a breeze was blowing.  Calling attention to this, the party quickly discerned a secret door to the north, but could not determine how to open it, so headed to the far door.

Listening closely, they heard nothing, so Dave forced it open.  The party paused as they saw a pair of pig-headed humanoids seated at a table playing chess.  Discussion taught the PCs several things: the humanoids were Orcs, that Varda could speak Orc, that the Orcs were annoyed but just wanted the intruders to leave so they could finish their game in peace, and that Orcs and call elves knife-ears.  Despite harsh words, the party left in a huff, with Varda slamming the door behind her - and no wandering monster showing up on the DM's encounter roll.

Retreating back to the secret door, the team were in a quandary until Varda the Elf asked the PCs to extinguish their torches so she could use her infravision.  This let her determine a likely method to open it, so they did.  As the wall pulled toward them, a cold blast of air hit them - like see-their-breath cold.

As they adjusted to the cold, they could see a body crumpled to the ground in the hidden corridor.  Dave checked for obvious traps, and finding none, approached the body.  Once there, he could tell it was frozen solid and quite dead.

He headed back to the somewhat warmer main passage and Dack offered to lasso the corpse so they could drag it to safety, where it could thaw and be looted.  One coiled rope and improvised grappling hook later, they had a frozen corpse with them in the hall.  Dack pulled him to the side to better determine how to loot it (DM note - pouring oil on it and setting it alight was suggested, but not attempted).

While Dack examined the corpse, Varda and Roro moved up to the point where the body had lain, and there discovered Elvish runes for cold and death upon the floor, blocking forward passage.  They could also see a large face carved into the stone of the far wall, with its cheeks puffed and mouth open as if it were blowing something.

A hasty plan was put forward and attempted - Varda would throw Roro across the runes to the flagstones beyond.  The attempt was badly fumbled, with Roro instead landing directly on the runes, the warmth of her body activating them.  A blast of cold roared down the passage, blasting over Roro and chilling Varda to the bone (she saved and so only took 4 damage; Roro took none as it past over her).  Realizing that they could army crawl over the runes, the PCs soon crossed over and found themselves at another door.

Brother Frank was volunteered to force the door, and after several tries (and two sore shoulders) was successful, tumbling into a small room holding two chests against the far wall.

Chests which Dave immediately attacked with his bow.  It not responding gave the Dave the courage to approach it, and after some fiddling about and dice rolls, open it, to reveal the warm reflection of coins in the torchlight!

Excited at the real loot, Dave was ready to do the same to the second chest, but as he moved it from the wall, he noted an acrid smell coming from it.  Dack came forward and determined that there was a trap on the chest, most likely triggered by opening it.  The group suspected gas of some sort (DM note - they weren't wrong), so began discussing how to safely open it.

Two plans were put forward - the first to open it in the pool, gambling that the gas couldn't disperse in the water and the second to gift it to the chess-playing Orcs and let them die to it.

The group slowly brought the chests into the hall and knocked on the Orc-door.  The orcs answered, and after a heated exchange with Varda, they took the chest and closed the door.  

At this point, the party decided to head to the surface with the chest of coins.

Our heroes had gotten the chest into the main room when finally the dice rolled an encounter - and on that note we closed for the evening on a dice-based cliffhanger.  Tune in next week to find out what has responded to the noise and how the PCs react!

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After about an hour getting settled, explaining rules, and creating our first PCs, the rest of the session took two hours.  Our current plan is to meet weekly for two hours (some of us have a bit of a drive) for the rest of the summer, and maybe beyond.

Which means weekly session logs for those that enjoy them!

My in-session time-keeping needs work, and I need to remember to incorporate smells better in my descriptions, instead of only doing so when asked.

For my players - if I forgot or misreported something, please tell me!

Tempting Traps

I like traps, to the point where I have written about them three other times.

As a DM, part of my job is to design adventure sites and encounter areas, which means traps.

