From the Attic: A better L1: Secret of Bone Hill

Len Lakofka's L1-The Secret of Bone Hill was another one of my favorite modules. It was because it was solid adventure that was generic enough to be adapted for a variety of campaigns by dressing it up differently.



I thought the map of Restenford was crap. So I fixed it. This an example of my handdrawn town map style


The Map Key corresponds to that of Restenford in L1. You can download the module from WoTC here. You can see by the map where I placed in my Wilderlands. The town of Bernost in the northwest corner of Map 1 (old)/Map 5 (new).

Hope you find this useful if you ever run L1.

My Wilderlands site has moved

My earthlink account is the end road of my original dial up setup. I kept as a backup and for the extra email and webpage. Now that I have a domain and web hosting I plan to ditch it. The new url for my wilderlands site is http://wilderlands.batintheattic.com

The main address is where my website detailing my personal publishing efforts is going to end up.

From the Attic: City-State of the Invincible Overlord Part 2

The rest of the original City-State of the Invincible Overlord.

Now we get into Rules and Guidelines. For anybody who want to see how people houseruled back in the day this section is a gold mine.

First we read about Boons and Duties for nobles. If you PC thinks being a duke is all glory wait until the Overlord requires a a loan of 1,000 to 10,000 gp from them. Of course if they are a duke then they have a 13% change of being repaid each month.

Then we have a short section on Wills. We learn that if you character dies you turn over at least 10% of his wealth and any magic item has a 50% of being confiscated for "state protection".

Now we get to the Women table. Yes two pages of how to roll up women with every attribute defined. You can get Barmaids, Concubines, Courtesans, Goddess (!?), Houri, Shrews, and Vixens. I guess Foxy is post 70s. For their attributes we can roll for Age, Tress Tines, Complexion, Height, Vita Statistic (yeah the important one), Including how bust size, waist, and hips break down according to charisma.

After the wonders of rolling up women I don't know if the rest of CSIO can equal what has been done so far. Let's go on and see.

We get a trio of legal entries. Oaths & Promises, Proclamations, and the Council of High Treason. Just don't bring more than 200 men-at-arms into City-State. Trust me on this one.

Then we get a Commonor's Calendar with months like The Snow Leopard, Vineyard Bounty, and the Silent Scream :O. We learn what the major festivals are and the prevailing temperatures
(think Georgia, South Carolina, France)

Then we learn about Beggars which appear as an NPC classes ranging from the level 1 Beggar, 3rd Level Panhandler, to the top of the pyramid at 7th level the Guildmaster!

Next we get a house rule on using Characteristics. Basically you if you roll less than your ability on a percentage dice you succeed. The difficulty of the task determines how often you get retry. Some tasks take multiple attempts!

Now we move onto a new section where we learn about the Dwarves of Thunderhold. It comes with a sketch map of the Rorystone Road.

If you wondered why I wrote up Rorystone Road as my initial proposal for the format of the Wilderlands Boxed Set this is the map that inspired it.

Next we get a list of NPCs of Thunderhold mostly Dwarves, followed by Legends and Rumors. The Night Watchers: Spectres riding Manticores doesn't sound so good.

Next are shops and Taverns. Lettered from A to Y instead of numbered. Thunderhold may be ruled by the Dwarves but nearly half of the shops are human.

Next page being the guidelines to the upper level of the Sunstone Caverns. We learn about Lady Kostbera, the Overlord Black Lotus agent within the Caverns. Bragrash the Minotaur. Gorgomat the Prisoner at Very Old White Dragon. The Bandits of the Man-Ape. The enigmatic Oracle of Bubastis. Nikelaus and this goblin servant SHADOW! Zagrath the Spectre, and more for two pages.

The four pages has a four level dungeon that is drawn quite nicely. Unlike the sunstone caverns themselves there is no description other than some notes on the map. In case anybody wonders where they go they connect to the cave in hex 0103 in the upper left of the 11 by 17 Thunderhold Map.

After the Sunstone Caverns We get some Prosiac Poems & Provoking Prose

After the long and cold retreat
The Witch-Queen deigned to take her seat,
By the ancient Sleeping River clear,
Where harpies singing charm the ear.

Then we get three different rules for shock recovery. Basically how to get some hit points back after combat especially if you are below zero.

Next get some guidelines on Special Encounters. Including guidelines on Guard & Garrison Troops, what Social Level means and how to increase it. This followed by some guidelines on using Social Levels for Serfs, Villains, Military, Gentlemen, and Nobles.

