Dolmenwood: Thinking About Random Encounter Tables

I've been thinking about random encounter tables for Dolmenwood recently. Greg and I have always had in mind something a bit more specialised and interesting than the standard charts by terrain type. The creatures which may be met in the wood vary by time of day, season of the year, and distance from civilisation. Here are some initial thoughts as to how this might work.

First of all, the top-level categories of creatures one might encounter in Dolmenwood:

1. Animals (great and small)
2. Fairies
3. Monsters and fabulous beasts
4. People

Those seem nicely broad. For each category, I'm envisaging a table for daytime encounters and one for nighttime encounters. I like this kind of little nod towards versimilitude that can be encoded in random charts. Similarly, creatures which are only encountered at a certain time of year may be listed as options (e.g. "12. Root Thing (autumn) or Giant Spider").

The type of creatures that may be encountered also depends on time of day and activity, as follows.

Daytime, on the road:

People are by far the most common creatures that travel on the roads in the daytime. Monsters and fairies tend to avoid such places, while normal animals may wander past once in a while.

1. A
2. A
3. A
4. A
5. F
6. M
7. P
8. P
9. P
10. P
11. P
12. P

Daytime, in the wilds:

Once adventurers step off of a main thoroughfare, anything can happen. All types of creature may be encountered with equal probability.

1. A
2. A
3. A
4. F
5. F
6. F
7. M
8. M
9. M
10. P
11. P
12. P

Nighttime, camping with a fire:

Normal animals are, for the most part, afraid of fire and will not come near. Monsters are bolder, while intelligent beings may be attracted by light and voices.

1. A
2. F
3. F
4. F
5. F
6. M
7. M
8. M
9. P
10. P
11. P
12. P

Nighttime, camping without a fire (or wandering):

Dolmenwood at night is a strange and uncivilised place, where monsters and fairies are the most active creatures. People are rarely encountered, without firelight to attract them, and many animals are inactive.

1. A
2. A
3. F
4. F
5. F
6. F
7. F
8. M
9. M
10. M
11. M
12. P

More to come as my thoughts develop further...

Wormskin Issue Three: Now in Print!

Click here to get it!

As we have delicious colour illustrations, this time we thought we'd try out the colour printing option at Lightning Source. It's turned out lovely! Some photos:

Wormskin Issue 3: Out Now in PDF!

Weepest thou for fear or for joy? It matters not!

Click upon this image, if thou darest.

(Wormskin issue three is currently available in its pure, digital form (aka PDF). Print editions coming soon!)

The Island: Character Classes

Continuing on from my recent campaign idea The Island, a bit about the rules I have in mind...

I'm imagining a simple, Labyrinth Lord base, with human-only PCs. (Some kind of monstrous race may exist on the island -- to be determined. Magical creatures certainly exist, but will be rare and unique. There are no human-friendly, non-human races.)

Classes available:

Warrior
Defenders of human settlements from the monsters of the wild. Created using my work-in-progress The B/X Warrior.

Traveller
Those who forsake a settled life in favour of wandering. Created using my The B/X Rogue. The set of talents available may need some tweaking, to emphasise this class' role as an explorer and adventurer, as opposed to a thief or criminal.

Priest
People who devote themselves to the worship of one of the island's four elemental deities. This class is closer to the classical magic-user than to the cleric, but I envisage it having access to miracles, as well as arcane magic. Something like this:

• A magic-user class foundation, with only elemental spells.
• Each priest is a devotee of one deity and may learn and cast spells of the associated element.
• By praying at the shrines located around the island, a priest can gain different blessings, which are cast as spells. A priest can have at most one blessing per experience level. A blessing is lost after casting.
• The shrines on the island all grant the blessing of cure light wounds, but some offer other clerical spells as well. In this way, a kind of exploration / shrine collection game is possible. (Some shrines may be lost in the island's wild, southern regions and the subject of myth and rumour.)

Wormskin Issue Three: Cover

Thee milking ov thee Gorgon hath borne delicious fruit.

The layout of issue three is nearly finished. It cannot be too many more turnings of the Earth until Wormskin 3 will be unleashed.

The Island

As is typical, while I have dozens of other things on the go, a completely new idea bubbles to the top of my mind. This time it was conjured by thinking about running a one-shot next month when an old roleplaying compadre is back in town. The ideas I had for the one-shot expanded rapidly into something more elaborate and now here I am with a mini campaign.

Another aspect is that I've been getting the urge for a while to run something in a more heroic / high fantasy vein, as opposed to my usual default, which ends up being a sort of amoral, gonzo-ish, murder-hobo style.

So the ideas I have so far are:

• The campaign is set on a single, isolated island amid a great ocean. The people of the island consider themselves part of a kingdom -- their folklore tells that they were once part of chain of many islands -- but no sign of these other islands and no word from their notional king have come for many generations.
• The one-shot / start of the campaign may thus involve some sort of whispering of the past or the world beyond the shores of the island.
• The people of the island worship a pantheon of four elemental gods. Their priests are not standard clerics, but cast specialised elemental spells. (This is a chance for me to try out the half-written material I have for the Complete Elementalist.)
• The PCs will play the role of protectors or advisors of their community, defending it against whatever peril emerges to threaten their peace. Not to say it won't necessarily be without twists, but a moral imperative is built into the campaign.
• The island would be a small hex crawl: a few days' travel from one side to the other.
• Apart from a few vague images, that's all I'm going from, so far. I'm not sure if it'll end up coming to anything, but I'll post more info, if I develop the idea further.

(Image by http://nceart.deviantart.com.)

Wormskin Issue Three: Coming Soon!

I put the finishing touches to the text for issue three of Wormskin yesterday. Here's what we have in store:

• Of Men, Goats, and Fairies in Dolmenwood -- Gavin Norman, Greg Gorgonmilk. An overview of the history of Dolmenwood and the interactions of its various factions over the centuries.
• Languages of Dolmenwood -- Gavin Norman. Details on the most common languages spoken (or written) in the forest.
• The Summer Stones and the Witching Ring -- Gavin Norman. An article describing the unusual, ring-shaped ley line Chell, in the west of the forest. Its origin, powers, and purpose are revealed.
• The Woods East of Lake Longmere -- Gavin Norman, Greg Gorgonmilk. Seven hexes at the heart of the wood.
• The Ruined Abbey of St Clewd, Level One: Surface Ruins -- Gavin Norman, Yves Geens. The first level of a dungeon central to the history of Dolmenwood.
• Monsters of the Wood (gloam, mogglewomp, scrabey, scrycke) -- Gavin Norman, Yves Geens. More woodland beasties.

This issue features some delightful black & white illustrations from Sean Poppe​, some B&W and full colour pieces by Andrew Walter​, and Greg Gorgonmilk​'s wonderful graphical work.

It's in layout now. Keep 'em peeled.