Why They Put Trails Through Forests

So, with Win10 they send me pictures every few days. Some of them are pretty great.

This one is a perfect example of somewhere your DnD character does NOT want to take their horse. Not just riding, but you don't want to try to walk it through there either. All those holes and shadows that look like holes will all look like holes to your horse, and even if your horse is trained so they won't freak out in a forest (they freak out in forests because, basically, they have one eye on each side of their head) they might baulk at going anywhere near them. The other possibility (the worse one) is that they try to jump over them onto what they think is solid ground, but almost certainly isn't, at which point they will almost assuredly break either their ankle or their leg.

"That doesn't look so bad" - someone who doesn't ride horses

If your character is looking at this, and they have a horse, they'll have to either find a way around or take their horse back and leave it somewhere. Unless neither the player nor the character have any experience with horses (this is pretty basic), in which case they can try to make their horse (not them) roll a wisdom save (determination) to go through it, and then a dexterity save to not break at least one leg (based on how badly they failed the save). The horse is going to have to keep making that dex save. How often depends on the ground, but potentially as often as every 5 minutes.

Stupid Monk Tricks

If you have monks in your DnD game, here is a Stupid Monk Rule! The idea is that it’s a self-contained add-on ability that balances itself internally, so there should be no need to restrict it by level, etc.

Combat Balance, or Karma Strain, or Chi Balance, or whatever funky monk name you want to call it.

When the monk does damage in a fight, they can arbitrarily add bonus points to their damage. But! They must achieve b a l a n c e. During the fight they have to apply an equal amount of MINUS POINTS to their damage. If they don’t, then a turn later they will take that many D6s in damage to themselves, as their muscles pop and snap from the strain. If someone casts something like Lesser Restoration on the monk before the turn is up, this will quiet their muscles and they won’t take the damage, but the monk will still have Failed to Achieve Balance (covered later). Something like a Cure Wounds spell won’t help at all, though it will have its normal effect on the damage after the monk’s muscles have snapped.
Let’s Have an Example!
Jovaell the Monk is in a fight again! She hits Bandit Leader for 3 points of damage, and is deeply unfulfilled. She is a professional, so she knows this hit is wimply, and decides to DRIVE HER IRON WILL INTO HIS BODY! She adds.. Hmm.. 7 points! Yes, she feels that’s prudent, and adds 7, doing 10 all together. Bandit Leader falls to the ground, the victim, ultimately, of his own poor life choices.
But now Jovaell must achieve BALANCE!
She strikes Lackey X, and hits, doing 4 points of damage. She subtracts 3 from that, doing a total of 1 point. She MUST do at least one point of damage with the hit, or she can achieve no balance with it. 7-3=4. She still has 4 points of her earlier bonus damage she needs to make up for before she has achieved balance.
To her dismay, Lackey X drops in front of her, the victim of Nabonidas the Assassin. He seems pleased with himself.

Jovaell the Monk, in case you forgot

She looks around quickly, and sees one last opponent still stands. She hits Lackey Q and rolls 9 points of damage! She wants to take 4 from the 9 she did, and kick the poor sod for 5 points. Sadly, he had taken an arrow to the knee earlier, and only has 2 hit points left. She drops him, and applies those 2 points to her … Chi Strain? Muscle Balance? Whatever you want to call it. Regardless, she now has 2 points left, and the fight is over. If she still has those 2 points a turn later, she will take 2d6 damage to herself, probably with her muscles writhing under her skin in disturbing anime fashion (that’s up to you). 1d6 damage for each point, see?
She now has a few options. Her friend Cormac the druid is senile, and has nothing like a restoration spell prepared. She sees a nearby goat. She has never liked goats. Not since the Goat Incident. She hits the goat and rolls an exciting 6 points of damage! Unfortunately for everyone concerned, it was an Old Goat, and had but one hit point to give up. To achieve any balance, the goat would have to take at least 1hp in damage anyway, so she still has 2 points of Chi Strain (or whatever) to unload, even though the goat shatters like a chair in a bar fight from that 6.
She will hit Nabonidas. She will make it up to him later, and he probably deserves it anyway. Assassin, amiright?
She cracks him a good one for 5 points, subtracts the 2 that was building up dangerously, hurting him for a total of 3pts, and has ZEROED OUT HER YANG WITH HER YIN! YAY!
BUT!
She Failed To Achieve Balance during the fight. She has avoided physical damage, but her Inner Calm (or something) pays the price. She gets no combat xp from that fight. Or maybe just half. Up to your DM.

Chance and Timing of Wilderness Encounters

This is basically the system I used to use for rolling wilderness encounters back in the day, but I've updated it a bit. It assumes the DM is going to check the chance of an encounter based on the passage of time, not based on distance traveled. That's how it is in the dungeon, and that's how I've always preferred to do it.

