Now back to our regularly scheduled program...

So here we are, the last set of tables for my Pashan Whispers setting. Read the end of the article to find out what my next project will be.

Strange crates in a strange place...

Warehouse - 1D8

1-2) Nothing of Use: The characters just find broken crates made of chitin and bone. Within the creates they find various piles of disintegrated: foodstuffs, scrolls, books, clothing, or toys.

3) Roll on Library Table: Characters find D6 number of items rolled.

4) Roll on Governance Table: Characters find D6 number of items rolled.

5) Roll on Court Table: Characters find D6 number of items rolled.

6) Roll on Living Area Table: Characters find D6 number of items rolled.

7) Roll on Barracks Table: Characters find D6 number of items rolled.

8) Roll on Farming Table:Characters find D6 number of items rolled.

Your on duty nurse...

Hospital - 1D8

1-2) Nothing of Use: The characters just find broken beds of black silk, dust, and metal. In cabinets and chests they find: rusted surgical implements, broken crystal vials, and rotten white silk robes.

3) Miracle Ticks: Characters find 1D3 octagonal, iridescent, green vials containing a grape sized tick. Outside of the occasional twitch when the vial gets near living flesh, the tick remains completely still. When the vial is opened, the tick will immediately jump and attach itself to the nearest living creature. For the next 1D6 x 10 minutes, the tick pumps its own blood into the person granting them fast healing and 1 re-roll each round to fight the effects of poison and disease. (Roll 1D4 for each vial to determine the amount of fast healing the tick grants). After the allotted time, the tick falls away from its host as a shriveled husk. If removed prematurely, the tick will continue to spew out its blood until it shrivels and dies after the allotted time. A person may reattach a removed tick, as long as there is time left.

4) Apothecary Scorpion: The characters find 1D3 of these largely docile scorpions that appear to be strangely colored Emperor Scorpions with silver needle stingers. The scorpions never use their pincers, but will sting any target that lights strikes them (a finger flick will do). The coloring of the scorpions is always iridescent but with differing hues depending on their 'venom'. The scorpions hold 3 doses within their 'venom' sacs, they renew these doses at a rate of 1 every 8 hours. These scorpions seem to be able to subsist on air alone. Roll 1D4 to determine the scorpions coloring and effect of its 'venom': 1 – Light Blue: +1 bonus to Search checks, +10 ft movement rate, and +/- 2 Bonus to AC. Effect lasts 1 hour, after that hour the individual 'crashes' taking a -2 to all skill and stat checks for the next hour. 2 – White/Silver: Renders the individual immune from insanity, mind effects, and moral effects. However, the character receives a -5 penalty to all rolls that involve social interaction, due to the character being ever so blasé about everything around them. The effects last for 1D3 hours. If the character is currently suffering a preexisting form of insanity, that insanity is negated for the duration of the 'venom's' effect. 3 – Pink: This allows a user to make 3 rolls to combat the current ongoing effects from a disease or poison, these rolls count toward the total number of saves needed to completely overcome the disease or poison. If the individual is under the effects of multiple diseases or poisons, roll randomly to see which poison or disease the 'venom' fights first. If there are any remaining rolls left, they are applied to the next poison/disease rolling randomly if there are multiple poisons/diseases remaining. 4 – Purple: The 'venom' grants the user an incredible level of pain tolerance, which in turn grants the individual 2/- damage reduction. The drawback is that they GM keeps track of the individual's hit-points, and does not inform them how much damage they have taken. This effect lasts for 1 hour.

5) Diagnosis Flea: The characters find 1D6 green chitin boxes the size of a matchbox, they can hear nearly inaudible taps coming from within the box. In the box they find a white flea that is roughly twice the size of a normal flea. These fleas will change colors after tasting a person's blood, the colors correspond to whether or not the person is under the influence of a disease or a poison. The colors will differ depending on the type of disease or poison the individual is suffering from. On the box is a small legend, written in the Pasha language, that describes what each color means. The fleas become torpid after consuming a drop of blood from the individual, making it easy for them to be returned to the box.

6) Nurse Spider: The characters find a motionless white spider with the same physiology of a black widow, though roughly the size of an adult's hand. If fed 1 HP worth of blood, the spider will become active, and move to rest on the arm or shoulder of the person who fed it blood. For the remainder of the day the spider will bite whoever they are resting on, when that individual reaches 50% or less of their total HP. Rather than damaging the individual, the spider's bite will heal 1D6+3 HP. The spider is capable of delivering 3 such bite before running out of its healing venom. It refreshes its uses at a rate of 1 per 8 hours. When the blood feeder finally lays down to sleep, or meditate in the case of elves, the spider then goes back to its motionless state. It will reawaken when it is fed 1 HP of blood again. Stats: HP: 10 AC: 17 Move: 20 ft. No. of Attacks: 1 To-Hit: +2 Damage: 1D3 Size: Diminutive All Saves: 15.

Seeds of life.

Farming - 1D6

1-2) Nothing of Use: The characters just find broken ceramic containers, rodent chewed seeds, rusted tools, and the empty husks of giant work beetles.

