OSR Character Sheet

Here's another OSR style character sheet from the sketchbook. These are so much fun to do.

And a PDF.

Character Sheet Snake!

Here's a new OSR type character sheet. Seemed like a good idea in the moment. PDF is here too.

EDIT: Fixed the sheet. I left off AC and hit points. Now they are there, just refresh the link.

Rabbits & Rangers Update

Rabbits & Rangers is a game supplement for use with Labyrinth Lord. The book will give you the necessary rules to play cartoon animals in fantasy settings. It includes 50 animal races, each with unique perks and drawbacks, and it includes a small selection of optional rules that help promote the “cartoon” side of the idea.

The text is written and edited and playtesting has been going on for many weeks. I’m working on art and I hope to have the whole thing put together in a few months.As I get closer to finishing I’ll narrow that down to a more specific date.

I plan to follow the book up with further animal races and perhaps some adventure modules. We’ll see how that goes. I also want to invite others to publish materials compatible with R&R, once the book is “in the wild”.

I started thinking about this game years ago and I have written several versions of it using original systems, which I may or may not publish in the future. But this version is purely OSR and I wanted it to be firmly grounded in Labyrinth Lord rules. I tried not to add any extra baggage, though as a necessity there are a couple of rules that should be observed in order to get the flavor across.

For example, size really matters. So I include in the game a very simple way to deal with the mouse who fights the elephant.

I also include a “luck point” system inspired by the old Conan adventures published in the 1980s. This is the kind of system I use in all my OSR games and I felt it would be a good fit here too.

Animal PCs have a “nature” that reflects a strong emotion or other characteristic. This is a way to convey behavior similar to cartoon characters who have an exaggerated personality or physical schtick, such as being grumpy or greedy.

For the truly cartoony campaign, there is a whimsy rule. This can be used if you want those pianos falling from the sky or PCs painting doors on the sides of walls and walking through them.

All of these are optional. You can use all of them or none. The list of animal races, which is the meat of the book, can be utilized in any OSR game without the need for nature or whimsy. My goal was to make this book usable.

Here's an example animal from the game. The art is not final.

Wolf

Medium mammal

AC Mod: no adjustment

HD/hp: d6 min

Move: 120' (40')

Abilities: +1 to any two ability scores

Tooth and Claw: 1d6 bite; 1d4 claw

Night Vision: 30’

From the scruff of your neck to the pads of your feet, you are the romantic subject of every Bard expressing her inner animal nature. Rightly or wrongly, you are seen as the original wild animal who can’t be tamed by the fineries of civilization.

Howler: You can issue a haunting howl from a distance, causing your enemies a -1 to hit for their first attacks against you and your allies. You shake their nerves!

Loyalty: You gain +4 to saving throws against magic or other effects that would cause you to betray your friends and allies. When acting in direct defense of an ally you gain +1 to hit and damage and +1 to saving throws for 1d3 rounds.

Pack: When coordinating attacks with allies you gain +1 to hit for 1d6 rounds. You must actively engage in coordinated attacks to gain this advantage, requiring at least 1 turn of planning prior to the battle.

Atlas Articularum

Check out Cyd Clark-Praxis' blog Atlas Articularum for some cool classes and OSR goodness. Got knights, satyrs, risen, paragons...oh my!

April RPG Blog Carnival...Weird Weather

Mortaine over at Mortaine’s Blog is hosting April’s RPG Blog Carnival...and it’s all about weather. So here goes some weather related stuff. Because frankly I ignore weather too often in my games.

Your PCs are in a forest. You want something strange to happen with weather. Roll 1d6...

1d6 Roll	Weird Weather Event
1	Breezy with a faint smell of iron or blood in the air. The smell is coming from the west where a battle was recently fought and 13 bodies of ogre size are lying in a heap of ruin. One of them carries a scroll case that includes a map.
2	Drizzle. The rainfall is only heavy enough to be annoying. But the rain is a bit pasty...and smells a bit like honey. If a PC climbs to the top of a tree or flies up to look over the canopy they will see a giant beehive suspended in mid-air about 300’ above the trees. Giant bees can be seen crawling on its surface...and upon the backs of them are humanoid figures.
3	There is a heavy rain that falls in clumps and gets each PC wet right down to their privates. All paper products such as scrolls and spellbooks must pass a saving throw or be drenched, with a 2-in-6 chance of being ruined. This rain even seems to soak through metal! What wizardry is afoot? Perhaps the twisted spire of a ruined tower in the distance holds the answer.
4	Rain and thunder! The storm rages violently with a 1-in-6 chance every turn of a lightning strike. Each PC must save vs. paralysis. Those who fail are fried and knocked out for 1d6 turns. They awaken to recount visions of a massive, scaly monster awakening from a deep sleep in a watery tomb. He is hungry.
5	PCs start to feel the pitter patter of rain and the gusts of winds...coming from BENEATH them! Within 1 turn there is a torrential UP-pour of rain coming from the earth itself, tearing clumps of dirt and vegetation that are blown upward on raging winds. The winds scream and howl from holes in the ground, hollow trunks, and caves. Nearby the PCs spot the opening of one such cave from which can be heard sinister laughter.
6	The temperature drops suddenly. Within 1 turn the PCs can see their breath in the air. 1 turn later there is snow falling. And 1 turn after that the forest flash-freezes! All PCs must save vs. spells or be frozen in place as by a Hold Person spell. Only a Remove Curse spell can free them instantly. Otherwise they must be slowly warmed up with fire, in which case they will be free to move in 1d4 turns. While all of this is happening, a gang of 4d4 ice trolls come marching along, lead by a beautiful elf maiden with snow white hair. She is, of course, an ice witch.

