Savage Worlds: Latent Talents

So I'm working on a new Savage Worlds game I'm going to run.  The setting is post-apocalyptic Earth, but it has nothing to do with zombies or mutants or nuclear war.  The characters are going to wake up in this post-apocalyptic world, having been in a coma since before the apocalypse; they'll have no idea why the world is suddenly so horribly effed up and it will all be discovered in character through the game.

As the characters explore their new world, they'll get the chance (if they so desire) to learn certain, well, supernatural powers.  I wanted the players to set their characters up for doing so, if they so desired, without knowing the powers that will be available to them; given that powers in Savage Worlds start with an Edge, I created the following Edge which can be taken at time of character creation:

Latent Talent
Requirements: Novice
This is a new Edge which represents an Arcane Background the character does not know he or she has.  At some point during the game, due to either a unique situation or proper training, the talent will become manifest and this Edge will be replaced with the applicable Arcane Background.

Basically, the player can take Latent Talent at character creation, and when they come across some way of learning a power in-game, the Latent Talent Edge gets replaced with the proper Arcane Background Edge.

Swords & Wizardry: the Followers of Tset

Today is Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day!  In honor of this auspicious occasion, I present the Followers of Tset, a cult dedicated to the worship of an ancient being who desires to tear down society through corruption and deceit, and rebuild it to his desires.  Players of a specific personal horror storytelling game should quickly pick up on the influence.  :)

The remainder of this post is designated Open Game Content as outlined in section 1(d) of the Open Game License.

The Followers of Tset
While many horrors face the heroes of every fantasy world, few are more frightening than the Followers of Tset.  The Tsetians worship an ancient being that believes it will one day return to a world built to suit its own desires, and the Tsetians work tirelessly to pave the way for that being.  They seek to subvert and destroy all that is good in life, one person at a time; by doing so, the Tsetians believe they are removing the bonds which tie people to a flawed world and are preparing them to receive their dark master when it returns.

To help in their mission, Tset himself grants specific powers to his faithful.  These powers are expressed as cleric spells, but one does not need to be a cleric to cast them; one only needs to be a faithful worshiper of Tset.  Once a Follower reaches a level that, were he or she a cleric, would grant him the ability to cast one of the Tsetian spells, he or she will be able to do so regardless of his or her class.  Note that these Tsetian spells require very minimal verbal, somatic, and material spells in their casting; most are cast with a simple wave of the hand and a mental prayer to Tset.

Contradict
Spell Level: C1
Range: 120 ft.
Duration: Instantaneous
Using this spell, the Follower of Tset disrupts the target's thought processes, causing the victim to take the opposite course of action from what was intended.  A magistrate might release a criminal he was about to sentence, for instance, or a lover about to forgive their partner for a transgression might chastise them instead.  A saving throw negates the effect.

Subvert
Spell Level: C2
Range: 120 ft.
Duration: Variable
This spell is much like Contradict in that, if a saving throw is failed, the subject will act on his or her darker impulses, taking the opposite course of action that he or she would normally take.  But unlike Contradict, Subvert lasts much longer; each day, the target gets a new saving throw.  If the saving throw is failed, the target remains under the effects of the spell.  Only when the saving throw is successful will the spell end.

Dissociate
Spell Level: C3
Range: 120 ft.
Duration: Variable
Using this spell, a Follower effectively causes the victim to be shunned by the rest of society.  If the victim fails a saving throw, those with whom the victim interacts - be that PCs, NPCs, retainers, whatever - will perceive the victim as sullen and unfriendly.  The harder the victim tries to socialize, the stronger the effect will be.  The spell continues each day, much like Subvert, until the victim succeeds in a saving throw.

Addiction
Spell Level: C4
Range: Touch
Duration: Variable
One of the Tsetians most powerful weapons, Addiction creates just that in the spell's victim if a saving throw is failed.  The Tsetian introduces a substance or a feeling to the victim, and it is to that substance or feeling which the victim becomes addicted.  The victim sees the Tsetian as the only person who can provide for their addiction, thus keeping the victim coming back.  As with Subvert, the effects of Addiction continue on a day-to-day basis, until a daily saving throw is met with success.

