The Blessings of the Flesh from the Cult of the Pit (an extra for People of the Pit)

 

I remember the first time I faced draconians from the AD&D 2^nd Dragonlance Campaign Setting. I was instantly in love with the monster design (never have facing a critter with death throes before) You never knew what would happen when a new type of draconian showed up. Would the monster blow up as you killed it? Turn to acid? Go berserker? It was awesome.

I am not sure why but when I read People of the Pit module, I get a “draconian” vibe from the Cult of Pit. When you kill a cultist, a pulped-tentacled-mess-thing (a.k.a. octo-mass) bursts forth from the corpse and attacks you. That is nice… the first time. Then I noticed that it becomes common place rather quickly. So, I decided to create a table and generate variant octo-mass for my run of the adventure.

Every time a cultist dies, roll a 1d8, and let the chaos begin!

1 – The body starts shaking and gory tentacles emerge from mouth, eyes and ears… it is gross but one round later the cultist just drops dead. You lucky bastard.

2 – Same as above, but one round later an octo-mass bursts forth and ATTACK!

3 – The cultist explodes in gory trash movie fashion. Everyone in melee range must roll a Luck check. If they fail with an even roll they are blinded for 1 round, if they fail with a odd roll they slip and fall in the blood. Oh, and there is a octo-mass SOMEWHERE preparing a sneak attack at the possible worst moment.

4 – The octo-mass jumps some 10 ft. from the cultist’s corpse and attaches itself to a ceiling or wall… from where it promptly starts casting (or helping at the cast of) arms of Palimdybis. This “jumpy” octo-mass has AC 12.

5 – The octo-mass bursts from the cultist as a projectile. One character in range (a 30 ft. line) must succeed at a Ref save DC 12. Failing with an even roll means the octo-mass grabs his face (the PC is blind, cannot speak and is suffocating). Failing with an odd roll means the octo-mass grabbed his torso and the PC cannot use his arms, besides having his movement limited to 5 ft. per round. During the chaos of melee, any normal attack against a grappling octo-mass has 50% of hitting the grappled PC. (but Mighty Deed of Arms to avoid that are in order!) Consider that an octo-mass has a Str 10 when rolling opposed checks to free the PC.

6 – The octo-mass bursts from the cultist as a projectile. One character in range (a 30 ft. line) must succeed at a Will save DC 12 or becomes controlled as the octo-mass’ tentacles get inside his ears and nose. A new Will save can be attempted every round with a +2 cumulative bonus. (No Judge would dare use this tactic to control the party's wizard or elf... imagine if start casting spells? Oh Heavens...)

7 – Dire octo-mass! This critter has 8 hit points and inflicts 1d6 damage! The first time it is hit by slashing damage it suffers no damage but divides in two octo-mass (then in three). After the first slashing, damage is 1d4, after the second the normal damage. A third slashing attack deals damage normally.

8 – Octo-mass swarm!!! Roll twice on this table. (If the Judge believes this is too much, only use this result for Crimson and Yellow Robe Cultists).

Yeah, this tables makes the Cultist considerably more dangerous and unpredictable, but that is the idea. I run People of the Pit with a 5 players’ party who used lots of hirelings and the adventure was devilish fun!

Octo-mass time!

The Hellish Pacts with the Hollow Man (an extra for Doom of the Savage Kings)

While running Doom of the Savage Kings (one of my all-time favorite modules) to my first DCC RPG table, a few years ago, I added a few extras to the Sunken Fens. Because there is a Viking flavor to the entire thing, inspired in the legend of the huldre, I created the Hollow Man.

Just an old diviner...

The Hollow Man looks like an old hermit of the swamp, but on a closer inspection he is a hollowed husk-man-thing that carries flasks fulls of hands and eyes. While the party figured it out the illusion, they never interacted with the Hollow Man itself like I wanted (they actually ran away pretty fast!).

The Hollow Man collects hands and eyes and (or so say the legends) eventually traded them with devils. The idea is that the Hollow Man is a source of weird powers (i.e. magic items). Basically, you lose a hand and/or eye and get supernatural mojo.

Run for your lives!

Of course, the encounter was not that simple. The Hollow Man was a unique critter and only offered its services after a riddle contest (I placed rumors in Hirot mentioning that there is “an old diviner in the swamps” that helps people in exchange of riddles… it was a half-true rumor).

- If you give one of your hands to the Hollow Man, you literally get one of your hands (even if detached) in the Hells. The good news is that you can still kind of control that hand and the effect in the Material Plane is that, if spend 1 Action Die and no one is looking, you can move anything that you can see without touching it (if it weights less than 20 pounds/10 kg). So, you could use it (for example) to lift the keys to your cell from the sleeping guard and get away. The bad news is that you are one-handed (-1 Agility) and that one day a devil might show up with your hand, meaning that you own that devil one favour or you soul (your choice).

