Prismatic Campaign log (intro + 1 to 8)

So it's been a while since I've written anything, but I've been running a campaign in my Prismatic Planet setting, and I've been making brief session summaries that I share here. I wrote most of the tables myself, but then I asked AI to generate enclaves using them, and it turned out quite well. The summaries have also been written with the help of AI, but that's what's happened so far. It's a sandbox campaign, and the PCs have ignored a few hooks along the way, as you'll see.

All skin colors were generated randomly (except for the PCs who choose to be red, like the Red Martians from Barsoom).

The intro was partly written by one of the players as I've asked then to describe their backstory.

Let me know what you think of it!

Introduction

The PCs are the Orash-Khai siblings, their skin a vivid crimson, are survivors of the Orun-Khai tribe, destroyed by drought and hunger. They went west to seek for food, shelter, etc., and maybe some place to be accepted and gain fame/glory.

Zarak Orash-Khai (20): Warrior and ranger.

Lark Orash-Khai (18.5): Technologist and psionic.

Nyko Orash-Khai (17): Scholar and warrior.

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First Adventure (Days 1 to 7)

The characters arrived in Orveth, a village of red men who hated mutants. They were invited to join the village if they could prove their usefulness, or to confront the village's enemy: the Bone Wizard and the yellow men beyond the desert to the north.

They also met a counselor who possessed a cylindrical alien object. When Lark examined it and pressed a button, he was affected in some way, suffering intense nausea. The counselor advised them to leave the village before the effects became noticeable.

The next day, they decided not to cross the desert but instead travel west through the nearby forest in search of the tribe of green men. During the journey, they encountered strange sights, including a glowing fungus covering much of the forest and trapping a yellow man up to his neck.

Along the way, Lark noticed keloid-like growths emerging on his arm from the inside out. Despite this, he resisted the more harmful effects, and the transformation appeared to be only cosmetic, as he could still move his arm normally.

Later, they encountered a yellow woman and attempted to communicate with her, but things went very badly. They were attacked by a group of yellow men armed with knives who did not speak the same language. The woman informed them that the village of the green men lay two days to the east, and that there was also a cave in another direction inhabited by "the one who thinks alone."

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Second Adventure (Days 8 to 15)

The characters arrived at the village of Kaldurr, deep within the forest. There they discovered that the green queen Ossavel was gravely ill, and that the government was effectively in the hands of the yellow regent Davar.

An elderly red man named Druvas welcomed them and revealed tensions between the factions. The reds sought the missing prophetess Sovan, who could see the future. They believed she might bring equality and prosperity. The yellows were divided: some supported rule by an elite that would usher in the "Golden Age" foretold by the prophetess, opposing the green people's pacifist philosophy.

Despite this, the yellow soldier Mirathis showed sympathy toward the players and attempted to recruit them to oppose Davar.

Several days later, other reds returned with news that Sovan might have gone to a nearby underground ruin to the west. Lark expressed a desire to explore the location. The PCs set off and encountered strange winged creatures along the way (Mi-Go).

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Third Adventure (Days 16 to 18)

After resting and recovering, the players explored Sigma-7 Base, a technological shelter inhabited by mutant humanoid creatures.

They fought the creatures and later battled robots. Along the way, they discovered numerous pieces of advanced technology, recovering a laser rifle (3d6, e7) and a battery (e14).

At the end of their exploration, they fought a gigantic three-meter-tall obsidian woman. During a desperate cesarean operation, Niko managed to save a mutant baby from inside her, even though the mother died.

The question now was how to care for the child.

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Fourth Adventure (Days 19 to 25)

The players decided to return to the village and try to convince someone from the green faction to take care of the baby.

With some reluctance, Mirathis agreed to find a caretaker in exchange for one hundred silver coins.

Meanwhile, other red men continued north in search of the prophetess.

After handing over the baby, the player characters also headed north. Along the way through the forest, they encountered monsters and obstacles, including other red men who were completely drugged out, while following the trail of those searching for Sovan.

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Fifth Adventure (Days 26 and 27)

On the first day, the PCs were attacked by giant spider-like creatures, and Lark was badly wounded.

On the second day, they found the body of a red man missing part of his head.

They also met two blue merchants, Torgul and Naarak, who had been robbed by savage yellow men living in a nearby shelter. Investigating the shelter, the PCs discovered that many of the savages were suffering from something resembling radiation sickness, possibly caused by a glowing green stone inside.

They recovered the stolen treasure, fought the sick and mutated yellow savages, and received a reward. However, they left the "poisonous" stone behind and continued north with the two blue men. Both Naarak, the warrior, and Niko were badly injured.

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Sixth/Seventh Adventure (Days 28 to 32)

After defeating a giant tiger-like creature with tentacles, the characters arrived with the merchants at the city of Sorvheen, a settlement hidden within an enormous pit.

The city was inhabited by blue warriors who revered combat and martial prowess above all else.

Speaking with the city's red minority, the characters learned that the prophetess had passed through and continued north, possibly toward Erethrix.

They set out in pursuit.

Erethrix was a vast city whose center was protected by high walls and three great towers: the Black Tower, the White Tower, and the Silver Tower. Around the walls stood various establishments, including expensive taverns and brothels, along with scattered poor shacks and small two- or three-story stone buildings.

Its population was diverse, consisting of blue, green, red, and yellow people. The city was supposedly ruled by mysterious obsidian sorcerers and their blue guards.

There, the adventurers heard rumors of a massive Shelter to the west, an enormous ruin of the Ancients where the prophetess might have gone. They decided to seek her there.

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Eighth Adventure (Days 33 to 43)

The party left Erethrix and crossed the savanna, enduring red dust storms.

On the third night, three Ankhegs emerged from the mist and attacked. The group was injured, especially Lark.

They later arrived at Rholor, a settlement built on suspended platforms atop dark metal pillars. It was inhabited by about ninety pale-skinned people who had chosen not to speak.

They were welcomed because Lark was psionic, and the young leader communicated directly into his mind. After resting, the party continued their journey.

On the way to the mountain, they spotted an enormous creature resembling a six-meter-tall tree trunk covered in eyes and tentacles. They did not approach it, and the creature eventually moved on.

The group then reached Chovrek, a village of red men carved into stone. Its leader, Drav, whose hands bore chemical burns, welcomed them warmly and promised assistance in exchange for offerings of any artifacts they found, which the villagers considered sacred.

They climbed Mount Hedron beneath the shadows of pterodactyl-like creatures and entered a ruin with white metal walls and sealed doors. 

Single saving throws

It's been a while now that my D&D-style games have used a single saving throw.

Original D&D's saving throws, with their more concrete categories like spells, death ray, and petrification, always seemed a bit limited to me, and since the 2000s (with 3rd and later 4th edition) the idea of having a save for reflex, another for willpower, and another for physical resistance made more sense. 5th edition, with its ability-based saves, seems even more direct, removing the need for the reflex/will/fortitude "middlemen."

But even that distinction eventually became somewhat pointless to me.

