Introduction to Adventure - Starting a game in Haaksen

New player characters starting out in Haaksen would be given the following information:

"Welcome to Haaksen.  It is an independent trade town, in the region of the Sildur Reaches.  The Reaches were named for a time when they were ruled over by a powerful King of the Frost Giants named Sildur.  He came out of the mountains far to the north, between the time of the Old Ones and the coming of Man, from the West.  Sildur was slain by the earlier Westron Knights, before the great baronies of Botts and Na Kram were settled.  Haaksen sits on a trade route, halfway between those two great baronies, but under the protection of neither.  It has grown up with a strong tradition of having an independent Mayor, who funds the local armed militia (the Gold Lions, which consists of some foot knights, many hired men-at-arms, and a number of peasant levy from the surrounding farms).  In return, he is permitted by the guilds of the city to collect taxes.

The Mayor's Mansion, Hardbriar Castle

    The guilds are the real power, and in public, there are two factions - the Trade Guilds (representing artists, smiths, carpenters, jewelers, and so on) and the Merchant Guilds (representing grocers, inn keepers, money exchangers and the grooms).  Behind the scenes, however, there is also the House of Seven Owls (often rumored, but never verified, guild of Thieves), the Guild of Magic and also the Fighter's Guild.  The Church is represented by a number of offices, sanctuaries and buildings belonging to the various factions, but the largest is the Hospital of the Pierced Pelican - run by the Sisters of St. Brigid.

At the heart of the Merchant's Quarter - houses ans businesses facing the open market

  New adventurers to town are directed to a part of the city known as Cold Comfort Lane.  The Lane is a road that passes directly between the Artisan's Quarter of the town, and the Holy Quarter of the town.  As the road passes from the outer wall at the south tip of the town, north into the inner wall (which surrounds the Mayor's Palace, as well as other important noble villas and extremely wealthy or important individuals and businesses), it is flanked on the western side by the daily arrival of beggars, orphans, cripples, widows and the poor - all seeking solace from the Priests, Nuns and Monks who work and live in the Holy Quarter.  In the distance, a few blacks into the quarter, you can make out the seven golden spires of the Hospital, with the gold figurine of a mother Pelican on top of the central one, piercing her breast, to feed her babies.

Looking up at the spires of the Hospital of the Pierced Pelican - they can't be seen from so close

 On the eastern side of the street are tightly packed stone and wooden buildings, with small shops and cafes in the downstairs, and apartments and housing for the artisans and clerks who work these shops upstairs.  All of the shops represent the products of a single, or a small group, of artisans.  As you look deeper into the quarter, the workings of tools, machinery, and laborers are apparent, at each of a hundred different artisan workshops.  Gold smiths, black smiths, leather workers, carvers, cutters, molders, and other makers - all hard at work.  The sounds and smells are amazing, frightening and inviting - all at the same time - and provide a mighty lure for newcomers who have gold and silver to spend.

Edge of the Artisan's Quarter

Halfway between the outer wall and the inner wall, Cold Comfort Lane grows very wide, and an island of buildings appears in the middle.  It is the tower of the Fighter's Guild, 'Traturnis', which opens up to a small courtyard surrounded by benches and shady Pichel trees, which give off a very pungent fruit all year round.  The courtyard is used for duels, sword practice, and a general meeting place for mercenaries and fighters who come to Traturnis looking for work.  At the far end of the courtyard is a large and welcoming tavern - ancient in structure, with mighty walls bulging out with age, but painted freshly red every quarter, and surrounded by comforting walls.  The Inn is home to many, many visitor's rooms, large kitchens and common rooms, and a brewery unparalleled.  There is a stable beyond the inn, and that structure completes the island.  The inn, of course, is the famous Fatted Calf.  This is where most adventurers come to say when in town - the owner, Giles Fairham, has a strict no-questions-asked policy for guest who pay their bills, and most of the factions and nobles in town know that this is where you would come to advertise jobs for adventurers, if you want the best.

