Blacktusk Mammoth for Old School Essentials

 

Blacktusk Mammoth

A rare northern breed of mammoth distinguished by its snow-white coat and massive obsidian tusks. Blacktusks are prized by the Ice Amazons as sacred beasts and are sometimes trained as war mounts for queens and champions. Wild Blacktusks are uncommon, dwelling upon the frozen tundra, glaciers, and high mountain valleys of the far north.

AC 4 [15]
HD 17 (76 hp)
Att 1 × trunk slam (2d6), 2 × tusks (3d6) or trample (5d8)
THAC0 8 [+11]
MV 120 (40)
SV D2 W3 P4 B3 S6 (17)
ML 11
AL Neutral
XP 1,600
NA 0 (1d4)
TT Obsidian Tusks

Special

• Charge: In the first round of combat, when not already in melee and with a clear run of at least 20 yards, the Blacktusk may charge. Its tusk attacks inflict double damage.
• Trample: 3-in-4 chance of trampling each round. Gains +4 to hit creatures of human size or smaller.
• Cold Adapted: Blacktusks ignore movement penalties caused by snow, ice, and frozen ground.
• Obsidian Tusks: The beast's glossy black tusks are prized by kings, nobles, master artisans, and sorcerers. Each intact tusk is worth 3d6 × 100 gp.
• Harvesting Tusks: Removing a tusk without damaging it requires 1 hour of careful work using appropriate cutting tools. If the referee deems the attempt rushed or careless, the tusk may be cracked or chipped, reducing its value by half or rendering it unsuitable for the finest craftsmanship.

Pass of the Thorn Crowned

      An ancient path from a forgotten age, the old stone path leads through a rocky pass. Barely intact, fallen old structures are scattered throughout the pass. Strange whispers float along the wind. Even when there is no wind.  Those that use the pass, do so quickly and never at night, bad things happen at night. Here and there dark openings lead into the unknown...

     Mid-way through the pass, an ancient statue, covered in vines, a female with one arm manacled and chained, thorny vines have grown around her head creating a natural crown of thorns. Travelers bow their heads when passing the statue, and leave offerings at the statue base. It is said to not leave an offering will bring upon a curse.  Indeed if anyone fails to leave an offering, all of their food (rations, etc) will become infested with maggots! If an entire group (caravan, band of heroes etc.) all fail to each leave an offering, dark clouds will form overhead and a rain of maggots will fall for several minutes. This will terrify mounts, steeds, pack animals etc. and is really gross! 

More campaign brainstorming

 I had fun yesterday with Knave 2e creating so as a exercise to decompress from work today, I dug out my dice and tried some more creativity exercises.

Since my last post made references to a noble, I figured I needed to work up some details on that. I have a PDF called Noble House Creator that I picked up some time ago. Just a few simple random tables, but still good for brainstorming.

House Greymorn

House Crest: grey background, dark green perimeter, narrow green eye in center

House Logo: "Gilded Eyes Will Always Rule"

Family Trade: Armorers

Famed Family Member: Valerian the Bold, the Brave, the Beautiful; a skilled hunter said to have slain a dragon!

Family Deeds: Castle, Vineyard (run down, in disarray, mismanaged) control village of Seep and surrounding farms. 

Who Supports the family: Currently hold the Queen's favor (currently...)

Payment they accept: Gold, silver, coins!

Family militia/Specialists: Mounted Knights

Family Secret: Their funds are running dry...desperate for influx of cash to pay debts! 

Lord Archibald Greymorn of House Greymorn

Margot Vineyard- yes it is that bad

So there you have it, this didn't take long at all, I used Knave to fill in some gaps, and now I have a fun little addition to my growing region.

Have a great evening!

B.B. 

Gaming Inspiration

 Being pretty much homebound recently due to the crazy winter weather, I had some time to sort through my ever-growing pile of "to be read books". I blame social media, but of late I find I struggle to sit down and read actual books for extended periods. I made an effort to fix that this week and found it to be helpful, relaxing and therapeutic. Here are a few tomes I grabbed to look through for gaming inspiration. I wanted to focus on books that were not specifically designed for RPG's but could be beneficial to jumpstart my creative muse. Even just thumbing through them, I've gotten lots of gaming inspiration! Locations, NPCs' and more!  

