The Secret DM

Quick Tips for Improv GMing

2012-02-23T03:27:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, Mike Fernandez posted a question on Google+:

...and people responded with some really great suggestions, which mostly revolved around practicing improvisational theater techniques and utilizing random tables. Both of these are great ideas, and I would add the following suggestions as well:

Read books on writing. In Stephen King's "On Writing", he offers up a handy tool for coming up with ideas: take two ideas and mash them together into something new. Many "How-to" books on writing have similar tips/tricks that fit just as nicely in a GM's toolbox.
Use "idea generators", which are often tools to inspire creative writing. You could find professional ones, or write up your own. I once found a set that included a-typical suggestions, including "Write a story about a cat who travels back in time". In the midst of a game session I flipped that card over, and it led to a great adventure involving mummies, an ancient temple, and a time-traveling cat. If you're pressed for time, grab a set of Apples to Apples cards.
Write lists. Like a lot of lists. Lists of people's names. Lists of places. Lists of things. This suggestion is very similar to the idea of using random tables, but rather than rolling randomly on a chart, you simply scan your list and pick something that fits the current scene. I also suggest taking notes during the game, especially if you're using lists. This way you can keep track of what names/words you used and in what context, which helps foster trust/belief in your campaign setting

Finally, here are some suggestions for other resources that are absolutely helpful with improvisation:

1. Zak Smith's Vornheim. Not only is this book stylish, thought-provoking, and creativity-inspiring, it's also useful. Filled with maps, random charts, and use-this-book-at-the-table (literally) mechanics, Vornheim is bursting at the seams with how much useful content you can find inside. In addition, Zak's tone throughout the book is conversational; this isn't some technical manual on constructing cities for use in your own campaigns, it's Zak guiding you personally through a variety of options that are proven to work for you and your group.

2. Jez Gordon's Secret Santicore features contributions from many talented writers, gamers, designers, and artists, and it's available entirely for free. You'll be amazed at how much stuff this book actually contains, and the design quality is top notch. Which it should be, of course, as Jez is a graphic designer (and is even offering his services to anyone in need of a layout work, which you can read more about here or contact Jez privately).

3. Martin Ralya's Masks: 1,000 Memorable NPCs for Any Roleplaying Game, written by himself and other members of the Gnome Stew blog and published by his Engine Publishing label, does even more than what its name claims: in addition to offering 1,000 memorable NPCs, the book includes tips for re-skinning NPCs to make them fit any genre or game system, and also advice on how to make your portrayals memorable. There's so much content here you'll never be able to use all of it in your entire gaming career, but that's okay, because every bit of it is useful in one context or another.

What other tools, tips, or resources would you suggest?

--The Secret DM

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Before You Comment...

Remember what Bill and Ted told the citizens of the future? "Be excellent to each other". Comments are always welcome, as long as we treat each other with respect and avoid getting flamey, snarky, spammy, or trolly. Be cool, have fun, and most importantly, be excellent to each other, okay?

Quick Fun Cleric Mod for D&D

2012-02-03T08:17:00.001-05:00

So I was listening to the "Save or Die" podcast's most recent episode, and DM Glen introduced an interesting mechanic from the Judges Guild supplements, which I'm ~~stealing~~ copying and sharing here on the blog.

It has to do with clerics using their turning ability, and adds an element of risk should the cleric fail on their roll.

The basic principle of this mechanic is that, if the cleric fails in turning the undead, that failure could potentially result in the undead turning the cleric, forcing them to run in terror.

Judge's Guild used a percentile roll though, if I remember correctly, and also had as part of the roll "dying from shock" if the cleric failed by too large a gap.

I'm not sure I like the instant death part of it, although maybe if the cleric attempts to turn something far beyond his/her abilities - like a 1st level cleric attempting to turn a Lich.

Rather than overcomplicate the process, let's just add this rule to the Turning process:

If the cleric fails his/her turning attempt by 1 or 2, nothing happens.
Fail by 3 or 4 and the cleric freezes in a panic-stricken state, losing their next round of action.
Fail by 5 or more, and the cleric is so overwhelmed by the undead presence he/she flees in terror for a number of rounds (as determined by the DM).

If the cleric is cornered and unable to flee, he/she 'breaks' the reversed-turning and fights, but does so with a -2 penalty to all rolls. At the DM's discretion, the cleric may make a roll on each subsequent round to attempt to overcome this terror and remove the penalty.

What do you think?

--The Secret DM

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Ed Healy and Erik Frankhouse: The Secret Interview

2012-02-02T04:41:00.000-05:00

Okay, so this is actually really cool, and it's something I didn't talk about on the blog before. Mostly out of fear/shame/anxiety over my "secret identity".

Also laziness.

Last year, Ed Healy set out on his Gamerati Tour, with an ambitious goal of traveling to 60 game stores in 60 days, in order to meet gamers, play games, and encourage new gamers to try new games and just game it up with hours upon hours of non-stop gaming. It was gametastic. It was gamerific. It tasted a little gamey.

All I know is it had a lot to do with games.

Anyway, Erik Frankhouse -- the winner of Iron GM 2011 at GenCon and paid friend of Ed Healy -- helped out during a part of the tour, mostly by chauffeuring Ed around to a bunch of different game stores.

So when I found out that the tour was going to be stopping at the Gamer's Gambit in New Jersey, I knew I had to meet Ed. The rest of the night was filled with fun and laughter and hand-shaking and pizza and interviews. Also, we managed to squeeze in a little gaming, but I'll talk about that in tomorrow's follow-up post, which is all about ME (and gaming).

So Ed and Erik were cool enough to let me interview them. I managed to ask them the stupidest questions I could think of, although that wasn't intentional at the time. In hindsight, maybe I should've asked them more about the Gamerati Tour itself, and less about Spades.

To help make this interview more acceptable, please pretend the questions are being asked by a 9 year old.

Many thanks to Ed Healy for editing my raw footage* of the interview into this presentable segment -- i.e. for cutting out as much of my voice as possible to protect my secret identity. (If you pay close attention, you can actually hear my voice a couple of times during the interview; I'm the one who sounds like a muppet.)

*The uncut version of this interview is 11 hours and was produced by Ken Burns.

Also many thanks to Ed Healy and Erik Frankhouse for the entire experience -- it was a lot of fun, and hopefully we'll get to do it again some day.

Be sure to come back here tomorrow for a very special edition of The Secret DM blog, when I present: The Secret DM...Unmasked!

--The Secret DM

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Realms of Atlantasia: An Interview with John Holland

2011-12-16T03:45:00.000-05:00

UPDATE January 29th, 2012: I didn't say this initially when I posted this interview, but I wanted to be very clear on some things about the interview that follows, the gentleman I interviewed, and the product that he made.

I do not personally have any interest in Realms of Atlantasia.

Simply put, it's not my kind of game. It may be the kind of game some people are looking for, and it's definitely the kind of game its creator wants to play, but I simply don't need or want this level of "ultra-realism" in my games.

Also, if you intend on ordering the hard-copy or downloading the PDF file, keep the following in mind:

The formatting/layout of the book may not be what you're expecting to find in a published work. This is because the product is all very much designed and laid out by the game's author, who did all of this work on his own, completely independently (according to the author, the distributor iUniverse provided the cover and the distribution to over a 1,000 websites, but had nothing to do with the internal layout/formatting of the book). So the book lacks a Table of Contents, an Index, a list of credits, etc.

As for the PDF, I've been informed it's in a very specific format (.ACSM) that requires downloading a separate program (Adobe Digital Editions) in order to access it.

Despite that...

If you've recently become curious about the Realms of Atlantasia or its author, John Holland, this interview will (hopefully) help to give you some insight into the person behind the product.

----------------------------------------

Note: This post is long overdue; the subject matter of this post -- the Realms of Atlantasia Gamemaster's Bible -- took the RPG scene by storm on November 29th, 2011...but the storm died down (for the most part) by December 1st. Still, in those 3 days, many people became familiar with the name John Holland.

Note Also: This interview took place on December 7th, 2011. While it might seem strange that it took me 45 days to actually post the interview, please keep this in mind: it took John 18 years to release "Realms of Atlantasia".

Who is John Holland?

For those of you who don't know, John Holland is the creator of the Realms of Atlantasia Gamemaster's Bible -- a new kind of roleplaying game that, according to John, offers the most challenging and realistic experience ever imagined. John spent 18 years developing his game. Although he got his start in roleplaying in the 80's with Dungeons & Dragons, it didn't take long before he felt bored by the game, and limited by the rules. That's what led him to embark on his nearly two decade-long journey to craft a product that would be, in his words, both fun and challenging in ways the roleplaying community had never before seen.

Why am I interviewing him?

If you're at all familiar with the soap opera that played out in various spaces around the internet (Twitter, Google+, RPGnet, 4chan), you know that a lot of people were talking about John Holland and his game, and very little of it was positive. Yet one thing became glaringly obvious: in all of this, no one had talked to John directly. Not a single person had said they reached out to him.

I wanted to find out the "why" to a lot of questions from John. I wanted to know what led him to create his own game, why it took 18 years to complete, and if he had seen any of the negative commentary.

What did I learn?

I'd like the interview to stand on its own, and leave you with room to form your own opinions. But I'll say this much: I set out to find a quirky gamer who spent way too much time designing a game and didn't know the first thing about how to publish anything. What I discovered instead was a person who is passionate about gaming and wants to provide content that others will enjoy. I discovered someone who is the embodiment of persistence, tirelessly working on his game until the product was finished. A person invested in his dream; a dream he'd love to share with the rest of the world.

At times misguided, John nevertheless teaches us how rewarding life can be, no matter the obstacles we face, as long as we stay committed to our goals. And John has a great deal of experience dealing with obstacles; I don't mention it below, but John has battled and survived cancer 3 times in his life. If that doesn't show determination, I'm not sure what could.

I am so thankful I had the opportunity to speak with John. If you'd like to reach out to him yourself, you can find him on Facebook. as well as Google+.

