Monday Magazine Classics

 Lair of the Demon Queen

Don Turnbull

White Dwarf #7

June/July 1978

 

“A difficult but rewarding section of the Greenlands Dungeon.”

 

This is what we might call a “drop in” encounter area today. Maybe. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just Don Turnbull teasing us with what his clearly-inspired-by Greyhawk and Blackmoor dungeon was all about.

Sprinkled in with the requisite room and creature information are tidbits of design advice and Turnbull uses a conversational tone that makes this a little hard to use. You’ll need a highlighter at the very least to use this. I think I’d do a quick one-page summary.

 “These rooms may be inhabited by guardians of the Queen’s lair – say evil elves which fire arrows at an intruding party. My choice of occupant, however, was the Disenchanter (one in each room). This is one of Roger Musson’s creations...” Summary: Disenchanter (each room) replaced after killed

 So much of the prose here is of the commentary variety “So, to return to the poem...” “As an added incentive, of course, some treasure can be put in...” “Let’s hope they realise the meaning of...”

 There is a long poem (spoken by a magic mouth, of course!) that the PLAYERS have to work out the meaning of to be able to “beat” this room. This whole set piece feels very look how clever the DM can be to me. That’s how we used to play, so I don’t have a problem with it. The content is interesting enough – a little “funhouse dungeon” for me, but it seems to be pretty true to the source material (I hate hate hate disenchanters – they are just magic killers and really would have little place in any true ecology... like rust monsters and luck eaters and... but I digress – Source Material being Castle Greyhawk and Castle Blackmoor).

 As a player this would be fun and memorable. As a DM this would be a nightmare to run as is. I get accused of using too many words when I write adventures – but there’s just so much commentary that it really gets in the way of trying to work out the details.

 And then there’s the dearth of details... “The tombs, marked D, can be designed to suit the taste of the DM. Each will contain a member of the Undead class and some treasure. In my case the Undead were pretty powerful but the treasure in the tombs was excellent and contained a number of useful magical items. In particular, I left a few scrolls around with Cure Serious Wounds spells - the least I could do in the circumstances.” Wait... what? This thing is just over two pages long, with only five areas detailed... and this is the “detail” for one of those five areas...

 The titular Demon Queen does get a full three paragraph treatment, most of which is good role-playable detail. Until we get to treasure... which is rather abstracted, “The treasure (in a box under the bed) was of course very rich. In my room there were coins, gems and jewellery worth a total of 8,300 GP and two very powerful magical items – a Ring of Three Wishes (full, untarnished wishes, of course) and a Rod of Rulership. When added to the treasure elsewhere in this area, the total GP value was 13,700 and there were three scrolls, a Potion of Heroism, a good book and a dozen other pretty good magical items (plus a crocked sword just to add spice).”

 As a glimpse into the history of adventure design and the early days of the big dungeons, this is invaluable. Turnbull give us lots of commentary on what and why – all to the detriment of usability... As an encounter area, it’s okay. Like I said above, I’d make a one-page summary and maybe a handout with the poem (I know the players are supposed to listen carefully and take notes and whatever... yeah, not how I roll.)

 

 Other reviews:

I’m sure there are more, but all I could dig up was this brief comment:

https://www.enworld.org/threads/white-dwarf-the-first-100-issues-a-read-through-and-review.325009/

 

And this:

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/in-which-i-read-white-dwarf-from-issue-1.405199/page-4

 

 

 

Free Map Friday

 I'm always looking for new maps so I started drawing some. They're pretty rough - but they're free!

Available for use in any way, including commercially, with attribution:

Map by WR Beatty

If you want a larger image or a different format or just to tell me you used the map:

daenralworld AT gmail

Monday Magazine Classics

A Place in the Wilderness

Lewis Pulsipher

White Dwarf #6

April/May 1978

 

Pulsipher names this one-page description based on Jack Vance’s The Dragon Masters a “set-up” which “may be incorporated into your wilderness.” That’s a pretty apt description. I’m not sure it qualifies as an adventure (or “scenario” as WD was likely to call them), but it’s got the elements: setting, conflict, hook...

 This very much reminds me of The Wilderlands of High Fantasy from Judges Guild, those paragraph long hex descriptions. Take one of those paragraphs and expand the information to maybe 2/3rds of a page and you get this “set-up.” Bare-bones stats are given for Tracker, Heavy Trooper, Weaponer and Giant, none of whom appear in the previous paragraphs... (I assume “Weaponer” is the “50 rabble at arms,” but that’s just my guess).