First, let's discuss the method behind saving throws against dangers such as like petrification, spells, etc. Contrary to what many claim, they don't actually distinguish well between classes. Thieves, for example, are NOT particularly good against breath weapons, but they are against spells, and dwarves, with their short legs, once they reach high level, end up dodging dragon fire better than they resist spells.

Also, paladins have better saves dues to divine favor, and dwarves/halflings because they are small/hardy. So you can barely tell what the saving throws really are within the game-world.

Without actually looking at the tables, you cannot explain the rhyme or reason for saving throws. Even if you can, it is a rationalization rather than a reason.

Even in Basic and AD&D, saving throws were eventually affected by ability scores, adding yet another layer of complexity (first by Wisdom, than by Dex etc.). The idea of using a dexterity check as a saving throw also shows up very early in the game's history.

Optional rule in the Rules Cyclopedia

But let's say the original saving throws actually did something closer to what the classes suggest: maybe fighters more resistant to petrification, thieves dodging breath weapons, and wizards avoiding enemy spells.

The first problem would be edge cases like fireballs, which are spells AND supposedly can be dodged (and probably avoided by armor too).

The second is that this simply doesn't match the fiction found in Appendix N. Conan resists spells not by "blocking magic," but by being tough. Likewise, a dragon's breath can be dodged by a thief, but it can also be blocked, at least partially, by armor or a shield, or avoided with a spell. Remember: in Chainmail / OD&D, it's powerful fighters, not intelligent characters, who are able to detect invisible people (which could ALSO be a saving throw IMO).

In short, dangers don't correspond, in any precise way, to how characters actually avoid them, neither in fiction nor in reality.

On top of that, the differences between saving throws within the same class are minor, and can be summarized, as pointed out long ago on Delta's blog, as a bonus ranging from +0 to +4 applicable across all classes (which is roughly equivalent to a DC in contemporary D&D). So the tables are an unnecessary complication.

Of course, saving throws organized by danger category also fail to explain edge cases like avoiding falling into a pit, crossing a river with a strong current, or dodge a falling rock (which maybe should be handled as a trap instead, an altogether different mechanic). I'd also have to consider how PCs would deal with the lasers, radiations and psychic powers of my current setting.

A single saving throw also helps resolve several difficulties in one roll. For example: can you spot the trap before reaching it? And if you do reach it, can you avoid falling in? Or if you're bitten by a snake — can you see it coming, dodge during the attack, resist the venom in your own bloodstream through natural antibodies, or even mystically alter your breathing, power through it, and so on.

While I don't remember the exact 3e or 4e rules on the matter, I like that in 5e they at least tried to give the Fighters better saves altogether with the Indomitable feature.

My last attempt at having more than one save was diving then into Mental and Physical, but even that was not necessary. Does armor help or hinder your physical defense against dangers that can be dodged? Most D&D editions do not seem to take this into account. Do we even need a physical defense other than AC?

Well, maybe for poison. But even then, unless you use "save or die" poisons you don't need Constitution to affect it. Just save "save or lose 3d6 HP" and your Constitution and level are already taken into account to see if you'll survive or not. What about a form of radiation there bypasses HP? Well, is there any reason to think bulky fighters would resist radiation any better than mages?

Maybe we need a mental save for Charm etc.? Not a great idea either. In which setting or game would it make sense to a mage or other creature to easily mind-control a T-Rex of limited intelligence?

So, basically now I got every PC to have a single saving throw number. They are not always the same: fighters get a +3 bonus, thieves +2, wizard +1 (and yeas that means they are frailer against fireballs). Monsters work similarly to fighters, most of the time (so we barely need the 5e thing where monsters can resist 3 times, or the AD&D thing where monsters have a chance of ignoring spells - which might be an issue for another post).

It is been working very well so far, and that's probably what I'm going with from now on.

My question: do you see any advantage in having several saves?

One (single magic item) to rule them all

I've been thinking for a while now about the excessive multiplication of magic items in D&D. 

Whether through random tables or official modules, players quickly become overloaded with items. And this ends up stripping away all the special character these items should have. Many times I've asked myself (and others) if this aligns with the literary works that inspired D&D (Appendix N etc). 

Sometimes Moorcock's works are cited, since Elric has several magic items and so does Corum. there are examples on Tolkien too. But I think there's a distinction to be made there:

It seems like most of these stories have just one magic item that clearly stands out above the rest: Stormbringer, in Elric's case, Excalibur, in King Arthur's case, or the Holy Grail, in other Arthurian stories, or The One Ring, in Tolkien's case, the decks of cards in the Amber series, and so on.

And D&D-based literature seems to follow the same line, from The Crystal Shard, which gets its own book, to Dragonlance, which lends its name to an entire series.

Of course, even when there's just one protagonist item per campaign or setting, there are several other items as well. In Tolkien's case, for example, we have Andúril, the (quite powerful) Palantíri, and even Sting and mithril armor. Stormbringer itself has its twin sister sword, which gets less attention in the book.

However, what definitely does not happen in most of the literature mentioned is the constant accumulation of magic items by a single character, or quickly swapping those items for better ones. Every magic item carries a story, which is why simply discarding it seems to diminish its value and importance.

In addition, such legendary items should play a central role, not something you find in a random dungeon or that is easily traded. Think of the Arkenstone in The Hobbit, which has monetary value but also a sentimental/historical values that may cause or resolve a war, and ends up feeling more relevant than The One Ring at least for this book.

So why do D&D PCs get so many (disposable) items?

One of the reasons this happens is that, in older versions of D&D, magic items worked as a way of making PCs not only more powerful but also more unique. Often, equipment was what differentiated one character from another, in the absence of feats or even talents that could be chosen with new levels. Two tenth-level fighters, for example, would differ greatly from one another depending on the items they carried.

Now that modern D&D has feats and new class talents as you level-up (well, even BECMI and AD&D eventually got their skills, proficiencies, etc.), the magic item treadmill feels unnecessary.

But having only "meaningful magic items" is not an easy thing to apply at the table, precisely because D&D players are so used to, and expect, receiving more and more magic items. 

Another problem is that D&D wizards essentially have no clear ceiling on their power. A D&D wizard with enough XP has more power than a Palantír (or a dragon, making dragonlances somewhat pointless), so many magic items may become worthless as wizards level up.

Maybe one way would be to separate legendary items from more disposable ones more clearly. Something I've been using in my (science-fantasy) campaign is making some of the supposedly "magic" items mass-produced. You could do something similar by saying that a +1 sword is just better quality and can be safely traded for a +2 sword without any regard for its story or "magic".

Since I don't like writing a post about a problem without at least trying to offer a solution, here are a few attempts:

Multiplication. A magic sword that doubles or even triples its damage, for example. If a regular sword deals 1d8+1 damage, the magic sword deals 2d8+2. But if the character, for whatever reason (strength, proficiency, etc.), deals 1d8+5 with a common sword, the magic sword deals 2d8+10. That way, it's ALWAYS meaningful, but it's far more dangerous in skilled hands.

