Brainstorming House Rules Sword and Sorcery Gaming

I've been brainstorming a few ideas for a sword and sorcery game based on characteristics. It turns out that 100 is just too many for my brain to up with, but it came up with some interesting ideas none the less.

Many of these ideas are stolen from various sources around the blog-o-sphere and I have lost track whose is what. So if I took something of yours and would like credit, shoot me an email.

Background

Characters can either hail from the barbaric wilderness or the heart of civilization. Whether a character is barbaric or civilized will play an important roll in the game.

Traits

All characters begin play with a trait, replacing class and ability scores. Roll a d10 on the table below that corresponds to your character’s background.

Barbaric Traits
1. Extraordinary Size: Can wield two handed weapons in a single hand and can wield oversized weapons in one hand, but armor must resized to fit.
2. Berserk: After taking damage, make a saving throw vs. spell or go into a furious rage. While berserk, you gain a +2 bonus to hit and to damage rolls, but are compelled to engage foes in melee combat unless a save vs. spell is made (can be attempted once each round).
3. Brawler: Unarmed attacks deal 1d6 damage and can always kill rather than knock out opponents reduced to 0 or fewer hit points; can fight normally with improvised weapons.
4. Hunter: +1 to find and follow tracks; no chance of misfire when shooting into melee.
5. Sturdy: Can withstand extreme heat and cold; +1 to armor class when unarmored and saving throws vs. death and poison.
6. Cat Eyed: Can see twice as far as most men in conditions of dim light and can see normally in complete darkness.
7. Scout: Can only be surprised on a roll of a 1; +1 to surprise others when alone.
8. Fast Healer: Heal 1d2 points of damage per day of rest; heal 1d6 points of damage after each combat.
9. Animal Friend: Animals are calmed by your voice and will not attack you unless threatened.
10. Innately Magical: Roll once on the magical ability table.

Civilized Traits
1. Silver Tongued: +1 to reaction rolls and henchman loyalty
2. Shield Expert: 1 in 6 chance of to blocks attacks in melee.
3. Assassin: +1 to surprise others; +1d6 damage when backstabbing
4. Wealthy: starting coin is in gold rather than silver. Receives an allowance of 1d6 gold coins each month.
5. Thief: +1 to open locks and pick pockets.
6. Scholar: You know 1-4 additional languages and gain a +2 bonus to saving throws vs. spells.
7. Merchant: You have a 4 in 6 chance to accurately appraise the market value of any item.
8. Soldier: Gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls with swords and crossbows.
9. Tradesman: You are skilled in a trade, such as blacksmithing, glass blowing, or farming.
10. Innately Magical: Roll once on the magical ability table.


Magical Ability
1. Visions: 1d6 chance per night to have a vision of the past, present, or future.
2. Snake Tongue: You speak the language of snakes and can command them with your voice.
3. Magic Sense: You are able to detect the presence of magic within 100’.
4. Control Undead: Undead creatures must save vs. spells or obey a single command.
5. Telekinesis: You are able to move light objects that you can see with your mind.
6. Beast Shape: Save vs. spell to transform into a beast. Failure indicates the lose of 1d6 hit points.
7. Domination: You can focus your mind to control human creatures that fail a save vs. spells. If the save succeeds, the intended victim knows who you are and what you tried to do.
8. Telepathy: Direct mind-to-mind communication with intelligent beings that transcends language.
9. Touch of Corruption: Anyone you touch must save vs. spell or roll on the corruption table. Both you and the touched creature are corrupted.
10. Kiss of Death: Any human you kiss on the lips dies.


Sorcerous Corruption

When a spell fails to cast (which I will explain later if I end up continuing the project), a sorcerer must succeed a saving throw vs. spell or roll on the table below and suffer the indicated effect. The referee should make both rolls in secret and only inform the sorcerer if the effect is immediately noticeable.

Corruption
1. Eyes glow red
2. Loses all of his hair
3. Loses sense of smell
4. Touch spoils wine
5. Limb becomes limp and useless
6. Develops an allergy to all food not treated with nightshade; immune to the poison of nightshade
7. Emits a terrible odor of decaying flesh
8. Touch turns food to dust; no need to eat
9. Become susceptible to sever sunburns whenever skin is briefly explored to sunlight
10. Teeth and finger nails fall out
11. Looses sight in one eye
12. Skin becomes unnaturally cold and clammy, covered with a thin film
13. Eyes become large and bulbous, always seeping and bloodshot
14. Voice becomes raspy and weak, barely above a wheezy, hoarse whisper
15. Ages 10d6 years
16. Finer nails and hair grow incredibly fast and must be trimmer at least twice a day
17. Skin on one arm develops necrosis and dies in 1d6 days; Arm is still useable, even after becoming skeletal
18. Eye develops in the palm of one hand
19. Legs fuse together and become worm-like
20. Flexible snake jaws; mouth can open wide enough to engulf a human head.
21. Skin becomes transparent
22. Hair on head becomes a mass of waving cilia
23. Tongue becomes points and snake like
24. Can only digest human flesh
25. Develop a venous bite
26. Becomes amphibious and can only survive out of water for 1-6 hours at a time; roll a saving throw vs. death ever hour thereafter.
27. Teeth become sharp like a carnivore’s
28. Wounds take twice as long to heal
29. Water is treated as a deadly poison
30. Skin becomes scared—as if severely burnt

Setting Up a Weird Fantasy Campaign

It is with regret that I admit that it has been quite a while since my last post. Real life has caught up with my, like it often does. But summer is almost here and a break from classes will provide me with additional gaming and blogging time.

Now, this post is not about Jame Raggi IV's upcoming release, but more along the lines of how to effective establish a weird fantasy campaign so that the players sit a little uneasy on their seats.

Weird fantasy is not the same as "swords and sorcery" or "swords and planets." The term weird fantasy describes a certain feel and atmosphere that is created by contrasting elements of nature and medieval culture (the norms) with the weird, the unexpected, and the knowable. What is the weird, that is for the referee to figure out. There is no precise definition for what is weird, for all individuals will certainly have three own ideas about what makes them just so slightly uneasy. The weird should also be something that contrasts itself with the norms of the setting.

To separate the weird from the normal, the normal must first be established. The easiest way to do this is to create a very stereotypical medieval world with little to no magic within it. As the campaign progresses, the situations become more and more ordinary and pass into the realm of the weird.

If you look at Lovecraft's work, it is easy to see how he uses this method in his stories. He first establishes and believable world with believable physics, character, and plot. But as the story progresses, Lovecraft begins to foreshadow and make indirect illusions to the upcoming encounters with the unknowable. When the unknowable presents itself, it is truly knowable only because the baseline of a normal world was established.

This is all very abstract, I know, but I hope it made sense to a few of you.