Drongo: Ruins of the Witch Kingdoms

Drongo: Ruins of the Witch Kingdoms was written by Mark A. Hunt. Illustrations are by Juan Ochoa. Drongo was published by Leviathan Publishing.

This book is a sourcebook to help you and your players explore the planet Drongo. If you are not running a game set on Drongo, the book still offers quite a few resources for science fantasy games (such as those of Crawljammer and Crawling Under a Broken Moon, the Purple Planet, or Madkeen). Even if you are running a more standard fantasy milieu, there is material here you may find useful.

Let's take a look.

Chapter 1: Setting

This offers a fairly basic description of the history, civilizations, geography, and points of interest on the planet. These description are basic enough that no two judges' Drongos will be the same. There is a global map on page 4, but the map contains nothing that will help you decide where things on Drongo are. I am not even sure if the darker areas are land or water....is Drongo an extremely dry world, or a moist one?

There are some really good hooks for adventures here, but a clearer vision of the planet would be appreciated. Perhaps in a future product?

Chapter 2: Characters

This chapter actually gives players and judges a lot of material to work with. New characters roll for physical build, home region, and year of origin as well as occupations. This is excellent stuff, and usable in any game where you are going to mix modern characters with your fantasy...as occurs in many of the Appendix N works.

Nine new character classes are provided:

• Awakened are Drongo psionicists. Chapter 3 deals with psionics, so I will discuss them there.
• Guardians are able to defeat opponents without fighting, winning them over with a winning smile and innate empathy. They are also medics, so if you don't have a cleric....
• Hawken are hawk people.
• Mad Scientists use mathematical "calculations" instead of spells and suffer madness instead of corruption...this seems to me to be a usable take on an archetypical concept, but I would rather that mad scientists were creating powered devices rather than casting what are essentially spells.
• Roughnecks mix some of the abilities of warriors and thieves. 
• Scavengers are a bit closer to thieves, but with a knack for finding useful stuff.
• Savages are exactly what they sound like.
• Simians are, perhaps, the best of the new classes (at least for those of us who loved the original Planet of the Apes movies).
• Tacticians use their observations to exploit the weaknesses of their enemies.

All of these classes seem to be pretty well balanced against each other, and against the classes in the core rulebook. You could easily allow any of these classes in another Dungeon Crawl Classics milieu, and they would not be overshadowed if you allowed classes from other sources onto Drongo.

Chapter 3: Psionic Powers

Unfortunately, the psionics system offered by Drongo: Ruins of the Witch Kingdoms is the Dungeon Crawl Classics spell system with the serial numbers filed off. It works, but it doesn't stand out. However, there is no reason you could not use a different psionics system on Drongo, such as that in Mind Games.

Chapter 4: Equipment

This chapter does stand out, with an excellent discussion for understanding alien technology, a lot of useful (and well described) pieces of technological gear, and a discussion of tool use that is absolutely spot on.

The sections on firearms and super science are good, but the discussion of ray guns make them downright frightening. Which is, when you think about it, exactly as it should be.

Chapter 5: Judge Guidelines

An excellent chapter that describes creating science fantasy adventures in the planetary romance genre. In addition to more background information on Drongo, there are comprehensive rules for diseases, relationships (including romantic ones) and the sort of hirelings adventurers stuck on a planet like Drongo might need.

Chapter 6: Denizens of Drongo

The discussion on Boss Fights is useful for any judge looking for ideas to beef up an encounter.

There is a system for making what is probably an unlimited number of aliens to intrigue and bedevil your players. In a non-Drongo game, this could be used to create unique monsters instead.

Other creatures, warbots, and stranded humans are also useful.

Overall, this is a good reference work for planetary romance games, which has value for any flavor of Dungeon Crawl Classics. The biggest downside is that the setting isn't fleshed out...and, in particular, the map is of limited use. If you are happy to do that work yourself, that may even be considered a strength.

Get It Here.

The Dread God Al-Khazadar

Dungeon Crawl Classics #90: Dread God Al-Khazadar is a level 3 adventure written by Daniel J. Bishop and illustrated by Doug Kovacs, Jim Holloway, Brad McDevitt, Russ Nicholson, and Stefan Poag. Cartography is by Mark Allen. Goodman Games is the publisher.

Disclosure: I am the author.

First off, I cannot tell you what an amazing feeling it is to get to see an adventure with your name on it published as a stand-alone product by Goodman Games. The artwork is amazing, and Mark Allen did a fantastic job turning my chicken-scratch maps (especially the outdoor one!) into something presentable!

If you like the name of the adventure, you have Joseph Goodman to thank. I was contracted to write an adventure, using "The Dread God Al-Khazadar" as the title. There were several things that had to be accomplished. It was to pay homage to the writing of Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs (particularly his Venus novels), take the PCs to another planet, and be structurally similar to the 1981 film, Clash of the Titans. Originally, the Black Circle took PCs to a ziggurat in a distant jungle, which then transferred them to Madkeen. This is because I wanted to also play with the "ancient astronauts" of Erich von Däniken's Chariots of the Gods? (1968). The "No Ziggurats" ban, however, scuttled that plan. In retrospect, I think that is for the better.

One of the interesting things about emulating Edgar Rice Burroughs is that his science fiction stories often have reference to the political and/or social dilemmas of the time they are written. With Joseph Goodman's kind permission, I included two such elements in the adventure: A political body that would rather circle around a problem forever than solve it, even if it means environmental catastrophe, and fracking. Yes, the Dread God gained his power through fracking in the Smoking Mirror...when you go back and read it now, it will be crystal clear.

This adventure appeared later than intended, and that is entirely my fault. Deadline after deadline blew by, while I imagined that I would make the next one, only to let it blow by. I am amazed that Joseph Goodman still wants to work with me.

Every adventure, in my opinion, requires a confluence of elements that make it "pop". You would think that, with elements of Howard, Burroughs, and Clash of the Titans, there would be enough going on to make a good adventure. But there wasn't. Clash of the Titans introduces a monster that cannot be beaten without first recovering the head of Medusa, and that was the structure I was asked to emulate. Initially, the PCs were going to Madkeen and the Crucible of Al-Khazadar to recover a McGuffin that they could use to defeat the Dread God. There were two problems with this: (1) This could make the climax of the adventure distinctly anti-climactic if it occurred as in Clash of the Titans rather than, say, The Chained Coffin. (2) There was no significant decision-making by the players, which means that the whole adventure was a railroad, and railroads fall flat when the dice hit the table.

This last point was made especially vexing because, faced by something like the Dread God, intelligent players may well simply run. I had to make running impossible. And, if I roped the PCs into the adventure, then I owed it to the players to ensure that some real, meaningful decision-making was placed before them. It is their adventure, after all, not the judge's. If their decisions do not determine how the whole shebang plays out, why are they sitting at the table? I think that the theme of sacrifice covered this well, but it took a long time to click into place. If you have read the adventure, and can imagine it without that element, I think it is clear how dull it would be.

For those interested in such things, the name "Al-Khazadar" suggested Arabic, and the initial plan to include reference to von Däniken suggested Aztec, Toltec, or Incan culture. I tried to include elements of both in the Madkeen naming scheme...in fact, I played around with an online translator a bit. Madkeen initially had a much longer Arabic name, which was shortened to make it catchier, and more easily remembered.

Another artifact of how long the writing took is that  Drongo: Ruins of the Witch Kingdoms came out first, with alternative rules for the sorts of romantic attachments travelers to other worlds always seem to make. Drongo's rules can be used in the place of mine, if you wish, but mine were intended to create the sort of dynamic one sees in an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel, where there may be only one true love for the space princess, but there are an awful lot of other folks obsessed with her.

