Art: ‘Costumes of All Nations (1882)’ by Albert Kretschmer.
Inspired by Colin Sproule’s Gig Economy, as well as the monster/NPC structure found in the original Into the Odd, here are some NPCs that can be (random) encounters, hirelings and even replacement characters for your game. There are no stats for these NPCs, other than HP and equivalent class-level.
Unique Weirdos (1 hp, 0-level)
Calamity
Young witch without actual magical powers. Knows herbs and all kinds of useful but mundane recipes. Distrusts men.
Silver athame
Healing cake, one use
Elegant but ragged witch clothing
Filbert
Angsty teen, wearing all black.He’s a charismatic beggar, but underneath all the grime, he’s a beautiful youth.
Rusted kitchen knife
Weaponized boots
Black leather jacket with steel chains
Grimm
Wandering torturer, offering his services in towns he visits. His duty is not about truth, but about torture and execution.
Special sword
Cloak darker than black
Strange jewel
Gene
Distracted man, claims to be a lycanthrope and also the son of an important nobleman.
Expensive clothes
Rapier with silver hilt
Small bag containing raw meat
Hades
Fungi gardener, for food, waste disposal and astral travel. Always in a bad mood, does not eat his own produce.
Box of spores and seeds
Sickle
Small shovel
Hob/Blin
Wandering knight that’s actually two kobolds wearing a yellow gardecorps and green bycocket.
Nice sword
Kite shield with a coat of arms that was famous 20 years ago
Ring
Lucas
Link-boy who really needs to join your party because he has business somewhere around your next destination.
Oil lamp
Oil bottles
Matches
Mako
1.5 meters high, wearing a ceramic-like black mask and simple wanderer clothes. Young, old, woman, man, who can say? Silent Mako certainly won’t.
Crossbow
Smoke bombs
Concealed dagger
Rosamond
An odd one, she won’t answer your questions unless under threat of torture. It’s like talking to a corpse, as though all life in this woman was plant life.
Burlap sack dress, no shoes
Wreath of dried flowers
Hatchet
Thecla
She’s a janitor and knows things… for a price.
Mop and broom
A skeleton key
The teeth of the priest who accused her of witchcraft
A trap, a power, an NPC and a Character Class for your rat-flavoured games using B/X stats.
New Trap | Rat Nest
You have fallen into a burrow full of rats, thousands of them.
Each round you suffer 3d4 points of damage, save vs paralyzation for half damage. In one round you can light a torch but that round you cannot save vs paralyzation. The light and fire keep the rats at bay for 1d4 rounds, after that, they get bold and rush at you.
New Power | Command Rats
Depending on the system you use and your preference, Command Rats can be a spell or an innate or acquired ability. The mechanics are less important than the effects.
Vancian Magic: Level-1 Spell. Duration: The Magic-User’s level in turns.
Otherwise: Innate, acquired, purchased, through an item, granted by King Rat, whatever. Duration: 1d10 turns or referee’s choice. User per day: Charisma’s modifier, minumum 1.
Effect: You can control a group of 1d6+9 rats to act in unison. The group has HP equal to the number of individuals, and will disperse when half of its members are lost or when the effect runs out. You can give them an order and they’ll carry it out to the best of their ability, as long as it’s not an order directly harmful to them.
Secondary Effect: When using this power, and for 1d4 days thereafter (cumulative), you’ll be constantly surrounded by friendly rats, they’ll climb on your shoulders, run around you, etcetera, but the intense light and fire will keep them away.
New NPC | King Rat
Leather Armor, HD 3, HP 12, Weapons 2 katara (push dagger) for a total of 1d8 damage (when attacking using only one, damage is 1d6).
King Rat is a man of about 45, handsome but slovenly, who lives in the catacombs, surrounded by rats who obey him and with whom he can talk, mainly about poetry, philosophy, politics and science; whether the rats understand or respond to him is open to debate. An anarchist, he doesn’t believe in authority but believes in fair exchange.
Command Rats: He can use this ability 5 times a day. How did he get it? If questioned and he decides to tell, he will say that it was given to him by God Rat, but will not give further details. King Rat doesn’t have any scarification.
Mark of the Rat: An adventurer can fulfill an assignment in exchange for the Mark of the Rat, which allows him to use Command Rats as described above. The Mark is a rat-shaped scarification on the left temple.
