One Dice Six

Author: Leon

  • Python in the Sinkhole

    Python in the Sinkhole

    Here’s an example of using the generator for encounters in the grasslands around St. Orlan. Most of this terrain type is far north of town, beyond the dread swamps, and it’s relatively dangerous. However, even a low level party can escape this encounter with a little luck and caution.

    The group finds themselves in an expanse of blooming wildflowers that grow waist-high. A halfling would find it especially easy to hide here, which I’d treat as +10% to hide roles or +2 to saving throws that would benefit from cover. Unfortunately, the thick cover is also hiding a sinkhole, inside of which is a giant rock python who is already in a bad mood.

    Whoever is leading the party will have to save versus death to avoid tumbling down into the sinkhole, taking 1d6 damage and then facing off with the python. The snake is going to attack immediately at the invasion of its space.

    The party is 60 yards away from the sinkhole, and they won’t be surprised by the snake when they see it. it could be inconvenient to get down into the pit to join the fight once it starts, though.

    Here’s the raw output of the genererator.

    While exploring, the party encounters figures wandering 60 yards (20 if surprised) to the northwest.
    1 Rock Pythons AC 14, HD 5, #At 1 bite/1 squeeze, Dam 1d4/2d4, Mv 30′, Sv F3, Ml 8, XP 405
    30′ long snake. Brown and yellow scales set in a spiral pattern. Its first attack is a bite. If the bite is successful, it coils around the victim and constricts in the same round. This squeezing does 2d4 points of damage per round, and occurs automatically until the snake dies or releases the victim.

    Their attitude is that there is clear and present danger. They are cautious and aware of possible trouble. They will disengage without violence if possible, or provide a final warning.

    Their surprise roll is 6, and the party rolls 4.

    The immediate area is covered by wildflowers, providing concealment for prone or small creatures (+2 bonus to stealth while moving slowly). The ground is a completely flat plain, and footing features a hidden sinkhole or depression requiring a save vs death to avoid falling 10′. Nothing much else distinguishes the area..

    The general vibe is “enrage”.

    The generator is setting up distance and surprise, but you must put those two rolls together. The snake has a reaction roll that’s just a bit towards the aggressive side, but given the vibe of “enrage”, I’m going with the snake flipping into fight mode rather than relying on more reaction rolls.

  • Sapphire Cursecoil

    Sapphire Cursecoil

    Here’s a monster that came out of the random monster generator.

    Armor Class: 19 (s)
    Hit Dice: 1+2
    No. of Attacks: 1
    Damage: 3d6 or disease (see below)
    Movement: 60′
    No. Appearing: 3d8, Lair 4d8
    Save As: Fighter: 2
    Morale: 12
    Treasure Type: F
    XP: 100

    These creatures resemble oversized blue snails, roughly 5 feet long and weighing about 166 pounds. They are highly intelligent (Intelligence 20), a cruel joke invented by a high level Magic User who fused aspects of lycanthropes and snails. As such, they can be harmed only by silver or magical weapons, and they spread their impressive numbers through a kind of magical disease or curse.

    A sapphire cursecoil attacks either by bludgeoning a foe with its head for 3d6 damage or by spraying forth a foul ichor (once per day). On a roll of 1-2 on 1d6, the victim contracts the curse that slowly transforms him into another cursecoil, progressively turning blue and folding into a snail-like shape until the change is complete. At any time before this end state, the victim may be restored with a remove curse spell. Afterwards, only a restoration spell can reverse it.

    Sapphire cursecoils are fearless and cunning, often found in groups that plan ambushes or use their curse to create more of their kind. They glide swiftly on their ventral feet, often swarming unsuspecting victims.

    Of course, I had to make some sense of the output, which was as follows.

