Thirty magic item drawbacks

Thirty magic item drawbacks

1: Only functions during the day
2: Only functions during the night
3: Only functions in direct sunlight
4: Only functions out of direct sunlight
5: Only functions underwater
6: Does not function underwater
7: Only functions for a specific race, roll 1d5

1: Elf
2: Human
3: Dwarf
4: Halfling
5: Other (goblin, orc, ogre, Judge's discretion)

8: While owned, possesor's hair grows 10x as fast.
9: While owned, possesor's hair falls out and does not grow back
10: Character's hair or skin color, or both changes
11: Berserker, character must make a Will save at DC 15 each combat or go berserk
Berserk: +1 to hit and damage, but must attack nearest target, friend or foe
Check at first round of combat. Lasts 1d6 rounds
12: Blood magic, Item requires a point of stat burn per day to function
13: Life magic, Item requires 1 xp burn per day to function
14: Owner cannot cast divine magic while possessing item
15: Owner cannot cast arcane magic while possessing item
16: Owner cannot cast spells of any kind while possessing item
17: A random spell must be cast on the item per day for it to function
Roll 1d5 twice and take the lower result for spell level,
and then determine specific spell randomly.
18: Item will not function against a specific race, roll 1d5

1: Elf
2: Human
3: Dwarf
4: Halfling
5: Other (goblin, orc, ogre, Judge's discretion)

19: Item has 2d10 charges. Must burn a charge per day to function
May be recharged with a method of the Judge's choosing
If item already uses charges, re-roll result
20: Item has a 5% chance per day, cumulative, of losing it's power
and becoming a mundane item
21: Item has a 1% chance per day, cumulative, of turning it's possessor into a wight
22: While owned, possessor glows with a faint light
23: Item has a 5% chance per day, non-cumulative, of striking it's possessor blind for
1d6 turns
24: Unlucky, possessor must burn 1 point of luck per day, or incur a -1 to all die rolls
25: Siren, item causes random encounters to occur more frequently (1 in 1d4)
26: While owned, item causes owner's skin to become scaly like a lizard
27: Owner is at -2 to hit and damage certain types of opponents, roll 1d8

1: Giants
2: Dragons
3: Lycanthropes
4: Manticores
5: Minotaurs
6: Ogres and Trolls
7: Basilisks and cockatrices
8: Medusas

28: Owner is at -2 to all saves
29: Roll 2 times, re-rolling results of 29+
30: Roll 3 times, re-rolling results of 29+

Surprise!

Simple surprise system I ad-hoced, and then wrote up rules for.

Surprise check.
At ease: 1 in 1d4
Prepared: 1 in 1d6
Alert: 1 in 1d8

Note that this sytem follows the dice chain, so a Judge can give a bonus for specific prepardness, like carrying weapons and armor in town, you might give the party a 1 in 1d5 surprise check.

House rules for DCC

Some quick house rules I put together. The reaction table is taken from the Moldvay Basic rulebook, and the encumbrance system is a variant on Delta's stone weight system.

Reaction check, 2d6.
Dice Roll Reaction
2 Immediate Attack
3-5 Hostile, possible attack
6-8 Uncertain, monster confused
9-11 No attack, monster leaves or considers offers
12 Enthusiastic friendship
Character makes sucessful intimidate, bluff, persuasion check: +1.

Morale check, 2d6.
First monster death
When leader is killed
When numbers are reduced below 50%
When there is one monster left
Dice Roll Result
2 Monsters flee in panic
3-5 Monsters withdraw
6-8 Monsters regroup
9-11 Monsters fight on
12 Monsters fight to the death, make no more morale checks
Chaotic: -1, Lawful: +1, Neutral: no mod
Failing a morale check: -1 to subsequent morale checks. (Cumulative)
Rally: Leader spends a full round action. Monsters make a morale check at +1. Once per encounter.
Flee: Monsters retreat by the quickest route. They move at full speed and incur retaliation attacks. Monsters get -1 to attack and damage rolls.
Withdraw: Monsters retreat in the same direction, supporting each other, and monsters in melee do not retreat if they will take retaliation attacks.
Regroup: Monsters move towards the nearest ally, supporting each other. Monsters in melee do not move if they will take retaliation attacks.
Fight on: Monsters do not retreat, and fight on as normal.
Fight to the death: Monsters do not retreat, and do not make any further morale checks. On their next round, monsters get +1 to attack and damage rolls.

Encumbrance
Characters can carry their Strength score in stone without encumbrance.
Over their Strength score = 1/2 movement.
Characters can carry 2x their Strength score in stone maximum.
Weights-
1h weapon 1 stone
2h weapon 2 stone
Ammo 1/10
Shield 1 stone
Padded Armor 1 stone
Leather Armor 1 stone
Studded Leather 2 stone
Hide Armor 3 stone
Scale Mail 4 stone
Chain Mail 3 stone
Banded Mail 3 stone
Half Plate 4 stone
Full Plate 5 stone

Torches, potions, lanterns, scrolls, rope, spellbook, bedroll, etc 1/5 stone
Gems, coins, pearls, nails, caltrops, darts, etc 1/10 stone

Key to the Corrupted Forest.