The Fatted Calf

 The Fatted Calf has a tradition.  In the largest of the common rooms, known as Bristlecone Hall (named for the Bristlecone wood that is lining the raftered ceilings), every Week's End night finds the room full of musicians, working girls, visitors, pipe smoke, spilled ale, and street entertainers.  In this festival environment, at the ring of the first bell past sundown, the great cavebear fur rugs in the center of the room are drawn back, and mighty trapdoors are opened up.  At this point, boasts of bravado and claims of heroic status start ringing the room, as adventurers - in groups and singly - step forward to brave the Platform.  The Platform is an elevator that is lowered down just past sundown, left down for six whole bells (six hours), and then drawn back up again in the middle of the night, just before the common room is shut down to drink and musicians.  The platform itself is lowered, with whomever is brave enough to show their mettle in braving it (all for the admiration of fighting men, free drinks from rogues, and the love of the working girls).  Those who step forward are lowered hundreds of feet down deep into the earth, down to the bank of a river that runs deep underground, through a vast cave system.  Once they are let down, the room goes crazy with song, drinking, and betting - on who will come back (dead OR alive), and what else might come back up with the adventurers.  This is the Fatted Calf, the home of adventurers in the town of Haaksen.

The town itself is given some detail here.

The immediate countryside, with some known danger spots and adventure sites are given detail here.

The surrounding region of the Sildur Reaches is given detail here.

Classic Fantasy Gaming Monsters

There are some classic monsters that exist almost exclusively because of gaming. You know the sort I am thinking of - the Beholder, the Carrion Crawler, the Shrieker. What is your favorite, and why? Please comment...

Retro-Clone RPG based on the RC of BD&D

Okay, I think that is the most Acronym laden title of any article here at Gaming with Chuck.  (The Staff is currently on a Health Improvement Program (HIP) and that means increased levels of vitamins being consumed.  So there is a big fascination with letters....)

Okay, a Retro Clone of a Role Playing Game is one of a new-ish batch of RPGs that seek to capture either the specific rules or the flavor of classic RPGs.  You know - like Good Old Dungeons & Dragons (or Basic D&D).  One of the versions of that game (a pretty good one) was the old Rules Compendium.  A great collection of rules.  It has everything in it that I usually like in a simple RPG - good distinct classes.  Nice list of spells and equipment.  Skill system.  Weapon system.  In fact, for me, the only things missing would be (1) Speed factors on spells and weapons (easy to add in), and (2) Tactical moves for doing combat with miniatures (also easy to add in).

Alright - so there is this great new retro-clone of the RC version of BD&D called "Dark Dungeons" (yes, named after the made-up game in the old Chick comic.  If you have to ask, then you are better off not knowing).

It has it all.  And in true to form honesty to old Basic D&D (or OD&D - Original D&D, although that is sometimes more narrowly defined as old White Box D&D - again, if you have to ask, you are better off not knowing, although it might be a good plan for the Staff to write a history of versions of D&D) there are only Classes, not the Race/Class combination we have seen in so many other RPGs.  This means that if you want to play an Elf - then that is your class.  This bodes well for the geek tshirt I once saw that said "I Remember when Hobbit was a Class" - and it was in OD&D.  It is again in Dark Dungeons (although, for several legal reasons, they are called Halflings).

How does this race-as-class thing work out?  Well it makes the race of non-humans Really important.  As in it is a big deal if you say you are an Elf.  Unlike in, say, AD&D when you are an Elf MU or an Elf Fighter, or an Elf F-M-C, then there is not too much of a big deal about the Elf Part.  Especially in 2E, 3E or 4E (remember the vitamins thing and acronyms).  But in OD&D - and in Dark Dungeons - being an Elf is a big deal.

So what are these races as class all about?  More coming in a future article but briefly - Elf is a Fighter/Magic User mix.  Halfling is a Fighter/Thief mix.  And Dwarf is crusty.  Like I said - more coming soon.

