Escape from Terror Island!

Saturday, January 16, 2016 is OSRCon 5.5 at the Wilmar Heights Event Centre, 963 Pharmacy Ave, in Toronto, Ontario.

I will be running the initial playtest of Escape from Terror Island from 6:50 pm-10:50 pm. Pre-generated characters provided courtesy of the Purple Sorcerer 0-level Party Generator.

Travellers are shipwrecked on the notorious Terror Island. Try to survive hungry cannibals, giant reptiles, ape men, and more while searching for a way to escape. Find items that give you phenomenal powers! Cower before alien gods! Uncover the secrets of the Lake of Bronze! Level up at 10 XP, and take on the rest of the adventure with your survivors!

Because this is an initial playtest, all participants are eligible for a playtester credit in the final product. Because this is DCC RPG, no one will walk away without some form of swag.

The Joy of Monsters

Imagine for a moment that you picked up a shining new Dungeon Crawl Classics rulebook, and you were ready to start writing your own adventures. The Cyclopedia of Creatures might seem a little thin to those GMs used to leafing through a manual of monsters and picking out their favourites. Even given the admonishment to make monsters unique, DCC might seem a little thin on the ground in this respect. But this is an illusion.

I just finished updating the “Locating Monsters in the Blog”post to include the statblocks from Skull Mountain, and you know what? As of today, there are over 140 entries on this blog alone. When I look at the “Finding Monsters in My Adventures” post, there are more than 350 entries. Even acknowledging that there is overlap between what has appeared on my blog and in my adventures, it is probably safe to say that I have contributed over 400 creatures or beings to the game.

And that is just me alone.

How many strange creatures has Harley Stroh introduced? Michael Curtis? Jobe Bittman? A listing that catalogued all of the creatures appearing in all of the adventures, the blogs, the zines, the Spellburn Dungeon Denizens and the Sanctum Secorum companions….Is there any game that has as many creatures as DCC does? There are so many creative minds involved with this game that I cannot keep up. Even attempting to list them all is now beyond my meagre talents!

The answer is, obviously, any game where conversion is easy has all of the creatures DCC does, and shares all of its creatures with DCC. If you use the charts in the core rulebook, James Raggi’s Random Esoteric Creature Generator, and The Monster Alphabet, you have an infinite number of creatures at your fingertips. And as much as I would like to own the book(s) that gathers all of that goodness together, if I have learned nothing else from my sojourn with Dungeon Crawl Classics, I have learned this: selecting monsters from a preset list is a trap. All of the best stuff I have done has been influenced by images, fiction, random generators, and simply letting my mind wander until I had some solid idea of what should be in a particular adventure.

That said, play with those ideas that are out there. All the Purple Duck stuff I’ve done is OGC (or nearly all; there might be something I’ve missed). Play with it. Make it your own, and then publish the results. Make mention of the Black Goat or Kala Môr! Really. Not only will I buy a copy, but if you let me know, I will help to spread the word. There is a reason those blog posts, designed to make finding those stat blocks easier, exist. Like the early Cthulhu mythos, our work is stronger when echoes of one author’s oeuvre appear in another author’s work, even in a minor way.

Convert Me - Skull Mountain

Skull Mountain

This is an original Labyrinth Lord adventure by Jeff Sparks, and published by Faster Monkey Games. I used it in my home Dungeon Crawl Classics campaign, setting Wolford to the south and east of Helix (from Barrowmaze) and south and west of Stonehell. From this you may (correctly) gather that both Barrowmaze and Stonehell are part of the campaign setting. Not too far away are the ruins where Sir Amoral the Misbegotten may be found. Slightly more distant, the pass of The Black Goat.

In addition to trying to sell you on the usefulness of these items for your own DCC game, I am going to include some of the conversion stats I used when running Skull Mountain at home.

Monsters

Here are some monster examples, given DCC stats. These are cut&pasted from my conversion notes....they are exactly as I used them in play. Obviously, you will get more out of these if you actually have the adventure in question.

