Hack'D & Slash'D FAQ

House Rules

I have altered the rules for losing mana, cutting these in half. A caster loses a mana point on a roll of 1 for a level 1-2 spell, a 1-2 for a level 3-4 spell, and a 1-3 for a level 5+ spell. This slows down mana loss, and also resolves a conflict for high level casters where they could conceivably roll well enough to be successful but also lose the mana point. 

Q: How does poison damage work? What does a resist indicate?

A: A character can only suffer 1 poison effect per round. A successful might check ends that poison effect entirely; you get a new might check every round. So, a poison that deals 3 damage per round for 3 rounds allows a resist in round 1, round 2, and round 3. If the check is made in round 2, no check is made in round 3 (since the poison has ended). Once the check is made in round 2, that character is able to be poisoned again.

Q: How hard are secret doors to find?

A: Secret doors should require a mind (sense) check at -1 edge to find. Concealed doors should require a standard mind (sense) check.

Q: Can you taunt foes to get them to pay attention to you?

A: I resolve this as a free action, requiring a mind check. As you are attacking, you yell at a monster to get its attention. If successful, you draw its focus. If not, I roll randomly to see who the monster goes after. You can try again every round to draw its attention from others. 

Q: How does unarmed damage work?

I have added rules for this to the Hack'D & Slash'D Companion.

Fanatic Four: An Interlude

This isn't a proper session, since I just worked out the logistics of what transpired during their time in the Bazaar of Untold Lands, but here's the summary...

They did a major gear upgrade. They largely liquidated their starting gear and upgraded across the board in terms of weapons and armor. They should be a little more effective now.

They met Moridis! She approached them, and talked to them about being the newest visitors to her halls. Alari succeeded with a 10 on the mind check for influence. She encouraged them to each take a roll of the Dice of Fate. I decided that Alari would decline: she has faith, is much older (as an elf) and has a more direct purpose. The other three, being vagabonds that the world has already buffeted around, see the opportunity here and would take it. Moridis has a very positive reaction to this (she is impressed by Alari). She decides to bequeath upon her an object: the warlord's ring. It grants +1 edge to melee attacks. She wishes them well against her progeny, and departs.

This makes the team the talk of the Bazaar, and leads to dinner with the Vile Watcher Uthisar, who is trying to gather information on them. I decide it is possible he will send assassins to have them murdered, but he decides against it (the dice told me so), and decides to bide his time and wait. Maybe this group will somehow weaken Moridis, and he is willing to wait and see.

Time to roll... here are the results:

Galazan rolls [11,10]. That's a somewhat mixed result, with largely positive outcomes at a high level. The 11 is a minor setback: in this case, he loses all of his earned experience to this point (reset to the beginning of the current level). However, he will receive double XP from this point forward.

Firik rolls [12/2]. That's a very positive result. He gets a permananent +1 to hits, and he will regenerate 1 hit per round forever. Dang.

Indar rolls [12/12]. No. Frickin'. Way. Okay then. I had already decided that this would be a permanent +1 edge to all checks forevermore.

I seriously had a little personal trepidation about rolling this, because I'm committed to getting this team to at least the dragon's lair in 63 for the iconic cover image... and getting gimped right now would have made that process less fun. Galazan is going to zoom through levels (so he'll be full on Gandalf before long), and the other three all have made significant upgrades to their combat capabilities. 

I am going to update and re-print their character sheets so I have all this information correct, and then I guess I'll get back to delving!

Last thing... they track down the amulet of goblin rulership that Xixal really wanted. It's 100 gp, so they don't have that cash... Indar asks if he can dice for it (2 dice vs. 1), since he gets that permanent +1 edge (so this makes it a straight 2 dice vs. 2 dice roll, total score wins). He puts up the entire cash of the team and rolls. It's a tie at 17 all. They roll again and he wins (21 vs. 12). They have the amulet... now to decide what to do with it.

Indar kind of likes the idea of ruling over goblins... and taking out his competition for the job. Alari is not in favor of this deception, but is convinced that having this amulet in the possession of the 'good guys' is better than having it in the possession of an evil humanoid who could use it to raid nearby lands. She ultimately has to concede to his point.

I decide that this counts as a level 2 encounter, so each earns an additional 5 xp (so 10 for Gal). This puts Gal at 10 total, and each of the others at 19. 

Fanatic Four: Report 3

I warned you I was going to do a bit of gaming this weekend... my four characters have continued to explore, defeating the three ghouls in areas 17 A, B and C. They then crawled through the tunnels (making short work of the three rats) and into area 14. They attempted to drive back the ant swarm, which summoned the myrmidon ant and then the gnome shadow-touched ghoul. They managed to defeat all three with relative quickness. They could not figure out how to get through the narrow tunnel in the wall, so moved on to the south. Firik caused the mold of maddening to emit spores, which put him into a battle frenzy. Alari was able to draw his attention (and defend herself with her shield), while after a few tries Galazan was able to use a sleep spell on him. They burned the mold, explored area 12 (freaked out by the sounds from below) and then prepared to enter the Bazaar... which is where I'll pick up next time. 

They have thus far (in total) earned:

55 xp (so almost 14 xp each)

60 gp

23 sp

144 cp

A suit of enchanted studded leather armor

A cloak of befouling

A level 2 deeping spell scroll (from a silvered chest)

And they found a few days' worth of good food in a silvered chest

They are only 14% of the way to level 2, which feels like pretty slow progression. They haven't fought that much stuff yet, and they should start picking up the pace soon enough. They have a good amount of gold to upgrade their weapons and gear a little bit, so that will help, too.

I'm pretty sure that each is going to roll the dice of fate, and that might change the game dramatically. We'll see...

A Meditation: Encounter Designing

I am going through and fleshing out Moridis' Halls, building it one encounter at a time. However, what's happening is that it is logically and organically growing upwards and outwards as I go. Here's a snapshot of the process so far...

The initial entry area was a small temple complex that abuts to some natural caves. The temple was easy... and a straight line. Entry > preparation room > temple proper. The temple was populated by zombies worshipping an altar, the altar had a small magical thingy to it, and the entrance was being overrun by natural flora and fauna that were creeping in. Easy so far.

Then I decided on the middle cave - it is inhabited by some goblins. Fine. The next step was the game changer - how do they interact with the temple? Hmmm. Well, I decided this is a source of tension. The rank-and-file goblins worship there and want to give offerings, but their boss, who is a bit smarter and a bit cynical, resents having his money go sit in a bowl for zombies. Hmm. Then I asked that question for the next encounter after... how does he interact with the passage to the right? (A natural pool below a cliff facing). Again, similar answer - the goblins also worship what is there (a ghouled giant snake), and keep throwing his money over the side to appease this 'servant' of their god. Adventurers become an ideal way to maybe solve all of his problems. Now, he's more motivated to parlay with the fellowship rather than kill them, and just like that I have a complex dungeon crawl going. 

The final piece was to give him a long-term goal. He wants a magical amulet that is for sale in a strange place. This then lead to the creation of the Bazaar of Untold Lands (which is modeled on the flea market in Buffalo we used to visit on weekends when I was a teenager). This is set inside a tessaract, and it interacts with dozens of worlds, meaning that it truly is a Bazaar of strange and wondrous stuff. This can now be the centerpiece of the campaign, and the centerpiece of the dungeon. This is where you go to make deals, interact with powerful NPCs, and even meet Moridis herself. Everyone (except Moridis) is bound by a 'no violence, no magic, and no thievery' clause that results in instantaneous banishment. Now a 'beholder like' monster can be there, just chilling, and the heroes can encounter it at level 1. They can think about how to maybe lure it out of the bazaar some day to kill it, and maybe to invade its native realm by some other means, but for now, it's just there hanging out and they can talk to it. Moridis herself can stroll about. I can float out magical items that the heroes want, and set weird prices for it: Oh, you want the sword of the third army? Fine. It will cost you ten dragon eggs. Now... back to the dungeons to find some dragon eggs. The bazaar itself serves the same function as an inn (in many ways), but it's supernaturally transposed right into the dungeon. If somehow the heroes could get magic that allows access to the other realms it connects to, they become multiversal globetrotters with a specific entry and exit point being the Bazaar itself. 

I love it. And these few things then opened the door to the rest of the dungeon. Because Moridis sometimes travels about, she might also interact with the fellowship, even at level 1. Then I realized the purpose of level 1 - it is where she has cast off her 'failed' progeny. Three young dragons are here, all dealing with rejection by their mom in different ways. They are spread about the dungeon. Moridis is fine if the fellowship kills these dragons - she actually would like these 'weak' children of hers to be tested. Maybe they can prove worthy... or receive the death they probably deserve. No skin off her nose. The three dragons (and their lairs) become the centerpoints of the rest of the dungeon. So, I went to the map and popped in a rough outline of those three encounter areas. Now, I can organically build the dungeon around those areas in the same way. I've got some of the big-picture stuff worked out, and can add nuance and detail as I go.

You can follow the development of the dungeon in this living document, which I update as I adventure through the dungeon. I fugre that once it's done, I might publish the book as a supplement for the game.

In the same way, as I create monsters, magic, and rules in exploring the dungeon, I'm updated the Hack'D & Slash'D Companion, which would also see publication once it hits 48 pages or so.

Both projects have a ways to go, but it's fun working on them the way I am. 

Parenthetically, the iconic encounter from the inside of the BX rules will be happening in area 63. I'm really looking forward to that encounter :)

Fanatic Four: Report 2

Continuing their exploration of the Halls of Moridis, the fellowship was met at the entrance (after healing) by a goblin servant who spoke only one phrase in the trade tongue, "Xixal seeks parlay". They were escorted before Xixal (area 19) who they negotiated with (via Galazan). They learned of the temple (21), and of the ghoul snake Bitu (area 24). They agreed to destroy the snake and recover its treasures while Xixal took his goblins (and his loot) on a pilgrimage to the temple. The heroes made short work of the ghoul snake, getting several 12s. They also got very lucky in their checks to find its treasures, and recovered everything from its pool. They returned to Xixal, who was glad at their success, and asked them to travel to the Bazaar (area 8) on his behalf, and try to barter for the amulet of goblin leadership that he covets. They were 'allowed' to use the treasure they had recovered from Bitu's pool to negotiate. 

They set off and made it to area 12, where they were set upon by 7 shadelings. This should have been short work; it was not. The shadelings nearly killed both Alari and Firik, but thanks to Galazan's consistent damage from his cantrip, they were able to prevail. They had to retreat to area 16 to rest and recover before continuing onward, especially since Alari rolled a natural 1 when trying to heal herself, and has therefore lost magic access for the day. 

They have thus far (in total) earned:

28 xp (so 7 xp each)

20 gp

23 sp

144 cp

A suit of enchanted studded leather armor

A cloak of befouling

Fanatic Four: Report One

As I play, I am updating a few documents...

The Hack'D & Slash'D Companion is getting more game materials. I've added quite a bit since the last update. I used the Singing Spiders from this for area 16.

Moridis' Halls is a work in progress; some of the information in this document already needs revision, but I'm adding keyed areas as I explore them. In this session, I moved through areas 16, 18, and 21 (in that order). 

*** 

The heroes entered at 16, but realized the illusion of the spiders. After a brief battle, the heroes easily dispatched the spiders and recovered a little bit of gold from their lair.

They explored area 18, and Galazan was able to identify the magical cloak. He took it in case he wants to cause flowers to wilt or some good cakes to mold over. He's vindicative that way.

Moving into area 21, the poop hit the fan. They failed to sneak up on the zombies (there were six of them, so it's a tough enounter for a level 1 group as is). The zombies pretty quickly dropped Firik to -3 hits, and Alari failed her healing spell. Indar and Galazan were holding their own, but were overwhelmed. Galazan used his alchemist's oil, and luckily hit the four that remained at that point in the battle. The heroes fled (Alari made her might check to pick up Firik so they could run), and they made it back to the exit (south of 16) with burning zombies in pursuit. The zombies finished burning to a crisp in the entry as the heroes recovered outside. 

They have earned: 

16 xp (4 xp each)

14 gp

A cloak of befouling

Weekend Plans

I finished work for the week, came home, mowed the lawn, and took the dogs for a walk. Grace and Mary are out of town at a diving camp, so it's just me and a good chunk of time. Here's my weekend plan... going to go full pencil and paper RPG on my dining room table. I made character cards, found my big printout of the map of Moridis' Halls, and am going to start working my way through the map. I'll post as I go...