3) Limb Seeds: The characters find 1D10 perfectly octahedral, golden seeds the size of an adult's thumbnail. If planted in fertile soil, given regular watering, and given plenty of sun the seed will produce a green shoot in 1D8+1 days. If a person missing any body part sacrifices 1 HP of blood from the area of the missing part by letting the blood onto the shoot, the shoot will grow into a full sized plant in 1D12+1 days. The full sized plant will fruit 1D3 green replacement parts. If the part is picked and pressed against the place the missing part once resided, the green part will attach itself and function as the natural part did. The part will wither and die if pressed to a person who did not sacrifice blood. This plant can only regrow lost parts, not parts that were absent at the time of birth due to some form of defect.

4) Cuisine Seeds: The characters find 3D10 perfectly spherical blue seeds the size of a pea. If planted in fertile soil, given regular watering, and given plenty of sun the seed will produce a green shoot in 1D8+1 days. If a particular culinary dish (ex: filet mignon, crème brulee, etc...) is buried next to the shoot, the shoot will grow into a full grown plant in 1D12+1 days. The full sized plant will fruit 1D8+2 perfect reproductions of the culinary dish covered in a thick yellow rind. It will take roughly 6 weeks for these fruits to spoil if the rinds are not removed. The 'fruit' will spoil as the dish it replicates would once the rind is removed.

5) Item Seeds: The characters find 3D10 perfect cube red seeds the size of a 'standard' sized 6 sided die. If planted in fertile soil, given regular watering, and given plenty of sun the seed will produce a green shoot in 1D8+1 days. When an item that is no large than a medium sized weapon is buried next to the shoot, the shoot will grow into a full grown plant in 1D12+1 days. The full grown plant will sprout branches in the form of whatever item was buried next to it. The branch versions of the items possess the same stats as the buried items, save that they do not possess any of the magical enchantments of the original item. The copied items possess all the altered stats from being made of special materials, though they do not count as being made of the special material for the purposes of bypassing damage reduction. The original item is destroyed after the plant reaches full size.

6) Resurrection Seeds: The characters find 1D3 icosahedron shaped purple seeds the size of a 'standard' sized D20. The seed must placed in the mouth, or body, of creature who has been dead for no more than 6 months and that body must be buried in fertile soil. If these criteria are met, after 1D10+1 days a green pod will grow out of the soil, the pod will be the same size as the creature buried. Moments after the pod reaches full sized, a green tinged perfect copy of the buried creature bursts forth. The copy has all the same memories of the original, as well as the same number of hit-dice and class levels as the original. The GM may decide that the copy also has the same amount of experience points as the original. The copy will have an a nagging feeling that they are merely a copy. There is no game mechanic to describe this, but players are encouraged to role play out this new personality quirk. Finally, the copy is incapable of digesting meat, so must adjust their diet accordingly. The original body is destroyed in the creation of the copy.

The Man. The Master

The Next Project

My next project will involve recreating the strange city my imagination goes to whenever I listen to Tom Waits music. The part of town these next posts will focus on will be a rundown neighborhood call Noir Weights. The neighborhood contains multiple abandoned buildings and an abandoned distillery along with the homes of thousands of people. The main source of inspiration will be Tom Waits' album,

Mule Variations.

Tabletop Gaming has a Solution...

I will avoid going into my opinion about a recent article about tabletop gaming. I will also avoid any conversations about the article too. There are numerous blogs out there full of opinions and discussions about the matter. If you want a fight or a soapbox to stand on, find one of those aforementioned blogs and I am sure they would be happy to oblige. If you don't know what I am talking about, Google “Tabletop Gaming has a White Male Terrorism Problem”. I urge all sides to keep an even temper when it comes to discussing this article (just not on this blog), there is enough hate being slung around the world.

I feel super important when I stand on this. It makes me taller than everyone. Being tall is super important.

 Here is the point where I step onto my soap-box for a short period of time. A '#' has never saved a life. An extensive, online rant has never prevented a crime. A blog post has never improved a situation where people have been hurt. Direct action, however, has done all of these things. There are thousands upon thousands of charities and organizations that are working all hours of the day to remedy the problems people face in our world today. I used to be a case manager/social worker for a non-for-profit organization that helped adults with disabilities get the resources they needed and provided them with a supplemental income to boost their meager SSI benefits. A few times a year I would meet with other case managers as well as other individuals who worked for charities and non-for-profits. The biggest problem we all faced were lack of resources. Providing help to the needy has never been a lucrative endeavor, but it has become even more difficult over the past ten years. While money is always needed, the lack of people to help was and still is the biggest issue. Most charities cannot afford to pay the number of workers that are necessary to help fully provide services, so they have to make due with what little staff they have. I live in Illinois, in the United States. It may be better elsewhere, but it really sucks here.

Mole-People like to push innocent humans onto train tracks. Help stop this senseless subterranean violence.

What can a GM do?

As a GM, for the past year, I have placed an offer on the gaming table. If you, as a player, go out and volunteer your time, no matter the amount, I will give you stuff in game. The standard offer was a 2 level bump, or a lot of points for skill based games. I also offered magic items as well, anything they wanted that wasn't an artifact. +5 Holy Avenger? Sure, go with God my child. +1 Keen Vorpal Wounding Chaotic Flaming War Axe? You got it, MORE BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! MORE SKULLS FOR HIS SKULL THRONE! Few have taken me up on the offer, but those that did were rewarded. I'd rather have a better world and an unbalance game than the opposite. I urge every GM/DM/Referee to take the same stance. I have a 40+ hour a week job, I am married, I run 2 games a week, I play in 1 game a week, and I volunteer 20+ hours a month. It is not impossible to have a life and help the world/community. By encouraging, and offering rewards, you can be a part of the solution to the myriad of problems in the world.

