Maps of Lornn

The Maps of Lornn were constantly evolving, I think the continental map above (click on them to make them bigger) was the sixth I created. Unlike other settings I've tinkered with, Lornn emerged from my mental picture of the setting, rather than me sketching out a map and then filling in the details later.

The very first map of Lornn was a sketch on the inside cover of a green folio, featuring crossed lines (roads) with a town in the center, called simply Crossroads. I added stuff as needed, until I started worrying about losing the details percolating in my head. When I finally had a continental map I was mostly happy with, I divided this into more than two dozen sections to be enlarged on their own maps, as you can see above with the Pale/Steek region. In retrospect it seems like a massive undertaking, but at the time it was just something to do while Mrs Ravyn watched ER or whatever;), and they seemed to fly by. I still have a couple of section sleft to detail, but they are corners of the map that have never seen action, and I think I'll save them for future visits to the campaign setting.

As important as maps are, they pale in importance to the players that are kind enough to come along with you. They are really the breath and life of the setting, making it a living thing, inspiring its growth through their interactions with it. I want to thank Dennis, Chris M, Rex, Rob W, Scott, Chris W, Jeff, Gary, Greg, Eric, Jen, Bill, Kevin, Marty, Brent, Steve Br, Molly, Bray, Tom, Rob, Steve Ba, Steve W, Matt, Mike, Rachel, Rick, and everyone else who traveled with me under the emerald skies of Lornn!

Beneath the Tower of the Lich King

Drawing close to the end of my 20th anniversary retrospective on my homebrew campaign setting, the Lands of Lornn, I thought I'd present some samples the iconic dungeon of the setting, the "castle greyhawk" of Lornn, if you will. While not necessarily a Megadungeon, in that it is a finite space (so maybe its more the "Temple of Elemental Evil" of Lornn?), it is still vast, and in-game, large areas remain unexplored to this day, despite lots of play hours put into it. Of all the dungeons I've done over the years, this was the most involved, right down to my own "art" for player handouts (see above). I'm no Erol Otus, obviously, but it was fun to try and do this at least once, I think its the most I've drawn since I was 12.

Though the dungeon saw action in 2 different editions of D&D and one D&D-inspired rpg (castles & crusades), it was intended from its first scribbled notes to be as old-school in tone, design, and flavor as it could possibly be. Each room was to have some little tidbit to inspire the players' curiousity and investigation. There was no attempt at "balance" of any sort, the players were responsible for gaugeing whether or not they could handle an encounter or must run away. Magic items found could be a boon, or a curse, or both at once.

Hopefully, some day I'll get to return to it, and see a group of players make it to the very end.

Here are couple of samples, one from the introduction, and pair of rooms. One of the examples, the treasure-rich Cavern of the Corpsewurm king, illustrates a foible of preparing something for possible publication under the OGL: no Carrion Crawlers allowed;)

Introduction:
The ancient tower of the legendary Lich-King has stood near the center of the bustling metropolis you call home for centuries, a monument to a long-gone conflict that has faded into mythology and now serves as nothing more than a curiosity to visiting tourists. Or is it? The legends hint of the foul, unnatural servants of the Lich-King who were sealed away deep beneath the tower along with their vanquished master. They speak even more about the hoards of treasure, both mundane and magical, lost forever behind the impassable seals set in place by the forces of good to prevent any chance of the evil resurfacing. But now rumors are being spread, in taverns and alleys, of a few bold souls actually finding secret ways into the Lich-King’s halls. Some have even returned, though somewhat less than whole. So if the horrible dangers really exist, might not the fabulous treasure?

In the beginning, the players will hear rumors of the discovery of a secret “back door” into the dungeons beneath the crumbling old “monument” that has always loomed, half forgotten, over the lives of the city-folk, and perhaps the adventurers.

1.1 The Grim Foyer

“You find yourself in a 30’ cube-like chamber. The walls were white-washed once, maybe a century ago, but now slime and moisture seep through, and burn marks and suspicious rust-colored stains also mar the surface. There are doors in the center of the North, South, East, and West walls, and a circular opening in the ceiling reveals a rusted iron ladder extending strait up through a narrow tunnel. The North wall is painted with a faded mural depicting two faceless, robed beings holding aloft a glowing staff of bizarre design. The door on the north wall appears to be made of glass, and inscrutable clock-work gears are slowly moving beneath its surface. A single, round keyhole is in the center of the door.
The sad remains of a Halfling are hunched against the West wall, a steel crossbow bolt protruding from its bloated, decaying neck”

The ladder from the well far above descends 30’ through the open air onto the center of this room’s floor. The charred corpse of a halfling rogue lies sprawled at (a). He was slain by one of his own compatriots, who was driven insane by the statue at area 1-3. His charred purse contains a lump of platinum weighing in at 14pp’s worth and one dagger on his charred and useless bandoleer seems to have escaped the ravages of whatever fire consumed this poor soul. It is a dagger +2. If speak with dead is attempted, the halfling’s spirit only babbles insanely about “eyes in the dark” and being “a good boy from now on”.