Bone Golem: Init +3; Atk femur bone (as club) +4 melee (1d4+1); AC 18; HD 8d12; hp 40; MV 30’; Act 4d20; SP infravision 60’, immune to electricity, fire, cold, or mind-affecting attacks; SV Fort +12, Ref +8, Will +10; AL N.

This golem has four arms, each of which can wield a weapon. It can attack up to two characters at a time.

Darkling Acolyte: Init -2; Atk claws +2 melee (1d3) or obsidian sword +0 melee (1d7) or harmful spell (see below); AC 14; HD 1d8; MV 30’ or climb 30’; Act 1d20; SP obsidian sword shatters on natural 1 or 20, harmful spells; SV Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +5; AL C.

Darkling acolytes can cast minor harmful spells, which typically manifest as threads of purple smoke which invade the lungs and cause choking. Each darkling acolyte can cast two harmful spells per day, each of which causes 1d6+1 damage at a range of 50’ (DC 14 Fort save for half damage).

Darkling Captain: Init +4; Atk claws +5 melee (1d3+2) or obsidian sword +8 melee (1d8+2 plus shock); AC 20; HD 4d8+4; hp 26; MV 30’ or climb 30’; Act 1d20; SP shock (Wasserblitzen); SV Fort +7, Ref +4, Will +6; AL C.

Wields Wasserblitzen (+1 Chaotic long sword: Int 10; Communication: Simple urges; Bane: Water Elementals [Painful wound; +1d4 damage]; Power 1: Detect traps within 2d4 x 10’; Power 2: Shock blade. Inflict an additional 1d4 electrical damage with every strike, doubled to 2d4 if opponent wears metal armour, is in water, or is composed of metal (such as a golem or living statue).

Entrance Guardian: Init +0; Atk stone fist +4 melee (1d6+3) or lava stream +2 ranged (2d6); AC 18; HD 5d10+10; hp 42; MV 10’; Act 2d20; SP DR 5/magic, immune to mind-affecting, not alive, regenerate 3 hp/round in archway, 5 lava streams before recharge; SV Fort +10, Ref +0, Will +0; AL N.

The entrance guardian can shoot lava from its mouth, like a breath weapon, five times before its reservoir is depleted. It regenerates at a rate of 3 hp per round while resting in the archway. This also replenishes its lava at a rate of one “breath” per five rounds.

Giant Frog: Init +2; Atk bite +0 melee (1d3) or tongue +2 ranged (snare); AC 10; HD 1d8; MV 30’ or leap 50’ or swim 60’; Act 1d20; SP swallow prey on natural 19-20; SV Fort +0, Ref +3, Will +0; AL N.

Prey snagged by a giant frog’s tongue must succeed on a DC 10 Strength check or be pulled 5’ closer each round (Strength DC 20 escapes, tongue is AC 15 with 5 hp). Prey swallowed by a giant frog take 1d3 damage at the beginning of each round and cannot attack unless they already have a dagger in hand (and then as -2d on the dice chain).

Giant Gecko: Init +0; Atk bite +5 melee (2d3); AC 15; HD 2d8; MV 40’ or climb 40’; Act 1d20; SP camouflage (+5); SV Fort +2, Ref -2, Will -2; AL N. 5’ long.

Giant Sturgeon: Init +0; Atk bite +6 melee (2d10); AC 20; HD 10d8+10; MV swim 50’; Act 1d20; SP swallow; SV Fort +10, Ref +4, Will +3; AL N. Up to 30’ long.

A giant sturgeon swallows prey whole on a natural 18-20. Swallowed prey take 2d6 damage each round, and must succeed in a DC 15 Reflex save to attack from inside at -2d on the dice chain (but vs. AC 13).

Giant Tuarara: Init -3; Atk bite +5 melee (3d4); AC 17; HD 3d8; MV 40’ or climb 20’; Act 1d20; SP camouflage (+10); SV Fort +2, Ref -2, Will -2; AL N. 8’ long.

Grey Worm: Init +0; Atk bite +3 melee (1d8); AC 14; HD 6d8+6; MV 10’ or burrow 30’; Act 1d20; SP swallow whole, sense creatures 60’; SV Fort +7, Ref +3, Will +0; AL N. 30’ long.