While 'gotcha' traps have their place, I firmly believe that traps are far more entertaining when players know there is a trap and willingly trigger it.  These traps use bait to tempt the players and through them, the PCs. 

I'm talking about situations where the DM describes the scene and the players turn to one another and say 'you all know this is a trap, right?  Who's gonna trigger it?'  More vocal players may start voicing ideas about what might happen - and if those ideas are better than yours, there is no shame in using them.

Overall, these are traps that cannot be disarmed, only ignored and walked away from.  The last part is key - the PCs can clearly ignore the bait and continue forward or head back, if so inclined.  None of these baited traps should block forward movement.

Some may cry foul at the breaking of the fourth wall or some such, but the reality is that all these elf games are for the players to play, and for many, these traps make for a good session.  

As a player, I love encountering these situations in game, trying to balance my curiosity with my desire to have a PC survive.  Then again, risk big, win big, so I tend to give in - mostly with sensible precautions.  

Grafdigger's Cage by Daniel Ljunggren

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Here are d10 examples of such baited traps.

1. A glowing sword pinning a fanged and horned skeleton to the wall.

2. A door hastily spiked shut, with the words DANGER and KEEP OUT scrawled across them.

3. A sarcophagus that is chained or caged shut, perhaps with muffled sound coming from it.

4. A sealed door with a curse (probably in rhyme) chiseled into it. 

5. The 'helpless' person begging for help from the middle of a pentagram/pentacle (I get these two confused).

6. The glowing gem on the pedestal.

7. The floor covered with either sand or knee deep in bones.

8. Waist-deep, murky water with a shiny prize at the far end.

9. A corpse seated on a throne, grasping something valuable (a jeweled scepter or crown, perhaps).

10.  The glowing portal in the wall, with visions of a far better place beckoning from the other side.

From the movie Conan the Barbarian

There is no doubt that something will happen when the item is grabbed, the portal opened, or the ground trod upon, but just what that something might be is unknown to the players until they mess with it

Goblin Punch writes about what is tested in an encounter, and in that vein, these traps all test the players - do they stifle their curiosity, missing out on danger but the likely reward, or do they give in and maybe get killed in the process.

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What types of baited traps have you used in your games?  Or had used against you?

Magic Item: Ring of Shadows

Occasionally referred to as Lightbane, the Ring of Shadows is a tarnished silver band that feels chilled and greasy when first donned.  Runes of power etched upon it can be seen to glow a noticeable blue when the ambient temperature is below 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-17 Celsius for my metric readers).

It radiates necromancy and illusion magic under a Detect Magic spell or its equivalent.

Attunement: this is a permanent loss of 1d4 Constitution points as it binds itself to the flesh of the fool being that slips it upon their finger.  Even if the ring is successfully removed, those Constitution points are gone.

Passive Powers: once attuned, the wearer gets Advantage on all hiding-related checks.  In addition, shadows shift about the wearer, granting them both an AC bonus as well as Advantage on intimidate checks in dim light.

Activated Powers: the wearer can shadow walk, at the cost of a Constitution save.  Failure to save (DC 12) means an exhaustion level is acquired upon exit from the shadows.  The wearer can bring others with them on this shadow walk, if all involved are holding hands.  The ring-wearer must make saves for each additional person on the walk; these saves increase by 2 each time, so taking three people on a shadow walk requires four saves (the wearer and three companions) at DC 12, 14, 16, and 18.   

Shadow Walking allows quick transit, up to 50 miles per round moved.

In addition, the wearer can sever a sentient being's shadow, resulting in the being going increasingly mad as their shadow darts around them and taunts them from a distance, because it has limited freedom and sentience.  Others can plainly see the shadow moving of its own accord and act accordingly (probably in a fearful fashion). This is a slow process, and mechanically, this madness manifests as the being refusing to rest until it reattaches the shadow (impossible without magic), gaining a level of exhaustion per day until death, spending all of their energy focused on the shadow, to the point of not eating.  Then they rise as a free-willed shadow of maximum hit dice.

