DCCRPG: Elven Corruption tables!

I love DCCRPG's Corruptions rules. However, like Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFRP) before that, I always felt that Elves deserved their own rules and tables. In my previous WFRP, I always liked to think that other races acquired corruption and mutations... but not Elves, these become more unearthly and daemon-like with every spell. I took a similar approach to DCCPRG and I hope you like it.

All DCCRPG's Corruption rules work as normal, except that you roll on the following tables:

Elven Minor Corruption

1 or lower - Sundered Spirit. If the character sees their reflection, they must pass a Luck check or lose their “elvenness”. They become mortal-like, losing Infravision and Heightened Senses (and being terribly mocked by other elves). If they fumble their Luck check, they become bent and monstrous, with coarse hair, mottled skin, sickly yellow eyes, and spindly limbs (yes, goblin- or orc-like). Either way, the condition lasts for one day.

2 - Oathbound. If the character breaks a promise or lies, they suffer 1 point of damage, and their discomfort and pain are visible to all witnesses.

3 - New vulnerability. Roll 1d4: (1) silver; (2) dead wood; (3) holy water and holy symbols (icon magic cast on the character always causes 1 point of damage); (4) hyperallergic to iron, suffering 1 point of damage per round of contact (but they can feel the presence of iron objects within 10 feet of them).

4 - The character’s shadow acts independently of their current physical form, often hinting at intentions the character harbours secretly in their heart.

5 - Magic Eater: the character must feed on magic to survive. They must eat the flesh of a magical creature or a magic-touched plant or lose 1d3 Stamina. They can also drain one charge from a magical item they currently hold, drink a potion (without gaining its benefits), or even “devour” one of their spells (the spell becomes Lost). Magical creatures feel the character’s hunger and are usually hostile to the elf.

6 - Vulnerable to the Grotesque: if the character must interact (talk, touch, etc.) with the ugly, the monstrous, or the infirm (Judge’s call), they suffer 1 point of damage per minute. Attacking and killing such “unfortunate creatures” is OK.

7 - Voice affected. Roll 1d6: (1) voice sounds like one or more people talking at the same time; (2) clearly demonic-like, scaring small animals and children; (3) sounds like the last intelligent being the character killed (yes, it changes); (4) comes from a random place within 1d6 ft. of the character (if necessarily rolls 1d12 to ascertain direction); (5) unearthly beautiful, draws attention from other intelligent creatures when spoken; (6) character can only speak in whispers.

8 - Skin affected. Roll 1d5: (1) deadly cold and often with a white or bluish hue, will cause frostbite if touching another living creature for 1 minute or more (character gains +1 bonus against cold); (2) feverish hot with a red hue, often releasing tiny bits of steam when the character is nervous or tired; (3) vividly green, with the occasional vine or leaf growing on it; (4) bone white; (5) obsidian-like or purple.

9 - Hair affected. Roll 1d4: (1) hair turns bone white; (2) animates and moves on it own; (3) hair falls out completely; (4) grows as long as the character is tall and remains at that length even if cut (any hair cut quickly rots, turn to dust, evaporates into smoke etc.)

10+ - Character passes out. He is unconscious for 1d6 hours or until awakened by vigorous means.

Elven Major Corruption

1 or lower - Addicted to Magic. The character always awakes looking like an old, hollowed marionette or wooden sculpture, as if they were never alive. Their skin is cracked and dry, their movements are spasmodic and erratic, and their voice echoes as if nothing was inside them. They have a -4 penalty to Strength, Agility, and Personality. This situation remains until they cast their first spell. Each successful cast spell reduces that penalty by 1 (and can, actually, become a bonus, to a maximum of +2). The bonus lasts until the character rests, which then resets the original penalty.

2 - Prideful Magic. The character leeks power and magic around them. If they stay for more than one hour in the same area, things start to change to appear like the character. Usually this affects inanimate structures, like the floor and the walls. The first signs shows up in the floor, the wall, or ceiling. They look like an outline of character’s face or appearance. If the character sleeps or spend around 8 hours in the same area, their distorted will now shapes almost an entire duplicate of them somewhere. In a cave, this could result in a rough sculpture of the character growing out of a stalactite; in a forest this could be on the ground, in a tree, or even as ripples in a lake. The character leaves their mark where they pass. If they spend an entire day in roughly the same area, there is a 50% chance that a random elemental (DCCRPG p. 411) will appear with their appearance. Pride does not accept equality. The elemental will try to kill their “copy” (i.e., the character).

3 - Unmoored from Time. Crucial moments in the character’s life create time echoes or duplicates, showing other fates that the character might have attempted. These copies are ghost-like and ephemeral, usually disappearing in mere seconds, but they leave the character open to paradoxes. Every time the character spends Luck, they generate 1d3 time echoes. These copies don’t interfere with reality at all, disappearing in one round. However, if they are hit, attacked, or grappled (same AC as the character), the character suffers the same fate.

4 - Naturebound. The character only benefits from rest if touching “living” natural land. They will not recover damage, fatigue, or spells if within constructions or any kind of worked material (such as stone or wood).

5 - Aspected. The character’s general appearance, including skin tone, hair, and eyes, or maybe even clothes, crackle with energy of a type associated with the spells he most commonly casts. The energy could manifest as flames, lightning, cold waves etc. Even their other spells start to look like this main aspect.

6 - Fading. The character becomes bizarrely thin, tall (around 7 ft.), and frail. Their weight doesn’t change and may diminish a bit. The character seems “stretched” and unreal, as something that is slowly fading. Most Referee characters will forget about the character after they are gone or remember the encounter vaguely. The character gains +1 Die Step bonus for stealth checks but must spend 1 Luck point to be remembered by a Referee character.

7 - Demonic taint. Roll 1d3: (1) The character’s fingers elongate into claws, and he gains an attack for 1d6 damage; (2) the character’s feet transform into cloven hoofs; (3) the character’s legs become goat-like.

8 - The character’s skin constantly emits a silvery glow, as if reflecting strong moonlight. The character emits light in a 6 ft. radius. Stealth is hard for them (unless completely covered). The bonus is that any invisible creature within their aura is outlined. The character cannot become invisible.

9 - Horns grow on the character’s forehead. Roll 1d7: (1) goat-like; (2) bull-like; (3) antlers; (4) living wood, with thorns and vines; (5) small mithril horns (the character’s skeleton is now of mithril, granting them a +2 permanent bonus to Fort saves but making them a tempting target); (6) an alicorn grows on their forehead (it is valuable in many rituals but its removal will kill the character); (7) clearly demonic, glowing with runes (but might help the character get along with demons and cultists).

10+ - The character acquires a strong smell that can be easily identified within 30 ft. of them (but cannot be used to pinpoint their location). Roll 1d5: (1) cinnamon; (2) sulphur; (3) myrrh; (4) wet earth and rain; (5) the smell associated with the most tragic moment of a creature’s life. The character acquires empathic sensitivities and can “smell” the strongest emotion in a scene with a Luck check (if they fail, they also lose 1 Luck point).

Elven Greater Corruption

1 or lower - Soulless: The character is a mockery of an elf, with a dark void where their spirit should be. They exude an aura of wrongness that can chill the bones of the darkest assassin. They must always save to resist icon magic (even if beneficial). They are instantly taken by a Chaos or Daemonic Power (in the most spectacular faction) when either their hit points or Luck reach 0 (with as much collateral damage as the Judge likes). They can always use one of their Action Die to inflict a supernatural dread upon a target that can see them (Will save DC 15). Frightened creatures run away for one hour and if cornered fight at a -4 attack penalty. A target can only be affected once and this ability won’t work in demons, dragons, or the un-dead.

