Fire and Incorporeal Undead

... Immediately [Frodo put on the Ring], though everything else remained as before, dim and dark, the shapes [Ring Wraiths] became terribly clear. He was able to see beneath their black wrappings. ... In their white faces burned keen and merciless eyes; under their mantles were long grey robes; upon their grey hairs were helms of silver; in their haggard hands were swords of steel. ... Desperate, he drew his own sword, and it seemed to him that it flickered red, as if it was a firebrand. Two of the figures halted. The third ... sprang forward and bore down on Frodo.

Aragorn cautions Frodo not to put on the Ring

At that moment Frodo threw himself forward on the ground, and he heard himself crying aloud: O Elbereth! Githoniel! At the same time he struck at the feet of his enemy. A shrill cry rang out in the night; and he felt a pain like a dart of poisoned ice enter his left shoulder. Even as he swooned he caught, as through a swirling mist, a glimpse of Strider leaping out with a brand of flaming wood in either hand. ... (J.R.R Tolkien, "A Knife in the Dark", The Fellowship of the Ring, pp 240-1, Ballantine Books)

------

I was just (on 15 April) playing in Aleksandr Revzin's iteration of Michael Curtis' Stonehell Dungeon in a certain pink-lit, pain-oriented temple-area of the dungeon, and a number of incorporeal undead appeared through the walls to attack our party. I was pretty sure they were wraiths; when they touched and level-drained to death a first level fighter-comrade, I was more sure they were wraiths. Technically I still don't know ...

But when another comrade, using a character who is a droid-body sent down by an orbiting starship, fired a ray gun at one of the wraiths (FLAILSNAILS is weird sometimes all the time), and Revzin our referee was considering whether it should affect an incorporeal undead, the same question ran through my mind. If I were referee, how would I adjudicate this?

Good thing I've done some thinking about this with my radiation rules. I'd adjudicate that a ray gun, as a kind of Coherent Radiation Emission Weapon System (CREWS for you Iain M. Banks fans), would affect such a creature, given that radiation damage does. So all well and good so far ...

But then I was thinking, what about fire? It's not coherent, but it is kind of a radiation ... or, one could say, it's also incorporeal, and so could affect bodiless things just as it does those embodied in flesh. Either way, it seems to me that open flames and fire in general should definitely affect incorporeal undead, even those "only affected by silver or magical weapons." After all, Aragorn and the hobbits are able to drive back the Ring Wraiths with torches at Weathertop! And fire is one of the main folkloric means of destroying a vampire, another kind of horrible undead ... Why not let miserable first level characters faced with lesser wraiths fight with fire??

Viggo Mortensen was good, but Bakshi's Aragorn (top image)
just seemed far and away more Aragorn to me

------

All of which is a longwinded way of saying that I think torches should deal 1-4 damage against even incorporeal undead, while burning oil (though it cannot "cling" to something incorporeal) can burn from the ground below to cause 1-8 damage against the same.

Which is not to say that extremely cold undead (as many tend to be ...) will not immediately put out a torch or an oil-fire, either by mere presence, or in the course of being affected by it ...

I'm sure others have come to the same conclusions, and others the opposite. But for my game, I think incorporeal undead are affected by silver or magical weapons, or fire.

Jungles of Chult: Wakanga's Journal

Given to the players by the merchant prince Wakanga, after last session--their successful return from down the River Tiryki seeking the Tomb of the Serpent Kings.

The journal is worn and waterlogged ... except the physical copy I gave to the players is not, because I wasn't sure what would happen to the 24-page pocket-journal if I threw it into a puddle.

A sketch of some of the crew at the outset of the expedition, ready and optimistic ...

------

p2.
[a MAP of the route]

p.3
EXPEDITION from NYANZARU
-- Myself & VORN
-- TXALA & SIGHING WIND -- guides
-- NBOMA OXFIST  --
-- ZEBU the WILD    -- fighting-men
-- MLALA TURKA -- fighting woman
-- SIFISO, FUDU, CWATHA, porters

3 CANOES
350 days rations
insect repellant
dozen canteens, pots for boiling water
3 tents

OUR GOAL: the lost city of OROLUNGA & its ORACLE!

p4.
Day 1 -- Sailed from Nyanzaru to Ngana to collect final supplies. Clear skies, no sign of AREMAG. Arrived in good spirits. Shared a feast and a toast to our continued success at the inn. Now to bed--set out early in the morning.

