Fleshing out Portown After a Trip to the Coast

I really think that there is a place on the Zenopus Archives where he talks about how Port Town was based on some Coastal town in Northern California. I have now been to such a town, Mendocino California.  I wandered the coast looking for places where smugglers would meet. late at night and trade goods away from the eyes of the law.  Of course there were sea caves but there were also small islets that only existed when the tide was low.

Near the deepest part of the Cove you can see a cave entrance. These were up and down the coast. It's easy to imagine them being deep and leading to an underground smuggler's lair. Or imagine the water washing all the way under the graveyard and taking the bodies away. The lost souls are washed out to sea. They become angry and crawl to shore reanimated by a hatred for the living.

Perhaps not far away enough for meeting at night to exchange contraband but there were numerous islets like this ready to plunge beneath the sea when the tied came in.

Of Course there were also arches and sea caves were giant crabs or whatever could hide out. I am thinking sirens that call out to lost children. There was also a colony of bees living in the rocks. They were not as exciting as sirens but they were real and I had to avoid them to get to the outcropping I wanted to get to.

Clearly the home of a giant lobster who feeds on the kelp in the bay

Come closer child let me sing to you.

Also you could have an encounter with some seabirds that lead you to some treasure in their nest like a locket.

There was this spooky tree with dead limbs covered in moss or something. I would put this in the graveyard in Portown and have smugglers meet here to negotiate with ghouls on moonless nights.

Finally people had carved skulls and faces into the sandstone on the cliff. I could imagine a hidden sandstone altar carved in a hard to reach place or just that the citizens of Portown carve the faces of their sailors that die at sea into the sides of the cliffs. Imagine a sandstone relief to those lost at sea stretching all the way back to the founding of Portown. What clues and secrets would be embedded there?

The Mommy Daddy

DM: You can hear screaming. Underneath the screaming you can hear a high pitched sing song voice.

Werbin Blerbman: I motion for the party to stop. Werbin tells Elfstar to peak around the corner and use her infravsion to see what the screaming is.

Elfstar:Elfstar tells Werbin not to tell her what to do and then sticks her head around the corner.

DM:    You see a hobbling misshapen form

Elfstar: -great

DM:    -the bottom half which resembles a lurching human appears to be cooler and the upper half appears to be some sort of torso popping out at an improbable angle. The singsong voice and the screaming both seem to be coming from this figure.

Werbin: what... I light another torch and throw the old one to illuminate the creature.

DM:    You see Catherine Zombiesmasher, the cleric from town. She is twisted and bent over, her face in an expression of abject horror. Her back appears to be broken because her torso is bent at what must be a painful angle and her left arm dangles lifelessly to the ground. Her legs jerk haphazardly as she shambles towards you. The screams are her screams. Sticking out of her chest is another torso this one is comfortably upright. It is leathery and demonic. It is cooing to Catherine Zombiesmasher, “Mommy, look its your friends. Let’s go say hi, mommy.”  The voice is high pitched and child like. The whole amalgamation starts running towards you haphazardly but fast. Catherine Zombiesmasher will not stop screaming.

Werbin: We’re leaving. Fuck this dungeon.

Elfstar: What is wrong with you. I am going back to 5E.

Mommy Daddy: AC: 5 HD: 4* XP: 425

Larva: AC 3 HD: 1d4 XP: 5
 

The Mommy Daddy is a parasitic demon. It is rumored that they have an independent larval form but they are usually encountered already mature and attached to unlucky adventurers. The Mommy Daddy is fully connected to the body of its host. The body of the Mommy Daddy consists of a torso, a head, and one or two arms. The Mommy Daddy’s body is filled with larvae that if touched will attempt to burrow and infect the person dumb enough to touch them.

The Mommy Daddy shares the same hitpoint total as the host. If the amalgamation is attacked for enough damage to kill the host, both demon and host will die. It is possible to kill just the Mommy Daddy with luck. A Mommy Daddy gets 1d4 hit points of its own that can be damaged as follows: every time an attack is targeted at the demon and hits, roll a d20; if the number rolled is over 20 - the damage dealt the demon takes 1 hit. If you roll over, the damage is mostly felt by the host.

If the host wants to attempt to do something, they must save vs. paralysis to overcome the control the demon has over their body.

The Demon attacks as a 4hd monster. It has two attacks per round, one claw 1d6 dmg and one bite 1d4 dmg. After a successful attack demon larvae will crawl into the bite marks and scratches. The person hit as one round to try to kill the larvae before they get inside the wound and a new Mommy Daddy bursts out of wherever the wound is. The gestation period for a Mommy Daddy is 1d4 rounds.

