DragonQuest Campaign Newsletter issue 6.0
Main Page - DQ Main Page - DQ Campaign - Campaign Chronicles
Where We Left Off..
Game Date: Wednesday, May 7th
The party has once again returned to Wesson’s Village. Shortly after your return, you are filled in on what has been discovered and discussed since your departure. You recall that Wesson was rather upset at the news of the murder and possible torture of Aldeberon, one of his Mage associates, by agents of the Dark Prince. After receiving that news, he immediately called together some other Mage contacts in order to discuss and investigate the implications. (lots of discussing going on, eh?)
Now, upon returning, you learn that they have suspicions as to what the Dark Prince’s men were after. They suspect the Dark Prince is seeking a particular ancient artifact which was in the possession of the Mage Aldeberon. Wesson recalled having made two statuettes with hidden compartments, and at that time he was shown this particular artifact, because it was to be hidden in one of the statuettes. But he was given no clue as to what it was. Gfand is actually the one who pieced it together when they were all discussing what they Dark Prince’s men may have been looking for. Gfand questioned Wesson about the appearance of the object, and believes it to be the Amulet of Sisuthros, predating the fall of Tol Eargwaith, possibly as far back as the Second Wizard War (about 14,000 years ago).. He doesn’t know much about the talisman other than vague rumors and hints in some of the ancient texts he has studied. He has seen it mentioned in conjunction with dark rites associated with demon worship. Other sources contain implications that the owner of the artifact gains immortality. Once or twice Gfand has seen it also referred to as the "Sepulcher of Ra," an association born out by the emblem of a scarab on the face of the Amulet (Amon-Ra being the Sun-god of Nasik, symbolized by the golden scarab beetle).
Rumors & News of Current Events (top)
Tidbits (top)
Arrabar - The Arena
The arena in Arrabar is essentially a large coliseum. It can seat 3000 people (though they usually try to seat about 4000).
Night Event Spectator Fee Entry Fee Pot
Monday: Gladiator Night 15P slaves/prisoners freedom
Tuesday: Don’t Feed The Animals Night 15P slaves/prisoners freedom
Wednesday: Chariot Races 25P 10 Cr 500 Cr
Thursday: Open Tournaments 20P 5 Cr 100 Cr
Friday: Grand Tournaments 50P 20 Cr 400 Cr
Saturday: Varies varies varies varies
Sunday: Closed except for Holiday Weeks 1 Cr varies varies
Traveling SOP
So, what’s the standard approach for a warrior to travel? Well, it’s actually uncommon for warriors to wander around in full armor. It tends to get quite hot and tiring. So usually warriors will travel in fairly light gear - some combination of cloth and leather armor - with their heavier armor stowed (usually rolled in oil-cloth). Unless they know they are riding into danger, in which case a stop is made to don armor (hence the utility of squires - some just think their around to be the butts of jokes, but they actually do serve a practical purpose).
Bards
Bards fit into an interesting niche in society. Since they travel around a lot, they are usually great sources of information. Furthermore, since they make their living by entertaining, they are always welcome in villages and inns, usually even getting free room and board in exchange for songs and tales of heroes and their wenches.. err, Princesses. Because of their position, Bards are typically considered sacrosanct As a matter of fact, attacking a bard often ranks right up there with attacking a noble in Offenses Not To Be Committed. (This, of course, is not the view taken by the actual nobility, but they are a minority in society. And Bards are much more welcome in villages than nobles). And so Bards are typically welcomed anywhere, as they provide a welcome relief from the drudgery of an otherwise drudge-filled life. Besides, everyone likes campfire sing-alongs!
Rule Clarifications, Notes, and Extensions. (top)
Healing Magic
Normal healing spells and healing potions will only be effective once per serious wound. Any wound which inflicts Endurance damage is considered to be serious. Such treatments will only heal severely bleeding wounds if the Endurance damage is completely healed in the attempt (i.e. a bleeder is still a bleeder unless the spell manages to heal it completely).
Charging and Close Combat
The victim of a charge and close action may attempt to repel the grapple unless it is from behind. If it is from a flank hex, they are at a -20 to repulse it. For the weapon rank modifier, if either the attacker or the defender has rank with unarmed, then that triple that rank may be used for a modifier for the repulsing grapple attempt (rather than the normal 1x rank).
Fumble table
Ho, knave! What’s that? You rolled a double-ought? That’s really too bad! But don’t assume you merely drop that weapon! Roll against (2xMD + 4xRank + Weapon Master rank)%, and if you fail, roll on this table:
D100 Result
01-35 Perhaps you’re not cut out for this sort of thing. After all, what sort of real warrior drops his weapon?
