- A slimy mass replaces the: Tongue; Eyes; Genitals; Sinuses. It works pretty much the same but everything is a bit more beige. If you get dehydrated it turns into fruiting bodies and blows away in the next stiff breeze.
- Anything that bites you or drinks of your blood must save or be subject to hallucinations (as confusion)
- As long as you remain well-fed, sweat a honeydew that attracts a colony of ants to crawl about you, almost imperceptibly. They'll swarm anything that grapples you for more than a round, and after a rest you can taste one of them to get a sense of any egregious environmental effects.
- Sprout a brilliantly colored toadstool cap around your head. Counts as a shield. Could be mistaken for a very wide hat from a distance or with some paint maybe.
- Enter into a symbiotic relationship with a magic item carried. Once per session, you can count holding it as eating. Once per session, you can use it for free.
- Grow big fungal mounds on the back and forearms. They are: geometric; wrinkled; gilled; ropy. Together they count as a large item carried, but grants a level's worth of HP.
- Hold a type of creature: plant; vermin; humanoid; construct. It gets a save each round. After three failures it is charmed until it's not handled for an hour.
- If you would die of thirst, you instead retreat into a husk that can last up to one-hundred times your natural lifespan. When doused, you will emerge into a fugue state until drenched in water (or blood).
- If you've eaten a good share of bread or fruit, you pee beer! However, you also burp a lot until it's passed. This could make stealth or negotiations difficult.
- If your body lies in the same place for a day, a fairy ring forms around it: Well that's weird; Anyone who sleeps in the ring enters Fairyland; Some minor mischievous fairies enter the world; The Shaggy Man enters the world.
- In complete darkness, skin glows pale green, as bright as a candle.
- Naked, can eat wood. Something about the size of a door counts as a meal. It takes a rest and is not particularly pleasant to watch.
- Once per session, breath a cloud of spores that deal damage based on current HP. Until then they're in the lungs, and the strain counts as carrying a large item.
- Purged of one curse and cough up a delicious orange. Everyone who sees it wants to eat the orange. Anyone who does inherits the curse. If nobody does after a day, the orange hatches into a familiar.
- Release a cloud of irritating spores when hurt. Those nearby must save or suffer from: sneezing & coughing (stunned); runny eyes (blind); itching (drop held items); an unsightly rash (takes a day to clear up).
- Resist the touch of slimes, oozes, and such. Sunlight, however, burns like fire.
- The brain turns into a beautiful puffball. You die. A wizard who cracks your head and inhales the spores learns a new spell and rolls on this table.
- The flesh becomes spongy and pliable. Half damage from all attacks. Cannot wear armor, and clothes are barely tolerable. Halve speed each day until collapse into sludge and die.
- Tiny grey roots grow into anything worn or carried. Clothes and leather armor become painful to remove after a few hours, ruined in a day. Wooden weapons, leather bags, or rations carried quickly rot. Each item ruined counts a ration consumed, though.
- When hungry, emit a nauseating, rotting stench. it attracts flies and other flesh-hungry vermin.
Friday, November 2, 2018
Fungal Mutations
Roll d20:
Sunday, July 22, 2018
dice decay probabilities
Messing around with supply dice in a game. Here are the average number of times you can expect a die of a size to last if it decays to the next smaller sizer on a 1 or a 2, then be expended after 1.
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Dog Weapons
Retrieving bolts
Golden-tufted crossbow bolts. Feel kind of stupid in the hand.
Drag struck creatures backwards.
Dirt knife
Jumpy dagger with itchy, stocky, wire-wrapped handle.
Vermin bane.
Flushing spear
Long spear with a bifurcated, wavy head.
Strains towards nearest hiding creature, granting holder advantage to find them.
Pit cestus
Stinky, tooth-studded bandages with a thick metal ring around the middle knuckles.
Advantage to maintain (not enter or escape) a grapple.
Barrel-down greatsword
Huge blade is perpetually cold and damp. Banded, barrel-like wooden handle.
Once per day, dispenses medicinal brandy from handle (as healing potion, plus tipsy).
Hounding blade
Baying is heard in the distance when this short sword is drawn.
Checks to track anyone hurt by this blade have advantage until the wound is healed.
Puppy shot
Wiggly and soft arrows, bolts, or stones.
