Osric_of_O wrote:

I don't think I've ever seen game mechanics for (even dream-imitations of) the scabbard of Excalibur.  Sweet!  

Do you have an angle on Arthuriana in Hyperborea, @Carnby, or is this just what Kelts would like to recreate?

Thanks! My thinking was that after the Battle of Camlann, some survivors were led by the Lady of the Lake through strange and sodden tunnels, out of Old Earth. On Hyperborea these Britons carved out some petty kingdoms until the Green Death brought down most civilization and they ended up, for the most part, culturally integrating with other Kelts. Very, very few Britons speak Brittonic now, mostly elders and those that confidently claim descent from those first knights, who form a loose society known as the Children of Camlann, and even then for most of them Keltic is their first language. On the other hand, Brittonic culture has influenced Hyperborean Kelts as well, with most Keltic cataphract training being derived from Brittonic sources (and many Keltic cataphracts being descended from Britons as well), and legends of Old Britain being known amongst Keltic bards. The Children of Camlann hope to one day create a new Avalon in Hyperborea, but tend to be more fractious than other Kelts; the Children of Camlann consider the Anglo-Saxons, the Franks, the Picts, and the Romans to be ancestral enemies, and truthfully aren't terribly chummy with the Vikings either. Religion among the Children of Camlann tends to be either Apollo (with conflict between the ones that worship him as Apollo and those that worship him as Mithras) or Mordezzan (as Arawn), though there is a small cult to Tlakk-Nakka that handles important socio-religious matters (these were the ones to discover the first Dreaming Crypt).

For making a Briton character, I'd say for almost everything use the procedure for Kelts, except for hair which will use the Kimmeri-Kelt procedure (d50+40). Most wi

Personally, I'd allow it since a disguise makes sense, but if they end up in combat they should definitely suffer penalties. I'd assume at minimum they wouldn't be able to use their dexterity defense adjustment, and as noted on page 37 of the Player's Manual, climb, hide, and move silently are all already impossible in heavy armour. Plus, I might add in a penalty for tests of dexterity and extraordinary feats of dexterity. I'd tentatively let them have the full plate AC, but also remember the movement modifier. The assassin is gonna want to shed that armour before making a break for it over the rooftops, which will presumably be quicker than donning it but will still take some time and if done quickly probably won't be a quiet procedure.

I would say it depends on the paladin, but a quick read of the paladin description doesn't specifically call out necromancy as something they oppose, though consorting with daemons is so I assume that as long as the neutral necromancer isn't using the summon daemon spells the paladin could put aside any qualms for the mission.

Blackadder23 wrote:

One useful method here is to put the PCs on a time limit right up front: "In three days my daughter will be executed by the bandits who kidnapped her. Rescue her before then and you get 500 gp each; if she dies, you get nothing." That will reduce the chance of them fooling around. Another method (although it's heavy-handed, and I would use it less often) is to cut off their retreat (with a collapsed hallway, overwhelming numbers of monsters, or whatever).

Yeah, I wasn't expecting them to try to leave off. Were I to run it again, I'd probably play up Annesta being sick, probably make Xill more sickly too. Maybe even have her already be a wererat locked up in the attic and you have to kill the gnagana before the next full moon or its permanent, make the whole thing more explicitly supernatural from the get-go. You'd lose the escalation where they realise it's not merely a really bad rat infestation, but the trade-off of having a definite time limit would help give them a push to keep going.

I mean, the mechanical shortcomings of 5e are a bit of a moot point; a) the maps and encounters aren't going to be radically different and most of them you can just replace with the equivalent monster or encounter, plus using Hype3e means you're not going to be engaging with 5e mechanics, and b) 5e or DCC, the OAR releases come with a reprint of the original adventure packed in (with history and commentary, the OAR releases are also reference books). I'd still recommend going for the DCC version; if you do find something in the expanded section you want, it's easier to convert from a system you're already familiar with (and as I understand it, it's easier to convert to 5e than to convert from 5e), but really the big question is which cover do you prefer?

I saw this get a shoutout on r/osr, and of course it seemed like the kind of thing this board would be interested. The Tower of the Elephant for OSE on Drivthru. No idea how it is, I haven't picked it up just yet, but it seems like some good fun.

I thought I was gonna get to chat about this one, but then my players looked down the hole after Naitol got thrown down it and decided, nah. The session turned into more of a consolidation session, and then they went off to find the Frog Demon Temple where I'm worried they're gonna die.

Thinking more, I've come to like the idea that while most Ixians look like someone you can meet in real life, there are Ixian sorcerers who are actually grey, but in a monochrome kind of way. Thinking about the "grey dust of corroded planets" found in Sharath, I think people who spend enough time messing with the weird energies and radiations at the edge of the world might find their colour draining away until they look like they're out of a black and white movie. I imagine this is a weird effect that will even affect their clothes and other wearables, or at least as long as they're worn. Laboratories in Sharath end up looking like a scene from the '31 Frankenstein.

digitalelf wrote:

Was curious if anyone here has converted any of the genies, particularly the Djinni and/or Efreeti?

I know I can just use them out of the Rules Cyclopedia or the 1e/2e Monster Manuals pretty much as is, but it would be cool to see what others may have done.

Not sure if it's quite what you're looking for, but seeing as I have adventures that use them and I needed to convert them over anyways, here are fairly direct, quick and dirty conversions from the MM:

Djinni: #E 1|AL CG|SZ L|MV 30 (fly 90)|DX 14|AC 4|HD 7+3|#A 1/1 (pummel)|D 2d8|SV 13|ML 12|XP 1480|TC Nil| Special:
Beneficent Host: Once per day can cast Create Food and Water, Hallucinatory Terrain, Major Creation, Invisibility, and Alter Self (CA 12).
Whirlwind: A djinni can create a whirlwind and send it up to 50 feet away. Creatures caught in the whirlwind are buffeted by powerful winds and whatever debris has been picked up, taking 2d6 damage and having to make a transformation save or be blown off their feet and knocked 1d10 feet away in a random direction.
Lord of Air: If attacked by creatures of the air, enemies suffer -1 "to Hit" and -1 damage. Further, a djinni subject to air based spells recieves a +2 to its saves.
Noble Djinni: 1% of djinni encountered are nobility, and are in most respects treated as an efreeti. Noble djinn's pummel attack deals 3d8 damage, while their whirlwind deals 3d6 and transformation saves are made at -2. XP 2350.

Efreeti: #E 1|AL N (LE)|SZ L|MV 30 (fly 90)|DX 12|AC 2|HD 10|#A 1/1 (pummel)|D 3d8|SV 12|ML 12|XP 1900|TC Nil| Special:
Born of Fire: Once per day can cast Wall of Fire, Hallucinatory Terrain, Enlargement (self only), Invisibility, and Alter Self (CA 10).
Master of Flame: At will can cast Pro

Just seeing the bolded "Lotus Bear" before actually reading the post, I thought it was going to be a monster, some kinda undead bear with lotuses growing from it, scattering pollen wherever it goes. Maybe if they don't deal with the necromancer and he decides on revenge.