Absolutes. Items that simply bypass the rules in an absolute way: this item is completely immune to magic, or it's basically indestructible like "the One Ring", or it simply negates any possibility of resurrection, or ignores armor completely. D&D itself already has a few items like this, they just need to be part of the setting's history instead of thrown into a lsit of artifacts.

Items that grow with the character. The longer the character keeps the item, the more they learn from it and bond with it. Something I've suggested before, but which would also work with sentient items like Stormbringer, or mysterious items like the Claw of the Conciliator, whose effects, even by the end of the book of the same name, aren't 100% clear (which is also the case with The One Ring and Stormbringer).

Minimalist Magic Item table

I've spent a lot of time trying to finish this table. Probably too much time, honestly. It’s one of those things that works exactly as I wanted once it’s done, but just by looking at it, you can’t really see the amount of effort I put in. This is my Dark Fantasy Magic Items in minimalist form (although I think that book is still worth a read at $1.49; it has some additional stuff). 

After polishing it quite a bit, I am almost satisfied with the result.

The idea is this: anyone can create a table with 1,000 magical items (a single d1000 table or d10 versus d100 etc). Since you’ll never use more than a few dozen (maybe not even that many) in a campaign, you’ll never really know the true value of the table. If the results don’t make sense to you, you’ll just think you got unlucky when rolling.

What I wanted was a table that could be easily judged by anyone at a glance. For example, you can easy see how common is a magical dagger compare to a magic ring or rope.

I could also have a table meant purely for inspiration, with a completely abstract and open format, where you combine an effect with an item, no direct relation between the two. The problem is when the effects often don’t fit the items very well, so you end up with armor that deals extra damage or axes that make you move faster, etc. 

I had the impression this was the case in Shadow of the Demon Lord.

Or, ideally, I'd have a big list of common, uncommon, rare, legendary magic items... with sub-tables and elaborate descriptions, maybe prices too. I think this is what 5e does, maybe AD&D too. But it wouldn't be really "minimalist", would it? Anyway, I want to fit mine in a page or two.

The table below boils down to about 10 categories of objects and 20 categories of effects. Since the objects are divided in practice, we end up with more than a thousand possible combinations of effects and items. The difference is that I tried to make it very clear which effects fit best with which objects, so that most of the items you generate using the instructions will actually make sense, and "common" magic items will be, well, actually common. In fact, I toned don't some of the more fantastical and looney tunes effects (e.g., portable hole) to fit my favorite genres of fantasy (low fantasy, dark fantasy).

To illustrate the tables, I included a few items as examples at the end of the post.

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Magic Items

The most common magic items are listed below with their usual effects. You can replace the effects (or alter them, if you roll 1-4) using the effects table, below. It is recommended you do that when you roll an odd number in the first d20, at least until you need more variety.

 

1–2. Apparel. A piece of clothing. Sometimes it only affects an specific part of the body. Examples [1d8]: 1 amulet (+1 to all saves), 2 belt (your Strength becomes 18 or gets a +3 bonus, whichever is better), 3 boots (+10’ movement, i.e., walk 25% faster), 4 bracers (like belt), 5 cloak (+1 AC and saves), 6 gloves (+4 to manual tasks such as picking locks, pockets, etc.), 7 helmet (+4 vs. mind effects), 8 GM's choice.

3–4. Armor or shield. +1 AC. Roll 1d4 for type: 1 light, 2 medium, 3 heavy, 4 shield.

5–6. Potion. Restores 1d6+1 hit points.

7–8. Ring. Rings can do almost anything. Roll on the effects table.

9–10. Scroll. Contains a common random spell, anyone can cast. Roll 2d6, keep the lower die, for its level.

11–12. Tool. A magic tool that resembles an ordinary object but is supernaturally more efficient. Examples: Roll 1d6: 1 rope (you can command it to climb walls, tie itself, etc.), 2 lantern (burns without fuel for up to 10 hours on command), 3 bag (weighs one unit but holds 10 units without changing size or weight), 4 key (once a day, it can open any ordinary lock), 5 tinderbox (creates flame on command like a strong modern lighter), 6 waterskin (creates water on command, up to a gallon a day).

13–14. Wand / rod / staff. Cast one spell (see Scroll, above). Roll for maximum charges (wand 1d6, rod 2d6, staff 3d6). Casting spends charges equal to the spell's level; regain one-third of maximum (round up) at dawn.

15–16. Weapon. +1 to attack and damage. Ammunition comes in a bundle of 3d6 pieces, each expending its magic on a hit. Weapon type: 1 axe, 2 spear, 3 hammer/mace, 4 bow or crossbow, 5 ammunition, 6 polearm. See below for size if needed.

17–18. Sword. +1 to attack and damage. Roll for size if needed: 1 dagger (1d4), 2–3 medium (1d6), 4–5 long (1d8), 6 two-handed (1d10).

19–20. Special. Either roll 1d20 on the Effects table, then invent an unusual object to carry it (19) or roll for the object, then give it a remarkable or combined effect (20).

 

 

Magic Item Effects (d20)

Some effects fit some items better. Entries 1-4 can fit almost anything (if you don’t have an obvious effect, a roll of 1-3 might require you to roll twice); 5-6 are ideal for weapons; 7 (spells) are better left for scroll and wands, although magic swords can sometimes cast spells; 8-15 are mostly passive defensive and they can work well for armor or potions or apparel; 16-17 are more “mental” and better suited to helmets, necklaces and similar; 18 and 19 are rare and are only an easy fit for scrolls (summoning) and big apparel or amulets (transformation). 20 is for all items.

If the effect does not fit the item, decide what to do, randomly or otherwise.

E.g.: 1d6: 1-2 be creative and make it fit or allow it to be weird, 3-4 roll again, 5-6 fall back to the ordinary effect.

 

