Containment Spheres

Until tomorow (22 Dec 2020), the Mothership Discord server is hosting the 20x20 Jam. Make a piece of Mothership content (any sort) in Playscii in 20x20 format, and upload a png to the server. Winner gets a shirt?

I entered this thing, “Containment Sphere 5”.

20x20 is just too dense to be easily digestible, so I thought I’d expand some of it here (the submission itself is still only the image).

• The map is the net of a regular icosahedron (d20). The repeated letters at the top and bottom are the same room with connecting hallways doubled. The map wraps at the edges of the screen.
• There is an energy management game implied: it costs 2◆ to pressurize a room and 1◆ to open a door (hallways all have heavy blast doors and fail closed).
• Additionally some amount of energy is taken each “turn” by “anomaly containment”. The intent is that the +- value is a projection of the next turn’s consumption. (There is already some risk in the present configuration.)
• What happens when there isn’t enough power for anomaly containment will depend on the anomaly, but it might be related to VENT.
• WOOD is intentionally weird and vague. It’s a leftover from the derelict generation tables in Dead Planet.
• I opted not to use any of the available CRT effects. Instead, I drew on my real-life experiences designing operator interfaces for modern LCD monitors using tools from 10-20 years earlier that only go up to 640x480 anyway. The CRT effects all look “fake” to me, but the weird muted colors look very real.
• Possible missions on the containment sphere might include evacuation, recovery, restoration of power generation, or anything anomaly-related.

I kept thinking about usability, so after I entered I kept tweaking it. I re-keyed all the rooms so that rooms on opposite corners are in the same row as each other in the key. This might be useful if I made an interactive version, because it would aid memory if you rotated the map.

Finally, I wanted a way to communicate the “wrapping” nature of the map. Without making it interactive, animating it seemed to be the way to go. Ultimately I think it hurt the usability too much, but it was an interesting experiment.

Anyway, Playscii is fun and if you’ve got a bit of time today, you can still get your entry into the game jam. Good luck!

Other Palaces

I entered the 200 word RPG challenge! I nitpick and revise constantly, so you can see the final version here, and past versions here (I am bad at GitHub). I wanted a widget to see my revisions side-by-side, so there's also this:

PALACE RUN Swapper

(Art from Evlyn Moreau, used by permission.)

Notes

• In the swapper, I did not mark the changes when lists were re-ordered. Between versions 0.4 and 0.5, I made all the lists alphabetical, because I worry about limiting my imagination by consistently "matching" e.g. "kitchen" and "food". I also think it's more presentable. (In longer lists I do this to catch duplicates.)
• Due to my personal refereeing style, CHECKs are very rare in practice, so I had a hard time deciding a good value for STAT. The expected damage of an attack that causes a CHECK is 4, occurring on 5 in 6 attacks. Therefore, if STAT=18, there is a 1 in 4 chance of failing a CHECK as a result of the first attack. At STAT=16 this is 1 in 3, and at STAT=12 this is 1 in 2.

The Future

I've been working on the set-up of a specific palace, "The Palace Semi-Infinite". I had some wonderful playtesters who were willing to just mess-up a a palace, but I think something with more direction might have better staying power. I'm keeping the palace generation parts, but I may end up scrapping the game system for Into the Odd or something.

That said, the system is a svelte 61 words in the official word-counter, so it may make a reasonable base for future entries. I'm eager to see what other people have cooked up when I have a chance to sift through them.

PALACE RUN 0.2

I wrote this game that I'm very pleased with. I'm hoping to enter it in the 200 word RPG competition when submissions are open. Until then, I'll be playtesting it and tweaking it on Discord, and you should hit me up for a link to the server if you're interested.

Rules

The current version, at time of writing.

One player is REFEREE. Others, CHARACTERS.
"d6" means "six-sided die". "d20", 20-sided.

CHARACTERS
===
Choose name, POSSESSION. STAT=18.
CHECK or SAVE: roll d20<=STAT.
(CHECKS do; SAVES avoid.)
Attacks auto-hit, d6 damage to STAT.
After 2+ damage, SAVE. Failure --> STAT=1.
STAT<=0 --> death.
REST --> STAT=18.

