Secret Santicorn 2025 - 1d12 Odd "Medieval" Dragons

Sylvanas_iii asks for:

A dX table of medieval dragons that look nothing like any self-respecting dragon should (e.g. the original French tarrasque) 

And thus I have found a bunch of illustrations of various dragons, most medieval, which are admittedly pretty similar. Honestly the OG Tarrasque is the best of the lot so I'll save that for last!

ROLL 1d12

1. Linear Longfellow

2. Beast of the Last Apocalypse

3. Cooler S

4. Stone-Bound Midgard Knotwyrm

5. Tatzelwurm

6. Peluda

7. Dragonogard

8. Angelcatcher

9. Graoully-Wagon

10. Gargoyle Pipedrake

11. Well Knucker

12. French Tarrasque

1. Linear Longfellow

HD10 AC Plate ML 10
Flyby attack 2d6. On hit, snatches into jaws and flies upwards!
1/day Cloud Breath Attack leaves thick cloud of moist fog.

This dragon very rarely touches the ground. It lives in thick clouds and follows along with cold fronts.
If the clouds dissipate it becomes exposed, and in its shame and horror it skims down to the ground to hunt those who saw it up there!

In combat it is swift but finds it hard to turn quickly, preferring to dart at a soft target and fly swiftly into the sky to drop the foe as many storeys as possible to their doom!

2. Beast of the Last Apocalypse

HD16 HD Chain ML 8
3 two-horned heads deal 2d6 each. 4 one-horned heads deal 1d6 each. Can grab up to 11 foes with its tails and slap them together for 1d10 per time or toss them away for fall damage.
Each head can breathe Golgotha Fumes 1/day in a sphere that triggers any prophecies within 50'.

Emerged from the sea during a previous End Time, the Final Hero never made it, and now it's at a bit of a loose end. Refuses to return to the sea. Attacks heroic individuals in the hope that it can get in on a subsequent prophecy.

In combat just goes wild grabbing people, smashing them together, throwing them at others, and eviscerating whoever's foolish enough to get in front of it.

3. Cooler S

HD6 AC Leather ML5
Bite 1d8. When hit, releases a Starburst Flash blinding all who see it until they Save vs Stun.
1/day Torchburst Beam blinds in a line.

Chubby little fellow who flees from foes and hopes to lead them into a small space where they'll easily be blinded and easily eaten.
Dead foes become a new star on its skin.

4. Stone-Bound Midgard Knotwyrm
Rock Form:
HD20 AC Plate ML12.
Regen 1d10/rd.
Wyrm Form:
HD8 AC Chain ML6
Choke 1d10. At will, transform between rock form and wyrm form.
1/day Stonelock Breath traps victims as patterns on stone until they Save vs Stun.

Accidentally summoned to life when an unwitting cultist sacrificed a seventh son of a seventh son on a particularly cool rune stone. The carving swarmed to life and devoured all in attendance!

Can shift between its original stone form (resistant, hard to hurt) and a wiggly knotted wyrm form that loves to choke and strangle.

5. Tatzelwurm

HD8 AC Leather ML9
Two claws 1d6 each, bite 1d10 + instakill poison unless Save vs Doom.
1/day Avarice Cloud transforms all the treasure on the victim(s) into another Tatzelwurm.

Cat-faced and shrill dragon whose fangs drip a deadly poison. Forms from buried treasure that remained hidden beyond the owner's death. If killed, collapses into the treasure it was made from.

6. Peluda

HD6 AC16 ML7

Bite 1d10, Tail swipe 1d6 + Poison.
If hit by an unarmed strike, attacker is poisoned unless they Save vs Doom.
1/day breathe out a flood of water that destroys crops and sweeps away foes. Save vs Stun or be washed away and prone.

This hairy beast spends its life submerged just below the water, crawling along the muddy bottom of freshwater rivers on tortoise feet.
The long fur on its body breaks up its outline, making it look like a mass of sunken reeds in clear water and practically invisible in a muddy stream.

Poisonous spikes protrude from the fur, and the same poke out of its club-ended tail which it swings with clumsy vigour.

Luckily it is something of a coward, and if confronted by overwhelming force it with breathe out a flood and hide in the choppy water as it swims away to escape. This does, however, do a number on crops and infrastructure in the flood zone.

7. Dragonogard

HD8 AC14 ML10

Front Bite 1d10. Back Bite 2 attacks per round at 1d6 each with the range of a spear.

1/day Combination Ray targets 2 foes and merges them back-to-back. No save. If one merged victim is damaged, the other takes the same. Both victims have -4 to hit and can't move unless they move at the exact same time. Victims can Save vs Doom every 24 hours, and if both are successful they unmerge.

Double-ended dragon with the front face of a kangaroo and the back face of a monkey on a serpent neck. They have a brotherly but antagonistic relationship with each other.

Prefers to jump into the air with its powerful kangaroo legs and hover while its monkey-faced tail darts down to tear off faces.

It will use its Combination Ray on people who clearly don't get along, or else two people with wildly different skillsets like attaching a Fighter to a Magic-User. 

It finds this really funny, the heads will be laughing about it for days!

8. Angelcatcher

HD6 AC14 ML5

Bite 1d10 absorbs 1 Lawful magical effect, prepared Cleric spell, or holy weapon ability and applies it to the Angelcatcher.

Immune to damage from Lawful entities and effects.

