Posts

• Apr 1, 2018

  Post-Combat Shakes in Dungeon Fantastic

  I usually dislike April Fools posts, but this year Dungeon Fantastic has an excellent one on Post-Combat Shakes. It’s not always that you can try out something described in Dungeon Fantastic at home in real life.

• Mar 30, 2018

  Pathfinder Iconics in the DFRPG: Jirelle

  In this post I continue to write up the Pathfinder iconic characters for use in the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game. Links to all of them will appear in the project page, which also contains links to the GURPS Dungeon Fantasy versions.

  Today’s template is the Swashbuckler, which means today’s character is Jirelle. Here she is:

  

  Even if you’re familiar with Pathfinder’s Iconics, Jirelle might be somewhat new to you. This is because the class she represents, the Swashbuckler, is not from the core rules but from the “Advanced Class Guide” supplement. You can find her bio here, and the only place where I could find her stats is inside this free package of premade iconic characters that contains all of them.

  From these, we can learn the following:

  • Jirelle is a half-elf born in the Shackles, a pirate-infested archipelago. She sunk her evil pirate’s mother ship to avoid becoming a demonic sacrifice, but the ship and its whole crew later returned as undead. Her main long-term goal is returning them to the depths.

  • Her fighting style is acrobatic and daring, relying a lot on precision and fencing skill.

  • She wields a rapier as her main weapon, and despite the illustration showing one of every traditional off-hand fencing weapon on her person, the character sheet indicates the buckler is her favorite.

  This version of Jirelle is pretty much identical to the GURPS Dungeon Fantasy version, with the main difference being equipment. Her armor and buckler are a lot heavier, and thus I was forced to perform a little point shuffling to get her an Armor Familiarity perk. She’s still as good at fencing as ever, though.

  One thing I noticed here is that the DFRPG version of Rapier Wit uses the Intimidation skill rather than Public Speaking. I don’t think it would be a stretch to allow it to be used with Public Speaking, so I’m keeping that skill here. If your GM sticks to the letter of what the book says, feel free to move those Public Speaking points to Intimidation instead.

  Jirelle, 249-point Half-Elf Swashbuckler

  ST 11 {10}; DX 16 {120}; IQ 10 {0}; HT 13 {30}.

  Damage 1d-1/1d+1; BL 12.1kg; HP 11; Will 10; Per 10; FP 13; Basic Speed 7.25; Basic Move 7.

  Dodge 11; Parry 16F (Rapier); Block 13;

  Advantages

  • Armor Familiarity (Rapier) {1}
  • Charisma 2 {10}
  • Combat Reflexes {15}
  • Enhanced Parry (Rapier) 2 {10}
  • Luck {15}
  • Magery 0 {5}
  • Perfect Balance {15}
  • Rapier Wit {5}
  • Weapon Master (Rapier & Buckler) {25}

  Disadvantages

  • Code of Honor (Outlaw’s) {-5}
  • Gregarious {-10}
  • Impulsiveness (12) {-10}
  • Obsession (Acquire a ship and crew to defeat my evil mother) (12) {-10}
  • Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents) {-10}
  • Sense of Duty (Adventuring Companions) {-5}
  • Social Stigma (Half-Breed) {-5}

  Skills

  • Acrobatics (H) DX+1 {4}¹ - 16
  • Brawling (E) DX {1} - 16
  • Carousing (E) HT {1} - 13
  • Climbing (A) DX {1}¹ - 16
  • Fast-Draw (Knife) (E) DX+1 {1}² - 17
  • Fast-Draw (Sword) (E) DX+1 {1}² - 17
  • Intimidation (A) Will {2} - 10
  • Jumping (E) DX {1} ‐ 16
  • Leadership (A) IQ+1 {1}³ - 11
  • Public Speaking (A) IQ+2 {2}³ - 12
  • Rapier (A) DX+4 {16} - 20
  • Seamanship (E) IQ {1} - 10
  • Shield (Buckler) (E) DX+2 {4} - 18
  • Stealth (A) DX-1 {1} - 15
  • Streetwise (A) IQ {2} - 10
  • Thrown Weapon (Knife) (E) DX {1} - 16
  • Wrestling (A) DX {2} - 16

