LARPing Lessons Learned

Have you ever had a player at a table try and convince you whether something is "realistic"? I have. One of my good friends and an amazing role-player is (for good or ill) fairly opinionated about what his character should be able to do during a 6 second D&D turn. "If I'm an experienced adventurer, of course I'm able to [grab a potion/drink a potion/pour a potion down a friend's throat]." 

An SCA re-enactor once told me: "We're like practical archaeologists. We try out what medieval historians think was true and see if it's realistic." I felt the same way during the years that I LARPed, though I was investigating fantasy conventions and not actual history. 

This post details some of the lessons learned about fantasy conventions and how they stood up to field testing. 

Combat is an Exchange of Blows
Watch this video from the 1977 movie The Duelist. It is Ridley Scott's directorial debut and I think it captures what "actual" combat looks like. The essential gimmick of fighting is "If I get close enough to hit that guy, he's close enough to hit me. If he hits me, that will hurt me." 

D&D combat is a lot like Final Fantasy combat. One side goes then the other side goes. It's stunningly obvious, but the exchange of blows is simultaneous. You can't get a good stab on somebody because you are very preoccupied with not getting stabbed.

Also, during combat people move around a lot! I never quite grokked what Tweet was going for with opportunity attacks. It's pretty well documented that since disengaging is disincentivized, combatants in grid combat move next to each other and then full-round attack until one party's HP is down. In LARP combat, people close and retreat constantly. Dodging or evading is primarily done by putting distance between you and your opponent. 

Key Takeaways: Combat should simulate an exchange of blows. Into the Odd/Electric Bastionland does a good job of this by cutting to hit rolls. Every time you close with an opponent, your precious blood is being shed. I tried to simulate this in my Wilderland house rules by letting defenders get a few hits in if the attacker fails their attack roll. 


Weapon Length and Shields Matters A LOT
In D&D, most weapons feel more or less the same. Maybe your sword deals half damage to skeletons and maybe the great ax deals a d12 instead of a d8, but often the differences are cosmetic.

In my experience, the two biggest factors in combat are weapon length and the presence of a shield.

As I mentioned, "trying not to get hit" is the biggest factor in combat. If your opponent has a spear and you have a dagger, that job becomes infinitely harder. Likewise, if your target has 25% of their body covered with a shield, your job is also harder. One of the primary uses of a shield is to move your opponent's weapon out of the way so you can do the essential job of "hitting you and not getting hit." Shields are an indispensable part of combat.

Because we're not trying to actually hurt each other, LARPing really doesn't capture this well either. Your shields don't get sundered. You don't use your full strength to move an opponent's weapon aside. Even still, the essential premise is clear.

Key Takeaways: Weapon length and shields should absolutely be central mechanics. Burning Wheel has a subsystem about being "inside" or "outside" of a weapon's length that work well. Similarly, the oft-lauded "shields shall be splintered" rule makes shields an active part of combat instead of a factored-in-and-forgotten AC bonus.

Fighting Multiple People is God Damn Impossible
Fending off multiple attackers is impossible. If you have two opponents and two hands, your opponents have 100% more hands than you. You cannot effectively participate in the dance of "hurt them without being hurt." Your only choice is to run away. (Remember: Giving ground is the primary way you actively evade attacks.)

Unfortunately, this can be pretty lame in a role-playing game. Fantasy fiction is full of cool heroes wading through multiple foes.

Key Takeaways: If your goal is quote unquote "realism," fighting more than one opponent should carry a massive penalty. If fantasy fiction trumps fantasy reality, this penalty might be lighter than it would otherwise be. D&D handles this well with flanking bonuses and giving rogues sneak attack opportunities by ganging up on someone. 

Inventory Management is Hard
I just finished a weekend of backpack hiking. It was fun. My body is now a husk. 

I'm a faaaiiiirrrrly avid hiker. I want to use hedging language here because I know actual hardcore hikers and those people are insane. They cover distances and heights that are impossible for me. But I hike trails near me ~2 times a week. Backpack hiking is a whole different story. 

Weight is, uh, heavy. It impacts everything you do. It makes you awkward and top heavy. It makes you tired. 

Moreover, it is hard to deal with the fiddly bits of inventory management. When I wanted to give my dog water, I had to pull my pack off. I had to open the pack on the ground. I had to lift out my bedroll. I had to find his bowl. I had to unfold it. I had to find the water. I had to unscrew the lid. I had to pour the water into the bowl. He had to drink it. This did not take six seconds. 

Now imagine that you're doing this at the same time that somebody is trying to hit you. 

Key Takeaways: If you're ignoring encumbrance, you're ignoring a meaningful problem and a fun subsystem. LotFP's inventory system is so frequently borrowed because it works and is fun. Patrick Stuart's assertions about pack weight in Veins of the Earth is true. Assuming that turns are quick to resolve, it absolutely is a full round action (if not more) to retrieve something from your pack. It is absolutely a full round action to use an item e.g., drink a potion. 

If you are rummaging around in your pack, you should take a meaningful penalty to defense. If your hands are empty and searching for a precious potion, you're not participating in the shared threat of combat. 

Armor Penalties are Real
On the subject of encumbrance, armor penalties are real. Sometimes I see people trying to dispute this with Youtube videos called "The TRUTH of armor mobility," but whatever. 

Here are some facts about moving in metal armor:

1) You're clanking and clattering. One old school clone whose name I've forgotten from the 90s had something called "Rattle and Clank (RAC) Factor," and I think that rules. When you're even wearing a mail shirt, you're constantly making a "chnk chnk chnk" sound.
2) You're not doing acrobatics. Can you climb a ladder? Sure. Can you stand from prone? Sure. Can you Darksouls roll? No. 
3) You're getting tired and hot. If you're out on the field and the hot sun is shining on you, you have a real risk of overheating. Combatants who can give ground can outlast you without ever meaningfully exchanging blows. 
4) You cannot swim. If you fall into deep water, you're gonna drown. 

Key Takeaways: Armor penalties are meaningful. Having armor cost inventory slots ala Lamentations and applying a penalty to Acrobatics, Swim, Stealth, etc. makes a lot of sense. 

Combat is Psychological
LARP combat is supposed to be safe. Even so, psychology plays a huge roll. If a  dark elf assassin takes the field with glowing eyes in the dead of night, you take a few steps back. You don't want your beloved PC to die. You can get legitimately scared. (This "bleed" is why I like the genre, frankly.) 

When you're scared, you fight badly. When you're confident, you fight better. 

It's weird. I've seen competent fighters (in LARP terms) get overwhelmed by the "emotion" of the combat. I can only imagine how true this is when combat has actual stakes. 

Key Takeaways: Morale rules are important. Monsters and henchmen shouldn't fight themselves into an early grave: they should break, run, surrender. Similarly, saving throws vs. fear should meaningfully impact your combats. Feel free to throw them the first time a PC encounters a new type of monster. 

[Wilderlands] The Things Birds Know

This is a post in my Wilderlands setting series.

Skerples's recent post called out how helpful birds can be in folklore. In Die Nibelungen, a bird tattles about someone coming to kill Siegfried. That's pretty useful!

Here's an idea I just want to get down onto paper:

Like many beasts, birds can speak the common tongue. Birds carry rumors. Some birds are known liars, some are cheaters, some require gifts, some are honest, some are naive. But every bird knows something.