Day 2 -- Word of plesiosaurs off beach--we hired mules to port our canoes & set off due south. Passed through the Palm Orchards of Ishau, bought palm wine to add

p5.
to our supplies for morale. At jungle's edge, sent mules and teamsters back. Claw-runners shadowed camp, but NBOMA & MLALA scattered them with well-shot bows. Into jungle to morrow [sic].

Day 3 -- Weird mists in the morning. Passed 3 women by a broken canoe on the shore as we paddled by. I wanted to help, but ZEBU & TXALA shook their heads--"They are evil spirits." They called out to us most pitifully, but we went on.

p6.
I thought I heard cackling through the mists when we lost sight of them. Am left discomfitted & restless.

Day 5 -- Spotted a behemoth in the morning, eating from the treetops with its long neck. Almost lost a canoe when its tail swept beneath. Then, once camp was made, a mist rolled out of the jungle--blue & thick. TXALA & WIND got everyone

p7.
up the trees to let it pass. Poor FUDU got a lungful, though, & now won't stop telling us that he feels something watching him.

Day 6 -- An easy day. We're making progress upriver

Day 7 -- FUDU is still raving about being watched. Almost started a fight by accusing NBOMA of stealing. MLALA got NBOMA cooled down & ZEBU pulled FUDU aside for some kind of tea concoction. He's calm now

p8.
Day 8 -- Met a group of folks coming downriver--led by HEW HACKINSTONE the dwarf. Warned us about the forest upriver--"place of a thousand demons"--we sent FUDU downriver with them.
Further upriver found a dead man on the bank--one of their expedition? Was badly eaten.
Took right fork in river, but by night it seemed wrong choice--became narrow, difficult to traverse. Forest filled with evil eyes & sounds.

p9.
Day 9 -- LOST. River became a maze. A talking ape with black eyes followed us, offering directions, but only seemed to get us more lost.
The forest is filled with mutterings, and we have lost a full pack of rations--taken by thieving monkeys?

Day 10 -- back on track. Found dead explorer on bank--much decayed already. Took left fork of river--seems good so far.

p10.
Day 11 -- Canoe capsized in the morning by snake-like beast. ZEBU was badly bitten, but spears, &c. were able to drive it off.
ZEBU patched himself up, & we made good time after that. Lost a week of rations.

Day 12  Passed a herd of duck-bills feeding at the riverside around noon. They watched us, but did not flee. Seemed a free herd--very beautiful. Otherwise, made good time.

p11.
Day 13 -- Caught side [sic] of a fortress on a high outcropping of rock--TXALA called it TAMBA ROCK. WIND added that the master is old & eccentric & some kind of magic-user. Considered going to ask for supplies, but decided against. Continued on.

Day 14 -- A good day of travel. Had some trouble getting to the bank to make camp b/c a swarm of piranhas decided to hang around beneath our boats all afternoon.

p12.
Day 15 -- An aarakocra patrol passed over us in the morning, but did not hail us. We continued upriver without further incident.

Day 16 -- No trouble today

Day 17 -- No trouble. Counted rations--175 days remaining. We'll need to resupply somehow, as we must push on.

Day 18 -- Good day. Clear air, river beautiful. Sometimes I enjoy the jungle & its majesty!

p13.
Day 19 -- Lost ZEBU & SIGHING WIND. Were ambushed by lizardmen shortly after midday. Their javelins killed WIND, & then while we got into the boats, ZEBU went back to try to grab WIND'S body. They pulled him down ...
The blood in the water attracted piranhas & we just camped in the boats, run aground as well as we could.

Day 20 -- Damn piranhas stayed with us all night. Damn this place. Damn it all.

p14.
Day 21 -- Killed a giant snake tonight & cooked & ate it. Good thing too. Supplies are getting low--we lost some after the lizardmen attacked

Day 22  We hailed some passing aarakocra in the morning & sought to trade with them for rations. They gave us a week of their fare for a share of spears from us. Uneventful otherwise

Day 23 -- A great Stone tree rises out of the jungle to

p15.
the northwest. It is not OROLUNGA, but we will investigate it nonetheless. Killed another snake in the morning--they are not bad eating at all!

Day 24  Left the canoes ag [sic] tied & hidden at the bank--we now strike inward, into the jungle. May the gods help us.
--Later--made camp--no trouble through the day. STone [sic] tree not far, we'll get there tomorrow I think

p16.
Day 25 -- Got to the tree at midday. The place is filled with giant wasps. CWATHA was stung--I do not think he will make it. The tree is hollow--inside, it seems it was once furnished. There are pieces that make me think another practitioner of the arcane arts once dwelt w/in, but the place is long abandoned.