2 - Fated to Elfland. The character starts losing 1 permanent point of Luck per month. Once it reaches Luck 0, they can no longer resist the lure of Elfland and disappear from the world. A pact with a demon might save them from that (if that is worth it). While fated to Elfland, the character becomes immune to charms or illusions.

3 - Doomed. The character is considered to have Luck 0 for all purposes. If they want to use their Luck points, they must first Invoke Patron and ask for such (temporary) boon, after negotiating with their patron. Usually, a good pact would give them access to Luck points for 1d6 nights. On the bright side, they are immune to curses.

4 - Bestial Mien. The character gains canines, small claws, and their voice carries a growl. They scare animals as if they were predators. Divide the character’s hit points into 4 equal parts (any leftovers can go into the 4th part). When they reach ¾ of their total hit points, the character becomes visibly more bestial, gaining either scales or fur and acquiring a bent posture. They gain a bite natural attack of 1d10 and can track by smell. If they fall below ½ their total hit points, they gain claw attacks for 1d8 of damage (and one extra 1d14 Action Die to use only for one of such attacks) and +2 to AC. They cannot grasp normal weapons or manipulate objects. Their speech is barely intelligible and magic that requires verbal components has a 25% of fumble. If they fall to their last ¼ total hit points, they enter into a bestial fury, gaining +5 hit points and a +2 to all attacks, damage, and saving throws while in combat. They must succeed at a Will DC 10 to stop attacking and will attack allies if nothing else remains.

5 - Souldrinker. The character emanates a palpable aura of dread, the kind that kill plants and spoils food. They are considered unholy to Law and Neutral clerics. Every living creature that stays 1 minute or more within 6 ft. of them loses 1d4 hit points (and the character heals 1 hit point). Every time the character kills a living creature in melee they also heal 1 hit point. The character stops healing naturally.

6 - Corrupted Body. Odd or even: (Odd) your body is covered in bark or vines and you can sustain yourself with sunlight and water (but suffer double damage from fire); (Even) your body becomes cold and crystal-like, like ice, your face loses all features leaving only shinning cold eyes (you can still speak and hear normally), and your movements sound like crystal vibrating (you don’t need to eat anymore, is immune to cold, but suffer double damage from iron)

7 - Planar Instability. The character’s essence becomes alien to the material plane and they suffer planar instability, existing between here and there. If the character fumbles or rolls the best possible number in an Action Die, right after those consequences, they become incorporeal for 1d3 rounds. They can pass through walls and are vulnerable to magic attacks (and can affect corporeal targets with magic) but are otherwise impossible to affect the material plane. If they materialize inside anything solid, they must succeed at a Fort save DC 15 or suffer 6d6 points of damage (success means half damage).

8 - Obscure Geas. During your learnings, you might have committed yourself to unseen pacts and masters. Every time your cast Invoke Patron you must pass a Luck check. If you fail, you summon a random patron (Judges: use your favourite list, I know you have one). The entity briefly touches your mind and you must quickly negotiate some favour with it before rolling.

9 - Ironbound. Iron becomes a complete anathema to you. You suffer 1d6 points of damage by merely touching it. If you are hit by iron weapons increase the damage by 1d6. If you touch or were hit by iron you must spend 1 Luck or lose access to spellcasting for 1d3 rounds. Your magic can never affect iron. You can NEVER affect iron. For example, if something as small as an iron nail is placed over your palm, your hand instantly falls to the ground and you cannot move it (but you can cut your hand off to survive).

10+ - Servant of Chaos. The character’s forehead is branded with a symbol of Chaos, clearly marking their allegiance to the Eternal Struggle. Law and Neutral iconic magic used in the character is always considered a sinful use of divine power. Worse, the character is bound by old rules and cannot attack or otherwise hold a servant of Chaos unless they are attacked first.

Playing with Luck

One of the coolest rules of DCCRPG is, of course, Luck.

It is quite ironic that it was one of the first that I changed in my first long DCCRPG, which I ran for years, and I am tempted to return at some point. I loved how RPG campaigns become their own unique thing and that DCCPRG game is a fine example. By the end of it, we had played through a lot of modules, created our own adventures, and the party became considerably powerful, becoming movers and shakers in their little corner of the world (with the highest PCs around 5-6th level). By now I joke with the table that our game is “DCCRPG 2.5”. You can find a bit about those rules here and here (and yes, these are not the final rules, but they give you an idea of my insanity).

Alas, I digress (sorry, old habits… especially now that I am older). We are talking about Luck and love on how EASY it is hack rules and variants. DCC Lankhmar has some of my all-time favourites. Here are a few other ideas:

All or Nothing: one of my favourites. Once per game session, a PC can ask for “all or nothing” when burning Luck. Ask the player to choose heads or tails and toss a coin. If the PC wins, they gain double the amount of Luck burned. If they lose, the burned Luck goes to the Judge, and they don’t gain any benefit from it.

Bold Deeds: once per session, a PC can propose some wild stunt or deed. It must be something that excites everyone (particularly the Judge) and they CAN’T burn Luck on that action. It must be an action which requires one or more Action Dies to accomplish. It must have a serious consequence, complications, or a considerable DC (Judge’s call). It must follow the Rule of Cool. Each table will set its own rules. Personally, a warrior blindfolding themselves to fight a dragon sounds stupid to me, but the same warrior claiming that they will CLIMB the dragon and strike it in the head sounds AWESOME! (and deserves this rule). If they accomplish the action, grant them 1d3 Luck points.

Devil’s Bargain: when a PC fails a test, they can burn 1d3 points of Luck plus their character level to reroll the check. There is only one catch – if they miss the roll it is automatically considered a fumble (i.e. a natural 1). Each PC can only do this once per check. Yes, it isn’t worth it for high-level PCs.

Fighting in Spirit: totally stolen from 13th Age. If a PC is unconscious, paralyzed, or otherwise out of action, their player can still intervene in an encounter ONCE. Let them briefly narrate how the memory of their character or something that they did or said inspired one of their party allies to go beyond. The fallen PC can burn Luck to benefit their buddy, but they can only burn 1d7 points (to their limit of Luck). This helps players otherwise out of action keep their action in the game. Feel free to change the dice.

It is just a flesh wound: after suffering damage, if they are still alive, the PC can burn 1d3 Lucks to declare that the hit is a potential “flesh wound”. Ask the player to write down the amount of damage suffered. If they can catch their breath, even if just for one minute, half of the damage taken disappears (it was not serious, just bruises and cuts, etc.). Of course, if the damage was healed (such as by magic) before that then the Luck was spent for nothing. PCs can use this as often as they like, but each new attempt increases the cost of Luck points, following the Die Chain. Once everyone has an entire night of rest in a safe spot the Die Chain resets (this might be too much note-keeping for some tables).

Karma: the first time in an encounter that a PC fumbles or suffers a critical hit, if they survive, they regain 1 point of Luck. I like this rule because it means that even a failure has other interesting consequences.

The Eternal Struggle: this one highlights the eternal war between Law, Balance, and Chaos. The first time in an encounter that you kill a creature considered “unholy” to your alignment you regain 1 point of Luck (check DCCRPG p.32, “Unholy Creatures” in “The Gods of the Eternal Struggle” table). I think this brings the theme to the forefront, instead of just using Table 7-9 (DCCRPG p. 361).

KNOCK! Character Quirks

That KNOCK! is a great source of Old School material and an interesting curation of stuff otherwise available online is nothing new. However, what I never forget about KNOCK! was when I received my zine #2 in the mail and it came with a beautiful bookmark with a range of prebuilt OSE characters. That the art was great was also nothing new… however, each pre-build character came with a unique quirk or special power. The most fascinating bit about this is that – to the best of my limited knowledge – it was never explained or otherwise mentioned. I’m not sure if I ever saw another Merry Mushmen material with the same idea (although I don’t have everything they ever published, so I might be wrong here).