Then we get a chart on being questioned by Guards or Constables.

Next a set of rules on Offensive Locutions plus the Buffoon fighter subclass. Basically a sucessful Repartee will stop everybody in earshot from taking offensive action for 1d6 rounds. A successful Witicism allow you to gain the initiative on the laughing opponent who is otherwise unable to anything for 2-8 rounds. Only Buffoons have honed their wit enough to use Witticism in combat.

Then a section on Poisons from the old favorite Belladonna to the venom of a Purple Worm.

If your encounter involves an attack then you can use the Attack Reason chart for the specifics.

Also some guidelines on the companions of high social level individuals. Manumission for slaves and the breakdown of the various quarters of City-State are coverd.

We then get to the Social level/City Encounter chart. I have to say the authors did a nice job with this one. You roll for the type of encounter, who encountered and then can quickly break it down to the exact social levels of the person encountered. There are some special encounters as well ranger from being Expectorated upon, a were-rat trying to kidnap, and finally meeting with a Hypnotist. For course Women have their own special subchart that refers back to the random Woman chart back on page 55.

Then for your miscreant PCs we have a section on Crime, Trial, & Punishment. A nice little subsystem for resolving your PCs legal troubles. Of course if the crime is bringing in more than 200 men-at-arms then you need to go back to the section on the Council of High Treason.

The punishments range from Drawn & Quartered, Flayed, to the ever nice Case Dismissed. The authors even include the specific effects of the various punishments. If you are whipped it makes a difference if a Silk Cord is used or a Flail.

One of the reason for heading for the big city of course is hirelings and henchmen. But to find the best in the teeming mass of humanity that is City-State you need to ADVERTISE!. The next section is all about advertising in City-State. Like the City Encounter Table it is nicely laid out and easy to follow.

After this are five levels of a dungeon that lies underneath city-state. The entrances appear to be a storage pit underneath the Wild Boar Tavern and the Basement of the Cut-throat Inn. The bottommost level has a fiery chasm.

In general Judges Guild products are not noted for their layout and art. But one thing that City-State did was great was it's index. Only two pages it was useful, accurate and made using the product a snap. Combined with the Hanging out in the City State index in Pegasus #4 made using City-State easy.

The Acaeum

I don't think I mentioned this explicitly but the best site for old AD&D/D&D products is the Acaeum. It includes images of covers, research notes, commentary, and a forum with pretty nice folks. It is oriented towards collecting older material.

From the Attic: City-State of the Invincible Overlord Part 1

Yesterday I posted some excerpts from my version of City-state. But what does the real deal look like?

The map of the City State of the Invincible is the product that started it all for Judges Guild. After securing a license from TSR Bob Bledsaw and Bill Owens went to GenCon with sets of 34" by 44" inch maps of the City-State and a plan to sell subscriptions to the later products.

You can read some of the history here and at Wikipedia. Also you can buy a pdf here for the same price they sold it back in the 70s!


So what inside this product?

First off on the cover map we see an early sketch map of the Wilderlands

The northernmost bay was my inspiration for the Wild North in Fight On! #3.

Inside we get the Background Guidelines. Until the Mines of Custalcon was released in 1979 it was the primary source of information on the Wilderlands. Although Tegal Manor was set in the Wilderlands it's background was high local. Even with Custalcon it wasn't until the City-State of the World Emperor was released a year later that we get an major expansion of the Wilderlands.

In the Background Guildelines you get

Chronology of the Dragon Kings a bare bones calender of years with evocative names.

We learn about F.E.A.R. Fraternity for Eradication of Armored Riffraff. Watch out you low level wearers of plate armor!

How nasty the Waterfront Quarter is along with the Mer-Mist Swamp. Make those Disease check rolls folks!

The mysterious Barbarian Altanis with their female psionic Protectors.

The Wild Orcs of the Purple Claws. They worship the Blood Stained God and led by a Amazon Queen/Priestess.

The madcap Goblin Reservation and their fetish with tunneling.

Finally a bullet list of minor details like a guideline for gambling, the role of slave grooms, and how it is against the law for anybody make change unless they have a moneychanger's license.

On Page 5 we leap into the city proper. The book is laid out by streets. The authors start at one end and work their way down. Fortunately the streets are in a rough alphabetical order so it easy to find a particular street. Once you figure out which end they start on you can look up the specific shop fairly quickly.