Players can spend a long turn bird watching. The GM will draw from the major arcana (or roll a d20, if use dice like a peasant). If he draws a bird that could feasibly be in the region you're travelling, you spot it. If you find a bird species you haven't found yet, they'll tell you a rumor.

Here are some birds that you might find, and the regions they frequent.

I. The woodcock (forest, fields) - Remarkably religious. Will be very moved by acts of virtue and extremely unfriendly to the impious.
II. The swan (steadings, shores, fields) - Swans love stories of knights and maidens, and think of themselves as bird royalty.
III. The starling (fields, barrows, mountains) - Starlings are incredible gossips. Their rumors are almost always about embarrassing things that happen to people.
IV. The loon (fens, shores) - A fussy perfectionist. Type A personality.
V. The heron (fens, shores) - Into astrology. Looks down into her pool at night to interpret the heavenly signs. Wants to know when you were born so she can make your birth chart.
VI. The crow (steadings, barrows, forest) - A consummate trickster and known liar. His feelings would be very hurt if someone ever called him either of these things.
VII. The kite (forest, mountains, fens) - A reserved gentleman, long retired from his campaigning days.
VIII. The buzzard (steadings, barrows, fens) - Suffers from terrible ennui.
IX. The eagle (shores, mountains, forest) - Proud. Children of the West Wind. Will be furious if you ask them to transport you around willy nilly. What do they look like, a horse?
X. The chicken (fields, forest, steading) - Silly and sweet.
XI. The sandpiper (fens, shores) - Knows the saddest song ever written. Forgets what it's about. Maybe it hasn't happened yet.
XII. The hoopoe (fields, forest, mountains) - Loves jokes. Wants to hear jokes. Wants to try out new material on you.
XIII. The auk (shores) - Thinks of themselves like warrior poets. Want to flyt with you.
IXX. The dove (fields, mountains, steading) - Naive to a fault. Will believe anything they are told.
XX. The owl (steading, forest, barrow) - Has a reputation of being "wise" to uphold. Terrified of embarrassing himself.
XXI. The ouzel (where indeed?) - The ouzel cock so black of hue with orange and tawny bill. See Silent Titans for details. 

Note: The regions here correspond to my reagents post.

GMs, make a corresponding 21 entry rumor table. Let your PCs go into the wilderness and find out the things birds know. 

So...What? 
If you're reading this and wondering why the hell I wrote this, I'll explain:

• By putting rumors in the wilderness, PCs can search for clues no matter where they are. This is great for hex crawls (which I tend to run). 
• Rumors will be easier to get in the early game and are less likely to occur as the players gain experience (and therefore information from other sources). This feels about right.
• By making "bird watching" a discrete action, PCs will track what birds they've seen and what birds they haven't. There's a Pokemon/Zelda-esque charm here that really appeals to me. 

Watches, or, the Meatgrinder

The following is how I deal with random encounters, spoor and signs, wandering monsters, and time tracking in my homebrew game. Please note that I use the major arcana deck (minus the Fool) as a randomizer. This gives me results of 1-21. If you're playing a D&D-like, just use a d20. You can safely ignore the "quest rumor" result.

---

Travel in the Underworld is measured in “watches.” A watch isn't a concrete period of time—it can be an hour or ten minutes or all night. It’s hard to tell how much time is actually passing in the Underworld. Time moves weirdly—happy moments burn away quickly, whereas tense moments stretch like lengthening shadows. Watches are just a way to talk about how quickly, quietly, and carefully you're moving.

When a watch passes, the GM draws a card from the major arcana and compares the result against a watch table appropriate to that area.

A watch passes when:

·         The Guild passes into a new region on the map

·         The Guild spends an inordinate amount of time performing a task (e.g., digging a trench, smashing down a door, etc.)

If the region travelled into is a “special hex,” (i.e., a planned encounter) the guild will encounter the random watch event in the context of the special hex. For example, if the hex travelled into hosts a dragon’s lair and the GM randomly pulls a patrol of goblins, the goblins might be attempting to sneak into the dragon’s lair for treasure—and making entirely too much noise in the process. 

The Meatgrinder Table

Play happens by a combination of questions the GM asks the players and the decisions they make. It’s not a preplanned story.

The Meatgrinder represents the unpredictability of play. Every time the guild moves a hex, the GM should check on the Meatgrinder table to see what is currently happening to or around the guild. Every time the group enters into a new area, the GM draws on the meatgrinder table to find out what they encounter there. If there is a special hex, the GM interprets the result of the meatgrinder through that lens.

In general, meatgrinder tables follow this formula:

Torches gutter (I-V): When torches gutter, the players mark off one use of any active light source. Candles have two uses, torches have three, and lamps have four. Torches guttering represents time passing as your light sources grow dim.
Not every environment will be appropriate for this event. For example, the guild might be exploring a cave lit with glowing moss and mushrooms, or an underground castle lit with ghostly green torches.

Curiosities (VI-X): Curiosities are moments of serendipity. “Nothing happens” is a boring result for a random table. A curious occurrence is an opportunity for a GM to interject color into the lightless depths of the Underworld. Curiosities are probably not worthy of an entire scene of narration, so they might be seen as “nothing happens,” but they can also be inspiration for role-playing exchanges or provide hints about the local environment.

Travel events (XI-XV): Travel events are like curiosities but have more meaning or mechanical weight. Travel events are often things that go wrong during the journey. They might require an adventurer to make a hard choice about resource management or ask them to test one of their attributes to avoid a hardship. Travel events might prompt an Encounter.

Random encounters (XVI-XX): Random encounters are chance meetings with the denizens of the dungeon. These might be friendly encounters with would-be allies, encounters with hungry animals, or encounters with murderous monsters. Interesting random encounters don’t simply list “monster type.” The best random encounters paint a small scenario, which the GM can use as inspiration mid-game for an Encounter.

Quest rumor (XXI): Quest rumors lead the adventurers closer to the current quest they are pursuing. They hear whispers, see signs, and obliquely brush against their quest.
If they have already made significant progress on their current quest by actively seeking rumors in taverns and having a few near misses with their quarry, this might even be a random encounter that features the object of their quest. 

A meatgrinder table might look something like this:

I.                   Torches gutter

II.                Torches gutter

III.             Torches gutter

IV.              Torches gutter

V.                 Torches gutter

VI.              Curiosity: The guild startles up a [pack of albino rats/flock of luminescent cave butterflies]. They scurry away quickly.

VII.           Curiosity: The guild hears a wolf’s keening howl distantly.

VIII.        Curiosity: The first person in the marching order notices some graffiti chalked onto the cavern wall. It reads: “Ulf is no true orc. If he wishes to win my hand in marriage, he must defeat me in combat.” (The GM can accept Lore Bids on this curiosity as appropriate.)

IX.              Curiosity: The guild wanders by a shallow pool. The water looks clear, but the pool is full of toothy, blind fish.

X.                 Curiosity: The air is full of a heady floral scent. If the guild searches around a little, they’ll find a bunch of pale blue and purple lilies sprouting nearby. Appropriate Lore Bids will show that they are normal flowers with few (if any) meaningful alchemical properties, but they are quite lovely and might make a nice bouquet for someone.

XI.              Travel event: The last person in the marching order accidentally steps in some droppings. If they can’t find a way to get clean soon, they’ll become Stressed.
If the guild investigates, they realize that the droppings are [the fewmets of a dragon/the pellet of an owlbear]. It looks no more than a day old.