  Equipment

  • Ordinary Clothing [Body, Limbs]: Free, 1kg.
  • Light Leather Armor Suit: DR 1. $150, 9kg.
  • Light Buckler [Body]: DB 1. $40, 4kg.
  • Edged Rapier [Body]: Damage 1d+2 imp or 1d+3 cut; $1000, 1.5kg.
  • Backpack, Small [Body]: Holds 20kg of gear. $60, 1.5kg.
  • Personal Basics [Backpack]: $5, 0.5kg.
  • Waterskin [Backpack]: Holds 4L of liquid (4kg if water). $10, 0.13kg.
  • Small Throwing Knife x3 [Body]: Damage thr-1 imp. $90, 0.75kg.

  1. Includes +1 from Perfect Balance ↩ ↩²

  2. Includes +1 from Combat Reflexes ↩ ↩²

  3. Includes +2 from Charisma ↩ ↩²

• Feb 17, 2018

  Pathfinder Iconics in the DFRPG: Sajan

  In this post I continue to write up the iconic characters from Pathfinder for use in the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game. Links to all of them will appear on the project page, which also contains the links to the GURPS Dungeon Fantasy versions.

  Today’s template is the Martial Artist, which means today’s character is Sajan the Monk. Here he is:

  

  I think he looks pretty cool! His bio and official stats give us the following information:

  • He was born in Vudra, his world’s India analogue, where he was a member of the warrior caste along with his beloved twin sister Sajni. Even after they were posted to separate barracks at the age of 12 they still met regularly to spar and hang out.

  • Sajni was given away as part of a peace agreement, and Sajan ran after her. He tracked her down to Absalom, his world’s “big cosmopolitan city”, and has been looking for her since.

  • As a monk he’s quite acrobatic and prefers to rely on his flurry of blows in combat. He might also grapple or trip opponents with his hooked “temple sword” if that’s more tactically advantageous.

  The GURPS Dungeon Fantasy version used the stats for a khopesh from GURPS Low-Tech for the “temple sword”. Since this one is restricted only to the material in the DFRPG boxed set, we go with the Heavy Falchion stats and give up on the rules for weapon hooks. We also had to lose the gauntlets, as his light cloth armor is a bit heavier here. Sajan continues to be a very effective combatant either with his sword or with his fists, and has most of the abilities people have come to associate with monks in d20.

  Sajan, 250-point Human Martial Artist

  ST 11 {10}; DX 16 {120}; IQ 10 {0}; HT 12 {20}

  Damage 1d/2d-1; BL 12.1kg; HP 11; Will 11 {5}; Per 10; FP 12; Basic Speed 7.00; Basic Move 8 {5}

  Advantages

  • Chi Talent 2 {30}
  • Mantis Strike {9}
  • Tiger Sprint {9}
  • Trained by a Master {30}
  • Weapon Master (Heavy Falchion) {20}

  Disadvantages

  • Disciplines of Faith (Chi Rituals) {-10}
  • Honesty (12) {-10}
  • No Sense of Humor {-10}
  • Obsession (12) (Find my sister) {-10}
  • Sense of Duty (Adventuring Companions) {-5}
  • Vow (Vegetarianism) {-5}

  Skills

  • Acrobatics (H) DX-1 {2} - 15
  • Broadsword (A) DX+1 {4} - 17
  • Climbing (A) DX-1 {1} - 15
  • Fast-Draw (Shuriken) (E) {1} - 16
  • Hiking (A) HT-1 {1} - 11
  • Judo (H) DX {4} - 16
  • Jumping (E) DX {1} - 16
  • Karate (H) DX {4} - 16
  • Meditation (H) Will-1 {2} - 10
  • Running (A) HT-1 {1} - 11
  • Stealth (A) DX-1 {1} - 15
  • Tactics (H) IQ {4} - 10

  Special Skills

  All include +2 from Chi Talent.