It took a lot of work, and a lot more time than expected, to make this something that I am happy with. Not only do you get a good adventure (I hope!), but you may well have a reason to return to a world renewed. Who knows? Perhaps someday I, or someone more talented than I, will get to write that adventure!

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Operation: Bughunt

Operation: Bughunt was written by Eric Bloat, with additional writing by James M. Spahn. Art is by Aaron Lee, Grzegorz Pedrycz, Jeshields, Joyce Maureira, Mark Wester, Phil Stone, and Tan Ho Sim. The publisher is Bloat Games.

Disclosure: I backed the Stars Without Number revised edition Kickstarter, where the majority of the art in Operation Bughunt comes from. A thank you message to the backers appears in this product.

If you are a fan of Starship Troopers or Aliens, this publication will allow you to run your PCs through similar adventures using the Dungeon Crawl Classics rules.

The author says: "The action is these gaming sessions should be cranked to 11, the lethality high, and the ass kicking higher! Have fun and don’t take this one too serious. It’s meant to be crazy, over the top and awesome. Reward creative play (I recommend additional Luck but you do you) and encourage the players to go big, take risks and drive it like it were on rails. But above all else, just have fun!"

So let's look inside and see what we get!

Combat Medic: Similar to the cleric or the Healer (in Mutant Crawl Classics), the Combat Medic is a class designed to patch you up and get you back onto the battlefield.

Engineer: What it sounds like - the person who keeps your armor and weapons working, and might be able to figure out what that piece of alien tech does. There is an unfortunate minor error in this class's Hit Points entry - the hit points listed are for the Engineer, not the Combat Medic!

Grunt: Front-line fighters, the Operation: Bughunt analogue to the Warrior class.

Pilot: This character gets you from one place to another.

Robot: For other takes on a robot (or similar) class, see Phatasmagoria #1, Hubris, Meanderings #2, and The Umerican Survival Guide. There are many takes on robots in science fiction/fantasy literature and film, and there is no reason why you cannot mix and match various robot classes.

Starting Cash: From $1 to $300,000. Unless you're a robot.

Rank and Advancement: An important consideration for a military-based game, because this isn't a democracy. If you are a robot, not only do you have no cash, but you are sub-human. This is very much in keeping with the dystopian alien-hunting literature. Your rank also determines your monthly pay scale. Robots might be tough, but socially? They are chattel.

Equipment Section: Provides rules for armor, weapons, and other items.

Cybernetics: "The Referee can choose to limit the number of cybernetic implants or replacements a character can have. Normally a character can have a number of cybernetic enhancements equal to 3, plus their Endurance modifier." I assume this means Stamina modifier.

Pressure & Shell Shock: This is actually pretty innovative for DCC, providing a system for tracking the mental trauma that your PCs experience watching their friends die or from suffering horrible injuries. You can relieve Pressure with quiet downtime, but judges who want to simulate the world of the Alien movie franchise or similar dystopian futures could include drugs or other vices with a similar effect. You could even include things like addiction and other downsides, and the need to relieve Pressure might still get your PCs to experiment.

Random Bug Generation Tables: If you want to fight bugs, you need bugs to fight. Consider using the giant insect tables in the DCC Annual and the random aliens from Drongo: Ruins of the Witch Kingdom along with the tables herein.

Although the product assumes that you are running an Operation: Bughunt game, these tables are perfectly usable in any flavor of Dungeon Crawl Classics. As a side note, you can consider using Operation: Bughunt as an exotic location your PCs might arrive in when they traverse a mystical portal or botch a planar step.

Boss Monster Bugs: Three big bugs.

Other Alien Enemies: Three more aliens. Two are a base type and master. Both have acidic blood. The third is an intergalactic hunter with the ability to turn invisible to hunt. Draw your own conclusions!

Goddammit! I hate going in hot. My ejector pod is too small, my armor is too big, and this new Cybo-leg is zapping me every couple of minutes. Doc says I’ll get used to it but I dunno.

This makes jump number three in as many weeks. The frequency of hard action has really ratcheted up lately. I’m exhausted. The squad is so bruised and banged up they look more like rag tag mercs than trained veteran marines. We still haven’t had a moment to mourn the fallen including General Smoothers. She was the best! As a General, she had no business being on planet with us losers. She should’ve been up in the command deck with the pilots! But that was never her style. She wasn’t content to fight from space. She was one of us; Infantry. She liked to get her hands dirty. She had to see the bugs and Arachnoids up close and then blast them back to whatever Hell they crawled from.

Things are really starting to cook in here. Must be breaking through the atmosphere. Won’t be long now. Today’s mission, a simple seek and destroy. The local population on Nivay 5 has decided to cut ties with Command and severed all communications. Intelligence shows a new large bug-hole recently burrowed. Our job today, land and disable the capital city on Nivay, causing as much destruction and disruption as possible, then high-tail it back to space before the bugs have a chance to figure out what’s going on.

Do I feel bad for the local population of Nivay? Hell no! Any friend of a bug is an enemy of mine! The entire galaxy is at war, in the fight for its life. You pick your side and you do your part. They choose the wrong side. Period. The end.

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The Gong Farmer's Almanac 2017 Vol 7

The 2017 Gongfarmer’s Almanac Volume 7: Adventures and Settings , was written by Steven Bean, Eric Betts, Daniel J. Bishop, Jarret Crader, Terra Frank, and Gabriel Pérez Gallardi. Artwork is by Doug Kovacs, Marc Radle, Shawn Brewer, Dan Domme, Gabriel Pérez Gallardi, Christian Kessler, SGT Dave, Matt Sutton, Shyloh Wideman, and Clayton Williams. The publisher is the Gongfarmer's Local #282.

Disclosure: I wrote a submission in this volume.

Unlike previous years' Gongfarmer's Almanacs, five volumes of the 2017 edition have an overarching theme - the roiling, ever-changing plane of Pandemonium. Volume 7 does not follow this theme, but rather contains content similar to what we've seen in previous years.

Crypt of the Lost Hyms: This adventure, by Gabriel Pérez Gallardi (cartography and symbology by Christian Kessler), revisits Ur-Hadad, the titular city of Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad. The adventure isn't long, so I will try not to do anything to spoil it. Suffice to say, knowledge of the Metal Gods will go a long way.

“In the vast windswept plains North of Ur-Hadad, the First City of Men, a lonely barrow is the only landmark for many miles around.”

How to Win Friends and Influence People, DCC Style: In this article, Jarret Crader gives you tricks, tips, and support for running Dungeon Crawl Classics in public venues.

Bloody Hound: Steven Bean supplies a new class for Nowhere City Nights. The Bloody Hound is the film noir detective recast through a Nowhere City Nights lens.

Rules and Skills for Detective Work in Nowhere City Nights: And then Steven Bean supplies the rules you need to make use of that class. Taken together, you have the makings of a detective in any sort of urban DCC environment.

The Lost Patrol: A Zero-Level Funnel for Trench Crawl Classics: There are a lot of flavors of Dungeon Crawl Classics available now. You can crawljam, crawl under a broken moon, visit Drongo or the Purple Planet, crawl with mutants, or play noir-style characters with magic. This adventure, by Eric Betts, takes you into World War II with more than a dash of the occult.

Your infantry group, the 1023rd Rifle Regiment, has been attacking into Romania striking toward Hitler’s oil fields...or so the rumors say. You are not really sure where you are, just that you arrived by truck less than two weeks ago and have been marching and fighting since. Mostly, fighting consists of running for cover when German artillery starts to blow your fellow soldiers apart. Three days ago, the regiment stopped on this rise and you dug the trench you’ve been living in since. It is miserable, but at least you have a place to hide from the artillery.