Columns
Instead of using arbitrary units like hours or days, this system divides time into more natural sections based on sunrise, sunset, and the typical activity cycle of creatures outdoors. If your world has 2 suns or 60 hour days or other vastly different time schemes, just alter the column titles as appropriate, or add or remove whatever columns you need to make it work.

Rows
As far as the rows are concerned, you just need to have one for each encounter table (the thing that lists the actual monsters) that you've made.

"Aww jeeeez, this looks so complicated!" Bah, whinger! The idea is to make it as quick as possible while playing; to give the DM a rich answer to the question "does anything happen?" using as little dice rolling as possible. Then the DM rolls on their list of monsters/events/etc. for that area.

Result = No. of encounters for that period. Less than zero = zero.

	Dawn	Morning	Afternoon	Twilight	Evening	Night
Plains	2d6-9	2d6-10	2d6-10	2d6-9	2d6-10	2d6-10
Forest	2d6-10	2d6-9	2d6-10	2d6-8	2d6-9	2d6-8
Desert	2d6-10	2d6-11	-	2d6-11	2d6-10	2d6-9
Etc.

2d6-9 gives the following percentages:

0: 83.3%

1: 8.33%

2: 5.56%

3: 2.78%

This means the overall chance of at least some kind of encounter is 16.67%, or the same as 1 in 6 on a d6. For 2d6-10, this chance is the same as rolling a 1 on a d12. For 2d6-11, this chance is 1 in 36.

When during the listed period does a rolled encounter occur? There are 2 main options:

1 - The DM rolls a single d6, with higher results indicating progressively further into the time period. If more than one encounter has the same result, they happen at roughly the same time.

2 - The DM decides how many hours are in each time period, then rolls randomly for hours and minutes. If the DM has a detailed calendar, the number of hours in each period may depend on the season.

The same 2d6 roll can be used to determine non-encounter events at the same time. If the roll on the above encounter table results in doubles, the DM would then roll on an event table. This allows for the chance of monster encounters to be different than the chance for events. For any area or situation, the DM can decide the chance of an event based on the desired probability below:

double 1: 2.8%

double 1 or 2: 5.6%

double 1 through 3: 8.3% or 1 in 12

double 1 through 4: 11% or 1 in 9

double 1 through 5: 13.8%

double 1 through 6: 16.7% or 1 in 6

As an example, if 2d6-9 is used for encounter chance, and an event is rolled on any double result, the overall chance of something happening is 1 in 3. Half would be encounters and half would be events. If instead 2d6-11 is used for encounter chance, and events are rolled on a result of either double ones or double twos, the overall chance of something happening is 1 in 12, with events being twice as likely as encounters.

Nasty Powers for Demons

Yay, a table! These are random powers for the Demon Class in Grot. The entries are a bit more general than they might be, because I want to leave plenty of room for the player to figure out exactly how the power manifests. For example, if the table says you can fly, you might decide you have bat wings, or raven wings, or personal telekinesis, or inflating gasbags. View the hidden? Maybe an eye opens on your palm or on your forehead.

Unless otherwise noted, powers last for 1 round per level (unless it's instant) and can be used once per day for each time the player rolls that power. Many of the powers might be similar to spells in the system of choice, in which case they basically work the same way. Unless otherwise noted, victims generally get a save vs. spells to halve or avoid the effects.

If it's a movement power of some kind (or something like invisibility,) how much can you carry with you? Easy! Take your Wisdom score and plug it into the Strength table of your rules set, then use the resulting encumbrance or load amount.

What if you roll a damaging power a 2nd time? Do you get it once more per day? Does it do another d6 of damage, but still just once a day? You pick. Each time you roll it, either increase usage or damage.

