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In this episode I muse a little about my next game and consider whether I’ve gotten lazy when it comes to world-building.
Our Monday episode is a bit late (busy weekend) but myself and Hannah have been chatting about different methods of stat generation in D&D.
In this Wednesday episode myself and Hannah discuss inventories, lightly touch on encumbrance and then I spiral off into ranting about shopping trips.
In this Monday’s episode myself and Hannah discuss barroom brawls and try to create a simple mini-game for running them:
The subject of this episode was suggested by:
If you’re interested in knowing more about Hexflowers, check out the following created by Goblin’s Henchman:
You can see the hexflower we created here.
The icons used in the hexflower and as the title image of this post were taken from Game-Icons.net
The subject of this post is to provide a fun little mini-game for running barroom brawls quickly in RPGs, this topic was suggested by Jason Connerley of the Nerds RPG Variety Cast and makes use of the excellent hex-flower creations of Goblin’s Henchman.
If you want to know more about hex flowers click here.
Essentially the mini-game works like this, the player party has a number of check boxes representing how long they can stay in the fight, the NPCs involved also have a number of check boxes.
Please note: The boxes do not represent the strict number of people nor HP, they are an abstract measurement of how you are doing in the fight.
If the NPC boxes are all checked before the PCs then the player party has triumphed, if the PC checkboxes are filled first then the PCs are all knocked out or subdued.
Please note: This game does not provide guidelines for what happens when the PCs lose or win the fight, that is down to the individual GM and the needs of their campaign, the purpose of this mini-game is to simulate a chaotic, quick, interesting pub brawl.
How to Play the Game
Once you’ve worked out the number of check boxes for PCs and NPCs, place a counter in the middle of the hex below. Each player then takes a turn to roll 2D6 moving the counter as indicated, each time the counter lands in a new space read the description and follow the action given then move on to the next player. Simple.
Hex Flower Key
But what happens if I go off the edge?
Should you dice roll result indicate that you have gone off the edge of the hex then you re-enter on the opposite side, a couple of examples are shown below:
Please feel free to leave comments and constructive criticism either on these blog or via voicemail on our podcast, the episode where we discuss the creation of this mini-game can be found here.
The icons used in the hexflower and for the header image of this post were taken from Game-Icons.net
Many thanks to Goblin’s Henchmen (the creator of the Hexflower idea) for pointing out I’d forgotten to mention what happens when you go off the edge of the hex.
In this Friend or Foe Friday we’re talking about those murderous, blood-drenched fey, the Redcaps.
This monster was suggested by:
The image used as a header for this blog post was taken from https://www.needpix.com/photo/download/1068785/mushroom-poison-redcap-free-pictures-free-photos-free-images-royalty-free-free-illustrations
In this episode Hannah has hi-jacked the mic again, we’re out by a campfire in our back garden creating a random table to add some more interest to random extras and NPCs that the player characters might come across in your game.
Below is the table that we have come up with so far, rolling on each of the columns will give you a very brief description and background element for each random red shirt or hireling you need to define.
| 1D12 Roll | Descriptor | From | Love/Hates | Because of |
| 1 | Old | Local | Food | An incident during childhood. |
| 2 | Young | Distant Lands | Drunkeness | That’s how they were raised. |
| 3 | Tall | City | Monsters/Aliens | Trauma from a previous mission. |
| 4 | Short | Country | Travel | Reminds them of a lost love. |
| 5 | Lithe | Coast | Magic/Technology | An incident with a friend or family member. |
| 6 | Pretty | Island | Fighting | Of a misunderstanding. |
| 7 | Ugly | Mountains | Diplomacy | A natural weakness or allergy. |
| 8 | Confident | Colonies | Quiet Missions | A supernatural curse. |
| 9 | Nervous | Homeworld | Heat | It relates to a hidden, dark secret. |
| 10 | Courageous | Ship Raised | Cold | Of an ancient prophecy foretelling their doom. |
| 11 | Intelligent | Alien World | Water | Trauma from a previous mission. |
| 12 | Cautious | Mines | Him/Herself | An incident during childhood. |
Image was taken from https://publicdomainvectors.org/en/free-clipart/Red-T-shirt/58719.html.
The start of the week has rolled round and I’m ranting about what I consider to be the right way to leave an RPG whilst Hannah valiantly tries to wrestle me back on topic.
It’s another Friend or Foe Friday and we’re discussing the mighty, leviathan of the deeps, the colossal Kraken.
In this Wednesday Wisdom episode myself and Hannah discuss some of the ways that the rituals surrounding death, burials and graveyards can be used to enhance your game.
As a a bonus below is a table of graveyard superstitions that you can use in your own games, some are adapted from superstitions that were common in the real-world whilst others are made up entirely:
| 1D10 Dice Roll | Graveyard Superstition |
| 1 | Carving the effigy of a skull onto the headstone wards off the attention of Orcus Lord of Undeath. |
| 2 | Burying a body so that the head faces the direction of the rising sun will prevent them from returning as a vampire. |
| 3 | If rain is allowed to fall in an open grave before the deceased is laid to rest in it then bad luck will follow the family. |
| 4 | The spirit of the first person buried in a graveyard is believed to rise and protect both the grounds and the bodies of the other people who rest their, so it was traditional to bury them with small tokens representing weapons to help them fight off any evil that may bedevil the graveyard in future. |
| 5 | Mourners traditionally wear black and veils to make it more difficult for restless spirits to identify them and follow them home from a burial. |
| 6 | Flowers only grow on the grave of a person who was good in life, whilst weeds and poisonous flora grow on the grave of a person who committed foul deeds. |
| 7 | If you hear an owl hoot whilst in a graveyard it is an omen of a future death that will affect you or someone close to you. |
| 8 | Should thunder sound during a burial ceremony it is the sound of the gates to the afterlife swinging open to admit the spirit of the deceased. |
| 9 | An iron grave-marker prevents the spirit of the deceased rising after death. |
| 10 | Victims of murder should be buried face-down to prevent their spectre from rising to seek out their killer. |
Below are links to a few websites containing further information on burial superstitions if you’d like to look into this further:
The image used in this article is Halloween Graveyard Grunge by Linnaea Mallette, taken from PublicDomainPictures.net
