Gaming Story: Man or Beast?

To set the scene, I'm running a Viking-themed OSR game and the party is composed of three PCs, the daughters of a Jarl. They are taking part in a hunting competition hosted by the Jarl of a nearby island. They have three days to hunt for the most impressive game they can find in the Jarl's forest, but they have been warned that the woods are dangerous at night and they should seek shelter in the hunting cabins dotted around the forest.

There are five more hunters that have been assigned to the PCs' area of the forest: Snorri, Dorfi (the local Jarl's second son), Mӧttul, Brenna, and Gunnar (firstborn son of their hated rival clan).

There is already some tension (which is good) thanks to the time limit, the apparent skill of the other hunters, Brenna's moodiness, the danger of being so close to the heart of the forest, and the presence of Gunnar who firmly believes that the sisters are cheating and doesn't trust any of them as far as he could throw them.

 After the events of the first day, during which the party spots a creature they identify as fine game likely to win them the contest, the PCs look for one of the hunting lodges. When they find one, there is smoke rising from the chimney but the door is barred. One of the PCs knocks...

In my head I am cheering because my last party probably would have kicked the door down or dropped grenades down the chimney or something.

...and they hear a voice call out from inside the hut.

"Who goes? Man or beast?"

The players laugh a bit about this and answer "man!" The challenger from within says "then state your names!" The players call out their names and the door is unbarred and opened by Dorfi. He lets them in and explains that, since it is getting dark, it would be unwise to open the door without knowing what is on the other side.

There are some unspoken rules or conventions that establish themselves pretty quickly here. Dorfi is the local Jarl's son, so presumably he knows the area and he has a reputation as a competent warrior. He also asked the PCs' names and when they gave their names that was enough for him to trust them and open the door. So if there is a beast out there that can claim to be human, then presumably it cannot give a name, or the name it would give would reveal the creature's duplicity. Most of these conventions will be realised by the players subconsciously. The tropes are now reinforced by repetition.

The PCs pick out their bunks for the night when there is a knocking at the door.

Knock-knock!

I'm knocking on the underside of the table we're playing at. I find that it draws the players attention more than just saying the words "you hear a knocking at the door."

At least on the PCs knows what is coming next and almost shouts out "man or beast?" but Dorfi calls out first. "Man or beast?" I tell the players that their characters recogise the gruff voice of their bitter rival, Gunnar. "Man!" The players laugh and make jokes about how he should have answered "beast."

Dorfi demands a name, Gunnar gives his full name and title, and Dorfi unlocks the door. One of the PCs suggests that they should have left Gunnar outside for a while longer. When he sees the PCs, Gunnar is visibly irritated that he will have to sleep under the same roof as them, but it is also clear that night has fallen and he will struggle to find another shelter. He suggests, strongly, that everyone leave their weapons by the door as a sign of good faith. There is some hesitation, but since I have armed the PCs with secret weapons, they agree to leave their bows and spears by the door and watch Gunnar carefully as he places his spear and swordbelt aside.

Every GM has difficulty getting the PCs to surrender their weapons. I tried to circumvent that difficulty, while still disarming the PCs, by giving them weapons that they can hide in plain sight. At the beginning of the session the PCs' father gave them all penannular brooches with pins long enough that they could be used as an improvised dagger in self-defence. This was inspired by the possibly-real-life dark ages practise of using long brooch pins to stab people when your sword was unavailable.

Gunnar is about to complain some more but...

Knock-knock-knock!

Without prompting the party calls out in unison "man or beast?" The person without cries "I'm a woman gods damn you open the door!" The PCs know it must be Brenna but they ask for her name anyway. "It's Brenna! Who else would it be? Open the door!"

So Brenna is allowed to enter, is displeased with having to leave her bow and spear by the door, but settles into the bunk bed furthest away from everyone else. The party is talking about setting up a watch for the night because they don't trust Gunnar and want to keep an eye on him. Two PCs turn in while the third stays awake under the pretense of making sure the fire doesn't go out. It's an hour into their watch when...

Knock-knock!

Everyone is stirred by the knocking and the players yell "man or beast?" and make bets on whether it will be Snorri or Mӧttul at the door.

"Man! Man! It's Mӧttul! Open up it's freezing and there's something out here!"

He sounds worried so one of the players unbars the door and Mӧttul stumbles in, shivering and red-faced. He sits by the fire to warm up as the players bar the door and ask him what was out there. He says he didn't see anything but he heard something following him through the undergrowth. He claims that he got lost in the dark and thought he was going to end up as a troll's dinner. The party is a bit worried that something might be out there and this reinforces their decision to keep watch. There is still one more hunter, Snorri, out in the woods so they want to make sure someone is on hand to open the door should he turn up.

At midnight the second PC is woken to take their watch. The other hunters seem to be sleeping and the fire has died down but is still providing a little warmth so it seems like an easy enough watch.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The PC calls out "man or beast?"

No answer. Then...

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The other characters in the hut are beginning to wake up now. The other two PCs shout "man or beast?" but there is no answer. Everyone is staring at the door. One of the PCs says that it might be Snorri and he might be hurt; they say that they will open the door to check but the other players yell "DON'T OPEN THE DOOR!" and the door remains closed.

At this point I didn't have to say or do very much. The pattern and expected course of events has been interrupted. The players' imaginations are going into overdrive and coming up with some horrible thing on the other side of the door that wants to get into their sanctuary. Paranoia starts to creep in and now I just have to measure the NPCs reactions to whatever the PCs want to do.

One of the PCs grabs their spear just in case the door is knocked down. Gunnar doesn't like this and pushes the PC aside so he can grab his sword belt. Brenna doesn't like this and reveals a hunting knife she had hidden under her cloak. Dorfi and Mӧttul both demand they be allowed their weapons as well and everyone begins arguing about the safety of the lodge, what is outside, the legitimacy of Gunnar's hereitage, whether or not the PCs' mother was a harlot, and whether Snorri could still be alive.

I didn't even have stats for the thing that was knocking on the door. If the PCs had opened the door then I could place a night troll, hag, shadow man, or anything else remotely nightmarish out there, but I was counting on the players being spooked and staying indoors. Players are often curious, but this group also has a healthy sense of self preservation.

Fortunately no one brandished their weapon at another competitor and eventually everyone went back to their bunks, with their weapons, and tried to get to sleep without imagining whatever dark monstrosity was waiting for them outside.

Afterthoughts

A few more interesting things happened during that session, but the knocking on the cabin door felt like the evening's crowning moments. One of the players even said "well... that's mildly terrifying" when there was no reply to their initial "man or beast" challenge. If I could change anything I would have done the initial knock-knock-knock and then left it, rather than go on knocking. The initial prompt was enough to demonstrate that the pattern the players had grown comfortable with had been broken.

Everyone said they enjoyed themselves and that they're eager to continue playing, so no harm no foul. I established at the beginning that we would use a traffic light system in case anyone was uncomfortable with anything that came up, and so far no one has invoked it. I'm looking forward to establishing more rugs to pull from under their feet in the future.

The Cygnus Frontier: Interstellar Communication

Similar to my previous post about capital ship combat, I'm including a table of technology achieved in this science fiction setting, The Cygnus Frontier.

Technology Achieved	Technology Unavailable
Wormhole / Jump Drive (star-to-star)	FTL Travel, FTL Comms, FTL Telemetry
Fusion Power, Advanced Batteries, Portable Nuclear Generators	Cold Fusion, Antimatter
Non-Volitional AI, Advanced Robotics, Quantum Computing	AI Singularity, Two-Way Neural Interfaces
Space Elevators, Asteroid Mining, Artificial Habitats, SSTO	Gravity Generators, Personal Teleporters, Tractor Beams
Vehicle-Borne Chemical Lasers, Advanced Coilguns	Energy Shields, Personal Laser Weapons, Plasma Weapons
Advanced Gene Therapy, Tissue Engineering, Cybernetics	Mind Uploading, Cybernetic Reprogramming
Nano-Scale Material, Polymer-Based Electronics	Grey/Red Goo Nano Machines, Time Travel

But instead of lasers and non-nuclear warheads streaking across the void, this post is about infrastructure and logistics - it may appear less exciting but it's much more important.

Hopefully this should also explain why TV in the future is black and white.

The Limitations of STL Communication

So, while pseudo-FTL travel is accomplished by starships making jumps between solar systems, there is no means of communicating faster than the speed of light. That means you can't effectively form any sort of conversation with someone in another system, or even on the other side of the same system. There is no FTL telemetry, and everything you know is second-hand information.

If an Orion Union space station in the Lirin System is being attacked by members of the Perseus Libertarian Republic, the Union commander can't call his friends in the Kwatee System and ask for reinforcements - the message would take years to reach the next star system, by which time the space station is probably going to be a string of junk orbiting the nearest celestial body.

The Internet... in Spaaace!

Imagine you have two Internet applications - a wiki and an email service.

