The Metal Bard

Initiative matters when there is a risk. If combat only lasts one round, going first is a massive advantage. Accordingly, the longer combat extends, the less important initiative becomes because results will eventually average out. Recently, I had a session where this was more perceptible. Artwork by Bertdrawsstuff Right now, I'm testing a deadly combat system. I mean deadly ; combat usually lasts one to two rounds (and I like it that way). The characters won most initiative rounds and used their resources to attempt to dispose of as many enemies as possible before the enemies got a response. This was effective. It mitigated the damage they accumulated, but it costed resources (spell points, abilities, etc). Having realized the importance of winning initiative (specially against necromancers and cultist), the players even consumed meta-currency to turned failed initiative rolls into successes. To understand this a bit better, I must tell you that our meta-currency--called Divinity ...

Last session the adventurers managed to capture a stygian creature that consumes minds through fear --the Gemyndsuga. For this, they doused bait with a sleep potion and fed it to the Gemyndsuga. Once incapacitated, the Wizard teleported it to a prison in the palace of the Ogre King. The creature was needed to test vulnerabilities against a greater Gemyndsuga that has been growing thanks to the actions of a secret cult. Lady Arobell, a priestess rescued from the cult by the adventurers, undertook the task of testing for vulnerabilities. After days of work, she found out that the creature is most vulnerable to the blessings of Alter--the deity of water and stone. Armed with this knowledge, she crafted a large ceremonial cord interlaced with smooth river stones. "It must be placed around the Gemyndsuga and prayer chants to Alter spoken with true faith." * * * During this time, the cult has also been active. After being exposed and the priestess rescued, the cult decided to ful...

     The Village and the Witch   (by Davide Pignedoli et al)  is a 16-page toolbox to easily and quickly develop a settlement with secrets, tension, and adventure. The process begins by rolling an entire array of six dice (d4, d6, d8, 10, d12, and d20) on a blank page. Each die termines a feature in the village and the spot on which it lands on the page its relative location in the village. Each feature, chosen from a table, is a seed of an idea to flesh out the overall underlying plots surrounding a witch and the village.       The witch is a central character and must be developed in more detail. Age, influence, beauty, gender, social, class, number of connections, goal, and a unique witchy feature are all framed by random tables. Then, with your imagination, these features evolve to flesh out the details of the witch.     To tie it all together, the booklet provides some ideas for bringing the Village and the Witch to life. ...

Unlocking Character Races I like the idea of unlockables --things you can get through adventuring. In Symbion I have four core phenotypes (think races)   that each provide a simple bonus to attributes during character creation. Then, I have eight more phenotypes that give something more: better bonuses or small special abilities. These eight are not available at the start of an adventure but must be unlocked in some way, although I wasn't entirely sure how. A couple of sessions ago, the question came up.  -"How can we unlock the arachnid phenotype?"  asked a player. -"Adventuring, of course."  I said,  "Look for a way to get transformed." They learned from local rumors that a giant spider deep in the woods could have the powers to transform someone into an arachnid humanoid. But the spider is always hungry and would require an offering. The Company bought an old racing pig from a local farmer as the offering. The pig was called Piggy Smalls, as a joke ...

Monster Generator Golden Skull Skeleton As I continue to develop the monsters for Symbion , sometimes I need a catalyst to jog my imagination. It doesn't have to be complicated, something as simple as a color or body feature can help move things forward. To help during those times, I created a table with some terms and features that when put together can give synergistic ideas. Maybe it can help you develop your own monsters too. Generate Monster Table of Entries 1d12 Head/face 1 Head/face 2 Body structure Body details 1 Body details 2 Appendages 1 Appendages 2 Major color Minor color Wings 1 humanoid gaping mouth vaporous clothed finned a barbed tail spider legs emerald lime insectile wings 2 wolf skull amorphous crystal armored venomous stingers insectoid limbs cerulean aqua feathered wings 3 spider glowing eyes bipedal jelly chitinous gnashin...

  Nightblade's cover      Nightblade is a pay-what-you-want micro-RPG that distills the essentials of fantasy adventuring into a tightly packed experience. In just three pages there are: three classes, eighteen special abilities, and six monsters with additional rules for making minions and elites. Below I describe  briefly   things I found interesting. Condensed character information: Each character has three attributes: Force, Skill and Mind, which affect rolls and defense. You will be able to choose from three Kin (equivalent to races) and three classes, each offering six Knacks (special abilities) making your character useful in unique ways. For instance, while weapon attacks target Force, the Runeweaver’s Rune of Control targets Mind instead, which for a Goblin is only 9!   The condensed design seems like it could facilitate learning the game while leaving enough room for creative play. Static target numbers for checks: Roll a D20 and add ...