--Later--CWATHA did not make it. We buried him under a cairn in the jungle.

p17.
Day 26 -- We go SW, seeking a NW tributary to the SOSHENSTAR. I hope to find OROLUNGA at its head.
CLAW-runners attacked us as we made camp, but VORN drove them off. He has always been a stalwart companion--if only he could know how much I appreciate his presence.

Day 27 -- Still SW. It is difficult going through the jungle. Always hacking with the machete, climbing roots, fighting mosquitoes. I can't wait for a bath in Nyanzaru.

p18.
Day 28 -- Found the tributary! A flock of leatherwings descended on us as we came on it, but our arrows and my spells brought some down. We tried to eat them, but there is surprisingly little meat on the creatures. The rest of the day was spent following the tributary NW. No other trouble.

Day 29 -- Disaster. We were attacked by a mouth-dragon as we rested at midday. It came out

p19.
of the jungle & before we could do anything it had snapped jaws around NBOMA & tossed him into the air. It was horrible ...
We fled, & it seemed content to eat him & let us go.
That was not the end of our trouble, though--that evening as we made camp, horrible things like small mangy bears came up out of the jungle. They attacked with their claws, & I saw MLALA'S & TXALA'S

p.20
armor literally deteriorate before my eyes as they struck. But I managed to put them all to sleep with a dwimmer, & we slew the things then. TXALA called them "Zorbos"--foul creatures!

Day 30  Continuing NW along the tributary. I hope we are close to OROLUNGA.

Day 31  Attacked by stirges at midday--I slept them, & we slaughtered

p21.
them. In the afternoon, mists began to roll down from upriver to the NW--not the evil blue mists, but a natural fog ...

Day 32 -- The tributary has led us into an area of hot springs, mists, & volcanic activity. There are geysers & deep pools of hot acidic water of brilliant blue color; & there are fissures of hot rock & mud that open up into the

p22.
We were attacked. Lizardmen came from the mists.
Killed everyone--TXALA, MLALA, SIFISO
VORN is with me. I am injured. Without VORN I would be dead.

They came out of the mists--bright red skin, some were mounted on bird-things.
They hurled javelins, & one was a sorcerer--summoned fire in his hands & cast it forth.

p23.
Poor MLALA burned to death. TXALA was overcome. SIFISO ran, & died w/a javelin in his back. At least, I think he was dead.
VORN saved me. We fled into the jungle--I am lost. Must try to find the river. find my way back.
My leg is wounded--the blood dried--it hurts, but I should not die of blood loss.
I fear I will not make it out.

p24.
LOST
HUNGRY
FOUND FRUIT
CANNOT FIND WATER
ATTACKED BY SNAIL
LEG SWOLLEN--INFECTED
I AM DYING
VORN CANNOT HELP ME
CURSE THIS PLACE
CURSE THIS JUNGLE
CURSED BE THE THOUGHT EVER TO SET FOOT IN THIS HELL

The Three Crowns

Kord, half-orc fighter/cleric of Kord the god of strength, was seeking a means of advancing beyond the limit of cleric level 4 set for half-orcs. His god sent him a dream-quest: find the Black Crown of the Getae and make yourself their priest-king, and I will reward you with greater power.

Seeking out the aid of Axxl the Mask, one of the local sages in the Greyhame Game (and paying him a fair amount of gold for the sage's work and time), Kord is told something of the lore of the Three Crowns ... The short of it is:

The White Crown is hid in the Mouth of the River ...
the Black Crown is held by the Old Man Under-Mountain ...
and the Red Crown was lost, but has been seen again, on the brow of Veiteric, chief among the Getae ...

------

When the Brondings came down out of the north to seize their kingdom from the Chaotic princes and barbarians who had squabbled since time immemorial, Brond was at their head, and on his brow there shone the White Crown of the Brondings.

Brond it was who fell in love with a naiad queen on the banks of the Coldwater River, and it was there, later, that he was ambushed by the Getae under the falls. Rather than surrender his sword, he broke it against a rock, and was slain there; but the naiads took the sword at their queen's behest, and reforged it in secret, and gave it to Brond's son, Gram, for vengeance. And so the Brokenbrand Falls had got their name.

Roland blowing his horn Olifant at the battle of Roncevaux after failing
to break his unbreakable sword Durendal; but it may as well be Brond,
having broken his sword ...

