Starfall Progress Report

Today, I can happily say that another zone is fully mapped out. One more, and this megadungeon should be ready to start receiving delvers. Of course, I won't really have time to run a game until this summer, but that just lets me get ahead a bit. Mind you, I still have to stock this zone, but I've got some ideas. (Cue the evil laughter.)

In other news, I have been plugging away at the gods of Alnwich and have made a good bit of progress on that front. They all have unique spell lists and ability lists for their Divine Favor. I still need to go through them all and provide information on making priests and holy warriors for each one, and a bit of fluffy background, but the lot of them are getting nearer to completion. After the gods are finished, the only thing I have left to do on the player-facing side is bang out a Mystic template and keep making abilities.

On the GM-facing side, I still need more encounter tables and monsters. You can never have too many monsters. I am finding that the work on the encounter tables is somewhat driving the monster development, as is the stocking process. I've not been particularly hesitant to create custom monsters for encounters, and I really hope that unknown aspect helps keep player son their toes.

I also need to get back to polishing up the planned guilds for Alnwich, too. I have a couple of secret ones already done. Sorry, I won't post those until players interact with them sufficiently to warrant them finding out their details, too. I was also toying with making monster guilds for down in the dungeon, but that might be (a) too much detail and (b) not the best use of time at the present. Monster guilds will have to wait to be a thing.

Lastly, and I suppose this falls under player-facing, too, I want to take a little time to make a few more vehicle options for the PCs. I don't know how they intend to travel, but if they go by land, they currently only have a few options. So I'm looking to make a few different size sleds and create some modifiers for carts to help with winter operations.

So with that, you know where I'm at. Hopefully you'll see the deities get ticked off the list and posted soonest, followed by guilds and vehicles. I really want to get the player-facing stuff done. That way it's all about the mapping and stocking. And then the playing. Oh I can't wait for the playing...

New Divine Element: Madness

Today I tried to lay out the elements for the divine servitors of one of my gods, and I realized that DF 5 - Allies doesn't have a Madness element. Considering the prevalence of "divine madness" in European pagan faiths, I was really shocked. So I made one:

Lessons from the Megadungeon

I've been working on this megadungeon for quite a while now, and I think I'm starting to come across a few best practices. I'll go over what I've learned so far here for you today.

Mystical Protection

24 / 51 / 120

Power: Body Mastery.

Prerequisites: Body Awareness 2.

You have developed a strong resistance to the mystical powers of others. This is not detectable, and at first level, reduces damage taken from mystical abilities by 3 and grants a +3 bonus to all rolls to resist them. This damage reduction and resistance bonus increases to 8 and +3, respectively. Finally, at third level, your resistance increases to DR 20 and you automatically succeed any resistance rolls.

Your Body Awareness level must be at least twice that of your Mystical Protection level.

Enhanced Skills: +4 to Mental Strength and Mind Block to resist mystical abilities.

Statistics: At first level, this is Resistant to Mystical Abilities (+3) [10] + Damage Resistance 3 (Limited, Mystical Abilities, -20%; No Signature, +20%; PM, -10%) [14]. At second level, this increases to Resistant to Mystical Abilities (+8) [15] + Damage Resistance 8 (Limited, Mystical Abilities, -20%; No Signature, +20%; PM, -10%) [36], and at third level, this becomes Immunity to Mystical Abilities [30] + Damage Resistance 20 (Limited, Mystical Abilities, -20%; No Signature, +20%; PM, -10%) [90].

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Bulette

These heavily armored nightmares combine the most horrid characteristics of wolverines, sharks, and armadillos. They burrow through the earth hunting anything the sheep-size or larger underground or above ground. When stalking terrestrial prey, a bulette will burrow beneath its prey and then burst through the earth beneath its feet with maw gaping. This almost always catches its prey by surprise. Fortunately, however, bulettes are solitary creatures and generally hunt alone.

But These Goblins Are Different!

I’m tired of generic monsters. I mean, how many times have you heard, “You see four goblins…” or the like? Is that interesting? Is that engaging? Not really. So how do we make our sentient monsters different? How do we make them pop? Today, I’m going to discuss a couple of easy ideas that will immediately give your monsters character and definition, and it’s not all that difficult.

Soul Shield

1 point / level

Power: Body Mastery.

Prerequisites: Body Awareness 1.

Activation Cost: 1 FP.

Activation Roll: Will/2 + 3.

You can summon a spiritual shield of pure will to protect you against attacks of any kind. This requires you to spend 1 FP and make a successful roll against Will/2 + 3, at +1 for Combat Reflexes and +1 per level of Body Awareness. Each additional use that turn costs another 1 FP and imposes a cumulative -4 penalty on the success roll.

The shield has ablative DR equal to your Soul Shield level; for every point of damage it absorbs, its total DR is reduced by 1 until it is gone. This DR regenerates fully after five minutes of nonuse. It is safe for GMs to assume that time between encounters is usually long enough for this to occur.

A Soul Shield cannot be perceived without magical or mystical means. To those fighting a mystic with this ability, blows seem to be glancing or just narrowly miss him.

