Ix: Player Character Races

Some more player info on the Dark Sun / Dune inspired campaign setting I'm working on.

I've taken a slightly non-traditional approach regarding race and class in removing level limits from the demi-human races. To compensate I've done two things:

1. Reduced the benefits of being demi-human -- no attribute bonuses.
2. Given plain humans some benefits of their own (player-selected attribute bonuses).

On balance I think that the mechanical benefits of being a plain human outweigh those of the other races. I guess this will, together with the ability requirements of demi-humans, mean that there will be more human characters than demi-humans -- a desirable side-effect for me.

Note that I've decided to hold off  with Thri-kreen as a PC race. I was on the edge with that, but in the end decided they're cooler as monsters.

Humans

City Dwellers
Ability Scores: no minimums or maximums

The citizens of the free cities and oases of Ix are the most numerous inhabitants of the world, as well as the most common people who take up adventuring lives.
They are a lean, tall race, similar to the people of north Africa.

City dweller adventurers gain a +1 bonus to two of their ability scores, chosen by the player at character creation. (Note that no score may be raised above 18.)

Sandestine
Ability Scores: CON 10 (min)

Sandestine are a culture of humans who have adapted to life in the deep desert. Physically they are similar to other humans, but are distinguished by their wiry hair and blue eyes.

Sandestine have a clan-based society, and live primarily in secret underground settlements in the desert, where they are rumoured to have vast stores of water. Naturally these settlements are fanatically guarded, and non-Sandestine are forbidden to ever enter.

Sandestine are sometimes encountered in cities, or working as scouts or caravan guards.

Due to their genetic adaptation to the desert, Sandestine gain a +4 bonus to saving throws vs dehydration. They also gain a +1 bonus to rolls to forage or hunt in the desert.

Sandestine gain a +1 bonus to one ability score, chosen by the player at character creation.

Sandestine manufacture desert clothing known as “osmosis suits”, which gather and purify the water evaporated from the body by means of a series of membranes derived from the skins and organs of desert creatures. Such suits are very valuable, and are only very rarely given to non-Sandestine.

Slave Races
The sorcerer kings of old mastered advanced magic of genetic manipulation in order to breed races of servants, designed to fulfil a specific purpose. Legends tell of a wide range of bizarre races resulting from these experiments, but only two have reproduced and survived to the present day. Both are still commonly regarded as sub-races, and treated as such, often being used as slaves.
Due to their breeding, both slave races have a natural resistance to magic, and cannot be magic-users.

Mool
Ability Scores: STR 10 (min), CON 12 (min), INT 12 (max), CHA 14 (max)

Mool are a stunted race bred for their endurance and ability to work under extreme conditions. They are completely hairless, thickly muscled, and average around 4 to 5 feet in height. All Mool are hermaphrodites, able to both bear and sire children.

Mool tend to be of a taciturn, stubborn and obsessive nature. Their movement rate is never faster than 9, and never slower than 6, unless carrying maximum weight.

Due to their genetic constitution, Mool gain bonuses to certain saving throws: +4 vs poisons, +2 vs paralysis, +4 vs magic, +2 vs dehydration.

Brutes
Ability Scores: STR 16 (min), CON 12 (min), DEX 14 (max), INT 14 (max)

Originally bred as guards, Brutes are a race of of semi-giants, towering over most humans. They are on average 9 to 10 feet tall, and possess great strength. Brutes are an all-male race, and have a built-in lifespan of exactly 55 years. They reproduce by a strange asexual means whereby a maggot-like foetus which lies dormant in a special organ in the abdomen awakes at the moment of the Brute's death. The foetus consumes the body of its “father” and enters a cocoon state, emerging as a Brute infant after 6 months.

Despite their name, Brutes are not especially disposed to violence. Indeed, the “gentle giant” stereotype is more often applicable. Their breeding brought out patience, self-reliance and loyalty in them. As such, most Brutes are Lawful in alignment.

Brutes gain the following saving throw bonuses: +4 vs paralysis, +2 vs death, +2 vs magic.

Due to their great size, Brutes can wield two-handed weapons in one hand and can carry 50% more than the normal encumbrance limits. They must also pay 25% extra for armour.

Wild Races

Halflings
Ability Scores: STR 14 (max), CON 9 (min), DEX 9 (min)

Halflings are a diminutive race who dwell in the toxic jungles of Ix. They are thin and wiry, with long, wild black hair and ebony skin. The origin of this race is unknown, although some believe them to be a product of the sorcerer kings' genetic experiments.

Halflings live in savage tribal societies ruled by shamans, and often practice ritual sacrifice, head-hunting, anthropophagy and cannibalism. Strangers who wander in the jungles of the halflings are seldom seen again.

Halfling adventurers are rare, but can sometimes be encountered in the cities of men.

Halflings have an uncanny ability to disappear in the wilderness. In bushes or other outdoor cover, halflings can hide with 90% ability. They can also hide in shadows or behind other forms of cover when underground in labyrinths or caverns on a roll of 1-2 on 1d6, but they must be silent and motionless. They have keen coordination that grants them +1 on any missile attacks. Because they are so small, halflings have a lower armour class (-2) when attacked by creatures greater than human sized.

Due to their small size, halflings cannot use large or two-handed weapons, including bastard swords, long swords, long bows and heavy crossbows. Otherwise the weapons they can use are determined by their class.

Halflings gain a +4 bonus to saving throws against poison, due to their race's resistance to the toxic environment in which they live.