A grey worm swallows prey whole on an 19-20. Swallowed prey suffers 1d8 damage each round, and can only attack with a readied dagger at -1d on the dice chain.

Kalrak the Darkling High Priest: Init +1; Atk claws +5 melee (1d3+1) or obsidian dagger +6 melee (1d4+2); AC 19; HD 6d8+4; hp 24; MV 30’ or climb 30’; Act 1d20+1d14; SP magic obsidian dagger, spells; SV Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +7; AL C.

Obsidian Dagger: +1 Dagger; Alignment: Chaotic; Intelligence: 1; Communication: None.

Gold Ring of Protection +2: If worn by a Lawful creature, does 1d3 Agility damage per round for 1d5 rounds as it burns away. It cannot be removed without a Remove Curse spell.

Spells: (Spell Check: d20+7): Blessing, Darkness, Detect Evil, Detect Magic, Resist Cold or Heat, Second Sight, Word of Command, Binding, Curse, Divine Symbol, Snake Charm, Wood Wyrding, Bolt from the Blue, Remove Curse, True Name.

Razemeth the Avatar, average-sized purple dragon: Init +11; Atk claw (x2) +12 melee (1d8); bite +12 melee (1d12); tail slap +12 melee (1d20); AC 21; HD 11d12 (82 hp); MV 50; Act attacks 4d20, spells 1d20; SP Amphibious; SV Fort +11, Ref +15, Will +11; Al C.

Breath Weapon: Type (Smoke); no damage but remains for 1d6 rounds, conceals); Shape (Cloud, radius 1d3 x 10’, aimed up to 90’ away).

Level 1 Spells (1d20+4): Choking Cloud

Special: Change shape (1/day, darkling female); Detection (at will, gems within 100’); Darkness (at will, 30’ radius area within 100’).

Rhadogessa: Init +5; Atk bite +2 melee (2d5 plus poison) or leg +6 melee (0 plus pull); AC 15; HD 4d8; MV 50’ or climb 20’; Act 1d20; SP poisonous bite (Fort DC 15 or 1d7 per round until save succeeds), pull (Strength DC 15 or pulls to mandibles and gains free bite at +6 bonus next round), infravision 80’; SV Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +2; AL N.

Salamander: Init +6; Atk claw +5 melee (1d4) or bite +3 melee (1d8); AC 18; HD 8d8; hp 32; MV 30’; Act 3d20; SP heat (1d8 each round to all within 20’; Fort DC 12 for half), cold vulnerability (+1d12 per die of damage), immunities (fire, non-magical weapons, sleep, and charm); SV Fort +3, Ref +12, Will +8; AL C.

Terko Cooper: Init +5; Atk scimitar +6 melee (dmg 1d8+3) or javelin +7 missile fire (1d6) or harmful spell (see below); AC 17; HD 3d8; MV 20’; Act 1d20; SP harmful spell; SV Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +2; AL C.

Cooper can cast three harmful spells per day, each of which causes 2d7+2 damage at a range of 100’ (DC 15 Will save for half damage).

Items

The Mask of Terror: This helmet-like mask of strange, dark metal encloses the entire head in the hideous likeness of a horned, reptilian fiend, including slavering fangs and glittering red eyes. The mask radiates magic and evil. As disturbing as its normal appearance is, it also carries an enchantment:

Once a day, the wearer can cause the mask’s face to become utterly terrifying. Creatures within 30' who see the mask must succeed in a DC 15 Will save or flee in panic for 2d6 rounds, or cower in fear if flight is impossible. Any attack on a panicked creature ends the effect. Mindless monsters and those immune to gaze attacks are unaffected by the mask.

Caltrops: These nasty little objects are generally available in larger settlements, especially where horses are common. A five-pound bag of caltrops costs 5 gp and contains approximately 100 of the spiked metal balls. When scattered on the ground, they slow or discourage pursuit over a 10' x 10' area. Anyone walking through must slow to 5' per round or make a DC 10 Agility check to avoid stepping on them. Caltrops do 1d3 points of Agility damage slow movement by 5’ per point of Agility damage until the damage is healed.