What can a player do?

If your GM takes my advice, volunteer and reap the glorious benefits. If your GM doesn't, there is still stuff you can do. Firstly, be supportive of the other players at the gaming table. If someone needs a helping hand with something, offer one. Naturally, if you feel uncomfortable lending a hand, then don't do it. Helping is nowhere near the same as allowing yourself to be taken advantage of. Secondly, if you have a couple bucks to spare, donate them. Charities can always use more money. Lastly, you can take me up on my next offer.

You will need these to fully appreciate what I am going to offer.

  What I am offering?

I will write gaming related materials, or stories, without cost to anyone else for those who volunteer their time. I am also extending this offer to people who work or are retired from these fields: law enforcement, healthcare (from mopping the floors to doctors and everyone in between), armed forces, firefighters, social work (this includes anyone who works for a charity or non-for-profit doing anything for the organization), as well as many more. If you think you might qualify, ask me, I will be blunt and tell you if you fit the bill. The proof I ask for is pretty simple. If you volunteer, take a pic of the inside of the place you volunteer at with a note card or piece or piece of paper with the word 'Electrons' on it. If you want to do a selfie, that's fine, I am more concerned about encouraging you to volunteer than who you are. If you are employed in one of the listed fields, take a pic or your badge or identification next to a note card with the words 'Electrons' on it. Please use MS paint or another program to take identifying info off the card/badge, I don't want your info just your help. Finally, you can send me a screen capture of the confirmation of you donating at least $30 (American) to a charity. Once I have this proof, I will write whatever you like. However, I won't write anything that puts a positive spin on these things:

• Exploitation of minors.
• Violence against a person or group of people in a way that could be classified as a hate crime.
• Anything that advocates the inherent superiority/inferiority of a person or group of people based upon ANY ethnicity, sex, gender, culture, or level of physical/mental capability.

I am more than happy to make villains who support the aforementioned things, or involve such things in bad situations that the characters are supposed to fix.

I reserve the right to temporarily, or permanently, end this offer depending on my own life as well as the workload this offer creates. I estimate that each request might take a week, though it may be longer depending on the level of work needed. I ask that your requested writing be of a manageable size. While you may truly deserve to have the 'Great American Novel' written for you, I am in no way capable of delivering it.

In giving you your request I require two things, and request one. Requirement one: That you seek my permission before attempting to make money off the thing I have made for you. I am more than willing to work something out with you, given a good explanation. Requirement two: That if you post the thing I have made for you online, that you include my name and my blog in the post. I am wanting to someday make a career out of writing, so I REALLY need to get my name out there. My Request: When I send you the requested work, I would greatly appreciate it if you could post somewhere online that I fulfilled my promise. There have been many scams out there, and people are hesitant to believe someone when they make any kind of offer. By posting that I actually backed up my promise, you will encourage others to volunteer and take me up on my offer. If I get a response/comment to this offer from someone who is interested, I will post an email address you can send your proof and request to.

I realize I am a nobody when it comes to the gaming world, I published one Pathfinder adventure through 'Headless Hydra'. So, naturally, I understand that having some nobody write something for you is about as big of a prize as that pencil eraser you got at the local carnival. But, if I can add any further enticement to the gaming community to volunteer or donate money, it is worth it for me. By volunteering and encouraging people to volunteer, we can help alleviate some of the problems in our community. I am not crazy enough to believe that 'WE CAN SAVE THE WORLD THROUGH GAMING!!!'. As I wrote before, I worked in social work, I know the level of problems the world faces today. However, no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever futile.

Just a couple...

Here are a couple more tables for the Pashan whispers! Hopefully, I will be able to finish off the tables project in the next post so I can begin writing a whole new mini-setting!

Spider-Silk Razor-Wire Grenade

Armory

1-2) Nothing of Use: The characters just find rust ruined weapons scattered on largely empty racks.

3) Thread Blade: The sword has a simple cross hilt, curved handle, and an octahedral pommel all made of tightly braided and woven black thread with a slight gloss to it. The blade portion of the sword is a constant swirl of unraveling thread holding a vague, blade shape without the thread becoming tangled or knotted. When an individual or object is struck by the sword, the threads of the blade suddenly disappear then reappear wrapped around the target so tightly that the threads cut into and crush the target. The sword has the added bonus of grappling an opponent, on a successful hit. However, it is only able to use this ability on a target no bigger than one size category larger than the weapon size, it may use this ability on any size smaller than the sword. To maintain the grapple, the user must release the handle of the sword. Its ability makes the sword only usable to grapple and damage a single target. Stats: Damage:2D4 (Slashing or Bludgeoning whichever is more advantageous) Size: Medium Grapple Strength: 18

