You Come Upon A Ruined Vehicle

 To paraphrase Gandolf, I return to you now at the changing of the tide. I had to step away from the blog last year due to life events. I'm back now, though my output will have to reduce for my sanity's sake. I hope to continue creating fun stuff for you all in the months ahead!

Today I bring you a little encounter generator for adding some weirdness and mystery to you campaign. this is just one part of a bigger project I've been working on for generating interesting wilderness encounters. in the months to come i intend to share it and more with you. 

You Come Upon A Ruined Vehicle By The Side of the Road

 

There are more than just wandering monsters to encounter when travelling through the wilderness. Below you will find a handful of tables you can use to whip up a quick encounter for your players as they traverse the wilds of your campaign in search of adventure. This encounter showcases odd vehicles or vessels alongside themes of mystery and exploration and is best placed in mountain, desert, or barren hill terrain types.  Enjoy!

To create this encounter you will need to take three actions.

1) Roll on the Vessel table to determine what sort of vehicle or vessel the PCs encounter.

2) Roll to see if the party is alone when they come upon this sight.

3) Consult the table below that details the vehicle stats of those vessels that can be made working again.

D12	The Vessel
1	A longboat made of an entire block of carved granite. This vehicle was once enchanted to fly. It still bears a few rotting feathered oars and a series of mostly intact silk sails in its hold (worth a total of 400 gp). The rudder of the ship is broken in two but the magical runes used to keep the vessel aloft are still carved into it, and it may be able to be re-enchanted.
2	This was once a massive wagon with four axels. The wagon box is huge at nearly 15 feet square. It is made of moss covered timbers reinforced with rusting iron bands. There are a number of arrow slit-like windows around the entire wagon box. A strong looking door lays open as the whole thing has fallen on its side. It has become half covered in earth and moss. A team of oxen must have had to pull this large war wagon. Inside can be found a profoundly rusted tapered metal tube a few feet in length (a small hand canon), and a bunch of wet and molding black powder.
3	This horrific contraption looks like a metal platform built on top of 13 long and gangly metal legs. The whole rusted hulk is covered in brambles, lending it an air of some monstrous metal spider. The control levers and a small bench seat are the only things built on to the platform. The platform itself is big enough for six human-sized individuals to comfortably stand on it at one time.
4	A moss covered, segmented marble snake-like sculpture without a head. In place of a head, a marble seat has been carved, and a large green crystal (200 gp) is embedded in front of that. The marble stone segments of the snake body are fixed together with gold and copper chains an inch thick. (500 gp worth of metal can be salvaged). This vehicle is entirely intact. It can be driven by sitting in the driver’s seat, placing one’s hand on the crystal and imagining the direction you want the vehicle to move in.
5	This wooden vessel that resembles a long sailing boat is approximately 120 feet long and 20 feet wide at its widest. The entire top deck of the vessel has been covered over in a broken lattice of glass similar to that of a greenhouse, though most of the glass is now shattered. Besides the two main masts, there are two smaller masts curiously protruding from the underside of the vessel pointing downward at 45 degree angles. Below deck underneath the steering wheel there is a metal throne with arcane symbols etched on it. From here, a trained mage could levitate the entire vessel and even (legend says) take it to the stars and into other planes. Any character with arcane training who sits on the throne must save versus spells or be flooded with memories of interdimensional battles with other worldly creatures. This will exhaust their mind, preventing them from casting spells for the next 1d8 hours.
6	This vehicle seems to be the cap of a humongous acorn 12 feet in diameter. Inside the acorn cap are two holly branches woven into oars. This is some sort of faery boat. It is impervious to fire, nigh unbreakable, and can be floated across lava, acid, or almost any other mundane but dangerous liquid. A large river stone with a natural hole worn in the middle has been set inside, tied to the acorn cap with a rope of woven grasses for use as an anchor. The entire vessel weighs 500 pounds.
7	This large stone statue is carved out of gray-green basalt and is roughly 15 feet tall and 8 feet wide. It has been fashioned in the likeness of an armored dwarf with a long plaited beard, although the whole thing is now covered in moss and vines. There is a compartment in its back big enough to fit two dwarf-sized individuals. Besides some small benches, this little recess contains rusted control levers for making the great stone statue walk. The dwarven runes that imbued this artifact with power have been partially weathered off, rendering the great machine an inert statue.