Communication between a planet's colonies is achieved over the local ColNet - pretty much the same as the Internet that we in the 21st Century are so familiar with. So long as a settlement has working infrastructure, they can communicate over whatever means they have available (copper, radio, laser, and satellite). Wiki pages are up-to-date with content created and updated by people on your colony; and you can email people in your town, in the big city, and on the other side of the planet.

Communication between planets and stations in a star system is achieved by a conglomeration of networks that form a StarNet. StarNets are maintained by radio- and laser-equipped satellites; even though they communicate at the speed of light, the distances they transmit over are vast, so there is usually a long delay before information reaches its destination. A wiki page written by someone on one planet won't be available to someone on another planet for hours - or even days - after its creation. Similarly, while email is still faster than physically posting something to someone, even at light speed it will take a long time to cross the gulf between planets.

Finally, the distances between solar systems is so great that a true network cannot reliably be formed, but updates do get through via a sort of interstellar postal service. So you might get an update to your wiki from the next star system over, but it's a few weeks or months old; and you can email your second cousin twice removed who lives in that other star system, but you can't guarantee when they will receive the message.

Interstellar Postal Service

This is how you send email across the stars. This is also why computer screens tend to display very few colours or even end up being monochromatic.

Virtually all jump-capable starships are built with a datavault outfitted with an array of data ports, many of which erroneously claim to be universal standards compatible with a wide variety of cables and connectors.

When a ship leaves a spaceport, they can accept data from the local StarNet and store it in the ship's datavault. When that ship arrives in another solar system and docks at one of its spaceports, it can dump the data in its datavault to the local StarNet. This way, your email and wiki pages can be transmitted across the stars.

Local/Interstellar Traffic

Data can be tagged as local or interstellar by its creator. In this case, local refers to "in system" and interstellar means it should be transmitted to a StarNet in another solar system. You need to know the unique identifier for the star system you want to send your data to, but this should be a matter of public record (unless you're in the Crux Empire in which case you'll probably find that  THIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN RESTRICTED FOR YOUR PROTECTION  by the local authorities).

Within a certain threshold, there is usually no cost to releasing data to your local StarNet. Beyond that threshold, a user has to pay per-kilobyte. Colonial communication service providers might advertise a "massive" monthly data limit of 2MB per user to the local StarNet - this would probably be a very costly subscription service.

The cost to send data to a remote StarNet is also priced per kilobyte. Due to the limited size of the run-of-the-mill starship's datavault, it is expensive.

File Size Limits

The price-per-KB for interstellar data transmission means that most such messages are kept short and simple. It also means that most data transmitted between solar systems is text-only; sending images, audio, and especially video to another StarNet is very expensive. Compression is an important technology.

Images and video sent to other StarNets is commonly low resolution and/or has a low colour count to reduce file size. This means a lot of 8-bit, 4-bit, or monochromatic pictures and videos. This, in combination with the large amount of text-only data transmitted between systems, means that machines monitoring StarNet data rarely have sophisticated screens capable of sixteen-million colours - most of what they display is text, occasionally accompanied by low-resolution black-and-white images.

Encryption

Encoding information is a luxury usually only afforded by large political bodies and the mega-rich. Encryption usually relies on both a message's sender and receiver to know the same cipher. Ciphers are changed regularly, with the keys and schedules established in-person long before any messages are actually sent, and patterns in message text are avoided.

Empty Datavault Fine

There is a fine for jump-capable starships leaving a spaceport. This fine can be wavied if the starship reveals its projected route and destination, and if it accepts a certain amount of data destined for a remote StarNet that is on their route.

There is also a fine for jump-capable starships docking at a spaceport. This fine can be waived if the starship delivers a certain amount of data from a remote StarNet.

This means that removing a jump-capable starship's datavault, taking off in a hurry before a data transfer has been completed, or being cagey and secretive about where you're going, can cost you quite a lot of credits in the long run. Most starship crews and captains are quite happy to reveal their plotted course and act as interstellar postmen in addition to whatever they normally do.

Data Sorting AI

Colonies with spaceports and space elevators will usually have a low-level AI postmaster to sort through the massive amounts of data circulating the ColNet, the local StarNet, and incoming/outgoing data from/to remote StarNets. This AI is responsible for rectifying conflicting data, sorting data into an acceptable chronological order, and routing and prioritising outgoing data. Beyond these tasks, the AI is usually as dumb as a sack of hammers.

Data Smuggling

Sometimes you don't want the local postmaster AI to know anything about your messages. Just knowing that someone in an Orion Union system sent a message to someone in a Crux Empire system would be enough to raise eyebrows. Sometimes there are messages that a party cannot afford to have intercepted or lost, and sometimes people want large amounts of information sent at a higher-than-normal priority.

Data smuggling is a thing. Hidden datavaults with hardened encryption, proprietary transmission protocols, secret data partitions, and many more cunning ideas have been employed by data smugglers - those who have a hand in getting information from one place to another by cutting out the middle men and ensuring that as small an audience as possible has access to the data along the way.

This is Boring/Why is this Important?

Keeping players interested in a setting means thinking about the foundations that it stands upon. If the PCs cannot send a FTL distress call when they are caught by surprise, then there should not be an interstellar Amazon catalogue/deliver service either.

The more thought that goes into fleshing out a setting, the more immersed players will be when their characters explore that setting.

There is also an interesting juxtaposition of high technology and low technology. Information restricted to a local ColNet can be as vaired as you like - it can essentially be like the Internet of today, filled with colourful web pages, animated GIFs, funny cat videos, audio logs, the lot. Information in a StarNet, however, looks more like the kind of thing you would expect from the first Alien film, with low-res monitors, monochrome text-only displays, and lossy 4-bit or 8-bit video.

Espionage and security becomes very WWII and Cold War with codes, ciphers, and interception taking over from where encryption once reigned as king - and that is far more interesting to deal with than just "hacking into the mainframe" when you are after information that someone else doesn't want you to have access to.

Three Crones

There are always three crones; for that you can thank Greek mythology and Shakespeare.

Orota the Umbral Twilight

Description: The hag of Dunfang Forest is foul beyond compare and incomparably corpulent. She stands over two meters tall and moves with surprising swiftness considering her morbid obesity. Orota's eyes glow yellow over her wide, tusked grin. Her skin is mottled grey, her hands rough and callused. Her thin, black hair is parted down the centre by a thick horn that sprouts from her forehead.
Wants: Dominion over the natural world. The destruction of beautiful things. 
Has: Forbidden Knowledge. 
Speciality: Hypnosis. Making eye contact with Orota would be unwise, as she can captivate any one person for as long as she holds their gaze. Only a strong-willed man or woman would be capable of resisting the hag's bewitching stare.
Weakness: Fundamental elements. Orota fears pure samples of elements from the elemental planes; a fire kindled from the caldera of Irchundakra, waters from the shore of the Everlake, a blade forged of metal from the Elemental Plane of Tungsten.

Hildegard the Fair

Description: The hag of Bragimor Forest is remarkably ugly. Her form is that of a pale, wrinkled, misshapen old woman with a warped leg and a hole in her face where her nose ought to be. Yellowed fangs protrude from her uneven overbite, and a shock of white hair curls up from her scalp like the horns of an ibex. Perhaps just as striking as her repulsive appearance are the black-feathered wings that sprout from her back, allowing her to glide over the woods like a vulture in search of weaklings and carrion. She walks with a cane and an uneven gait, and her breath smells of rotten meat.
Wants: Mind-strands from the temple of Risnas, god of forgotten dreams. More slaves.
Has: A considerable number of mind-controlled slaves, including an ogre named Kririg. A long memory.
Speciality: Riddles. Those who wish something from Hildegard are often posed a riddle; failing to solve the riddle usually results in Hildegard's curse overtaking the visitor and they become another slave toiling in her gardens.
Weakness: Flattery. Getting on Hildegard's good side is not difficult if one can ignore her hideous appearance, odious eating habits, and foetid breath. This might allow someone to get close enough to threaten the hag without her escaping or calling her slaves to intervene.

Egnun the Shade of Twilight

Description: The hag of Díegol Forest is just as ugly, twisted, and devious as her sisters. She is large, almost as large as Orota, but where Orota is fat Egnun is muscular. Her tiny black eyes stare out from behind a curtain of matted, charcoal-coloured hair that does nothing to conceal her hideousness. Where a human would have a nose, she has a wart-covered trunk long enough to reache her chin. Her mouth is filled with yellowed tusks, her arms and legs are covered in coarse black hairs, and her digits all feature cracked yellow claws.
Wants: The womb of a virgin, fresh and still warm.
Has: A large array of rare ingredients and magical reagents. A flock of crows that spy on those who enter her territory.
Speciality: Alchemy. Egnun has forgotten more potion recipes than most alchemists will ever learn. She knows how to make poisons from the most benign of ingredients, and where to find plants and mushrooms to make insidiously potent mixtures. Her lair is littered with candles rendered from human fat and mixed with hallucinogenic plants so that their fumes dizzy and disorient uninvited guests.
Weakness: The spider demon Gennubath, to whom she owes a debt she struggles to repay.