What non-gaming books do you use to inspire your gaming muse?

Labyrinth Lord: Revised and Expanded

 Look what I found!  

Labyrinth Lord: Revised and Expanded

"You take the role of a burglar, cleric, cyclops, brownie, dwarf, elf, fighter, hobfolk, or wizard, on your quest for glory, treasure, and adventure! 

This is a complete roleplaying game. All you need are a few sheets of paper and some dice.

 
The Labyrinth Lord awaits your arrival. Can you survive the dangers of the labyrinth?

Revised & Expanded!
•    Two new classes
•    More monsters
•    Expanded play advice
•    New adventure by Pauli Kidd!

Hope there is a POD version soon!

Not Out of the Woods Yet: Solo Play

  Continuing the (mis)adventures of the villainous and egotistical Jorven Master of Beasts. Jorven continued to make poor rolls and get lost, he finally found a trail, but chose the wrong direction, which is so like him.  He also was oblivious to the fact that he was being followed and carefully watched from above. He almost noticed a danger in the manor, but almost wasn't enough...I think Jorven is in trouble! 

     Jorven, tired from his trek and basically lost in the Ravenwold, continued along the old path he had stumbled across. He could see an opening amidst the ancient oaks just ahead and could barely making out a stone structure between the trees, breathing a sigh of relief. "At last, civilization!"...then coming to the edge he gave an audible gasp...he was not out of the wilderness after all...

     

Before him at the end of the old path was a massive stone manor house, no doubt an impressive structure when it was built, but by the look of the place it had been abandoned for a quite some time. Nature had taken over much of the place, vines and branches entwined about it. Still, it was a sign of civilization, he had to be getting near the edge of the Ravenwold, had to be close?..

     For a brief moment he thought he saw a figure moving about on the second floor of the manor house, a shadow passing by a window, but then it was gone, probably just a trick of the light? It would be getting dark soon, his trek through the woods had taken him much longer than he had realized. Perhaps having the crossbowman carry most of their gear hadn't been the best decision.  He had a few torches at least, but wandering in the woods at night by only torchlight, seemed like a bad idea. He would scope out the old manor, try to find a mostly intact room to shelter for the night, then take the path back the other way in the morning. 

     He made his way to the old decrepit manor house. Yes, his luck was turning around, he would find shelter for the night and make his way out of this damnable forest tomorrow morning. He would be back with Mistress soon, very soon. 

     Avian eyes watched the man leave the shelter of the woods and approach the old structure, that was so out of place here in this natural setting. She scanned the structure, noting a stumbling, shambling figure moving in the shadows of the second floor.  The wind shifted...what was that smell coming from the place? A whiff of rot and? a heavy musky sweet smell? 

to be continued...

Somebody's Watching Me: Solo Play

     Continuing my previous Solo campaign, I thought I would try something different this time. In session two an unseen assailant/ambusher of the party had escaped and the party had not yet determined whether or not to pursue.  I decided it would be fun to develop this individual. From the previous encounter I had rolled up a Beast Handler, but it was just the barebones information.  I finished rolling him up as if he were a full-blown character; and thus, Jorven Master of Beasts came to be. I wanted to see what happened to him as he fled the encounter with the party, so using the anniversary edition of F.O.R.G.E. with a big helping of Old School Essentials, and some other resources this is how things are going for Jorven thus far... 

     Jorven cursed his luck, that damned crossbowman (what was his name again? Not that it mattered he was surely dead now) had spooked the ravens, and attacked too early, ruining his perfectly planned ambush.  That's what he would tell her...yes that's exactly what happened, an incompetent minion had ruined things...Moving quickly through the brush, he muttered to himself as a thornbush tore his well-tailored trousers. "Drat, I'll have to get new clothes now, this is such a disaster!".  When he had realized the Cacklers were going to be defeated, he had bolted, better to live to fight another day right?!... 