 So, we’ve got a human settlement which breeds and trains dragons. There’s maybe a little north of 300 people here: “50 rabble at arms, 10 various specialists..., 8 heavy armoured horsemen..., one sixth level fighter chieftain, 80 women, and 160 children and old people.”

 Treasure is abstracted: “The primary treasure is dragon females... There is also a cache of precious metal and stones as the referee thinks appropriate.” Sigh...

 A paragraph is given to the Dragons, clearly the focus of this “set-up,” with bare-bones stats appearing for each type of new dragon (HD 1+1 to HD 5) with one glaring omission.

 Spider: substitute for a horse

Termagants: smaller than men, intelligent

Blue Horrors: larger, quick, intelligent

Murderers: not intelligent, heavy and low to the ground

Fiends: strong and low to the ground (“low enough to run underneath”)

Juggers: “ponderous and huge” [no stats given, though one assumes bigger than Fiends, so maybe HD 6 or 7?]

 Typical of the era, this is a page of inspiration, not a “complete adventure” as we’ve come to know and accept the idea (and, maybe, abuse the idea). That’s not to say it’s bad or incomplete. It is clearly a product of its time and it is adequate for what it sets out to do. This is certainly something that I could riff off of at the table in a hexcrawl, for example, or throw out as a rumor to the party and develop it further if it was something they wanted to pursue.

 

Other reviews:

I’m sure there are more, but all I could dig up was this brief comment:

https://www.enworld.org/threads/white-dwarf-the-first-100-issues-a-read-through-and-review.325009/

 

And this:

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/in-which-i-read-white-dwarf-from-issue-1.405199/page-4

Free Map Friday

 I'm always looking for new maps so I started drawing some. They're pretty rough - but they're free!

Available for use in any way, including commercially, with attribution:

Map by WR Beatty

If you want a larger image or a different format or just to tell me you used the map:

daenralworld AT gmail

Skills

Every time we game - and we've drifted through mashups of all kinds of D&Desque rules sets - from Black Hack and S&W, D&D B/X and AD&D 1st and 2nd ed, we've dabbled in fifth ed - as well as dropping in all kinds of house rules and other games' rules - critical hit/failure, DCC's magic system, the STUNT tables from Fantasy Age (using 3d6 for combat rolls no less...) and a million others.

For so many reasons, I want to go back to a fairly flexible, mostly rules-light system. I usually default to S&W with a bunch of house rules and that's okay. Most of what I been writing for publication has been in a houseruled S&W campaign world. 

So here's an idea for skills that keeps the idea of "rulings not rules" without getting too bogged down...maybe

On the character sheet are four columns with headings:

Very good at     Good at      Bad at     Very bad at

Maybe at the beginning of character creation could add one or two actions/skills in the good and the bad columns.  Like Good at swimming, running, bad at horseback riding, being quiet.

Good at skills come out at the player's discretion, bad at skills come out at the DM's discretion. 

When a roll is a critical success (Nat 20), the skill moves one column to the left, when a roll is a critical failure (Nat 1), it moves one column to the right. 

Being good or bad at something might make a +/-1 adjustment to the roll. Being VERY good or bad at something could use the advantage/disadvantage system. 

The DM might have a list of appropriate skills mapped out ahead of time or they could simply be the skills that come up during play. 

Say a character attempts to leap over a low wall and fails a dexterity check. No big deal, that's what we use the check for. BUT, suppose the player rolled a 1 on the check... then Bad at acrobatics or something could be added to the list (the player/DM would agree on the "skill" in question). Undaunted, the player tries the skill several more times (with a -1 penalty) and succeeds and fails a few times but eventually rolls a 20. He moves the skill over to "Good at". If he rolls another 20 he can become very good at the skill which gives him advantage and won't ever be reduced unless a double failure happens (two 1s) which move his skill back to the right (good at), etc. If you are very bad at something and you roll 2 20s, you shift it to the left, bad at...

Probably too complicated for a system that I want to be simple... 

But it'll be fun to playtest.

New Campaign... and so it begins again...

I've always had a soft spot for The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh - I bought it back in the day when it first came out and ran a couple parties through it over the years - though only one got through both parts. I have several times planted the adventure as part of a sandbox introducing new characters to a new campaign - sometimes they take the hook, often they don't.

So - my daughter has asked me to DM again - she just led some of her friends, brand new to RPGs, through a couple adventures for the Black Hack: Bloat Cave of the Man Flies and Prisoners of the Gelatinous Dome! They had a blast, but she said she missed playing (and felt a little overwhelmed running the game, even with the scaled down Black Hack rules).