The hags eat only meat, preferably human and preferably very fresh. Egnun was the only one to cook her victims.

The hags also had the ability to spread their curse by taking a prisoner and corrupting them over time. This resulted in the victim becoming a violently unstable, cannibalistic creature of the night that would stalk isolated villages and farmsteads, intending to kidnap fresh meals for its mistress.

I used these hags to tie three fantasy campaigns together. The hags sought to make bargains with the PCs, each trying to find the means to contact her sisters and reuinite the triumvirate. The hags' bargains were always one-sided and laced with deception, and although the PCs were always very cautious around the crones they always made secret vows to one day return and kill the hag they had met.

The Cygnus Frontier: C²CLIC

This is a science fiction post about capital ship combat, so I should include some precursory notes on assumed technology so that everyone is on the same page.

Technology Achieved	Technology Unavailable
Wormhole / Jump Drive (star-to-star)	FTL Travel, FTL Comms, FTL Telemetry
Fusion Power, Advanced Batteries, Portable Nuclear Generators	Cold Fusion, Antimatter
Non-Volitional AI, Advanced Robotics, Quantum Computing	AI Singularity, Two-Way Neural Interfaces
Space Elevators, Asteroid Mining, Artificial Habitats, SSTO	Gravity Generators, Personal Teleporters, Tractor Beams
Vehicle-Borne Chemical Lasers, Advanced Coilguns	Energy Shields, Personal Laser Weapons, Plasma Weapons
Advanced Gene Therapy, Tissue Engineering, Cybernetics	Mind Uploading, Cybernetic Reprogramming
Nano-Scale Material, Polymer-Based Electronics	Grey/Red Goo Nano Machines, Time Travel

The only species colonising the galaxy is humanity, and intelligent alien life seems to be absent.

Most of the above technologies could taken up an entire post by themselves. Maybe one day they will.

What is a  C²CLIC?

C²CLIC stands for Command and Control, Communications, Logistics, Intelligence, and Computers, as those are all of the spheres a C²CLIC is capable of managing in the battle-space.

A C²CLIC is classed as an "automated warfare space station." C²CLICs do have manoeuvring thrusters and jump drives, but they moved like beached whales and were not built for speed. I always imagined them looking like the Dark Athena or the mothership from Homeworld.

A C²CLIC is full of computers, sensors, communication arrays, blocks of ice, and a metric butt-load of very clever cruise missiles. They are powered by a fusion power plant, with a backup fusion generator and redundant solar panels that spend most of their time folded away like a damselfly's wings.

Most C²CLICs are controlled by a dedicated AI (only a very important C²CLIC might have two or three AIs within its internal network). There are no pressurised areas for human personnel, no cargo bays or hangars, and no lifeboats.

A C²CLIC will usually be accompanied by a human-occupied vessel bearing someone in a position of authority who can issue orders to the C²CLIC's AI. This vessel might have basic defensive measures, but it is not built for prolonged combat, open battle, or extended manoeuvres.

The C²CLIC will carry a squadron of small, networked drones that can carry out regular maintenance and repair. For extended repairs, refits, etc. the C²CLIC must be manoeuvred to a suitable spaceport.

Hows does a C²CLIC Fight?

A C²CLIC will very rarely be employed against anything smaller than an enemy fleet, a fortified planet, or another C²CLIC. They are capable of engaging their targets at extreme ranges (usually 100,000km or more); if a C²CLIC had windows, you would not be able to use them to "eyeball" a target as the enemy would simply be too far away.

The C²CLIC's primary weaponry is its massive array of missiles. Against another C²CLIC, it will likely launch 90% or more of its missiles in one salvo. These missiles are pretty clever - many are networked with one-another so that they can dynamically optimise their targets and flight paths; some have small laser batteries to shoot down other missiles; some can broadcast evolving computer viruses to hack enemy missile networks and prevent damage to their own. Most of the missiles, however, have a fairly straightforward mission: accelerate, fly towards the enemy position, destroy the incoming enemy missiles, and (if there are any of you left after that) then the enemy fleet/C²CLIC/planetary base.

If two opposing C²CLICs engage one-another, this results in a huge missile scrum halfway between them. This halfway point is often hundreds-of-thousands of kilometres from the C²CLICs and it can take hours for the missiles to meet before blowing each other up. The remaining missiles then continue on to the enemy C²CLIC.

This is when the C²CLIC has to rely on its sensors, intelligence records, and a bunch of simulations. If there are incoming enemy missiles, can the C²CLIC stop them with a combination of chaff, point-defence, cyber attacks, and its reserve missiles? Note that, due to this "missile scrum" attack pattern, the C²CLIC that keeps more missiles in reserve is usually the one that loses, so most do not spare many from the initial salvo.

As battles take place at vast distances, the C²CLIC usually has plenty of time to make an accurate judgement and (if necessary) initiate its wormhole drive to jump to a friendlier system.

So most battles between C²CLICs end with one C²CLIC withdrawing rather than suffering catastrophic damage. A C²CLIC, the AI piloting it, and the intelligence and cryptographic data on its computers, is very valuable and therefore not worth sacrificing just for the sake of taking pot-shots at the enemy. It is far easier and less expensive to re-arm and re-deploy a C²CLIC than it is to rebuild a destroyed one.

The Heat Factor

Space may be "cold" but cold is just an absence of heat. Heat takes a very long time to radiate away from things in space, and even though a C²CLIC has no human crew to worry about, its electronics can still be damaged by an un-managed build up of heat throughout its systems.

C²CLICs have very long "arms" covered with radiator fins that act link heat sinks, drawing heat from the main body to be radiated from an extended surface area. These fins, like the redundant solar panels, are usually folded away, but unfold like flowers blossoming in the Spring when the C²CLIC expects to be working at high-performance.

As an emergency action, the C²CLIC also holds large supplies of ice that can be melted down, flushed through conductive pipes throughout the main body, and then expelled into space once it has drawn heat from the main systems.

Why Not Lasers?

While chemical laser weapons do exist, and some are employed in space combat platforms, they require massive amounts of energy to be effective at the extreme range that a C²CLIC can otherwise engage its targets. Not only that, but a firing solution at such long ranges is exceeding difficult to acquire since your target may not be where you "saw" them last due to light lag. Lasers and mass-driver weapons (e.g. coilguns) are employed on C²CLICs as point-defence where they can be used as much shorter ranges, but they do not have the manoeuvrability to be useful at exceedingly long range.

The Home Field Advantage

A C²CLIC will rarely fight alone. Although it carries a huge arsenal of smart missiles, it is mainly designed as a command and control centre (hence the primary letters in its acronym). In large-scale conflicts it will be a centralised point for coordinating battles, intelligence reports, counter-intelligence, logistics chains, and communications. It also benefits from being able to swiftly re-arm its missile batteries if it is positioned near to a friendly starport or space elevator.

In a friendly system, a C²CLIC will be constantly receiving telemetry and communications from remote sensors and listening posts. If you also consider that jump drives are star-to-star (i.e. if you are jumping to another system, you have to "aim" for orbiting a star you want to jump to, you cannot simply jump into orbit around another star system's planet), it is relatively simple to set up alarms, sensors, and killing zones for an enemy invasion force to fall foul of.

For these reasons, as potent as they might be in theory, C²CLICs very rarely see actual combat. They are like the nuclear weapons of the Hundred Colonies - everyone keeps their C²CLICs reserved just in case anyone else decides to use one. A faction would have to be supremely confident of themselves to jump a C²CLIC and its supporting craft into an enemy system. This is one of the reasons why the opposing colonial powers are locked in cold wars consisting of sabotage, infiltration, and espionage rather than glittering starships blasting each other with laser broadsides.

The Silver Torc

The Silver Torc is an infamous and secretive assembly of assassins. Their ultimate goal is as nebulous and malleable as the GM requires it to be - they could simply be killers-for-hire, or they could have Bene Gesserit levels of planning behind the thrust of their daggers.

The cult is divided into three tiers (in ascending seniority): iron, silver, and gold. A member's rank is distinguished by the type of collar they wear, but more on that in a moment...

The Collars

Members of the Silver Torc can be recognised by the unique metal collars they wear. The collars, or torcs, are not only the assassins' namesake; they are also the organisation's insurance policy against betrayal, interrogation, and cowardice.

Each metal collar houses complex machinery composed of springs, gears, weights and a series of sharp blades. The collar's mechanism is tightened by means of a special key, after which there is a certain amount of time before the blades hidden within the collar spring forth and kill whoever is wearing it.

Each collar is unique and has its own key. Removing a collar without triggering a fail-safe mechanism and killing its wearer is extremely difficult; so far no one has been credited with doing so.

