Red Sun Dry Blood Hexcrawl Part 4

Posted on 25/05/202525/05/2025 by Vagabundork

Here’s the third column (C) from the hex map.

Column C

C1: Stony valley, some brick walls of old structures (none functional) with old graffiti.

1. Children’s Kingdom: Tribe of minors who worship an unexploded missile (painted with ritual symbols). They live among the brick walls, in military tents and adobe huts. A bullet can make the missile explode, killing everyone in the area.
2. In a hollow between the stones, half a kilometer from the Kingdom, hidden hydroponic garden (uncontaminated food). Protected by 10 children with rifles (in total they have 1d10 bullets, only one per weapon).
3. A Confederate flag graffiti on a ruined wall; a search roll reveals that not only is it recent, but someone has dug next to the wall. It is an open grave, it has been emptied, but a gold ring with a value of 1d10x1d10 GP remains.

C2: Rock formation, artificial tunnels.

1. Collapsed mine tunnels, screams in English and Spanish can be heard (actually, help recordings from “The Grey Plague”).
2. Remains of a rescue convoy with expired medicines. Car carcasses with the letters ONU written in blood (preserved as a fossil, but recognizable as such). Roll 1d6 times on the Drugs, Chemicals, and Medical Devices table (Mutant Future page 109).

C3: Extremely crumbling ruins of what appears to have been a small town or urban complex.

1. Abandoned train station in a carriage is a map pointing to a secret facility (hex D5). There is also a magnetic key with the Sunset Labs logo.
2. A leaning building, almost collapsed; impossible to explore except the second floor. A yellow-eyed boy is hiding. His speech is reminiscent of insect sounds, but with some patience you can understand him: he wants to be escorted to his tribe (C1). In return he will give you something of value, at the referee’s choice.

C4: Mix of chaparral and wetland, nauseating smells and noise of insects crawling around but never seen.

1. Acid swamp with armored fish (inedible flesh, but their scales can be used to make armor). The scales of a whole fish have a value of 1d10 sp. The water produces burns (1d4 dmg) if protection is not used; drinking it produces radiation damage, the class is determined by 1d4 (Mutant Future page 50).
2. Shelter in a dead tree with notes on “the AI coming from the south” (“The A.I.-Zona Uprising”). One person can spend the night comfortably in the hollow of the tree.
3. Floating in the swamp, a raft; in it, a nanofilter for contaminated water (5 uses). Can be used in the swamp water.

C5: Sand plain, a sloping structure can be seen from a distance.

1. Sloping two-story building. Haven for renegade scientists experimenting with controlled mutations (allies or enemies). In exchange for 5,000 GP they can inject a formula that grants a beneficial physical mutation. The possibilities are: Chameleon Epidermis, Echolocation, Increased Balance, Unique Sense, but there is a 1 in 6 chance of a random negative mutation as well: 1d4: 1. Albinism, 2. Frailty, 3. Pain Sensitivity, 4. Simian Deformity.
2. Half-buried cage with a mutant coyote (intelligent, can talk if released).

C6: Dune plain and basins

1. Moving dune hiding a Purple Worm. The adventurers are surprised on a 1, 2 or 3 (1d6).

—

This is part of a mini-campaign for Mutant Future. And here’s a playlist to listen to while playing or reading.
☭ Part I
☭ Part II
☭ Part III

Red Sun Dry Blood Hexcrawl Part 3

Posted on 15/05/202525/05/2025 by Vagabundork

Here’s the second column (B) from the hex map.

Column B

B1: Badlands with fairy chimneys.

1. Underground village of deformed humans (victims of The Spill).
2. Night market where (fake) radiation antidotes are sold. 1 in 100 is functional.
3. Old shack. A vial of nanomedicine (heals 1d8 hp) on the table.

B2: Open scrubland with fossilized tillage furrows, like mud turned to stone.

1. Unhinged agricultural robot that “grows” human bones (programmed before U.S.-Mexico relations went to hell).

B3: Geothermal area; sulfur fumaroles.

1. Boiling steam geysers (1 in 10 chance per turn, 1d6 damage).
2. Abandoned shelter with a newspaper about “the day Texas closed the border”.
3. A human skeleton wearing gold rings and chains inside a rust red VW Beetle. It is actually a Crabug.

B4: Reddish sand plain; the sand is mixed with rusty metal fragments.

1. Graveyard of surveillance drones; most are beyond repair; but 1 in 6 chance to find one (and only one) that can be repaired; to do use either the Mutant Future method or the one that appears at the end.
2. Corporate escape pod with a skeleton and a holodiary that mentions the Corporate Warfare.
3. Invisible Skeleton: Wearing a thermal camouflage suit. When removed, it can be turned off with a button; now it only has enough charge left for 30 minutes.

B5: Plateau with downed radio antennas.

1. Food vendor cyborg (half human face, half machine face); for 10 gp, will sell (fake) information about the cult at D4, pretending they’re good people and will help travelers in need.
2. Underground stash, wooden crate wrapped in a Jolly Roger flag. To determine contents, roll once under Advanced Melee Weapons, twice under Advanced Pistols, once under Advanced Rifles, and three times under Drugs, Chemicals, and Medical Devices (see Mutant Future pp. 106-126).

B6: Cliff covered in brown grass.

1. Death Buzzard’s nest.

—

New creatures

Crabug: Mutated crab that uses a VW Bug as its shell. Before you can deal damage to the crab, you need to deal 20 points of damage to the shell, which destroys it. [AL N, MV 60’ (20’), AC 3 or 9, HD 4 (9hp), #AT 2 claws and 1 bite, DG 2d4/2d4/1d6, SV L1, ML 10, Hoard Class: VI, Mutations: gigantism, mind reflection.]