The door leading north is covered in inset, iron runes and features a single, round doorknob in the center. A mural depicting two robed figures holding a glowing staff aloft surrounds this door. The door radiates magic. The runes above the door may be deciphered only with a read magic spell: “The Master Welcomes You All.” Check normally for traps and locks on this door, but if it is opened, it sets off a telepathic alarm that alerts the lieutenants at areas 1.25 and 2.2 to the party’s presence. These lieutenants will not take any direct action against the party, but cannot be surprised by them either.

The eastern door at (b) has a rough note scratched into it in common: “Stay away from the Pit”. Three triangles of black parchment lie scattered on the floor in front of this door. Check as normal for locks and traps on all four doors leading out of this chamber. These doors are all closed.

1.5 Cavern of the Corpsewurm King

“This huge, dripping cavern is crawling with tentacled, wormlike creatures. Pools of fetid water fill the area, fed by a thin waterfall that drains from an opening high along the southeast wall. Beyond the pools, a sandy beach is covered in mounds of pale, globelike eggs and heaps of coins.
Amid the heaps lurks a crawler of immense size that rears up and hisses, summoning its sickening minions to the fight…”

PC’s who investigate the openings allowing the crawlers access to area 1.4 discover a large natural cavern behind the shrine. Soft phosphorescence in the stone here bathes the entire cavern in dim purplish light. Filthy pools and streams meander around the cavern floor and thick, gray mold clings to the stalactites and stalagmites here.

A foul-smelling cascade of yellowish, sulfurous water falls from a crack in the cavern ceiling over the east wall. A wide, natural stone stairway leads down to area 3.10 at (a). A secret door may be found behind the waterfall at (b).

Thirty corpsewurms make this cavern their home, and act as consorts for an immense Corpsewurm King (see New Monsters Appendice). The Corpsewurm King sprawls over a heap of bones, treasure, and slimy eggs at (c), and will direct his consorts to soften up invading PC’s before using his paralyzing breath weapon and finally entering the fray himself.

The Corpsewurm King’s bed contains 196pp, 675gp, 1253sp, 46 10gp gems, 12 100gp gems, a +2 spear inscribed with the word “Pain” in Elder Common, and a sealed ivory tube containing three scrolls of neutralize poison.

WotRp Preview 3 - Monsters of the Red Planet!

Monsters of the Red Planet
From my upcoming Warriors of the Red Planet RPG!

Dablor
The Dablor a is hairless, pink scavenger that travels in packs across the wastelands of the Red Planet in search of carrion or easy prey. The six legged creature is roughly badger-shaped, and typically ranges from about six to eight feet long. Its maw is filled with jagged teeth, and its eyes are black on black. When meat or prey is scented, the Dablor lets out a hooting call that echoes across the wastelands, summoning its fellows to the meal.

Dablor: HD 2+5; AC 7[12]; Atk 1bite (1d8); Move 18; Save 16; CL/XP 2/30; Special: None.

Hrecha
The Hrecha is one of the few aerial predators of the Red Planet. It appears as a pale green, hairless giant bat with four claw-tipped legs in addition to its great wings. A great crest of black or red feathers runs from the top of the head to the center of its back. Its mouth is broad enough to snap up a creature as big as a dog. They love to lash out with their claws as they fly past, rending them to helpless ribbons before settling down to feast. Hrecha can hunt in pitch darkess, as their antennae-eyes are receptive to sonic reflection.

Hrecha: HD 5; AC 5[14]; Atk 4 claws (1d4) or 1 bite (2d8); Move 6 (fly 18); Save 13; CL/XP 5/240XP; Special: Fly-By Attack (-2 to hit flying Hrecha).