A dull-coloured dragon covered in ratlike fur and the size of a large Alsatian. It desperately wishes to devour Gods. Large bat wings allow it to fly for miles, but not high enough to reach its prey in Heaven.

The crime it committed to become immune to Gods was so heinous that they sent the Great Flood to erase all knowledge of its existence. While the knowledge was scoured, the Angelcatcher remains, quietly drifting through the sky to drop down on innocent angels like a falcon.

9. Graoully-Wagon

HD10 AC16 ML12

Crushing bite 1d20. Those in front of the moving wagon choose: take 1d10 damage or be thrown backwards 1d6*10'
1/day Procession Breath forces all in a 50' cone to push the wagon wherever it wants. Those unwilling can Save vs Chaos every ten minutes to stop.

A wooden dragon mounted on a wooden wagon. It has enormous jaws, an iron tongue, crushing teeth, and moves inexorably forward at the hands of a bunch of mind-controlled peasants who are having a wonderful time.

The Graoully-Wagon moves from town to town picking up extra people to help push it onwards and onwards.

Anyone who gets in its way is munched, thrown backwards, or crushed under its wheels.

10. Gargoyle Pipedrake

HD5 AC18 ML6

Acid Spit 1d8 plus rusts armour (-2 AC cumulative)

1/day Acid Rain Spray deals 4d8 (Save vs Blast for half) to all in 20' blast zone and rots metal away to nothing unless the save is passed.

Sentient pipework infected by the verdegrised soul of a copper dragon. Attaches to drainpipes and forms a spout. It can convert rain running through it into acid, spitting it at lone passersby during rainy nights and drooping down to slurp up the soupy residue.

It can zap to other buildings in thunderstorms by riding the lightning up and down through the clouds. A big enough storm means that it can travel to any town under the thunderhead.

11.Knucker

HD6 AC14 ML5

Bite 1d10 + drags victim down at a rate of 10'/round.
At will, cause the well or shaft they are in to become infinitely deep. 

A serpentine drake that inhabits deep vertical holes filled with water. Their natural habitat is knuckerholes, deep vertical holes in the geology, but they now prefer wells.

They are ambush predators, preferably grabbing a single victim and holding them underwater until they drown.

They can supernaturally cause the bottom of the shaft to become infinitely deep. They use this ability to hide from hunters (since if they are in the pocket dimension beneath the bottom of the well, they cannot be found) and to murder their prey (since the prey in the pocket dimension cannot get out, and if it hasn't drowned already it will soon).

12. Tarrasque

HD12 AC20 ML12

Sword-Teeth Bite 2d10 + Swallow for ongoing 1d10, tail swipe 1d8 to all in 30' arc behind it, ocular flame beam 1d8 + sets on fire at range of shortbow.

Anybody in melee range at the start of their turn must Save vs Blast or take 1d8 damage from tortoise spikes.

Counterattacks with a claw for 1d8 if a melee attack misses it.

1/day Save or Die Poison Breath Cloud 30'

A horse-sized monster as fat a a bull. It has a lion's head with massive teeth, the shell of a tortoise which is covered in spines, a long snakey tail, and six legs with enormous claws.

However it is very pious and will refuse to attack anyone bearing a holy symbol unless they attack it first, and if sprinkled with holy water it will become unable to harm anyone at all. For this reason it usually stays near water and begrudgingly accepts that this makes people think it's half-fish.

Another Underclock

I've been using Arnold's Underclock since about 5 minutes after that blog post dropped. It's great!

Trouble is I do miss the "oh shit there's something here RIGHT NOW that we have to deal with!" aspect of random encounters. So, as is my way, I've decided to nest other peoples' ideas into one thing and pretend like it's a new thing.

This is my Underclock. There are many like it but this one is mine.

Fusion: Underclock AND Overload

I mean Arnold did say "I like overloaded encounter dice. I like the Underclock more".

In summary:

• The players roll a 1d6 Encounter Die each exploration turn and mark off that many squares on the Underclock (left to right).
• The Encounter Die is overloaded so it always does something, but it's usually some sort of Clue.
• If they land on a monster face it's a classic Random Encounter. The clock keeps ticking.
• If they reach the end they have an Encounter with the local faction. Reset the clock.

Simple enough right? 1 in 6 chance of a Random Encounter every time, plus it eventually builds up to a guaranteed encounter they can prepare for.

Alertness

But what is "Alertness", I hear you ask?

This represents the organised dungeon denizens seeking you out.

The DM rolls the Alertness Die if you did something to attract attention.
Cause a ruckus, let foes escape alive, blow up a door, set off an alarm, knock a skeleton down a big well even though a wizard told you not to, that sort of thing.

The Alertness Die result marks off squares back up the Underclock towards you, reducing the time horizon until you get that guaranteed encounter.

If this overtakes your position on the Underclock, they get the jump on you with a surprise round!

The Alertness Die starts at d2 and increases a die size per encumbrance tier. 
The highest encumbrance in the party counts, because stealthily slipping through shadows doesn't matter when Sir Stabbington is stomping close behind in heavy armour and carrying a sackful of jingling treasure.

There's also the fact that sleeping in a monster-infested cave is generally a bad move, but sometimes you've got no other choice.

The Alertness Die permanently increases by one step if you sleep (in modern parlance, take a Long Rest) in a dungeon.
This resets if you leave the dungeon and spend a night on the surface.

The DM can always bump it up a level or two if you're habitually going around making extra noise. Dragging a handcart full of loot around, escorting a gaggle of kids who think it's a museum trip, wielding a singing sword who won't shut up, etc.