Manifestations: the wearer's breath is always visible, as if breathing out on a chill frosty morning.  This is noticeable to anyone with eyes. In addition, shadows within 30' of the wearer dance and twist of their own accord, as if trying to attach themselves to the wearer.

Drawbacks: While living, the wearer suffers Disadvantage to all rolls in daylight. When the wearer dies, they become a shadow with maximum hit points and twisted memories of the past, leaving them convinced that their former allies (the surviving PCs) were at fault for their death and undeath.  As such, they can be used as a source of information about said allies, but only the most potent of necromancers can bind them long enough to gain that knowledge.

The ring can only be removed by severing the living finger or removing it from the shrunken husk of a corpse.   Furthermore, those who die while wearing the Ring of Shadows can be neither resurrected nor reincarnated under normal circumstances.

Research suggests that traveling to the Underworld and making a trade with the God(dess) of Death can restore a person lost to the Ring of Shadows to life, but the same research suggests that the cost is more than most mortals are willing to accept.

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For all its over-reliance on rules and books and more books, 5e's exhaustion is a lovely mechanic.  

Even more lovely is the idea of advantage and disadvantage.  I daresay this is both elegant and easily portable as a houserule into other systems.

Creative Updates

Just a short bit on my current goings-on, creatively speaking.  

I have about 50 started and unfinished blog posts in various degrees of completion, most of which are elf game-related, the rest being about MtG.

My YouTube channel continues apace, and I've added a new segment titled Ben Reads.  

These are longer videos where I read aloud, and so far it's been a pair of Rose Estes' Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books and an Alan Dean Foster short story.  

Frankly, I'm enjoying making these videos as they give me a chance to revisit old favorites. 

My goal is one or two such videos per week - I have many favorite short stories!

So this is what I've been up to: Ben Reads

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In order to make this post somewhat usable, I recommend browsing the Wilds of Eldraine: Enchanting Tales card art for inspiration - you'll be seeing some of it on my future blog posts.  The non-Anime style art, at least.

Here are some of my favorites.

Rumor Tables and Thieves Cant

Thieves Cant has historical roots, and in theory, heavy roleplaying groups use it at their tables, which is actually pretty awesome.  My group is not counted among that number, and that is fine.

I began reading this post at A Knight at the Opera and felt inspired.  Then I finished reading the post and am thrilled that my inspiration isn't lifted wholesale from the post.  Be sure to take the time to read that post though, as its worth it to Gamemasters of all stripes.

My default table rule for rumor tables is that each PC that begins a session in an urban environment gets to roll 1 + Charisma modifier (but at least 1) time on that area's rumor table.

Since larger towns and cities of all sizes have thieves' guilds - this is a fantasy game, after all - this means lots of people using Thieves Cant.

My new house rule is that rogues and others familiar with Thieves Cant get an additional 1 + Charisma modifier rolls on the rumor table, if only because the more interesting information, game-wise, tends to be known and whispered about by the seedier elements of the town. 

This might cut in a bit on the bard's role as an information gatherer, but I don't really mind, as they still learn several rumors each time (is there such a thing as a noncharismatic bard?) and they can use their class-specific skills to focus on whichever rumor(s) the PCs pursue.  

I like it because it doesn't require anyone to learn new slang unless they want to do so, and it makes it more worthwhile to be a rogue of some sort.

Curse of Verbosity by Kieran Yanner

Sentient Items and the Spirits That Inhabit Them

Several years back, I wrote - at length - about sentient items, to include a few examples.

In a way, this post is both summation and refinement of that post. 

