50th Post and On Phantasmagoria Tech

This is my 50th post on this blog, so here's a brief introduction to tech in my DCC sword & planet setting, Phantasmagoria:

Technology in the galaxy is rare, but not non-existent. While most foes you'll encounter will be wielding a flintlock pistol, or a sword, you will occasionally find people wielding nuclear-powered firearms or with personal force fields. The technology that you find is the remnants of a long-dead, highly advanced civilization of which very little is known, save that the civilization broke down long ago. This highly advanced empire is the basis for a lot of the space-ships found in the setting as well. The Foundation series is a great basis for what the empire was like, except there was no Seldon to save civilization from the collapse.

KoA Kickstarter Update and Patreon

I'm still working on finishing up my Patreon and preparing it for launch and my Kickstarter for a Kull of Atlantis reprint is still ongoing (with ~20 days left). I also am working on finishing up several projects and will hopefully be funding one of them through Patreon.

Slave, Soldier, and King Kickstarter

I am currently running a Kickstarter to fund an anthology of Robert E. Howard's first sword and sorcery tales with new illustrations by artist all-star Stefan Poag. If you want, you can check it out here.

On 4-Dimensional Foes in D&D

Inspired by this short blurb, I decided to write about having fourth dimension beings in an OSR setting. Additional inspiration was provided by this part of the first chapter of the book of Ezekiel:

And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went.

 Effectively, beings that could move in the fourth dimension would be nigh-unstoppable by any mere adventurer, capable of ignoring the adventurer's armor and weapons at will. Of course, if the monster could attack the adventurer, at least some of the monster has to be on the same phase(?) as the adventurer.

Mechanically, this could be represented by a damage cap for four dimensional foes, such as five points. This damage cap would apply to all attacks (even spells) to represent how it was because the body was on a separate phase not just because it was resistant. Of course, on their turn, the four dimensional foe could shift to a phase where the party couldn't reach them at all, but they couldn't hurt the party either.

[Phantasmagoria] New Class: the Automaton (DCC)

This is a class for my WIP sword and planet/science-fantasy setting for Dungeon Crawl Classics, currently called Phantasmagoria. Theme-wise, I'm thinking Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy meets Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series, with a wee bit of Warhammer 40k. And of course, any genre that begins with science has to have some robots in it! This class is based on Marvin the Paranoid Android and C-3PO in particular, but androids in general.

Automatons

Automatons are the universal debris of ambitious magitechnicians across the universe, thrown aside once they realize someone else has done it before, and done it better. They are left to find a purpose and something to glean from their existence, without any parental figures to guide them. Some automatons form insular communities, either existing under the radar of larger cities or founding their own cities, while other automatons find a group that can recognize them for their talents, not for their past.

Automatons, despite being wholly mechanical, still have a few needs. They will need additional fuel every couple months in order to keep running and need eight hours of rest each night in order to let their batteries recharge. Additionally, the magic wrapping an automaton’s conscience allows mind-affecting magic to affect an automaton, regardless of their artificial status.

Hit points: An automaton gains 1d10 hit points at each level.

Weapon training: An automaton is proficient with any weapon integrated into their chassis. Automatons begin play with one weapon of their choice integrated into their chassis. Automatons do not wear armor of any kind.

Sociopath: An automaton can never truly identify with organic life forms, or ‘organics’, and for this purpose, it has a maximum Personality score of 15. The actual personality score should be recorded in parentheses after the modified score, like this: 15 (17), but for all game purposes, the automaton’s Personality score is 15.

Modularity: An automaton’s chassis is built to accept various modules and upgrades. At every new level, including level 1, an automaton rolls 1d30 and consults the following table to determine what new module they have gained. Ignore any results you have already rolled and roll again.

d30	Module Implanted
1	The automaton does not gain a module this level
2	Integrated weapon: Attacks move up one step on the dice chain with an integrated weapon
3	Reinforced chassis: +1d4 additional hit points
4	Armored plating: +2 bonus to Armor Class.
5	Targeting system: Attacks with any ranged weapons move up one step on the dice chain
6	Mapping module: The automaton has perfect recall of the layout of any building it has been in before
7	Nightvision: The automaton can see in the dark1
8	Vacuum tubes: The automaton has an eidetic memory
9	Spell repeater: The automaton learns to cast one first level spell with an effective caster level equal to one-half of their level
10	Rocket propulsors: The automaton’s speed doubles
11	Nuclear generator: The automaton does not need to rest for eight hours each night
12	Trash compacter: The automaton can crush ten cubic feet of loosely packed matter into a 1’ x 1’ x 1’ cube.
13	Projector: The automaton can project their thoughts or the contents of a holodisc onto any flat surface
14	Empathy unit: The automaton has synthetic emotions and their Personality score can exceed 14.
15	Medical synthesizer: The automaton can synthesize basic medical compounds. This works as the cleric’s lay on hands class ability, except the base disapproval rate is one through four and they roll on the Automaton Malfunction table.
16	Encyclopedia module: The automaton has approximate knowledge of many things1
17	RNG: The automaton can randomly generate numbers
18	Self-destruct: The automaton’s death causes a fiery explosion that deals 3d8 to all enemies in a 20’ radius
19	Navigations system: The automaton can adequately drive a spaceship1
20	Infrared vision: The automaton can see heat signatures
21	Jack of all trades: The automaton rolls a d12 instead of a d10 on all checks for untrained skills
22	Holographic disguise: The automaton can disguise itself through the use of an appropriate hologram1
23	Universal translator: The automaton can understand, but not speak, all common languages
24	Secondary processor: The automaton increases their Intelligence by three points.
25	Beverage dispensary: The automaton can create a nutritious sludge that vaguely resembles tea
26	Taser fists: The automaton can deal 1d8 points of damage with an unarmed attack
27	Luck siphon: The automaton can drain willing targets of their Luck score, up to three points per day
28	Fireproof: The automaton is immune to fire attacks.
29	Nanobots: The automaton heals 1d6 damage/hour
30	Roll twice and gain both results