Before venturing out on their assignment, a Silver Torc assassin has his/her collar wound by its key to give them enough time to journey out, find their target, complete their mission, and return to their sanctuary, usually with a little extra time just in case.

The lethality of the collars means that a captured Silver Torc agent usually expires before they can be successfully interrogated. They also enforce loyalty - leaving or betraying the Silver Torc almost guarantees a premature death.

The Gardens

The Silver Torc operates from a number of secret enclaves called Gardens. Gardens are small, compact, self-sufficient communities hidden away in valleys, forests, mountains, or ruined fortresses. They are built with defence and aesthetics in mind, being at once difficult to assault and beautiful to behold.

Assassins that are not on assignment spend their time in the Gardens training, working, and resting.

A Silver Torc assassin's training consists mainly of infiltration and "wet work" exercises. Assassins are trained to use swords, daggers, crossbows, and poisons. Some train with other weapons, but the Silver Torc's primary method of assassination is infiltration followed by a quick sword or dagger thrust, and then a quick exit.

Working in the gardens includes tending to the fruit and vegetables that grow there, raising animals, cultivating fish ponds, and some carpentry, masonry, and metal-smithing. Work also includes attending lectures and learning to speak foreign languages.

Resting in the Gardens consists of good food, beautiful courtesans, recreational narcotics, and the relaxing aesthetics of the Gardens themselves. The Gardens were designed to be like a paradise for assassins returning from their assignments, a place where their every need is fulfilled and somewhere they would prefer not to leave.

The Castes

The Silver Torc is divided into three tiers, the members of each tier being identified by the metal that their collar is made from.

The Iron Caste

Essentially the Silver Torc's workforce, those who wear iron collars maintain the Gardens by farming, gardening, fishing, building, repairing, labouring, cooking, and cleaning. Most were born into their position or failed the assassin trials. Long before its current state, the Silver Torc once mounted raids on neighbouring tribes and villages, capturing slaves that would eventually become the foundation of the iron caste.

A subdivision of those who wear iron collars are the concubines, whose collars bear a single precious stone to set them apart from the rest of their caste. The concubines are skilled dancers, musicians, singers, lovers, and conversationalists, and they are spared the labour expected of others in the iron caste. Although they are provided contraceptive herbs, some concubines eventually become mothers either by fluke or by choice; a concubine who becomes a mother may choose to raise her child as a regular member of the iron caste, or remain a concubine and give responsibility of her child to another.

The Silver Caste

The assassins that give the Silver Torc its name are almost all men. Few are literate, but all are fierce and deadly combatants willing to do whatever is necessary to fulfil their assignments.

Indoctrination into the Silver Torc's code of ethics starts as soon as a child is born in the Gardens. Young men from the iron caste have one opportunity to take the assassin trials and exchange their iron collars for those with silver-plated filigree. The trials are difficult, sometimes deadly, and trainees suffer no penalty for quitting at any time (except that they may never attempt the trials more than once).

Members of the silver caste are usually the only ones encountered beyond the Gardens. They are the Silver Torc's assassins, infiltrators, spies, and thieves. The most trusted may also become messengers, carrying encrypted correspondence or escorting members of the golden caste (see below) between Gardens; the majority of the iron and silver castes do not know that other Gardens exist, believing that their paradise is the only one in the world.

The Golden Caste

The Silver Torc is led by members of the highest caste, those who wear collars of gold, electrum, platinum, and glass. Each Garden is governed by between three and five members of the golden caste who run their enclaves, gather information, develop their schemes, and send their assassins out into the world.

Members of the golden caste are not born in the Garden they oversee. They are assigned from, and communicate with, other Gardens to form a decentralised form of authority. A Garden's leaders identify the potential in the children of their own enclaves, exchanging candidates with other Gardens.

The collars of the golden caste have some of the shortest lifetimes, in some cases necessitating a rewinding every eight, six, or four hours.

Adventures with the Silver Torc

As mentioned previously, the Silver Torc's ultimate goal/s are up to the GM - they are a mysterous faction that can be used on random encounter tables, as backstory or background flavour, antagonists in a side-plot, or the bad guys in a major story arc.

If all else fails, roll a D6 on the following table:

1) A political figure, high priest, renowned mage, famous knight, etc. was recently attacked in their home; the assassin was interrupted and driven off (at great cost) by the target's household guard. One of the bodyguards saw a strange silver collar under the assassin's hood. The target fears further attempts on their life and reaches out to the PCs for protection...
2) A PC wakes to find an assassin about to strike! After (hopefully) besting their would-be killer, the PC may ask who is targetting them and why. The assassin wears a silver collar that, upon closer inspection, seems to be far more complex than mere jewellery...
3) In the wilderness/on the road, the PCs come across a deceased member of the Silver Torc (ambushed and overpowered by bandits, half-eaten by a monster, killed by elven forest sentries, drowned in a flood, crushed in a landslide, struck by lightning, etc.); on the corpse is an encrypted message in a locked, water-tight scroll case...
4) The PCs encounter a woman, starving and half-naked in the wilderness. She was a Silver Torc concubine who escaped with her newborn child. Her collar has been somehow tampered with, temporarily delaying its deadly mechanism. She has no knowledge of the outside world and begs for aid in a strange accent. Assassins will be hunting for her and the child...
5) An assassin approaches the PCs with a request for aid - he no longer wishes to do the Siler Torc's bidding; he can direct the PCs to the treasure vaults of the nearest Garden but first they have to find a way to help him out of his collar...
6) A PC wakes to find a silver collar around their neck with no recollection of how it got there - they hear a mechanical click and the collar starts to slowly unwind...

It is important to remember that members of the Silver Torc are generally loyal (brainwashing, self-destruct collars, limited contact with the outside world), specialised (usually assassins), and secretive. The organisation works well when given a large-scale, long-term goal, perhaps one that will soon come to be realised if the PCs don't step in to stop it.

No Blades No Bows

Most towns and cities don't tolerate mercenaries, bandits, vagrants, and murder-hobos walking around fully armed and armoured. It makes the townsfolk nervous, makes the town guard nervous, and undermines the protection that the town is supposed to offer its inhabitants and visitors.

So unless you're a member of the nobility, you'll have to leave your mail and broadsword at the gate. That calls to mind that bit from Robin Hood Prince of Thieves with the guard crying "no blades, no bows, leave your weapons here..."

Why half those peasants are wandering around with spears, axes, and bows is questionable, but more importantly the logistics and administration of this method is severely lacking. Would you leave your sword on the ground with a bunch of random axes, knives, and bows? How do you get it back? "Hey, can I have my sword back please? What do you mean someone else took it?" You can't get a receipt because hardly anyone can read or write, and the city isn't going to pay for a clerk to sit at the gate and write receipts because hey, that costs money and it's your sword so it's your problem.

Weapon and Armour Valets

Small groups of enterprising folk have recognised this problem and are willing to safeguard your hauberk and your great-grandfather's longsword for a reasonably sum of money for a pre-determined amount of time. They set themselves up outside the city walls, usually in their own house, advertising the storage of weapons and armour not allowed within the gates.

The valets, swordbearers, armoury masters, whatever you want to call them, charge the same as a servant or labourer (5.6sp per day*) per two items stored with them. Use your favourite system for hiring retainers and checking their loyalty.

Your items are kept in a (relatively) secure room by a man with a good memory for faces. There is no refund for collecting your weapons or armour before the agreed-upon date. You could visit every day and "top up" the valet's fee but you're probably paying to get in and out of the city every time you pass through the gates so it's usually cheaper to be specific and pay in advance.

Some valets also hold licenses (see below) that allow them to transport weapons and armour through the city to certain locations (the castle armourer, for example) if the PCs have a bunch of weapons from their last dungeon that they want to sell.

Weapons and armour stored in this fashion should be safe, and the GM should probably not endanger the PCs' equipment or he will find the inclusion of the valets fruitless since the PCs will look for safer means of looking after the tools of their trade.

Expensive Items

Items worth 50sp or more at the local value (modified for material, location, availability, current events, etc.) should be handled more securely. The cost for securing these weapons (21sp per day) includes a secure storeroom or vault, two guards, and a clerk who will write you a receipt.

You can lie about how much your emerald-encrusted, masterfully-engraved, solid silver warhammer costs in order to store it with a cheaper valet, but see the section below on loyalty checks.

Loyalty Checks

If something untoward happens (rebellion, fire, plague, invasion, terrible omen, meteor storm, PCs are arrested or declared criminals, etc.), make a loyalty check as you normally would for servants or retainers. More expensive valets (the ones with guards and vaults) should be more resistant to loyalty checks, while cheaper valets who have been given expensive items to look after may require a loyalty check every week (or every day if an item's great value is obvious).

On a failed loyalty check an item may "go missing" or be replaced with a less-expensive counterpart. Depending on the circumstances that called for the failed loyalty check, this may or may not be the PCs greatest concern.