8	This odd looking craft is 120 feet long and 20 feet wide at its widest. It is cigar shaped and made out of rusted metal. Affixed to one end are three bent metal fins. Halfway along the metal cylinder is an oval metal door with a wheel that must been turned to open it (Stuck Door Check). There are three compartments in this vessel, though they are laid out one on top of the other. The entire vessel is lying on its side. The compartment towards the fin end of the vessel is filled with odd metal contraptions with circular dials painted in an unrecognizable script. The middle chamber is empty save for a stool bolted to the floor. The chamber on the end opposite the fins has two seats of rotting upholstery bolted to the floor and a large array of dials, buttons, and switches. There is some fuel left in the tanks. If syphoned out, it can be put in a bottle and made into an incendiary much like lamp oil, though it deals 1d10 damage to the target, and half damage to anyone adjacent to the target.
9	This vehicle is a 10 foot diameter sphere of translucent reddish crystal. There is a small, circular hatch that allows entrée though there is no visible means of opening the hatch (it pushes inward). Those inside will find it’s actually quite easy to roll the sphere along by walking. The sphere and those inside it are impervious to normal damage, and float when falling from a great height (like the spell Featherfall), and float on water. The sphere can only hold up to two people before it becomes too cramped to control properly.
10	This strange vehicle resembles a rusted metal millipede, with 25 small metal legs on each side. It is roughly 15 feet long, and its body is 7 feet wide. The front end though is a large corkscrew of metal. Two small windows on the front allow those inside to see, and a 3’ square hatch on the back allows entry to the interior of the largely brass contraption. Inside are three rows of benches and an elaborate collection of knobs, levers, dials, and switches. Though the dials are written with gnomish script, they are not in any known gnomish dialect. 1d6 of the knobs have gems on their ends, each worth 75 gp each.
11	This vessel is long, approximately 150 feet long, consisting of three 28 foot long carriage-like contraptions and a larger 65 foot long control engine, all made of various metals hooked together. This long metal snake is lying on its side with vines and small trees growing out of some windows. The interiors of the three smaller cars have been ripped up and torn out a long time ago. The larger car still has a large, rusted furnace, levers, dials, and a broken stool. Hidden inside the fire box of the furnace is a piece of obsidian polished into a smooth, egglike shape. A glyph of the elven word for fire has been etched into it. If this word is spoken out loud within 10 feet of the stone, it will heat up sufficiently to burn wood and cause a fire to form for one minute before it cools again. This can only be used three times a day.
12	This gliding vessel resembles a large Roc constructed out of delicate carved wood and stretched silk. The wingspan is about 25 feet long, although the body of it from beak to tail is only 10 feet long. Many of the silk panels stretched over the wooden frame are ripped or missing. Within the body of the bird vessel are three seats, one in front of the other. With the foremost seat in front of a corroded copper steering lever. Dwarvish runes are still visible on the interior wood struts.

 

 

 

2D6	Is the party alone?
2-5	There are 1d10 corpses strewn about this location. [Roll on an appropriate Human or Humanoid encounter chart to determine type.] They seem to be 1d6 days old. [The die explodes on 6s.]
6-8	There doesn’t seem to be any signs of any recent activity here.
9-12	Oh no, the party is not alone! [roll on the appropriate combat encounter for your terrain type.] The encountered party is usually covetous of the vehicle that has been encountered.

 

 

Table #	Vehicle type	Miles per Day	Movement Rate	Max Load (Coins)	Notes
1	Re-enchanted Granite Longboat	18/9	90’ (60’)/45’ (15’)	7,000/14,000	This vessel can fly. It requires an arcane magic user of level 3 or more or a group of magic users whose combined levels equal 3 total to be concentrating to keep the vessel flying.
4	The Snake-Like Sculpture	24/12	120’ (40’)/60’ (20’)	4,000/8,000	Those who sleep within 15 feet of the vehicle dream of fondly of snakes.
6	Enchanted Acorn Cap Boat	12	60’ (30’)	3,000	See table description above.
10	The Metal Centipede	12/6 or 6/3 Burrowing	60’ (30’)/30’ (15’) or 30’ (15’)/ 15’ (7’)	4,500/9,000	The vessel and anyone inside are immune to mundane sources of heat.

