Hunters & Killers

A dungeon contains two main things, as I see it - monsters and treasure. One stops (easy) access to the other, and so you trick, maim and murder the monsters to get the treasure - especially when you're using gold-as-xp (as you should). Whilst this is obviously pretty simplistic, ignoring all subtlety and additional functionality, I'm looking more at the relationship between the players and the monsters here. Removing or negating them is a means to an end, which might mean you basically don't need to worry as much about who/what/why - although I still do this, as do most DMs worth their salt - their weaknesses and pressure-points are often entwined with their history, relationships etc, enriching the game-play.

Which is just a complicated way of saying you kill them because they're in the way.

I'm currently thinking about a game wherein you are (primarily) monster hunters, rather than slayers. This entirely changes how the players relate to the monsters - they are the driving purpose, they are the main event. Consequently, how we as DMs work with the monsters has to change to reflect this, thematically, in presentation and mechanically.

(It'll also change the XP calculations - though I'd still probably link it to "treasure", but the treasure being the reward money for claiming the bounty)

Thematics

There's a couple of schools of thought to be applied here - what does the monster mean, or represent*. Integrating monsters into the (super)natural fauna of the land gives them context, a place, relationships with the rest of the system but simultaneously runs the risk of making them a bear or wolf with magic powers, which is a bit shit. This links heavily into presentation, discussed in that section. However, you could argue that animals are not monsters, that animals are an expected element, a known quantity. Monsters are (in my view) essentially aberrations of the natural order.

Taking on this concept of the monster as an aberration, we can play with some pretty fun ideas - they represent a wrongness in the area, whether that be social or environmental - the spirit of your murdered brother, or woodland furies emerging to slaughter woodsmen. With this, you introduce the concept of having two immediate routes to solve the issue - hunt and kill the monster (treat the symptom) or attempting to solve the issue causing the aberration in the first place (cure what ails). This concept is used in The Witcher 3, which is a really good game you should try out - although you do sometimes end up fighting the beastie after solving the problem, albeit in some modified way, such as a weakened state, with greater foreknowledge, or with some form of specialized preparation informed by the root cause - put the spirit to rest with their original murder weapon, or prepare an oil with the weeds atop their unhallowed resting place.

Presentation

The monsters themselves must be presented according to their themes - the must fall into place with their respective systems, whether this is naturalistic "monsters" having nesting and food, or the aberrant monsters presented in such a manner to reflect their nature, and the ill they represent. Either approach can give the campaign a more "folky" feel, relying on the local population, their legends and rumours, a lot of spent in the rural areas rather than the cities and towns. 

Divorced from this, the monsters must be capable of being hunted. This can mean innate stealth, necessitating tracking, great speed or flight, requiring some manner of trapping them or attacking them at rest, or just being them so tough and terrifying that a cunning plan is needed to take them down.

Mechanics

The above points should generally somehow be reflected mechanically - with a lot of these, as with most OSR & OSR adjacent stuff, is in rulings and presentation rather than encoded into rules specifically.

A principal challenge with a hunted monster is ensuring the actual confrontation is interesting - I'm sure we've all experienced the players blitzing a single powerful opponent to death in a single round. HP Bloat is not enough to give this feeling of a genuinely dangerous monster worthy of hunting - elements such as speed and stealth, as with presentation, are key. Tapping into the folky nature of the game, having very specific weakness (which, of course, can be discovered by characters investigating sufficiently) are a both a classic element of such legends, as well significantly toughening up the monster itself.

Of course, an infestation of monsters, rather than a single, powerful creature, entirely side-steps this issue, but changes the entire relationship of the hunt - an extermination rather than a hunt. However, many of the other points above still apply, such as infestation-as-aberration, especially in the case that the infesting creature is otherwise normal in many respects.

*Not that I generally ascribe meaning to anything in my games in terms of real-world stuff, but more a sense of history or integration, or going the other way, a negation or lack of history/integration, and indeed, meaning.

I Ain't Dead

Just busy. Also, if you don't know:

FEVER SWAMP

    FEVER SWAMP

        FEVER SWAMP

            FEVER SWAMP

                 FEVER SWAMP

Is my book you can now buy.