    Armor Class = 19 (s)
    Hit Dice = 1 + 2 HD
    5 feet, 166 pounds
    Attacks = Disease or bludgeon 3d6
    Movement = 60
    No. Appearing = 3d8, 4d8 in lair
    Save As = Fighter
    Morale = 12
    Treasure Type = F
    Curse 1-2 on d6.
    Looks like a blue snail.  
    Highly intelligent (20 INT)

    A party of 4 adventurers of maybe 4th level should have a good time fighting off 15 or so of these guys. With low HD, they likely won’t land many hits, but woe to those victims that do get walloped. With 30 days to reverse the curse, it’s not too bad for PCs. The average 0-level villager has no chance.

  • Silvertongue’s Bane (The Gray Molder)

    Silvertongue’s Bane (The Gray Molder)

    I asked AI to riff on the output of the Poison Generator about this weak poison that damages charisma.

    This poison is delivered by inhaling. Its strength is considered weak, +2 to save. Its effects are felt in 2d4 hours. The poison reduces CHA by 1, save for no damage. The damage is taken all at once. The effects of the poison may be reversed with a restoration spell.

    Silvertongue’s Bane (The Gray Molder)

    Commonly known among court assassins and spiteful rivals as The Miasma of the Mundane, this fine, slate-colored powder is harvested from the desiccated spores of the Languid Lily, a pale flower that grows only in places where there is no wind and very little light.

    The Lore: How it Works

    Unlike traditional toxins that attack the blood or nerves, Silvertongue’s Bane targets the “vital spark” of an individual’s presence. When inhaled, the microscopic spores attach themselves to the victim’s vocal cords and facial capillaries.

    As the spores germinate, they don’t cause hideous boils or obvious sickness; instead, they act as a magical and physical dampener. The victim’s voice loses its melodic timbre, becoming flat and droning. Their eyes lose their luster, and their skin takes on a subtle, unwashed grayness that makes others subconsciously view them as untrustworthy or simply boring. It is the poison of choice for those who want to ruin a diplomat’s career without the messy evidence of a murder.

    Game Mechanics

    PropertyDescription
    TypeInhaled (Dust/Powder)
    Saving Throw+2 bonus to Save vs. Poison
    Onset Time2d4 Hours
    Effect-1 penalty to Charisma
    RecoveryPermanent until cured by a Restoration spell

    Special Rules

    • Subtle Onset: Because the onset is delayed and the effect is subtle, a victim who fails their save might not realize they are poisoned until they next attempt a reaction roll or a feat of persuasion.
    • The Damage: The Charisma loss occurs all at once at the end of the onset period. The victim feels a sudden, inexplicable wave of lethargy and a fading of their own confidence.

    Usage in Play

    A hooded figure in the marketplace “accidentally” shakes out a dusty rug as the Paladin walks by. The Paladin sneezes, laughs it off, and continues toward the palace. Four hours later, during the audience with the Duke, the Paladin finds his jokes falling flat, his pleas for aid sounding whiny, and the Duke looking at him with newfound disdain. The Paladin hasn’t lost his health, but he has lost the room.

  • Behold, The Beginning!

    Since 2017, I’ve been running a Basic Fantasy campaign that was intended as a way to get my two sons hooked on RPGs. It was a fathers-and-kids deal that picked up a few extra adults along the way, eventually morphing into all adults when my sons got old enough. Along the way, I built a little WordPress plugin to mechanize rolling on various random tables. At first, it was stuff out of the rule book, then a few tables adapted from blogs or other games. Today, I tend to build deep, complex generators from scratch.

    In a future post, I’ll talk about my process. Right now, I want to introduce the site. It collects the 60+ generators I built for emptyz.com, the site that keeps the house rules and session reports for the Tienarth’s Raiders campaign. In the future, I’m going to refactor my most ancient random generators from my personal site, leonatkinson.com. Being from 1997, it took a bit of wrench-twisting to them to run in PHP 8.

    Before I do that, I will be working on a generator for my latest BFRPG “module”, Estates of the Eliari.

    The entire module is a collection of lookup tables that fills out location details based on a fixed map. I’m going to make it a one-click effort to get a unique adventure.

    I also plan to write about some of the existing generators and also create new ones, of course. It looks like I’m getting involved in a Traveller campaign, so I may be building generators for that game as well.