Anyway… what is so cool about those Quirks? Well, they are simple and IMHO very flavourful. Here is the list:

Back from the dead: ignored by undead with HD 1 or 2. Cannot be magically healed.
Berserker at will: +2 to hit , -2 penalty to AC until the end of the encounter. 1-in-6 per round he attacks his closest ally.
Changeling: can cast a random 1st-level M-U spell every day. Has a -2 penalty to saves vs spells.
Demon’s child: bat wings under his cape (as feather fall, at will). Must drink human blood before memorizing spells.
Shapechanger: the PC can polymorph into a small bird once per day. Loses 1d100 XP every time.
Warrior Lineage: can invoke ancestors in combat, +4 to hit and damage until the end of the fight. Loses 1 Wisdom point permanently every time.

As you can see they are not very systematic or even balanced against each other, but I JUST LOVE the flavour and many narrative implications (and in-game uses) that they offer.

Let’s try to create a few more (as neutral as possible so they can be used with any class.. yes, I know they are not as cool as the original ones):

7^th Son of a 7^th son (or 7^th Daughter of a 7^th daughter): you can resist lycanthrope. If ever inflicted with lycanthropy, won’t become a referee character. You only transform into a were-creature under a full night moon (if you are outside), with a 1-in-6 per round chance of keeping control. Otherwise, you are a normal character.

Gold Nose: you can smell gold and gems within 30 feet. Can’t pinpoint it but can guess the volume. You usually have a prominent or big nose.

Identical Twins: you are actually two identical people. You share the same pool of HPs, spells, and any class ability (you have the same class). If you fall to 0 hit points or less, both twins die. You can only ever cast a spell or use a magical ability once per round. If you are separated from your twin for 1 turn or more, both of you roll with disadvantage on all dice. You need +25% XP to level up.

Loved by the moon: you are loved by the moon. Moonlight automatically causes you to levitate (like a potion of levitation). 

Made of wood or clay: you are some kind of golem or manikin shaped like a humanoid. You look like a normal person until you fall below half your full hit points, then you scare most people on reaction rolls. You don’t need to eat or to sleep (but still must rest) – pick one. You take double fire damage.  

Polymorphed animal: you can speak the tongue of birds, mammals, reptiles, or fish (pick one) and can try to avoid combats with their original type of animal. You have a tell-tale mark of your animal origin. In areas where magic doesn’t work or is cancelled, you revert back to their animal forms (equipment and clothes fall off) but you keep your intellect.

Sin-Eater: after 1 turn touching a living creature you can transfer 1d6 hit points of damage from them to you. Get weird flashes or fragments of a random sin committed by the target (the target knows this).

Sold your soul: you are immune to energy drain and charm. Cannot be raised from dead and must roll a saving throw to negate magical healing. Can be turned by clerics as if undead. Scares animals and children.

DCCRPG Discworld

One of my (many) flaws is that I never read Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. I’m working on my defects (some of them at least…) and I finally read The Colour of Magic and Light Fantastic, the first 2 books of the series. Let me be more precise: I read The Colour of Magic more than 15 years ago, but I read a translation. You CANNOT read translated Pratchett! Why? All the spirit and the fun of it are gone. It is like, I don’t know, like reading the translated Qur'an, or the translated Lusíadas, or basically trying to understand 99,99% of Japanese anime puns without a basic notion of kanji… you lose something if you translate it! Anyhow, I’m now reading 100% English Pratchett (or whatever you folks call this language). And my first thought was (or course!): “this would be very fun at my DCCRPG table!” Why? Well, DCCRPG already has a cool gonzo aspect. Ironically, most products and people that I know try to tone it down… well, it's time to tone it UP!

Warning: Like previous heresies on this blog, I’m pretending to write about adapting a media to a particular tabletop RPG, having read just a small part of it (there are... what?... some 40 books in Discworld?). So, yessir, I’m probably presuming some things wrong. That is why this is a hobby and not (thankfully) a business.

So, if you are creating a DCCRPG Discworld game, use all the Core Rulebook rules, except for the following:

Talkers Go First!: I’m pretty sure this rule is from a Doctor Who RPG. I love it and it shows up from time to time in my blog hacks! Basically, if combats break out, any player character (and only PCs) who wants to talk can do it before the violence begins. They get only one shot at it and they must spend all their Action Die (if any) on social/charisma (i.e. Personality) skill checks (intimidation, diplomacy, lies….) or just pure roleplay (my favourite approach). If your table likes to roll Personality checks, consider that every PC in DCCRPG Discworld is trained in such checks (i.e., they roll a 1d20 instead of 1d10 when trying to avoid a fight). They only get ONE ROUND to do it (I know that rounds in DCCRPG last 10 seconds, but I like to give each player around 30 seconds of pure roleplaying if they are in for it). If more than one PC wants to give it a try, let them go from lowest to highest Personality (so that the most charismatic PC can see other errors and correct them). They can attempt nothing else! No moves, no free/limited actions, no preparing/drawing/aiming, and no activation/charge of any spell or power. Basically, if any PC wants to try to chat with the monsters, LET THEM GO FOR IT! Which brings me to the second rule…

Reaction Rolls: C’mon! This is one of D&D’s best (and often ignored) rules! NEVER start a Discworld encounter with the idea that the monsters/oppositions will simply try to attack the PCs. That is so boring. Use your favourite D&D edition, OSE, or even more complicated charts. My point here is that we (unfortunately) got used to the idea of entering into a room and fighting monsters (nothing wrong with that). Things are not so simple here, because this is DCCRPG Discworld. All those orcs in the 4 x 4 room? Yes, they are probably guarding a pie. Of course, it is a (man-flesh) pie that they want to share with you! (How you deal with that is not my problem!). Reaction tables break the game’s traditional expectations, surprise players (and the judge), encourage roleplaying, and may promote the kind of absurdity that is 100% Pratchettian! Use it!

Of course, the above rules are all targeted toward avoiding combat. Why should we avoid combat? Well…

Fighting is Dangerous! Fighting is a horrible idea most of the time because, well, you can die on it. It is chaotic, rarely “glorious”. Forget those cool pictures of Heroes standing over piles of vanquished enemies… if they are lucky, they are probably as battered and hurt as those enemies… if not, they are probably as “vanquished”.

Fighting is very unpredictable in DCCRPG Discworld. Every time someone rolls 1 Action Die to attempt any violent action (like attacking), their general Fumble Range increases by +1 (it goes from 1 to 1-2). This is for EVERY Action Die, so if you roll 2 attacks, the first attack has a Fumble Range of 1-2 and the second of 1-3.

A PC’s Fumble Range keeps going up until a Fumble is triggered. When that happens, the judge rolls a d10 (or a d6 if they are mean). The result is deducted from their current Fumble Range (minimum is still 1).

The idea is that the longer the fight goes on, the more dangerous it gets. That is why you should (1) avoid it, (2) end it as quickly if unavoidable, and (3) use sneaky tactics to do so.

Heroes, particularly most Warriors, are too stupid to realize this rule (although some of the Disc’s greatest Heroes, like Cohen the Barbarian, are aware of it and will fight dirty to end the conflict as quick as possible).

Because combat is dangerous, any character in DCCRPG Discworld can withdraw from combat by using 1 Action Die. This action DOES NOT trigger any free attacks (again: the idea is that running is good here!). This also implies that the judge is free to set all kinds of unfair encounters against the PCs. They either must fight dirty (or run!).