Treasures Locked Beneath Ash and Snow

**GO AWAY SUNDAY PLAYERS**

BAUBLES OF THE SLAVES

x Precious Metal Molars - what wealth was left was hidden in the back of mouth. 2d20 sp each.

x Hands of the Matriarchs - a mothers blessing kept secret and safe for bleak times. By the time they were opened, it was far too late. Snapping off a finger casts a spell at 3rd level. Worth 5000sp, -1000 per used digit.
  Thumb - Cure Light Wounds
  Index Finger - Magic Missile
  Middle Finger - Bless
  Ring Finger - Dispel Magic
  Little Finger - Sleep

x Fingerbone Lockpicks - single use but incredibly easy to hide. +1 bonus to checks with these picks. 20sp each.

x Curried Meats - frozen fresh, still good to eat if defrosted. 1sp each, 1000sp to a trained chef due to lost techniques which could be learned.

x Dead Idols - The many gods of the enslaved peoples, all dead and forgotten. The ire of these dead gods lingers still, and each has a curse associated with it. Worth 400sp in precious materials, 1000sp to a historian.

d8	Ire of a Dead, Forgotten God
1	Weakened spirits of vengeance, still bound to empty duty, will attack the holder each night until the statue is given away. HD 2 / AC AS CHAIN / ATTACK +1 1D8 CLAWING / MOV as DOG / M12 / 3D4 APPEARING
2	The idol draws away all sustenance from food, starving the bearer until the statue is given away.
3	The idol compels the bearer to sacrifice either 200sp or 1HD of life every three days until given away.
4	The idol assaults the bearer with hideous nightmares every night, denying them healing from sleep, and stopping magic users preparing spells, until given away. -2 penalty to all rolls after a week of this.
5	All animals will hate the bearer until the statue is given away, with a 2-in-6 chance of attacking, or else simply running away.
6	The bearer is inflicted with leprosy until the statue is given away. The leprosy will be healed overnight.
7	The user must respond to all violence with pacifism, and all offers of peace with violence until the statue is given away.
8	There is no curse. This god has faded more than the others.

WEALTH OF THE CITY

x Overseers Eyes - Eyes of ancient overseers, given to slave-holding families. The eyes are a reminder of authority, and can be used to command slave-derived creatures if they fail a save vs magic. Worth nothing outside of the city.

x Desperation Furs - As the terrible fury of the Riven Wolf fell upon the city, the clothiers and tailors desperately tried to create winter clothes for the people as they burned all books and papers to stay warm. This desperation sunk into the furs themselves, and they reek of fear. Avoid any natural cold-based damage, halve damage from cold-based magical sources, but roll random encounters twice as often. Predators can smell the weakness. 200sp each.

x Forgotten Saints - The people of the city would not burn their Saints to keep warm, but they were forgotten, bedecked in gold and bone-dry in their sealed chambers. Each will defend itself, although it has long forgotten it's name and it's martyrdom. Worth 3000sp -200sp per point of damage over HP dealt, HD 6 / AC AS PLATE / ATTACK +3 AS WEAPON +3 / MOV AS MAN / M12 / 1 APPEARING

x Crown of the Senator - Each week, this crown passed from one senator to a chosen rival, bestowing authority and benevolence upon the wearer. (Save to take malicious action, others must save to not agree with you. Must be worn for a week.) Worth 4500sp.

SWYVERS MONSTERS

HD ARE d6 (Humans are 3d6 for reference)
Stats are for swyvers - current pdf here

Gargoyle – Living demons encased in stone, perfectly adapted to survive in the more historic streets of the Smoke. The sun hurts them immensely, paralyzing them with pain during the day, something they wish to share at night.

HD 5

ATTACK +3 - CLAWS D8 + 2

DEFENCE – 12

ARMOUR – AS HEAVY (STONE HIDE)

MOV AS MAN

INIT AS LONG WEAPON

MORALE 10

D4 -2 APPEARING

Uses stony camouflage. Uses great weight to drop and crush for 1d12, save to notice and dodge.

Ghouls – Humans infected with The Hunger – when not starvation-wild, they are rational and can be conversed with. Nobles infected with The Hunger manage to stay sane, whilst the poor inevitably end up dead or a member of a ghoul-warren.

HD 2

ATTACK +2 – BITE 1D6 + DISEASE + 1

DEFENCE – 8

ARMOUR – NONE

MOV AS DOG

INIT AS SHORT WEAPON

MORALE 6

D10 APPEARING

Disease – Save or The Hunger sets in. For the first week, you eat twice as much. The second, meat only. The third, only human meat satisfies the hunger. You become yourself when sated, but the hunger always lurks, returning in d6 hours. Your will file your teeth sharp to better bite through human flesh.