Then the Brondings warred against the Getae of the forest and their Elfin masters; and they drove back the Elves to the eastern reaches of the Dwimmerholt, and overmastered the tribes of the Getae.

Ever had the Getae been led by two kings, the War-King and Priest-King; now the Brondings renewed that custom, but they gave to the Getae two crowns, the Red Crown for the War-King, and the Black Crown for the Priest-King, and the two crowns of the Getae were bound by powerful oaths and ancient magic so that those who wore them were sworn forever to serve the wearer of the White Crown (the rightful king of the Brondings).

For a time, then, there was peace in the land; and several generations knew war only as they went to seek it in foreign realms, for gold or for glory. ... But Chaos has a way of worming into the hearts of men, and corrupting the Order they have built when they think their cherished kingdoms are secure ...

So it was that the last of the Brondings, Durand-King, fell for and wedded a serpent in the guise of a woman, and her influence poisoned the realm. The tribe of Galad, scions of a knight who had served loyally under Brond and who were led now by his great-great grandson Aldanus, denounced the queen as a serpent; but Durand refused to listen, and he named the sons of Galad wolves and traitors to be hunted down. Armies were raised; the tower of the Galad tribe was reduced and taken, and the tribe was hunted down and destroyed root and branch.

But of old, the Galad tribe had been the keepers of the Crowns of the Getae, situated as they were between the Bronding kingdom and the forest realms of the Getae; and so they had their revenge. The Black Crown they secreted deep in the caverns below the Glimmervaults, entrusted to an elusive earth-spirit known only as the Old Man Under-Mountain. And with the Red Crown, the last surviving nephew of Aldanus, one Aldaric, raised the tribes of the Getae in rebellion against Durand-King.

So a great battle was fought in the depths of the Dwimmerholt--Aldaric Galad, nephew of Aldanus, wore the Red Crown of War; but he was cut down in battle, and the Crown was lost in the confusion that ensued. ... And for a long time it was lost or thought destroyed; but there are rumors now that a certain chieftain of the Getae, Veiteric hight, wears a band of red gold upon his brow, and that his glance cows all who look on him, and that his word is law among the forest tribes ...

As for the White Crown, it was taken from Durand-King after his victory in the Dwimmerholt, taken by a council of his own knights. They had stood by their king when Aldanus Galad first denounced him, but after the extermination of that gallant tribe, they came around to see Durand-King as the tyrant and wolf that he was. So they ambushed him one day while he hunted, and took the White Crown from his brow, though they left him his life--to their demise in the end.

Still, the Crown they took to the naiads of the Brokenbrand Falls, to secret away as they would, until one worthy of the Bronding kingship should come again and claim it. Legends say that the naiads hid the White Crown in the Mouth of the River--though that makes little sense when the mouth of the Coldwater lies so many hundreds of leagues to the west, pouring into Ocean ...

So that is the tale of the Three Crowns, so far as it goes; it touches upon much of the history of the realms, but not all of the history is needed to understand their significance.

Greyhame Mountain Dungeon Expedition 27

Orcs have returned to the caverns of the Glimmervaults ...
the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves have renewed their ancient alliance in the dungeons beneath the Howling Tower ...
the secret treasury of the Bronding Kings is said to lie hidden behind the Brokenbrand Falls, enchanted by haunting naiads ...
Jaer the Windlord looks down on the world below from the Eyries of the Eagles atop the Greyhame Mountain itself ...
and the Stars themselves are singing an eerie, eldritch song, night after night ...


5 April's roster:
June (cleric 1)
July (half-Elf magic-user 1)
Aethelwulf (paladin 4)
Lead (cleric 4)
Blackleaf (Elf 4?)
Koko (woman-ape 2)
Little Bob (travelling-man 5)
Kord (half-orc fighter 4/cleric 4)
Ham (cleric 4)
Thaddeus (fighter 1)
and sundry mercenary hirelings, though no dogs this go-around

In town, Aethelwulf bought a bee-stinger dagger from a passing merchant (from d12 oddments table).

Little Bob hired a merchant to go south to specifically find and bring him snake-killing weasels, spending 300 gold for the service; seeing this, Kord did the same, but spent 600 gold for the fellow to seek out orc mastiffs. The merchants won't return for another two sessions at least (one week travel there, one week back, at minimum).

The party then put their heads together ... and conspired to infiltrate Oakridge Castle to kill/kidnap Morholt, the usurper-lord who had taken power after the late lord Albrecht III died--and to boot, Morholt had taken the widow of Albrecht, Lady Sonora, prisoner and held her with the intent to force marriage upon her--until our heroes put an end to that plot by freeing her!