  • Blind Fighting (VH) Per {2} - 10
  • Body Control (VH) HT {2} - 12
  • Immovable Stance (H) DX+1 {2} - 17
  • Light Walk (H) DX+1 {2} - 17
  • Parry Missile Weapons (H) DX+1 {2} - 17
  • Pressure Points (H) IQ+1 {2} - 11
  • Push (H) DX+1 {2} - 17
  • Throwing Art (H) DX+1 {2} - 17

  Equipment

  $802.0, 12.1kg. No Encumbrance, but only just.

  • Ordinary Clothing [Torso, Limbs]: Free, 1kg.
  • Light Cloth Armor [Body, Limbs]: DR 1. $137, 8.25kg.
  • Temple Sword [Torso]: As Large Falchion. Damage 2d+5 cut or 1d+1 imp. $625, 2.25kg.
  • Pouch [Torso]: Holds 1.5kg of small items. $10, 0.1kg.
  • Star Shuriken x5 [Pouch]: Damage 1d+1 cut. $15, 0.25kg.
  • Spike Shuriken x5 [Pouch]: Damage 1d imp. $15, 0.25kg.
  • $198 in coin.
• Feb 9, 2018

  Dragon's Dogma Bestiary: Hydras

  

  This is an entry in the Dragon’s Dogma bestiary. You thought I had droppped this, didn’t you? The remaining entries along with the full adaptation can be found here.

  Like gryphons and chimeras, hydras are a heraldic animal in Gransys, symbolizing endurance in battle. Hydra sightings are vanishingly rare, for not many of these monsters exist in Gransys and even fewer people who saw one up close lived to tell the tale.

  A Gransys hydra looks like a gigantic four-headed snake, covered in shiny black scales. Its four necks tower over the ground at the height of a cyclops, and its main body is even larger. Its four heads can spit a jet of numbing poison, and and swallow a grown man whole. Despite this, the creature lacks substantial fangs and its jaw muscles are more suited for immobilizing victims than for outright crushing them. Should the hydra have need of crushing someone, though, it can simply slam its heads, necks, or tail into the victim.

  ST 50; DX 13; IQ 5; HT 15;

  HP 60; Will 12; Per 12; FP 15;

  Speed 7; Move 8 (Slithers); SM +5;

  Dodge 10; DR 6 (neck); 9 (elsewhere).

  • Head Slam (15): 6d+3 crushing; Reach C-4; The hydra slams one of its heads into the target.
  • Miasma Spit (15): A 2 meter radius area of effect in front of the hydra. Targets exposed to the venom must roll HT. Success means 1d injury, failure means 2d. Targets also suffer a -1 penalty to DX for every 2 injury sustained, which lasts for 1 minute. Costs 2 FP per use.
  • Bite (15): The target is grappled with ST 52! In subsequent turns the hydra will attempt to swallow the target (treat it as an attempt to pin). See Notes below for how to rescue a swallowed target.
  • Tail Sweep (15): 6d+3 crushing with double knockback; Targets a 3 meter radius area of effect behind the hydra. Can only be dodged, not parried or blocked!

  Traits: Extra Attack 3; High Pain Threshold; Horizontal; Hydra Regeneration (see below); No Legs (slithers); No Fine Manipulators; Nictitating Membrane 3; Night Vision 9; Peripheral Vision;

  Skills: Brawling-15; Wrestling-15; Innate Attack-15;

  Class: Mundane.

  Hydra Tactics

  The hydra can do something with each of its heads each turn, or give up one head’s action for a tail sweep. Each head counts as a separate individual for the purposes of being targetted with mind-affecting spells or the like.

  Despite its feasome size and prowess, a hydra has the mind of a beast. It will usually attack because it’s hungry! In these cases, its usual tactic is to impair one of more targets with its Miasma Spit, then bite and swallow them. It will retreat once it has had its fill or suffered significant injury.

  Hydras are also highly territorial and will fight any who trespass on their lairs to the death.

  Fighting a Hydra

  A cumulative 15 injury from cutting weapons to a neck will sever one of the hydra’s heads. 2d seconds later, the head will grow back, and the hydra will regain the lost HP. The stump must be burned with natural or magical fire to prevent this from happening! Severing and cauterizing the last head will of course kill the beast.