Also - look for some coming up articles on content for Dark Dungeons.  I am inspired . . .

ps- thank you especially to Matt and Braz, whom I saw at Battlefield Band in Williamsburg on Nov 5 - and they got me jazzed up on Dark Dungeons.  Previously my favorite retro-clones included Castles & Crusades (which I still love - and the Castle Keeper's Guide finally came out - w00t), and Mutant Futures.  Both of those generated a fair amount of press here at GWC.



Tags:

Cool free gamnig magazine - Irregular

Recently became aware of Irregular a free (downloadable pdf) quarterly gaming magazine that covers most everything from RPGs to historical miniatures gaming.

Nice, check it out.

Tags: gaming magazine

MarsCon Gaming - a big success

MarsCon 2010 has just run its course, and it was a good year. There were a couple of personnel snafu's but it all came together nicely. From my perspective, it was a really nice convention.

At the last minute, the senior leadership asked John Desmarais and yours truly to help with the organization of gaming. We did what we could, and organize a few important events (RPGA D&D, Pathfinder, Project:Crusader, Quickfire Starfighters, Delta Files, Visible Dungeon, and demo games from Privateer Press and Steve Jackson Games, among others). This meant dropping our own plans to run a number of roleplaying sessions (Champions, Pulp Hero, Castles & Crusades and Mutant Future - to name the candidates). This was going to be a Neptune City heavy year for us, but alas - it was not meant to be, mes amis.

Even with the lateness of the planning, the room was full almost throughout the weekend. Once, around 2am on Saturday night, the room was down to three games being played (horrors), but for the most part, Friday Evening, and all day and night Saturday the room was full. It was even quite heavily utilized on Sunday. A good year.

In order to contribute somewhat, even though there was little in the way of RPGs or Miniatures being offered by "Gaming with Chuck", there were a number of boardgames. These included:

• Several games of Manhattan - a SdJ winner from 1994, and quite a fun game to play.
  
• Also tried Small World. A fun little near-wargame. What surprises me about this one is that it was originally based on a map of Europe (as Vinci).
  
• Jon K, Justin G and I played a game of Carolus Magnus. Vicious!
  
• Finally, John D brought his new version of Cosmic Encounter. We played a bunch of hands of this game. What a great game - and it has certainly stood the test of time!
  

All in all - a good convention. I am sure that I will help out (if allowed) with MarsCon 2011 in some way. But more importantly, I hope I can run a game or two!

Tags: boardgames

Mutant Future Links - and Spider Goats

More links concerning Mutant Future. The inspirational pictures of Spider goats are to set the mood for Mutant Future (see the book for details, but trust me - spider goats are totally bad encounters).

Chatty DM says "Dude, you gotta try Mutant Future!"
A Brave New Weird has some great MF stuffSavage Afterworld discusses the goodsMutant Foursome scores on some great MF articles, with artwork (like the Pigmen). Here is a video showing RARE EVIDENCE of Pigmen being aquatic raiders...

Mutagenic Substance has some really interesting content. And an entry on Robot (home)Sexuality.Finally, this website has downloads for the rules, etc for the first three editions of Gamma World. Interesting . . .

Tags: gamma world, mutant future

Post Apocalypse Gaming - what gives?

Okay, so I admit it, I have long been a Gamma World junkie (although these days I must admit that I am secretly more attracted to Mutant Future than Gamma World - it's free and available now).

Traveling, with your mutant mates, across the wasteland. Stop in at a friendly village for some radiation-free melons handed out by lovely green-skinned girls, trading a rusty hubcap for some referee whistles (valuable goods), and having that bad infestation of glowing slugs on your left tentacle be treated by the local ripper doc. And then after all that rest and relaxation, its off to the local robot guarded missile silo for valuable copper, or into the nest of the angry mutant crocodile-men, or hauling yourself up 200 meters to the robot-operated algae skyfarm to rob parts and food. All part of a normal day in the life of a typical post-apocalypse hero.