- If you give one of your eyes to the Hollow Man, you could use it see those that are already Damned. Mechanically, you suffer a -1 in Personality or Luck, but once every day (just after awakening) you can roll a d20. At any point during that same day you could change any other Action Die rolled in your presence by that d20. So, if you rolled a 3 at the beginning of the day, you could change an enemy’s attack roll of 17 against you with that 3. It does not work with your own Action Die rolls (i.e. you know that you are already Damned). The bad news? If you use this power and roll a natural 20, that means that you are doomed and, at some points during that day, the Judge can substitute any of your Action Die rolls for a Fumble (the Judge should go for maximum kill here, the idea is that the Hells want your character). So, if your PC rolls a natural 20 using this power, their best option is probably to stay holed up for the next 24 hours.

A classic!

On a DCC Lite

While I still love DCC RPG, I am looking for something lighter now (but still DCC and using the modules!). After all, DCC is such a treasure trove of good rules. I usually praise it for the having the best take on D&D iconic classes while still retaining that classic D&D feel. So, yes, in a certain way I am trying to build my DCC Lite (and I am probably not the first). This post is just me rambling about what I would keep in a DCC Lite (among other random stuff).

I want something that I can start right away with minimum fuss and book checking (and still feel like DCC). My first reaction is to get rid of base progressions from Attacks, Saves and such. I also want to keep Critical Hits and Fumbles, but I want to avoid all those tables for now. I want a Saving Throw system, but one that uses the original idea of saving (from Chainmail and OD&D).

I am very influenced right now by Knaves/Black Hack/SS&SS/GLOG/5TP, so my DCC Lite would be centered on DCC RPG’s 6 ability scores: Strength, Agility, Stamina, Intelligence, Personality and Luck.

Nonetheless… time to kill a sacred cow: get rid of the scores. I just want the modifiers. I will try to keep DCC RPG’s table of Ability Score modifiers and see how it goes (it also keeps inflation at a minimum and looks like older editions). So, if your roll Strength 12 your stat would actually be STR+0. If you rolled a Strength 14 you got STR +1. 

The basic rule is still rolling a d20. Initial DC is 10. Easy stuff (with consequences) would be DC 5, hard stuff is DC 15 and dramatic epicness would be DC 20 (DC 25 would be deity territory). I will address more about checks when I talk about skills.

 I want to start at Funnel, so each PC would just roll his 6 stats, 1d6 + Stamina mod hit points and a Background. Each PC should have 1 character only; however I am thinking on allowing a player to reduce 2 of his LUCK to start with a 2^nd PC.

Oh, about LUCK. You still roll LUCK for random stuff, passive perception, and such. However, your Luck Points start as 10 plus LUCK (so, if you have LUCK -1, that is 9 Luck Points). LUCK and Luck Points are tracked separately. You can burn 1 Luck point BEFORE rolling to gain a +1d4 (or +1d6, still not sure) to any check during the game (not while advancing) or to gain a Save. LUCK itself never changes, but Luck points usually go down.

You recover Luck points by Carousing, making sacrifices to the Gods or permanently killing an Un-dead (1 per encounter; as Un-dead are hated by all the Gods as they are basically souls that do not go the Afterlife and thus to a deity’s power source).

You can burn 1 Luck to Save. Basically, after you are screwed you can request a Save (ex: you were hit by a poisoned arrow, you did not saw the pit trap and fell, you were in the wrong spot when the dragon breathed fire etc.) you can burn 1 Luck and request a Save. Usually that is flat d20 roll and if you roll 10+ (it could be more) you avoid the worse. Yes, you can request a Save after failing a normal check. HOWEVER, when you request a Save basically to “roll again” and you fail again, you suffer a Fumble. This does not happen when “there was nothing you could do”. For example: if you are caught in the area of a fireball or dragon breath, failing the Save is not a fumble. If the Judge does not want to inflict a Fumble you lose another Luck point (a generous Judge could return the Luck Point if you roll a natural 20 on a Save).