  Someone swallowed by a hydra can still be saved in the 10 seconds it takes for them to travel down the beast’s neck if the offending head is severed before then. If they reach the creature’s body they will automatically take 6d+2 cr damage per second from its innards, which practically guarantees a swift death.

  Giant Climbing

  It’s possible for a brave or suicidal warrior to climb the neck of a hydra! It’s skin is mostly smooth but still provides some handholds, giving a -2 to any Climbing rolls. Someone clinging to the neck of a hydra can target the neck at no penalty with a one-handed melee weapon, but the beast can still attempt to crush the pest by slamming its neck against the ground. Treat this as a “Head Slam” attack. The target has a -2 penalty to Dodge it unless they let go of the hydra.

  Hydra Variants

  Archydra

  The original game also features the “Archydra” in its most difficult dungeons, beyond the Rift. This variant is white instead of black, harder to hurt, and does have fangs. It has DR 9 in the neck and 12 elsewhere and can bite for 6d+2 imp damage instead of grappling if it wishes.

• Nov 21, 2017

  Harsk the Ranger in the DFRPG

  In this post I continue to write up the Pathfinder iconic characters for use in the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game. Links to all of them will appear in the project page, which also contains links to the GURPS Dungeon Fantasy versions.

  Today’s template is the Scout, not because it’s in order but because it’s the one I’ve written. This means today’s character is Harsk the Ranger. Here he is:

  

  Just Look at all that compressed rage! His bio does give him plenty to be angry about. Harsk’s official stats are here. From these we can learn the following:

  • Harsk is a Dwarf from Varisia, a “wild frontier” region that doesn’t have any blatant ties to real-world cultures. He was a bit of an outsider to his own stereotypically Dwarven community, and appointed himself a keeper of justice in the wild places after his brother was killed by raiding giants.

  • He carries his brother’s axe with him, but his preferred weapon is a heavy crossbow he made himself. Understandably, he has giants as a favored enemy and gains bonuses to fight them.

  • He’s skilled in wilderness survival, particularly in mountains, and very perceptive.

  This puts us in something of a pickle. DF Scouts are excellent at shooting bows, but Harsk’s preferred weapon is the crossbow. While that’s much more in line with the dwarven idiom, it’s not supported by the standard Scout template in Adventurers. Fortunately, it’s possible for me to add new material to support him without copying anything printed in other GURPS books! Even in standard GURPS the traits below were only sort of implied, so I also had to do this for the previous version of the character.

  Heroic Crossbowman (20 points)

  This is just like Heroic Archer, but for crossbows instead of bows. You can choose this version instead of Heroic Archer when making a Scout. It gives almost exactly the same bonuses: simply replace the Bow skill with Crossbow where applicable. The only difference is that there isn’t a corresponding Weapon Master specialty for crossbows. All other advantages described under Special Scout Traits are compatible with this one.

  Quick Reload (1 point)

  If you have Heroic Crossbowman, you can also purchase this advantage. It allows you to reload a crossbow of your ST or lower in a single turn with a successful Fast-Draw (Arrow) row, reducing the total ready time of the weapon from 4 to 2 seconds: one to reload, one bring the weapon into position. If you do this and use Heroic Crossbowman’s fast-firing technique, you can fire your crossbow every turn!

  Harsk, 250-point Dwarf Scout

  ST 13 {30}; DX 14 {80}; IQ 11 {20}; HT 13 {30}

  Damage 1d/2d-1; BL 22.5kg; HP 12; Will 11; Per 14 {15}; FP 16 {9}; Basic Speed 7.00 {5}; Basic Move 6 {-5}.

  Dodge 10; Parry 12 (Axe).