Ratmen – The Ratmen do not exist. They are not sneaky, cunning or adapted to their warrens in the Undercity. They do not collaborate with the criminals and the desperate so common to the Smoke. They do not carry any diseases. The bounty for their tail stands at a shilling.

HD 3

ATTACK +1 – AS WEAPON / BITE 1D4 + DISEASE

DEFENCE – AS WEAPON + 3

ARMOUR – AS LIGHT (FUR)

MOV AS MAN

INIT AS WEAPON

MORALE 7

D20 APPEARING

Disease – Save or random disease carried by rat or man.

Ashdweller – Some are forced to dwell in the Undercity, and generations spent away from the Sun take their toll. The Ashdwellers are ghostly pale, hairless and emaciated. Their eyes are huge, and they flee from open spaces with an uncomfortable four-limbed gait.

HD 2

ATTACK +1 – AS WEAPON 

DEFENCE – AS WEAPON + 2

ARMOUR – AS ARMOUR

MOV AS FAST MAN

INIT AS WEAPON

MORALE 5

D12 APPEARING

Inverted Nobles – Ashdwellers driven mad and given to collecting the dropped wealth which filters down into the Undercity, storing finds in their rotund bellies. They are perfectly willing to share this wealth, at a cost – 1d4 permanent damage to a random stat, manifested as the Inverted Noble whispering into your ear, is rewarded with 50 shillings, vomited painfully yet joyously by the Inverted Noble. If killed, their belly contains only corroded, worthless pennies.

HD 3

ATTACK +1 – AS WEAPON + 1D4 PERMAMENT STAT LOSS

DEFENCE – AS WEAPON + 1

ARMOUR – AS ARMOUR

MOV AS FAT MAN

INIT AS WEAPON

MORALE 12

1 APPEARING

Rotworm – The filth of the polluted rivers bleeding from the Smoke into the sea breed awful beasts. The Rotworm slithers through the muck in search of animals to drown using their 8 mouth-tentacles. Those unfortunates are used as egg-casings and birth-food for their loathsome brood.

HD 4 

ATTACK +3 – 1D8 +2 MAUL BESTIAL / GRAPPLE & DROWN 

DEFENCE – AS MEDIUM WEAPON +3

ARMOUR – AS LEATHER (TOUGH HIDE)

MOV AS FAT FISH

INIT AS MEDIUM WEAPON

MORALE 8

D4 APPEARING

Dead Giant – Timeless, deathless, lifeless. The long-dead Giants of the country slumber in chambers riddled with warnings of the terrible uncorpses they contain.

HD 10

ATTACK – SMASH - DODGED WITH DEX ELSE 2D8 +4 DAMAGE

DEFENCE – AS UNARMED

ARMOUR – AS CHAIN (THICK SKIN)

MOV AS LUMBERING, 15FT MAN

INIT LAST

MORALE 12

1 APPEARING

If a giant is not slain within 6 rounds, it will awaken enough to employ any spell of its choosing.

Piteous Giants – Degenerated Dead Giants never given over to slumber yet trapped in the depths. They have the bodies of a naked starved mean, smeared with shit and mud. They still have the head of a Giant, clumsily balanced atop their emaciated frame. The head is hairless, covered with scrapes and bruises. They have bones capable of huge amounts of deformation, allowing them to squeeze through tiny gaps. They have the ability to terrify humans with their dead stares.

HD 4

ATTACK +2 – AS WEAPON +1 or STARE – SAVE OR TERRIFIED, FOETAL POS. 1D4 ROUNDS

DEFENCE – AS WEAPON +3

ARMOUR – UNARMOURED

MOV AS CLUMSY CHILD

INIT AS WEAPON

MORALE 10

1D4 APPEARING

Vampire ¬– The perfect parasite, cursed with deathlessness and all-consuming thirst. Each one is killed in a differing manner, suffering no damage from standard attacks. They can be organised by their weaknesses.

HD 10

ATTACK - +5 – DAMAGE AS WEAPON + 3 OR BITE FOR 1D10 CON DRAIN

DEFENCE – AS SHORT WEAPON OR WEAPON + 7

ARMOUR – AS ARMOUR, IMMUNE TO NORMAL ATTACKS.

