Stone Halls & Serpent Men

by Mark Damon Hughes
http://markrollsdice.wordpress.com
Version 2018-09-22

Table of Contents

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How to Play the Game

Meta Rules

Setting

(This chapter is Product Identity, not Open Game Content)

This setting for Stone Halls & Serpent Men is included as an example, but other Referees are encouraged to make their own. Skip ahead to Characters if you have your own setting!

The Known World is divided into five lands: Cold northern Hyperborea, warm central Storm Islands with the Jewel Cities, grim eastern Malovia, hot southern deserts & jungles of Kush, and far western Gwyrdland.

In ancient times before Humanity, the Serpent Men ruled the world, an advanced civilization with vast cities and underground warrens, incomprehensibly powerful machines and magic. They enslaved the Elder Races of Dwarfs, Elves, Gnomes, and Goblins.

A hundred centuries ago, a long ice age began, and cold-blooded Serpent Man civilization was pushed back from Hyperborea. In those abandoned lands, a new breed of humanoid, Humans, rose to power and fought savage Beastfolk, Hobgoblins, and worse monsters.

Fifteen centuries ago, the Serpent Man civilization in the Storm Islands and Malovia collapsed under cold climate, Human assault, and rebellion by the Elder Races, and the surviving Serpent Men fled to unknown refuges. In the Storm Islands, Humans and Elder Races seized kingdoms, and fought over the limited land and resources they could reach. In Malovia, dark forces seized power, and undead and cruel dictatorships crush any resistance. Degenerate Lizard Men occupied the old ruins, knowing nothing of their greater past.

The ice age began ending two centuries ago, the glaciers melting from Hyperborea, exposing old Serpent Man ruins which may be full of great treasures. Hyperboreans and people of the Storm Islands now compete to colonize the north, and battle-hardened Hyperboreans turn their eyes on rich southern kingdoms.

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Races

Gods

Cosmology

This is almost entirely speculative, as no mere Human has travelled beyond the edges of the Known World. It is thought that the world is a vast sphere, and things fall "down" to the center. The interior of the world is hollowed out with the Underworld, which is dungeons and caves near the surface, opening into vast chasms and endless tunnels further down, then layers of lava and fire which merge into the borderlands of Hell.

Areas closer to the interior of the world receive more mana and demonic attention. While the surface world is complex, it is mostly comprehensible and stable; the Underworld is confusing and hostile, and then purely chaotic.

Astronomy is reasonably advanced by observation and spells like Commune and Contact Outer Plane, but far from modern science. It is known that the Known World turns, and the Sun, Moon, Planetes, and Stars slowly orbit the world. The Moon and planetes are other worlds, and the stars are smaller suns set far in the distance, many of them are private realms of celestial beings. The air between worlds and stars is thinner than on top of a mountain, and special sky-ships or magic are required to travel between them.

Of other planes, a little more is known from priests, magicians, and planar beings. Old myths repeated by priests say that mortal souls go to other planes on death depending on their alignment and devotion; most magicians disagree; gods say whatever will get you to obey them.

Calendar

The Known World is not Earth. The year (364 days) has 13 months (for convenience, use our month names, plus Veadar as the 13th month), each divided into 4 weeks of 7 days (again, use our day names). The moon's phases follow the month, so new moon is on week 1, day 1, full moon on week 3, day 1.

The current year is 30 AGN (Anno Glorien Nova) in Hyperborea, or 1420 ATR (Anno Tempestas Regina) in the Storm Islands.


Hyperborea

The southernmost peninsula of the great north, and the longest-occupied of the Human lands. There are nomads and perhaps isolated civilized areas of the north, but the coasts north of Hyperborea are dangerous with storms, icebergs, and sea monsters, and rarely sailed.

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Collosal Mtns
3,2
Shadows-prey
7,3
Bloodpaw Beastfolk
5,6
Haven
2,7
The Gravelands
2,13
Westmark
8,6
Zam Zorog
9,1
Lost Mtn
17,0
Averus
16,2
Death's Gate
8,12
Glorien
6,10
Mad Mtns
15,7
Rittermark
12,8
Troos
16,14
Hell's Vomit

Western Hyperborea

Region is generally Level 2 (see Adventures for how to apply that).

The plains here are dry, tall grasses, in warm seasons a thin layer of mud above permafrost. The forests are firs and pines, with some oaks and apple trees in the south, frozen in taiga in winter, almost swamps in summer. The mountains are steep granite shards with little soil or plant life above the tree line, 1500 meters up. Crossing except at a pass is grueling and often deadly.

Animals are roughly equivalent to Pleistocene Northern Europe, cold-adapted and larger than modern species. Common herbivores & omnivores include the wooly mammoth, wooly rhinocerous, musk ox, giant deer (called Cerrunos), horse, aurochs (most commonly domesticated as cattle), eohippus (dog-sized "dawn" horse), reindeer, boar, ibex, goose, rabbit, duck, sparrow, lemming, vole, and ptarmagin. Common predators are the cave bear, cave lion, giant snakes, giant lizards, spotted hyena, wolf, wolverine, eagle, fox, hawk, crow, viper, and ermine.

Haven (Level 1): The most likely place for new adventurers to begin in the area. A rural trading town at the end of an ancient stone road. Population is about 300 adult Humans and Gnomes, a few passing Dwarfs and Fauns, Beastfolk from non-hostile tribes tolerated as long as they don't stay. The Mayor (currently Gunhild) and Sheriff (currently Jorg) are elected by the local landowners, but largely citizens watch out for themselves here. The militia is most of the able-bodied adults, and routinely deal with Goblins from the Shadowsprey Forest, or barbarian cattle rustlers, or the hostile Bloodpaw Beastfolk tribe.

The town is a dozen longhalls, mostly connected, a few dozen more huts scattered around, and a market square (only fully active on Saturday & Sunday) near the well and town hall. The smithy is the only permanently-placed shop, and Knut Smith can make simple weapons, shields, and helmets, but not metal armor. Björn & Edit Hunter's tannery at the edge of town makes leather.

Haven is enclosed on the west side by a pine log stockade and watchtower, trailing off to old fences and sharpened stakes around the other sides; getting the stockade finished is a long-term plan. Outside the town walls are dozens of large ranches and farms, each fortified to some extent.

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Felder's Green

Felder's Green (Level 2): A tiny barbarian village of two dozen adults in a longhall and a few huts, neutral to friendly to Haven but often blamed for other barbarian raids.

Goblin Hive (Level 1): A dungeon built over an extensive tunnel & cavern network buried beneath the forest. Every few years another generation of Goblins move in and stage attacks on Haven from here. They either don't know or care that Haven knows where to find them.

Shadowsprey Forest (Level 4): The darkest forest of the north, overgrown and overrun. To the north is the Faun village of Me Jahime Varjus, which in Common they just call Shadowsprey; a few hundred of them at least, maybe more out further in the woods. They trade with Haven and each warns the other of larger problems, but "allies" may be stretching the term. These are more serious hunters and wardens of the forest than commonly expected of Fauns.

To the west are spiders as large as a human, which web up the area and trap everything they can catch. The forest here is silent and pitch black. There were villages and ruins in this area, but getting to them now is too terrifying for normal people. The Fauns have some accomodation with them and can pass unharmed.

To the south are The Gravelands, dark forests full of hordes of angry undead, perhaps from tombs or a lost city, nobody goes far enough to find out.

To the east, north of Haven, are the hostile wolf-headed Bloodpaw Beastfolk, and many Goblin tribes, often led by more powerful humanoids.

Westmark Ruins (Level 5): Once a great city, until Glorien beseiged and burned it. Whether this was excessive retaliation for trade disputes, or piracy, or if the Dragon King had some other purpose, nobody knows but everyone speculates.

The ruins are now occupied only by undead and monsters. Pirates dock here for shelter from storms and to repair, but do not stay long.

The survivors of Westmark fled into the northern hills and became paleolithic barbarians, mostly herders, sometimes raiders. They have priests like Rittermark's Walker Priests, but less educated or powerful, and usually loyal only to their native tribe. More sophisticated Humans sometimes take control of a tribe and use them as a personal army.

The lands west of Westmark are badlands, rocky and dry, full of crevasses. When rain rarely falls, or snow melts and runs off, it flash floods into the ocean.

Zam Zorog (Zm'zrg in Dwarfish) (Level 3): Undermountain Dwarf civilization. The only pass through the Mad Mountains goes between massive stone and iron-barred gates, through 25km of tunnel large enough for an army, with air and light shafts every 300m. There are a number of smaller, much stronger gates into the city off of this main tunnel.

Upper tunnels are organized in broad highways, with offshoots into small neighborhood grids of tunnels and rooms, and occasional military checkpoints. These areas are all controlled by the Dwarfs, and populated by tens of thousands of the stout people. Human and Gnome visitors are welcomed, but not encouraged to stay long. Other visitors on official business may be escorted through but must be out before nightfall.

Lower tunnels and outer fringes start out the same way, but much of their work is incomplete, and these areas are infested with Kobold renegades, Goblin invaders, or other monsters. Only the most battle-crazed Dwarfs ever travel far into these areas.

The deepest floors connect into the deep Underworld, and are filled with terrible monsters.

Zam Zorog's culture is split between the Old Dwarfs, the Monarchists who are conservative, isolationist, and protectionist; and the New Dwarfs, who embrace technology, development, and trading partners.

The nominal ruler is King Ql'nf and a gaggle of aristocrats and courtiers, but the monarchy has little official power, their wealth is fading, and they have few rich or powerful allies. Poor, common, traditional Dwarfs revere them.

Chief Engineer Tr'zg is perhaps the most powerful New Dwarf, but there are many rich business Dwarfs in engineering, manufacturing, and trade who have nearly as much power. Skilled crafters and laborers are most likely to be New Dwarfs.

The Dwarfish Church of the Archons is almost entirely abandoned, only a few old priests and pathetic outcasts as acolytes, after they led the Dwarfs into too many ill-advised wars in the Underworld or even venturing Outside. Secular White Mage healers and scientific surgeons see to the people's needs now.

The Army is largely Old Dwarf, but it is considerably smaller and poorer than it used to be. Each company now has "security forces" which are perhaps the equal of an Army division. There are persistent rumors that some Old Dwarf aristocrats have found ways to work Black Magic, and that the New Dwarfs are trying to recruit Kobolds and Gnomes as allies. When civil war comes to Zam Zorog, the outcome could be a toss-up.

Lost Mountain (Level 10+): A former Dwarf stronghold taken over by the Great Dragon Fafnir, who according to legend was the Dwarfen King Ff'nr, transformed by a curse for his greed.

Eastern Hyperborea

Region is generally Level 4. Wildlife is sparser and less of the weaker types than Western Hyperborea, and more monsters instead of animals.

Glorien (Level 3): A stone-walled three-tiered city, beautifully planned in the center and around one side, a sprawling mess of slums and towers around the other. Home to over 200,000 Urban Humans, over a thousand High Elves, and tens of thousands of Beastfolk.

Glorien was founded millennia ago by an immortal magician from the Storm Islands known as the Dragon King, a cruel tyrant who demanded human sacrifices, and had militant priests known as Templars to dominate the populace.

30 years ago the Dragon King was slain by the Four Heroes, errant adventurers who became powerful and arrogant: Astraea, Grecal, Kain, and Starkad. Astraea, high priestess of Chokmah, tried to rule and outlaw the Templars, and lasted less than a year before the Templars seized control again, and she sailed south in exile. Grecal, allegedly the most powerful mortal Black Mage in the world, is the Chancellor of the Wizard's College, and keeps an uneasy truce with the Templars. Kain the Executioner, diabolist and assassin, fled into the Underworld, fearing retribution for his regicide and prior crimes. Starkad Giant-Kin, barbarian knight, returned to Rittermark, where he now rules.

Today the Templars still rule the city, somewhat directed by a Senate of merchants, priests, and mages. The Templars recruit religious initiates and bring them up in their hierarchy, as a parallel aristocracy and church; while they now venerate the Archons (mainly Kether and Geburah) and not the Dragon King, his influence carries on. All upper-level Templars are Human, but many Beastfolk are initiated and used as troops.

The secular hierarchy consists of the Gentry caste, mostly wealthy merchants, mages, and High Elves; Citizens, who are crafters, soldiers, and the more acceptable demi-humans; and Subjects, who are peasants, laborers, heretics, and filthy Beastfolk. Slavery or serfdom is not legal within the city, but this is not enforced in the farm villages outside.

The Wizard's College, a walled miniature city of high towers and shadowy courtyards, is the only institute of higher learning in Hyperborea. Black Mages who graduated from this College, or who prove their skills and pay some extortionate fees for membership, join a "Cabal" (like a school House or faction, each living in a separate tower) and are protected by their fellows. Students are brought in by Mages who typically charge several hundred GP per year to train them into competent Apprentices or beginning Black Mages in 4-8 years. The College itself is defended by Golems, Demons, and spells of dozens of Mages. Graduates are always welcomed back and can stay in the dormitories or get more permanent quarters. The Library is among the best in the world, and non-Mages may arrange access for tens of GP per day; no books or maps are to leave the building, of course.

Night's Children is a Golab and Samael cult which runs organized crime in Glorien. Extortion and protection rackets, assassination, legbreaking and thugs-for-hire, and targeted theft are their main businesses. Prostitution, gambling, and most drugs are technically legal, but the Templars violently oppose anyone doing them publicly, so Night's Children runs those in hidden locations. Not exactly a "thieves guild", but independent thieves who steal from a protected home or business, or who don't "tithe" 10% to a local boss, are likely to have accidents.

Hell's Vomit Volcano (Level 10+): A century ago, an unusual Human mining expedition dug deep in an island mountain; they did not find minerals, but the Underworld was full of wealth. When the volcano erupted, it destroyed their palaces, and created a fiery bridge to the mainland. Only monsters of Hell or fire elements dwell there now.

Troos (Level 2): A backwoods trading town, originally "Truce Village", where tribes met without conflict. Three longhalls surround a market square, and there are a few dozen huts on farms within a few hours walk. Jarl Edghard keeps peace with a maul, and doesn't worry if he's knocked sense into someone or life out of them.

Since Glorien's recent military campaign (see Death's Gate and Averus following), more and more troops have been passing through or by Troos, and a camp of followers have set up across the river. Soldiers who get drunk and come into Troos looking for trouble are a diplomatic problem, one the Jarl and Glorien's army commanders are trying not to escalate.

Rittermark (Level 5): A barbarian fortress carved from a cliffside and a sprawling mass of log pallisades around "villages" merged together, the whole making something like a city for nearly a hundred thousand barbarians who cannot run a city. King Starkad Giant-Kin can only sit on his throne when not putting down civil wars or trying to stop open raiding among his neighbors.

Each village of Rittermark or town of the surrounding area has its own Jarl, who thinks himself the equal of the King. Humans and Dwarfs are Peasants or Citizens, prisoners of monster races are slaves, other races are confusing and difficult.

The one unifying element are the Walker Priests of the Old Gods. Walkers travel among the communities, teach and heal anyone regardless of faction, and are considered absolutely neutral judges and witnesses.

Death's Gate (Level 5+): A fortress guarding the way into Averus and northern Hyperborea, constantly beseiged by Averus or Glorien forces, whoever holds it each year has a great military advantage. Glorien is attempting to drive a route north through Averus, but holding Death's Gate is difficult, and raiders from Rittermark disrupt the supply lines. The only other route north is through Shadowsprey Forest, which would be impossible even if the Fauns cooperated with Glorien, which they do not.

Averus (Level 8): A land of evil. Hot springs warm this valley up from tundra into swamp, and it is occupied by Goblin-kin and monsters. An obsidian tower juts through a portal to Hell itself, and is home to the demon Shaitan, ruler of Averus. Shaitan is typically depicted as a giant in flaming armor, but few outsiders have seen him and lived. Demons and giants rule and intimidate the lesser humanoids into working and soldiering.

Storm Islands

Jewel Cities south of Hyperborea are ruled by the Storm Queen. The Jewel Cities are trade ports on the border of the continent of Kush, in constant competition with each other. The seas are full of smaller islands rich with resources, but exploration is dangerous, and many are pirate havens. The Storm Queen never openly interferes, yet weather and nature oppose any who would oppose her.

Local rule is by members of the Noble Houses, each of which competes for wealth and the Storm Queen's favor. Everyone of any importance has some petty aristocratic title, either born or married into. The workers are just Peasants, Serfs, or Slaves. Many lower-born become sailors or pirates, ships always need crew and ask few questions.

Malovia

Malovia to the East is ruled by the Prince of All Darkness. His knights and loyal subjects are turned into free-willed undead at death, disobedient or unlucky peasants are turned into undead slaves. Any unauthorized practice of magic or heretical religions is hunted by Death Knights. The sky over Malovia is perpetually overcast, and the land is corrupt and poisoned.

Gwyrdland

Little is known about the western continent. Dense forests, endless plains, and hostile, strange inhabitants.

Gwyrdland is a patchwork of kingdoms, each with its own weird native races, strange customs. They had little or no contact with the Serpent Men.

Kush

Little is known about the southern continent. Deserts give way to jungles, and perhaps strongholds of the Serpent Men.

Northeastern Kush is much like ancient Egypt. Northwestern Kush is like Carthage, last colony of a Phoenecian-like culture that used to be in Malovia, before the Prince of All Darkness conquered it. The desert prevents easy travel to Southern Kush.


Characters

(This chapter is Open Game Content)

Copy the Character Sheet at the end of these rules.

Stats

Roll 1d4-1d4 for each of the three stats. If all three are zero or negative, the Referee may let you reroll. No stat may be raised above +6 by any means, short of becoming a god.

Alternative Stat Generation Methods

  1. Roll (3d6-10)/2, drop fractions: 3:-4, 4-5:-3, 6-7:-2, 8-9:-1, 10-11:+0, 12-13:+1, 14-15:+2, 16-17:+3, 18:+4.
  2. Choose scores from -3 to +3, adding up to 3.

When converting from other Compatible games, scores here equal the bonuses there. ST is average of Strength & Constitution, DX is just Dexterity, IN is average of Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. 3d6 scores are (10 + stat bonus x 2), e.g. -1 is 8, +3 is 16.

Stat Loss

Stats can be lowered temporarily by starvation, heat & cold, poisons, diseases, curses, and monster attacks. If a stat is reduced to -5 or less, the character dies. Lost stat points recover 1 point (from one stat of the player's choice, or a randomly-chosen stat) per night of rest.

Stat Rolls

Stat Rolls, also called Saving Throws, are used to determine the result of any action with an uncertain outcome. The Referee chooses a stat and modifiers (or these may be suggested by the rules). If the action is a skill you don't possess (for some other profession, like Climbing, Stealth, Follow Tracks, Ancient Knowledge, etc.), take a -5 or -10 penalty, or only -2 if it is very similar to a skill you do possess (Crafter: Blacksmith attempting Weaponsmithing, etc.).

Roll 1d20 + Level + stat + modifiers. If the total is 15 or higher, you succeed; if 6-14, you fail; if 5 or less, you fail very badly. Regardless of the total, if the die roll is a natural 20, you succeed and gain some extra benefit; if it is a natural 1, you fail very badly.


Race

Choose Human, Earthborn, Dwarf, High Elf, Faun, Gnome, Beastfolk, Half-Breed, or Monster. The Referee should alter descriptions and abilities, and add or remove races, as appropriate to a campaign.


Social Status (Optional)

In unsettled lands (beyond the borders of any nation), most people are free Peasants/Citizens, except those who master a trade, achieve officer rank in a military, or self-made nobles. In settled lands, the social hierarchy is established and inherited with little mobility, and finer distinctions are made.

The Referee may allow players to choose, or roll 1d20 by race or on the Unsettled column. Beastfolk roll as Barbarians, Fauns roll as Rural Humans, Dark Elves roll as High Elves, and Half-breeds roll as whichever culture raised them. Earthborn who have been in the Known World some time may roll as Urban Humans, but if they have only recently appeared, they use a special entry below and are thereafter treated as Citizens.

In settled lands, the Referee may have you roll 3d6 to determine finer rank of status, such that 3 is nearly the next status down, 18 is nearly the next status up, and there is infighting and politicial maneuvering within a social status. What events and politics will move that rank up or down are determined by the Referee, but certainly expending money and doing favors for higher status characters will be required.

Remember to apply Rich & Poor racial attributes to any GP roll. This is unfair, since the poor races also tend to have low status, but a Beastfolk "Noble" is inferior to a Human Noble.

Adventurer-like NPCs can be rolled up on these same tables, unimportant NPCs can be rolled with 2d20 taking the lower die, and important NPCs can be rolled with 2d20 taking the higher die.

  Rural High Elf Barbarian
Status Unsettled Urban Faun Dwarf Dark Elf Gnome Beastfolk Monster
Serf/Slave 1-2 1 1 1 1-5 1-9
Peasant 1-10 3-5 2-15 2-9 6-12 10-17
Citizen 11-15 6-15 16 2-8 10-11 13-16
Craft Master 16 16 17 9-13 1-2 12-15 17-18 18
Merchant 17 17 18 14-16 3 16
Officer 18 18 19 17-18 4-5 17-18 19 19
Gentry 19 19 19 6-17 19
Noble 20 20 20 20 18-20 20 20 20

Professions

Professions are areas of military or magical training; often these are specific jobs a character has been employed in.

A basic, untrained character has the following attributes, which can be improved by Professions:

At first level, choose two Professions from the lists below. Basic Professions have no prerequisites, while Advanced Professions require other Professions to be chosen first, e.g. you can only become a Soldier after training as Militia, and Prestige Professions require Level 4 and usually an Advanced Profession.

You will gain additional Professions at Levels 2, 4, and multiples of 4.

Most attributes are the highest of any known Professions, while Weapons, Armor, Combat Stances, Magic Items, and special skills add to those known. For example, a Militia, Berserker, Assassin has Hit Die 1d10, ignoring the base 1d4 or Militia's 1d6; Attacks are as Militia, To Hit is Militia. Weapons are base Light Melee, Light Missile, plus militia's Medium Melee, Medium Missile, plus berserker's Great Melee. Armor is militia's Light Armor, Shield. Combat Stances are base Normal, Dodging, plus militia's Offensive, Defensive, assassin's Defensive is duplicate, plus berserker's Charging.

Using a weapon you are not trained in has a -4 penalty To Hit. Using armor you are not trained in halves your movement rate and applies a -4 penalty to all actions. Magic items you are not trained in will simply not work for you.