For each damage that would be dealt, instead a healthy puppy drops to the ground. If reared to adulthood, might have hints of struck creature.
Golden-tufted crossbow bolts. Feel kind of stupid in the hand.
Drag struck creatures backwards.
Dirt knife
Jumpy dagger with itchy, stocky, wire-wrapped handle.
Vermin bane.
Flushing spear
Long spear with a bifurcated, wavy head.
Strains towards nearest hiding creature, granting holder advantage to find them.
Pit cestus
Stinky, tooth-studded bandages with a thick metal ring around the middle knuckles.
Advantage to maintain (not enter or escape) a grapple.
Barrel-down greatsword
Huge blade is perpetually cold and damp. Banded, barrel-like wooden handle.
Once per day, dispenses medicinal brandy from handle (as healing potion, plus tipsy).
Hounding blade
Baying is heard in the distance when this short sword is drawn.
Checks to track anyone hurt by this blade have advantage until the wound is healed.
Puppy shot
Wiggly and soft arrows, bolts, or stones.
For each damage that would be dealt, instead a healthy puppy drops to the ground. If reared to adulthood, might have hints of struck creature.
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Trapper 5E Rogue Archetype
This steps on the ranger's toes a bit, but it's for a game without rangers.
Said game also doesn't have the Arcane Trickster archetype, so I was okay letting this be a little more complex to take up that design space.
I took the Survivalist feature directly from the published Scout archetype.
Also includes a rules for grenades.
The trapper's kit has 4 uses. Whenever you take a short or a long rest, you're able to repurpose and cannibalize portions of it and your environment to restore all expended uses.
Your kit gains another use at 9th and 17th level.
Trap Proficiency: Starting at 3rd level, add your proficiency modifier to any attacks by, saving throws against, or checks to detect or escape from traps you set. Ball bearings, caltrops, grenades, hunting traps, and nets count as traps.
You can use the bonus action granted by your Cunning Action to Ready, but only to respond to a creature you can see taking damage from a trap you set. If this trigger occurs, you can use your reaction to add half your sneak attack dice to the trap's damage (round up).
Additionally, you can use this bonus action and 1 use of your kit to produce a simple trap which emulates a bag of ball bearings, caltrops, a grenade, a hunting trap, or a net. These aren't durable and cease to be effective after 1 minute.
Improvised Traps: Choose 2 of the following improvised traps you're familiar with.
By spending 1 minute, 1 use of your trapper's kit, thieves' tools, and items scrounged from your surroundings, you set one of the chosen traps.
You can reliably improvise a number of traps equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum 1). When you set another, one of the existing ones, determined at random, fails and becomes harmless.
You can choose another improvised trap to be familiar with at 9th, 13th, and 17th level.
The DC to avoid, disarm, or detect any of these trap effects is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier.
Bomb: Each creature in a 10-foot-radius sphere centered on the triggering creature must make a Dexterity saving throw. They take 4d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Audible up to a mile away outdoors.
Dart: The trap makes an attack against the triggering creature, adding your proficiency bonus and your Intelligence modifier, for 2d6 damage. Extremely quiet.
Flash: A blinding light flares in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on the triggering creature. All within must pass a Constitution saving throw or be blinded. They can attempt a new saving throw at the end of each of its turns.
Release: A container rigged to open or break when the trap is sprung. You must provide something to fill it with. A pint will affect the triggering creature. A gallon will usually affect anything within 10 feet of the triggering creature.
Common choices include: Ball bearings, resin, acid, grease, holy water, bees, scorpions, caltrops, confetti or glitter, stinky muck.
Snare: The triggering creature must pass a Dexterity saving throw or be restrained. It can use its action to make another Dexterity saving throw at disadvantage to escape. You may opt to construct this trap such that it deals 1d6 damage when it initially restrains a creature.
In addition, while traveling for an hour or more in the wilderness, your group moves more effectively under your leadership:
Ball Bearings: As an action, you can spill these tiny metal balls from their pouch to cover a level, square area that is 10 feet on a side. A creature moving across the covered area must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone. A creature moving through the area at half speed doesn’t need to make the save.
Caltrops: As an action, you can spread a single bag of caltrops to cover a 5-foot-square area. Any creature that enters the area must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or stop moving and take 1 piercing damage. Until the creature regains at least 1 hit point, its walking speed is reduced by 10 feet. A creature moving through the area at half speed doesn't need to make the saving throw.
