Nothing's RPG Zone

  Warriors need to have their innards protected. The best way to do that is to wear armor. Here are the common armors in the Birini region. Cotton Unprocessed cotton between fabric, creating a very soft armor that dampens impacts and is hard to pierce. BX 6[13], 50 GP, 100cn DCC +3, -1, –,d6,50 GP Lamellar, Porcelain Pieces of Thrion ceramic overlapping each other creating a hard yet flexible set of armor. BX 4[15], 50 GP, 440cn DCC +4, -3, -5’, d12, 50 GP Leather Hardened animal hide (typically cow but occasionally mammoth) a cheap and solid way to protect the innards. BX: 7[12], 20 GP, 200cn DCC +2, -1,–, d8, 20GP Plate Solid bronze, typically they are made somewhat decoratively, showing gleaming metal abs, cod pieces, other features the warrior wishes to accentuate.  BX 2[17], 500GP, 500cn DCC +7, -7, -10’,1d12, 500GP Scale Small bronze plates overlapping like the protective scales of a serpent...

In September 2022 I tried making a partial armor system for Old School essentials based on the system in The Orcs of Thar book but simplified. Looking back on that while I like the idea I am not sure if using red orcs of thar for the base was the best idea because it had some janky math that I had to massage into place and by the time I had something presentable I had become so used to janky that I didn't realize it was still kind of sub par. Here is my redux.   A pdf download can be found here.

 I’ve watched quite a few westerns* recently and also been watching a friend of mine play a samurai video game so quick draws are on the mind. Here are some rules for quick draws both modern and archaic for a bunch of different games. The core of the system is simple: two people stand looking each other dead in the eyes, weapons sheathed. An opposed check is made, the result of the check is dealt as damage.  Below are some rules for the specific mechanical manifestation of that in a few games I like. CAPERS The two parties make opposed Agility/Guns Reaction Checks. If the higher does not beat the lower by the Level of the dueler, then both suffer damage equal to the result of the check. If the high beats the lower by the Level of the lower, the higher comes off scot free. Dungeon Crawl Classics As above, use a standard attack roll, and use HD instead of Level. *If you get the chance, do watch the good the bad the weird (2008), amazing western that b...

In 5e HD is determined by size. Tiny is 1d4, small 1d6, medium 1d8, large 1d10, huge 1d12, and gargantuan is 1d20. I think that works wells. For those unaware of what those categories include here is a plain english explanation. Tiny = Garden gnome Small = 5 year old Medium = Adult Large = Horse Huge = Elephant Gargantuan = Orca This is all.

Oludammi, the Back-End of the Ass Animal Aspirant, Crocodile Will be described in the future Monsters.MD conversion. Barbarians Will be described in the future Monsters.MD conversion. Death-Cleric Rukh-Vile Init: +2; Atk: Staff +2 Melee (1d4); Crit III/1d10; AC 10; HD 3d8; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP Magic, Grisly Demise: SV Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +2; AL L Magic: Rukh-Vile can cast the spells Ray of Enfeeblement, Curse, and Spider Web with a result always being 16. There is a 4% chance that it fails with any single cast but may drain the life of any allied barbarian to make sure the spell succeeds. Grisly Demise: Upon death the ground beneath Rukh-Vile opens up, and a serpent of terrible black flames drags him to an underworld unseen.  All ignitable things within 5’ catch fire. The fire deals 1d6 damage each round and naturally extinguishes on a roll of a 1. Keep in mind these are dry grasslands. Ghoul Init: +2; Atk: Claw +3 Melee (1d3+Paralys...

Immediately Nicolas tried coming at the beast with the pitchfork, hoping to keep some distance between him and the creature by keeping it stuck there, Igore comes in with the hammer and bashes it. With unnatural speed it yanks the pitchfork still stabbed into her bringing Nicholas closer. With its neck distending far beyond what one would assume it lunges forward and in a whirl of razor sharp bloody teeth bites the the arm of Nicholas clean off. He goes limp as blood spurts and he falls to the floor. Showing more supernatural speed the feathered woman lunges at Igore, using the terrible minervic claws his corpse is all that remains. Rorschach peaks his head out of the stairs and see the bloody scene, not wishing to waste any time he uses his only shot and it is true and clear straight into the head of the beast. It flies off from the rest of the body, it’s remnants slumped against the feast that was once Igore. Wist Bravado Rorschach declares the beast slain and ushers everyone...