Local Faction

As for what the "local faction" is, this is whatever organised foes are mostly likely to be around.

This will be the Goblins in the Goblin Lair, the Necromancers in the Skeletal Hoard, the Magnet Eaters in the Technodungeon, etc etc.

In a Megadungeon you might have different local factions across a dungeon level, like Goblins in the west and Ratmen in the east.
If there is no such group, like it's an abandoned wizard's tower or forgotten tomb, this is the Mythic Underworld itself trying to eject you by means of whatever the most defining beastie is inside it. In the Antediluvian Manse it's Cataclysm Ghosts. In the Cretan Labyrinth, it's the Minotaur.

The main thing is that the players should be able to make an educated guess at what's coming for them so if the Underclock is close to running out they can make plans for ambushes, fortifications, hiding places, or fun rooms to lure their enemies into. 

Of course if the PCs are on good terms with said local faction, this could be a perfectly charming little social encounter! Yet another good reason not to murder everyone you meet.

Mêlée à Trois

There is every possibility that the players can land on a square that has a monster face and has already been marked off by the local faction.

In this case there's a random encounter and a faction encounter simultaneously.
Get chaotic! Even the random encounter is Goblins and the faction is Goblins, make up a reason why these Goblins hate each other nearly as much as they hate intruders!

Overloaded Encounter Die

Finally, the Encounter Die itself.

The players always roll a d6 and it goes like so:

1. Clue: Spoor
2. Clue: Tracks
3. Clue: Traces
4. Noise
5. Special
6. Special

Clue

These are all ways of giving the players an idea of what sort of beasties live around here, as in the original overloaded "Percept (clue, spoor)" result or Shadowed encounters on the OG Underclock.

Clue: Spoor means the creature is very close. It could be stalking you. This will be growls, shadows rushing past at the corner of your eye, still-steaming shadow effluent.
Roll a random encounter, describe the spoor, and lock it in. Next time they hit a Random Encounter it will be with that creature. Lasts until they hit the random encounter or roll a different Clue.

Clue: Tracks means the creature isn't close, but it's been here recently. This will be footprints, slime trails, clawmarks, dropped scraps, a recently devoured corpse.
Roll a random encounter, describe the tracks (and decide where it is, within a few rooms). If the players follow the tracks they can find the creature and surprise it! If they ignore the tracks, no further effect.

Clue: Traces is just evidence of the creature being around here somewhere. This will be shed fur, graffiti, a molted exoskeleton, an old nest.

Roll the encounter die and describe the traces. No further effect.

Noise

An errant sneeze, an accidental clang of the shield against a wall, an unseen femur cracked beneath your tread. Whatever it is, you've made enough noise to attract attention.

Everyone checks their current Encumbrance (in case someone has been mysteriously lax), then the DM rolls the Alertness Die.

Special

These are dungeon-specific results to give a pinch of dungeon-specific flavour.

By default (ie. common dungeon and/or if I haven't prepared something in time) these are:

5. Doors: Open doors swing closed, and closed doors become stuck this turn.

6. Lights: Light sources flicker and dim, you can barely see this turn.

In a spoopy dungeon they could be:

5. Fear! Save or drop everything and run screaming back the way you came - Save again in each room, you stop running when you finally succeed.

6. Bats! Swarm of bats puts out all light sources, those without a light Save or take 1d6 damage.

In a crashed spaceship they could be:

5. Magnetic Pulse! All metal objects (including you, if you're in metal armour) are stuck to the ground this turn.

6. Null Gravity! Everyone's floating in zero-G this turn.

Add a couple of fun effects and the dungeon will hopefully be memorable! Especially if you are...

A Victim of a Series of Accidents

If I roll a Special result that triggers an encounter, do both happen?
Can I land on a random encounter and roll a clue simultaneously?
If the Encounter Die hits a random encounter AND a Noise result, resulting in the local faction surprising me, am I fucked?

Yes.
Very very much yes.

It's up to the DM to work out this particular admixture. The more chaotic the better!

Discussion, However Brief

So basically this sub-system retains the time pressure "oh shit let's plan ahead"-ness of the Underclock with the surprising "oh shit ITS HERE!"-ness of the random encounter roll.

When the Underclock is getting close to finishing, it's probably a good idea to be extra super quiet (so they don't get the drop on you) and prepare for whatever's going to turn up (by setting up your ambush and waiting out the last few dots on the Underclock).
This won't always work of course, there's always the risk of a Noise result giving the baddies an ambush opportunity, but most of the time it's reliable...

The intelligent monsters being a guaranteed eventuality and the wandering monsters being an occasional occurrence should give each dungeon its own special flavour and its own sense-memory for my poor benighted players. After all, what's the point of invading the Goblin Caves if you never actually see a Goblin?

Most importantly the systems interlock in a way that will surprise me too!

Plus I get to update my Marching Order sheet to make the Underclock a bigger deal.

I even updated the Fleeing Table! Find it here.

Speech Impediments - For When PCs Remember a Language They've Never Spoken

We've all been there.

The party is confronted with an otherworldly horror uttering guttural chants, or behold a mysterious elven monolith covered in curling runes that twist before their eyes, or stand enraptured before the song of an ancient angel from a forgotten heaven, or receive an email from the marketing department.

Then one of your players hits you with the "oh wait that's one of my languages!" and you have to let them speak to whatever it is.