Wormstriker: +1 Lawful Long sword (Int 6, communicates via simple urges). Bane: Dragons (Beacon of fury; sword attempts to persuade everyone that it can communicate with to attack the bane under any circumstances [ego check for wielder and potentially others]). Power: Detect secret doors within 1d6 x 10’.

Rod of Striking: As staff, +2d12 damage on critical in addition to other effects (uses a charge, 8 charges; shatters when last charge used for 1d12 damage to all within 10’ [including wielder, Ref DC 10 half]); black wood.

Location-Based Changes to Mesh with DCC

Here I deal with some things that are given Labyrinth Lord statistics, or I am adjusting treasure. Not every change I made is listed, but I give a few rooms simply to allow other judges to compare the original with the changes I made:

Area 3-2: Potion of Extra-Healing heals up to 3 HD and has 5 doses. Potion of Super-Heroism grants 3d8 temporary hit points and a 1d5 Deed Die (or +2d on the Dice Chain for warriors and dwarves) for 2d6 rounds.

Area 6-1: 1 point of temporary Stamina damage per round due to heat (Fort DC 10 each round negates); requires 5 minutes of rest to recover. IN THE LAVA: Intense heat causes 1d3 Stamina damage each round (no save).

Area T-7: No magic spear or potion.

Area U-8: Greenstar's cloak is well-made, but has no magical properties.

Area U-10: Each potion heals 1d8+3 damage. Scroll is written in code. When properly deciphered the scroll can be read but not until then. Int DC 15 or Read Languages DC 10; each attempt takes 1 turn. The caster uses her own spell check result.

Area U-13: Each potion requires a DC 10 Fort save. On a success, it heals 2d12 damage per dose (2 doses each); on a failure it causes 1d3 Strength and Agility damage due to muscle cramps. This damage heals at the rate of 1 point per hour.

Conclusion

Skull Mountain is an excellent adventure, which can be converted fairly easily to DCC. You should either buy it and convert it yourself, or you should kindly ask Faster Monkey Games to put out a DCC version. In fact, if the author wants to do the conversion himself, I'll send him my notes.

Scary Holidays!

Here are three winter/holiday themed items to use in your very own Cinder Claws adventures - the black wreath, enchanted mistletoe, and ice piercers.

Happy Holidays to All!

Black Wreath: Init +3; Atk tongue +5 melee (entrap); AC 9; HD 3d6; MV 0’; Act 1d20; SP strength drain, “death” throes; SV Fort +5, Ref -5, Will +12; AL C.

The black wreath appears as any other decorated Yuletide wreath, save none can remember placing it, and those succeeding in a Luck check feel vaguely uneasy about it. Those red berries? They are actually all eyes. The black wreath is an extension of an interdimensional creature, an organ both for sensing what is nearby in our dimension, and for feeding on it.

The black wreath can extrude a sticky green “tongue” through the hollow center of the wreath (this tongue actually comes from the creature’s own dimension) to a distance of 15’. Any creature struck by the tongue is held fast. A creature can attempt a DC 10 Strength check to avoid being pulled 10’ closer to the wreath, or a DC 15 Strength check to break free, but each attempt uses an Action Die. A Mighty Deed with a value of 5+ can also force the creature to release its victim.

Any creature brought within 5’ of the wreath while attached to the tongue takes 1d3 temporary Strength damage per round. If brought within contact with the wreath, this damage increases to 1d5 temporary Strength damage per round. The victim becomes darker as this damage is taken, as though cast into deep shadow; normal color returns only as the damage is healed. A victim reduced to 0 Strength becomes a blackened cinder as its life force is sucked away. Should the victim somehow survive (due to a Recover the body check and a kind-hearted judge), half the Strength damage taken is permanent, and the character remains forever the color of burnt umber.

If the black wreath is reduced to 0 hp, it is not slain, but withdraws completely to its own dimension. Any entrapped victim gains a last DC 20 Strength check to escape, or is pulled into the other dimension with the wreath.