     After all he was Jorven Master of Beasts! He willingly served The Baboon Witch! He didn't know if the party of rebels was pursuing him or not. He couldn't dawdle and risk checking. He knew he was more than a match for any one of them, but if the group hit him all at once? Well, he wouldn't think about that. The Corpse Cacklers hadn't performed, as well as, he had hoped, but he had more back in the kennels, along with other surprises. He hoped Mistress wouldn't be too disappointed, he did have the rebel's numbers and descriptions. He would get out of this mess and hit them again at a time and place of her choosing.  

    Moving quickly through the woods of Ravenwold, Jorven came upon a stream, pausing to slack his thirst, he couldn't help but notice his reflection in the water. What a handsome fellow he was, no wonder he was favored by Mistress.  Unfortunately, his trek through this damnable forest had mussed up his carefully groomed hair. He would have to rectify that after this was over with, he had standards to live up to after all. He had to look his best for her especially. Hearing a noise, he quickly got back up and headed off into the forest, still not sure if he was being followed, he tried to use the stream to break up his trail. The rebels had an elf in the group, some elves were skilled trackers, or so he had heard. Couldn't risk them catching him. He had to report back to Mistress.

     Meanwhile...high above in an ancient oak, keen avian-like eyes watched him. The human was clumsy in the forest, not moving in tune with his surroundings, the man moved against the flow of the wilderness, he didn't belong here.  Curious, why was the man here? Alone? She followed him from the treetops, stealthily moving through the branches, comfortable in the heights, heights that the man would have no doubt found frightening.

    After fast traveling for some time, Jorven realized he had somehow gotten turned around...He wasn't sure which direction to go in this old forest. This is all that damned crossbowman's fault..whatever his name had been... Jorven selected a direction that seemed right, then headed off. He knew he was near the Borderlands, but with the thick growth and large old oak trees he was struggling to get his bearings.

     He came to a clearing, and found what seemed to be an old trail, mossy and overgrown, but yes this had been a real path at some point. His luck was no doubt turning around.  It had been some time since he had strategically withdrawn from his ambush of the rebels, and there was no sign of being followed. So he decided to follow the old trail.  Which direction though? He was still turned around so he picked one at random, Jorven knew his luck was turning around. 

     Eyes watched from the treetops above. The human was following the old trail, this part of the Ravenwold had once been more settled, nature had long ago reestablished its dominance here, as was the proper way of things. Curious, the human was headed towards the old ruins? what purpose did he have at that foul place? Had the man taken the other route he would have soon been out of the Ravenwold? What was he up too? She would follow from a distance and see. 

To be continued...

An Unkindness of Ravens : Solo Play

      Continuing the adventures of our small newly formed band of The Righteous Vendetta. We rejoin our band in a small clearing within the Ravenwold near the borderlands... Part one can be found HERE.

     Before anything else could be said or decided, Elysion looked towards the treeline to the east of the clearing, just as the ravens in the nearby trees all took flight at once, cawing loudly and seemingly angrily.

  

   The Volturian turned towards the sound drawing his blade, and in a calm voice said,"Ambush!".. A horrible cackling echoed around them, seeming to come from several directions at once, as a crossbow bolt fired from the trees, the bolt struck Elysion's chainmail, narrowly deflected by his armor. The elf began to mutter an arcane chant. From the other side of the clearing an iron spear flew out, right at Elysion! but missed the elf by a league. The dwarf 'Grevele' turned to the elf and muttered,"It would seem someone doesn't like you, monsieur?"..Elysion continued with his chant. 

     A shrill whistle blew through the air, from the direction of where the iron spear had come from. Then out from the brush four freakish beasts rushed out cackling, they looked like a disturbing cross between a large hyena and some sort of predatory bird!

"Carrion Cacklers!" Yelled Aryon, drawing his sword, "Don't let them gang up on you!", although with the loud crazed cackling he wasn't sure if he could be heard clearly. 

     As if understanding the dwarf, one of the cacklers charged straight for him leaping at his throat!

The beast striking true to the unarmored part of the dwarf's neck between helmet and mail. A serious wound, gouts of blood soaked 'Gevele's' tunic, but the stout dwarf still held his ground!

