Dungeon Fantasy 15: Henchmen

It my turn next to run a campaign for the Monday night group and we are returning to GURPS and the Majestic Wilderlands. It will set Nomar as outlined in a previous post on this blog. I will share the details and handouts in a future post.

As I sat down to work on this. I stated pulling together the stat cards and templates I will be using to create the possible NPCs and creatures the players will be running into. Just I started I noticed that there was new Dungeon Fantasy release. DF 15: Henchmen.  Written by Peter V. Dell'Orto of Dungeon Fantastic and Sean "Kromm" Punch, GURPS Line Editor; it gives advice and templates on constructing henchmen/hirelings to run around with GURPS Dungeon Fantasy characters.

I was looking forward to this because this particular DF was spawned in part by the positive reaction to the NPC stat blocks found in the back of the DF Adventure 1, Mirror of the Fire Demon. And of course as  usual for SJ Games the resulting product is far more useful than just a collection NPC stat block would have been.

After a brief introduction and some commentary on the roll of henchmans and hireling it dives into the templates. They are presented in two sets, 125 point Henchman and 62 point Bargain Hirelings. The standard henchman includes ones like Agents, Archers, Brutes, Killers, Sages, etc. The Bargain Hirelings 62 point characters include cultists (for those characters with megalomania :-) ) Guards, Laborers and of course the Torch-bearer.

The 2nd half is talks extensively about the use of henchmen in a DF campaign. First section is using them as allies i.e. D&D style henchmen. Next is using them as hireling with commentary on loyalty. Following is one of the sections that make this supplement shine how to use these templates as low powered delvers. DF version of first level.

Then another excellent section about making custom delvers. Basically in GURPS you have templates which are a menu that distill the myriad character options into a simple menu so that you can build a specific archetype for your character. There is no rule saying that you have to remain in the template but rather it is an aid to quickly make new characters. In addition to template there are lens which modify a template to add abilities or complex options that cut across various archetypes.

In the Custom Delver section Peter and Sean detail a dozen or so lens that when combined with one of the standard or bargain henchmen makes a character equal in power to one of the DF Hero templates. For example taking the Standard Initiate plus the Priest custom lens will create a character equivalent to a Hero Druid.  Add a Veteran Lens to a Standard Squire will create a Hero Knight.

This transform the Henchmen book from a limited focus on NPCs to one that is useful for both GURPS Dungeon Fantasy and GURPS Fantasy.  There is support for referees quickly making NPCs that ran from 62 point to 250 points (With DF 1 Adventurers). You could add one of the lens to a 250 pt hero template to create a 375 point character.

I put this to immediate use in the handouts I am creating for help the players make characters for my upcoming campaign. At $8 it is a great deal for GURPS Referees and at 43 page can be easily printed as booklet. It also reads well on my iPad tablet.

Recommended.

My own Appendix N

The Riftwar Saga and the Empire Series by R. Feist. I reread them two years ago and forgotten how many of the early elements of my Majestic Wilderlands was inspired by the two series.


Of course Tolkien particularly the Similarion which inspired my worldbuilding.

The Conan Pastiches and reading Howard notes on the Hyborian Age.

This in particular is still inspiring to me.

Know, O prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars - Nemedia, Ophir, Brythunia, Hyperborea, Zamora with its dark-haired women and towers of spider-haunted mystery, Zingara with its chivalry, Koth that bordered on the pastoral lands of Shem, Stygia with its shadow-guarded tombs, Hyrkania whose riders wore steel and silk and gold. But the proudest kingdom of the world was Aquilonia, reigning supreme in the dreaming west.

Like how could you not want to ramble around in a setting that like?


Harn by N. Robin Crosby. While not novel fiction the whole package has been a continuing source of inspiration for my own games.

Later was A Song of Ice and Fire i.e. Game of Thrones by G.R.R. Martin for similar reasons that Tim of Gothridge manor gives. How politics and the clash of cultures drives much of the action.

Delving into AD&D: Magic Item Creation

This started out when I read the description of the 8th level Permanency spell in Swords & Wizardry. I saw that unlike AD&D it has nothing to do with magic item creation. It does what the spell title suggestions, makes a duration of a spell permanent. I then went to the Greyhawk Supplement to see how the original was worded, pretty much the same.  Then I thought to check out Enchant Item as that is a 6th level Swords & Wizardry spell. And it wasn't there nor in Men & Magic or any of the supplements. I asked around the forums, Google plus and StackExchange and with the aid of helpful posters found that it not in any of the Dragons or Strategic Reviews. 


The only reference to creating Magic Items in the 1974 edition of Dungeons & Dragons is found on page 6 and 7 of Volume I (Men & Magic). In there it says 

Wizards and above may manufacture for their own use (or for sale) such items as potions, scrolls, and just about anything else magical.

Looking at the level chart on page 16 of Volume I  we see that the title "Wizard" refers to a 11th level magic user.