Conversions

Most Compatible and Old-School games use predefined classes, which can be simulated with the following professions taken in order:


Basic Professions

Advanced Professions

Prestige Professions


Secondary Stats

Hit Points (HP)

Physical damage a character can survive. In some games, HP may be said to represent "luck", "skill", or "favor of the gods"; this is up to the Referee and players, but those factors already exist in attack rolls, defenses, and magic. So the premise here is that HP represent physical injuries, and more experienced characters are able to take a beating that would KO or kill a less-experienced character.

There are several variations possible for HP. All character races and Humanoid monsters should use the same system, while non-Humanoid monsters almost always use Standard Hit Points.

Damage reduces HP, and can lead to death:

HP recover naturally but slowly if you have 24 hours of rest, with sufficient food and water.

Near-Death Side Effects (Optional): If you have negative HP and are healed to 0 or higher, you must roll 1d20 + ST on the following table. Negative effects can be removed with a Restoration spell, or sometimes with prosthetics.

Roll Near-Death Side Effects
1 Brain Damage: -1 IN, and lose half of your next 1000 EP.
2-3 Mystical Insight: Black or White Mages learn 1 new spell of a randomly-selected known spell Level. Psionics gain one new Discipline. Others gain one new Mutation.
4-5 One Eye Blinded: -1 to hit with missile weapons if one-eyed. Blind if both eyes are lost.
6-7 Right Arm Maimed: -1 ST and cannot use 2-handed weapons.
8-9 Left Arm Maimed: Cannot use shields or 2-handed weapons.
10-11 Right Leg Maimed: Limp, reduce movement by 1. Wooden leg can replace it.
12-13 Left Leg Maimed: Limp, reduce movement by 1, or by 3 if both legs are lost. Wooden leg can replace it.
14-15 Internal Injury: -1 ST, reduce movement by 1.
16 Right Hand Maimed: -1 DX, cannot write or pick locks with it. Cannot hold a weapon unless replaced with a metal hook or prosthetic.
17 Left Hand Maimed: -1 DX, cannot write or pick locks with it. Cannot hold a weapon or shield unless replaced with a metal hook or prosthetic.
18-19 Terrible Scarring: -2 to reaction & loyalty rolls, +2 to intimdation.
20 Mild Scarring: -1 to reaction & loyalty rolls, +1 to intimdation.

Death is not the end:

Magic Points (MP)

Energy used to cast spells. MP is gained from Black Mage, White Mage, or Beastmaster Professions. Each spell costs MP equal to the Spell Level. For example, a Level 3 Black Mage with IN +4 has (3+4)x2 = 14 MP, and can cast three Level 3 spells and five Level 1 spells, etc.

MP fully recover after a night of rest.

Mana Level: Most environments (lands, or planets, or planes of existence) have normal mana levels. Mana levels increase near chaotic sources and deeper in the Underworld, decrease near lawful sources and above the world. In low-mana environments, halve a character's MP. In high-mana environments, MP recovers at a rate of (Level) MP per hour, in addition to full recovery after rest.


Alignment

Choose one. There are no "alignment languages". Typically a cooperating group should be mostly Lawful, or mostly Chaotic, with some Neutrals tolerated. The divine beings of each alignment, if any, will depend on the campaign.

Languages

Characters know their native language, typically Common (used by Humans and Ogres), Dwarfish, Elven, Faerie (Fauns), plus a number of other languages equal to their IN if it is positive. Characters are only literate if their IN is 0 or higher, or have a literate Profession (Apprentice, Initiate, or Sage). Starting adventurers also know Common if it is not their native language. Characters can learn one new language per Level with six months of daily practice. Animal and elemental languages are normally only useful with intelligent things of that type.

To pick a random language, there's a 50% chance it will be Common, otherwise roll 1d20:

1d20 Language 1d20 Language
1 Celestial 11 Harpy
2 Centaur 12 Lizard Man
3 Demonic 13 Minotaur
4 Draconic 14 Serpent Man
5 Dwarfish 15 Troll
6 Elven 16 Beastfolk (may instead use animal language)
7 Faerie 17 Mammal, roll 1d6: 1: Wolf, 2: Bear, 3: Otter, 4: Horse, 5: Rabbit, 6: Deer
8 Gargoyle 18 Avian, roll 1d6: 1: Crow, 2: Hawk, 3: Eagle, 4: Owl, 5: Robin, 6: Pigeon
9 Giant 19 Cold-Blooded, roll 1d6: 1: Snake, 2: Lizard, 3: Crocodile, 4: Turtle, 5: Frog, 6: Spider
10 Gobbely (Goblin) 20 Elemental, roll 1d6: 1: Tree, 2: River, 3: Ocean, 4: Wind, 5: Fire, 6: Stone

Experience & Level

Characters at the absolute start of their career have Level 1, Experience Points (EP) 0.

The Referee should usually allow player characters to start as journeyman adventurers, in which case they get 1000 EP and do one Level Up (Level 2); in particular note that this gives a third Profession.

How to Gain Experience

How to Level Up

When you reach a total of (Level2 x 1000) EP, you go up to the next Level. It is very rare to exceed Level 10, and the maximum mortal Level is 20. Optional: The Referee may have you wait to Level Up until the start or end of a session, or require training time & some expense.

When You Level Up

Starting From Nothing (Optional)

Characters are always at least Level 1 (they have a Hit Die), but can start with no Professions. This is useful for boarding school and survival campaigns, where normal young adults become adventurers. They start with -1000 EP and no Professions, only the Untrained stats. At -500 EP, they pick their first Profession. At 0 EP, they pick their second, and are full adventurers.


Equipment

(This chapter is Open Game Content)

Either use Social Status (as above) to determine starting equipment, or roll 3d6x5 (modified by racial Rich or Poor attributes) for starting Gold Pieces (GP). Use any money to buy equipment or keep some for later.

Currency is Gold Pieces (GP). There are also Platinum Pieces (PP) worth 5 GP, Electrum Pieces (ELP) worth 1/2 GP, Silver Pieces (SP) worth 1/10 GP, and Copper Pieces (CP) worth 1/50 GP.

A peasant or laborer earns 1-5 SP per week, soldiers earn 1-5 GP per week, skilled crafters and spell-casters earn at least 5 GP per week. Treat 1 SP as $10 USD for estimating prices; or in medieval (800-1400 CE) sources, 1 CP ≈ 1 farthing, 1 SP ≈ 1 pence (d), 1 GP ≈ 1 shilling (s), 20 GP ≈ 1£ sterling.

Encumbrance limits are up to the Referee. Accounting for weight slows down the game. Slots or "stones" prevent the kind of pack-ratting for contingencies that players like doing. So don't worry about it unless a player has a piano or pages of gear with no explanation.

Material & Repair (Optional)

 

Repairing weapons & armor: Costs 1/4x of the original price, per step of repair. For example, a broken iron shield (10 GP) costs 3 GP to repair; iron chainmail (50 GP) which has lost 3 AC costs 13 GP x 3 steps = 39 GP to repair.

Lifestyle & Maintenance (Optional)

Rather than deal with every petty cost, every night at an inn, every meal, you can use the following rule. Halve this Lifestyle Tax if you do account for some of these services and use the Material & Repair rules.

Characters must pay (Level2 x 10) GP every month to support their lifestyle & maintain their equipment. Failure to pay this results in -1 to all attack & stat rolls, and henchman or hireling morale and loyalty. Each item of normal equipment has a 1 in 6 chance to be broken; magic items with charges lose 1d10% of charges. Every 6 months of non-payment, lose 1 point from a stat, roll 1d6: 1-2: ST, 3-4: DX, 5-6: IN. Penalties remain until all owed "lifestyle debt" is paid.


Price Lists

Dungeon Equipment Cost
Bottle 1 SP
Chalk, 1 piece 1 CP
Garlic, Bud 5 GP
Grappling Hook 2 GP
Iron Pitons, 12 1 GP
Lockpicks 1 GP
Mallet & Wood Stakes, 6 3 SP
Mirror, Silver 15 GP
Pole, 3m 1 GP
Rope 20m, 400kg strength 1 GP
Twine 20m, 20kg strength 1 SP
Lighting
Candles, Tallow, 12 1 CP
Candles, Wax, 12 1 SP
Dwarf Lantern [D] 10 GP
Flint & Steel 1 GP
Lanthorn, candle 1 GP
Matches, 50 [D] 5 GP
Oil, per flask [F] 2 GP
Torches, 6 1 SP

Special Equipment Cost
Acid, per flask [A][D] 40 GP
Cauldron, Iron or Ceramic 8 GP
Clock [D] 100 GP
Compass, Floating [D] 25 GP
Holy Symbol, Cheap 2 GP
Holy Symbol, Fancy 25 GP
Holy Water, 1 bottle [H] 10 GP
Notebook, 128 pages 10 GP
Paper, 16 pages 1 GP
Poison, Weak, 1 dose [P] 10 GP
Poison, Moderate, 1 dose [P] 50 GP
Poison, Strong, 1 dose [P] 400 GP
Quill & Ink 2 GP
Spyglass [D] 25 GP
Wolfsbane, 1 flower 1 GP
Ammunition
Arrows, 12 3 GP
Arrow, Silver, 1 5 GP
Firearm Bullets, 10 [D] 10 GP

Provisions Cost
Ale, per pitcher [I] 1 CP
Drugs, Moderate, per dose [I] 4 GP
Drugs, Strong, per dose [I] 20 GP
Drugs, Weak, per dose [I] 1 SP
Food, Cheap, 5 days [S] 1 SP
Food, Hardtack, 5 days [S] 2 SP
Food, Iron Rations, 1 day [S] 1 GP
Food, Street Vendor, 1 meal [S] 1 CP
Liquor, per shot [I] 1+ SP
Pipe & 0.25 kg Pipeweed [I] 1 GP/1 SP
Waterskin, 4L [S] 1 GP
Wine, Cheap, per jug [I] 2 CP
Wine, Good, per glass [I] 1 SP
Lodging
Inn, Common Room 2 SP
Inn, Private Room 1 GP
Stabling & Horse Feed 1 SP
Horse Feed, Grain, 1 day 1 SP

Travel Cost
Backpack 5 GP
Bedroll 5 SP
Belt Pouch 2 GP
Boots, Heavy 3 GP
Cloak 1 GP
Clothing, Rags 1 CP
Clothing, Peasant 1 GP
Clothing, Gentry 10 GP
Coat, Winter 5 GP
Sack 1 SP
Tent, 2-person 10 GP
Transportation
Cart 100 GP
Donkey or Mule 20 GP
Draft Horse 30 GP
Raft 40 GP
Riding Horse 40 GP
Saddle 25 GP
Saddle Bags 10 GP
Small Boat 100 GP
Wagon 200 GP
Warhorse 200 GP

[A] See Thrown Explosives in Combat, does Acid hazard to all targets.
[D] Dwarf (and Kobold) technology. Tends to be large & cumbersome, not pocketable. Dwarfs of good social status (Craft Master or higher) can purchase these at full price in Dwarfish cities. Dwarfs will not sell these to non-Dwarfs (even Earthborn), and may demand they be returned for at most a 10% finder's fee. Non-Dwarf collectors will rarely buy them for 10-20% listed cost, never sell them for fear of angry Dwarfs. Kobolds murder any non-Kobold/Dwarf carrying Dwarf tech, but they'll murder anyone.
[F] See Thrown Explosives in Combat, does Fire hazard to all targets.
[H] See Thrown Explosives in Combat, does standard hazard damage to all undead or demons.
[I] Ale & Wine are Weak Intoxicants (one dose per drink), Liquor is a Moderate Intoxicant, and price may vary considerably. Pipeweed may be tobacco, marijuana, or other drugs, and price may vary considerably. Referee will have to detail specific drugs and side-effects; I suggest using Neoplastic Press' Narcosa.
[P] Poisons can be made for drink, food, contact (dries up to a mostly harmless state after 1d6 turns), or injection with a blade (dries up after 1d6 rounds). Paralytic poisons cost half as much. Careful observation will find a poison with an IN roll modified by intensity (Weak/Moderate/Strong).
[S] See Deprivation. Cheap food (any normally-cooked meal) and Street Vendor food rots after 5 days, then treat it as Poison. Iron Rations (tribal Human & Beastfolk Pemmican, Human canning jars, Dwarfish iron/tin cans of food, or Elven & Gnomish Waybread) lasts for months or years. Hardtack lasts for years, but requires double rations of water. Street vendor meat pies, old food from dungeons, monster meat, and other dubious food requires a 1d6 roll: 1-3: Acceptable, 4-5: Nauseating, make a ST roll to keep it down, 6: Poison.

Weapon Damage Bonus Initiative Cost   Notes
Unarmed 1d3-1 ST +4  
Light Melee 1d4 ST/DX +2 5 SP   Dagger, Club, Hatchet. May be thrown, range 6m.
Tool 1d4 ST 0 3 GP   Hammer, Wrench, Crowbar (all 1-Handed), or Shovel, Pick, Pitchfork (all 2-Handed). Usable as a Light Melee weapon or tool.
Staff 1d4 IN 0 5 GP   2-Handed. Cannot use with a Shield. Gives you a +1 bonus to saving throws against magic, and applies a -1 penalty to any target's saving throws against your magic spells.
Medium Melee 1d6 ST 0 5 GP   Short Sword, Rapier, Spear, Hand Axe, Mace.
Heavy Melee 1d8 ST -2 25 GP   Broadsword, War Axe, War Hammer, Flail.
Great Melee 1d10 ST -4 100 GP   2-Handed Sword, Battleaxe, Maul, or Polearm. Cannot use with a Shield. Does +2 damage against large foes.
Light Missile 1d4 DX 0 1 GP   Dart, Sling, Javelin, Blowgun. Range 12m.
Medium Missile 1d6 DX -1 25 GP   Short Bow, Light Crossbow. Cannot use with a Shield. Range 36m.
Heavy Missile 1d8 DX -2 60 GP   Long Bow, Crossbow. Cannot use with a Shield. Range 48m. Takes 1 round to reload.
Net special DX -2 5 GP   Used as Medium Missile. Range 6m. On hit, target cannot move, can make a DX save every round to escape.
Firearm [D] 1d10 DX 0 200 GP   Pistol has range 24m, Rifle has range 96m. Takes 1 round to reload.
Grenade [D] special DX 0 20 GP See Throwing in Combat, does standard hazard damage to all targets.
Armor AC Bonus Movement Initiative Cost   Notes
None +0 12 0  
Light Armor +2 9 -1 5 GP   Quilted Gambeson or Leather Cuir Boulli.
Medium Armor +4 6 -2 50 GP   Ring or Chain Mail. Cannot use Stealth or Climbing. Swim at -5.
Heavy Armor +6 3 -4 250 GP   Plate Mail or Plate. Cannot use Stealth or Climbing. Swim at -10.
Partial Light Armor +1 10 0 3 GP   Quilted or Leather straps, etc., very minimal coverage.
Partial Medium Armor +3 7 -1 30 GP   Ring or Chain Mail shirt or bikini. Cannot use Stealth or Climbing. Swim at -5.
Partial Heavy Armor +5 4 -3 150 GP   Plate Mail or Plate half-suit, or incomplete gladiator armor. Cannot use Stealth or Climbing. Swim at -10.
Target Shield +1 -1 10 GP   Cannot be used with 2-Handed weapons.
Kite Shield +2 -3 60 GP   Cannot be used with 2-Handed weapons.
Barding +4 -3 0 150 GP   Ring Mail for a horse.

Armor Class (AC) = 11 + AC bonuses.
Old-School Conversion: New AC = 20 - original rules AC.


Combat

(This chapter is Open Game Content)

To Hit Table

Level _1 _2 _3 _4 _5 _6 _7 _8 _9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Untrained 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 8
Militia 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 10
Soldier 2 2 3 3 4 5 6 6 7 8 8 9 10 10 11 12 12 13 14 14

Sequence of Play

Combat is resolved in rounds of 10 seconds, on a battlefield map marked off in 3m squares.

  1. Initiative: At the start of combat, every combatant rolls 1d20. On each round, Initiative score is the original roll + Level + DX + Initiative modifiers from equipment, -10 if they were surprised (first round only), -4 on any round where they draw a weapon, -5 if they are currently stunned.
  2. Stance: You may choose any fighting stance allowed by your professions. Any stance modifiers last until your next round.

    The stance can be described as cautious or enraged fighting styles, or as special maneuvering. For example, a swashbuckler with Offensive stance might swing down on a line, or with Defensive might flip up a table in an enemy's face.

  3. Movement: Move distance given by your armor + DX, in 3m squares. Every obstacle moved through or over costs 1 extra square of movement. Combatants can move into or through squares occupied by allies, but not by enemies.

  4. Attack: Roll 1d20 + To Hit Table bonus + bonus stat for your weapon (if ST/DX, use whichever is higher). Look on the To Hit Table across from your To Hit type (Untrained, Militia, or Soldier) to your current Level, to get your To Hit bonus.
  5. Damage: On a successful hit, roll damage dice for the weapon, plus bonus stat for the weapon. Subtract the total from the target's HP. On damage of 6 or more, a significant injury occurs, based on hit location and weapon type (no mechanical effect).

  6. Spell Casting: Casting a spell requires concentration; you cannot cast if you have taken any other action this round, or if you were struck for any damage since your last round, or if you were stunned. See Magic for other restrictions.

  7. Grapple: Grappling is an unarmed attack.
  8. Thrown Explosives: When flasks or grenades are thrown, normally no attack roll is needed out to maximum range 12m. The Referee may require a DX roll, and on failure the projectile bounces 1d4 squares in direction 1d8 (1=N, 2=NE, 3=E, 4=SE, 5=S, 6=SW, 7=W, 8=NW). Targets in the square hit are exposed to a Moderate DX hazard, all within adjacent squares are exposed to a Weak DX hazard.

  9. Other: If you did not attack or cast, you can do anything else that takes a few seconds, like use a Profession skill or use an item such as a potion.

  10. Morale: Monsters and NPCs check morale when outnumbered by equally powerful foes, or when damaged to half HP or less. Roll 1d20, +2 if defenders outnumber attackers, -2 if attackers outnumber defenders, +2 if defenders appear to be more powerful, -2 if attackers appear to be more powerful. If the total is 2 or less, the monster runs in terror; if 3-5, the monster withdraws or surrenders if possible, fights on if not; if 6 or higher, the monster stands firm.

Mapless Combat (Optional, Recommended for Old-School)

You can play freeform without miniatures, just use relative distances and speeds. For example, a move 9 defender can close ranks to stop a move 6 attacker from getting through. If the attacker chases and defender runs away for 3 rounds ((9-6)x3)=9 squares=27m), they are out of Javelin maximum range (12m x 2).

Weapon vs Armor Type (Optional)

This is a detailed optional rule, and only recommended for "realistic" campaigns where humanoids mostly fight humanoids in small battles, so weapon vs armor is an important strategic choice. In a monster-mashing murderhoboes game, it's extra bookkeeping for almost no value.

Different weapons are more or less effective against varying types of armor, which is represented as a bonus or penalty to the attack roll, which nullifies some of the armor's protection.

When you record a weapon on your character sheet, record next to it (L+0, M+0, H+0) so you don't have to look this up every time.

Monster armor does not use this table unless the Referee assigns an armor equivalent (e.g. a Dragon might be considered Heavy armor, and therefore spears are less effective…). Monster attacks do not use this table unless the Referee assigns a weapon equivalent (e.g. again a Dragon's claws may be considered Blades, and cut Light-armored targets with +1).

  Armor
Weapon Light Medium Heavy
Axe +1 +2 -1
Blade +1 +0 +0
Blunt/Staff -1 +1 +0
Spear/Polearm +0 -1 -2
Light Missile +0 -2 -3
Medium Missile +1 -1 -2
Heavy Missile +2 +2 +0
Net +1 +2 +3
Firearm +2 +3 +4

Combat Fatigue (Optional)

This is another detailed optional rule, usually only used in long sieges against superior forces.

Over long battles, combatants may become exhausted and less effective, by accumulating Fatigue Points (FP). Undead, Demon, and Unliving monsters are immune to fatigue, and monsters that only use natural weapons and defenses will not build up much fatigue.

Every round:

Make a track on your sheet and use a marker to indicate current fatigue:

1               5               10              15              20
[_][_][_][_][_] [_][_][_][_][_] [_][_][_][_][_] [_][_][_][_][_] [_][_][_][_][_]
 ^

When FP reaches 10+ST, and every 3 FP after, take a cumulative penalty of -1 to-hit, -1 damage, -1 Movement, and -1 penalty to any athletic activity (Climbing, Swimming, etc.).

For every round of rest, reduce FP by 1.


Adventures

(This chapter is Product Identity, not Open Game Content)

Adventuring Hazards

Cave-In

Dungeons and underground areas may collapse from sabotage, debris buildup, water or wind erosion, explosions, or earthquakes; if a spell produces such an effect, roll 1d10, and if the roll is less than or equal to spell level, it causes a cave-in.

Everyone in the area of 2d6 squares radius must make a DX roll; if the total is 15 or higher, they avoid the falling debris; if 6-14 they take 2d6 HP damage and may be partially buried; if 5 or less, they take 4d6 HP damage and will be completely buried. Buried characters need helpers with tools to get them out. The cave-in may also block or expose passages.

Drain

Stat Drain effects require a saving throw against that stat. On failure, lose 1 point of that stat.

Hazard

When exposed to a hazard, you get a saving throw: Roll 1d20 + Level + bonus stat, +4 if it is a Weak hazard, +0 if it is a Moderate hazard, -4 if it is a Strong hazard. If total is 15 or higher, you survive unscathed; if total is 14 or less, you take 1d6 HP damage for a Weak hazard, 2d6 HP damage for a Moderate hazard, 4d6 HP damage for a Strong hazard.

Light

It takes 1 round to light a fire with matches, 1d3 rounds with flint & steel, 1d6 minutes with dry sticks.

A light source fully illuminates the radius, and provides dim light out to double the radius, enough to see moving shapes but no details. Smoke, dust, and fog reduce the radius of light sources by 1/3. Shadowvision doubles the radius, so a Dwarf can see 6m light by Candle, 12m dim light.

A draft (low wind no more than 10kmph) or a strong wind has a chance on 1d20 to blow out a light source.