In regular D&D where you pick Languages during char gen, this happens when it turns out someone has been able to speak Gnomish or Celestial the whole time.

In my game this happens because my players insist on rolling Languages any time they come across a new creature that shows even the tiniest glimmer of sentience. This is why several characters apparently speak fluent Eastern Lowland Gorillese.
This is really very silly but it's fun enough to keep (a la the secret fourth option in this post).

What's the "solution" to this "problem"?
They obviously know the language, but given the fact that they've never even mentioned that they can speak it in months of adventuring it must have been quite a while since they did that exchange trip to the eighth circle of hell.
But they're totally fluent of course, but uhhh... how do you say...

I'm a Bit Rusty

The first time your character speaks a language that they haven't previously spoken in-game, they're rusty.

Roll 1d30:

Roll	Result
1	Can only speak in single syllables
2	Tourist phrasebook content only - "two beers please", "which way to museum?" etc.
3	They understand you but are always offended.
4	Words that start with a vowel only.
5	One word sentences only.
6	Absolutely always alliterate.
7	Words that start with a plosive only
8	Must "speak" by describing emojis.
9	Swear words only.
10	Must speak way too loudly.
11	Can only speak in quotations and metaphor.
12	Sentences must be spoken in reverse order
13	"Snake Snanguage" - all words start with the first two sounds of that language.
14	Unable to use pronouns (I/you/he/her/it/etc)
15	Unable to speak in present tense
16	No verbs
17	Speak in Haiku
18	Can only write it, not speak it.
19	Only know numbers
20	"G" and "J" must be pronounced with a soft "zh" sound, as in treasure or casual
21	No nouns
22	Last letter of one word must begin the next word.
23	One must refer to oneself as one, and instead of "we" or "they" must state the number of people in the group (eg. "One was with Four when someone robbed Two house")
24	No adjectives
25	All phrases must be an innuendo, if you know what I mean
26	All sentences must be noun-verb-object
27	Must stand on one leg while speaking
28	Overly formal, everyone must have a title, no contractions, etc etc
29	Every noun must be described by an incongruous and/or false adjective.
30	Can speak the language but only in a cartoonish over the top accent.

When you speak that language you must abide by the rolled limitation.
This represents your character pausing to think, forgetting words, getting tones wrong, using the wrong conjugations, and other such issues with dredging up the language you haven't used in a long time.
Failing to do so means you've said complete gobbledegook and nobody understands what you just said.

In subsequent sessions it's all come back to you and you are completely fluent.
Presumably you quickly brushed up on some refresher notes, or beseeched the Horrible Green Owl to reinstate your streak.

Specialists, of course, are always fluent from the get-go. Skills are their whole deal after all.

Inspired by the meta-diseases over at Beneath Foreign Planets.

Investments and Business Ventures: Yahtzee Edition!

You've been adventuring for months. You're on that sigma grindset. You want to make your money work for you.

Wine, women and song? Loser talk! 

Real winners have a system that works for them. It's not gambling, it's entrepreneurship!

The only way to lose is not to play!

Get in on the ground floor!

State your business, declare your stake, and choose your investment risk.

Stable: 1d6
Risky: 2d6
Wild: 5d6

At the start of every session you are at the table, roll your dice.

Odds decrease, evens increase. Sum them up and your stake changes by the percentage.

Example:
I have a stake in a Risky business. I roll a 3 and a 6. My stake increases by (-3+6) = 3%.

Market Forces!

Take a risk and reap the rewards! 

You're not a gambler! You're a market enabler! You're a job creator!

Doubles:

Roll doubles to gain a special extra effect. Obviously this is only possible at Risky or Wild levels!

1s: Bankrupt! Get ready to cast Sorrowful Zoom Call. Your business has been wound up as a going concern. Sackville-Baggins & Associates is ripping the copper wire out of the walls as we speak. Return to the business location within a reasonable timeframe and you can get half your stake back from the liquidation.

2s: Franchised! There's a branch or outpost of your business in the local area! If not right here then in a conveniently nearby town of your choice! Next time you may reroll one die.

3s: Financial Turbulence: The financial gods declare you to be more risky than hoped. Next time you roll at +1 risk level. If already at Wild, roll an extra d6.

4s: Surprise Merger! Your business and another player at the table's business have merged against the advice of the CMA! Each business affects the other, so if you're not there you get the result of their roll. If you're both at the table, decide whether you roll separately (affecting each other) or together (at a risk level you decide). PLUS your next roll has "roll 1 extra, drop 1".

5s: Local Disruption: -10% value you say? At least, you say?? The DM places a nominally single-session dungeon nearby (monster lair, 5 room dungeon, etc) which has caused this terrible turn of events. Clear the dungeon within a reasonable timeframe and you get to make it up with an extra business roll at the end of the session.
6s: Huge Profits! To the moon baby! Infinite profit is possible in a finite system! Your stake gains an additional +1d100% value!

Yahtzee(tm) Dice(tm)

This isn't a mere startup, it's a moonshot! Your employees are NPCs and those 20 hour days are the price of success! Let's go CEO! Let's become a centicorn!

Yahtzee Hands:

Roll yahtzee dice sets to get extra special extra effects. Yahtzee hands are only possible at Wild level, but you already knew that because you are a seasoned investor!

None: 

Chance. All dice and doubles apply as normal.

3 of a Kind: 

Critical Hit! Double your percentage gain/loss. Double effect is doubled too (ie. bankruptcy grants quarter value on return, huge profits return 1d200% value, etc)

4 of a Kind: 

Brand Power! Everyone in the local area knows the business by name. There’s a significant amount of merch and you’re basically a living colonel sanders. Your business roll adds a permanent additional 6.