Enchanted Mistletoe: The fool who steps beneath this holiday sprig is instantly paralyzed, unless he succeeds on a Will save DC 20. Paralysis lasts until the character dies, the mistletoe is removed, the magic of the mistletoe breaks down (1d7 weeks), or the character is kissed. Well, a mouth makes contact with the character. Being bit will do.

While paralyzed, the character automatically fails Will saves. His AC is equal to his armor bonus only, discounting any shield.

Ice Piercer: Init -4; Atk pierce +4 melee (1d4); AC 12; HD 1d4; MV 5’ or climb 5’; Act 1d20; SP camouflage, immune to cold and mind-affecting, double damage from heat and fire; SV Fort +4, Ref +0, Will +0; AL N.

This strange creature is made of ice, appearing like nothing more than a large icicle. It holds to its perch with a flexible “foot” made of slushy snow. Hidden among natural icicles, it surprises the unwary with a 5 in 6 chance, dropping down in an attempt to pierce creatures. Should it fail, it must make its slow way back up to ceiling or eaves, where it can drop again. No one knows why ice piercers form. No one knows why they attack – they certainly do not eat their victims! They usually melt away in the spring, and perhaps will not even form again in the same place when the weather turns cold again. 

Some Thoughts About Patrons in Dungeon Crawl Classics

Patrons, Gods, and Demi-Patrons

Patrons are (usually) supernatural entities who are willing to aid a mortal being (especially a wizard or elf) in return for services rendered. The full write-up for a patron in the Dungeon Crawl Classics role-playing game officially consists of a table for invoke patron results, a table for spellburn, a table for patron taint, and three unique spells – one 1^st level, one 2^nd level, and one 3^rd level.

A god is a powerful supernatural being who grants powers to clerics, and can demand that the cleric perform (or refrain from performing) certain actions in order to retain this power. There is some overlap between gods and patrons. A god may be, but need not be, a patron. A patron may be, but need not be, a god.

Non-deity patrons may include arch-liches, ghosts, faeries, ultra-powerful wizards, alien beings, and so on. If you read Appendix N literature, you will see ancient AIs, angel-like beings, demons, wizards, and more acting very much as patrons do in DCC. To the average peasant, though, there is little difference between a patron and a god. Both can exert enormous influence for or against the common folk.

A demi-patron is a less powerful patron. This might be a creature that can offer spellburn, or who can be invoked, but who doesn’t offer spells. The idea was introduced in this author’s adventure, Silent Nightfall, but it is implicit in the structure of Appendix N fiction that such creatures must exist. Likewise, this author’s The Crimson Void offers a system for ranking deities and other supernatural powers that can be used to determine what happens when they come into conflict.

Invoke Patron, Spellburn, & Patron Taint

When devising these tables, you can use published examples of patrons to give you a rough power gauge for appropriate effects. Remember, though, that you need to consider your patron as a whole. If a patron’s “patron taint” effects are particularly nasty, you might wish to give the patron a little extra oomph in terms of his invoke patron table. If your patron offers only the worst sorts of spellburn, you may wish to counteract that with another benefit.

It was recently suggested to me that patron taint should be both permanent and bad for the PC obtaining it. I would like to take a moment to disagree with that.

First off, not all of the patron taints in the core rules are permanent. The Three Fates, in particular, has patron taints that can be “resolved”, allowing the wizard bound to the Fates to get on with her life. I would argue that, if an event is both flavourful and meaningful within the context of the patron, it can serve as a patron taint. Anyone familiar with my work in Angels, Daemons, & Beings Between, or in the pages of several Purple Duck modules, will see what I mean.

Secondly, I don’t agree that all patron taint should be bad. The player has no control over rolling a “1” on a spell check, and has very little control (apart from spending Luck) as to what patron taint is obtained once the die is cast. Again, depending upon the patron overall, a “good” patron taint can even out a less powerful invoke patron chart…or even other, nastier, patron taints.

