Enter the Stargate, if You Dare!

I watched the original Stargate movie in the theatre back in 1994. At the time, I characterized it as “Power Rangers for adults”…which is not to say that I thought it was bad, but that there is a certain flash to the effects, and a lack of grit to the story that reminded me of my son’s (then current) obsession with the Power Rangers. I dismissed it early, and never watched the television series, which I understand has a somewhat different continuity.

I rewatched it to create this blog post, and my opinions have changed somewhat. The plot is still lacking in grit. The protagonists have things far too easy in the film. The effects are far too clean…like prequel Star Wars compared to the grittier, used-universe feel of the original trilogy. And, time having passed, it looked very much like “John Denver’s clone travels to another world”.

On the other hand, there is a lot of potential here for gaming. Although much of what follows is based on the extended version of the Stargate film, I have delved a little into the spin-off series via Wikipedia and the Internet in general. Because I am not greatly familiar with the extended Stargate mythology, feel free to correct me, make changes for your own game, etc. – stuff you should feel free to do anyway!

(As a side note, since other things happened between re-watching and writing, I might still not be so great in this post, but it is an attempt!)

Stargates

These devices appear as large, circular rings of an unknown metal. Each requires seven tablets to be decoded in order to align properly (DC 18 Intelligence check per tablet; a retry is allowed each day for three days, then each week for three weeks, then each month for three months, and so on). When properly aligned, the symbols on the stargate allow a portal to open between the current stargate, and another stargate on another world. This second stargate opens only briefly, and must also be properly aligned to allow a return journey. Once a PC has decoded one series of tablets, it requires only a DC 10 Intelligence check to align the return stargate, as long as all tablets are available.

The Judge should not feel constrained to the locations used in the film, television, or novel series. A stargate can lead to any world or plane the Judge wishes. The stargate in the film led to an unnamed world ruled by Ra. Although there might have been more to it than seen in the film, it appeared to be a desert world with a definite Egyptian motif, which nonetheless managed to sustain a rather large population of human slaves. Ra took the ancestors of these slaves from Earth, so they are not native to Ra’s slave world.

The mere existence of the stargates suggests an obvious adventure possibility: One or more tablets must be recovered to open the stargate, either to pass through it initially or to return home thereafter. If this brings Perils of the Purple Planet to your mind, you’re not alone. I would not be surprised if Stargate was inspirational to some aspects of Harley Stroh’s masterpiece.

Domesticated Animal

The one creature we see which is, presumably, native to Ra’s slave world is a domesticated creature – strong, easily spooked, but apparently also reasonably friendly and loyal. It has a good sense of smell, apparently using it to find the sparse vegetation on the slave world, as well as the occasional chocolate bar travellers might be carrying.

This creature also gives us a good example of a really bad Luck check. When you burn too much Luck, ropes just kind of get wrapped around your ankle, and creatures sort of drag you through the sand for a while. Luckily, in this case, it was all subdual damage.

Domesticated animal from Ra’s slave world: Init +0; Atk bite +0 melee (1d4) or kick +1 melee (1d3); AC 12; HD 3d8+3; MV 40’; Act 1d20; SP strong sense of smell; SV Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +0; AL N.

Special Encounter: This creature is a stray, wearing a harness with a long, dangling rope. The first being who approaches it must succeed in a Luck check, or the creature is spooked, running away for 1d5+4 turns. Unless the approaching PC succeeds in a DC 10 Reflex save, the rope catches around his ankle, allowing the creature to drag him away. The sand causes 1d5 subdual damage for each turn of dragging. A PC rendered unconscious in this way awakes to the animal licking him in the face.

Troopers

Ra is protected and served by troopers wearing futuristic armour. Their animal-headed masks withdraw at will, disappearing completely into the body of the armour. Trooper armour has a +4 AC bonus, a –4 check penalty, and a d8 fumble die. This armour reduces movement by 5’.

Trooper weapons are treated as polearms with slashing blades (1d10), but they can also fire an energy beam up to 500’ (3d6). Once fired, these weapons need time to recharge – there is a 1 in 5 chance per round that the weapon is ready to fire again (i.e., 1 in 5 on the first round, 2 in 5 on the second round, etc.). If an attempt to fire the weapon is made before the recharge cycle is complete on the 5^th round, and the weapon is not recharged, nothing is accomplished apart from looking menacing.