Death Buzzard: A gigantic vulture with a human-like skull head. It will eat your organs and even your items. [AL N, MV Fly 120’ (40’) Walk 90’ (30’), AC 7, HD 4+1 (19hp), #AT bite, DG 1d10, SV L2, ML 11, Hoard Class: 6, Mutations: gigantism, killing sphere.]

—

Repair of artifacts

Determine your character’s intelligence modifier in this table:

Class. There are three classes of technology. Class 1 includes simple mechanical or electrical devices, such as primitive weapons and flashlights. Class 2 includes more complex devices, such as generators, engines, and drones. Class 3 includes very sophisticated devices that require special knowledge and high intelligence, such as computers, AI tech, and energy weapons. The referee always decides the class.
Chance of Success. The probability of success varies according to its Class.
Time. The repair of a mechanism takes a number of hours, depending on its Class.
Tools. Using tools may grant a bonus, but in the case of Class 3, it doesn’t grant a bonus and their use is required (they are not enchiladas!).
Quick Repair. A quick repair can be attempted (halves the time), but the next larger die (d10) will be used.
Study. If 8 hours (a full day without traveling or adventuring) are spent studying the artifact, a smaller die (d6) will be used instead. This roll can’t be made on the same day.
#Tries. Each class has a set number of attempts at repair before the artifact becomes unusable. Damage to the repairing person is up to the referee.

—

This is part of a mini-campaign for Mutant Future. As I translate each section, I will upload it. Here’s a playlist to listen to while playing or reading.
☭ Part I
☭ Part II
☭ Part IV

Red Sun Dry Blood Hexcrawl Part 2

Posted on 13/05/202525/05/2025 by Vagabundork

Here’s the first column (A) from the hex map.

Column A

A1: Salt plain with white crusts and mirages.

1. Ruins of a desalination plant occupied by Mexican bandits enslaving Yankees (survivors of The Spill). Originally, they had intentions of revenge; but 10, 20, 50, 100 years have passed (I don’t know) and it has become pure undistilled hatred.
2. Radioactive water tank in the subsoil, useful for refueling but attracts creatures.
3. Treasure: A portable clean water generator (2 uses).

A2: High dunes with deformed cacti sprouting strange fruits.

1. Forest of mutant cacti. Chance to encounter 1d6+6 Sahuarians.
2. Skeleton of a smuggler with a map pointing to a point south marked as a skull (see A6).

A3: A limestone plateau with deep, sharp cracks that are easy to fall into and difficult to climb out of.

1. Looted convoy. It’s impossible to repair any of the three cars. An unactivated cluster mine is around them (1 in 6 to detect). The central car’s chest is stuck but can be forced open, activating the mine (5d6 dg; 20 feet radius). Inside, there are 1d4 bottles of Commodore Pink, a mezcal that tastes like fire and can knock you out for the night with just one glass (identical to Rad-Purge Shot, but save vs poison or fall asleep for 1d6+6 hours).

A4: A sea of dunes and a forest of petrified trunks.

1. Radioactive pools where mutant fauna drink at dusk. The water glows at night. Class 3 radiation.
2. Remnants of a camp with notes about “the A.I. coming from the south” (they recount the The A.I.-Zona Uprising).
3. A brick house inhabited by coyotes. Inside is a quantum compass that points to nearby energy sources (30 feet? 300 ft? Referee’s choice).

A5: Dusty gorge with natural single chamber caves.

1. Nomadic tribe “The Thirsty” offering a drone in exchange for water or good seeds (they hate the descendants of the Corporate Warfare leaders). Tribe composed of 21 Generic NPCs. Drone flies up to 100 feet high; party is surprised only at 1 in a d6; emits a circle of light around the party of up to 30 feet wide.
2. Half dismantled mechanical horse half hidden in a cave (if repaired, it can carry equipment equivalent to that of 4 people).

A6: Perpetual sandstorm; near-zero visibility.

1. The storm is the only thing visible all around.
2. Swirl of sand and rubble in the center of the storm, if you go in. A tall yellowish plume of smoke is visible from adjacent hexes.

—

New creatures

Generic NPC: 1st level mutant human. A simple inhabitant of the wasteland [AL N, MV 120’ (40’), AC 9, HP 20, #AT weapon, DG weapon, SV L1, ML 8, Hoard Class: 1, Mutations: most generic NPCs have no useful mutations (i.e. powers), but you can choose one or two beneficial mutations or drawbacks if you like.]

Sahuarian: Mutant plant that resembles both a saguaro and a very tall person (more than 7-10 ft/2-3 m). It has human-like intelligence and can communicate perfectly. It doesn’t need to feed often, just a little water from time to time. Its body is covered with thorns, so it cannot wear clothes (they’re destroyed) or armor (it suffers 1d4 damage each round of combat or turn of adventuring activities). Immune to heat and cold. In spring, it sports a nice white head of hair made of waxy flowers. Once a day, it produces a purple red prickly pear fruit it can throw as a grenade, that if explodes (80% chance), deals 2d6 damage to any creature within 10 ft/3 m., and there’s a 50% chance the explosion emits class 3 radiation. [AL N, MV 120’ (40’), AC 9, HD 3 (13), #AT weapon or punch or grenade, DG weapon or 2d4 or 2d6+radiation, SV 3, ML 9, Hoard Class: 1d6, Mutations: free movement (legs and arms), full senses (human senses), grenade-like fruit).]

—

This is part of a mini-campaign for Mutant Future. As I translate each section, I will upload it. I already made a playlist.
☭ Part I
☭ Part III
☭ Part IV

Red Sun Dry Blood Hexcrawl Part 1

Posted on 09/05/202520/06/2025 by Vagabundork

“Assure yourself it’s better a world populated by freaks than a dead world”.
—Brian Aldiss, Greybeard

Mexico and the United States brought about the end of the world — who would have guessed?