Key Features of the Game:

If you don't care for your horse by feeding it and giving it rest, your horse will die
If a regular riding horse goes into battle, it will rear up and bolt at the first scent of blood
Your armor, weapons, and clothing all take damage and have to be repaired

SDM: How successful has Realms of Atlantasia been so far? Have you been tracking sales figures?

JH: I will not have access to the sales report until later this month as it takes 60 days for the report to become available after the book goes live. However, the game is on 1,756 sites in several languages. I feel that by the time I see the report there will be a good number of sales both physical and digital.

SDM: What about the negative responses that have been generated by the release? Are you aware of them and, if so, have they affected you?

JH: There have been a couple of negative responses sent from the comment section of our web site, but my response to them is "that's your opinion". I did a lot of research online through chat rooms and discovered that a lot of roleplayers turned to video games for the realism.

SDM: What led you to design this game in the first place? How did you start role playing, and what ultimately made you decide to pursue your own game?

JH: I got hooked on RPGs in the 80s with D&D. I've always had a great imagination and this led my friends to show me Dungeons & Dragons. I played D&D for about 7 or 8 years, during which time I played Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, tried Ravenloft, and also Dark Sun. After I became disenchanted, the rest of my time was spent designing my game.

SDM: You've mentioned this took 18 years to develop.

JH: Yes. It went through many different developmental phases, and it took quite a few years developing the spells -- there are 900 of them so far, and more are on the way as I develop the Eastern Realms supplement.

SDM: The cover for your book has generated some controversy as well. Are you aware that people are concerned about the image you used for the books cover?

JH: No one has mentioned it. The cover was donated by iUniverse, the company that published RoA. I just gave them a description of what I wanted; the end result is between the publishing company and the artist, especially since it was the company's artistic department that came up with the layout.

SDM: Is this book for everyone?

JH: I think everyone would find this game enjoyable, entertaining and challenging. I also feel "Old School" players will find it refreshing, as it gives them a new way of playing a game they've enjoyed for many years

SDM: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being "Like Cake" and 10 being "Nearly Impossible" -- how difficult is the learning curve of RoA, in your opinion?

JH: To get the basics, I'd put it at about a 3. To play the more advanced classes maybe a 6.

SDM: Your book is 544 pages; how much of that content is necessary for players to be familiar with, and how much of it is for Game Masters only?

JH: This book is the Game Master's Bible and thus is meant for the Game Master. There is a Player's Guide coming out, probably about April or May next year. However, with just the Game Master's Bible, anyone can run a very successful campaign.

SDM: It took you 18 years to write the GM bible. Without meaning any offense...are you certain you can release the next book with only a few months to spare?

JH: I had both books written but could only afford to publish one of them, so I chose the book that would enable a campaign to be played.

SDM: How much did it cost you to get the one book published?

JH: $600.

SDM: If you don't see a return on your investment, are you still satisfied about having spent the money on the product, or will you feel that you failed?

JH: I'd still be satisfied...however I don't think there will be much of a problem making back my investment.

SDM: From how it sounds, you've missed out on several major events not only in the RPG community, but specifically with D&D/TSR alone. For example, your D&D experience starts and ends before TSR's collapse into bankruptcy, the buyout by Wizards of the Coast, and then the buyout of Wizards of the Coast by Hasbro. You've missed out on 3rd Edition D&D, 3.5 D&D, Pathfinder and 4th Edtion D&D...and the more-than-likely-in-the-works 5th Edition D&D. Some would say that you're out of touch with the community and exactly what kinds of games are on the market and what kinds of games people want to play. Do you see this lack of involvement/engagement as a weakness?

JH: But am I out of the loop? I have been talking to all sorts of role players over the years and asking them what they would like to see. I learned long ago that if you are to go into any type of business, you had best do a lot of research before sinking any money into a venture. And I have seen the rise and fall of TSR and the eventual rise and fall of Wizards of the Coast.

SDM: John, thank you so much for taking some time out of your day to answer some questions.

JH: No problem. One more thing I'd like to say: I meant no harm with the wording in my book and if it offends someone, I'm sorry for it. However, I invite anyone to try and design their own world, make it original, and see how it turns out.

So there you have it; a person with a dream and a passion to see it come to fruition. It may have taken him 18 years to complete...and it may not be presented in the most attractive way...but you know what?

Who cares? He had a blast doing things his way and he's promised to continue to release content for it. There are hundreds of other game designers who aren't even capable of that much.

Many thanks to John Holland for the interview.

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Haiku Your Character Contest: The Results!

2011-12-08T01:28:00.001-05:00

THE RESULTS ARE IN!

The contest is officially over! After some time discussing all of the entries, we've managed to narrow down the list and pick our first place and second place winners!

IN 2nd PLACE...

Richard Wilcox, aka @albinohero on Twitter:

Inquisitive dwarf

A rogue and gumshoe as well
Dungeon? He's on it!

Congratulations, Richard -- you've won a free copy of the Character Folio App by Dark Theatre LLC!

AND IN 1st PLACE...

David Shepheard, aka Big Mac on the Piazza Forums:

I drift from above

A dagger between my teeth

I am Hadozee!

Congratulatons, David -- you've won a free copy of the Character Folio App by Dark Theatre LLC, AND your own custom character artwork by Ramón Ignacio Bunge, provided courtesy of RPGCharacterIllustrations.com!

HONORABLE MENTION to both @jinxthebard (from Twitter) and Murk (who posted an entry on this blog), who tied for 3rd PLACE...

Brian Murray, aka @jinxthebard on Twitter:

Gargantuan heart
His small stature a hindrance
Always forgotten

Murk (Name/Contact Info unkown):

Statue, stone and brass
Solar-powered, broke his chains
Seeks to free more slaves.

I'd also like to thank the following people, who all contributed a haiku for the contest:

Tom Doolan, Wes Herbst, Sean Holland, Moe Tousignant, Danny Whyley, Billy Nation, Patrick Stutzman

...and everyone who tweeted, retweeted, shared, and re-shared my contest announcements, including:

Kasey Sorsby, Matt Forbeck (Note: if I've missed your name here, I apologize for that...one thing I didn't keep track of was who was sharing/resharing my contest announcements...sorry!)

Finally, I'd like to thank Brett Bloczynski of Dark Theatre LLC and Craig Higdon of RPGCharacterIllustrations.com for their help and support with setting up this contest and helping with the voting process. The haiku format was Craig's idea, and it was Brett's idea to involve Craig, so really none of this would've been possible if it wasn't for their support and awesome assistance!

This was a lot of fun and I'm really pleased with the response this contest generated. Thanks again to everyone who helped, and I look forward to my next contest.

January? Maybe. Something to do with Warhammer 40k Roleplaying? Possibly. You'll just have to wait and see....

--The Secret DM

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Nitpicking Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeoneer's Survival Guide

2011-12-01T12:31:00.001-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about the early days of D&D recently, mostly because of the release of a certain new game that has the internet buzzing (Feel free to talk about it; just not here). While others have cited the original D&D set for comparison (based on quality/editing/layout/snazzy websites), I was reminded of this:

"Then came the great Alignment Wars. These were actually all a part of a single grand conflict that spanned centuries, with occasional truces that lasted a few decades. The Alignment Wars were characterized by great interracial cooperation and intraracial combat. The sides were determined not by race, but by alignment...thus, elves, dwarves, and men of good alignment united to fight elves, dwarves, and men of evil alignment. Over the centuries, the forces of good slowly drove back their evil foes. Hatred and slaughter prevailed as creatures of evil were slain solely on the basis of their alignment."

The year was 1986. The author was Douglas Niles. The book was Dungeoneer's Survival Guide.

There always after my lucky charms...

The DSG is one of my favorite sourcebooks for D&D (You're surprised it's not the Book of Erotic Fantasy, aren't you? 2nd Favorite). The cover image was inspiring, the details inside were invaluable, and I've never stopped thinking about the history of a location as being a part of the important structure of dungeon design.

Before I read the DSG, everything was rooms strewn by doors, archways, and secret passages.

After I read the DSG, everything was ancient temples carved out by dwarves, who centuries later faced a harsh winter and ran out of food, whose temple was then revealed during a great thaw, and as goblins made their way south into the warmer climates, came across the temple and made it their home, although there had been some internal structural damage from seismic activity, etc.

But...there was that "alignment wars" thing.

At age 10, I was probably more than forgiving of it...if not downright blown away thinking "that's the coolest/most plausible thing ever!" (Note: During this same time period, I also thought "The Last Starfighter" was more than reasonable.)

Of course, at age 32, I look back on it and judge it disdainfully as a silly and unrealistic reason for waging war (as opposed to all of the REALLY GOOD REASONS we use in the real world). Not the good vs. evil thing; while I personally don't believe in "good" or "evil" and try to avoid those kinds of distinctions in my games (even calling into question the concepts of "good" or "evil" and making my player's challenge their own moral compass, if only to make more work for them and have them second guess EVERY SINGLE DECISION THEY MAKE), I certainly accept that Good v. Evil is a common storyline in gaming, especially fantasy gaming.

The obvious problem is that, within the canon of this particular AD&D rulebook, something was called the Alignment Wars. As if the word "alignment" was more than a symbolic means of identifying a character's moral and ethical compass at a quick glance; as if it was a word in common parlance among the inhabitants of this fantasy world.

You're acting like a Chaotic-@$!%hole.

I don't know about you, but that breaks the fourth wall for me. As does the bowl of Doritos. And the Mountain Dew. But mostly the alignment talk.

Still, the DSG is a fantastic sourcebook, and now that I've taken the time to think about it and write about it, I'm much more forgiving of this "misstep", which was probably very acceptable at the time.

Maybe I should add a "Vancian Spell System Wars" into my campaign now?

--The Secret DM

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I Wish I Could Draw Like: Bridget Monro

2011-11-21T05:00:00.000-05:00

Alright...let's take a break from all this talk about Solo Dungeons. We'll get back to dungeon design soon enough (probably not), but there's something I need you to see:

She's totally getting a sinus infection.
"Freezing Girl" by Bridget Monro. Copyright 2011.
All rights reserved. Used with permission.