A sentient amulet named The Mouth of Mimulus, from the book Return to Brookmere

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d10 Possible Spirits Providing Sentience

1 - a bound Celestial, willingly there to ensure a greater goal is achieved

2 - a bound Devil, tries to force bargains before using abilities

3 - a bound Demon, finding brief pleasure in monkeypawing the wielder's intents

4 - a Fey Spirit, determined to the make the most of its condition

5 - a Dragon, benevolent if metallic, maleficent if chromatic

6 - a bound Elemental, most likely a Djinn or Ifrit

7 - a normal animal, acting on instinct

8 - a Sphinx, speaks in riddles but knows much

9 - a ghost, perhaps of the first person slain by the item, its first wielder, or its creator

10 - a PC class, deliberately slain in the crafting process to inhabit the device

d10 Agendas Items Pursue Especially When Dominating Wielder

1 - Freedom - either through trading places, destruction of the item, or merely traveling extensively

2 - Vengeance - against a place, a cause, a faith, a family, or an individual

3 - Chaos - death and destruction for its own sake - the more grand, the better

4 - Self-Preservation - survival first, which may involve cowardice or acting in extremis

5 - Genocide - including forced suicide if a member of the race it hates tries to wield it

6 - Assist - it wants to help a place, person, cause, or faith and ensures they are helped

7 - Guide - the item leads (or drives) wielders to a specific place or conclusion

8 - Rule - the item wants to rule, and will do so through the wielder

9 - New Experiences - lives vicariously through its wielders, and after several centuries, is quite jaded

10 - Wealth - either in decorations for itself or donations to a cause or faith

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Share your favorite sentient item stories in the comments, please.

Magic Item: Wheel of Fortune

The Rules Cyclopedia never fails to reveal something new with subsequent readings.  This time, I found the Wheel of Fortune on page 242, between Wheel of Floating and Wheel, Square.

Wheel of Fortune, by Daniel Gelon

The best part of the item description is this:

If desired, the wedges may be numbered from 1-20, 1-100, or some other conveniently determined number, and a chart may be made with more varied results.

That's right - customization is encouraged.  The basic Wheel of Fortune provides 6 positive results and 6 negative results, so an equal amount of both types of results makes complete sense.  

Looking at other BECMI and BX sources, we see that eating rock chips in B1 and drinking from a fountain in B5 both provide random effects (d20 and d8, respectively).  What all three have in common are the number of ways to raise and lower various (or all) attribute scores. B1 and the RC both provide free treasure in the form of cash, gems, and even minor magic items, as well as take it away.  It's worth noting that BECMI doesn't have a Deck of Many Things (at least the Rules Cyclopedia doesn't), but the DoMT is a similar item worth looting of ideas.

Using all these as potential sources, I have this as my draft expanded d20 Wheel of Fortune.

It features 10 positive and 10 negative results, with source in parentheses.

1 - Subtract 1 from each ability score (B5)

2 - Add 1 to each ability score (B5)

3 - Subtract 1 from Prime Requisite (RC)

4 - Add 1 to Prime Requisite (RC)

5 - Permanently lose 1d4+1 hit points (B5ish)

6 - Permanently gain 1d4+1 hit points (B5ish)

7 - Gems on person crumble to dust

8 - 3d10 gems appear in your mouth, stuffing your cheeks (Goonies).

9 - Jewelry on person turns into cheap costume jewelry worth nothing.

10 - 2d4 pieces of jewelry appear on your body.  

11 - Coins on person turn to lead.

12 - Coins rain down from above! type 1d8 1-2 copper, 3-5 silver, 6-7 gold, 8 platinum; 1d4 thousand copper and silver, 1d4 hundred gold and platinum.

13 - The least valuable magical item carried by spinner disintegrates (RC).

14 - A random weapon carried by spinner gains an enchantment (B1ish).

15 - Cursed! Roll on the Cursed! subtable below (B1ish).

16 - Blessed! Roll on the Blessed! subtable below.

17 - All nonmagical items carried and worn disintegrate into dust (RCish).

18 - All nonmagical items carried and worn become the finest quality possible, to include changing materials and workmanship.  

19 - Spinner dies.  No saving throw. (RC)

20 - Grants a wish, and the spinner knows it and can use it whenever they like.

Cursed! (d8) Note that a Remove Curse spell will suppress the curses for a time, but a true cure is required to finally be rid of each curse; knowledge of the true cure comes with the curse.

