Sector Control
The Travellers Have Turned Pirate – Can They Get Away With It?
It’s happened in my Traveller game, and it was probably inevitable given the insurrectionist campaign I’m running. The player characters are wanted by the Imperial authorities. If you’ve run a science-fiction game for long it’s probably happened to you. They’ve done something and the law noticed.
But with travel and communication times being what they are, it seems possible that the players may be able to avoid the law as they jump from sector to sector. So the million-credit question for the referee is “How likely are they to get caught?” (more…)
Posted in Traveller by Adam A. Thompson with 2 comments.
The Suitors’ Challenge
an adventure seed for fantasy role-playing games
A common theme in ancient tales involve romance preceded by obstacles. Brunhilde, Atlanta, and Penelope all provide examples of these types of stories. This scenario presents an rich adventure idea that can incorporate heroic deeds, intrigue, and plenty of opportunities for role playing.
By Arthur Rackham
In these tales the young prince or princess is of age to marry. However, for whatever reason, someone does not want the marriage to take place. Perhaps the young princess wishes to spend her days hunting and running in the woods. Or the prince’s mother is jealous of her son’s affections and does not wish to have a rival. Maybe the princess’s kindly father simply cannot stand the thought of an unworthy person marrying his beloved daughter. It could be that an oracle has spoken a prophecy that unless a monstrous serpent is slain the princess will die of its poison. Or the princess is next in line of the royal succession and does not want a foreign husband ruling in her stead.
For whatever reason they have set conditions upon those seeking the hand of the young bride or groom. Perhaps the suitor must defeat a nearby monster, or beat the princess herself in a foot race or a contest of feats of arms. They could be sent to a distant land to retrieve some talisman or artifact to prove their worth. There may be additional penalties imposed for those who fail – perhaps they are stripped of land and title or exiled. Some may decree that those who fail the trial be put to death, in order to further dissuade any potential suitors.
The adventures may have been enlisted by another kingdoms’ young prince or princess to aid them in gaining the hand of the potential spouse. Or perhaps one of the adventures themselves is enamored of this young person. Or a combination of the two: perhaps the adventures are enlisted to aid someone and then find that one of their number is smitten by the young prince or princess.
The challenges themselves should be arduous. A chariot race can be extremely dangerous. A contest of archery might involve treachery with poison-coated arrows. Perhaps the nearby monster has a scaly hide which cannot be cut by mortal blades. Maybe the young princess has magical aid such as a belt of giant strength or help from the gods. The bride’s unwilling parents may interfere with the adventures. Conversely if they wish the marriage to take place they may help a chosen suitor. Rival suitors may well try to trip up or even kill their opponents.
Presented below is a short adventure built on this theme. (more…)
Posted in 1st edition D&D, 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons / d20 fantasy / Pathfinder, 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons, Adventure, Fantasy and tagged Findor by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
The Mantid
Highly adaptive, fast-evolving, scavenging insectiods, the Mantid are an alien species spread through the Skein Reach. Terrans describe them as looking like a cross between a praying mantis, a wasp, or a humanoid ant.
Individuals and colonies vary considerably as the Mantid’s genomes will adapt newly laid members to their environment within a few generations. Thus it is common so see a population of Mantid that are adapted to a tiny abandoned space station, or a world with an otherwise toxic atmosphere. Their carapace can be of any color based on available minerals and their place in Mantid society. For example, warriors will often have dark stripes or patterns contrasting with grays or earth tones. The statistics presented below represent typical examples of those who are adapted to living on starships or space habitats.
The Mantid are extremely social creatures and demonstrate high degrees of cooperation and devotion to their colony. Though their language is not well understood, xenobiologists postulate that they communicate both with a spoken symbolic language and through pheromones. These chemical communications seem to generate simultaneous emotional responses through a colony – if one is attacked the fight-or-flight response rapidly spreads to all Mantids in a group. Most other sentient creatures find the Mantid’s pheromones unpleasant and describe their habitats as “smelly” or “stinky”. (more…)
Posted in Creature, Location, Race, Region, Traveller and tagged Mantid by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
OPEN GAME LICENSE
Product Identity: The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game License 1.0a, Section 1(e), and are not Open Content: All trademarks, registered trademarks, proper names (characters, deities, etc.), dialogue, plots, storylines, locations, characters, artworks, and trade dress. (Elements that have previously been designated as Open Game Content are not included in this declaration.)