That's "Freezing Girl", a quick sketch by the phenomenal Bridget Monro. What really gets me about this picture? Bridget's own description that accompanies the piece, as copied from her website (hopefully that doesn't count as plagiarism):

This is just a painting I did yesterday when I had some spare time, it's pretty rough and could definitely use more work...my perfectionist self is screaming to fix up all the crappy areas (so all of it really).

Seriously? I'd give my left arm to have a fraction of her talent.

Of course, not having a left arm could seriously hamper my painting ability.

But you get my point. Not only is it a visually expressive piece that captures the feeling of being cold with awesome clarity, but she did it in her spare time. You know what I do in my spare time? Waste it thinking about all the things I should be doing in my spare time.

I know what you're saying (and, just for the record, even if I don't know what you're saying, I'm still going to assume and just post what I think you're saying anyway, so if you take the time to e-mail me and say "I wasn't saying that", I'm just going to respond with, "Well yeah, but you thought about saying it, even if you didn't, and probably at least once after I had already said I knew what you were saying, so I'm still justified in saying you said that. Enough said.):

"Gee, Secret Guy, that's a great picture and the girl is cute and all, but what does this have to do with role playing games?"

I'm glad I assumed you asked.

Does this do anything for you?

I have that same outfit in blue.
"Justice" by Bridget Monro. Copyright 2011.
All rights reserved. Used with permission.

How about this?

Sally was regretting having those hair extensions put in...
"Ogre Battle" by Bridget Monro. Copyright 2011.
All rights reserverd. Used with permission.

Still not impressed? Alright, this:

Mmm...looks yummy!

Wait...that's just a completely unrelated picture of apple pie. I meant THIS:

Hopefully that's a sharp knife.
"Zombies" by Bridget Monro. Copyright 2011.
All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Tiefling? Check. Human and/or Halfling? Check. Horde of zombies?

You're damn right.

Bridget has actually been putting together a portfolio to present to Wizards of the Coast (maybe you've heard of them?), and hopefully you'll start seeing her name appear in some future products. I was thrilled to stumble upon her website (http://www.bridgetmonro.com) and, when she does start accepting commissions, I'll be even more thrilled to claim I discovered her and I'm solely responsible for all of her future success (fingers crossed for seeing some decent royalty checks).

Maybe not. But that shouldn't stop you from checking out more of her work on her website, telling all of your friends about her, and possibly even sending her a message directly encouraging her to keep producing these wonderful pieces of art and sharing them with the world.

As for me, I should probably be taking some spare time to work on some dungeon design.

But first I have to satisfy this sudden craving I have for apple pie.

--The Secret DM

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Before You Comment...

Remember what Bill and Ted told the citizens of the future? "Be excellent to each other". Comments are always welcome, as long as we treat each other with respect and avoid getting flamey, snarky, spammy, or trolly. Be cool, have fun, and most importantly, be excellent to each other, okay?

Rats East, Goblins North, Beware West!

2011-11-17T12:06:00.001-05:00

Fact: I've visited this dungeon so many times, I get my mail sent there.

If you don't recognize it (because you're too cool or you've been living under a rock or you're too young or any number of excuses I'm sure you can come up with), that's the solo dungeon map from the Basic Dungeons & Dragons Red Box Player's Manual. You know, this:

Err...I mean this:

Google Image Search isn't making this easy. Here we go:

Yeah, that looks about right.

Anyway. So we were talking about this solo map:

Anyone else experiencing déjà vu?

...and I was wondering: has anyone else ever revisited the place?

I don't mean like replaying the same solo adventure over and over again despite it being short, simple, and meant for 10-year-olds (don't judge me). I mean expanding on the location and converting it into a full-fledged dungeon for a group of adventurers (Note: To answer this question, you might have to think back 25 years or so).

I've been thinking about it a lot recently; there are sections of the dungeon we know exist (because you met Aleena the Cleric and fought Bargle there, remember?), but that aren't included here. The introduction to the solo adventure even notes that there are several cave entrances in the hills, hence why your return to the dungeon is in a different section from where you faced Bargle before. Over the past couple of decades (seriously, don't judge me) I've done this a few times. I had to stop when my players would take out their graph paper and had the entry way and first room with the statue already drawn in.

I realize it's a pretty simple layout, but it's meant as a starting point. I'm going to revisit it again soon, and this time, I'll share my adventure idea with you.

So have you ever done any expansions of this dungeon? What ideas or suggestions do you have? Is this a total waste of my time? How terrible was that Rust Monster in the west?

Whoops...should've added a "spoiler alert".

--The Secret DM

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Working on a New Look

2011-11-16T05:17:00.001-05:00

Please pardon the mess; I'm in the process of redesigning the website.

I know it doesn't look all that different (assuming you've seen it before), but trust me; it's different. At the very least, I've made sure every link works correctly, so I'm almost 100% positive it's a fully functional website. If you happen to come across something that doesn't work or causes some other problems, let me know.

Also, let me know how you feel having a section for "followers" posted. I've been against it for the longest time, but I realize that for some people, it's how they connect with websites and receive their content, so I've put it back in place.

I also welcome feedback on the use of Disqus as my comment system. I'm happy with the results so far, but I wonder if others feel the same way, or if Disqus might be causing some problems I'm not aware of.

--The Secret DM

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The Contest is Over!

2011-11-15T09:55:00.001-05:00

The "Haiku Your Character" contest has ended!

Thank you to everyone who participated!

As I mentioned in the original contest post, the entries will be reviewed by a panel of three judges (Brett from Darktheatre LLC, Craig from RPGCharacterIllustrations.com, and myself). We'll determine a 1st and 2nd place prize winner, and then make the official announcement the first week of December.

Good luck to everyone who submitted an entry -- this was definitely a lot of fun to maintain!

--The Secret DM

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Contest Time! Win Prizes from Darktheatre LLC and RPGCharacterIllustrations.com!

2011-11-01T05:00:00.000-04:00

[*Update: Added the artist's name to the post below in the "prize" section -- Ramón Ignacio Bunge. Awesome.]

If you follow me on Facebook (or if you might recall from a previous post), I've mentioned that November was when I'd be launching my first contest.

Well, November is finally here, so I'm happy to announce the contest officially!

Image courtesy RPGCharacterIllustrations.com. Used with Permission. All rights reserved.
The Font Type used here is "Beam" by Jenny Barck.

So here's the deal:

I've been lucky enough to partner with Darktheatre LLC (who designed the Character Folio iPad App I mentioned in an earlier post) and RPGCharacterIllustrations.com to bring you some pretty cool prizes. In order to win these prizes, all you have to do is submit an original character concept in haiku form.

Easy, right?

And better yet, you have multiple ways to submit your entries.

You can respond to this post with your haiku.
You can e-mail me directly at thesecretdm@gmail.com.
You can tweet your haikus to me @thesecretdm.
You can post them on my Facebook Page.
You can share them with me on Google+.
You can stand on top of a building and yell your submission into the sky.*

(*Note: I make no affirmations that entries submitted in this manner will actually reach me. But you're welcome to try.)

The contest runs from Tuesday, November 1st, 2011, 5am (Eastern Standard Time) through Tuesday, November 15th, 2011, 5am (Eastern Standard Time). At that point I'll review the submissions with both Darktheatre LLC and RPGCharacterIllustrations.com. Each of us will vote to determine the winner. Winners will be announced at the end of November/first week of December.

What You'll Win, and How to Do It

We'll be selecting a winner based on originality, creativity, and accuracy, using a 5-7-5 (five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line, and five syllables in the third line) english language haiku format.

The winner will receive:

A free copy of the Character Folio iPad App
A free color character illustration by Ramón Ignacio Bunge, courtesy of RPGCharacterIllustration.com. Don't know who that is? Here's a sample. And another. And another.

(Total Prize Value: $40.99)

We'll also be awarding a runner-up with a free copy of the Character Folio iPad App.

(Total Prize Value: $5.99)

How We Will Notify You

We will make every attempt to contact the winner no later than the first week of December. For this reason, it's important we have some means of getting in touch with you. Please keep this in mind when submitting your haikus -- if you don't leave a means for us to get in touch with you, such as an e-mail address, Twitter handle, Facebook URL, etc. -- we may not be able to award you the prize.

Which would be a bummer.

At the conclusion of the contest, we'll share the best of the best here at thesecretdm.com -- so even if you aren't lucky enough to grab one of the prizes, your name (and your work) may still be featured in a future blog post!

So what are you waiting for? Start sending in those Haikus!

The Legal

This contest is open to anyone who is interested in writing haikus to win prizes. There is no limit to the number of haikus you can submit. Contest runs from Tuesday, November 1st 2011 @ 5AM EST through Tuesday, November 15th 2011 @ 5AM EST. Entrants must submit an original character concept in haiku format, and all entries must be the original work of the entrant; no derivative works will be accepted, and any content discovered to be copied from another source will automatically disqualify the entrant from the contest. By submitting an entry in this contest, you agree The Secret DM™, Darktheatre LLC, and RPGCharacterIllustrations.com -- as well as any employees therein -- have the right to distribute and/or re-publish your submission solely for the purposes of non-commercial or promotional needs. You retain all other rights to your submission. The prizes awarded are for personal use and may not be resold or used for commercial purposes. Prizes are non-transferable and have no cash value.

Should you have any questions or concerns, e-mail me at thesecretdm@gmail.com.

--The Secret DM

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New Halloween-themed Monster: The Night Hag's Cauldron

2011-10-31T00:00:00.000-04:00

(*Note: This monster is presented in as bare bones a format as possible; occasional suggestions for stats may be incorporated as examples, but this monster is built with the intention of being adapted, rewritten, and converted to your hearts content.)

The Night Hag's Cauldron is an undead spirit which appears near secluded wilderness areas, caverns, or rocky cliffs, usually in places tainted with magical energy.

Physical Description: During the day time, the cauldron appears as a plain, cast-iron pot with a dun color, which shows signs of wear -- cracks around the rim, rust throughout -- although it apparently has not been used for decades...possibly centuries.

At night time, however, the cauldron changes, becoming an active pot with a thick, bubbling liquid that glows with an eerie, green light. The pot also changes color from a dull brown to a solid black. Featured with the pot is a vile, crone-like witch who cackles and taunts anyone who dares to approach. The "witch" is merely an illusion -- a phantasm which never moves from the cauldron and spends its time slowly churning the boiling broth.