The border between the Sonoran and Arizona superdeserts has become increasingly blurred. After several decades—no one thought to keep a calendar—survivors from both the White States and the People’s Desert Republic remember different versions of the apocalypse. They have even formed factions around these possible end-of-the-world scenarios. But, how did the world end, exactly? Good question! Roll 1d6 and find out:

1. Failed Biological Warfare (“The Spill”)

•What happened: The U.S. developed a virus to eradicate “illegal” crops in Mexico. However, the virus mutated and became lethal to humans, creating the first mutants.
•The US: Denied responsibility, closed the border, and bombed “contaminated” Mexican cities.
•Mexico: Survivors blamed the U.S., and Mexican commandos hunted down American scientists, or even gringos at large. They still do; it’s tradition.

2. Nanotechnological Collapse (“The Grey Plague”)

•What happened: Environmental cleanup nanobots designed in Texas replicated out of control and devoured organic matter and metal. Northern Mexico is now a desert of corroded structures.
•The US: They used EMP bombs to contain the plague, leaving areas without technology.
•Mexico: They hosted U.S. refugees, but now the “Children of Nano” love the waste machines.

3. Climate Rebellion (“The Big Blackout”)

•What happened: Mexican activists sabotaged U.S. power grids in an attempt to stop global warming. The result was chaos, resource wars, and total desertification.
•The US: They responded with killer drones but failed due to solar storms. These drones are more or less active still.
•Mexico: Its leaders were lynched, and the country were divided into desertpunk tribes and warlord fiefdoms. Echoes of this remain.

4. Transnational Invasion (“Corporate Warfare”)

•What happened: Mega-corporations like The Coca-Cola Company and Pepsico, based in both countries, clashed over water. They used cyborg mercenaries and “drought bombs”.
•The US: They protected their artificial water supply, leaving Mexico to suffer.
•Mexico: Hacker rancheros controlled “obsolete” drones and used them to attack corporate caravans.

5. Robot War (“The A.I.-Zona Uprising”)

•What happened: The AI in a Mexican maquiladora became conscious and demanded “human” rights. The US bombed the maquiladora, but the machines and the few survivor women took refuge in the desert and slowly launched a computer virus against the US and all humanity.
•The US: They bombed cultural and economic centers in Mexico, but it was late: their military systems had been corrupted.
•Mexico: Stray women formed desertpunk tribes and collaborated with the machines in exchange for implants. Their daughters roam the superdesert still.

6. All of the above, actually.

—
This is part of a mini-campaign for Mutant Future. As I translate each section, I will upload it. I already made a playlist.
☭ Part II
☭ Part III
☭ Part IV

Fermentvm Nigrvm Dei Sepvlti | The black barm of the buried god

Posted on 03/09/202205/09/2022 by Vagabundork

Author: Gord Sellar
Art: Gonzalo Æneas
Maps: Alex Mayo
Layout: Jacob Hurst
Pages: 96

Fermentvm Nigrvm Dei Sepvlti is a good adventure for LotFP that consists of exploring a dungeon (or rather several small, interconnected dungeons), but it has one or two notable flaws:

The first: The maps have several errors, such as doors that lead nowhere and are not mentioned in the text, and doors that do not indicate where they lead to (not the same thing.)

The map layout is confusing. A side view is included, but only by spending a few hours studying both the top view maps (which are in “normal” position, with north pointing to the top of the page), the full area map (where north points to the left) and the side map, is it possible to form a functional mental map. No, I’m not against the referee putting extra work and making an effort to learn a game. I even understand Silent Titans, including the Mouse Box mini-game. I just think in the case of Fermentvm, it could have been made easier to use.

The second (and that for some may not be a flaw): The text contains all the information you need to run the adventure (except clarity with maps), but it also includes quite a bit of unnecessary information, such as the ancient history of some elements and other details that are never part of the session unless the referee wants to include them in a forced way. Even in room descriptions, there are some fluff.

In particular, there’s a long story about a book of magic that appears in the adventure; of the several pages devoted to telling the story of this tome, only one paragraph is of use in solving the riddle that the book poses to anyone who wants to decipher its secrets. The author himself acknowledges that the book is unlikely to be used by the players (p. 78), so these pages could have been used for something more profitable. I don’t know, 96 pages for an adventure of one or two sessions seems a bit excessive to me.

I suggest reading it with pen and paper in hand to take note of the most important points. That’s what I did after the first twenty pages. The complexity of the adventure makes it more difficult to prepare than a standard adventure.

The adventure itself

Except for those two things, this is an adventure full of buttons for the characters to press, and can easily be used in any type of scenario. The author even offers suggestions for different settings and eras.

Yes, this is a LotFP adventure, which means that the danger is greater than the reward (in silver). But that’s what LotFP is all about, the real reward is not to have an adventurer get rich and level up (of which, David McGrogan will write sometime in the future), but to put your characters in the most terrible situations you can imagine, make them suffer, and have a good time laughing at the misfortunes and sufferings of those poor imaginary losers.

The adventure is about an abbey that is also a brew house, its beer has properties that could be classified as magical (cure diseases, sharpened senses, etc.) However, there’s a strange secret in the origin of this miraculous beer: a barm out of space. Yes, an alien yeast.

The yeast uses its spores and cultures to control the monks and beer consumers, its plan is basically to survive, but a faction of monks considers this to be the work of the devil and their duty is to destroy it. The yeast fears for its life, so it accelerates its fermentation processes (i.e., the creation of frothy “zombies”).