1. You can fly at twice normal movement. See above.
2. Darkness, 15 foot radius.
3. Damaging touch, 1d6 damage to anything touched or held. Do they burn? Do they melt? Rot? Something else?
4. Mind-read. They only get a save if they have mind powers.
5. Spit, project, or breath damaging substance up to 20 feet. 1d6 damage. Or maybe it's a tentacle that shoots out of your nose. It's up to you.
6. Enlarge
7. Shrink
8. Command
9. Charm Person. Do you say a word, do they wear your mark, does something get implanted?
10. Turn invisible
11. Become ethereal
12. Teleport up to a distance of 50 feet per level.
13. Sense magic. This includes spellcasters.
14. Summon a weird random creature, 1hd per level.
15. Heat metal. This version is simpler. It lasts one round per level, and each round it does 1d6 damage. It lights flammable touching objects aflame pretty much right off. Make it a cold version if you like.
16. Brain blast! 1d6 damage per level. Only those with mental powers get a save.
17. Improve Armour Class by 1 point per level, for one round per level.
18. Telekinesis, 10 pounds per level. The objects have a movement rate of a typical person. Range is 20 feet per level.
19. View the Hidden. Sees invisible, concealed, traps, etc. Doesn't see ethereal, etc.
20. Minor Curse. -1 to all their rolls.
21. Cause Fear in one individual.
22. Change shape. Stay the same size.
23. Immune to fire
24. Immune to cold
25. Immune to acid
26. Immune to electricity
27. Resist magic, 5% per level
28. Send thoughts
29. Make an illusion. Up to a 10 foot cube per level.
30. Cause disease. The sickness, though not deadly, is debilitating, runs a course of 1 week, and is contagious.
31. Heal yourself for 1d6 points.
32. Increase any ability score by 1.
33. Forgetting touch causing cinematic amnesia.
34. Voice swap
35. Animate one corpse
36. Curse object. Armour is 1 point worse, weapons are -1 to hit and damage, things break more easily.
37. Grow 1 extra limb. Is it a tentacle?
38. Stoner touch. Victim turned to stone for 1 round per level.
39. Paralysis touch. Victim goes limp and falls to the ground. Can't move for 1 round per level.
40. Cause insanity in one creature. Anger? Sadness? Confusion? Paranoia? It's up to the DM.
41. Mutation touch! Roll on a mutation table!
42. Animate object. Includes plants. Thing can be up to 5 pounds per level.
43. Wasting touch. Reduces any one ability score by 2.
44. Nasty Wildlife. Something (including plants) within 30 feet gets nasty and attacks. Up to 2hd worth of creatures per level. They will grow claws, or fangs, or something nasty, but can't grow legs or wings if they don't have them. Tiny things will attack in 2hd bunches.
45. Blindness. One person looking at you is blinded.
46. Steal any one body part. It appears somewhere on you. No inherent damage. Hand? Eye? Tongue? If you hurt it while it's on you, you get hurt too!
47. Ungodly odour. Everyone within 5 feet saves or pukes.
48. Alacrity. Movement and number of actions doubled. Effective Dexterity increased by 1. Triple if rolled again. Quadrupled if rolled a 4th time, etc.
49. Burst into flames. Anyone in physical contact takes 1d6 damage per level each round they're in contact. It also lights your own stuff on fire.
50. Imbue with magic. Any one item gains minor eldritch qualities.
51. Gate closing. Keeps a door shut for 1 round per level. 5% chance per level of closing any interdimensional portal.
52. Temporal touch. Victim touched is sent forward in time 1 minute per level.
53. Gravitic anomaly. Victim's mass is partially shunted to another dimension, or added to from another dimension. Weight is increased or reduced by 10% per level, though size remains constant.
54. Theft. Any one item, weighing no more than 1 pound per level, is transferred to your possession. After one round per level it (or its pieces) goes back.
55. Futility. One individual within 30 feet is made unable to affect the world around them. Do they turn into a shadow? Become ghostly? Incorporeal and wispy? Turn into a cloud of gnats? Up to you. They can't move about either, and no one can have any effect on them.
56. Soulcrusher. You possess an item dedicated to holding imprisoned souls. The victim loses 1 point of Charisma per level, with concomitant loss of ability to maintain control of hirelings and henchmen, and also are unaffected by beneficial clerical or druidic magic. If you destroy the item while it holds a captured soul, the victim takes 1d6 per level in damage, but you must then replace the item at a minimum cost of 100gp.
57. Soul gem. You can store your soul or the soul of a willing individual for 1 hour per level. The individual becomes immune to sleep, charm and mind-reading. However, they lose 2 points of Charisma and are unaffected by beneficial clerical or druidic magic.

I'll add a few more. If you need more ideas, here is an awesome post by Zak with different goals but similar spirit. And here is a neat generator on Abulafia to help if you get stuck with how you look.

Classes in Grot

At first I said there would be no classes native to Grot, and all players would hail from Beyond. Well, I changed my mind. Here are two character class ideas for Grot. I may think of more, but probably not.

Zhuvimbie - You are a bit more than dead. You are un-dead. You might have been a human or something else, but now you're dead. Un-dead. You remember it all, too. Cleric is not an option. Wizard, fighter, thief. You might have been a cleric before, but now you're dead. Un-dead. You don't need to breath or eat, yet you sometimes crave brains, possibly for special reasons. You can be unnervingly frightened by clerics, and may be pained by holy water. Other details, as appropriate.