POSSESSIONS

• Sword (+1 damage)
• Hand-mirror
• Marbles (100)
• Chalk
• Glue
• Flute
• Rope
• Wine
• Bucket
• Hammer

ROOMS
===

d6	ROOM	CONTENTS
1.	Courtyard	Plants
2.	Gallery	Sculptures
3.	Ballroom	Pillows
4.	Bedroom	Baskets
5.	Kitchen	Banquet
6.	Library	Fountain

d6	EXITS	FEATURE
1.	N-E	ENCOUNTER
2.	N-S	GLINT
3.	N-W	TREASURE
4.	S-E	TWIST
5.	S-W	Way UP
6.	E-W	Way DOWN

ENCOUNTERS
===
2-in-6 whenever CHARACTERS dawdle, REST, or clamor.
Flight auto-succeeds, CHECK or become lost.

d6	Mood	Encounter
1.	Sleepy	Guards
2.	Happy	Nobles
3.	Sad	Animals
4.	Afraid	Servants
5.	Hungry	Intruders
6.	Angry	Supernatural

GLINTS
===
Encounter clues.

TREASURE (d6)
===

1. Jewels
2. Wine
3. Porcelain
4. Tapestry
5. Letters
6. Gold

TWIST (d6)
===

1. 1 damage crossing (example: thorns).
2. Secret Door: CHECK locates.
3. Oubliette: SAVE or fall (d6 damage).
4. Non-Euclidean: exits to far rooms.
5. Unique room-type (example: laboratory).
6. Palace exit.

(194 words!)

Inspirations

• Into the Odd (free)
• Bastionland
• DIE TRYING
• The Witch Woods Microdungeon
• The Gardens of Ynn

Sparks

Tables are rough to fit in the game because each number also counts as a word. A d6 table is a minimum of 14 words. So I put this together, but can't even begin to fit it in. I worry that some of the words are too similar anyway though.

d20	Spark 1	Spark 2
1	ancient	banquet
2	black-market	ceremony
3	crystal	chandelier
4	dancing	chivalry
5	decadent	diplomacy
6	exotic	education
7	foreign	espionage
8	gambling	façade
9	gilt	gift
10	hidden	history
11	honorable	hunting
12	illegitimate	inheritance
13	ivory	intrigue
14	legal	marriage
15	luxury	money
16	mahogany	music
17	marble	piety
18	painted	taxes
19	social	tradition
20	usurping	war

Notes

It works well so far. I'm running a game on discord that's a mostly-straight whimsical fantasy palace. One of my players is putting together another game that's flavored after Darkest Dungeons. We haven't yet used the combat rules in anger, and running a game on Discord takes getting used to, but I'm optimistic.

Bloodring

A natural consequence of bad ideas. My entry in the Into the Odd PocketMod Jam (2019). CW: slavery, combat as sport.

Motivation

• Make gladiatorial combat interesting in a game where combat is best avoided.
• Provide an opportunity for things to get worse.
• Create something useful within the given constraints (time, form factor).

Notes

• Amounts of money are rough. Pay should be enough to motivate free gladiators, but not so much that slaves are freed too quickly.
• After first blood, combat is assumed to take turns.
• Mutilations are meant to give combat consequences between "death" and "recovery". They also convey the passage of time on days when PCs do not fight.
• Making more gladiators is easy: For captive gladiators I used 3d6. For free gladiators I used 4d6 drop lowest. For simpicity everyone starts with 1d6 HP and no mutilations.
• As a starting point for adventure it still feels lacking to me because it doesn't provide many motivations of its own and takes away a lot of the PCs' toys.
• Combat should be survivable enough that characters don't necessarily die, but unpleasant enough that PCs consider escape or revolt or other things preferable.
• Consider gambits from Moonhop or extra HP from Electric Bastionland (under "Scars").