XII.           Travel event: The guild encounters a rushing river which has risen past its banks. It’s impossible to ford without getting soaked. The guild can either turn back and try and find an alternate route or attempt to cross. Swimming across the river requires a test of Swords. If successful, they make it across safely. If the test fails, they suffer a Wound from almost drowning. Whether successful or not successful, anybody who braved the cold waters becomes Stressed. If no precautions were taken, fragile items in backpacks (scrolls, provisions) are soaked and ruined.

XIII.        Travel event: While travelling, a random player hero discovers that their pack has a hole in it. The last listed item in their pack has fallen out and disappeared. (Backtracking and performing a thorough search will prompt additional watches to pass.)

XIV.         Travel event: The guild comes upon a field of faintly glowing green mushrooms sporadically sending up little clouds of dust. In the middle of the field is a corpse in rusted armor. A cracked chest lies near the corpse. (It’s all bad news. Mushrooms are poisonous. Corpse is a ghoul. Chest? Probably bad too. But there’s also gold in the chest and that’s good.)

XV.            Travel event: The guild’s path forward is blocked by thick layers of web. A path forward will be laborious and will prompt a random encounter draw. If the draw is XV-XXI, some giant spiders will show up. However, the guild can see several hanging sacks dangling from the cavern ceiling. Are these other adventurers who met a grim fate? Could they be rescued?

XVI.         Random Encounter: The guild happens upon a squat but cozy-looking tavern. A wooden sign depicts a red fish leaping from the water (a herring, if anybody bids lore). Inside is a tapped barrel of ale and a cauldron full of stew, but no innkeeper to be seen. In fact, the tavern is a giant mimic occupied by several smaller mimics. Sleeping in the mimic tavern is a notably bad idea.

XVII.      Random Encounter: A cockatrice has taken its chicks out to teach them how to hunt.

XVIII.   Random Encounter: An amorous ogre is trying impress a she-ogre with increasingly ridiculous feats of strength. They are both making a terrible racket.

XIX.        Random Encounter: A gang of three orc youths accompanied by a random number of goblins are on a quest to make a name for themselves before returning to their tribes. They might see the player’s guild as an appropriate challenge, or join with the guild against some greater foe.

XX.           Random Encounter: An owlbear has treed Gentle Simon of Heartsbane, a notoriously shrimpy sorcerer. All of Gentle Simon’s spells have been expended trying to rescue himself, and he’s now beginning to weep.

XXI.        Quest Rumor: The adventurers find a rival adventuring party crucified. They are still alive, though grievously injured and dehydrated. If the adventurers can provide aid, healing, and food, the rival party gasps about their recent encounter with the vampire Geralt Mourn, who the guild has sworn to slay. It was this dread vampire who crucified them as a warning to others. They have news of his current whereabouts, but would be loath to tangle with him again.

When a watch event is triggered, the GM should mark it off. If the cards are shuffled and the GM draws the same event twice, nothing happens and the guild has a bit of respite. Meatgrinder tables are repopulated by the GM after the Guild returns to the City.

Wandering Monster Checks

Every time the Guild makes a very loud noise or otherwise draws attention to themselves, the GM draws on the Meatgrinder table for a random encounter. If the card drawn indicates a random encounter, the indicated creature will be drawn to investigate the guild’s noise. 

Light Checks and Moving Carefully

If the Guild is proceeding slowly or methodically, tapping in front of them with their ten-foot pole, the GM should pull on the Meatgrinder table after resolving the potential encounter. If the second draw is "torches gutter," the GM keeps the result, to represent additional time passing. If the second draw is 6 or higher, ignore it.

You Are Likely To Be Eaten by a Grue: Running out of Light in Dungeon Crawl

From Darkest Dungeon

DIY & Dragons recently had a post wherein they said, quote:

"I have also literally never heard of a game session where the characters actually ended up trapped in the dark, truly unable to see anything for the rest of their delve. There's probably a reason for that....So the problem with torches is, I would rather rule by fiat that all the characters just die than be forced to play out a session where I have to describe the characters feeling their way along the wall and groping blindly through pitch blackness because no one has a light source. I would rather end the session right there, send my friends home, and never run a game of D&D again rather than risk having that happen more than once."

That was somewhat eye opening to me. In the games that I run, light sources are really important. In the last few sessions, the players decided to haul back to the surface because they were running low on light. But if they had actually run out of torches in the Underworld, I wouldn't have known how to handle it. It would be tedious ad nauseum to narrate an experience without light. 

Therefore, I whipped up this little table. If a guild runs out of all light sources in a dark dungeon—not a torch or a lamp to their name—each player must draw to see if they become lost in the dark. Your chances of seeing the surface world again are slim. 

It’s pitch dark. Can you find your way back to the surface? d12

I-V: You are eaten by a grue. 

VI: You are lost in the Underworld. The GM places you as an encounter on the Meatgrinder table. You may re-enter play if you are encountered. 

VII: You make it back to the surface, but only after making solemn oaths to forsake the adventuring life. You retire and become a City persona. 

VIII: You are captured by monsters. The GM will choose an appropriate monster in the area based on their Meatgrinder table. Escaping guild members know your general location and the type of monster. 

IX: You are held for ransom by the bird-faced Okku Gang. It takes 1,000 gold per reputation level of the guild to buy your freedom. 

X: You scramble back to the surface all but naked and shivering. You lose all of your equipment, both from your belt and backpack. 

XI: You limp back to the surface, shaken to your core. You gain a Scar from a conflict with a random monster. You have a 50% chance to have lost each item carried, tested individually. 

XII: You limp back to the surface, mostly unscathed but raving about the twelve different flavors of darkness. 