Eventually the host will die. Then the demon will have full control of the body until it rots away. 

Where the Alchemist's Lair Comes From

I've been expanding the Holmes sample dungeon. The 3rd level comes from an old map I drew years ago; it was supposed to be originally the 4th level of the Mentzer sample dungeon.  I was going to make that the 2nd level originally but I decided that putting a dragon's lair on the second level of a dungeon wasn't playing fair. So, I started researching how other people had expanded the Holmes Basic dungeon. I found this. The author, Bliss_Infinite filled out the dungeon with some single page dungeons. I decided that was a good idea so I found some too and made the second level of the dungeon some themed sublevels. One was shrine to Blibdoolpoolp created by myself years ago, the other was a goblin lair, and finally a ghost library.

The players have now at least partially explored all the sublevels. The shrine to Blibdoolpoolp I had to populate with cultists and fishmen. The goblin lair I had to change drastically and I was honestly disappointed with it when I ran it. There was not enough detail on the treasure and items which created momentary confusion and it was pretty generic. The idea of an alchemist hanging out with a bunch of goblins was pretty interesting though. The Forlorn Archive, which became the ghost library sublevel, I ran without any changes and I thought it was neat. It was in some contest and I don't think it even got an honorable mention or anything. Well, I thought it was the best.


Also here is a magic item:

The Inconspicuous Wardrobes: Two large wardrobes, large enough for a man to walk into. The two wardrobes are linked, someone walking into one wardrobe and closing the door will be teleported to the other wardrobe. They can then open the door and walk out or just hang out in there. Only adult human sized creature can fit in at a time.

The wardrobes are hard to notice. If someone does not know where they are they will be unable to find them unless they are searching for secret doors. Elves have  their passive secret door sensing chance to see the wardrobes. Players that explicitly state they are searching for secret doors near one of the wardrobes will find it regardless of what they roll. The wardrobes do not detect as magic when they are closed.

The wardrobes only function properly if they are both in the same plane of existence. Anyone who enters one of the wardrobes while they are in different planes will be teleported to a random location in the multiverse or lost to time and space completely.

Fishbert the Kuo Toan

The Last 2 sessions of Portown

Lady Lemunda’s  Briefing on The Church and the Library.

Adventurers broke into the abandoned church and raided it. Fortunately we have started using the cemetery for our internment needs. All the more fortunate since the church had been overrun by ghouls. The ghouls were slain and we believe the crypts were looted by ghoul and adventurer alike. Such is the cost of allowing adventurers in our midst. Perhaps we should take steps to seal the entrances to the ruins.

Then it is believed that the adventurers discovered an underground library filled with spooky ghosts. I would advise the lady not to venture down there on account of the spookiness and the fact that the library was looted and there is now a golem running amuck.

The adventurers have fled town leaving the golem somewhere below ground.

Lady Lemunda’s Briefing on the Fate of the Golem.

Adventurers are offering up broken golem fragments for sale about town. The adventurers returned with some other strange looking people and went back into the ruins and somehow destroyed the golem. The final confrontation was in the thaumaturgist’s basement, which was largely destroyed. He is very upset. His screams could be heard in town. He is also asking for a rent abatement until his tower has been repaired. What is your response to his request?

Map created by +Paul Haupt III depicting the path of the golem.

The Bugbears of Portown: Rumor and Ecology

Those are not his friends

The boys were cornered and grossed out. When they encountered the tall pumpkin-headed humanoid n the cave they had sought to avoid it. It behaved strangely gurgling and writhing. Then it began to retch.

The creatures jaw must have unhinged and the top of its head folded back. Mucus sputtered out from its esophagus into the air. A hand reached out from its mouth, covered in what was probably bile, clawing at the air.

After an interminable moment a goblin pulled itself out of the large creatures mouth and ran towards us, slipping on its own mucus (or was it bile) trail.

The boys beat it to death and then slew the larger thing while it was in the process of spawning another goblin. They defeated the creatures but we could not unsee what we so desperately wanted to unsee. So, in a way, the bugbear won.

            -Fan Fiction of the Thaumaturgist.

The bugbear was probably once a normal goblin. As far as the scholars know some goblins become cannibalistic and begin eating other goblins. However goblins do not possess the normal need that most other creatures have, being sustained by the chaos that flows through them. The best guess that anyone has is that the chaos somehow melds and mutates the devourer and the devoured together. It is unknown if the bugbear is regurgitating the goblins it has eaten or if new goblins are being formed and spat out when it is agitated.