Corrupted Dryad.
A few months ago, a star fell from the sky and landed in the Goldenbeam Forest. This meteor is infused with chaos and has corrupted the forest around it. Spiders have grown to enourmous size, animals are tortured and mutated, and worst of all, the Dryad who watches over the forest has become twisted and evil.
Webwood.
The webwood area is infested with giant spiders. Travellers who brave this part of the forest will surely encounter a lair.
The giant spider lair is inhabited by 1d6 giant spiders.
Giant Spider
Init +1, Atk Bite +2 melee (1d6)+poision*, AC 13, HD: 2d6, MV 40' or Climb 40', Act 1d20
SV Fort -1, Ref: +1, Will 0. AL Chaotic
*Poision. When bitten, Fort save vs DC 12 or lose 1 point of Con for 1 week. Effects are cumulative, and a character that is reduced to 0 Con is dead as if they had been reduced to 0 hp.
The remains of the spiders previous victims are cocooned in the webs strung between trees. If searched, the characters will find 3d6 gems worth 15 gp each, a potion of healing, and boots of elvenkind.
Boots of Elvenkind. These boots give their wearer +1 to AC and allow the wearer to reroll one failed Sneak Silently roll per day.
The Great Rock.
This huge rock just out of the earth and towers over the nearby trees. As the characters investigate, they will encounter 1d6 dire wolves. These wolves have been mutated and driven to ferocity by the warpstone.
Dire Wolf
Init +1, Atk Bite +1 Melee (1d6), AC 12, HD: 2d8, MV 50', Act 1d20
SV Fort +1, Ref +1 Will 0. AL Chaotic
Dark Meadow.
This clearing has a small lake. The warpstone crater is in the meadow, and the warpstone rests in the crater. There are 1d4 Corrupted Treants here. They will attack and fight to the death.
Corrupted Treant
Init -1, Atk bash +2 melee (2d6+2), AC 16, HD: 3d8, MV 20' Act 1d20
SV Fort +3, Ref -1, Will 0. AL Chaotic
SD tough bark. Treants take -1 damage from most attacks, and +1 die chain from axes.
Treants take double damage from fire attacks. Torches deal 1d6 damage, and flaming oil deals 2d6 damage. Torch and oil attacks only have to hit AC 10, as they ignore the treant's rough bark skin.
The warpstone will be a difficult problem to deal with. Removing it from the forest will cure the forest over 1d4 weeks it will return to it's natural state.
While carrying the warpstone, the party will have a +1 to any random encounter checks, and the encounters will have very odd aspects. Like an ogre who believes the characters stole his girlfriend, or a dragon pesters the characters about his appearance. Be creative. For every full week the characters keep the stone, each must make a Luck save versus DC 10 or take a random corruption roll as if they had failed a spell check. (Regardless of class) If a character fails 3 saves total, they become corrupted in mind and will attack or otherwise harass the party. The character becomes an NPC under the Judge's control until they are taken from the stone's influence for 1d4 weeks.
Disposing of the warpstone will require a quest to be determined by the Judge.
Ruined Tower.
The dryad Goldenbeam is here, with 4 corrupted treants who protect her. They attack and will fight to the death.
Goldenbeam, Dryad
Init +1, Atk special, AC 12, HD 2d6, MV 35' Act 1d20
SV Fort +1, Ref +1, Will 0. AL Chaotic
Every turn Goldenbeam can attempt to charm a target. The target makes a Will save vs DC 12. If the save is failed, the target is under Goldenbeam's control, and will see their allies as enemies. Goldenbeam can only control one target at a time.
Corrupted Treant
See the entry for Dark Meadow for the corrupted treant's stats.
If the party manages to defeat Goldenbeam without killing her, and removes the warpstone from the forest, she will recover and send them each a token of her gratitude, a Leaf of Goldenbeam.
Leaf of Goldenbeam.
These enchanted leaves never wither, and while the owner has it in their posession, they may reroll one failed Fort save per day.
Inside the ruined tower is a bit of treasure that the treants have taken from their recent victims. 3d6x10 SP, 2d6x5 GP, a scroll with a random 1st level cleric spell, and a Lightning Spear.
Lightning Spear
This spear is +1 to hit and does 1d10 damage. Once per day, the spear can fire a lightning bolt at a target. The lightning bolt has a range of 100' and does 2d6 damage to one target, or 1d6 damage to two targets. The player may choose which targets. The lightning bolts hit without a die roll, but the targets may make a Ref save at DC 12 to take no damage.
Giant Oak.
This tree towers over the forest. It is a sedentary treant called Father Oak. Father Oak is guarded by 3 centaurs, who have all resisted the corruption so far. They distrust anyone approaching Father Oak, but if the characters seem to pose no threat, Father Oak will bid the centuars to stand down, and let them approach.
Father Oak knows of the corrupted stone, but he learned of it too late to warn Goldenbeam. He will entreat the characters to rescue Goldenbeam and the forest by taking the warpstone away. If the party agrees, he will give them a mort of treasure in good faith.
Oak Shield. This shield is +1 (total of +2 to AC) and once per turn, the wielder may force a foe to re-roll a sucessful attack roll.
Elixir of Lion's Breath. This elixir will raise the imbiber's Stamina by +1 permanently. (May not increase Sta above 18)
Tome of the Old Oak. This wooden bound manuscript will teach a wizard character a random 1st level spell. If an elf uses the book, they may roll twice and pick which result to use.

