Well, it’s the “holiday season”. That weird time of year when we smash together Labor Day, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Talk Like a Pirate Day, Indigenous People’s Day, Halloween, Diwali, Election Day, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Boxing Day, and New Year’s Eve into a relentless blur of decorations, music, feasts, movie marathons, parties, and intensely heightened emotions.
I often find this time of year a bit stressful. Perhaps you can relate.
I can’t do much about… well, anything out there. But I can do this:
I have dropped the prices of all of the Dungeon Age adventures and games. And who knows, I may just leave them like this indefinitely. Business stuff stresses me out. I just want you guys to have fun. And I really just use the money to hire artists to help make more stuff. So here we go:
System Note: I think every adventure comes in multiple versions, or with multiple appendices of stat blocks. Check the pages for details. There should be a 5e version, an OSR or OSE version, and for some a Cairn version.
As you may have noticed, my current OSR system darling is Cairn and the general Odd-like family of games. I really appreciate the general ethos of encouraging players to be creative problem-solvers instead of min-maxing character-sheet masters. I prefer exploration over combat. But I also love rules-light games that are easy to learn, fast to play, and genuinely fun.
So in that spirit, I have been going back through my catalog of adventures to see which might make good Cairn modules. And the first obvious candidate was my very first adventure, Saving Saxham.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
The original adventure presented players with a small village that has a big problem (everyone died 30 years ago, but none of the resurrected villagers know that). The forest is full of ghosts and zombies, pixies and plague rats, elves and goblins. And the big twist is that if the players do nothing, then everything will probably be ok(ish). But if the players start killing zombies and banishing ghosts, then they actually make life in the village worse.
END SPOILERS!!!
Anyway, I went back to Saxham and looked for ways to make it a solid Cairn adventure. So in addition to changing the creature stat blocks (into much sleeker forms), I also added new adventure locations and creatures, tied some of the factions together in clearer ways, and re-did all of the art.
Then I reformatted the whole thing into a two-column digest-sized layout, and made it a Print On Demand booklet. Which is fantastic. I wish I had been making all my adventures like this from the beginning (because I really like making things I can hold in my hands).
So if you head over to DriveThruRPG now, when you get the PDF of Saving Saxham, you are getting the new Cairn edition, AND the original 5e edition, AND the original OSR edition. And if you get the print version, then you are getting the physical Cairn edition, as well as ALL THREE digital versions. Hope you like it!
In The Undying Sea, players take on the roles of sea-faring adventurers sailing the misty currents on their siltcutter. As they discover new islands, they will encounter the conquering Tortuvan Empire, the mutant crab Brakken Hegemony, the undead Kadav Pirates, the mysterious Undine Coven, and a few stray Vampire Sybarites as well.
The farther they sail from home, the stranger and more perilous the islands become. Players can negotiate with foreign powers, become fearsome pirates, grow wealthy as traders, or pursue any other agenda they wish. They could even seek out the legendary White Vault to undo the necrotic curse that lays upon the sea, and restore it to a paradise!
In short, it’s Into the Odd / Cairn on a boat, and its pretty fun. I’ve been playing it every week for months now, and it only takes about 3 minutes to generate a whole complex new island with NPCs, monsters, treasures, and other details that make for hours of gaming.
Player spend about half their time trying to survive their encounters at sea just to reach the islands where they can find allies and trade partners, or ancient necropolises full of traps and treasure, or lands mutated by the crab-folk, or undead pirates, or whatever.
Shout out to Vault Crawler for the amazing cover and full-page interiors:
And shout out to Hodag RPG for the amazing bestiary illustrations:
A print-on-demand option will be available in a few weeks, too. But for right now you can check out the digital version.
Hey, I wrote another tiny tomb, and it’s Pay What You Want (PWYW)!
Here is the third of my Tiny Tomb series: Tomb of the Primate Priest. It’s just a few bizarre wooden rooms full of living tunnels, root trolls, monkey monks, and a dryad. Because every campaign should have a bunch of random little tombs scattered all over the wilderness to discover!