But the overall idea of post apocalypse gaming really depresses me. That is - if it is realistic. The futures of settings like Mad Max (where the oil dries up, and civilization collapses), or Twilight 2000 (depressing third world war, and civilization collapses), or Morrow Project (civilization collapses, with real effects of radiation, disease, etc), or Planet of the Apes (Apes win, civilization collapses). You get the idea. If it is a little too close to home, or too realistic (think - Threads or Day after Tomorrow), then it is just too much of a downer to be a fun game.

But it the whole thing is a total lark, and absolutely preposterous - such as the future radioactive playground of Gamma World (still potentially depressing, but who can stay down for long in the world of the polyester-devouring Yexil), or the Barbarian sword-fest of Robert Adams' Horseclans novels, or further fun with Sterling Lanier's Hiero books (who hasn't dreamt of riding a telepathic warmoose) - then it can be a whole lot of fun.

This is what lured me back into the genre with Mutants and Death Ray Guns, but I am also thinking of running a game of Mutant Future at MarsCon in January. If I do I will do a mixed lot of characters (2x Pure Strain Humans, 2x Mutant Humans, 2x Mutant Animals), and probably revolve around rescuing a young mutant child from a group of brigands living in an old military site of the Ancients. Warbots, androids, zombies, mutants galore, traps, radioactive pits - the fun is just bubbling out of me (or is that the lo mein from dinner?) and I haven't even written down anything yet.
I guess I gotta do a quest for miniatures (this sort of game DEMANDS miniatures - when else would I get a chance to use my green mutant in a house coat?), and build some suitable terrain. The good news is that it will all be useful for Mutants and Death Ray Guns, as well.

Some fun blog reports out there. First, Society of Torch, Pole and Rope has a nice write up on the classic Gamma World Deathbot for Mutant Future. Second, Savage AfterWorld has an interesting link to a conversation about incorporating Mutant Future into Hackmaster. Bizarre. Dwarf and Basilisk has a nice listing of games, films, and books that are inspirational. Facebook has a Gamma World page. Finally, Grognardia has a nice loving homage. He also has a great review of Mutant Future.

Tags: gamma world, mutant future, rpg, miniatures

DM of the Rings

You may have seen this, but if not, it's pretty funny reading.

DM of the Rings - A parody of Lord of the Rings, told as if it were a roleplaying game.Pretty funny, in my book.

Tags: Lord of the Rings, roleplaying, Dungeons & Dragons

Traveller Fantasy?

Just starting out looking at Classic Traveller for Fantasy. A couple of links come to mind. The first is the very nice (and concise) Aldreth RPG - as a free pdf on the internet.
Aldreth for CT and MT

More coming . . .


Tags: roleplaying games, traveller, frpg

High Elves. They give me the munchies.

What's all this about High Elves?

Tags: elves

World of Greyhawk miniatures

Greyhawk Grognard has a great article on the old Minifigs line of World of Greyhawk miniatures.

Okay, so they looked a little wonky, but they had something that today's batch of fantasy miniatures usually lacks - individuality and creativity.

I loved the Elves of the Valley of the Mage, and the forces of the Great Kingdom. I still have a good sized contingent of Amazons from the Wild Coast, and I recall having a bunch of those Cairn Hills Cavemen (although in all the years of running World of Greyhawk role-playing games, I don't think I ever populated the Cairn Hills with Cavemen). For a map of the Hills see the great collection of WOG maps at Maps of Greyhawk (a great site).


Good stuff, and thanks to the Greyhawk Grognard for posting the pix.

Tags: Greyhawk, miniatures, wargaming

Wizards

A modern post Snoop Dog look at Wizards.

One of the things sadly missing in the magic of fantasy gaming systems that is in things like fantasy movies and novels is the sense of wonder. When one is presented with a codified and systematized magic list, it doesn't seem to have much wonder any more, just a menu of powerups.