Advanced Labyrinth Lord: Variant Dwarves, Gnomes and Half-Orcs

Some more ideas for my postulated dungeon-brawling mash-up campaign...

I like the idea of variant races, and plan to provide lots of choices for players. I've "traditionally" transplanted hobbits with rat-men, and have also thought to re-skin the race as goblins, kobolds and monkey-men. My recently posted reptiloid race also comes with a few variants. So, how about these variant gnomes, dwarves and half-orcs...

Note that the clockwork dwarf race is obviously inspired by Hill Canton's robo-dwarf class.

The rest of this post is designated Open Gaming Content according to the Open Gaming License.

Dwarves
Clockwork dwarf: These rare beings of obscure origin are occasionally encountered in adventuring parties or working as clock-smiths. They have all the normal faculties of a sentient being, but are made of metal (typically brass or bronze) and run on clockwork.

Clockwork dwarves cannot ingest normal food or water, and indeed react to such as poison. Instead they must consume one pint of lamp oil every other day, and often like to snack on nuts and bolts.

Additionally clockwork dwarves have the substantial advantage over their fleshy brethren that they do not need to breathe, and can thus happily exist in airless environments. It must however be noted that clockwork dwarves are damaged by water, taking 1d3hp damage per round they are submerged. This can be avoided by pre-preparing themselves by smearing 3 pints of oil over their whole body. Such protection lasts for several hours.

Clockwork dwarves have no affinity with stone, and lack all of the standard dwarfish stonework abilities. They do however have a natural armour class of 7.

Strangely, healing magic (including potions) works normally on clockwork dwarves. The reason for this is a mystery.

Stone dwarf: Some dwarven communities have retreated so deep into the mountains that they have, over many millennia, begun to meld with their stony environment, becoming beings half-flesh, half-stone. Such dwarves are as slow and determined as rock, and gain several advantages. Firstly they have a natural armour class of 5. Secondly they are completely immune to petrification magic, being already half-stone. They also have the ability to speak the language of earth elementals and their kin.

As a downside, healing magic of all kinds has only a 50% chance of taking effect on a stone dwarf.

Gnomes
Deep gnome (a.k.a. svirfneblin): This race dwells in deep subterranean caverns, and are sometimes encountered by dwarves as they delve for metals. Deep gnomes are an especially miserly race, giving them a -2 CHA penalty. On the positive side, they are able to identify gems and precious metals simply by smell, and at a distance of 10'.

Forest gnome: A meek and homely race, unlikely to produce much in the way of bold adventurers. They dwell in shallow burrows in sandy forest soils, and do not have the deep affinity with the subterranean world which their cousins possess – they are unable to detect their depth and orientation underground. They do however have ability to speak the languages of burrowing animals, which are often found in their company.

Psychedelic gnome: The origin of the psychedelic gnomes is something of a mystery, and the gnomes themselves refuse to provide details. Physically they are very similar to their “bog-standard” counterparts, however their behaviour and tastes are wildly different. Psychedelic gnomes, as their name implies, have an outrageous style of dress, eschewing the traditional drab earth-tones and red pointy hats in favour of clashing fluorescent colours, swirling paisley, tie-dye, and apparently religiously inspired patterns which they refer to as “fracktals”. Some sages suspect that these gnomes are from the future.

Psychedelic gnomes have no affinity with earth or stone, and lack the standard stonework abilities of their race. They are also of a less robust constitution, and gain no bonuses to saves against poison, paralysis or petrification. Instead they have an affinity with magic and illusion, which grants them alternative abilities.

Firstly, all psychedelic gnomes know how to cast a single 1st level spell once per day, chosen at random from the illusionist spell list. This spell is innate, and does not require study or a spell book.

Additionally their affinity with magic of illusion grants them a +4 bonus to saving throws versus this type of magic. On a successful save, there is a 15% chance that an illusion spell will rebound from a psychedelic gnome and affect its caster.

Half-Orcs
Half-bugbear: Hairy beast-men whose racial heritage is plain to see. Half-bugbears lack the standard half-orc's ability to find secret doors, but are instead able to move silently as a thief of equal level. Half-bugbear thieves instead gain a +10% bonus to their move silently skill.

Neanderthal: This race of brutish sub-humans are sometimes known to leave their caves and mix with other races. They have no ability at finding secret doors, but have a natural resistance to magic, gaining +2 on saving throws.

Advanced Labyrinth Lord: Equalising Humans

It's an old conundrum of AD&D: the balance of humans vs demi-humans. If you look at a mixture of 1st level characters of various race/class combinations, the demi-humans are clearly way more powerful with their infravision, huge saving throw bonuses, and the ability to potentially have the complete abilities of up to three classes. All these things give them an enormous advantage compared to their full-human brethren. In a dangerous old-school campaign, 1st level demi-humans are way more likely to make it to 2nd level -- that's the fact.

And what do humans get as a balance? No level limits.

So that's the traditional state of play. Now, in my experience this is not a balanced situation, not at all. The problem lies in the fact that no campaign I've ever played or run has reached the levels of experience where demi-human level limits kick in. And I think this is a common experience. (This is with the exception perhaps of long campaigns when I was a kid, but then we were playing BECMI, not AD&D, so it an wasn't issue.) Thus, players of demi-humans basically get all this cool stuff "for free" as it were, leaving their human comrades feeling a little under-par.