Open Content: Except for material designated as Product Identity (see above), the game mechanics of this Unicorn Rampant Publishing game product (blog) are Open Game Content, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a Section 1(d). No portion of this work other than the material designated as Open Game Content may be reproduced in any form without written permission.
OPEN GAME LICENSE
Version 1.0a
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. (more…)
Posted in legal policies and tagged OGL by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
BrokerBot-73
In outer space trade is a risky proposition. Between space pirates, aliens, and the legal vagaries of different planetary governments it can be difficult to even get goods from place to place. If space merchants encounter poor prices when they try to sell their goods, all of their hard work does them no good monetarily.
For Travellers buying and selling goods in spaceports an experienced broker can be the difference between making a healthy profit and barely scraping by. In Traveller, for every transaction each point of the Broker skill results in a %5 difference in price. Yet many Traveller players will not choose careers that might give them the required skills.
For crews that find themselves slowly going bankrupt a clever solution is a droid with the broker skill. The BrokerBot-73, a common model mass produced by Vinestead-X-Interstellar (VXI), comes loaded with Broker 2, Admin 2, and Translator 1, making them capable of managing trade in multiple languages, and getting good prices. The advertisements claim that a BrokerBot-73 “can increase profits from interstellar trade by an average of %20 (profit increase not guaranteed.)”
BrokerBot-73 (TL 13)
Strength 6 (+0), Dexterity 6 (+0), Hull 2, Structure 2
Intelligence 9 (+1), Education 12 (+2), Social Standing 7 (+0)
Traits: Computer/3 (running Intellect/1 and Expert Broker/2 – BrokerBots also have Expert Admin/2 and Translator/1 available)
Weapons: Punch (Melee (unarmed), 1d6 damage)
Price: 120,000 Credits
Posted in droid, Traveller by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Blue Ooze
These mindless collections of damp goop consume whatever organic matter they come across. Their acidic nature makes them quick devourers of plants, dead matter, wood, and any animal too slow to escape them. They prefer damp, dark habitats, and do not survive long in direct sunlight or in dry conditions.
Known by sages as “The Scourge of the Lost City of the Magi”, upon first encounter blue oozes may seem to be little more than nuisances. Their contagious nature often causes this first impression to be replaced by alarm at their swift spread during rainy seasons.
Blue Ooze
Medium ooze, unaligned
Armor Class 8
Hit Points 18 (2d8 + 6) (more…)
Posted in 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons, Creature by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Banquet of Horrors
In sumptuous banquet hall in the Tower of Zards, the walls are festooned with skeletons in manacles. On a table laid with golden plates, cups, and cutlery, there lay beautiful bejeweled forks bearing a curse. Upon picking a fork up characters are compelled to begin eating themselves. Every round affected characters must succeed on a DC 13 Charisma or Strength saving throw or stab themselves with the ornate fork and eat their own flesh, dealing 1 HP of damage.
The skeletons in manacles will begin a mocking, cruel cackling if anyone picks up a fork and takes a bite of themselves.
If they are incautious, multiple player characters may end up feasting on themselves. The curse can be temporarily interrupted by intoning a solemn prayer to the gods, or through use of a cleric’s turning power. The curse can only be ended permanently by a remove curse spell, or by melting the cutlery down, destroying most of their value. Until such time, any time the cursed PCs eat something, the curse activates again, they find the evil fork inexplicably in their hand, and they must make a Charisma or Strength save every round as described above. This may lead to fatigue or inability to rest if the players don’t eat so as to avoid the curse.
Posted in 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons, Encounter, Magic Item, Trap and tagged cursed, Tower of Zards by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
See Through Time
It is the future you see. Or one future of many.
