#dnd

Gobbits - The Special Servants of Witches in October

Mark S. Cookman

Oct 23, 2015
3 min

Gobbits - The Special Servants of Witches in October

Halloween is a time for children and the young at heart to explore what frightens them. Keeping with this central core of Halloween is today's post. The idea behind the Gobbits is to create a small monster that is more disgusting than dangerous and more funny than horrible to help introduce younger players to the game. This is not to say that Gobbits are for novices only; a devious GM could easily wreak havoc with a few of them, even against experienced players. Without furth

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Mark S. Cookman

Oct 22, 2015
3 min

20 Tools of the Prepared Witch Hunter

Witches are a problem no matter what time of year it is, but they always seem to get thicker in number as Halloween grows closer. Today's post explores what tools the prepared witch hunter keeps close at hand in order to triumph over all of the various forces of darkness that the great adversary unleashes upon the righteous. Whether the items listed below are advice from an experienced hunter to novice one, seeds for artifacts to be located by your PC's, or just something one

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20 Ways to Scare with Skulls and Skeletons

Mark S. Cookman

Oct 21, 2015
3 min

20 Ways to Scare with Skulls and Skeletons

Here's more halloween fun for you RPG GM's, this time in the form of skulls and skeletons. Here are 20 different ways that you can use skulls and/or skeletons to scare your players -- or at least dress up your adventure a bit, even if you don't scare them. Be warned that some might find this list to be graphic because it deals with parts of dead people. Knowing that you have been duly warned that horrifying elements could await you, I humbly present one of my smaller closets.

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Mark S. Cookman

Oct 20, 2015
3 min

20 Ghosts to Haunt Your Castle

In my quest to make certain that you have as many items as possible to help you create a better Halloween adventure for yourself and your players, I considered that you might need some ghosts to haunt your castle, manor house, sage's mansion, and/or haunted house. Here are 20 spooky encounters with spirits to dress up your haunt. Most of these are just servants or side-line spooks for whatever your main event is, but hopefully they will give you a good idea or two. As always,

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Mark S. Cookman

Oct 17, 2015
4 min

A Library for Your Haunted Castle

We're here again to discuss more scary things to use for your own horror games in whatever setting they might be in. The usual number of items for these posts is 20, but because I have been so lax in posting lately I thought you deserved more, so I decided to give you a library of spooky tomes. If you mix and match the elements below, you will be able to create a wall full of interesting books to be found in a spooky old manor, alchemist's lab, or wizard's tower in nearly no

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Mark S. Cookman

Oct 8, 2015
3 min

20 Grisly Scenes of Murder

Sometimes an excellent horror story must start with (or will enventually involve) a horrifying crime scene. Below are 20 scenes of murder most foul for you to use in your rpg's or horror stories. Be warned that these descriptions are NOT meant for minors and might be upsetting to you. Now that you have been duly warned, here are 20 Grisly Scenes of Murder. Enjoy! Something took a very large bite out of this streetwalker. Large as in half of her chest is gone. All that remains

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Mark S. Cookman

Oct 2, 2015
3 min

20 Things in the Lair of the Mummy King

For the past few blog posts we have been exploring the desert, but as that old song says "all good things must come to an end" and so it must be with our exploration of the desert. With the beginning of October upon us, we will move our focus to monsters and their lairs. The mysterious Mummy King, rumored to entombed in the deep desert, and his lair seems the perfect way both to close out the desert tables and to bring in the monster tables. The caravan master doesn't know w

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Mark S. Cookman

Sep 29, 2015
1 min

20 Desert Terrain Features

As we learned in a previous post, caravan masters make the big bucks because they can successfully navigate the desert and its numerous hazards. If you think that a desert is nothing but a bunch of shifting sand, then prepare to be enlightened. Deserts are complex places, often with multiple types of terrain. Truly, the desert is the "first step" of a desert-based campaign. While no desert may contain all of the geographic features listed below, all deserts have more than one

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Mark S. Cookman

Sep 27, 2015
3 min

The Build-A-Caravan Workshop

It would be extremely foolish to take thousands of gold pieces worth of trade goods out into the desert and lose them. We must assume therefore that caravan masters know their job and how to accomplish it. In today's blog post, we will examine some of the different elements that the GM must consider when creating a desert caravan. Specifically, we will examine the five major questions that must be answered and review some possible answers to those questions. Let's start with

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Mark S. Cookman

Sep 25, 2015
2 min

20 Trade Goods in the Desert Caravan

Last time we learned about some of the animals that might await the PC's in the desert. This time we will examine the trade goods that might be carried by a desert trade caravan. Next time we will examine the elements that make up a trade caravan. Until then, make sure your PC's keep their grubby paws off the merchandise, as most likely they are caravan guards, not rich merchants who own the merchandise. It might be funny for them to learn that the merchants believe that losi