NOTE: PCs may spend Luck to move the recharge die roll in their favour. For example, if John Denver fires a trooper weapon one round, and then tries to fire it again on the subsequent round, he rolls a die to see if it can fire. It comes up a “3”. By spending two points of Luck (3 – 2 = 1), he can shift that to a successful recharge.

Trooper: Init +0; Atk polearm +1 melee (1d10) or energy beam +3 ranged (3d6); AC 14; HD 1d6; MV 25’; Act 1d20; SP weapon recharge; SV Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +0; AL L.

It should be noted that Ra’s troopers are human. They are simply the most privileged slaves on a slave world. Both armour and weapons are powered by a unique, unnamed metal that has the ability to store and amplify power.

Air Support

Some of the troopers also fly cool-looking fighters, which are presumably capable of travelling in space as well as in the atmosphere. A half-way descent tactician would use these far more effectively than Ra. Ra uses them for the occasional strafing run and little else. Perhaps this is due to a limitation on Ra’s unique metal’s storage capacities…the Crawljammer stats below assume that this is the case.

Ra’s fighter: Init +3; Atk energy beams +3 ranged (2d6); AC 15; HD 5d10; MV 90’; Act 1d20; SV Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +2; Crit d8; Fumble d4; Composition: metal; Luck pool: 0.

Strafing Run: The sky is split by the scream of alien ships. They pulse beams of blue fire toward the people massed below, followed by panic, screams, and explosions.

Somehow, for all their destructiveness, the strafing runs seldom injure important characters. Each PC (and significant NPC) make a Luck check. On a failure, they take 2d6 damage from incidental shrapnel, trampling, etc. If an NPC has no Luck score, assume success 50% of the time. Background NPCs are not so fortunate – 3d8 of them are killed. The judge may modify the number killed depending upon circumstances.

Miracles and Wonders

Teleporters: Ra has mastered the use of teleporting machines. Each of these machines must have a terminal at both ends to function.

Resurrection: Ra has a machine that can resurrect the fallen. If recently slain (within 48 hours), the machine is 100% effective, and the subject suffers no ability score loss. Every day thereafter, there is a 5% reduction in the chance of a successful resurrection, and a +5% chance that a point is lost from a random ability score (not including Luck). If an ability point is lost, there is chance that another point is lost (base chance –10%). If that is lost, there is another chance (10% less than the previous) that another point is lost, and so on, until the chance reaches 0 or it is rolled without ability point loss.

Non-human characters have a –25% chance of resurrection, and a +25% chance of ability point loss if resurrection succeeds. Something about humans makes them easier for Ra’s machines to repair.

Nameless Metal: In its pure form, this may be used as a special material component in spells which capture or release energy. The caster gains a +1 bonus to the spell check for every ½ pound of the metal sacrificed for this purpose. Extracting this metal to a usable form for spellcasting requires an Intelligence-based DC 20 Skill check related to smelting, metallurgy, or smithcraft. Failure by 5 or more causes an explosion for 1d6 damage per ½ pound of metal, with a radius of 30’. Failure by 10 or more doubles both damage and radius. A natural “1” on a failed check triples the damage and radius.

Ra

Long ago, an alien from an unnamed species was dying, and searched the universe for the means to stave off death. Eventually, it came to Earth, where it became known to the Egyptians as the god, Ra. By possessing a human host, the alien was able to prolong life indefinitely. Although Ra now appears as a rather androgynous adolescent boy, when he is angry flashes of the possessing alien become visible – a dark-eyed creature similar in many ways to the classic “Close Encounters”-type aliens.

When Ra strikes a creature, there is a 1 in 3 chance that an energy discharge will cause an additional 1d6 damage and fling the creature back 3d6 feet. Any creature subject to this attack must roll a DC 10 Fort save or drop any held items, and a DC 15 Reflex save or be knocked prone.

Ra: Init +3; Atk unarmed strike +3 melee (1d5) or by weapon +5 melee; AC 13; HD 8d6; hp 30; MV 30’; Act 2d20; SP energy discharge, regenerate 3 hp/round, damage reduction 5; SV Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +10; AL L.