1. Cursed. The item carries a curse that may manifest at the worst possible time.
2. Temporary. The item becomes mundane after being used 2d6 times.
3. Powerful. The item is unusually strong. For a numeric bonus, roll 1d20: 1–10 the effect is +2, 11–16 +3, 17–19 +4, 20 +5. Similarly, a d6 becomes 2d6 to 5d6, and a 50% reduction becomes 1d20 × 5% (minimum 60%).
4. Conjuring. The item seems to return or appear from out of nowhere, as the owner conjures it with a word or gesture. Alternatively, it is very easily concealed, foldable or very light. If it’s a thrown weapon, it returns to your hand instead.
5. Elemental attack. Deals an extra 1d6 damage of one type. Roll 1d8: 1 acid, 2 cold, 3 fire, 4 lightning, 5 necrotic, 6 poison, 7 psychic, 8 radiant.
6. Hatred. Deals an extra 1d6 damage against one type of creature. Roll 1d12: 1 aberration, 2 beast, 3 celestial, 4 construct, 5 dragon, 6 elemental, 7 fey, 8 fiend, 9 giant, 10 humanoid, 11 monstrosity, 12 undead.
7. Spells. Cast one type of spell. Roll 2d6 and keep the lower die for the spell's level, the higher die for maximum charges. Casting spends charges equal to the spell's level; regain one-third of maximum (round up) at dawn. Alternatively, simplify "magic missile, three charges" to something like "cast magic missile three times a day" when desired. Best left to rings, wands, staves, and scrolls.
8. Protection from element. Reduces incoming damage of one type by 50%. See entry 5 for type.
9. Protection from creatures. Reduces damage or attacks from one type of creature. See entry 6 for type.
10. Protection (saving throws). +1 to all saving throws.
11. Defense. +1 to Armor Class.
12. Augmentation. Raises one ability score by +3, or sets it to a fixed value (18), whichever is better. The stat affected is usually physical and adequate to the item in question. If necessary, roll 1d6: 1 Strength, 2 Dexterity, 3 Constitution, 4 Intelligence, 5 Wisdom, 6 Charisma.
13. Resilience. 50% resistance to a hazard or condition. Roll 1d8: 1 poison, 2 fear, 3 charm, 4 sleep, 5 exhaustion, 6 disease, 7 petrification, 8 an environmental hazard (hunger, thirst, drowning, suffocation).
14. Movement. Move faster or in new ways. Roll 1d8: 1 fly, 2 climb any surface, 3 swim, 4 burrow, 5 walk on water, 6 ignore difficult terrain, 7 leap great distances, 8 slip free of grapples, shackles, and cages.
15. Misdirection. Disguise yourself, your movement, or your actions. Roll 1d6: 1 invisibility, 2 silence (move without sound), 3 impersonate someone, 4 create illusions, 5 leave no traces, 6 pass as another kind of creature.
16. Perception. A supernatural sense. "Keen" versions of ordinary senses grant advantage. Roll 1d8: 1 darkvision, 2 keen hearing, 3 keen smell, 4 blindsight, 5 detect invisible, 6 see auras or magic, 7 detect lies, 8 truesight.
17. Communication. Understand or speak across barriers. Roll 1d8: 1 all humanoid languages, 2 all spoken languages, 3 all written languages, 4 one exotic tongue (celestial, infernal, draconic, sylvan), 5 speak with animals, 6 speak with plants, 7 telepathy, 8 understand any language you hear.
18. Summoning. Call or create a creature to serve you. It looks friendly and possibly loyal but is not enslaved. Roll 1d6 for HD, 1d6 for number of creatures (limit total to 10 HD), and see entry 6 for creature type.
19. Transformation. Turn into a creature, usually an animal. Roll 1d12: 1 insect or spider, 2 rat, 3 owl, 4 snake, 5 wolf, 6 fish, 7 cat or tiger, 8 ape, 9 bear, 10 hawk or eagle, 11 boar, 12 a monster (see entry 6 for type).
20. Special. Roll twice and combine, invent something unexpected, or make the item especially noteworthy with multiple functions.

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Examples:

- Cloak: grants flight.

- Heavy armor +1 AC.

- Potion of cold resistance.

- Scroll holding a 2nd-level spell and a 3rd-level spell with 5 charges (this is a special result; I'd probably change this to a single 5th level spell, or replace it by two separate scrolls)

- Spear +1, +1d6 lightning damage.

- Two-handed sword +1 (1d10).

So far, these are cool if a bit ordinary. I haven't changed a thing. Let's try a few more:

- Helm that allows the wearer to see magical auras.

- Light armor that raises Dexterity by +3 (or sets it to 18) [I could change this, but since its is light armor, I think the Dex boost makes sense].

- Potion of healing.

- Belt of Strenght.

- Scroll of Levitate

- Shield that reduces damage from fiends by 50%.

I didn't even need to re-roll anything. Last pass, with some die rolls:

- 19, 6, 11 - Now this requires some input. I'd say it is a holy symbol that makes you a monster slayer (+1d6 damage to monsters) while you carry it. Maybe a sigil, tabard, etc.

- Level 1 scroll.

- 6, 2, 13 - We could stop at 6 and make it a healing potion, or roll on the second table and make a potion with 2d6 uses that protects you from fear.

- 8, 13, 5 - A ring of protection from disease.

- 16, 6, 17*, 11*, 14*, 6, 12 - A "mace of communication" sounds funny but doesn't quite work for me at first, so I re-rolled three more times (roll with asterisks were discarded) until I got a mace that causes additional 1d6 damage to undead. I could have stopped at a +1 AC weapon, come to think of it.

- Ring of Constitution.

As you can see, no "Legendary" status items, these would require rolling more 20s. But almost all the results are perfectly usable with little effort. I'll probably tinker a bit more with it before I finish my Old School Minimalist PDF (if I ever do), but at least I think I've found the right path here. Or almost...

Did I miss any obvious cool item or effect?

"Serious" fumbles I can enjoy

As I’ve said before, I usually don’t like fumbles or critical failures in combat, at least in more "serious" campaigns; they make fighters look foolish.

Worse, the higher level a fighter gets, the more attacks they make; if every natural 1 is a fumble, fighters end up failing far too often. When you’re rolling 4 or 5 attacks per round, one of them is almost guaranteed to be a ridiculous blunder. Critical failures do happen in real life, but not nearly as often as a single die face suggests.

The idea of a saving throw to confirm whether the fumble actually happens is a decent (mathematical) fix; but with multiple attacks and multiple saves you end up with lots of rolls that don’t lead anywhere.

Instead of focusing on the character, we could focus on the weapon or the environment. Keep fumbles, but only in situations that are genuinely risky; and the effects shouldn’t make the character look like an idiot, but highlight the limitations of the weapon or the setting instead.

For example, a longsword needs space to be effective. In a cramped tunnel it still works (you can use half-swording, etc.), but it’s suboptimal; that could cause the fumble. You could even build a table of things that might go wrong on a natural 1, but only if it makes sense in context. If there’s no additional danger, then nothing funny happens.

Another option is to give the enemy an opportunity to strike with an advantage; maybe you overextend, make a reckless swing, and miss, opening yourself up to a counterattack. That way the focus isn’t on your “stupid mistake,” but on the danger you’ve exposed yourself to.

Let's try to combine both ideas. Here is how an actual rule I might use would look like:

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When you roll a natural 1 on an attack, it is always an automatic miss. In addition, it can cause serious consequences if you’re in a risky situation:

• Close allies: If an ally is too close to your target (e.g., shooting into melee or attacking a grappled foe), roll again to see if you hit your ally.

• Tight spaces: If the area is too cramped for your weapon, you strike a wall and take a –4 penalty on your next attack with that weapon.

• Flails and chains: If you’re using a flail, roll again to see if you hit yourself (half damage).

• Fragile weapons: If you’re using a low-quality weapon or one unsuited to the target (e.g., a common blade against a stone creature), your weapon may break or lose its edge (–1 damage until repaired).

• Dangerous stunts: If you’re attempting a dangerous stunt, such as jumping form a higher point etc., you failed catastrophically. Fall prone, take damage, save for half.

• In all cases: You lose your footing, expose yourself, and take –2 AC until the start of your next turn, unless you spend an attack to regain balance.

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By the way, this is the best rule I have for "shooting into melee". Being  a good archer improves your chance to hit an ally close to targe (an incompetent archer is more likely to miss both entirely), and this also takes into account your ally's armor.