Note that it is often not worth the valet risking their reputation and business for the sake of a shield or a quiver of arrows. If the city is facing invasion, however, locals may be prepared to take their (your) portable wealth and get themselves and their families as far away from danger as possible.

Licence to Bear Arms

Members of the nobility, including knights and their squires, are automatically permitted to bear arms and armour in public, and most of the time they may do as they please.

For those less privaledged, each town and city may issue a license to bear arms and armour within its limits. In order to successfully receive a license, a person must usually be a citizen (own a house or business within the city) and have the backing, in writing or in person, of a local guildmaster or someone on the town council. The license still costs 50sp, although in some cases a patron may foot the bill if they need armed bodyguards, sentries, or "problem solvers."

How often these licenses are checked, how closely they are scrutinise, and how easy they are to forge, will be up to the GM according to the city, neighbourhood, current events, etc.

Something's Different...

Roll a D6 every time the PCs return to collect their items from a regular valet (i.e. not the valets with guards, vaults, and clerks). On a 1, roll on the following table for a randomly generated quirk. This only applies to one item per withdrawal, not the entire cache.

D6	Weapon	Armour
1	Rust: shouldn't be too hard to clean off.	Rust and grime: you may appear to be a vagrant or common brigand. Might be accurate.
2	Mega rust: It's bright orange! Needs some TLC from a blacksmith.	Squeaks or rattles: stealth is impossible until it is repaired.
3	Dull: needs sharpening (no effect for blunt weapons)	One word: fleas
4	Used: dried blood on the handle, where did that come from?	Used: stinks like a cheap tavern!
5	Replica: it looks the same but something feels... off	Missing part: a few links of mail, a strap from a vambrace, the laces from padding...
6	Good as new: no nicks, no blood, sharp as ever!	Gleaming: it has been polished to a mirror shine!

* Silver standard; 1sp being worth two regular meals in a city inn, and a broadsword costing ~20sp

Elf Ruler Tables

The uwen or wood elves do not have kings and queens as humans do. Their enclaves are led by a council headed by an orlophyn (male) or alphyra (female), this figurehead remains in position until they die or perform so poorly that they are abandoned by their supporters.

An orlophyn or alphyra is also the enclave's strategic leader during times of open conflict, and held responsible for tragedies that befall the community. In effect they are the executive of the enclave - ultimately accountable, if not directly responsible, for the enclave's success or failure. The particulars of elf society should be covered in a future post.

Roll the coolest dice on the following tables to randomly generate launching points for an elf ruler's personality and the events during their rule. For simplicity the table was written for an orlophyn, simply swap he/she/him/her/brother/sister, etc, where appropriate for the leader you are creating.

D12	Positive Traits
1	He was very strong
2	He was known for his wisdom
3	His courage was beyond doubt
4	He was very compassionate
5	His every promise was an oath
6	The realm was always his first concern
7	He was open-handed and generous
8	He had great faith in others
9	He had many varied interests
10	He was a dedicated patron of the arts
11	He was creative and free-thinking
12	He was a kind and dedicated lover

D12	Negative Traits
1	He was hedonistic and over-indulgent
2	He was extremely vain
3	He boasted constantly
4	Rarely was he not quarrelsome
5	His oaths were quickly forgotten
6	He was overly-critical of others
7	He was possessive of his daughters
8	He was dismissive of his sons
9	He pursued only his personal ambition
10	He was a coward in personal combat
11	He could not abide women
12	He was arrogant beyond measure

D12	Alliances
1	He welcomed an outsider to the council
2	An old woman led him to victory
3	He tamed a giant eagle
4	He called a tribe of giants his allies
5	A human king often treated with him
6	Other leaders sought his counsel
7	Amongst his friends was a great mage
8	He arranged a truce with a dragon
9	He had a personal spy/assassin
10	He submitted to an arranged marriage
11	He spoke with a being on another plane
12	He united two feuding elven enclaves

D12	Betrayals
1	His council was woefully incompetent
2	His lover tried to kill him while he slept
3	His firstborn tried to have him killed
4	His brother slowly grew to hate him
5	His apprentice became his nemesis
6	The council turned on him as one
7	He left his cohort of bodyguards to die
8	He paid to have his lover assassinated
9	He personally assassinated his rival
10	He served poisoned wine to an emissary
11	He banished his eldest brother
12	He arranged for his advisor to disappear

D12	Conflict
1	Twice he was forced to reclaim his realm
2	In combat he was blinded in one eye
3	In a single battle he lost everything
4	Assassins hounded him for a full year
5	He was suddenly attacked by an ally
6	He forced a wild beast to withdrawal
7	He brandished an enchanted sword
8	He killed a great number of his own kind
9	By single combat he averted a war
10	His enemies' hatred for him only grew
11	He relied on the spirits to aid his battles
12	He defeated a great enemy by trickery

D12	Secrets
1	He had travelled in the darkest passages of the earth
2	He killed his lover and hid her body
3	He was forced into a profane bargain
4	He was cursed and never spoke of it
5	His ascension to leadership was illicit
6	His sister was afflicted with lycanthropy
7	He was indebted to a greedy dragon
8	He knew the location of an old relic
9	He and his sister were lovers
10	He sought to learn forbidden magic
11	He orchestrated an internal conflict
12	He made a bloody sacrifice to a demon

D12	Triumph
1	He found a great, forgotten treasure
2	He banished an ancient demon
3	He made peace with an old enemy
4	He introduced new things to his people
5	From humble origins he attained power
6	He reclaimed lost territory
7	His firstborn was especially talented
8	He cleared his once-blackened name
9	He brought great wealth to his people
10	He lifted an old curse
11	He discovered the cure to a grave illness
12	He orchestrated victory from secrecy

D12	Loss
1	He could not prevent his lover's death
2	His greatest heirloom was stolen
3	His children all died before their time
4	His firstborn was exiled for a terrible crime
5	His firstborn was held for ransom
6	For a year he was enthralled by a mage
7	He very weak after fighting a beast
8	He was imprisoned for a year
9	He was captured and held for ransom
10	He was killed in battle
11	He was assassinated
12	He suffered a horrible, painful death

D12	The Spirits
1	He often communed with the spirits
2	He formed a cadre of close priests
3	He commissioned newly built shrines
4	He renewed his peoples' faith
5	He claimed to have profound visions
6	He engaged in darker spirit rituals
7	He preferred earthly concerns
8	He personally executed cultists
9	He tore down old religious monuments
10	He discouraged relying on the spirits
11	He was a well-known sceptic
12	He prayed only when he was alone

D12	Magic
1	He was a legendary sorcerer
2	His spells mostly concerned the weather
3	His magic could influence others
4	He was an accomplished illusionist
5	He was a capable enchanter
6	He could speak with animals and plants
7	He was a terrible student of magic
8	He was very dependent upon familiars
9	He learned dark magic from a demon
10	He distrusted those who studied magic
11	Magic was to be his ultimate undoing
12	Magic saved him as a child and as a adult

D12	Outsiders
1	He had an irrational hatred of humans
2	He refused to treat with the dwarves
3	Non-elves disgusted him
4	He made enemies of other elf enclaves
5	He hid the enclave from outsiders' eyes
6	He demanded tribute from all envoys
7	Secretly he took a human lover
8	He sent aid to a besieged dwarf fortress
9	He invited beastmen to the enclave
10	His firstborn took a human lover
11	He visited foreign lands many times
12	He sent many spies to foreign lands

Demons: Motivations

Everything alive on the material plane has an energy or soul fire. Some call in mana, some call it arcane power, some call it the Breath of Creation. Whatever you call it, it suffuses through everything in the world - rocks, trees, clouds, soil, birdsong, tides, you name it, it's overflowing with the stuff. Most living beings don't recognise this because they're constantly surrounded by it. It's like the air you breathe - you're only really aware of it when there's too much of it or when you're in danger of running out.

This is the same energy that magic-users learn to channel. It is, for all intents and purposes, limitless, but most magic-users can only channel so much of it before they risk breaking down the barriers between their life force and the life force around them; as a sorcerer grows in power, their capacity for this energy grows, and so they are able to command more arcane power without the danger of a fatal magical overload.

There are beings, on other planes of existence, that feed on this energy. Their method of feeding is usually what separates them into semi-distinct categories. These categories are neither complete nor wholly reliable; the chaotic nature of these beings means that placing them into well-defined castes is often an exercise in futility.

Bone Demon

Although they are usually more than a match for a skilled human combatant, bone demons are relatively cowardly, preferring to approach their opponents when numbers and circumstances are firmly in their own favour. Bone demons are torturers and tormenters, feeding on life energy through pain and grievous injury. They will spend days inflicting agonising procedures on their victims before flaying them and draping the skins over their distended bodies like a tattered, bloody cloak.

Every victim that a bone demon tortures to death allows the bone demon to grow more spurs, spines, and sharp ridges on its body. The oldest and most successful are roiling, shivering masses of bone, horn, and keratin.