Advancement would be diegetic. That means no classes, feats and other automatic mechanics are involved. Leveling up usually will get you just: 1 extra Hit Die (usually a d6 and you reroll all your Hit Dice and keep the highest sum); you recover your Luck points, and maybe +1 to a stat every even level. EVERYTHING else depends on the campaign. You want to fight better? You convince the Guard Captain into training you. You want to be more agile? You convince the local Thief Master to teach you his tricks (that might give you +1/+2 to Saves based on reflexes or 1 free Save each day). Want to be more though? Then survive with your barbarian friend in the Dire Wood during all winter (that might grant you more hit points when leveling, maybe a better Hit Dice). Etc. The idea is the Questing for the Impossible, from the DCC RPG Core Rulebook, is now the official way to get powers. Yes, character will get powerful more slowly but for me that is actually better, as I can use more modules. Character development will also be more natural to the campaign.

I want a pick-up game, so the Background would define most of your stuff. Including your initial equipment. You can choose your items DURING GAME, if your Background would allow it. For basic dungeoneering stuff I would write a general list (torch, rope, 10 ft. pole etc.) and during the first session each PC could ask if they have that item. I would then cross the item from the list, say “Yes” and 1 PC in the party has the basic item. That should allow me to start right away.

Each PC can carry 10 items plus his STR. That is your Inventory/Encumbrance Each item above your limit leaves with a -1 Die Chain penalty (instead of rolling a d20 you now roll a d16).

Each PC can usually adventure for a number of turns equal to 6 plus his STA. One turn is usually 1 hour for wilderness exploration or 10 minutes for dungeon exploration. After that the Judge start inflicting Fatigue. Each level of Fatigue is one less level of Inventory/Encumbrance. A turn resting and eating would erase 1 Fatigue.

Now, I removed classes, but I still want the iconic class features as stuff you can train or gain during the game. Let me see what we can take from each class…

The Warrior, for example, has the best combat class trait that I have ever seen in a d20 System: The Mighty Deed of Arms! (besides the most awesome named class feature).

I am going to describe here how I use it, so you are alerted in case I am not following the official version. Basically, every time the Warrior attacks, they roll the traditional attack roll (a d20) and a Deed Die. At 1^st level that is 1d3. The Deed Die is always added to the attack roll. However, BEFORE rolling, a Warrior can declare a maneuver (like disarm or push the adversary). If the Deed Die comes with a ‘3’ and the attack hits, the Warrior roll damage PLUS the maneuver effect. If the Deed comes lower than ‘3’ but still lands, the Warrior just roll damage. Does that mean you have to declare a crazy stunt every round? No, if the Warrior just roll the Deed Die without declaring anything, they just add it roll to attack AND damage.

It is simple and – in one struck – DCC RPG got rid of all those feats, maneuvers, styles, and other crunch from other d20 Systems. It is also modular. You can practically remove the Deed Die and add it to other game. In my DCC Lite, if I would offer the Deed Die usually as a result of training with a Weapon Master (maybe the Deed Die would work just with one weapon or style). If I added it to a game like Knaves, I would just change it to a d4 or d6, with the extra it would work as a Usage Die (if a 1-2 came up you lost the Deed Die until you could rest/train/use one action to recover your stance). Done!

And forget rules light systems! If used D&D 5E I would also use the Deed Die (which is closer to the original idea of Expertise Die from the D&D Next playtest and which I find a lot more elegant, simple, and funnier them the current Battlemaster and Maneuver system of 5E).

In my current DCC RPG game I am also inclined to grant 1 Die Chain bonus if you request a maneuver that is good with your current weapon. Like using an axe to shatter armor or a flail to ignore a shield. In those cases, a d3 Deed Die would become a d4. I am still not sure about this.

Now lets us take a look on the Thief (and thus on Skills) for my DCC Lite.

DCC RPG already has the perfect Skill system. That is, for general uncertain stuff that anyone can do and where failure might be interesting you roll a d20 plus your modifier against a DC of 10 (a good description or Background can help you avoid the check, of course). If you try something that you are totally untrained (like closing someone’s wounds or trying to read Old Elvish), you will roll a d10 (if roll at all). Things based on Background (your previous occupation, your current diegetic class and stuff that you managed to train in game) define when you roll a d20. For example: in my current DCC campaign the party’s Berserker trained with a noble that new tracking and hunting – the Berserker now rolls a d20 for “Ranger stuff”.