So we're going to go through the U series as a sandbox. Yes, I bought The Ghosts of Saltmarsh - I'll be using it primarily for the village and some of the "other" adventures that I don't already own - but I'll use the originals for the "main" adventures.  Though even that's a bit of a misnomer, since it's mostly a sandbox that'll have tons of rumors and clues - there's about a dozen adventure opportunities (a certain reptile cult seems to be forming in Orlan... I mean Burle and there's been weird weather lately... like the very elements themselves are being stirred up... along with the regular humanoid incursion threats and the Lizard men and the Sea Devils and shipwrecks and, well, you get it).

So - here's the introduction for my daughter's party. We're going to start very prescriptive to give her group a strong hook to get them to the Saltmarsh area, but not so much that they will go right to the House on the cliff...

They will be approached by a man in a coach escorted by two of the Kingsguard.

Well, finally we meet.  You have been long away from home, it seems. Do you recognize the name Alvaro D’Alboran? You may not, indeed, as he died perhaps before you were born.  But rest assured, you would do well to remember the name, for he was your father’s, father’s brother, and, while you may indeed not know who he was, he has nevertheless provided an incredible opportunity for you.
 I hold here a writ, to the heirs of [your father], for a house and property near a little fishing town called Saltmarsh along the coast of the South Sea.
 As I understand it, your great-uncle died about 20 years ago. Alvaro was an alchemist of some renown, though not affiliated with the Alchemy Guild. The house on the coast is yours free and clear. But know this, it has stood empty for all these many years and it is certainly in need of repairs. Your great-uncle seems to have taken this into account as he has also left some money for you at the Chapel of St. Procan in the village of Saltmarsh. The exact amount is not given here, but I expect you will be able to care for the estate, should you choose to claim it.
 One other thing to note that you may not know. The law of the land is this: you must lay claim to your property within 60 days of receiving official notice of ownership. This is your notice. You have two months.
 Do you have any questions?

He knows:

·        Saltmarsh – where it is and how to get there; ruled by a town council elected from the prominent families; has a reputation of being friendly with the Sea Princes (pirates); is primarily a fishing village and a trader layover port

·        Uncle – disappeared about 20 years ago (actually 17 years ago) presumed dead; he was an alchemist, was very successful and was considered an enemy of the Alchemist Guild

He suspects:

·        Uncle may have been murdered (no evidence) – probably by the Alchemist Guild

·        House may have squatters or worse (monsters?)

He does not know:

·        Anyone in Saltmarsh

·        Where the house is located

·        What they have to do to claim the property (beyond showing the writ to the local authorities)

·        How much money is at the Chapel

He is willing to accompany the deed holder (for a significant fee) to verify the seal on the document if desired, though he is likely to be a liability on a journey: he is accustomed to certain amenities (a coach, sleeping at inns and wayhouses, warm meals) and he is a non-combatant (in fact, he is likely to faint or flee if combat occurs) with one exception – he will defend the weak or the helpless (not very effectively, but still…).

He is both a monk (of the order of St. Ashar) and a government official and he takes both of those roles very seriously so he will always tell the truth as he knows it and will always seek to uphold the law as he understands it.

The Black Hack

So my daughter is having a game day with some kids from school today - mostly Playstation 'cause they're like 15 - but she asked me this morning (thanks for the notice!!) to print up some "D&D stuff" because the guys coming over want to try it out and she wants to try running a game.

She's played a dozen or so times with me under various cobbled together rule sets so I think she's ready to try... but not ready to digest a hundred pages of rules.

Enter the Black Hack.  Nicely streamlined with some new edition kind of features (advantage/disadvantage being the most obvious) and some neat quirks (I love the usage die idea and have adapted it in a couple of ways for my own use), the Black Hack has enough rules to get them started but is slim enough to digest and get ready on the drive (my daughter's school is 45 minutes away - so we'll be getting the guys - they will have that drive to digest the, what, like 8 or 10 pages of character stuff... and my daughter can take the whole hour and a half to get the rules and adventure ready...).

So I found her a couple of interesting but fairly simple introductory adventures and printed off some pregens (though I suggested she should have them roll characters - it should only take about 10 minutes...).

I'm going to have to fight my nature (to meddle) and let the adventure fly. I'll drop in and out of the game day (lots of meetings for me today) but I'm going to try to make sure I listen in a bit on the "D&D stuff."

Thanks David Black!