4) Mosquito Spitting Glove: This hand-sized, wingless mosquito is found in a crystal phial. The head has a backwards pointing proboscis that pierces the wearer's skin when the body is pressed to the back of the the user's hand. The head also has a sphincter mouth facing forward. After piercing the user's hand, the insect's legs wrap around to press against their palm. Once completely attached, the glove grants the user heat-vision. The glove spits wads of red phlegm that crystallizes into a sharp shard that impacts and pierces the target. The base damage is 1D6, however for every 1 HP sacrificed the damaged is increased by 1 step to a maximum of 3 HP (ex: -1 HP 1D8, -2 HP 1D10, -3 HP 1D12). Also, the character may sacrifice 1 HP to do 1D3 continuing acid damage for a number of rounds equal to the character level +1, a single target may have up to 3D3 damage active at one time. In order to keep the glove healthy, it needs to be returned to its phial. Every hour that the unattached glove spends outside of the phial, there is a 1 in 6 chance of it dying. Stats: Damage: 1D6+ (Piercing) Size: Medium Range: Short: 30' Medium: 60' Long: 90'

5) Attack Amoebiod: Sealed in a strange, clear rhomboid box is a green tinged fluid. When released from the box, the liquid thickens and shapes itself into an ovoid shape. It is roughly the size of a soccer ball (football), and will heed the simple commands of whoever carries the box (ex: Stay, Attack, Guard, Fetch, etc...). On command, the amoebiod can explode in a 20' radius, doing 1D4 damage per HP the creature currently has. The box can create a new amoebiod by doing 3 HP of damage that may be healed normally. The creation takes 1 week, but for every 3 HP extra sacrificed reduces the time to make by 1 day. If 24 HP is sacrificed from a single, or multiple sources, will result in the creature being formed instantly. Stats: HP: 8 AC: 15 Move: 20 ft. No. of Attacks: 1 To-Hit: +3 Damage: 1D6 Size: Diminutive All Saves: 16

6) Spider-Silk Razor-Wire Grenade: This grenade look like an apple sized, mottled brown spider's abdomen. For every round the grenade is shaken it does 1D4 slashing damage to everything in a 10' radius of the object/person the abdomen strikes. The grenade can do a maximum of 8D4 damage, but loses 1D4 from its damage every turn it is not shaken. The characters find 1D6+1 grenades in a spider shaped box made of chitin. Targets caught in the blast radius can make a save versus Breath/Dex for ½ damage. 

Chromatophore Cloak

Barracks

1-2) Nothing of Use: The characters just find stained and disintegrating uniforms as well as a number of books that contain saucy woodcuts of naked humanoids.

3) Mist Armor: A roiling mist contained within an amulet that can be worn on a bracelet or necklace. When the clasp on the amulet is released, the mist flows over the wearer, providing them with protection. Re-engaging the clasp will cause the mist to return to the amulet. The amount of protection provided depends on its color: Red: +1 AC Yellow: +2 AC Purple: +3 AC Black: +4 AC. The armor bonus stacks with other armor, but it's reduced in a strong wind. In a strong wind, the AC bonus is reduced by -1. The armor does not incur penalties for being worn. 1D8 (1-3: Red 4-5: Yellow 6-7: Purple 8: Black).

4) Beetle Goggles: These goggles appear to be a black, iridescent beetle with a single head but two bodies protruding from either side of the head. The goggles naturally adhere over the eyes, once worn the wings open to reveal hemispheres of jelly sealed in a cage of chitin. Once the wings open, the user's vision expands to allow them to see beyond the 3^rd dimension. This expanded sight grants the user +1 to their AC. The wearer may sacrifice 2 HP to improve this bonus by +1 AC as their vision expands further, up to a maximum of +4 AC provided by the goggles. The bonus last for a turn (10 minutes), before the bonus fades. The goggles do not appear to need food or water in order to survive.

5) Razor Wing Moth Shield: Found in a cocoon of gently pulsing silk lays a comatose moth. With wings furled, the moth is roughly half the size of an adult's forearm. When the wings unfurl, they stretch to roughly the size of a large shield. The wings are made of some kind of mottled red and green, metallic silk. The wings are incredibly resilient, granting a +1 shield bonus to AC. The head of the moth is manipulated to get it to clasp the wearer's forearm, unfurl its wings, and to engage in its two 'modes'. The first mode gives the wearer a 1 in 6 chance of blocking incoming ranged attacks. The second mode will cause the moth to attack anyone coming within 5' of the wearer with the razor sharp edges of its wings. Unless the moth is targeted, the creature will not take damage from attacks. The moth needs a steady diet of leafy greens, if not fed in 3 or more days, it dies. Stats: HP: 10 AC: 16 Move: 60 ft. (Flying) No. of Attacks: 1 To-Hit: +2 Damage: 1D8 Size: Small All Saves: 15.

6) Chromatophore Silk Cloak: This cloak is woven of spider silk, with thousands of tiny chromatophore nodules woven into it. When worn, the chromatophores strobe in thousands of colors, causing slight disorientation in those attempting to target the wearer. When attacked in melee, the cloak grants the user a 1 in 10 chance to be missed due to disorienting the attacker. When attacked from range, the user has a 2 in 10 chance of being missed.

Like a Yard Sale...