I have to say at this juncture that I don't care about balance purely for its own sake, in mechanical terms (for therein lies the road to 4e). The only reason I'm drawn to consider this is my observations of how players of "lesser races" (i.e. humans) feel overwhelmed by their "do anything, +4 on saves, see in the dark, oh and by the way I speak 7 languages" counterparts.

A novel remedy to the situation came to my mind the other day, which I shall describe.

1. Remove Limits
No level limits for demi-humans. Gone. They're rarely relevant anyway, and do nothing to create a sense of balance. Limits of class by race could also optionally be removed, if you want to go all the way.

2. Remove Some Benefits
Firstly multi-classing. As I've discussed before, that's the real killer for me, resulting in characters who can "do anything" -- honestly, who needs a thief when you have a multi-classed magic-user / thief at hand?

As a second reduction in demi-human power I'd suggest the removal of infravision from all playable races. It seems like only a minor perk on the face of it, but in practice is extremely useful (depending on how lenient the DM's interpretation of its precision is). I just find it more atmospheric when PCs are venturing into dark places with naught but a feebly flickering flame to guide them.

3. Boost Humans
In order to make humans attractive, all that remains is to give them a few perks in the same order of magnitude as the demi-human racial abilities (things like the dwarven stonework abilities, extra languages, saving throw bonuses, etc).

Here's what I thought of, though of course many other things would be possible.

Firstly:

• +1 to any two attributes (player's choice).
• No attribute limits (min 3 / max 18 for all scores).

And then, to mimic the traditional idea that humans are "more flexible" (odd that they were the ones who couldn't multi-class...), how about giving them the choice of some small bits and pieces of other class' abilities. Choose one of the following:

• Use any weapon without penalty. (Magic-users only.)
• Wear one better armour than usually allowed. (Thieves or magic-users only.)
• One thief skill which advances with level. (Non-thieves only.)
• Ability to cast one 1st level magic-user spell, chosen at random from the list in LL. (Non-magic-users only.)
• Ability to cast one 1st level clerical spell, chosen at random from the list in LL. (Non-clerics only.)
• Turn undead once a day as a cleric of equal level. (Non-clerics only.)
• +4 to one saving throw (player's choice).

I reckon that should roughly equalise the field.

The Sentient Races of Old Aalia

Here's a little summary of the main sentient races that have featured in my LL campaign so far, mainly for the benefit of the players.

Humans (any alignment)
The usual deal.

The natives of Old Aalia are olive-skinned, like the people of the Mediterranean. Pale, blond-haired northerners, and dark-skinned southerners are also seen from time to time.

Mongrel-folk (any alignment)
The strange radiations which permeate the vaults of the great city S'raka have caused the accelerated and haphazard evolution of those down-trodden people who inhabit the region. Mutations, ranging from the completely debilitating to the potently novel, are rife among this folk.

Rat-folk (any alignment)
Rat-folk, sometimes called "halflings", are another race which has evolved in the warping influence of S'raka's vaults. They are half the size of humans, and appear to be a 50/50 cross-breed between humanoid and rat. Most rat-folk spend their lives in the vaults of S'raka, where they live as scavengers. A few of the more gifted members of this race sometimes venture to the surface, and may find a way to make a living as adventurers or business-owners. They are generally regarded as vermin, in the same social class as beggars or mongrel-men.

Dwarrow (typically LN, N, NE)
The dwarrow are a race similar to the standard D&D duergar. They live underground in labyrinthine cavern complexes which they constantly expand and mine for minerals. Dwarrow have jet black eyes, and skin that is gnarled like old tree roots and coloured in hues of earth or stone. Although they are important trade partners, the dwarrow are seldom trusted by humans -- they are exceptionally avaricious and scheming, regarding all forms of precious metal and gems as the sole property of their race.

Dwarrow are known for their contempt towards other races, and are fond of slavery. Kobolds are commonly kept as mining slaves by Dwarrow -- the fortress city of Minitol, in particular, maintains a very large population of the creatures. The Dwarrow of the Glaarm mountains in the far north of Old Aalia harbour a hatred and resentment of the race of Kobolds, with whom they have been at war since a slaves' revolt succeeded.

Swine-folk (typically CE)
Sworn enemies of human-kind, the swine-folk of Old Aalia are a detested race of carnivorous beast-men created centuries ago by a demented god. Wherever the swine-folk go they leave destruction in their wake.

Kobolds (typically L)
A diminutive race of snivelling wiry-haired dog-men, kobolds are equally at home underground and on the surface. They dwell primarily in the forests in the east of Old Aalia, though some kobold settlements are known to exist in the deeper vaults of S'raka. They are also often found in the company of dwarrow, who keep them as slaves. When left to their own devices, kobolds tend to roam around in large packs, and generally show little respect for other races, though among themselves they have a rigidly structured social hierarchy.

Forest Gnomes
A meek and homely race who live in burrows and caves among the roots of forest trees. They are friends with burrowing animals such as moles and badgers, and primarily enjoy the pleasures of a quiet life in a cosy home.

Svirfneblin (typically L or N)
Subterranean relatives of the forest gnomes, svirfneblin are a pale and almost hairless race who make their homes deep underground wherever gem deposits can be found. The race is so rarely seen (except by dwarrow, who encounter their communities in the course of their own delving) that rumours abound about their nature and their existence. A common conception among humans is that the svirfneblin cosmically manifest around mineral deposits.