  Here lies the beginning of my conversion of The Bronze Lands setting book to DCC. If you want any actual context as to what this is click here , it's free. This will be an irregularly posted part of my blog as I do the conversion two areas at a time until I eventually get to the unfinished Luke Gearing Monster document. Beyond the Mountains Ancient Serpent, The Init: -14 upon waking, +3 once fully warmed; Atk: Tail Sweep +16 Melee (4d30 + See special), Swallow +14 (See Special) ; Crit M/d30; AC 26 (natural armor); HD 20d20; MV 150’; Act 2d20 + 1d30 + 1d20; SP Impenetrable Scales; SV Fort +30, Ref +15, Will +4; AL N Tail Sweep: Due to the large size of the serpent it can target any number of creatures it wishes within 150’ of it. Swallow: The target must make a Ref save against the Serpent’s attack roll. A successful save allows the target to stay stuck in the Serpent’s mouth. Every round thereafter the victim must make an opposed Strength check (the Serpent is...

  Dramatis Personae Anica The Polnenza Caravan Guard Fuora The Piskaro Sailor Giancarlo Debitore The Clerk Holly The Farmer Igore Chromsfelt The Siberskian Armorer Lenora The Creedhall Student Len The Farmer Licorice Roc The Blind Creedhall Student Nicholas Cantor The Farmer Oleksandr The Hemlock Lumberjack Richard Johnson The Farmer Rorschach O’Gannery The Big Game Hunter Sagittarius The Siberskian Serf Through-perseverance-the-gods-shall-be-restored The Church of Saintly Blood Flagellant aka Percival Yulia The Herder Boarding the ferry from Veil to Piskaro an assorted group boards the Saint Demelza, a steam powered ferry. It is a standard affair, the passengers board the top of the ship as cargo gets loaded below the deck. Fuora the Sailor makes sure that all the tickets are accounted for and familiarizes the passengers with the layout of the ship. The passengers are told of the two lifeboats, when the food for their day-long journey will be served, and where the rooms ar...

  The ambition of empire is eternity. The fact of the matter is that the earth will swallow you. Cities will be buried either under their own rubble or the sands of time but they will be swallowed. Once mighty titans shall rot to their bones. The age of iron ended. Bomb after bomb driving the stake deeper into its heart. Entire cities were left to rot. When you let iron rot you get rust. Rust: That which man abandoned. Leech, lock up, conceal, weaken, age. Anything iron can do, but it must consume something. Not many people would know of rust as a nature. It is only just beginning to bubble up from the dead cities. Only a few circles of rust mages exist, and only they know how to create a rust focus.  Their guiding philosophy is simple; the old world never died, the new world is just its death rattles. They view humanity as beyond saving, the only thing we can hope to do is use what is left to end it quicker.

I will be starting up a Krevborna game in dcc some time soon. If anyone wants to do the same I have made a custom occupation table as well as an appended appendix L.     The occupations should be self explanatory. However the languages probably need some explanation as a few were invented by me for the sake of the game. Kosk: A close relative of krevbornish, spoken within the kosk principalities. Mirshiman: the language spoken in the place the krevbornites called the Mirshimi Islands (what I have renamed the okami islands in my own game[1]) Old Church Bornish: an ecclesiastic language primarily used by the church of saintly blood, fantasy old church slavonic. Old Mudraal: An entirely dead language that was recently retranslated for the first time. Polnenzan: the language spoken by the polnenza people. Ramask: an even older ecclesiastic language, fantasy latin. Rhomlundese: the language spoken in Rhomlund. Siberskian: a nearly extinct but close...

  Last September my long time friend Ciara mentioned the idea of running a stone age fantasy game, and in a discord server I am in, someone started a thread about paleolithic hex crawling so I decided to revisit this idea. Classes such as the fighter need no real adaptations, all that is needed is a change of equipment list and you have someone who is capable of fighting. A magic users would be only slightly more difficult, eschewing the spellbook for various artifacts of power but again very reasonable. After that there is the thief, most skills are broadly applicable such as a backstabing or a climbing sheer surface even in the stone age, however picking locks and reading languages are not skills someone needs at that time.  There is also the cleric and despite interfacing with divinity being a very important part of the game the cleric as presented is more focused on presenting a very medieval christian understanding of what interfacing with the divine means. A majo...

  Banjo Pickin’ Girl (DC 14; 2 minutes): This old song’s power only works its magic if the musician is a woman. Upon a successful performance the musician or a woman of her choosing has an aura of protection about them. Any man who tries to attack them for the next hour suffers a -1d penalty to any attempt to harm her. Long Journey Home (DC 12; 4 minutes): Upon a successful performance the musician knows exactly what direction their home lies. The musician gains a +2 bonus to Personality check if it is made before a storm rolls in. Take This Hammer (DC 14; 2 Minutes): The musician and 2+Personality mod listeners gain a +10’ speed bonus if they are escaping imprisonment, but they suffer 1 stamina damage upon escape.  The Fox (DC 12; 2 Minutes): Either the musician or a listener gains the +1d bonus to their next pick pocket check. This increases to a +2d bonus if the would be thief went hungry. Where Did You Sleep Last Night (DC 13; 4 minutes): The next time the ...