Minor Demon - Yep, a demon. You might also be a daemon, but probably not a devil. Not so much Bible Demon as Realm of Chaos Demon. Depending on where you visit, certain sorcerers in-the-know may be able to contain your movements within pentacles. Similarly, clerics and holy water may be an annoyance. On the plus side, you get 2 Neat Things at first level. Either a Nasty Power or a Horrific Mutation. One of each or two of a kind, your choice. Every level you get 1 more Neat Thing, and you get to pick which table you roll on. Nasty Power or Horrific Mutation.

Wizard Cantrips

Magic-Users in my campaigns are able to put their sorcerous learning to work at any time by using cantrips. These aren't the cantrips detailed in any published sourcebook, and they aren't written down in the wizard's spell books either. They are extemporised instances of magic. The magic-user uses his creativity and knowledge, his years of learning, his acquired talent for manipulating the fabric of reality, and he makes magic. Very minor magic.

If using a cantrip on a creature, or something held or worn by the creature, a saving throw vs. spells is allowed the potential victim to nullify the effect. The maximum mass of an affected item is one pound. The maximum area of effect is roughly a ten foot cube (not an exact or perfect cube, of course.)

Thus, a mage makes a hand motion, utters some arcane syllables, and the log in the hearth lights. He says a few more strange words, and his breakfast dishes are clean. It's not very bright, so to look through his pantry he works his fingers and says a word, and a small bright point of light appears. It lights up an area of about 10 feet. A fly is buzzing around, distracting him, so he mutters, points a finger, and it flashes out with a pop. Bah, his little light went out when he stopped thinking about it. Through the window, he sees the bill collector. He utters an odd word, works his hands, and (with a failed save) sets a small spot on his shirt on fire.

They can't directly cause even 1 point of damage, but of course a fly or a bee doesn't have even 1 hit point. It's imagination time!

Tables for Nicodemus

Most things about OD&D are quite easy to elucidate quickly while in the midst of a game. There are a few things, however, which consistently pop up as needing a bit more detail, or requiring the DM to advise players to consult one of the many fine retro-clones for something. I don't want to have to do that, not because of the clones themselves (on the contrary, I'm quite taken with many of them) but so that everyone is nicely on the same page about everything, and everyone knows what to expect.

With that in mind, here are a couple of lists which show the exact numbers we're using for Castle Nicodemus.

Ability Modifiers:

Strength, Fighter Only	To Hit	Damage
3-4	-2	-1
5-6	-1
7-9
10-12
13-15	+1
16	+1	+1
17	+2	+2
18	+2	+3
Dexterity, Fighter Only	AC
15	-1
16	-2
17	-3
18	-4
Dexterity, All	To Hit
3-8	-1
13-18	+1

Spell Slots (inquire after Druids):

Magic-User Spells	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Medium	1
Seer	2
Conjurer	3	1
Theurgist	4	2
Thaumaturgist	4	2	1
Magician	4	2	2
Enchanter	4	3	2	1
Warlock	4	3	3	2
Sorcerer	4	3	3	2	1
Necromancer	4	4	3	3	2
Wizard	4	4	4	3	3
Wizard, 12th Level	4	4	4	4	4	1
Wizard, 13th Level	5	5	5	4	4	2
Wizard, 14th Level	5	5	5	4	4	3
Wizard, 15th Level	5	5	5	4	4	4
Wizard, 16th Level	5	5	5	5	5	5

Cleric Spells	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
Acolyte	zip
Adept	1
Village Priest	2
Vicar	2	1
Curate	2	2
Bishop	2	2	1	1
Lama	2	2	2	1	1
Patriarch	2	2	2	2	2
Patriarch, 9th Level	3	3	3	2	2
Patriarch, 10th Level	3	3	3	3	3

Roll on a d20 Needed to Hit Armor Class Zero:
Fighters of All Stripes, as well as Paladins

• Levels 1-3: 19
• Levels 4-6: 17
• Levels 7-9: 14

Magic-Users

• Levels 1-5: 19
• Levels 6-10: 17
• Levels 11-15: 14

Clerics and Thieves

• Levels 1-4: 19
• Levels 5-8: 17
• Levels 9-12: 14

Saving Throws:

Class	Level	Death or Poison	Wands	Stone	Dragon Breath	Spells
Fighting-Men	1-3	12	13	14	15	16
Magic-User	1-5	13	14	13	16	15
Cleric	1-4	11	12	14	16	15
Fighter	4-6	10	11	12	13	14
Magic User	6-10	11	12	11	14	12
Cleric	5-8	9	10	12	14	12
Fighter	7-9	8	9	10	10	12
Magic-User	11-15	8	9	8	11	8
Cleric	9-12	6	7	9	11	9
Fighter	10-12	6	7	8	8	10
Magic-User	16+	5	6	5	8	3
Cleric	13+	3	5	7	8	7
Fighter	13+	4	5	5	5	8