Fish Cult Today: The easiest session report to write

Cast:
Brutal Pete, Cursed Dwarf Hated by the Gods
Pitwin, Halfling child Beloved of the Sentimental
Otter Wan Kenobi, Otter Mystic NPC
Frigga, Witch and Aspiring Cult Leader

This time one of my players provided an beautiful synopsis of The last session.

From Chris P:

"We dicked around for a bit at the start at the Green Dragon inquiring about Lemunda before descending into the sea caves through the smuggler's entrance. We learned from some Chaos!goblins and some kobold "artists" that she was being held prisoner by the Goblin King. After slaying a giant (5 HD+ spider) with fire and projectile and moving through its lair, we found a couple of sleeping goblins guarding a door. We made friends with the guards and learned that Lemunda had BECOME the new Goblin King. After weaseling our way past various guards and sentries, we met up with her in the throne room, to which she was very glad to see us. She had tried to organize the goblins into a force against the fish cult, but that plan went to pot really quickly. Before we led her out, I demanded that she take us to the treasure room, which she hesitantly did. We looted it and picked up three more (likely trapped) treasure chests on the way out. And then we got the reward money."


... And yes one of the chests was trapped.
Some corrections: There was one chest in the treasure room and some ivory statuettes.  Three additional chests came from the room with the hurtful goblins on the first floor.

Ethbran and the sages of Portown

No god is a philosopher or seeker after wisdom, for he is wise already; nor does any man who is wise seek after wisdom. Neither do the ignorant seek after wisdom.

            -The Symposium        

            I decided that I wanted to put sages in my Portown campaign but Holmes does not include rules for sages and I didn’t really like the way that Blackmoor handled sages. Blackmoor presents sages as scholars in a guild. They seem to be designed as a money sink on the PCs, which makes sense. Massive amounts of treasure is needed to gain levels in OD&D and DMs need to give the players something to spend it on or the players find perverse stuff to spend the money on (not necessarily sexually perverse, but the players will use the money to upend social order). The sage is kind of a dm screwjob. It is an NPC that the players are eventually going to need that is designed to cost them a lot of money and annoy them. Naturally the players are going to want to kill these sages, so Blackmoor states that sages can give powerful curses and that all sages know each other and players that kill one sage will not be able to get another.

            That is not the type of DM screw job I like. This is the type of DM screw job I like:

The Philosopher

Level Title	HD	XP	Chance to answer question	Chimera threat
1. Student	1d4	0	5%	0%
2. Sophist	2d4	2,500	10%	0%
3. Epistemologist	3d4	4,000	20%	0%
4. Metaphycisist	4d4	8,000	30%	0%
5. Nihilist*	4d4	12,000	20%	5%
6. Stoic	6d4	34,000	40%	0%
7. Structuralist	7d4	68,000	50%	0%
8. Philosopher	8d4	136,000	60%	5%
9. Sage	9d4	272,000	80%	10%
* No typos, nihilists regress.

Philosophers save as magic users but get -2 on all saves vs. poison

The philosopher is an NPC character class obsessed with the pursuit of wisdom from first principles. When a philosopher reaches the 9th level they become a sage. A sage is no longer obsessed with the pursuit of Wisdom because they have obtained an understanding about the basic principles of the universe and time. Because of this they are seldom willing to answer questions unless the players can give the sage a new question, never asked before.

Sages however will have students that follow them around:

 1d6 students

                         1d4 Epistemologists

                         1d2 Metaphycisists

Answering Questions 

All questions fall into 5 categories

5 Totally pointless theoretical questions

4 Questions Related to the metaphysics of the universe

3 Questions related to the metaphysics of the dungeon/underworld

2 Questions about the mundane properties of the dungeon/underworld

1 Questions about anything else.

Sages will only answer questions in categories 5 and 4. Nihilists will not answer questions in categories 5 and 4.

Philosophers from levels 1-5 will answer a question for 3d6 * 10 * their level in gold. Structuralists and Stoics will demand magic items that they have never seen before. The power of the magic item is unimportant, but it must be novel.

Name Level Philosophers and sages demand potions of forgetfulness to stop the chimeras from forming in their skulls.

Philosophers will answer a question by engaging in a long drawn out questioning of the asker until they arrive at the answer themselves.

ELBRATH: Well, then, consider and try to explain what is the meaning of 'better,' in the matter of making peace and going to war with those against whom you ought to go to war? To what does the word refer?