Grook
From a distance, a Grook appears to be a man, but once observed closely, its featureless face gives it away, as it possesses no eyes or nose, only a wide, slavering maw filled with needle-like teeth. Scientists are unsure how the Grook senses its surroundings, but it seems to have no trouble doing so. The limbs of the Grook are not jointed, but are segmented, like the body of a snake. The bite of the Grook imparts a mildly paralytic poison(+4). Grooks are solitary hunters, but will band together to raid settlements or large parties.

Grook: HD4; AC 4[15]; Atk weapon or bite (1d12); Move 12; Save 13; CL/XP 4/120XP; Special: Poison.

Thoar
The Thoar is a reptilian beast of burden, six legged and up to twelve feet long and up to five feet high at the shoulder. Its scaly body ranges from yellow at the head to orange to red at the tail. The Thoar is mildly telepathic, and responds to most simple mental commands. It is vegetarian, and can survive for weeks at a time with no water.

Thoar: HD6; AC 2[17]; Atk 1bite (2d6); Move 12; Save 11; CL/XP 6/400XP; Special: +2 vs Mental Attacks

Orux
The Orux is a two-legged reptilian creature similar in stature to an ostrich, though much stronger. Like its cousin, the Thoar, it is mildly telepathic and responds to most simple mental commands. The scaly creatures are typically colored like the wastelands they come from, ochre, mustard, or crimson, but several domestic breeds display different colors. Orux are poplular mounts of the Red Planet, and can be found nearly anywhere, from the rural farms along the great canals to the wide avenues of the great cities. Wild and military Orux possesses vicious claws, and delivery a powerful rake, but domestic breeds are typically delcawed.

Orux (Wild or Military): HD4; AC 3[16]; Atk 1 bite (1d4) abd 2 claws (2d4); Move 18; Save 13; CL/XP 4/120XP; Special: Jump 20’.
Orux (Domestic): HD3; AC 4[15]; Atk 1bite (1d4); Move 18; Save 14; CL/XP 2/30; Special: Jump 20’.

Trebbit
The trebbit is a small egg-laying mammal roughly the size and shape of a lemur, though it possesses eight legs (save for the northern Snow Trebbit, which has ten). The creatures are popluar pets on the red planet, and are covered in silky golden, reddish, or blue fur (white for the northern breed). They are fairly intelligent creatures, not unlike the earthly dog, and be taught to fetch items and run simple errands.

Trebbit: HD ½; AC 6[13]; Atk 1bite (1d3); Move 15; Save 16; CL/XP A/5; Special: none.

Watch and know despair...

Scream or Weep, its all up to you. If you can make it past the four minute mark, you get a prize;)

Go ahead, click on the button of pain!

The Elves of Lornn

The Faenorr and their kin have been entertwined with Lornnish history for longer than man can remember. According to the elves, when they first breached the veil separating Lornn from the Twilight Realm, the Lands were all but empty of civilization. The Faenorr and their kin colonized the glades and mountain valleys of Lornn, and when they encountered the scattered tribes of primitive mankind, they taught them their gentle wisdom and lore.

As the centuries passed into millennia, mankind grew into its own, and its civilization flourished alongside that of the Faenorr. Eventually, however, the short-lived humans grew impatient with the slow wisdom and unflagging patience of their alien teachers. The greatest loremasters among men began to experiment with dangerous new ways of using the magic taught to them by the Faenorr. Somehow, they made contact with the dark Elemental Lords and began to worship them as gods. Repulsed, the Faenorr at first tried to warn humanity, but the lure of fast power was too irresistible, and humanity fell ever further under the sway of the Elemental Lords. Finally, though it saddened them, the Faenorr were forced to take up arms against their beloved pupils, and war between man and elf erupted across the face of Lornn.

Though outnumbered by the humans, the Faenorr greatly outmatched them in skill and power, and soon humanity found itself threatened with a choice between extinction and submission. Always adaptive, the leaders of mankind came up with a third option and turned to their dark gods for aid. Under their instruction, the human wizards tore open a great rift in the fabric of our universe, and through the gap poured the Mordrimm. These evil beings proved mightier than even the Faenorr, and the tide of war was turned in a matter of days. Caught off guard, the elves were routed and fled back into their Twilight Realm, closing the Veil behind them. No elf would lay eyes on Lornn again for two thousand years. The few Faenorr trapped after the closing of the veil, including their kin such as sprites, dryads, centaur, and the like, retreated into the depths of the great forests. While they eked out a pleasant existence in secret, they were completely cut off from the power of the Twilight Realm, and their stature diminished both physically and magically. Today the ancestors of those Lost Ones are known to humanity as Gnomes.