Tags: magic, bizzle

Random Squid Encounter Generator

Every GM needs the ability to generate a random Squid encounter in most roleplaying games. This set of handy charts pre-supposes that the squid in question is capable of flight through the air, and of surviving out of water. Other than that, all details are determined from the following tables. Unless otherwise directed, determine a random character to be the focus of the encounter, and then roll once on each table, and let the good times happen.

Type of Squid?

1. Micro-Squid (1d4 inches long), 1d12 squid
2. Normal Squid
3. Normal Squid, in Appearance, but intelligent and capable of speech
4. Brightly Colored Squid, (1d4, 1 lime green; 2 hot pink; 3 electric blue; 4 shifting colors)
5. Really Big Squid (2d12 feet long)
6. Humongous Squid (1d100 feet long)
   

Where is the Squid?

1. On the ground, near the player (random direction, 1d6 ft away)
2. In the clothes of the character (1d6 - 1-3, pants or skirt; 4-5, shirt; 6 hat or helm)
   
3. Floating in the air, near the character's head
4. In a previously unknown nearby pool of water
5. Appears in mid-air 20 feet above the character, and falls on him
6. Squid appears in a dimensional crack (random direction, 2d20 feet away) and is driven towards the character by a servitor being to an elder god

Squid Special Abilities

1. Burst into flame
2. Secretes special oils that will grant the ability to perform pleasing, artistic renditions of Kuo-Toa poetry and love ballads
3. Squirt special ink that is invisible and can be seen through.
4. Emit psionic ink that negates all thought, magic, mental powers, and free will within 1d6x10 feet
5. Squid will "gate" in 2 identical squid every 3 turns, beginning with the 3rd turn after appearing. Additional squids have this same ability, but all other attributes should be diced
6. Squid has a glowing organ, that while still alive, will attract any members of the opposite gender to the character holding the squid
   

Squidquest

1. Escort the squid to the nearest salt water source, reward will be blessings from the priesthood of the high squid church
2. Curse of the squid - character has all limbs transformed into squidly tentacles - must defeat the squid in man-to-squid combat in order to remove the curse
3. Squid (and now his new friend, the character) are pursued by fanatical members of the anti-squid squad (bearing powerful weapons and abilities, and bent on the destruction of all squids and their allies)
4. Squid is the key to a dimensional portal that will EITHER be used by an elder god seeking to destroy reality, or the servitors of a promethean power that will help protect this dimension. Only the squid knows for sure.
5. The secret order of Hamis knows of the squid's value in opening the lost temple of Dev'Menkis Dev'Mall in the salt desert. The squid must be kept alive.
   
6. No quest, the appearance of the squid is the random and capricious act of a harsh universe
   

Runequest - it should be much cooler than it seems

Runequest and the world that grew up along with it (and boardgames such as Dragon Pass and Red Moon/White Bear), known as Glorantha, is home to some amazing mythology and wonderful fantasy creatures.

There are ducks, gorps, broo, jack-o-bears, walktapi and loads of others.

And while I really liked good old 2nd edition Runequest (from Chaosium), it always seemed to be much more popular in England than the USA. Then when Avalon Hill published their version, they sort of emasculated Glorantha, and also mucked with a simple magic system (battle magic and rune magic) by adding sorcery. For some reason they also renamed Battle Magic to Spirit Magic. Not sure why. The addition of sorcery, of course, wasn't just a rule change, it also changed the fabric of the runequest world. The older system (where the world, Glorantha, was an integral part of the rules) had a real reason for there to be the two main types of magic - battle magic was something that everyone could learn. Small, quick spells that you cast, and they would dwindle quickly. The more potent rune magic spells were part of the mythology of the world (love it, or hate it), and so had a reason to be in the game.

Then along comes sorcery - a new, and potent magic, that doesn't really fit in the game. BUT it did give a new type of scholarly type magic that fit most medieval European style RPG worlds. And Avalon Hill was targeting (at least in the basic release) a sort of mythic Europe setting for their version of the game. Eventually, due to fan demand, and the ability to sense a buck to be made, Avalon Hill produced much of the Glorantha material (and a lot of it was in a very good format). But the game was changed forever.

