A couple of weeks ago we looked at five books that the good people behind LOTFP had sent us for review purposes, we pretty much loved all of the modules, but if you want to find out our more detailed opinions check out the podcast episodes below:
Or if you prefer Youtube the reviews are also available over there:
In a today’s episode of the Red Dice Diaries RPG Podcast we talked a little bit about Snake Oil Salesmen, purveyors of dubious cure-alls and miracle tonics.
You can find a link to the podcast/audio version here:
Or–if you prefer–there is also a Youtube version available:
In the episode we talk about some of the potential RP benefits and texture that including such fraudulent “healers” can bring to a campaign where real magic actually exists, and why people in such a world might still be conned by these charismatic ne’er-do-wells.
If you need a quick Snake Oil Salesman in your campaign, use the madlib below and fill in the details by rolling on the provided tables to get some details on who they are and what they are selling.
Madlib
In the [PLACE] you see, [NAME1][NAME2] a [DESCRIPTION1][DESCRIPTION2] wearing [DESCRIPTION 3] clothes; they are selling a tonic called [NAME2]’s [TONIC1][TONIC2] said to [EFFECT 1], but actually it is made mainly of [INGREDIENT1] and [INGREDIENT2].
1D12 Roll
PLACE
NAME1
NAME2
DESCRIPTION1
DESCRIPTION2
DESCRIPTION3
TONIC1
TONIC2
EFFECT1
INGREDIENT1
INGREDIENT2
1
town
Marco
Wiseman
tall
rogue
mismatched
revitalising
tincture
restore lost hair
vinegar
vegetable matter
2
village
Jean
the All-Knowing
short
vagabond
theadbare
curing
tonic
renew youthful looks
salt
aniseed
3
city
Peter
the Wise
broad
eccentric
opulent
calming
remedy
bestow great strength
tallow
brandy
4
square
David
the Mystic
rotund
figure
stained
energising
compound
cure all ills
urine
fennel seeds
5
market
Michael
Plentiman
thin
jester
oddly coloured
medicinal
infusion
act as a marital aid
animal fat
parsley seeds
6
back alley
Fribzan
Curazo
excitable
salesman
fashionable
soporific
preserve
cure cholic
mineral oils
rhubarb
7
street
Salaya
Pinkerman
frantic
inventor
antique
reknowned
balm
prevent ailments caused by bad air
powdered stone
saffron
8
plaza
Samantha
the Divine
smooth
herballist
second-hand
world famous
cream
cure toothache
iron filings
liquorice
9
gardens
William
Hennesy
calculating
sage
dirty
family
elixir
remove joint pain
bile
drinking alcohol
10
field
Charlotte
the noted Doctor
mercenary
wise-person
immaculate
ancient
potion
cure hangovers
dung
caraway
11
hamlet
Marianne
the reknowned Physick
sensational
monk
creased
mystical
rub
make one proof against diseases
vegetable oil
fenugreek
12
tavern
Simbal
the Sage
flamboyant
priest
gaudy
purgative
tablets
cure skim blemishes
chalk powder
dandelion root
It is up to you as the GM as to whether the tonic has any actual effect, but a single dose can be purchased for 1D12 GP from the salesman.
Recently Hannah and I recorded a short podcast episode where we discussed the phenomenon of the Screaming Skull, a legendary tale where a person or persons requests their skull to be stored in a particular location and–when the skull is inevitably removed–it begins to scream or manifest other poltergeist-like behaviours. In the episode we talked a little about how you could use such an item/entity in your D&D game, you can check out the episode below:
Hannah identified a few recurring themes in these stories:
A wronged noblewoman loves her home, and asks to be interred there, the priesthood disapproves, and she is buried in the churchyard, she screams until her skull is back in the house.
A poorly treated slave begs to be freed so he can die in his home country, his master refuses and has him buried in a potters field. the master is haunted until he brings the skull into his home.
A Parlimentarian soldier hears what was done to cromwells body and begs his family to hide his skull in the family home so that the royalists can’t desecrate him.
A resurrectionist stole a body for study, and the skull likes to stay there.
This got us thinking about how you could change this up, giving your Screaming Skulls a little bit more flavour and–as an unashamed fan of random charts–I started hashing out a mad-lib style chart to use as a starting point for a Screaming Skull.
The basic mad-lib format goes like this:
The [verb] skull of [name] [place].
You can then roll on the table below to fill in the gaps:
1D6 Roll
Verb
Name
Place
1
screaming
Burton
manor
2
groaning
Marston
farm
3
weeping
Alderley
hall
4
howling
Caldwell
cottage
5
moaning
Tattershall
castle
6
cackling
Windham
abbey
For example: A roll of 6, 3 and 2 on 3D6 would give us The cackling skull of Alderley farm.
Of course you could–an probably should–substitute the place names with ones that are appropriate for your own campaign world.
Hannah has also produced a couple of additional charts to fill in some extra details regarding the skull, these can either be rolled on using 1D6 or an option that fits simply chosen.
Cause of Death
Tortured by home owner.
Murdered by “ruffians”.
Natural causes.
Killed in action.
Murdered by a lover.
Suicide.
Reasons to Scream
Wants revenge on those who wronged them.
Fears desecration by enemies.
Loves the house.
Loves the family.
Atonement for sins committed in life.
Disturbed by the presence of an unbeliever.
We hope you have fun using these charts to inject a dose of skeletal cackling in your games, if you do, or you have any ideas concerning this you can always drop us a voicemail message using the Speakpipe app (link below) and you may be featured on a future episode of the podcast:
There has been a link/page on the main Red Dice Diaries blog page providing some basic information about our (at time of writing) currently running Old-school Essentials campaign Smoke & Snow, a game that began with the theme of humanity attempting to resettle a homeland their ancestors had fled ahead of a great arcanely fuelled ice-age.
Following on from last episode I talk a little bit about my thoughts having prepped and run a session using the method from Sly Flourish’s Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master.