Defiler Demon

The pious hermit, the dedicated soldier, the steadfast lover; these are the targets of the defiler demon. Defilers are especially powerful demons that require their victims to significantly change, abandon, or reverse their ethics before they can devour their soul fire.

As their methods require a great deal of time and manipulation, defilers often act as patrons to other intelligent creatures, using agents and proxies to slowly change their victim's environment until their values are called into question. A defiler's allies, however, will often find their own behaviour changing subtly over time until they cannot remember the reason they sought out a demonic pact to begin with; defilers always have more than one "project" running at any given time, and those who considered themselves the demon's agents eventually become its victims too.

Interestingly, defilers not only corrupt the faithful and the resolute, but also seek to redeem the damned and reform the condemned. Demons do not share the same concepts of morality as most civilised people, and a defiler only cares that its victim's values are abandoned, not if those values benefit others or not.

In extreme cases, a defiler's plotting has caused a chain reaction of abandoned ethics or ideals, causing an entire community to become vulnerable to the demon's attacks.

Devourer Demon

Also known as frog demons, thanks to their wide mouths, bulging eyes, and warty skin. Devourer demons are lazy, obnoxious, and demanding. They enjoy keeping terrified slaves as a nearby source of labour and sustenance. They draw life energy from intelligent creatures simply by devouring them whole, swallowing their victims into their rocky, crushing stomachs. They prefer their victims to struggle during the process, but not to the point where there is a possibility that their meal might actually get free.

Devourers are amongst the mosk likely demons to make bargains with intelligent creatures, often promising great power in return for a cult of devoted worshippers or a steady stream of victims. As with any other demon, however, their promises are usually empty or lacking in true substance.

Devourers grow larger and larger with every victim they devour, mutating unpredictably as they grow so that the most successful devourer demons look almost nothing alike, sharing only a few fundamental similarities.

Fury Demon

The furies are hideous, swarming horrors that crawl and fly in boiling crowds, searching for anything that might make easy prey. They attack with innumerable teeth and claws, ripping and tearing at their victims. Of all the entities listed here, they are the simplest, drawing life force from living things simply by invoking panicked terror and then shredding a target to bloody ribbons.

A swarm of fury demons has a strange hive mind, and can almost be considered a single creature. New furies emerge from the bodies of their victims as the swarm tears at them, swelling the swarm until, mercifully, it turns on itself and the furies begin destroying one-another. At the end of this frenzied bloodbath, a lone fury demon will emerge victorious and skitter away to begin anew.

Ice Demon

Cruel hunters, ice demons pursue their quarry for hours, days, sometimes longer, before cornering them and confronting them with certain death. The ice demon's intent is to have their prey so weakened by their ordeals that they surrender to their fate. The stronger the quarry at the beginning of the hunt, the greater the fall, and the sweeter the demon's crop when it is finally harvested.

They are called ice demons because they prefer uninhabited stretches of wilderness as their hunting grounds, places where the environment will make life as hard for their prey as possible, compounding the growing sense of helplessness that develops as the demon closes on its prey. Stories of these hideous creatures stalking haunted glaciers or ice fields seem particularly troubling, although their are stories of similar demons chasing their prey through the desert or on the open, featureless ocean.

Ice demons gain more and more control of their environment the more victims they successfully hunt. Those that escape their native plane and settle elsewhere become masters of haunted glaciers, treacherous reefs, and unegotiable tundra.

Seducer Demon

Also known as succubi, stories about these demons are often wildly exaggerated. The easiest way for a succubus to draw on the life force of a living creature is if that creature is experiencing an extreme emotional outburst or climax: overwhelming joy, murderous rage, mindless hatred, relentless sorrow, soul-crushing despair, or heedless lust. When an intelligent creature is going through one of these extreme emotional experiences, they essentially let their guard down and the demon can drain them of life energy until the victim is nothing more than a dried husk.

Naturally, the stories that people cling onto are the ones about an unearthly-beautiful demon floating through a bedroom window at night, but these are no more or less common than the seducer's other methods. Having sex doesn't actually help the succubus at all, but seducing someone does - it will tempt its quarry to their extent for lust, before tricking them into a secluded meeting place...

This means that phlegmatic people are sometimes easier targets for the seducer than more labile targets. If a hedonist is constantly having the time of their life, it might be hard to top that with an experience that will cause them to lower their defences and allow the seducer to attack them.

After draining their victims, a seducer demon can then steal that person's likeness and transform their appearance to resemble them. A veteran succubus might have dozens of forms to choose from when infiltrating a new community or settlement.

Shadow Demon

Also known as serpent demons, due in no small part to their legless, scaly bodies, and cold, reptilian eyes. Shadow demons are only partly corporeal, and are able to possess other creatures in order to whisper in their ear, so to speak, and influence their actions.

Shadow demons are hateful creatures that press their victims to betray their friends, allies, and loved ones. Then, gloating in victory, it violently devours the heart of the creature it was possessing and goes on a bloody rampage.

Each heart so devoured adds to the size and bulk of a shadow demon; the oldest, most cunning of their number are huge specimens capable of wrapping their dark, scaly bodies around entire castles, crushing the masonry within its coils.

The Rival Adventuring Party

Meeting a rival adventuring party in a dungeon is always interesting, but I prefer to pump the rivals up into a full-blown expedition with sentries, camp followers, a clerk, a paymaster, a logistics chain, etc. It feels more like a Tomb Raider, Uncharted, or Indiana Jones adventure and the PCs have to race to get the Collar of Amredes before the (possibly better funded and equipped) competition does.

It also adds some opportunities for roleplaying since members of the rival expedition might not be immediately hostile, or may be convinced to parley rather than immediately draw steel.

Expedition Leader

Roll a D6 on this table to determine who leads the rival adventuring party through the dungeon. The expedition leader will determine the basic strategy for moving through the dungeon, depending on their personality and preferences.

1. The Brawler. Veteran of half a dozen wars, the brawler married a guildmaster's daughter and used the wedding dowry to raise a small army for the expedition. Tough and charismatic, he personally inspects his hirelings and their equipment, demanding discipline and high performance. He pays his mercenaries and camp followers well; he knows that the dungeon's ultimate treasure is far more valuable than gold or silver…

2. Hearts and Minds. This strategist knows that he can pass through the dungeon quicker if he has the cooperation of the local population. He will make gifts, promises, and gestures of goodwill to the dungeon's denizens, forging alliances with the strongest and turning the locals against the PCs…

3. Caesar. Preferring to rely only on the loyalties of his allies and hirelings, the Caesar enslaves and decimates the dungeon's inhabitants whenever his forces come across them. It means that the locals will be less powerful, suffering under the Caesar's yoke, but it also means that the PCs could find a way to incite a rebellion…

4. The Zealot. Motivated by her faith, the zealot leads her expedition with an unshakable fervour. She may be a religious figure or simply loyal to a powerful guild or patron, but her primary characteristic is her dedication to the cause. She may not pay her followers too well, but they all (okay, most of them) follow her because they believe in the same cause she is championing…

5. The Historian. The rival party will loot treasure and seek out artifacts, but they do so in order to preserve them. The historian might be a wealthy eccentric, learned scholar, or the agent of a well-informed collector; whatever the case, the historian will want to avoid damaging any statues, shrines, murals, tapestries, mosaics, and even trap components that their party finds…

6. The Reclaimer. This expedition leader has a history with the dungeon and this is not the first time she has been here. The reclaimer might once have been an inhabitant, might have built the dungeon or had a hand in building it, might have designed some of its traps, or might have been a prisoner here; maybe she led a previous expedition to the dungeon and had to withdraw for one reason or another. Whatever the case, the reclaimer is back, and her knowledge of the dungeon's layout, hazards, and inhabitants will allow her to move quickly through the areas she is familiar with. Whether her history with the dungeon is widely known or not is another matter, and it could be something she is open about or something she prefers to keep to herself…

Warrior

Roll a D6 to find out who the rival party's main source of muscle power is. The warrior also determines what the rival party's minions are like and how they fight.

1. The Old Ally. One of the PCs has history with this character - they might be an old friend, ally, mentor, student, or partner, and now they're in the employ of the rival party's expedition leader. The related PC might know the old ally's tricks and weaknesses, but the old ally will also know theirs, and if their identity is not immediately revealed there might be a moment of hesitation as the PC realises who they're fighting. The old ally's warrior continent's theme is very flexible, depending on who they are and how they are known to operate.