Character Creation in Wilderland

Brian Froud, How to See Faeries

What a happiness this must have been seventy or eighty years ago and upwards, to those chosen few who had the good luck to be born on the eve of this festival of all festivals; when the whole earth was so overrun with ghosts, boggles, bloody-bones, spirits, demons, ignis fatui, brownies, bugbears, black dogs, specters, shellycoats, scarecrows, witches, wizards, barguests, Robin-Goodfellows, hags, night-bats, scrags, breaknecks, fantasms, hobgoblins, hobhoulards, boggy-boes, dobbies, hob-thrusts, fetches, kelpies, warlocks, mock-beggars, mum-pokers, Jemmy-burties, urchins, satyrs, pans, fauns, sirens, tritons, centaurs, calcars, nymphs, imps, incubuses, spoorns, men-in-the-oak, hell-wains, fire-drakes, kit-a-can-sticks, Tom-tumblers, melch-dicks, larrs, kitty-witches, hobby-lanthorns, Dick-a-Tuesdays, Elf-fires, Gyl-burnt-tales, knockers, elves, rawheads, Meg-with-the-wads, old-shocks, ouphs, pad-foots, pixies, pictrees, giants, dwarfs, Tom-pokers, tutgots, snapdragons, sprets, spunks, conjurers, thurses, spurns, tantarrabobs, swaithes, tints, tod-lowries, Jack-in-the-Wads, mormos, changelings, redcaps, yeth-hounds, colt-pixies, Tom-thumbs, black-bugs, boggarts, scar-bugs, shag-foals, hodge-pochers, hob-thrushes, bugs, bull-beggars, bygorns, bolls, caddies, bomen, brags, wraiths, waffs, flay-boggarts, fiends, gallytrots, imps, gytrashes, patches, hob-and-lanthorns, gringes, boguests, bonelesses, Peg-powlers, pucks, fays, kidnappers, gallybeggars, hudskins, nickers, madcaps, trolls, robinets, friars' lanthorns, silkies, cauld-lads, death-hearses, goblins, hob-headlesses, bugaboos, kows, or cowes, nickies, nacks necks, waiths, miffies, buckies, ghouls, sylphs, guests, swarths, freiths, freits, gy-carlins Gyre-carling, pigmies, chittifaces, nixies, Jinny-burnt-tails, dudmen, hell-hounds, dopple-gangers, boggleboes, bogies, redmen, portunes, grants, hobbits, hobgoblins, brown-men, cowies, dunnies, wirrikows, alholdes, mannikins, follets, korreds, lubberkins, cluricauns, kobolds, leprechauns, kors, mares, korreds, puckles korigans, sylvans, succubuses, blackmen, shadows, banshees, lian-hanshees, clabbernappers, Gabriel-hounds, mawkins, doubles, corpse lights or candles, scrats, mahounds, trows, gnomes, sprites, fates, fiends, sibyls, nicknevins, whitewomen, fairies, thrummy-caps, cutties, and nisses, and apparitions of every shape, make, form, fashion, kind and description, that there was not a village in England that had not its own peculiar ghost. Nay, every lone tenement, castle, or mansion-house, which could boast of any antiquity had its bogle, its specter, or its knocker. The churches, churchyards, and crossroads were all haunted. Every green lane had its boulder-stone on which an apparition kept watch at night. Every common had its circle of fairies belonging to it. And there was scarcely a shepherd to be met with who had not seen a spirit!

- The Denham Tracts: A Collection of Folklore : Reprinted from the ..., Volume 2, by Michael Aislabie Denham

This is a continuation to the work begun in my post 1937 Hobbit As a Setting, and continued sporadically for the past...two years?! Maybe one day I'll pull this stuff into a zine.

This post only covers hobbits. If I didn't break this work up, it'd never get done. 

Character Creation Procedure

Chuck Dixon and David Wenzel, The Hobbit comic adaptation

• The mini-game of character creation is done together as a table. 
• Each player draws three Tarot cards. Each card drawn represents three phases: childhood, youth, and first adventures.
• Each race has a starting score of the six attributes + Attack bonus. 
• The minor arcana cards are Branching Paths: they correspond to questions the GM asks the player. 
• For each answer the player makes, the GM instructs them to place a + next to one of their seven stats.
• If the player draws the same number twice, they just double down on the original answer. Put another + next to the stat again. 
• Each major arcana card represents Signs and Portents. It gives the PC a unique ability and (usually) a special item. 
• After the 2nd card is drawn, roll a d50. Gain a random former Profession. Note this profession down as a Skill. 
• After the 3rd card is drawn, tell a story to the table about your first adventure. Tell everybody why you're adventuring. Write down a Skill based on this story. 
• At the end of character creation, total the amount of +s. The first + gives +2 to that stat. Each subsequent + after the first adds +1. 
• Choose a name and write down a description. Throw your character into danger!

Starting Scores for Hobbits

Hobbits have the following starting scores for their seven stats. Note these down and adjust them using the character creation procedure: 

Str 8, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 12, Atk 8

Players draw three Tarot cards representing things that happened in three phases of their life: childhood, youth, and first adventures. 

Branching Path Questions

Tony Diterlizzi, from Dragon magazine

If you draw a minor arcana, consult this table. Tell the GM your answer. They will tell you to put a + next to one of your stats. 

At the end of character creation, note down each stat you placed a + next to. 

For the first +, increase the stat by 2. Each subsequent + increases the stat by 1. 

I. The cow went mad. Did you get it back to the pasture or get knocked out by a stray hoof?

II. Do you prefer digging new tunnels or harvesting the mushrooms?

III. When you visited your grandparents' hole, did you prefer to listen to the fables of your granny or practice conkers with your gaffer?

IV. Do you consider yourself a respectable gentle-halfling, or have you always been a troublemaker?

V. When the wolves came howling in the winter, did you bring back a skin or were you savaged?

VI. Do you always eat second breakfast, even if supplies or short? Or do you tighten your belt and make sure there's enough to last?

VII. When your brothers pinned you down, did you wrestle with them or craft a hilarious vengeance? 

VIII. When at the local pub, do you prefer to listen to stories or weave tall tales?

IX. The bully demanded a challenge for perceived wrongs. Did you best him in a riddling contest or leg wrestling?

X. When the Big Folk came to trade, did you try and learn their language or did you heed your gaffer's warnings about looking up too much?

Page. When she asked you if you wanted to tumble in the hay, did you follow her to the hay loft or finish your chores?

Knight. Do you prefer to trade stories at the local pub or wander far afield by yourself?

Queen. At the village fair, you made a name for yourself. Did you win the archery contest or the arm wrestling contest?

King. When the goblins came, did you flee into the boltholes or take up torch and pitchfork against them?

Branching Path Answers

SPOILER ALERT. The following answers should be read only by GMs! Players give their answers, and GMs tell the players which stats to +.

I. If you brought it back to pasture, +Strength. If you got knocked out, +Constitution.

II. If you like digging new tunnels, +Strength. If you're more into mushrooms, +Dexterity.

III. If you prefer your granny's fables, +Intelligence. If you prefer conkers with the gaffer, +Dexterity.

IV. If you're a gentle-halfling, +Charisma. If you're a troublemaker, +Dexterity.

V. If you brought back a wolf skin, +Attack. If you were savaged, +Constitution.

VI. If you always eat second breakfast, +Constitution. If you tighten your belt, +Wisdom.

VII. If you wrestled with your brothers, +Attack. If you played the long game, +Intelligence.

VIII. If you sit back and listen, +Intelligence. If you weave tall tales, +Charisma.

IX. If you riddle, +Wisdom. If you leg wrestle, +Strength.

X. If you try and learn from the Big Folk, +Intelligence. If you listen to steer clear, +Wisdom.

Page. If you go for a roll in the hay, +Charisma. If you finish your chores, +Constitution.

Knight. If you trade stories, +Charisma. If you wander afar, +Wisdom.

Queen. If you win the archery contest, +Attack. If you win the arm wrestling contest, +Strength/

King. If you flee to the boltholes, +Dexterity. If you take up arms, +Attack.

Signs and Portents

Nicola Cuti, Luis Bermejo, El Señor de los Anillos, comic adaptation

If the player draws a major arcana during character creation, consult this table. There's no questions to ask or be answered. Just note down the special ability and the item gained.

