Thursday, October 25, 2012

magic blades for DCC RPG

Because Dungeon Crawl Classics has a design philosophy that every magic item be unique, and because the creation of a random magic weapon is so extensive, I've decided that it would be useful for me to have some pre-generated magic weapons to be able to litter in mid- to high-level adventures later on.


Inghem
Inghem was a long sword ensorceled by a lazy wizard in the city of Wallengard, where the captain of the watch paid handsomely for possession of the sword. His son inherited the sword and believing that Inghem's potential as a survival tool was priceless. He ventured out to lands unknown, never to be heard from again.
+1 to hit, damage 1d8+1
Chaotic, Int 6, no communication
wielder and all allies within 30' gain +2 to hit and damage vs unicorns
Detect Water, 70' at will

Wit
Wit was once used by a famous assassin by the name of Zag. Zag used the dagger to backstab, garrote, and slay wizards from one end of the world to the other. He would keep the wealth from these killings but destroy the magic items. Nobody knows why he set out on this personal quest against magic-users, but everybody knows he eventually met his end at the hands of the Watery Graves, a band of mercenaries renowned for drowning their targets who had been hired by a secretive (and still unknown) wizard.
+2 to hit, +1 critical range vs wizards, damage 1d4
Neutral, Int 11, empathy, become one with nature
Detect Magic 2/day (21 effect)
Detect Corruption, 1000' at will
Acid Resistance, ignore 3 points of damage, +1 to saves vs acidic attacks

Filbey
In the 7th century of the Arkadan Empire's supremacy, a priest of Gorhan wielded Filbey against the third Army of Chaos Beasts. He hunted their lich-dragon general into the Kerbennian Mountains and was said to have used his last breath to slay the un-dead Chaos dragon. Where the sword ended up after that final battle is anyone's guess...
+2 to hit, +1 critical range vs undead, damage 1d8+2/+6 vs. Orcs
Lawful, Int 11, empathy, wants to slay Chaos and undead
Locate Object 2/day (26 effect)
Detect Secret Doors within 10' at will
Whirlwind Strike: Instead of making his normal attack, the wielder can make two attacks in a single round, but rolls 1d10 for each attack instead of his usual action die. He applies his normal attack bonus. Critical hits are not possible when attacking in this manner.

the Razor of Argis
This dagger that was crafted by the hands of a Lord of Chaos whose name has been forgotten for thousands of years, but whose influence still extends under the watchful eye of the Hidden Lord.
+4 to hit, Damage 1d4+4
Chaos, Int 18, speech and telepathy, punish interlopers and those who interfere with clearing the world for the invasion of the Lords of Chaos
+1 to hit & damage vs Humans
+1 to hit & damage & critical range vs dragons
+2 to hit & damage vs Clerics
+2 AC bonus vs Lawful while wielding Argis
Berserker Fury when facing Clerics; ego check or wielder gains +4 Strength and Stamina for 2d6 rounds, then is exhausted at -4 Strength and Stamina for 1d6 turns thereafter 1d6 then 1d6+10
Unreasoning Hatred: sword urges wielder to attack Lawful creatures at every opportunity (ego check)
Globe of Darkness obscures surroundings within 20’ at will
Armor-breaker: On any critical hit, the opponent’s armor is destroyed, in addition to other effects.
Weapon-breaker: On any critical hit, the opponent’s weapon is destroyed, in addition to other effects. If the creature has natural weapons, they are maimed (e.g., claws are broken, teeth are shattered, etc.).
Throwing Blade: Sword can be thrown up to 20’ to make a ranged attack. It always returns to its owner’s hand after a throw.
Un-dead Touch: The weapon scores critical hits as an Un-dead creature, rolling 1d30 on crit table U whenever a crit is scored.
Summon Troll: The sword is magically keyed to Trolls and the wielder can summon such a creature 2 times per day.
Eviscerator: When rolling damage, the wielder rolls an additional damage die every time he rolls a 4. For example, if the PC rolls a "4" for damage, he then rolls another 1d4 and adds that to the damage result. Continuing to roll an extra die with every "4" that is rolled.
Rift Ripper: A creature struck by this blade must make a Fort save vs DC 13 or is banished to a random plane of Chaos.


I rolled randomly for the first three, using the stats of a wizard getting increasingly stronger in level and skill, but the last one I starting with the highest possible characteristics and rolled randomly from there. I massaged the results for many of the Banes so there wasn't anything that seemed out of tune with the blade's purpose, and I replaced the Medusa's Touch power with Rift Ripper, but it works essentially the same.

Monday, October 15, 2012

DCC Optional Rules

After my players were on the short end of a total party kill I've decided to codify the optional rules I'm going to allow them to draw upon during gameplay.

Shields Shall Be Splintered: A character wielding a shield may elect to have the shield be destroyed in order to avoid being struck by a killing blow. Magical shields are knocked out of the character's hand and a full-round action must be spent to pick it up again.

Helmets Shall Be Dented: A character wearing a helmet may elect to have the helmet ruined in order to avoid suffering a critical hit. This reduces all damage done to 1 point. Magical helmets are knocked off a character's head and a full-round action must be spent picking it up and putting it back on.

Feel The Burn: I know I read this elsewhere but currently can't find the source. A character may take a permanent 1 point loss in Stamina to heal 1 hit dice worth of hit points. If the reduction in Stamina results in a penalty (or a loss of a bonus), the maximum hit point total of the character is affected.

Coup de Grace: As long as a creature has the discernible anatomy for a coup de grace, it may be performed on their defenseless body. Prone but active targets still require a roll to hit.

Perception is not a Skill: Perception rolls become a function of the relevant ability plus level added to the roll. (see Method 3 in the link)

Take Ten: If the character is not in combat (or a stressful environment) they may avoid rolling a die to accomplish a task and instead may "take ten" minutes to finish a task. The task is finished as if they rolled a '10' on their die. If they succeed they may continue on, if they fail than they must accept the result. This rule may be used to carefully cast a spell, climb a ledge, or examine their surroundings. (There is NO 'Take Twenty' rule.)