So, their plan was to repeat the success they had had with the last infiltration mission when they rescued Sonora, except that this time the entire party was going to climb the tower to penetrate the keep. From Sonora, they learned that Morholt's chambers were "down the hall from my prison, and on the right. You can't miss it."

Okay, so the party marched their way out of town and around to the northwest to the north side of the ridge on which the castle of Oakridge overlooks the village of Brakeridge to the south. They kept to the trees; and though the treeline had been cut back from the castle's walls, it turns out that spells like sleep and hold person have a range of 240 yards when outside of dungeons, which is pretty much like a lobbed longbow shot. So the 12 guards on the two turrets of the keep, 6 on the west turret, 6 on the east, were all well within range, even with the characters lurking in the trees.

So Blackleaf cast sleep over the west group, and all of the guards fell into a magical sleep. The guards on the east tower failed to notice; Blackleaf cast another sleep spell sent 4 into a magical sleep. As the last two guards stood by, trying to figure out what just happened, Kord cast a hold person spell at them and they failed their saves.

Koko then used her ape-ness to climb up the keep's walls and cast down ropes, and the party slaughtered all the sleeping and held guards, all without alerting any of the other guards on the other turrets. On the keep, a trap door opened down into the interior; the party dropped through and found themselves in an E-W corridor with a door pretty much in front of them (and down the hall to their left was the door into Sonora's former chambers).

Blackleaf used ESP through the door and detected a human thinking about his lordship and other more alien thoughts. This must be Morholt's room, the party said, but then dithered in the hallway long enough that a hear noise check for those inside the room succeeded. The door cracked open; a large spider peeked out and whispered to Koko, "Go up the ladder and shout."

Koko failed her save against spells and immediately turned to do what was said, but Ham cast a hold person spell on her, and she failed that save too, so she was paralyzed. The party then burst through the door! But the guy on the inside was ready, and initiative was rolled ...

So as Kord burst through the door, he was met by a sword swung by the thickly-muscled arm of a consummate fighting-man, broad-shouldered and narrow hipped, hair dark, face blackened with a fighting-grimace. At his feet were two serpents that also struck out at Kord and Aethelwulf.

Over the next couple rounds, Kord took several hard hits from the man's sword; meanwhile, Kord and Aethelwulf each took a bite from a serpent, and both failed their saves. Both took an antivenin passed forward from those in the back; Kord made his second save, but Aethelwulf failed his, and as the paladin's heart began to palpitate wildly and sweat break out over his pallid skin, he fell over dead the next round.

But then Lead threw a hold person spell at the warrior, and he failed his save, and became suddenly rigid and unable to act. The serpents were both quickly slain, and the party piled into the room.

Blackleaf's ESP established that this man was indeed Morholt. The party disarmed him, and tied him up (as well as they could with him being rigidly paralyzed). Then they heard a knock at the door: "M'lord, are you okay? We heard shouting ..."

"No, no, perfectly fine!" someone in the party shouted back gruffly. "It was nothing--just knocked a desk over!"

A high reaction roll and cowed servants led to the servants slinking away, back down the hallway, leaving the party to do what they might to loot the chambers. They found themselves in a kind of antechamber with tapestries and with shelves of books. Through a second door, they found the master's chambers, with a number of obviously lootable items--a boar-hunting spear on the wall with a hunting horn, robes of fox and ermine furs, etc. etc.

The party grabbed what seemed easily movable and then headed back out to the corridor to go up the trapdoor and escape. But they heard thoughts/talking on the wall above. They almost talked themselves out of going up out of fear, but finally agreed to send someone up the ladder with Morholt and a dagger at his throat to try to get the guards above to surrender.

What ultimately happened, though, is that once the party got up onto the fighting-floor of the keep's roof, they had to fight through six guards, and try to prevent other groups of guards running to intercept them from other turret-tops. Blackleaf poured oil on the stairs and lit it on fire to prevent other guards from getting to the fighting-floor while Kord held the line against the last few guards. Six more guards were killed in the melee, but the party managed to descend their ropes while the oil-fires held the last few guards at bay.

So they had captured Morholt! They agreed to take him to Sonora; and she elected to take him and a number of her loyal fighting-men and go north to the courts of Vialar, the king of this northern kingdom, and to sue Morholt in the king's courts for his injustice in usurping the castle of Oakridge and holding Sonora hostage.