The faithful have since released Glorantha in a couple of (admittedly) very weak looking systems for roleplaying heroquests and epic mythic adventures. Maybe it appeals to some, but not to me and my group. Good news however, there does seem to be an adherence to things old with the Mongoose Publishing version.

EDIT - The Mongoose version seems to be a pseudo d20 version. Sad. However, in June of 2008, Chaosium released a version of Basic Role Playing. This is not the old 1980 version of BRP (which was a stripped down version of their d100 rules, sort of Runequest without the Runequest parts), but is actually a reprint of the four books that made up the Avalon Hill production, but with the name "Runequest" removed throughout, and with the name "Basic Role Play" inserted instead. So, if sorcery is to be included, and battle magic is spirit magic, then it seems like this is the best version currently in print.


Tags: runequest

That's a fat centipede

How big does a bug have to get to be considered a giant bug? I got to thinking about this one today in reflection on John's Haymaker article on Giant Centipede, and also about the "giant" bugs from RPGs and from great atomic age movies.

Tags: giant centipede

Says it all

Classic bits - forgotten?

There are some really classic D&D style roleplay tropes. I am wondering which of these are still in play these days, considering some resistance to the "spike the doors of the dungeon room, so we can take an 8 hour rest" maneuver performed by my current Castles and Crusades group.

• Spiking doors.
• Carrying rations (to eat, and to throw down a corridor to lure monsters).
• 10' pole.
• High Hard Boots.
• Continual light cast on a small object to be thrown into a room.
• Henchmen.
• Mapping.
• Characters having a "last will and testament".
• Fearing oozes, slimes, and jellies.
• If you didn't bring it into the dungeon with you, DON'T EAT IT.
• Elves make the best thieves (secret door spotting).
• 2 Fighters (or fighter-types) for every other party member.
• Attracting followers and building a stronghold.
• 50' of silk rope (hemp weighs too much).
• Small cage with a songbird in it (warns of gas problems).
• Caltrops.
• Humans in the rear, with polearms, fighting over shorter demi-humans in the front.
• Hooded lantern or bullseye lantern - it makes a difference.
• Flasks of oil.
• Flasks of holy water.
• Flasks of acid.
• Extra bowstrings.
• Hammer and pitons - because you never know.
• At least one person in the party should wear wolfsbane.
• Someone should carry garlic.
• Pool extra money at the start for thieves tools and holy symbols.
• First level fighters shouldn't balk at wearing that better armor the dead orc has on.
• Somebody has a pouch of copper pieces, to toss on the floor and distract the kobolds.
• Secret phrase to check for Doppleganger infiltration.
  

Tags: roleplaying

Castles and Crusades Campaign Continues

We will all mourn for the passing of a great and noble warrior. Nords the Dwarf has passed to stone, in the fashion of the Dwarf people. He was slain while fighting Great Goblins in the Grotto of the Ice Hunter Goblins - hot on the trail of the goblin chieftain that the heroes are pursuing to retrieve the Kreftring. In the bottom of the multi-layered Grotto (a mountain dungeon system built in the Southern tailbone of the Rakers, at the edge of a glacier) is a gateway that leads to mysterious dungeons beneath the Fortress of the Shadow Rose (a castle in Keoland! halfway around the world, but it is where the Goblin chieftain is hiding out).

The players were sorely tested, even though Viney Badeloch took a co-role in performing "rogue" abilities with Clematis, the halfling.

The evening of adventure started out pretty good. The party had been holed up in a room where they had slain some ogres and giant spiders. The group was in uncharted territory, so they had bolted shut the doors and spiked them closed. Then they took turns watching while all got some rest (about 8 hours) and while Annalise (the female cleric of Ehlonna) got enough rest to concentrate and meditate on getting her spells back.