It is time to ditch the "good GM"

The myth of the "good GM is required to play" is an old tale in our hobby. I thought the myth had been laid to rest, but it is often raised from the dead with talks of "elite GMs" that know all the rules by heart, or "great GMs" that are skilled voice actors or that have amazing improv skills.

It is time to ditch this idea. In fact, it’s long overdue.

The "good DM" was often used as an excuse for “difficult” games: “this confusing game is great, it just requires a good GM to function.” Or, more neutrally, as a warning: “this game is good BUT it requires a good GM to run.” For me, it should be used as outright criticism: “this game is not easy to use, and it requires a GM that is above average to make it work.”

There is no objective way to measure or evaluate the quality of GMs, and no serious research exists AFAICT. People who usually talk about “good GMs” are often just talking about themselves in a display of arrogance and bravado.

Until we have objective evaluation, we can imagine that GMs divide into good, bad, and average, with the majority (around 68%) sitting in the middle of a normal curve. If you’ve read the DMG or know basic statistics, you understand this.

Imagine rolling 3d6 for your GM skill as a "prime requisite": requiring a result above “average,” say 13–14, would exclude most people unnecessarily from the “class” of GM.

A good RPG should be good for most players and GMs, except when you’re deliberately making niche content.

In short: most GMs are mid, great GMs are rare, and that’s fine. A game that is only viable or fun for the highly skilled is doomed to fail; even chess, poker, or football can be fun for beginners.

Great creativity, memory, improv skills, mastery of 200 pages of rules, and vast literary knowledge are wonderful things to have, but they shouldn’t be required to run a good game.

In fact, we all remember the time (often as kids or teens) when we barely understood the rules, had never read any RPG theory, and still managed to have memorable adventures. RPGs should be fun for the averages and even below-average, not only the self-professed “elites.”

In addition, RPGs should help me run a game, not force me to fight the system in order to make it work.

That’s why I try to create good tables and tools, so you (or, frankly, I) don’t need to be an awesome GM to make something great with them. I don’t want to put all the burden of creation on your shoulders if you’re using my games; in fact, I want to save you as much work as I can.

[Here is one example. My goal with the setting is not to require you to read Edgar Rice Burroughs, Clark Ashton Smith, Lovecraft, or Roadside Picnic in order to enjoy it, even if I would recommend you do. The idea is that you can get the same feel I enjoy simply by rolling the tables as written, without needing to construct it all yourself].

One of the happiest feelings I have after creating random tables is rolling, combining and realizing the combinations instantly generate cool ideas I hadn't considered. In other words, not because I thought of something cool, but because I found something I hadn’t thought.

Likewise, when I’m running (or writing) a module, I want things to be simple and clearly spelled out. I don’t want to be unexpectedly forced to train my creativity or improv skills. My focus should be on running the game and responding to the players’ choices—not wrestling with the text.

In conclusion: 

By all means, read all the rules, memorize (or even tinker with) the most important ones; dive into Appendix N books if you want (you know I do); learn how statistics work; try improv; make voices; crack jokes; write your own adventures, and tweak or complete existing ones. 

These are all useful, fun skills, and they will make you a better GM and a better player. But they are absolutely not required to play RPGs.

Enclaves (Prismatic Planet)

Most of the planet's inhabitants live in small enclaves: hamlets, villages, and isolated settlements, separated from one another by vast stretches of hostile terrain. Enclaves are often distrustful and ignorant of one another, and afraid of powerful factions and cities. Travelers are usually treated with suspicion, but not outright hostility, since they are often useful for information and trade. Hospitality might be given in exchange for gifts or services. People in need are equally likely to be robbed and slain as to be helped.

Enclaves are built around reliable sources of water and food. In areas where none can be found, people organize in nomadic groups. The population of smaller enclaves is usually of a single color, but towns and cities are somewhat mixed. 

You can create your own enclaves randomly or otherwise, or use the ones described at the end of the chapter. When creating your own, you do not need to describe every aspect of it. Instead, just choose one single distinction to be more noticeable and later flesh things out as needed.

Distinction

1. Appearance

2. Customs

3. Problems

4. Leadership

5. Prejudice (likes)

6. Prejudice (hates)

7. Style

8. Buildings

9. History

10. Roll twice

Noah Bradley

Size

Most settlements are home to have fewer than a thousand inhabitants. The next chapter introduces several city-states, which may be all your campaign needs, at least to begin with. When the PCs approach an enclave, the GM may choose to ignore rolls of 12 or even 11, since the largest enclaves can often be seen, recognized, and sometimes even heard or smelled from a distance. At the very least, nearby enclaves will have heard about this place, and probably will treat it with respect, caution or fear.

 

2d6 | Community | Population | Description

2–3 | Band | 10–40 (d4×10) | A handful of people, maybe a single family. Commerce is unlikely.

4–5 | Clan | 41–150 (d6×20+20) | Clear leadership, conflicting interests.

6–8 | Settlement | 151–400 (d6×50+100) | Permanent walls, clear division of labor.

9–10 | Village | 401–900 (d6×100+300) | Has allies and enemies, crops, some history.

11 | Town | 901–2,500 (d6×300+600) | A ruling class, professional soldiers, taxes.

12 | City-State | 2,501–10,000 (d8×1000+2000) | Often ancient, powerful, brutal, and corrupt.

 

Demographics of colors and cultures

When needed, roll 2d6 to determine color, assigning one color to each number. The result indicates the majority (or ruling) color of the area; use that color unless otherwise specified, in which case use the die on the left.

Although most enclaves share a single color and culture, larger enclaves are more likely to show heterogeneity. To determine this, roll 1d6 and multiply the result by the 2d6 size roll; this gives the percentage of the population (round down) belonging to “minority”,  a non-dominant color or culture. At most, you may end up with 72% of other colors and 28% of the dominant color. It is not impossible that there is a minority ruling over several smaller minorities or even a majority.

For bigger enclaves, you can repeat this process to refine the exact composition when necessary.

Example: First, we roll a 7, meaning a settlement (see above). Let’s say it has 200 people, with blue as the majority color. Then we roll a 3, meaning (7 × 3) = 21% of the population are minorities. That’s about 42 green individuals. Are there smaller minorities? Since 42 is equivalent to a small clan (4–5), we roll again and get a 3, deciding there is a smaller minority of 12% red humans (about four people).

Or, in a town of a thousand, we roll a 6 and get a “minority” of 66% (660 people, equivalent to a village, or a roll of 9-10). Now we roll another die and roll 1 – meaning only 9-10%, or less than 60 people, are a smaller minority. This might mean that a group of 340 people of color A are more powerful than 600 people of color B and 60 people of color C. 

Appearance

A typical enclave is a cluster of tents, huts, and low buildings of mud or stone, sometimes surrounded by a palisade of sharpened wood or bone. There are usually a few sentinels, especially at night, and some activity during the day (cooking, eating, weaving, talking, fixing, etc.). Most have a well and a communal fire pit. Each house is home to four or more people.

