Showing posts with label tables. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tables. Show all posts

23/03/2024

d24 Denizens of Plammenzet Fort [Mutant Future/Gamma World]

Source photo from rarehistoricalphotos.com

M.F.O.S.C. campaign players stop reading here!!

Plammenzet is the biggest settlement in the Mutant Future/Gamma World campaign I'm running once a month, here's a little table to start to fill it out a bit. It's nestled into the mountains to the north and has a triple-walled fortification at front, with whispered rumours about the tunnels below, either stripped bare or with scattered tech of the ancients down there, depending on who you talk to. 

Mutant Plants are strictly forbidden in Plammenzet by Whaltri and The Gommonde, supreme crime lords!

1 - A local drunk gathers a rabble of Synthetics around him. Hek nows the exact way to shortcut their interest/attention loops so they keep listening to his boring bounty hunter stories. (1d6+1 Synthetics)

2 - A floating insect-headed lump with extendable telescopic limb attachments (worth 1d6x100 in machine parts) is looking for an escort to sketch and paint some of the wretched mountain vistas beyond the forgotten northern walls of the city.

3 - Two hulking Pure Strain Humans wear boots and ancient camo patterning. They are obssessed with physical strength training manuals from the ancient times and will pay 300gp worth of materials per tome delivered to them, though any weaklings wishing an audience with them will be hard pressed to gain their attention. STR 19.

4 - Rabboxen breeder. He appears at first as a Pure Strain Human in blue face paint, though it will become apparent his nature is otherwise when he regurgitates his stomach in order to feed. He has stock of a certain strain that requires only half rations, and another that can be trained to explosively self-destruct with threatened. He is always in the market for uncorrupted stock of any herd or pack animal from the wilderness.

5 - A braggart Mutant Wolf. He considers unfurred Mutant Animals to be a simple waste of DNA. An expert in salvage and mechanical recovery, his presence may grant a re-roll to any failed Tech Roll, but tends to commands exorbitant prices for his accompaniment on missions, and will readily follow a party to claim jump. He dwells in a conical plasteel structure in the centre of Plammenzet.

6 - A mechanical doomsayer. It is 27% human tissue, and will hector anyone who will listen about the poetry of its pustules and decaying flesh. It is otherwise largely composed of glass lenses and grippers, and slithers around on a mass of cabling and piping. CON 11. Stun Ray: lasts for 1d3 rounds.

7 - Undertunnel delvers. A group of Pure Strain Humans and Mutant Humans who have ultimate plans to join the M.E.M.S.A. society, though they are yet to take the Prejudical Oaths and are in fact somewhat divided on the ethics of the society. That have proof that the rumours of the futility in deliving into the undertunnels beneath Plammenzet are in fact false, and those that know where to look can find tech and goods of value. They are scavenging for the necessary gift to get M.E.M.S.A. to admit them as members.

8 - The Society for Vegetal Beautification at Plammenzet (S.V.B.P.). A complete mix of all types, united by a mildly fanatical cause, namely that greater variety in urban planning at Plammenzet will encourage the citizens to greater things. Their focus, of course, is the importation of a greater variety of food crops and plants to decorate the settlement. This is viewed with suspicion given Whaltri and The Gommonde's view of Mutant Plants. There is a 10% chance when speaking to a member of this group that they are secretly dedicated to the welfare of Mutant Plants. They wear green robes, copper circlets and carry bolos as weapons.

9 - "Coded by Whaltri". A group of Pure Strain Humans who wear purple face paints. This cult has sprung up around a belief in the higher origins of the crime boss Whaltri. They believe he is the 37th incarnation of God. As proof, each states that they have received a secret three digit number in their dreams, indicated that they are special - Coded by Whaltri. They are bedecked in Plate Armour and own several Vibro Swords.

10 - Billowers. 14 Mutant Humans  with wavering, ballooning, pouching skin. They will grasp PCs hands and with whispering voices enquire if they need any work doing. As a group they are fascinated with objects from the sky, space beings and planetary systems. They are armed with slings and daggers, and may strike with the latter for triple damage if hidden in shadows.