 

Bone Fire

 Welcome once more weary travelers! This week I'm bring you a new article for the RPG Blog Carnival and this month's theme of parties and festivals. A new holiday you can adapt to your own setting filled with a vivid snapshot of what the day is for and how it is celebrated. Along the way you will also find some delicious treats to ply your PCs with in there next town encounter. After you've read this month's Blog Carnival article check out last months, about spooky scary skeletons! If you are looking for something different then check out my sargasso sea encounter generator for your next nautical campaign! 

Holidays and Festivals: Bone Fire

*St. Hansbål, by Nikolai Astrup

It is spoken about in myth that many centuries before the coming of the Nesimite people to the Valley of Many Waters, a prosperous but oppressive kingdom of elves occupied the valley. The myth speaks of the great evils they partook of and about their rivals, a kingdom of iron-mongering dwarves who waged war upon them. The war ended in one decisive moment when a circle of desperate elven mages attempted to channel a terrible and powerful spell but were disrupted at the worst possible moment. In an instant, a flood of necromantic energies was unleashed upon the valley, slaying the all of the valley's inhabitants in one terrible display of magical corruption.

For many long centuries the valley was uninhabited. Undead were a common sight to those that did brave the wilds of the Valley of Many Waters, though none dared tarry there after dark. After centuries had passed and the threat had receded from the minds of mortals, the Nesimites came from out of the strife of the southlands. By then the skeletal lurkers that plagued the valley were relatively dormant. A settlement was founded in the springtime and a community began to flourish.

Little did the Nesimites know, however, that the skeletal threat still lingered. On Lanternswatch, the longest night of the year, the skeletons of the Valley of Many Waters arose from their slumber and attacked the living. Out of a community of almost 2,000 people, only 197 survived. They vowed to never let a tragedy such as this happen again, for every year since on Lanternswatch, the skeletons of those who died in the valley still rise and seek out the living.

It was upon that night that the first Bone Fire was celebrated. Now each year at dusk on the longest night of the year, a massive bonfire, or "bone fire" in the old tongue, is kindled, and all the bodies of the dead that have died since the last Bone Fire are heaped onto the pyre and burned to ash.

Though the holiday began as a morose dedication to never let the undead trouble their lives again, it has become a celebration of life and life's ability to overcome undeath. All gather for two days of celebration and protection. Skeleton-shaped sweet breads are baked, merchants arrive with luxuries to trade, and a grand party is kindled in the villages of the Valley. The skeletons of the past have long since been burnt to inert dust, and humanity continues to endure in the harsh landscapes where they find themselves. Without celebrations like Bone Fire, humanity would not have endured all these many years. May the fire warm you and keep you safe!

*Village Feast, 1609

Preparations:

Though it started under grim circumstances, Bone Fire has become a celebration of life and death and people's power to overcome undeath. By kindling the sacred bonfires and joining together in the sacred dances, the people of the Valley of Many Waters reaffirm their humanity and help cleanse the land again in preparation for the coming year.

Bone Fire is one of the biggest festival days of the year in the Valley. Bones are exhumed and collected, wagons loaded, and families from all across the Valley make their way to their closest village or town. Along with their families they bring hand crafts, hides, folk art, pies, and tarts to trade and sell.

Bone Fire officially starts at sundown on the longest night of the year. Even so, up to three days before the beginning of the festival, farmers and other country folk start trickling into the villages of Cleafort, Hembdon, Ffasfurd, and Singlay and the towns of Vhaemrick and Naulcastle. The festival attracts more than just Valley folk. Merchants from over the mountains come to do their best business. Fine horses can be found at this time in Vhaemrick and Naulcastle hosts a wine tournament for the local vintners.
On the day of the holiday local musicians gather and begin to play as the fire tenders (usually clergy from the local temples) start to stack the large logs that will be used in the bonfires later that evening. Merchants gather and the Valley folk mingle, shop, dance, and await the coming ceremonies.