Dependence
Spell Level: C5
Range: Touch
Duration: Variable
The ultimate form of the Addiction spell, Dependence creates a need for the Tsetian itself in the mind of the victim.  Should the victim fail a saving throw, all of his or her desires and efforts will be dedicated to insuring he or she is in close proximity to the Tsetian at all times.  Should he or she get separated from the Tsetian, he or she feels helpless and lethargic.  Like Subvert, the victim makes a new saving throw every day and will only be free of the spell's effect with a successful roll.

Edwin Bristletoes, sample Tsetian
4th level chaotic halfling fighter
STR: 11, INT: 10, WIS: 12, DEX: 14, CON: 13, CHA: 12
AC: 7 [12], HP: 20, SAVE: 11
Equipment: Leather armor, short sword (1d6-1), sling & stones (1d6-1)
Spells: Contradict, Subvert
At one point, Edwin was a typical, happy-go-lucky halfling adventurer, until he joined up with an adventuring group who secretly had a Tsetian as one of its members.  The Tsetian took great joy in corrupting the little man and converting him to the service of Tset.  Now, retired from the adventuring life, Edwin frequents Muddyfoots - his local tavern - constantly on the prowl for strangers or newcomers (those who have weak ties to the area) or those who seem down on their luck.  If they easily succumb to the powers of his Tsetian spells (which to Edwin means a weak will) he will make attempts to befriend them and, eventually, take them before the high priest of Tset in the area.

Dragon Dice: Battle Box Review

Back in the early 90s, TSR Inc. was struggling.  AD&D was losing popularity to games like Vampire: the Masquerade, and a new fad was taking the gaming scene by storm: collectable trading card games (CCG) like Magic: the Gathering.  TSR needed to come up with something to recapture the hearts and minds of the gamers they were losing to CCGs and newer RPGs.

Enter Lester Smith's Dragon Dice.

Dragon Dice took the CCG idea and applied it to something which all gamers knew and loved: dice.  In the Dragon Dice game, you collected and marshaled special dice which represented your armies.  You would battle against other players dice armies for control of terrains, also represented by dice, over the fantasy world of Esfah.  The game was considered a success, and in 1995 Dragon Dice won the Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Board Game.

In an effort to reach out to, and capture the hearts and minds of, other tabletop gamers who might not follow CCGs and RPGs, TSR put together the Dragon Dice Battle Box, a more accessible, easier to learn, and more boxed tabletop game style edition of Dragon Dice.

Opening the Dragon Dice Battle Box, one finds a game board, 36 random Dragon Dice, the simple Battle Box rules, symbol sheets, and the full Dragon Dice rules for when you want to go beyond the Battle Box rules and experience the full Dragon Dice game.

In the Dragon Dice Battle Box rules, you learn that the dice have special meanings.  Six sided dice represent your soldiers, the troops with which you will fight your battles.  Eight sided dice represent the terrains for which you will battle, and twelve sided dice represent horrible dragons summoned to the battlefield with magic that are dangerous to both combatants.  You further learn that the colors of the dice are important as well: blue and green d6s are Coral Elves, red and gold d6s are Dwarves, black and gold d6s are goblins, and red and black d6s are Laval Elves; all races who live on Esfah.  You then learn that the symbols on the dice have different meanings as well: some represent movement, some represent melee attacks, some represent missile attacks, and some represent magic.  Finally, you learn that each die has an "ID" icon - it looks like a dwarf or elf or goblin, depending on the die you're looking at - and that "ID" icons count for whatever it is that you're rolling (so if you're rolling for melee symbols, and you roll an "ID" icon, it counts as a melee result.

Then it explains the game board, showing the places where the terrains and armies will go, where the dragons will be put until they're summoned, and where any dead dice will be place.  For what it's worth, this game board is the true star of the Battle Box; it really helps the Dragon Dice beginner understand the game.  In the full Dragon Dice game, there is no game board; the terrain dice and armies get put on separate cards which get arranged around the table in a sometimes confusing array (especially with more than 2 players).