The Fool (0) - You're lucky. Once per session, you may reroll one of your d20s. Gain a lucky rabbit's foot. 
The Magician (1) - You're suspicious. When there's magic around, it seems VERY queer to you. You can smell magic like the spell Detect Magic. To you, it stinks. Gain a magnifying glass. 
High Priestess (2) - You're shifty. You use a d8 when you make the Evade action. Gain a large shield. It basically covers your entire body. You have to hold it with 2 hands. 
Empress (3) - You're innocent. You can befriend a wild animal if you share some food with it. No dice rolls are necessary. You simply gain a new companion who will be friendly with you for as long as you're friendly with it. This ability may only be used once. Gain a ration of tasty mushrooms. 
Emperor (4) - You're an armor friend. You and iron have an understanding. If you don't get spotted, the iron won't get bent. You may move silently no matter what armor you're wearing. Gain a chainmail shirt. Dwarves made it, but it sort of fits you.
Hierophant (5) - You're a mockingbird. You can repeat or imitate any sound you've heard before so well that anybody will be fooled. Gain a piccolo. 
Lovers (6) - You're a pack rat. You have +3 inventory slots. Anything kept here won't be found, even if thoroughly searched. 
Chariot (7) - You're pony-wise. You can talk to ponies. Gain a pony. It always knows the way home to your hole. 
Strength (8) - You know the whistle way. If you're whistling, you can use your right hand as any type of common tool (hammer, awl, saw, bore, etc.). 
Hermit (9) - You have a knack. If nobody is watching you, you can perform an hour's worth of work in the space of a Turn. Gain a needle and silver thread. 
Wheel of Fortune (10) - You have the evil eye. Once per session, can force the GM to reroll a d20. 
Gain a weighted die. 
Justice (11) - You're canny. Once per session, you can ask the GM if the last thing you heard was a lie. The GM will answer honestly. Gain an almost unbreakable tea set. 
Hanged Man (12) - You're dodgy. Once per session, if an enemy misses you with an attack you can apply the same Attack roll vs any other target in range. Gain a set of fashionable clothes. 
Death (13) - You're a nasty little thing. If you wield a dagger and no shield, you deal 1d8 damage instead of 1d6. Gain your father's dagger. Give it a name. 
Temperance (14) - You can blow fat cotton. 1/day if you're smoking a pipe, you may generate a Fog Cloud. You gain a large, carven ancestral pipe. 
Devil (15) - You have an iron stomach. You make Saving Throws against poison with advantage. You win most drinking contests (unless your opponent is similarly blessed). Gain a bottle of rotgut liquor.
Tower (16) - You're evasive. If an effect allows you to make a Saving Throw for half damage, you instead take no effect if the Saving Throw is successful. Gain your mother's sling. Give it a name. 
Star (17) - You're a gourmand. You unerringly identify potions by just tasting a little of it. Gain a hermetic bottle. 
Moon (18) - You're quick. You have advantage on Wisdom checks for initiative. Gain a set of bandages. 
Sun (19) - You are tough in a pinch. You make Saving Throws against fear with advantage. Gain a lantern.
Judgement (20) - You're a doodlebug. If you use a dowsing rod, you can easily find the nearest source of water. Gain a willow wand. 
The World (21) - You're the team mascot. Once per session, you may allow another player to reroll one of their d20s. Gain a banner. What is the heraldry on it?

Failed Professions

Brian Froud

After step 2, roll to see what career you trained in. Of course, that life isn't for you, but you still know the basic shit. 

Roll d50

1. Actor | Gain wooden sword (as club), disguise kit, mirror 
2. Antiquarian | Gain swordcane, book of family history, quill, ink
3. Barber-Chirugeon| Gain razor (as dagger), needle and thread, tongs
4. Blacksmith | Gain hammer, a forge outside your hole 
5. Bounder | Gain dwarven short sword, dwarf chain shirt, spyglass 
6. Brewer | Gain mash paddle (as staff), empty bottle, small cask of ale (rich) 
7. Butcher | Gain meathook (as ax), rations of dried meat (3), pet giant rabbit
8. Carpenter |Gain saw (as ax), drill, nails, mallet
9. Chandler | Gain candlestick (as club), candles (6), soap
10. Clerk | Gain quill-trimming knife, blank book, quill, ink
11. Cook | Gain rolling pin (as club), lard, cookpots
12. Cooper | Gain crowbar (as club), small empty barrel, 50' of rope
13. Courier | Gain walking staff, bird broach, bird whistle
14. Farmer | Gain pitchfork (as spear), excellent tobacco, pet giant chicken 
15. Farrier | Gain hammer, nails, saddle, pet pony
16. Fletcher | Gain bow and 20 arrows, pet raven 
17. Fisher | Gain net, fishing gear, tinderbox
18. Gardener | Gain scythe, garlic (2), wolfsbane (2)
19. Glassblower | Gain iron pipe, empty bottle, mirror, viewing orb
20. Greengrocer | Gain sling and acorns, sack of cabbages, pet cat
21. Haberdasher | Gain scissors (as dagger), bag full of buttons (as caltrops), needle and thread
22. Hole-digger | Gain miner's pick, shovel, and 30' of rope
23. Hunter | Gain bow and 10 arrows, camouflage winter-proof cloak, personal tent
24. Knacker | Gain cleaver (as hand-axe), shovel, soap
25. Landlord | Gain club, key to tavern 
26. Leech | Gain pestle (as club), smelling salts, herbal poultice
27. Locksmith | Gain crowbar (as club), lock and key, specialist's kit
28. Lumberjack | Gain woodsman's ax (as battle axe), 50' of rope
29. Mason | Gain hammer, chisel, block and tackle
30. Methier | Gain knife, thick gloves, bottle of mead (rich), pet bee
31. Midwife (woman only) | Gain silver knife, vial of holy water, herbal poultice 
32. Miller | Gain rolling pin (as club), mallet, nails, bag of flour
33. Minstrel | Gain elven short sword, lute, torch (3)
34. Moneylender | Gain mace, scales, an IOU for [rank]d4 silver 
35. Peat-cutter | Gain shovel, 10' pole, lantern, flask of oil
36. Potter | Gain sling and potsherds, jar of clay, pottery studio/kiln outside of hole
37. Rat-catcher | Gain club, sack, pet dog
38. Rope-maker | Gain sling, 50' of rope, grappling hook
39. Servant | Gain dagger, extravagant clothing, silver bell
40. Shepherd | Gain sling, pan pipes, pet sheep 
41. Sherrif | Gain quarterstaff, hat with tall feather, manacles  
42. Tailor | Gain scissors (as dagger), needle and thread, extravagant clothing
43. Tanner | Gain flensing knife, bag of salt, leather armor 
44. Tax Collector | Gain dwarven short sword, chest, lock and key
45. Town Drunk (a paid position) | Gain bottle of whiskey (decent), empty bottle, set of dice
46. Truffler | Gain sling, really good mushrooms (3), pet pig
47. Wainwright | Gain whip, wagon, pet pony
48. Weaver | Gain quarterstaff, bottles of dye (3, any), banner of favorite tavern's sign
49. Well-digger | Gain shovel, dowsing rod, 10' pole
50. Whitesmith |  Gain hammer, bag of pretty but trifling jewels, ring that's almost magic

And there you have it! Note down your name and write a description of your character. 

Forthcoming posts will detail the tables for the other races. 

Two New Race-as-Classes

TOOT

GRIMALKIN
- Levels as halfling
- Thief skills
- -2 to stats on Mondays
- Can eat extra ration of lasagna during short rests to heal 1d6 HP

RAISIN GOLEM
- Levels as dwarf
- Dwarf saving throws
- Begins game with brass instrument
- If golem begins to play instrument, all within hearing range with audial capabilities save vs Spells or are compelled to dance

This is the premium content that keeps you coming back to this blog. 

GLoG: Monk Traditions and Techniques

I'm two faced. My favorite campaign settings are Tolkien analogues--the closer to the mythological source material, the better. My favorite class is the monk. If you make the mistake of putting some sort of anachronistic martial arts user who can leap around the battlefield in your game, I'll play it. I get that these two things are directly at odds. I've made peace with the contradiction.