Elves (typically N or C)
Tall, thin and ephemeral, elves are a fey race native to a magical dimension which exists in parallel to the world of men. They are of diverse appearance, being basically similar looking to humans, but always have one or more unusual features that mark them as obviously non-human, such as: pointed ears, silver or violet hair, cat-like eyes, sharp pointed teeth, extra fingers, etc.

Often Neutral in alignment, elves are fickle, mysterious and mischievous. They enjoy music and song, as well as fine food and drink -- but all their pleasures have a strange otherworldly quality, which other races can find both intoxicating and eerie. They have a talent for magic, and many individuals have some degree of innate magical potency.

Although they seldom co-habit, elves and goblins have a mutual respect for each other. Their kings perhaps have some kind of alliance.

Goblins (typically N, NE or CN)
A mischievous fey race, goblins are of diverse appearance. Typically they are half human size, hideously or comically ugly (by human standards), and have black or dark green skin. Though they seldom have any regular or organised contact with other races (apart from elves), they have a habit of appearing out of nowhere, causing trouble, and then returning to their own dimension via whatever subtle path they arrived by.

Alternative halflings

As I first read the Labyrinth Lord rule books, and began to conceive the campaign I'd like to run, one of the first decisions I made was to ditch hobbits and to reskin the halfling class / race as rat people. This simple change has worked out marvellously, and has really helped to add a bit of unique flavour to the setting.

I've been thinking recently about the word "halfling", and its possible use for a whole swathe of other half-sized folk, some of whom could quite possibly be adventurers.

Similarly, I thought that the standard halfling class or race could easily be used for these other races, perhaps with a slight tweak to give each of them some unique ability. So, mechanically speaking, the halfling races have all the abilities granted by the standard LL halfling race or class, apart from the hiding ability, which is replaced by a unique racial ability as described below. I have also given them all infravision, as they usually dwell underground.

Rat-folk: Humanoid rats, complete with fur, tails and twitchy noses. Actually do have the hiding ability (as per hobbits), which works 3 in 6 in any environment.

Kobolds: A diminutive race of snivelling dog men. Tend to hang out in packs. Kobold adventurers have the ability to track with their excellent sense of smell. In my campaign, kobolds are a wretched and cowardly race, although intensely loyal to their companions. Although their respect for other races is minimal, among themselves they tend towards lawful alignment. Their societies display the full range of good and evil, similar to any human culture.

Goblins: In my campaign goblins are a fey race (the same as elves), meaning that they originate from a parallel dimension, where they typically spend most of their time. Some however may become adventurers and choose to explore the physical world. As a special ability they know additional languages (the tongues of fey elves and pixies), can identify dimensional portals, and are 90% immune to charm effects. In my campaign, while goblins are mischievous and tend towards chaotic alignment, unlike the standard D&D goblins they are in no way inherently evil.

Deep gnomes (svirfneblin): Yet to be specifically encountered in our games, but having been referred to, this race dwells in deep subterranean caverns, and are sometimes encountered by the dwarrow as they delve for metals. They have the ability to know their depth and orientation underground, and to detect sloping passages. These abilities work 2 in 6 of the time. They also speak the tongue of the dwarrow.

Forest gnomes: A meek and homely race, unlikely to produce much in the way of bold adventurers. Nevertheless, if such an individual were to exist they would have the ability to speak the languages of burrowing animals, and a 2 in 6 chance of detecting decrepit or unstable structures underground.

Note that all of these races have the standard restrictions of the halfling race, as regards to minimum / maximum ability scores, and level limits.

Carcosa -- Racial determination and benefits

So, as I mentioned in my mini-review of the mighty Carcosa supplement, my thoughts turned immediately to using the book in play. As the book comes with no assumed rules set (it's broadly D&D, but could work with any edition really), this inevitably led to the question: which game system to use to run it? What came to mind is three things: Labyrinth Lord (for the D&D base), Mutant Future (to further emphasise the pulp sci-fi / post-apocalyptic elements in Carcosa) and Call of Cthulhu (for more rituals -- more on this another time).

What I ended up deciding on is a mixture of all three! The base is Mutants & Mazes, the LL-MF integration described in an appendix of Mutant Future. I've come up with a very simple custom character generation system, which I'll post here in sections over the coming days.

The first topic is race. The Carcosa book describes the 13 different races of Men who inhabit the planet, but doesn't mention how a PC's race should be determined, or any differences between the races apart from skin colour. So I thought a random table would be in order, including some little mechanical differences for each of the races.

d30	Race	Benefit
1-2	Black	+1 bonus to saving throws versus poison or disease
3-4	Blue	+1 bonus to unarmed attacks
5-6	Bone	+1 CON
7-8	Brown	+1 bonus to saving throws versus magic
9-10	Dolm	+1 bonus to melee attacks
11-12	Green	+1 STR
13-14	Jale	+1 bonus to learning rituals
15-16	Orange	+1 INT
17-18	Purple	+1 WIS
19-20	Red	+1 bonus to missile attacks
21-22	Ulfire	+1 CHA
23-24	White	+1 DEX
25-26	Yellow	+1 bonus to saving throws versus fear or psionics
27-28	Roll again	Gain a mutation*. Additional rolls of 27-28 stack.
29-30	Roll again	Gain a psionic power. Additional rolls of 29-30 stack.

* For racially determined mutations I'll probably use the table in the appendix of Carcosa. Obviously, as I'm planning on using Mutant Future, the beneficial mutations therein will also come into play.

ps. For players in my Labyrinth Lord campaign: don't worry, your PCs are not about to be mysteriously warped to Carcosa! Haha. I'll probably run it as a one shot / occasional sessions, just for fun.