Full House: 

Blessed by the Invisible Hand! You got a triple AND a double! Choose to ignore or double the effects of each dice set.

Small Straight (4 in a row): 

Capitalist Questing Beast. The DM places a monster out there which will give you a permanent additional 6 if you kill it. Go forth!

Large Straight (5 in a row): 

Anointed by the Invisible Hand! Every time you roll for your business, you can reroll any number of them and take the new result.

Yahtzee (5 of a Kind): 

Global Domination! 10x value! There is a branch of the business in every large town you come across! Bankruptcy is now impossible - treat a Bankrupt result as +0% value.

PS. Imagine updating your investment rules and realising that they were last created a decade ago.

Flashpoints - PCs in Mass Combat

Secret Jackalope is like Secret Santicorn but for Easter!
Which I clearly missed, but I did it in the end!
So here is my somewhat belated Jackalope gift for Mr. Florent "killerklown" Didier of D.R.E.A.D. who requested:

"A simple way to make character actions in mass combat meaningful yet dangerous and not omnipotent"


I already did this in my Titan-Scale Mass Combat rules, but just linking back to that feels like cheating!
So instead I'm just going to adapt it to something more human-scale, such that PCs will be able to affect the outcome on the battlefield rather than just commanding from above.

So the main thing is that the PCs need a goal that isn't just "roll attacks against enemy soldiers".

If they're just in the rank-and-file they have no agency and no real means to affect the battle - they're just another soldier, even if they're like ten times better at killing than a regular soldier.

More importantly they need several possible goals so they have agency.
Flashpoints are these goals - points where the PCs can influence the course of the battle.

Scenario-Building

Every good scenario has an outcome that is essentially "what happens if the PCs don't intervene?"
Set that now.

A good idea is to just grab a famous battle from wikipedia and use that!
Good for "realism", good for one of your players picking it up and going "oh sick I know exactly what went wrong in the Battle of Cannae!" and feeling cool for using their historical meta-knowledge.

This is also good for working out the terrain and the power imbalance between the two sides, less work for you is always good right?

Rules Overview

Battles are fought by Units, representing formations of troops.

Battles take place on a hex grid Battlefield.
The PCs can influence the battle by going to Flashpoints, places which could tip the balance of the battle in their favour.

Units

Armies are made up of individual Units, each representing a single formation of troops.
They have two stats - Speed and Power, and perhaps some extra bullshit special abilities.

Speed:

Slow Units (eg. zombies) move 1 Hex per Turn.

Standard Units (eg. human armies) travel at 2 Hexes per Turn.

Fast Units (eg. winged dragon-cultists) can move 3 Hexes per Turn.

Power:

A Units's Power dictates the die they roll in combat. It's 1dX, where X is their Power.

eg. a Unit with Power 10 rolls 1d10 for combat, a Unit with Power 6 rolls 1d6.

Combat:

Each side rolls their combat die.

The Loser loses 2 Power, dropping down a die size.

The Loser may move a hex, if able.

Killing a Unit:

If a Unit is at 4 power (ie. uses a base d4 for combat) and loses a combat, they are destroyed.

Survivors may flee, if possible, as a useless noncombatant unit.

Bullshit Special Abilities:
These are some extra bits to differentiate units and make them a bit more characterful.
Some possibilities:
Charge: Move an extra hex when you move in a straight line.
Riverwalk: Can cross water without a bridge.
Overrun: When you destroy another unit, move into their vacated hex.
Ranged: This unit can attack from 2 hexes away, but has -2 Power in normal melee combat. If they lose in a ranged combat against a non-ranged foe, they take no damage.

The Battlefield

Distance

The Battlefield is a hex grid. Each hex is as big as you need it to be.

Timescale
Each Turn is anywhere between 10 minutes and an hour - time is flexible in the midst of combat.

Terrain
Add some terrain to spice up the battlefield. Some possibilities:
Elevation: Units with the high ground gain +2 Power.
Slow Terrain: Units that move into this terrain end their movement.
River: Impassable to normal troops.

Flashpoints

Flashpoints are places where a small and dedicated group of 2-8 characters of appropriate level might make an impact.

Think of Aragorn and Gimli defending the gates from the battering ram at Helm's Deep, or what would have happened if Legolas had actually taken down that one guy with the torch before he could light the bombs under the walls.

Whenever two enemy Units engage in combat, a random Flashpoint occurs.
PCs that arrive in time can enter the Flashpoint - essentially a short combat scenario that affects the course of the combat.

The PCs success or failure decides the outcome of the combat.
Success: Your allied Unit wins.
Failure: Your allied Unit loses.

These can basically be any cool combat battle scenario you can think of and you'll need to stat them up appropriately, but here's a d10 table to start you off!

Roll 1d10:

1. Enemy Champion
A very strong foe is here! A big monster, a powerful enemy hero, or some other terrifying singular threat! Defeat the Champion and your side is assured of victory!

2. Defend the Breach

A hole has opened up in the ranks and/or fortifications, and enemy troops are surging through! Hold the line for several rounds until reinforcements arrive, your troops recover, or the fortification can be shored up.

3. Enemy Leader
A particularly important enemy commander is here, and their tactical acumen will lead to the inevitable victory of the enemy forces if they're not stopped!
Fight, sneak or otherwise reach the leader in a few rounds and either kill them or force them to flee.

