The Dragon of Umbros: a Short OSR Adventure

The great hundred-headed dragon Ladon was the protector of the Grove of the Golden Apples, where the nymphs known as the Hesperides tend the golden apple trees of the gods. Now, however, he has begun to assail the people of the island of Umbros, on which the grove stands, and none know why. The Tyrant of Umbros and the High Priestess of Theia are offering a high bounty for his death.Will you take on the ferocious dragon, or will you try to resolve the situation peacefully? Perhaps there is more going on than meets the eye...

 

I wrote an adventure! It's based on Ancient Greek myth, and should work with any system that has hitpoints, spells, ability scores, and Hit Dice without any adaptation. Fair warning, I never got around to playtesting it, but it should take 1-3 sessions. If you do end up using it, please let me know how it goes!

The adventure

 

The keyed map

 

The unkeyed map

I Come From the North and the Sea, From the Land Behind the Sun (GLOG Class: Mage)

This class draws heavily from the Mage class in the Old School Essentials zine "Carcass Crawler Volume 1", as well as, you know, Gandalf. 

Magic has long been tamed. Gone are the days of binding unruly spirits to your will, of spell failure and horrible accidents, of Doomed sorcerers laying waste to entire nations. You weren't apprenticed to a tower-bound recluse; you studied for years in a state-sponsored school designed to produce high-functioning servants of the empire. Now your allegiance has faltered, for whatever reason, and that reliable, standard magic you were taught may prove essential in your journey. Perhaps you'll unearth older, freer arts of magic along the way, and bring them to light.

 

Starting Equipment: A staff inlaid with runes in bronze wire or a bronze ritual dagger, fancy robes, a two-shot derringer with 4 rounds, a notebook, a pen that writes in your blood without requiring an open wound (just takes it straight from your veins), and an addiction to nicotine or laudanum.

Skills: Arcana and 1d3: 1. Research, 2. Occultism, 3. Tinkering

A: Dependable Magic

B: +1 Magical Talent, +1 Improved Talent

C: +1 Magical Talent, +1 Improved Talent

D: State Truth, +1 Magical Talent, +1 Improved Talent

Dependable Magic: You are possessed of various magical abilities, which you can perform reliably and at will. Gain 3 Magical Talents from the list below. To use these abilities, you must have a magical implement in your hand (your staff or ritual dagger, for example) and the ability to speak freely. You gain one additional talent and can improve one talent you already possess for each template of Wizard you take.

State Truth: You have a pool of 15 words, with which you can make statements that will become absolute truth. Every word you use in these statements is subtracted from your pool, which can never be refilled. The DM should be charitable with their interpretation of the truths and consider your intent. The truths you create do not necessarily persist indefinitely or apply universally, depending on the magnitude: if you say "The Sun is gone," the Sun will only disappear for a few minutes and the effect will be confined to your local area, but if you say, "I am holding a magical sword," the materialized sword may well be permanent. Exceptionally powerful creatures and sorcerers may attempt to defy your truths. You and they both roll a Charisma check, and the winner's view of reality prevails.

Magical Talents

First, a digression: many of the below abilities refer to more and less powerful magic than your own. Generally, the power of any given magic is the level of the caster plus the number of MD used, if any. If the DM doesn't have any clue what that might be, they can roll (probably on 1d3 or 1d4, maybe higher for particularly powerful effects). If there's a tie, unless there's a specific edge case (as with Antimagic below), the casters should roll opposed Charisma checks to see who is more powerful.

 

1. Detect Magic: 10 minutes of searching allow you to detect any magic within a room or a 50' x 50' area, whichever is smaller. You can see invisible spirits and creatures as indistinct shades. 

Improved Detect Magic: You can see magic and spirits with the naked eye.

 

2. Hold: You can seal any door, lid, or other object that can be opened and closed for [template] minutes. For this duration, it can only be opened with magic more powerful than your own or by completely destroying the affected object. 

Improved Hold: If you choose, the duration of your Hold on objects is indefinite. You can also Hold creatures with less HD than your templates in this class for [template] rounds, and they can Save to escape every round.

3. Open: You can instantly open any door, lid, restraint, or other object that can be opened, even if it is locked or sealed. Magic more powerful than your own can prevent this. 