I've recently been running some Cyberpunk GLOG for my friend Chris at Wayspell, and gosh darn is that system is pretty elegant. It was delightful for me to see that the wizard rules can be smashed into a monk class: Remixes and Revelations has done an admirable job of this and I really like the Library of Attnam's Sword Mage. Because I've been enjoying the system and have Opinions (TM) about monks, I thought I'd wade into the space, too.

The idea was that monks keep the spell dice chassis, but swap out the body of the system for high-flying, wire-fu action. They are a little complicated. I don't know how I feel about that. Hopefully this can be a jumping off place for all ya other little GLOGlins to be actually innovative.

Monks and Qigong 

Monks are sort of like muscle wizards--they express extradimensional truths through violence. Monks call these truths "qigong." They are analogous to spells, but different.

For every Monk template you possess, you have 1 qi die, up to a maximum of 4. Qi dice are different from spell dice. You may have both, but can never spend a qi die on a spell or vice versa.

Qi dice are d4. Like spell dice, they are expended on a 4+. (Therefore, monks have lower numerical effects than wizards, but burn their dice less often.)

Qi dice are restored when you meditate after awakening from 8 hours of sleep.

Monks do not memorize qigong techniques and do not have to "slot" them. They can perform any of their qigong spontaneously as long as they have at least 1 qi die to spend.

Morning routines for Monks
From Kill 6 Billion Demons

Using Qigong
There are a few special rules for qigong we need to talk about. Qigong techniques come in two flavors: fist and form. 

When you use a fist qigong, you must succeed in a Combat Maneuver check. Hitting someone with a qigong technique is always a contested Dexterity test. Styles can help with this (see below). If you succeed in a Combat Maneuver check, the qigong technique's effects take place.

All fist qigong have the Range of Touch and Target of "Whatever the Monk Hits." Duration is instantaneous unless otherwise noted. Like spells, the text of the qigong is not exhaustive. Creative use of qigong should be judged by the GM e.g., Throw the Ox Cart is intended to hurl your enemies through walls, but you might also use it to ally-oop your halfling companion to the top of a castle wall.

Using a form qigong requires an action to activate and requires that you burn a qi die. All form qigong have a Range of 0 and a Target of Self. The Duration of a form lasts until the Monk 1) takes another form 2) becomes unconscious (e.g., goes to sleep), or 3) chooses to end the form. You can only have one form active at a time.

Revelations and Enlightenment 

Monks keep a list of qigong they know. A monk does not learn qigong automatically as they level up. They must earn their qigong from revelations.

When you roll doubles on qi dice, you receive a revelation. A revelation allows you to learn a random new qigong from your school's list, as long as (1) you are not at the maximum for your level and (2) you are not unbalanced (see below). Learning a new qigong is instantaneous--an "aha" moment. This can change the tide of battle.

Monks may know as many qigong as their level x 4. A 1st level character may know 4 qigong. A 4th level character may know 16 qigong. A 5th level character may know 20 qigong. Revelations that would give you more qigong than you can master for your level are wasted. 

When you roll triples on qi dice, you receive enlightenment.

The first time you roll triples, you take the first step towards enlightenment. You renounce material wealth. Carrying money or precious objects cause you to be encumbered.

The second time you roll triples, you take a second step towards enlightenment. You retreat into hermitage. Play another PC for a while. If the other PCs go and find your monk, you can bring them out of retirement.

The third time you roll triples, you ascend. You recognize that to live inherently means that you suffer. Your life immediately snuffs out like a candle, never to be lit again. You cannot be reincarnated, resurrected, or receive any form of life-after-death magic.

You may avoid this final doom only if one of your Motivations is related to helping mortal kind achieve enlightenment. If one of your Motivations relates to shepherding humanity to enlightenment, you may spend 1 Conviction point when you achieve the third step of enlightenment. If you do so, you forestall your ascent to non-being and become a bodhisattva. As a bodhisattva, you become an outsider. 

(Note: Doubles and triples happen more frequently with d4 than with the wizard's d6.) 

Traditions and Balance

It is said that the mysteries of qi cannot be taught. Instead, elder monks use skillful means to help their students learn that which cannot be learned--they give gifts with an empty fist. The practice of qigong is rooted in traditions.

Each school has a list of three traditions. These are ascetic practices meant to shape their adherent's point of view and ultimately understanding the underlying truths of the extra-mundane.

If a monk has not violated any of their traditions, they are said to be in a state of balance. If a monk violates one of their traditions, they are said to be in a state of imbalance. If in a state of imbalance, they cannot benefit from revelations.

To rebalance oneself after violating a tradition, the monk must undertake a quest for the sake of their school. Sometimes this quest is as simple as answering a riddle. Sometimes this quest involves defeating one of your school's foes, retrieving a stolen treasure, or performing some humiliating penance. Undertaking this quest brings balance to your disquiet heart.

Sacred Vestments

A monk can wear armor and wield weapons without penalty. Many do. However, if they wield no weapon nor armor, they gain +1 qi dice, beginning when they wake up and ending when they wield them. 

Anyone can gain this bonus, but they must know qi techniques to gain benefit from the qi die.

Kitsune by Kat G Birmelin

New Rule: Unarmed Attacks

If both opponents are unarmed, attacks are resolved as normal. Unarmed attacks deal 1d4 + Str damage.

If an unarmed opponent attacks an armed one, the attack is treated as a Combat Maneuver. By succeeding on a contest of Dexterity, the unarmed opponent deals 1d4 + Str damage. 

Styles

Qigong represents internal training. Styles represent external martial arts. Styles are not qigong. A Style is a particular style or attitude of attack. A character begins knowing no Styles. Monks learn new Styles by using their Prime Ability.

At the beginning of your turn, you declare that you've taken a particular Style.

When you declare a Style, you are strong against a particular humanoid creature type. If an enemy is a Monk, however, their Monastic School supersedes their creature type; therefore, you must know a Style strong against that School.

That is to say, you either know a Style that is strong against a general type of creature (e.g., orc) or a Monastic School (e.g., Path of Black and White). If you're fighting 5 grunt orcs with no monk training led by an orc monk of the Clan of Beggars, you can either declare a Style strong against the grunt orcs or strong against the orc from the Clan of Beggars, but not both.

When you are in a Style strong against a particular enemy, you automatically succeed on the Attack to use a Combat Maneuver. You can skip straight to step 2 of the Combat Maneuver (per the GLOG v 1.0 p. 10).

Design Note: Monks main gimmick should be performing stunts. Their mechanics should encourage kung fu shenanigans. Combat Maneuvers for normal characters are disincentivized. You have succeed in an Attack roll to avoid a counterattack, and also succeed in a Strength or Dexterity contest. It's a lot easier and less risky to just roll Attack and smash your opponent into the ground. Styles are designed to at least make Combat Maneuvers less risky for the Monk. With the risk removed, they are free to focus on crazy stunts.

Moreover, monks essential combat gimmick is a contested Dexterity contest instead of targeting an opponent's Defense. This makes them "feel" different in play.

Also, because hitting with a qigong technique requires a Combat Maneuver check to be successful, most qigong techniques "automatically happen" without a Saving Throw. Instead, Saving Throws are required to end status effects. 

Class: Monk

And I'll Form the Head!
From Kill 6 Billion Demons

You gain +1 Move and 1 qi die for every Monk template you possess.

