Blobamous Prime Loves You!

In a given fantasy setting if gods exist and care enough to grant clerical spells or otherwise interact with the inhabitants of the world then the nature of the gods define the setting.

From Middle-Earth to Toril, to Nehwon and Westeros the real story of a fantasy world is the tale of the gods and their machinations. The fiction (or in my case the game) may only tangentially involve deities but that tangent is critical to understanding what is really going on. This understanding is the foundation on which an author or DM must build their setting. From the very face of the planet's geographical features to the motivation of its monsters every aspect of a fantasy setting in which gods are real and have influence is logically tied back to the settings pantheon.

My home setting, The Planet Abbith has no gods. It is influenced by the mythos of Lovecraft so no one (including me) will never know what is really going on. The entities of the Lovecraft Mythos do not grant clerical spells, but clerics gain spells anyway from simply believing (ususally in a religion that is some misguided understanding of a mythos entity). On Abbith, Clerical magic is not supernatural, it is just a realization of the potential of reality manipulated through the interface of a cleric's consciousness, a consciousness that is built around the idea that say Blobamous Prime is an actual god granting spells and not as in reality the monstrous toad that he is. The whole thing is a bit of fictional sleight of hand so we could play with clerics in a setting without gods that care enough about clerics to grant them powers.

Now that I am looking at running some classic modules, starting with B4 The Lost City I find that I can either continue to use Abbith or play in a new sandbox. New sandboxes are always nice, I mean look no rotten chunks of shoggoth in the corner and no one has even peed in it! So what setting to use? I’ve little interest in most of the “established” TSR settings. Too much bloated splatbook and terrible paperbacks mucking up the mental space. Players will have bits of lore about the seventh war of Selunes Dragon riding Tiefling Lancers and Hextor’s Underdark Beholder’s of Doom tucked away and this along with my obsessive nature will create expectations and well , work. And goddammit, with the exception of monster manuals and spell list,  I don’t wanna read anymore D&D fiction, probably ever.

Really the only bit of setting you need for a D&D game is a list of gods for your clerics to chose from. If gods are real, they are going to define the setting. Everything else will follow logically from this. Understand the deities and you understand the world.

Fortunately, I have a book of gods and it is written like my favorite kind of D&D fiction, a monster manual.

This book is a random setting generator.

Before rolling 3d6 in order for the first character, the DM will roll on the following table to determine what god's influence your world.

Roll	Mythos
1	American Indian Mythos
2	Arthurian Heroes (Abrahamic Mythos)
3	Babylonian Mythos
4	Celtic Mythos
5	Central American Mythos
6	Chinese Mythos
7	Cthulhu Mythos
8	Egyptian Mythos
9	Finnish Mythos
10	Greek Mythos
11	Indian Mythos
12	Japanese Mythos
13	Melnibonean Mythos
14	Nehwon Mythos
15	Nonhuman Deities
16	Norse Mythos
17	Sumerian Mythos

If you can’t roll a d17, then add:

Roll	Mythos
18	Roll Twice
19	Roll Twice and add Nonhuman Deities
20	No Gods

Alternatively, the DM could select 5 of the 17 Mythos to discard and roll 1d12.

Once you have determined a mythos then plunder it’s history, myths, stereotypes, and entries in the Deities and Demigods book to build your setting. Remember though, all you need to start is:

“First, he must have a ground level map of his dungeons, a map of the terrain immediately surrounding this, and finally a map of the town or village closest to the dungeons (where adventurers will be most likely to base themselves.”

Gary Gygax The Underworld and Wilderness Adventures -1974

We will roll in a pre-session so I have a day or two to mentally prepare the setting (I will be using modules after all most the setting will be implied at the very least).

I’m kinda pumped, and secretly hope we roll Indian or Finnish

NCO

"N.C.O. Non-commissioned officer. A person hated more than the Germans. Tommy says his stripes are issued out with the rations, and he ought to know."

