RETRO RPG REVIEW (video): "JG102 Caverns of Thracia" by Judges Guild

Barebones of a Spelljammer Campaign, Part 1: Low Levels and the Rock of Bral

Barebones of a Spelljammer Campaign

Part 1: Low Levels and the Rock of Bral

Part 2: The 3-D Island Crawl

more TBC

Introduction

The most successful post on my blog is from years ago, and it’s on Spelljammer. I cheated because I included an awesome Brom painting. Basically, my concern was how to salvage Spelljammer from its various encumbrances: a limited core boxed set, no strong full-length modules, a lot of rules from the transitional 1.5/2e era which sometime occlude understanding.
 
As I’ve not had a table in a position to play Spelljammer, I haven’t developed much in that direction since. I’ve read a bit. But I decided it’d be fun to put together the framework for a campaign.
 
The first problem to deal with when developing a Spelljammer campaign is the basic “level expectation”. Though nominally even a 1^st Level spellcaster can pilot a spacefaring ship in the setting, every other measurement points to Spelljammer being a mid-to-high level game: buying a Minor Helm (the cheapest piloting device for a spaceship) costs 100,000gp; create minor helm is a 5^th-level Spell; core box demihumans/monsters/etc which are important in the setting include Dracons (6HD), Beholders (45-75hp, and everything else they entail), and the Arcane (11HD); proposed adventures for getting groundling adventurers into space include 5 Beholders crashing a ship and seeking slaves to repair it, and politically successful PCs being called upon to meet an Arcane visitor.
 
There are a few solutions offered. You could just start a campaign at, say, 4^th or 5^th or even 8^th level, whether with Groundling PCs or spacefarers. You could somehow bodge together the ideas in the (fascinating) Astromundi Cluster campaign boxset, where it is assumed low-level characters will be viable even with the mid-level infrastructure of the Spelljammer world.
 
But I think I’ll go with about the only normal route for low-level play actually suggested in the books: in SJR5 Rock of Bral, the idea of simply starting a low-level campaign (perhaps at 2^nd Level) is mooted, with PCs being groundling adventurers, but with a difference. They are on the spacefaring Rock of Bral, living beside a major spaceport. They can adventure around the Rock itself, and even find some (low-level) work in space as deckhands and marines on established ships.
 
What is lost via this approach is the specific shock of an established groundling campaign being thrown into space: “wait, we can fly this thing?!” But given the alternatives – other than running a mid-length campaign just to get to space – are starting at mid-level, or severely kitbashing the setting to make it work mechanically, starting on the Rock makes sense. And it has the advantage that the Rock is actually a good setting. SJR5 is about the best city book in D&D history, discounting the particular style of City-State of the Invincible Overlord. Only FR1 Waterdeep and the North is really comparable in quality for a book of the same type; in recent times, Baklin: Jewel of the Sea by Gabor Lux is less expansive but much more focussed as a product to run at the table.
 
The Rock has all sorts of option for city adventure: Thieves Guild shenanigans, ethnic tensions between the different barrios, the intrigues surrounding the reigning Prince’s nephew, secret slavers. There is also an expansive Underdark within the rock, with the remains of past civilisations that no-one can remember or adequately explain (even the Illithids and Beholders seem quite honest when they say they don’t know why there are ancient ruins of their people inside). Indeed, mentioning such Aberrants reminds me: this is a setting where there are plenty of low-level schmucks like you, but where the power players who operate in the open can include Illithids, Beholders, Arcane, and the rest. It’s a bit gonzo and overblown, but that’s part of the appeal. (A potentially useful resource to use is the fanmade Bralspace, giving a system for the Rock to be in - otherwise you'll need to create your own: http://www.spelljammer.org/worlds/Bralspace/.)
 
So what does our Low-Level City Sandbox In Space look like for the players?
 
A Modicum of Character Prep
I usually oppose any real work on backstories, beyond a sentence or two, but a tiny bit more effort here will help. City games require a certain amount of social immersion, unless adventurers are “just off the boat”. That in turn requires a bit more thought – it’s the equivalent of writing up a rumour table, but focussed on the actual characters players bring. (Incidentally, this does suggest city adventures are better suited for slightly more robust versions of D&D – Original/1e/2e – rather than Basic. We’re not going as much for the rogue-like feel.)
 