*Dutch Festival by Jan Thomas van Kessel

The Ceremony:

The origins of the holiday's rituals have long since faded from memory. But while their precise origins are unknown, all agree on how the ritual practices must be enacted. First the bones of the food animals are brought forth and deposited onto the bonfire, then more wood is laid atop them. Next, the bones of humans and other humanoid citizens are placed onto the unlit bonfire. The gathered masses then join hands in a series of concentric rings and the fire is lit by the tenders. The gathered host begins to dance around the bonfire and sing a round, a repeating verse about the destruction of evil and the triumphs of light over darkness and of the gods of the Valley over the gods of evil and undeath.

This goes on for a while until the entire crowd is running in circles around the bonfire, hands clasped together, singing now at the top of their lungs, all locked in an ever-building religious ecstasy until the first logs collapse. When this happens, the assembled crowds all cry out as one "Begone evil! Begone Darkness! Become sweet death! Become sweet life again!" Everyone then collapses in a huffing, puffing mass as the tenders continue to keep the flames lit. With the ceremony now complete, the crowds linger in convivial camaraderie as the event slowly winds down. After a few hours or so all that will be left will be the fire tenders, who will stay the night tending and stoking the bonfires until all traces of bone have been turned to ash.

Bone Fire is considered an auspicious day for oaths, and many are sworn in front of the fires after the dancing has ended. The tradition is to swear an oath upon a branch that has been carved from a willow tree inscribed with the oath-bearers' names and then cast it into the fire together.

*Festival Scene of Human Characteristics Vector Clipart(584/1995)

Food:

Because of the anxiety behind preparing meat-based dishes and the threat of the reanimated bones of livestock coming back to life to attack the living, a number of vegetarian dishes have become staples of the holiday. The most popular among them include:

Skeleton Bread:
The traditional treat made especially for the Bone Fire holiday consists of a sweet, yeasted dough fortified with eggs and milk that has been shaped to resemble a skeleton and then glazed with a sweet honey frosting that is whisked until it turns white. These are sold by the cartload in every celebrating village or town for between 2 and 5 CP a piece.

Parsnip, Carrot, and Leek Pie: Sold as hand pies for around 1 SP a piece, these hardy root vegetable pies are seasoned with rosemary and imported chili flakes from the south. The village of Ffasfurd is renowned for their pies, and the village bakers and goodwives often debate about who has baked the better pie that year.

Cheese and Onion Soup: This hardy soup is thickened with old, dried bread, milk, and cheese and can be purchased for around 7 CP a bowl at the local stalls. This delicious soup is said to have originated in Singlay, and the town has a well-known inn there that serves the soup year round. Caramelized onions and roasted cheese are often served atop the soup to add to its richness and appeal.

Honey Fritters: Beside the ubiquitous Skeleton Bread, the next most sought after treat on Bone Fire is usually the sticky fried balls of dough known around these parts as honey fritters. The dough balls are found in every village and town up and down the Valley at this time of year and are a favorite treat of children. The entire valley gets its honey for these sweet delights from the apiaries of Cleafort and their fields of wildflowers. Most stalls will sell a rolled-up paper cone of them for 2 CP.

Spooky Scary Skeletons!

 Happy Halloween my ghoulish guests! Welcome to a late October blog post care of the spookiest holiday around! This week I'll be tackling October's RPG Blog Carnival theme, Horrors, Monsters, and Gods with a horrifying selection of tables to spice up your skeleton encounters! Read on for useful tables to differentiate one skeleton fight from another with unique descriptions, armaments, and personalities you can use on your next skeleton encounter! If you like this month's Blog Carnival article, take a look at last month's. If that's not to your liking then check out my last post, a big D66 table of chaotic landscapes to inflict on your traveling adventure parties. 

Spooky Scary Skeletons!