Finally they were rested up and proceeded out from their room into the wider dungeon. The group faced down a number of undead (ghouls, zombies, and skeletons) until coming to a room tha was heavily guarded by Great Goblins and Ice Hunter cats. A fight broke out and the heroes were victorious. Along the way, however, Nords passed along. He was facing down two great goblins, having interposed his body in front of Annalise so that she could pull back from the front line of fighting. The maneuver was successful, but it left Nords (exposed in the room) facing off against two Great Goblins and being shot at by a couple of Goblin archers.

The two Great Goblins were too much. Especially when one got a critical hit. Nords was down to 4hp left, and he didn't bother to tell ANYONE (how infuriating - he might still be alive if he had but asked Annalise for a single healing spell. But he did not. One of the great goblins (as mentioned) got a Critical hit, and Nords took an additional 24 points of damage (which made him go approx 20 points negative, certainly dead and not coming back).

Tags: Castles & Crusades

Week of Trolls - Day Seven - Hunting Trolls

The chief occupation of adventurers in FRPG, when it comes to the realm of adventurer-troll relations, is that of population control. Adventurers kill trolls. Or they die trying. This final installment in the week of trolls (which is being posted a long weekend too late, but hey - its my blog), is concerned with a few topics related to killing trolls.

First, the topic of killing trolls begins with the meat and potatoes of adventurer combat skills - the weapon. A long out of print (but locally written, produced, and printed) game that bore more than a passing resemblance to Runequest 2nd Ed., called "Element Masters", once featured a weapon in it called the Trollkiller. It was a hefty two handed weapon (that had a steep strength minimum in order to wield it) that did 3d6 damage. In Runequest, especially when using hit-locations, that was enough to nearly guarantee if not the death of the standard troll, then at least a severing of a limb or head. Sever a head and it lives? Well, it depends on the troll, its cult, its runes, spells, etc - it gets complicated quick.

In AD&D, especially when weapons did different damage against large creatures (which Trolls classify as), the two handed sword is a great choice. It is slow - bummer - but it does hefty damage. Now, the classic AD&D troll has 6+6HD - which is to say 6d8 + 6 points, or (on average) 33 hit points. Up to a maximum of 54 hit points. Now, take your average fighter. He might have a magic sword of say, +2, and he might have a str bonus of say, +2/+4, which means that with a two handed sword (which does 3d6 vs. large), he is going to dish out, on average, 17 points of damage, and depending on which rules you use, he might get 2 attacks a round. IF he is lucky, and if the troll doesn't finish him off first (not a bad chance, considering he does a maximum potential damage of 28 points of damage per round), then the Fighter might finish off a troll in 2 rounds, 1 round if he is very lucky. Ahh, but trolls regenerate, you say, and they come back, and all of the other devious things that trolls can do as posted in the first part of the week of trolls. And, of course, they travel in packs sometimes.

Which brings up an interesting point - teamwork against a pack of trolls. Do you concentrate on one? Or pair off against individual trolls? Well, every dungeon is different, and every combat unique, but I would suggest concentrating on one troll at a time, and then if the resources are available, have the weakest member of the adventuring party make sure that the remains do just that - remain, and not reform into regenerated trolls.

Point two - weapons that do real damage to the troll. Everything discussed above, with the typical fifth level fighter, and his typical +2 magic two-handed sword is all well and good, but that damage to a troll is just a tickle. A walk in the park. A minor obstruction. He regenerates, you see, and Mr. Troll does not like to wait around. He'll start reforming the instant he is dead, and just a few short rounds later, he is up and at it again, kicking in all he's got for the Troll regiment. So how do you dish out damage that really matters - damage that will keep Uncle Ugly down permanently? Well, it boils down (basically) to either fire or acid. Adventurers dealing with trolls should ignore everything about infravision and ultravision and dark vision and twilight vision, and this vision and that vision. Carry torches. Every member of the party should be armed with a fist full of fire. The more the merrier. It might ward off trolls, or if they are desperate or stupid enough to attack, then it provides the means for permanent damage. And if a troll is downed, then a party member can use a torch to begin scorching the troll remains. Other options, if available, are fire based spells and firebrand (or flaming) magic weapons. As summoned fire elemental does nicely, but if you can pull off that trick, it seems a waste to use against some trolls. Which brings us to point three...