DCC RPG Skill system’s genius really shines when placed side by side with D&D’s bastard class: the Thief. Like others, I do not appreciate how the Thief discourage other classes from attempting “Rogue stuff” in many d20 games. You also have the issue that in most pre-D&D 3^rd games, the Thief Skills at 1^st level were ridiculously low. There are A LOT of rulings and variants on the internet addressing that (from treating the Thief skills as supernatural powers, to rolling only when the Thief fails a normal Stat check or don’t describe exactly what he did etc.).  I rather like DCC RPG’s solutions. Everyone follows the normal Skill system. That means that if your Background is an urchin or a hunter, it makes sense to roll a d20 in a stealth check (minus any armor or encumbrance). If someone is watching you roll an opposed check, otherwise the usual DC is 10 (and probably higher). What about the Thief? Well, besides his Ability Score modifiers they have their classic Thievery Skills which gives them usually a +1 to +3 bonus at 1^st level. But the real catch is that the Thief operates on a different scale than other PCs. Take for example, Hide in Shadows: most PCs would have to find a place to hide and roll opposed checks. Not the Thief. Their DCs for Hide in Shadows are not opposed. Usually, if there are places with real shadows where they can hide, Thieves roll against a DC of 5 (they are THAT good!). If you are in broad daylight with guards, most PCs would probably roll a d10 opposed by a d20 from the guards. Not the Thief. Those bastards roll against a DC 20 (and it is not that hard, considering the usual bonus of +3 at 1^st level and the probable bonus of +10 at 4^th-5^th level). Yes, DCC RPG’s Thieves are ninja! It is such a simple rule that you don’t need to change anything else to implement it in other games. I am not sure why but it reminds of the position and effect rules from Blades in the Dark.

The Thief Skills would work perfectly in any rules light system. For my DCC Lite I am thinking on removing those complicated Skill Progressions and just keeping the Thief’s scale. In other words, a Thief-trained character would just need to beat a lower DC for that skill in which they were trained by another Thief (no opposed checks).

Now, before moving on, I would probably change the untrained Die Roll rule for my DCC Lite. Nothing against the d10 but I would establish that an untrained roll is a -3 Die Chain penalty. That means that instead of a d20 your roll a d12. That would also work for weapon proficiency (and a d12 is less harsh than a d10 in my mind… besides, we barely used d12s).

OK, I know I still must address the Thief’s Luck and Backstab but lets us leave that for another post. I also need to check the Critical Hit, Fumble and Spell’s tables that I will use. To finish this post, I just want to briefly address the Cleric.

The Cleric of DCC RPG (at least the Lawful one) is already the PERFECT Cleric, so I will just remove the spells for now. The Cleric’s magic system is already perfect just with Lay on Hands, Turn Unholy and Divine Aid. For my DCC Lite I would give the Cleric just one of those powers per quest. They are already considerable powerful and VERY useful. The idea that the Cleric has powers that work constantly instead of spell list also fits the class better in my mind, bringing it closer to the original Hammer Movies/Van Helsing concept.

Hope you enjoyed the rambling. See ya!

How I am feeling after writing this post!

Silent People Class for DCC RPG (Empire of the East)

I discovered a lot of novels and literature through RPGs (heck, my first book - The Hobbit - was a direct result of buying D&D Black Box). So, thanks to DCC RPG Empire of the East I found Fred Saberhagen’s amazing trilogy. Because I hate spoilers, I avoided the gnawing temptation of reading DCC RPG Empire of the East until I could finish all the books and (like Black Company some 20 years before) that was the best thing I did. It is really a lot more interesting to approach an RPG after reading the source material.

This post is a direct consequence of that: the first thing that I looked for when I opened the DCC RPG adaptation was the Silent People class. It was not there! Where is my awesome owl-folk class? OK, time to make one!

Please bear in mind that this is my version of the Silent People, considering not only the Changeling Earth setting but the entire lovable mashup that is DCC RPG, D&D and d20 Fantasy in general (yes, I want to use this class together with Dwarves, Elves and Halflings).

As everything else that I post here this class is not playtested (and it is longer than I currently want for a DCC RPG), but I hope you can enjoy it.

THE SILENT PEOPLE

You’re one of the Silent People or Owl-Folk, a mysterious species of night predators that fly almost invisibly during the night. Few can see better in the darkness than you

Hit Dice: d6. You can fly but you have a fragile frame.

Attack: as a Thief of the same level.

Critical Hits: as a Halfling of the same level.

Saves: as Thief, but the second best save is Will, not Fort.

Feathers and Claws: Silent People are not trained in the use of any weapon and cannot fly while using any armor (AC 10). Their feet are clawed and can be used as natural weapons, dealing d6 of damage. Silent People that are flying can attack with both claws as Halflings with two weapons.

Owl Head: Silent People are very hard to surprise because they can turn their head to see what is happening behind them. Silent Owl can roll a free Luck check to avoid being surprised or backstabbed.

Owl Sight: you can see in the dark and that is not infravision. You shouldn’t be able to see in magical darkness. You also see farther than most humanoids. If a flying Silent People spend one round “aiming” at a target before diving they gain a +1 die step for the attack roll.