MOV AS FAST MAN

INIT AS STEP LOWER THAN WEAPON

MORALE 10

1D4 -2 APPEARING

Common Weaknesses – Silver, Head Destruction, Heart Destruction, Specific Herb, Blessed Weapons (assign 1d4 weaknesses)

Crown’s Own – The elite, professional bodyguard of the Crown and the Crown’s properties.

HD 3+4

ATTACK + 4 – DAMAGE AS WEAPON +2

DEFENCE – AS WEAPON + 6

ARMOUR – HEAVY

MOV AS MAN

INIT AS WEAPON

MORALE 11

1D6 APPEARING

Ruin Men – Flesh of broken brick, rusted metal and street muck. Their blood is the stuff of the filthy river, and its waters heal them for 1d6 a round. Their constructed nature makes bludgeoning weapons very effective against them (increase dice size). They seek to undermine the city and ruin all structures.

HD 5

ATTACK + 4 – SMASH 1D10 + 2 BESTIAL

DEFENCE – AS LONG WEAPON

ARMOUR – AS LIGHT

MOV AS MAN

INIT AS LONG WEAPON PLUS SHIELD

MORALE 12

1D4 APPEARING

Forgotten Dogs – Foul fluids and strays. A conglomerate of lost dogs, trapped in the Undercity and now fused. A canine rat-king with abandonment issues. About the size of a wagon. Treats or a home will just piss it off. Limbs and snapping heads jut out of the central mass. It totters about the tunnels and consumes those it once loved. It has awful mange.

HD 7

ATTACK + 3 – 1D4 BITES FOR 1D10+2 +25% OF RABIES (EACH AT A DIFFERENT TARGET)

DEFENCE – AS SHORT WEAPON

ARMOUR – AS MEDIUM (ABLATIVE LIMBS/HEADS)

MOV AS FAT DOG

INIT AS UNARMED

MORALE 10

1 APPEARING

Swyvers RPG - Formerly Dying in a Tomb RPG

Expect to die and roll characters quickly. Expect to scrimp pennies and murder for shillings. Expect magic to ruin your day. Expect to die in a tomb.

Now features a bunch of stuff. Not necessarily the final version, still some tweaking needed I suspect.

THERE'S GONNA BE AN ACTUAL VERSION WITH ACTUAL ART AT SOME POINT SOON I PROMISE YOU'LL BE ABLE TO BUY IT

CLICK THE PICTURE TO GRAB THIS ANCIENT VERSION

Dying In A Tomb RPG 2 - Dying Harder in a Tomber

[No longer an LotFP hack. Main changes are initiative system, monetary system and generic fiddling all around. Now has a first draft of an equipment list.]

Dying in a Tomb RPG

[Work in progress, more of an LotFP hack at the moment. It'll be worked on I promise guv]

Characters

You're not heroes. You've got no class and you're desperate.

Each character has 4 statistics. Roll 3d6 (in order) to determine their values.

Constitution
A measure of toughness. Also reflects your HP.
Dexterity
How nimble you are. Helps avoiding damage.
Strength
A measure of raw physical power. Increases damage.
Wisdom
The ability to notice things, and unconscious caution.

Score	Modifier
3	-3
4-5	-2
6-8	-1
9-12	0
13-15	+1
16-17	+2
18	+3

Player characters get +1 to hit, and hit points equal to constitution.

I'm still working on money, so use lotfp standard I guess? With a mild adjustment, spoken about below.  (Playing around with using pounds/shillings/pennies because I'm awful)

Fighting

Avoid fights. They're messy and people die. That said...

To hit someone, roll a d20 and add any relevant bonuses (to hit, conditional modifiers). If you roll high enough, you'll hit them. Now roll damage and add your strength modifier. They'll roll armour.

-

Initiative is side-based. Each side rolls a d6. Highest numbered side goes first.

-

Weapons come in 3 varieties. Shit, Normal and Good.
Shit weapons reroll any maximum damage rolls. (if you roll max. damage again, you can have it.)
Normal weapons just roll once.
Good weapons reroll minimum damage rolls. (if you roll min damage again, you take that.)