Meanwhile, other party members took Aethelwulf's body to Lailith, local cleric high enough level to raise dead. She raised him, but alas, Aethelwulf came back with heart palpitations left over from the poison's effects, so he heals at half the normal rate from his sickliness. He paid Axxl the Mask 2000 gold to research means of ending these palpitations ...

And lastly, Lead and Astia (Lead's hireling-woman) caroused, and Astia had a wild trip with some powerful drugs so that she feels like she has some kind of insight that she can call up as to the nature of reality, or something! And also, she earned her way out of normal womanness to being a full-fledged character.

------

Remembrance for the Fallen:
Clara and Ilana (normal women), Marlo and a number of dogs, Gram, Dorcas, Frida, and Johann Haybaler (normal hirelings), Hauka and Wilmerand (weasels), Blade and Boar (boarhounds), Hubert the Peacock and Lysimmachus (normal men), a nameless mastiff, Livy (normal man), Orkie (orc mastiff), Fang (boarhound), Droopy and Snoopy (mastiffs), Dream Destroyer (ghosthound), Arrow (pack dog), Freyja (normal woman), a nameless cur, Hot Dog and Cross (mastiffs), Orion II (lion dog), Bacon (boarhound), Tore (half-orc fighter 1/cleric 1), Jimmy the Snitch (dog), Orion (lion dog), Harambe (man-ape 1)

and for those Enchanted away:
Dol (fyrdman hireling)

New Class: the Ogre

Back when the Greyhame Game was just picking up, only a few sessions in, one of the prospective players asked me if he could roll up an ogre character for the game. No, I immediately replied, wishing as referee to retain control of the game and its B/X basis (this particular player was familiar with 3rd edition and its rules for monsters as characters).

But then I relented. After all, directly from Holmes, "At the Dungeon Master's discretion, a character can be anything his or her player wants him to be. Characters must always start out inexperienced and relatively weak and build on their experience. Thus, an expedition might include, in addition to the four basic classes and races ... a centaur, a lawful werebear, and a Japanese Samurai fighting-man." (p.7, Dungeons and Dragons, by Gygax and Arneson, edited by Eric Holmes, 1979 edition)

So I agreed that he could play an ogre-character, but not until another character in the game had reached fourth level (given that ogres start off with HD 4+1). Well, today he remembered that conversation, and told me he was going to roll up an ogre tonight (probably for Thursday's game). I told him to roll it up as usual, 3d6 in order, and I'll write an ogre-class ... so here goes.

------

The OGRE
Strength is the prerequisite of the ogre class, and STR 13+ provides a bonus of 5% to earned xp, while a STR 16+ provides a bonus of 10% (non-cumulative). Ogres may not be of Lawful, Clannish, Good, or Evil alignment; Ogres of less than INT 13 also may not be of Arcane alignment.

Level 1 -- Bully                       -- 4d8 HD     -- 0 XP
Level 2 -- Brute                       -- 5d8 HD     -- 16,000 XP
Level 3 -- Masher                    -- 6d8 HD     -- 32,000 XP
Level 4 -- Ogre                        -- 7d8 HD     -- 64,000 XP
Level 5 -- Bluebeard               -- 8d8 HD      -- 120,000 XP
Level 6 -- Chieftain                 -- 9d8 HD     -- 240,000 XP
Level 7 -- 7th Level Chieftain -- 9d8+4 HD -- 480,000 XP
Level 8 -- 8th Level Chieftain -- 9d8+8 HD -- 600,000 XP
Ogres may advance no higher than 8th level.

Languages known are Ogre, Orc, Troll, Stone Giant and a pidgin Common. Ogres with INT 13+ may learn additional languages (or be fluent in Common) normally. All ogres start play as illiterate, and remain so until/unless they spend time in-play learning to read and write.

Ogres fight and save as a fighter of a level equal to their hit dice (i.e. an Ogre 1 fights and saves as a Fighter 4). They may use any weapon or shield, but armor must be fashioned specifically for their frame, at great cost. Magic armor may not be worn unless fashioned for a giant-type creature to begin with.

Without armor, Ogres have an armor class of 6; they start the game with a suit of piecemeal armor that lowers this to armor class 5 when worn. To fashion armor for an ogre, the cost is 100 gold for leather (AC 4), 400 for mail (AC 2), or 1000 for plate (AC 0), at minimum.

Because of their great strength, ogres deal 1-10 damage when striking with clubs of their own make. Any other weapon in their hands deals an additional +2 to damage (i.e. a spear would deal 3-9 damage, rather than 1-6). This is in addition to any bonuses or penalties from an ogre's strength score, so an ogre with STR 13 will actually deal +3 damage on every hit with a normal weapon (or 2-11 damage with his own club).