LEOMUND: I am thinking, and I cannot tell.

ELBRATH: But you surely know what are the charges, which we bring against one another, when we arrive at the point of making war, and what name we give them?

LEOMUND: Yes, certainly; we say that deceit or violence has been employed, or that we have been beset by Chaos.

ELBRATH: And how does this happen? Will you tell me how? For there may be a difference in the manner.

LEOMUND: Do you mean by 'how,' Elbrath, whether we suffered these things justly or unjustly?

ELBRATH: Exactly.

LEOMUND: There can be no greater difference than between just and unjust, Law and Chaos.

(The Education of Leomund the Bold Adapted from Alcibiades I)

The player asking the question must make wisdom checks equal to the category number. For each failed wisdom check the DM rolls the philosophers chance to answer question. If the Philosopher fails the player arrives at a false conclusion. The higher level the philosopher, the more likely they will enjoy talking to a fool. Nihilists enjoy talking to fools the most because they are at a point in their journey where they no longer see a meaningful distinction between right and wrong conclusions.

How philosophers get xp           

Philosophers get experience from 2 main sources, debates and answering questions.

            1 Debates.       Philosophers love to debate each other on the nature of reality so I have made convoluted rules to determine how many experience points a philosopher gets for debating. There is of course a convoluted set of rules governing debates that has little relation to other rules. Here are the rules:

1.     Only Sophists, Nihilists, and Structuralists can win debates. Other debates are considered symposiums where ideas are exchanged in a collegial manner.

2.     Philosophers can only debate once a week.

3.     Pick a category for the debate using the 5 categories above any category the rules about certain levels not answering questions does not apply to debates.

4.     Calculate the experience each participant will get from the debate: Base Reward * category * level of interlocutor/level of philosopher * rhetoric modifier.

5.     Here are level modifiers:

Level	Base xp Reward	Rhetoric Modifier
1. Student	50	1d4
2. Sophist	100	1d6
3. Epistemologist	200	1d8
4. Metaphysicist	400	1d8
5. Nihilist	100	1d12
6. Stoic	500	1d8
7. Structuralist	600	1d10
8. Philosopher	800	1d10

6.     A sage gains no xp from debates. In fact a sage cannot gain xp as they have already experienced everything having deduced it metaphysically from first principles.

7.     If you need to figure out a winner for the debate, compare the level modifier rolls. The highest roll wins. Anyone except another nihilist who loses a debate against a nihilist has their experience reward halved as they begin to doubt the nature of truth

2. Example.  In the time when Ethbran was a stoic she met a man, Bazarov. He smirked derisively at the world and went about he market stealing. Ethbran confronted him one day as he walked away from a grocer’s stand with a pomegranate.

“You should return that pomegranate,”

“Why?”

They argued for six hours. A crowd gathered. Eventually Bazarov was hauled off for theft. Ethbran was left in the market crying.

In this exchange Bazarov, a nihilist and Ethbran a stoic are arguing about a category 1 question. Bazarov is level 5 and Ethbran is Level 6. Bazarov rolls a d12 and Ethbran Rolls a d8. Bazarov gets 6 and Ethbran gets a 4.

So to calculate Bazarov’s xp you multiply 100(bass reward) * 1(category) * 6(Ethrbran’s level)/5(Bazarov’s Level) * 6(Rhetoric Modifier)  = 720xp

To calculate Ethbran’s xp you multiply 500 * 1 * 5/6 * 4 = 1664 and then you divide by 2 because she lost the debate. So you get 832xp.

            3. Experience from answering questions. When a philosopher answers a question they get xp equal to the category of the question * their base xp value * their rhetoric modifier. They get half xp for delivering wrong answers except for sophists and nihilists who get double xp for wrong answers.

The Philosospher’s Curse

A sage whispers in my ear that no pleasure except that of the wise is quite true and pure—all others are a shadow only; and surely this will prove the greatest and most decisive of falls?

            -The Republic

When someone kills a philosopher they are cursed. They can find no other joy or fulfillment other than the pursuit of knowledge. They can gain no xp by any means until they become a philosopher themselves and obtain the level of the philosopher whom they killed. They must stop being whatever they were before and find a teacher that they can follow. Remove curse will not work and a wish spell will have dire consequences.

Once the player becomes a philosopher their hit points a reset to that of a first level philosopher. the Once players achieve the level of the philosopher killed they may return to their former class from where they left off and regain their former hit points. They also retain their philosopher class abilities.