4. Morale Shaken
The pressure of combat, the death of a beloved soldier, or some other calamity has shaken the faith of the troops! Fight at their side and encourage them with inspirational deeds and words, stirring their souls and raising their morale to fight back against their foes!

5. Unexpected Tactics
Something completely unanticipated has happened! Outriders are attacking the flanks, or some fell magicks have turned the soil to mud, or a feigned retreat has left the unit surrounded by once-hidden foes! Help your Unit recover the initiative and turn the tides back in your favour!

6. Push the Advantage
A hole has opened up in the enemy formation, an opportunity to break through if only someone could seize it! Lead the charge and break the morale of your foes!

7. Capture the Standard
The enemy is holding some prideful totem that gives their forces strength and power! Capture their prized standard, powerful magical totem, or whatever it is that will make them abased and demoralised if it is seized!

8. Mark a Target
Some sort of destructive ranged attack, be it massed bowmen or artillery or arch-wizard, is ready to fire on a tactically important place but they need someone to mark the target before they can do so!
Somehow get to the target location and plant the smoke canister, arrow-attractor, or magical ley-stone in position so they can blow it to hell!

9. Recon Mission
If only your troops knew what was ahead they could assure themselves victory! Whether it's an ambush, a trap, or simply knowing what the enemy they're facing has to fight back with, there's something ahead that would be easily overcome with prior knowledge.
You have limited time to go forth, find out the necessary knowledge, and survive to return and inform your troops of what lies ahead!

10. Elite Guard
The elite forces of the enemy are ahead - bloody-minded veterans, empowered uruk-hai, or some other force much more powerful than their regular rank-and-file is arrayed before you.
Support your troops in the fight ahead against a multitude of powerful foes!

The exact make-up of these different Flashpoints is down to the individual scenario.
If the enemy is other humans, an Enemy Champion result might be a particularly powerful warrior with a massive sword.
If they're undead it might be a massive zombie abomination that crushes all before it.
If they're mushroom men perhaps it's a rolling spore monster that chokes your soldiers so that the shroom rank-and-file can finish them off.

Turn Order

Each Turn goes like this:

1. Unit Movement
2. Create Flashpoints
3. PC Movement
4. Flashpoints!
5. Resolve Combat

1. Movement
Units move in whatever order you want up to their speed.

2. Create Flashpoints
If two opposing units are in adjacent hexes, a Flashpoint occurs!

3. PC Movement
PCs move in whatever order they want.
Since they don't have to march in formation, PCs are faster than regular Units.
Mounted: 4 hexes.
Lightly Encumbered: 3 hexes
Encumbered: 2 hexes
Morbidly Encumbered: 1 hex

4. Flashpoints!
If one or more PCs has moved to a Flashpoint, they see what the scenario is!
If they choose to engage, they join the Flashpoint scenario.

5. Unit Combat
If the PCs succeeded at a Flashpoint, their Unit wins!
If the PCs failed at a Flashpoint, their Unit fails.
Otherwise, roll for the outcome as above.

Some Example Units

Pikemen
Power 6. Speed 2.
- Pike Square: Bonus +2 Power vs Cavalry

Cavalry

Power 6. Speed 3.
- Charge: Bonus +1 Speed moving in a straight line.

Archers
Power 6. Speed 2.
- Ranged: This unit can attack from 2 hexes away, but has -2 Power in normal melee combat. If they lose in a ranged combat against a non-ranged foe, they take no damage.

Skeletons
Power 6. Speed 2.

- Raise Dead: Permanently gain +2 Power when they defeat a Unit with bones.

Dryads
Power 8. Speed 2.
- Treestride: This unit is not slowed by forests.

Dragon
Power 10. Speed 3.
- Flying: This unit is not blocked by impassable terrain.
- Devastate: If this unit wins a combat, the enemy unit loses 4 Power instead of 2.

Hopefully that's good enough! If you want to add monstrous unkillable titans that are threatened by nothing other than each other, check out the original post!

Wizard Rework Finale: The Death of Spell Levels + 500 Levelless Spells

Last year I reworked wizards so that they used Mana instead of spell slots.

In that very post I said the following -

This is part of my soft move towards all spells becoming scaling Level 1 spells, a la Wonders & Wickedness. This way I can still use the regular spells in the book while any new spells can be introduced at Level 1.

Time to make that soft move a HARD MOVE BABYYYYYY.

A Whole Load of Spells

First off, here's my big list of 500 levelless spells (and counting!) culled from many sources.


Ten Foot Polemic Spell List


If you look at the sources you'll notice there's lots GLOG-adjacent stuff because translating "[dice]" to caster level is a pretty easy shift!
I'm still adding stuff (next is to scavenge spells from individual GLOG wizards..) but biggest thanks to Isaak Hill, Skerples, Lost Pages, and this imminentchurchengine person who posted a massive d200 spell list on reddit.

Spells are hash-marked because it's sometimes useful to be like "You find scroll #154" and then look up the hash later when they finally identify it.


Quick rundown of what's in this sheet -

Generator:
Generates random MU and Necromancer spells and random spell mishaps for each.

Magic-User:
One big list of all the wizard spells I've got so far!

Magic-User Mishaps:
Automated version of Aura's wild magic table. Pulls through to the Generator tab, but useful if you need a specific table result.

Necromancer: Big list of Necromancer spells. Currently fairly short, but more to come!

