Check out Rat Catchers, a hack of Die A Hundred Times by kobayashi to emulate low-fantasy old world roleplaying. Just put this one together today when I decided to enter the jam, and finding out it ended today.
So I'm working on the equipment chapter for my conversion, and I think I'm going to switch up weapon and armor materials a bit to suit the balance of the *Without Number games, as well as to deal with the generally bad feeling of penalties, at least in my opinion.
Base weapons and armor constructed of natural materials (wood, chitin, bone, obsidian, stone, leathers, hides, etc.) are all the baseline stats for weapons and armor (no penalty to hit/damage/ac/trauma target/etc.) but they are all prone to breakage:
Weapons break on a 1 in 20 when rolling a Tramuatic Hit
Armor breaks on a 1 in 20 when suffering a Traumatic Hit
* For those not familiar, every weapon has a Trauma Die (1d6 to 1d10) that is rolled with attacks (there is no 1/20 crit fail/hit). If you roll a 6 (sometimes higher depending on the target's Trauma Target) on the Trauma Die, you deal x2 to x4 damage depending on the weapon.
Using this method, you don't suffer a penalty to hit or damage for using weapons of more primitive construction.
Weapons and armor constructed of advanced materials do not suffer breakage, and additionally gain inherent bonuses, as follows:
| Weapon Material | ATK | DMG | TB | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue agafari wood | — | — | +1 | x100 |
| Dasl crystal | +1 | — | — | * |
| Drake ivory | — | +1 | — | x100 |
| Metal | +1 | +1 | +1 | x1,000 |
| * The secret of dasl crystal is held close by the Kreen |
And for armor:
| Type | AC | TT Mod. | Traits | Cost | Enc. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Padded clothing | 11 | — | B | 5c | 1 |
| Giant’s hair woven clothing | 12 | — | — | 50c | 1 |
| Leather war harness | 12 | — | B | 10c | 1 |
| Giant’s hair rope harness | 13 | — | — | 100c | 1 |
| Leather cuirass or layered hides | 13 | — | B | 25c | 1 |
| Mekillot hide cuirass | 14 | — | — | 250c | 1 |
| Braxat hide cuirass | 14 | +1 | — | 2,500c | 1 |
| Drake hide cuirass | 15 | +1 | — | 25,000c | 1 |
| Bone, chitin, or wood studded leather | 14 | — | B | 50c | 1 |
| Agafari wood studded leather | 15 | — | — | 5,000c | 1 |
| Chitin or wood breastplate | 14 | — | B, S | 200c | 1 |
| Inix shell breastplate | 15 | — | S | 2,000c | 1 |
| Blue agafari wood breastplate | 16 | +1 | S | 20,000c | 1 |
| Ring mail, recovered or newly forged | 16 | +2 | M, S | 100,000c | 2 |
| Plated mail, recovered or newly forged | 18 | +2 | H, M | 250,000c | 3 |
| Hide, chitin, or shell shield | 14/+1 | — | B | 20c | 1 |
| Braxat hide or inix shell shield | 14/+1 | — | — | 200c | 1 |
| Blue agafari wood shield | 15/+2 | — | — | 2,000c | 1 |
| Metal shield, recovered or newly forged | 15/+2 | +1 | H | 20,000c | 2 |
| B Breaks on a 1 in 20 on suffering a Traumatic Hit H Applies its Enc as a penalty to all Sneak and Exert checks. M Applies 1 System Strain per round of use during the day. Wearing for extended periods doubles water requirements. S Applies its Enc as a penalty to all Sneak checks. |
Lots of great games in small packages. We'll worth the money each one.
A small village center and my versions of some maps from A Little Knowledge. Fun to work these up as I continue work on my conversion doc.