Just a bunch of random crap on tables!!! Each area has its own table, because I'm obsessive like that. Each half-hour (hour if they're trying to be quiet) the party searches a building, roll on the appropriate table. The next post will include the rest of the areas.

This is the general aesthetic I'm going for. The art is by Mike Milkowski.

Library - 1D6

1-2) Nothing of Use: The characters just find shelves of strangely bound books and scrolls, all of them disintegrating into the dry wind.

3) Singing Scrolls: These intricately etched cylinders sing in the lilting language of the Pasha when the etched pictographs are traced a with finger tip. Those that are able to understand the singing, are granted a permanent, one time, +1 bonus to knowledge rolls depending on the scroll's subject matter. (1D6 - 1. Religion, 2. Arcane Magic, 3. The Wilds, 4. Technology, 5. Medicine, 6. Architecture)

4) Scholar's Lens: When a character views an unfamiliar language through this 7 sided prism, the language is translated to one the character understands.

5) Silence Box: Though this item appears to be an iridium music box with delicate scroll-work, it is quite the opposite. For every round the box is wound, to a maximum of 6 rounds, the box produces a 5 foot zone of silence for a turn.

6) Reading Lens: These two lenses are mounted using a lustrous dark metal so that they may be worn. The lenses give the user low-light vision and a +1 bonus to Search. These lenses are perfect for reading tiny script in dark rooms!

Market - 1D10

1-2) Nothing of Use: The characters just find piles of disintegrating, cheap clothing and incomprehensible souvenirs.

3) Roll on Library Table

4) Roll on Governance Table

5) Roll on Court Table

6) Roll on Living Area Table

7) Roll on Armory Table

8) Roll on Barracks Table

9) Roll on Hospital Table

0) Roll on Farming Table

Governance - 1D6

1-2) Nothing of Use: Characters just find piles of disintegrating paperwork and insane legislation.

3) Maps: The characters find a set of complete maps of the Pashan Whispers along with maps to other lands. (1D6 - 1. Voivodja, 2. Carrowmore, 3. Carcosa, 4. Phyrrous Plains, 5. Yoon-Suin, 6. The Islands of: Korus, Kelis, and Kravian.)

4) Transcription Machine: When wound, 1 round of winding equals 1 turn of functionality, and fed with paper, the machine will transcribe everything said into it's horn. Made of black and green metals, it is the size of large book, and resembles a combination of a grand piano, gramophone, and a scarab. As to how it knows the written form of the languages spoken into it, one would have to open the device's case. Within the inner most shell is a pulsing piece of flesh that looks like a strange combination of a heart and a brain. Once exposed to air, the organ withers and dies leaving only the gold electrodes that attached it to the machine.

5) Attachment Device: It resembles an elongated, legless horned beetle crouching over a narrow plate that extends just beyond the 'head'. Constructed of a prismatic metal, it appears to have been constructed to bind pieces of paper together. However, with a successful Strength/Bend Bars check (relatively easy), one can pry loose the bottom plate to make the device more useful. The device can bind any two objects together using a sliver of the same prismatic metal it is constructed of, and it seems to have a limitless supply. After being bound together, it requires a successful Strength/Bend Bars (somewhat challenging) check to separate the two. Great for repairs, or keeping pesky enemies in place. The device does 1D3 damage, and only has a range of 5 feet.

6) Dispenser of Cooled Water: This large device, about 4 feet high and 50 lbs, looks like a large, two legged spider attempting to do a hand stand constructed of a gold-tinged metal. It dispenses a unlimited amount of water from it's 'head', roughly a gallon a minute. A bit unwieldy, but incredibly useful in this cursed rainbow desert. (Go Metric!: 1.23 Meters Tall, 22.68 Kg, and 3.785 liters a minute)

Court - 1D6

1-2) Nothing of Use: Characters just find piles of disintegrating wanted posters and unpaid crab parking tickets.

3) Spitting Fleas: These oversized sand fleas, about the size of an apple, are somehow still alive in their cobweb-like wrapping. They have atrophied limbs, and a squishy, protruding abdomen. When squeezed, they spit a caustic liquid that can temporarily blind a target. A touch attack is required, the target gets a +2 bonus if they are wearing headgear. If successful the target must save versus Poison/Fortitude (DC 14) or be blinded for 1D6+1 rounds. The flea can spit 3 times, before it must rest for an hour and be given a few drops of water. Amazingly they don't need to eat. The characters find 1D4 fleas.

4) Pincer Manacles: The manacles look as if they were ripped off of an oversized scorpion. The manacles are no more or less easy to escape from than their mundane cousins. However, every failed escape attempt results in the wearer taking increasing levels of damage until their hands or feet are lopped off. (Attempt 1. 1D2 2. 1D3 3. 1D4. 4. 1D6 5+. Save versus Death/Fortitude (DC 15) or lose the extremity as well as 1D6 damage).

5) Chalk of Truth: Drawing a circle around an individual using the chalk creates a zone of truth. The target must make a save versus Magic/Will (DC 15) in order to tell a lie for the next 5 questions. On a successful save the liar takes 1D2 subdual damage, and must make a successful bluff check in order to not show signs of pain. Each piece of chalk has 10 uses before it becomes a useless nub. The characters find 1D4+1 pieces.