Spellbook Generator: Generates 6 MU spellbooks and 6 Necromancer grimoires.
The MU one is designed to give starting wizards mostly standard LotFP L1 starter spells with 1-2 fun ones from the whole list. Got to make sure new Wizards mostly get the classics!
Necromancers get their archetypical spell Subjugate Dead and 3 random spells from the whole list. I might change that if the Necromancer spell list gets anywhere near as big as the MU one, but it's fine for now! Raising and controlling the Dead is the main one, after all.

The layout is meant for copy-pasting into a doc for printing, which is why it looks a bit janky, and it doesn't update if you refresh the page, sorry!

Wizard spells should spit out into this document if I've got it right - Beginner MU Spellbooks.
And Necromancer spells should come out here - Beginner Necromancer Spellbooks.

Get on my Level

So - the obvious. All spells are now "Levelless", or effectively first level spells that scale with caster level.

This means I can tighten up the spellcasting rules as follows:

Mana: You have 1 Mana per level. This powers your spells.
You can still cast spells when you’re out of Mana, it’s just significantly more dangerous.
Your Mana Pool refills after 8 hours of rest.

Casting: You have two ways of casting spells.
Bound: Bind spells in advance. For those who plan ahead.
Wild: Cast instantly and spontaneously. For those who live in the moment.

Spellbinding: Spend 1 Mana and 10 minutes meditating with a spellbook to create a Bound Spell.
It takes a round to cast a Bound Spell - declare casting as an Action, it goes off at the start of your next turn. If you get hurt mid-cast, Save vs Chaos. On success you maintain casting, on failure the spell goes off immediately as a Chaos Burst

Wild Magic: Roll 2d6 on this table plus:

Skill: Your Intelligence modifier.
Bulk: -1 per Encumbrance level
Mana: For each Mana you spend, roll an extra 1d6.
Blood: For each HP you sacrifice, add +1.

Wild Magic is cast instantly as an Action.

Caster Differentiation

I had a few ideas about caster differentiation on one of the initial posts, but I've had a couple of slight changes of heart since!
Most significantly I'm making Necromancers have the same casting rules as others. This has necessitated separate spooky-themed Chaos Burst and Cosmic Horror tables, but that's part of the fun!
A smaller change is to move back to Magic-Users having one Familiar. I liked the idea of a powerful wizard being surrounded by a cloud of animals and people being able to guess what they've got prepped, but having a single Familiar (or two, in one notable case) is pretty iconic in my game now.

In short -

• Magic-Users get a Familiar and the most flexibility.
• Necromancers get a separate spooky spell list and need bodily fluids and stuff to cast spells at full power.
• Muscle Wizards trade range for close-combat capability.
• Elves get themed superpowers but can only cast Wild Magic.

Each caster class also gets a unique Vengeance when they die, which I thought would be a fun way to make the chaotic casters inject even more chaos into a situation!

Full player facing stuff is in the Quick Class Breakdowns, but here's the rundown using the casting rules above as the baseline.

Magic-User

Starting Spells: 
Start with a Spellbook containing four random spells.

Familiar:

Choose a smallish animal to be your Familiar at character creation. Familiars obey orders, communicate telepathically, and cannot die. If ever somehow destroyed, your Familiar reforms next to you.
Spells can be cast through your Familiar - counting it as the origin point of the spell.

Cantrips:
When you bind a spell, you can bind it into your own head or into your Familiar.
Spells bound in your head grant you access to Cantrips - minor magical effects on the general theme of the bound spell, eg. Sleep could make someone yawn or Magic Missile might give you a bonus to Aim actions.
Spells bound to your Familiar grant it useful mutations. Shield might give it a tough shell or Spider-Climb could give it spider legs to climb up walls.
These effects last until you cast the spell.

Wizard Vengeance:
When you die your Familiar mutates into a horrifying demon and takes revenge.
Unspent Mana gives it more power. Uncast Bound Spells give it more abilities.
Roll it up with this generator: Saker's Summon Hack.
It's base HD is your level +1 for each unspent Mana you had.
It can cast any remaining Bound Spells you had at-will.



Notes:
Moving to levelless spells really streamlines this class.
Familiars are the only change to before - back to a single creature.
Familiars are good for signal-boosting spells, delivering Touch or Area attacks at range, and mutating into useful forms for shenanigans.
Oh also I'm so glad I was linked to that Summon hack! Great stuff!

Necromancer

Starting Spells:
Start with a Grimoire containing Subjugate Dead and 3 random spells.

Vials:
Also start with a bandolier of glass vials. You fill these with the ritual components of your spells.
The bandolier is non-encumbering, but when you fill a vial it is added to your inventory.
You can stack up to 5 identical vials to an encumbrance slot.

Components:
You require vials of ritual components to cast spells at full power. The components are listed in the spell descriptions.
Sacrifice the required components when you cast the spell, otherwise the spell is cast as though you're a level 1 caster.

Last Breath:
The Dead will only obey those who speak with their voice, and so the most important ritual component is Last Breath - the final gasp of a sapient creature.
Breathing this in grants you the Voice of the Dead - crucial for raising, subjugating and controlling your Dead minions. A single vial lasts 10 minutes, after which your minions will simply obey the last order they were given.

Death Resistance:
Bound spells are ghosts that live in your bones and help hold your soul in.
Each Bound Spell grants you +1 when you roll to Tempt Fate.

