Don't rush it man!

I've been trying desperately to keep writing, unfortunately work seems to be getting in the way among other things.  (you gotta pay the bills though!) Thankfully I am not at a loss for stuff to write, I'm slowly keeping all these ideas in my head.  So I am not suffering from writers block which is cool.  More so I'm suffering from: 6 more maps to fill up, try to make everything slightly different, interesting and a bit crazy weird.

The only thing that has been bugging me is that some of the maps may not be quite up to snuff, so I might go back and re-work a few as time goes on.

The only issue is the longer this takes, the more ideas I get, the more editing I start doing, so the entire dungeon has changed a bit here and there, although I think for the better at this point.  I guess the best thing is, is to not rush this process right? I mean the one saving grace so far for me, is that I'm the only one putting pressure on myself.  I didn't do a kickstarter or anything.  (which would increase my anxiety ten fold I think).

Speaking of Kickstarter though - check out this post 

Another thing I've incorporated into the mega dungeon is atleast one dice gambling game.  I found a great resource here http://www.purplepawn.com/2009/10/the-13-most-popular-dice-games/

Obviously I'll need to come up with a semi brilliant name for the dice game, within the game.  (your in the matrix get over it).  Also when playing dice games I'll suggest grabbing some Canadian pennies as we have officially ruled them out in the last year and they are no longer apart of our currency.  So 1 penny will equal 1 GP's.

To the people who read my blog everyday

I just wanted to say thank you, I wholeheartedly appreciate it!  And for all those people that comment and keep a dialog going, thank you!  

Fly by the seat of your pants RPG

Fly by the seat of your pants

RPG

Just a silly mashup idea that I had, wrote it down quickly. 

4 Main Attributes

Strength , Dexterity, Mind, Charm

Roll 4D6 drop the lowest score.

Follow the following table for +/-'s for attributes

Attribute Table

Modifier for attack rolls, damage and skill checks

Attribute Score	Modifier
17 To 18	Plus 2
10 To 16	Plus 1
9 To 12	0
5 To 8	Minus 1
3 To 4	Minus 2

3 Classes

Fighter, Magic User , Thief – All Classes must have atleast a 12 attribute score for there main attribute – Fighter (Strength) Dexterity (Thief) Wizard (Mind)

Fighters – Fighters can use any armour, and receive a D8 on all damage rolls

Wizards – Can wear no armour, the do a d4 on all damage rolls, they must roll 2D6+2 to determine starting magicka pool.

Thieves – Can wear only leather armour, they receive 35% for all thief skill checks, they receive plus two to initial luck score. D6 on damage rolls

Luck – essentially is a saving throw, however it diminishes every time it is used. Any time you need to test your luck to avoid something, or possibly do double damage, you must loose one point of luck. Starting luck is 2D6.

Experience

level exp + to attack and + magika pool + to thief skills (percentage) + hps

Experience is gained by killing monsters, overcoming situations and gold value collected.

Level	Experience	+ To Attack	+ Magicka	+ Thief Skill	Hit Points	Luck
1	0	0	0	0	2D8	0
2	2500	Plus 1	Plus 1	+ 5 Percent	3D8	Plus 1
3	5000	Plus 2	Plus 2	+ 10 Percent	4D8	Plus 2
4	10000	Plus 3	Plus 3	+ 20 Percent	5D8	Plus 3
5	20000	Plus 4	Plus 4	+ 30 Percent	6D8	Plus 4

Races

There are no racial benefits, be whatever type of character you would like, Elf, Dwarf, Halfing, Half Elf, Human

Spells

Each spell costs 2 magicka to use.

Fireball – Does 1D8 damage

Charm – Charms creatures for 1 turn.

Heal – Can heal other characters 1D4 of damage.

Detect Magic

Read Magic

Mage Armor – Changes mages armour class to 15 for one turn.

Summon Monster – Summons a 1HD monster of casters choosing.

Equipment

Each PC starts off with 3D6 x 10 gold pieces. 100 Silver pieces equals 1 gold piece.

Weapons

All weapons wielded by fighters do 1d8 damage, Wizards 1D4 and Thief's 1D6 (plus any modifiers)

Ability Checks/Difficult Table

Any game action is based on the following difficulty table, roll 1D20 and add the appropriate ability modifier.  