Improved Open: You can attempt to open creatures. They must Save, taking 2d6+[templates] damage on a failure and half as much on a success.

4. Mantle: Your allies have +2 to Saves and Morale when within 30' of you. When you want to, you bring a sense of lightness and purity wherever you go. When you are cloaked, you are unidentifiable to anyone who doesn't succeed a Save. 

Improved Mantle: You may take 2d6 damage to cause [template]*2 creatures you can see with no more HD than [template] must Save or become terrified of you for 1d6 minutes.You may also attempt to use this on a single creature with more HD than [template].

5. Antimagic: You may attempt to cancel any magic you are aware of. You have a 5-in-6 chance of defeating magic weaker than your own, a 3-in-6 chance against magic roughly equal in power to your own, and a 1-in-6 chance against magic stronger than your own. This takes an instant for immediate effects, or an hour for permanent enchantments. Temporary effects are immediately ended, while permanent effects are suppressed for 10 minutes. 

Improved Antimagic: You may take 1 damage to automatically succeed on Antimagic rolls against weaker magic, 1d6 against equal magic, and 3d6 against stronger magic.

6. Staff: If using a staff created specifically for your use as a mage's tool (the one from your starting equipment counts), it deals magical damage. It can also radiate light in a 30' radius for [template] hours per day. 

Improved Staff: Your staff has +2 to hit and +1 damage. Supernatural creatures that bear you ill will take 1d6+[template] damage and must check Morale when they enter the light of your staff.

7. Fire: You may light fires by touching your magical implement to flammable objects. This fire is unnaturally virulent, spreading quickly and easily lighting things not usually easily burned (such as creatures). 

Improved Fire: You can take 1d8 damage in order to light an area as large as 20' x 20' on fire. 

8. Suggestion: You may give a creature who can understand you a command, which they must Save against or follow for [template] rounds. They have a bonus to this Save equal to the number of words in the command. This command cannot be directly harmful to them. Regardless of whether they Save or not, they are aware that you attempted or succeeded to magically compel them. 

Improved Suggestion: When you use your Suggestion on a creature with less HD than [template], they either do not get a Save or must obey your command for [template] hours (your choice).

9. Locate: If you have a map of an area, you may perform a 1 hour ritual to pinpoint a specifically named object or creature on that map. Magic more powerful than your own may hide your target, unless you possess a fragment or bodily material from it. 

Improved Locate: The regular Locate ritual only takes you 10 minutes. You may perform the full hour-long ritual to also highlight the fastest (but not necessarily safest or most practical) route to your target.

10. Obscure: You can create thick fog banks that block all sight around anything you can currently see, which dissipate in [template]*10 minutes, or faster in strong wind. Any creature you do not specifically exempt has a 2-in-6 of becoming lost inside the fog, unless they know the terrain well or it would be an impossibility to get lost. 

Improved Obscure: You can perform a ritual to protect a person, place, or object from detection. Performing it on a person or object takes 10 minutes, and they are either unable to be detected by magical means for [template] days or have a 4-in-6 chance to avoid unwanted notice for [template] hours (your choice). Performing it on a place protects it from magical detection for [template]^2   years, and anyone who seeks it or would stumble upon it have a 5-in-6 chance of getting lost and missing it, unless they are specifically exempted by name during the ritual.

One-Roll Mass Combat, and Some Other Warfare Rules

I've been wanting to write mass combat/warfare rules for a while, and here they are!

Link to the document

 

They include a mostly one-roll system for resolving battles and various rules for marching, feeding your troops, paying your troops, and attrition. They also include maybe more percentages than would be strictly desirable from a math front, but it's an easy solution.

And She Was a Radiant Blaze Flooding All of the Void (GLOG Classes: Paladin and Thief)

This post steals heavily from Vayra and Vulnavia's paladins.

 

You have been blessed by the valorous Sun or the all-seeing Moon. It was evident from the very moment your eyes first opened and scintillated as radiantly as light pouring through a bright topaz or pale aquamarine. Why, then, being holy to the G-ds who govern us all, are you not perched on a mahogany throne in a cathedral being fed sweetmeats and grapes by silken-robed attendants? Indeed, many Sun-Kissed and Moon-Kissed are doing so at this very moment, but you are stronger than they, and braver. The Church claims to be the source of all moral authority. You know better. Go forth into the world, and shed light where e'er you go.