36-50 No mere droppage, this! Instead, you have launched your weapon! NASA would be proud! Roll 1D10. On a 1-3, it went in the direction of your attack. On a 4 or 6 it went one hex to the left of the direction of your attack. On a 5 or 7, it went to the right. On an 8 it’s behind and to the left, 9 is behind and to the right, and on a 10 it is directly behind you (relative to direction of attack). If there is someone in any of these hexes, it has a 25% of hitting them, for half-damage (Endurance and Grieves are possible as for 25% SC). If there is an obstruction (such as a wall) in that direction, it rebounds appropriately.
51-60 You stumble and are thrown off-balance. Your opponent gets a free attack.
61-70 You trip and fall prone.
71-80 Bad news: you didn’t hit the target you were aiming for! Good news: You did hit something, though! Your strike hits whatever is the most likely target other than the intended one! This could be catching someone else on the follow-through, or jabbing a friend in the back with your spear. If more than one target are possible, the high roll gets it! (You may need new drinking companions after this maneuver!). On the down side, it wasn’t a really good blow, and you only do half-damage.
81-88 As the previous entry, except you do full damage!
89 As the previous entry, except you do Endurance damage!
90 As previous, plus roll on the Grievous Injury table!
91-96 Some days it’s better to just stay in bed! And that’s where you may end up after hitting yourself, you moron! On the bright side, you only take half damage.
97-98 As previous, only you take full damage.
99 As previous, but it’s Endurance damage.
00 Ditto, plus a free roll on the Grievous Injury table! But only grieves which make sense.
Ranged combat: obscured targets, ranges, & target size
Instead of using the current modifiers for Ranged combat and obscured targets, we will try the following:
-5% For each hex of minor obstructions in the flight path (light foliage)
-10% For each hex of moderate obstructions (moderate foliage, skeletons, very skinny people)
-20% For each hex of major obstructions (dense brush, people)
-40% For tiny targets (squirrels, rabbits, human heads with apples on them, beer bottles) [eighth-sized]
-20% For small targets (dogs, big house cats, toddlers, computer monitors, prone humans) [quarter-sized]
-10% For sub-average targets (halflings, goblins, kobolds, wolves, really big rats, children) [half-sized]
+0% For average targets (man-sized, elves, orcs, hobgoblins, dwarves(wide)) [normal-sized]
+10% For large targets (Bears, trolls, camels, giants, igloos) [double-sized]
+20% For targets big enough that you should probably be running away instead of shooting [quadruple-sized]
+40% For broadsides of barns.
-5% For each hex of movement of the target during its last turn. (Double this for heavy crossbows)
-10% For targets in Melee zone (except with crossbow).
-10% If Archer moved.
-10% If Archer is mounted.
For the effects of range: Currently there is a -3/5 hexes after the first 5 penalty for all bows. This is being changed. It doesn’t make sense that a long bow and short bow have the same range penalties and such radically different ranges. After exhaustive research, I have settled on the following model:
Each ranged (non-thrown) weapon has an Effective Range and a Max Range. Out to the Effective Range, the shooter suffers a -1 per 2 hex penalty (round down). Beyond the Effective Range, the damage is reduced by 1 per 20 hexes, and the shooter suffers -1 per hex. The effective range may be increased by 1 for each point of PS over the minimum required (except for crossbows).
Weapon Eff Max (hexes)
Sling 20 65
Staff sling 25 75
Short Bow 50 75
Long Bow 70 175
Composite Bow 75 150
Giant Bow 65 160
Lt. Crossbow 25 145
Med. Crossbow 30 175
Hvy. Crossbow 40 195
Spear Thrower +30 (counts as thrown item)
Blowgun 20 (counts as thrown item)
It should probably be noted that crossbows did not have safeties until the 16th century.
Effects of Aspect
A character who has a seasonal aspect will get one level of Luck during that season, and one level of bad luck in the opposite season. The GM is restricted from using bad luck to modify strike chance rolls which are already hits (i.e. can’t be used to try to get a Grievous Injury or Endurance shot on PCs).
Such Stunning Results!
When a character is stunned, they do still get their defense - they’re not completely out of it, they just need to shake their head to clear it (well, sometimes the dice say it’s not that easy). Essentially, the character has been thrown off-balance, somewhat dazed. Until they make the recovery check, they can’t perform any actions except to attempt recovery. In the mean time, they can attempt to fend off attacks, just not with their usually efficiency - as shown by the bonus attackers get to hit them.
Main Page - DQ Main Page - DQ Campaign - Campaign Chronicles