Light Source Radius Duration Draft Strong Wind Notes
Candle 3m 2 hours 1-3 1-10 Tallow stinks and can be tracked by scent, wax is at a -10 penalty to track.
Torch 6m 4 hours 1 1-3
Lanthorn as candle as candle 1 Named for thin sheets of horn used in lieu of fragile glass, holds a single candle and illuminates the same, but protects it so it cannot blow out or spread sparks.
Dwarf Lantern 9m 4 hours per oil flask 1 Equivalent to 18th C Argand Lamps, only available to Dwarfs and Kobolds.
Oil Lamp 3m 4 hours per oil flask 1-3 1-10 Not portable, hot and fragile.

Roll 1d20 + Level + IN + modifiers. If the Search total is 15 or higher, it is found. Search rolls should not be a substitute for players thinking and asking good questions.

Area Level

Level: Each kingdom or region of the world should be given a Level. Anyone competent, and most monsters and treasures, will be the region's Level +/- 2, minimum 1 (roll 2d3-4 if you need a random modifier). Simple NPCs and harmless animals will usually be Level 1.

In the Underworld (dungeons, caves, etc.), the Level of beings encountered, ambient magic level, and demonic influence increases the further down one goes; this is not always linear, there are areas of more or less power even at the same depth. As a rule of thumb, increase the Level by 1 per floor, or roughly 20m depth in an open cavern. The mana level, as described in Magic Points increases from low to normal, or normal to high, around the 10th Level, and again at 20th Level.

Usually near-surface areas of the Underworld are occupied by weaker people, animals, and monsters, things which can go out on the surface to scavenge or hunt. The deeper down, the more magical power is available, and stronger monsters can rise to hunt weaker monsters, but rely on distance for defense.

Travel

An adventure map is drawn on graph or hex paper with a scale of 10km per grid. Usually some grids will be given planned encounters or places, while the rest are wilderness.

Travel speed is decided by transportation and terrain:

Transport Hours per Grid Terrain Multiplier
Walking 2 Clear, Road x1
Horse 1 Rough, Forest, Hills x3/2
Cart 3 Mountain, Swamp x2

Exploration and tactical combat in the Underworld, urban combat in cities, and other closed-in areas is tracked by rounds and 3m squares as in Combat. The slowest movement rate in the party determines how fast the party can travel. Non-combat urban travel should be one neighborhood/district per hour in a large city, 10 minutes in a smaller town.

Weather

There are eight weather levels. Weather usually starts at level 5, "nice". In equatorial regions (Tropic of Cancer 23°N to Tropic of Capricorn 23°S), the level can never (or very rarely) be lowered below 3; further north or south, the level can never (or very rarely) be raised above 6.

Weather Level Description
1 Blizzard. Lethal cold temperatures, Strong Cold hazard. Likely to get lost, roll 1d6, on 1-3, you travel in a random direction.
2 Snowfall. Severe cold temperatures, Moderate Cold hazard.
3 Rainstorm. If recent weather has been colder, sleet is near-freezing, Weak Cold hazard. Likely to get lost, roll 1d6, on 1, you travel in a random direction.
4 Overcast and cool. May be a Weak Cold hazard.
5 Nice weather.
6 Bright and warm. Weak Heat hazard.
7 Bright and very hot. Moderate Heat hazard.
8 Sandstorm, unbearably hot wind. Moderate to Strong Heat hazard. Likely to get lost, roll 1d6, on 1-3, you travel in a random direction.

At dawn of every day, the Referee should roll 1d6 to see if the weather changed. Add +1 to the roll during spring and summer.

1d6 Weather Change
1 Sudden temperature drop, weather level -2 for today, rises +1 tomorrow, roll normally on the day after.
2 Steady temperature drop, weather level -1 if it is currently 3 or higher.
3 Cooler and wet, weather level -1 if it is currently 4 or higher, no change if level 1-3.
4 No change.
5 No change.
6 Steady temperature rise, weather level +1.
7 Large temperature rise, weather level +2 for today, drops -1 tomorrow, roll normally on the day after.

Deprivation

Simple Deprivation: You need 1kg of food and 4L of water per day (double food requirement in cold climate, water requirement in hot climate). For every 1 day without water or 3 days without food, you cannot heal, take 1d4 damage, and lose 1 ST temporarily. A full day of rest with food and water will resume normal healing.

Advanced Deprivation (Optional): For adventures where you are far from civilization and need to carefully manage resources to survive, use these optional rules instead.

Characters have three deprivation meters: Thirst = (ST ÷ 2) + 3. Hunger = ST + 5. Sleep = (IN ÷ 2) + 3. All have a minimum of 1. These are based on the healthy maximum score, not any temporary reductions.

When any of these meters reach 0, temporarily reduce ST, DX, and IN by 1. For Thirst or Hunger, take 1/2 hit die as HP damage, for Sleep add 1d6 to Insanity total (as above). Reset any meters which are at 0 back to 1 less than full (minimum 1).

No stats or HP can recover without magic unless all meters have been full for 2 days.

For example, Average Man has 0 in all stats, d6 hit die, 5 HP, Thirst 3, Hunger 5, Sleep 3. On day 0, he falls in a pit. He can sleep, but can't get out and has no rations. On day 3, Thirst reaches 0, his stats are reduced to -1, takes 1/2 hit die and rolls 1, so now has 4 HP. On day 4, it rains and Average Man drinks until Thirst is full 3 and stays there. On day 5, Hunger reaches 0, his stats are reduced to -2, Hunger is set back to 4, and takes 1/2 hit die and rolls 3, so now has 1 HP. If he is not rescued by day 9, he will die when he takes 1 HP damage.

Anthropophagy: In the Known World, eating humanoid flesh is dangerous. Humans, Dwarfs & Kobolds, Elves & Faerie folk are "contract" races: Protected by Chesed (Archon of Bounty) unless they break the contract with Gamichicoth (Demon Prince of Famine). Beastfolk, Goblins, and Ogres, even halfbreeds, are always exempt and are willing anthropophages.

You can state that you're not eating out of ethics or fear, or roll 1d20 + Level + IN + 4 - days without food; if the total is 15 or higher, you resist; if the total is 6-14, you won't kill for it, but will join someone else in eating; if the total is 5 or less, you become an enthusiastic murderer and anthropophage.

If you do break the contract, roll 1d20 + Level + IN - Level of the Humanoid eaten; if the total is 15 or higher, add 1d6 Insanity; if the total is 6-14, convert into a Ghoul in weeks equal to your Level, unless you get a Remove Greater Curse first; if the total is 5 or less, convert into a Ghoul immediately.

In settings without the contract, butchering a race similar to your own or joining others in eating is a Weak Insanity hazard, and killing someone for meat is a Moderate Insanity hazard.

Swimming & Underwater Adventuring

To swim, roll 1d20 + Level + ST, plus modifiers from armor worn. If total is 15 or higher, you can swim at normal movement rate. If you fail, you get nowhere. Every failure past the first, lose 1 ST temporarily as you start drowning. If you sink and walk along the bottom, you do not need to roll, you move at half rate, but must make a ST drain roll every round as you start drowning.

If you can breathe underwater, from Water Breathing potions or spells, shapeshifting into an aquatic being, or other means, you will not drown (do not lose ST).

Normal bows, crossbows, slings, and firearms will not work underwater, and will need to dry out and be oiled before use. Bullets which get wet are ruined. Most weapons are at -4 penalty, except stabbing weapons (daggers, pitchforks, polearms, rapiers, spears). Sea Bows (which can be used underwater) cost 4x normal on the surface.

Elemental magic is dangerous underwater. Most air or gas spells simply won't work; Cloudkill creates a rapidly-diffusing blob of poison water. Earth spells will affect the sea floor just fine. Fire spells won't work. Ice spells have 2x normal area of effect. Lightning spells have 10x normal area of effect, including the caster if within range. Only Water Elementals can be summoned underwater.

Encounters

If the players enter a wilderness grid with a planned encounter, that is all that will happen there until it is cleared out. Otherwise, the Referee should roll 1d20 every hour. If the roll is less than or equal to the chance below, there is a random encounter.

Activity Encounter Chance Terrain Multiplier
Travelling by Day 3 Civilized Region x1/2
Travelling by Night 6 Forest, Mountain, Swamp x3/2
Camped 1 Evil Region x2

In the Underworld or cities, the encounter chance is 2, checked every 10 minutes when travelling, or every 1 hour when camped.

Specific regions and dungeons should be given their own encounter tables, but the ones below represent common civilized areas and the surrounding wilderness. The easier monsters are numbered 1-12, the more dangerous monsters numbered 13-20.

People and monsters encountered should be adapted to the Level of the area; for example, a Giant in a low-level area may be a young Hill Giant, while one in a high-level area may be an adult Storm Giant. Even so, a group of monsters may be more powerful than the party, and this is OK, the players will have to learn when to run away, parley, or surrender.

The number in parentheses is the number encountered.

Roll Day Encounter Night Underworld Aquatic Psionic
1 Aristocrat (1d3) [A] Aristocrat (1d3) [A] Adventurers (1d6+1) [H] Merfolk Merchant (1) [MM] Adventurers (1d6+1) [PH][P]
2 Priest (1d3) [C] Guards (2d6) [H] Bats, Vampire (2d6) Adventurers (1d6+1) [H] Psychic Coven (2d4) [PH][P][PC]
3 Merchants (1d6) [M] Outlaws (2d6) [E] Ghouls (1d3) Dolphin (3d6) Witch-Hunters (1d3) [W]
4 Guards (2d6) [H] Peasants (1d6) [H] Goblins (3d6) [E] Lizardman (3d6) Centaur (1d3) [P][PL]
5 Outlaws (2d6) [E] Adventurers (1d6+1) [H] Hobgoblins (1d6) [E][G] Octopus, Giant (1d6) Medusa (1)
6 Peasants (2d6) [H] Gargoyles (1d3) Lizardmen (3d6) [E] Sea Devil (3d6) Phase Spider (1d6)
7 Adventurers (1d6+1) [H] Ghouls (1d3) Beastfolk (3d6) [E] Sea Monster (1d2) Psychic Parasite (3d6)
8 Ogre (1) Ogres (1d3) Rats, Giant (3d6) [L] Shark (1d20) Sea Devil (Leader) (1d3) [P][PL]
9 Game Animals (1d6) Rats, Giant (2d6) [L] Skeletons (2d6) Squid, Giant (1) Serpent Man (1d3) [P][PL]
10 Wolves (1d3) [L] Vampires (1d3) [V] Slimes (1d6) Whale (1d6) Shadow (2d6)
11 Bears (1d3) [L] Wolves (2d6) [L] Spiders, Giant (1d3) Merfolk Noble (1d3) [MA] Slime (1d6) [P]
12 Snakes (1d6) Zombies (2d6) Zombies (2d6) Merfolk Hunters (2d6) Star-Hound (1d3)
13 Basilisk (1) Giants (1d6) [I] Gargoyles (1d3) Sea Elves (1d6) Basilisk (1)
14 Centaurs (2d6) Hobgoblins (2d6) [E][G] Minotaurs (1d3) Crabs, Giant (3d6) Celestial (1d3) [P]
15 Giants (1d3) [I] Beastfolk (3d6) [E] Ogres (1d3) Eels, Giant (2d6) Demon (1d3) [P]
16 Harpies (2d6) Skeletons (1d6) Shadows (1d6) Manta Ray (1d6) Dragon, Quetzalcoatl (1) [P]
17 Hippogriffs (1d6) Spectre (1) Spectres (1d3) Sea Horse (3d6) Giant (Leader) (1d3) [P][PL]
18 Lizardmen (2d6) Spiders, Giant (1d3) Trolls (1d6) Sea Ogre (1d6) Intellect Devourer (1d3)
19 Manticore (1) Trolls (1d3) Vampires (1d3) [V] Sea Troll (1d6) Star-Spawn (1)
20 Wyvern (1) Wraiths (1d6) Wraiths (1d3) Slime (2d6) Vampire (1) [P][PL]



[A] Roll for race as [H]. Each Aristocrat is accompanied by Knights (1d3), Guards (1d6), Servants (1d6).
[C] Roll for race as [H]. Each Priest is accompanied by Pilgrims (1d6).
[E] Evil humanoid groups of 5 or more have 1 Leader, those of 10 or more have 1 Shaman (White Mage), those of 15 or more have a second Shaman and 1 Warlock (Black Mage).
[G] Each Hobgoblin is accompanied by Goblins (1d6), and 25% chance of Bugbear (1).
[H] Humanoid. Roll 1d20 for race: 1-10: Human, 11-13: Dwarf, 14: Elf, 15: Faun, 16: Gnome, 17-19: Beastfolk, 20: Monster, roll again: 1-3: Ape-Man, 4-5: Bugbear, 6-7: Centaur, 8-10: Goblin, 11-12: Hobgoblin, 13-14: Kobold, 15-16: Lizardman, 17-18: Minotaur, 19-20: Ogre. Create these like characters.
[I] Roll 1d20: 1-8: Hill Giant, 9-12: Cloud Giant, 13-16: Fire Giant, 17-20: Frost Giant.
[L] Roll 1d20: 1-15: Normal animals, 16-17: Dire or Giant, 18-19: Normal animals led by a Lycanthrope, 20: Entire pack of Lycanthropes.
[M] Roll for race as [H]. Each Merchant is accompanied by Guards (1d3), Servants (1d3).
[MA] Each Merfolk Noble is accompanied by Merfolk Hunters (1d6+1).
[MM] Each Merfolk Merchant is accompanied by Merfolk Hunters (1d6).
[P] Must be at least Level 4, and have Psionics.
[PC] Each member of the coven is accompanied by Guards (1d6), often Charmed.
[PH] Psychic Humanoid. Roll 1d20 for race: 1-17: Human, 18: Half-Dwarf, 19: Half-Elf, 20: Half-Beastfolk.
[PL] Each psychic leader is accompanied by non-psychic followers (1d6).
[V] Each Vampire is Level 4+1d6, and is accompanied by Vampire Spawn (1d6), and 50% chance of Guards (1d3), Servants (1d3).
[W] Knights with experience hunting psychics. Determine race as Humanoid for general encounters below. Each Witch-Hunter is accompanied by Soldiers (1d6), Priests (1d2), Initiates (1d6), Servants (1d6), 2 in 6 chance of a Black Mage sworn to their cause.

Encounter Reaction

When NPCs are met, the Referee may determine their reaction, or may leave it up to chance and PC effort, rolling 1d20 on the table below with modifiers:

If the PCs approach in a hostile manner, weapons drawn, -4 penalty. If the leader speaks a common language and tries to parley, they may add their IN bonus. Add +4 for Aristocrats, Priests, Merchants, Peasants, and their retinues, +0 for Adventurers, -4 for Outlaws, -2 if majority of each group are a different race, -4 if they are natural enemies ("monsters").

Roll Reaction
2 or less Hostile: Immediately attacks.
3-7 Wary: Prepares for attack. A second reaction roll may be made if a peace offering is immediately made.
8-13 Neutral: Tries to negotiate, will fight or leave if negotiation fails.
14-19 Tolerant: Offers trade or simple assistance.
20+ Friendly: Offers help or partnership.


Henchmen & Hirelings

Henchmen are brave mercenaries recruited to be loyal assistants in the adventuring enterprise. These types hang around the public forum in towns, or in rough dive taverns, gambling halls, and brothels, or may be companions met on the road or rescued from dungeons.

A typical henchman should be paid (Level2 x 10) GP per week, plus 1/2 of a full share of treasure; specialists and spell-casters will demand 2-10x as much cash. Henchmen earn half as much XP as their leader on an adventure.

Loyalty for a henchman is very important, and is tracked by the Referee. On hiring and again every month, roll 1d20 + leader's IN + other bonuses. On hiring, only a result of Willing or Enthusiastic will accept employment, though you can coerce someone into service with threats. Add +1 Loyalty per year, up to +6. Add +1 to +2 Loyalty for high pay, +5 for gifts of magic items, -1 to -2 for low pay, -5 for no pay, -3 per step different in alignment. If you have over 4+IN henchmen, your leadership is spread too thin, and they all take -5 Loyalty.

Loyalty Monthly Loyalty & Morale
2 or less Treacherous, deserts or betrays at first opportunity.
3-7 Unwilling, -5 on Loyalty and Morale rolls.
8-13 Neutral, +0 on Loyalty and Morale rolls.
14-19 Willing, +5 on Loyalty and Morale rolls.
20+ Enthusiastic, +10 on Loyalty and Morale rolls.

Henchmen also serve as backup PCs. A Henchman who has served for several sessions and is still Willing or Enthusiastic (perhaps Neutral if they have been more loyal in the recent past) can advance into full player characterhood, if their leader dies. Only the leader's player can play their former henchmen.

Hirelings are merely working for money, and far less brave. A non-fighting, unskilled servant costs 1 GP per week. A typical mercenary costs (Level2 x 2) GP per week, plus 1/10 of a full share of treasure; specialists and spell-casters will demand 2-10x as much cash. Hirelings demand double pay for any month they engage in combat. Hirelings earn 1/10 as much XP as their leader on an adventure, and they generally resist going into such terrifying situations.

Roll Loyalty for Hirelings as for Henchmen, but any hiring result of Neutral or better succeeds, and there is no leadership maximum.

It is common for professional adventurers to hire one or two Henchmen each, who then manage a small army of mercenary soldiers, camp followers, crafters, minstrels, and other servants.

Gambling

Adventurers spend much of their time in low places, and gambling is often used as a way to feel out a potential challenger. Modern dice and card games can be played, but may be too slow and distracting, so a couple of fast and simple dice games are described below. Play a few rounds as a stand-in for a night of gambling.

A character may use Pickpocketing to cheat, and if they succeed, they get to nudge one of the dice to any number they like, or in a card game can steal a card from the deck or another player, or swap one from their sleeve. On failure, a cheater is caught by everyone else. If there are multiple cheaters, each can make an opposed roll to notice others.

Knucklebones is a common street game, originally played with four sheep's knuckles called astragali, with the four possible sides valued 1, 3, 4, 6; modern players may use 4d6 for convenience, or 4d4 reading "2" as "6" for authenticity (everyone should use the same system). In the first pass around the table, each player antes into the pot, and rolls their knucklebones. In a second pass around the table, each player may "stand", or ante in again and reroll some or all of their knucklebones. At the end of that pass, the highest roll total wins and takes the pot. Ties split the pot evenly. The last-rolling winning player starts the next round.

Big and Small (aka Sic Bo, aka Chuck-a-Luck) is a casino dice game. Everyone makes a single bet in marked-out bet squares in front of their seat, the dealer rolls 3d6, collects from the losers, and pays out to the winners. There is a fairly large house edge, and often a house will offer other bets such as specific numbers.

Bet Chance Payout
Specific Three of a Kind 111, 222, 333, 444, 555, or 666 0.46% 150x
Specific Two of a Kind 11, 22, 33, 44, 55, or 66 5.82% 8x
Any Three of a Kind 2.78% 24x
Big (total 11 to 17 but not triple) 48.6% 1x
Small (total 4 to 10 but not triple) 48.6% 1x

Law & Order

Adventurers are prone to law-breaking; they have little sense of consequences, and their abilities give them a feeling of invulnerability. It is best to disabuse them of that behavior, and not allow them to run amok in town.

Every nation will have some common laws, and there are often additional laws varying from town to town. Laws are enforced by town guards, who vary from ticket-writing bureaucrats, to honorable knights, to gangs of thugs. The guards arrest and jail anyone who seems to them to be breaking a law. Judgement and sentencing is done within 1d6 days by a judge appointed by the ruler, and they may vary from honest to completely corrupt. There are no lawyers, only a plea to the judge. Arrested suspects are presumed guilty unless they can prove innocence. Character witnesses and eyewitness testimony are most important (even though considered completely unreliable by modern courts).

Characters in royal or military service are subject to a higher standard. Misdemeanor crimes are treated as above, plus dishonorable discharge and often exile. Felony crimes are punished with execution.

The 1d6 rolls above are merely for a range of results, usually the Referee should decide on severity and assign numbers, which might be above 1-6 range.


"I say to you againe, doe not call up Any that you can not put downe; by the Which I meane, Any that can in Turne call up Somewhat against you, whereby your Powerfullest Devices may not be of use. Ask of the Lesser, lest the Greater shal not wish to Answer, and shal commande more than you."

—H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), "The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward"

Magic

(This chapter is Open Game Content)

Every spell has a Level, and a character cannot learn a spell with higher Level than their own experience Level. Spell Level is also the MP cost to cast the spell. Spells above Level 9 should be created by the Referee and players, and should be disturbingly powerful rituals.

Black Magic spells can only be cast by Apprentices (from scrolls) and Black Mages; White Magic spells can only be cast by Initiates (from scrolls) and White Mages.

"The tomes which held Turjan's sorcery lay on the long table of black steel or were thrust helter-skelter into shelves. These were volumes compiled by many wizards of the past, untidy folios collected by the Sage, leather-bound librams setting forth the syllables of a hundred powerful spells, so cogent that Turjan's brain could know but four at a time.

Turjan found a musty portfolio, turned the heavy pages to the spell the Sage had shown him, the Call to the Violent Cloud. He stared down at the characters and they burned with an urgent power, pressing off the page as if frantic to leave the dark solitude of the book.

Turjan closed the book, forcing the spell back into oblivion. He robed himself with a short cape, tucked a blade into his belt, fitted the amulet holding Laccodel's Rune to his wrist. Then he sat down and from a journal chose the spells he would take with him. What dangers he might meet he could not know, so he selected three spells of general application: the Excellent Prismatic Spray, Phandal's Mantle of Stealth, and the Spell of the Slow Hour."

-Jack Vance (1916-2013), "Turjan of Miir"

Optional: Spell Memorization: Normally in Stone Halls & Serpent Men, a magician knows all their spells by heart and can cast any of them as long as MP remains, recreating swords & sorcery stories where barbarians must evade and outlast sorcerers. The Referee may choose instead to recreate Jack Vance's Dying Earth stories, if and only if the Referee and affected players have read these books. In this case, magicians must prepare spells by "impressing" them into their mind from a spell book, taking 10 minutes per Spell Level. According to the stories, and in White Box rules, no spell can be memorized more than once at a time. MP must still be spent, so no more total Spell Levels can be memorized than MP total. Once a spell is cast, it cannot be re-cast until re-memorized. If you have more MP than spells, you may return to your books to re-memorize spells after casting the initial set. For example, a Level 3 Black Mage with 12 MP might prepare Phantasmal Force (3), Invisibility (3), ESP (3), Magic Missile (1), Shield (1), and Hold Portal (1), taking 120 minutes.