Special Effects: A pungent stench fills the area surrounding the cauldron, causing sickness in anyone who draws too close. The liquid itself is extremely hot; exposure to it causes extreme burns. In addition, anyone who consumes the liquid runs the risk of contracting a disease (Game Master's choice).

During an encounter, the Night Hag's Cauldron can manifest the following powers:

Charm: Effects 1d4 people (or 1d8 hit dice, or whatever you prefer) and lasts 1d12 rounds.

Cause Fear: As Charm, above.

Have a Taste of Supper!: The cauldron projects a blast of boiling broth, causing severe scalding. Deal appropriate damage, like 2d4 or 3d4 points.

Feast of Imps: The witch lets out a shrill cry, summoning 4d4 red-skinned imps who come scurrying from the surrounding trees. They have low health (1 or 2 Hit Points each) and weak attacks (1d2 points of damage), but are very quick and good at getting past armor. Alternatively, you can make this a Feast of Goblyns, which I imagine to be tougher opponents than imps, so use with caution.

Defeating the Cauldron: Although the players may feel the witch is the enemy, the cauldron is obviously the real target. Attacks made on the witch do not harm the spirit, and only by destroying the cauldron can the party hope to rid the area of this vile manifestation.

The cauldron is cast-iron, so any attacks that would affect iron/metal should work as normal. Other attacks may not be as effective as they should, due to the unnatural nature of the spirit.

In games with Turning, the cauldron should Turn as a vampire. It won't run, but a successful Turning dissipates the witch phantasm and deactivates the cauldron for a number of rounds.

That said, yes, the cauldron is immobile, but that doesn't make it any less deadly.

An alternative means of destroying the cauldron consists of a day-long ritual in which a priest fills the cauldron with water and blesses it, then empties the cauldron and starts the process all over again. The ritual must begin precisely at dawn and run until the last rays of light settle at night. If the ritual is successful, the cauldron will crumble into metallic dust (which could be collected and used as a spell component).

If it is not successful, the spirit will manifest more volatile than normal and seek to destroy the priest for the failed attempt.

--The Secret DM

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Building Better Villains

2011-10-22T04:24:00.002-04:00

*Note: What follows is an article I wrote for saveordie.info back in March. I was thinking about this topic recently and thought I'd share it here for everyone. I highly recommend checking out the Save or Die! Podcast, especially if you're interested in Classic/Basic D&D.

You can tell this guy is a badass

by the skulls on his lapels.

And the huge nose.

Let’s be honest:

Villains rock.

I savor every moment of heart-pounding tension that leads to that final, climactic battle, when the players finally come face to face with the nefarious enemy.

As much fun as developing a villain can be however, it can also be very challenging. As a storyteller, you want your villain to stand out from all the rest. You want to create a character that wows the players and keeps them on the edge of their seats, and you want someone who poses a very real threat.

There’s a very fine line between this:

Badass.

and this:

Slightly less badass.

So what can you do to avoid creating lackluster villains?

Start by Building a Hero

“We are all born heroes; it is the world that makes of us villains.”

This might sound like strange advice, but one of the best ways to develop a villain is by starting off with a hero, and working your way forward through their life until you stumble upon the moment (or moments) that turned them against society. This works even if your campaign setting is the black & white, good vs. evil variety — just look at Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, as an example — but it works especially well when the lines between good and evil are murky at best.

Start by finding good causes that would inspire your hero to action, even in the face of insurmountable odds. As an example, we’ll use Vlad the Impaler. Vlad may have been one of the most gruesome men in history, but he gave land to the poor and was a staunch supporter of his people and their rights. Even to this day, Romanians praise Vlad Dracul as a hero, and not the villain the rest of the world portrays him as.

"I'm a hero!"

So let’s imagine Vlad the Impaler is a hero…he’s a man who cares deeply for his people, whose stubborn patriotism — and arrogance — fuels his campaign to claim the throne of Wallachia, then turn against the Sultan Mehmed II in blatant defiance.

Now that we've got our hero established, what should we do next?

Add Character Flaws

Once you’ve developed the concept of your “hero”, it’s time to sprinkle in “flaws” — attributes of the character that cause them to act a certain way — usually with disregard for the livelihood of others. You’re welcome to use as many or as few flaws as you feel are best for the character concept you’re developing, but I definitely recommend reviewing the character’s moral and ethical compass, and adjusting accordingly. Vlad doesn’t order 20,000 people be impaled because his ethical compass is accurate; chances are the needle’s a bit off kilter. The good thing about this step is that it forces you to think about where the character went wrong and why, adding depth to the character’s background.

Add Finishing Touches

Finally, look over your character, and take every part of their personality and background into consideration as you determine what their place in your adventure or campaign might be. You know what motivates them — love, wealth, power, etc. — and you also know why they will stop at nothing to have what they desire most. You’ve analyzed and gauged their individual moral and ethical compass, and you understand where they failed and how they became a villain.

Ultimately, it’s Vlad’s ego that proves to be his undoing.

Another Suggestion: A Villian with a Twist

While we’re on the subject of starting with heroes, why not try this out and finish with a hero as well?

The party is on a quest to reclaim a particular magic item. They have no choice, for whatever reason, and must complete this quest.

Unfortunately for them, this magic item is guarded by a Holy Order of Paladins. Yep, the good guys. Now the players must choose to either violate their own moral compass and battle the Paladins, or give up on their quest — as they will be unable to simply persuade the paladins to part with the artifact they are protecting.

Final Thoughts: 5 Villains to Study

Finally, I present to you five of my favorite villains from film and television:

#1: Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious

I usually don’t go for the cut-and-dry “good vs. evil” types that are rampant throughout Star Wars, but the Emperor is a very devious character whose schemes and motivations come to fruition after decades of planning. He’s always ten steps ahead of any other characters in the story, making him a formidable opponent, but his most intimidating aspect is his power to manipulate, suggest, and influence others, tricking them into doing his bidding. This is showcased best in the 3rd film, “Revenge of the Sith”, when Palpatine is explaining to Anakin that maybe the darkside isn’t so bad after all…

#2: Mr. Freeze

He might be cuckoo for ice crystals, but Mr. Freeze does everything — and I mean EVERYTHING, from bank robberies to grand larceny to kidnapping — all in an attempt to find a way to save his wife, whom he has cryogenically frozen. Eternally separated from the love of his life, Mr. Freeze will let nothing get in the way, and will do everything in his power to make sure no harm ever befalls her.

#3: The Joker

"The Dark Knight" does a fantastic job of introducing the Joker with no back story to speak of, and Heath’s performance is so spot on you don’t even question the fact they never explain where the Joker came from. He simply…exists…in much the same way the forces of chaos and entropy exist.

#4: The Über-Morlock

The Über-Morlock is a powerful creature whose psychic abilities allow him to keep the other morlocks in check, prohibiting them from consuming their food supply. The interesting thing about this is that the Über-Morlock understands its place in the grand scheme of the food chain and, despite having total access to the time machine and thus an ability to go back in time and rule the world and change the entire course of history, he instead returns the time machine back to the time traveler, which is something we don’t typically see in Hollywood. Plus, he dresses like a total badass.

#5: Ozymandias

In "Watchmen", Ozymandias is a hero motivated entirely by the notion that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Fearing that society is progressing rapidly towards its own destruction in a nuclear holocaust, Ozymandias goes to incredible lengths to unite the world, in the hopes that doing so will prevent nuclear war. And by “incredible lengths”, I’m referring to killing a former superhero ally, infecting anyone who ever came in contact with Dr. Manhattan with cancer, and creating a false “threat” against the world that forces all of humanity to work together.

That's my list, anyway. What villains are on your list? What traits do they express that make them stand out for you as a good example of a well-rounded villain? What other advice do you have for building better villains?

--The Secret DM

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Three Ways to Reboot Your Campaign

2011-10-20T12:10:00.001-04:00

One of the coolest jobs a Game Master has is campaign design. We flesh out the setting, design the non-player characters, and define the story that will take player characters from acolytes to masters of their craft.

So what happens when you lose interest in your own campaign?

Before you stop the campaign and start a brand new one, here are some things to consider, as well as a few suggestions for ways to "reboot" your campaign rather than end it.

#1: Don't Panic

First and foremost, the moment you realize your campaign is no longer working for you, you have to remain calm. Whether this is a common occurrence for you, or this is the first time a campaign's gone awry, remember to relax. It's not the end of the world (well, the real world, anyway), and there are a number of ways to still recover and redeem the campaign. Stay positive, and think about all of the best moments you and the players had during the campaign up until this point.

#2: Save Everything

Just because a campaign is over doesn't mean all of the hard work you put into developing the concept needs to be discarded. Collect all of the notes, ideas, non-player characters, adventures, and anything else you've already created into a folder. Write down everything you can remember about the game -- the good things and the bad -- and file these as well. You may choose to re-use something in the future, or adapt it with some small changes to a new campaign. Or you may one day want to revisit that campaign; having detailed notes to go back to can be very helpful.

#3: Analyze the Failure

Let's be honest: no one starts a campaign with the intention for it to draw to a close unfinished. But there are any number of reasons why we lose interest in a specific campaign and want to move on to something else. You need to take some time and consider why you lost your interest. Was it a specific event? Had this been building up for some time? What is the current campaign missing that's making you desire a whole new campaign instead?

Attempting a Reboot

Before you move on to a whole new campaign world entirely, consider your current campaign world. You've put a lot of time and effort into your setting, and your players have invested time and energy into their characters. While dumping the world and starting over with a new concept might be the only option that interests you, you may find it useful to attempt a reboot instead. After all, you already know a great deal about the setting, and your players do as well. You can tap into that knowledge and explore a number of different options you might not have considered.