Statistics: Damage Resistance (Ablative, -80%; Active Defense, -40%; Based on Will, +20%; Costs 1 FP, -10%; Force Field, +20%; No Signature, +20%; PM, -10%) [1/level].

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Guilds of Alnwich: Eklund Clan

The Eklund Clan

Rank: Rank 0 to 3.

In Charge: Kari (Cleric of Yaunävä).

In the Ranks: Agents, archers, initiates, native guides, skirmishers, and non-adventuring people.

On the Payroll: Laborers, servants, and non-adventuring people.

Influencing the AR: Savoir-Faire (High Society).

The Eklund Clan is one the oldest families in Alnwich, and they proudly trace their ancestory back to the Skidafolk who populated the area before Usk rule. They have made their living from time immemorial hunting, trapping, and trading in meats, leathers, and furs. Since the fur boom, the Eklunds, who were never especially poor, have come into a tremendous amount of wealth selling their wares to the RMS and providing guides and transport services in the wilderlands.

While the Eklunds have the largest share of the raw pelt market of any single organization, they still have their competitors: the Holts, the newcomer Dahlgaards, and the other smaller companies. It’s hard to tell who the Eklunds dislike more, though. They see the Dahlgaards as outsiders trying to take what rightly belongs to Alnwich, and they have been in a cold feud with the Holts for two generations over a wedding that fell through. They generally don’t see the smaller companies as a threat to their business, though.

The Gods of Alnwich: Jürä

Jürä

of the Ages, the Deep One, the Time Lord

Greater Deity

Spheres of Influence: Boating, Confusion, Fog, Time, the Trollenmere, Water.

Symbols: Cup, Egg, Gray, Hour Glass, Pike, Twilight, Water, Wheel of Time.
Favored Weapon: Staff.

Relationships: Married to Ziluma and father of the Vi­łni.

Jürä is the timeless god of the Trollenmere and lord of all waters in the region. He commands all that happens in and on the water, everything that lives in the water, and the weather above the lake. Within his domain, none can oppose him. He is the viciousness of a sudden storm and the smashing waves; the father of sea monsters, and the husband of the Deep. His wife, Ziluma, whose symbol is a circular net, is the Queen of the Deep and receives the souls of those who drown to death. Their children are the Viłni – the multitudes of waves and horrific lake creatures that plague fishermen and coastal homesteads around the Trollenmere.

Jürä’s waters existed from the beginning and will flow until the end, giving him mastery over time itself. Much as the waters of the lake give life in the fish and drink they provide, all while claiming the lives of countless fishermen and sailor, so too does Jürä’s wheel of time heal old wounds while slowly grinding souls and mountains to dust. His memory spans eons, giving him the wisdom of ages and vision through the mists of time, but he does not see the future. He simply steers the flow and peers into its depths.

Jürä most often appears as an old man in a gray robe holding a staff but rarely makes a personal appearance anywhere. He is stern, unrelenting, vengeful, and destructive, but also honest, steadfast, and trustworthy.

Expanding Languages in Dungeon Fantasy

A while back, I wrote a bit about languages in DF and in Starfall, and an interesting suggestion was made in the comments. I immediately decided to explore the idea and wrote this. Of course, because I write about a month out in advance, this response is only now getting published. I hope it was worth the wait! 

On its own, speaking a language other than the locally common one lets players avoid some nuisances and give a minor situational benefit. This really sounds like a perk to me. Similarly, reading a language gives players access to information and another means of communication, but otherwise isn’t terribly useful. So why does each of these things cost so much in GURPS? Simply put, because GURPS isn’t DF.

Ankheg

Ankhegs are giant burrowing insects that can grow as long as nine feet. They usually hunt along by burrowing undergrown and waiting for unsuspecting prey to walk overhead before bursting from the earth and attacking with fangs dripping with acid. This usually catches its quarry by surprise. When threatened, ankhegs will spray acid from glands in its mouth in an attempt to blind its attackers before fleeing underground.

Update to Monster Template

I have been thinking a bit about other information that would be useful to include in my monster template, and I noticed I missed a couple of things.

Mapping Update

I just finished mapping another level. These keep ending up pretty massive, so I think players will have plenty to do regardless of where they enter the dungeon. Pretty soon, I'll be starting in on the last easily accessed entrance, so I'm kind of pleased with that. I figure once that one is finished, it'll be time to make a serious go at getting these maps completely stocked, detailed, and ready for play. That way, I can start at any time.

Of course, being 100% ready for play will still require a lot of monsters to be statted, a few more random encounter tables, finishing up my Town guilds and organizations, and wrapping up the gods. So still lots to do, but getting closer to playability. Barring life eating me, I should still be on track to have a playable game ready to go by summer, with a ton of mapping already complete. Overall, I'm pleased with progress.

Rouncy

This is a good general purpose horse, useful for work and war – assuming you can’t afford a dedicated warhorse. Rouncies weigh about 1,000 pounds.

Starfall Progress Report

I was checking my to-do list today and realized I don't have that much more that's absolutely necessary to begin playing in a Starfall game. Sure, I have a lot of work for the megadungeon, still, but once I wrap up the deities, I'll have all the building blocks for players to start making characters. That has me pretty happy, since that means I don't technically have to wait to begin playing, even though I will.