Learnings

• The booklet was written in LibreOffice with an A7 paper size. It's apparently quite difficult to do N-up printing without a margin, so I ended up using PDFResizer.com. Had I time, I would like to use PDFjam.
• The PocketMod format really forces an economy of words. I found myself writing sentences that were barely intelligible in other contexts.
• The cover image is Piranesi. The Wound Man is Ambroise Paré.
• Printing on US letter paper, I found printing at 98% was the largest I could get before I lost things to the margins. This is why all my PocketMods are slightly off-kilter. The reasonable thing to do would be to print them all with outlines and then trim the paper to size, but that's work. Or find a printer that goes to the edges.

Files

bloodring-A7.pdf - for viewing on a screen.

bloodring-A4.pdf - for printing on A4 paper.

bloodring-US.pdf - for printing on US letter paper.

bloodring-A7.odt - for editing

The Crooked Baths

My entry to the Great Khan's Roman themed contest was The Crooked Baths, and it came in third, which I'm pretty proud of. I present it here, with some notes.

Maps

The upstairs (ground level).

The downstairs (basement).

Ground Level

The crooked baths are located deep in the heart of a city, where space is tight. They are built around the ruins of an old city wall and fed by an underground stream.

1. Palaestra

Decimus Domitius Ahenobarbus, retired soldier and balneator, can usually be found here wrestling or taking money. Even when he is not, there is usually wrestling throughout the day, and a bit of gambling among the spectators is not uncommon.

2. Latrina

There could be something down there, but honestly, nobody wants to know.

3. Oecus

If a character is meeting someone at the baths, they will be waiting here.

4. Oil Shop

Domitius’ wife, Servia Flavia Poplicola, sells oils and unctions from here through a hole in the wall facing area 1.

5. Apodyterium

Domitius’ two daughters, Felia and Mus, work in this room as capsaria. Individually, neither is trustworthy, but will tattle on the other given the opportunity. This keeps them honest as a pair.

6. Frigidarium

The water here comes directly from an underground river through a hole slightly above the water level (the room is significantly below grade). A metal grate separates the water in this room from the water under area 7.

7. Machine Room

A sluice gate in here, controlled by a winch, regulates the water levels in areas 6. and 9.

8. Tepidarium

Two comely young foreign siblings, Lupus and Vulpa, work in this room as aliptae. They have been known to eavesdrop on conversations and probably know more than they should about many things. They have a creepy sibling-lover dynamic.
The brazier in the middle of the room usually burns a mildly addictive soporific substance that grows locally as a weed.

9. Caldarium

The hot baths are fed by an aqueduct running through the hypocaust. The labrum is emptied and refilled at the start of every day.

10. Praefurnium

This hallway runs along the old city wall, and is mostly only used by the servants.

11. Domus

Domitius and his family and slaves live in this set of rooms.

Basement

The foundations of the wall extend well below the surface (to prevent tunneling), and so are completely filled on this level.

1. Supply Tunnels

Wood is brought in from outside the city through these tunnels. The water draining along the edge of the wall eventually joins with the cloaca.

2. Furnace Room

Two furnacatores, twin dwarves Phillotus and Spinther, tend the fire in this room. Because the baths are so small, the caldarium is heated directly by the fire. Phillotus and Spinther run a smuggling operation through the extensive supply and sewer tunnel networks beneath the city, and have a cache in area 3.

3. Hypocaust

When the furnace is burning full-blast, it can be very difficult to breathe in the hypocaust, and at all times one can only move at one-quarter speed and only by crawling. However, from a good position in the hypocaust, conversations in areas 5., 6., 8., and 9. above, as well as area 2. in the basement can all be listened in on. Phillotus and Spinther cache smuggled goods and their personal savings in this room.
The channel running along the edge transports water from the machine room to the caldarium.

4. Frigidarium

The pool of cold water here is divided by a grate separating the machine room and the frigidarium proper. It is impossible to surface on the machine room side.

5. Underground Caves

The river feeding the baths comes from a larger underground cave system that continues a while back, eventually emerging somewhere in the mountains.