Here are some suggestions from Twitter users:

The Ninja Hobbit (on Twitter as @aslan751) writes:

Suggestion #1: Approach Your Campaign From a Different Angle

I thought this was a fantastic suggestion, and one I've never considered myself. What if you restarted your campaign -- but this time, you explored the story from a completely different perspective? Maybe the players were knee deep in a war between the Barony of the Gryphon Lords and the Horse Masters of the Northern Plains, fighting to prevent the oppressive armies of the Gryphon Lords from taking the Northen Plains? Upon rebooting the campaign, you have everyone draw up characters -- all loyal subjects of the Barony of the Gryphon Lords.

Let's see how that war plays out now.

This suggestion helps you to utilize the same campaign (so less work on your part), and also gives the players an exciting reason to get involved. After all, who wouldn't want to suddenly switch sides and see how things might turn out?

Joe Kushner (on Twitter as @JoeGKushner) suggests:

Suggestion #2: Pull a Comic Book-Style Reboot

Comic franchises are known for rebooting. When things get too complicated in the comic multiverse, they pull the plug and start all over. Often though, these "reboots" are written into the comics themselves. So why not do the same thing in your campaign? Rather than just walk away from it, scrap it, and start over brand new, set up an end-scene that has the players battling some powerful force, with the whole fate of the known world caught in the balance. However it plays out, activate some kind of "doomsday trigger" and warp the players into a "new realm" that is strangely familiar.

Once again your knowledge of the campaign world -- and their knowledge as well -- can prove useful, but you can make any number of things different as well, breathing new life into a campaign you were originally planning to abandon.

The Old School GM (on Twitter as @oldschoolgm) says:

Suggestion #3: Be Honest About the Reboot

I loved all three suggestions, but Old School GM's message really struck a chord with me.

"Slavishly holding to the original idea is limiting."

Let's face it: if you aren't having fun with the game any more, chances are, your players aren't either. Sometimes you just have to be honest and say, "Yeah, I'm not really interested in this campaign any more." If your game is boring you, but you and your players all agree it's worth saving, they might be okay with a little "suspension of disbelief" and take the leap to restart the campaign -- especially if, as Old School GM points out, it leads to a better game. Both you and your players might just need a fresh start. Maybe you need to go back to the beginning and re-experience what it was like when you first started out -- nostalgia can be a powerful tool for rekindling passion about a particular concept or setting.

Not every campaign can be saved, and the suggestions listed here aren't necessarily for everyone. But sometimes, a campaign can be rebooted and end up being a lot more fun for everyone involved. At the very least, it's worth the attempt -- especially because of all of the hard work both you and your players put into the campaign.

How about you? Have you ever rebooted a campaign world? What led to the reboot? How did you handle it? How did your players feel about it? Do you have other suggestions for how to reboot a campaign?

--The Secret DM

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Before You Comment...

A Look at Dark Theatre's Character Folio

2011-10-18T06:10:00.002-04:00

[Edit 11/1/2011: Previously this post noted that the Character Folio supported Savage Worlds in addition to d20; the Savage Worlds support has not been implemented yet, although should be added to the software by January. Apologies for the confusion! -- SDM]

Recently I stumbled upon a new role playing game app for use with the iPad. Available for download, the Character Folio by DarkTheatre LLC offers a character record sheet management system that is intuitive, adaptable, and easy to use. While the software only supports the d20 open-gaming-license (including version 3.75) at the moment, DarkTheatre is planning on adding more game systems in the near future.

From their website:

"An app with just enough smarts to make it something you want to use and with enough freedom and flexibility to be something you keep using."

You can purchase the program in the iTunes store for $5.99.

For more details on the App, be sure to visit DarkTheatre at their website as well.

Want a free copy? Stay tuned to thesecretdm.com to learn how you can win a free download of the Character folio from DarkTheatre LLC, as well as an additional prize from their partner, RPGCharacterIllustrations!

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[OSR Challenge]...to be continued!

2011-10-04T22:44:00.002-04:00

This post relates to the OSR Challenge: A September of Short Adventures, as presented by Asshat Paladins. For more information, see the sidebar on the right side, including a list of the other 23 participants!

At the start of September, I signed up to participate in a new challenge for the OSR blogosphere: write 25 adventures in 25 days. I didn't quite reach my goal (I've only written 5 so far), but Matt was kind enough to share the "I survived the September OSR Challenge" image with me, which I'm featuring here:

I'm still planning on finishing up the remaining 20 adventures as soon as I have time. In the meantime, there are over 300 adventure ideas across 20+ blogs, which should be more than enough to keep you occupied until I'm able to complete my commitment.

You can find the other adventures via the links below -- organized on one list by blog, and the other by game system:

[OSR CHALLENGE] -- Adventure List by Blog

[OSR CHALLENGE] -- Adventure List by Game System

Even though I fell short, I'm still so incredibly glad I accepted the challenge and was able to contribute at least 5 concepts. There is some really great company I'm in, with some really solid ideas and adventures.

What were your thoughts on the challenge? Did you participate? Did you use any of the adventures yet in your own games?

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Before You Comment...

OSR Adventure #5: The Keeper in Dreams

2011-09-18T02:52:00.000-04:00

This post is another in a series of adventures that are part of the OSR Challenge: A September of Short Adventures, as presented by Asshat Paladins. For more information, see the sidebar on the right side, including a list of the other 23 participants!

The Keeper in Dreams -- an adventure idea for use with any fantasy-based RPG

Get Ready: An elderly wizard has forgotten something very important, and hires the party for a very special kind of adventure -- to enter the landscape of his mind, retrieve the lost information, and return it to him -- without driving him, or themselves, totally mad.

Get Set: This adventure is all about the nature of reality, and how the heroes in the adventure relate to that reality, as well as the players who control those heroes. As the GM, you'll just need to decide at the outset if the heroes are really being transported into the wizard's mind, or if everything they experience is merely an illusion controlled by the wizard, as part of some bizarre experiment to test how a group might interact with a bizarre reality.

Go!: Whether the players enter the dream world through a ritual initiated by the wizard (which they must complete on their own -- which is an event that could be complicated by failed skill rolls that impact the design of the dreamscape, turning portions of it into nightmarish regions, as an example) -- or they link up through some alien-stylized seats in a bizarre chamber within the wizard's domain, the effect is the same: the players slip into a strange, dream-like reality.

This might sound like a complicated setting for an adventure, but in reality, it's easy to manage, especially because any continuity mistakes you make can be written off as "the nature of dreams".

Physical locations should be bizarre: think M.C. Esher paintings. Movement is irrelevent; getting from point A to point B is as easy as thinking you're already at your destination.

The information the players seek exists as a "scroll" inside of a golden tower, which rises from an ocean of inky darkness. Strange things exist in this ocean -- this is the barrier to the subconscious, from which nightmares spring forth.

At some point upon entering the tower, the players should encounter the wizard, who tells them "NO! You aren't allowed here!" At first he simply pushes them out of the tower; if they persist, he boots them from the dream altogether.

In the real world, the wizard will explain this version of him is the Keeper of Dreams; it's a part of the mind designed to protect his most intimate secrets. Players will need to find a way to overpoewr the Keeper, or else keep be rejected from the dreamstate.

There's one catch: The Keeper can't eject anyone from the dream. He can, however, make people believe they've been ejected -- by sending them into a sub reality that mirrors the real world.

Once players realize they aren't in the real world but are in fact inside a dream within the dream, they can bend the dream to serve their needs. And as mentioned before -- movement doesn't actually transpire, but is rather expressed by thinking you're at point B and discovering you are there.

Therefore, the players must imagine they are at the scroll to arrive there.

Of course, if they are in a nested reality established by the Keeper, they won't reach the real scroll. They need to remove themselves from any and all nested realities, returning to the first layer of the dream, before they can obtain the scroll and bring the Wizard the secret he's lost.

This "secret" is not defined for this adventure. It could be a clue to the next adventure, or something of little relevance to the players but of great importance to the wizard -- a recipe for a casserole, for instance. Or it could be an enigmatic message: the scroll simply says, "Wake up." -- leaving the wizard to ponder its meaning.

Comparisons to "Inception" and "The Cell" aside, players should actually end the adventure session questioning their character's reality...are their heroes awake, or are they still within some dreamscape?

For options, consider these modifications:

Instead of a wizard, use a psionicist. How does this change affect the tone of the adventure?

Instead of a male, make the antagonist a female. How does this change affect the story?

*Note: I'm writing this blog post from my Samsung Tablet. I apologize for any formatting issues, and will correct things when I'm home again next week.

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OSR Adventure #4: In the Valley of the Golden Sun

2011-09-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

In the Valley of the Golden Sun -- an adventure idea for use with any fantasy-based RPG

Get Ready: The players have wandered through a misty mountain path and emerged into a hidden valley of lush green fields and rolling hills. At the center of this valley is a small but thriving community. The setting is peaceful and inviting. Which means the players should be really nervous as they proceed toward the tiny village (especially if you used any of my other adventure ideas).

Get Set: If the players think twice about exploring this hidden valley and turn around, they'll be able to escape this encounter without ever falling into its nasty trap. If they ever come through this region again, the valley they once found will be impossible to locate ever again -- even if they come back in a day or so.

If they foolishly descend into the valley and enter the village, they'll be unable to escape the valley until they figure out the means of escape...or else they'll end up trapped back in time.

Go!: The GM has to do a little bit of prep work for the village, based on what kinds of characters are in the party. When the players enter the village, there will be gasps and looks of shock, as well as whispers between various villagers -- as the heroes arrival has been predestined, and the people are excited that the day of their coming is finally here. The players may be wary or confused...but all will be revealed to them in time.

If the players question the villagers, they'll eventually figure out that the "elder" knows all and will explain everything when they return. He (or she) is visiting the Temple of the Golden Sun, which lies in a cave to the east. The players can either wait in the village or journey east to find this elder.

The "elder" is a special NPC: if there is an elf or dwarf in the party, the elder is a much, much older version of that character. If there are both elves and dwarves in the party, the GM needs to pick one of them to model the NPC after. If there are no elves or dwarves (or other similarly long-lifespan demihumans) then the elder is an elderly human who bears a resemblance to one (or more, especially if there are both genders in the group) of the player characters.