Trench Crawl Classics: Eric Betts supplies the rules you need to leap into occult World War II action, using Dungeon Crawl Classics. Also recommended are the firearms rules from Crawl #8. In this case, the PCs are conscripts in the Red Army, but it would be easy enough to expand. Notably, there are no new classes described - the occult is real, and your PC might well end up a cleric or wizard!

The Vampire, Returned: Author Terra Frank provides a series of tables for creating unique vampires. These do not create statblocks, but they do provide the nature of the creature you would then stat up.

Thirteen Brides of Blood: Finally, the issue ends with a zero-level funnel by Daniel J. Bishop, with artwork by Shawn Brewer and cartography by Shyloh Wideman. I mention this because the adventure was largely written to use existing cartography, supplied by Shyloh Wideman over the G+ DCC community. Without his support and enthusiasm, it wouldn't have happened!

Vampires haunt the land! Erasmus Cordwainer Blood has existed for countless centuries, feeding off the villages closest to his hidden lair almost as a form of sport. Usually, his victims are those who remain out beyond the setting of the sun, lone travellers, or the inhabitants of isolated farmsteads. Once every seven years, though, villagers from number of nearby communities simply disappear. It is said, in hushed whispers, that Blood has taken them to feed his Brides.

Get It Here!

Crawljammer #3

Crawljammer #3 was written by Tim Callahan, Sean Ellis, Lauren Callahan, and Mark Malone. It was published by Moon Dice Games. Let's take a look inside.

The Secret History of the Perilous League

Space is vast. Even when the judge narrows play to a single solar system, we are talking about omets, asteroids, nine planets (Pluto is a planet, not a dwarf planet, in Crawljammer, as in the pulps that inspired it), and over 170 moons. The area between these objects is even greater. If you think detailing a barony or a continent is hard, imagine the amount of prep work an entire solar system would take, if that is what you had to do.

Science fiction role-playing games have dealt with this issue since Traveller hit the market, and there are various approaches one can take. All of them seem to boil down to two possibilities: Use random tables to quickly devise data, or use some means to tell the players where the action is. Most games, if not all, use both methods, and the Crawljammer setting is no different.

Enter the Perilous League. Author Tim Callahan provides a method of directing your players towards the centers of action. The Perilous League has a long history, including the bare bones of past adventures that the judge can build on....and similar write-ups for future adventures that can include your PCs!

There is also some ambiguity about the Perilous League's history and ultimate goals, which means that the judge has a great deal of leeway in how they present the material. Although it is not explicit in the text, it is conceivable that in some cases, your PCs may even oppose the League! Perhaps they really are a force for good. Perhaps, ultimately, all they really want is the return of Cthulhu and the Great Old Ones.

The Psychic Knight: A New Character Class

Next up, Tim Callahan gives us a psychic class which uses a simple and intuitive system for psionics. Star Wars seems to be an obvious influence, but Star Wars in turn was inspired by the Barsoom novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Edgar Rice Burroughs was inspired by Edwin Lester's Phra the Phoenician and Gulliver Jones.

When I wrote The Vault of Ash for Moon Dice Games, the Martian Skeleton Man psionics are a modified version of the rules found herein. Mind Games, by Shield of Faith Studios, offers an alternate psionics system (which is more complex), and additional psionics rules can be found in Drongo: Ruins of the Witch Kingdoms by Leviathan Publishing and The Wizardarium of Calabraxis published by Kill It With Fire). If you are looking for a simple system, with a class that can easily be fit into any flavor of Dungeon Crawl Classics, this is it.

Advanced DCC Psionics

If you are looking for something more complex, Sean Ellis provides advanced psionics rules as well as the the B’rabo Jast, oro “Blubber Uglies” which devour brains. These rules mesh well with the Psychic Knight class, and I see no reason why a Dungeon Crawl Classics milieu (Crawljammer or otherwise) could not have multiple psionics systems operating within it.

Magic Items and Space Oddities: A Random Table

Random tables are great for inspiration, and this one by Lauren Callahan allows you to create random items that might be encountered in an adventure. The table uses 1d12 with four columns, but only one column determines effects, so the prospective judge will want to take this table as a good start and add more rows up the Dice Chain.

The Promethean Lance

"In ancient times deep within the nine rings of Ouranos, the void wizards in their aethereal towers initiated pacts with a cosmic intelligence. The godless rituals they performed resulted in a transmutation of this element of chaos to a substance that could be harnessed. Solve et coagula. With this knowledge these alchemical sorcerers devised weapons of unimaginable power. One such device, the Promethean Lance, treasured by kings immemorial, was a weapon of chaotic phlogiston energy."

Mark Malone describes a powerful, but unpredictable, weapon for your Crawljammer adventures.

Red Planet Rendezvous: The Phaseship of the Starmongers

The issue is rounded off with an adventure that follows directly from Red Planet Rendezvous: The Arcadian in Issue #2. Once again, Tim Callahan demonstrates a commanding knowledge of the space fantasy genre, particularly as pertains to Appendix N fiction and the early pulps. 

Phantasmagoria #1

Phantasmagoria #1 was written by Chance Phillips. Art is by Luka Rejec (cover), Jim Magnusson, Stefan Poag, Jeremy Hart, and Penny Melgarejo. The publisher is Apollyon Press.

Disclosure: I backed the successful Kickstarter for this project. I also wrote a Zine Scene News Flash related to it for the Goodman Games website.

There is an embarrassment of riches now for those who want to throw a little star- or planet-hopping into their DCC campaigns. Crawljammer, Star Crawl, Operation Bug Hunt, Cyber Crawl Classics, The Hobonomicon, Sub-ether, Monster Extractor IV - Aliens & Manufactured Beings, Leopard Women of Venus, Drongo: Ruins of the Witch Kingdoms, Cyber Sprawl Classics, Terror of the Stratosfiend, RPGPundit Presents #19: Frantabulous Gonzo Robot Generator, Umerica, UX01: High Caliber Hijinks, Crawl! fanzine #8, Vehicle Mayhem!, Null Singularity, and Mutant Crawl Classics all provide material that the judge can use to craft an interplanetary romance with.

On top of that, adventures like Frozen in Time, Peril on the Purple Planet, Against the Atomic Overlord, The 998th Conclave of Wizards, The Dread God Al-Khazadar, Imprisoned in the God-Skull, The Weird Worm-Ways of Saturn, The Vault of Ash, Demon Drums, The Silent Army, The Tribe of Ogg and the Gift of Suss, Shade Hunter, Silent Nightfall, Secrets of the World-Harvesters, Lair of the Mist Men, Mother's Maze, and anything Mutant Crawl Classics or Umerica take you to space, or other planets, or have strong enough science fiction elements to help populate those brave new worlds where you seek out new life and new civilizations.

Appendix N fiction is like a stewpot left to simmer and filled to the brim with a number of distinct (but often inter-referential) voices. Dungeon Crawl Classics campaigns are similar. Each publisher, and each author...and, let's be honest, each artist!...adds their own unique flavor to the pot. The judge, like a chef, picks and chooses the ingredients which comprise a personal campaign milieu.

Let's take a look inside and see what flavors Phantasmagoria #1 adds!

Automatons: "Automatons are the universal debris of ambitious magitechnicians across the universe, thrown aside once they realize someone else has done it before and done it better."

That might seem ironic, as there are takes on similar themes in Hubris and Meanderings #2. The Umerican Survival Guide contains a Robot class. However, even if you are playing in a game that mashes things together, it is good to have options, and this is flavored a bit differently than the others. Also, if it malfunctions badly enough it might spontaneously burst into flame! Others have done it before. Better? That depends upon your tastes. They are different takes, but, being attempts to describe similar character types, there are certainly similarities in design.