Grenade: As an action, you can throw a grenade up to 60 feet. Make a ranged Attack, modified by cover, treating the grenade as an improvised weapon. At the start of your next turn, the grenade explodes. Everything within a 10-foot-radius centered on it must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw. They take 2d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature can use its action to attempt a Dexterity saving throw with a DC equal to your attack roll to pick up the grenade and throw it back. On a failure, it explodes immediately, and they cannot attempt a saving throw for half damage.
Hunting Trap: When you use your action to set it, this trap forms a saw-toothed steel ring that snaps shut when a creature steps on a pressure plate in the center. The trap is affixed by a heavy chain to an immobile object, such as a tree or a spike driven into the ground. A creature that steps on the plate must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or take 1d4 piercing damage and stop moving. Thereafter, until the creature breaks free of the trap, its Movement is limited by the length of the chain (typically 3 feet long). A creature can use its action to make a DC 13 Strength check, freeing itself or another creature within its reach on a success. Each failed check deals 1 piercing damage to the trapped creature.
Net: A Large or smaller creature hit by a net is Restrained until it is freed. A net has no effect on creatures that are formless, or creatures that are Huge or larger. A creature can use its action to make a DC 10 Strength check, freeing itself or another creature within its reach on a success. Dealing 5 slashing damage to the net (AC 10) also frees the creature without harming it, ending the effect and destroying the net. When you use an action, Bonus Action, or reaction to Attack with a net, you can make only one Attack regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make.
Said game also doesn't have the Arcane Trickster archetype, so I was okay letting this be a little more complex to take up that design space.
I took the Survivalist feature directly from the published Scout archetype.
Also includes a rules for grenades.
Survivalist
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Nature and Survival skills. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses either of those proficiencies.Traps
Trapper's Kit: You have assembled a trappers' kit. It is a unique combination of wires, vials, blasting caps, strings, acids, and other interesting odds and ends you've "acquired" in your travels. In conjunction with thieves' tools, it allows you to improvise traps.The trapper's kit has 4 uses. Whenever you take a short or a long rest, you're able to repurpose and cannibalize portions of it and your environment to restore all expended uses.
Your kit gains another use at 9th and 17th level.
Trap Proficiency: Starting at 3rd level, add your proficiency modifier to any attacks by, saving throws against, or checks to detect or escape from traps you set. Ball bearings, caltrops, grenades, hunting traps, and nets count as traps.
You can use the bonus action granted by your Cunning Action to Ready, but only to respond to a creature you can see taking damage from a trap you set. If this trigger occurs, you can use your reaction to add half your sneak attack dice to the trap's damage (round up).
Additionally, you can use this bonus action and 1 use of your kit to produce a simple trap which emulates a bag of ball bearings, caltrops, a grenade, a hunting trap, or a net. These aren't durable and cease to be effective after 1 minute.
Improvised Traps: Choose 2 of the following improvised traps you're familiar with.
By spending 1 minute, 1 use of your trapper's kit, thieves' tools, and items scrounged from your surroundings, you set one of the chosen traps.
You can reliably improvise a number of traps equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum 1). When you set another, one of the existing ones, determined at random, fails and becomes harmless.
You can choose another improvised trap to be familiar with at 9th, 13th, and 17th level.
The DC to avoid, disarm, or detect any of these trap effects is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier.
Improvised Traps
Alarm: When you set this trap, choose if it will be subtle or blaring. When tripped, you automatically hear the subtle version it within 60 feet, but anyone else must make a Wisdom (Perception) check against the trap's DC to tell they have tripped it. The blaring version is audible up to a mile away outdoors.Bomb: Each creature in a 10-foot-radius sphere centered on the triggering creature must make a Dexterity saving throw. They take 4d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Audible up to a mile away outdoors.
Dart: The trap makes an attack against the triggering creature, adding your proficiency bonus and your Intelligence modifier, for 2d6 damage. Extremely quiet.
Flash: A blinding light flares in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on the triggering creature. All within must pass a Constitution saving throw or be blinded. They can attempt a new saving throw at the end of each of its turns.
Release: A container rigged to open or break when the trap is sprung. You must provide something to fill it with. A pint will affect the triggering creature. A gallon will usually affect anything within 10 feet of the triggering creature.