6) Lightning Stick-Bug: This bug is found barely alive in its cobweb case. It resembles a stick-bug without limbs and an iridescent black carapace, it is roughly the length of an adult's forearm. It's eyeless head as a short proboscis with a sharp tip. If fed 1 hp of blood, it will become active. When it is gripped by the rough, hand-sized section below its head, the rest of its body vibrates softly and gives off a scent of ozone. Anyone struck by the bug takes 1D4 bludgeoning damage and must make a save versus Paralysis/Fortitude (DC 14) or be paralyzed for 1 round. After an hour of activity the bug goes back into its coma-like state.

Living Area – Roll a number of times depending on the type of living area 1x Single Family/Group, 2x A Few Families/Groups, 3x Many Families/Groups - 1D6

1-2) Nothing of Use: Characters only find worthless dining sets and strange family portraits.

3) Jewelry: Characters find insect and crab themed jewelry worth 1D6 x 100 gp.

4) Entertainment Spider-Chair: This chair appears to be constructed of prismatic glass thread, with a still-living and headless iridescent spider the size of a greyhound attached to the back. When an individual sits in the chair, and one of the nearby crystal cylinders is inserted into the hole where the spider's head should be, the spider-legs weave an illusion for the sitter. To those not sitting in the chair, it just appears to be a shifting sheet of color with humming sounds, but to the sitter it appears as if they are actually sitting in the environment the story is taking place in. The participant may end the session whenever they wish, and instinctively understand that they are viewing an illusion despite its realism, all the dialogue is heard in the viewers native tongue. The characters find 1D6+1 crystal cylinders nearby (1. Hero Epic, 2. Drama 3. Tragedy *EVERYONE DIES* 4. Very Strange Comedy 5. Romance 6. Pornography *Sometimes involves insects, making it more of a horror story*)

5) Valuable/Weird Art: Strange sculptures and even stranger pictures worth 1D10 x 100 gp.

6) Communication Beetles: These hand-sized black beetles will extend their feathery antennae and contact other beetles of the same type over any distance. The beetles will mimic the voice of anyone speaking into them to the other beetle, though the voice sounds like a tinny distorted version of the person speaking. To teach the beetle to contact another particular beetle, the user simply presses the beetle into the beetle of the other person while yelling that persons name at the beetle. From then on that beetle will contact the other beetle whenever that name is yelled at it. Want to really creep your players out? There is a 1 in 6 chance everyday that the owner of a beetle will get a mysterious call, the person on the other end will: 1. Just breathe heavily, 2. Just Giggle, 3. Describe in minute detail everything the character has done so far that day, 4. Begin pleading for help in a loved-one's voice, 5. Describe what it wants to do to the character using sand and beetles, 6. Describe to the character what awful act the caller is about to engage in. The characters will find 1D4 Communication Beetles.

CRABS!!!

The Pasha formed their structures from the shells of massive terrestrial hermit crabs. Ages ago, the crab herds of the Pashan nomad cities freely roamed the prismatic deserts. Now, the luminous halls are only home to rainbow sands and forgotten artifacts. These structures can be seen poking through the dunes of the desert, or are excavated when the winds become strong enough. In the distance you see:

Forgotten halls on forgotten giants.

Structure Type – 1D12

Roll twice per shell.

1) Towers – 1D4

2) Pavilion

3) Structure – Shape (1D10 sides, a 1 indicates a circular building), 1D2 (1. No Pillars, 2. Pillars)

4) Dome – 1D3 (1. Geodesic, 2. Smooth, 3. Striated)

5) Pyramid – 1D4 (1. Stepped, 2. Ziggurat, 3. Conical, 4. Smooth/Dressed)

6) Basilica

7) Forum

8) Citadel

9) Surrounding Wall

10) Granary

11) Flat Open Area – 1D2 (1. Just Shell, 2. Indentation Filled W/ Soil)

12) Water Storage – 1D3 (1. Well, 2. Water Tower, 3. Cistern)

Previously Used For

1) Library

2) Market

3) Governance

4) Court

5) Living Area – 1D3 (1. Single Family/Group, 2. A Few Families/Groups, 3. Many Families/Groups)

6) Armory

7) Warehouse

8) Barracks

9) Hospital

0) Farming

Stay away from his boat. Not sure what a boat is doing in a fake desert...

 

The Pashan structures were moved and guarded by massive crabs. Hidden beneath the sand and ornate shell, lays a titan creature that may not be dead. The crabs were artisans, capable of creating their own shells through sculpting regurgitated prismatic sand turned into glass. Though possessing an alien psychology, they possessed a keen intellect. An entire caste of the Pasha, the crab herders, were responsible for communing with these creatures. Deep within the crabs lays a small nuclear furnace allowing them to derive sustenance from the sand and spit molten glass. There is a 1 in 12 chance that a crab will still be living, the crabs being legendary for near limitless life spans. Rarely, an unfortunate group might find a zombified crab, its dead body now animated by the strange forces inhabiting the desert. There is a 1 in 6 chance the crab will be a zombie.  

Crab Battle!!!