You hear guttural shouts and calls in an unfamiliar language accompanied by a drum beating out a rhythm. There, you see a group of lanky humanoids with angular, saurian features marching in a regimented procession. In the middle of the group, one of the creatures is bound hand and foot to a large, sun bleached femur of some large beast which is carried on the shoulders of two others…
These are gith, a grotesque humanoid that seems almost a cross between an elf and a lizard. This group numbers twice as many as the survivors. They are returning to their clan with the fugitive Vikiraac who ran away to seek their destiny. Vikiraac has picked up enough of the Trade Tongue to communicate, and will plead to be freed…
VIKIRAAC: HD 3; hp 13; AC 10; Atk +4; Dmg 1d4+1 claws; TR 1d6/x2; Shock 2/AC 15; MV 40’; ML 10; Inst 2; Skill +2; Save 14+; SA springing charge jump 20’ forward and attack with +2 to hit; Psionics (1) — crushing will, commit scene, visible target is unable to act until the end of your next turn, Mental save resists
GITH: HD 3; hp 13; AC 14a (inix shell armor); Atk +2; Dmg 1d6 (obsidian spear); TR 1d8/x3; Shock 2/AC 13; Move 40’; ML 10; Inst. 2; Skill +2; Save 14+; SA springing charge jump 20’ forward and attack with +2 to hit
Sounds of battle cut through the air, violent shouts and cries breaking the silence of the desert. Just ahead, barely visible in the glare, a lithe, tattooed elf is dueling with a muscled, bronzed dwarf. They lunge at one another yet never seem to strike, pausing only to hurl insults, and laughter, back and forth…
The elf Enala, marked by her tattoos as a bonesmith, has long watched the people of the nearby village to try and understand their ways. Over time she came to know Lyanius, a dwarven stonesmith, and became infatuated with his craft. She revealed herself to him as he was out gathering materials, and as she took an interest in his work he was immediately welcoming. They have since taken to practicing their martial skills, and discussing the finer points of their craft, some distance from Lyanius’ village for fear that the rest of them might not understand, as Enala’s tribe has been known to raid the local area…
ENALA: HD 1; hp 5; AC 13a (bone studded leather harness); Atk ±0; Dmg 1d8-1 (bone longsword); TR 1d8/x2; Shock 2/13; MV 40’; ML 8; Inst 3; Skill +1; Save 15+; Treasure 1-6 local ceramic pieces; Psionics (1) — bone wrack, commit scene, visible target suffers 2d6 damage, Physical save for half; H/C Scorpion/Crag
LYANIUS: HD 1; hp 2; AC 14 (chitin brigandine & hide shield); Atk +1; Dmg 1d8-2 (stone warhammer); TR 1d6/x2; Shock 2/AC 18; MV 30’; ML 8; Inst 3; Skill +1; Save 15+; Treasure 2-16 local ceramic pieces; Psionics (1) — skin of stone, commit scene, gains 2 damage reduction for the scene; H/C Boulder/Armor
I'm adding encounters to my Athas Without Number conversion doc, so I thought I'd try to keep up with one a day here if anyone is interested. Should be good for anyone wanting some random content for WWN, AWN, and possibly even SWN...
The dark sun beats down upon the cracked earth, the shimmer of heated air rising the first warning sign. The air begins to tug loose clothing and debris as it rises quickly, beginning to spiral into the form of a cyclone, and suddenly you are lost in a whirlwind of silt…
The survivors have wandered into a silt devil, a deadly pocket of disorienting and possibly fatal silt being whipped up in a cyclone. The survivor with the highest Wis/Notice may roll to detect it forming, allowing the survivors Int/Survive checks to find suitable cover or take appropriate precautions. Any caught in the silt devil must make a Physical saving throw or suffer the The Grey Death.
Thereafter they must make a Physical saving throw each day or spend much of it coughing and choking, gaining 1 System Strain as well as being unable to regain System Strain or recover spells/effort. After a week, a Physical saving throw can be made to recover, but on a failure all following saving throws suffer a cumulative -1 penalty…
I'm adding encounters to my conversion doc, and I already have a few, but I figured I'll add at least one a day, and post them here. The stats (when they have them) are intended for my Athas Without Number conversion which uses Ashes Without Number as a base, but they are close enough to early forms of D&D for government work...
The dark sun beats down upon the cracked earth, the shimmer of heated air rising the first warning sign. The air begins to tug loose clothing and debris as it rises quickly, beginning to spiral into the form of a cyclone, and suddenly you are lost in a whirlwind of silt…
The survivors have wandered into a silt devil, a deadly pocket of disorienting and possibly fatal silt being whipped up in a cyclone. The survivor with the highest Wis/Notice may roll to detect it forming, allowing the survivors Int/Survive checks to find suitable cover or take appropriate precautions. Any caught in the silt devil must make a Physical saving throw or suffer the The Grey Death.
Thereafter they must make a Physical saving throw each day or spend much of it coughing and choking, gaining 1 System Strain as well as being unable to regain System Strain or recover spells/effort. After a week, a Physical saving throw can be made to recover, but on a failure all following saving throws suffer a cumulative -1 penalty…
Made some changes to the conversion doc so this accounts for that, and tried my hand at a logo for the top, for all that I loved the DS logo.
Decided to step back from Worlds Without Number as a base (referencing all the classes and what not was becoming a pain and more complicated than I'd like) so I'm back to using Ashes Without Number and the beautiful classless system. I need to set up the casting Edges (in a different section, they are a bit more involved with abilities) but with the existing Edges you can easily make a Fighter or Thief, and I looked to the 2e rules to come up with edges for Gladiators, Bards, Rangers, and Traders. I also included a couple of modifed Edges from Ashes to play a mutant who had a brush with the Pristine Tower.
Obviously this is all art from be books, I make no claims to the rights...
I think it turned out pretty nice. Now back to work on the setting doc...
Getting closer to my Without Number Dark Sun game...need to make this fillable.
The Crumbling Pyramid, Undercroft is the third and final installment of The Crumbling Pyramid, a set of One Page Dungeons that can be run singly or together. Ostensibly for ShadowDark, is should offer a night or two of fun for any table playing one of many different OSR and old school games with little to no adjustment.