A: Kung Fu, Qi Training
B: Leaf on the Wind
C: Perfect Knowledge
D: Master of Many Forms

Prime Ability: Your Toad Style is Weak to My Crane Style
At the start of your turn, you may declare that you are using a Style. While using a Style, you do not roll Attack to make a Combat Maneuver against a foe you are strong against. This is usually made in concert with a Combat Maneuver and does not require an action to activate.

You begin the game knowing no Styles. You learn a Style when you successfully perform a Combat Maneuver against a humanoid enemy.

• If that enemy has no Monk templates, you learn a Style strong against their race. Give this Style a flavorful name appropriate to your School, e.g., "Angel Rebukes the Unwise Human Style" or "Stumbling Drunk Enjoys Throwing Dwarves Style." 
• If that enemy has a Monk template, you learn a Style strong against their Monastic School. Give this Style a flavorful name appropriate to your School, e.g., "Buddha Closes Fist Around Wudang Stance." 

Keep a list of the Styles you know and what race or school that Style is strong against.

Kung Fu 
If both of your hands are free, you may use kung fu. When using kung fu, roll single Attack and compare the roll with the Defense of every adjacent enemy.
* If you did not use kung fu last turn, you may deal 1d4 + Str to one enemy that you could hit.
* If you used kung fu last turn, you deal 1d4 + Str to two enemies that you could hit, or 2d4 + Str to one enemy that you could hit.
* If you've used kung fu the last two turns, you deal 3d4 + Str to one enemy you could hit, 2d4 + Str to one enemy and 1d4+Str to a secondary enemy, or 1d4+Str to three separate enemies that you could hit.

Qi Training
Choose a school. You gain that school's traditions and gain 2 random starting qigong techniques from the school's qigong list. You cannot change schools later: the training you receive at this stage is fundamental to your view of the world.

Leaf on the Wind
As long as you end your movement on solid ground, you may move across things that normally can't support your weight: tree branches, clotheslines, spear tips, the surface of the water, etc.

Perfect Knowledge
When you have a revelation, you may choose a qigong technique that you have seen performed even if it is outside of your school.

Master of Many Forms
You may take two forms simultaneously.

Team Ability: And I'll Form the Head!
You can set up an attack for another monk, or even join in a combination attack with several other monks. As your turn, hand one of your qi dice to another player. On their turn, the leading attacker can use all gathered qi dice as the final blow of a coordinated qigong technique.
If your die result is 4+, it is expended as normal.
If the attack yields doubles, everybody engaged in the coordinated attack receives a revelation.
If the attack yields triples, the attack leader receives an enlightenment.

School: Earth and Heaven

From Exalted Third Edition

The Earth and Heaven school is probably what you think about when you picture "monk." Their monastery is located on one of the holy mountains (like, the really holy one). The verdant vistas of waterfall rainbows, rising valley mists, late summer snows, and waving pine trees really say "This is a place of peace." The peace is occasionally broken by sharp shouts and flurries of blows traded between two temple acolytes. Peace, punctuated by violence, is the life of an Earth and Heaven monk.

Kung fu means "excellence." Any discipline practiced with patience can be kung fu. To hone their focus, monks of Earth and Heaven practice a range of kung fu skills beyond martial arts.

Starting Equipment: Begging Bowl, Bandages, Prayer Beads
Starting Skill: (1) Calligraphy (gain parchment, ink and brush) - (2) Music (gain instrument) - (3) Pottery (your begging bowl's cracks are mended with gold)

Traditions

• You may not touch dead flesh--you may not eat meat or loot a corpse.
• You may not enter sexual congress. It's better for life to non-continue. 
• You must provide aid to whoever asks for it. 

Qigong Techniques

1. Grasping Rat Method (Form) 
   While in this form, roll the [dice] burnt while taking the form every time you're the target of a missile attack and reduce damage by [sum]. If reduced to 0, you also catch the missile.
2. Throw the Ox-Cart (Fist)
   Target is knocked back [dice] x 15 feet in a direction of your choice. If the target comes into contact with a solid surface, they smash through it and take [sum] damage.
3. Laughing Tiger (Form)
   When you use your Kung Fu ability, your dice are increased to d6s. You can cut ropes and shit with your attacks, as your empty hands are considered weapons. If you burn 2 qi dice while taking this form, your fists are considered +1 weapons. 
4. Wary Rabbit Attitude (Form)
   While in this form, you always succeed initiative checks. If you burn 2 qi dice while taking this form, you are also never surprised during an ambush.
5. Ascending Dragon Prana (Fist)
   The target is knocked prone. They must spend a turn to stand up. You heal [sum] HP.
6. Constricting Snake (Fist)
   You wrap your target in an elongated, scarf, prayer beads, etc. The target is grappled for [sum] rounds, but your hands remain free. If the victim spends a turn untangling themselves, they may attempt a Save to recover from this effect.
7. Runaway Horse, Crazy Kicking (Fist)
   Target of [sum] or less HD has a limb disabled by this attack. Disabled arms cannot wield weapons or carry shields. Each disabled leg gives a -6 penalty to the target's Movement. 
8. Charging Goat Kick (Fist)
   You deal [sum]+Str damage to the target, who begins bleeding. For [dice] rounds, the target suffers an additional [dice] damage at the beginning of their turn. If the victim spends a turn resting, they may attempt a Save to recover from this effect.
   
9. Monkey Drunk on Fermented Peaches  (Form)
   While in this form, you may move 5 feet per [dice] burnt as a free action during your turn. When you suffer effects that would move you, you may choose which direction you move. Lastly, you may rise from prone as a free action.
10. Rooster's Crow Brings the Dawn (Fist)
    The target is knocked prone. They must spend a turn to stand up. You immediately learn the target's total and current HP. You immediately have a sense of what templates the target has. If the target has Monk templates, you learn what school they are in.
    For 2 [dice], you also learn any resistances and vulnerabilities the target might possess. 
11. Dog Whipping Stick (Fist)
    Target's breath is knocked out of them. They cannot speak and suffer a penalty to Attack and Defense equal to [sum]. If the victim spends a turn resting, they may attempt a Save to recover from this effect.
12. Stubborn Boar's Defense (Form)
    You gain damage resistance equal to the [dice] burnt to activate this form. 

Design Note: I sort of hate the Stun effect as a GM and I really hate it as a player. Just sitting there waiting to act again is anti-fun. I didn't add the classic Stunning Fist as any qigong technique. Instead, it's sort of present in the "spend a turn to recover" rules.

School: Seven Devils

Centipede, Lu Feng - From the Five Deadly Venoms

There is no Seven Devils school. Its adherents are not embedded throughout the government--to say otherwise would be a conspiracy theory. It's practitioners do not practice Mithridatism. They are not constantly tested and trained by fellow students, so they are ever-wary and ever-vigilant. It has no shadowy council of elders, affecting policy with whispered rumors and assassinations.

There is no Seven Devils school.

Starting Equipment: Devil Mask, 20' Rope, Lockpicks, 5 Shuriken
Starting Skill: (1) Spy - (2) Bureaucracy- (3) Acting

Traditions

• You may never kill someone whose name you know. 
• You must never betray a secret. 
• Obey your master in all things. Kill yourself if commanded to.