Finally, it goes on to explain game play.  Essentially, three d8s are rolled and placed in the three terrain spots in the center of the board.  The d8 terrain dice have symbols on them as well, which dictate the type of battle that can occur at that terrain - from the furthest distance (lowest values - usually a 1 or a 2) where only magic combat can occur, to middle distances (usually somewhere between 2 and 5) where missile combat occurs, to close up distances (usually between 6 and 7) where melee combat occurs, to the eight face, where one of the armies controls the terrain and are holed up in a city or a temple or a tower, depending on the terrain.  Then each player divides their dice up into three armies, and places them at each of the three terrains.  The players go back and forth in turn order with each turn comprised of two marches.  In each march you can attempt to maneuver a terrain, and then make an attack at the terrain. 

To maneuver a terrain, you roll your army at that terrain and hope for movement symbols or "ID" icons.  The other army can let you do so, or oppose the maneuver.  If they choose to oppose you, they also roll for movement and "ID" icons; the side with the highest count wins.  If you win the roll, you can then move the terrian die up one step, closer to the eighth face, or down one step (to get to a type of combat which would be more advantageous to your army).

To make an attack, you roll your army at that terrain and hope for the type of symbol (or "ID" icons) dictated by what's shown on the terrain die: magic, missile, or melee.  If it's missile or melee, your opponent then rolls his or her army, looking for save results (again, or "ID" icons; at this point, just assume "ID" icons as read, heh).  Save results subtract from missile or melee results, and whatever is left over is applied to the opponents army as damage.  If the terrain is at a magic face, you count up the number of magic symbols and use those to power spells that can help you or harm your enemy (including summoning a dragon to a terrain, which attacks ALL armies at the terrain, regardless of who summoned it!)

After your two marches are completed, you can then move up to 4 d6s from one terrain to another, unless you summoned a dragon.  This allows you to help armies that look to be in trouble on your opponents turn, or strategically place your troops in areas that will help you win the game.

You win the game by maneuvering two of the three terrains to the 8th face.  Or, of course, by destroying all of your opponents troops.  Once you control an 8th face, any opposing army at that terrain may only attack you using magic or missiles; melee is not allowed (again, because your troops are now ensconced in the city or tower or whatever icon is on the terrain die's 8th face).

The Dragon Dice Battle Box is a great game.  It provides a quick, simple, and fun introduction to a much more detailed and involved - but equally (if not more so) fun - game.  The Battle Box is simple enough to teach to children (who, I can tell you, usually enjoy it greatly) and gives enough of the full game to serve as a great introduction to older, more advanced gamers.  I would highly recommend it as a good "gateway drug" into the Dragon Dice game... if you can find a copy on eBay that doesn't cost you an arm and a leg.  If you want to get into Dragon Dice without combing eBay and other second-hand sites, check out SFR, Inc.  They purchased the game's complete IP from TSR/WotC and have been making new dice representative of new races and all sorts of advancements for Dragon Dice.

Far Away Land: Great Koothooloo

Unfortunately, in all of it's wacky awesomeness, Far Away Land just does not have enough pseudo-Lovecrafian elements... and by pseudo-Lovecraftian elements, I mean totally Lovecraftian monsters. So I'm going to change that.  Enter Great Koothooloo and his Cultists; Shoob Noogerath, Tsoothoogua, and Hastoor are soon to follow.

GREAT KOOTHOOLOO (40)
Archetype: Monster
Size: Enormous (+30)
HP: 82, AC: 8, ACT: 10
BRT: 7, DEX: 4, WIT: 4

Great Koothooloo (pronounced koo-thoo-loo) is a monstrous being of pulpy green flesh, with flappy, clawed feet and hands, huge bat-like wings, and a tentacled, octopus-like head.  Great Koothooloo exists in a sort of suspended animation in a sunken city constructed using techniques and geometries which would drive most denizens of Far Away Land insane were they to walk its streets.

Great Koothooloo can only leave his home when the stars are "right", which seems to happen with surprising regularity thanks to the Koothooloo Cultists (detailed below) who constantly plot and scheme to bring about those occasions.  When that happens, Great Koothooloo's sunken city rises above the waves and Great Koothooloo is free to walk about Far Away Land, equally likely to scoop up handfuls of people and eat them or force them to dance and chant in wanton displays of hedonistic worship.  Either way, insanity abounds.