Optional: Material Components: Some Compatible games require material components specific to a spell, which must be held and is destroyed by the casting process. The players and Referee should determine what these items are when spells are first created or learned. For each spell, record how many of each material you have bought and stored in a pouch. Materials cost 1 CP for Spell Level 1, 1 SP for Spell Level 3, (Spell Level2) GP for Spell Levels 5-7, and (Spell Level2 x 5) GP for Spell Levels 9+.

Converting Compatible and Old-School Spells: The Spell Level is double minus 1, for example, an Old-School 3rd-level spell becomes Spell Level 5 here. Try to simplify the effect down to one action, spells which do many things should be multiple spells. Low-Level spell ranges should be kept short, not over 40m. Low-Level spell durations should be kept short, not over 24 hours. Almost all spells which affect others should have a saving throw, this prevents magic from being a certain solution to every problem. Spells should not have a "reversed" form depending on alignment; an opposite effect spell is a different spell, and usually in the other school of magic.

Spell Descriptions



Black Magic Spells

Level 1

  1. Aura of Power: R: S, D: 2 hours. Dramatic lighting, gleaming eyes, voice enhancement, or other subtle illusions give the caster +1 to Encounter Reaction rolls, and INT rolls for manipulating people.
  2. Charm Person: R: 10m, D: 24 hours, S: NE. Makes any intelligent living biped of equal or lower Level an obedient "friend" to the caster.
  3. Darkness: R: 40m, D: 2 hours. Causes an item to emit smoky darkness, with 6m radius. Mundane lights cannot be seen in or through it, magical light counters it exactly leaving outside light to pass through.
  4. Fear: R: 10m, D: Level rounds, S: NE. Makes a living target irrationally afraid of the caster, and must run away in a random direction; if trapped, target can act with a -2 penalty to all actions against the caster.
  5. Hold Portal: R: T, D: 2 hours. Magically seals a door or gate so it cannot be opened or damaged by any force.
  6. Light: R: 40m, D: 2 hours. Causes an item to emit magical light equivalent to a torch, with 6m radius.
  7. Magic Missile: R: 40m, D: I, S: NE. Caster fires a dart of magical energy at the target, always hits unless save is made, inflicting 1d4 + Level damage. An additional missile is fired for every 3 Levels of the caster, at the same or different targets, each missile requires a saving throw.
  8. Pyrokinesis: R: 40m, ST: NE. Ignites flammable objects, creating a hazard depending on size of the fire. Beings can only be set on fire if they are unusually flammable, and fail a saving throw.
  9. Read Languages: R: T, D: 2 hours. Target can read any language.
  10. Shield: R: S, D: 20 minutes. Creates an invisible shield that hovers in front of the caster, adding +2 AC from the forward half.
  11. Sleep: R: 10m, D: 8 hours, S: NE. Causes living targets of Level 4 or less within a 3m radius to save or fall asleep, up to a total number of targets equal to the caster's Level; select targets in order from lowest HP to highest. Sleeping targets who are attacked are surprised. Any loud noise or physical blow will wake a sleeping target.
  12. Ventriloquism: R: 20m, D: 20 minutes. Caster can project their voice anywhere within range.

Level 3

  1. Acid Arrow: R: 40m, D: I, S: NE. Caster fires a dart of acid at the target, always hits unless save is made, inflicting a Moderate Acid hazard. An additional dart is fired for every 5 Levels of the caster, at the same or different targets, each missile requires a saving throw.
  2. Detect Evil: R: 40m, D: 20 minutes. Caster can see an aura around demonic or undead monsters, or items of demonic origin.
  3. Detect Invisibility: R: 40m, D: 20 minutes. Caster can see an aura around invisible beings, items, or other effects such as Clairvoyance eyes.
  4. ESP: R: 20m, D: 2 hours, S: NE. Caster can read the surface thoughts of an intelligent living being and send short thoughts. Once contact has been made, the range becomes unlimited.
  5. Invisibility: R: T, D: 24 hours. Target becomes invisible. Invisibility is instantly dispelled if one makes an attack or aggressive action.
  6. Knock: R: 20m, D: I. One portal is unsealed and opened, regardless of locks, traps, or being stuck. If the door was secured with Hold Portal, roll 1d20 + Level + IN - area Level; if the total is 15 or higher, it is opened for your Level x 10 minutes, then relocks; if the total is 5 or less, you can never open that portal.
  7. Levitate: R: T, D: 20 minutes. Target can float up or down slowly, 3m per round.
  8. Locate Object: R: 60m + 10m x Level, D: I. Caster is aware of the exact direction to an object, either a common type or a specific unique object.
  9. Phantasmal Force: R: 40m, D: 24 hours, S: NE. Creates an illusion of anything the caster imagines. Any being touching or being touched by it must make a saving throw, on failure it is "real" and can do damage, but anything "killed" by the illusion is unconscious but not dying at 0 HP.
  10. Protection from Normal Missiles: R: 10m, D: 2 hours. Creates an invisible bubble around the caster, which intercepts all small, mundane missiles; arrows or bullets are stopped, thrown boulders, magic arrows, or energy bolts are not.
  11. Sizeshift: R: T, D: 10 minutes. Each use changes target's size by one category (Small, Medium, Large, Giant). When Small, modify AC +1, ST -1, DX +1, melee damage halved; when Medium, normal; when Large, modify AC -1, ST +1, DX -1, melee damage +1d6; when Giant, modify AC -3, ST +2, DX -2, damage +2d6.
  12. Terror: R: 10m, D: 10 minutes, S: NE. Makes a living target irrationally terrified of the caster and one other thing which the caster will be aware of, roll 1d6: 1: Darkness, 2: Heights/falling, 3: Open spaces, 4: Enclosed spaces, 5: Vermin (insects, arachnids, & rodents), 6: Water (any liquid). Target will flee for at least 1 round initially. Encountering a source of terror is a Weak Insanity hazard; being attacked by such is a Moderate Insanity hazard.
  13. Web: R: 10m, D: 2 hours. Creates sticky spiderwebs that fill a (Level x 1m) radius. Anything in the radius or touching the webs is stuck. A path can be cut through with a sword or axe in 1 minute. If burned, the entire mass goes up as a bonfire in 1 round.

Level 5

  1. Clairvoyance: R: U, D: 2 hours. Creates an invisible disembodied "eye" which moves at a movement rate of 18 at the caster's command. Caster can see and hear (Clairaudience) around the eye, and can cast magic from it.
  2. Darkvision: R: T, D: 24 hours. Target can see 20m even in total darkness.
  3. Dispel Magic: R: 40m, D: I, S: NE. Caster causes a spell to stop. The "target" is the resisting spell and its spell Level, not the original caster.
  4. Fireball: R: 40m, D: I, S: HD. Caster hurls a ball of fire that explodes in a 6m radius sphere (in an enclosed space, blasting out to fill 33 3m cubes), inflicting 1d6 damage per Level of the caster, and anything flammable will catch fire.
  5. Fly: R: T, D: 20 minutes. Target can fly at 40m per round.
  6. Haste: R: 10m, D: 10 minutes. Target moves at double speed, takes an entire combat round sequence before any other beings act.
  7. Lesser Curse: R: T/U, D: 1 year, S: NE. Places a Lesser Curse of your choice on the target. Requires touch, or a personal item or token (hair, nail clippings, or blood) of the victim's, in which case range is unlimited.
  8. Monster Summoning: R: 10m, D: 1 round/Level. Summons up one or more monsters of a type which has been previously encountered. The monster's "Power" equals its Level, +2 if Strong, -2 if Weak, +1 per special attack/defense, +1 if intelligent, +2 if Demon, Undead, Unliving, or Ethereal, -2 if Faerie; minimum Power is 1. The caster can summon one or more such monsters whose total Power is less than or equal to Level. They must obey the caster's commands for the duration, and can be instantly banished with a command. Once the duration is up, the monsters vanish into smoke.
  9. Slow: R: 10m, D: 20 minutes, S: NE. Target moves at half speed, skips every other combat round sequence.
  10. Water Breathing: R: T, D: 2 hours. Target can breathe underwater and swim at full movement rate with no swimming roll needed.

Level 7

  1. Charm Monster: R: 20m, D: 24 hours, S: NE. Makes any living monster of equal or lower Level an obedient "friend" to the caster.
  2. Confusion: R: 40m, D: 20 minutes, S: NE. Target acts randomly, roll 1d6 each round: 1-2: Stand around confused, 3-4: Move in random direction, 5: Use a random skill on a random target, 6: Attack a random target.
  3. Dimension Door: R: 120m, D: 10 minutes. Creates a magic doorway in front of the caster, and a paired magic doorway at the target location, connected to each other. While the spell is active, anyone on either side can pass through and instantly appears at the other doorway.
  4. Lightning Bolt: R: 80m, D: I, S: HD. Target must be exposed to the sky, and a bolt of lightning strikes down inflicting 1d6 damage per Level of the caster, on target and anyone within 3m radius.
  5. Magic Trap: R: T, D: P, S: NE. Places an invisible trap on an item, such that when that item is touched by anyone except the caster, a loud siren and flashing light alarm goes off. The caster may then cast a second spell which will be absorbed and held in the trap, and inflicted on the victim. The trap can only be seen with Detect Invisible or Find Traps spells, and removed with Dispel Magic. Once the trap goes off, the trap and second spell are gone.
  6. Massmorph: R: 80m, D: 24 hours. Creates an illusion on the area making up to 100 creatures (SIZ Medium, count SIZ Small as 1/2, Large as 2, Giant as 4) within range appear to be trees appropriate to the region; in artificial environments, they become pillars or furniture instead. Those who move are revealed in their true form, but become trees again if they stop within range. Those who attack are permanently revealed.
  7. Plant Growth: R: 20m, D: I. Causes plants to grow madly out of control into an impassable jungle. A path can be cut through with a sword or axe in 1 minute.
  8. Polymorph: R: 20m, D: 24 hours, S: NE. Target is transformed into any creature or monster the caster has seen previously. All abilities of the creature are gained, the target keeps its own mind but is limited to the creature's communication abilities.
  9. Wall of Fire: R: 20m, D: 2 hours. Creates a wall of flames up to 20m long, 3m wide, 6m high. Anything entering takes damage as a house fire.
  10. Wall of Ice: R: 20m, D: 2 hours. Creates a wall of solid ice up to 20m long, 3m wide, 6m high. A path can be smashed through with a mace or axe in 1 minute.

Level 9

  1. Animate Dead: R: 20m, D: I. Reanimates a dead body into undead, type depends on the Level it had in life, and whether the remains still have flesh or are skeletal. Flesh: Level 1: Zombie, 2: Ghoul, 3-4: Wight, 5-6: Mummy, 7+: Vampire. Skeletal: Level 1-2: Skeleton, 3-4: Wraith, 5+: Spectre.
  2. Cloudkill: R: 20m, D: 20 minutes. Creates a cloud of toxic vapors with 6m radius, which moves away from the caster or along the wind at 3m per round. Any living being that contacts the cloud is exposed to strong poison.
  3. Contact Outer Plane: R: S, D: 20 minutes, S: NE. Caster goes into a trance, makes mental contact with a powerful entity from another plane, and asks up to three questions. Each question counts as a Strong Insanity hazard; on save, the entity answers the question; on failure, the contact ends and caster suffers the consequences of insanity.
  4. Greater Curse: R: T/U, D: P, S: NE. Places a Greater Curse of your choice on the target. Requires touch, or a personal item or token (hair, nail clippings, or blood) of the victim's, in which case range is unlimited.
  5. Permanency: R: varies, D: P. Causes the next spell you cast (within 1 minute for fast-cast spells, within 24 hours for ritual magic) to become permanent in duration, and 5 Levels higher for the purposes of Dispel Magic, Knock, and other opposition spells. There will be a sacrificial cost to Permanency, chosen by the Referee, which may be in gold or gems (target spell Level2 x 100 GP), blood (target spell Level x 10 HP), souls (trapped in a Soul Jar), experience points (target spell Level x 200 XP).
  6. Soul Jar: R: T, D: I. Prepares a large gem as a soul jar, either as "trap" or "lich". A "trap" Soul Jar traps the soul of the first living intelligent being that touches it; a "lich" Soul Jar traps the soul of the creator if they die within 10m. After 24 hours, the soul can then attempt to possess the body of any living intelligent being within 80m. The target must make a saving throw; on success, the soul remains in the jar; on failure, the soul takes over the body, and the former soul of the body is trapped in the jar. If the jar is destroyed, the soul is released to its afterlife.
  7. Summon Elemental: R: 80m, D: 24 hours. Summons up an Elemental of Level less than or equal to the caster. The elemental must obey the caster's commands for the duration, and can be instantly banished with a command. Once the duration is up, if it has not been banished, it is free and will probably rampage.
  8. Telekinesis: R: 40m, D: 20 minutes. Caster can move objects with mental power. Up to 1000kg objects can be moved at 3m per minute (strong ST hazard if it strikes someone); up to 50kg objects can be moved at 3m per round (moderate ST hazard); up to 5kg objects can be moved at 20m per round (moderate DX hazard).
  9. Teleport: R: T, D: I. Caster and optionally one person touching the caster are instantly transported to any location the caster has previously visited.
  10. Transmute Rock/Mud: R: 40m, D: I. Converts up to a 20m x 20m x 3m region of unworked rock into mud, or vice versa as the caster commands. Moving through mud is at 1/10 normal speed. Foreign matter in the area is not converted.
  11. Wall of Stone: R: 20m, D: 2 hours. Creates a wall of solid stone up to 20m long, 3m wide, 6m high. A tunnel can be dug through in 20 minutes with a pickaxe, 10 minutes by a Dwarf.

White Magic Spells

Level 1

  1. Bless: R: 10m, D: 10 minutes. Target is given a +1 bonus To Hit, saving throws against magic and hazards, and morale.
  2. Cure Light Wounds: R: T, D: I. Restores 1d6 + Level/2 HP to the target. Cures bruising, scratches, bleeding, and minor burns. If cast on undead, it inflicts that much damage.
  3. Faerie Fire: R: 20m, D: 10 minutes, S: NE. Creates glowing particles swirling around target, preventing any use of Stealth, and gives a +1 bonus to attack the target.
  4. Light: As Black Magic, Level 1.
  5. Magic Staff (aka Shillelagh): R: T, D: 10 minutes. Caster's non-magical staff or club becomes a magic weapon in the caster's hands only, with bonus depending on caster's Level: +1 for Level 1-4, +2 for Level 5-8, +3 for Level 9-12, +4 for Level 13-16, +5 for Level 17-20.
  6. Protection from Evil: R: T, D: 2 hours. Creates an aura around target that repels demonic or undead monsters, they cannot attack, fire missiles, or cast spells directly at the target.
  7. Purify Food & Drink: R: T, D: I. Cleanses and blesses up to 12 meals worth of food and drink, removing any contaminants, spoilage, toxins, or curses.
  8. Remove Fear: R: 10m, D: 10 minutes. Target is cured of any fear magic, and given a +4 bonus to morale and saving throws against fear, including Fear Touch.
  9. Turn Evil: R: 10m, D: 20 minutes, S: NE. Makes any demonic, elemental, or undead target of equal or lower Level turn and flee from the caster.

Level 3

  1. Augury: R: S, D: I. Prophecize the results of a plan or law by casting lots from labelled stones, sticks, or cards and choosing three. The Referee will secretly roll 1d20 + Level + IN; if total is 15 or higher, 2 relevant & 1 irrelevant lots are returned; if 6-14, 1 relevant, 1 irrelevant, & 1 wrong are returned; if 5 or less, 3 irrelevant or wrong. Lawful or Chaotic White Mages typically use the names of the Archons and Demon Princes, Neutrals use runes or names of Old Gods.
  2. Cure Moderate Wounds: Restores 2d6 + Level HP to the target. Cures trauma, internal bleeding, concussion, and sprains and dislocations. If cast on undead, it inflicts that much damage.
  3. Find Traps: R: 20m, D: 20 minutes. Caster can see an aura around any magical or mundane trap.
  4. Hold Person: R: 40m, D: 20 minutes, S: NE. Target is paralyzed in place and cannot move. If target is struck, the hold is dispelled.
  5. Magic Vestment: R: T, D: 10 minutes. Caster's non-magical clothing or light armor becomes magic armor while worn by the caster only, with bonus depending on caster's Level: +1 for Level 1-4, +2 for Level 5-8, +3 for Level 9-12, +4 for Level 13-16, +5 for Level 17-20.
  6. Predict Weather: R: S, D: I. Caster knows what the weather will be for the next 24 hours.
  7. Remove Paralysis: R: 10m, D: I. Target is cured of paralysis from monsters, poison, magic (Hold spells), or other causes.
  8. Silence: R: 20m, D: 20 minutes. Creates a 6m radius where no sound can exist. Spells cannot be cast within the silent area.
  9. Speak with Animals: R: 40m, D: 2 hours, S: NE. Caster can speak with an animal, and the animal will respond as if intelligent and capable of speech. The animal is cooperative about conversations, but if hostile or hungry will still eat you.

Level 5

  1. Create Food & Drink: R: T, D: I. Creates a day's supply of food & drink for Level x 2 people. Typically this is honeyed bread and pure water, but variant spells can create other materials.
  2. Cure Disease: R: T, D: I. Target is cured of any magical or mundane disease.
  3. Dispel Magic: As Black Magic, Level 5.
  4. Locate Object: As Black Magic, Level 3.
  5. Neutralize Poison: R: T, D: I. Target is cured of any magical or mundane poison.
  6. Obscure Object: R: T, D: 24 hours. Target object is hidden from all divination, including Locate Object, Clairvoyance, or even Commune and Contact Outer Plane.
  7. Prayer: R: S, D: 10 minutes. All friendly targets within 6m radius are given a +1 bonus To Hit, saving throws against magic and hazards, and morale.
  8. Remove Curse: R: T, D: I, S: NE. Target is cured of any curse. The original caster of the curse makes the saving throw (even if dead).
  9. Speak With Dead: R: 10m, D: 10 minutes, S: NE. Caster calls up the soul of a corpse which has been dead no more than the caster's Level in days, and can ask up to three questions.
  10. Water Walking: R: T, D: 1 hour. Target can walk on any liquid (water, mud, oil, snow, quicksand, ice, and even lava) without falling through or being harmed. If cast underwater, the target bobs up to the surface at 20m per round.

Level 7

  1. Air Walking: R: T, D: 1 hour. Target can walk on air like solid ground. Ascending or descending at 45° angle is at 1/4 speed. On spell end, target is lowered slowly to the ground.
  2. Circle of Protection from Evil: R: S, D: 2 hours. Creates a 3m radius aura around the caster that repels demonic or undead monsters, they cannot enter the circle, or attack, fire missiles, or cast spells directly at any target in the circle.
  3. Cure Serious Wounds: Restores 4d6 + Level x 2 HP to the target. Cures broken bones, damaged but not destroyed organs, and minor brain damage with a little memory loss. If cast on undead, it inflicts that much damage.
  4. Death Ward: R: T, D: 10 minutes. Target is immune to death spells (e.g. Word of Death), magical stat drain, and undead conversion. This does not protect against other causes of death.
  5. Restoration: R: T, D: 10 rounds. Restores lost temporary stat points, 1 point per round starting with the stat which has lost the most points. Regrows lost limbs. Removes all Insanity and Intoxication points.
  6. Sending: R: U, D: 1 minute. Caster establishes a link with a familiar person, and can have a conversation for no more than 1 minute.
  7. Speak with Monsters: As Speak With Animals, Level 3, but affects monsters.
  8. Summon Animals: R: 10m, D: 2 hours. Caster summons animals to assist and protect. Up to 1 large animal, 3 medium-sized animals, or 6 small animals will arrive within 1d6 minutes. The animals will obey commands but cannot speak, and have normal morale.
  9. Word of Command: R: 10m, D: 24 hours, S: NE. Caster orders target person to perform an action and they must obey. The command can have up to caster's Level in words. If the action is self-destructive, the saving throw is at +4; if it is reasonable, it is at -4.

Level 9

  1. Commune: R: S, D: 10 minutes. Caster can ask one question of their patron.
  2. Cure Many Light Wounds: R: 10m radius, D: I. As Cure Light Wounds, Level 1, but all targets within range of the caster are affected.
  3. Dispel Evil: R: 40m, D: I, S: NE. Caster causes a summoned demon or elemental to return to its native dimension, and instantly destroys undead of equal or lower Level.
  4. Insect Plague: R: 80m, D: 24 hours. Summons up a swarm of insects covering 6m radius, and it moves as the caster directs up to 10m per round. Anything in the radius must make a saving throw every round or take 1d6 damage.
  5. Quest: R: 10m, D: 1 year, S: NE. Target must perform a quest for the caster. Ignoring the quest causes 1 HP damage every day which cannot be healed until the quest is resumed. Failing to complete the quest within a year causes the target to either die or suffer a greater curse.
  6. Raise Dead: R: T, D: I. Caster can restore life to a body which has been dead no more than the caster's Level in days, and is at least 50% complete. The target loses 1 Level, and rolls 1d6: 1-2: -1 ST, 3-4: -1 DX, 5-6: -1 IN. If any stat reaches -5, or HP reaches 0, or if Level reaches 0, the target dies forever.
  7. Summon Celestial: R: 80m, D: 24 hours. Summons up a Celestial of Level less than or equal to the caster. The Celestial will carry out any "holy" (benevolent, lawful, or religiously inspired) mission assigned by the caster, but venal or chaotic missions will free the Celestial to extract vengeance. Once the duration is up, the Celestial returns to its home plane, but it cannot be banished by the caster.
  8. True Seeing: R: T, D: 10 minutes. Target can see "reality". Illusion, normal & magical darkness, invisibility, shapechange, or any other alteration is seen through to the true form.
  9. Word of Death: R: 10m, D: I, S: HD. Caster commands target person to die, and they lose all HP if they fail their save, half if they succeed.

"Unholy inversion of hope
Twisting the faith of the meek into hate
Driven insane by the dark one
To bring forth the foul biddings he speaks"

—The Black Dahlia Murder, "What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse"

Curse

Curses take effect immediately and cannot be cured by normal means, only by Remove Curse, or getting the caster of the curse to lift it. The curses listed are fairly straightforward, but more poetic/abstract curses like "unable to love or be loved", "be killed by your own son", etc. are also possible.

If you have a Lesser Curse and are afflicted with the same one again, it becomes the Greater Curse with the same number. If you already have that Greater Curse, roll a different one randomly.