Glossary

Aliptae – Slaves who anoint patrons with oils.
Alveus – A gutter around the edge of the schola labri.
Apodyterium – An (un)dressing room, where a capsarius may be hired to watch your things if you have no personal slave.
Aqueduct – An elevated channel for conveying water over long distances.
Atrium – An open court in the entrance, part of the vestibule. Serves as exercise grounds for young men.
Balneae – A bathing vessel, usually a household appliance. Also refers to the room containing such a vessel.
Balneator – Keeper of the baths, responsible for extracting admittance (usually one quadrans).
Caldarium – The hot baths, heated from below by thehypocaust. May contain a labrum.
Capsarius – A servant hired to watch possessions in the apodyterium. Notoriously untrustworthy.
Clerestory Windows – High windows used throughout the baths.
Fornacatores – Servants who tend the fire and the milliarium.
Frigidarium – The cold baths. Sometimes large enough to be a natatio.
Hypocaust – Heated space beneath the caldarium and tepidarium. Filled with pilae.
Labrum – A round vessel containting cold water in the caldarium.
Laconicum – A hot chamber with no bath, used as a sweating room.
Latrina – A toilet, sometimes found in the vestibule.
Miliarium – a three-tiered water boiler above the furnace, so called for its resemblance to a milestone.
Natatio – The pool in a larger frigidarium, used for swimming.
Oecus – A salon where patrons can wait for others to enter and exit the baths.
Pilae – Short stacks of brick in the hypocaust, holding the caldarium floor up.
Praefurnium – A chamber leading into the furnace room. Sometimes underground.
Propigneum – See praefurnium.
Quadrans – A bronze quarter. Standard admission to the baths.
Schola Labri – The space in the caldarium about the labrum.
Strigil – A cuved metal tool for scraping dirt and sweat from the body.
Sudatorium – See laconicum.
Tepidarium – An ornamented, waterless room heated by both the hypocaust and a large brazier. In baths without an unctuarium, one is anointed here. Much time is spent sweating in preparation to enter the caldarium.
Thermae – The bathouse as a whole.
Unctores – See aliptae.
Unctuarium – A room in which one is anointed, not common to all baths.
Vestibule – An area containing the atrium, balneator, latrina, and oecus. A place where servants can await their masters, patrons can await their friends, and announcements can be posted

References

This is not an academic work, but here's some references:

• Rutland, Jonathan. See Inside a Roman Town. 1995. (Ed. R. J. Unstead)
• Vitruvius. On Architecture [Online]. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/home.html
• Wikipedia Editors. Thermae [Online]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therma

Notes

• I regret not more strictly enforcing a scale on myself for the maps.
• I spent far too much time concerned with the grade of the water and how it flows. In the end I just added the "Machine Room" and left it nebulous enough to fudge.
• The Glossary and References are available in a pdf.

Chapter XXIV: The Grinning Devil and Why He Grinned That Night

My entry to Jack of Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque's contest, with slight annotation:

Chapter XXIV: The Grinning Devil and Why He Grinned That Night

I. The Vignette

Lucinda ran breathlessly from the man in the red mask as he uncannily crept sideways along the alley walls, leaping from building to building. She stumbled on a wet cobblestone, turned and saw him, his mouth twisted into an inhuman grin. But as he leapt closer, he landed on the wall of a cathedral and froze in place, as a stone. While Lucinda survived, she never quite recovered, and when questioned about anything in her past she broke down, screaming only about the man’s hideous grin, which still leers today from his roost with the gargoyles.

Visual approximation.

II. The Content

The chapter is actually a coded message between two cells of the Thrice-Forsaken Lodge of St. Coraline. It communicates the location of a relic sacred to Kumo-Thlis, and also its guardian—a basilisk.

The Thrice-Forsaken Lodge of St. Coraline

A loose-knit network of converts to the faith of the Lady of the White Way, they return to their old faiths in order to subvert them. More fanatical than those who merely expect to be rewarded, they believe that there can be no reward for their life of idolatry and so care not for their own souls.