Goa'uld System Lords and Anubis Prime

In the movie, Ra was the last of a humanoid alien species, but in the television series he was one of the “Goa’uld System Lords” – a species of eel-like parasites from planet P3X-888, which could infest and possess humanoid hosts. Remorseless creatures bent on dominating others, the Goa’uld parasites could be encountered on many worlds. The most powerful of these creatures was known as Anubis. Anubis was so dangerous that even the other Goa'uld System Lords didn’t want him around.

I don’t have enough knowledge of the Stargate universe to even attempt to stat out the Goa’uld System Lords or Anubis. Anyone more knowledgeable than myself, who cares to take a crack at it in the comments section, is more than welcome to do so!

This will be a thing, too....

All of the Campaign Elements series will be available in print. With a new spiffy logo!

More on the CE Series

Cross-posted from Google+, where Mark Gedak from Purple Duck Games was asking for feedback on the CE Series. I was going to link to the request, but to my chagrin I don't seem able to figure out how to find the hyperlink for specific Google+ threads. Hopefully, one or more kind readers can help me out....?

Anyway, related to the CE Series:

Writing these things was driven by a need at my own gaming table. The core rules suggest "Quest for it" as the default answer to any special character abilities, and I wanted to have areas prewritten for my own game that work with that core concept.

CE 1 allows a thief to conduct a legendary burglary, but it also allows a wizard or elf to deal with corruption, and offers a cleric a cult to belong to, or oppose.

CE 2 is largely designed to offer wizards a unique patron that works within the confines of the world, but it also can be used to "harden" a border region by making a mountain pass more difficult, can potentially offer an unusual paramour for one or more PCs, and offers two humanoid groups that the PCs can play off one another.

CE 3 makes passage through a swamp region interesting, despite recurrence, and offers the judge a way to build a story through multiple excursions (even when travel is not the focus of those excursions). 

CE 4 potentially gives warriors a boost, but also includes an oracular device that could bring the PCs back to the vicinity repeatedly. Or could be used against the PCs.

CE 5 has a base adventure, but also offers a quick set of mutations for the DCC game, including some mutated critters. It introduces an organization that the PCs could join, or (more likely) come into conflict with.

CE 6 offers something for the cleric, something for the wizard, and a good piece of backdrop against which many conflicts could be staged. The goal was to create setting conflict that could be ramped up as the PCs continue to change things around them, eventually leading to a high-level epic endgame.

From where I am sitting, there is a reason that DCC Lankhmar is such a big deal. There is a reason why people enjoy the background materials for Purple Planet and Chained Coffin. Even if the background details are not the focus of the adventure at hand, having those details to weave into your adventures is important.

That's what I want the CE Series to do. Yes, each can be used for a discrete evening's game session. You can sack the temple, or fight/parley your way through the mountain pass. You can try to dig up treasure hidden in the swamp or you can fight to prove yourself worthy to Sir Amoral.

But....what if your treasure hoard includes a map to buried treasure? CE 3 has you covered. You can do that. What if your wizard needs to learn a new spell? CE 2 and CE 6 might come into play. What if your players want to learn something esoteric? CE 2 and CE 4 might be your babies. Corruption your elf just can't live with any more? Break out CE 1.

Running Purple Planet? The Pellas Troth and Mahmat Troth are now renegade kith tribes, and the Black Goat dwells in a pass in the Ancestor Peaks. Or, if you need them to be, they are groups of disfigured Shudfolk in the milieu of The Chained Coffin.

Anyway, that is how I intended them to be used - set pieces to work with PC quests, treasure maps, tying unrelated adventures together, and enriching the sense of a living Appendix N world.

(If you know your Appendix N well, you will recognize strong homages in all of the CE series.)

They're not exactly traditional adventures. Every one of them has the potential to be used as a traditional adventure, and you will get your money's worth. But if you use them as they are intended to be used, your PCs will return to the material again and again, seeking ways to take advantage of the persistent elements. You will have persistent elements that can be used again and again to strengthen other adventures, and make them more personal to the players. In this way, you will get many times your money's worth. Or, you will if your table is anything like mine.

This is just a quick note to tell you that CE 6: The Crimson Void is now available.