The devil is in the details - Many Fey, Some Fey

Some time ago I created (and posted) a set of tables of random racial characteristics for Dwarrow and Ratfolk characters in my campaign. Following last week's PC massacre, there have been some new character being rolled up. Among them are two Fey (not coincidentally, as the party was decimated by ghouls, and Fey are immune to their paralysis!). So this morning I came up with similar tables for Fey (including a few entries from the original Elf "Devil is in the details" article in Fight on!).

Many Fey

1. Have an unusual number of fingers (roll 1d6 + 2, re-rolling if you end up with four!).
2. Have hair which animates or changes colour depending on their mood.
3. Lie as a matter of course.
4. Are 90% resistant to sleep and charm person.
5. Guard their true name with their lives.
6. Have the attention span of a gnat.
7. Feel a great affinity to one type of animal.
8. Love games of chance.
9. Apparently sprang into existence fully formed, having no memory of a childhood or family.
10. Have an irrational hatred of one specific thing (gnomes, horses, moonlight, etc), and fly into a rage when encountering it.
11. Love all forms of art, especially pieces which other races would regard as incomprehensibly convoluted.
12. Find humans and dwarrow endlessly boring.
13. Are terrified of spirits and undead.
14. Refuse to have anything to do with cosmic powers, including acceptance of cleric spells being cast upon them.
15. Only have a 1 in 6 chance of needing to sleep each night.
16. Carry an array of small charms to protect against all manner of things.
17. Have a 30% chance of reflecting sleep or charm person back onto the caster.
18. Are prone to addiction, and start play with a penchant for: 1. alil, 2. fine spirits, 3. yellow powder, 4. exotic pipe-weed.
19. Have silver, gold, or violet hair.
20. Suffer from fits of insanity (10% chance per day, lasting one day, roll on the table in the DMG p.83).
21. Can detect subtle psychic impressions in objects, getting a feeling of the appearance and mood of the last person who touched the object.
22. Actually physically disappear when they sleep, vanishing to a dream dimension.
23. Have an imaginary friend (though of course they claim it is real) with whom they converse.
24. Find water distasteful and will only drink wine or fruit juices.
25. Can generate minor electrical shocks.
26. Have eyes of an unusual colour (violet, pure white, silver, etc).
27. Are able to cast a single 1st level spell once per day, selected from the list of fey sorcerer spells.
28. Have a deep love and respect for the ancient line of fey nobility.
29. Find humour in almost anything, even at totally inappropriate moments.
30. Are deeply superstitious, having a long list of things which are supposed to bring good or bad luck.

Some Fey

1. Have a sadistic bent.
2. Have almost no concept of self-preservation, making them completely reckless.
3. Speak to themselves in a private language which only they understand.
4. Will not die from ageing.
5. Insist on things (people, items, plans, etc) being assigned numerical values.
6. Harbour the desire to mate with a being of another (perhaps unusual) race.
7. Have detailed memories of a past life (possibly as another race).
8. Are incredibly avaricious, but only seek wealth of a very particular kind (emeralds, pearls, platinum, gold rings, etc).
9. Are completely hedonistic and do not care a whit for the future.
10. Prefer to not enter the fey dimension, for reasons of their own.
11. Have a habit of pronouncing personal names backwards, and will not reveal the reason for this.
12. Both fear and desire to know the deep places below the earth.
13. Value logic and rationality over all else.
14. Breed new animals in pursuit of a singular vision.
15. Can detect the influence of cosmic powers, as a cleric. If successful, become terrified, enraged or sick (equal chance).
16. Find books and writing to be delightful curiosities.
17. Have a twin which resulted from a spontaneous division. The two twins' personalities are usually radically at odds.
18. Refuse to use a personal name of any kind.
19. Shower friends with gifts.
20. Will only dress in a specific colour.
21. Study an ancient spiritual text which is written entirely in indecipherable code which generations of fey have failed to crack.
22. Have star-shaped pupils. The number of points on the star is deemed auspicious.
23. Are fascinated by light, and will spend long hours gazing into prisms or beams of sunlight.
24. Are strange and silent.
25. Study a complex system of astrology which can only be applied in retrospect.
26. Are unaffected by all but the most extreme changes in temperature and weather.
27. Trace their ancestry to another world.
28. Are haunted by animals of a certain species, which they believe are spies.
29. Cannot conceal their emotions.
30. Will swiftly die if imprisoned.

The devil is in the details – Some Dwarrow, Some Rat-People

Continuing on from the other day's post about "Many Dwarrow, Many Rat-People", here's the remainder of the characteristics of those races. Each PC exhibits one of these.