  Advantages

  • Dwarven Gear {1}
  • Heroic Crossbowman {20}
  • Lifting ST 2 {6}
  • Night Vision 8 {8}
  • Outdoorsman 2 {20}
  • Pickaxe Penchant 1 {5}
  • Quick Reload (Crossbow) {1}
  • Resistant to Poison 6 {6}
  • Strongbow {1}
  • Tough Skin 1 {3}

  Disadvantages

  • Greed (12) {-15}
  • Honesty (12) {-10}
  • Intolerance (Giants) {-5}
  • Loner (12) {-5}
  • No Sense of Humor {-10}
  • Odious Personal Habit (Dour & Gruff) {-5}
  • Sense of Duty (Adventuring Companions) {-5}
  • Stubborness (12) {-5}
  • Vow (Own no more than what can be carried) {-10}

  Skills

  • Armory (Missile Weapons) (A) IQ-1 {1} - 10
  • Axe/Mace (A) DX+4 {12}¹ - 18
  • Brawling (E) DX {1} - 14
  • Camouflage (E) IQ+3 {2}² - 14
  • Cartography (A) IQ+1 {4} - 12
  • Climbing (A) DX-1 {1} - 13
  • Crossbow (E) DX+5 {16} - 19
  • Fast-Draw (Arrow) (E) DX+1 {2} - 15
  • First Aid (E) IQ {1} - 11
  • Gesture (E) IQ+1 {2} - 12
  • Hiking (A) HT {2} - 13
  • Jumping (E) DX {1} - 14
  • Mimicry (Bird Calls) (H) IQ+1 {2}² - 12
  • Navigation (A) IQ+1 {1}² - 12
  • Observation (A) Per {2} - 14
  • Prospecting (A) IQ {1}¹ - 11
  • Search (A) Per-1 {1} - 13
  • Shadowing (A) IQ+1 {4} - 12
  • Stealth (A) DX-1 {1} - 13
  • Survival (Mountain) (A) Per+1 {1}² - 15
  • Tracking (A) Per+2 {2}² - 16
  • Traps (A) IQ+1 {4} - 12
  • Wrestling (A) DX-1 {1} - 13

  Equipment

  $1000.0, 21.45kg. No Encumbrance!

  • Ordinary Clothing [Torso, Limbs]: Free, 1kg.
  • Light Leather Jacker [Torso, Arms]: DR 1. $78, 4.6kg.
  • Crossbow [Torso]: ST 17. Damage 1d+6 pi; Acc 4; Range 340/425. $150, 3kg.
  • Crossbow Sling [Crossbow]: $200, 1kg.
  • Hip Quiver [Torso]: Holds up to 20 bolts. $15, 0.5kg.
  • Bolts x 20 [Quiver]: $40, 0.6kg.
  • Dwarven Axe [Torso]: Damage 2d+1 cut. $225, 2kg.
  • Backpack, Small [Torso]: Holds 20kg of gear. $60, 1.5kg.
  • Blanket [Backpack]: $20, 1kg.
  • Canteen [Backpack]: $10, 1.5kg.
  • Personal Basics [Backpack]: $5, 0.5kg.
  • Rations x 4 [Backpack]: $8, 1kg.
  • Rope, 3/8” (10m) [Backpack]: Supports 150kg. $5, 0.75kg.
  • Torch x 2 [Backpack]: $6, 1kg.
  • Tea Set [Backpack]: $7, 1.5kg.
  • $171 in coin.

  Design Notes

  Strongbow and Lifting ST 2 allow Harsk to fire a ST 17 crossbow despite only having ST 13. While he’s also a pretty good axe fighter in a pinch, his main focus is reaching out and touching people from very far away.

  Changes from the First Iteration

  The dwarf racial template changed slightly, and following the DFRPG guidelines I just mixed its traits in with the professional template rather than taking the time to mark what belongs to the racial template and what doesn’t. And since there’s no general purpose Mortal Foe trait here, this version of Harsk doesn’t have it. Instead, he sees in the dark a lot better, and is able to shoot a bigger crossbow.

  His gear actually doesn’t change all that much, as he only had a DR 1 leather jacket before too. There’s no tea set listed in DFRPG, I believe, but I didn’t think there would be any harm in keeping it.

  1. +1 from Pickaxe Penchant. ↩ ↩²

  2. +2 from Outdoorsman. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

subscribe via RSS