City State is a crazy mixed up city with all kinds of folks and races rubbing shoulders with each other. At the end of Regal Street are the three great temple of CSIO which has the CE Temple of Harmakhis next to the LG Temple of Oden next to the CG Temple of Thoth. Behind them is the Hellbridge Temple home of the Baleful Eye of Morg a LE deity. Makes for exciting times yes sir!

There are nearly two dozen taverns ranging from the all female She-Devel Tavern to the dive that is the Water-dog flophouse. Sage, check, Thieves, check, assassins, check, and mercenaries check. There nearly 400 entires depending on how you break it up.

Most are short and to the point looking somewhat like this.



By Page 53 we get to the Southern Keep and Paramswarn the Red a CE 16th level MU! the last of the entries.

Tommorrow the rest of CSIO!

From the Attic: City State Excerpts

The following are some entries from my notes on my version of the City State of the Invincible Overlord. This from the initial section dealing with various noble and guard buildings. While specific to my version of City-State there should be some bit useful for any fantasy campaigns.

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1.CRYPTIC CITADEL
The Cryptic Citadel is the oldest structure in the City-State, it was built by the Knights of St. Caelam to house their dragon steeds. The structure is well over 100 feet and is estimated to be able to hold at least twenty dragon steeds and a thousand men. The outer wall and the four towers was added by Anarin I the first of the Dragon Kings. The outer ramparts was added by Atrabilorin the Dwarf when he rebuilt the defenses of the City-State. Currently the Citadel is mostly empty, however it's granaries are kept filled in case of a siege of the City-State. Also the treasuries of the Overlord is kept here as well.

The ground floor of the Citadel is a great hall known as the Hall of the Dragons. It fills the entire ground floor and is supported by twenty massive pillars in the shape of a Dragon rearing. The Overlord only holds court here three times a year; to receive the re-affirmation of oaths by the clans on Ostara, and the accounting of the taxes and harvest on Enserra. One each of these day the courts arrives in the hall at dawn, then a procession of those making offerings to the Overlords forms at the beginning of the Avenue of Triumphs and marches into the Citadel and then each, in his turn, makes his offering.

There are five levels underneath the Citadel, here the treasuries of the Overlord and the storerooms of the citadel are. The fifth level is given over to the Regulators; the Overlord's elite band of adventures. In the center of the fifth level is the Eye of Altasan. It is a 100pt powerstone that acts like a crystal ball. A person can use it to scry anywhere in the known Wilderlands and has the ability to cast spells thru it. It was captured by the Order of the Silver Dragon over thousand years ago when they were still serving in the old Ghinorian Empire. They captured from the Emperor of the Thule Empire. They hid it's existence from the Empire and when they left to found the colony of Caleam, they brought it with them. After the fall of the Dragon Empire it was left to dust underneath the Cryptic Citadel until rediscovered by Salm-Lorin. When the City-State fell to the Tharians, the Overlord Lucius found it and turned it to his own use. Ever since then it existence and use has been the highest of the Overlord's secret. It existence is only known by the Overlord and the Regulators. Also the Guild of Arcane Lore knows that it exists and desires to recover it.

The Citadel itself is guarded by the Royal Guard of the Overlord. Four companies of the High Guard guard the Citadel itself, each company is traditionally given one tower of the Citadel to call it's own. Out of the twenty companies of the Low Guard the five best are choosen to be the Guardians of the Citadel. Four of the Companies guard each of the outer towers, and the fifth guards the gatehouse. The Regulators provide any Magical assitance as needed.

In the southeast corner of the outer ramparts is the compound of the Royal Low Guard. To the north of the Citadel, the training camp of the Legion lies between the Citadel moat and the outer ramparts. Also within the outer ramparts is the Great Cistern. The Great Cistern is fed by a aquaduet from Orcle Lake. From the cistern runs pipes to the citadel, Silverlight Palace, and the some of the house of the northwest quadrants of the City-State.

2.SILVERLIGHT PALACE

The Silverlight Palace is the personal residence of the Overlord, here he holds court the most often. Along with the Summer Palace in the Northern March and the Clanhome at Castle Bulwark, the Silverlight Palace is one of three places the Overlord holds court. The current Overlord, Lucius III, holds court at the Silverlight Palace from 1st of White Wolf to 25th of Yellow Moon Dog. Then he holds court at the Summer Palace from 1st of Midsummer to 1st of Regal Serpant. Then he holds court at Castle Bulwark, the traditional holding of the Overlord's Clan, from 9th of Regal Serpent to 22nd of Sky Woman.