Captains: "Captains are beacons of hope, capable of uniting people and willing to do anything to protect their crew. They are also adept duelists and swashbucklers."

This is definitely more Captain Blood than Captain Kirk. A bit like the Warrior, a bit like the Thief, and with a bit of the Bard's ability to inspire, without really being like any of those classes, the Captain really is a dashing swashbuckler whose ability to inspire their crew is real.

Gremlins: "Gremlins, sometimes called goblins, albeit never to their faces, are technological wizards who also possess minor spellcasting abilities."

Jovians: "Jovians were natives of a gas giant adapted to their home planet's crushing gravity. They lived in massive cities that floated above the clouds. Each city was ruled via committee with the head of each family being able to vote on communal affairs. For the most part the extended families operated independently, but recently the floating cities were conquered by various empires and the native Jovians were taken as slaves by their conquerors."

Together these classes give a vision of a setting where humans have largely conquered the aliens they have met in the cold depths of space. Gremlins work the engines, Jovians are slave troops sent into dangerous areas, Automatons serve at the pleasure of their Captain....perhaps their notorious engineering mishaps are a form of subtle resistance by the Gremlins....

But humans are not really the top dogs here. There are also Star Princes.

Star Prince: "Star princes are the humanoid forms of the stars who have undergone the final phase of their metamorphosis. There are no star princes of 5th level or below".

A really unique class which might be reminiscent of Stars in the Darkness, Star Princes are never generated through funnels, but only unlocked during actual play. They are forever recognizable as former stars, but burdened by being stars no longer, and are (short of accident, poison, or injury) effectively immortal.

Weapons & Kit: Includes armor and weapons for your explorers. There is a problem with the range of the nuclear pistol, which is listed as 20/10/1930. I am assuming that the range should read 20/100/1930. A few other bits of science fiction gear are also included.

Occupations: d100 table.

Spaceships: A workable system for spaceships is presented in four pages.

Explore the ruins of lost alien civilizations or sail through space in a massive freighter, weighed down with all manners of gold, jewels, and relics.

Play as a Jovian, a lithe yet strong alien native to a gas giant, a Captain, a brilliant tactician and duelist, or a Gremlin, an alien skilled with magic and technology. Build any type of ship from a tiny fighter to a massive dreadnaught, bristling with cannons.

Get It Here!

Phantasmagoria #2

Phantasmagoria #2 was written by Chance Phillips. Art is by Sam Mameli (cover), Shaky Kane, Bradley K. McDevitt, Penny Melgarejo, Diogo Noguiera, and Jim Magnusson. The publisher is Apollyon Press.

Disclosure: I backed the successful Kickstarter for Phantasmagoria #1.

Even more than the first issue, Phantasmagoria #2 offers material that is useful to any Dungeon Crawl Classics game grounded even tangentially in the science fiction genres. I would go so far as to say that this issue offers some useful tables for any OSR - and even many non-OSR - sci fi/science fantasy games.

So let's look inside and see what there is.

Spaceship Combat: Where the first issue helped you create a wide range of ship types in four pages, this issue gives you a combat system in five.

D30 Artifacts: 30 items that can drive an adventure, be encountered during an adventure, or perhaps be the treasure for success in the adventure. Or all three at once.

Alien Poisons: Six toxins for use in your science fantasy game, including one (data sludge) that can affect automatons.

Prosthetics: From the banal (peg leg, hook) to the extreme (hard light replacement, clockwork limb, full body transplant), this is going to give you options when you inevitably suffer some critical hit that leaves you a body part short.

Magical Prosthetics: Introducing the level 2 wizard spell, Eldritch Limb, that is no more reliable than any other DCC spell...and can produce fantastic results with a good roll, as with any other DCC spell. This spell might be useful in any Dungeon Crawl Classics setting.

Stellar System Generation: If you are going star-hopping, you need to generate systems to hop to. This does a pretty good job of differentiating worlds. If you want a bit more sci fi and detail in your worlds-building, I recommend using the World Tags system in Kevin Crawford's Stars Without Number in addition to the nine tables here. There is even a free version.

Monster Generator: Taking into account both using an existing monster and adding "a bit of science flair to it", and creating new monsters from whole cloth, this article is a good companion piece to the alien creation rules in Drongo: Ruins of the Witch Kingdom.

1d20 Ways to Get Around: Includes entries like "Ziplines between different levels of a city; the higher the level, the wealthier and it only costs money to ascend" and "Rocket shoes that propel you across slick metal tracks". Very fun, with both fantasy and science fiction ideas included.

Errata: Two corrections from Issue #1.

This issue of Phantasmagoria contains enough information to make any player or judge's life easier! Enjoy 30 new artifacts, new poisons, and a new ship combat system, plus extensive systems for generating new monsters and even entire new stellar systems!

Additionally, this issue contains rules for incorporating prosthetics into your game, a new spell to regrow limbs, and more useful tables!

It is recommended that this issue is used in conjunction with either Phantasmagoria #1 or your science fantasy setting of choice.

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Purple Sorcerer Free DCC Tools

Purple Sorcerer Games is owned and operated by Jon Marr. While I don't have any direct credits for the free online tools provided by Purple Sorcerer Games, it is reasonable to assume that Jon Marr is involved with their creation as well as making them available. You can look here for a full list of patrons who backed the creation and update of these tools, by year.

The number and quality of free tools Purple Sorcerer makes available is astounding. As a judge for open gaming events, I make frequent use of the 0-Level Party and Upper Level Character Generators, and so does almost everyone I have ever played a convention game with. It is unusual indeed not to be handed a character sheet created by Purple Sorcerer Games! Likewise, The Sorcerer's Grimoire makes printing out spell sheets for elves, wizards, and clerics a breeze.

As a writer, I have made use of the Demon Generator, the Dragon Generator, and even the Unique Monster Trait Generator. These generators give you the raw material to craft a specific being to fit your adventure's needs, without having to roll dice and look up tables yourself.

The available free tools, at the time of this writing, are:

0-Level Party Generator: Whip up four 0-level characters in a flash. Options allow you to choose Occupation Source from over 30 lists, filter out non-humans, decide how stats and hit points are rolled, create tournament sheets, use one of several Lucky Sign house rules, or simply create a blank sheet to roll your own. If you need to make 200 gongfarmers for your convention games, you can do that as a single file. If you want them to be suitable for your Drongo or Beyond the Silver Scream adventure, you can do that too.

Mutant Crawl Classics 0-Level Party Generator: Similar to the 0-Level Party Generator, this allows you to create 0-level characters for your Mutant Crawl Classics games. There are fewer options for Occupation Source right now, but the Genotype Filters do allow you to specify No Pure Strain Humans, No Plantients, No Manimals, and/or No Mutants. For fun, I clicked all of the filters, and it still gives you characters - they just do not list genotype!

Upper Level Character Generator: This creates characters from levels 1 through 10 for the standard Dungeon Crawl Classics classes. Because it uses the same occupation lists as the O-Level Party Generator, it will allow you to create an opossuman cleric, for instance, although the Class information does not exist at this time to create a character leveled in the opossuman race-class.

The Crawler's Companion: This is discussed here. Recent upgrades are discussed here.

The Sorcerer's Grimoire: Generates spells for your wizard, cleric, or elf, complete with mercurial effects and patron information. This last is not limited merely to the Dungeon Crawl Classics core rulebook, but includes patrons from the first volume of Angels, Daemons, & Beings Between as well as those published in various Purple Sorcerers Games adventures.

Demon Generator: Create up to 20 demons at a time, from Type 1 to Type 6. The generator can also randomly determine Demon Type, so that if you generate more than one at a time, you can get a mixture of Demon Types.