As October draws to a close the veil between worlds parts for a brief moment and allows us congress with the lingering souls of the long departed. With the most spooky of holidays upon us, it is time to talk about the horrors of the adventuring world, the undead menace all adventurers must eventually face, skeletons. The host of tables below can be utilized by canny referees everywhere to add variety and verisimilitude to their skeletal encounters. With a few quick rolls you can populate your next encounter with a variety of unique skeletal warriors that will be sure to stick in the minds of your players.

*Burnside, R. H. (Robert Hubberthorne), 1873-1952

Appearance:

Adventurers come across many animated skeletons in their careers plundering tombs and raiding sorcerers’ laboratories. The tables below can be used to generate different descriptions of the various animated skeletons a party of doughty treasure hunters are sure to run into sooner or later.

D4	What is different about this skeleton's...
1	Head
2	Arms
3	Legs
4	Torso

 

D12	Head
1	The skeleton has a thick notch cut out of its right brow. Glowing green moss is starting to grow from the crack.
2	This skeleton is missing its lower jaw. Of the skeleton's remaining teeth, two are made of gold. (250 gp each)
3	The skull cap of this skeleton has been cut clean off and reattached with a curved strip of verdigris-encrusted copper and small rivets.
4	The left eye of this skeleton has become home to a friendly vinegarroon the size of a large platinum piece.
5	This skeleton's eyes glow with a ghostly blue light projecting weak beams of light wherever it stares.
6	This skeleton’s teeth have been filed down to sharp points. (Extra bite attack, d4 damage)
7	This skeleton's skull has been mineralized into a jagged quartz-crusted mess.
8	This skeleton’s rotting eyes are still rolling around in its skull.
9	Someone has painted the skull of this skeleton in overlapping geometric patterns of black and red pigment.
10	Instead of a regular humanoid skull, this skeleton bears a ram's skull for a head.
11	This skeleton's skull has a large ruby faceted into each eye socket. (300 gp each)
12	This skull bears a terrifying death mask made of jade, obsidian, and red carnelian. (800 gp)

 

*Hans Holbein the Younger

D12	Arms
1	This skeleton has had its arm bones reinforced with riveted bands of iron.
2	This skeleton has had its arms replaced with the elongated arm bones of an ape.
3	This skeleton is still wearing rusted pauldrons and vambraces on its arms.
4	This skeleton has ghastly large hands with long claw-like finger bones.
5	This skeleton's arm bones are crusted with purple blotches of mold.
6	This skeleton bears two zombified human arms instead of the usual bone arms.
7	This skeleton has an extra set of arms underneath their original set. No doubt the work of some enterprising necromancer.
8	This skeleton has animated sculpted marble arms instead of their usual arm bones.
9	This skeleton's arm bones have been discolored by some unknown process and are now a sickly green color.
10	This skeleton is wearing ornamental golden vambraces etched with images of ritual feasting. (200 gp each)
11	Instead of a right arm, this skeleton has a gigantic dead crab claw. (claw attack, d6 damage)
12	This skeleton's arm bones are etched with vile magical runes.

 

D12	Legs
1	This skeleton's legs have been painted with gold leaf and small flower motifs of crushed sapphire.
2	This skeleton still wears ancient bronze greaves on its shins that are adorned with Medusa head motifs. (100 gp for the set)
3	This skeleton’s lower half is that of a giant snake's skeleton and slithers around like one.
4	This skeleton's leg bones have been bound together with copper wire and silver nails. (150 sp in total)
5	Long strips of paper inscribed with magical runes of necromantic power have been plastered to this skeleton's leg bones.
6	This skeleton is still wearing its now half-rotten boots.
7	This skeleton is wearing the desiccated remains of the leather britches it was  buried in.
8	This skeleton ambles around on a wooden peg leg.
9	This skeleton's legs are not actually bone but hollow pewter replacements.
10	This skeleton's leg bones are encrusted with small growths of glowing neon orange slime mold.
11	This skeleton's lower half is studded with the remains of sharp dead barnacles.
12	This skeleton's shin bones have been studded with six-inch iron spikes. (Bearer adds 2 additional points of damage to melee attacks.)