1 - Lycanthropy - d8 1-3 Wererat, 4-6 Werewolf, 7- Weretiger, 8- Devil Swine.

2 - Slow Healing - magic only heals 1 hp per casting; normal healing takes twice as long.

3 - Berserker - when combat begins, won't stop until all around are down, allies included.

4 - Unlucky - rolls disadvantage on all rolls.

5 - Marked - Charisma effectively reduced to 5 for reaction rolls, loyalty checks, and such.

6 - Hunted - something wants you dead - and it's coming.  DM choice of monster.

7 - Polymorph - d6 1-4 become a talking normal sized animal; 5-6 become a monster.  DM choice.

8 - Geased! - DM choice of what the spinner MUST do.

Blessed!

1 - Polyglot - gains the ability to speak and understand (but not read) 1d6+1 additional languages.

2 - Sniffer - can smell metal with concentration, as per the detect metal ability (like a magic sword). Full disclosure, I lifted this entry from the Idalium Story Hour on Dragonsfoot.

3 - Healer - can lay on hands to heal a person of disease, blindness, poison, or damage. 1/day

4 - Confident - Charisma raises to 18 for reaction rolls, loyalty checks, and such.

5 - Caster - can cast one useful spell per day: d6 1-3 Detect Magic, 4-5 Continual Light, 6 Knock

6 - Nature's Friend - animals are friendly towards you; you can Speak with Animals at will.

7 - Lucky - roll all nonattack and nondamage rolls at advantage. 

8 - Regenerate - as per ring; note that weapons that damage regenerators affect you, now

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It occurs to me that a group of enterprising (and morally questionable) individuals, be they PCs or organized bandits, might force captives to spin the wheel to harvest the treasure they may generate.

After all, the rules themselves state:

A charmed creature cannot move the wheel, and each user can spin the wheel only once per day. p241

So anyone charmed cannot spin the Wheel of Fortune.  Everyone else, though, can.

Forcing captives at swordpoint to spin the Wheel results in wealth-farming.  Yes, the captives may die, but I don't see that being an issue to bandits (or many PCs).  Why, an enterprising sort may even charge others for a spin, while a scholarly sort might try and document likely effects to 'find the pattern'.  Canny individuals will eventually realize the bad spins that disintegrate wealth and items only affects items carried, so stripping naked (or to a loincloth for PG-rated games) mitigates those rolls.  

If only using the book version of the Wheel of Fortune, there are 4 (out of 12) chances to score wealth: 1,000 gp OR 10 garnets OR a brooch OR a miscellaneous magic item.  These treasures just appear.  Me being me, I'd argue that this treasure comes from somewhere, likely a nearby dragon hoard or the treasure vaults of someone or something powerful.  As written though, they just materialize through the power of magic.  

Those wanting to cheat the house through telekinesis, other magic, or outright damage to the Wheel find that it all fizzles.  All magic fails except for Wish - wishes involving the Wheel of Fortune in any way cause it to disappear, but for good or just teleporting away to another location, the rulebook doesn't say.

The rules do specify that the wheel weighs 20,000 coins (2,000 pounds) and can only be moved by a creature with 26+ HD or levels, meaning that only the most powerful PCs are going to be able to move this into their strongholds, and then only by brute force, as the wheel is immune to pretty much all magic.  A mean translation suggests that even draft animals won't help, as they lack the HD.  

It would be far simpler for PCs to turn the location of the Wheel of Fortune into their stronghold; it would likely be cheaper, as well.

A Cursed! but Wealthy regular spinner of the Wheel of Fortune

From Return to Brookmere, art by Tim Truman

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A bonus entry I am not sure where to put:

Dragon - a rift opens above you, streaming down thousands of silver, gold, and platinum coins, as well as dozens of gems and pieces of jewelry. With this wealth falls 2d4+1 magic items.  You dream at night of flight and flame, and find yourself changing ... shifting ... into a red dragon in 1d8 days.  The DM takes control of this now-NPC.