Lesser Curses

  1. Weakness: -1 ST drain.
  2. Slowness: -1 DX drain.
  3. Foolishness: -1 IN drain.
  4. Harmlessness: -1 to attack rolls.
  5. Harming: -1 to AC.
  6. Stench: -1 to reaction & loyalty rolls.
  7. Incompetence: -1 to non-combat stat rolls.
  8. Bad Luck: -1 to half of all rolls affecting the character.
  9. Poverty: Loses 25% of all owned wealth and items each day.
  10. Madness: Sees or hears hallucinations.
  11. Hunger: Must eat 50% more than normal.
  12. Thirst: Must drink 50% more than normal.
  13. Sleepiness: Must sleep 50% more than normal. For missed sleep, make an IN drain roll at -(hours missed).
  14. Shadow: Personal aura with 6m radius is always in shadows (as dim light).
  15. Sacrifice: Must sacrifice (Level2 x 5) GP per week or gains another lesser curse.
  16. Heresy: Must worship a god of opposite alignment or gains another lesser curse.
  17. Chill: Personal aura with 6m radius lowers temperature by -10°C/-18°F, which may cause a hazard.
  18. Heat: Personal aura with 6m radius raises temperature by +10°C/+18°F, which may cause a hazard.
  19. Diseased: Carries a contagious Weak Disease which can only be cured by removing the curse.
  20. Toxicity: Skin exudes a Weak Poison, bodily fluids are a Moderate poison. Must make an IN roll every week to avoid poisoning own food/drink.

Greater Curses

  1. Weakness: -2 ST drain.
  2. Slowness: -2 DX drain.
  3. Foolishness: -2 IN drain.
  4. Harmlessness: -2 to attack rolls, -1 damage with all physical attacks.
  5. Harming: -2 to AC, +1 damage from all physical attacks.
  6. Animus: -2 to all reaction & loyalty rolls, incites treachery in followers.
  7. Incompetence: -2 to non-combat stat rolls.
  8. Bad Luck: -2 to half of all rolls affecting the character.
  9. Poverty: Loses all wealth and items each day, and ruins anyone who tries to help.
  10. Shapeshift: Becomes a monster or animal, except for a short time each day.
  11. Hunger: Must eat 100% more than normal, and half of that must be meat.
  12. Thirst: Must drink 100% more than normal, and half of that must be alcoholic.
  13. Sleepiness: Must sleep 100% more than normal, and cannot be awakened.
  14. Darkness: Personal aura with 6m radius is always in smoky darkness.
  15. Sacrifice: Must sacrifice (Level2 x 10) GP per week or gains another greater curse.
  16. Heresy: Must worship a god of opposite alignment or gains another greater curse.
  17. Chill: Personal aura with 12m radius lowers temperature by -20°C/-36°F, which may cause a hazard.
  18. Heat: Personal aura with 12m radius raises temperature by +20°C/+36°F, which may cause a hazard.
  19. Diseased: Carries a contagious Strong Disease which can only be cured by removing the curse.
  20. Toxicity: Skin exudes a Moderate Poison, bodily fluids are a Strong poison. Must make an IN roll every week to avoid poisoning own food/drink.

Cursed Crafting

If you have any Curse and create an item, from simply cooking to making magic items, the item is cursed or tainted. Food will be poisonous, mundane items are defective, mundane weapons and armor will break twice as often, potions will be poison, delusion, or other unpleasant effects, magic items will be cursed, summonings will be uncontrolled, unleashed with malevolence upon the world. Greater Curses produce more terrible curse side-effects. The Referee should be imaginative, fairy-talish, and malevolent. For example, a Lesser Cursed character cooking a pie, it would be poisonous, while for a Greater Cursed it might contain parasites or unleash a flock of 24 face-pecking blackbirds.


Psionics

High-level characters and monsters, and entities from outer planes, often have mental powers far beyond mortals. Mid-level characters who develop psionics early are often tragic, Lovecraftian figures, they seek power but are besieged by forces and enemies they can barely comprehend.

Psionics are not directly related to magic, and are not affected by most magic items. Psionic attacks and defenses are a mix of telepathic and telekinetic attacks. Disciplines use telepathy, telekinesis, and extra-sensory perception to produce spell-like effects.

Psionic Attacks

  1. Psionic Blast: PS: 4, R: 9m. A wave of psychic hatred. Does 2d6 psychic damage, overkill inflicts Sleep (as Black Magic).
  2. Mind Thrust: PS: 2, R: 12m. Short stab into the mind of the target. Does 1d6 psychic damage, overkill stuns target for 1d4 rounds.
  3. Ego Whip: PS: 3, R: 18m. Overwhelms the target with self-loathing and insecurity. Does 2d6 psychic damage, overkill inflicts Confusion (as Black Magic).
  4. Id Insinuation: PS: 4, R: 24m. Tricks the target's mind into attacking itself. Does 3d6 psychic damage, overkill inflicts Charm (as Black Magic).
  5. Psychic Crush: PS: 5, R: 9m. Overloads the target's mind with too much energy. Does 4d6 psychic damage, overkill requires a ST saving throw from target, on success inflicts a Strong Insanity hazard, on failure instant death.

Psionic Defenses

  1. Mind Blank: PS: 1, R: S. Hides your mind from an attacker.
  2. Thought Shield: PS: 2, R: S. Shield fully protects a smaller area of your mind, reacting to specific attacks.
  3. Mental Barrier: PS: 3, R: S. Wraps your entire mind in a wall of psychic energy.
  4. Intellect Fortress: PS: 4, R: 6m radius. Creates a defensive shield around yourself and nearby allies.
  5. Tower of Iron Will: PS: 5, R: 3m radius. Creates a smaller shield which is almost impenetrable.

Psionic Disciplines

  1. Animal Telepathy: PS: 3. As Speak With Animals spell.
  2. Clairvoyance: PS: 5. As spell.
  3. Delusion: PS: 3. As Phantasmal Force spell, but only affects a single target.
  4. Detect Evil: PS: 3. As spell.
  5. Detect Invisibility: PS: 3. As spell.
  6. Detect Magic: PS: 1. As spell.
  7. Dimension Door: PS: 7. As spell.
  8. ESP: PS: 5. As spell.
  9. Invisibility: PS: 3. As spell.
  10. Levitation: PS: 3. As spell.
  11. Polymorph: PS: 7. As spell.
  12. Precognition: PS: 9. As Contact Other Plane spell.
  13. Pyrokinesis: PS: 3. As spell.
  14. Sizeshift: PS: 3. As spell.
  15. Sustenance: PS: 1. D: 24 hours. Ignores needs for food, water, and sleep, and treated as wearing either heavy clothing or no clothing for cold or hot environments.
  16. Telekinesis, Greater: PS: 9. As Telekinesis spell.
  17. Telekinesis, Minor: PS: 3. As Telekinesis spell, but with 1/10 masses, reduce hazards by 1 step (Strong to Moderate, Moderate to Weak).
  18. Telepathy: PS: 1. R: LVL x 40m. Can speak directly into the mind of anyone within range, and hear spoken or subvocalized responses. Simple telepathy does not allow mind-reading.
  19. Teleportation: PS: 9. As spell.
  20. Water Walking: PS: 5. As spell.

Psionic Combat

Psionic Combat takes place in the standard combat round.

Psionic Attack vs. Defense Modifier

  Defense
  Mind Thought Mental Intellect Tower of
Attack Blank Shield Barrier Fortress Iron Will None
Psionic Blast -1 +0 -2 -4 -6 +0
Mind Thrust +1 -2 -4 -3 -5 +0
Ego Whip +2 +0 -6 -8 -6 +0
Id Insinuation -4 -1 +1 -2 -1 +0
Psychic Crush -2 -4 -5 -6 -7 +0

Some conditions add to the modifier:

Condition Modifier
Attacker has ESP spell active +2
Attacker wears Helm of Telepathy +4
Target has ESP spell active +2
Target is Black Mage or White Mage -1
Target is strong non-psionic race (Dwarf or Kobold) -4
Target is other non-psionic race -2
Target wears Helm of Telepathy -4
Target is strongly intoxicated or more -2

Converting Old-School Psionics: PS here is 1/5 of Old-School. Psionic attack & defense are identical (modes A-E are attacks 1-5, F-J are defenses 1-5). Disciplines are a much shorter list with no physical abilities; a Fighter with many body control disciplines would be better converted as a Monk or a Mutant, if such characters exist in your campaign. Psionic characters under level 4 should be raised to level 4; psionics is unbalancing at lower levels.


Radiation & Mutation

Radiation is a rare hazard found in Serpent Man ruins, and is rated with an intensity from -6 to +6, which determines duration and damage on the table below. Any character or being exposed for that duration rolls 1d20 + Level + ST + any magical saving throw bonus - radiation intensity. On failure, the character takes the listed damage; on success, the character takes half damage, and if ST is equal to intensity, the character will mutate.

Intensity -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6
Duration 8 hrs 7 hrs 6 hrs 5 hrs 4 hrs 3 hrs 2 hrs 1 hr 30 min 20 min 10 min 1 min 1 round
Damage 1d3 1d4 1d6 1d8 2d4 1d10 1d12 2d6 1d20 2d10 4d6 5d6 6d6

Typically a radiation hazard will have a source of +4 to +6 intensity, with a 3-12m radius, and it drops from there about 1 intensity per 20m of solid stone (quick estimate: half a dungeon map or one vertical level) or 100m of open air. For example, in a ruin with north & south sections, if ruin level 3 north has a +4 source, level 3 south is +3, level 2 north is +2, level 2 south is +1, level 1 north is +0, level 1 south is -1, the surface is -2 and drops to -6 in 400m, nothing at 500m.

When a character mutates, it develops a very high fever and nausea, and within an hour is incapacitated. After 24 hours of illness, it starts to develop the new mutation. After 48 hours, the mutation is complete and the illness ends.

For each new mutation, roll 1d12: If the roll is less than the number of mutations already possessed, roll 1d10 to choose a defect mutation; if the roll is greater, roll 1d30 to choose an advantage mutation. Characters should not be able to choose their mutation or remove it, except perhaps with the aid of a Serpent Man (but at what cost?).

Every mutation has a rank of 1 to 6, initially 1d3; if the same mutation is rolled again, just roll and add another 1d3 ranks, up to a maximum of rank 6. At each Level Up, one mutation rank can be increased by 1 (up to a maximum of 6), or decreased by 1 (down to a minimum of 1, you cannot remove your own mutation).

Most mutations take effect automatically when used, they are a "natural" part of the mutant. Attack rolls are as usual, ST for melee/touch and DX for ranged effects. Rank Damage (RDMG) for a mutation is: 1: 1d4, 2: 1d6, 3: 1d8, 4: 1d10, 5: 2d6, 6: 3d6.

Most mutations will not directly affect another mutant with the exact same power. For example, two mutants with Hypersonic Scream cannot harm or deafen each other, but other sonic attacks work; but a mutant with Chameleon Skin still cannot see another chameleon mutant, because it's not a direct effect.

Mutants with obvious mutations or who demonstrate their hidden mutations are reviled by most normal people and creatures as freaks, both because they're gross and unnatural, and because many mutants are dangerously insane.

The children of mutants are usually mutants. If both parents have the same mutation, the child will as well, at the average of their ranks. If only one does, roll 1d6: 1-3: Mutation is passed on at that parent's rank, 4-6: Mutation is lost. If the child has no mutations at all, it is no longer a mutant; if it has any, roll and add one new mutation. For example, a Mer-Folk mother with Aquatic 4, Size Decrease 1, and a Mer-Folk father with Aquatic 6, Armored Shell 4 have a child with Aquatic 5, roll 4 = no Size Decrease, roll 2 = Armored Shell 4, and for new mutation roll 64 = Venom Claws 1 (Disorienting).

Advantage Mutations

  1. Aquatic: Aquatic adaptions. Rank 1-2: Webbed limbs and can swim at full movement rate, thicker skin for icy temperatures, pressure resistance, and can hold breath for rank x 15 minutes. Rank 3-4: Porous skin, which allows deep diving and breathing water for rank x 2 hours. Rank 5-6: Full gills, and can breathe water indefinitely.
  2. Armored Hide: Skin is thick, leathery, and bumpy with bony ridges, providing AC equal to rank, if better than worn body armor. For example, a mutant with Armored Hide 3 wearing Light Armor +2 has the mutant's +3 AC, but wearing Medium Armor +4 has the armor's +4 AC.
  3. Armored Shell: Turtle-like shell over all major body parts, like a permanent suit of plate armor, providing AC equal to rank+2. The mutant moves at half speed on land, and cannot wear other armor, but can carry a shield.
  4. Burrowing: Enormous hands with sharp claws, usable as Light weapons. Digging through soft dirt is at rank x1m per round, through hard-packed dirt or wood at rank x 1m per minute, leaving a 1m wide tunnel.
  5. Chameleon Skin: Can change skin color and blend into the background. Add rank to Stealth rolls, and can be used as "body paint" for disguises or decoration.
  6. Egg-Laying: Normal reproduction no longer applies. Any sexual contact will cause the mutant to fertilize and grow a clutch of eggs. After 4 weeks, the mutant will be bloated and gravid, at 8 weeks, the mutant will lay rank x 2 eggs which must be protected and kept warm, and at 12 weeks, the eggs hatch. The "babies" are Homonculous clones, size and all stats half (or 1 lower if negative) of the mutant's, and age at a rate of 1 "year" per week. For each clone, roll 1d20 + rank; if roll is natural 20 or total is 15 or higher, it is insanely loyal; if 6-14, it is lazy but loyal as long as it is well-fed and not put into mortal danger; if natural 1, or 5 or less, it is a psychotic evil clone and will try to kill off the mutant. The clones cannot reproduce.
  7. Energy Beams: Can project energy from a body part, out to a range of rank x 5m, usable rank times per day. Roll 1d6 for source: 1-2: Eyes, does not interfere with vision; 3: Right Hand, cannot hold a weapon or shield at the same time; 4: Left Hand, same; 5: Heart; 6: Third eye on forehead. Roll 1d6 for type: 1: Heat, does RDMG, can ignite flammable objects; 2: Light, equivalent to sunlight; 3: Electricity, does RDMG ignoring metal armor; 4: Darkness, shrouds a path 3m wide from all light and vision; 5: Radiation, does RDMG but exposure is too brief for mutation; 6: Cold, does RDMG, freezes fluids.
  8. Energy Reflection: Skin reflects energy of a single type in a random direction. Roll 1d6 when the mutation is gained: 1: Heat, 2: Cold, 3: Electricity, 4: Light, 5: Sonic, 6: Radiation. Whenever the mutant would be affected, roll 1d12 to see which o'clock direction the energy is reflected. The first target in that direction is affected instead.
  9. Fangs: Teeth grow larger and change the mutant's face and diet. Bite does RDMG damage. Rank 1-2: All sharp canines, only gets half nutrition from non-meat sources; 3-4: Large fangs, only gets nutrition from meat, -1 from reaction rolls with non-carnivores (may give a bonus with Beastfolk & such); 5-6: Sabretooth, only gets nutrition from raw meat, -2 from reaction rolls as previous.
  10. Hearing Boost: Can hear high-pitched, low-pitched, and quiet sounds out to a distance of rank x 100m. Mutant cannot be surprised, but takes double damage or deafness duration from sonic attacks.
  11. Horns: Grows a rack of horns or antlers and increasingly muscled & padded neck and head. Headbutt/impale does RDMG damage. Rank 1: Tiny nubs, can be covered with a hat; 2: Small horns, cannot be covered; 3-4: Bull-like horns; 5-6: Long antlers.
  12. Hypersonic Scream: Can scream at high frequencies and power, affecting everything within rank x 10m radius, usable rank times per day. Rank 1-2 will shatter thin glass, and any living target within range must make a ST save or be deafened for 1d6 rounds. Rank 3-4 will do the same as 1-2 and any deafened target also takes RDMG. Rank 5-6 will shatter all glass, thin wood, plastic, and similar brittle materials, and any living target within range must make a ST save or be deafened for 1d6 days and take RDMG.
  13. Immunity: Superior physique adds RDMG to HP (keep a note of this bonus HP, and reroll it if rank changes), and superior immune system adds rank to saves against poisons, disease, and radiation. Immune system also rejects helpful medicines, and mutant must fail a ST save to be affected by any potion.
  14. Legion: Can separate limbs or digits, command them to join together, move around at any distance, and rejoin the body; up to rank parts can be separated. Most body parts have only touch and a vague sense of nearby presence and loud noises, as if blind/in darkness. Each body part takes a proportion of the mutant's HP with it. Some mutants will use a hand and ear or eye as a small mobile scout, others just use it to escape bonds.
  15. Multiple Arms: Has rank additional arms, either paired below the standard arms or jutting from front or back. Add rank to unarmed melee and manipulation DX rolls, and tool-using creatures can wield one weapon per 2 extra arms, making an extra attack per round.
  16. Multiple Legs: Has rank additional legs, extending back with more spinal sections, like a weird centaur if humanoid. Add rank to movement and agility-type DX rolls.
  17. Musk Glands: Can spray a nearly toxic musk like a skunk's from rear-mounted glands, with a range of rank x 2m, rank times per day. Anyone sprayed in this rude fashion has a rank penalty to all reaction rolls until it is washed off, and they can be smelled from rank x 100m away.
  18. Quills: Covered in porcupine-like spikes, which come off in the skin of anyone who attacks the mutant, or can be pulled and thrown like a dart, doing RDMG with rank x3m range. The mutant can make rank uses of them per day; after that, they are too thinned out to be effective.
  19. Regeneration: Can recover HP fast, restoring RDMG over 10 minutes of meditation (no other activity), usable rank times per day, but needs one additional food ration per use.
  20. Shapeshift: Has control over appearance for rank x 10 minutes at a time, usable rank times per day. Rank 1 or higher can change facial features and adjust height by no more than 10cm, passing as someone completely different; a specific individual can be imitated with a successful Espionage roll. Rank 3 or higher can reshape the entire body to look like any known creature, but no special abilities are gained, even flight, swimming, etc. are as the mutant's normal form. Rank 5 or higher can emulate any known creature, movement abilities are gained, but special abilities are not gained.
  21. Sight Boost: Vision is superior to human. Rank 1 or higher can see into infrared and ultraviolet, allowing vision in starlight or overcast night out to rank x 100m. Rank 3 or higher has telescopic sight out to rank x 1000m. Rank 5 or higher can see from x-ray to microwave radiations, and can see through non-metal barriers up to 10cm thick. Mutant takes double damage or blindness duration from light attacks.
  22. Size Decrease: Divide height and weight by rank. Take a melee attack penalty equal to rank, divide melee damage done by rank (minimum 1 point), but modify AC by +1 at rank 1-2, +2 at ranks 3-4, +3 at ranks 5-6. Mutant requires less food and drink rations, half at ranks 1-3, quarter at ranks 4-6.
  23. Size Increase: Increase height by rank x 25%, weight by rank. Take a melee attack bonus equal to rank, add rank to melee damage, but modify AC by -1 at rank 1-2, -2 at ranks 3-4, -3 at ranks 5-6. Mutant requires additional food and drink rations, double at ranks 1-3, triple at ranks 4-6.
  24. Smell Boost: Can detect odors at a distance of rank x 50m. Anything with a scent can be detected by direction and general distance (near, mid, far), the general type/species is known, and individuals can be remembered. Scent will be obscured by fire, water, strong winds, and other strong odors. Mutant will be knocked unconscious for 1d6 rounds by a Musk Glands spray or similar strong scents.
  25. Speed Boost: Can move rank x 25% faster than normal, and at rank 4-6 gains +1 attack. Mutant requires double food and drink rations, and lifespan is reduced by rank x 10%.
  26. Two-Headed: Has a second head, with its own brain and personality. The second head cannot control the body, only its own senses and mouth. It can have a different sleep/wake cycle, and keep watch, and if awake the mutant is impossible to surprise. IN score is (rank x 2 - 6). Rank 1-2: Stubborn and obnoxious; 3-4: Behaves like a normal sibling; 5-6: Demanding and superior attitude.
  27. Vampirism: Drains life force from other beings. Roll 1d6: 1-2: Bite & drink blood; 3-4: Touch & drain energy; 5-6: Stab with long claw & suck juices. The drain is usable rank times per day, uses a normal unarmed melee roll to inflict RDMG, and restores the same HP to the mutant. Mutant cannot eat or drink normally, and must use Vampirism once per day for sustenance.
  28. Venom: Natural attack inflicts a poison. Roll 1d6: 1-2: Bite with venom fangs, 3-4: Scratch with claw-like fingernails, 5-6: Spit poison up to 5m. Rank 1-2 poison is Weak, 3-4 is Moderate, 5-6 is Strong.
  29. Webspinner: Can spew spider-like webs from spinnerets above posterior. Acts as Web spell of level equal to rank, usable rank times per day.
  30. Wings: Forelimbs develop into bat-like wings, allowing flight at rank x 10m per round. The mutant can carry normal weight but no more, a passenger would have to be smaller and neither could carry any gear. Mutant's hands are still usable for fine tasks normally, but wielding melee weapons is at a -2 penalty.