Grand Jedi Master Yoda
For use with Traveller, this new psionic power – temporovoyance – allows psions to see into possible futures.
In the distant past the psychic priests of Archeron, who pioneered the technique, referred to it as chronomancy. This power was then used in the Naikerran Empire, in an age when reliable star charts were not yet available, to establish a near-monopoly on interstellar travel. The Naikerran psion-navigators would glimpse into the future to see if their arrival would be safe before traveling through the warp.
Very rare in the Fifth Interstellar Empire of Humanity, tempovoyance is forbidden by Emperor Omerox, along with all other unregistered psychic powers.
This power presents an opportunity for players to contribute to the story. By describing a possible future, the psion’s player presents the GM with ideas to use in the game. The GM is encouraged to collaborate with the player using the “yes, and…” dynamic, molding the story idea into something dramatic and fun.
Powers
Glimpse – on successful psionic (temporvoyance) roll, the player gets a sense of what’s about to happen in the next few moments. This lets them modify an upcoming roll per the rules on chain tasks. Of course there is danger in looking into possible futures – a bad psion roll can result in a penalty to the task.
Temporvoyance, Psionic Strength, 10–60 seconds, Average (+0).
Costs 1+Range.
Vision – gives GMs and players a tool to allow players to contribute to the game’s story. On a successful psionic (temporvoyance) roll, the player has a vision of the future. Perhaps it’s a future that the psion wants, maybe it’s a scenario they want to avoid. Players are encouraged to describe what they see. The GM has discretion to use or modify the possible future glimpsed. The vision might include things to try to do or avoid to bring that possible future about.
Difficulty and cost should be determined by the GM based on the scope and reach of the vision.
Temporvoyance, Psionic Strength, 10–60 minutes, Average to Difficult (+0 to -4).
Costs GM’s discretion.
Feedback
This power is a work in progress – what other uses could it have? What do you think of the idea?
Let us know in the comments below!
Posted in Traveller by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
GenCon 2015 – Costumes, Miniatures and Custom Terrain
Now that I’ve covered the phenomenon of crowdfunding and the changes to the tabletop game marketplace evidenced at GenCon 2015, I’d like to move on to the eye candy.
There were a tremendous number of great costumes this year. There were also quite a lot of impressive miniatures and pieces of terrain. I snapped some pictures of everyone’s wonderful hand-made art over the weekend as I wandered the convention. Here are a couple of my favorites.
Miniatures
There were lots of jaw-dropping paint jobs. The painting contest cabinet, in particular, was breathtaking.
Posted in convention and tagged GenCon2015 by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
GenCon 2015 – So Many New Games
Kickstarter’s enormous utility has transformed the marketplace for tabletop games, causing an explosion of new games at GenCon
My number one impression from GenCon 2015 was, “Wow, look at all of these games I’ve never heard of!” In all my years of going to GenCon, generally only a handful of publishers were demonstrating wholly new products. This year I saw an unprecedented flood of new games. It seemed like every game I had ever heard of had a new card game, a new board game, and a new miniatures battle game based upon it. And there were dozens of entirely new games. Unsuprisingly, many of the banners said Kickstarter somewhere on them.
Yes, this is a game where players play to assemble a deck of cards and then use those cards to play a game where they build an in-game wooden deck. I know I may sound angry about this, but I also admire the courage it takes to spend money and make a game based on a pun. Bonus points for the clear graphic design – I got the joke right away.
To me all the new games demonstrate the transformative power of Kickstarter on the tabletop game market. Tabletop players are a lucrative demographic for crowdfunding solutions like Kickstarter – they have disposable income and are comfortable spending money on the internet. It’s also fun to see corporate juggernauts like Hasbro get cut off at the pass, economically speaking.
With all of that said, I’ll cede the stage to the slideshow. Further thoughts on the show can be read below and in upcoming posts about GenCon 2015. (more…)
Posted in convention, Editorial, news and tagged GenCon by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.