Random encounters for sea crawls

How would a sea crawl work?

Sailing from point A to B—even with an accurate map and a skilled navigator—the characters will find more than empty ocean. The referee will make periodic checks for random encounters, perhaps a 1 in 6 chance per 5-6 mile hex through which the characters sail. Those encounters might involve aquatic or flying monsters, but they could also be sightings of other ships, land, or even a change of weather.

The referee can prepare a chart for each of these possibilities: islands along the characters' course, other ships know to sail those waters, and so forth.

When the d6 roll for a hex indicates a random encounter, the referee can roll 1d12 against this chart to determine the nature and direction of the encounter:

Depending upon weather conditions and if the characters maintain an active watch, they may be able to avoid the encounter or sail to meet it.

This image and text is © Paul Gorman 2011, and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License. Also available as an EPS file suitable for print use.

NPC: The Wyrd

Use the Wyrd either as an NPC character class (or conceivably even a PC class) or as a unique individual. The Wyrd will likely already suffer from several Repercussions (see below) at the time you introduce her into your game.

Although widely known for her divinations and soothsaying, the Wyrd is able to cast any magic-user spell.

At minimum, it takes the Wyrd 1 turn per spell level to cast a spell. Unlike a magic-user, she does not memorize daily spells. For each spell the Wyrd casts, roll 1d6. A result equal to or lower than the spell level causes a roll on the Repercussions table.

The Wyrd may reduce the repercussion risk to 1 in 6 by spending 1 day per spell level on the casting instead of 1 turn per level. Spending additional days on the casting does not reduce the risk of repercussions below 1 in 6.

If the Wyrd gives a favor (and it must be a favor which someone else owes her) to the eldritch forces in exchange for completing the spell, any repercussion that would have affected the Wyrd instead affects the one who owes her a favor. This is not widely known.

Those who can't or won't pay in gold (or some other thing the Wyrd particularly desires), the Wyrd asks to pay with a favor. She keeps such favors for future use. The Wyrd never works for free.

d100 Repercussions Table

1. Afflicted with a stooped spine
2. Frequently suffer seizures
3. Afflicted with bowed legs
4. Fingers become webbed
5. Age backwards
6. Go deaf in one ear
7. Go deaf in both ears
8. Skin turns an unnatural color
9. Over the course of a week, one finger blackens, then falls off
10. Skin glows very faintly in the dark
11. Grow a pelt of shaggy fur over entire body
12. Loss of color vision
13. Grow an extra eye
14. Hair turns white, instantly and permanently 
15. One limb twitches involuntarily, even when sleeping
16. Boils
17. Crops wither in the fields
18. Ears become elongated and pointy
19. Pupils change shape
20. Grow a wart
21. Grow a hairy wart
22. All hair falls out (except on hairy warts)
23. Relive the events of one (random) hour every day
24. Always smells faintly of brimstone
25. Hear (imaginary) constant, indistinct murmurings that others can't hear
26. Grow a tail
27. Uncontrollable drooling
28. Patches of reptilian scales develop
29. Trees bend slightly toward her. Those trees in the vicinity of her home grow in a way that points toward it.
30. Grow extra toes
31. Grow extra fingers
32. Slowed (50%) in actions and speech
33. Livestock sickens
34. Vomit frogs 1d6 times per day
35. Tongue splits down the middle
36. Haunted by a mildly destructive poltergeist
37. Artificial lights within 10' will not stay lit, and any she passes are extinguished
38. Spontaneous pregnancy
39. Spontaneous pregnancy with a small mammal or reptile
40. Grow small goat horns
41. Pottery does not harden when fired within ten miles of her
42. Visual perception lags behind reality by 10 minutes
43. Compulsion to look under every liftable rock she passes
44. Grow fangs
45. Bottomless sinkholes open in any spot she sleeps on for more than 3 nights
46. Permanently levitated 1/4" off ground, making walking difficult
47. Smoke emanates from mouth when speaking
48. Nearby malleable things (oatmeal, tea leaves, mud) form into the shape of agonized faces
49. Stigmata
50. Grow an additional ear
51. Skin become transparent
52. Strange lights in the sky at night
53. Any words spoken do not reach listeners' ears for 1d6 turns
54. Animals no longer abide her presence
55. Human beings are invisible to her
56. Sleep for 101 days
57. Feet fall off, cloven hooves grow
58. 50-70 mph winds alway blow in vicinity
59. Age at double rate
60. Any words she writes change, and assume an ominous character
61. The ground makes noises like cracking ice wherever she walks
62. Flapping things flap on the roof at night
63. No reflection
64. Only sleep every seventh night
65. Grow large antlers
66. Speech comes out in reverse word order
67. Hair becomes too strong to be cut by steel tools
68. A new, unexplained bruise every morning
69. Sweats blood
70. Must concentrate to keep consciousness attached to body or be locked-out for 1d6 turns
71. Risk of future Repercussions becomes 2 in 6 at minimum
72. Weeping sores
73. Weeping sore that whisper secrets
74. Physically vanishes after falling asleep; reappears in the morning frostbitten
75. Heart turns to stone and stops beating, yet she lives
76. Roll 1d6 every morning. A result of 1 means that a random personal possession vanished during the night.
77. No one believes (until it's too late)
78. Skin nodules swell for days, then burst to release spiders
79. Her bones creak loudly whenever she moves
80. Animals speak to her, but only abusively
81. Narcolepsy
82. Burned for 1d3 damage whenever touched by another person
83. Irises turn yellow like a wolf's
84. The sky is always overcast within 25 miles
85. Weekly rain of fish
86. Teeth enlarge 2-3 times, deforming jaw and palette
87. Leave footprints that smoulder
88. Entire body shrinks or grows up 2% and 500% of original size every day
89. Wood spurts blood when she chops it
90. Any clothing donned begins to rot and smell of the grave after an hour
91. Age 20 years instantly
92. Sometimes, the third law of motion (equal and opposite reaction) doesn't work for her
93. Learns she will die in exactly one year
94. On a roll of 1 in 6, any dead thing she passes near rises as undead
95. Hourly fits of involuntarily speaking dead languages
96. Plague
97. Blogger posts lose all paragraphing 
98. Blindness
99. Instant death
100. Complete physical paralysis