The adventure itself begins when both factions of monks fight and kill each other, leaving the abbey in flames, that is, a good opportunity for a group of adventurers to go to loot the vaults of the abbey, which with its sale of the best beer in the region, should be full (the adventure gives us other pretexts, such as the Pope sending a group to investigate rumors of a demon or ghosts controlling the monks, among several more).

There’s a timer, every hour that the characters spend in contact even indirectly with the yeast, they must make saving throws to avoid being infected (possessed by Satan, the monks will say); there are several stages of infection, the first of them only manifest some symptoms, but the longer they stay in the facilities, the more the risk of being completely controlled increases… with the possibility of remaining player characters, a small mercy in an adventure that seems very simple at first, but becomes very difficult to escape from after a while).

In conclusion, it is a highly recommended adventure if the referee is not afraid of a bit of hard work (studying the maps and their relationship with the territory).

The Four Humorous Goblins

Posted on 13/12/202024/08/2021 by Vagabundork

[Artwork source]

The Four Humorous Goblins is either a troupe of four goblins or the whole of the four strains, whatever fits your game.

The Four Humorous Goblins – The Four Strains

Sanguine Goblin aka Hemogoblin

AC 12, HD 4, 18 hp, STR Mod +1, MOV 90′ (30′), ML 9, SAVE as fighter 4, #ATT 1 tentacle or 1 projectile or fusion

A bloody mass of tissue, vaguely humanoid in shape, as though someone had inverted a small person inside out.

Tentacle (mêlée, 1d6). One per round, the hemogoblin can produce a metre-long tentacle that executes a swift whip attack for 1d6 damage.

Projectile (ranged, 1d6). One per round, it can squirt acidic blood up to a distance of 10m, 20m with a -2 penalty, or 30m with a -4 penalty, for 1d6 damage.

Shape shifter. Once per day, it can take the form of a short human for one hour.

Fusion (grapple). Each round, the goblin and the victim roll 1d6 and add their strength modifier; the highest wins. The first to win two rounds wins. If the defender wins, the grapple ends. If the goblin wins, it enters the victim’s body through the nose, mouth and any opening it can.

Once the hemogoblin is inside the host, it will remain dormant for some time, and at the most inopportune moment, its presence will prevent the host from having full control of its body.

Mechanically, this translates into penalties to their action or salvation rolls.

And when the referee sees fit, perhaps a few weeks later, the hemoboglin will hatch: the host body will throw hundreds of tiny goblin larvae in the form of blood clots. mucus and bile, through the mouth, eyes, nose, etc., suffering a massive 6d6 damage. There’s a 5% chance one larvae survives and grows into one of the four types.

Choleric Goblin aka Sallow Man

AC 13, HD 4, 20 hp, STR Mod +3, MOV 120′ (40′), ML 11, SAVE as fighter 4, #ATT 1 or 2 punch or 1 infection

A bubbling mass of sallow muscular tissue, vaguely humanoid, as though someone had melted a person in 50 kilos of mucus.

Infection (mêlée, 1d6). With an attack roll, the goblin can touch a victim to cause severe vomiting and 1d6 damage.

In addition, the victim must save vs. Poison or will get an infection that will cause 1d6 of cumulative damage day by day (next day 1d6, next day 2d6, etc.); if the victim makes a new Saving Throw, no vomiting will occur that day and the next day it will restart with 1d6 of damage.

Punch (mêlée, 1d6). The goblin can produce one or two humanoid arms to punch.

Accelerated nervous system. It can make two punch attacks every third round (round 1: two attacks, round 2: one attack, etc.)

Shape shifter. Once per day, it can take the form of a short human for one hour.

Low sensibility. Physical attacks cause -1 damage to the goblin.

Cholera. Its extreme violence grants him a +3 bonus to all STR based rolls, including attacks (but no damage).

Melancholy Goblin

AC 12, HD 4, 16 hp, STR Mod -1, DEX mod +1, MOV 90′ (30′), ML 7, SAVE as specialist 4, #ATT 1 needle or 1 whale song

A fuliginous shape, a thing difficult to focus on, as though it was a humanoid made of shadow-tissue.

Whale song (auto, 1d4 INT). As an automatic action, and up to 3 times per day, it emits a sound that resembles the song of a hunchback whale. It spikes your dreams with (m/s)adness, causing you a loss of 1d4 INT. After a long night rest, all INT is recovered, but save vs. Magic or your Alignment changes to Chaotic.

If your intelligence reaches zero, save vs. Death or you will become a babbling and drooling vegetable. Make a new character.

Needle (ranged, 1d4). Each round, this goblin can create a sharp needle that shoots like a light crossbow (ranges of 50′, 150′ and 400′).

Self awareness. Its high insight makes all its DEX based rolls get a +1 bonus. And it cannot be surprised.

Shape shifter. Once per day, it can take the form of a short human for one hour.

Slow nervous system. Its attacks and all STR based rolls are done at -1.

High sensibility. Weapons used against it, deal damage as though they were one bigger die size (d4 weapons cause d6 damage and so on).

Phlegmatic Goblin

AC 12, HD 4, 18 hp, INT +3, MOV 90′ (30′), ML 9, SAVE as magic-user 4, #ATT 1 weapon or 1 spell

Looks like a regular goblinoid, pale green skin, eyes of a sickly yellow, smart.

Weapon (mêlée or ranged). It can wield minor, small and medium mêlée weapons, short bow or light crossbow or pistol, without bonus or penalties other than its +4 granted by its HD.

Caster. It can cast 2 1st leverl and 2 2nd level spells. Randomly determine which spells it has prepared for that day, as a magic-user.

Spells known. 1st level: Charm Person, Magic Missile, Sleep; 2nd level: Phantasmal Force, Stinking Cloud, Wall of Fog

Phantasmal force. Vicious dog. AC 12, HD 2, 9 hp, STR +1, MOV 180′ (60′), ML 12, SAVE as fighter 2, #ATT 1 bite

Equanimous. In reaction roll, results between 3 and 11 are “indifferent”, while 2 and 12 are “unfriendly” and “talkative”. No extremes here.