The Sun-Kissed

Starting Equipment: Two gilded double-action revolvers with 6 rounds each or a gilded greatsword, a brass gorget in the shape of the sun's rays, a vial of laudanum, 3 gauze bandages, and an amber lens through which souls can be seen.

 

Skills: Passionate Heroism and 1d3: 1. Theology, 2. Horsemanship, 3. Wrestling

For every template of Sun-Kissed you have, gain +1 Save.

 

A: Her Chosen Soul

B: Beloved of the Innocent, +1 to-hit

C: Healing Tears, Molten Blood

D: Mantled With Divine Flame, +1 to-hit

Her Chosen Soul: You were selected and marked by the divine Sun, She Whose Light Burns Evil. While you are conscious, your golden eyes glow unless you actively suppress it, providing light in a 10' cone. You can choose to extend this to a 60' cone at the cost of 1 Fatigue per hour. Your Charisma score is 16 if it wasn't already higher. If you truly believe that an action is right and perform it in the coolest, most badass way possible, you can choose to use Charisma for the roll (if any is required) rather than whatever the relevant skill or ability score would have been.

Beloved of the Innocent: Children and animals adore you and will not attack you under any circumstances. The truly pure-hearted will always recognize you, and you can recognize them.

Healing Tears: If you weep on a wound, illness, curse, or other affliction, it will be healed instantly. If you don't think you have the emotional connection to justify natural tears, you can make a Charisma check to cry at will.

Molten Blood: Literal molten gold flows through your veins. If you are wounded in a way that would draw blood, the cause of the wound must Save or be sprayed (1 wound at -1 severity, automatic blindness if it hits the face). If you deliberately draw your own blood, every coin's worth of gold acts as a wound of 1 severity.

Mantled With Divine Flame: You can, at will, summon a crown of flames to grace your brow. This provides light in a 30' radius and gives +2 to reaction rolls, -2 to enemy morale rolls, and +2 to allied morale rolls and Saves.

The Moon-Kissed

Starting Equipment: Three silvered throwing knives or a silvered sword-cane, a two-shot derringer with 4 rounds, a grappling hook and 60' of rope, a pouch of lockpicks, a silver-gray cloak that's only shiny when you want it to be, and a glass orb filled with shadows that will fill a 50' by 50' area when the orb is smashed.

Skills: Thievery and 1d3: 1. Theology, 2. Climbing, 3. Arcana

For every template of Moon-Kissed you have, gain +1 Stealth.

A: His Chosen Soul

B: Hands of a Tinker, +1 to-hit

C: All-Knowing Eye

D: Cloaked in Divine Shadow, +1 to-hit

His Chosen Soul: You were selected and marked by the divine Moon, He Whose Light Reveals Truth. Your silver-blue eyes glow at will, providing light in a 10' cone. You can choose to extend this to a 60' cone at the cost of 1 Fatigue per hour. Your Charisma score is 16 if it wasn't already higher. If you truly believe that an action requiring subterfuge, finesse, or cunning is right, you can choose to use Charisma for the roll (if any is required) rather than whatever the relevant skill or ability score would have been.

 

Hands of a Tinker: Upon touching a mechanical or magical device, you intuitively know how to operate it, render it inoperable, and subvert its functioning to your purposes. You can do any of the above expertly.

 

All-Knowing Eye: When your eyes cast light on an object or person, you know the following: 

• Whether it is magical or not.
  
• The nature, effect, and function of any magic affecting it.
• The meaning of any text on it, regardless of language and script.
• The cultural significance of any relevant symbolism.

Cloaked in Divine Shadow: You can, at will, summon a cloak woven of shadow from the æther. While in this cloak, you are completely invisible except for your shadow, even to effects which detect magic. Anyone other than you who touches this cloak must Save vs Magic. On a failure, if they have less HD than your level, they fall asleep for 1d4 hours or until roused. If they have more HD than your level or HD equal to your level, they instead become drowsy and disorientated for 1d6 rounds.