  

   Another of the beasts attacked Aryon, but the veteran warrior's armor easily deflected the beast's bite. 

The remaining two carrion cacklers charged Solace, attempting to use pack tactics to swarm the paladin. The first beast couldn't penetrate her armor, but the last one struck true!  A vicious bite, but Solace still stood. 

      Now it was the party's turn!  Aryon struck at the cackler he faced, striking true! A mighty blow, which would have slain a natural beast, but these creatures were the results of foul magic. Then the Volturian leapt to assist Solace, again a hit, a blow as fearsome as Aryon's but this beast also still lived!  Solace swung her mighty two-handed sword, etched with the markings of her lost order. A strong hit against the cackler that The Volturian had just hit! This was enough to slay the beast, but three still remained and there were clearly other foes still hiding in the trees. Cacklers could not use spear or crossbow!  'Gevele' blood pouring down his neck, a cackler still gnawing at the dwarf's throat, struck with his sword at the beast, but missed, "Zut!"no doubt the loss of blood affecting his aim. Now it was Elysion's turn, He finished his chanting, turned towards two of the cacklers that were close together and unleashed arcane energy. The two cacklers immediately fell to the ground.

  

     This left only one cackler still attacking, the one ripping in to 'Gevele's throat!, the beast unconcerned about its fallen?sleeping? pack members attacked the dwarf again!  Again a hit! 'Gevele' went down slumping to the ground! Unconscious, and quickly bleeding out!  

     Aryon charged the cackler moving in to kill 'Gevele', swinging his sword, a hit!  The beast was slain, nearly split in two by the strong blow.  Solace raced to 'Grevele's side, kneeling down beside him, unconcerned about her own injuries, she started saying a prayer to her deity, while laying her hands upon his chest. Sweat poured off Solace's brow,'Gevele's injuries were grave, but her faith was strong, though still weak, the dwarf opened his eyes, he would live!!  The Volturian charged into the forest in the direction the crossbow bolt had fired from, mere moments ago, so much had happened so quickly. Elysion went to the two sleeping cacklers, dispatching them quickly, they were helpless in their magic induced slumber. He then crept towards the forest, towards the direction the iron spear had come from...

     The Volturian charged into the brush, a barely visible aura of blue energy was now surrounding him, he quickly came face to face with a rough looking man in leather armor working to quickly raise the heavy crossbow that he had just reloaded. The arbalest fired the crossbow nearly point blank at The Volturian! It should have hit! It should have torn a whole clean through the lightly armored warrior, but instead the bolt deflected off the blue shimmering shield empowered by the very will of The Volturian! The kineticist responded in kind, a fearsome strike against the crossbow wielding warrior. Striking true! The crossbowman went down, bleeding out in the forest as the ravens cawed overhead.

     Elysion found the spot where the other had hidden, the whistler, that controlled the cacklers. Boot prints behind a thick bush marked where he? had watched the battle. Then apparently fled when things turned against him. He reported his findings to Aryon.

To be continued...

     

Iustus Vindicta : Solo Play!

 The Introduction

     My buddy Matt recently encouraged me to give Solo gaming another try.  I find myself burned out on 5E; it just isn't my style of game. I looked at the 2024 edition at the local hobby shop and it just turned me off, the art especially was a huge downer for me. It looked more marvel movie superhero stuff than sword and sorcery or Middle-Earth. I'm not knocking you if 5E is your thing, it just isn't mine. Played it, DM'ed it, just no more for me. So, with that said, I have a gaming library full of stuff I want to use, mostly OSR related or even OD&D/AD&D era.  Matt challenged me to run two solo sessions before I go back to work Thursday, so going to try to see what I can come up with. Basically, just going to sit down and "JUST DO IT!".

     I ended up spending more than a brief bit of time playing with random tables and generating stuff before I just started play, which probably wasn't what Matt intended, but you know what? I have had a blast!!! I realized I wasn't burned out on Fantasy gaming, just 5E and whatever the apparent current corporate "modern" take on gaming is... This Solo experience has so far been loads of fun. 