Adapting U2 and U3 for Dungeon Crawl Classics

I've decided to use the classic UK modules U2 Danger at Dunwater, and U3 The Final Enemy for my Dungeon Crawl Classics campaign. Should be fun to adapt them. My goal is to simplify them somewhat, while retaining the iconic bits. Should be fun.

Corrupted Forest

An example of a map with landmarks for navigation, but no hexes. The players will simply say "We go to the giant rock." or "Let's check out the webwood."

I'll post the key and encounter details after using this scenario in the game. Just in case any of my players are snooping around. :)

Lairs and Encounters

Riffing off of The Sky Full of Dust's excellent entries on Dynamic Lairs..

Abandoned Gold Mine

This mine was abandoned by the workers when giant ants invaded and made it their lair.

A. Entrance.

There is a 5 in 6 chance of encountering 1d6 workers and 1d3 warriors at the entrance to the mine.

1. This cavern is full of broken and scattered mining equipment. There are 2d6 worker ants here. A search of the room will yield some items that are salvageable: 20' of rope, 7 torches, 3 iron spikes, and 2 empty water skins.

2. This cave has 2d8 worker ants in it. There are 3d6x50 GP worth of gold nuggets scattered on the floor.

3. This part of the mine is where the ants store their food. The carcasses of several goats and sheep are here, and a few dead bodies. Among the bones are some bits of treasure from the previous owners. A potion of invisibility, a suit of leather armor +1, and a pair of foxclaw gloves.

Foxclaw gloves.

This pair of fox skin gloves function only when worn by a thief or halfling character. When worn by one of these characters, the gloves bestow +1 to Dexterity, and can extrude razor sharp claws that deal 1d6 damage in melee, and 1d12 damage on a sucessful backstab attempt. When first put on, roll 1d6 to determine what effect the gloves have on it's owner. 1: Charater's ears become fox ears. +1 to perception rolls based on hearing. 2: Character grows fox whiskers. 3: Character grows a fox tail. 4: Character's eyes become golden with slit pupils. +1 to perception rolls based on sight. 5: Character becomes hirstute with fox fur. 6: Character's feet become fox paws. Character gets +1 to sneak silently rolls. This change is permanent even if the character later passes the gloves on. Only roll once when the gloves are first put on by a thief or halfling character.

4. There are 2d4 warrior ants in this cavern, and 4 honeypot ants here. These ants store honey in their abdomens for the other ants. The honeypot ants are not warriors and are easily defeated. (No combat necessary) Characters who harvest this honey can obtain 4d4 doses. Each dose when eaten will heal 1d4 hit points worth of damage, and 1 point of stat loss, determined by the player. The characters must have a suitable vessel to take the honey with them, like a jar or the waterskins from area 1. A single waterskin can hold up to 6 doses.

5. Queen's lair.

The ant queen, 2d6 warrior ants and 2d4 worker ants are here. The workers and warriors will fight fiercely to defend their queen, no morale rolls are necessary, they will fight to the death.

Worker Ant

Init 0, Atk Bite +0 melee (1d4), AC 12, HD 1d4, MV 50' or Climb 50', Act 1d20 SV Fort +3, Ref 0, Will -3, AL Lawful

Warrior Ant

Init +1, Atk Bite +1 melee (1d6), AC 14, HD 2d6, MV 50' or Climb 50', Act 1d20 SV Fort +4, Ref +1, Will -3, AL Lawful

Ant Queen

Init 0, Atk Bite +3 melee (1d8), AC 16, HD 3d8, MV 10' or Climb 10', Act 1d20/1d16 SV Fort +5, Ref -1, Will +1, AL Lawful

Each ant has bits of gold nuggets embedded in their carapace. Characters who scrape the gold out will gain 3d6 GP worth of gold ore per ant.