The Hall of Twilight is where court is held when the Overlord is at the Silverlight Palace. It gets it's name because when the sun set it's last rays illuminate the entire chamber. Because the Hall was made with red marble and make the whole hall look aflame. The Overlord's personal chambers are in the north end of the palace, while the Chamberlain, his servants, and guest quarters occupy the southern half. The name of the Silverlight Palace comes from the silvery shine the palace takes in the moonlight.

Personally guarding the Overlords are the Knights of the Inner Knights. Twenty of the best Royal Guardmen are chosen to be a member of this elite force. They are always with the Overlord and are responsible for his personal safety. Directly to the south of the Palace is the compound of the Royal High Guards. To the east is the garden and small woods. Lining the outer wall to the west of the Palace are the smithy and stables of the Overlord.

The Silverlight Palace was built by Salm-Lorin in 4320. When Halius became Overlord he used it as his offical residence when he was in City-State. His successors Lucius the Great, and Varius used it little, preferring Bulwark as their main residence. It wasn't until the time of the Overlord Tomius when the palace was made the main residence of the Overlord.

3.HARBOR TOWER
This the official residence of the Harbourmaster of the City-State. All ship must send a representative to here to pay the pilotage and the harbor fees, plus any docking fees if they wish to dock. The Harbourmaster notes the payments of fees and sends a pilot to navigate the ship into her moorage. Generally there about 10 pilot in residence.

4.MARSH KEEP
This anchors the western wall of the City-State currently is staffed by one company of City-Guards. This is considered a hardship post and usually the worst misfits and officers are assigned here.

Lieutenant Kelen commands here, he is a wastrel and easily bribed. He is the second son of one of the City-State wealthiest Mercantyler.

Sargeant Loran is the senior sergeant of the company, is a sadistic and cruel man. He is known to give flogging for the slightest infractions. The only reason that he remains alive is that he has built a cadre of the two corporal and three of the troopers to act as enforcers with the rest of the troops.

Sargent Michael is the junior sergeant and was placed here because he is too honest and called a Lieutenant on a bride and was able to boot him from the guards. The ex-Lieutenant was able to get his friends to bust him and assign to the marsh gate to "have a accident". Sargent Micheal was able to gain the loyalty of the most of the men to the point that if Loran's goons attacked Michael most of the remaining troopers would mutiny.

The Marsh keep has the responsibility of patrolling the lower half of by-water road, sea-brigand street, and the upper harbor area. It is under the direct command of the Captain of the End-Gate.

5.GRAND GATE
The Grand gate is one of the main entrances into the City-States. It is the traditional spot where the triumphs start.

Currently there are two companies stationed at the gate and one in the tower directly to the south of the gate.

The Captain of the Grand Gate is Thomen Meralis, he is a old vet of the Overlord's army, a former Captain, when he retired ten years ago he quickly got bored of farming and moved to the City-State and was able to made a captain and was given command of the Grand Gate. He is currently 56 years old and still the equal of many younger warriors. Thomen is a real spit and polish commander and expects his troops to look their best. He doesn't condone the taking of brides and quickly punishes those he catch taking bribes. To placed as a lieutenant under Thomen's command is considered a privilege as he trains them well.

Lieutenant Jarvis Felon, is in command of the 1st Grand Gate company. He is a rising young star in the City-Guard 24 years old, he is noted for busting a well-concealed burglary ring in the merchant district. He was quickly transferred to the Grand Gate to receive further training under Thomen.

Lieutenant Merrick is in command of the 2nd Grand Gate company. He is 32 years old and is in line to be promoted to Captain. He shows great competence in patrolling the wealthy district, and has a good grasp of courtly manners. Thomen uses him when information is needed from some of the wealthier residents of the district. Merrick is in love with one of the Jeweller's daughter but feel he lacks enough wealth to make a impression.

Lieutenant Alcambra is in command of the 3trd Grand Gate company. He is stationed in the tower directly south of the Grand Gate. He is 28 years old and Thomen has been quite pleased with his performance to date. Alcambra company patrols upper part of Beggar's street and the alleys around it. Alcambras is secretly is a plant of the Thieves guild and able to arrange his patrols and investigations to allow a steady income from his area. The guild is able to use him against the beggar's guild and control some of the shop along hedonist street and the plaza of profuse pleasure. Also the guild keeps the level of violent crime to a minimum and trys to hand over any violators to Alcambra to make him look good. However Alcambra truly is competent is intending to use his position to turn the guild to his own ends.