Qigong Techniques

1. Centipede Stance (Form)
   You are immune to poisons.
   If you burn 2 qi dice while taking this form, you may spend an action to vomit up any poison in your system. You can bottle and re-use this poison. 
2. Emerald Adder Posture (Form)
   You add both your Dex and Str bonuses to your damage total when using Kung Fu. 
3. Arrow Frog Hallucination Stance (Form)You create [dice] illusory images of yourself, which move as you move and always stay within 5' of you. They are constantly stepping through each other, so that it is impossible to tell which is which. When an enemy attacks you, roll to see if they hit you or an image. An image vanishes as soon as it suffers a solid impact (a blow from a mace, but also a slap). Area effects such as a dragon's breath will cause all images to instantly vanish (and you'll take fire breath damage, naturally). 
4. Scorpion Assault (Form) 
   Even when you miss an Attack roll, you deal Str modifier damage to your victim. This is not compatible to use with the Kung Fu special ability. 
5. Spider Step Advance (Form)
   Gain +2 Stealth per dice burned while taking this form. Attacks made during the first round of combat are treated as magical attacks while in this form. 
6. Strike Like Ogre (Fist)
   Target of [sum] or less HD becomes Afraid of you. NPCs make a morale check, while PCs make a Save vs Fear.
7. Press Artery Nerve Pinch (Fist)
   Target falls asleep in a non-stressful situation. If in a stressful situation like combat, this technique only affects a target of [sum] or less HD. The target awakes if they pass a Save to end this effect, or are jostled/hear a loud noise. 
8. Sand from the Pocket Flung to the Face (Fist)
   Target of [sum] or less HD is struck blind. If the victim spends a turn resting, they may attempt a Save to recover from this effect.
9. Vibrating Palm (Fist)
   You deal delayed weapon damage + [sum] to a humanoid target. The attack is obvious in the middle of combat, but if made as an ambush it might be missed; the initial attack feels like an uncomfortable vibration, not pain. This damage is applied at any point you specify in the future. 
10. Five Element Finger (Fist)
    You deal [sum]+[dice]+Wis damage and choose the type of damage: lightning, fire, acid, ice, or necrotic.
11. Action Between Heartbeats (Fist)
    You steal [dice] items from target. This can be stuff they're holding or on their person. You add these items to your pack or hold them in your hands.
    If you spend 2 qi dice on this technique, you can snatch improbable things from people, like their armor or their clothes.
    If you spend 4 qi dice on this technique, you can snatch something like a spell or a memory from their brain. 
12. Chakra Blocking Pinch (Fist)
    Target loses access to [dice] amount of both spell dice and qi dice for [sum] rounds. 

Game Designer's Note: It tickles me that the Five Venomous Animals are used as the Seven Devils' Forms.

School: Path of Black and White

From Oriental Adventures, one of those ol' 3rd ed refreshes

The Path of Black and White is a divided school. Two philosophical tenants, at odds with each other, are taught to students. The White Path advocates "action through inaction"--a form of pacifism and non-interference. The Black Path teaches dynamic action and an interventionist policy. Students who join this school are allowed to study both paths, but none become masters without swearing adherence to one philosophy or the other.

Black and White monks are obsessed with the study of the heavens. They believe that the repeating patterns in the sky and mirrored in the world of flesh--as above so below. Moments of  revelation occur as they consider the parity between the macrocosm and the microcosm.

Starting Equipment: Go Board and Pieces, Incense, Prayer Wheel
Starting Skill: (1) Natural Philosophy - (2) Medicine - (3) Astronomy

Traditions

• Never tell a direct lie.  
• Never draw the blood of a mortal creature. 
• Never use money for any purpose.

Qigong Techniques

Special: A monk may choose to automatically know Unsheathing the Void and 1 other random qigong technique at Monk A (instead of two random techniques). This technique is especially famous for this school.

1. Unsheathing the Void (Form)
   You conjure a sword of non-being called a voidsaber. It looks like a piece of night sky--all black with points of light. As a sword, it does 1d8+Str damage. The voidsaber cannot be disarmed (it is an extension of the monk) nor destroyed.
   If you burn 2 qi dice while taking this form, the voidsaber counts as a +1 weapon.
   Note that if wielding the voidsaber, you do not count as unarmed for Kung Fu. 
2. Five Elements Defense (Form)
   You gain a resistance to one element for each [dice] burnt while assuming this form.
   Earth: You take half damage from falling damage. You are immune to falls up to 20 feet.
   Metal: Your Defense is 14 vs metal weapons, like swords, axes, flails, and maces.
   Water: You take half damage from cold damage. You can hold your breath twice as long.
   Wood: Your Defense is 14 vs wooden-hafted weapons like clubs, staffs, spears, and arrows.
   Fire: You take half damage from fire damage. 
3. Eight Trigrams Stance (Form)
   You can see invisible things and spirits. You can see through illusions.
4. The Moon and the Tides Rhythm (Form) 
   You gain a measure of telekinesis. By focusing, you may push or pull an object as if you had your hand on it. You can only lift an item that you could lift one handed. 
5. Climbing the Incense Smoke Ladder (Form)
   Your movement distance and jumping distance per round become one in the same. You can leap distances equal to your total movement speed. Additionally, you are all but weightless--you do not trigger pressure plates while in this form, for example. 
6. Parting the Silk (Fist)
   Must be using the form Unsheathing the Void to activate. Your attack breaks a wooden item, such as a wooden door or a wooden weapon (like a spear or club).
   For 2 [dice], your attack breaks a metal item like a sword or a metal door. If used on armor, the armor suffers a break of -2.
   For 3 [dice], your attack breaks an otherwise unbreakable item, like adamantine.
   For 4 [dice], your attack cuts through an incorporeal effect like a magical wall. A magical artifact has a 50% chance of being broken. 
7. A Rooster's Call, An Unveiled Mirror (Fist)
   You deal weapon damage + [sum] to an undead target. 
8. Spell Cutting Sword (Fist)
   You choose a spell effect on the target to end. The target can't cast spells for [dice] rounds. 
9. Exorcism of Steel (Fist)
   Your attack pulls an incorporeal creature into the realm of flesh for [sum] rounds. In this time, the intangible creature is tangible and can be attacked and interact with material creatures.
   If 2 qi dice are used, this technique can target a possessed person. This pulls the possessing spirit out of them. 
10. Yellow Rebuke (Fist)
    You deal weapon damage + [sum] to an outsider target. 
11. Prana Prism Attack (Fist)
    If [sum] is equal or greater to the creature's HD, it is befuddled. The target may spend their turn to Save to end this effect.
12. Clear Sky, White Lightning (Fist)
    Your attack becomes charged with lightning. The primary target of your combat maneuver suffers [sum] lightning damage.
    If you spend 2+ dice, you strike additional targets within 30' with arcing lightning. The second target suffers the same amount of damage, minus the result of the highest die. Additional targets may also be affected by dropping the next highest die, until the result is 0.
    For example: You spend 3 qi and successfully use Clear Sky, White Lightning against a minor devil. That devil suffers 3d4 damage. You roll a 2, 3, and 4. That devil takes a total of 9 damage.
    You then choose 2 other devils within 30' of your first target to also suffer lightning damage. Dropping the highest dice (4), the second devil suffers 2+3 damage for a total of 5 damage. Dropping the next highest dice (3), the third devil suffers 2 damage. The die that rolled 4 is expended, but the other two refresh to your qi pool.