2. The Tank. A heavily-armoured knight with a massive metal tower shield; this guy can take a lot of punishment and will try to corner the PCs while his armoured henchmen move in to flank them. He may look like a knight, but all notions of chivalry have been abandoned and the tank now fights only to rid himself of the curse that traps him inside his armour…

3. The Sniper. A one-eyed elf* banished from her enclave for killing her brother, the sniper is an excellent shot with his specialised bow, and an expert in camouflage and moving stealthily. The sniper's small cadre of elite marksmen act as a screen and bog-down her targets so she can flank the enemy and strike from an unexpected direction…

4. The Martial Artist. Maybe he uses a stick or some nunchaku, or maybe he just uses his hands and feet; whatever the case may be, this unorthodox fighter can kick arse without relying on traditional weapons and armour. The martial artist's students mimic their master's fighting style and might even be a horde of ninjas…

5. The Berserker. A strange mushroom-based concoction sends this mighty warrior into a foaming rage during which he has the strength and endurance of a half-company of normal fighting men. His warriors are all from the same tribe, and many of them partake of the frenzy-inducing mushrooms, making them much more dangerous than they would first appear…

6. The Duellist. This swordswoman is a show-off, happiest when she is chastising her enemies and humiliating them in front of her sycophantic gang of well-dressed swordfighters. She fights with a broadsword in one hand and a sword-breaker in the other, preferring light armour that allows her to dance around her opponents…

Thief

The rival party has a specialist when it comes to locks, traps, and fiendish puzzles. Roll a D6 to find out what sort of thief they have brought along.

1. The Kobold†. This thief is very good at sneaking around unnoticed and lifting artifacts without setting off the death-traps protecting them, but they are bullied and mistreated by the rest of the expedition…

2. The Dwarf‡. An outcast from his clan, this thief is an expert at detecting traps but takes longer to disarm them because he prefers to keep their components intact as part of his personal "hurt locker…"

3. The Acrobat. Able to dodge, tumble, wall-run, slow-fall, and find a handhold on almost any surface, this thief specialises in taking routes others might not consider…

4. The Poisoner. Although she was hired to disarm traps, she also covers her party's progress with traps of her own. Her poison dart, poison gas, and contact poison booby traps will cause their victims to become disorientated, begin hallucinating, or fall unconscious…

5. The Slave. Bound by a spell** of mind-control, this thief is not wholly in control of their actions. They are magically compelled to follow the orders of the other rival party members, whether they want to or not. The slave's skills are invaluable to the party, so they will not send him on suicide missions, but equally they do not treat him like an equal and he would not be here of his own free will if he had the choice. The PCs may find an ally in this thief if they can free him, although they may have to convince him that they will ultimately honour his reclaimed freedom…

6. The Demolitionist. Using black powder, alchemical explosives, or perhaps even a team of capable sappers, the demolitionist excels at noisy and potentially-catastrophic methods of dealing with obstacles in the party's way. Missing eyebrows, his hearing in one ear, and perhaps a few fingers, the demolitionist is an eccentric character and will be dangerous to face in combat if the PCs decide to confront him…

Mage

If you have wizards, mages, magicians, and sorcerers then consider also rolling a D6 on this table to see what sort of spellcaster the rival party has brought along for arcane firepower and utility.

1. The Secret Cultist. Unbeknownst to the expedition leader, the mage is one of the Sons of Akrimesh, and part of the dungeon has something to do with Akrimesh's resurrection (a mana sink, an artifact, or perhaps Akrimesh's burial site itself). The mage will betray the expedition leader when the time is right…

2. The Exotic††. This mage is either a creature the PCs have never seen, or one they have only seen very few examples of; a dark elf, a half-dragon, one of the slugmen of Yoon Suin, whatever might make the PCs perform a double-take when they first encounter the mage…

3. The Necromancer. The ability to communicate with the dead has allowed this sorcerer to interrogate historical figures and deceased locals; as a result, the expedition is unusually well informed on the dungeon's layout, secrets, and hazards. Not everyone likes working with necromancers, but the expedition leader has avoided conflicts breaking out amongst the party so far…

4. The Beast Master. Dogs, panthers, crocodiles, hawks, evil eyes, you name it the beast master has charmed and repurposed it. The PCs will have to be on the lookout for both murderous beasts and unassuming animals that could be spying on them and informing the beast master of their movements…

5. The Prophetess. Able to see into the future, the prophetess is likely to foil a number of the PCs' plans to outmanoeuvre the rival party. If she is going to be heading off the PCs at every turn, however, there should be something in the dungeon that will allow the PCs to mask their movements or fool the prophetess for long enough for them to eliminate her…

6. The Enigmatic. This sorcerer keeps their face hidden behind a gilded mask, beneath a voluminous hood, or within an unusual helmet. Their identity is never directly given by any of the other members of the rival party, and many seem somewhat resentful of the enigmatic mage's presence; it is clear that, were it up to the expedition leader, the thief, the warrior, and most of the camp followers, the enigmatic mage would not be here. Some invaluable alliance, unbreakable pact, or unfortunate necessity ties the mage to the others, and the mage is keen to remind the expedition leader of "our bargain," "the knowledge I possess," or "what will happen if you renege on our agreement…"

* If you don't have elves, feel free to replace the sniper with your own Robin Hood.
† If you don't have kobolds, use a halfling. If you don't have halflings, use something else.
‡ If you don't have dwarves, I'm sure you can think of something appropriate.
** If you don't have spells, try a more mundane form of leverage such as hostage family members, blackmail, or an addictive substance that the expedition leader keeps a small supply of.
†† If you don't have dark elves and slug men, someone from a far-flung continent will do.

Alchemical Formula Generator

Below is a series of tables for creating randomly-generated alchemical recipes. You might use them as plot hooks (the recipe for the potion to heal the king) or to inject some interesting consequences into your game (imagine a world where healing potions can only be made from vampire blood) or you could roll on the table for new potions invented/commissioned by the player characters.

The tables below assume a fairly typical fantasy setting with elves, dwarves, vampires, sorcerers, dragons, magic crystals, etc. Specific ingredient names can, and should, be changed where they are inappropriate for your setting. If you have no dwarves in your game, for example, rename Dwarven Powder to reflect its otherwise foreign origin.

Roll on the potion, oil, or explosive table as required (depending if you want to drink, apply, or explode the concoction when it is finished). Where a table has more than one column of results, roll on each column separately. You may want to roll on the Uncommon Formula Table if you want something unconventional. Finding or preparing some of these ingredients may be an adventure in itself.

1:1 POTION

D6	Potion Base	Ingredient
1	water	plant
2	alcohol	animal
3	milk	mineral
4	plant oil	special condition and roll again
5	fruit juice	special ingredient
6	special potion base	roll two results

Alcohol: roll a d6: 1-2 weak (cider, beer, mead); 3-4 medium (wine); 5-6 strong (spirits)
Milk: you can assume this is the milk of the most common dairy-related animal in the region, or you can roll on the animal table below
Fruit Juice: this might be more or less difficult to source depending on the climate and time of year

2:1 OIL

D6	Oil Base	Ingredient
1	common fat	plant
2	rare fat	animal
3	plant oil	mineral
4	tree sap	special condition and roll again
5	beeswax	special ingredient
6	special oil base	roll two results

Common Fat: lard, goose fat, butter, etc.
Rare Fat: bear fat, whale blubber, gelatinous cube jelly, etc.
Plant Oil: oil pressed from sunflowers, olives, coconuts, etc.

3:1 EXPLOSIVE

D6	Explosive Base	Ingredient
1	sulphur	plant
2	saltpetre	animal
3	ash	mineral
4	coal	special condition and roll again
5	dwarven powder	special ingredient
6	special explosive base	roll two results

Sulphur: if sulphur seems too mainstream, substitute with any relatively-abundant element of your choice
Saltpetre: game mechanic-wise, this is essentially souped-up sulphur - more reactive but not as common, possibly requiring a mixture of more common elements
Ash: you might require ash from a specific source (burned oak wood, ash from a blacksmith's forge, ash from a dragon's breath victim, etc.) or just any old ash
Coal: coal from the earth or charcoal, either will do so long as it can be used as fuel in a fire
Dwarven Powder: an alloy of minerals available only at remote sites, such as dwarf fortresses, elven enclaves, or from foreign merchants

4:1 UNCOMMON FORMULA

D3	Delivery	Ingredient
1	inhaled	as potion
2	dissolved	as oil
3	ingested	as explosive

Inhaled: includes incense, candles, snuff, pipe weed, etc.
Dissolved: must be mixed with water, then applied to the body, item, or area; includes soap, tablets, liquid solutions, tea, etc.
Ingested: roll a d6: 1-3 formula creates tiny pills; 4-6 formula creates cakes or scones
Feel free to add your own unusual formulas; alchemical butter, alchemical tattoo ink, alchemical bubble bath, alchemical injections, the list is surely endless...