Magic Weapons as Poems

THREE WORD NAMES for swords have become quite the fashion (the original post, although there have been quite a few since). As people have been experimenting with similar topics, I thought that it might be interesting to try magic weapons as short verses in meter, rather than with pithy names. As the poems aren't the most informative beyond the broad strokes, I've also included prose descriptions. However, in-game, identifying the weapons might only yield the poem, not the full description.

 

Three scores and more
Her long blade cuts;
Of forgéd ore
With gem at butt.

 

A sword-staff with a diamond set at the butt of the haft. She may cut out to a range of 60' or may attack three times, each dealing one half of regular damage on a hit.

 

Revolving barrels spin,
and forth jet bullets bold,
his sights a precise fin,
each shot a bite of cold. 

 

An ebony-handled revolver chambered in .44-40. His precise sights grant a +1 to hit at ranges greater than 50', and the bullets freeze and shatter objects and armor they hit.

Flourishing flashing and whirling bright,
Their cuts will set your wounds all aright.
Confident thrusts are another matter,
They will your foes' chests break and shatter.

 

A gold-chased late medieval arming sword. Their cuts heal 1d8 damage in addition to dealing their regular damage (assuming 1d6 for a one-handed sword), while their thrusts shatter the target on a modified attack roll of 20 or above for an additional 1d8 damage.

NONE SHALL PASS,
So her THREE WORD NAME titles her;
END OF DAYS,
Such doom will her baring confer.

 

Drawing this bronze estoc from her scabbard will begin an apocalypse that destroys the world (1d6):

1. By fire
2. By water
3. By disease
4. By earthquake
5. By cold
6. By jaguars
   

A broad dao flashes below the cold moon,
His silvery sheen should not shine so soon.
For when his blade cleaves foes asunder
They need not be buried six feet under.

 

A plain, undecorated dadao that glows faintly in the moonlight. When he slays a foe, there is a 50% chance the body is finely splattered across all nearby surfaces and a 50% chance they rise as a zombie or other undead (hostile to everyone, including the wielder).

Mothers scream to hear their cursed name,
Fathers wail at the whirring blade.
What causes such dismay? A fame
So dire, their weight in the fray.
The cause is this: there's no reason.
Magic lends a fear sans treason.

 

A butterfly knife of gold with ivory and copper handle scales. Despite being completely useless as an actual weapon, when opened and whirled around, every nearby creature (including the wielder) must Save vs Fear or flee screaming.

GLOG: The Channeler

Some folks on Phlox's GLOG Discord were talking about a wizard who channels their magic through a gun, so I figured I'd give something similar a whirl with less modern weapons. By nature, it doesn't have a great deal of non-combat utility, but I tried to make at least a fair few of the spells useful in creative ways that don't involve murder. Still, though, not great in that respect.

 

Starting Equipment: A leather helmet, a small shield, a wolfskin cloak with a silver brooch, a staff, and either a shortsword or a sling with 20 bullets.

Skills: Occult Lore and 1d3: 1. Poetry, 2. Embroidery, 3. Hunting

 

You gain +1 to-hit for every second template of Channeler you take.

A: Arcane Weapon, Weapon Dice

B: Always to Hand, +1 WD

C: Eldritch Blows, +1 WD

D: Master of Creation, +1 WD

Arcane Weapon: You can weapons out of pure magic: a sword, an axe, a club, a polearm (including spears), a bow, a javelin, or a sling. Manifesting one of these weapons requires an hour, and you take 1d6 damage upon completion. If you create an arcane weapon while you already have another, the first disappears. Whenever you use a ranged arcane weapon (includes javelins), you can manifest the required ammunition instantaneously as you attack. You can also convert an already extant magic weapon into an arcane weapon with the same process, although rather than disappearing when another is created, it will simply no longer be an arcane weapon.

Weapon Dice: You have a pool of d6s, called Weapon Dice. You start with only one WD. When you strike with your arcane weapon (or in another relevant situation), you can roll any number of these WD, which add +[dice] to all attack rolls you make this round and use a spell of your choice, although you may only use a weapon-specific with that weapon, not any other types. Your WD deplete on a roll of 1-3 and are recovered when you sleep for 8 hours. When you roll doubles, you suffer a Mishap, and suffer a Doom on triples. You know one spell from either the melee or ranged list, rolled on a d4, and the signature spell of any one weapon type. When you take more templates of this class, you learn another spell from any list of your choice, rolling a d4 at B and a d6 at C if you choose the melee or ranged lists, and picking completely freely at D.