The elder is ecstatic at the arrival of the heroes, and is eager to answer their questions -- but only after they agree to join him or her in a feast in their honor back at the village. The elder is wary of the heroes visiting or exploring the Temple of the Golden Sun, but explains they will learn all about the temple "in due time".

Once the details are settled and the players are able to sit with the elder, they will hear an unbelievable story: the village is made up of descendants of the heroes themselves. Indeed, upon hearing this and after careful consideration, the players will begin noticing resemblances to many of the villagers. The elder explains that when the players next leave the valley, they will wander aimlessly through the mists for days, and emerge in the valley again, only this time far in the past before this village ever existed. They will encounter a local and primitive tribe that lives in a cave in the east, and join their community. They will teach this tribe many things, and lead them out of the cave and into a more civilized existence, eventually developing into the thriving village they now find themselves in. Legends will speak of the day when the Progenitors will come, and how they shall be welcomed, for they will be responsible for all the lives that inhabit the village.

Indeed, if the party attempts to leave the valley, this will in fact occur. If the players have any hope of changing the past and freeing themselves from this fate, they must find a way to escape from the valley without travelling back in time.

Although if they do figure that out, they will be committing genocide on this community -- and their own descendants.

The key, of course, lies in the Temple of the Golden Sun -- and the players will undoubtedly realize that. Of course, the elder -- who again is hopefully an aged version of one of them -- will adamantly defend the cave and do whatever he or she can to prevent the party from entering the temple.

At this point, the GM has a couple of options for what is causing the temporal effect, and how that effect can be eliminated so the heroes can safely leave the valley. Choose from the following list, or roll a die, or come up with your own concept.

Roll 1d8 and consult the list. The temporal loop is being created by:

1-2: A strange artifact of alien origin that hums and generates an aura of temporal disturbance

3-5: A coven of witches who have the ability to warp time and want to do away with the heroes

6-7: Nothing; the temporal loop and the village is all an illusion, and the "elder" is in fact a powerful magic-user looking to deceive the heroes for his (or her) own personal gain

8: A Gold Dragon, cursed to protect a village that never should have been

For the remainder of this post, I'm going to assume the last option -- the Gold Dragon -- was chosen, simply because I want to make the decision to escape as morally taxing as possible.

Bjölnir is a gold dragon who resides inside the eastern cave. Once, he was friend and guardian to the tribe who lived in the cave -- a simple people who worshiped the dragon as a Sun God. Bjölnir loved the tribe, but grew to enjoy the adoration the primitive humans showered him with. As his ego swelled, so did his pride, and this inevitably led to a terrible curse befalling Bjölnir: the tribe would be led away from the cave, but they would never leave the valley. Bjölnir would forever be responsible for their protection, but never again be able to interact with them.

This is why only the elder (as opposed to any of the other villagers) can visit the temple; as the last surviving member of the party (assuming a dwarf or elf is in the group) he or she is not from the original tribe, and therefore they are not bound by the laws of the curse.

Bjölnir is the key to the heroes escaping the valley without going back through time -- they must bring an end to the curse, by whatever means are at their disposal. Indeed, this may very well mean their only chance at escape depends on their slaying the gold dragon, as Bjölnir himself has no choice but to ensure the survival of the villagers -- and if he dies, the village and all the descendants will cease to exist -- so he will fight to the death. Clever players may point out though that if any of them die, Bjölnir runs the risk of affecting the villagers as well, as any descendants of slain heroes will cease to exist also.

Of course, the players should be considering the weight of the issues at hand as well -- can they willingly erase their own descendants from existence? Can they slay a gold dragon who, although cursed, remains a lawful good creature? And if they can easily act in such a manner...is their moral compass accurate, or should an alignment shift take place?

And what if the players embrace their role in the history of this village? Does the adventure/campaign end there, or does it shift into the past and continue from there? That could make for an interesting story line.

If you run this adventure, I'd love to hear from you how it went, and what version of the temporal loop you used -- or what you might've come up with on your own. Feel free to comment below, or e-mail me at thesecretdm@gmail.com.

Have fun!

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Before You Comment...

Speak Out with Your Geek Out

2011-09-16T02:04:00.001-04:00

September 12th - September 16th, 2011

I didn't think I had anything to speak out about.

After all, The Secret DM is all about anonymity, right?

Sure, I'm part cool-robed figure with bad ass glowing dice floating above my hand (thanks to Todd Shearer), but I'm also equal parts Boo Radley.

He's a ninja.

Minus the weird rumors about me in the community.

And leaving tchotchkes inside of trees.

So how could I possibly "speak out" with my "geek out", if I'm so afraid to talk openly about my interest in gaming that I'm willing to draw a comparison between myself and a creepy character from a novel we all read in Middle School?

Turns out I'm not so afraid after all. I mean sure -- the conditions have to be just right:

I'm a social butterfly.

...which is to say, I'll only "geek out" to another geek. Which might not be what SOwyGO is all about necessarily, but it's a starting point for me. Baby steps...gotta take baby steps.

This comes up because I had two instances in the last few days relating to this very topic. First, at work.

In case you aren't aware, I manage a successful retail store (You hear that, Harper Lee?! I manage a store! I'd like to see Boo Radley do that! Ha!) where I deal with customers on a regular basis, and have to get very hands on with helping them pick out the most relevant product for their needs.

So the other day I had a young man come in to make a purchase, and after some casual conversation, I found out he plays Magic: the Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons. So I told him who I was. Err, that is...online. As in this place here. This blog. I told him I was the Secret DM. Get it?

It was equally the most frightening and the most liberating thing I've done with my SDM identity -- and my passion for role playing -- in the two years since I created this persona. All these feelings of anxiety welled up inside of me, but there was no turning back -- there was no taking back the web address and denying this was me. It was out there now -- my name, my face, my place of employment, all attached to the Secret DM.

Which led me to my next encounter...this time in my own backyard.

It turns out that not one, but two of my neighbors are old D&D players, and after I brought up the conversation during one of our sporadic get togethers at a nearby playground, both expressed some level of interest in playing again -- even after a 15+ year hiatus each.

Sure, the conversation garnered some strange looks from spouses who had no idea what we were talking about, but otherwise the experience was a very positive one and made me think about this whole secret identity gig.

For the time being, I'm going to keep my secret identity a secret and still not openly broadcast my interest in gaming. Perhaps I can share that information publicly someday, but for right now, I'm just more comfortable if only a handful of people know my real identity.

Even if they do mix me up with Boo Radley.

Hey everyone! "Speak Out with Your Geek Out" isn't over yet! You can check out all the latest news about this internet-wide event at http://www.speakoutwithyourgeekout.com/ -- have fun!

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OSR Adventure #3: The Escort

2011-09-15T10:21:00.000-04:00

This post is another in a series of adventures that's part of the OSR Challenge: A September of Short Adventures, as presented by Asshat Paladins. For more information, see the sidebar on the right side, including a list of the other 23 participants!

The Escort -- A Get Ready! Get Set! Go! Adventure for any kind of setting or game system

Get Ready: The player characters have been hired to escort a deranged man named Lieb from one location to another. The origin location might be a city jail, a monastary, or a mine in deep space, and the end point can be any of the same locations or an insane asylum, an abandoned tower, whatever.

Get Set: Wherever Lieb is, he's definitely not wanted there. He's a deranged person who babbles about nonsensical things, quotes passages from an assortment of holy books, recites nursery rhymes, etc. The thing is, he can't just be cut loose -- he's a danger to himself and society. And besides, the destination he's being brought to? Someone's paid a lot of money to make sure he gets there safely.

Go: Of course, Lieb isn't all that he appears. It's up to the game master to determine what exactly Lieb is: A demon possessed human, a delusional wizard of the enchantment school, or some alien life-form that's taken on a human appearance. Regardless, he's going to make the journey to the end point a living hell for the players.

Lieb will at first babble incessantly, but soon he'll grow quiet. Diversions will manifest themselves around the party -- wolves in the wilderness, strange malfunctions on a star vessel -- and the diversions will keep coming until Lieb is alone with someone. Then he turns on the charm, and through whatever infernal or magical means are at his disposal, begins to corrupt one of the players to do his bidding.

Lieb's goal will be to turn the party against themselves, not charm all of them to do his bidding. It's far more enjoyable for him to watch friendships dissolve and real emotions pour out. Once he has someone under his influence, he'll start prodding them about characteristics they don't like about another character.

He might do this to a few of the players, but never to all of them. As the in-fighting ensues, Lieb will try to escape, although he's definitely drawn to the chaos he encourages.

If the party can settle their difference and overcome Lieb's enchantments and manage to secure him without killing him, they'll earn their reward. If Lieb dies, the financial backers will not be pleased.

As for who those backers are? Scientists looking to study Lieb, or perhaps Lieb's family. Or a cult of demon worshippers who are convinced of Lieb's true nature. Or a holy place that knows of Lieb's true nature and wants to trap him in a prison, lest he unleash terrible evil upon the world.

In this final instance, perhaps the Holy Order is upset if they discover Lieb is dead...because that's the first sign of the Apocalypse, and the players have just unleashed the End of the World....

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Interacting with You on Your Terms

2011-09-14T12:39:00.003-04:00

I Hate Social Media Etiquette.

Actually, I hate the term social media specifically; it creates an unsavory impression that everything one does is part of some socialized machine of self-promotion, fueled by a continuous stream of humblebragging (on twitter: @humblebrag).

Then again, it probably is just that.

Of course, "Social Media" is a necessary evil, especially when someone has a brand to promote, but understanding how human beings -- the real people behind all these facebook accounts -- relate to, interact with, and use a brand can be confusing. Everyone has different expectations/needs, and no matter how many "Best Practices" articles you read and implement, you're invariably going to offend someone or miss an opportunity to engage a particular user.

Going "Human" with Social Media

Recently I ran an experiment where I posted to Facebook from Twitter, using TweetDeck. There are millions of people who do this on a daily basis, and have a great deal of success with it. My findings?

While the autonomy/interconnectivity made sharing content easier, it also made the act of sharing content very robotic.

I am not a robot.