All Ogres begin play with only three items: piecemeal armor, a club, and an ogre-bag. The ogre bag may carry up to 4000 coin of weight, and contains an additional 2-5 random items according to the table at the bottom of the post (roll once at first level; after that, what's in your bag is what you put into it).

At 4th level (Ogre HD 7), an Ogre may invest 5000 gold into raw materials, magical components, etc., in order to complete an esoteric ritual to sew and create a new ogre-bag which is actually a bag of holding. The creation of this bag takes from 1 to 3 months to create, though--as the ritual is largely involved in the slow process of stitching everything together--it may be interrupted by periods of adventuring. Nevertheless, any time spent adventuring does not count toward time spent creating the bag.

At 6th level (Chieftain HD 9, so basically "name level") an Ogre may carve out or seize a cave or some other underground complex as his lair. Depending on the Ogre-character's proclivities, the referee will provide the details for this adventure. Once the lair has been secured and any inhabitants driven off or subdued (or, if carving it out, any attempts to take it by other creatures are driven off), the Ogre will attract a tribe of 2-20 normal HD 4+1 ogres to join him. These do not serve per se, but may be bullied into doing the Ogre chief's bidding.

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Contents of an Ogre's Bag
Roll 2-5 times on this table at first level. After that, what's in your bag is up to what you put into it.

11 - hemp rope 100'
12 - a battered lantern
13 - a week's worth of hardtack and pemmican
14 - two halves of a 10' pole
15 - a large, tarnished hand-mirror
16 - a scroll which is actually a randomly generated treasure map; you can't read it, of course
21 - a lump of wax
22 - a tangled mass of string and twine
23 - a large jar of lard
24 - 50 pieces of greasy parchment
25 - 2-12 iron ingots
26 - large cast iron cooking pot
31 - 4 large, round, river rocks
32 - a broken-off stalactite/stalagmite--may be used as a club that deals 1-12 damage
33 - a cool geode; you think it's worth something, but it probably isn't
34 - a little box of dirt you took off some halfling; doesn't seem worth much
35 - 1-6 chunks of ore; could be copper, might be gold
36 - 1-6 pieces of fool's gold
41 - a large bone whistle fashioned for your lips/mouth
42 - a long braided sling; casting large stones with it, you deal 1-8 damage
43 - soiled laundry (jerkin, etc.) that even you won't wear anymore
44 - a sewing kit with large bone needles--sometimes even ogres need to stitch something!
45 - a large whetstone and a large knife (shortsword) sharpened by it
46 - an idol of your god or giant-hero, whittled with some patience
51 - the corpse of a giant rat
52 - a live troll arm--you've got to keep eating from it day-to-day or it will grow into an angry troll
53 - 1-6 of what might be dragon teeth (the kind that grow armed warriors when planted)
54 - 2-12 orc heads
55 - a roper's gizzard containing 1-3 gems worth 10-100 gold each
56 - a wyvern's sting with one dose left
61 - a giant's femur, scrimshawed with scenes of battle
62 - a cask of fine wine of excellent vintage; you've been saving it for a real shindig
63 - a battered old book of poetry worth maybe up to 600 gold (except you can't read it)
64 - a rolled-up old tapestry worth maybe 100 gold to the right collector
65 - furs worth 100-600 gold
66 - 1000 gold

Radiation Damage

I've been chewing on an idea for radiation, its damage, and the sickness caused therefrom, for my game ... for reasons ... mostly involving the Star Things currently descending over the Greyhame Mountain region.

The first glimmering of this idea came to me through listening to episode 9 of "The Hall of Blue Illumination", a podcast dedicated to M.A.R. Barker's Tekumel setting; around the 1:20 mark (first link, episode 9), Victor J. Raymond mentions radiation damage and how Barker adjudicated that neither cure disease nor neutralize poison spells worked against its effects. What its effects were, alas, we know not--but the idea of radiation as a separate damage has stuck with me over the past few months ...

So anyway, I've got some super-secret write-ups for monsters and spells that cause radiation damage; this damage will apply to hit points as normal damage, but has the added effect that after certain thresholds, the damage causes "radiation poisoning/sickness." Trouble is, what's the threshold?