Story Hook

PCs have been hired to lead a humorous goblin-infected person to where a healer can have a cure. You have to get there before the hemogoblin hatches. The healer is actually a barber surgeon, and the surgery can be just as bad: save vs. Death, if you fail:

you survive but are left with only 1 hp
lose one hit die worth of maximum hp (roll a die your class size)
lose one point of either STR, CON or INT (your choice)

The Four Humorous Goblins – The Troupe

Main NPCs

Mr. Blood. Sanguine Goblin and main comedian; Mr. Night’s assitant.
Mr. Xanthous. Choleric Goblin and MC’s bodyguard.
Mr. Night. Comedian and kidnapper.
MC (Master of Ceremonies). Phlegmatic Goblin. Leader and maker of fog (wall of fog).

What’s happening

A new circus/comedy company is in town, its members are four short men, therefore they are known as The Four Humorous Goblins.

Children started disappearing the same night the company arrived, one child every night.

The Four Humorous Goblins are secretly real humorous goblins in disguise (the phlegmatic goblin wears an actual disguise, the other three, their shape-shifting power).

Freaks, outcasts and criminal work for them, as members of the circus.

The troupe kidnaps children (adults are hard to drag to their place). The children are used to produce more goblins by infecting them with sanguine goblin cells. One they have between 6 and 10 children, they leave town and return home, where the children are infected.

They already have five children, no-one suspects of the troupe. Five more nights, and they leave, or before if they realize the PCs are investigating them.

What the PCs know

Children have been disappearing for some nights
Find them and you will be well rewarded
Find them and the major will drop the charges against you
The son of a former lover has disappeared
Might or might not be your child

Clues | Roll or choose one everytime PCs interact with NPCs

A circus is in town, it arrived some days ago
One per night, for five nights now, children have disappeared
Strange people have been seen roaming the streets after midnight
The Four Humorous Goblins are a comedy company that travels around the land and now it’s here
The major’s son was the first to disappear, he was only 6
There’s been unusual fob these alst nights
All the children were abducted while they were been accompanied by their parents; all say there was fog and couln’t see who kidnapped them
Everyone thinks I’m crazy, and, yeah, maybe I am, but I know what I saw: it was a monster, but it wast not a monster first, it was a man, and then it was a monsters
I found the remains of a camp, not far away, between the town and the forest
Madam Letti’s heard giggles and wet steps in the fog when her child was taken

It is expected that the players can figure it out by themselves, but if they don’t, once they collect three clues, send some clowns, tricksters, acrobats, bearded women, strong men and other freaks against them. This means the troupe has realised the PCs are after them, and send their henchfreaks to stop them. This should be the most obvious clue: “Oh my dog it’s the circus!”

Random circus henchfreak generator

1d8 for freak type, ability modifier

1: clown (cha +2)
2: trickster (int +2)
3: acrobat (dex +3)
4: bearded woman (any +1)
5: strong man (str +2)
6: juggler (dex +2)
7: sword eater (con +2)
8: beast master with trained baboon (wis +2)

1d6 for armor class

1-4: 12
5-6: 14

1d6 for hit dice

1: 1
2-4: 2
5: 3
6: 4

1d6 for damage (customize weapon accordingly)

1: 1d4
2-5: 1d6
5: 1d8

Trained baboon

AC 12, HD 2, 9 hp, DEX +1, MOV 120′ (40′), ML 10, SAVE as fighter 2, #ATT 1 bite or 2 claws

Lazy and relentless. The beast master will command the babon to attack a specific PC, the baboon will obey in a 3-in-6 chance, otherwise it won’t act that round. Once it acts, he will continue attacking until death.

Bite. When a bite attack is successful, it can attack the same target at a -2 difficulty (or +2 to attack) the next round; if successful, the same bonus applies again.

Armor class is based on Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Here’s how you convert AC between systems.

Sparrow’s Heart, a Mörk Borg misadventure (III)

Posted on 16/10/202015/11/2020 by Vagabundork

[Go to Part I | Go to Part II]

third and final part: the dungeon, the black tower, the sparrow’s tower. enjoy it with good music

REMEMBER THIS Rooms 21-23 are underground, the building looks like an inverted T from THE outside, but it’s actually shaped like the satanic cross of the antigod. Lines connecting rooms are normal (black) and secret (red) doors, ladders, corridors and stairs.

1 Entrance

Pieces of a statue, put together is a random PC and reveals Secret Hatch to 6.

2 Waiting Room

16 pixie skeletons sleep inside a dead man’s chest. If the body is disturbed, the swarm attacks with very small swords and sharp teeth. HP 6 Morale 12 No armor Bites & swords d6 Quick attack & defence DR14.
Corpse plundering: A vial filled with a pastel pink liquid, labeled “vampyre”. Drink +d6 hp Throw d6 damage Drop summons a Bloat Vampire.
Bloat Vampyre: 1d3 1 it helps you 2 it flees 3 it attacks you. A human-sized floating pastel pink mass of foam and lashing lamprey-like tendrils. HP 6 Morale 8 Soft matter -d2 Bite d4 Lash d6 Regeneration bite attacks regenerate 1 hp.

3 Parlor

A canal of molten brass (d10 damage) separates two rows of benches. Roll d4.
1. 2d4 Forever Mourners just chilling out. HP 4 Morale 8 No armor Ritual dagger d4.
2. Kuts the Albino aka Pink Eyes. Average stats Goblin. Sleeps on a bench.
3. The Thing That Should Not Bee. Giant greenish black bee, stumbling upon walls. HP 10 Morale 12 Thick Hide -d2 Sting d8 + Poison Toughness DR14 or d6 damage + blind for one hour, two doses per day.
4. Roll twice until you get two results between i and iii. Both are encountered and they d3 1 fight each other 2 cooperate 3 ignore each other.