What our character prep can do: give Thieves a link with a relevant Underbaron and a Thieves’ Guild; give a Dwarven Fighter an “in” with some Dwarven mercenaries who contract out as marines; give a Magic-User/Wizard a connection with academic/research types. Giving each PC a “City Hook” that immerses them in the context is the replacement for rumours (though Rumour Tables in Taverns are still a good idea, and I’d develop them, too).
 
You seed the first options or challenges in a way that engenders investment in the Rock: the Thief’s cohorts are facing a lot of pressure from a bruising group of unlicensed rogues with powerful backers; the Dwarf is offered jobs guarding food shipments, or providing security for a Low City merchant whose life has been threatened; the M-U hears tells of an archaeological find on a nearby Earth-type worldlet (providing context for a dungeon-style adventure). Other factional conflicts can be brought in too – an anti-slavery character could be tasked by the Order of Pragmatic Thought with investigating a certain merchant house who seem to a cover for slaving, which is otherwise banned on the Rock.
 
Contrasting Normal and Weird
More than usual, the setting requires putting the “weird” in Spelljammer in front of your players. I think there’s something to be said for framing half the “adventure seeds” in terms of a mini-Lankhmar city game, and the other in terms of “weird things in fantasy space”. Partly, indeed, this mix always points players to the stars – towards earning their own ship, gaining the magic to use it, etc. They always look out beyond the docks and see squidships in faerie fire off the shoulder of the Rock...wait. That’s been done, hasn’t it?
 
Anyway, you get the idea. The dungeon environments on random asteroids should be Distinctive (see my original post). The threats when providing security on shipping just feel like Space Threats – not simply a list of encounters with common humanoids in ships (though Orc Pirates are legit!). I’m making Spelljammer encounter lists and will throw them up here in time, for those who are interested.
 
And the normal and weird can and should cross over – you know that shadowy patron who hired you at 1^st level to loot a warehouse’s surprisingly extensive cellars? It was an Illithid! Or an Arcane! You’re 2^nd level and you found out your boss is a creepy brain-eater. But the gold is good!
 
Faction Timelines
Because for the first few levels this Bral campaign is going to be heavily city-focussed (and of course it may still be once the PCs have their own ship), factions need taking seriously. They can’t just be dressing. Outlining the first few months of “faction moves” – what Prince Andru wants to do, what the hidden slave ring is up to, what major Nobles and Captains want to accomplish, how the Thieves’ Guild rivalries will progress – gives you some context for what the players get caught up into as they get stuck into Space Lankhmar. (Of course you may start your “timers” at Day 45 or 60, at a point wherePCs have probably gained a level or even two. For reference, my big Exploring Chult game has people beginning to hit 6^th and 7^th level after 200 days of continuous adventuring with breaks for training.)
 
This only needs to be one fairly sparse page in Word or Excel. We’re talking about one or two “faction plots” or fixed-day events per faction, or for the city as a whole. But because you want your players to be invested in one place – always whilst longing to reach the stars – you need a sense of organic life that doesn’t depend on you just coming up with stuff on the hoof, or the players kicking the door in.
 
(In lots of contexts, the idea that a setting is a powderbox waiting for the players to mess it up is sufficient; in a city game, I think it is “necessary but not sufficient”. There needs to be a Rube Goldberg thing where players reshape the place around them, kicking off absurd chains of events, but you need a base state, and for a game focussed initially on one place, you need that place to feel real and like it has its own life.)
 
Summary
The key struts for developing this Low-Level City Sandbox In Space are: (1) giving the characters roots in the city of the Rock of Bral, in lieu of ordinary starting Rumours – some leading to action on the Rock, some leading to action in level-appropriate space environments (no-one is hiring a 1^st-level schmuck for the big stuff, after all); (2) always keeping both the Normal and the Weird (in this case, Fantasy Space) in view, and mixing the two, in ways to both excite your players and given them stellar aspirations; and (3) giving major factions objectives, plans, and timelines, which your players then get to mess with.
 
Next time – whenever that is – I’ll expand on the idea of the 3-D Island Crawl, which I talked about in the original. 