1. Intertwined with trees

2. Underground

3. Lifted from the ground on stilts or platforms

4. Made of moving tents and wagons

5. Camouflaged

6. Suspended over water

7. Built amidst ancient ruins

8. Huge and mostly empty

9. Carved into rock or cliff face

10. A single massive building

11. Perched atop a great boulder

12. Vivid colors

13. Impossibly tall, narrow buildings

14. Shrouded in mist

15. Dense and tangled, mazelike streets

16. Inside a crater

17. Constantly flooded

18. Built with massive bones

19. Built with scrapped metal

20. Heavily fortified

Customs

Most people hunt, forage, and collect. Some plant crops when the soil and season allow. There is modest trade within the enclave and some exterior commerce. 

The traditional family unit is the most common social group within enclaves, with polygamy and polyandry sometimes permitted to leaders. Bastards, orphans, and prostitutes are common, especially in larger enclaves.

Outsiders are treated with suspicion but can be accepted if they prove themselves useful. Some hospitality is expected, but so are gifts in return. Disturbing customs such as discrimination, cannibalism, infanticide, and slavery are not widespread, but rarely outright rejected either, and some may be temporarily adopted in special circumstances.

1. Property is communal

2. Identity is defined by masks

3. To be accepted, you must be marked

4. Universal vow of silence

5. Adults are cast out at a certain age

6. Children are raised by all

7. Appropriate clothing is mandatory

8. No concept of privacy

9. Visitors have no rights

10. Color determines caste absolutely

11. Travelers welcome for a single day

12. Weapons are forbidden

13. "Couples" are always three

14. Widespread eugenics, infanticide, euthanasia

15. Those who can't fight must serve

16. No activities during daytime

17. Violence is never the answer

18. Everything is permitted

19. You cannot leave without a price

20. Casual cannibalism

Problems

All enclaves face some kind of problem, most of them common to everyone in Primus: scarcity, monsters, strife, and natural disasters. Life is short, danger is common, survival is never guaranteed. Most enclaves, however, are not in obvious danger of immediate destruction, to the best of their knowledge.

1. Besieged by monsters

2. Ruled by tyrants

3. Poverty and hunger

4. Infected by disease

5. People are barren

6. Infiltrated by impostors

7. Filled with criminals

8. Resentful of outsiders

9. Cursed with madness

10. Violently expansionist

11. Ongoing power struggle

12. Damaged by recent war

13. Something sacred was stolen or destroyed

14. Opened a dangerous shelter

15. Half the population is mutating

16. Widespread panic from an unexplained omen

17. Hopelessly indebted to a larger faction

18. Children are disappearing, one by one

19. A prophet has split the community in two

20. Periodic human sacrifice; next one soon

Leadership

In most cases, a single leader (a chief, elder, or warlord by default) holds authority through the implicit consent of the majority and the explicit support of a small circle of allies. They govern for their own benefit as often as they do it for the good of the enclave. There are often rivals and disgruntled minorities who are tolerated but have limited power to change the status quo.

1. The highest bidders

2. Law-enforcing machines

3. A secret society which cannot be mentioned

4. A church or cult

5. An oracle

6. The winners (or losers) of the annual lottery

7. A powerful monster

8. A set of ancient written laws of unknown origin

9. A cabal of sorcerers

10. A psionic who reads every vote before it is cast

11. A semi-mummified elder

12. The wielder of a sacred artifact

13. Whoever survives the local deity's ordeal

14. The family that sacrificed the greatest number

15. The mob rules

16. A conquering warlord (or local thugs)

17. The brain-damaged survivor of hard drugs

18. Blind counsellors, relying on lies

19. A dying monarch with no apparent heirs

20. None - govern yourself

Prejudices

People favor their own enclave first and everyone else at a distance. They instinctively defend the status quo and reject new ideas. They will usually be more welcoming to people of a similar color or language, but many people in Primus are practical and can sometimes set their prejudices aside when there is something to be gained by cooperating, or by double-crossing someone they treat as an ally.

Where this table indicates a prejudice, it should often be noticeable. An enclave might slaughter any beast on sight, or skillfully employ domesticated creatures found nowhere else. A mutant or sorcerer might be hanged at the border as a warning to strangers, or the enclave's ruling elite might be composed entirely of psionics. An aberration could be the object of worship or hatred by the whole community. Lost technology might be feared or carefully studied and hoarded — and wielded exclusively by the tribe's most skilled warriors.

If you want to gauge how significant the prejudice is, roll 1d100. A preference of 90 or more toward technology might mean that all inhabitants are automatons, or at least partly machine. A hatred of 80 or more toward other skin colors indicates a dangerous supremacist culture that is likely to attack outsiders on sight. A near-100 fondness for warriors might resemble a stereotypical ancient Sparta, while a 100% dislike of outsiders calls to mind Clark Ashton Smith's "The Isle of the Torturers".

1. Other skin colors

2. One particular color

3. Mutants

4. Sorcerers

5. Warriors

6. Beasts 

7. Lost technology

8. Outsiders

9. The rich

10. Religion

11. The weak and weary

12. Psionics

13. Nearby communities

14. The poor

15. Automatons

16. Slavery

17. Cannibalism

18. Aberrations

19. Wanderers

20. Hallucinogenic plants

Style

The usual attire in Primus is light clothing, suited to the heat. Modesty is not a common cultural value. Practicality, combined with some natural resistance to the sun, reduces clothes to straps and harnesses to carry tools, weapons, and jewelry. Adornments double as status symbols, worn close to the body rather than displayed on fabric. A good pair of boots or sandals is far more common than pants. Capes and wraps are sometimes used as tools or protection from the elements.

1. Bare skin, little else

2. Tattoos or ritual scars

3. Colorful body paint

4. Skulls, bones and ashes

5. Filed teeth

6. Demon masks and weird armor

7. Colorful silk

8. Lots of spikes

9. Corpse paint

10. Dinosaur or beast hide

11. Camouflage

12. Feathers, wood or straw

13. Machine parts as amulets

14. Piercings or skeletal alterations

15. Closed helmets

16. Completely bald or hairy

17. Heavy robes

18. Face wrappings and goggles

19. Colorful hair, beads or braids

20. Sun-scarred, barely clothed, unkempt

Enclave Buildings (d20)

At the center of most enclaves stands one main hall, larger than the rest, used for gatherings, disputes, celebrations, and the occasional shelter during a crisis. Other buildings exist but are rarely larger or more noticeable than this.

Castle or citadel

Monastery

Prison

Asylum or hospice

Underground vault

Labyrinth

Abandoned ship

Temple or shrine

Pyramid or ziggurat

Mausoleum or catacomb

Tower

Library or archive

Coliseum or arena

Tavern

Slave house

Crashed vehicle, repurposed

Sacrificial altar or blood pit

Quarantine ward

Public market

History

Most inhabitants know a handful of legends about how the enclave began, who the great leaders were, and what enemies were defeated long ago. Most of these are fabrications with no apparent use other than tying the community together, justifying their rights to the land or their possessions, or hiding something much darker than the official story.