Variant: Fighting is Dangerous FOR EVERYONE! If keeping the Fumble Range of every PC and NPC is too much work (it sounds so), instead of it, the judge should track a universal Fumble Bonus to affects everyone. When the first attack is made in an encounter, the Fumble Bonus is +0 (i.e. follow the normal rules). Every other attack roll after that increases it by +1, no matter if it is made by a PC or NPC. When a Fumble happens, the Fumble Bonus is not reset by 1d6 (minimum +0). If this is too much metagame, the judge can use a middle ground - each PC tracks their own Fumble Range, and the judge uses a universal Fumble Bonus just for the NPCs.

Fighting is NOT worth it! Fighting is not only dangerous but also dumb. If all the party did in one encounter was fight, they wouldn’t gain XP. NEVER! They only get XP if they get the treasure (or if they get directions to the treasure). If this happens, then the judge should reward XP normally.

Why are you looking at me like that? It says on the cover: “You are no hero…”. That works double for Discworld!

Warriors & Thieves: In DCCRPG Discworld, all PCs are Humans (I’m still going through the books… I might come back later for a Dwarf/Gnome, Troll or Elf class). This means that they are all Warriors, Thieves, or Wizards. I will talk more about Wizards later. For now, let's focus on Warriors and Thieves.

Thieves: The normal DCCRPG Thief is already the perfect Discworld class. Play it by the normal rules.

Warriors: Warriors have just one extra rule. When creating your Warrior, the PC can choose to sacrifice Intelligence and Personality points to increase Strength and Stamina. 3 points of Personality or 3 points of Intelligence buy either 1 point of Strength or Stamina. You must do this exchange in “blocks” of 3. You can’t, for example, take 2 points from Intelligence and 1 from Personality to increase Strength by 1. The minimum Intelligence and Personality are 3 (and, indeed, most “Heroes” of the Disc are often incapable of thinking at all, or of building complex sentences… like those that require 3 or more words). If you are all in for some dramatic roleplay, you can allow Intelligence and Personality to go down to 2 and use these REALLY low Intelligence and Personality rules from my previous KILL BILBO! DCCRPG. Go ahead, I can assure you the Tolkien Estate won’t charge.

Magic on the Discworld: Unlike most DCCRPG settings, the Discworld is bursting with magic! The entire Disc is overcharged with octarine radiance. This means that spellcasting is theoretically easier here. By “easy”, I mean charging up magic energy is easier… controlling it is another matter.

The first consequence of the Disc’s ludicrous amount of mana is that Wizards ignore Corruption, Lost, and Failure results. Life is good, no?

Unless dealing with the Dungeon Dimensions (or trying to cheat Death), there are no Corruption effects, as the excess magic energy discharges itself around the Wizard instead of focusing on their body and soul. Mechanically, this works very much like increasing the Fumble Range in combats. Let's give it a fanciful name (Wizards love that): Octarine Overcharge!

The Octarine Overcharge (a.k.a. the O.O. Coefficient, the Infinitum Dictum, or “the Rule of 8”) is represented by a Mana Level stat. Every character in Discworld has a Mana Level of 1 (and it is usually only dangerous for Wizards). If any character rolls equal to or less than their Mana Level while spellcasting (or reading from a scroll/spellbook, etc.), they trigger an Octarine Overcharge! If they don’t trigger it, then their Mana Level increases by 1 merely for the attempt.

Remember that mana permeates the Disc and that it has a natural tendency to build up in areas around spellcasting? Well, if a character is in an encounter where magic (i.e. a spell) happens, their Mana Level automatically increases by 1 merely by witnessing someone else spellcasting. The octarine radiance just taints everyone around and starts building up a charge! This means that an encounter with two or more spellcasting Wizards can quickly build up enough to trigger an Octarine Overcharge.

While Wizards in the Disc ignore the Lost/Failure result, every time they roll it they increase their Mana Levels (and of those of every other character in the encounter) not by 1 but by 1d6. If they are in a REALLY strong magic field (as set by the judge), then maybe a Failure/Lost result increases the local Mana Levels by 1d8 or even 1d10! For example, Wizards holding the Octavo would probably roll 1d10 for a Failure/Lost result.

The worst happens when an Octarine Overcharge itself is triggered! Spells run out of control as they feed on the surplus of octarine. This is represented by a series of Spell Misfires rolls that impact all characters in the encounter! The number of Misfires is found out by taking the highest Mana Level among the characters (PCs and NPCs), dividing it by 5 (rounding up), and adding +1 for every Wizard. So, if a fight between the PCs (3 Thieves, 1 Warrior, and 1 Wizard) and 3 students of the Unseen Academy (3 NPC Wizards), triggers an Octarine Overchange, then the judge must first check for Mana Levels. Probably all the Thieves and Warriors will have 1 (or a bit more, as they probably witnessed some spellcasting). Let's say the PC Wizard has a Mana Level of 8, and the 3 NPCs have Mana Levels of 5, 4, and 4. That means you pick the highest Manal Level of 8 and divide it by 5 (rounding up), which equals 2. Now you add +1 per Wizard (+4), for a total of 6. So the judge will randomly choose 6 spells to Misfire (it is always nice to let the players roll those Misfires). If there are not enough spells around, the judge is free to randomly roll a new spell and let it Misfire.

In rare cases, if the Octarine Overcharge happens in a place suffused with magic, such as the Octavo Chamber or the temple of Bel-Shamharoth, then a trigger also can cause a Phlogiston Disturbance (usually this disturbance will affect only Wizards, but some results will be bad news for everyone else). Judge’s call.

How do Mana Levels go down? There are at least 3 options. The first is by triggering Octarine Overcharge (not recommended). All the victims of the Overcharge set their Mana Level back to 1. Another option is to avoid being closer to spellcasting for at least 8 hours (one night of sleep). This reduces the Mana Level by 1d6 (minimum 1). Finally, if a Wizard roll a Failure/Lost result, instead of increasing the Mana Level by 1d6, the Wizard can decide to forget the spell, also suffering 1d6 points of Intelligence Ability Loss. The amount of Ability Loss suffered is also deducted from their Mana Level (minimum 1) and the spell is Lost until it can be memorized again.

One final rule: every time a caster Spellburns, they automatically increase their Mana Level by 2d6 or the amount of Spellburn damage, whichever is LOWER.

Wizards: Ah, Wizards. Those dudes (and dudettes) are special… I mean, “special” as a living radioactive battery is special in the sense that it should be avoided by all sane people. Here are new rules for creating Wizards.

First, they can burn 3 points of Strength, Stamina, or Personality to increase their Intelligence by 1 point (following similar rules as Warriors).

Second, I can’t say why but I feel that the Spell Stipulation rules from DCC Lankhmar have a more “Discwordly” feel than Mercurial Magic, so feel free to use them.

Third, Wizards in the Disc can see the magical part of the light spectrum: Octarine, the 8^th Colour. This is basically an innate form of detect magic. Wizards can ask for Ability Skill checks to see the local amount of magic, to assess the Mana Levels of other characters, and to see if an item or creature has “excessive Octarine” (i.e. if it is magical). They still can’t identify magic items. Obfuscate magic (DCCRPG Core Rulebook p. 152) can fool this sense.

Wizards & Death (with a capital “D”): Wizards have some metaphysical privileges in the Disc. The most (in)famous one is that Death itself will come to claim their souls when their time is due (other PCs will be taken by randomly assigned and invisible psychopomps of lower rank). This means that Wizards have special Luck rules, some advantages, and disadvantages.

First, every time a Wizard suffers damage, they can decide to have it taken either from their current Hit Points (like everyone else) or from the current Luck points. One or the other. They are sneaky coward bastards that seem particularly afraid of dying (I mean, more than the usual for people of the Disc…).