Random example:

Dog Demon (Type 5)

Init +6; Atk Kick +12 melee; AC 24; HD 14d12; MV 50'; Act 3d20; SP Drain ability score +12; Spells (Consult Spirit, , Runic Alphabet, Fey | spell check mod: 14) +12, Spells (Consult Spirit, , Runic Alphabet, Fey | spell check mod: 14) +12Target Save 23, demon traits; SV Fort +14, Ref +12, Will +12, AL C.

Trait: Scaled

Standard Type 5 Demon Features
Communication: Speech, telepathy
Abilities: Infravision, darkness (+20 check)
Immunities: Immune to weapons of less than +4 enchantment or natural attacks from creatures of 9 HD or less; immune to fire, cold, electricity, gas, acid;
Projection: Can teleport at will to any location, as long as not bound or otherwise summoned; can project astrally and ethereally
Crit Threat Range: 16-20

Dragon Generator: From the tiniest pseudo dragon to the greatest godlike dragon, this generator can create up to 20 at a time. Again, you can randomly determine dragon size, so that you have a mixture of various types of dragons.

Random example:

Large bronze dragon

Init +16; Atk claw (x2) +17 melee (1d8); bite +17 melee (1d12); tail slap +17 melee (1d20); AC 26; HD 16d12 (105 hp); MV 60; Act attacks d20, spells ; SP see below; SV Fort +16, Ref +20, Will +16; Al N.

Breath Weapon: Type (Electricity); Save (Ref 26); Damage (As dragon’s hit points or half with save); Shape (1-4 line forks, width 5’, total length 3d6 x 10’)

Level 1 Spells: Ward Portal, Ropework, Charm Person
Level 2 Spells: Invisibility, Scare, Spider Web
Level 3 Spells: Transference, Consult Spirit, Haste

Martial Power 1: Damage reduction. The dragon’s tough hide reduces the damage of all blows against it by 1 point.
Martial Power 2: Fast reflexes. The dragon’s Ref save is increased by an additional +4.
Martial Power 3: Amphibious. The dragon can breathe water and swim effortlessly.

Unique Power 1: Spider climb (at will). The dragon can climb any surface as if it were a spider.
Unique Power 2: Light (at will). The dragon can bring full light of daylight into an area of 30’ radius. Target any spot within 100'.
Unique Power 3: Locate object (1/day). The dragon can locate an object known to itself. It receives an unerring sense of direction toward the object and the approximate distance. The range of this ability is: up to 100 miles on this plane.
Unique Power 4: Wall of fog (1/hour). The dragon can summon a wall of fog at will. The wall is up to 100’ x 20’ x 100’. Within the fog, targets suffer -4 to all attacks and move at half speed.

Mercurial Magic Generator: Add your Luck modifier, and the generator will do the rest. Up to 50 results can be rolled at a time.

Sword Magic Generator: Toggles allow you to choose the spell check result, the caster's alignment, the caster's Intelligence (up to 22!), the caster's level, and how many swords you want. Except for that last toggle, all can be set to generate random results. Up to 20 swords can be created at a time.

Random example:

+1 Dagger (Roll: 51)

Alignment: Lawful
Intelligence: 4
Communication: Simple urges

Bane: Golems (Beacon of hope; allies within 100’ engaged in battle against bane gain +2 bonus to all saving throws and morale checks)

Power: Detect certain creature type within 1d10 x 100’ (e.g., spiders, dragons, goblinoids, men, etc.)

Scroll Generator: Create up to 50 scrolls. You can select for wizard spells, cleric spells, or a random mix of types.

Random example:

Spell Type: Wizard
Scribed on the Scroll:
     Level 1: Force Manipulation
Mechanism: Spell check must be made by reader, at a +2 bonus.
Unique Trait: Signed by creator, in his own name, with the notation that, 'This scroll is the property of the creator. All others who use it shall be subject to a curse.' (Or something similar.)

Unique Monster Trait Generator: Choose un-dead or humanoid (or random) and generate up to 50 unique creatures.

Random example:

Type: Unique Undead
Description: Ashen-skinned and gray-eyed
Trait: Resistant to spells (50% chance of any spell not affecting it)

Useful Charts: Useful Charts for the 0-level DCCRPG Enthusiast is an excellent, free resource that I personally bring to all of my games. You can download it here.

Paper Minature Tips: Purple Sorcerer Games adventures all include printable paper minis. Apparently, A Gathering of the Marked has almost 100 of them. Purple Sorcerer Games has kindly made two videos available to help you get the most from this resource.

You can support Purple Sorcerer Games in offering Free Tools here, by purchasing an adventure, a T-shirt, or a direct donation through PayPal or Dwolla.

Beginning in the early days of the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG beta, Purple Sorcerer Games has created free tools and helpers to make it as easy as possible for new and experienced players to get into the game. We're thrilled that so many DCC players from around the world rely on these tools, and look forward to building new utilities for years to come!

We create a number of free tools and helpers to make your Dungeon Crawl Classics experience as streamlined as possible. Tools include the 0-Level Party and Upper Level Character Generators, and the Ennie-Award winning Crawler's Companion.

Access Them Here!

High Caliber Hijinks

UX01: High Caliber Hijinks: New Fumble and Critical tables for a Weird Post Apocalyptic World was written By Reid San Filippo. Art is by Carlos Mal (DeviantArt / CC-BY-3), ominik “m4a1war” (DeviantArt / CC BY-NC-SA3), James Yoder, Maxime “ChaosFeeder” Beaulac, and Joe Abboreno. The publisher is Shield of Faith Studios.

This item is designed for use with Crawling Under a Broken Moon, but could be used with any setting that uses firearms, robots, and/or aliens. Let's look inside.

How to use these tables: A brief note reminding the prospective reader where to find the Critical Hit and Fumble tables in the core rulebook, and that there are firearm and grenade rules in Crawling Under a Broken Moon issues #1 and #2.

Summary of Common Damage Effects: Tells you what the following things mean: Battle Rage, Bleeding Out, Blinded, Burning, Dazed, Drowning, Entangled, and Stunned.

Character Crit Table/Die by Class (including CUaBM classes): Exactly what it says on the tin. Charts to tell you what die you are rolling, and what chart you are rolling it on.

Firearms fumble and crit tables: Fumbles range from accidentally flipping the safety on so that your weapon doesn't fumble to shooting yourself for 2 dice of damage and jamming the weapon. Five tables are provided for firearm critical hits, because the wizards in the party are simply not as competent as the warriors and mutants.

Grenade/Thrown bomb fumble and crit tables: I've actually thrown a live grenade in Basic Training. Do not fumble when throwing a live grenade. The best thing that can happen, in these rules, is that you forgot to pull the pin. Presumably, whoever you threw it at now has a usable grenade, and can potentially throw it back. You again get five critical hit tables.

Alien/Weird fumble and crit weapon tables: Because strange items of super-science may react in unpredictable ways. You again get five crit tables.

Crit Table AL: Aliens: From "Strange energy arcs around the wound. The PC suffers +1d8 damage." to "Infected with a virulent xeno-disease! One random stat is lowered by
2d4 points for 2d14 days. Requires a 5 HD healing result to cure." (Actually, to "Roll again three times.", but that only tells you that you need to roll; it doesn't tell you whether or not a "large probe is injected". Yes, aliens actually can, and perhaps will, probe your PCs to death using this supplement!)

Crit Table RO: Robots: Suitably terrifying critical results for robots. Also suitable for use on Drongo, the Purple Planet, or when Frozen in Time.

The point being this: Although the work is written for a specific, post-Apocalyptic genre, there are a lot of ways that any Dungeon Crawl Classics judge might find the work useful.

Get It Here!