Necromancer Vengeance:
When you die you release a wave of death magic and vengeful ghosts.
This deals 1d6 damage per unspent Mana and uncast Bound Spell to every living thing within 10'/level.



Notes:
Streamlining the Necromancer to be in line with other casters is good for newbies.
While in the previous version I envisaged the Necromancer as the mirror of an Elf - ie. can't do Wild Magic while an Elf can only do Wild Magic - it turns out every newbie finds "Necromancer" more evocative than "Magic-User"!

They've still got a "prepare in advance" vibe through their need to have vials of stuff ready in their bandolier, but you'll notice this doesn't matter at Level 1.
It would suck to be a new player or new character starting in the middle of a dungeon and find out you're unable to cast your spells because you don't have any salt or eye jelly on hand!
The components are loosely themed - like salt is for warding spells and blood is for affecting living things. I'll be building up the Necromancer spell list over the next little while, so more to come!
Having a bandolier of stuff for Necromancy is, naturally, inspired by Abhorsen. Albeit those were bells not vials of phlegm and bone dust.

The exception is Last Breath for their signature spell, as you'll see in the Subjugate Dead spell description in the starter grimoires.
Last Breath is evocative and also pretty readily available in any delve - just do a murder!
I also dig the idea that intelligent Dead are powerful because they don't need Last Breath to control minions - they're already speaking with the Voice of the Dead.
The ten minute limit on Last Breath is so you can micromanage your minions in a combat situation, but outside of combat you'll need to put them on autopilot.

Oh yea, and if you bind your spells in advance it makes it harder for you to die! Cool huh?
And then if you do die, you pull every motherfucker in the room into hell with you.

If you've got any rad Chaos Bursts or Cosmic Horrors for Necromancers, hit me up. I need more entries!

Muscle Wizard

Starting Spells:

Start with a Spellbook containing 4 random spells.

Muscle Magic:
Your fists deal 1d4 magical damage and count as Shanky weapons.
All spells have a maximum range of 10' - punching distance - and casting your spells must be combined with an unarmed attack.
You choose whether a spell you cast affects you, your target, or both.

Core Power:
Mana suffuses your core, increasing your resilience.
You gain +2 HP for each unspent Mana in your Mana Pool.

Bound Strength:
Binding spells moves them into your muscles to grant yourself physical power.
Each Bound Spell grants your unarmed attacks +1 to hit and +1 to damage.

Final Impact:
When you die you can flash-step to somewhere in the scene, utter a final line, and unleash your ultimate move.
Deal 1d6 damage per unspent Mana and uncast Bound Spell to a creature in the vicinity.


Notes:
I still laugh at that ridiculous Wide Kylo Ren meme. Anyway...
No big changes to the previous version, except they've got to choose between +HP and +attack with their Mana.
Do you keep it in Mana form so you're tough? Or turn it into Bound Spells so you're buff?
Remember - there's no penalty to casting Bound Spells in armour, so you can mitigate the HP tradeoff with better AC.

Affecting yourself and someone else with a single spell is very intended. Being able to go two-for-one on a buff spell at the cost of punching your mate in the face makes me laugh.

Elf

Heartspell:
Elves start with a single random spell from this list. This is their Heartspell.
It defines what powers they will receive and the monster they will become.

Wild Mage:
Elves cannot Bind spells.
They can cast their Heartspell instantly as an Action. Other spells require a Wild Magic roll to twist their Heartspell into a new shape.

Changeling:
The more Mana an Elf has, the more powers and mutations they manifest.
Mutations and powers can be found here - Elf Mutation List.
These power tiers are based on Mana, not character level, so they lose their gifts as they use up Mana.
If an Elf runs out of Mana they can no longer cast spells - they are human once more.

Moondancer:
Elves do not sleep, but they do disappear for hours at night to dance beneath the moon.
They are gone for an hour per level at some point during the night. When they return, their Mana is back to full.
Their powers wax as the moon wanes.
They get +1 Mana during a Crescent Moon, and double Mana during the New Moon.
They get -1 Mana during a Gibbous Moon, and half Mana during a Full Moon.

Cold Iron:
Cold iron weapons deal maximum damage to Elves.
Cold iron is simply iron that is cold - not a special type of metal.
Sustained contact with cold iron locks the Elf off from their powers, reverting them to human form until the cold iron is removed.

Wild Vengeance:
When an Elf dies it releases a Chaos Burst of its Heartspell per unspent Mana, each randomly targeted at any creature within 50'.

Notes: No big changes here, other than to give them their own special Vengeance thing.
That'll be great fun if my players face enemy Elves...

There's another minor difference to other casters - Elves technically can run out of spells! If you want to cast that dangerous 2d6 Wild Magic you'll need to keep a Mana back so you stay an Elf rather than some measly human.

original muscle wizard pic before I remembered about Ben Swolo

Finale Worde

So there you have it! What I always kind of wanted to do with the caster classes but was too lazy to follow through with!
Big big thanks to KingPenta who was the main person to nudge me into de-levelling the lotfp spells, and another big thanks to the GLOGosphere who I will continue to mine for levelless spells.
Turns out I find it kind of relaxing to translate content into my game's own idiom? I figure I'll just keep building it up over time.

Part of the fun is going to be adding my players' spells to the list over time as they research them, and in fact there are already a few in there from Sophia's brief but shining run as an Elf.

Conveniently enough one of my players has rolled up a Necromancer and another just rolled up a Wizard after his previous character united with his god and ascended ever so slowly to heaven, so I'll actually be able to see how they go in play!