11 - Khaldador, a Mutant Human borne in a covered litter held by four Pure Strain Human bearers. He studies routes into the Plammenzet undertunnels using ancient manuals. He believes many of these tunnels in fact extend far under the city and outside of its bounds beneath the mountains to the north. He has never ventured there himself due to a weak constituion and extreme sensitivity to light of all kinds. He values knowledge above all else. He can emith coagulating rays in a 30' radius that cause the thickening of mucus, causing choking in all who fail a Save Vs Stun. The effect lasts for 2d4 rounds, and causes 1d10 damage each round. His most prized possession is a Condition 3 Mk2 Laser Pistol.

12 - Seven bipedal orange-skinned Mutant Anteaters covered in scaly buboes. They seek work for food, and are somewhat lazy, preferring jobsi nvolving intimidation or thuggery. They are easily bored. Their mutations are variable: 25% spit acid cloud every three rounds 20' radius 5d6 damage, Save Vs Poison for half. If hit twice by this attack, normal armour is rendered useless. 25% active wing development. 25% mental blast (3d6). WIL 9.

13 - Yashmina, a Pure Strain Human infested with seeping nanobot colonies who only has three months to live as a result. She occasionally coughs violently, giving up gouts of black foam, though she tries her best to hide it. She is a good fighter with her morningstar, having +3 to damage, and being able to disarm an opponent on a 19 or 20. He nanobot infestation gives her perfect night vision and an inability to eat normal food. Her main wish is to overthrow Whaltri and take command of Plammenzet, though she knows there is slim chance. Finding a cure would merely be a nice bonus.

14 - Eleven rolling Mutant Beetles, covered with organic studs and spikes all over their lustrous brown carapaces. They also fight with whips causing 1d3 damage, that entangle and trip opponents 1-in-6 times, though any DEX bonus will negate this. They attack as an initial avalanche of rolling beetle fury, causing 7d6 damage per individual on their first round of combat. They have dual heads and a WIL of 15. Their main belief is in the value of hard work, and insist any accompanying PCs engage in morning exercises. They are on the lookout for a new habitat to engage in their upcoming frenzy of copulation and subsequent spawning (the frenzy is due to occur in 3d6x2 weeks).

15 - Andar, a dark woman with a bulging stomach into which run wires and metallic filaments. Her right arm is an enormous circular saw that causes 3d6+6 damage in combat and is worth 3500gp in parts. "Just try and take it" she entreats aggressors. She escaped frtom a testing facility of some kind to the far north, her memory having been entirely wiped by means she does not understand. Though she dislikes intoxication, it does occasionally jog her memory. She wishes to increase her security/access clearance cards collection, which she sports on a string around her neck, though she does not understand their ranking (1d3 cards, refer to Gamma World 1e for security card information).

16 - Gurbanik, a human(oid) dressed head to toe in echoing green plate mail armour which he never removes. This is due to the fact he is horribly burned and ashamed of his appearance. OTherwise cocky, he brandishes as brutal looking Condition 4 submachine gun and shortsword. He runs into battle with the cry "It's Gurbanik's kill!!". He seeks a good life, adventure, and drinks he can enjoy through a straw via his visor. He believes those that have unfulfilled desires just don't want it enough. CON 14, WIL 14. He takes pity on anyone or anything that is disfigured or ugly. 

17 - Harmabul, a sleek, black swan-like Mutant Animal of indeterminate origin. It is a sharpshooter with a longbow, causing +3 damage and able to get off two shots per round if stationary. It seeks to form a warrior clan, but its standards for recruits are impossibly high. It takes a dim view of poor tactics.

18 - Abbagone. A Mutant Human with a long serpentine torso and 11 legs who travels with a huge armoured box of his luggage. He can control the weather once per week for 1d8 turns. Secretly, he believes (incorrectly) this is because he is in touch with an ancient satellite. He wishes to destroy a rival gang leader, Tobrax (see below).

19 - Tobrax, a crystal-infested Pure Strain Human. The crystals studding his skin are black, emerald and topaz coloured. Tobrax believes that Plammenzet is far more vulnerable to attack than it realises. He thinks Mutant Plants should be admitted as common sense, making use of their varied mutations to bolster defenses. He listens for rumours of merchant caravans and forms impromptu raiding parties, rarely recruiting the same warriors twice. Tobrax disdains any concept of hierarchical rule.