I wrote it with Cairn in mind, but then I added in all the stats for 5E and for OSE, so you can run it in whatever system you like. Plus it was an excuse to practice drawing some new monsters!
A puzzle dragon is a powerful monster, but it does not have a traditional stat block. It can only be killed in one specific way. The challenge for the players is to learn how to kill the puzzle dragon, and then to perform the actions needed to do so. If they can perform the correct actions, then the dragon is defeated.
(I’m sure other people have written about this idea, but it’s in my head right now, so I’m writing about it right now.)
In the animated film The Hobbit, the monstrous Smaug is a perfect example of a puzzle dragon. You do not kill Smaug by hitting him with swords or fireballs until he runs out of hit points. No. You sneak into his lair, and trick him into revealing his belly, which is missing a single scale. Then you send this information to the archer Bard, who possesses an uncanny Black Arrow. Then you enrage Smaug into leaving the safety of his lair to fly over Laketown, where Bard can shoot the Black Arrow into the exposed belly.
This is the perfect film adaptation of the book, by the way
In the film Dragonslayer, the monsterous Vermithrax Pejorative is another very different puzzle. The old wizard must allow himself to be captured and carried off by the dragon, and then the young apprentice must smash a powerful amulet, which causes the old wizard to explode in the dragon’s talons, killing the beast.
I think this is much better than a hit-point dragon. So let’s make more puzzle dragons!
There are three components to killing a puzzle dragon:
Target. Where is the dragon’s vulnerability?
Timing. When can the vulnerability be accessed?
Tool. What can pierce the vulnerability?
Puzzle Dragon Generator
Roll 1d6 three times to generate a puzzle dragon. The Target is the part of the dragon’s body that must be attacked. The Timing is what that body part must be doing to be vulnerable. The Tool is the only thing that can harm the Target (select one). If you do not like one of the results… change it!
ROLL
TARGET
TIMING
TOOL
1
Eye
Open
Special Weapon: sword, spear, axe, arrow, bullet, knife…
2
Mouth
Raised
Powerful Relic: saint bone, rare scroll, wizard skull…
3
Throat
Still
Unique Liquid: potion, acid, poison, holy water, salt water, alcohol…
Defeating a puzzle dragon requires a quest of investigation, exploration, problem-solving, and action.
The party must identify the Target, Timing, and Tool.
The party must obtain the Tool (or create a way to deploy the Tool).
The party must bring the Target and Tool together with correct Timing.
Referee Challenge
The Referee (or DM or GM) must combine the Target, Timing, and Tool results into a sensible narrative, or Explanation. They must create NPCs (witnesses and experts) to provide relevant information to the players. They may require a quest to obtain the Tool, including clues, locations, and foes. And then they must play out the dragon battle as a series of logical challenges.
Example 1
Puzzle Dragon: Infernix Imbroglio
Target: Throat
Timing: Glowing
Tool: Heat (lightning)
Explanation. Just before the dragon breathes fire, its throat glows with the build-up of combustible bile. At this moment, a lightning strike can make the dragon’s throat explode, killing the dragon.
In Play. The party learns of the existence of the dragon Aggravix Imbroglio and decides to slay the monster. They quickly learn that past attempts to kill the dragon have failed, so they investigate.
A witness or historian reveals that the dragon breathes fire.
An expert reveals that dragonfire is fueled by combustible bile.
Research reveals that combustible bile glows just before it ignites.
A witness reveals that the dragon’s throat glows just before it breathes fire.
An expert reveals that only a bolt of lightning can burn through the dragon’s hide.
The party resolves to strike the dragon’s throat with lightning when it glows.
The party obtains a lightning-based spell or weapon (quest?).
The party engages the dragon and manipulates it into breathing fire (taunt it?).
When the throat glows, the party shoots lightning and detonates the dragon’s throat, killing it.