The chart on Wikipedia for "Whole Body Absorbed" Grays (Gy) seems like a good place to start, given its clear number values and possibilities for nausea, headache, and mortality. Unfortunately, the chart jumps from 1-2 Gy absorbed with 0-5% mortality, to 2-6 Gy with 5-95% mortality! Admittedly, this mortality is over the course of weeks; but dealing 3 damage to a character and having them die ~50% of the time after several weeks regardless of level ... just doesn't seem sporting.

So let's assume 1 radiation damage = .5 Gy (half a Gray). It can still be lethal pretty quick (6 such damage gets one to the "50% mortality in a few weeks" range), but still allows concrete understanding plus the possibility to run away really fast / put something between you and it really fast.

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Radiation Effects

1) up to 2 radiation damage: sunburn, no other side effects

2) 3 to 4 radiation damage: save v. poison at +2 or nauseous all session, at end of session save v. poison or at -1 on all rolls for 1-4 weeks

3) 5 to 12 radiation damage: save v. poison or nauseous for 1-4 weeks, at end of session save v. poison or die in 1-4 weeks; successful save indicates survival, but nausea continues additional 1-4 weeks (i.e. 2-8 weeks of nausea)

4) 13 to 16 radiation damage: save v. poison at -2 or nauseous for 1-4 weeks, begin vomiting and otherwise incapacitated by severe headaches in 1-6 turns; at end of session save v. poison at -2 or die in 1 week, successful save indicates survival, but incapacitated for 1 week, nauseated for 2-8 weeks after that

5) 17 to 60 radiation damage: save v. poison at -4 or confused per the spell by nausea and severe headaches for remainder of session; at end of session, save v. poison at -4 or die in 1-3 days, successful save indicates survival but with 2-7 weeks incapacitated by sickness

6) 60+ radiation damage: save v. poison at -8 or die in 1 turn; success indicates that death is staved off 1-6 turns, but the character is confused per the spell for their last few turns

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There should probably be additional debilitating effects of radiation sickness after, but I'll admit, I'll probably be more generous than Barker as regards spells like neutralize poison etc. curing radiation damage.

Still, we'll see. This is a rough draft. It hasn't actually presented itself in my game yet ... yet ...

11-66 Table for Fighter Abilities at First Level

I wrote this table back in December, and only just rediscovered it. I was reading Jon Peterson's Playing at the World at the time, which is a history of our hobby from its roots in wargaming up through the early years of D&D. Alas, I cannot find the reference in the book at the moment, but apparently a number of referees came up with variant abilities for the Fighting-Man class to roll at first level, to help distinguish one from the next, somewhat in the way that Magic-Users and Clerics are distinguished by their choice of spells.

I was quite taken with the idea, and I thought an 11-66 table, with 36 entries, would provide enough variety for few fighters to be the same, but not take too long to write (also, I have a fondness for 11-66 tables after playing so much of Avalon Hill's Samurai, which uses one for random events each turn). So this is what I came up with; it probably could use a bit more creativity (like Zak S.' random advancement Alternative Fighter), but I'm still using bog-standard fighters in my game:


Fighter Abilities
When generating a fighter-character at first level, roll once on this table using 2d6. Read one as the tens and one as the ones.

11  +1 to hit with swords

12  +1 to hit with pole arms

13  +1 to hit with axes

14  +1 to hit with maces

15  +1 to hit with bows

16  +1 to hit with slings

21  +1 to hit with crossbows

22  +1 to hit with spears and javelins

23  +1 to hit with daggers

24  +1 to hit with hammers

25  +1 to hit in melee

26  +1 to hit with missiles

31  -1 AC with shields

32  +1 damage in melee

33  +1 damage with missiles

34  +1 damage

35  +1 to hit

36  +1 to hit when fighting alongside a companion

41  -1 AC in mail armor

42  -1 AC in plate armor

43  grant -1 AC from your shield to your companion next to you

44  may climb sheer surfaces as a same-level thief when in leather armor

45  may move silently/hide in shadows as a same-level thief when in leather armor

46  may open locks as a same-level thief (when not wearing gauntlets)

51  knows one first level magic-user spell (cannot cast it while armored)

52  knows one first level cleric spell

53  may turn undead as a first level cleric

54  +1 hp per hit die

55  may dual-wield weapons for -1 AC

56  may dual-wield weapons for +1 to hit

61  eldritch aura--may use normal weapons to strike creatures only struck by magical weapons

62  25 gp income per month

63  100 gp income per month

64  knightly title--some discretion as to what this entails, but certainly deference from inferiors, exemption from taxation or some other legal burden, access to a higher social circle, etc.

65  +1 morale to followers

66  +1 to number of retainers one may lead