Second, the previous rule might sound fun, but it exists because Wizards are instantly visited by Death itself if their hit points or Luck points reach 0. They can’t use the Bleeding Out and Recovering the Body rules (DCCRPG Rulebook p. 93).

Third, they can TRY to avoid that grisly fate, but it is not easy. They have basically two options: either somehow convince Death that it is not their time yet or they can desperately draw power from the Dungeon Dimensions to escape.

Out-talking Death of “deathing” you: this is really hard. The PC has two options. The first one is a desperate Personality check with a DC of 20. If they pass, they pose some argument to Death regarding the current chain of events and how it was somehow and unfortunately premature. Death is not happy about that, but it can’t change the rules. The PC survives with 1 hit point if their friends can reach their body. HOWEVER, they are groggy for the next hour (-4 penalty to all rolls) and sustain a permanent injury of some kind, reflected as a permanent -1 penalty to Strength, Agility, or Stamina (determined randomly). After this episode, they are followed by a lesser death, which will constantly annoy and scare them at the worst moments, merely by “checking in” to see if it is the time “to call the Boss in”. This psychopomp presence means that the Judge can trigger 1 Fumble once per game session on the poor (but deserving) Wizard. The Fumble is not an automatic failure, but an extra effect of the Wizard’s otherwise normal check (so yes, it is possible to get 2 Fumbles if the Wizard also rolls a 1). The Wizard CANNOT out-talk Death a second time.

The roleplaying option: Instead of all the shenanigans above, the PC get 1 minute to talk astrally with Death and convince Him/It. This is represented by the PC telling the table a joke. If most people laugh, congratulations, you dirty bastard, you’re back. Better yet, no lesser psychopomp follows you (as Death kind of warms up to your PC). Otherwise, you are dead. (Only use this option if the table loves this type of roleplaying/metagame stuff).

Invoking Powers from the Dungeon Dimensions: instead of letting Death grab them, the PC in act of desperation pulls energy from those non-Euclidian, dreaded, and tentacled-obsessed planes. The PC must roll a Spellcasting check (accounting for Mana Level and all) against a DC of 25. They can try to Spellburn but all the Spellburn damage is PERMANENT. If they succeed, they manage to summon something or concoct a pact to escape their fate. Death is NOT HAPPY. The PC’s Luck is reduced permanently by half. They also gain a major corruption from their contact with those “Things”. This can only be attempted ONCE. For a second shot at this, they must find a Dungeon Dimension patron, bond their souls to it… and probably become an NPC, but that is for the table to decide.

…I think I’m forgetting something: Oh yeah, Clerics! I don’t think there are Clerics (such as in DCCRPG) in the Discworld. The gods of the Discworld are potent entities, but no true Cleric would have the courage to admit that they follow one of those divinities (c’mon, they are famous for throwing rocks and breaking atheists’ windows).

Deities in the Discworld are still important as they are the PCs’ best source of recovering Luck. If a PC is chosen by a god and performs well (good luck), they might get 1-3 Luck points back for performing quests and specific tasks for their god.

So, yeah, for now, no Clerics. This means the following:

It was just a flesh wound: Like in DCC Lankhmar, during combat, the PC can spend 1 Luck to instantly roll recover 1 class hit dice (plus Stamina mod) of damage. They cannot attempt any other action that round (except running!). They can only do this once per combat.

Taking a breather: If the party can spend 1 turn (10 minutes) resting, drinking water, and maybe having a snack after a combat, they recover 1 hit dice of damage (plus Stamina, if positive). They can’t recover more than they suffered in the last encounter, of course. They can always take this breather after every combat, but the judge is encouraged to roll a random encounter if this is abused (or to reduce any Luck award, as the PC’s god will complain about their constant delays).

That is all Folks!

I hope you enjoyed this small hack (and I hope this is playable, as I haven’t tested it yet). If I keep reading Discworld, I’ll probably at some point create some new classes for it: I would love some kind of Troll class, but my goal right now is a Tourist class! 

Knockback rules from TOR 1st to d20 games

Quick post!

I’ve been running the One Ring 1^st Edition for almost 2 years now. The campaign so far is a mix of Gareth Hanrahan’s amazing Darkening of the Mirkwood campaign with (also his) Tales from the Wilderland’s six scenarios. The combination (of course) is natural and the campaign already captivated my players.

Anyway, this post is just to share the one rule from The One Ring 1st that both I and my players keep forgetting but which I believe would be a cool addition to any d20 Fantasy game -  D&D, 13^th Age, Pathfinder, OSE, B/X whatever – the Knockback rule.

Basically, when you’re hit you can choose to lose your next action and fall prone to reduce all damage just taken by half (rounding up).

Would this work smoothly on B/X, DCC RPG, OSE, and older versions of the game (even D&D 3^rd)?

Definitely yes!

What that also works on 13^th Age, Pathfinder 2E, D&D 5E? Well, despite loving those systems, I haven’t narrated them much so…

13^th Age – OK, as far as I’m aware there is no prone condition here. So, my first reaction would be that if any PC invoked the Knockback rule, the Escalation Die doesn’t go up that round (unless if stolen by the enemies).

Pathfinder 2E – Invoking the Knockback rule requires spending 1 Hero Point.

D&D 5E – Besides all the usual disadvantages (no pun intended) that you have for being Prone, AFTER you get up, you will have Disadvantage until the end of your next turn.

Gaining XP by defeating monsters, finding treasure... and making friends!

Hello everyone!

I recently had the opportunity to run the beginning of Dragons of Stormwreck Isle to old friends and my daughter. It was her first chance with a group of older players in a "real" RPG table. Since she was 5 years old I've been running games to her, solo or later with her younger brother. Well, she is now 12 - time indeed flies - and she loves to play different games, build her own characters, and learn the rules. She is excited to play in "real" game tables (in her mind) and I'm encouraging her to do it (and even to run her games). Anyway, long story short: her style of playing RPGs is very freeform, a result of all the crazy hacks and experiments we played through the years. She actually just started showing interest in commercial RPGs in the last year as, usually, I would create or own homebrew hacks and games. Therefore, when she sat at the table with members of my older campaigns, they loved it to see her trying to befriend EVERY single NPC in the adventure... and also quite a few monsters! When I noticed, she is creating - through roleplay and persistence - an entire retinue of friends!

That is totally my daughter playing!
Source: couldbeworse-comic.com

That got me thinking about ways to make our D&Ds and OSRs games more engaging and rewarding for players with different playstyles (especially my daughter). So I came up with the following "XP Tracking Sheets". Basically, the idea is that every time you defeat enemies in an encounter, find a cool treasure, or make a friend, you mark an XP slot. When you fill all slots you level up. I find this more fun than merely granting XP for the same goals. It also lets the players see and track their advancement, encouraging (I hope) their particular playstyles.

Finally, I am a great fun of ancestries and cultures letting you engage the narrative/adventure through unique iconic abilities (I mentioned this before that, of late, I find it more fun that each ancestry has just a few cool/iconic traits instead of a lot of modifiers, for d20 fantasy RPGs at least). So, I also gave each one of the traditional ancestries - Humans, Halflings, Elves, and Dwarves - a unique trait that can be activated once per adventure to solve a particular check, challenge, or even maybe an entire encounter. I still have to playtest it (...as usual).

I hope you like it and that it can give you ideas!

The Gollum class for DCC RPG

 Around two years ago I wrote new classes for Halflings on DCCRPG. The reason for that was the same one for when I created new types of dwarves (in the olde days of ye blogue, when my English was a lot worse). In both stances, I was motivated by the fact that I had more than one of my players using Dwarves and Halflings in our DCC RPG campaign and I wanted to provide some variety. Fast-forward to the present, I was talking with my gaming table, and the topic of Halflings came back… and I realized I still haven’t made my “Gollum” class (OK, at the time it was a joke but…. Why not?).