20 - A headless Mutant Human with speech-synthesis modules built into its arms (value 1300gp). It is photosynthetic, and is also able to cause its feet to combust, attacking with furious flaming kicks for 2x2d6 damage - though it will then suffer 2d6 damage once combat is concluded. It is otherwise armed with a flanged mace. It is a bodyguard for hire that is not shy about demanding its share of the loot. Often given to sardonic jokes in its crackling and buzzing voice that emanates from the sythesisers. Its partners was slain by Canusoids, for which it has a violent hatred and +2 to hit.

21 - Umlaut, a membranous web-covered Mutant Marsupial, like a half-formed slimy joey. Darkly given to trance-like predictions of doom. He collects crystal shards for their 'magical powers', and one of them does in fact inflict Class 4 Radiation on all within 30' if it is struck. He wishes to work with Whaltri, but has already been denied in disgust twice.

22 - A pachydermal tripod Mutant Animal of unknown origin. It appears as a creature of tough grey skin (AC 4) around an orb structure on three columnar legs. It may look bizarre, and is extremely quiet, but it speaks perfect common in a small piping voice ans has INT 15, WIL 16. It can attack with tusks for 2 x 1d12. It wishes to view the sea for the first time, to possibly live and hunt there, and is naturally curious.

23 - Oolad the Carver. An armless Mutant Human who has had a fighting blade fitted to his left foot (1d6 damage) and owns a collection of 1d3 grenades he does not understant the function of. He sadly believes that true craftsmanship is dead, and that there is spiritually no excuse for the use of debased, broken or primitive implements or tools. His main believe is that skilfullt carved wood could elevate civilisation to its next highest stage, and is saddened at the lack of real good quality unmutated wood - and would love to establish a grove of precious trees. Despite his eccentricity, he is genuinely a master craftsman and will endlessly discuss woodcarving with anyone.

24 - Spasom, a Mutated Animal of unknown mammalian origin. It has a tiny head with a trio of blinking black eyes and is covered with tawny fur fading to white. It has extremely long hands and feet and a chattery manner of speech - it is never still. Spasom is overly fond of food and intoxicants. It carries sharpened metal discs which it can throw at a rate of three per round is stationary, range 15/30/45 for 1d6 damage. Its insistent chattering can make speech, sleep, or listening at doors rather difficult. At the end of every third day, Spasom sleeps like the dead for 24 hours and cannot be woken by any means save strong stimulants. Its motivations are difficult to determine due to its extreme flightiness, though it has a strong fascination with writing implements of the ancients such as ink, pens or pencils.

02/06/2022

[OD&D] Preloaded Spells for NPC Spellcasters

As mentioned in my last post, one of the main things that puts me on the backfoot when running OD&D is having classed NPC groups appear as wandering monsters. They're a crucial part of the feel of this edition of the game. They reinforce the fact that your classed PCs are not unique, and keep the stakes high by potentially having the party's own abilities come into play against them. 

Yet it's undeniable that they come with admin which can feel like 'cheating' if you wing it. Chief among these admin issues is which spells an NPC spellcaster might have memorised (or perhaps in their spellbook - though for this post I'm assuming the former). This gives me analysis paralysis in prep, and feels wrong to handwave during play.

Vapourising a PC party because an NPC party has fireballs feels like something that should always be a threat, but not something that happened because of an ill-considered whim of the Dungeon Master. So I cobbled together this system to determine what they're packin'.

First I roll to see the type of spell preloads the NPCs will have. These preloads only roughly determine the spellcaster's arsenal. Think of them of the 'flavour' of spellcaster.

Then I roll a d4 or d3 as appropriate on each Spell Level (SL) row until the spellcaster's slots for their level are accounted for.

SPELL PRELOAD TYPE


Magic Users (d4) Cleric (d3)
1 Major Offensive
Offensive
2 Minor Offensive
Utility
3 Utility Esoteric
4 Esoteric /

MAGIC USER: MAJOR OFFENSIVE


1 2 3 4
SL1 Sleep Charm Person Hold Portal Read Magic
SL2 Knock Detect Invisible ESP Locate Object
SL3 Fireball Lightning Bolt Hold Person Protection / Normal Missiles
SL4 Wall of Fire or Ice (50%) Polymorph Others Polymorph Self /
SL5 Cloudkill Conjure Elemental Teleport /