All above are permanent effects, unless otherwise noted.

Two word NPC's

Telecanter solicited two word NPC's, so here's my list:

1. charitable poacher
2. professional bather
3. narcoleptic tollkeeper
4. cannibal crofter
5. lovelorn bugbear
6. muscular lacemaker
7. gossipy limner
8. daydreaming veterinarian
9. myopic watchman
10. cutpurse sawbones
11. prophetic maidservant
12. thrill-seeking copyist
13. crippled stevedore
14. obsessive-compulsive oil merchant
15. palsied gemcutter
16. pyromaniacal lampwright
17. careless butcher
18. deaf sperviter
19. sweaty phrenologist
20. prosaic dreamreader
21. be-gilled oarsman
22. impatient tallyman
23. meticulous surveyor
24. prudish midwife
25. cursed barber
26. wereboar swineherd
27. troubled wellsinker
28. decorous fence
29. excitable philosophe
30. delusional publican

Superstitious dungeoneers

There's a good post on Dungeons and Digressions about superstitious dungeoneers, which I'm linking to here so that I'll remember to use it later. These are my favorites: 8. A torch that touches the ground means someone will be injured or killed soon. 9. A bell heard underground is, well, not good. 10. At least one coin should always be left behind when treasure is recovered. 11. If you see a bat you should change your weapon. 22. If someone’s head gets chopped off near you, you should kick it far away lest you suffer the same fate. 25. Knock three times on a shield after discussing someone’s death. (I'm also a fan of the index card posts.)

Traumatic Adolescent Background Generator

There's great stuff in Valley of Blue Snails' Traumatic Adolescent Background Generator, but for some reason I find this entry particularly amusing:

1 – Head stuck in a hole in ground for 1d8 days. Something licks your legs periodically during your entrapment.

Retro-Clone Comparison Chart

I created a retro-clone comparison chart, since I was curious and it seems to be a common question. Please comment on this post if you have any corrections or suggestions.

Magic Pools

Dungeons are are often damp places. It's common for pools of water to collect in low-lying areas of dungeon levels. Rarely, pools have unusual magical characteristics. The following table is adapted from the first issue of The Strategic Review:

Magical Pool Properties (PC's must wade into or drink from pool)

1	One time only, turns gold to platinum
2	One time only, turns gold to lead
3	One time only, permanently modify ability 1 Add 1d3 points to strength 2 Subtract 1d3 points from strength 3 Add 1d3 points to intelligence 4 Subtract 1d3 points from intelligence 5 Add 1d3 points to wisdom 6 Subtract 1d3 points from wisdom 7 Add 1d3 points to dexterity 8 Subtract 1d3 points from dexterity 9 Add 1d3 points to constitution 10 Subtract 1d3 points from constitution 11 Add 1d3 points to charisma 12 Subtract 1d3 points from charisma
4	The pool speaks, and offers to grant one wish to each of the characters. The pool has an alignment: 1-2 lawful, 2-3 neutral, 4-6 chaotic. Characters who make a wish but are not of the same alignment as the pool suffer 2d6 damage. The wishes of characters of the same alignment as the pool are granted, but do not take effect for 2d12 hours.
5	Characters entering the pool are transported to the surface.
6	Characters entering the pool are transported one level down in the dungeon.