Some Dwarrow

1. Are completely hairless.
2. Carve hideous statues in honour of the gods of the fathomless darkness of the earth.
3. Are sickened by acts of kindness.
4. Are loyal and courageous to the point of foolhardiness.
5. Find the feel of cloth unpleasant, preferring to always wear metal.
6. Are wider than they are tall.
7. View Law and consistency as the most important virtues, even unto death.
8. Have a twisted sadistic streak, and make excellent torturers.
9. Spend one month of each year in a state of deep slumber.
10. Have more than one father.
11. Have replaced all their teeth with metal replicas.
12. Pity and try to guide other races, who are weak-willed and lacking in purpose.
13. View the giving and receiving of gifts as ultimately debasing.
14. Have the patience of a rock.
15. Become students of history, coveting scriptures and records from ancient times.
16. Have seen awful things in the deeps of the earth, which they are at once terrified of and lust after.
17. Are sterile and unable to reproduce.
18. Apparently do not age.
19. Live by an odd conception of time, often mixing up past and future.
20. Have no imagination.
21. Can detect subtle vibrations in stone, warning them of approaching or recently passed creatures.
22. Are members of a rebellious sect which proposes tenets such as “kindness”, “equality” and “generosity”.
23. Spend their whole lives preparing an elaborate crypt for themselves and their descendants
24. Play a droning, melancholic music on horns and pipes.
25. Secretly plot treason against their kin with the hope of becoming a great ruler.
26. Have one true purpose in their lives, which was determined at birth.
27. Keep their soul in a rock.
28. Feel no kinship with their own people, becoming wanderers looking for a home.
29. Are terrified of magic and those who use it.
30. Will gladly die defending their home and people.

Some Rat-People

1. Have a spiteful malicious streak.
2. Intermittently experience pre-cognitive dreams.
3. Speak in rhyme and riddle.
4. Can grip small items with their tail.
5. Have sinister red eyes.
6. Are incredibly impatient.
7. Can use their sense of smell to follow recent tracks.
8. Suffer from a hunger which is never sated, and risk become obese.
9. Refuse to eat the flesh of domesticated animals.
10. Believe in reincarnation and that all talk of an “afterlife” is a deadly spiritual trap.
11. Will only wear clothing of a specific favoured colour.
12. Memorize elaborate family histories.
13. Dream of sailing to unknown lands.
14. Find sunlight distasteful.
15. Never forget a face.
16. Follow a mysterious spiritual path of renunciation of material wealth.
17. Are captivated by the moon, often spending long hours gazing at it.
18. Feel an irresistible urge to delve into the deeps of the earth.
19. Are experts on gourmet food and fine wines.
20. Become infuriated at the sight of waste and decadence.
21. Find the touch of stone unpleasant, preferring the warmth of earth or wood.
22. Have beautiful silver fur.
23. Can live to be over 200 years old.
24. Are equally at home creeping on all fours as they are standing upright.
25. Have a lust for gems and silver which rivals that of the Dwarrow.
26. Can grip with their feet.
27. Are of the opinion that a cosy home is the highest achievement in life.
28. Experience a waxing and waning between extremes of personality.
29. Are so excitable that they can rarely sit still or sleep.
30. Give personal names to inanimate objects.

The devil is in the details – Many Dwarrow, Many Rat-People

Inspired recently by the "devil is in the details" concept developed by Kesher in Fight On!, I decided to start creating these tables of random racial features for my Old Aalia campaign. First up are two d30 tables which describe some of the most common traits of Dwarrow and Rat-People. The concept is that each newly created character of these races should roll for three of these traits.

Many Dwarrow

1. Have only three fingers.
2. Stretch their ear lobes by hanging pebbles from them.
3. Smoke a sweet smelling pipe-weed which is intoxicating to humans.
4. Find humans physically repulsive.
5. Believe that Dwarrow are the rightful possessors of all metals and stones.
6. Have no sense of taste.
7. View avarice as the highest emotion.
8. Can subsist by eating gravel alone.
9. Have thick, slow-oozing blood.
10. Worship Ogremoch, lord of the dark, cold earth, whom they view as the creator of the world.
11. Are driven mad by the sound of music.
12. Follow an ancient creed of 111 rules known as Bag-Hran.
13. Dream of conquering and ruthlessly enslaving other races.
14. Hate and fear water.
15. Eat enormous quantities of bland food, apparently without pleasure.
16. Carve likenesses of themselves in stone.
17. Do not sleep but just go still for precisely 8 hours.
18. Like to mock other races openly.
19. Become obsessed with hoarding a certain type of item.
20. Have a black tongue.
21. Practice the art of counting, internally maintaining an increasing count through their whole lives.
22. Will only sleep on bare stone.
23. Participate in ritualistic orgies.
24. Believe that one who eats a diet of gold will live forever.
25. Feel a kinship with a specific type of stone, determined by the auspices of their birth.
26. Keep a small book in which they write in code.
27. Are covered in warts and lumps, which they are secretly ashamed of.
28. Never sweat and have completely odourless bodies.
29. Are of the opinion that the human conception of the soul is a laughably childish attempt to mask the grim truth of reality.
30. Have extremely long names, and up to 17 secret names reserved for specific rituals.

Many Rat-People

1. Happily eat food which is well past its prime.
2. Are trained in a craft of spiteful pranks to be applied to the arrogant and vain (often involving needles and irritating poisons).
3. Superstitiously carve little animal figurines from bone and wood.
4. Delight in clockwork.
5. Are expert swimmers.
6. Can speak with rats.
7. Excel at poetry and riddles.
8. Abhor the concept of slavery or service.
9. Try to remain neutral in all disputes.
10. Love to keep pets, which they groom and adorn with ribbons.
11. Brew a fish-wine in odd stills made from guts.
12. Practice a unique craft, something between sculpture and smell-art.
13. Find humans' religious and philosophical opinions endlessly funny.
14. Do not view theft as a crime, seeing it rather as a joke to be played on the stupid.
15. View writing as a pointless arrogance of the “tall races”.
16. Believe that their folk descended from the moon.
17. Awake instinctively at dawn.
18. Adorn their tails with rings and bells.
19. Have no concept of marriage.
20. Love dancing to music played on pipes and flutes.
21. Protect their possessions obsessively and elaborately.
22. Cannot keep a secret.
23. Have an acute sense of smell, and make no differentiation between pleasant and foul.
24. Find humans incredibly attractive.
25. Bury valuable items.
26. Have no understanding of the concept of nobility.
27. Shave spiral patterns from their fur.
28. Have a detailed and on-going alternate life in their dreams, in which they are usually slaves.
29. Practice a wide array of fortune-telling techniques.
30. Believe that it is an honour to bestow equal favour and disfavour upon others.