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Mark S. Cookman

Sep 23, 2015
2 min

20 Animals to Encounter in the Desert

Today we will venture out into the desert wastes. Today's table is a list of animal encounters that your PC's might have in the desert. Why are we talking about desert animals today? Take a second, think about it. Is today Wednesday? Why yes, yes it is. Happy hump day, ya'll. Here's the table. ; ) 1d8 Camels (1-2 They are wild, 3-4 They have been broken, but have no markings, 5-6 They have saddles, saddlebags, and markings, but no riders) 2-12 Aardwolves (Use a coyote or medi

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Mark S. Cookman

Sep 18, 2015
4 min

20 Heinous Pirate Tortures

Although we have been exploring the desert with our tables, today we shall return to pirates as our main focus since this is International Talk Like a Pirate Weekend. If you aren't familiar with this "famous" pirate holiday, then please visit the link above and learn about International Talk Like a Pirate Day. 'Tis a lot of fun for all who dare participate. In today's age we idolize the age of pirates. We see them as spirited rebels and make them into mascots, cartoons, and m

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20 Things to See in the Caravan District

Mark S. Cookman

Sep 16, 2015
3 min

20 Things to See in the Caravan District

The Caravan District is a separate part of the city. The sultan is keen to keep his people pure, as the desert gods are harsh masters to follow. For this reason, both citizens seeking to go into the Caravan District and travelers seeking to enter the Main City are registered at the gates to the section and provided an appropriate pass medallion: copper for daily visits, silver for week-long visits, and gold if you are a permanent resident of the Caravan District with access t

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20 Entertainments Held in the Amphitheater

Mark S. Cookman

Sep 14, 2015
2 min

20 Entertainments Held in the Amphitheater

Continuing the desert theme, today's post provides some insight into what the PC's might see if they go to the amphitheater. Usually, like a football stadium today, it will be empty. However, once a week or once a month, depending upon the richness of the city, some sort of event or festival is likely to attact enough of a crowd to use the amphitheater. Some events may well start as processions or parades outside of the amphitheater, but end up inside for their finale. Not al

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20 (or More) Shops to Find in a Desert Bazaar

Mark S. Cookman

Sep 12, 2015
2 min

20 (or More) Shops to Find in a Desert Bazaar

The PC's are searching the desert bazaar. What shops and businesses are they likely to find? Here is another list of 20 (or more) merchants meant to inspire GM's who are looking for material to enhance their desert-based games. The table was meant to be generic enough to be used for nearly any rpg system, but you may have to adjust the Races to be right for your game. Roll them up straight or mix and match results for more variety. I hope that you can find some inspiration he

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Mark S. Cookman

Sep 11, 2015
1 min

20 Locations Inside a Large Desert City

In past blog entries, I had been doing sea-side and port town tables of various sorts, but now I am going to take you far from the sea, into the deep desert sands. This will be the first in a series of tables for creatures, people, places, and things that your PC's might find in the desert. We will start with 20 places that your PC's might find in a large desert city. This table is generic and can be used for either fantasy or scifi themed games. Enjoy. A Guild Hall (1-Mercha

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Mark S. Cookman

Sep 4, 2015
2 min

20 Encounters on a Busy Dockside

This week's theme has been what would the PC's see in a busy port. Continuing that theme, today's table is a collection of encounters with other, busy people on the docks. I hope this helps to bring some life and "sea salt" to your RPG's. Enjoy. A sorcerer's apprentice is going from ship to ship looking for fresh fish eyes. A newly-promoted ship's officer is heading out with his mates to celebrate. An old woman on the docks begs for food for both her cat and herself. A pair o

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Mark S. Cookman

Sep 2, 2015
2 min

20 (or More) Ships to Find at the Docks

We've been discussing things that one might find on the dockside this week. One cannot ignore the fact that the reason most people go to the docks is to find a ship. If you find yourself in need of a few quick ships, then you can use the table below. A few rolls on this table and you'll have your whole harbor filled up before you know it; just don't forget WHY the PC's are on the docks to begin with. Without further flapping, here is today's table -- Enjoy. Name

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Mark S. Cookman

Aug 31, 2015
2 min

20 Businesses to Find Along the Docks

When the ships dock at port, everyone knows there are bars filled with loose women and thirsty men. Of course, there must be some sort of a fort or barracks filled with soldiers to keep things from getting too rowdy. Beyond those things, however, what might the PC's find if they explore along the docks in a port town? This is the simple theme of this week's tables. We will start off with a list of 20 dock-side businesses. Bait and Tackle shop Rope and Sailmakers Guildhall Bar

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20 Trail Signs to Find When Tracking a Group

Mark S. Cookman

Aug 25, 2015
1 min

20 Trail Signs to Find When Tracking a Group

Here's another little table that I hope that you find useful. Here's a scenario it could be used in. The party is looking for a monster (or a group of monsters) that is running away or perhaps sneaking through the borderlands of the kingdom. The ranger makes her roll and it's a success! She comes up with some sign of the trail and the party is off tracking the monsters again. Yay!!! "What did I find?", asks the ranger. Oh man, there's always at least one player that thinks

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