I would contend that the best purpose of patron taint is to strengthen the thematic bond between wizard and patron, and that you should consider any taint that does this well, even if it is not permanent, and even if it is good for the wizard.

I would also suggest that the prospective judge consider the type of game he or she wishes to run. A hideous patron taint table can turn your PCs away from the Ghost-God of Cannibal Child-Eaters if you don’t want to repeatedly play through scenes where the point-of-view characters are engaged in heinous acts involving children, while still allowing for NPCs who do the same.

Similarly, if you specifically want the PCs to consider a patron, you can build in some bennies to make that patron more attractive. I did this with Doctor Chapman for the Faerie Tales From Unlit Shores series – Doctor Chapman has fewer than average taints, and one grants a bonus when dealing with fey. This is not an accident. The adventure series is, simply put, better the more Doctor Chapman is involved with the PCs…so I gave the players reason to seek involvement with Doctor Chapman.

Spells

If you take a look at the spells in Dungeon Crawl Classics, you will see that many of them, depending upon the spell check result, contain the effects of a whole group of D&D-type spells. This is a good thing for the game as a whole, but it makes coming up with three unique spells for every patron rather difficult.

I went a different route with Doctor Chapman, and also with The Black Goat. If you are determined to make other spells available, consider allowing a wizard to cast a cleric spell (I did this in The Crimson Void) or invest in some sources of new spells – Liber Arcanum, Tales of the Fallen Empire, and The Gongfarmer’s Almanac are good places to start. Another thing you might consider is converting materials from other systems.

Some patrons may have more than three spells – Paul Wolfe has a patron like this in Angels, Daemons, & Beings Between. As always, you should consider what seems right for your patron first, and then try to figure out how to define it within the rules.

Other Benefits and Drawbacks

Finally, you may wish to consider adding benefits and drawbacks to your patrons and demi-patrons which do not rely upon the roll of the dice. For an example of what I mean, see Ulibex, the Neutral fungous Lord of Mushrooms, Molds, Mildews, and Yeasts, in Silent Nightfall. There is no reason not to give the PC who bonds with a strange creature some immediate consequence, for good or for ill. In fact, there are a lot of good reasons to do so:

• It’s fun.
• It’s surprising.
• If good, it makes the players more apt to try their luck the next time some equally foolish venture presents itself.
• It brings the unique nature of a patron directly and immediately to the table.
• It gives the bonded PC some unique trait that is the direct result of play, rather than of buying feats during chargen.

For more fun, consider using a table of unique effects, so that if another PC jumps on the bandwagon, the patron might react in a different manner!

Patrons List and Patrons in Appendix N

I am considering maintaining a list of available patrons for DCC, and a list of patrons/patron-like beings in Appendix N fiction, but these would be separate posts if there is enough interest.

All the Funnels

Looking for a 0-level funnel adventure? Below is a list of all the funnels available for Dungeon Crawl Classics, Mutant Crawl Classics, Dark Trails, and related RPGs. 

If I have missed anything, please let me know! I will update regularly.

Last Updated 30 July 2019

That's a whopping 96 funnels to date!