A Gollum class you ask? Since when the Gollum became a gollum? Well, technically since the first edition of D&D was released in 74. Since Monsters & Treasure we had pegasuses, medusas, minotaurs etc. All plurals, not unique monster (in fact, it is funny how later, in the AD&D 2^nd historical “green sourcebooks”, those monsters became unique again). The thing is: there is precedent for my madness!

The Gollum class represents ideally a corrupted or evil form of Halfling, but it could also represent some form of goblin, gully/degenerated dwarf, demodand, ratfolk, mutant, or even one of Dunsany’s gnoles (basically, just remove swimming and/or change it to something that fits your concept better).

The Gollum Class

Start with the Halfling class, but remove Good Luck Charm, Slow, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Training. Keep Small.

Your Hit Dice is a d8 (Gollums are tiny but tough).

Your Weapon Training include just clubs, knives, stones, and other primitive stuff. Armors are useless as they will hinder all your abilities.

Infravision: Gollums can see in the dark up to 60’.

Bestial: Gollums fight more like animals than humanoids. They have an extra Action Die (AD) which is -1 Die Step lower than their main one. This extra AD can be used only to grapple, bite, choke, or escape (see Slippery for the last one).

Grapple: Gollums grappling double their basic Attack modifier. They still follow all the grapple rules normally (DCCRPG p. 96), except that size modifiers are not used. Instead of that, if a creature is bigger than the gollum, a successful grapple check means that the gollum can climb it and cling to it. While clinging to a bigger target, the Gollum gains an AC bonus equal to its level against any physical attack (including from the grappled creature). The gollum can use their extra AD to automatically bite the target (roll just to check for a Critical Hit or Fumble) for 1d4 damage (if a critical is rolled, treat the gollum as a monster of same level and roll on table M at p. 392). The gollum can also use their extra AD to choke the target (if they can grapple its neck, what usually limits this to human-sized or smaller foes). Each round of choking forces the target to make a Fort save DC 10 or suffer a cumulative -1 Die step penalty on all actions. The DC increases by 1d4 per continuous round and 3 failures drop the target uncounscious.

Corrupted: Gollums see everything inverted. Ugliness is beauty and anything beautiful is ugly. There are very few things more horrendous to gollums than elves and fey. The judge is free to use this as a descriptive device when telling what gollums see. Civilization for them is horrible and barbary is great. Weirdly, for gollums a comfy bed is a nightmare, and a bare rock is luxury. In mechanical terms, the judge is free to “invert DCs”. For example, resting in an inn would require perhaps a Stamina, Intelligence, or anything like a “survival” check for gollums (probably with a DC around 10-15). Meanwhile, they could sleep in a bare cave or hot desert like they are at home. Gollums require 3x less food than humans (and yes, the more raw and disgusting the food  the better). They are immune to diseases and can choose to lose 1d6 points of Luck to avoid any Corruption (if they don’t have enough Luck points, they suffer the Corruption normally).

Crawling Critters: Gollums can use the Halfling’s Sneak & Hide bonus to backstab, climb sheer surfaces, sneak silently, hide in shadows, and swim like a fish! The last one is a new skill check that allows gollums to swim really well (automatic for easy currents and lakes, DC 5 for most rivers and seas, DC 10 for heavy currents and stormy seas, DC 20 for impossible stuff live maelstroms and waterfalls) and hold their breaths (as a bonus to Stamina checks, the DCC RPG p. 412 on water elementals).

Miserable: Gollums are cursed and corrupt creatures, at the best pitiable and most of the time just hated. This is represented by “inverted Luck”. Roll Luck normally, however, invert the modifier’ signal. Example: a gollum with Luck 7 has a +1 modifier actually and one with Luck 18 suffers a -3 modifier. Therefore, the unluckier the gollum the more tenacious they are (this is usually represented by their Birth Augur bonus). Luck points remain the same. Like Halflings, Gollums recover each night a number of Luck points equal to their level. Finally, gollums are immune to curses (they are already cursed but see Precious Trinket).

Precious Trinket: Gollums are savage creatures that don’t pay attention to mundane stuff. They can only carry 1 item + an extra item per level. However, they can carry one additional item if they declare it as their “Precious Trinket”. As long as they have their Precious Trinket, 1 Luck point spent gives them a +3 bonus. When they lose their trinket, they can choose to go into a murderous rage or they MUST use all actions to recover it. If a trinket is broken or definitely lost, the gollum loses all Luck points until the end of the adventure (when, if they want, they can declare a new trinket). Gollums under a murderous rage must attack all enemies on sight and never retreat, but they gain a Mighty Deed of Arms die like a Warrior of the same level.

Slippery: Gollums can use their extra AD to escape without suffering an attack (see Withdrawal on p. 95).

The Peril Die

My AD&D 2nd game hit an interesting point (and challenge), which I imagine could be common to a lot of other tables: basically, my game schedule became a mess very quickly and, as a result, our usual weekly sessions suddenly became monthly (if that). Besides the obvious problem of playing less RPG we had a more pressing issue: in our current game, most of the party’s resources were already spent and they were deep into a long combat against drows and their minions, at the last rooms of the dungeon. To further complicate matters, one of the player’s main characters was down and was being carried by hirelings (we are using the Dungeon Master’s Guide’s Hovering at Death Door rule, so PCs brought below 1 hp but not killed are incapacitated for 24 hours).

Now, imagine yourself stuck in the above situation for three months in real-time (as our sessions also became shorter). It is sometimes hard to get excited with a game if your character is so limited. As a DM, one of my main concerns is usually with pace. That said, I am very lucky that my current table is not only mature but also transparent and open to conversation (we just want to have fun). I noticed that, in the last weeks, the players were discussing in our online chat about optional rules and ways to regain spells or abilities that were lost “back in September”. I didn’t want to change the rules of the campaign – especially in the middle of combat – but I must be honest that I also felt that the table’s concerns were valid. They were, after all, stuck in the same place for a long time due solely to their DM’s crazy real-life issues. Because my own time was preciously short, I didn’t have the chance to come up with other solutions: such as introducing potential hirelings and NPCs to be controlled by the party.

So, I invented a special ruling to close that dungeon: the Peril Die. It worked wonders and our last game session (which was thankfully 3 hours long) allowed the party to end the combat, advance 3-4 rooms, two more encounters, and “finish” the dungeon! (Of course, now they must get back with a lot of loot, prisoners, rescued allies etc.).

The Peril Die is a metagame mechanic so many of you might prefer to avoid it. I created it to allow players to use a “recharge” mechanic mixed with some risks (and fun for me as a DM). It can be used in basically any Old School game, including DCC RPG. I would even use it in non-Old School games, like D&D 3rd and 5th, or Pathfinder 1st, but I would hesitate to employ it in more procedural games such as 13th Age, Fantasy Craft, Pathfinder 2E etc. (including a few Old School ones, such as Errant).

The Peril Die is a table resource that can be used by any player. If you are using it for just one session, I would start with a d6 (but I used a d8 and it worked fine). I suggest placing a big physical die in the middle of the table. Any player can pick it up and declare some event, usually restricted to recovering a resource for their character. The declaration must make narrative sense. So, for example, a cleric can declare “When my Deity sees my facing the vile drows, She fills me with holy might, and I recover my spiritual weapon spell”, or a fighter might say “When my ally falls, I am suddenly filled with rage and I can roll 1HD to recover hit points”. After the declaration, the entire table (including the DM) must discuss and decide – unanimously – to accept it. If anyone complains, the Peril Die remains in the centre of the table. If everyone agrees about the declaration and the mechanical benefit, the character gains that boon automatically. Then, the player who made the declaration must roll the Peril Die. If the numbers 1 or 2 come up, something bad happens. Otherwise, the Peril Die becomes smaller (i.e. like a Usage Die, changing from d6 to a d4 for example).