New Class | Rat Catcher
Only the man who cleans the public latrines has a worse job than you. But after all, you are not cut out for a glamorous life, nor are you cut out to rub elbows with the nobility or to know carnal love. But such trifles don’t matter to you, or at least you’ve managed to convince yourself of that. The alternative is very depressing.
A rat-catcher. [Source]Requirement: DEX 9 Prime Requisite: CHA HD: d6 Max Level: 14 Armor: Leather Weapon: Any Languages: Common, Thieves’ Cant
Combat
Poverty, or as you call it: freedom, is your motto. You are not used to wearing armor heavier than Leather; if for some reason you wear it, you can’t use your Knave, Track Vermin and Rat Senses abilities, and you lose 2 or 4 points of DEX while wearing it (Chainmail and Plate, respectively).
Gallows Humour
You get a +2 bonus to your rolls to resist psychological effects, magical or otherwise, related to fear, sadness or nihilism.
Knave
You know one Thief Skill of your choice (or randomly for more fun), except Find/Remove Trap and Pick Pocket. You can use it as a Thief of the same level.
Rat Senses I
You’re good at finding your way around sewers, catacombs, dark alleys and other artificial or semi-artificial structures. If you are the party’s cartographer, the referee is obliged to make at least one major correction or any number of minor corrections she wishes. When you come to a room or hallway that you have already visited, you always know that you have been there before and notice any relevant changes.
Rat Senses II
When you are in a dilemma between several possible paths, there is a 2-in-6 chance that you will instinctively know if there is any immediate danger (such as traps or an ambush).
Track Vermin
You can automatically detect and track vermin, including kobolds, goblins and the like (referee’s choice), and of course rat-folk. When you fight these creatures, your Thac0 receives a bonus of 1 (19 becomes 18, etc.)
9th Level
You can completely clear and control a major area of the city’s drainage system, subway tunnels or alleys, an area that will serve as your territory. You will be the leader of a gang of 2d6 thieves and 3d4 0-level beggars who will follow you and protect the territory, and will be happy to pay a small voluntary weekly tribute as long as you don’t show yourself to be a despot or start bathing more frequently than them, you fop!
Starting Gear (roll 1d30 three times)
1. Antivenom. 2. Dark clothes. 3. Stolen letter. 4. One-use lockpick. 5. Rope (10 m.) 6. Rusty knife (d4 dmg.) 7. Mud protecting boots. 8. Stinky wheel of cheese. 9. Book of satyrical and anarchist poetry against current authorities and the church. 10. Five rat traps. 11. Wooden plank (d6 dmg.) 12. A blood-stained nobility title. 13. Five flashing bomb flasks. 14. Flask of oil. 15. Five torches, tinder and flint. 16. Bronze key to a missing stash. 17. Valuable-looking book you can’t read full of demonic symbols. 18. Box containing five vials of mysterious sludge. 19. Old backpack. 20. Black hat. 21. Dog. 22. The sword of a nobleman (1d8 dmg), anyone who sees it will know it was stolen. 23. Eye patch. 24. Mantle. 25. Soft, stealth shoes. 26. Garish clothes. 27. Frying pan. 28. Crowbar. 29. Sling and ten stones (1d4 dmg.) 30. Cage of 1d4 live rats.
Add some wimsical extravagance to you next adventure with this random encounter that can occur during travel time, specially in bucolic landscapes not too far away from civilization, bot neither too close.
The Flying Baron
AC as leather, MV 360 (flight) or 120 (on foot), ML 8, 6 HD (27hp), #AT 1, Cannon Ball (d12) or Sword (d6).
The Flying Baron is believed by some to be a wizard, by others a demigod, and some even say he’s a devil. None of them are right, for he is simply the Flying Baron.
He travels the land on a cannon ball; this ball doesn’t fly actually: he first throws the cannon ball with all his strenght into the direction he wants to travel, then he jumps and sits on it, and the ball follows its natural inertial path. He can do this trick up to 3 times a day. If thrown at someone, the ball banishes without causing damage.
This rascal is friendly, unless he thinks you are threat to him or to a damsel in distress.
He can summon a second smaller cannon ball which he can throw for d12 damage, after this, the ball banishes. His strategy is jumping high and attack. He can do this attack up to 5 times a day.
He also wields a sword for d6 damage, and in this case, his strategy will be challenging to a just duel. If he finds outnumbered, he will run away to enjoy life another day.
He wears a buff coat that grants defense as leather armor.
Chaos Magick-User 