Thursday 14 April 2011

L is for Loosing a Lich and Losing the Lost Lodestone: Digging for Gems in the Dungeoneer's Survival Guide

Ok part of the title is just trying to make the point that loosing and losing are two different words. Comprehende! I can't stand it when people get it wrong.


So a few random L's today from the DSG


Lich
Within deep caverns, the spirits of the fallen warriors wish their battlegrounds to remain sacrosanct, and rise up to oppose those who tread there. Wights, wraiths, spectres, ghosts, and skeletons marshall their forces to attack trespassers. Each of the huge caverns contains a single lich that commands the many undead. Each lich has selected the ruin of a once-vast city or fortification as its lair and treasure house.


Ouch, multiple lichs. That's going to hurt getting that treasure out! I wonder whether the lich started out in an above ground city that overtime has been submerged underground. Just a thought.


Lost
A quick table for getting lost when walking in complete darkness


When walking in darkness
- if moving at normal speed, roll at every obstacle against dexterity or hit/fall into it
- move safely at 1/2 speed


If travelling over rough ground, DM can make the characters roll a dexterity roll every time he/she wishes and every fail means the character has fallen lose 1hp, unless moving at 1/6 speed which is safe.


After three turns moving in complete darkness (unless can feel a wall)roll d12...
1-3 Straight ahead
4-5 45 degrees right
6-7 45 degrees left
8 60 degrees right
9 60 degrees left
10 90 degrees right
11 90 degrees left
12 135 degrees (1-3 right, 4-6 left)


-1 for only 2 turns walking in darkness
-2 for only 1 turn walking in darkness


Lodestone
Concentrated ores of iron and other minerals have formed regions of massively powerful magnetic rock. 
A character who comes within 30 feet of such a powerful lodestone becomes threatened. Iron objects hanging on the character are pulled toward the lodestone with a force that can snap a thin leather strap. The character must make a Strength Check for all hand-held objects containing iron. 
If the character is wearing iron armor, he must make an additional Strength Check or be pulled 10 feet closer to the lodestone.


What if one was lost in a deep dark cavern, with no walls in hand, being drawn toward a lodestone...

Now that is a gem worth taking!

Gems worth taking
1. Lichs are not lovely
2. Lost is both a state and a description of the plot to a popular TV series of the same name.
3. Lodestones pull their weight

1 comment:

  1. Interesting that massively powerful magnets also play such a prominent role in Lost... And there's a richly decorated cave. Did the writers read the DSG?

    I'd hesitate to put powerful magnets in a game, though, perhaps because I suspect my players would try to make dynamos and motors out of them, through "innocent tinkering." And for a more realistic magnetic effect, if you fail your save you shouldn't stop until you stick to the magnet (force increases with proximity), and then it should take n strength to get you back off again. OTOH, could be an excellent trap the players could turn on a pod of rust monsters.

    I'm glad they included involuntary turning in the dark. If the party is taking pains to stick together then I would make either the loudest mouth or the heaviest character in the group roll this mystery die for the rest. Unless they have a fixed pattern of always following the left wall, in which case they turn left by default and it's just a matter of degree.

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