-Tommy's Dictionary of the Trenches AG Empey -1917

NCO

You are the very sinew of the army, holding what would otherwise be a mutinous band of brigands together. The brass might “strategize” back at HQ with their maps and tea pots but it’s you yelling at the lads to advance when the Boche shells are ripping them to shreds. It’s you who are the rock that remains steady when your officer has lost his mind. You might be a pre-war veteran or by some freak accident the army might have promoted you from the ranks on actual merit.  Whatever the case, you have more in common with the enlisted rabble than the nabobs in command. Not that you won’t follow whatever insane orders they might give you.

Attribute: Wisdom. The NCO must have a wisdom score of 13+ unless they come to the class via promotion.  

Rank: The NCO starts the game as a Corporal / Caporal under the command of an Officer. It is your job to make sure the Officers orders are followed. You take command of the unit if your officer is killed. You also roll to determine loot if your unit takes an enemy position.

Equipment: NCO uniform, either: rifle, light weapon, or side arm.

Skills

Duty before Dishonor – You can sacrifice 2HP to not be suppressed.

Rally – If the NCO’s unit is suppressed, they may attempt to Rally them. Roll a wisdom check versus a DC of 20 minus the unit’s morale. If successful the unit is no longer suppressed.

Mortars – The NCO can call in the Companies mortars once per mission. Make an attack roll modified by wisdom bonus to hit a target. Everyone in the same range band as the target must make a dexterity save or take 2d6 points of damage. (3d6 for 1917-1918)

Bully – The best NCO’s are feared like a stern father. You can use this to your advantage. During the Front Phase you can Bully the quivering rear echelon clerks for supplies. Roll on the following table

1 – They call your bluff, you get nothing

2-5 choose one of: Ammo, Food, Kit or Weapons

6 –Booze

The Old Man

"The Old Man" Captain of the Company. He is called "the old man" because generally his age is about 28.

-Tommy's Dictionary of the Trenches AG Empey -1917

Officer

You hold a commission in the Army. You may have gone to a military academy, or had your position secured by family connections. You start the game as a subaltern but judging by the depressing casualty rate of line officers if you can just stay alive you will probably be offered a promotion. Ostensibly, your job is to lead the men of your section to victory, while at the same time keeping strict records on the quantity and condition of whatever personnel and equipment the army sees fit to entrust you with. In reality you are constantly juggling the often times conflicting demands of HQ and the needs of your men. It’s not easy to find the right balance between shrill martinet and chummy uncle that is required of a good commander, but if you are lucky you have a sturdy NCO to help.

Attribute: Charisma. An officer must have a charisma of 13 or better unless they come to the class via promotion.

Equipment: Officers Uniform, Side Arm, Field Glass, Whistle.

Rank: The Officer starts the game as a 2nd Lieutenant / Sous Lieutenant

Skills

Soldiers – The officer has command of NPC soldiers. A Lieutenant commands a section or platoon, a Captain commands a company, and a Major or Colonel commands an entire battalion. These troops are vital on missions, and can also be used to perform task during The Front turn phase. Your duties include keeping a record of these troops on your character sheet. If a soldier under your command survives 5 missions they increase in level.

Artillery Strike – Once per Mission Phase you can request artillery support. This requires the use of a soldier who will no longer be available for the mission. Make an attack roll modified by Wisdom to determine if the coordinates are correct, then roll 2d6 plus proficiency bonus.

2-9 Requests denied

10-12 light bombardment (4d6)

13-18 heavy bombardment (6d6)

Subtract two from the roll if you request a gas attack. (1916 or later)

Inspiring Commands – The Officer may inspire his soldiers and other player characters. Each day they receive a number of inspiration dice equal to their proficiency bonus. At level 1-3 this is a d4, level 4-6 a d6, and level 6-10 a d8. By issuing an order they may also give an inspiration dice that may be added to a d20 roll.

Request Assets – You may request military assets from High Command.  Section, Platoon, and Company commanders request assets from Battalion HQ, Battalion commanders request assets from Division HQ. During The Front phase of the campaign turn make a Charisma Check vs DC 15. If successful, you may select an asset from the following table.