12,000 to 0
A Gathering of the Marked
A Hellish Commute
A Horrible Day at the Dunwich Fair
The Arwich Grinder
Assault on the Sky-High Tower
Attack of the Frawgs
Beaten Copper
Betrayal at the Admiralty
Beyond the Silver Scream
Big Trouble in Little Punjar
Carnival of the Damned 
Cavern of the Cannibal Crone
Country Crawl Classics
Crypt of Morgrath
Cult of the Skin Demon
Curse of Cragbridge
Death by Nexus
Death Slaves of Eternity
The Desert Gardens
The Devil’s Cauldron
Duel at Midora Temple
The Dweller in Dreams
The Endless Chasm of Zaxxyn
Escape from Innsmouth
Escape from the Purple Planet
Escape from the Shrouded Fen
The Exodus of Wolfbane
Fae Hard
The Fate of the Ruthless Wizard
Fire in the Mountain
Frozen in Time
Goblins of the Faerie Wood
Gold Fever Comes to Owl Creek
Greenwood of the Fey Sovereign
The Handoff
Hive of the Overmind
Hole in the Sky
The Hounds of Halthrag Keep
The Hypercube of Myt
In the Wake of the Zorkul
It Came from Outer Space
Life Finds A Way
The Long Sleep
The Lost Patrol
Madazkan's Court
The Mall Maul
May Flowers
The Meat Grinder
Mother's Maze
The Museum at the End of Time 
Nebin Pendlebrook's Perilous Pantry
Night of the Mad Kobold
Not in Kansas Any More
The Old Mansion on Rubbleknot Hill
The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk
Operation Unfathomable Completely Unfathomable DCC version
Outlive, Outsmart, Outkill!
The Peasants' Fell Bargain
The Perplexing Disappearances in Brambury
Picnic Among the Pines on the Rocky Mountain Stage Line
The Pillar of Anuul
The Pillars of Peng
Playing the Game
The Portal Under the Stars
Prince Charming, Reanimator
Prison of the Mad Gods
Rat Salad
Recruitment Day for the Perilous League
Reliquary of the Ancient Ones
The Ruined Keep
The Ruins of Ramat
Sailors on the Starless Sea
Sanctum of the Snail
The Seventh Pit of Sezrekan
The Shambling Undead
Sisters of the Moon Furnace
Sky ov Crimson Flame
Slave-Drones of the Fantas-ti-plex
The Slave Pens of Maxus
Soul for the Ocean Dark
Sour Spring Hollow
Starkweather Mountain
Street Kids of Ur-Hadad
Swindled at the Laughing Harpy
Sword in the Jungle Deep
They Served Brandolyn Red
Thirteen Brides of Blood
Tomb of the Ghast Queen
The Tribe of Ogg and the Gift of Suss
The Virtual Funnel
The Void Corpse of Amann Uur
The Well of Souls
The Witch of Wydfield
World-Quest of the Winter Calendar
Wrath of a Dead God

NOTES

Previous versions of this list had notes on publisher, my level of involvement with the writing, etc. The intent now is to link these to the appropriate DCC Trove of Treasures entry to provide additional information.

Thank you to the DCC/MCC community for helping to keep these lists up to date, and especial thanks to Dieter Zimmerman and Michael Harrington for their help!

Now in Print

Three Nights in Portsmouth

Who Should Be the Big Bad in the New Star Wars Trilogy?

Clearly, it should be the scheming Amidala.

She was the "phantom menace" from the first film, a Sith lord so subtle that she could pretend to be two people, out of a very small group of people, without either Qui Gon Jinn or Obi Wan Kenobi catching on. A Sith Lord able to take control of her world at a very young age. A Sith Lord who possesses the genius necessary to take back that world from an army of droids, using only a few grappling guns and some Gungans.

Amidala, not Palpatine, decimated the Gungans by convincing them to get slaughtered for the Naboo. 

Amidala, not Palpatine, first recognized that Anakin was special and started grooming him for her purposes. 

Amidala, not Palpatine, had the most influence on the older Anakin...and literally seduced him from his Jedi vows. 

When Palpatine sends assassins to kill Amidala, he is attempting to dispose of a rival. 

When Luke and Leia are born, Amidala fakes her own death using her Sith wiles....which is why Leia remembers her on Aldaraan. Amidala seems to die again when Leia is young, but does not...

Amidala is why.

In The Phantom Menace, they kept saying that there was always a bigger fish, and to be careful not to assume. In a sense, then, the prequel trilogy is actually a contest between Amidala and Palpatine, which Palpatine wins. His win causes Amidala to fake her death, and go into hiding. Yet she still hangs around Leia because, as we know, there are always two - a master and an apprentice. Moreover, Obi Wan and Yoda eventually focus on Luke because they have figured out what Amidala is, prompting her second apparent death when Leia is still young, and causing Obi Wan to dismiss her as a potential hope.

Suddenly, a lot of apparent mistakes make sense.

Vault 0

My brother's business venture: Vault 0.

Costuming and accessories for gamers and fans.