APPENDIX N CHAT (video): "Three Hearts and Three Lions" by Poul Anderson

Magazine Monsters Part 2a: Creature Catalog #1 (Dragon #89) - Amitok-Flailtail

One interesting set of features Dragon published in 1984 and 1985 were the three Creature Catalogs: each a mini-Monster Manual (with 29, 18, and 24 entries, respectively), full of monsters that were largely forgotten thereafter. Many were created by master monster makers Ed Greenwood and Roger Moore, and they present the single largest untapped resource for monster ideas even today. I’m going to take a few posts to go through each, following the same format as last time.
 
Creature Catalog #1 (Dragon #89)

AMITOK – 2+HD Goblinoid
Print Status: 5e homebrews, possible inspiration for Pathfinder’s Wikkawak.
Comments: By Roger Moore. Snow-adapted Hobgoblins, though furry like a Bugbear. Some good environmental and behavioural notes (including the way in which Amitoks don’t collect treasure, except sometimes to use as bait for adventurers!). I do like these guys – because thoughtful reskins of ordinary Ancestries is a good thing. I could see myself using them in the arctic – a highly organised, predatory race of snow goblins.
Marks: 3/5
 
BEETLE, KILLER – 9HD Giant Animal
Print Status: Only in Dragon.
Comments: By Ed Greenwood. Creepy gigantic beetles with psionic powers and four 20’-long tentacles with which to grab people. A very Greenwoodian creature. It is, perhaps, a bit overblown – and at 9HD AC3 a pretty rough encounter for all sorts of parties – but it’s very memorable and distinctive. It’s a good reminder that sometimes just sticking bits on to a monster really does work to freshen it up.
Marks: 4/5
 
BICHIR – 5-7HD Giant Animal.
Print Status: As “Giant Lungfish” in 2e Monstrous Compendium.
Comments: By Ed Greenwood. Mudkip! I actually think these are creepy and disgusting. Flob, flob, flob they go, as they slurp across the ground towards you. They’re not exactly exciting – they’re not an “iconic” encounter like the Killer Beetle – but they’re a nice random or wanderer. Good environmental filler.
Marks: 3/5
 
BOHUN TREE – 10HD Sentient Plant
Print Status: Only Dragon.
Comments: By Ed Greenwood. Carnivorous sentient trees with poisoned fruits which can induce sleep or paralysation...IF BURST. If eaten, it’s Save vs Death time. And they can fire volleys of thorns! And they have clusters of tiny eyes all over their trunk in fissures. This is pretty weird and nasty, and very Greenwoodian in its funky combo of powers. Very context dependent – it’s a tree! – but, then again, there are lots of types of forest and wood. A big treasure chest is tangled in its roots! It’s in a wizard’s screwed up garden! It’s grown in a Dryad’s Grove! Lots of seedables here (pardon the pun).
Marks: 4/5
 
CALYGRAUNT – 2+4HD Fey Animal
Print Status: Ruins of Myth Drannor and Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume One.
Comments: By Ed Greenwood. A weird magic-item hoarding and using “feystag”. There’s a lot of detail here for a very situational monster. It’s not a trivial random encounter to develop, so really needs situating and contextualising: this guy has an item you want. This guy can activate magic items/learn command words, and he’s the only thing in the Feywood who can sort your newly-found treasure. You get the idea. It actually seems like an NPC idea rather than anything else.
Marks: 2/5
 
CANTOBELE – 2-4HD Animal
Print Status: MC11 Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix 2.
Comments: By Ed Greenwood. A six-legged mountain lion thing which can cast spells like ice storm and can attack with its tail as well as claws. This thing has what we’d now call “action economy” – an average 3HD creature with 8 attacks, at 1d4x6/2d4/1d6! It’s a strange combination of damage output and HP. Of course, as a predator, you would cast it as a lone stalker, ambushing the party (or using its weird feminine voice to lure them somewhere dangerous). I can’t quite get behind this one. There are interesting things here, but essentially it’s just a mega-lion with a lady voice. Of course, as it has Average-to-High Intelligence, the obvious thing would be to salvage it as a potential interlocutor, a dangerously intelligent horror who wants something from the PCs other than meat.
Marks: 2/5
 