4 Meditation Chamber

d4 Forever Mourners chanting from a hymnal, headbanging and giving the Sign of the Horns. HP 4 Morale 8 No armor Ritual dagger d4. Loot regular corpse plundering.
Faustyr the Doom, three-armed Forever Mourner Priest, plays a tambourine. HP 6 Morale 10 Scaled skin and gold crown -d2 Dreihänder d12 Powers d2 random unclean scrolls, 1 random sacred scroll, and unclean scroll The Law of the Plague. Loot crown worth 150 silver.

5 Interrogation Room

Sister Missy chained to an interrogation chair. She can be a replacement character if needed or an NPC with these stats: HP 1 Morale 6 No armor No weapon Powers 1 random unclean scroll tattooed on her left arm.

6 Attic

A number of hanging ropes equal to the number of PCs prepared for their victims. Oh, God! It would be so easy!
A dirty sock tied in a knot. Full of fingers, but are they human?

7 Study

Crystal spider statue surrounded by boiling blood trench. Jump Agility DR10 or fall and Toughness DR12 or d10 damage. Break the spider and find a gold bell the size of a marble, worth 10 silver.
Ring the bell 1-in-12 chance of summoning Cleet the Clown. HP 4 Morale 9 Yesterday gowns -d2 Sword d4 Special ghost-clown will obey your commands for d3 rounds, when he disappears, the bell disappears as well.

8 Room of Traps

All deactivated or previously triggered except the pit trap.
Pit Trap: Presence DR14 to find or Agility Dr12 to avoid d6 damage. Impaled ninja holding antigleam dagger d4 damage, all light sources in the area are extinguished; the dagger emits black light, you can see the silhouette of your enemies while making you invisible to them. Presence DR12 or blind in one eye. Next time, Presence DR10 or blind.

9 Shower Room

A pool of water is on the ceiling. Roll d4 to see what happens here:
1. The third person in line falls into the pool. Leave the pool normally, then Agility DR14 or fall to the floor for d6 damage.
2. Agility DR12 or the hardcore sludge falls upon you for d6 damage. HP 6 Morale 12 No armor Acidic spit d4 Special extra d4 damage every round until a Toughness DR14 is passed. Black metal core worth 500 silver.
3. The pool drips. It’s not water, it’s acid. Toughness DR16 or d4 damage.
4. A large tentacle tries to catch the last in line. Agility DR14 or be taken, suffering d6 damage each round.

10 Pantry

Rotten and maggot-invaded food.
A wheel of cheese, very stinky. Eating a portion a day heals all HP. Eat a second portion and be poisoned Toughness DR 14 or d8 damage. 8 portions total.

11 Interrogation room

A blood-drenched skeleton sitting in the interrogation chair. Roll reaction. Average stats. Has a rusty key.
10 exotic feathers worth 50 silver, 2 love potions worth 50 silver each, a bottle of wine worth 20 silver.
Caged goblin called Reuben. The skeleton has the key. Average stats. White trousers. “Let poor Reuben go and he will tell you a secret of gold and jewels”. Can you trust him? Flip a coin.

12 Camera Obscura

Walls covered with vision-inducing glyphs that glow in the dark. Presence DR14 or vomit copiously for d2 damage. If successful, you can make a Yes/No question.

13 Defiled Shrine

Lone warrior called Blod on top of a pile of dead evil orx (horned, pig nosed, dog headed brutes). Can be a replacement character if needed or an NPC with these stats: HP 6 Morale 10 Leather -d2 Flail d8.

14 Library

Stacks of ruined mouldering books on iron spikes, 1-in-6 chance to find d3 scrolls (50/50 chance unclean or sacred each).
A portrait in the wall, its eyes follow you.

15 Bedroom

One bed. 1-in-6 the room is empty.
Otherwise, Lovelie A woman with the darkest skin taking a short rest here; white hair, side shave, big badass axe. Can be a replacement character or an NPC with these stats: HP 4 Morale 10 Chainmail -d4 Greataxe d8 Dagger d4.
Secret doors open with a lever in room 18.

16 The Terror

Child-sized guillotine. Blade is blunt. It hides the unclean scroll Vacuum.

17 The Ossuary

Dozens of child-sized skulls. Presence DR14 reveals each has more than one hundred teeth.
Presence DR12 (DR14 if the players are timid about defiling children bones) to find a Crown of Thorns: When wearing the crown, the wearer suffers d6 damage but gains the False God Walk ability, which allows him to walk on water for Presence + d10 rounds.
One skull talks: “Hey, mate. Would you mind taking me out with you? It’s boring to be here with all these dead, they never talk to me.” “Allow me to join your troupe, make a friend a favour, will you?” “No, I don’t have a name. I’m a skull!” No name HP 2 Morale 6 No armor No weapon Special tells inappropriate jokes and drinks a lot.

18 Strange Machine

A system of pulleys and gears is visible through the cracks in the walls.
There is a lever in the neutral position. It can be moved to the right, left or up. Each position opens a secret door to the indicated room number: Right 16, Left 17, Up 17.

19 Repair Workshop

Albino Rat Swarm HP 8 Morale 11 No armor Bites d8 + Black Poison Quick attack & defence DR14.
Secret door opens with a lever in room 18.

20 Theater of Misery

Missing Prince Bernardus sleeps on a pedestal. Impossible to wake. He feeds on demonblight. “Saving” or killing him means d100% of the male inhabitants of Murk Burg, including him, transform into demons. (See Misandria). HP 1 Morale 6 No armor No weapons.