Mind Games

UX02: Mind Games was written by Reid San Filippo, with additional material by Jon Carnes, Gilbert Isla, Sean Ellis,  and David Baity. Art is by Claytonian, David Coppoletti, Diogo Nogueira, Matt Hildebrand, and Nate Marcel (who also did the cover). The publisher is Shield of Faith Studios.

Upfront, I have to admit that this is my favorite psionics system to date, certainly for Dungeon Crawl Classics, and perhaps for any game. It is usable and appropriate not only for games where your PCs are crawling under a broken moon, but anywhere psychic powers might "fit".

Alternative psionics systems can be found in Crawljammer #3 and Drongo: Ruins of the Witch Kingdom. The Wizardarium of Calabraxis also includes a nascent prionics system. Likewise, some mutations in Mutant Crawl Classics, Hubris, or The Umerican Survival Guide might be considered psionic. My general view is that these can be mixed and matched - nothing requires that all mind powers work in the same way!

Options are good. But if you have to choose one consistent way to run psionics, my money is on this book. Let's crack it open.

Introduction 

This is a product which grew in the making, from a simple set of rules for Umerican campaigns to a guide which took the whole of Dungeon Crawl Classics into account. In the introduction, Reid San Filippo supplies the design goals for the product. I think that Mind Games reached these goals admirably:

• Psionics had to capture the old school feeling of the original psionics presented in the 1st and 2nd editions of the first fantasy RPG without being tied to their cryptic complexity.

• Psionics had to function differently than Wizard and Clerical magics without being any more complex.  

• Psionics had to be set firmly in DCC’s original Science Fantasy stylings so it would be adaptable to any of the current and future DCC settings available. 

• Psionics had to be awesome but, not so awesome that it did not [un]balance the other established DCC rules and content.

The Psion character class

Obviously, a psionics system requires a class with the ability to use psionics. In Mind Games, this is the psion. There are a number of options for powers your psion can have, but each discipline must be learned separately, with your level determining the number of powers, and the max tier for those powers. You also gain focus points, which can be used to gain a Focus die for a specific discipline, in a manner similar to the Deed Die or the Luck Die for warriors and thieves.

Psions can use psi burn. This is similar to spellburn or glowburn, but psi burn increases the Focus die, up to a maximum of 5 steps, by taking temporary Intelligence or Personality damage.

Failure can cause Psychic Dissonance, and every failure increases the chance of this occurring, similar to the way Disapproval works for clerics. Moreover, a natural 1 on the Focus die when a roll falls within the Psychic Dissonance range increases that range by 2, rather than 1.

How Psionics Work

This section explains the four disciplines of Psychometabolism, Clairsentience, Psychokinesis, and Telepathy. It explains power tiers (which are essentially like spell level, going from 1 to 4), psionic actions (which sorts how a power can be used). How to use psionics, either through Power Invocation or Psi Assist.

Psychic Duels 

This is not a rehash of the wizard's spell duel system. Instead, the basic outline seems more like the psionic combat rules in the 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide, ending in the potential death or concession of the loser. Concession is an interesting mechanic, allowing the victor to force the loser to abide by one command (within certain restrictions).

Psionic duellists may also experience subjugation, which is the effect of a successful attack (or unsuccessful defense, depending upon how you look at it). The result of subjugation depends upon the discipline the attacker is using, the degree of success for the attack, and whether or not the attacker chooses to spend any reserved Advantage.

There is a two page sample duel, between the young psion Vouna and the evil tyrant Lord Mentac, which does a great job of illustrating the concept. In fact, I think that you would do yourself a favor by reading this sample duel both before and after reading the psychic duel rules.

Psychic Dissonance Table 

Unlike clerical Disapproval, dissonance is always resolved with 1d10. However, you add the amount you missed the target DC by, and if the Focus die also came up "1", you roll it, and add the result to the total.

Results range from "A  minor  bout  of  psychogenic  fugue settles  into  the  psion’s  mind  causing  -1  to  all power initiation rolls for 1d4 turns." to "The psion’s entire persona is lost to the universal metaconsciousness for 4d30 days. During this time a completely different persona inhabits the body. They will be of the same character level but of a randomly determined class and alignment. When the psion’s original persona eventually reconnects with their body, it will have to fight the current inhabiting persona for possession of it."

Psionic Powers 

Mind Games has a total of 13 powers for each of four disciplines. The write-ups are similar enough to those from the 1st Edition AD&D Player's Handbook or the 2nd Edition AD&D The Complete Psionics Handbook that conversion to or from those sources should be possible. (I have not actually attempted this yet, but it is the strong impression that I get.)

Powers have an effect for base success, and using a Focus die can increase what is possible.

Psionic items 

Living crystals (including a fair-sized section on living crystal weapons, comparable to the sword magic tables in the core rulebook), psychogenic baubles (ioun stones), brow jewels, and memory tomes are discussed.

Psychic Menagerie 

If the book had not shone before now, it would certainly shine here. The judge is supplied with five psionic creatures to challenge his PCs with. Because of the way psionics works in this system, the PCs need not be psions to enjoy the encounters!

The creatures are:

• Braingineer: Projected from the distant future of a collapsed timeline,  these  eerie  beings  are  supposedly  the remnants  of  a  highly  evolved  human  society. They appear to be living human brains floating inside  impressively  technological  transparent cylinders  with  many  robotic  limbs  attached  to the  base  of  the  cylinder.  Tiny,  colorful  lights blink randomly at all times on the cylinder bases. 

• Cerebear: This abomination appears like a grizzly bear with odd colored tufts of hair all over its body but its head is its most horrific feature. The top of its skull, including its ocular cavities and ears, has been replaced with a massive, exposed cerebrum that pulses with an eerie green luminescence.  Orbiting the naked, leathery brain like tiny gruesome satellites are at least a dozen mismatched eyes, each trailing a few inches of dangling optic nerve behind them. 

• Edacious Encephalon: Floating  just  out  of  phase  with  our  reality,  Edacious  Encephalons  (also  know  as Hungry Brain Devils  stalk intelligent beings in search of tasty emotions. They tend to  be  found  not  in  remote  ruins  but  populated  areas  currently  experiencing  high amounts of turmoil and stress. Settlements on the brink of war, political debates, and grand musical performances are some of their favorite feeding grounds. Should the situation need assistance to reach a palatable emotional state, they will employ psychic whispers to heighten the emotive tempo to levels near madness.

• Hive Mind: Not all people born with psionic abilities are predisposed to become Psions. Some, like the Crystal Shepherds, have a specialized psychic gift. Unfortunately for Hive Minds this “gift” always comes with a price. From an early age,  a hive mind will begin  to  hear  the  simple  thoughts  of  a  particular  type  of  insect.  Those  that  do not  quickly  go  mad  find  they  can  manipulate  these  thoughts,  eventually  gaining complete control over that type of insect. The price for this is the influence of the multitudes  of  tiny  alien  minds  pulling  away  the  person’s  humanity  and  creating a being that only looks human. This is not to say that hive minds cannot function in human society. In fact, they can be quite social and love the thrill of intrigue as they feed their insatiable desire for control. They are true sociopaths as their moral compass and values are almost completely alien.  

• Lobstrosityrant: This  dreadful  crustacean  is  a  much  larger  and  more  dangerous  cousin  of  the Lobstrosity (CUaBM issue #1, pg 22). Half again the size of its lesser relatives, its mighty shell is pearlescent white with tinges of every color of the rainbow reflected throughout. 

Great stuff!

Psi-Beast Critical Hit Table

Like everything else in Dungeon Crawl Classics, psychic creatures have critical hits to be feared. In this case, a normal attack has a psionic element.