1Consider this as a skill that the automaton is trained in.

Automaton malfunctions: Whenever an automaton rolls a natural 1 on any roll of an action die, they roll on the following table, adding their Luck modifier to their die roll.

1d12	Automaton Malfunction
1 or less	The automaton catches fire, taking 1d6 points of damage every round until it’s extinguished
2	One of the automaton’s modules breaks
3	The automaton’s circuits explode, dealing 1d12 damage to the automaton
4	The automaton’s gears catch and it cannot move until they are fixed
5	The memory banks are temporarily wiped
6	The automaton is infected with a virus; all dice they roll for 1d7 days move one step lower on the dice chain
7	The automaton runs into a paradox, stopping it from taking any action besides protecting itself
8	The automaton’s speed is halved
9	The automaton suddenly runs out of fuel
10	The automaton cannot hurt any intelligent or humanoid life for 1d14 hours
11	The automaton’s artificial brain stalls; making it completely immobile for 1d8 rounds.
12 or more	The automaton desperately needs an oil bath

Level	Attack	Crit Die/Table	Action Dice	Ref	Fort	Will
1	+0	1d8/II	1d20	+0	+0	+1
2	+1	1d8/II	1d20	+0	+0	+1
3	+2	1d10/II	1d20	+1	+1	+2
4	+2	1d10/II	1d20	+1	+1	+2
5	+3	1d12/II	1d20	+1	+1	+3
6	+4	1d12/II	1d20+1d14	+2	+2	+4
7	+5	1d14/II	1d20+1d6	+2	+2	+4
8	+5	1d14/II	1d20+1d20	+2	+2	+5
9	+6	1d16/II	1d20+1d20	+3	+3	+5
10	+7	1d16/II	1d20+1d20	+3	+3	+6

[KotR/etc.] Updates and Such

Firstly, I've decided that I will be submitting a 3,000 preview of Knights of the Road to Charlie Mason's The Wizard's Scroll zine! I should be able to knock that out over the weekend, and will be probably putting some additional KotR material in my (recently named) Extinguish the Sun 'zine, coming out at an undetermined date.

Additionally, I've begun to collect a few OSR tidbits and house rules in case I want to make a B/X retroclone incorporating them... There may be more news on that later, or not, based on how far I get with it. I'm also working on a DCC RPG compatible Spelljammer-esque setting that I should get more information on later.

[KotR] Driving Mechanics

This post is about how driving works in Knights of the Road, my WhiteBox compatible post-apocalyptic setting.

Driving systems, in my opinion, are always too complex in most RPGs, with players having to juggle several numbers just to make a U-turn. Because of this, I've decided to reduce any driving check to one roll. But, a d20 has a tad too much randomness for my liking, as good drivers should be able to consistently drive well. In order to fix this, I've decided to make driving checks use 2d6.

The most relevant attribute would be Dex, but I would rather use Wisdom as a modifier (using the to-hit modifiers for Strength). This means that when you are driving in dangerous circumstances, you roll 2d6 and add a number based on your Wisdom score. I do like even numbers, so target numbers can be 6, 8, 10, or 12.

Combat in cars should also be simple, but vehicles do provide additional protection when compared to regular armor. How I'm handling this is somewhat inspired by WotC's Star Wars Saga Edition's force fields. Each car has an armor rating. Any damage that exceeds this number goes towards the crew and reduces the armor rating by 1. Attacking cars is the same as regular ranged attacks.

Example: Alice opens communication with Bob via a sheet of lead bullets. She rolls a 14, adding 1 for a high Dexterity score, beating Bob's AC of 12. For damage, she rolls 6 on 2d8, which surpasses Bob's car's armor rating of 4. Bob takes 6 damage and his car's armor rating is reduced to 3 until repaired.