I usually follow this die chain: d8 -> d6 -> d4 -> d3

What is the “something bad”? Well, it depends. Here are some loose rulings.

First: the DM is the sole arbiter of what happens.

Second: the bad stuff should be somehow proportional to the boon received by the player. For example: an extra cleric spell? Nice, the enemy also recovers a spell (or a normal monster now gains a spell from a rival deity). Is the fighter regaining 1HD of hit points? That might mean that a monster also heals or that an extra monster appears (perhaps with 1-2HD in this case).

Third: the DM decides when the bad stuff happens (and yes, he can accumulate bad stuff as I did).

The Peril Die allowed my players to regain some agency over their (very) battered characters. It also allowed me to leave the adventure more dynamic. Finally, it made everyone have more fun at our last game. I am still thinking if I am going to use it sporadically or as a new constant house rule (there is, of course, a chance of power creep behind the mechanic but I am fine with that).

Planescape & 13th Age

With the new version of the setting released for D&D 5E, people are already discussing how to best play in Sigil in our times. Obviously, the answer is the way that you find most fun. When I thought on the subject, I felt that 13th Age would be the perfect system (for me at least) to run a Planescape game today. Let me explain my reasons. However, before that, a quick summary and ruminations…

The original AD&D 2nd Planescape setting came out in the same year that I started playing RPGs (actually I started playing one year earlier – 1993 – but I remember Planescape as the “new cool thing”). I was deeply impacted by the original boxed set and the supplements: the art, the flavour, the weirdness. I never read anything like that, particularly in D&D. That said, D&D 5E today is filled with exotic ancestries, places, and a whimsical factor that was completely absent from previous editions – except Planescape. So, in a sense, Planescape paved the way for this surreal/whimsical/exotic vibe that today is basically the “normal” version of the game (particularly among new players, who aren’t as indoctrinated as we grognards from the “good old days”).

Planescape (the “original” edition let’s say) is about “philosophers with clubs”; it is about living in the afterlife (and being extremely blasé about it); it is about seeing Alignments and the entire thing of Good x Evil just as different soccer teams (meanwhile asking nonchalantly “What is in for me, berk?”); it is about weird and wonderful rules of reality that have something to do with rings and the number 3; it is about the Chant, the obvious way that “cool” sods talk among themselves. In other words: it was strange, fantastic, and dream- (or fever-) like, and it was all coloured by the amazing art of DiTerlizzi. It is kind of a (very) specific Zeitgeist… if you weren’t a D&D player in the 90s it is hard to explain with words (for me at least)…

…ANYWAY! Moving on…

Planescape taught me that you could play D&D pursuing more interesting goals than just levelling up and magic items. It taught me that Belief mattered and that the planes, the gods, and everything else didn’t count so much. And if you had the (amazing) luck of playing Planescape: Torment, then you know how metaphysical and personal questions are the soul of a good Planescape game (“What can change our nature?”… it is a shame that computer games such as Torment and Baldur’s Gate taught me more about roleplay than official D&D books).

Planescape is also filled with unique and counterintuitive characters (Torment has those by the bucketload): moral demons, mythomaniac angels, people that are literally forgotten letters of ancient alphabets, misers that want to buy their way out of Hell (because they can visit it and know how shitty it is), characters with angelic/demonic blood (when that was rare and cool), broken robots of Law etc. It was a wonderful and unique mismatch that gave the impression that every character was bizarrely unique and that your belief counted more than your ancestry or class…

…and that is why I think 13th Age is perfect for a (new) Planescape game!

First: Ancestries (I know they are called Races in 13th Age 1st Edition)

We got our Tielfings and Aasimars in the game and I am very happy with 13th Age's simple but iconic take on ancestries (and the future 2nd Edition looks even better on that). What about other “traditional” races from the gold old Planescape AD&D line? Well, here is my quick and dirty version:

Bariaur: males have +2 to Strength or Constitution. They have the Racial Power Headbutt, which allows you to use your horns in a charge against any nearby or far away enemy. You deal 1d8 points of damage per level. If you want, you can deal 1d10 points of damage per level, but you are Dazed after that (save 11+). Female Bariaur have +2 to Intelligence or Wisdom. They have the Racial Power Cunning, which allows them to reroll one Initiative roll or to force one enemy to reroll a magic attack (the GM has the final word on what is “magic”).

Githzerai: these guys have +2 to Dexterity or Intelligence. They have the Racial Power Passionate Stoicism. Githzerai are creatures of burning passions, particularly when it comes to revenge (against Gythyanki and Illithids), but they are also beings of extreme self-control and mental discipline as they carved their home in Limbo. Passionate Stoicism is my clumsy attempt to simulate that. Once per day, a Githzerai can substitute any inflicted Condition with Weakened. This simulates either that they are using their intense emotions or iron self-control to ignore hardship.

If you must have some form of Magic Resistance…

Magic Resistance (Racial Githzerai Adventurer Feat)

Once per day, you gain Resist Magic 18+ (the GM/table decides if something is “magic”) for a battle. Your resistance also applies to any healing spell applied over you and the GM is welcome to roleplay all of your magic items as if all of them hate you. The GM should also choose a random chakra that you are using: the magic connected to that chakra is placed in a coma by your magic resistance until a Full Heal-Up (or an Icon Roll spend, or something like that).

Champion Tier: You can use this Racial Feat once per battle, but you lose 2 chakras.

Rogue Modrons: +2 to Intelligence or Constitution. You can use the Never Say Die Racial Power from the Forgeborn/Dwarf-Forged from the 13th Age Core Rulebook. If you want something more Modron-like, try this power.

Creature of Order (Racial Rogue Modron Power)

You are a creature of patterns and react poorly to surprises or change. You roll Initiative once at every Full Heal-Up and keep that number until your next Full Heal-Up. You can always choose to roll a 2d10 instead of a 1d20, but once you roll a 1d20 you become so erratic that you can only opt to roll 2d10 after a Quick Rest.

Finally, you can choose to buy the Preset Programmed Action Feat if you want some more Modron classic stuff.

Preset Programmed Action (Racial Modron Adventure Feat)

You can program yourself to act on a preset action, thus compensating your usual predictability. This action must be something that could be done with a Standard Action and that could be phrased as “If A do B to C, I will D to E”. Examples are “If an enemy (A) attack (B) me (C), I will attack (D) him (E)”, or “If an ally (A) is dropped (B) by an enemy (C), I will help (D) him (E)”. The GM/table has the final word. If a situation occurs where the Preset Programmed Action is triggered you can, once per day, use an interrupt action to enact it. Because this is something programmed into you before the current situation, you cannot use the Escalation Die for this action.

Planars and Primes

If you want to give some mechanical juice to the distinction between Primes and Planars, try this:

Primes: Primes are normal 13th Age characters (if there is such a thing). They begin with the free background Clueless +2. They can use this to simulate any knowledge from their home and also to go by on the planes if they are willing to accept a “success with a cost”. In other words, Primes start with a free background that lets them do stuff in the Planes if they are fine with that happening with some complications. For example, a Rogue Prime Half-Elf is invited to a dinner… by Baatezu in a special tavern in Sigil that specialises in attending the culinary tastes of the Nine Hells! The PC suspects that the food is poisonous to mortals but none of his backgrounds can help them. He can use Clueless +2 to find out if the food is poisonous. If he succeeds, what happens is that one of the Baatezu stops from eating poisonous food. However, the same Baatezu now claims that the half-elf has “soul debt” with him and demands that he use the poison to kill someone in 7 days or his soul is forfeit (“As you can read in the plaque above our table, which sets the socialization contract requirements for all those who wish to partake of this fine delicacy. It is a usual contract in the Nine Hells, but you primes are often so clueless about common sense…”).