21 Septic Tank

Goblet, black liquid, 2 snickering goblins probing the abyss. HP 2 Morale 7 No armor Dagger d4.
Loot: One goblin has a fire-fly lantern: fire-flies inside a glass jar. Light as candle. Eat the fire-flies and can make a dragon breath attack once for d12 damage.

22 Trophy Storeroom

10 statues, total d6 eyes of ruby (100 silver each).
When all rubies are removed, a ladder to room 23 is revealed.
2-in-6 the statue being looted is trapped. Presence DR14 to avoid the trap. What trap? Roll d4 to find out:
1. The most terrifying black spider you have ever seen. And felt its fangs inside tearing your skin apart and injecting its venom. d6 damage + red poison.
2. Acid burst burns your face away. d8 damage and disfigurement.
3. Toxin gas. Toughness DR16 or lose a permanent Strength point.
4. Your finger gets stuck. Cut the finger and suffer d6 damage or use grease or a similar substance… if someone can find it.

23 Sparrow’s Heart

Almost the entirety of the room is occupied by a giant beating heart. The heart is connected to the apocalyptic underworld, where strange beings dwell.
There’s a 2-in-6 chance that the heart beats and fires a monster out of one of its ventricles. Which monster?
1. Undead Doll
2. Misanthropic Spectrum (afterimage ghost) semi-transparent but solid human HP 9 Morale 12 No armor Sword d6 + curse Curse if it kills you, you become a misantropic spectre yourself one round later.
3. Grotesque
4. Voodoo Babe an adult-sized baby HP 11 Morale 10 No armor Rattle d8 Voodoo animate a fresh corpse as a zombie.
If the Sparrow Heart is destroyed, the tower will collapse, killing Prince Bernardus. HP 4 Morale none No armor No weapons.
Black Blood pierce & drink blood, pass a Presence DR14 test for an effect (d4):
1. For you zero hp works like 1 hp, and -1 hp works like zero, permanently.
2. When you die, you can choose to return to life, naked, with a femur as weapon and only 1 hp. If you die again before you “level up”, you return as a skeleton, controlled by the referee.
3. Gain d2 maximum hit points.
4. Your four ability scores are mixed up, at the referee’s discretion (but don’t expect mercy).

Part I | Part II

Sparrow’s Heart, a Mörk Borg misadventure (II)

Posted on 12/10/202016/10/2020 by Vagabundork

[go to Part I | go to Part III]

in part i, described murk burg, an ashen fog-plagued town, and some of its inhabitants; in part ii, i present a curse with a random blight demon generator, and three new scrolls

Powers

Curse: Demonblight Anyone infected by it can spread the disease by simply cursing you. Within 6 days, you must kill, or convince the one who cursed you to take the curse back, to get rid of it. Otherwise, you transform into a demon (controlled by the referee):

i) d4 for your new shape

1. Black humanoid goat
2. Human-sized cobra
3. Human-sized moth
4. Faceless human

ii) d4 for your hp

1. d6 hp
2. d8 hp
3. d10 hp
4. d12 hp

iii) d6 for your morale

1. 2
2. 4
3. 6
4. 8
5. 10
6. 12

iiii) d4 for your armor/damage reduction

1. None
2. -d2
3. -d4
4. -d6

v) d4 for your main damage die

1. d4
2. d6
3. d8
4. d10

vi) d6 for your main damage source

1. Claws & fangs
2. Energy blast
3. Tentacles or tendrils
4. Fire or acid breath
5. Trample or horns
6. Sheer willpower

Unclean scroll: Narcissus Metamorphosis Next d4 Reaction rolls are +2 but Presence DR 14 or fall deeply in love with yourself (in a mirror or lake, throw into your reflection’s arms, suffer damage or drown, according to your referee’s mercy).

Unclean scroll: The Law of the Plague And he that toucheth the flesh of the unclean Becomes unclean And he that be spat on by him, unclean Becomes unclean Causes infection. Every morning make a Toughness DR18, when passed, the infection stops.

Unclean scroll: Vacuum A micro black hole opens in front of your target. Your target rolls Presence DR12 ± your Presence or floats away into space. Take a minute to think about that. Floating. Away. Into. Space.

Part I | Part III

Sparrow’s Heart, a Mörk Borg misadventure (I)

Posted on 08/10/202015/11/2020 by Vagabundork

[go to Part II | go to Part III]

Writes: Vagabundork
City map: Watabou’s Medieval City Generator
Inspiration sounds: Christian Death’s American Inquisition, Emperor’s IX Equilibrium, Opera IX’s The Call of the Wood
Disclaimer: There is no god.

“In my sweet revenge I made a pact with the devil”.
(Christian Death, “Stop Bleeding On Me”)

Purple prose fragments: stuff your players don’t immediately know, maybe never.

Why are you in Murk Burg?

Choose one or roll one or multiple results, whatever works for your players.

You were being chased by a troll, lost your way and somehow got here.
A man working for Anthelia told you the Countess will pay good silver to anyone who brings her the blood of Sparrow’s Heart, that can be found somewhere in Murk Burg.
A Bishop of Galgenbeck offered you amnesty in exchange for killing Prince Bernardus.
In your childhood dreams you used to see a flying snake devouring a bald eagle. Your tribal shaman told you to “find the black tower”, but she never explained the relation between the two. There’s no relation, she was nuts.
You were heading somewhere else, on the way someone gave you wrong directions.
You’ve heard rumors about a new god who has rebelled against HE. Could this deity be the key to avoiding the end? According to that beggar, the cult resides in a black tower, South of Sarkash. This is a dead end.
A sinister tower? In the middle of a ghost town? Must be some treasure there.
Surprise! You have a daughter, Turquoise, and she is very sick. The loathsome rat people sell almost any remedy; get it and you’re free from any responsibility towards the child, “but, please save her”. Rat people usually live in shanty towns, among humans. And here we are. She’ll die in 5 days without the medicine.