Damage is as LotFP, but adding strength modified, as mentioned above.
The prices listed assume shit weapons. 1.5x for Normal, 3x for Good.
-

Your defence is based on your weapon. Nobody wants to get hit, so being armed is the best way to stop someone getting in too close. NB. Bestial enemies and attacks bypass this, always attacking as if the target is unarmed. However, they take one attack automatically as they open themselves up to you.

Unarmed/Awkward Weapon - 8
Short Weapon - 10
Long Weapon - 12
Long Weapon + Shield - 14

All of the above values are modified by your dexterity modifier.

Shields increase your step along the the chain by one. Awkward weapons are things like pikes, bows, etc. Some weapons might be dual purpose.

When defending against ranged weapons, the weapon is ignored.

No Shield - 10 + Dex
Shield - 14 + Dex

-

Armour acts as a damage soak. The dice size listed is the amount of damage absorbed by the armour. Every time it sustains a full damage attack, roll under 10 on a d20 or it degrades, protecting at one level less.

Unarmoured - None
Leather - 1d4
Chain - 1d6
Plate - 1d8

-

As you get damaged, your ability to be an effective combatant is reduced.

At 1/2 HP, you take a -2 on all actions from pain, and -1 to damage rolls.
At 1/4 HP, you take a -4 on all actions from extreme pain and loss of function in addition to a -3 to damage rolls. Without medical attention post-fight, roll under constitution to not die. You'll be scarred from your wounds.
At 0 HP, you are unconscious and dying. One body part has been severely damaged or destroyed, and you will require medical attention during the fight to stabilize. If unattended for 3 rounds, you die.
At -3 HP you are completely dead.

Recovering the corpse of an ally allows their XP to be purchased in a straight money-for-XP conversion. This money is spent on the funeral for the player. This XP is divided between surviving characters.

Additional Considerations

Advancement

The only XP gain is from treasure and Expenditure (covered below). Use the direct value of ALL loot recovered from the location and returned to an established 'safe zone' to determine total XP value, and then divide this between surviving characters.

Level	XP
0	0
1	3000
2	6000
3	12000
4	24000
5	48000

When levelling, the characters may gain ONE of the following -

+1 to hit

+1 HP

Reroll on a specific spell (see below)

Reroll on specific task (i.e. picking locks)

Expenditure

Expenditure is vast sums of cash on activities not immediately useful. There are two varieties - Carousing and Research.

Carousing is a big night on the town. The players should describe what they plan to get up to (drinking, whores, tattoos, drugs, etc.) The DM should invent some potential consequences or use a carousing consequence table. The characters carousing will gain some renown in the area.

In a village, you can spend d8 x 100 silver, and gain that much XP. Roll under constitution+2 to avoid consequences.

In a town, you can spend d10 x100 silver, and gain that much XP. Roll under constitution to avoid consequences.

In a city, you can spend d20 x100 silver, and gain that much XP. You'll always suffer consequences.

Research is a less effective manner of gaining XP for accumulated wealth, but lacks consequences and has a small chance of being useful. It requires the character to be able to read, and access to a library (scholarly towns and cities only).

Spend d10 x 100 silver, and gain 1/2 of this amount spent as XP. Every 100 silver spent is a 5% chance to learn something useful. Before the next delve/heist, roll below the total % to gain a question to be asked the DM. This question must be answered truthfully, but must also be something reasonably learnt whilst researching. It can be asked any time during the raid, but must be used for that raid specifically.

Skills & Saves

It is on the player to explain how they attempt to achieve something. If appropriate, a roll will be made against one of their statistics, attempting to roll below their statistic value, modified by circumstance, methodology, etc.

Saving throws are used to avoid something, usually when you've fucked up. Again, it is on the player to describe (quickly) how the avoid the hazard, again, linked to a statistic. They should be warned if they're doing something impossible or stupid e.g. attempting to stop a rolling boulder with their fists, expecting a strength roll.

Magic

Magic is fucking terrifying and even more dangerous. If the characters are (un)fortunate enough to find a scroll, they can attempt to cast it. (Note that they will not know what the scroll does until they cast it). The character casting must attempt to roll below 10 minus the spell level on a d20. If they succeed, the spell is cast and the scroll is still available for use. Rolling up to 3 above the success number harmlessly discharges the magic, but spoils the scroll, Anything above this causes a horrific magical mishap, usually related to the spell at hand, or else using a mishap table. The scroll remains available for use on a mishap roll.