     I've used multiple different resources for this; Knave 2nd ed., F.O.R.G.E. Anniversary Edition, Old School Essentials, Ordure Fantasy, Mythic, Tome of Adventure Design, Worlds Without Number, random online generators and more...Oh and I can't draw worth a darn, so forgive my use of A.I. art generators to give this solo campaign a bit of visual spark.

     

     Let me introduce the party, all randomly generated. While doing this endeavor, I was listening to metal, so the character names and other bits of inspiration are pulled from songs, albums and bands. 

The Party

                                           Aryon King

                                            'Grevele'

                                           Elysion

                                            Solace

                                           The Volturian

     The Gathering...

     A small forest clearing, secluded within the Ravenwold, on the edge of the borderlands, an unkindness of ravens cawed in the distance. A chill breeze stirred the air, a dead leaves blowing in the wind to land on the sparse ground. A group of five had assembled, all very different, and in other circumstances might never have interacted with one another, but they all shared a bond, or rather a shared pain and a common foe!

      All had their reasons to hate her, they had all lost much to the vile creature, the foul one, The Baboon Witch.  Aryon had lost a kingdom, 'Grevele' his only son, Elysion the love of his life, Solace her Order and The Volturian..his people. The Baboon Witch had much to answer for, but she was cunning, and powerful, and never faced her foes directly. She would pay, but revenge is a dish best served cold.

     Aryon had sent out the summons, using the last remnants of his now lost wealth, and calling in old favors and debts he had assembled this band. Not all he reached out too had responded, some were no doubt dead, others seeking oblivion at the bottom of a bottle somewhere or worse. But these had come, whether out of curiosity or something else, these others were here. Hopefully they would be enough. 

     It was Elysion who had gotten the tip, from some of his less than scrupulous contacts. Elysion had learned from his contacts within the Shadow Lanterns that the minions of The Baboon Witch had captured a young sorceress, Amalien the Amaranthine, and planned to sacrifice her, bleeding off her power (and life) to add to the Baboon Witch's own. Time was short, the sacrifice would happen in three days, under the full moon at midnight, typical evil type timing at a typical evil place the ancient Trees of Sacrifice. 

     The party discussed this information. This ritual if successful would make The Baboon Witch even more powerful. Solace, called their quest an "Iustus Vindicta"... The dwarf 'Grevele' looked confused "Excusez-moi" ?...The elf Elysion muttered an answer in his typical soft voice, "Righteous Vendetta". Aryon replied his noble background apparent in the way he spoke, "Righteous? perhaps, that is for the gods to decide, but revenge will be had upon this vile monster, though it may mean my last breath, I vow to destroy her! who stands with me?!...then as a united group, all raised their swords into the air and said with a yell "Aye!!" (Elysion merely said the words, an Elf never yells).

To be continued...

Sword & Planet OSR

 Gamer Greetings,

 Been a bit since I posted.  Been busy with work although we have still been playing our D&D Campaign. 

In a recent chat with an online friend, I came to an interesting realization. While being a longtime fan of the Sword & Planet Genre. I have never run a Sword & Planet campaign. I loved reading Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom books as a kid.  The Michael Whelan covers from back then just really resonated with me. Just look at some of these! 

And the fact that Barsoom has massive four-armed White Apes was just icing on the cake! 

I did some looking around and found there are some great OSR resources for Sword & Planet gaming, I knew about some, but others were a fun surprise.  I picked up some, pictured below. 

Look at that pile of Coolness!  The Marvel TPB is a comic I picked up in the discount bin at the local comic shop, more inspiration fodder for a campaign!  There are a couple of WotRP adventures out as well, that I need to pick up.  Now to find the time to run some Sword & Planet fun!  Oh, and this got me reminiscing about the old Planet Algol blog. I'd love to run something like Planet Algol.  Not sure when I will get a chance to run something like this, but I think it would be nice to do for a bit of change of pace.  Fighting Orcs and other monsters is fun, but I think some adventures in the Sword & Planet genre would be a blast!  

Rise of Magic, Rifts Chaos Earth

 I recently picked up Rise of Magic, a Rifts Chaos Earth;RPG Sourcebook.  It was a great price and the cover was so cool I couldn't resist.