It's Alive! (OSR)

Activity Cycle: Any

Diet: Sand

Intelligence: Very Intelligent

Treasure: Whatever is inside it's building shell

Alignment: Neutral or Chaotic (3 in 6 chance of being insane from the long period of solitude)

No. Appearing: 1

Armor Class: 22

Movement: 40 ft.

Hit Dice: 15 (68 HP)

To-Hit: +10

No. of Attacks: 2 (Claws)

Damage: 3D6+3

Special Attacks: Spit Molten Glass: 15 ft. Cone Save vs. Breath for ½ damage (7D6 Damage). Character takes another 1D8 damage 2 rounds later after the glass cools and breaks. A crab must spend 1 round gathering sand into its mouth before it may spit glass. Assume the crab has eaten glass before the encounter.

Special Defenses: Immune to heat damage, 1.5x damage from cold damage.

Magic Resistance: Nil

Size: Colossal (60’)

Morale: Perfect

All Saves but Breath: 8

Breath Save: 16 (Big and Slow)

It's Un-Alive! (OSR)

Activity Cycle: Any

Diet: Nil

Intelligence: Kill and Sleep (Extent of Mental Process)

Treasure: Whatever is inside it's building shell

Alignment: Chaotic (Only wants to kill and sleep)

No. Appearing: 1

Armor Class: 24 (Petrified Chitin)

Movement: 20 ft.

Hit Dice: 20 (90 HP)

To-Hit: +10

No. of Attacks: 2 (Claws)

Damage: 3D6+6

Special Attacks: None (Nuclear furnace died when it did)

Special Defenses: Immune to heat damage.

Magic Resistance: Nil

Size: Colossal (60’ Tall)

Morale: Perfect

All Saves but Breath: 8

Breath Save: 20 (Big and Really Slow)

These long forgotten titans can speak, though their language sounds like a blend of a foghorn and whale song. When not aggressive, it will attempt to speak to whoever has disturbed it. If the adventurers are unable to understand it, the crab will simply go back to sleep. A zombie crab will always choose option 3.

What it Wants – 1D6

1) Conversation – 1D4 (Topic: 1. Glass Blowing, 2. Sand Quality, 3. Pashan History, 4. GM's Choice)

2) 'Take care of' something wandering around the structure on its shell. A reward will be offered.

3) YOUR DEAD BODIES STRETCHED BEFORE IT!!!!

4) A random mundane item from the player's handbook.

5) Peace and quiet! If the characters make too much noise after the second warning, see option 3.

6) Deliver a message to another crab in the desert. A reward will be offered.

Up next, more tables for the crap you find inside the shell! Also, thank you Patrick Stewart (the cool writer, not the uncool spaceship captain) for adding me to his blog roll!

Pashan Whispers

The border of the Pashan Whispers.

The Pashan Whispers could be hidden in a distant desert, on a far-away world or found within a fold in the fabric of time and perception. Dunes of prismatic sand, colors shifting endlessly regardless of the light, dust storms holding visions of a civilization's rise and fall. Ruins, crystalline art, alien geometry in fossilized life, all older than mankind, singing in the wind and calling out in a mad tongue.

Memories in a dust storm

The name becomes apparent when the wind is strong enough to shift the dunes. As the rainbow sands tumble over one another, they unleash the susurrus of voices stored beneath these ancient hills. Sanity appears to be an impediment to understanding the language, the anatomy of the throat a disability to speaking it.

For those mad enough to understand them, the whispers speak of: glories past, heroic myths, and epic poems that stretch the very fabric of comprehension. In her Suma Manialogica, the prophetess Lyssa of the Stillborn Chorus chronicled her several months, or possibly lifetimes, among the prismatic dunes of the Whispers. In her poetic prophecies, she described the narratives of the sands' past as a form of logic that transcends all previous modes of thought. Lyssa wrote, 'The wisdom of the sand makes all other philosophies like the chirping of crickets, without meaning aside from the logic of noise without purpose.'

The storms are the ghosts of times past, rainbow recreations of exotic glories long expired. Twisting hues of the sand filled wind form ghostly imagines made within depths of the storm. Shifting storm images: ghosts of titan-spiders dancing to unheard symphonies, cities flowing through valleys like rivers of flesh and crystal, processions of children crying into the sand and wind, and so many more events that blur the boundaries between the foreign and the commonplace. These memories of sand and wind could be gates to a fabled past, or merely a land reminiscing over a youth long since dissipated.

A chair brought back from a recent expedition.

The ruins of the long departed Pasha are as peculiar as the desert that surrounds and obscures them. The dessicated chitin of fantastically colored, terrestrial hermit crabs form the foundations of Pashan structures. Towers, libraries, castles, and homes are formed from the calcified shells of these acre sized crabs. Helical spires and nautiloid domes are but a few of the architectural forms found in the strange Pashan ascetic. Singing columns, animated mosaics, twisting domes, crawling statues, and so many more horrible and wondrous things can be found in these dead places. 