Of course, the Mordrimm betrayed and enslaved humanity. The Mordrimm fancied themselves as gods, and their constant attempts at creation yielded horrific results. The twisted and malicious creatures they created still lurk in the dark places of this world.

At some point, the future Immortal Emperor managed to find an open path into the Twilight Realm, and for seventy days he remained there. No one knows for sure what he did there, but six months later the Veil had been lifted again, and the Faenorr Host was waiting on the shores of Lornn when the Emperor arrived with his great armada out of the uncharted West.

After the defeat of the Mordrimm, the Faenorr Host was disbanded, save for one hundred of the best Warrior-Wizards. The Olvingaard served the Emperor faithfully as his elite bodyguard for three hundred years. Then, one midsummer morning a little over a century ago, everything went horribly wrong.

The reasons for the Betrayal remain unknown to mortal men. On that morning, the Olvingaard turned on the Immortal Emperor and attempted to destroy him in his own palace. As mighty as they were, the Emperor single-handedly slew all but three of the elves. The following war against the Faenorr was over before it had even begun, for the Veil had been closed again the night before the assassination attempt, this time never to re-open. So hasty and secretive was the sealing-off of the Twilight Realm that many elves were trapped in Lornn.

A century later, they are known only as the Lost Ones, and most wander the forests and mountains of Lornn in a futile search for a pathway back home. Many elves are driven mad by the search, but some have made a home for themselves in Lornn, and few even follow lives of adventure, holding their despair at bay as they take on greater and greater challenges. The reaction of humans to the Faenorr today varies from pity to mistrust to outright hostility, though some instinctive respect for their ancestral teachers still lingers.

Mad Painter attacks BtBG

Ok, not really, but as you can tell if you've been following this blog the last few days, I've been making little adjustments to the look of the blog itself.

Obviously, since the whole point of blogging is to share stuff with others, I don't want anything that makes anyone's eyes bleed or causes their computers to pour out smoke after long hours of loading the simplest page;) So please, feel free to chime in and let me know if you prefer the old mostly black-and-white design, or if the Erol Otus and Pete Mullen inspired green/purple/black design is cool.

Why Vancian magic is "Vancian".

"The tomes which held Turjan's sorcery lay on the long table of black steel or were thrust helter-skelter into shelves. These were volumes compiled by many wizards of the past, untidy folios collected by the Sage, leather-bound librams setting forth the syllables of a hundred powerful spells, so cogent that Turjan's brain could know but four at a time.
Turjan found a musty portfolio, turned the heavy pages to the spell the Sage had shown him, the Call to the Violent Cloud. He stared down at the characters and they burned with an urgent power, pressing off the page as if frantic to leave the dark solitude of the book.
Turjan closed the book, forcing the spell back into oblivion. He robed himself with a short cape, tucked a blade into his belt, fitted the amulet holding Laccodel's Rune to his wrist. Then he sat down and from a journal chose the spells he would take with him. What dangers he might meet he could not know, so he selected three spells of general application: the Excellent Prismatic Spray, Phandal's Mantle of Stealth, and the Spell of the Slow Hour."
-"Turjan of Miir", Jack Vance

And there you have it. Many works of pulp and fantasy inspired the tone, setting, creatures, and flavor of D&D, but as far as I know, this is the only one that was turned whole-sale into an actual game mechanic. This may be because most of D&D's game mechanics were a direct descendent of the wargames the creators were constantly playing, and adding rules for magic to the mix was really the only thing they had to come up with from scratch.

Interestingly enough, Vance's wizard's were also Men of Action, as opposed to the more scholarly and frail presentation of the "traditional" D&D wizard, more akin to the rough and tumble "scientist" of 50's B-movies, who always seemed to shoot several martians and get the girl in the end. Though I can't recall any stomping around in plate mail, a sword was always carried, lots of running and jumping and fighting were usually involved, a bit of thievery and confidence trickstering, and a healthy dose of drinking and wenching. A modest collection of magical trinkets and instruments was also desirable.

I wonder how different D&D would be today had its creators been more influenced by the magic "system" of a Piers Anthony, Michael Moorcock, Katherine Kurtz, or even Robert Jordan (eek!). Luckily the one they picked lent itself well to the environment of gaming, and is a large part of D&D's staying power over the years. Even though I tinker with different magic systems from time to time, you can't argue with Vance's simple and elegant system, and the gamist enjoyment of successfully plotting out your spells ahead of time for a mission.