CORKIE – 1+1HD Giant Animal
Print Status: Only in Dragon.
Comments: By Roger Moore. Uh. Giant rodents with two horns and a corkscrew tail. Valuable pelts, though, and their lairs might be inhabited by other beasties or shared with Gnomes. Not a complete dud concept, most usable as a morally ambiguous “target” (the furriers want a big haul, at mark-up prices, but the local Rock Gnomes are protecting them). Really environmental dressing more than anything.
Marks: 1.5/5
 
DULEEP – ½-6HD Amoeboid
Print Status: Only in Dragon.
Comments: By Ed Greenwood. Wispy spider-web of identical cells that flows over surfaces and shocks those it touches. It also splits like certain other oozes! Quite creepy – a nice surprise monster. Basically right to see it as a reskin/respin on those other mobile oozes, with a good aesthetic. Stick it in yer dungeons, yer overground ruins, yer basements!
Marks: 3/5
 
EXPLODESTOOL – 1hp Fungus
Print Status: Only in Dragon.
Comments: By Alan Zumwalt. It looks like a normal mushroom! It explodes for 1d2 damage and can deafen nearby targets! This stuff is where some of the real gold is in D&D – this seems innocuous, but it’s an interlocking piece of environments you can create as a DM. The suggestions in the entry are good, including being inoculated with other mushrooms all around a castle’s walls. You sneak in – MUSHROOMS EXPLODE! – you’re deafened – GUARDS ARE FIRING! You get the idea. Oh...as they explode, they obviously spread spores – which you could collect. This is a rich idea, and a good tool in the toolbox.
Marks: 4/5
 
FACHAN – 6+3HD Ogre
Print Status: MC11 Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix 2.
Comments: By Roger Moore. A one-eyed, one-armed, one-legged ogre (later also known as a Gruumskin). I’m sorry, this is stupid. This is a Dufflepud, but we’re meant not to see it as a comic prank played by a wizard. I like the way in which they’re weird ogre mutants; the seeds for harvesting parts to make magic items is good; the basic idea is bad, and silly, and is the wrong kind of funny. (Unless you’re running situations for laughs, not looking for humour to arise organically, as it always does.)
Marks: 1/5
 
FLAILTAIL – 3+3HD Giant Animal
Print Status: Only in Dragon.
Comments: By Ed Greenwood. A pretty functional freshwater manta ray. They can eat anything as large as a catoblepas! I see this in the same category as the Giant Gar – situational, and seemingly “bland”, but actually a pretty thrilling wilderness encounter. Remember, when designing beyond the encounter table, the trick with these sorts of things is to contextualise them – is this in an overland portion, and is a dangerous local predator? There could even be more than one in an area (Rare, 1d4 appearing). It could be in the marsh surrounding a Bullywug mound – think of an alternative to the Giant Frogs at the Moathouse in T1. A manta ray which smacks people into the water and then latches on is pretty terrifying, and liable to be remembered.
Marks: 4/5
 
Conclusion
A mixed bag, with a couple of genuinely weak entries (Corkie, Fachan – both Moore entries). The Amitok is one of the most flexible entries, along with the Explodestool, and the Killer Beetle, Bohun Tree, and Flailtail are all very good monsters. Not as much in the way of compelling “negotiation monsters” – the Calygraunt is a bit niche, the Fachan is dumb, the Amitok is literally just a Hobgoblin (though a good one!). The Cantobele, ironically, might be the most interesting challenge of that sort here, even though it’s not itself super-exciting.
 
I’ll do another 10 from CC1 next time.

Magazine Monsters Part 1: Dragon's Bestiary (Dragon #119) - "A walk through the woods"

In 1^st Edition terms, you have four “Monster Manuals” – Monster Manuals I  & II, by Gary Gygax with others; the Fiend Folio, covering TSR UK monsters; and Deities and Demigods, by Jim Ward and Rob Kuntz. Those are the official books.
 
Yet a vast array of monsters – often incredibly inventive and interesting monsters – were put out via Dragon magazine, whether as part of special articles, the three Creature Catalog special supplements, or the later “Dragon’s Bestiary” column. Together, these really constitute a fifth Monster Manual-like publication. Many monsters only ever appeared here, though some (particularly from “Dragon’s Bestiary”) did have an afterlife. That’s a shame, and these monsters deserve wider dissemination. Hence this series. Each time I’ll look at a different feature or supplement or column from the pages of Dragon magazine (and maybe, in time, from other magazines). I’ll consider each monster, record its presence in print (as far as I know), and offer thoughts for use.
 