There it was made into a 6th level spell which can be cast by a 12th level wizard. In addition the 8th level permanency spell has been altered to make it a requirement for the creation of permanent magic items. This meant that in AD&D, compared to OD&D, the level of making permanent magic items has been increased from 11th level to 16th level.

Wow Gygax must not have liked 11th level character making magic items.

Also this means Enchant Item in Swords & Wizardry is an imported AD&Dism. I am thinking for the Book of Lost Magic of dropping this down a fifth level spell. So that 9th level wizards can create magic items. This fits better with how often magic item appear in the Majestic Wilderlands. And I will revise the minor Magic Item creation spells I introduced to the Majestic Wilderland Supplement to the following

Create Scroll 1st Level spell (unchanged)
Create Potion 2nd level spell (unchanged)
Create Charm 3rd level spell (dropped from 4th level)
Create Wand 4th level spell (dropped from 5th level)
Enchant Magic Item 5th level spell  (dropped from 6th level)
Create Teleport Circle (dropped from 6th level)

Editing the Demon Wolf

Tim of Gothridge Manor describes some of the editing process for my upcoming adventure/supplement Scourge of the Demon Wolf.

Already have a few items to take care of; revising a map to make the number key more easily readable, writing a brief summary of the encounters of the adventure so that the referee can get an overview of the action, and writing up some brief background notes so that referee can roleplay the cultural conflicts better.

 Adding to the previews here is the format I decided for the monster stat block

Wolf Pack Leaders, AC 6[13], HD 3+2; HP 15; ATK 1; HTB +3; DMG 1d6 (bite); MV 180’; Save: 15; Harvest: Pelt 10d.

NPC stat block

Ochard, Bandit Lieutenant; AC 7[12], 2nd Lvl Thug; HP 9; ATK 2; HTB -2; DMG 1d6+2/1d6+2; MV 120’; Save: 14; ABL Athletic: +1 Area Knowledge: +1, Intimidation:+1, Locution:+1; Posses: Leather Armor, Shortword [2], Dagger, 50d; Note; Dual wields two Shortwords two attacks at -2 each

The only addition I made to the base Swords & Wizardry stats are abilities from Majestic Wilderlands. They can be ignored if the referee doesn't use them.

Money is generally given in silver denoted by the d symbol. 50d is 50 silver pieces. The d symbol comes from the english notation for a silver penny and it stands for denarius the roman silver coin.

In the supplement half of the book I have some more detailed descriptions for some of the magic users. The supplement fleshes out the locales briefly described in the adventure and written so that the referee will find the product useful after completing the adventure. I give more details for the magic users figuring even if the Golden House locale is not used it would be handy to have a fully described magic-user similar to some of the NPCs described in TSR's Rogue Gallery supplement.

Swarton; Male, Master, Meditus Society, Age 52, Apprentices 1
AC 5[14]; 9th level Mage; HP 25, ATK 1; HTB +6; DMG 1d6+3; Mv 120’; Save 7 (+2 vs Spells), [100% Shield of Magic]; ABL Natural Philosophy +3, Herblore +3, Research +3, Thaumatalogy+5 ;
Spells: Charm Person, Sleep, Magic Missile x2, 2nd; Web, Mirror Image, Phantasmal Force, 3rd; Lightning Bolt, Fireball, Fly, 4th; Ice Storm, Confusion, 5th; Teleport

Posses: +3 Staff (1d6) with Wizard’s Touch with Teleport Charm, +2 Dagger (1d4) with Return to Hand, +2 Ring of Protection Ring of Spell Storing 3rd x 1, 1st x 2 (Lightning Bolt, Magic Missile x2), Medallion of ESP 30ft, Cloak of Protection +1, 250d.
Ritual: 500d; Viz: 10;
Scrolls: Charm Person, ESP, Invisibility, Lightning Bolt, Dimension Door, Teleport Potions: Healing x2, Extra-Healing x2, Fire Resistance, Invisibility

There are few Majestic Items specific item like Ritual components and Viz that can be ignored if the referee doesn't want to use them.

The Manor #2 is out!

My good friend Tim of Gothridge Manor has just released the second issue of the Manor.  It has the following

Introduction
Where Tim talks about how he finally found the one true desktop publishing software.

Hugo's Healing Potions
A interesting potion shop with a map drawn by myself. Includes a random customer table to spice things up along with adventure hooks.


Smuggler's Inn
A inn serving an illicit clientèle made secure by being build into the side of a cavern reachable only by water across Ten Killer Lake. Includes details about the lake itself and the inn.

Finally winds up with another excellent random table by Jason Sholtis.

Like Manor #1 it focuses on locales that you can easily drop into your campaign.

A turkey of an encounter

The other day, Kelly Anne and I went out for a country drive. Along the way we had a very odd random encounter.

Bat in the Attic Game News

I finally got done writing the Scourge of the Demon Wolf and shipped it off to be edited.

While that happening I will be working on the stand alone version of the Wild North. Mainly altering the southern edge to fit with Blackmarsh and creating a bunch of mini-maps for towns and other locales.