MAGIC USER: MINOR OFFENSIVE


1 2 3 4
SL1 Charm Person Sleep Detect Magic Hold Portal
SL2 Detect Invisible Knock Invisibility Detect Evil
SL3 Hold Person Protection / Normal Missiles Lightning Bolt Slow Spell
SL4 Confusion Hallucinatory Terrain Passwall /
SL5 Feeblemind Animate Dead Wall of Stone /

MAGIC USER: UTILITY


1 2 3 4
SL1 Detect Magic Light Hold Portal Read Magic
SL2 Levitate Knock Locate Object Phantasmal Forces
SL3 Clairvoyance Water Breathing Dispel Magic Fly
SL4 Massmorph Polymorph Self Growth / Plant /
SL5 Transmute Rock To Mud Telekinesis Animate Dead /

MAGIC USER: ESOTERIC


1 2 3 4
SL1 Charm Person Sleep Protection/Evil Read Magic
SL2 ESP Continual Light Locate Object Wizard Lock
SL3 Fly Dispel Magic Haste Spell Hold Person
SL4 Polymorph Self Dimension Door Remove Curse /
SL5 Magic Jar Contact Higher Plane Teleport /

CLERIC: OFFENSIVE


1 2 3 4
SL1 Protection / Evil* Cure Light Wounds* Light* Cure Light Wounds*
SL2 Hold Person Bless* Find Traps Bless*
SL3 Continual Light* Cure Disease* Continual Light* Locate Object
SL4 Cure Serious Wounds* Prot/Evil 10'* Cure Serious Wounds* Sticks To Snakes
SL5 Raise Dead* Dispel Evil* Insect Plague Raise Dead*

CLERIC: UTILITY


1 2 3 4
SL1 Detect Magic Cure Light Wounds* Purify Food / Water Light*
SL2 Find Traps Speak w / Animals Bless* Hold Person
SL3 Remove Curse Cure Disease* Locate Object Continual Light*
SL4 Neutralize Poison Create Water Speak w / Plants Protection / Evil 10'*
SL5 Create Food Commune Quest Dispel Evil*

CLERIC: ESOTERIC


1 2 3 4
SL1 Detect Magic Purify Food/Water* Detect Evil* Protection / Evil*
SL2 Find Traps Hold Person Bless* Speak w / Animals
SL3 Remove Curse Locate Object Cure Disease* Locate Object
SL4 Speak w / Plants Neutralize Poison Speak w / Plants Sticks To Snakes
SL5 Create Food Raise Dead Commune Quest

 

As always when I'm talking about OD&D, I'm referring to the 3LBB and so only spells from Men & Magic will be referenced here. You also won't see 6th level spells here because the highest level MU on the OD&D wandering monster chart is Wizards, which I interpreted literally as being 'only' 11th level spellcasters. Also, have used '/' as re-rolls for Magic Users, but have added duplicate entries for several Cleric spells to increase the likelihood of them turning up (such as with Cure X Wounds).

Also I assume Chaotic Clerics are always carrying the reversed versions of spells marked *

19/04/2022

[OD&D] Classed NPC Motivation Tables in the Megadungeon

One of the things I've found myself briefly panicked by when refereeing OD&D is the (very frequent) occurrence of classed NPCs appearing as wandering monsters. For some reason I have found this very hard to riff with in a way that adds colour to my campaign, and with the OD&D assumption that there's plenty of other movers and shakers apart from the PC party in the megadungeon, it's not something I wanted to find myself flat-footed with again. Players can tell!

As such, I've bashed together this quick set of tables for use when you suddenly have to decide what that group of Theurgists or Conjurers is doing in the megadungeon.

  • Neutral groups should be rolled for once.
  • Lawful groups roll twice and pick the most righteous
  • Chaotic types roll twice and pick the most crazy.

Next up I will be sharing the random tables I have created for the other hard-to-improv sticking point with these guys, specifically which spells Magic Users are carting around.

1d8

Fighters

Magic Users

Clerics

1

Training

Research

Proselytize (20% fanatics)

2

Territory

Experimentation

Plunder

3

Treasure

Reagent/Item

Worship/Ritual

4

Slay

Treasure

Territory

5

Escaping

Rivalry

Crusade (15% schism)

6

Lost (or Befuddled)

Exploration

Avatar(s) of deity

7

Messengers

Lost/Befuddled

Lost/Befuddled

8

Quest (20% Geas)

Quest (10% Geas)

Quest (5% Geas)