Always to Hand: No matter how far you are from your arcane weapon, you can always summon it to your open hand at will. It will fly the distance at a speed of 10 feet per second, although it cannot pass through any solid obstacle. Attempting to hit an opponent between you and the weapon is a ranged attack roll (it probably won't do much with a ranged weapon, though, only with melee weapons)

 

Eldritch Blows: Your arcane weapon counts as a magic weapon for purposes of overcoming resistance and immunity to damage.

Master of Creation: Creating an arcane weapon is now instantaneous for you, and you only take 1 damage rather than 1d6.

Melee Spells:

1. Cleave: If you hit an attack, make another attack against another foe within reach. This continues until you miss an attack, run out of enemies you haven't already attacked, or attack [sum] times (if [sum] is 1, you may attack 2 times).
   
2. Mirror Image: For the next [sum] rounds, you are surrounded by [dice] holograms of yourself, which have an AC of 10. Enemies attacking you determine their target from among these and you randomly, and they disappear immediately when hit.
   
3. Freeze: Your target takes [sum] additional damage and must Save vs Magic or be reduced to half speed for [sum] rounds as ice crackles over them.
   
4. Long Blow: The range of your weapon is [dice] * 10 feet longer than usual for this attack.
   
5. Impalement: If you hit with this attack, your target is impaled, taking [dice] additional damage, and your weapon freezes in place for [sum] rounds, during which the enemy is immobilized. They may Save vs Magic to pull themselves off of the weapon, and if they succeed they take 2d6 damage.
   
6. Bouquet of Arms: For the next [dice] rounds, including this round, you grow [dice] additional arms all bearing copies of your arcane weapon, each of which may attack once per round.

Ranged Spells: 

1. Snipe: Gain an additional +[sum] to hit. If you meditate on the shot for a minute before firing, gain another +[dice] to hit, and a further +[dice] at an hour and a day of meditation. You may take a -5 to-hit to declare exactly where you hit the target, if that's in any doubt.
   
2. Thunderclap: Every creature within [dice] * 5 feet of the target takes [dice] damage and must Save vs Magic or get thrown back [dice] * 5 feet. Everyone within the radius is also deafened for [dice] rounds.
   
3. Disarm: The target takes no damage, but has anything they are carrying thrown [dice] * 20 feet away from them in a direction of your choice.
   
4. Cloak of Darkness: This round and the next [dice] rounds, whenever you shoot your ranged weapon, you create a sphere of impenetrable magical darkness with a radius of 10 feet. These spheres last for 1 minute after their creation.
   
5. Chain Lightning: Instead of a regular projectile, you fire a bolt of lightning. Select [dice] + 1 targets, each of whom must be within 60 feet of yourself or at least one other target. Every target must Save vs Magic, taking [sum] + [dice] damage on a failure or [dice] damage on a success.
   
6. Hailstorm: You fire a vast horde of projectiles up into the sky, and next round they begin to come down in a [dice] * 20 feet radius around a point within your weapon's range. All creatures within that area take [dice] damage at the start of every round for the next [sum] rounds. The affected area is difficult terrain until the end of the spell.
   

Signature Spells per Weapon:

• Flaming Brand (Sword): Flames run down your sword for [dice] * 10 minutes, casting light within 30 feet and dealing an additional [dice] damage. 
  
• Animate (Axe): Your axe takes on a life of its own, floating in the air and doing as you tell it for [sum] rounds. It keeps your to-hit bonus.
  