Common choices include: Ball bearings, resin, acid, grease, holy water, bees, scorpions, caltrops, confetti or glitter, stinky muck.
Snare: The triggering creature must pass a Dexterity saving throw or be restrained. It can use its action to make another Dexterity saving throw at disadvantage to escape. You may opt to construct this trap such that it deals 1d6 damage when it initially restrains a creature.
Trailblazer
Starting at 9th level, moving through nonmagical difficult terrain costs you no extra Movement.In addition, while traveling for an hour or more in the wilderness, your group moves more effectively under your leadership:
- Moving at a fast pace does not impose a penalty to passive Wisdom (Perception) scores.
- Your group can use stealth at a normal pace.
- Moving at a slow pace allows your group to use stealth and imposes disadvantage on any Wisdom (Survival) checks made to track you and them.
Urgent Improvisation
At 13th level, you can create an improvised trap as an action rather than in a minute by spending twice its uses from your trapper's kit.Chain Reaction
Starting at 17th level, if a creature takes damage from or fails a saving throw against a trap you set, your first attack next round against it has advantage.Simple Traps
These are provided for reference. Add your proficiency bonus to any of these traps' DCs when you use them, and to any attack roll you make with them.Ball Bearings: As an action, you can spill these tiny metal balls from their pouch to cover a level, square area that is 10 feet on a side. A creature moving across the covered area must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone. A creature moving through the area at half speed doesn’t need to make the save.
Caltrops: As an action, you can spread a single bag of caltrops to cover a 5-foot-square area. Any creature that enters the area must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or stop moving and take 1 piercing damage. Until the creature regains at least 1 hit point, its walking speed is reduced by 10 feet. A creature moving through the area at half speed doesn't need to make the saving throw.
Grenade: As an action, you can throw a grenade up to 60 feet. Make a ranged Attack, modified by cover, treating the grenade as an improvised weapon. At the start of your next turn, the grenade explodes. Everything within a 10-foot-radius centered on it must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw. They take 2d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature can use its action to attempt a Dexterity saving throw with a DC equal to your attack roll to pick up the grenade and throw it back. On a failure, it explodes immediately, and they cannot attempt a saving throw for half damage.
Hunting Trap: When you use your action to set it, this trap forms a saw-toothed steel ring that snaps shut when a creature steps on a pressure plate in the center. The trap is affixed by a heavy chain to an immobile object, such as a tree or a spike driven into the ground. A creature that steps on the plate must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or take 1d4 piercing damage and stop moving. Thereafter, until the creature breaks free of the trap, its Movement is limited by the length of the chain (typically 3 feet long). A creature can use its action to make a DC 13 Strength check, freeing itself or another creature within its reach on a success. Each failed check deals 1 piercing damage to the trapped creature.
Net: A Large or smaller creature hit by a net is Restrained until it is freed. A net has no effect on creatures that are formless, or creatures that are Huge or larger. A creature can use its action to make a DC 10 Strength check, freeing itself or another creature within its reach on a success. Dealing 5 slashing damage to the net (AC 10) also frees the creature without harming it, ending the effect and destroying the net. When you use an action, Bonus Action, or reaction to Attack with a net, you can make only one Attack regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make.