While Great Koothooloo can be beaten back with physical attacks, it is only a temporary solution.  Should Great Koothooloo take a lethal amount of damage, it will simply dissipate into a foul smelling conglomeration of viscous goo which seeps back to Great Koothooloo's sunken city and reforms at full strength some time later.  Far Away Land's best hope is to stop the Koothooloo Cultists from releasing Great Koothooloo in the first place.

For what it's worth, Great Koothooloo goo is highly sought after by wizards.

Claws (4): 3d6 damage. Trample (4): 4d6 damage. Swallow (4): 4d6 damage.  Insanity (4): creature goes temporarily insane, either cowering and whimpering in fear, screaming and running in the opposite direction, or dancing and chanting in a wanton display of hedonistic worship.

KOOTHOOLOO CULTIST (1)
Archetype: Humanoid
Size: Average (0)
HP: 14, AC: 0, ACT: 5
BRT: 1, DEX: 2, WIT: 1

Koothooloo Cultists are humans who have gone incurably insane, becoming worshipers of Great Koothooloo.  Most Koothooloo Cultists have a slightly green tinge to their skin.

While a Koothooloo Cultist works tirelessly to set events in motion which will cause the stars to be "right", thus raising Great Koothooloo's sunken city above the waves and releasing Great Koothooloo onto Far Away Land, they are not babbling maniacs... well, most aren't babbling maniacs. 

Light/Heavy Weapon (1). Magic (1): Equal to LVL, only knows Contact Great Koothooloo spell.

New Spell
Contact Great Koothooloo (1)
Damage: none, Range: all of it
Duration: instant
This spell allows the caster to tap into the mind of Great Koothooloo as it lay dreaming in its sunken city under the sea.  It does not provide a conversation any more than an ant would have a conversation with a human, should the ant be able to magically tap into the human's mind.  However, that doesn't stop the caster from thinking that Great Koothooloo was speaking directly to him or her, and trying to interpret the alien thoughts as commands, or the wishes and desires of Great Koothooloo.

Savage Worlds: Wild Magic

My monthly table-top group is playing Savage Worlds fantasy.  In the GMs world, dwarves are not spellcasters; they're runecasters.  I figured that a dwarven spellcaster would be a bit awkward about, and have poor control over, magic, so we converted the wild magic rules from second edition AD&D's Tome of Magic.  Thus was born Bodin son of Bardin, the dwarven wild mage.

What appears below is our conversion of wild magic from second edition AD&D to Savage Worlds.  While the main mechanics are solid and work well, the whole thing is a bit, well, shifty and requires a bit of improvisation.  Especially with regards to the Wild Surge Results Table, which has not yet been converted in any way.

Arcane Background (Wild Magic)
Arcane Skill: Spellcasting (Smarts)
Starting Power Points: 10
Starting Powers: 3

A magician with this arcane background does not use magic as do other magicians.  Instead, wild mages are fast and loose and have tenuous control over the forces they unleash.  A wild mage's laissez-faire approach to magic often causes wild surges of uncontrolled magic which affect not only themselves, but those around them as well.

Wild Surge: When a wild mage rolls a 1 on his Spellcasting die (regardless of his Wild Die), a Wild Surge is threatened.  He must roll a d6; on a result of 1-4 he is automatically Shaken (which may cause a wound).  On a result of 5-6, he must roll on the Wild Surge Results Table (from the AD&D Tome of Magic book).

Variable Effects: Because a wild mage has only partial control on the magic he unleashes, the results of the Wild Die affect the spell whether or not the success comes from the Wild Die or not.  If the Wild Die shows a 1, the spell goes off with all variable effects reduced by one step.  If the Wild Die shows a 2-5, the spell goes off as normal.  If the Wild Die shows a 6, the spell goes off with all variable effects increased by one step.