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Sanctum Secorum Episode #15 Companion: Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth

The Sanctum Secorum Episode #15 Companion: Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth was written by David Baity, Bob Brinkman, and Andrew Branstad. Art is by Dadio46, Darren Barlow, El Ultimo, Códice, Jeff Preston, MaliceAndMacarons, Nerdmaso, Nils-Petter, Norlin, Susan Skaar, Uberjeff, and Val-Verde. The publisher is Sanctum Media. This product is produced in association with the Sanctum Secorum podcast.

This Episode Companion is based on Sanctum Secorum Episode 15: Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth, which discussed the comic book series by the immortal Jack Kirby (and others). The featured product was Mutant Crawl Classics by Jim Wampler.

Within you will find:

Character Classes

Canine Scientist: "Using their superior intellect, many canids have found themselves high ranking positions as advisors to warlords of the other species (most notably Doctor Canus, who serves Caesar, the warlord of the Tigers)."

This class, written by Bob Brinkman, allows you to play such a creature. It is interesting to note that, because the Mutant Crawl Classics rules were not available at the time this Episode Companion was written, this class would probably work better in an Umerican or Crawljammer campaign. Drongo: Ruins of the Witch Kingdoms includes a Simian class which is clearly inspired by the Planet of the Apes series of films, as was Kamandi. Primal Tales #1 allows you to build communities of anthropomorphic animals which would be right at home in Kamandi's Earth A.D.

Human, Earth A.D.: "When the great disaster struck earth, mankind fell into barbarism. Unable to cope without the benefit of their technologies, humanity rapidly devolved into a primitive state. Mostly dwelling in caves and ruins, these last vestiges of humanity fight not for glory, but for their own survival. Characters of this race are often taken on as pets and will loyally serve with their friends."

Now you can play one, courtesy of Bob Brinkman.

The Hybrid: David Baity provides not just a class, but a simple method for playing a humanoid hippo, lion, or even mosquito. Again, it is interesting to compare this build with those from Primal Tales #1. It seems likely that the authors of Primal Tales were building off David Baity's foundations.

Nu-Men: "Altered by ancient, lost science to survive the greatest environmental threats that mankind might ever face, the nu-men are spoken of in whispers, and rarely, if ever, encountered. At first glance they can pass for human, although their civilized behavior and ability to speak immediately sets them apart from all other humans of Earth A.D."

The radioactive men of Kamandi's future are described as a class by Bob Brinkman.

Monsters

Author Bob Brinkman provides two creatures one might encounter in the Earth A.D. of Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth.

Beast of Monster Lake: This is a giant radioactive crab-thing which can generate waves of destructive energy from its eyes.

Zone Devil: "Of all of the horrors spawned by radiation, the giant insectile creatures often referred to as devils are certainly out of the collective nightmares of humanity."

Note that this is also explicitly true in Mutant Crawl Classics.

Patrons

The Star Child: "Somewhere across the infinite realms of time, space, and possibility, there stands the greatest possible achievement of architectural design: a monolithic solid whose perfect and precise dimensions exist in a ratio utterly pleasing to the cosmos itself. Not only are the monolith’s height, width, and depth in perfect harmony with the divine ratio, but so too are its invisible dimensions, on into infinity across the breadth of time, substance, and all meaning. To behold this wonder is to behold the splendor of creation. To touch it is to touch the very fabric of perfection."

This is a partial patron write-up by Andrew Branstad. It includes invoke patron results as well as patron taint. This appears to be based on 2001: A Space Odyssey, rather than the Kamandi series, but there may be some crossover that I am not aware of. Note that this is not a patron AI, although one did appear in an earlier Episode Companion.

As with previous Companions, this volume can help the discerning Dungeon Crawl Classics judge determine how to stat up creatures from whatever movie or literature she likes.

It's free!

Get It Here!

Primal Tales #1

Primal Tales #1 was written by Brendan LaSalle and Brett Brooks. Art is by Dean Kotz (including cover), Jarrod Alberich (cover), Guoh, Amber Harris, and Bradley McDevitt. The publisher is Pandahead Publishing.

Primal Tales is a zine supplying options for adding anthropomorphic animal characters to Dungeon Crawl Classics or Mutant Crawl Classics games.

Anthropomorphic animals have a long history in both children's and fantasy literature. Whether looking at Babar the Elephant, Reepicheep from Narnia, or Rocket Raccoon, these beings have been with us for a very long time. They have, of course, dominated a certain type of animation, as well as creating a sub-genre of mostly Young Adult fantasy with the Redwall Abbey series, MouseGuard, and similar works. And, of course, there are always Alan Moore's disturbing creations in the second volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

At first glance, Appendix N would appear to be bereft of such characters, but looking closer, one can see anthropomorphic animals in The Maker of Universes, by Philip José Farmer, and there are certainly anthropomorphic tigers in Lin Carter's World's End Series. If one delves into the various alien races met in the works of some of the listed authors, I feel certain that you will encounter more than one being that could be considered a primal.

Even previous Dungeon Crawl Classics products have included creatures that might be considered primals, be they simians from Drongo: Ruins of the Witch Kingdoms, faerie animals from Creeping Beauties of the Wood, avarians from Hubris: A World of Visceral Adventure, or manimals from Mutant Crawl Classics.

Still, you might be asking "Is this for me?", and I am going to be providing some suggestions for using this material even if you are not going to have primal PCs.

Let's take a look.

Introduction: What it says on the tin. Brett Brooks describes how Primal Tales came about: "That’s easy: someone asked us. Honestly, we were approached by a DCC fan, who asked if there was any chance of such a book existing. After some consideration, and several conversations with Joseph Goodman and the blessing of Goodman Games, the result is the book you hold in your hands."

The World of Primals: This is a single page, describing the basic assumptions of the world of Primal Tales, and acknowledging that these assumptions may be different in your campaign world.

Character Creation: Rules for creating primal characters. There is a "Primal Family Chart" that uses a d100 to generate over 80 different types of anthropomorphic animal, from "Alligator/Crocodile" to "Zebra". Each of these includes a natural weapon and special traits. There is also a "Primal Occupation Table".

If not using primals in your milieu, the family chart may be used to generate interesting beastmen or humanoids, at the very least. Vulturemen, shark-like orcs, and kobolds with frog traits are all possible, and all grist for the mill.

Savage Warrior: This is the primal version of the warrior class, which is given special abilities when using their natural weapons. If you are not using primals, this class is unlikely to be used...although you could use it as a template for beefing up some of the enemy humanoids and beastmen the PCs might encounter.

Another possibility is that the class might be used to represent a Tarzan or Mowgli-like character, who starts with natural attack damage of 1d3. In this case, the character might be given the Special Traits of the animal type that raise him, if it makes sense within the game. For instance, Tarzan might have "+1d skill checks (anything strength related), +2d climb checks" (using gorilla traits as a model), and Mowgli "Heightened Senses (+2d scent), +1d Skill Checks (Tracking)".

Arcaster: "Arcasters learn their magic from arcane spirits. These spirits are embodiments
of magic itself given form, and are invisible to most. To those who know their secrets and are willing to pay the price, an arcane spirit is a gateway to magical power." This class comes with a new 1st level spell, find spirit familiar.

In a game using primals, it makes sense to limit this class to primal characters. "Race as class" is used, after all, to keep elves from feeling like humans with superpowers and pointy ears, as they are in some other role-playing games. It also helps to keep the flavor of various options from merging.

In a game without primals, there is no reason not to open this class up to either humans and/or elves. Or, hell, perhaps in your world this sort of communion is a "halflings-only" thing!

Chimerae: Spellcasters who can take the forms of various animals, this would be a pretty cool class to include in your game milieu whether it is limited to primals or not. The class includes some animal trait information (useful when creating statblocks for natural creatures, or when modifying beastmen/humanoids, as noted above) and three new 1st level spells: consult nature, resist weather, and spirit healing.