Light Sensitivity: a torch in your face will leave you blind for 1d4 rounds (a Reflex save might be in order). If you stay a few feet away and avoid staring at flames you will be fine (but without the benefits of Owl Sight). Sunlight leaves you completely blind.

On Owls & Goggles

A character that can’t see in bright daylight might be a pain in the ass, so the Judge should allow Silent People to have a special black goggle that they can use during the day. The google gives them normal vision to 30 ft. If you are using the Changeling Earth those goggles could be rare artefacts from the Ancient Ones.

Silent Wings: I’ll try to be simple here. You can fly with a Speed 60 bearing a light load. Anything heavier than and you’re toast. Theoretically you can glide while carrying something as heavy as you (a small or medium humanoid). To keep things simple, you can say that a Silent People need at least 3 feet of free space around them to fly. They can hover. That means that in a 6 feet tall and 9 feet wide tunnel or dungeon they could fly instead of walk (although a Judge is entitled to ask for a few Agility checks in such tight spots and Stamina checks after a while as flying in such places is tiring). Even in places where a Silent People shouldn’t be able to fly, they should be at least capable of jumping really high or gliding.

While flying, the Silent People gain a special bonus to stealth, as a Halfling of the same level. They can fly silent and quietly. If in darkness they are almost invisible. If you’re flying and attack, hitting an unaware target, that is an automatic critical hit (like a Thief’s backstab).

Scalebane!: Your favorite dinner is a leatherwing, a loathsome and (slightly) intelligent flying reptile. What few are aware is that actually Silent People are enemies of all Scalefolk creatures. Against such creatures you gain a +d3 Vengeance Die on all your attacks. This works exactly like a 1st level Warrior’s Mighty Deed of Arms. Your Vengeance Die increases to a d4 at 5th level and d6 ath 9th level. Silent People add their Luck modifier to damage rolls in these attacks (if that is a negative modifier, they can still choose to add it as positive bonus to damage rolls, but the negative Luck means that the Silent People have such a deep hate that they must ALWAYS attack enemies on sight, never retreating, unless restrained).

I hate Favorite Enemies!

This trait was based - of course! - in the Changeling Earth setting. However, I usually don’t like “Favored Enemy” traits because if that creature doesn’t show up in an adventure that ability is useless. So, if not playing in the Changeling Earth, feel free to ignore it or change it to something different. An option would be to change the name to “Natural Predator” and give the Vengeance Die against any humanoid enemy (with the creepy implications that Silent People here enjoy man-flesh). Humanoids are usually common enough to keep this trait useful.

 

Silent People Occupations for Funnel!

If you want to start a Funnel as a Silent People, you have +0 to attacks and saves, 1d4 hit points like everyone else and the traits Feathers & Claws (d4 damage, just one attack), Owl Head, Owl Sight and Light Sensitivity (no googles!). Plus, you get a special item/trait (roll a d6):

1 – Younglings Keeper. You are entrusted with 1d3 Silent People eggs. If you survive the Funnel and keep the eggs intact, you have that many Hirelings to work for you at 1^st level. The eggs are light but very delicate, so roll Luck after every crazy action you attempt while carrying the eggs (and you can’t carry anything else!) or they are kaput!

2 – Hunter. You’re good at getting food in the wilds. You start with fresh meat for 1d4 days (don’t ask where that meat came from). At the beginning of every game session, if possible (roll Luck) you start with food for 1d4 days (for one person!).

3 – Watcher. Light sleeper. You get a Luck check even while sleeping to awake up and let everyone one that “WE ARE BEING ATTACKED!”.

4 – Loner. You don’t get along with your kind, but you know a lot about humanoids. You get a Luck check to know enough about any humanoid language if you can her them speak for one night. This is enough to communicate basic stuff (like “We surrender!” but not “Where is the closest library?”).

5 – Heretic. You love the sun and the light! You get a Luck check to avoid the effects of a torch or sunlight for 1d4 rounds. All other Silent People hate you.

6 – Scavenger. The Judge should roll twice on the Occupations table (or any other table, check those Kender tables from Dragonlance if you are old enough). You start the game session with the trade goods rolled. You filthy thief!  

The Tree-Man, a new class for DCC RPG

I’ve finally finished the Empire of the East trilogy, thanks to the DCC supplement. However, before that I had finished (re)(re)reading the Lord of the Rings. It is kind of a ritual for me to go back to Tolkien every few years. It is always an enjoyable and refreshing reading, giving me tons of ideas (this was also the first time I read the original, before that I only read the – very well done – Portuguese translations). Oddly enough, this last time I got ideas for DCC RPG campaigns, where “you are no hero”. I hope to develop it more and here is a first sample.