Variable effects include all aspects of the spell cost, range, duration, and effect which are not a fixed value; a spell which causes 1d6 damage per power point has a variable power point cost, for instance.  Similarly, a spell which has a range of Smarts x 100 yards has a variable range.  A one-step reduction in power points would be 1 less power point; a one-step reduction a trait would be one die-type less (so, with Smarts = d6, a one-step reduced spell with a range of Smarts x 100 yards would have an actual range of 400 yards).  At no point can a successful spell be rendered ineffective; power points cannot be reduced past the minimum needed to cast the spell, and traits cannot be reduced past d4.  One-step increases are the same but on the opposite end of the spectrum: 1 additional power point, or one additional trait die type.

Note that the power point cost of the spell is not actually changed.  A wild mage who puts 3 power points into a spell and rolls a 1-2 on his wild die still spends 3 power points but the spell goes off as if 2 power points were spent.

Far Away Land: Gubbering Mouther

Earlier today it struck me as odd that the first creatures I wrote up for Far Away Land were greenskins - goblins, orcs, and ogres - and not one of my favorites, the gibbering mouther.

So!  With no further ado, I present the gubbering mouther, all statted out in Far Away Land format.  Enjoy!

GUBBERING MOUTHER (8)
Archetype: Monster
Size: Average (0)
HP: 23, AC: 5, ACT: 6
BRT: 4, DEX: 1, WIT: 1

A gubbering mouther is a slimy, pulpy mass of quivering reddish, greenish, or grayish flesh, constantly searching eyes, and misshapen mouths; each mouth ceaselessly yammers mad babble and inhuman gibberish.  It seems to be driven only by a desire to consume the vital fluids of living beings, leaving only their dry, dessicated husks behind.
Multiple Bites (2) 2d6 damage, Spit Acid (2) 1d6 damage, Babbling (2) target is stunned, Elongate

Many, many thanks to +matt jackson for the awesome illustration, all Far Away Land style.

Far Away Land: Greenskins

So, it strikes me that humans and numans couldn't have been the only things pulled into Far Away Land from the Materiosphere via the Cosmic Apparati of the Boom.  They had to have pulled in things from Toril, or Oerth, or even Krynn, right?  Or WFRP's Empire?

With that in mind, I introduce to you the gublin, the urc, and the ugre.  If only I knew someone with the artistic skill to draw these up all FAL-style.

GUBLIN (1)
Archetype: Humanoid
Size: Small (0)
HP: 14, AC: 1, ACT:  5
BRT: 1, DEX: 2, WIT: 1 

Gublins are short, green-skinned humanoids that live in dark forests or deep caves.  They are cowardly unless in great numbers, and generally do not venture out during the day.  Black-hearted and selfish, gublins will take whatever goods they can get away with taking and never share with anyone, including other gublins.
Light Weapon (1), Night Sight, Better Smell

URC (2)
Archetype: Humanoid
Size: Average (0)
HP: 15, AC: 1, ACT:  5
BRT: 2, DEX: 1, WIT: 1

Cousins of the lowly gublins, urcs are greyish-green skinned humanoids which stand just a hair shorter than humans but are as stocky as dwarves.  As with gublins, urcs live in dark forests or deep caves.  Where gublins are cowardly, urcs are aggressive and overbearing and constantly plot against those who are aggressive and overbearing towards themselves, including other urcs.  Urcs can be found outside during daylight hours, although it is not their preferred time.
Heavy Weapon (1), Night Sight, Better Smell

UGRE (4)
Archetype: Humanoid
Size Giant (+2)
HP: 21, AC: 2, ACT:  4
BRT: 3, DEX: 1, WIT: 1

The dumb, brutish older brother of the urc, ugres are greenish-gray skinned humanoids which stand approximately 9' tall.  Ugres are mean-and-nasty with a side order of mean-and-nasty, with a helping of not-very-bright for dessert.  Where urcs and gublins will wear armor and use modern weapons like swords, ugres prefer to stomp around in skins and furs, wielding huge wooden clubs made from heavy tree branches.
Heavy Weapon (2), Night Sight, Better Smell

Many, many thanks to +matt jackson for the awesome gublin illustration, all Far Away Land style.