1. Escaped slaves or thralls

2. Survivors of a destroyed enclave or tribe

3. Nomads who turned sedentary

4. Woke from vats with no memory

5. Founded by a prophet, now deceased

6. Wiped out the former inhabitants and took everything

7. Remnants of a defeated horde, now forgotten

8. No memory beyond the current generation

9. A union of several refugee groups

10. Nobody talks about it

11. Cut off from the world by natural disaster

12. Built around a single water source that is slowly failing

13. Once believed to be the only enclave in existence

14. Exiled to this location by a larger faction

15. Welcomed by former residents; a rare act of generosity

16. Waiting for a sign that hasn't come

17. Once ruled the world, or so they say

18. Inbred descendants of a single family

19. Fled from something scary that’s still out there

20. A group of raiders, now tax collectors, and their victims

Entering an Enclave

Most enclaves treat visitors in a practical way. Strangers are noticed quickly and someone with authority, or close to it, will approach before long. In smaller enclaves this is often the leader directly. In larger ones, visitors are more likely to be intercepted by a guard or a random inhabitant. Either way, the questions are the same: who are you, where do you come from, what do you want, and what do you offer in exchange?

The results of such conversations, including the enclave's distinctions and the players' Charisma, languages, and skills, will shape how the enclave treats the characters.

Sometimes, however, the enclave's reaction will surprise the characters entirely. The GM can decide this before or after an initial conversation, or even after a mission or quest has been failed or accomplished. Such unusual reactions might occur whenever the GM finds it appropriate, or on a roll of 1 on a d6.

The tables below should be interpreted according to the enclave's disposition toward the characters. A marriage proposal, for example, might be offered warmly, negotiated coldly, or forced outright. An interest in one of the characters, or one of their possessions, could be expressed with a generous offer or outright theft. A duel or game could be a friendly contest where losing is expected and winning earns instant respect — or a fight to the death fixed against the visitors. A neutral disposition might indicate a mixed result — for example, a gentle offer to participate in a heroic but suicidal expedition.

1. An interesting marriage proposal is made.

2. Your skills are exactly what a local problem requires.

3. They need guards or muscle for a current — and possibly dubious — project, conflict, or quest.

4. You are expelled, denied entry, or welcome to come and go freely.

5. There is a permanent position to be filled and you seem adequate.

6. Your exotic stories, customs, and objects provoke admiration or mockery.

7. They seem eager to share information with you.

8. You are chosen as impartial judges of a local dispute or duel.

9. Invited to share the beds of willing partners. Probably no strings attached.

10. The enclave values your gold or possessions highly.

11. They offer you something valuable for a reasonable price.

12. You are invited to participate in a welcoming party or local ritual.

13. They want you to carry a message, package, or person somewhere.

14. Someone invites you for a meal, with unclear motives.

15. You are encouraged to participate in a game or duel.

16. One specific character is treated with awe — because of a prophecy, a resemblance, or a sign on their person.

17. A powerful figure decides, on instinct, that you are to be loved or feared.

18. You are mistaken for someone or something else entirely.

19. They insist on trading gifts of unequal value.

20. You provoke different reactions in different factions within the enclave.

---

Most tables were adapted or inspired by from Dark Fantasy Places.

This last table was inspired by something I read from Taylor Lane. Thank you for the inspiration!

---

Here are some three cities I generated instantly using these. I used one main distinction plus three traits, but maybe two traits would be enough.

Mud city

~300 people; Distinction (Appearance): Constantly flooded

Customs: No concept of privacy.

Problem: Widespread panic from an unexplained omen.

Leadership: A psionic who reads every vote before it is cast.

A ruined, primitive version of Venice. Lots of mud. I can see it. People are panicked, the leader might be going crazy or causing the panic for peculiar motives.

Mistwalkers

~20 people; Distinction (Customs): Universal vow of silence

Appearance: Shrouded in mist.

Problem: Infiltrated by impostors.

Prejudice: Hatred of wanderers.

This looks like a creepy encounter more than a village to wander into. Unlikely to be a peaceful encounter. As the PCs cannot count how many there are in the mist, they'll have to be very brave to start a fight...

Spire city

~1,500 people; Distinction (Problems): Half the population is mutating

Appearance: Impossibly tall, narrow buildings.

Customs: Appropriate clothing is mandatory.

Leadership: A conquering warlord and their thugs.

Now this is more interesting. A big city, tall spires, maybe elaborate clothing (with 1500 people, some are recognized only by that; there is a possibility of infiltration...), ruled by thugs, with a severe mutation problem. Maybe he main building resemble something out of the Judge Dredd movie.

I think it works. I will try it in practice this week, as the PCs are approaching a new settlement!

Feedback is welcome! Leave a comment below!

---

Back to the table of contents.

Zothique revisited, and more Ashton Smith

I have wondered many times (and even tried to investigate as best I could) why Clark Ashton Smith is not in the Appendix N. Not only because his stories, genre, and era would make him a perfect candidate, but because he would be even MORE fitting than most of the books that are actually listed there.

He is certainly a precursor, considered one of the three giants of the "weird" fiction genre alongside Lovecraft and Howard, both of whom receive prominent placement in the Appendix. Clark Ashton Smith has a touch of Howard's sword and sorcery, a measure of Lovecraftian horror, but blends genres more freely than either (including also a larger dose of humor and imaginative worldbuilding).

His tales, like few others of his era, genuinely feel like D&D adventures, something that would only be matched by the later works of Leiber and Andre Norton (Leiber was influenced by Smith, although Norton's toad-like beings might be an indirect influence). He is one of the most important originators of the Dying Earth genre, which would go on to shape Jack Vance, himself a major influence on Gygax. In the same vein, Smith's ornate and vivid prose likely had an enormous influence on Gygax's writing style, perhaps also filtered through Jack Vance.

The Zothique stories are among Clark Ashton Smith's most impressive work. I recently reread the entire cycle, and truly each one of them could stand on its own as a D&D adventure. Dunsany's stories have a similar effect, but many of them seem to build toward a single climax of maximum strangeness, whereas the Zothique tales are more often defined by a succession of unusual situations, traps, monsters, and obstacles. His protagonists, too, are very D&D-ish: not legendary heroes like Conan or the largely outmatched humans of Lovecraft, but brave, sometimes foolish, often selfish, adventurers that live or die based on skill and sheer luck.

(They are also sometimes found in parties, or with hirelings/servants, which is rare except for Tolkien).

Could it be that Gygax simply did not know Smith? Given his enormous influence, I find that unlikely; several elements of D&D appear to be directly inspired by the author, such as the Geas spell (also adopted by Vance), and the rich vocabulary for the dead and undead: ghouls, liches, necromancers, and more. Another hypothesis, perhaps more plausible, is that Gygax simply was not a great fan (which, again, is odd given his influence and proximity to R. E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, and H. P. Lovecraft , some of "the most immediate influences upon AD&D"). 

Maybe Smith was simply less popular, which seems to be the case. This is the most likely explanation I have so far.