The Tongue of Kumo-Thlis

This noxious dagger always appears slick, though it is dry to the touch. Those struck by it suffer a much more insidious poison than any mortal tincture, for they will forever after hear the whispers of Kumo-Thlis himself (or at least so they believe). The whispers cannot impart any information the sufferer does not know, but may direct him or her towards unconsidered courses of action, often of questionable advisability. A Remove Curse spell can lift this grim affliction but a successful Save vs. Poison will prevent it. Untreated, a sufferer will eventually either go mad or fall to worship of the snake god.

The Tongue is currently in a cave outside a small farming village. It is guarded by four cultists, three “converts” (formerly of the Lodge, but all now afflicted), and a basilisk. Additionally, on any day there are 1d4-1 locals paying their respects. The leader of the cult is a daughter of the grave named Mixolydia. Her regenerative abilities, serpentine form, and immunity to the basilisk’s gaze make her a natural snake-priestess of great influence.

III. Notes

• What came before this vignette in the chapter? I'm not exactly sure, but I think it was something out of From the Ballroom to Hell.
• Pretty sure  the Thrice-Forsaken were inspired by The Sect of the Thirty.
• The Lady of the White Way, St. Coraline, Kumo-Thlis, and daughters of the grave are all drawn from The World Between, the implicit setting of Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque. It's pretty awesome.

Fire! Fire!

It was my intention this summer to collect my works and put together my own website and make everything tidy and presentable. But it occurs to me now, more than halfway through, that I would much rather have less content but have a website than have a pile of unfinished things that can't be shared.

I will begin then, by posting my entry to the Wampus Country Summer Contest:

Fire! Fire!

Lost in the woods, our heroes make camp for the night. Ms. Lulubelle lights a Fire using the matchbook earlier picked from the pockets of the Rude Gentleman. She swears the Fire speaks to her, but Mr. Rumpscullion reminds both her and the Fire that fires simply do not speak, and retires for the evening. Ms. Lulubelle wishes aloud for some company and, overhearing, the Fire offers to assist her in the matter, if only she will carry him to a nearby tree. Ms. Lulubelle obliges, but the spreading fire attracts the attention of a family of bears who knock over the tree, stomp out the fire, and abduct Ms. Lulubelle to be tried on suspicion of arson. Mr. Rumpscullion awakes in the morning and reluctantly begins to follow the bear tracks deeper into the woods.

The Rude Gentleman’s Matchbook

This matchbook has a glossy red finish with an elegant, but apparently meaningless gold symbol stamped on the front. It is found with 1d10 matches in it, each of which functions normally. However, the first time one is used to light a fire each day, it summons a weak fire elemental which is not hostile to the caster, but under no obligation to be helpful either.

Weak fire elementals have only one hit die, but the same special qualities as their stronger kin: they can only be harmed by magic or magical weapons, any victim using cold-based attacks will suffer an additional 1d8 damage from their attacks, and they are unable to cross more than 1’ of water.

A full complement of dormant elementals (source: Wikimedia Commons).

The smaller fire elementals are popular with infrequent summoners (source: Wikimedia Commons).

Quench Bears

It is commonly known that some water spirits take the form of fish. It is less known however, that rarely a fishing bear will eat one of these fish, and take on some aspect of its spirit. These “quench bears” invariably hate fires and seek to put them out immediately by whatever means available, including smothering them with their own incombustible hides.

A quench bear has statistics as a grizzly (brown) bear, but lacks the “bear hug” ability. Instead, the bear is treated as though it wears a ring of fire resistance: it is resistant to all normal fire, all other fire damage is reduced by 2 points per die, and it makes saves against fire at a +4 bonus.

Quench bears fighting an elemental (source: Wikimedia Commons).

Firefighters in quench bear hides (source: Wikimedia Commons).

	Weak Fire Elemental	Quench Bear
No. Enc.	1 (1)	1d4 (1d4)
Alignment	Neutral	Neutral
Movement	120’ (40’)	120’ (40’)
Armor Class	6	6
Hit Dice	1	5
Attacks	1 strike	3 (2 claws, bite)
Damage	1d8	1d3/1d3/1d6
Save	F0	F2
Morale	10	8
Hoard Class	Nada	VI
XP	16	200