Defect Mutations

  1. Deformity: Hideous appearance, subtracts rank from any reaction or loyalty roll. Roll 1d6: 1: Bug eyes, 2: Extra digits, 3: Hunchback, 4: Pin head, 5: Scaly skin, 6: Scarred/melted skin.
  2. Fragility: Bones are soft and rubbery, has half normal HP. Mutant can squeeze through small spaces, no less than 10cm across.
  3. Hemophilia: Blood does not clot easily, so any physical injury causes bleeding, losing RDMG at 1 HP per round, unless immediately treated with medicine, magic, or a potion.
  4. Immune Weakness: Vulnerable to all diseases. Saves against disease subtract rank as a penalty.
  5. Mental Disorder: Mental state is unstable. Roll 1d6 for trigger: 1: Bloodshed & combat, 2: Black Magic, 3: Undead, 4: Large insects, 5: Large reptiles, 6: Large fish. Roll 1d6 for effect: 1: Paralyzed, 2: Narcoleptic collapse, 3: Mental block (pretends trigger does not exist), 4: Phobia (runs in fear), 5: Confusion as the Black Magic spell, 6: Psychotic rage at triger. When the trigger is encountered, roll 1d20 + IN - rank; if the total is 15 or higher, nothing happens; if the total is 6-14, the effect occurs for 1d6 rounds; if the total is 5 or less, the effect takes over for 1d6 hours.
  6. Metabolism Reduction: Metabolism runs much slower than normal. Movement is reduced by rank, and at rank 4 or higher the mutant can only perform one action every other round. However, mutant only needs food and drink rations every (7-rank) days, and lifespan is extended by rank x 25%.
  7. Missing Limb: Lacking some or all of one or two limbs. Roll 1d6: 1: Left arm, 2: Right arm, 3: Both arms, 4: Left leg, 5: Right leg, 6: Both legs. If missing an arm, subtract rank/2 as a penalty to all melee attacks, cannot use a shield or two-handed weapons. If missing both arms, subtract rank as a penalty to all melee and missile attacks and any manipulation like lockpicking, cannot use a shield or weapons. If missing one leg, subtract rank/2 from movement. If missing both legs, subtract rank from movement.
  8. Sense Impairment: Weak or lacking in one sense. Rank 1-3 is weak, half distance or detail can be sensed, rank 4-6 is total sense loss. Roll 1d6: 1-2: Hearing, 3-4: Sight, 5: Smell & Taste, 6: Touch. Subtract rank from any roll where the sense would apply. Special damage against that sense is ignored.
  9. Tentacles: Has no arms or legs, but has rank x 2 all-purpose tentacles. Add rank to DX rolls for movement and climbing, and to unarmed attack rolls. Take a -2 penalty to all DX rolls for manipulation of tools, archery, crafting, and such.
  10. Vulnerability: Take damage from a substance or energy which is harmless to most. Roll 1d6: 1: Alcohol, 2: Copper, 3: Iron, 4: Salt, 5: Silver, 6: Sunlight. Every round of contact requires a ST roll or mutant takes RDMG.

Monsters

(This chapter is Open Game Content)

The "common" monsters are listed below, but new monsters should be created by the Referee or adapted from modules. Most monsters are always Hostile, but intelligent monsters may roll Reaction with a penalty from -1 to -5.

Glossary

In the file monster_lines.txt, there are generic stat lines for every level 1-20 and weak, normal, strong power, which can be customized for specific monsters.

Bestiary

A-D

E-H

I-L

M-P

Q-T

U-Z


Treasure

(This chapter is Open Game Content)

Distribution of Treasure

Treasure Value

Stone Halls & Serpent Men has a more defined economic curve than Old-School. Wealth allows characters to improve their gear, buy scrolls, accelerates experience by paying for personal goals, and increases the power of the group by hiring henchmen & hirelings (and then paying for their gear).

Total treasure and award for an adventure should average (Level2 x 100) GP, double that for a rich adventure, half that for a poor adventure. Hiring salaries for adventurers are usually (Level2 x 10) GP, the same as henchmen, and the rest to be made up in loot. When converting Old-School adventures, add up all the available wealth, and divide it down until it's in reasonable range.

Keep in mind the annual salary of a soldier is 52-260 GP, and of a peasant is 1/10 as much. Anyone offering excessive rewards is obscenely rich and throwing money at a problem which only powerful adventurers should be able to solve.

Random Treasure

Treasure found in the world is at the region's Level, treasure found in a character's or monster's home or lair equals their Level. For random treasure, Treasure Value is (2d3-4) + Level + monster's TR (0 or less = nothing); Treasure Type is 1d20 + Level/5 + monster's TR.

The file treasureGenerator.html has a JavaScript program to generate random treasures.

TR Roll Value 1d20+LVL/5+TR Type Gem
(-2)-0 10 SP 1-2 CP, SP coins Quartz, 1 GP
1-3 10 GP 3-8 GP, PP coins Topaz, 10 GP
4-7 25 GP 9-12 Trade goods Jade, 20 GP
8-10 75 GP 13-14 Treasure Map Opal, 100 GP
11-15 200 GP 15-16 Gems Emerald, 150 GP
16-17 500 GP 17-18 Scroll Ruby, 200 GP
18-19 1000 GP 19-21 Potion Sapphire, 250 GP
20+ 5000 GP 22+ Magic Item Diamond, 300 GP

Trade Goods: Roll 1d20, amount found is (treasure value / trade good value), round up. For more portable treasures, the Referee may want to use the TR roll as the minimum roll. For example, TR roll of 9 and Trade goods for type, rolling 1d20 and getting 3 would mean (75 GP x 50 CP/GP ÷ 2 CP) = 1,875 liters of ale or chickens. So instead using 9 as the roll produces 75kg of salted fish or 75 goats.

1d20 Trade Good 1d20 Trade Good
1 Wheat (1kg, 1 CP) 11 Liquor (1L, 15 SP) or Sheep (15 SP)
2 Flour (1kg, 2 CP) 12 Copper (1kg, 50 CP = 1 GP)
3 Ale (1L, 2 CP) or Chicken (2 CP) 13 Salt (1kg, 1 GP)
4 Cheese (1kg, 1 SP) 14 Iron (1kg, 2 GP) or Pig (2 GP)
5 Preserved Meat (1kg, 1 SP) 15 Silk (1kg, 10 GP) or Cow (10 GP)
6 Linen (1m2, 4 SP) 16 Spices (1kg, 10 GP)
7 Pipeweed (1/4 kg, 5 SP) 17 Book or Art (1-10kg, 20 GP)
8 Wine (1L, 8 SP) 18 Weapon (varies)
9 Salted Fish (1kg, 1 GP) or Goat (1 GP) 19 Armor (varies)
10 Pepper (1kg, 1 GP) 20 Equipment (varies)

Treasure Maps: Usually a sketch of a landmark and course from there to a cache. Roll 1d4 treasures as above, treating any more Treasure Maps as Gems.

Location, roll 1d6: 1: Unmarked (directions given in paces), 2: Tree, 3: Boulder, 4: Campsite, 5: Cave, 6: Small Dungeon, 1d3 rooms.

Protection, roll 1d6: 1: None, 2-3: Trap, 4: Animal, 5: Monster, 6: Undead.

Gems: Roll 1d20 + Level/5 + monster's TR on the Gem column, number found is (treasure value / gem value), round up; reroll if 1 gem is worth more than treasure value. For example, an Ogre (Level 4, TR -1) rolls 5 on 2d3 for value, so 5-4+4-1 = 4, 25 GP value; gem roll on 1d20 is 10, so 10+1-1 = 10, Jade (20 GP), giving (25/20, round up) = 2 Jades, a rich Ogre.


1d20 Potion, Duration: 10 minutes 1d20 Magic Item
1 Healing: Restores 2d6 HP 1 Light or Medium Melee: Bonus adds To Hit and Damage.
2 Growth: ST +2, DX -2 2 Heavy Melee: Bonus adds To Hit and Damage.
3 Shrinking: ST -2, DX +2 3 Great Melee: Bonus adds To Hit and Damage.
4 Strength: ST +2 4 Heavy Missile: Bonus adds To Hit and Damage.
5 Invisibility 5 Light Armor: Bonus adds to AC & Magic Saving Throws.
6 Gas Form 6 Medium Armor: Bonus adds to AC & Magic Saving Throws.
7 Haste 7 Heavy Armor: Bonus adds to AC & Magic Saving Throws.
8 Fly 8 Shield: Bonus adds to AC & Magic Saving Throws.
9 ESP 9 Wand: Black or White Magic, 2d6 charges.
10 Clairvoyance 10 Rod: Black or White Magic, 3d6 charges. See below.
11 Animal Control 11 Staff: Black or White Magic, 4d6 charges. See below.
12 Dragon Control 12 Ring: Black or White Magic, Usable 3x per day. See below.
13 Trap Finding 13 Ring of Protection: Bonus adds to AC & Saving Throws, always on.
14 Fire Resistance 14 Black Magic Scroll: See below
15 Cold Resistance 15 White Magic Scroll: See below
16 Acid Resistance 16 Amulet: Bonus adds to saving throw against one element or effect.
17 Water Breathing 17 Crystal Ball: See below
18 Darkvision 18 Artifact: See below
19 Poison 19 Artifact: See below
20 Delusion 20 Artifact: See below

Magic item bonus is +1 for Level 1-4, +2 for Level 5-8, +3 for Level 9-12, +4 for Level 13-16, +5 for Level 17-20. A character cannot use a magic item of higher Level than they are; a Level 3 character cannot even swing a Level 5 Broadsword +2.

For any magic item, there is a 1 in 6 chance item is cursed. If a cursed item is used, it applies a Lesser Curse and cannot be discarded until Remove Curse is cast on the user. If a cursed scroll is read, it prevents the user from reading scrolls or casting magic until Remove Curse is cast on the user. Nothing affects the cursed item itself, it remains cursed.

Magic Weapons

Magic Weapons may have special abilities, roll 1d20 + Level/5, +5 for swords, +2 for daggers, -5 for blunt and ranged weapons. 10 or less: No ability, 11-15: Glows on command as torch, 16 or more: Roll 1d20 on table below. Bonuses are in addition to standard magic bonus.

Magic weapons with abilities always have a name, alignment, and intelligence. Roll 1d6: 1-2: Lawful, 3-4: Neutral, 5-6: Chaotic. Drawing a weapon of different alignment inflicts 1d6 damage per step different.

Except for Rune weapons below, they have IN 1d3-1d3. Those with IN 0 or less cannot communicate, those with IN 1 or higher can use ESP for free on the user. If the weapon and user disagree about goals or actions, user rolls 1d20 + Level + IN - (weapon's Level + IN); on a total of 15 or higher, user wins the conflict; on a total of 14 or less, the weapon controls the user's body for 1d6 hours.

If you can't think of a power-specific name, roll 1d10 twice and combine: First part: 1: Abyssal, 2: Argent, 3: Azure, 4: Black, 5: Blood, 6: Dawn, 7: Faith, 8: Fury, 9: Lord's, 10: Obsidian. Second part: 1: Blade, 2: Breaker, 3: Guard, 4: Keeper, 5: Remorse, 6: Rites, 7: Shard, 8: Song, 9: Tear, 10: Wrath. The Referee should keep extending these word tables after a few have been used.

1d20 Magic Weapon Special Ability
1 Cold: Inflicts 2x damage against fire-based targets. Protects as Cold Resistance potion while held.
2 Dancing: After 3 rounds of attacking, it can leave the user's hand and fight with the same skill for 3 rounds, then returns to the user.
3 Distance: Melee can be thrown 18m & return, ranged weapons add 18m range.
4 Flame: Inflicts 2x damage against cold-based targets. Protects as Fire Resistance potion while held.
5 Holy (Unholy if Chaotic): When used by a Knight, Paladin, or White Mage, adds weapon bonus to all hazard or magic saving throws (in addition to Knight's Indominatible). Roll again for another ability.
6 Life Draining: On a natural roll of 20, target loses 1 ST temporarily
7 Slaying Black Mages: When a Slaying weapon is used against the named type, gains +1 higher bonus. On a natural roll of 20, target makes a ST saving throw, on failure dies instantly.
8 Slaying Dragons (incl. Basilisks & Wyverns)
9 Slaying Dwarfs (incl. Gnomes, Kobolds)
10 Slaying Faerie Folk (incl. Elves, Fauns, Nymphs, Sprites, Goblins, & Hobgoblins)
11 Slaying Giants (incl. Ogres, Trolls)
12 Slaying Goblins (incl. Hobgoblins & Bugbears)
13 Slaying Knights (incl. Paladins & Blackguards)
14 Slaying Lycanthropes
15 Slaying Undead
16 Slaying White Mages
17 Vorpal: On a natural attack roll of 20, target makes a ST saving throw, adding any magic armor bonus, on failure hit location is severed. Head: Instant death, Arm: Cannot use main weapon or shield, Leg: Cannot move except at crawl, Chest: Disemboweled, death in 1d6 rounds.
18-20 Rune: IN 1d4, MP (Level + IN) x 2. Can use ESP for free on the user. Casts spells for the user, knows one spell per point of IN over 0, spells can be up to the weapon's Level, can be White Magic if Lawful or Neutral, Black Magic if Neutral or Chaotic.

Potions

Potions typically have a specific appearance for each effect, but some alchemists may use different processes. It is common knowledge that healing potions are bright clear red, but there are exceptions. Poison and Delusion always have the appearance of another potion. Potion effects last for (1d6+6) x 10 minutes, except Healing potions are instant effect. If a different potion is drunk while another is still in effect, something may go wrong. If either is a healing or resistance potion, nothing unusual happens. Any other combination is a strong poison.

Miscellaneus Magic Items

Artifacts

Weird magic items, which are almost always unique in each world. A few are listed below, but the Referee should create new items, or take them from modules, the D20 SRD, Old-School "eldritch" supplement artifacts, and other sources. Simple artifacts only have benefits, while more complex artifacts have risks.


Referee's Tools

(This chapter is Product Identity, not Open Game Content)

This section is a set of tools which can be used in running adventures. They are all optional, and should only be used for guidance; see what you get from them, and modify to suit your adventures.

"Through me the way into the suffering city,
Through me the way to the eternal pain,
Through me the way that runs among the lost. …
Before me nothing but eternal things were made,
And I endure eternally.
Abandon every hope, ye who enter here."
—Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Inferno

Escaping the Underworld

[Inspired by Jeff Rients' Table of Despair]

When a game session ends with characters still on an adventure, the Referee may choose to pause in media res, or may want to start and end each session "clean", from town or camp (especially if the same players are not always present for every session). In the latter case, each character must roll 1d20 + Level + IN - area Level, and look up the total on the table below.

Total Escape Attempt
≤2 Died and your body & gear are destroyed.
3 Died and your body & gear are in an unknown location.
4 Died and your body & gear are in a known location.
5 Died and your body & gear were taken away by a Celestial or Demon to Heaven or Hell. You may try to negotiate or escape from the afterlife, or be rescued by others.
6 Rescued from death's door by Skinmonger the Dwarf, who takes all your money, gems, and jewelry. Healing is with grim battlefield surgery, lower ST by 1.
7 Rescued from death's door by Melchidor the Wizard, who takes all your magic items. Healing is with magic and potions, reduce IN by 1.
8 Rescued from death's door by Witiza the Monk, who asks for a donation, and imposes a Quest if you offer less than (Level2 x 50) GP.
9-10 Taken by monsters. Undead or Lycanthropes convert you, shapeshifters impersonate you, Black Mages charm you, Demons or cultists sacrifice you, others keep you waiting for dinner.
11-12 Beaten (10% HP remaining) and captured by intelligent monsters. You may try to escape, be rescued, or be ransomed for 1d4 x (Level2 x 100) GP plus value of all gear.
13-14 Beaten (10% HP remaining) and lost your gear, roll 1d6 for each item: 1-3: Kept, 4-5: Lost & scattered in the dungeon, 6: Lost forever. You may choose one essential item which will not be lost.
15-19 Escaped safely, camped at adventure entrance.
≥20 Escaped safely, returned to town.

Fortune Cards

[Inspired by an article… somewhere… which I have failed to attribute.]

Fortune cards can be used in character as fortune telling, or by the Referee as an adventure generation tool.

Draw three playing cards for a Fortune. The first is the beginning, the second is the complication, the third is the means or result. The cards may be affecting you or someone else.

For example, Ace of Diamonds, Queen of Clubs, Nine of Hearts = Treasure, Romance: Soldier, Fortune: Reaction/Loyalty. So rumors of treasure recently found by a warlord draw you in, you discover he's pining for a princess who thinks he's a brute, and you'll be rewarded if you help him learn/pretend to be a classier dude (Cyrano de Bergerac).

Action Cards

[Inspired by Lion Rampant's Whimsy Cards, TORG's Drama Deck, and my own DUDE card-based freeform RPG]

Action Cards give players more control over their characters' success and failure, and can change the world in significant ways. Some Referees want a more simulationist game (which Stone Halls & Serpent Men certainly is not), or have their own systems of luck or fortune, and so these cards are optional, but recommended.

Shuffle one or more standard card decks (at least one deck per 4 players), and at the start of the game, deal each PC a number of cards equal to half their Level, rounding up (their Hand Size). Elite NPCs may be given cards as well, and use the same rules as PCs. The remaining cards are placed face-down as the draw pile.

A character may play at most one card each round, at any time; a card with a bonus or penalty only applies if played before the die roll. Once used, put the card face-up on the discard pile.

The Referee may choose to deal a single card (and the player must discard down to their Hand Size) when a character defeats an enemy or succeeds at some difficult challenge. The hand of cards is completely refilled up to a character's Hand Size at a time the Referee chooses:

When the draw pile is empty, shuffle the discard pile to become the new draw pile.

It is up to the Referee and players to decide if cards are kept between sessions, or discarded and refilled at the start of a session.

Every player using this should print out the table below to look up card meanings; or someone can make actual cards and print them out on cardstock.

Suit Card Meaning
♣ Clubs A Strong I: Add +1 to a single ST stat roll.
2 Strong II: Add +2 to a single ST stat roll.
3 Strong III: Add +3 to a single ST stat roll.
4 Coup de Grâce I: Add 25% to a single damage roll.
5 Coup de Grâce II: Add 50% to a single damage roll.
6 Coup de Grâce III: Add 100% to a single damage roll.
7 Second Chance: You can immediately reroll your last stat roll.
8 Second Chance: You can immediately reroll your last stat roll.
9 Second Chance: You can immediately reroll your last stat roll.
10 Dying Blow: You sacrifice your life to defeat any enemy of your Level or less. Player and Referee will have to work out exactly how.
J Handoff: You pass 1 or 2 other cards to another character, who must discard down to their Hand Size, and you can immediately refill your hand.
Q Sideline: Perform a maneuver, feint, or trick that puts one enemy out of the fight, but not seriously harmed.
K Heroism: Can only be played after an attack roll of natural 20, treats defeating that enemy as a personal goal.
♢ Diamonds A Fast I: Add +1 to a single DX stat roll.
2 Fast II: Add +2 to a single DX stat roll.
3 Fast III: Add +3 to a single DX stat roll.
4 Alert I: Add +1 to initiative or a search roll.
5 Alert II: Add +2 to initiative or a search roll.
6 Alert III: Add +3 to initiative or a search roll.
7 Survival: Add +4 to any stat roll for surviving a trap or environmental hazard.
8 Survival: Add +4 to any stat roll for surviving a trap or environmental hazard.
9 Survival: Add +4 to any stat roll for surviving a trap or environmental hazard.
10 Surprising Maneuver: Everyone not in your party is surprised for a round.
J Scavenger: You can swap this card for the top card of the discard pile.
Q Maneuver: Doubles your movement for rounds equal to your Level.
K Greed: Can only be played after a stealth or lockpicking roll of natural 20, treats gaining a treasure from that area as a personal goal.
♠ Spades A Clever I: Add +1 to a single IN stat roll.
2 Clever II: Add +2 to a single IN stat roll.
3 Clever III: Add +3 to a single IN stat roll.
4 Mentalism I: Apply -1 to a single target's magic or psionics saving throw.
5 Mentalism II: Apply -2 to a single target's magic or psionics saving throw.
6 Mentalism III: Apply -3 to a single target's magic or psionics saving throw.
7 Inspiration: Find a clue or get a hint from the Referee.
8 Inspiration: Find a clue or get a hint from the Referee.
9 Inspiration: Find a clue or get a hint from the Referee.
10 Sorcery: You and your party can escape a magical or psionic encounter.
J Ley Line: You and your party can restore up to half of total MP, PS, & mutation uses (excess points are not gained).
Q Alternate Reality: Changes some minor physical feature of the world which is not currently being observed. A door may exist or not exist, buildings or tunnels are safe or collapse, etc.
K Magical Triumph: Can only be played after using one of your highest-level magic spells or psionic abilities on an enemy, treats defeating that enemy as a personal goal.
♡ Hearts A Charm I: Add +1 to a single reaction or loyalty roll.
2 Charm II: Add +2 to a single reaction or loyalty roll.
3 Charm III: Add +3 to a single reaction or loyalty roll.
4 Cooperation I: Add +1 to another character's stat roll, in which you have equal or higher stat.
5 Cooperation II: Add +2 to another character's stat roll, in which you have equal or higher stat.
6 Cooperation III: Add +3 to another character's stat roll, in which you have equal or higher stat.
7 Subplot: Starts a subplot with a PC or NPC (romance, rivalry, mistaken identity, etc.) as a personal goal.
8 Subplot: Starts a subplot with a PC or NPC (romance, rivalry, mistaken identity, etc.) as a personal goal.
9 Subplot: Starts a subplot with a PC or NPC (romance, rivalry, mistaken identity, etc.) as a personal goal.
10 Contact: You know or find someone in the area who can help you.
J New Order: You and your party can discard some or all of their cards, and immediately refill their hands.
Q Master Plan: You can make a speech for up to 1 minute per Level, during which time you can do nothing else, but no intelligent being will attack you, and most will listen politely.
K Acclaim: Can only be played after a successful adventure, and if you have no Lifestyle debt, outstanding warrants, scurrilous rumors, etc. Spend (Level2 x 1000) GP on parties and self-promotion, and you can move up one Social Status.
Joker Can be used as any other card.

Place Names

Naming things is hard, so let the dice help you.

Village Names: Roll d36 once for Prefix and once for Suffix. So rolls of 36, 53 gives Fenshire, 14, 51 gives Bridgemont.

d36 Prefix |d36 Suffix d36 Suffix d36 Suffix
11-13 Berk |11 bane 31 ford 51 mont
14-16 Bridge |12 beck 32 glade 52 ridge
21-23 Caer |13 berry 33 grove 53 shire
24-26 Cumber |14 bluff 34 hall 54 stead
31-33 Dun |15 bridge 35 ham 55 ster
34-36 Fen |16 burg 36 hart 56 stone
41-43 Glen |21 comb 41 hill 61 ton
44-46 Mid |22 dale 42 hold 62 vale
51-53 Mont |23 fair 43 hole 63 view
54-56 New |24 fern 44 lake 64 way
61-63 Under |25 ferry 45 lin 65 wood
64-66 Wot |26 field 46 mine 66 yard

Dungeon Place Names: Roll d36 once for Prefix and once for Suffix. So rolls of 43, 24 gives Morbid Crypt, 11, 56 gives Annihilation Pit. You can take the name as a hint of how to design the dungeon, or it may just be folk tale exaggeration.

d36 Prefix d36 Prefix |d36 Suffix d36 Suffix
11 Annihilation 41 Mayhem |11 Abomination 41 Hive
12 Armageddon 42 Misery |12 Boneyard 42 Hold
13 Bedlam 43 Morbid |13 Burrow 43 Labyrinth
14 Bleak 44 Murder |14 Catacomb 44 Lair
15 Chaos 45 Nightmare |15 Cavern 45 Maelstrom
16 Death 46 Oblivion |16 Cells 46 Mausoleum
21 Doom 51 Pandemonium |21 Cemetery 51 Maze
22 Doomsday 52 Panic |22 Chambers 52 Mine
23 Downfall 53 Quietus |23 Crawl 53 Necropolis
24 Fell 54 Razor |24 Crypt 54 Oubliette
25 Ghastly 55 Sacrifice |25 Delve 55 Ossuary
26 Grim 56 Slaughter |26 Depths 56 Pit
31 Hades 61 Surrender |31 Dungeon 61 Reach
32 Hate 62 Terror |32 End 62 Sepulcher
33 Havoc 63 Thanatos |33 Gate 63 Tomb
34 Lamentation 64 Torment |34 Grave 64 Tunnels
35 Lich 65 Unhallowed |35 Grotto 65 Underworld
36 Massacre 66 Vampiric |36 Haunt 66 Vault

Wilderness Features

Most grids will have 1d2-1 features, Evil regions will have 1d3-1 features. Features in the same or adjacent grids may be related, or not. Roll 1d6 for each feature:

  1. Animal/Monster Lair
  2. Community
  3. Castle
  4. Ruin
  5. Dungeon
  6. Unusual Feature
Lair

Lairs are very simple, roll 1d6: 1-2: Sheltered hillside, 1 chamber; 3-4: Cave, 1d3 chambers; 5-6: Small Dungeon, 1d4+2 chambers.