The swine-folk of old Aalia

I thought I'd start writing a series of posts giving snippets of background info about the world my Labyrinth Lord campaign is set in. I've not explicitly invented much background info so far, aside from a few rough maps and some daydreamed ideas, but I thought the campaign and the players would benefit from some imagery. So, first up, a new twist on an old enemy.

The Swine-folk of Old Aalia
The wide and prosperous kingdom of Aalia was remarked for its proliferation of animal deities. Indeed, the capital city of Allam, in the south of the kingdom, was known more for its vast complex of temples than it was for the royal palaces and courts from which the country was ruled.

The temple complexes of Allam were aptly named -- complex. The animal gods demanded a bizarre, shifting pattern of observances, feast days and rites, including the constant and seemingly random shifting of the location of the various temples. Thus a high priest of Lax-Manna, the jackal mother, could awake one morning to the presence of his deity, and the instruction that a shifting of dominions in the spirit world meant that her nexus of power now lay in the temple of the serpent god, and that the temples must be switched with all haste. Such occurrences were common and completely unforewarned.

The priests were adept in making the arrangements with the required stoicism and swiftness, but inevitably mistakes happened on occasion. One such mistake led to the downfall of the kingdom of Aalia.

The feast-day of Babu-Ham, lord of pigs, fell on the fifth day after the sixth new moon of the year -- a benevolently regular date, by the standards of the animal gods of Aalia. To this day it is unknown whether the pig god himself demanded a bizarre new rearrangement of the temples on the very morn of his feast-day -- some believe, in retrospect, that a trickster god was at play. But whatever the impetus, the priesthoods of Allam were in thrown into a maelstrom of action that morning, as practically every temple in the city was decreed to be moved.

It so happened that during the shifting of the temples, a visiting prince from the far north of the kingdom had seen fit to make a great and noble sacrifice to the raptor god Had-Kallat -- the slaughter of six hundred fattened and anointed pigs. It also so happened that the temple of Had-Kallat had been decreed as the new location of the temple of the pig god. Thus, as the pig lord manifested at the altar of his new temple he was confronted with a sight the likes of which no pig-god should see. (Bizarrely, the priests of Babu-Ham had, through great cunning, deceived their god for centuries, hiding from him the fact that pigs were routinely kept as beasts of slaughter in many parts of the kingdom.)

The rage of the god was great. His vengeance was greater. Few had suspected the power he held, in fact, and even fewer lived to tell the story of the massacre of Allam by the cosmic forces of Babu-Ham. His wrath did not end in Allam however. An army of pig-demons swept across the whole of Aalia, burning settlements, and roasting their inhabitants on the flames, to be eaten in hideous orgies of violence and gluttony. The kingdom was crushed, and its human inhabitants reduced to a scattering of wanderers.

Needless to say, Babu-Ham has never trusted humankind since that day, and the few ruined shrines devoted to him which can still be found are places of danger and fear. His final act of parting, on the day of the desolation of the last city of old Aalia, was the creation of the race of swine-folk. He decreed that pig-kind should never again be kept as slaves, and spontaneously all domesticated pigs in the kingdom were transformed into a humanoid shape, so as to be able to defend themselves from the wickedness of human beings.

That was some centuries back, and the kingdom of Aalia is no more, existing now only as a name and a huge number of crumbling ruins in the great plains of its former expanse. The swine-folk have remained, however, and roam the plains of old Aalia in great numbers. Wherever they are found, humans make themselves scarce -- the animosity between the two races has not abated. And, in a twist of vengeance, the favoured food of the swine-folk is human flesh.

The swine-folk are known deridingly as 'porks', by men who like to brag about their battles and encounters with the beings.

Dwarf & Halfling variants

I mentioned previously that I had variant dwarf and halfling classes planned for my up and coming Labyrinth Lord game. I really like the standard classes' abilities, but didn't feel that the standard noble dwarf or jolly halfling fit in at all with what I had in mind for the setting, so I wanted to rework them somewhat. The variant classes I came up with ended up being mostly just a matter of flavour, as opposed to properly different classes, but I thought I'd post them here anyway, just out of interest.

(I also had in mind using the Mutant class from the 'mutants & mazes' section of Mutant Future for the mongrel-men who live in the vaults below the great city. I'll have a proper look at that when I receive my recently ordered Mutant Future hardback, but it sounds like it'd be a fun class!)

Halfling
Halflings in S'raka are not the cosy, furry creatures of modern myth. They are a race which has evolved from the genetic randomness of the mongrel-men who inhabit the vaults and catacombs of the city. Halflings are tiny, half the height of most humans, and usually have one or more animal-like features such as: small claws, long whiskers, pointed ears, fur, a small tail, etc. They typically have a slightly rodent-like appearance, and are quick, alert and agile. Most halflings spend their lives in the vaults of S'raka, where they live as scavengers. A few of the more gifted members of this race sometimes venture to the surface, and may find a way to make a living as adventurers or business-owners. They are generally regarded as vermin, in the same social class as beggars or mongrel-men.