Battalion Assets       Regimental Assets

Food                        Same as Battalion plus  

Ammo                     Heavy MGs

Kit                           Light Artillery

Light MGs                Mortar Section

Replacements          Reassignment to Depot

Batsman / Aide - At level four the Officer is assigned an orderly to assist with administration and personal upkeep.  The Batsman is a first level Rifleman with attributes and may gain experience.

The Solitude of Command – The Officer cannot share a bond with any other players unless they too are Officers.

A year of Old School D&D or All Hail Jabba and the Deep Ones!

Our last gaming session was the finale of an old school D&D campaign that lasted over a year. It started out with Swords & Wizardry Complete, moved to a house ruled S&W, and then switched to my take on Basic D&D Lasers & Loincloths. The game was undertaken in the spirit of old school hack and slash, focusing on dungeons and the danger that inevitably comes when players roll 3d6 in order for stats and the DM makes all the combat rolls in the open.

Eventually we grew out of the “dungeon crawl” as focus of play as the characters began to develop motivations and well, character. They became involved in the power struggle for their home city of Sanctuary, and after “saving” it took off for wider horizons. The campaign became bifurcated with one party on a Sword and Planet sci fi jaunt, and the other trying to not die in a Carcosa hex crawl. Eventually the two parties rejoined to once again save Sanctuary, this time from the unspeakable machinations of a former player character.

We played nearly every weekend for about 15 months, with brief breaks for a few other games. I estimate the campaign lasted 40 sessions.

Many great stories were made, and I think a good time was had by all. The game is now “done.” I intend to have a denouement to revisit the remaining characters just to see what they have got up to. I think perhaps the holiday of Secret Santicore might be a good time to check back in on them.

A complete chronicle of the characters, and the “plot” of the campaign are too convoluted and idiosyncratic to retell fully, (never mind that I don't remember all the details.) I do have quite a lot of data on roll20 however, so instead of recounting the complete history of the adventure how about some statistics?

Lasers & Loincloths

Number of Real Players: 12

Number of Characters Played: 31

Character Deaths: 10

Number of Characters Killed by other players: 2

Highest Ability Score: 18

Lowest Ability Score: 3

Character Race Breakdown:

Human: 20

Elf: 2

Blarka: 1

Robot: 2

Red Man of Shulim: 1 (kind of)

Bone Man of Shulim: 1

Yellow Man of Shulim: 1

Seablood: 1

Space Dwarf: 1

Alien From the Planet Kalmurga: 1

Number of Male Characters: 29

Number of Female Characters: 2

Number of Fighters: 9

Number of Clerics: 5

Number of Thieves: 3 (then 2 with Belgrators class change)

Number of Magic users: 4

Other Classes: 11

Highest Character XP total: 38, 414 (Azax)

Highest Character Level: 6

Highest Character Hit Point Total: 46 (Ibash)

Highest Level of Magic Spell Cast: 3

Highest GP total on a Record Sheet: 100000000000000000000000 gp ( La Bomba)

Highest Legitimate GP total on a Record Sheet: 5200 gp (Azax)

Character that survived the most sessions: Ibash

Character that died the quickest: Redoutable Will (died in first combat)

Number of Crits ( (a roll of 20 on a d20 followed by another roll of 20): 5

Crits on Players: 1

Crits on Monsters: 3

Number of Crits followed by a roll of 100 on the d100 Arduin Grimoire Critical Hit Chart: 1

Number of Shoggoths defeated: 1

Number of Spawn of Shub-Niggurath defeated: 2

Highest Level NPC Defeated: Level 8 Seablood (Fighter/Cleric) Jabba

Civilizations Destroyed: 2

Planets Destroyed: 1

Planets Created: at least 1

Miles Traveled: around 84 trillion

Space Ships Destroyed: 4

Space Ships Lost: 2

Number of Carcosa Hexes Traversed: 16

Dimensions Visited: 4

Magic Rituals Learned by players: 2

Magic Rituals Performed by players: 0

Number of Characters that ascended to Godhood: 1 (Bishma)

Number of Characters that married: 3

Number of Wives: 63

Number of marriage refusals: 2

Number of children fathered: 1 plus the matter created in a supernova

Number of Henchmen lost: we stopped counting at 17