Alternative: The party contrives to attach a lightning rod to the dragon’s throat, lures the dragon out into a lightning storm, and manipulates the dragon into breathing fire just as lightning strikes.
Example 2
Puzzle Dragon: Carcassax Orgoglio
Target: Heart
Timing: Raised
Tool: Liquid (holy water)
Explanation. The dragon is undead and slithers on the ground. Her black heart can be destroyed by holy water, but only when she rises off the ground to reveal the hole in her rotting chest.
In Play. The party learns of the existence of the dragon Irritrix Orgoglio and decides to slay the monster. They quickly learn that past attempts to kill the dragon have failed, so they investigate.
A witness or historian reveals that the dragon is undead.
A cleric reveals that undead are vulnerable to holy water.
A monster hunter reveals that the dragon’s heart must be destroyed.
A witness reveals that the dragon’s heart is exposed through her ruined chest.
The party resolves to throw holy water on the dragon’s heart when she rears up.
The party obtains a jug of holy water (quest?).
The party engages the dragon and manipulates it into rearing up (dangle a dead deer on a chain above her head as bait?).
When the heart is exposed, the party hurls and smashes the jug (using a catapult?), dissolving the dragon’s heart, and killing it.
That’s all I have for this idea right now. So go forth and create puzzle dragons!
Hey, I wrote another tiny tomb, and it’s Pay What You Want (PWYW)!
Here is the second of my Tiny Tomb series: Tomb of the Tin Templar. It’s just a few bizarre rooms full of mechanical traps, tinker gnomes, electric jellyfish, and windup toys. Because every campaign should have a bunch of random little tombs scattered all over the wilderness to discover!
I wrote it with Cairn in mind, but then I added in all the stats for 5E and for OSE, so you can run it in whatever system you like. Plus it was an excuse to practice drawing some new monsters!
Once again I am privileged to be working alongside the talented team of the Merry Mushmen to bring you not one but TWO remastered adventures. The first is The Horrendous Hounds of Hendenburgh by my new friend Liam Pádraig Ó Cuilleanáin, and the second is Raiding the Obsidian Keep by me!
Want to hear more about it, but don’t want to read? You’re in luck! Check out these podcasts:
Hey, I wrote a tiny tomb, and it’s Pay What You Want!
So a few weeks ago I was going to run a game for my friend’s kids and I didn’t feel like writing new content. So I asked my buddy for a recommendation and he suggested Barrow of the Elf King. It’s just a tiny tomb, and it was great! The kids (and adults) had a fun 2-hour game. And it was so short and simple, yet fun, that I wanted to write something like it.
And then I wrote a bunch of them…
Anyway, here is the first of my Tiny Tomb series: Tomb of the Blood Baron. It’s just a few creepy rooms full of critters and treasures and traps. Because every campaign should have a bunch of random little tombs scattered all over the wilderness to discover!
I wrote it with Cairn in mind, but then I added in all the stats for 5E and for OSE, so you can run it in whatever system you like. Plus it was an excuse to practice drawing bats and beetles and Red Caps.
It took too long because I was being an obsessive perfectionist, but now it is here:
Carcassay: Titan Rat City is a Lankhmar-esque (does that reference still work for most people?) city adventure full of bizarre factions and with built-in quest hooks in almost every location, plus three complete dungeons under the city. It’s 130 pages with classical paintings, original illustrations, and lots of maps. Creature stats are provided in the appendices for 5E, and Old School Essentials, and Into the Odd (Cairn).
The PDF is $10, and the softcover is $13, which also includes the PDF.
I think DriveThruRPG did a great job printing it. Every page is sharp, the art is beautiful in black-and-white, and it feels pretty good in hand. My pictures do not do it justice…but here are some pictures anyway.
It has contents!
And overview maps!
And nineteenth century paintings!
And maps of the regions outside the city!
And maps of the dungeons under the city!
And it has a back cover that looks suspiciously similar to the front cover!