Planars: Planars can sense nearby gates and see their boundaries if within sight. This should be a big advantage for any Planescape game. They also can speak the Chant and don’t make a mess of themselves (as most Primes do). Planars however have a few disadvantages in that most magic from the Material Plane made to affect devils, angels, spirits etc. also have an impact on them. There are two basic ways to use this. If you are in a hurry, just do this: every time a Planar goes to the Material Plane (unless summoned) or crosses a gate they must pay 1 Recovery. Simple. The second option is my favourite but a bit complex: do a Montage! Basically, once per Full-Heal Up the GM should create a Montage to make the life of Planars “interesting”. The most classic example here is to say that the Planars are suddenly summoned to the Material Plane by some wizard and must deal with it to return. This Montage should use the rules from the Book of the Underworld (i.e., it must involve some skill check and inflict some cost, usually some resource, damage, use of a power, or use of a Recovery). If the table has a mix of Planars and Primes, let the Prime PCs create the problem (and perhaps a complication) for the Planar PCs to solve. If you have only one Planar PC, then just use the first option. Ignore all this if it is too much!

Second: Unique Things!

This is where we hit the sweet spot for 13th Age. Planescape characters have an idiosyncratic nature and that is their unique thing! Do you want to be the aforementioned “living forgotten letter of an ancient alphabet”? A rogue petitioner seeking to escape the Lower Planes masquerading as a Wizard? An ex-Proxy who survived the death of his Power? The last dream of an entire ancestry? That is your Unique Thing! 13th Age practically invites you to create your own unique take on “Planescapian” flavour.

Third: Backgrounds!

This is where you can build upon your Unique Thing/Race/PC Concept. For example, if you are a Rogue Modron, you can have the skill “Supernal Instantaneous Mathematical Calculations”, allowing you, for example, to instantly determine the amount of anything you can see, such as the number of coins in a chest or the number of devils in a Blood War battle (and you can of course argue with the GM that the skill is equally useful to “count” stuff such as “Evil”, “Good”, “Bloodlust”, “Hunger” etc.). Damn, you can use your faction to create some cool backgrounds too, such as “I act before I think” (yup, that is a Transcendent Order skill, I love those dudes).

Fourth: Icon Relationship.

Did I say Icons? Forget it. I mean “Faction Relationship”. Take 13th Age’s Icons and replace them with Planescape factions (from the original box and AD&D 2nd sourcebooks or use the new 5E ones). Select for example a 1 positive relationship with the Mercykillers (i.e., your faction), a 1 ambiguous one with the Harmonium (perhaps from your ex) and 1 enemy with the Dustmen (who let one of your ex-cons return as a wraith?)

Remember that you can go way beyond Factions here and allow PC to have relationships with Powers, Planes (or just a place), or any NPC that you like… (except the Lady of Pain… people with “relationships” with her tend to disappear).

Fifth: Belief.

Belief or the power of belief to change reality is a cornerstone of Planescape. I am aware that the Planewalker’s Handbook tried to gamify that into a rule (in a way that I still find very nice). However, instead of that, I suggest using Belief as a reward mechanic: when a player manages to change someone’s Belief or to concentrate enough Belief to incite change in the world (for example, convincing most of the population of a portal town for example), they should be rewarded: let them regain Recoveries, maybe a Full Heal-Up, or better yet, regain Faction Relationship dice (that you can roll right away!), or to change one encounter to a Montage!

If you prefer instead the original Planewalker’s Handbook system, then just create a Belief for each PC (one per Tier seems enough) and track their Belief Points. PCs can use 1 Belief Point to succeed at a Skill Check, gain a significant Clue from the GM, or regain 1 Faction Relationship Roll.

Optional rule: Binding Belief

Instead of changing someone’s Belief your PC can accept the burden of another’s Belief and hold on to it for the next 4 encounters (or until the next Full Heal-Up or when the GM say it is enough). After that, you gain some reward (preferably one use Faction Relationship Dice from the faction/group that you helped). The price paid is that, for those 4 encounters, you suffer a “negative Background”. For example, if accept the Belief that “Thought is a barrier to the true nature of the Multiverse -2” (a typical slogan for the Transcendent Order), means that you suffer a -2 penalty to any check where the GM thinks (ha!) that you have to use your rationality first (such as persuading an NPC, searching for a clue, using your erudite knowledge etc.). Depending on the Belief the negative background might have a stepper penalty (or it might impact some aspect of your PCs, such as your chakras).

OK, so I hope that by now we have reached a point where you (at least) agree that 13th Age is a good fit for Planescape. What else can we do? Well, I am glad you asked. Let’s try to create rules for Planescape's flavorful “truths” about the Multiverse:

The Rule-of-Three: everything important in Planescape tends to come/happen in threes. So, if you want to gamify this “rule” it could be something that the table (all the players, by consensus) could invoke ONCE per game session or day. Did they find one or two potions, or maybe two helpful NPCs, or even two paths ahead through Mount Celestia? Then the table can invoke the Rule-of-Three to create/suggest/negotiate new options. Depending on your GM style, you can settle this with a Montage, Skill Challenge, etc. A more “tactical” table can invoke this rule to ask for a Full Heal-Up after 3 (instead of 4) encounters. In this case, I would advise granting ONE player the benefit of a Full Heal-Up (not the entire table), as I feel this can lead to interesting choices. Instead of letting them use the Rule-of-Three for “free” every game session/day, you can instead determine that after invoked by the PCs, the next use of the Rule-of-Three belongs to the GM (yeah, 3 elite-level bosses! Time for the party to escape!).

Unity of Rings: Things in Planescape tend to follow a “ring-like” or circular logic. What comes around, goes around. OK, this one is harder. Here are my ideas so far…

First version: Use this for outlier results and “whiff’ factors. In other words, if a player rolls a fumble in any check (or rolls their Faction Relationship dice and doesn’t get anything), I would suggest they can spend 1 Recovery to request a “karmic counterbalance”. In other words, they gain an extra chance later to change the same kind of test. If the fumble was an attack roll, they have an extra d20 that they can use later; if it was a skill check, the same idea; if it is a Faction Relationship roll it costs 2 Recoveries and they can try to roll a new die at any point in the adventure.

Second version: like the first, when a player fails a check or doesn’t gain anything relevant/interesting, they can invoke the Unity of Rings to “invert” the result. Here, the effect is stronger. A fumble (a 1) becomes a critical hit (a 20). A 1 in a Faction Relationship die becomes a 6. However, after that, the Unity of Rings goes to the GM who can use it with his monsters. If using this version, the Unity of Rings can be summoned once per adventure or per game session.

Third version (after all, we must follow the Rule-of-Three too): This is a failing forward TURBO version! Once every encounter, when you fail any check (or Icon Relationship Roll), you can ask for a Ring Check. Only one PC per encounter gets this. A Ring Check works like an Icon Relationship roll: roll a d6 and it kicks in if you get a 5-6. If you get a 5-6, you have the right to execute a small Montage with a cost. In other words, you propose an advantage from the GM (a new way forward, a consumable magic item, access to an NPC, recovery roll for a power etc. in exchange for 1+ Recovery Die, a temporary negative Background, perhaps some damage etc.).

Center of All: this one rule I don’t feel the need to gamify. Instead, I would encourage the GM to ask each player what their character believes is the “Center of the Multiverse”. This would provide a lot of thought (and hopefully game material) for the GM to work it 😊