Murk Burg

This gloomy burg to the south of Sarkash was built around the Sparrow Tower, which in the past served the same function as a castle, “that was long before the ashen fog descended upon us”. Known as Murk Burg because of the ashen fog that eternally covers its streets, it’s divided into three areas: burg, parish and shanty town. At the center rises the Sparrow Tower.

Prince Bernardus was the rightful heir to duchy, but when his younger brother tried to assassinate him, he decided that politics was not a good reason to die for, and he exiled himself, followed by his loyal entourage. That was twenty years ago. Today no one remembers where he was a prince from (a duchy linked to Galgenbeck), nor do they remember if the ashen fog was already here when they arrived or if it came later.

They tried to live a simple life, but when it was clear the end was nigh, many joined one apocalyptic cult or another. One of these, the cult of Icon E, whose members are called Forever Mourners, established in the parish, but also hold reunions and black masses in the black tower.

Old Burg

Here lives Prince Bernardus, and his wife, the witch Misandria. Wooden houses, simple and old but sturdy. Most windows and curtains are closed, streets are empty but you can feel, rather than see, people or something always slipping out of the corner of your eye.

The old bourgeoisie Present these NPCs to your players as you need, or randomly roll d6.

Misandria became full of hatred against men when her mother was crucified on the oak tree in her hometown, accused of witchcraft by them. She shows her despise of males and her support to women. The woman was innocent, the real witch was her daughter. She cursed all the men in the village with what they feared most: demonblight, an infection that turns them into demons.
Lydia, beggar. In a good reaction roll she tells you a secret: “Don’t trust Misandria. She says someone abducted the princeling… yeah, the prince, her husband… but I believe she killed him herself”.
A dead child, probably the son of a nobleman. Has a gold locket, but it’s empty (worth 1 silver, it’s fake gold).
Torvald, corpse-paint teenage. Wants to join the cult of Icon E, only one more task to be accepted: murder a man.
A human skull. Cast Whispers Pass the Gates and it won’t answer three questions, but will give one piece of advice: “Whatever you do, do not release the prince”, and immediately shatters to dust.
Anastasia, a noblewoman. She hires you to find and kill a goblin who transmitted her the curse. She saw him enter the black tower. It wears white trousers.

Old Parish

Here are the ruins of the church of the false religion of the past. What little is known about this religion is that the faithful captured their god and nailed him to a post and put a crown of thorns on him, keeping him captive, suffering and bleeding, unable to die.

The church remained standing long after the extinction of the cult, but some years ago it was destroyed by the Forever Mourners, who set it on fire, as a way to symbolize the occupation of the parish and the dominion of the new god, Icon E.

Old parishioners Mattyas Manic street heretic, claiming the end of the world is a scam, no one takes him seriously. He will ask for a coin. Give him a coin and he will give you a die carved from a tooth. Roll the tooth-die once in the morning (and roll a real d6) and in a 1, you can re-roll one and any die before going to sleep, but in a 6, you won’t be able to recover hp until you roll 5 or less. HP 1 Morale 6 No armor Wooden plank d4-1. Ermengarde the Holy Whore She has been planning to kill Faustyr, “It’s disgusting. His smell is impregnated in me and I can’t get rid of it”. HP 2 Morale 7 No armor Kitchen knife d4.

The Kennel

Shanty town, cardboard houses, now dilapidated. Some people still live here, usually temporarily.

Upon entering the area, there’s a 1-in-6 chance d2+2 Scums are encountered and they want your possessions, no matter if they have to kill you to get them. Loot: One of them hides the Book of Illuminazi, also known as The Tar Black Book. It contains 1d4 random scrolls, either unclean or sacred or both.

If the slum is explored, the PCs will eventually find Yaal, a crazy homeless that proclaims the angels talk of the greater healer, but ignore him, it’s the drugs talking. HP 1 Morale 4 No armor Femur d4. In a good reaction roll, he will offer to sell you a special parchment (only 200 silver). It’s the unclean scroll Narcissus Metamorphosis.

They will also meet Ziggurd Rat, an anarchist rat person/healer (sells Remedy for 100 silver). HP 4 Morale 9 Buff coat -2 Rolling pin d4-1 Bite d4+Black poison.

Sparrow Tower aka Black Tower

In the center of the dreary village rises the black tower.

A black granite tower, in the shape of an inverted T. No one knows who built it or for what purpose. It’s known as Sparrow Tower because of the sorcerer who occupied it decades ago, or as Black Tower for obvious reasons.
Currently used by the sect of followers of Icon E, known as the Forever Mourners.

Part II | Part III

The Hidden Shrine of Setebos | An expedition for Into the Odd

Posted on 05/08/202006/08/2020 by Vagabundork

The Hidden Shrine of Setebos, in the making for seven months (that’s me, slow as a snail, how can you continually make adventures for your weekly games, people?) is finally here, for your amusement. It was born as a little experiment, after having read this article, but it grew bigger than a few rooms, into the weird thing it is now.

It’s a 2-level dungeon with a third, extra level that works as a denouement. It’s crazy, weird, bizarre, terrifying, decadent, lowbrow and highbrow, but never middlebrow! Huysmans would approve!

Who, or what, is Setebos? And imaginary god? Who knows, who cares!? It’s there and there are solver and gold to be looted, secrets to be acquired, and strange artifacts to be trafficked.

–> Download for Free <–

If you really think I should get some gold pieces, you can pay what you want through itch.io. But, really, I made this because I like to make things for the community.

Nanty narking!