Chamber

Many features need a "Chamber" or "Trap" to be generated:

1d20 Chamber Type
1-5 Square, 1d6 x 3m per side
6-10 Rectangular, 1d6 x 3m long, 1d6 x 3m wide
11-15 Round, 1d6 x 3m diameter
16-18 Recognizable Shape, 1d6 x 3m long, 1d6 x 3m wide
19-20 Random Shape, 1d6 x 3m long, 1d6 x 3m wide

Usually all ceilings are 2d3 x 1m high; corridors are usually 1m shorter. Large characters may not be able to fit in all structures, and human-sized characters in 1m corridors are at a severe disadvantage.

Exits (including entrance) for each chamber, roll 1d6: 1: 1, 2-3: 2, 4: 3, 5-6: 1d6+1. Draw winding corridors to connect all exits. For each exit, roll 1d6: 1-3: Open tunnel, 4-6: Door.

1d20 Chamber Contents
1-10 Empty
11-12 Monster only
13-15 Monster & Treasure
16-17 Trap
18-19 Trap & Treasure
20 Treasure
Doors

Doors and containers in the Underworld behave oddly, almost malevolently. Any door left open but not spiked open, will close, re-lock if it is lockable, and get stuck. Chests will close and re-lock themselves. All traps will reset themselves, and sometimes change to a more dangerous trap.

Doors without Hold Portal are

For any door, choose or roll:

1d20 Door Difficulty
1-2 Closed. Can be opened suspiciously easily.
3-8 Stuck. Can be forced open with a ST roll.
9-13 Locked
14-17 Locked & Trapped
18 Hold Portal, either renewed by a caster or supernaturally resetting.
19 Hold Portal & Trapped
20 Permanent Hold Portal. Resists Knock or Dispel Magic at +5 Levels.
Trap

Most traps are found with a Search roll, remember to apply the penalties for movement. If it is not obvious how a trap is triggered, roll 1d6: 1-2: Floor stone or board responds to pressure (electrical contacts and a simple acid battery?), 3-4: Tripwire, 5-6: Magic glyph.

The intent of traps is to protect valuable contents and destroy intruders, they are not just harmless pranks. They should not be fair, they may not be survivable if triggered. A great trap walks the line between torture and extremely dark humor (that still kills you).

1d20 Trap
1-4 Secret Door: Roll 1d6: 1-2: Small hidey-hole/panic room, 2 is occupied by monster or NPC; 3-4: Next chamber (replaces a normal door), 5-6: Treasure.
5 Bear Trap: Take 2d6 damage and halve movement rate until healed.
6-8 Pit Trap: Everyone in a 3m area has a Weak Falling hazard.
9 Arrow Trap: Everyone in a 3m wide row has a Weak DX hazard.
10-11 Spear Trap: Everyone in a 3m wide row has an Moderate DX hazard.
12 Crushing Walls: Doors or exits for area are blocked with rising stone barriers or metal bars, and one wall, ceiling, or floor moves in, inexorably. In 6 rounds it will crush everyone in the area, inflicting 1d6 damage per round for 3 rounds per Level of the area, then slowly reset over 6 rounds. Sturdy objects and ST total of 18 or higher will hold it back.
13 Cave-In: Ceiling collapses on the chamber or tunnel section, see Cave-In.
14 Gas Trap: Everyone in the room has an Moderate Poison hazard.
15 Water Trap: Blocks the entrances and floods this chamber or tunnel section, takes 1 round per 3m cube, stays filled & blocked for 1d6 x 10 minutes. Reset/release mechanism (level, magical glyph, etc.) usually hidden somewhere inside, find as a secret door.
16 Fire Trap: Everyone in a 9m area has a Moderate Fire hazard.
17 Hidden Monsters: Waiting for ambush, make a Search roll at -5 to spot. Roll 1d6: 1: 1d6 Rats, 2: 1d6 Snakes, 3: 1 Giant Spider, 4: 1d6 Elemental Wisps in their element (fire in a brazier, etc.), 5: 1d6 Slimes on the ceiling, 6: 1d3 Shadows hidden in the shadows.
18 Magic Teleporter Trap: Everyone in a 3m area is sent to a random location in the dungeon.
19 Magic Pool: Trigger, roll 1d6: 1-3: Drink the water, 4-6: Toss in a gold coin. Effect, roll 1d20: 1-3: Spawns 1d6 Slimes; 4-6: Exposed to Poison hazard, if you die you become a Zombie; 5-9: Spawns a Water Elemental; 10-12: As Cure Light Wounds; 13-14: As random potion; 15: Swap ST and another stat, 16: Swap DX and another stat, 17: Swap IN and another stat, 18: Change gender, 19: Change race, 20: Change most recently chosen profession. The water has no effect if removed from this room.
20 Magic Statue: Trigger, roll 1d6: 1-2: Turn to face a specific direction, 3-4: Put an object found elsewhere in its hand/mouth, 5-6: Password spoken. Effect, roll 1d6: 1: Animates as a Gargoyle and attacks; 2: Animates as a Stone Golem and attacks; 3: Speaks a useful hint about the dungeon; 4: Opens a secret door; 5: Casts Cure Light Wounds on user; 6: Casts Bless on user. The statue has no effect if removed from this room.
Trash

The Underworld is rarely fresh and clean. Roll on Trash at least once per chamber, 1d3 times in empty chambers.

1d30 Trash
1 Armor: Roll 1d6: 1: Good, 2-4: Rusted/Rotted, 5-6: Broken/Torn.
2 Arrows: 1d12 count, roll 1d6: 1-4: Broken, 5-6: Whole.
3 Ashes: 1d6 cubic meters.
4 Bottles: 1d6 count, roll 1d6: 1: Beer, 2: Wine, 3: Oil, 4: Acid, 5: Empty, 6: Broken.
5 Chain: 1d3 x 10m length, roll 1d6: 1: Good, 2-4: Rusted (breaks at half weight), 5-6: Broken.
6 Clothing: Roll 1d6: 1: Good, 2-4: Rotten, 5-6: Torn.
7 Cobwebs: Roll 1d6: 1-2: Empty, 3-4: Drained corpse, 5-6: Nest of 1d3 Giant Spiders.
8 Coins: 3d6 CP, roll 1d6: 1-2: Good, 3-6: Corroded (half value at best).
9 Corpse: Roll 1d6: 1: Fresh, 2: Rotting, 3-4: Skeletal, 5: Partial, 6: Blood Stains.
10 Cracks: Roll 1d6: 1-2: Floor, 3-4: Wall, 5-6: Ceiling. May expose another area, or hide treasure or monster.
11 Dirt: 1d6 cubic meters, roll 1d6: 1-2: Loam, 3-4: Dung, 5-6: Sand.
12 Dust: 1d6 cubic meters.
13 Food/Ingredients: 3d6 meals, roll 1d6: 1-2: Good, 3-4: Rotting (Weak Poison), 5-6: Rotten (Moderate Poison).
14 Fungus/Mold/Mushrooms: 1d6 cubic meters, roll 1d6: 1-2: Edible, 3-5: Poisonous (Moderate Poison), 6: Corrupt (Moderate Zombie Plague).
15 Fur/Hair: 1d6 cubic meters.
16 Graffiti: Roll 1d6: 1: Helpful hint, 2: Drawing of nearby monster, 3-4: Obscenity, 5: Names of former adventurers, 6: Lying hint.
17 Iron Spikes: 1d6 count, roll 1d6: 1-2: Good, 3-4: Rusted, 5-6: Broken.
18 Lighting: Roll 1d6: 1: Lit torch, 2: Unlit torch, 3: Lit candle, 4: Unlit candle, 5: Jar of fireflies, 6: Jar of dead fireflies.
19 Plant Matter: 1d6 cubic meters, roll 1d6: 1-2: Dry tinder, 3-4: Moist & Rotting (half burn time), 5-6: Rotten.
20 Pottery: 1d6 jars, roll 1d6: 1: Grain, 2: Oil, 3: Linen, 4: Salt, 5: Spice, 6: Broken.
21 Rope: 1d6 x 10m, roll 1d6: 1: Good, 2-4: Rotten (breaks at half weight), 5-6: Broken.
22 Rubble: 1d6 cubic meters.
23 Sacks: 1d6 count, roll 1d6: 1-2: Good, 3-4: Rotted (breaks at half weight), 5-6: Torn.
24 Shield: Roll 1d6: 1: Good, 2-4: Rusted, 5-6: Broken.
25 Slime: 1d6 cubic meters, roll 1d6: 1-2: Gross & Stinky, 3-4: Acidic, 5-6: Nest of 1d6 Slime monsters.
26 Stones: Roll 1d6: 1-2: 1d6 large, 3-4: 3d6 small, 5-6: hundreds of pebbles.
27 Tool: Roll 1d6: 1: Good, 2-4: Rusted, 5-6: Broken.
28 Water: Roll 1d6: 1-2: Pond, 3-4: Rivulet, 5-6: Ceiling drip. Roll 1d6: 1: Clean, 2-4: Polluted (Weak Disease if not purified), 5: Moderate Disease, 6: Moderate Poison.
29 Weapon: Roll 1d6: 1: Good, 2-4: Rusted, 5-6: Broken.
30 Wood: 1d6 cubic meters, roll 1d6: 1-2: Good, 3: Sticks, 4: Rotting (half burn time), 5-6: Rotten.

Community

Roll 1d20 once for Racial Mix, and again for Primary and Secondary Race on the Community Race table. "Mix" will be races friendly to Primary or Secondary. Apply only the Primary race's Community Size modifier. For example, rolling 18 for Racial Mix: 50% Primary (roll 17) = Beastfolk, 40% Secondary (roll 7) = Rural Human, 10% Mix (mostly other Humans and Gnomes). Community Size will be 1d20-2, roll 9-2 = 7 Hamlet.

1d20 Community Race 1d20 Racial Mix
1-5 Barbarian Human (-2 on Community Size) 1-10 95% Primary, 5% Mix
6-8 Rural Human 11-16 80% Primary, 15% Secondary, 5% Mix
9-10 Urban Human (+4 on Community Size) 17-19 50% Primary, 40% Secondary, 10% Mix
11 Dwarf 20 40% Primary, 30% Secondary, 30% Mix
12-13 Faun (-4 on Community Size)
14 High Elf (-4 on Community Size)
15 Gnome
16-17 Beastfolk (-2 on Community Size)
18 Goblin (-4 on Community Size)
19 Any Monster Race (-4 on Community Size)
20 Any Undead or Demon

 

1d20 Community Size
1-8 Hamlet: Population 4d6, Shops 1d3, Districts: 1, Wall: Log Pallisade, Garrison: 1/4 population as Peasants, 1d3-1 Adventurers of Level 1d6.
9-16 Village: Population 2d6 x 10, Shops 1d6+1, Districts: 1d2, Wall: Log Pallisade, Garrison: 1/4 population as Peasants, 1/10 population as Militia, 1d6-1 Adventurers of Level 1d6.
17-19 Town: Population 3d6 x 100, Shops 4d6, Districts: 1d3+1, Wall: Earth, Garrison: 1/4 population as Peasants, 1/10 population as Militia, 2d6 Adventurers of Level 1d6.
20 City: Population 3d6 x 1000, Shops 3d6 x 5, Districts: 2d6, Wall: Brick, Garrison: 1/4 population as Peasants, 1/10 population as Militia, 1/100 population as Soldiers, 4d6 Adventurers of Level 1d6, plus 1 roll as Castle.

Districts are the number of distinct neighborhoods, usually with light internal walls and gates, with different castes of inhabitants. Gaining access to the higher districts may require bribes, contacts, subterfuge, tunnelling, or earning favor with higher castes.

See Castle for details of Wall and Garrison. Garrison troops will be used as town guards; Peasants train as deputies a few days a month, better troops will be full-time.

Any Hamlet or Village will have a public/farmer's market on weekends with tolerable weather. Towns and Cities will have 1 permanent market per district, higher-quality (fresh foods, foreign traders) in the rich districts, lower-quality (several days from the farm, second-hand goods) in poor districts.

There will be 1d3 taverns, 1 inn, 1 stable, & 1 general goods shop per district, with limited supplies or quality in the poor districts.

There will be 1 town hall or other administrative building in Hamlets & Villages, 1d3 in Towns, 2d6 in Cities.

There will be at least 1 Shrine per district; lower districts often have shrines to the Old Gods, while upper districts are visibly devoted to the Archons, and everywhere there are hidden shrines to the Demon Princes of Chaos.

There may be 1 bank in each upper district of a Town or City.

Communities by water will have a dock, shipbuilders, & fishermen. Fish are sold in the market or right on the dock. Sailors have their own taverns.

Shops are in addition to the above, roll 1d20 on the table below for each or make new ones.

1d20 Shop 1d20 Shop
1 Armorer 11 Leatherworker
2 Artist 12 Magician
3 Blacksmith 13 Pawn Shoppe
4 Bookseller 14 Sage & Scribe
5 Brothel 15 Stonemason
6 Candlemaker 16 Thieves' Den
7 Carpenter 17 Tinker
8 Cartographer 18 Wainwright (Cart maker)
9 Cobbler (Shoe maker) 19 Weaver
10 Healer 20 Vintner (Wine merchant)

Most shopkeepers, their families, and apprentices (1d6 people per shop) live above their shops, including taverns, inns, stables, and general goods, all considered Citizen or Craft Master. Number of additional houses equals (total population - shopkeeper population) ÷ 5. For each head of household, roll Social Status, and officer or higher work for town hall, merchants and craft masters run a caravan or business elsewhere, citizens and lower do part-time labor for others. Most houses have small gardens and a few livestock to supplement their income.

There will be 3d6x as much population living in huts on farms within 10km of the community, average 10 people per farm.

For example, rolling 12 for Village, 80 population, 6 shops, 1 district, garrison: 20 Peasants, 8 Militia, 2 Adventurers of Level 4; 3 taverns (5, 6, 1 people), 1 inn (5 people), 1 stable (1 person), 1 general goods (3 people), 1 town hall, 1 shrine, Magician (3 people), Vintner (1 person), Tinker (3 people), Armorer (2 people), Carpenter (3 people), Blacksmith (4 people), and (80-37)÷5= 9 houses. Nearby (9x80=) 720 population live on 72 farms.

Community Events

When a community is first visited, and again after a long absence, roll 2d6 for events, which may lead into new adventures, or merely provide background news to prevent the world seeming static.

2d6 Event
2 Local drama: Politics/Rebellion
4 Local drama: Murder/Rape/Adultery
5 Local drama: Theft/Animal Rustling
6 Festival
7 Nothing
8 Banditry
9 Nearby Ruins
10 Monsters
11 Natural Disaster
12 Weird Disaster

Castle

Number of Castle Sections, roll 1d6: 1-4: number rolled, 5: 1d3+3, 6: 1d6+3. These can be arranged in a row, in a circle, concentric, or any combination. Terrain is often used as a defense. For example, a castle on a bluff with 3 sections may have a lower section exposed to the plains, an upper section which can only be reached through the lower section, and a fortress inside the upper section.

1d6 Section Wall Type
1 Log Pallisade, 1m thick, 3m tall (8 defense)
2-3 Earth, 3m thick, 6m tall (10 defense)
4 Wood, 3m thick, 9m tall (12 defense)
5 Brick, 3m thick, 9m tall (14 defense)
6 Stone, 3m thick, 9m tall (16 defense)

Either all sections of the castle have the same wall type, or roll for each section, but keep the previous roll if it was higher. For example, the 3-section castle rolling 3, 4, 3 has Earth for the lower section, then Wood for the upper section and fortress.

Roll one or two features per section.

1d20 Section Wall Feature
1-2 Arrow Slits (-1 defense, +1 offense)
3-4 Castellated (+1 defense)
5-6 Corner Towers (+1 defense, +1 offense)
7 Crumbling (-2 defense, +2 to Climbing rolls)
8-9 Ditch (+1 defense)
10-11 Moat (+2 defense)
12 Oil Pots (+1 offense)
13-14 Postern Gate (-2 defense, +1 offense)
15-16 Reinforced (+2 defense)
17 Secret Gate (-1 defense, +2 offense)
18 Siege Weapons (+2 offense)
19-20 Spiked Top (+1 defense)

Ditches contain monsters, roll 1d6: 1: Bears (1d3), 2: Giant Rats (3d6), 3: Giant Snakes (1d6), 4: Trolls (1d3), 5: Wolves (2d6), 6: Zombies (3d6).

Moats contain aquatic monsters, roll 1d6: 1: Giant Crabs (1d6), 2: Giant Eels (1d6), 3: Sharks (1d6), 4: Slimes (2d6), 5: Giant Snakes (1d6), 6: Sea Trolls (1d3).

Garrison in each section, roll 1d6. As with wall type, keep the roll for the previous section if it was higher.

1d6 Garrison
1 1d6 x 10 Berserkers, Level 3, with War Axes (per 10: +2 offense, -1 defense)
2 1d6 x 40 Peasants, Level 1 (no Professions), with Clubs & Javelins (per 10: +0 offense, -1 defense)
3-4 1d6 x 20 Militia, Level 1, with Spears, Slings, & Leather Jack (per 10: +1 offense, +0 defense)
5 1d6 x 20 Soldiers, Level 2, with Short Swords, Short Bows, Bronze Ring Mail, & Shield (per 10: +2 offense, +1 defense)
6 Roll again, plus 1d6 Adventurers, Level 1d6, with appropriate gear (each: +LVL offense, +1 defense).

The ruler of a castle is created as any Adventurer, typically Level 8-11 (7+1d4). 1d8 followers are Level 5-10 (4+1d6). Non-fighting inhabitants are 2d100% of the number of garrison.

Add up all defense and offense numbers to get a relative idea of how strong each castle section is. For example, rolling 17 gives the lower section Corner Towers, 3, 5 gives 100 Militia, total defense 11, offense +2; 10 gives the upper section Arrow Slits, 2, 5 gives 100 Militia, total defense 11, offense +2; 2 gives the fortress a Secret Gate, 4, 3 gives 60 Soldiers, total defense 12, offense +4. Rolling 51, 55, there are 276 non-fighting inhabitants.

Siege Warfare: To quickly resolve a siege, attackers are added up like Garrison, and start with defense 4 if standing in the open, 6 with siege towers, 8 with fortified trenches, get +2 offense for Siege Weapons. Each side rolls 1d20 + offense; if the total is the enemy's defense or higher, inflict 1d3 x 10 losses on them; higher-level units divide losses by level, e.g. 30 losses kills 10 Berserkers. Repeat until all forces are dead, flee, or surrender.

Individual heroes or monsters fighting in a siege may add +1 or +2 to offense or defense, or may carry out missions which otherwise affect the battle. If they are taken as losses, inflict 4d6 HP damage and they cannot resume fighting until healed.

Shrine

Holy sites of most religions are similar, they exist to support priests, an altar, and a location for worshippers to gather. Shrines are generally found in or near a Community, but may be standing alone as Ruins or Unusual Features.

Roll 1d6 for alignment, 1d10 for deity; change neutral Old Gods to fit local religion, or all three for other settings. Lawful groups rigidly follow the agenda of their Archon, but Neutral and Chaotic may have a deviant ideology, roll 1d10 on that column.

1d10 1-2 Lawful 3-4 Neutral 5-6 Chaotic 1d10 Ideology (N, C only)
1 Kether Wöden Thaumiel 1 Eschaton: Destroy all unbelievers.
2 Chokmah Thunor Chagidiel 2 Blood & Souls: Daily sacrifices for power.
3 Binah Tir Sathariel 3 Summoning: Conjuring up entities/demons to be closer to god.
4 Chesed Frige Gamichicoth 4 Immortality: Through magic, soul jars, or undeath, stay in this world.
5 Geburah Sunne Golab 5 Enlightenment: Increasingly difficult trials to make one "awaken".
6 Tiphareth Azathoth Thagirion 6 Wealth: Demand tithes of believers, kidnapping & extortion of unbelievers.
7 Netzach Cthulhu Serapel 7 Conversion: Kidnap unbelievers to brainwash into joining.
8 Hod Nyarlathotep Samael 8 Proselytize: Send out missionaries to spread the word.
9 Yesod Shub-Niggurath Gamaliel 9 Normal
10 Malkuth Tsathoggua Nahemoth 10 Normal

Most shrines are a single building in a courtyard with radius 1d3x the size of the building.

1d6 Building 1d6 Courtyard Protection 1d6 Condition 1d6 Altar Artifact
1 Cavern, 1d3+1 chambers (3 priests) 1 None 1 Abandoned (no priests) 1 Holy Spring
2 Hut, 6m sq. (1 priest) 2 Fenced 2 Neglected (-2 defense, only 1 priest) 2 Holy Stone
3 Hall, 6m x 12m (2 priests) 3 Log Pallisade, as Castle 3 Ancient (-1 defense, 1/4x priests) 3 Holy Artifact
4 Church, 12m sq. (1d3+1 priests) 4 Earth Wall, as Castle 4 Old (-1 priest) 4 Religious Writing
5 Temple, 24m sq. (1d6+2 priests) 5 Wood Wall, as Castle 5 Modern 5 Religious Statue
6 Fortress, 48m sq. (2d6 priests) 6 Brick Wall, as Castle 6 Recent (+1 defense, +1 priest) 6 Relic of Saint

One priest is the High Priest, usually with level (1d4 + number of priests), with White Mage, and Theurgist with a Golem if level 9+. A second priest will be 3/4x that level, round up. The rest will be level 1d4; the level 1 priests will usually only be Initiate & Militia or Initiate & Sage. Each priest is accompanied by Knights (1d3, 1 level below priest) & Pilgrims (1d6, level 1, PR: Militia 50%, Initiate 25%).