This time I’ll be covering Dragon #119’s “The Dragon’s Bestiary”, which part of an issue focussed on druids, rangers, and forest exploration. This provided the theme for the Bestiary – “A walk through the woods”. This “TDB” was a “various authors” edition, though one monster was provided by Ed Greenwood, always a reliable monster-maker.

Dragon #119, "A walk through the woods"
 
ANUCHUS – 1+2HD Dog/Foxman
Print Status: Dragon only.
Comments: Super-genius neutral good demihumans feel like a whole genre of monster, and I know they grind some people’s gears. I generally like them – they give me ideas. It’s an alternative to reskinning familiar Ancestries – rather than “spinning” Dwarves in a new direction, having someone else envision and illustrate a demihuman/humanoid type can spark the imagination. The nice thing with the Anuchus is the idea that they are Ranger-heavy – 1 in 5 is a Ranger! They’re wilderness experts who tame wolf packs to protect them. If your party is in the deep woods, the idea that the allies they find are dog/foxmen with Ranger skills and pet wolves is quite a cool one. Different feel to Sylvan Elves. Arrogant, slightly distant wolfmen in the deep pine woods – your only hope of aid, but you must win their respect.
Marks: 3/5
 
GIANT CAPYBARA – 2+4HD Giant Animal
Print Status: Dragon only.
Comments: Not much to say, honestly. Capybara are cool, so giant ones could be decent wilderness dressing. You can always “weaponise” natural animals – a patron could pay for capybara pelts, they could be a nuisance, etc. But they’re not exciting.
Marks: 2/5
 
WILD HALFLING – 1-1HD Demihuman
Print Status: Also turns up in Maztica products in altered form. There’s a “race option” on DM’s Guild for 5e.
Comments: Really more of a player option, it seems to me. In their original form, these “Bramblings” are Halflings who didn’t go and settle amongst humans. They’ve kept touch with their primal roots. There’s an emphasis on druidic power. I think the entry here is overlong – about a 1.5 pages out of 8 in the whole Bestiary feature – but it’s a nice enough alternative Halfling background. One can see the potential influence not just on the Maztican “wild Halfling”, but also the Dark Sun carnivorous Halflings.
Marks: 2/5
 
LESHY – 3+6HD Woodland Fae
Print Status: Also Pathfinder Bestiary Volume 3 and 5e homebrews.
Comments: A spin on Slavic folklore, which is nice. A short, long-nosed, muddy-bearded woodland being with blue skin. Nice description. Fae prankster, so your mileage may vary. (In Pathfinder, they’re fae homunculi who you can grow with the right spells etc.) The trickster spirit aspect is likely to please and bother an equal number of DMs and players, but there’s something very distinctive and rich about the image of the leshy, casting its woodland maze spell to bother players, open to negotiation to defeat local horrors, and perhaps offering a little light entertainment if that’s the table style. A key thing is that they’re dynamic, and do things. Their very ambiguity is useful – are they friends or foes? Depends! These are good, I think.
Marks: 3/5
 
LUPOSPHINX – 6 to 8 HD Sphinx
Print Status: Only in Dragon.
Comments: Evil dog-headed sphinxes! A nice reskin, and another evil sphinx is a fun thing. It has a magically terrifying howl, and often rules over gnolls or xvarts. This is a very distinctive type of encounter, and something fresh for players. Negotiate for secrets – answer riddles to gain mercy from someone you KNOW is untrustworthy – attack and slay a luposphinx who’s decided to strike out into the “local monstrous terror” business. Lots of ideas come up immediately. Sphinxes are interesting because they are repositories of wisdom, guardians of important locations, and so forth, and often require alternative means of handling – a more aggressive, distinctively themed sphinx gives a lot of variation on that. The pick of this Bestiary feature.
Marks: 4/5.
 