1:2 POTION BASE (SPECIAL)

D4	Special Potion Base
1	pure alchemical base
2	strong acid
3	king's blood
4	ghostly tears

Pure Alchemical Base: a liquid from distilled alchemical ingredients, which can only be created by a skilled alchemist in a well-equipped laboratory or workshop
Strong Acid: might eat through certain containers, or cause troublesome fumes; roll a d6: 1-3 acid; 4-6 alkaline
King's Blood: accessing this ingredient might be seen as a hostile action (which might genuinely be the case) and would require earning (or bypassing) the trust of one or more very influential people
Ghostly Tears: come on, that ghost has been through enough, do you really want to make them cry ghostly tears into your reagent bottle? If you do it too much, the ghost will run out of emotional energy and dissipate, which means you'll have to go find another ghost and find out what gets an emotional reaction out of them - or worse, the ghost will stop being melancholy and start to get vengeful…

2:2 OIL BASE (SPECIAL)

D4	Special Oil Base
1	pure alchemical paste
2	dryad sap
3	kraken blubber
4	ectoplasm

Pure Alchemical Paste: the base requires a distilled form of paste, something that only a skilled alchemist can create with good equipment and high-quality ingredients
Dryad Sap: the base requires a substance that can only be obtained through favour or diplomacy, such as the heart-sap of a dryad's favourite tree which is spoiled if the tree is tapped or cut into
Kraken Blubber: the base must be made from the rendered fat of a unique monster such as a mutated troll, overgrown sea monster, or other forgotten beast
Ectoplasm: this base is found only where the veil between worlds is thin, allowing entities not native to this plane to pass through

3:2 EXPLOSIVE BASE (SPECIAL)

D4	Special Explosive Base
1	pure alchemical powder
2	ground unicorn horn
3	volcanic ash
4	the sands of time

Pure Alchemical Powder: a mix of high-quality alchemical ingredients, mixed into a fine powder; this can only be made by a skilled alchemist with a well-stocked laboratory
Ground Unicorn Horn: the processed body part of a legendary creature that would be difficult to find, very difficult to acquire, and would potentially make the PCs a lot of enemies in the process; this includes a specific dragon's bones, the elf queen's unicorn's horn, the claws of the emerald sphinx, etc.
Volcanic Ash: the fresher the better
The Sands of Time: found in an enchanted hour glass, in the ruined city of Quattarn, at the bottom of Surra's Lament Lake, guarded by a tribe of xenophobic fish-people

5:1 INGREDIENT: PLANT

D8	Plant Type	Special Properties
1	aquatic	remote
2	fungi	toxic
3	root	hallucinogenic
4	flowering	sentient
5	fruit-bearing	protected
6	leafy	mobile
7	thorny	reclusive
8	parasitic	defensive

Aquatic: seaweed, pondweed, coral, etc.
Fungi: mushrooms, toadstools, mould, lichen etc.
Root: includes tubers
Flowering: includes grass and moss
Fruit-Bearing: includes fleshy fruit, vegetables, nuts, beans, etc.
Seeds: includes spores, seed pods, etc.
Leaf: includes ferns, bushes, trees, etc.
Thorny: a plant adapted to defending itself from grazers
Parasitic: grows as an attachment to another plant
Special Properties
Remote: can only be found atop distant mountains, in the burning desert, on a lone island in the middle of the ocean, etc.
Toxic: roll a d6: 1-2 irritant; 3-4 debilitating; 5-6 deadly
Hallucinogenic: could be entertaining, dangerous, or both
Sentient: it might be persuaded to give you what you want, or it might simply scream as you harvest from it
Protected: roll a d6: 1-3 protected by animals; 4-6 protected by sentient beings
Mobile: it was here yesterday, I swear!
Reclusive: only bears its fruit (or whatever) during the full moon, on the warmest day of summer, or after devouring a flesh-and-blood creature
Defensive: roll a d6: 1-2 lashing tendrils; 3-4 toxic fumes; 5 thorn projectiles; 6 psychic trilling

5:2 INGREDIENT: ANIMAL

D10	Creature Type	Extract
1	abomination	bone
2	fey	internal organ
3	humanoid	skin
4	magical	egg
5	undead	sensory organ
6	extra-planar	extremity
7	giant	secretions
8	beast	tooth
9	ooze	blood
10	dragon	product

Abomination: a creature so strange and horrible that it can truly be described as an abomination
Fey: these creatures might not be especially difficult to overcome, but finding and catching them is often a greater challenge
Humanoid: orcs, goblins, serpent-people, fish-people, people-people, beastmen, etc.
Magical: this category includes creatures that rely on magic to function, are highly magical in nature, or were created by magic, such as elementals, golems, etc.
Undead: vampire saliva, zombie brains, mummy wrappings, there are lots of potential ingredients amongst the walking dead
Extra-Planar: roll a d6: 1-2 divine; 3-4 demonic; 5-6 other
Giant: trolls, ogres, forest titans, giant spiders, etc.
Beast: non-sapient creatures like dire wolves, brightly-coloured frogs, chimeras, stegosaurus, etc.
Ooze: all those treacherous puddings, oozes, slimes, cubes, etc.
Dragon: this could include dragon-like creatures of a lesser form, depending on your campaign material
Extract
Bone: roll a d6: 1-2 whole; 3-4 powdered; 5-6 marrow
Internal Organ: roll a d6: 1-2 heart; 3 liver; 4 gland; 5-6 brain
Skin: includes hide, shell, hair/fur, scales, and feathers
Egg: includes embryos for creatures that do not lay eggs
Sensory Organ: creature's primary sensory organs, includes eyes, ears, nose, fingers, antennae, etc.
Extremity: includes toes, hooves, tails, and claws
Secretions: includes dust, slime, ooze, venom, webs, saliva, etc.
Tooth: includes fangs, beaks, tongues, etc.
Blood: includes resin or other fluids for creatures with unconventional body compositions
Product: something created by the creature such as honey, dung, pearls, kidney stones, etc.

5:3 INGREDIENT: MINERAL

D4	Mineral Type	Properties
1	precious	requires special preparation
2	enchanted	unstable
3	extra-planetary	perishable
4	crystallised element	illegal

Precious: rare and expensive, includes diamonds, rubies, emeralds, etc.
Enchanted: naturally infused with magic
Extra-Planetary: this mineral, salt, or stone can only be found on Mars, in craters formed by meteorites, or by visiting asteroids in the dark void between worlds
Crystallised Element: base element (earth, air, fire, water, etc.) crystallised by magic into a pure form
Properties
Requires Special Preparation: must be cut to a specific shape, treated with acid, or specifically processed in some way
Unstable: don't drop it or it might explode!
Perishable: the ingredient will decay rapidly
Illegal: the mineral might be dangerous, taboo, restricted to a specific social class, or simply taxed so heavily that only certain people can afford it

5:4 INGREDIENT: SPECIAL

D4	Ingredient
1	spiritual essence
2	emotional essence
3	conceptual essence
4	philospher's stone

Spiritual Essence: roll a d6: 1 a soul or spirit in full; 2-5 one twelfth of a soul; 6 roll a d100, the formula requires this percentage of the alchemist's soul
Emotional Essence: extracted agony, bottled joy, powdered rage, etc.
Conceptual Essence: an enemy's forgiveness, a lover's scorn, a king's humility, etc.
Philosopher's Stone: a near-unique reagent prized by all alchemists, this might include an enchanted bottle, an alembic made from the bones of a god, or time spent cooking in the fires of creation

6:1 SPECIAL CONDITION

D6	Condition
1	illumination
2	celestial event
3	temperature
4	extra-planar assistance
5	mark of death
6	touched by the gods

Illumination: roll a d6: 1-3 must be kept in the dark; 4-6 must be constantly exposed to light
Celestial Event: must be created during a specific celestial event, roll a d6: 1 full moon; 2 lunar eclipse; 3 equinox; 4 solar eclipse; 5 solstice; 6 planetary alignment
Temperature: roll a d6: 1-3 must be kept cold; 4-6 must be kept warm
Extra-Planar Assistance: roll a d6: 1-2 divine; 3-4 demonic; 5-6 other
Mark of Death: the formula can only be prepared by someone who has died (undead, resurrected, etc.) or is very close to death (i.e. mortally wounded, terminally ill, an extremely old mortal, etc.)
Touched by the Divine*: roll a d6: 1-3 formula must be blessed; 4-6 formula must be cursed


Example: An alchemist wants to create a healing potion. They roll on both columns of the potion table and get a 2 (alcohol) and a 1 (plant). The alcohol description requests another roll which comes up as a 2 (weak). Rolling on both columns of the plant table we get a 4 (flowering) and an 8 (defensive), we roll for the defensive description and get a 3 (toxic fumes).

From this we can say that the healing potion requires a base of kvass, a weak alcoholic beverage made from bread; and that the main ingredient is the bright red petals of the kuryamma flower, a beautiful plant but one with a deadly perfume that paralyses any who come too close (turning would-be grazing animals into the flower's fertiliser, perhaps) - much more interesting than just 25gp worth of ingredients.

^{* Normally I would prefer to avoid mixing alchemy and religion, so I was tempted to leave this one out; but I also like the idea of PCs sneaking into a temple to steal a dead saint's thigh bone so they can use it in their new bomb recipe.}