Acid. Ah, it seems so useful. Just "immerse the body parts in acid" the first edition monster manual states. Think of this - a large, gangly, rubbery humanoid freak with a height over 8 feet tall - how big are those body parts going to be? How much acid do you need? That little flask the adventurer carries in his belt to use as a desperate hand grenade isn't going to do it. A couple of jugs of the stuff. Or maybe a pool of acid (found in the better dungeons) should do the trick. One final option comes from the world of Cidri (revealed in the published materials from Metagaming related to "The Fantasy Trip").

Universal Solvent. What a great idea! Some made alchemist devises a material that can dissolve anything. ANYTHING. Nearly instantly. And he renders it into liquid form (what do you keep it in?). Luckily the forward thinking alchemist was wise beyond his years, and he made it a two part compound. You can carry those parts quite safely, but combine them - and you have local meltdown happening. Now, to me, this should do the job quite nicely on Mr. Troll. And the Mrs., and all the children. But it is dangerous. And what happens when you use Universal Solvent on the pile of troll parts, to dissolve a nice breadbox sized hole right down through the pile, and it continues on through the floor, down 15 feet through the bedrock, and down into the chamber with the angry green dragon in it a level down? Doesn't matter, those troll parts won't be regenerating though....


Tags: trolls

Week of Trolls - Day Six - Troll Magic

Trolls casting spells, spells featuring troll components, and spells specifically related to trolls (either augmenting them or harming them) is the topic if this, the next to last posting in the Week of Trolls.

Trolls casting spells is a great thing. After all, most of the humanoid races have their shamans, priests, and wizards. Version 3.0 and 3.5 of AD&D allow for troll character class progression (see the Night Hunter troll for an example).

Imagine a cult that is dedicated to worshiping trolls. This would no doubt be an evil cult, and might even have a priesthood. It would have clerics, but I don't think (in the spirit of a 2nd edition AD&D gamer) they should have access to all the same spells as a normal cleric. Here is my proposed spell list (modified for C&C):

Troll-Cult Priest
HD - D8
Level Advancement - as Cleric
Abilities - as Evil Cleric, but replace Control Undead with Control Trolls (at 6th level)

Recommended Spells:
Orisons (Level 0)

• Detect Evil (rev)
  
• Detect Magic
  
• Detect Poison
  
• Purify Food & Drink (rev)

Level 1

• Bless (rev)
  
• Command
  
• Cure Light Wounds
  
• Detect Snares & Pits
  
• Faerie Fire
  
• Invisibility to Trolls
  
• Light
  
• Locate Animals or Plants
  
• Remove Fear (rev)

Level 2

• Detect Charm
  
• Enthrall
  
• Find Traps
  
• Hold Person
  
• Know Alignment
  
• Obscurement
  
• Silence, 15-foot Radius
  
• Slow Poison
  
• Speak With Animals
  
• Aid
  
• Augury

Level 3

• Animate Dead
  
• Call Lightning
  
• Continual Light
  
• Cure Blindness or Deafness
  
• Cure Disease
  
• Feign Death
  
• Glyph of Warding
  
• Locate Object
  
• Positive Plane Protection
  
• Speak With Dead
  
• Starshine

Level 4

• Cloak of Bravery
  
• Cure Serious Wounds
  
• Detect Lie
  
• Divination
  
• Free Action
  
• Imbue Troll with Special Ability
  
• Neutralize Poison
  
• Reflecting Pool

Level 5

• Atonement
  
• Cure Critical Wounds

Level 6

• Heal

Level 7

• Astral Spell
  
• Confusion
  
• Exaction

Tags: trolls