I am a very busy person, and certainly at times I might wish I had some robotic help, but I don't like feeling I'm a machine pushing content through automated programs. So I've decided to go human. Sure, that means a little bit more work for me -- if there's something I want to share across all my social networks, I'll need to do it manually on each site. But I gain the ability to tailor the content to each specific network, making the post that much more personalized (and removing unrelated content, such as #hashtags on Facebook).

I've also (finally) removed other automated systems, such as the Networked Blogs App for Facebook. Again, this was a handy way of auto-sharing whenever I had a new blog post, but it robbed me the chance to personalize how I shared that information.

Humanize Yourself: The End of Self Promotion

Of course, the act of sharing a new blog post (or other personal content) is full of all that self-promotion cog-run machinery, which I'm hoping to eliminate. On the one hand, telling people when I have a new blog post is important, because it might send people to check out my blog that otherwise wouldn't be aware of the blog, and also it might catch someone's attention based on a specific theme, even if they aren't a regular visitor to the blog.

(And despite what anyone says about "blogging only for themselves and not being interested in gaining followers", the only reason to have a public blog IS to share content with people who might find it useful...)

Despite these benefits, however, I feel ultimately that sharing my own content is the equivalent of SPAM. And I hate spam: it's very artificial.

So I'm going to end self promotion. People who follow my blog can share content via whatever social network they favor, and certainly link to me -- but I won't be announcing my blog posts personally.

Of course, there was one major reason why I promoted myself: I blog infrequently, based on my work/family/social schedule. Because of that irregularity, it can be difficult to know when to visit my website for new content.

So by removing the self-promotion, I have to commit to posting regularly on my website.

That might prove to be a challenge, especially as I'm entering my busy season at work. But I welcome the challenge, because it's the more human thing to do.

Now, the bit about you:

I Want to Interact with You on YOUR terms.

In order to do that, I need to hear from you. How do you like to receive content? What do you like to be shared? What do you dislike seeing (for example, multiple posts on the same thing from different sources, repetitive posts, "bumping" content, etc.)? What type of content would you request be featured, if you had control over what was posted on a facebook page (or via twitter, or on Google+, or even on a blog)?

And, if you run/operate/promote a brand on any of the social networks, I'd love to hear what works for you. What "best practices" have you tested and implemented? What worked for you, and what didn't? What do you hope your fans/followers gain from interacting with you?

--The Secret DM

*Note: You might be thinking this note is nothing but self-promotion, which goes against everything it discusses. If you feel that way, share it with others in your own social network, and see what they think about it. ;)

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Before You Comment...

OSR Adventure #2: The Collie Out of Space

2011-09-06T21:29:00.001-04:00

A Get Ready! Get Set! Go! Adventure for Use with Any Simplified Version of a Fantasy Role Playing Game (or Not, if You Don't Think So)

Get Ready: While travelling, the player characters encounter a playful and happy collie alone on the road. Upon befriending the party, the dog follows them to their next destination where an evil horror is unleashed on an unsuspecting community...

Nice doggy.

Get Set: Establishing the collie as a friendly companion is the key here: the dog has to be harmless and remain mostly in the background...possibly even aiding the party, almost as a ranger's companion or a wizard's familiar would, by growling at attacking goblins, barking when intruders approach, or otherwise behaving in a manner that says "this dog cares about us".

As the GM, you might even go so far as to introduce the dog several adventures in advance.

The dog is, in fact, a creature from another dimension that is so alien in origin, so hideous in form and demeanor, that mere words cannot describe its shape or purpose. Except maybe the word "lovecraftian". Or bad ass. Having become trapped in the material realm, the beast has learned to adapt by taking on the appearance of a cute border collie. To protect itself, the monster finds a traveling group (in this case, the party), and uses them as "guardians" until it reaches an area with a sizable populace, then sets about feeding indiscriminately.

People taste like snausages.

Decide where the party ends up next (or roll a d8 and choose):

1-2: A Secluded Monastery

3-4: A Town (name one yourself or call it Trails End if you can't think of anything)

5-6: A Royal Palace/Mansion/Castle, filled with a Family of Eccentric Personalities

7-8: A Cave linked to a Dwarven Citadel

Some of these locales may need more prep work than others, but each one offers a unique play experience when the ~~fun~~ madness starts to happen.

Go: For the biggest impact, this scenario should play out as a mystery: people start disappearing, blood is splattered across entire rooms with no bodies, and every now and then, the collie wanders off and returns, always happily finding its party (or one hero in particular, if there's one player who is particularly defensive/protective of the animal).

Questions would be raised about the PC's, as the strange events didn't start until they arrived. Meanwhile, the players should question if things aren't normally this way, and they are just the next victims to stumble into this situation.

False leads and vague, suggestive descriptions work well here to confuse and mislead the players; for example, using imagery of the dwarves that makes them seem obsessed with blood and/or vampiric in nature. Don't say things like "the dwarf stares at your neck and bares his fanged teeth, eager to taste your blood" -- but rather, subtle clues like the dwarves having a personal aversion to sunlight "for religious reasons, they claim" and other misleading tricks. At the end of the adventure, it can be revealed that the player's own minds were playing tricks on them, if they jumped to the conclusion that these were vampire dwarves when in fact the killings were being caused by the collie they had brought with them.

(Bad dog.)

Monsters:

Collie (Horror): AC: 3; HP: 29; Attack: Special; Abilities: Special

Powers:

Transmogrify: The "Collie" can't do much in battle in its collie form, but it can transform into a monstrous entity. This process takes a full round to complete, and consists of the front 3/4's of the dog splitting in half, with the two sides lined by several rows of nasty, sharp, yellow teeth. The creature stands on its two tiny legs, and a dozen thin, long tentacles spool out from inside the mouth and whip and flail wildly in the air. Anyone witnessing the transformation must make some kind of check (save vs paralysis, insanity check, roll against wisdom, rocks/paper/scissors, etc.) or else lose their action, and anyone acting against the creature (who makes the check) during this transformation suffers a -3 to their attack due to overwhelming disgust.

Alien Appearance: Once transformed, anyone attacking the creature must make the same kind of check or else suffer a -2 penalty to actions.

Three consecutive failures against this type of check mean the character is so overwhelmed by horror that he/she runs off in absolute terror and is unable to return for 1d6 turns. The next time that character sees the creature (or a normal collie) they must make the same kind of check, with a failure meaning they run off for an additional 2d6 turns.

Tentacles: The monster possesses 2d6 active tentacles, which, on a successful attack, inflict paralysis (paralysis on a failed save, if those are used in the game you're playing) but deal no damage; on the next round, they begin pumping alien fluids into the victim. The tentacles have a reach of 15' feet and are 1hp each and can be ripped by strength or cut by sharp weapons.

Drink This: The tentacles pump their victim with a viscous fluid that turns muscles, bone, and fatty tissue into a spongy material that can be controlled psionically by the dog. Spongy material reverts back to normal flesh after 1d6 rounds, if the tentacles are separated or the dog is killed. If the material has been spongy for a full turn, the effects are irreversible. The process is painful; victims suffer 1d4 points of damage per tentacle each round they are attached. At 0 hit points, the victim is a Sponge Zombie and servant of the Horror.

Burst: When brought to 0 hit points, the collie explodes, and sends dozens of coiled up tentacles splattering across the room. These are in addition to whatever tentacles were destroyed by the party. These tentacles act as 1hp snakes and quickly attempt to escape the area; they will grow into new collies in 1d3 days; if the party starts seeing a lot of collies in their travels, they should worry...although the dogs' new masters will probably be very protective...

Sponge Zombies: AC: 5; HP: 7; Attack: 1d4, Special (Suffocate) Strength: 13

The Sponge Zombies can be cut, sliced, stabbed, punched, thwacked, burned, and struck by lightning, and all damage is taken at half; no attack slows or stops them. At 0 hit points, they crumble into a moldy substance that is poisonous when inhaled.

They can suffocate their victims with a successful attack and then a strength check; in this case, they deal no damage on the first round, but until their victim succeeds in a strength check, they suffer 1d4 points of damage on each subsequent round, and any attacks against the zombies deal 1pt of damage to their held victims.

~Fin~

Note: When you've had a chance to run this scenario, I want to hear about it. Let me know what modifications you made, what elements you borrowed for your own game, what worked and what didn't, etc. I'd especially love to hear if anyone used the "random location" chart, and what kind of results they had from that. E-mail your stories to thesecretdm@gmail.com -- and who knows...your story might even be featured in a futue blog post at thesecretdm.com!

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A Guest Post for the September Adventure Challenge

2011-09-04T05:37:00.000-04:00

Here's a post courtesy of John Johnson, whom I've met through Google+. You can find out more about John at the end of this post, and I encourage you to find out about him -- he's warm, kind, and passionate -- especially about roleplaying games...and he's working on something that will prove very beneficial to the role playing community.

This post is another in a series of adventures that's part of the OSR Challenge: A September of Short Adventures, as presented by Asshat Paladins. However, this post is unique for several reasons:

John Johnson has taken up the challenge personally, although without a blog to feature his content, he's chosen to host the pieces at Google+, with the intention to port the content to a wiki project he's currently developing (more on that later).
John's decided to create adventures (and other tools) for a variety of game systems, not necessarily the OSR crowd (Learn more about what "OSR" means here). This first adventure is for his favorite system, 7th Sea.

Since posts on Google+ can be limited by who you choose to share the content with, I felt it was important to provide John a place that his content could reach a broader audience.

For more on the OSR Challenge click here. The other 23 participants in the challenge are listed in the sidebar on the right. Check them out and be sure to comment on the ones you like!

The Baker Street Boys -- a 7th Sea Adventure

Plot hook: Beggar children are going missing on the streets.

Get Ready: The party gets the information from Joy Zengo, the director of the local orphanage, known as the Baker Street orphanage

Set: Sources point the party towards Lord Louis Au, who was employing the children to gather information. All of the missing children worked for him.

Go: When confronted, Lord Au will tell the party he used the children to spy on a Vestel merchant named Matthew Bejoe, whom he suspected of being secretly in the employ of Castille.