Doomslakers OSR Character Sheets

Now available at DriveThruRPG:

Six hand-made character sheets for your old school games.

Another OSR Character Sheet

Here's another OSR character sheet for your gaming pleasure. This one features some 1e style ability mods.

PDF here.

Character Class: Neanderthal and Neanderthal Shaman

I recently started a new Labyrinth Lord campaign and one of my players chose to be a Neanderthal. Here are the class descriptions I'm currently using. Enjoy!

NEANDERTHAL

Requirements: Str 13, Con 13

Prime Requisite: Str, Con

Hit Dice: d10

From out of primordial caves the Neanderthals lumber, club in hand, ready to bash any monsters that get in their way. These hairy "cavemen" with sloped foreheads are similar to humans in height but thicker and heavier all over. They come from wild regions far from civilization.

They fear and respect magic. They will not use an item of magic without passing a save vs. spells. If the save fails, they will never use the item, considering it to be sacred (or evil).

Neanderthals attack and save as Fighters. They may use clubs, stone axes, spears, and hammers and may throw rocks with great accuracy. But when using any other weapon they have a -3 penalty to hit (-5 for bows and crossbows). Neanderthals wear as little clothing as possible and their thick hair and toughness grants them -1 to armor class. They may only wear hide armor but can use a simple shield if taught how to handle it.

A Neanderthal may willingly buck tradition and begin to use strange weapons and wear fancy armor. But such a dramatic shift in temperament will rob the character of its natural abilities. Such PCs become Fighters without any special Neanderthal abilities except for the inherent toughness (-1 to AC). Even then, such characters will naturally mistrust magic and must pass the saving throw vs. spells in order to use any magic item.

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Savagery: Neanderthals attack with primal ferocity and may re-roll any natural 1 when rolling for damage.

Stonework: Neanderthals may craft stone axes, spears, hammers, and clubs at a rate of 1 weapon per day, per level.

Toughness: When rolling for hit points Neanderthals may roll a number of dice equal to their new level and keep the best die result. They are highly resistant to extreme natural temperatures and dangerous weather conditions and get +3 to save against such effects.

Wary Hunter: Neanderthals are good hunters. Their skill in hunting and tracking in the wild is 75% plus Wisdom. Due to their increased awareness they are only surprised on a 1-in-6.

NEANDERTHAL
Experience	Level	Hit Dice
0	1	1d10
1500	2	2d10
3000	3	3d10
6000	4	4d10
12000	5	5d10
25000	6	6d10
50000	7	7d10
100000	8	8d10

NEANDERTHAL SHAMAN

Requirements: Str 9, Wis 9

Prime Requisite: Str, Wis

Hit Dice: d8

Among the thick-muscled Neanderthals are a few wise members who have been taught the ways of the primordial forces of nature and may call upon those forces to produce miracles. These priests of the cavemen, like Clerics, have the ability to cast magic spells sourced from the wild spirits they revere.

Like all Neanderthals, the Shaman must pass a saving throw in order to use a magic item. But the Shaman, in their wisdom, gains +3 to the save. Unlike other Neanderthals, the Shaman is more confident in his place as a holy one capable of wielding such power.

Neanderthal Shamans use the Fighter's attack values and saving throws. They may use clubs and staves as weapons and may wear hide armor. Like other Neanderthals the Shaman has a -1 to armor class due to toughness and their thick, hairy hide.

Neanderthal Shamans may cast Cleric or Druid spells per their own spell progression chart.

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Beast Master: The Shaman may conjure animals once per day. This ability improves to twice per day at level 3 and finally three times per day at level 6. The Shaman may also speak with animals once per day per level.

Beast Form: At level 3 the Shaman gains the ability to transform fully into any natural animal of HD equal to the Shaman's level or less. The animal must be common to the Shaman's area of origin. He may do this once per day, maintaining the transformation 1d4 rounds plus 1 round per level. While in animal form the Shaman retains all his mental faculties as well as gaining the general mental faculties of the animal.

NEANDERTHAL SHAMAN
			Spells
Experience	Level	Hit Dice	1	2	3
0	1	1d8	1	-	-
1500	2	2d8	2	-	-
3000	3	3d8	2	1	-
6000	4	4d8	3	1	-
12000	5	5d8	3	2	-
25000	6	6d8	3	2	1
50000	7	7d8	4	3	1
100000	8	8d8	4	3	2

Mobon

Years ago I did a comic book called Pan-Gea. The book was published by Ape Entertainment as that company got up and running. It was a good one, I think. I followed it up with another Pan-Gea comic called 7 Arrows. These are all available at my website.

Anyway, in the spirit of #finishit, here is another Pan-Gea tale that has been lying around for about 10 years. It isn't my best work but it's a succinct little tale and I might as well put it out there into the world.

The character has a name but I choose not to utter it. She goes way, way back for me. She was my first serious D&D character.

Enjoy. And finish your projects, you lazy bastards.