At least the Zothique stories point to another reason, one that seems rather obvious in hindsight but that I may have overlooked because I am already a dark fantasy reader: many of the stories are too dark, and a significant number involve acts that constitute or suggest necrophilia (though not explicitly) alongside torture, alcoholism, cruelty, decadence, revenge, and so forth, sometimes with no heroic characters to serve as counterweight.

Even so, the Zothique cycle strikes me as particularly grim, and not all of Smith's stories follow the same tendency. It now seems worth revisiting his other tales (equally impressive and equally suited to D&D) to determine whether this explanation is sufficient, or whether another reason might yet be found. For now, the mystery remains.

The Face in the Frost (review)

The Face in the Frost, by John Bellairs, is a somewhat odd book to include in the Appendix N. Apparently, Gygax was a big fan of it (though he said he read it after D&D was created), as mentioned on Dragon magazine #22; it is also mentioned in the DMG itself (thanks to @John_Cyrano, on X).

Dragon #22

DMG

The whole book has a certain young adult fiction vibe; a blend of satire, oneirism, and postmodernism. The first thing I noticed is that it spends long paragraphs describing the setting: the rooms and chambers of a house, the plants, the locations, the roads, even the weather conditions and clothing. The few action scenes, however, are described in an extremely rushed manner. In a way, it's as if the common criticisms of Tolkien's work had been made flesh: pages go by describing details that seem non-essential to the story. That's not necessarily a bad thing; in fact, the landscapes are so vividly described that you can often picture yourself inside the story, or at least inside its physical world, even if the action itself isn't very exciting.

All in all, the book has many strengths: it is well written, the descriptions are beautiful, there is plenty of humor, and it even manages to blend (in a postmodern way) fantasy with history, constantly keeping you uncertain about the exact relationship between the world of the story and our own. The worldbuilding, however, is not very developed, but merely hinted at, perhaps as a running joke.

The book has its cool moments, like a stroll through a dark fortress, but some boring ones too, and seems to point to a great climax that never truly arrives. What the book lacks, essentially, is action. The characters are charismatic, but not especially memorable. In fact, I often thought the book had to have some prequel that would explain why we should care about these people.

The magic bears little resemblance to D&D, despite Gygax's comments, but it is a postmodern mess of religion, tarot, and randomness. There are very few monsters or warriors. The most obvious comparison is with Terry Pratchett's Discworld, which shares a similar, somewhat satirical sense of humor, but managed to develop the form with greater success.

Overall, a fun but ultimately unsatisfying read, and not one of the strongest entries in the Appendix N.

Dungeon Crawler Carl (book review)

This was a fun read if not particularly meaningful. It takes place in an RPG world that works like a televised tournament, similar to The Running Man and The Hunger Games. Participants, like Carl and his cat, face obstacles and fights, can earn sponsors, and have to balance the ever-present danger with the marketing persona they build for the public.

The book is very light and doesn't take itself seriously, which is good IMO. It's more laid-back than other books that try to have fun with RPG tropes, like Kings of the Wyld, but it also doesn't go much further than those tropes. The humor is very tied to current internet culture — silly jokes, profanity, and even a cat that seems to exist purely to attract online audiences, alongside memes and foot jokes. The author's social media even shows up at the end of the book, reinforcing that vibe.

The protagonist is at once a hero and full of "modern" flaws, like apparently being cheated on by his girlfriend. The writing has plenty of irony and sarcasm. Even though the book is structured entirely like a video game (with frequent, small dopamine hits from gaining treasure or leveling up) some descriptions are quite cinematic, as if it were designed from the start to become some kind of TV series, maybe animated.

Curiously, the aspect of everything feeling like a video game is underexplored. You'd imagine that, given the structure of the game, people who are heavy gamers would have a huge advantage, but the protagonist seems to succeed more through strength (he is some kind of military and lifts weights; he  sounds likes like an redditor "bro" with above-average might and empathy), smarts, and luck. He does use some gamer tactics, but the other competitors also seem to win more by chance or brute force than by being strategic nerds. Maybe that gets developed in later volumes.

The monsters aren't especially interesting either, they're basically D&D monsters, kobolds and orcs, along with a few meme creatures like "Karens", hoarders, meth-heads, goths and roided-up jocks. The spells don't stand out, the traps are absent so far, and the map doesn't bring much that's new. Overall, it's a book about D&D that won't give you great ideas for your own dungeons, unless your game happens to be based on X-crawl.

The book fits squarely in the so-called "progression fantasy" genre, where the appeal is watching characters accumulate powers and stat boosts. This is the first of that genre that I've read. For me, it takes some of the joy out of the journey (well, this even bothers me in D&D, so much so that I made a recent post about it that stirred up some controversy). There are moments where the book could have let the hero make serious mistakes, but it seems to rescue him from unintended consequences without apparent reason (though maybe there is some explanation later in the series).

On the other hand, it is all very honest and straightforward. What you see on the cover is what you get in most of the book, and I'm guessing this will continue throughout the other books (although a look at the covers indicates that there might be at least one unexpected twist). Being the first in a series, it plants a lot of seeds but resolves no major conflict. It feels like just the beginning of a long list of conflicts that will resolve after several books; I think the series might have 10 or more; I am unlikely to continue at the moment, but if this kind of fantasy suits you, I'll admit it was often a page-turner and an enjoyable read.

Minimum Viable Fighter (B/Xish)

I’ve written before about how the B/X fighter feels too weak compared to other classes, and even less interesting than dwarves or clerics. In my minimalist OSR project, the goal was to add as few features as possible while still giving the fighter a boost in power and fun.

I avoided the complexity of proficiencies, fighting styles, and the dreaded feats (even though I like them) and instead settled on two additions.

First, the cleave mechanic gives fighters a boost they need: it shines against hordes of weak foes, scales with level, and eventually offers some advantage even against stronger enemies. It’s also very satisfying to see a fighter mowing down hordes of minions, like Conan or Elric.

Second, extra attacks ensure damage keeps pace. At level seven, the extra attack raises damage combat output and cleave potential*; at level fifteen, another attack continues that trend, aligning with AD&D’s progression.

(*I think I like this way of dealing with 1.5 attacks, but maybe 2 then 1 then 2 works better, not sure).

This may not make fighters as versatile as clerics who can raise the dead, but it does make them far stronger than before. The open question is whether demi‑human classes like dwarves, elves, and halflings should share these benefits. In my system, races are separate from classes, so I haven’t tackled that.

Anyway, here is my minimum viable fighter.

Will playtest soon.

---

Fighter. 

You might call yourself a knight, a barbarian warrior, a soldier, or a ranger, but it makes no difference: your main skill is violence. A useful talent in this perilous world.

§  HD: 1d8.

§  Attack Bonus: level.

§  Saving Throw: level +3.

§  Cleave: When you reduce an opponent to 0 HP, you may immediately make an additional attack against another opponent in range, for a maximum number of times equal to your level.

§  Extra Attack: Fighters gain 1½ attacks* per round at level 7, 2 at level 15, and 3 at level 20. (*This means your second attack deals half damage, round up).