The altar will contain or be built over some religious artifact. Holy items were made by the god, and destroy any undead or demons (if lawful or neutral) or celestials (if chaotic or neutral) which enter the building, or any non-priest who tries to take them. Religious items are mundane, but revered by the priests and worshippers. Relics are like Holy items, but only work in the hands of a devout priest.

Roll 1d6 for treasury, -1 for 0-2 priests, +0 for 3-4 priests, +1 for 5-6 priests, +2 for 7+ priests. Robbing the treasury may draw the attention of the god, roll 1d20 + Level; if the total is 15 or higher, the god gives the thief a Greater Curse.

1d6+mod Treasury 1d6 Guardians
1 None 1 Dogs (as Wolf) (1d6)
2 Locked chest, 1d6 x 10 SP 2 Gargoyles (1d3)
3 Locked chest, 1d6 x 10 GP 3 Skeletons (2d6)
4 Locked chest, TR -4 4 Snakes (1d6)
5 Locked chamber, Trap, 2x TR +0 5 Spiders, Giant (1d3)
6 Locked chamber, Trap, Guardians, 4x TR +2 6 Wights (1d3)

In the valley of Nis the accursed waning moon shines thinly, tearing a path for its light with feeble horns through the lethal foliage of a great upas-tree. And within the depths of the valley, where the light reaches not, move forms not meant to be beheld. Rank is the herbage on each slope, where evil vines and creeping plants crawl amidst the stones of ruined palaces, twining tightly about broken columns and strange monoliths, and heaving up marble pavements laid by forgotten hands. And in trees that grow gigantic in crumbling courtyards leap little apes, while in and out of deep treasure-vaults writhe poison serpents and scaly things without a name. Vast are the stones which sleep beneath coverlets of dank moss, and mighty were the walls from which they fell. For all time did their builders erect them, and in sooth they yet serve nobly, for beneath them the grey toad makes his habitation.

At the very bottom of the valley lies the river Than, whose waters are slimy and filled with weeds. From hidden springs it rises, and to subterranean grottoes it flows, so that the Daemon of the Valley knows not why its waters are red, nor whither they are bound.

The Genie that haunts the moonbeams spake to the Daemon of the Valley, saying, "I am old, and forget much. Tell me the deeds and aspect and name of them who built these things of Stone." And the Daemon replied, "I am Memory, and am wise in lore of the past, but I too am old. These beings were like the waters of the river Than, not to be understood. Their deeds I recall not, for they were but of the moment. Their aspect I recall dimly, it was like to that of the little apes in the trees. Their name I recall clearly, for it rhymed with that of the river. These beings of yesterday were called Man."

So the Genie flew back to the thin horned moon, and the Daemon looked intently at a little ape in a tree that grew in a crumbling courtyard.

—H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), "Memory"

Ruin

Roll 1d6 for type:

  1. Campsite
  2. Tomb
  3. Ruined Castle
  4. Ruined Shrine
  5. Ruined Village
  6. Ruined Town

For the Castle, Shrine, Village, or Town, create it as normal, then roll 1d10 for destruction level (DL). For each chamber or feature, roll 1d10, and if less than or equal to the DL, that chamber or feature is trashed. Roll 1d10; if less than or equal to the DL, all population is gone and replaced with monsters; otherwise reduce the normal population by (DL x 10%).

Campsite

Roll 1d6:

  1. Firepit, bedrolls (contents as a chamber)
  2. Firepit, 1d3 tents (contents of each as a chamber)
  3. Firepit, pavillion, 2d4 tents (contents of each tent as a chamber, pavillion as 2 chambers)
  4. Hut (contents as a chamber)
  5. Cave with firepit, bedrolls (contents as a chamber)
  6. Cave with firepit, bedrolls, tunnel down to 1d6 more caves (each is a chamber)

Campsite "chambers" have weak treasure, TR -2 on the random treasure table; but never have magic traps, reroll 16-20 on the Trap table.

Tomb

[Inspired by a table by James M. Ward]

Occupant, roll 1d8:

  1. Citizen
  2. Hero
  3. Knight
  4. Lord
  5. Black Mage
  6. White Mage
  7. Family, roll 1d6 twice.
  8. Group, roll 1d6 on this table, 1d3+1 times.

Layout, roll 1d6:

  1. 1d3 chambers under a dirt mound.
  2. 1d3 chamber cave.
  3. 1d3+1 chamber maze.
  4. 1d6+1 chamber maze.
  5. 2d6 chamber maze.
  6. 3 levels, first is #1, second is 1d6+1 chamber maze, third is 2d6 chamber maze.

Normal tomb chambers only have minor treasure, TR -4 on the random treasure table.

The tomb is in a final chamber, hidden behind a secret door on the last level, with a monster and TR +4 treasure.


Dungeon

Dungeons are more extensive than Tombs or Lairs, and are usually intelligently designed as fortressess, a necessary reaction to monsters, flight, and magical warfare.

Surface entrance:

  1. Hidden hole, can only be found with a detailed map & description.
  2. Fortified hole, often bricked-up cliffside with stout doors and Trap defenses.
  3. Small building, such as a house or Shrine.
  4. Large building, such as a tower or Castle.
  5. Community, which may or may not be aware of the dungeon.
  6. Ruin, replacing any underworld area of the Ruin.

Choose or roll Purpose twice, for the original and current purpose of the dungeon, which can be radically different:

1d20 Purpose Defense Design Features
1-2 Cavern No Open Dirt, mushrooms, animals
3 Animal Warren No Maze Nests
4 Humanoid Warren No Maze Living quarters
5 Dwarf Workshop Yes Corridor Loop Workstations
6 Cult Temple Yes Central Hall Shrines
7-8 Storage No Central Hall Crates, barrels, carts
9-10 Defensive Bunker Yes Corridor Loop Living quarters, armory, storage
11 Prison Yes Central Hall Cells, guard stations
12 Tomb No Corridor Loop Coffins, wrapped corpses, shrines

Defense: Dungeon defense is about depth and funnelling enemies into kill chutes. If the original structure had defense, the entry area will be small and narrow, to prevent the enemy from massing for an assault. The next few areas will be choke points and larger rooms which the defenders can hold or fall back from. Generally there will be passages parallel to the entry areas, with murder holes to shoot in on invaders and secret doors for ambushes. The entry stairs (up to the previous floor) and the exit stairs (down to the next floor) will usually be at opposite ends of the map.

If there was no Defense originally, the entry and exit stairs are usually together in a stairwell or down the side of a large shaft.

If the current purpose has Defense but the original had none, there will be barricades or other ad-hoc structures cutting off easy access, but it will be far less effective.

Dungeon Floors: Dungeons are typically divided into multiple floors, often 3-6 (roll 2d3 for random suggestion). Each floor has only a few chokepoint stairs, gates, or other access tunnels between them, possibly with a few more dug out by inhabitants since creation. The floors are usually stacked vertically downwards, but may be spread out horizontally, or cross back and forth, a "floor" can rise and fall but is a self-contained environment.

Each floor usually has a leader (often flippantly called a "boss monster") in the largest, best defended room, but may have several contending for control. The most powerful leader is going to protect itself the best, and be as far away from constant harassment by intruders (adventurers) as possible.


Unusual Feature

This can be anything such as landmarks, shrines with strange effects on worshippers, dungeons, or other adventure sites. Be creative, be weird, and be terrifying.

I have a series of index cards, one strange thing per card. As I find new ideas, I write them on a new card and shuffle it in. Once a thing's been used, it goes in a "discard" pile to recycle next campaign.

  1. The Stars Are Right. At night, aurorae glow, then radiation streams down from the sky, exposed creatures must make 2 ST saves; on 2 successes, no effect; on 1 success, take 1d6 damage; on 2 failures, mutate.

  2. Cloud of Abomination. A deluge of filth, rain mixed with maggots, chitinous debris, offal, oily viscera, etc. Moderate disease hazard.

  3. Dream Fog. Exposed creatures must make a saving throw vs. poison or fall asleep; those who resist are at -3 to hit anything in the dense fog.

  4. The Void. Bubbles of vacuum and antigravity float through the area. Exposed creatures must make a saving throw vs. breath weapon; on success, they evade it. On failure, they float helpless and asphyxiating, taking 1d3 HP damage every round for 1d6 rounds until the bubble moves on, or until pulled out by someone else.

  5. Fungal Spores. Moderate disease hazard; on failure, they are infected. Stage 1: For 2d6 days, it is gestating. Stage 2: For 2d6 more days, fungal growths and seeping wounds halve movement, armor cannot be worn, all saves, attacks, and attribute rolls are at -3. Stage 3: The spores burst, inflicting 4d6 damage and spreading a new cloud of spores. Any who do survive will return to stage 2.

  6. Insect Swarm. During daylight, a swarm of small biting insects will attack. Exposed creatures must make a ST save every hour; on failure, they take 1 HP damage and cannot heal that day. Heavy smoke or insect repellent will prevent any attack.

  7. Quicksand. Creatures passing through the area must make a DX save; on success, the quicksand is avoided. On failure, make a DX save each round; if 3 successes are made, they escape; on each failure, take 1d3 HP damage from asphyxiation. An ally can pull the victim out.

  8. Strange Skies. Lights of disturbing patterns, colors, and geometries haunt the night skies. Once per night, those who spend at least an hour watching make an IN save; on success, gain a vision of one piece of useful information; on failure, take 1 IN loss.

  9. Lure of Distant Lands. A strange scent and distant drums are heard. Roll 1d4: 1: North, 2: East, 3: South, 4: West. Travel in that direction is compelling, and 25% faster; travel in other directions seems wrong, and is 25% slower.

  10. Sinkhole to the Center of the Earth/404 Challenge. Lead character makes a DX save; on success, the character evades an opening crevasse; on failure, the entire party is sucked down though collapsing sand and dirt, then into an underground river, falling down for many minutes. Take 1d6 damage, and you wash up in a cave, on a rocky beach of an underground ocean, lit only by nearby lava flows. Every 1d6 hours, another creature is washed down into the cave.

  11. Monolith, Black, 1x4x9. Worshipping and making a living sacrifice at the Monolith invokes its effect, once only per character.

    1d6 Effect
    1 Permanently raise a random stat by 1, up to +6.
    2 Permanently lower a random stat by 1; if it reaches -5, you die.
    3 Hallucinations and visions of Chaotic gods, Chaotic characters permanently raise IN by 1, Neutral characters take 1 temporary IN loss, Lawful characters take a Moderate Insanity hazard.
    4 Summoned before a god's seat of judgement, Lawful characters permanently raise IN by 1, Neutral characters take 1 temporary IN loss, Chaotic characters take a Moderate Insanity hazard.
    5 Granted mystic knowledge, anyone without Initiate can cast one random black magic spell of level 1d6 once per day without MP; Initiates take a Moderate Insanity hazard.
    6 Granted holy power, anyone without Apprentice can cast one random white magic spell of level 1d6 once per day without MP; Apprentices take a Moderate Insanity hazard.
  12. Strange Cries. The cries rise and fall as you move around the area, but come from no visible source. Roll 1d6: 1: Crying woman or child; 2: Screaming enraged woman or child; 3: Crying man; 4: Screaming enraged man; 5: Muttering & chanting; 6: Laughter. Sleep is not possible here.

  13. Glowing Water. A pool of water glows with a strange light. Once per day, when you drink, roll 1d6: 1-2: Moderate poison hazard; 3-4: Healed for 2d6 HP; 5: Moderate disease hazard; 6: make a ST save or be mutated.

  14. Standing Stones. Any spell performed at noon or midnight within the ring gives a -3 penalty to victims' saving throws.

  15. Lotus Field. Roll 1d6: 1: Black Lotus (causes death); 2: Blue Lotus (causes sleep); 3: Green Lotus (causes illness); 4: Jade Lotus (causes hallucination); 5: White Lotus (causes zombie-like stupor & obedience); 6: Purple Lotus (causes mutation). Make a ST save to avoid the effect. Duration is indefinite until cured.

  16. Toxic Magic. Ancient evil magic has corrupted the region's aura, and spell-casting may not work properly. The caster must make an IN save; on success, the spell works as usual; on failure, the spell has some weird effects. Roll 1d6 for target: 1-2: Caster, 3-4: Random party member, 5-6: Random opponent, then roll 1d6 for effect:

    1d6 Effect
    1 Spell fails: nothing happens.
    2 Spell duration and area of effect are tripled.
    3 Spell affects a different target.
    4 Casts a different spell (including opposite school of magic) of the same level.
    5 Target mutates instantly. Unlike normal mutations, this can be removed with Remove Curse.
    6 Target changed into a monster of equal level for 24 hours. Can be removed with Remove Curse.
  17. Giant Faire. Giants have marked off a field and are engaged in various sports. Footraces, wrestling, tree-tossing, boulder-tossing, "bowling" with boulders against pins made of trees. Tents tower over the field where kegs of ale, sugared bread, and roast mammoth haunches are sold. By night, the giants drink heavily and pass out. Little people may be able to sneak in and steal, but those caught will be used as either prizes or playing pieces.

  18. Henge Portal. A mound with standing stones. At a given time, the trilithons (3 stone arch, as at Stonehenge) become gateways to Henge Portals elsewhere, for no more than 10 minutes. The destination portals will activate at their own time, and return to the same portal.
    Roll 1d6 for number: 1-2: 1 trilithon, 3-4: 3 trilithons, 5: 5 trilithons, 6: 7 trilithons.
    Roll 1d6 for time: 1: New Moon overhead, 2: Full Moon overhead, 3: Sunrise, 4: Noon, 5: Sunset, 6: Midnight.
    Roll 1d10 for destination: 1: Far north, 2: Far east, 3: Far south, 4: Far west, 5: Surface of the Moon (habitable), 6: Undersea (maybe habitable), 7: Arcadia, 8: Hell, 9: Heaven, 10: Another material world.

  19. Shiny Bubbles. Glistening bubbles float through the area, d100 of them spread 1m apart. Only the touch of a living being will pop a bubble, roll 1d6 for effect: 1: Explodes as weak fire hazard with 3m radius; 2: Explodes as Moderate fire hazard with 6m radius; 3: Explosed as strong fire hazard with 9m radius; 4: Releases Moderate poison gas, 9m radius; 5: Showers 1d6x10 SP in 9m radius; 6: Showers 1d6 gems in 9m radius (roll 1d6 for each gem's type: 1-2: Quartz (1 GP), 3-4: Topaz (10 GP), 5: Jade (20 GP), 6: Opal (100 GP)).

  20. Hateful Garden. A pretty wooded garden around a pond, full of vegetation and insects, 1d6 trees, no animals, looks like a good place to camp. Those who rest here are attacked: The grass and vines grapple, bushes and trees flail and smack with branches, flowers spray poison, and all fruit, nuts, and the water are strong poison. The trees are the only intelligent ones, and won't usually communicate.
    Grass: LVL 1, Weak, SIZ M, AL N, ST -1, DX +0, IN -3(A), AC 10, MV 0, Init +0, AT 1, TH +0, DMG 1/grapple.
    Flowers: LVL 1, Weak, SIZ S, AL N, ST -1, DX +0, IN -3(A), AC 10, MV 0, Init +0, AT 1, TH +0, DMG 1/grapple, SA: Spray Moderate poison in 3m radius.
    Vines: LVL 2, Strong, SIZ M, AL N, ST +3, DX +1, IN -1(A), AC 12, MV 0, Init -1, AT 1, TH +2, DMG d3/grapple.
    Bush: LVL 2, SIZ M, AL N, ST +2, DX -1, IN -1(A), AC 12, MV 0, Init +0, AT 1, TH +1, DMG d4, SA: strong poison berries.
    Tree: LVL 6, Strong, SIZ L/G, AL N, ST +5, DX -3, IN +1, AC 16, MV 0, Init +0, AT 2, TH +5, DMG d10, TR +3, SA: strong poison nuts.


Inspirational Movies & Literature

Stone Halls & Serpent Men should not just be cliché Tolkien-ripoff fantasy. The starting areas of Hyperborea are primitive, and occupied by some European mythical races, but players are allowed and encouraged to go beyond those, play something weird. The further afield the game goes, the weirder the local races should be, and the more advanced cultures should be. Riding to new lands gives way to sailing, then to automobiles, skyships, portals and rockets to new worlds.

Draw instead on a range of movies from action, kung fu, suspense, science fiction, fantasy, and horror; and in literature from classic weird tales, sword & sorcery, sword & planet, and space opera. A great many early pulp magazines and books are free on archive.org, and almost all can be translated directly into setting and adventures.

Movies:

  • Beastmaster
  • The Bride with White Hair
  • The Cave
  • A Chinese Ghost Story
  • The City of Lost Children
  • Conan the Barbarian
  • Day Watch
  • Deathstalker 1-3
  • Dragon Gate Inn (1992)
  • Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness
  • Excalibur
  • Hammer Film Productions: Essentially all of their films.
  • Hellboy II: The Golden Army
  • Hellraiser series: What Hell and Demon Princes are like.
  • I, Claudius
  • Krull
  • Rome (2005)
  • Romero, George: Night of the Living Dead and all direct sequels.
  • The Sword & the Sorcerer
  • The Sword of Doom
  • Tales from the Darkside: Series and movie.
  • 13 Assassins
  • Throne of Blood
  • Warlock (1989)

Music:

  • Amon Amarth
  • Hammerfall
  • Hawkwind
  • Nightwish
  • Uriah Heep
  • Wagner, Richard

Pulp Magazines:

  • Amazing Stories
  • Astounding Science Fiction
  • Avon Fantasy Reader
  • Fantastic Adventures
  • Fantastic Universe
  • Fantasy & Science Fiction
  • Galaxy Science Fiction
  • if Worlds of Science Fiction
  • Nebula Science Fiction
  • Planet Stories
  • Science Fiction Plus
  • Startling Stories
  • Super Science Fiction
  • Thrilling Wonder Stories
  • Weird Tales

Authors:

  • Aldiss, Brian: Helliconia series
  • Alexander, Lloyd
  • Asher, Neal: The Skinner, The Voyage of the Sable Keech
  • Asprin, Robert Lynn: Thieves' World anthologies
  • Barker, Clive: Books of Blood, The Great and Secret Show, Hellbound Heart, Imajica, Lord of illusions, Weaveworld
  • Bear, Greg: Songs of Earth and Power (aka The Infinity Concerto/The Serpent Mage)
  • Brackett, Leigh
  • Bradley, Marion Zimmer: Darkover series
  • Burroughs, Edgar Rice: Barsoom, but also Pellucidar, Tarzan, and Venus series.
  • Chaucer, Geoffrey
  • Cook, Glen: Black Company, Dread Empire's Fall
  • Cooper, Susan
  • Donaldson, Steven
  • Gentle, Mary: Rats & Gargoyles, Golden Witchbreed
  • Lord Dunsany: The King of Elfland's Daughter
  • Howard, Robert E.: Kull series in particular
  • King, Stephen: Dark Tower, Night Shift, 'Salem's Lot, Skeleton Crew
  • Kurtz, Katherine
  • Kuttner, Henry: "Crypt-City of the Deathless One"
  • Leiber, Fritz
  • Lovecraft, H.P.
  • Lukyanenko, Sergei: Day Watch, Night Watch, Twilight Watch
  • Lumley, Brian: Necroscope
  • Miéville, China: Perdido Street Station, The Scar
  • Merritt, Abraham: Moon Pool, Ship of Ishtar, "People of the Pit"
  • Moorcock, Michael
  • Moore, C.L. & Kuttner, Henry: "Earth's Last Citadel"
  • Norton, Andre: Star-Man's Son, Witch World series
  • Peake, Mervyn
  • Piper, H. Beam: Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen
  • Smith, Clark Ashton
  • Wagner, Karl Edward
  • Wagner, Richard: The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie, Siegfried & The Twilight of the Gods
  • White, T.H.
  • Zelazny, Roger: Amber, Jack of Shadows, Lord of Light

Stone Halls & Serpent Men: Character Sheet

Name:_____________________________________________  Player:_________________
Race:_________________    Homeland:_______________  Social Status:__________
Level:________            EP:_____________________  Alignment:______________
ST:___________
DX:___________
IN:___________            HP:________ / __________  MP:________ / __________

Initiative:___________    To Hit Melee:___________
Armor Class:__________    To Hit Missile:_________

Professions:              ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________

Hit Dice:________         Attacks:________          To Hit:________
Weapons:[_] Light Melee   [_] Medium Melee          [_] Heavy Melee
        [_] Light Missile [_] Medium Missile        [_] Heavy Missile
        [_] Staff         [_] Great Melee           [_] Firearms
Armor:  [_] Light Armor   [_] Medium Armor          [_] Heavy Armor
        [_] Shield
Stances:                  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________

Languages:                ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________

Spells/Abilities:         ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________

Equipment:
PP (5):_____  GP (1):_______  ELP (1/2):____  SP (1/10):______  CP (1/50):_____
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
________________________  ________________________  ________________________
Permission is granted to print/copy this form for personal use.

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a

This product is Open Game Content except for Product Identity, as per the Open Game License below. Product Identity includes Stone Halls & Serpent Men, and the following chapters: Setting, Adventures, Referee's Tools.

The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc ("Wizards"). All Rights Reserved.
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15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
Microlite20 © 2006, Robin V. Stacey (robin@greywulf.net)
M20 Hard Core Rules © 2008, Alex Shroder
Microlite74 © 2008, Randall S. Stukey
Swords & Wizardry Core Rules, Copyright 2008, Matthew J. Finch
Swords & Wizardry Complete Rules, Copyright 2010, Matthew J. Finch

Stone Halls & Serpent Men © 2015-2016 by Mark Damon Hughes.

Artwork is public domain work by Arthur Rackham. Additional art from "follower of Joachim Beuckelaer", "Ecce Homo in a Market-place". Map tile art from David Gervais.

Quoted stories by H.P. Lovecraft and Dante Alighieri are in the public domain.

Quoted selection from Jack Vance under fair use, to explain spell memorization.