Sunday, February 4, 2018
Goblin Names
Quick d50 table for generating goblin names. Roll twice, and consider adding "-y" or "-er" to the result. Some tests:
3-4: papa
5-6: pulp
7-8: slurp
9-10: uncle
11-12: hog
13-14: juice
15-16: kiss
17-18: eel
19-20: hunch
21-22: wee
23-24: nub
25-26: cap
27-28: jowl
29-30: friend
31-32: egg
33-34: tail
35-36: wax
37-38: curd
39-40: skin
41-42: berry
43-44: pig
45-46: whisker
47-48: knuckle
49-50: pluck
51-52: gut
53-54: puss
55-56: hag
57-58: clutch
59-60: mama
61-62: bump
63-64: cow
65-66: blossom
67-68: crow
69-70: bucket
71-72: snail
73-74: suck
75-76: chunk
77-78: worm
79-80: nail
81-82: munch
83-84: milk
85-86: dirt
87-88: auntie
89-90: nurse
91-92: touch
93-94: crinkle
95-96: grunt
97-98: grin
99-100: chub
- wormhag
- bucketmilk
- touchcrow
- hogcapper
- chubwee
- wax nurse
3-4: papa
5-6: pulp
7-8: slurp
9-10: uncle
11-12: hog
13-14: juice
15-16: kiss
17-18: eel
19-20: hunch
21-22: wee
23-24: nub
25-26: cap
27-28: jowl
29-30: friend
31-32: egg
33-34: tail
35-36: wax
37-38: curd
39-40: skin
41-42: berry
43-44: pig
45-46: whisker
47-48: knuckle
49-50: pluck
51-52: gut
53-54: puss
55-56: hag
57-58: clutch
59-60: mama
61-62: bump
63-64: cow
65-66: blossom
67-68: crow
69-70: bucket
71-72: snail
73-74: suck
75-76: chunk
77-78: worm
79-80: nail
81-82: munch
83-84: milk
85-86: dirt
87-88: auntie
89-90: nurse
91-92: touch
93-94: crinkle
95-96: grunt
97-98: grin
99-100: chub
Saturday, February 3, 2018
Hit Dice and Magic
I have written before about finding more uses for Hit Dice in 5th edition D&D. Here are a couple more ideas.
These make more sense if you consider a HD to be some manifestation of your will. Normally you use it to pull your own body back together from injury, but why not spread it around?
You can split the effort across multiple rests. (1st-level wizards must do this.)
Specialists only need to spend 1 HD per spell level for spells in their school.
This seems like a reasonable extension of the wizard's will. I also tend to play in resource-scarce settings where there's never an opportunity to buy or make these inks. Also makes wizards a bit squishier, or opens up interesting possibilities around periods of vulnerabilities for wizards.
Require the caster to expend HD instead of requiring material components with a gp cost for spells. Most spells which require costly components are creating some kind of lingering effect or awareness or imposition of will - if you think of spending HD as imbuing something else with a sliver of yourself this works out fine.
Quick look at the spells with costly components in the SRD, I would break them down like this:
These make more sense if you consider a HD to be some manifestation of your will. Normally you use it to pull your own body back together from injury, but why not spread it around?
Wizards Copying Spells
Instead of spending 50 gold per spell level on rare inks and such to copy a spell into a wizard's spellbook, spend 2 HD per spell level.You can split the effort across multiple rests. (1st-level wizards must do this.)
Specialists only need to spend 1 HD per spell level for spells in their school.
This seems like a reasonable extension of the wizard's will. I also tend to play in resource-scarce settings where there's never an opportunity to buy or make these inks. Also makes wizards a bit squishier, or opens up interesting possibilities around periods of vulnerabilities for wizards.
Instead of Costly Components
I've never really been a fan of the component system for magic since 3rd edition. That's probably a different post.Require the caster to expend HD instead of requiring material components with a gp cost for spells. Most spells which require costly components are creating some kind of lingering effect or awareness or imposition of will - if you think of spending HD as imbuing something else with a sliver of yourself this works out fine.
Quick look at the spells with costly components in the SRD, I would break them down like this:
- 1 HD: Arcane Lock, Augury, Divination, Find Familiar, Guards And Wards, Illusory Script, Magic Mouth, Magnificent Mansion, Nondetection, Programmed Illusion, Project Image, Teleportation Circle, True Seeing
- 2 HD: Arcane Sword, Circle Of Death, Clairvoyance, Continual Flame, Find The Path, Glyph Of Warding, Greater Restoration, Identify, Legend Lore, Magic Circle ,Magic Jar, Raise Dead, Revivify, Stoneskin, Warding Bond
- 3 HD: Awaken, Contingency, Forbiddance, Forcecage, Hallow, Heroes' Feast, Holy Aura, Instant Summons, Planar Binding, Reincarnate, Resurrection, Scrying, Shapechange, Simulacrum, Symbol
- 4HD: Clone, Gate, Sequester
- Astral Projection: 2 HD per subject
- Create Undead: 1 HD per corpse
- Imprisonment: 1 HD per HD
- Secret Chest: Breaks all the rules. At a wash, the creation of the miniature chest takes a HD, and the creation of the large chest takes another, which it keeps. If you lose the large chest you lose a HD. Adventure onto the ethereal plane to get it back.
- True Resurrection: 1 HD per HD
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