• Pound (Club): If you hit with this mace attack, your target flies back [dice] * 10 feet. If their motion is stopped by anything, both they and the thing they impact take 1d6 damage per 10 feet they moved.
•  Hedge of Steel (Polearm): When at least one creature comes within reach of your polearm, you can summon a row of floating ethereal polearms that either form a line [dice] * 50 feet long or a circle [dice] * 10 feet in radius (or smaller, if you wish it). Any creature that hits this line must Save vs Magic, taking [sum] damage and being repulsed 5 feet from the line on a failure or half that damage on a success. The polearms last for [dice] minutes, and while they are extant you are immovable when you wish to be.
• Quickshot (Bow): You let loose a flurry of [sum] attacks with your bow.
• Pierce (Javelin): This attack with your javelin, once it makes contact with solid or liquid matter, will not stop for 3 feet no matter what it hits. If your target is a creature and you hit their unarmored AC, you hit them regardless of their regular AC, and you deal [sum] + [dice] additional damage.
• Magic Stone (Sling): You touch [sum] small stones and turn them into +1 magic weapons. Rocks are base -2 grapple weapons with -1 thrown 20/60, and the stones can also be used as ammunition for a sling. The enchantment lasts for 1 day. 

Mishaps: 

1. Take 1d6 damage.
2. Take +1 damage from all sources for the next hour.
3. After striking, your arcane weapon disappears.
4. Your hands and eyes appear bloodstained for the next week.
5. All mundane weapons within 20 feet have a 2-in-6 chance of shattering.
6. Your arcane weapon is affected by Animate (the axe's signature spell) with 1 MD, but it will only attack you for the duration. It will not disappear if you create a new arcane weapon until the end of the spell.
   

Dooms:

1. For the next hour, take 1 damage whenever you touch a weapon and a further 1 damage per round while holding a weapon.
2. For the next day, take 1d6 damage for every die of damage you deal to any other creature.
3. For the rest of your life, you are incapable of touching a weapon or deliberately harming another creature. If you even attempt to do so or are forced to do so, you take 1d8 damage and are incapacitated with crippling pain for a minute.
   

GLOG: The Berserker

A Berserker, to go with the Ranger, Druid, and Paladin that I've written recently. In traditional D&D parlance you might call this a Barbarian, but that framing is neither sensible for my setting nor sensible in general. My thought with this new series of classes is that I might add them to Carolingia as "advanced classes", where you get a somewhat stronger and more directly flavorful class at the cost of starting as someone else's retainer (perhaps even another PC's) rather than with your own domain. The obvious role for this class specifically is as a Norse berserker, but there's also certainly a niche for it as a Cu Chulainn-type.

 

Starting Equipment: A bearskin cloak with head, a mail shirt, a bearded axe or sword, a shield, a sack of hallucinogenic mushrooms (3 doses), and a flat river stone bearing the runes ᚦᛚᛘ (thur lögr maðr).

Skills: Wrestling and 1d3: 1. Sailing, 2. Drinking, 3. Scar-Reading

For every template of Berserker you have, gain +1 HP. Every second template, gain +1 to-hit.

A: Berserk Rage, Cunning Forager

B: Indomitable

C: Immovable, Terrifying Onslaught

D: Inexorable

 

Berserk Rage: You may enter a berserk rage at will. When in a rage, you may attack twice per round rather than just once, but you may only act violently, not constructively, creatively, collaboratively, or prudently. This rage lasts 2d3+[template] rounds or until all present enemies are dead, incapacitated, or beyond your ability to pursue. If any of your allies attempt to prevent you from committing violence, they become enemies as well. If you take hallucinogens before entering the rage, you also gain +1 HP per template (subtracted from your current total when the rage ends) and +1 to-hit for the duration.

 

Cunning Forager: Over the course of 6 hours in the wilderness, you can always find and prepare either 1 dose of hallucinogens or 1 ration.

 

Indomitable: When in a rage, if you roll on the Death and Dismemberment table, ignore any result short of instant death until the rage ends. You are also immune to fear, charm, and sleep effects while raging. If you have a steady supply of recreational drugs, wounds heal twice as quickly.

 

Immovable: You cannot be moved against your will under any circumstances while conscious. You take only half damage from poison, and have a 50% chance of ignoring the effects of poisons which do not deal damage.

 

Terrifying Onslaught: The first time you attack a given foe while raging, you can force them to check morale. You cannot use this ability twice on the same foe in the same combat.

 

Inexorable: While raging you may add +7 to Strength checks, skill checks related to physical strength, and grappling rolls. You also gain +1 damage with armed melee attacks and +1d6 with unarmed attacks (assuming unarmed attacks normally deal 1 damage).