Easy!  10

Medium  13

Hard  15

Harder  17

Epic 20

Godlike 23

Random table 2

RANDOM TABLE #2

Roll 1D20	Result
1	An escaped prisoner stumbles on the party
2	Recent digging operation, left over pickaxes and a wheelbarrow
3	4 Dead Orcs, all beheaded.  No armour or weapons
4	A huge black spot on the floor and a smoking pair of boots
5	Trans dimensional door that ports the PC’s to the beginning of the caverns
6	A purple mist covers the section of cavern making it difficult to see.  -2 attack penalty
7	A pit trap with spikes.  A dead adventurer lies at the bottom impaled.  10 feet down.  Has armour/weapons.
8	Creaking from above, dust falls on PC’s heads.  1 -6 chance of cave in.  2D6 damage.
9	6 feet of mud, -2 attack penalty.
10	Suit of rusted plate mail with a skeleton leaning against a wall
11	Scrawled on the wall is a warning of monsters ahead (GM give a hint)
12	Broken lockpicks
13	Mudslide! Slide 15 feet down cavern.  Save VS Spell for half damage.  2D6 Damage.
14	Dark shadows start to follow the PC’s
15	Screaming alarm! Roll for random monster.
16	A empty broken treasure chest
17	Carcass of dead worm, chunks have been taken away.
18	Insect hive.  (Insect swarm)
19	Strange large eggs, greenish in color.  Possibly worth gold.
20	Ghost that flies thru the PC’s and disappears into a wall behind them.

Random Table #1

In order to add some extra flavor to Enormity, I've started working on some random tables, here is one of them.  This one is fairly basic, I'll be writing a few more gonzo esq ones as well.

Roll 1D20	Result
1	Drip of water from ceiling puts out Torch light
2	Stumble into 3 feet of slime
3	Wounded NPC/Monster leaning against a cavern wall
4	Screams off in the distance
5	Flooded section 8 feet deep, 15 foot section of tunnel
6	Magical lights dance in area illuminating the cavern
7	Rubble from fallen stalactite’s
8	Pouch of coins (20 CP’s, 2 GP’s, 10 SP’s)
9	Burned clothing
10	Rusted dagger
11	A pile of old skulls
12	Snakeskin
13	Useable torch on ground
14	Old broken key
15	Burned book
16	Map to old underground city
17	Sprung Beartrap with a leg still attached
18	Sack of moldy provisions
19	A large bang off in the distant, as if something really heavy was dropped
20	Religious symbol

High Fantasy VS Gritty!

I think my style, or atleast how I`ve liked to play games has always been very `High Fantasy``.  A recent review of `The Lizardmen Of Illzathatch`` pointed that out.  Let me point out, I don`t think this is a bad thing, but I need to keep grittiness in mind.

The Lizardmen of Illzathatch has a certain naive or simplistic charm. 

Another thing that I`ve realized is that in RPG`s especially old school stuff, there needs to be RISK & REWARD.  A specific example is in the comments from this post 

Ok, my first response didn't take, so I'm gonna throw out a "shortened" version of it. 

Where's the risk? Where's the cursed items, the helm of alignment changing, or "Brega the Barbarian reaches into the radiant waters of the mysterious pool drawing forth from it a writhing viper!" 
Now this otherwise benign pool of gift giving, just became a question of risk versus reward, and is instantly exciting and a challenge in its own right! If you're going to give valuable magic items away, your PCs will not value them. Inject some danger and suddenly that +1 Ring of Protection, or silver dagger just became a lot more valuable! J Benjamin 

So what I am hoping to keep in mind as I write this mega dungeon is to blur that line between high fantasy and dark fantasy, can we call it MOR Fantasy.  MOR is a music business term that means Middle Of The Road.  ie Easy Listening, Diana Krall, Doobey Brothers, etc.

I`ve always liked the idea of Heroes, good heroes.  I think this comes from my love of this type of literature and movies.  Rooting for the underdogs (bilbo), knights (luke), the bad boy turned good (Han), the outcast turned hero (Drizzt).  Ya get it.  hahaha.

Even reading some S&W literature by C.L. Moore, I really fell in love with the character of Jirel Of Joiry.  Another big influence of late is the Shanara series by Terry Brooks.  All of these characters are still heroes.

Obviously I`ve read and played a bit of `Liberation Of The Demonslayer``, and have an idea of where Mr. Satanis head space is at +Venger Satanis .  Among other things H.P. Lovecraft.

In the back of my mind I have a story written around this mega dungeon that could easily play out in a good aligned PC Hero archetype situation.  However my mind has been wandering lately to evil, and the possible outcomes that may occur. Obviously the plan is to not rail road, I`ve been writing in ideas and rumors that could push the PC`s down a darker path.

Although I hate to admit it, I am not a fan of ``save or die`` situations in writing.  For me it comes down to ``Well if the PC is dumb enough, so be it``.  I have however written in a few of these situations, and will probably throw a few more in for those dumb asses that will poke the sleeping dragon.

I suppose, its friday, I`m riffing here, but its giving me an idea of where to go with certain things.  First and most importantly I think giving stuff away for free (no risk) is a bad idea, as pointed out above.  Writing in those options for a little evil to creep in here and there is another thing that will start happening.

Right its friday!  and I got 3 hours till I can sit back relax and do some more writing.

TLDR:  Inspiration can come from anywhere, soak it up.

Keep rolling those dice

Shane

Old School Layout