Possible Encounters: The GM is encouraged to leave clues leading to Bejoe's whereabouts, along with false leads. Ultimately though, the clues should lead the party to Jean "Scrag" Traore, the owner of a local pub called The Loose Cannon, which Bejoe's guard frequent often. When interviewing Scrag, the party might be interrupted by a group of 10 Brutes. They will form two Brute squads of threat rating 2. If the party interrogates any of them, they will confess to being sent by Bejoe to silence Scrag.

Lord Au has 15 arms men at his disposal who will separate into three Brute squads of 5 each. Their threat level is 3. If the party pushes Lord Au, he will summon them. Otherwise he will deny any information, but send his major domo (who is actually his spymaster) afer the party to fill them in.

Matthew Bejoe has men equal to 8 times the number of player characters available to him. These will form evenly into a number of Brute Squads equal to the party plus 1. If the squads are not equal, the larger squad will stay with Bejoe. Each of the squads is Threat Rating 2 except the squad which breaks off to protect Bejoe which is a threat rating 3. This squad also has a henchman, who will try to buy time for Bejoe to escape.

Once the party has defeated Bejoe and searched the warehouse docks, they will find a room with some of the missing children in it. The older children were pressed into service with the Castillian navy.

The children will tell the party that they were working for Lord Au (if the party manages to skip over that part of the plot earlier).

Possible Ramifications/Future Plots:

By the end of the adventure, the party potentially gains two new contacts: Joy Zengo, the Baker Street orphanage director, and Scrag, the owner of The Loose Cannon

They also have ties to the street children, which could be a benefit or complication in a future adventure

If the party leaves on good terms with Lord Au, he can funnel informaton and services to them as well.

If Bejoe escapes, will the party pursue him and try to retrieve the children who were pressed into Navy service? Why was Bejoe working for the Castillians? Does the party care about the war between Montaigne and Castille?

Prominent NPCs (stat them appropriate to your party):Lord Au: Low ranking Nobility. Trained swordsman, a bit rusty. Interested in moving up the social ladderMonsieur Zuma: Lord Au's major domo. He's fiercely loyal to Au and has served as his spymaster for many years.Sven Andre: Bejoe's henchmanJoy Zengo: Matron/Director of the Baker Street orphanage. Solidly middle class.

Jean "Scrag" Traore: Owner of the tavern The Loose Cannon; fairly high intelligence, low education, high street smarts, high charisma

Locations:

The Loose Cannon is a fairly large inn/tavern in the seedier side of Paix, close to the docks. The dining room is composed of large picnic type tables that are bolted to the floor to prevent them from being used in the frequent brawls. Surrounding the open common area is a balcony with individual rooms off it. Residents of the rooms can come out and lean against the railing and look into the common area or or enjoy a bottle of wine at the small tables in the corners. There's a large chandelier in the center of the common area. Behind the bar is a trap door that has a tunnel that leads to the sea. Mounted rather prominently on the bar is a swivel gun that Traore took from the last ship he served on. Most patrons think that it's merely there for decoration and Traore has never deigned to correct their opinion.

Le Oust Racine (Lord Au's Manor) In the wealthier part of town. Large mansion with tree lined lanes. Lord Au's family originally made it's fortune from the rather prosaic trade of potatoes, though he tries to hide that fact as much as possible. Bejoe's warehouse: Unremarkable warehouse from the outside. Inside there is the rather distinct and unusual feature of an inside dock where a rowboat or other small boat can park to allow for loading of items or people that need to be hidden.

About the author:

John Johnson has been gaming for more than half his life. He lives by the three R's: reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic. In other words: Read all the games you can, write about as many different rpg themes as you can, and create as many different scenarios as you can.

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OSR Adventure #1: Feast of Pigs

2011-09-02T07:51:00.002-04:00

This is the first in a series of adventures that's part of the OSR Challenge: A September of Short Adventures, as presented by Asshat Paladins. For more on the challenge, or to find any of the other 20 (!!!) participant websites, click here.

The subject matter of this adventure might be a bit mature for some audiences; I apologize in advance if that's the case...but I had a lot of fun with this concept, and might even flesh it out in more detail in the future. -- The Secret DM

Feast of Pigs

A Get Ready, Get Set, Go! Old School Fantasy Adventure by The Secret DM

Get Ready:

Strange things are happening in Mill's Crossing. Once a bustling trade destination, business has dwindled in recent months as people have vanished. The locals are frightened, but few speak of the strange noises they hear at night emanating from the wilderness.

Get Set:

The player's won't be in town long before they hear the strange noises at night: a chorus of deep, guttural snorting sounds billowing from the edge of town. If they investigate immediately, they'll discover a number of normal pigs loose on the outskirts of the town who have wandered away from a nearby pig farm. All of these pigs are excited and anxious, but none of them are violent.

The townsfolk lock up their doors at night, so questions would have to wait until the morning. If the players set off to the pig farm to investigate, they'll find the farmer(s) missing, though a strange, faint glow emanates from the wilderness that borders the pig farm.

If they ask the townsfolk, they'll mostly get a run-around and people darting the line of questions. Persistence will reveal the townsfolk are afraid of Banyick, the Pig Farmer, but only for the last few months. He used to be a well respected man in the town, whose pork sold at market for exceptional prices. But he stopped selling pork meat and got violent towards anyone who approached his farm.

Go!:

During the daytime, Banyick is at his farm sleeping. Several men linger around the outside of the farm tending to the pigs, and all of them eye the players with suspicion. They are all portly in shape with broad faces and fat necks, and they'll refuse to speak to anyone -- their only responses consist of snorts and chuckles.

If the players start harassing the farm hands, or otherwise try to get to Banyick, he'll come out and yell at them. He looks gaunt, pale and sickly, with puffy, red rings around his eyes, which appear sunken into his face. He's got a very bad temper though and can even get violent, and all of his farm hands will defend him if things get ugly.

At night, things only get worse. If the players have made it to the second night, the chorus of squeels and snorts has become a cacophony of noise and seems to emanate from all around Mill's Crossing (players are -1 to all attacks while this noise continues). Of course, they might've headed into the woods on the first night, at which point the following encounter occurs without the penalty to combat.

The farmhands from Banyick's farm are scattered throughout the wilderness, waiting to capture anyone who trespasses. In the poor lighting conditions, they appear like pig-headed humanoids, and they snort and squeel like pigs as well to maintain the facade. While the intended assumption is that these are Werepigs or Wereboars, they are in fact just human cultists who wear pig masks, only the origins of the masks are rather gruesome.

The masks are fashioned from human flesh, sewn together to create monstrous, pig-like visages. The cultists kidnap people and perform rituals in the woods in service to a demonic beast. During these rituals, they slaughter their victims, dine on the meat, and fashion the masks from the remains.

Banyick is the exception. In a clearing in the woods lies a massive-sized, demonic boar with ashen and dark emerald colored fur and bony protrusions jutting out of its back. It gives off a faint emerald glow; a measure of it's feeding on the worship of the sadistic cultists. By morning, the boar will transform, leaving an even more drained and frail looking Banyick in its place.

Other Options:

The GM can choose to have human victims tied up in the woods, waiting to be sacrificed to the boar and the cultists. Other options include having the cultists assault the town one evening, with the players having to fend off the pig-men while they attempt to grab some new victims -- player characters included.

Notable NPCs:

Demon Boar; No. Encountered: 1; Alignment: Chaotic; Armor Class: 6; Hit Dice: 4d8, Hit Points: 23; Attacks: tusk (2d4+2), special: Gore: on a successful hit, roll a second attack against AC 9; success deals an additional 1d4 damage on the attack; Save: F3

Pig Men (Cultists); No. Encountered: 2d6 (7); Alignment: Chaotic; Armor Class: 8; Hit Dice: 1d8; Hit Points: 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3, 1; Attacks: club (1d6), dagger (1d4), Save: CL1; morale: 9.

Banyick (Human Form): Alignment: Chaotic; Armor Class: 9; Hit Dice: 1d8, Hit Points: 6; Attacks: dagger (1d4), Save: NM1; morale: 8.

Killing Banyick in human form, despite its benefit to the locals, is an evil act, especially if it happens before the party knows that Banyick and the Demon Boar are one and the same. Of course, killing Banyick doesn't kill the demon boar, as Banyick is NOT the Demon Boar, but merely transforms into its physical shape. The demon boar is an evil and malevolent spirit that has possessed Banyick and uses his body at night to enter into the material world and feed on the worship of the cultists. The rituals are all part of a process to bring the demon boar into the world permanently, at which point Banyick would be lost forever.

GMs are encouraged to flesh out the origins of the demon boar and how Banyick came to be possessed by the evil spirit. The demon itself will no doubt return another day, even if defeated here.

No treasure is included here, so GMs are left to fill in those details. The cultists don't want for material things, and since Banyick stopped selling his meats at the market, he's become rather poor, as has the town as a whole.

Players could don the pig masks, although such an act would be considered evil. The masks grant a -1 to attacks/morale of opposing human enemies, who are disgusted by the monstrous visages.

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Before You Comment...

[OSR CHALLENGE] A September of Short Adventures by Asshat Paladins

2011-08-31T08:18:00.000-04:00

Asshat Paladins, a blog dedicated to games, gaming, and all things awesome, has put out a challenge to the OSR blogosphere to write 25 adventures in 25 days in September:

The moustache makes this dragon bad ass.

OSR stands for "Old School Renaissance", and refers to the myriad of retro-clone role playing games that capture the feel of earlier editions of Dungeons & Dragons. Examples include Labyrinth Lord, Dark Dungeons, and Lamentations of the Flame Princess (for mature audiences...you've been warned).

Following The Crazy GM's lead, I decided to accept this challenge as well. September is going to be a busy month for me, but this challenge sounded like a great deal of fun, and I could always use an excuse to write an adventure.

The good news is though...there's still time to join. Simply follow this link:

http://asshatpaladins.blogspot.com/2011/07/osr-challenge-september-of-short.html

...then toss your name into the hat, link your own blog, and start cranking out adventures!

I wish everyone involved in this challenge the best of luck, and I look forward to seeing some of the fantastic ideas everyone comes up with!

As for me, I'll try to incorporate a moustache into every adventure. Because my adventures will be bad ass.

--The Secret DM

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