MUSICAL SPIRIT – 4HD Undead
Print Status: Only in Dragon.
Comments: So a Neutral Undead who teaches rare and incredible songs to those who speak to it, but whose 13^th song is unlucky and causes charmed, potentially fatal dancing – that’s good. The actual ecology of the creature as described, though, is dumb. They like being paid 5000gp or a few magic items for their first twelve. Why? What are they spending money on? Given they seem to be at least semi-ghostly (they can fly, high MR, resistant to non-magical weapons), are they holding the Bag of Magic Beans you give them? A redeeming feature, though, is the idea of the monster: potentially the spirits of druids and bards who don’t want to leave the forests they protected in life. Nice way to end up with Neutral Undead.
Marks: 3/5
 
SASHALUS – 2+2 to 4+4HD Fungus
Print Status: Also Pathfinder homebrew.
Comments: By Ed Greenwood! Sentient and ambulatory fungus. It fires poisonous spines with randomized effects. It talks to other sashalus by limited touch-telepathy. This is a nice idea, and does immediately get me thinking. You’re hired to retrieve the spines for an alchemist. The caves you’re exploring are overrun by these, hiding amidst the ordinary fungus. These guys are the only local sentients who have seen the bad guys – but can you communicate with them? Undoubtedly one of the more interesting “fungus man” ideas from the earlier days, without being record-breaking. Very fun.
Marks: 3/5
 
WENDIGO – 6HD Aberration
Print Status: 3^rd Edition Fiend Folio and other 3^rd Edition products.
Comments: Cannibals twisted by some form of magic to be an aberrant humanoid. Fairly quotidian – it’s a wendigo! Wendigo are thematically cool, though, so if the right tone is struck, this could be a very dangerous foe, especially for a low-level party stuck out on the taiga. They become the hunted, fleeing and setting traps and seeking by any means to escape...perhaps...taking shelter in that suspicious warm set of caves.
Marks: 2/5
 
WHISPERING PINES – 1-~180+HD Magical Plant
Print Status: Some 3^rd Edition homebrew chat.
Comments: Magical wood under great demand from enchanting maniacs. Druids convince treants to defend them! But they can defend themselves, too, with magical leaf susurration. I’ve told you enough: either you hate them or love them. I think they’re great. Very situational, granted, but a good environmental hazard (put them on a Woodland Locale Table for your Encounter Tables, and watch players bumble in) and a decent quest objective (you need the magic wood for a very good cause! Good luck convincing the grumpy Treant...OR Bad Magic Man wants the wood! YOU MUST SAVE THE FOREST!).
Marks: 4/5
 
WOOD GIANT – 7+7HD Giant
Print Status: Also 2^nd Edition Monstrous Compendium and Manual (as Voadkyn), and numerous other 2^nd Edition products.
Comments: These are fairly cool – chaotic good giants (the only dedicated CG type, I think) who aren’t super tall (averaging 9’), are very sneaky, and can polymorph into a variety of humanoids. I really like the idea, though the entry here doesn’t spark as many immediate ideas as some others. They might polymorph to join a group – that’s a good seed. They’re good but flighty and frivolous and like feasting – you might need their help but need to get their attention first. Decent with a lot of potential.
Marks: 3/5
 
WOOD GOLEM – 9HD Golem
Print Status: Also Kobold Press’ Creature Codex for 5^th Edition.
Comments: These are almost quotidian and “fine”, but a moment’s reflection renders them quite cool. Druids want construct protectors – naturally enough – and equally naturally turn to the materials of nature, creating guardians from the woods they protect. Of course, you could lightly reskin this...into, say, a wicker man! An evil pseudo-druid might well do such a thing to protect his dark cult on a remote island. The entry also includes proper instructions for making one in-game, and that’s always useful for a hook. Oh...you can also make one from the shell of a dead treant, and it becomes AC0 11HD. The ways spells affect the Golem are well imagined and described. Not an immediately compelling idea, but quite exciting upon consideration.
Marks: 4/5
 
Conclusion
A good bestiary, though very specific for biome. Definitely worth adding to your 1e game, or converting for 5e.

APPENDIX N CHAT: Barsoom/John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rich Burroughs

 

VIDEO REVIEW: G1-3 Against the Giants by Gary Gygax

I have a book/RPG review channel. First Retro RPG review is here, on G1-3: