These are the full-size illustrations from my submission to the Appendix N Jam, The Leshy's Grove.
There's a link below to the project page on itch. Check it out and if you ever get a chance to run it, I'd love to hear about it!
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| The leshy of Solska Wood! |
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| The dreaded Malevolence, born of the primordial soup of the early universe, crawled slithering from the festering ooze of nascent creation. |
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| A noble chevalier of the Sciurex, a squadron of brave red squirrel knights atop proud hawk-moth steeds! |
A table of silly mementos and memorials that locals might adopt in thanks to and remembrance of a budding hero.
This table is best-suited to a small, rural settlement; you could also use it in a larger city, but limit the result to a single neighborhood or zone.
Have a PC roll on it when they achieve a level of minor local fame.
Local Remembrances
1.) Ballad. Written by a local poet or songwriter. Terrible rhymes. Often sung in tavern chorus, and badly out of tune. Replayed loudly and incessantly at every tavern in town on the first night of a visit.
2.) Crude Statue. Looks to have been made by someone that’s never seen your face, but really longed to. A time capsule was buried beneath it by the townspeople when it was erected - dig it up to receive an Odd Trinket*, and shameful denouncement from those that buried it.
3.) Graffiti. Symbol(s) or phrase(s) reminiscent of your more famous local exploits. Tagged by renegade teens and ne’er-do-wells. You sustained brief viral popularity among the yoots as a symbol of rebellion and free thinking, and experience a resurgence any time you visit.
4.) Tall Tales. They grow with the telling, and often leave first-timers with an inflated sense of your abilities.
(+ Reputation)
5.) By the Pint. A cocktail or specialty local brew, mixed and named in your honor. A free round for the whole tavern whenever you visit.
6.) Street Signs. A busy thoroughfare or square is named after one of your possessions (i.e. Squire's Boots Lane or Raiff’s Glove, a market square). When you visit, a block party or ragtag parade closes it to through-traffic.
7.) Civics. The courthouse, library, or similar civic structure is renamed in your honor. If you don’t make an appearance at the awkward ribbon-cutting ceremony, you miss out on a free bottle of cheap champagne and free, unembellished lodging on future visits.
8.) Blue Plaque. Emblazons a site in town that’s significant to your time here. The plaque gets a minor detail of your life wrong, and is burnished in one corner where people rub it for luck as they pass. If you volunteer to lead a tour group through the spot when you come back to visit, the luck rubs off on you - reroll two Saving Throws of your choice and take the result of your choice, some time in the next week. You must stick around and pose for caricature sketches (or photos, in a modern setting).
9.) Holiday. A bi-annual celebration in your honor is added to the town calendar. The townspeople...
| 1d4 | Festivity |
|---|---|
| 1 | Burn you in effigy. It’s endearing! |
| 2 | Render your likeness in a parade float. It’s then released and floats away - where will it land?! |
| 3 | Throw tomatoes at a large mural of your face. |
| 4 | Render your likeness in ice/sand/mud sculpture (climate dependent). The competitions are cut-throat. |
This is a first draft of a reptilian humanoid player ancestry for OSE. I don't use ancestry class/level restrictions in my home game, so those aren't present at the moment. I also separate ancestry and class, so this is the ancestry-only version.
Tullym Ancestry
Requirements: minimum DEX 9
Ability Modifiers: -1 CHA, +1 WIS
Languages: Alignment, Common, Lizard man
Amphibious. Swim at your normal movement rate, and against mild currents with no check. You can breathe underwater.
Consume one water ration every eight hours spent without being submerged in water. The Referee may decide to require more or fewer rations based on weather (direct sun, particularly humid/dry conditions, rain, etc.). Resting overnight while submerged negates this need for the following day.
Employing only sight and smell, you have a 2-in-6 chance to detect poisons, pollutants, and foreign substances in fresh- or saltwater.
Prehensile Tail. A tullym's pride can carry an item weighing up to ten pounds. It cannot make attacks, wield weapons or shields, manipulate tools, etc., but grants a +1 bonus to any check or opposed roll made to grapple, shove, or trip an opponent.
Reptilian Hegira. Shed your tail to automatically:
Distract a pursuing carnivorous beast.
Escape a grapple or avoid being swallowed whole.
Succeed on a saving throw versus binding effects or a single-target spell.
Your tail grows back in one week.
Reptilian Affinity. Tullym can communicate with reptiles and dinosaurs through facial micro-expressions and complex emotional thought-states. They receive a +1 bonus to reaction rolls when encountering these creatures.
Cold Blooded. You are vulnerable to cold damage.
Without an external heat source, you become lethargic (-1 to-hit, -1 AC) in cold weather (roughly 40℉/4℃).
If your CON score is 13+, take only a -1 penalty to AC.
I've wanted a system for movement and combat in zero-g for my sci fi games. I do not want a cumbersome subsystem with lots of little caveats to remember.
It has to be dead simple; the inputs (interacting with the system at the table) have to be grounded enough in common understanding that the system feels natural to use, and the outputs (the effects on characters) have to interact with the game system in a way that feels impactful, and reminds us of the inhospitable, unnatural environment we are trying to navigate.
This is written for use with Stars Without Number, but should be pretty easily adaptable for any game that uses Saves, Attacks Rolls, and Ability Tests.
//Movement and Combat in Zero-G
Instability. In zero-g, the careless and the untrained can quickly lose control of the situation and themselves. PCs in zero-g gain an Instability Die each time they…
➤ Make a Melee Attack ➤ Fire a Bow or Thrown Weapon ➤ Take Damage from an Explosion^
➤ Fire a Firearm ➤ Take damage from a Melee or Thrown Weapon*
^: The character also moves in a straight line away from the blast until they reach an obstacle or stop themselves.
*: Blunt, “bludgeoning” weapons only. Blades and bullets may risk a tear in your vac suit, but they don’t destabilize.
Instability Die. Rolled alongside all Attack Rolls, Skill Checks, and Evasion Saves, and subtracted from the result. The die begins as a d4. Whenever that PC would gain Instability, the die is stepped up by one size - first to a d6, then finally to a d8. At the GM’s discretion, Burst Fire with a firearm may count as two instances of Instability.
Reducing and Preventing Instability. If something stable is within arm’s reach, characters can use a Move Action to reduce the Instability Die by one step - d8 to d6, etc - or a Main Action to remove the Instability Die completely.
With a means of propulsion, like maneuver jets, or by venting 2 hours’ worth of oxygen from a tank, characters can use a Move Action to completely remove the Instability Die.
Holding on to something stable prevents Instability gain, but precludes the use of two-handed weapons or tools.
Movement. Characters may use a Move Action to push off from a surface, and continue moving in that direction until they reach a fixed object. Turns in combat still comprise 10 meters of movement. While in motion, characters may use a Move Action to grab a stable object in arm’s reach and come to a stop.
Characters may crawl along basically any surface, provided some kind of handholds are present. They do so at half their normal movement rate and must use both hands.
I've just finished illustrating a trap for an upcoming Stars Without Number module, TransMat Treason.