S'rakan halflings have the following differences to the standard halfling class:

• They have infravision to 60 feet.
• Their hiding ability works on a roll of 1-3 on 1d6 in any environment, wilderness, urban or underground.

Dwarrow
The dwarrow are a race similar to the standard dwarves. They live underground in labyrinthine cavern complexes which they constantly expand and mine for minerals. Dwarrow differ somewhat in appearance from the standard dwarf – their skin is gnarled like old tree roots and is dark brown or grey in colour and their eyes are jet black. Although they are important trade partners, the dwarrow are seldom trusted by humans – they are usually exceptionally avaricious and scheming, regarding all forms of precious metal and gems as the sole property of their race.

Fey class for Labyrinth Lord

In my planned Labyrinth Lord game, that I'm now spending a lot of time ruminating over, I'd postulated that I wanted Elves to be somehow distinguished from Magic-users, and not just end up as a kind of multi-classed Fighter / Magic-user. I wanted them to be a more innately magical race.

At the same time I was thinking about the campaign setting, and quickly decided that I'd love to run a city based campaign. The combination of these two ideas culminated in the conception of a huge decadent city which is dimensionally co-existent with a Fey city. During the day time the two cities are separate, but at dusk a great bell is rung, and doorways between the two worlds open.

Adventurers from this other world use the class presented below, my adaptation of the Elf class for this campaign. (I've also got variants of the Dwarf and Halfling classes planned, coming soon...)
(Note that while the class refers to spells from the Advanced Edition Companion, this is a race-class for use with basic Labyrinth Lord.)

(Update: I've now uploaded this class as a PDF.)

The rest of this post is designated Open Gaming Content according to the Open Gaming License.
Fey
Requirements: INT 9
Prime Requisite: STR and INT
Hit Dice: 1d6
Maximum Level: 10

Tall, thin and ephemeral, the Fey are a race native to a magical dimension which exists in parallel to the world of men. They are of diverse appearance, and always have one or more unusual features that mark them as obviously non-human, such as: pointed ears, silver or violet hair, cat-like eyes, sharp pointed teeth, extra fingers, etc. They typically weigh about 120 pounds and are between 5½ and 6 feet tall.

Often Neutral in alignment, Fey are fickle, mysterious and mischievous. They enjoy music and song, as well as fine food and drink - but all their pleasures have a strange otherworldly quality, which other races can find both intoxicating and eerie. Fey are excellent fighters, being able to use any weapons and armor, and are naturally magical. A Fey must have at least 13 in both prime requisites in order to get the +5% to experience. They must also have an INT of 16 and a STR of 13 to get the +10% bonus. They advance in level according to the Elf Level Progression chart.

Fey have infravision of 60 feet, and have keen eyes that allow them, when actively searching, to detect hidden and secret doors with a roll of 1-2 on 1d6. Because of their magical nature, Fey are completely unaffected by the paralysis ghouls can inflict. Fey can speak their alignment language, common, elvish, pixie and goblin.

Although they do not study magic, Fey are able to use all magic items available to Magic-users, with the exception of scrolls.

Fey Spell Progression
Fey cast spells according to the Druid spell progression chart in the Advanced Edition Companion, and gain spells from the lists given below. However their manner of spell casting differs from that of other spell using classes. As Fey are naturally magical they do not need to pray or study books to be able to use their spells. The spell progression chart represents both the number of spells a Fey can cast per day, and also the number of spells he or she knows. For example, a 1st level Fey knows two 1st level spells, which he or she can cast once per day each. Fey regain their spells automatically after a night's rest. Upon gaining an experience level, Fey automatically learn any new spells allowed to them. Fey's known spells are usually determined randomly.

Fey Spells
(Spells marked 'C' are from the Cleric spell lists, 'D' are from the Druid spell list in the AEC, those marked 'I' are Illusionist spells, and those marked 'MU' are drawn from the Magic-user spell lists.)

1st level:

1. Auditory illusion (I)
2. Color spray (I)
3. Dancing lights (I)
4. Detect illusion (I)
5. Detect invisible (I)
6. Detect magic (MU)
7. Detect snares and pits (D)
8. Doppelganger (I)
9. Entangle (D)
10. Faerie fire (D)
11. Protection from evil (C)
12. Resist cold (C)
13. Speak with animals (D)
14. Wall of vapor (I)

2nd level:

1. Augury (C)
2. Blur (I)
3. Charm person or mammal (D)
4. Fire trap (D)
5. Heat metal (D)
6. Hypnotic pattern (I)
7. Invisibility (MU)
8. Mirror image (I)
9. Obscuring mist (D)
10. Produce flame (D)
11. Resist fire (C)
12. Stumble (D)
13. Ventriloquism (MU)
14. Warp wood (D)

3rd level:

1. Blink (MU)
2. Dispel magic (MU)
3. Haste (MU)
4. Plant growth (D)
5. Protection from fire (D)
6. Pyrotechnics (D)
7. Rope trick (MU)
8. Snare (D)

4th level:

1. Confusion (I)
2. Create food & water (C)
3. Detect lie (C)
4. Implant emotion (I)
5. Protection from electricity (D)
6. Speak with plants (D)
7. Sticks to snakes (C)
8. Temperature control (D)

5th level:

1. Greater confusion (I)
2. Phantasmal door (I)
3. Teleport, Fey
4. Transmute rock to mud (D)
5. True seeing (C)
6. Wall of fire (D)