The Tree-Man

You are a walking and talking humanoid shaped tree! Maybe you should not have eaten that magic mushroom during the Funnel, or maybe you are in fact the remnant of an Elder Race.

[You are all grown-ups and know what an Ent (or Treant) is, so I will leave the fluff to you. Here are the mechanics, based mostly on Ents as I see them; although I could also hack a Mushroom-Man for my Purple Planet campaign easily with this stuff.]

 

Hit Dice: 2d6. These guys are tough.

Attack Bonus: +1/level. Your Crit Die is like an Elf but you roll on the Monster table.

Saves: as a Dwarf.

Language: you can speak with normal plants. That takes really a long time and normal plants usually don’t pay attention to much, but they certainly remember things that hurt them.

Let us not be hasty: your Speed is 20 feet, fumble dice d12, and your Initiative is always a d10. The good news is that any forest or similar terrain do not hinder you.

Barkskin: your natural AC is 14. You cannot use armor. Reduce any damage from fire or axe by your Luck modifier (minimum 1). If you have a negative Luck modifier, you bark is old and dry (or maybe weak and scarred) and you suffer extra damage from fire or axe attacks equal to your negative Luck modifier.

Wooden Fist: you are always considered armed and do 1d6 with your fists. You are not trained with any weapon.

Strong Roots: Tree-Man do not bleed and are very resilient. Unless you were brought down to 0 or less hit points by fire damage (or something like disintegration) you ALWAYS succeed at the Roll the Body check. Also, you have a +1 bonus per level to any Strength check.

Water and Light: you do not need to eat and can go just fine with water and sunlight (if you spent a lot of time in the underworld the Judge is welcomed to decide if water is enough). You don’t need to breath, not like a humanoid, and usually can stay underwater or in the void for a few hours.

Tree Knacks: roll once per level (start with a d10 and reduce the die to roll for high level stuff).

1 – Axe-shatter: your bark is tick and strong. Your AC 18 and when you are hit you can suffer 1 Agility damage to destroy the weapon used to attack you (if not magical) or to leave it stuck in your bark (if magical or a natural weapon). Hitting stuck enemies is usually easier for you.

2 – Many-branched: you have more than two arms. In combat you have an extra d16 Action Die for attacks. Outside of combat you have 1d3 extra arms that can be used to carry stuff (or halflings).

3 – Living Wood: you can send your roots to entangle or trip foes (like the entangle spell), stretch your arms or even grow fruits that can heal 1d4 allies (healing 1HD of each). Basically, you can invent stunts like Groot. Each of these stunts must be approved by the Judge, takes some time, normally can’t be used in combat. Each stunt deals 1d4 Stamina damage (2d4 if you are hurry or in combat).

4 – Rock Thrower. You can throw f***ing big rocks! Thrown rocks deal at least d8. Each time your thrown a rock you can focus on smashing one target (bonus damage equal to your level) or getting 1d3 extra targets (if they are close). It is also great for storming castles and sinking small ships.

5 – Stone-bane. Given enough time your finger can work like roots but breaking in mere minutes what a normal tree would take centuries. You can destroy normal wood, stone or even metal (but not stuff like adamantine and such). Basically, you can destroy castle gates or even dig through a wall in a few minutes. You can also use this to climb any surface that you can break. If the material is really strong this might hurt you (Stamina or hit point damage).

6 – Language of Birds and Beasts: you turn/control plants and animals like a cleric of the same level (but not destroy or damage them). You can speak with any natural beast or monster.

7 – Just a tree. You can become a normal tree. This will fool anyone not using very specific magic to see you (in a forest even that might not be possible). While in this form you still pay attention to your surroundings and your need for water and sunlight are greatly diminished. You do not age or sleep like a normal creature. Yes, you can use this to be the (almost) perfect sentinel. Changing to tree form and reassuming you form takes 1d6 rounds.

8 – Huorn: Your hate runs deep. Your unarmed attack deals d8 and you roll critical hits on the Giant table of the core book.

9 – Treerage: You have a trigger for fire, axes, orcs and things like that. When faced with those triggers you can choose to rage or flee. If you flee you disengage from combat without suffering an attack and must run with a speed of 40 feet for to 1 turn (10 minutes). If you rage you must ALWAYS attack the source of your rage until it is destroyed, and you receive a +1 die step bonus for all attacks and damage rolls. Nice Judged can allow you a Will save DC 15 to break the rage. Be warned, you can’t distinguish between allies and foes (let the fireball-throw wizard know beforehand).