 

D12	Torso
1	An inch long hairy spider has spun a thick web inside this skeleton's ribcage.
2	Thumb-sized crystals of some kind of translucent green mineral is growing all over this skeleton's ribcage and spine.
3	This skeleton is still wearing the remnants of its desiccated old crocodile-leather pauldrons.
4	This skeleton has an eerie green glowing heart still beating in its chest.
5	This skeleton has had its ribcage reinforced with bands of cold-iron, and inside its cage-chest a small angry sprite is jostled about with the movements of the skeleton and rants in Silvan!
6	This skeleton has shiny blue toadstools sprouting inside its large ribcage. (If eaten, the mushrooms grant +2 to STR and -2 to INT and WIS for the next 20 minutes.)
7	This skeleton's ribcage, spine, and pelvis are all made of iron! (+1 to the skeleton's AC)
8	This skeleton's pelvis and ribcage have been inscribed with glowing red runes of magical power.
9	This skeleton is wearing a long, tattered leather coat that hangs in shreds.
10	This skeleton has had its torso wrapped over and over again with gold wire. (150 gp total)
11	Twisted green and red vines wind their way through and around this skeleton's pelvis and ribcage. Large, ghostly white flowers bloom from the vines.
12	This skeleton's ribcage is composed of clear crystal bones.

 

Skeletal Personalities

Not all skeletons can talk, but when you need one to, you may use the table below to quickly generate a sketch of the skeleton's personality, goals, etc.

*Hans Holbein the Younger

D12	Personality
1	This skeleton is very polite since they don't often meet many people to have conversations with within a dungeon. Their favorite topics are ancient history and poetry.
2	This skeleton cannot talk for some reason but does excellent pantomime. They are always playing around and making little jokes.
3	This skeleton is vicious and will taunt adventurers whom it can get the upper hand on. This skeleton wants to feel like it is more powerful than its opponents.
4	This skeleton talks in a high-pitched voice. They are fans of a good song though and will favor adventurers who sing to them.
5	This skeleton has lost one of the bones in its toes and is frantically looking for it. They will be happy to help anyone who can find it for them.
6	This skeleton talks like a gameshow host for some reason and keeps asking characters to pick their next door.
7	This skeleton is a being of honor. They will not fight unless their goals can be met no other way. They respect Clerics, Paladins, and Knights as people of authority.
8	This skeleton has a cackling laugh and a deranged personality to go along with it. They delight in the pain of living creatures.
9	This skeleton was a zealot in life who offered themselves willingly in death as an eternal servant. They only communicate in small snippets of their apocryphal scriptures.
10	This skeleton is convinced that they still have a body, and an attractive one at that.
11	This skeleton is ancient beyond measure, yet somehow, they have managed to survive all these years. If their ancient language could be identified, they would be a fantastic repository of lost lore.
12	This skeleton is confused and will ask friendly adventurers for help finding its master.

Unique Armaments

One of the best ways to make your skeletons different from the last group your players encountered is to give them unique armaments to wield. The table below can help give you ideas in a pinch.

*Hans Holbein the Younger

D12	Armaments
1	A verdigris-encrusted brass trident and a faded wooden shield.
2	A two-handed bronze khopesh. (+2 to saving throws against heat, or sand effects.)
3	Two rusted black-iron short swords.
4	A dusty wooden shaft with a jagged-edged steel spearhead affixed to it. (+1 to damage)
5	A heavy two-handed stone mace whose reliefs glow with a dull blue light. (+2 damage to spellcasters)
6	A silvered longsword.
7	Two beautifully engraved katars, caked with long dried blood.
8	A large, fluted ball of iron fixed to a length of chain. (As a flail)
9	A long, curved falchion with polished pearls inlayed in the hilt. (As a two-handed sword, 150 gp intact, or 50 gp of just pearls)
10	A long bronze sickle and a bronze shield with a Medusa head painted on it.
11	Either a simple iron-headed spear or a simple short bow and stone-headed arrows.
12	Either two rust-flaked iron swords or three bronze hand axes.