Within the abandoned places of the Pasha, are the last remnants of their culture. Many of these items still function, owing their continued utility to the mastery of their makers. Their furniture is constructed of materials both common and exotic. Beds of black dust and spider-silk, chairs formed of glass thread atop sculpted iridium arachnids, tables of bone whose tops shift to present unreadable script, are just a few of the wonders that can be found. Broken armoires might contain bottles of armored mists that protect the user from harm. Locked chests might contain projectile weapons shaped like the spindly limbs of insects, their pointed tips expelling spectral fleas that burn and sicken their unfortunate target. Perhaps, overlooked by previous looters, one might find a sword whose blade is a black mass of winding and shifting thread that never knots; the edges so sharp as to cut the bond between friends and lovers without physical harm. In the sand choked wine cellars, bottles of restorative vintages might be hidden beneath dust and bone. Bottles filled with liquid silver, lightning bound mist, or sand that quenches thirst like water. These drafts can close wounds, expand the mind, or enhance a single second of time into a euphoric eternity. The presented oddities are but a few mysteries one might take back to familiar lands, if one does not get lost in the rainbow sands of the desert.

The next post will focus on a set of tables and rules for the Pashan Whispers. Tables of: the kinds of buildings uncovered, the sights seen within the sands, the heard within the whispers of the sands, weird stuff found in abandoned places, and so much more. Table mania!!!

 

Weapons of Ontological Distortion

Well, I have decided to get back into the game of writing game content. I am going to try to shoot for at least two post a week. Here is the first!

Fuzzy origins and confusing functionality, these devices maim and reshape the very essence of reality. These weapons target the quiddity, or essence, of an object to bring about its destruction or mutation. These changes are not physically apparent, however, the mind can sense the change in essence. The metaphysical changes cause individuals to present the symptoms of visual agnosia, though only when attempting to recognize the effected object. Each ontological distortion/destruction device is powered by abstracta fusion. The fusion generates ontic power by binding two concepts together within the ideosphere through modal logic circuit tablets.

Names

In changing the essence of objects, the signified of language, the signifiers lack any true meaning. The creators of these disturbing weapons eschew any attempts at meaning when assigning names. Instead, their names are mere products of chaos, chosen randomly.

Weapon Name – Roll once on each chart.

Acted Upon – 1D10

1) Grapheme

2) Meme

3) Concept

4) Referent

5) Truth

6) Ousia

7) Porphyrian

8) Abhidharmic

9) Nihil

0) Monad

Actor – 1D10

1) Exploder

2) Editor

3) Slasher

4) Hacker

5) Twister

6) Popper

7) Smasher

8) Controller

9) Driver

0) Frier

Function – 1D3

1) Sever and Restore – Number of Settings: 2

Setting 1: This completely removes the quiddity of an object. Without its quiddity, an object is completely unrecognizable, making it useless. The physical form remains the same, anyone viewing the object is unable to describe of understand what they are seeing. Save: Wisdom Based or Will (+1 to the save per enchantment on the weapon) of the owner. Duration: 10 Rounds or 10 Days on a critical failure.

Setting 2: This restores the removed quiddity of an object, reversing the effects of setting 1 or repairs a broken object. If used on a fully functional object it brings the thing closer to perfection adding +1 to all functions (damage, to-hit, protection, etc...). Save (Harmless): Wisdom Based or Will (+1 to the save per enchantment on the weapon). Duration: 10 Rounds.

2) Copy and Paste – Number of Settings: 2

Setting 1: This copies one of the functions of an object. In game terms it copies one of the mechanical aspects of an object, such as: damage die (the type of damage is also copied), range or reach, specific enchantment, bonus to hit/AC/skill use/damage/movement/misc. Save (Harmless): Wisdom Based or Will (+1 to the save per enchantment on the weapon) of the owner. Duration: A weapon may only have one function stored at a time.

Setting 2: This applies the copied function of an object to a new object. Save: Wisdom Based or Will (+1 to the save per enchantment on the weapon) of the owner. Duration: 10 Rounds.

3) Comprehend and Define – Number of Settings: 2

Setting 1: This copies the basic concept of an object to be applied later (ex: chair, sword, cup, door, etc...). Save (Harmless): Wisdom Based or Will (+1 to the save per enchantment on the weapon) of the owner. Duration: A weapon may only have one concept stored at a time.

Setting 2: This applies the copied concept of an object to a new object. The functional concept remains the same, but anyone viewing the object recognizes it as being whatever was applied to it. (ex: The basic concept of a chair was applied to a sword. While everyone believes the chair is a sword, they also believe that the chair is a weapon) In game terms anyone attempting to use the changed object takes a -4 penalty to all attempts to us it. Save: Wisdom Based or Will (+1 to the save per enchantment on the weapon) of the owner. Duration: 10 Rounds.

Setting Names 1D10 – One name per setting.

1) Virus

2) Cupcake

3) Soup

4) Crook

5) Bubble

6) Comb

7) Ferret

8) Paddle

9) Ice

0) Shoes

Means of Activation 1D10

1) Pull-Start

2) Bellows Pump

3) Button

4) Crank

5) Spinning of a Hamster Wheel

6) Lighting a Fuse (Magically returns after each use)

7) Blowing into an Inflation Nozzle

8) Spring-loaded Pinball Plunger

9) Singing to the Device

0) Shaking the Device

Device Shape 1D10

1) Staff

2) Rifle

3) Pistol

4) Umbrella

5) Hand Mixer

6) Lantern

7) Chemical Sprayer

8) Overly Complicated Wind Instrument

9) Hand Drill

0) Water Pump