10 – The Last March of the Ents (disregard this one if you are not going full Tolkien, just re-roll or let the player choose): your Luck stat now is renamed Doom and cannot be diminished unless you burn it. Once burned it only increases back with you level up (1 point per level, until your original maximum). You can burn 1 Doom to gain an attack (roll 2d10 for the attack) or to ignore one damage roll made against you (even after rolling a save). You can burn 1 Doom to awaken a normal tree as a very angry huorn (treat it as fanatical follower with half your total hit points, same AC and saves, attack equal to your level, damage d6 plus your level). The huorn will serve you until dismissed or destroyed. It will kill humanoid creatures unless you specifically instruct it NOT to kill THAT creature. In the darkness/night, a huorn can move silently (d20 + level to sneak and hide). Huorns are very fast and have a speed of 40 feet. Once your burn you last Doom point, you either sleep becoming a tree or you become a mad raging huorn that WILL KILL everything on sight (restore your hit points to full). After that, there is no coming back.

My updated Berserker for DCC RPG

Some years ago I designed a Berserker class for DCC RPG (you can find a slightly revised version in the 2018 Gongfarmer Almanac).

Unlike my other classes, I finally managed to playtest it a lot in my DCC RPG home campaign, which has been running more or less steadily since 2013. The thing is, in hindsight, I was too much influenced by more mechanic-heavy games. There is just too much stuff going on with the original Berserker. For games like Pathfinder and 13th Age that is neat, but not for DCC RPG.

I'm trying to keep my DCC RPG running light and simple these days, so I changed the Berserker. That also gave me ideas regarding other DCC RPG classes that I've been tinkering with (I'll try to post them soon, especially a much delayed martial artist... the original version was absurdly complex and required the player to distribute points between attack, defense and damage EVERY round... that is a no-fun for me these days in DCC RPG).

With the help of the Berserker player (thank you Leozílio!) here is the version we're currently using. Hopefully it is better than the previous one and more fun at the table.

Using Colonial Brazil for your Hexcrawl OSR

Let’s talk about how you can use Colonial Brazil as a template for your OSR hexcrawl campaigns. No, I’m not talking specifically about history, but on how some of the general concepts behind Colonial Brazil can help. Long story short, Brazil was colonized at first just as a way to enrich the Old World by extracting all the natural resources and goods they could get their hands on. That also included slavery and when the natives wouldn’t “cooperate”, a massive traffic of slaves was brought from Africa to brazilian shores. The first brazilian colonizers were mostly explorers, mercenaries and criminals. In fact, it was typical to leave convicted criminals at unknown shores and if they managed to survive when the ships returned they could even be pardoned (you will find more stuff here) - and yes that is a great hook for a game.

I believe Colonial Brazil can be an awesome approach for a different hexcrawl or Points of Light campaign. Instead of civilization being a distant Great Kingdom or isolated villages, your only safe havens here are very specific points of the shores. EVERYTHING else is hostile and unknown wilderness. Only at the shores you can trade, rest and get access to special equipment (you can even tailor specific rules, maybe certain types of rest, training or item magic creation would only work at the fortified ports in the shores).

That said, it is obvious that you can play D&D by going into the wilderness and facing hostile monsters and humanoid tribes but - frankly - that is rather uninteresting so: apply a twist! Again, using Colonial Brazil as an example: Europeans believed that the had a sacred mission to conquer and convert (even through slavery and genocide) the natives; that the local tribes were savage and inferior. That was their propaganda and was, of course, bullshit. Show - don’t tell - that to your players. In the same way that Brazil had native civilizations (not savages) before colonization, do the same to your wilderness. Even better, fill it with orcs, bugbears, goblins and all other humanoid races from D&D that you love so much; but place them here as cultures, not as evil bags of humanoid-shaped HPs. I addressed something similar in another post. You can even make the character think that they will be facing “evil humanoids”, but let all that Monster Manual “flavor text” be fake propaganda from the Powers That Be in the Old World. After getting into the wilds, let them meet rich cultures, like those found in Brazil. Let the character decide if they want to take part in the genocide (and suffer the consequences) or if they want to take a stand. This can be especially interesting if you use the convict exiles approach mentioned before: one of the most famous and mysterious characters of Colonial Brazil was probably a convict, but he became a respected leader among the natives (check here, unfortunately the link is available only in Portuguese). Steal that idea! Make the character feel welcome among one of “monster” civilizations of your wilderness, and despised among the powers of “civilization”. Let that feeling sink in and see how they behave.