     While I'm not currently running a Chaos Earth game, or Rifts, or even a Palladium System game, I have a soft spot for Palladium's content, especially Rifts.  I ran a wild and crazy Rifts campaign back in the 90's.  We had a blast with it, Mega-Damage, hatchling dragons, Bursters! power armor!  Was loads of fun.  I still think the Rifts setting is one of my favorites, you can do anything with it and customize the game to meet you and your players needs.  Now the system, well it is dated, but at the time we enjoyed it.  

     So where does that leave me now?  All of the Palladium stuff is a gold mine of material to use in your games. I am running a D&D game right now, and believe it or not, I have some ideas/abilities that I will be pulling from this book for some NPC's and encounters.  I have a player that has gamed as long as I have, and has a vast knowledge of the D&D "verse" monsters, spells, magic, so I love pulling in content from other non-D&D sources to put in my campaign to keep the players guessing and on their toes.

New Campaign Begins!

 We started a new D&D game last night, we had decided on this campaign before all the OGL garbage from certain Corporate Overlords of the Coast.  I will not be promoting that company on my blog moving forward. Oh and that's a Goodman Games 3.x era DM Screen in the background. However, I can share picture highlights from last night's session.  I don't see my self posting regular session logs, but some of you may enjoy the terrain and minis.  

 

The Logger Camp, young goatmen attack the camp shortly after the arrival of our heroes.

The Goatmen are defeated, but our heroes are seriously injured. 

The party plots their next move

Crotchety dwarf NPC Krag Kraghammer and his pony Wart, Exit Stage left!  

A mysterious statue is found deep within the forest!

Happy Simian Saturday!

 Haven't posted much lately, to be honest other than some occasional Instagram gaming posts, I've pretty much quit Social Media, News Media, I never had a Twitter account, and I deleted Facebook years ago etc... anyway, hope everyone is doing well.   We have a game tonite.  Should be fun, maybe I'll used my special D20 gifted to me by my wife...  

"Dismembered by Yeti!" now that's a solid roll!!!

Happy Simian Saturday, and for the curious, yes those are a couple of old toys from my childhood, seems I've been a fan of Apes since I was a little tyke. The Yeti is from classic (bearded) G. I. Joe, the gorilla may be as well or a Big Jim set, don't remember. 

Don't be Crabby!

 

Don't be Crabby the Weekend is here!!

Hope everyone is doing well, and you get some gaming in this weekend!  

Here are two nicely sculpted Crab men from Reaper Minis, I really like these.  Need to get them painted.  I definitely have a place I can use them in my newly started D&D game.

Random Faction Generator

     

Table Elements are song titles from Heavy Metal bands

Original idea taken from  4d20 Faction Generator | STATIONS (72stations.com)

Here are a couple of sample factions I generated just for fun.

 Black Sunrise- This Faction seeks to bring about the Sunset Over the Empire both metaphorically and unknown to the lower ranking members literally.  They seek to weaken and diminish The Empire but their true goal is to blot out the sun and herald in a new age of darkness.  Their power center is a dark citadel where angels fear to fly! For within this stronghold they possess the Chains of Misery, which they have used to imprison an angelic being.  What the lower rank and file of the faction don't know is that the faction is controlled by a cabal of powerful vampires. These vampires have imprisoned an angel using the Chains of Misery and feed off the celestial being's blood in order to give them greater power and dominance.  They want to shroud the entire Empire in darkness and rule over the mortals as gods.  The faction symbol is a black sunrise .

 The Last Candle-   This faction is a secretive sect sworn to seek out and destroy the vampires and other undead menaces that have risen to power throughout The Empire.  Within their sacred temple called Mourning Hall they train, plan and send out strike teams led by specially trained and bred wolves, skilled at hunting vampires and other undead.  The temple is called Mourning Hall in that they mourn the loss of the faction's original founder an angel. The members of The Last Candle have no idea the angel still lives and is imprisoned and tortured daily by  the vampiric leaders of The Black Sunrise.  The faction symbol is a lone candle (defiantly shining a light in the darkness).