6.CASTLE GATE

This is main entrance into the outer ramparts, it is guarded by two Companies of the Low Guard.

7.NORTH GATE

This is the main gateway between the City-State and the Arena/Slums area. Except on Arena days all person trying to gain entrance into the city must pay 2 silver pennies, this helps keeps the riffraff from the slums out of the city.

8.ORC HOLD
This is the main headquarters of the City Guards. The City Guard of the City-State is over 500 men strong, it is commanded by the Senior Captain, under him are the Captains of the Gates who command the troops and patrols. Like the Overlord's army the City-Guard is divided into companies. Each gate has forty men and each tower has twenty. A hundred men are stationed at Orc Hold as a reserve in case of massive rioting. Plus there is a elite company, the Knights of the Silver Dragon, stationed to guard the Hall of the Dragon Kings where the Council of the City-State meets. Also by agreement with the Guild of Arcane Lore each company of the City-Guards has two mages assigned to it to help defend against any magical threat.

Each company of the City-Guard stationed at the gates and towers and is assigned a area of the city to patrol. A given day is divided in four watches each six hours long. Typically the day begins with the morning watch transferring the previous day's prisoners to the City Jail for processing. Then for the rest of the day the assigned area is patrolled. Also a standby watch is kept on alert guarding the tower. When prisoners are caught, a runner is sent to the tower to get the standby watch and they will take the prisoner back to the tower to be kept until transferred to the City-Jail. If the patrol runs into a situation they can not handle, they have a stick that all they do is snap it. This will cause the stick's pair at the tower (or gate) to snap warning the tower of danger.

The situation is much the same at the gates but there is a additional company stationed (for a total of two) whose watches do nothing but guard the gate and check incoming travelers for contraband. The standby watch mans the battlements. Typically each company of a gate rotate between gate and patrol duty.

The hundred men stationed at Orc Hold are typically patrolling the surrounding land for bandits and orcs. At any one time two companies will be out patrolling. Traditionally all lands within five leagues are under the protection of the City-Guards.

The Colors of the City-Guard is a black taberd with a white dragon on the chest. Rank is denoted by the trim, with the Corporals and Sergeants in Blue, the Lieutenants in yellow, the captains in white, and the senior captain in silver. The Silver Dragons have a silver dragon, instead of a white dragon.

OD&D Tasks/Abilities/Skills Revisted (again)

With the help of friends and a few play tests I decided to revamp my ability system again. The whole thing started when I wanted new classes that are better things other than spells, praying, and combat. I labeled them as Rogues and they included claseses like Burglar, Mountebank, Thug, Merchant Adventures, and the Claws of Kali (assassins).

I made a whole list of things that OD&D characters can do and called them abilities. Climbing walls, fast talking your way out of a situation, haggling over a item and so on. The way I recommend these abilities work is that you describe or roleplay what you are doing and the referee uses the roll and modifiers as a guideline for the chance of success. Any character can use these abilities but Rogues are better at them then other characters at the cost of either combat and/or spell casting.

Originally I tried making a 3d6 + attribute system work. While it worked well in playtesting the disparity in attributes proved it's downfall, couple with actually trying explain it to other GMs. Most had a negative reaction. The disparity in attribute swamped the effect of the Rouge classes which defeated the point of doing this.

I still want a roll high so percentages are out. So, sigh, I just fall back to using the d20. So now as go through the individual abilities (climb walls, pick locks, haggle, etc) I use this as a template.

If your attribute is 8 or lower you get a -1 to the roll, 13 or higher +1 to the roll. The attribute used depends on the ability. Str or Dex can be used for climbing, Charisma for haggling. To see if you succeed you roll a d20+modifiers and see if you beat a target. I set abilities to a base between 10 and 20. For example trying to climb a steep slope in the middle of combat is a 10, a sheer wall is a 15, and ice covered cliff a 20. A Burglar would start out with a +2 to climbing going up to +8 around 10th level.

I am still working the numbers basically going through a variety of Judges Guild stuff and other older sources and seeing what various DM did. Most of it is in percentages (perhaps the first "universal" task dice) so converted it over to a d20 roll by dividing by 5. Judges Guild's Dungeon Tac Card are a goldmine for this stuff.

I didn't copy over d20 system even though I am using the OGL. This is because I am using Swords & Wizardry as the basis for my project. In S&W (and OD&D) the effect of high (and low) scores are a lot less than later additions.

Along with this and the just completed editing I am ready to layout out my project. I should have an announcement with details this month.