Another cool concept to steal from Colonial Brazil is the exploration aspect. Ok, Portugal used Brazilian land and slaves to plant vast amounts of sugarcane, a valuable good; however, that came later. Initial exploration was often of local plants and animals. The name of the country, according to some, came from the brazilwood, used for expensive red dye at the time. I would change that. What if brazilwood (or its equivalent in your campaign) was a potent magic component that could be used to increase the effect of spells? If you make it addictive to magic users that is a plus; maybe it has to be smoked to empower the spellcaster (which would be nice because tobacco came from the Americas and shamans among in Brazil used it in their rituals). I just would keep this “magical spice” as a vegetable resource, to keep things interesting (later Brazil would see a gold rush, but mines don’t encourage you to preserve the environment and so are less interesting at this point of the campaign).

OK, we have local “monsters” and a unique supernatural resource so lets steal another thing from Colonial Brazil: Bandeiras! Like other historical themes that we are working here we don’t want the “real” Bandeiras and their members - the Bandeirantes (whomever they were). Actually, probably the historical Bandeirantes were brutal slavers and killers… like pirates, samurai, cowboys, vikings, and other famous archetypes, Bandeirantes were later romanticized into “national” heroes. Who were the Bandeirantes? (Long version is here). Short version is that Bandeirantes (literally “Flag-carriers”) were members of huge expeditions that braved the wilds in search of riches (like the famous Mountain of Silver) and slaves. Now, history aside, the awesome thing about Bandeirantes is that they really were adventurers’ parties! Exactly like OSR parties: adventurers, followed by followers and tons of hirelings. Some served the powers of the Old World, others were independent or worked as mercenaries, but it is definitely hard for a D&D player to read about them and NOT think on a campaign (there is a reason the first Brazilian RPG based on Brazilian history and folklore was called Desafio dos Bandeirantes or The Bandeirantes’ Challenge). You can use all your favorite party tropes from D&D as an official and socially recognized part of society in Colonial Brazil (i.e. adventurer partie were common and had a social niche). You can even play with party x party rivalry (c’mon, the most dangerous monster in D&D is nothing like the Tarrasque, but actually a high-level party of NPCs).

My third RPG and still a great game!

Now, you have the three main elements that I wanted to share with you:

• A vast “wilderness” full of “monsters”, with the powers of Civilization and Order holding small “Points of Light” at the shores.
• Legends of riches and exotic goods in the depths of the wilderness, like our supernatural brazilwood (spell empowering drug) or maybe a huge megadungeon sitting above a mountain made of silver, gold, adamantine or whatever precious metal you want.
• Organized (and probably rivals) parties of explorers sanctioned (or not) by the powers of Civilization.

I mentioned that you could use classic D&D monsters as strange and different cultures but you can move forward and use a setting just with dwarves, elves and other races from the Player’s Handbook (like this approach here). The “monsters” here are other humans, elves, dwarves etc. That would be a lot better to drive home some of the themes behind this theme (however, these days I believe that using all the humanoids is better, because it gives you A LOT of good options). Finally, you can do yourself a favor and do some research about the tribes that lived in Brazil at the time (the mythical and the historical), like:

• A historical tribe whose warriors were so fierce and feared that they used to jump in the sea, drenched in animal blood, so that they could hunt sharks with spears!
• Another tribe, with a rich religious culture, believed that each person had from 5 to 6 souls. And those souls could change daily or even be lost (like when you were sick).
• A mythical third tribe that lived in caves and had bat wings!
• The curupira, a forest spirit with backward feet who would lead raiders and those that disrespected the wilderness to other monsters dens.
• A monster known as the mapinguari that acted, basically, as a bigger bugbear. The mapinguari would grapple a victim (like a character in a party) by surprise, and run while carrying the poor soul into the woods (while EATING him alive, I forgot to mention). Usually trying to follow or catch up with a mapinguari would leave most parties lost.
• A type of epic monster known as the Earthshakers, of which only three survived. These ancient beings from a previous world have a vibe that mixes kaiju and Lovecraftian horrors in one place.

I love that art!

That is not even a tiny sample of the material that you can find. A good primer for gamers would be the outstanding The Elephant and Macaw Banner. Author Christopher Kastensmidt gives us an unlikely party of two adventurers in Colonial Brazil that adamantly refuses to employ slaves (one of them was actually a slave from Africa) and that travels in the wilderness to help people and battle monsters (real monsters!). The best part is that you have not only an awesome novel but also a great RPG recently made available in English (even if you don’t use the system, the bestiary and the art alone are more than worth the purchase). It is really a shame that Desafio dos Bandeirantes is out of print (and not available in English) as it had amazing ideas and concepts (like an african-based blacksmith magician known as the “Iron and Fire Sorcerer"... what a badass class).