If you are not using primals in your game, you might just want to call this a "druid"! Even if you do not want PCs using this material, there is plenty here to crib from for NPC antagonists.

Lamia: Patron of Mother’s Nightmares: "There are many conflicting stories about the life of Lamia and where she originated. Some say that she is the cast-off lover of a god, cursed by that god’s spouse. Others claim that her children were stolen by a jealous, barren goddess, who drove her to madness and down a path leading to atrocities that corrupted her and gave her great power. Then there are those who say that she is a succubus who escaped from the depths of hell, intending to find the perfect child to call her own. Physical descriptions of her vary widely. Sometimes Lamia is described as having the torso of a woman and the body of a lioness or a huge serpent. At other times, she is seen as a beautiful woman with the maw and fangs of a deformed beast."

Lamia is given a full patron write-up. As a patron who combines human and animal natures, Lamia is appropriate to this work. There is nothing, however, that limits Lamia from being used in any campaign.

For other versions of Lamia, see the Sanctum Secorum Episode #35 Companion: Hundra (1983) or D.A.M.N. Magazine #1 - Winter 2017.

Lamian Monsters: Three monsters are supplied:

• Lamurae: "From the nightmares of mothers and the essence of Lamia, the Lamurae were born. Ranging between one to three feet tall, the Lamurae resemble the shadows of death and decay."

• Lamian Succubus: "In the vast demonic realms, to have a name is a badge of honor. And in the annals of the succubi stories, no name is more revered than Lamia. Many of the succubi have devoted themselves to Lamia, seeing her as one of their own who has elevated them to newfound power and prominence. To that end, the Lamian Succubus is unlike any other." For other types of succubi, see The Balance Blade in The 13th Skull, The Crimson Void, and the Sanctum Secorum Episode #35 Companion: Hundra (1983).

• Avatar of Lamia: "The fact that no one can agree upon the origin or appearance of Lamia is not helped by the manifestations of her avatar. Those who have survived seeing her manifest have claimed that they have seen three different incarnations: The Maiden, The Beast, and The Demon. However, the true number of incarnations has yet to be accurately documented." Statistics for all three avatars mentioned are provided.

These monsters are appropriate for use in any Dungeon Crawl Classics campaign, and are in no way dependent upon the use of primals.

They exist everywhere. Among the common people they are talked about in quiet tones. Half man, half beast. Stories of them are told around campfires and hearths.

They inspire curiosity...
...confusion...
...and fear.

Many call them monsters.

Some call them heroes.

They call themselves primals.

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Akashic Titan

Akashic Titan Volume 1: Starnheim & Related Locales was written and illustrated by Leighton Connor. The publisher is Spandangle Press.

Disclaimer: I supported the successful Kickstarter for this product.

Imagine magical steampunk mecha. Now imagine that they are used for travel, not across a single world, but from world to world through a rainbow of Bands that extends beyond the colors we know (and may not even include them), and which may in fact be inimical to life as we know it. Now imagine that this travel occurs far enough below the radar that the discerning judge can use it to transplant characters from Punjar to Lankhmar to Drongo to the Fallen Empire to Transylvania. Now imagine that, among all the other influences listed, the author includes Italo Calvino and Miguel de Cervantes.

Is it any wonder that I am in love?

Let's look inside!

Part 1: Journey to Starnheim: This section lays out some hooks that the judge may use to get the PCs interested in Starnheim, and some of the places they might encounter on the way there. Basically, this sets a scene that may be replayed, with countless variations on an infinity of worlds. You hear of a magnificent market - but what you find just leads you on farther. The PCs might be imagining that finding the "market town" is the adventure, but this is just the prelude.

Part 2: The Town of Starnheim: Describes the hidden market town of Starnheim in general terms. It is entirely possible that the PCs discover Starheim early in their careers, as a place to sell excess loot or buy rare goods. There are factions for the PCs to clash with or become involved with. Eventually, the PCs learn about the "Other Side" and the mysterious Gateway leading there.

Part 3: Mount Starnheim: Unless the players have peeked, this is a moment where their world is going to be turned upside down. Literally and metaphorically. The PCs have now found the port where the Akashic Titans dock, and it is not at all the same as the place they have left behind. Not only that, but there is an implication that such places exist in all worlds. 

Part 4: The Akashic Titans: If you are going to run a game with gigantic magical steampunk mecha, you will need rules for them. That is what this part supplies. Luckily, the writer realizes that this is not a one-player show, and when your akashic titan gets into combat everyone has things to do and ways to contribute.The rules are not at all convoluted, but there is serious chance of mishap (as there should be in Dungeon Crawl Classics. A sample titan is provided, but rules for statting up your own titans are fairly non-existent.

Part 5: The Bands: Imagine that the Bifrost was actually the phlogiston, and then imagine that the Bifrost extended beyond colors we know, to bands of dolm, ulfire, and jale...and perhaps farther. Now imagine that this is actually the akashic medium, and the color of the Band you are in affects what you might encounter and the rules of the universe around you. Not every Band is conducive to the living. Some Bands may be actively trying to kill you.

No one can tell you what is beyond the Jale Band. No information is given about passing from the Dolm Band away from the Ulfire Band back towards Blue. This is not really a problem. There are always things to worry about out there:

"Akashic titans are not alive, so it stands to reason that they could never be undead. Unfortunately, that is the best description of the akashic husk. Broken down akashic titans, usually with huge holes ripped in their hulls, their crews dead, yet their eyes still glowing, they are animated by some hideous force, and lurch their way through the Bands in search of functional akashic titans to destroy."

Part 6: The Elaborate Crystal Palace: This describes an interesting place in the Jale Band that the PCs are likely to come back to repeatedly. Chambers are randomly generated. There is more going on, and more for the PCs to get involved with, than this makes it sound like.

Appendix 1: Spells: Band Bubble is a 1st level wizard spell that "creates a mystical bubble that holds in oxygen and protects from the Bands’ toxic atmosphere and radiation." Don't leave home without it. Titan Bond is a 2nd level wizard spell that "enables the user to connect spiritually with an akashic titan, to feel what it is feeling, and to sense what is going on inside and out." Access Akashic Library is a 3rd level wizard spell that "enables the user to access the Akashic Library, a record of every sapient being’s every thought, word, and action." Compare with Walk the Akashic Record, a patron spell in The Revelation of Mulmo: Tentacled Edition and Angels, Daemons & Beings Between: Extended Otherworldly Edition.

Appendix 2: New Character Class: This describes the Akashic Pilot class. If travel through the Akashic Bands is the centerpiece of your campaign, this will make you a master of it. Of course, you will also be mutated.

Ellie O'Clock sits in her pilot's chair and gazes through the heavy glass, watching the aether of the Ulfire Band fizz and pop. Suddenly a nearby patch of void squirms, twists, and rips open, vomiting forth an obscene tentacled horror. A Stellar Squid! Ellie has no time to think--she grabs a lever, twists, and pulls. Instantaneously the metal behemoth she pilots reacts, swinging a giant metal fist . . .  

The akashic titans are giant, magically-powered metal constructs that soar across the endless Bands in their journey from world to world. Akashic Titan gives you the tools you need to incorporate these magical behemoths into Dungeon Crawl Classics games. In addition to giving an overview of the akashic titans and the Bands, this zine provides two settings: Starnheim, a port city for the titans that can be dropped into any fantasy world, and the Elaborate Crystal Palace of the Jale Band.

Also included are new monsters (such as the Stellar Squid, the Stowaway, and the Living Constellation), spells, NPCs, the Akashic Pilot character class, and random tables.

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