Any role-playing game session can take a left turn at Albuquerque, leaving the poor Game Master wondering what to do next. This is even more true for the dedicated Dungeon Crawl Classics judge, who discovers that patron quests, divine disapproval, and the requests of gods to pay back divine favor can make the game take incredible new turns with the roll of a few dice.

Add to this the advice urging players to “Quest For It” when they want something unusual for their characters, and you have a potent stew for gaming, but also a situation in which the judge may want strong DCC elements with a minimum of preparation required.

The Campaign Element (CE) series attempts to address these specific areas. Now, when your wizard is looking for a spell, your cleric is sent on a mission from her deity, or your thief simply wants to find a location where stealth and a cunning mind are paramount, you will have an answer at your fingertips. Weave these campaign elements into your world, mesh them into other modules and areas of your own creation, and watch the “Appendix N” vibe of your games grow.

In addition, for various reasons sometimes only a few players were available for a night’s gaming. Each Campaign Element is short enough to be played through by most groups in only a single session. That doesn't mean that the value of the area is limited to a single session – each adventure includes notes on “squeezing it dry”…effectively getting the maximum re-use from your investment.

CE 6: The Crimson Void describes a unique goddess (Kala Môr), Her cult, temple grounds, as well as the priests and other beings associated with the location. The easiest way to use this material is to allow PC clerics of Kala Môr attached to this temple. Kala Môr may also be used as a template for creating unique deities of the judge’s own devising. Other characters may oppose the temple, come to it for aid, attempt to prevent a sacrifice, or need to leap into the Crimson Void themselves. Robbing the temple of its riches would be a crowning achievement for any thief. A Neutral deity was chosen to allow the judge to easily use Kala Môr as both aid and adversary to any group as he chooses.

A setting element to help create a rich campaign environment for DCC games of all levels.

Updates

I’ve been a bit quiet on the blogging front because I have been busy elsewhere. The earlier part of 2014 was slow going for me, and I suffered massively from writer’s block. It is tough to be prolific when you feel the words you are penning just don’t convey what you want them to. It isn’t that I got nothing done, but everything I managed to complete was a lot more difficult than it should have been.

The material I composed for Goodman Games’ Peril on the Purple Planet kickstarter seems to have gotten that out of my system, and I am firing on all cylinders again. That stuff was just easy and fun to write, and it seems to have gotten me back into the groove. The end result is that I have a lot of projects piled up at the end of the year, which means you’ll be seeing more Daniel J. Bishop titles in 2015 than you did in 2014.

The initial text for FT 2: The Portsmouth Mermaid (Purple Duck Games) has been playtested, and was well received. I was a bit concerned about how easy the text would be to follow – I have run this sort of adventure before, where the PCs can literally change the whole course of the game by their decisions – but this is the first time I have tried to make sure that my notes were as useful to another GM as they would be to me.

In a typical dungeon, descriptions of what is where, and how it interacts, are adequate for play. In a town, you need to describe the players and the factions, the town itself, what events will occur if the PCs don’t change things, what events are likely, and supply a slew of material for when the game curves unexpectedly. You’ll be getting all of that and more with The Portsmouth Mermaid.

The next two CE Series campaign elements for Purple Duck Games are nearly complete. In addition, there is a nifty project Perry Fehr and I will be working on for Purple Duck.

I have some other work for Goodman Games (see the Gen Con program guide) and Purple Duck to get off my plate as the year closes, but everything is progressing smoothly there. Going into 2015, there are some secret projects in the works; I have been asked to help with something near and dear to my heart, and which I think the DCC community will be rightly excited about. It’ll be my first time writing for the company involved.

In my home game this Thursday, I expect more exploration of the Anomalous Subsurface Environment, which I am using with Dungeon Crawl Classics. The PCs have explored most of the Gatehouse, and have opened the way to the dungeon proper. They just began to explore the first level when the game ended last week. I cannot praise Patrick Wetmore’s work on ASE enough.

The Judge Js on Spellburn disagreed with me regarding The Wizardarium of Calabraxis, which I continue to rate as a Critical Hit and regard as the #1 “must own” adventure for DCC. YMMV.  But you should absolutely also pick up Prayers of the Forgotten and Stronghold of the Wood Giant Shaman, also recently reviewed on Spellburn. Very, very good stuff there.