Updates of the swords and sorcery old-school ancient cities of myth, adventure and eldritch peril !

Or somesuch.

Thanks for the comments on the previews, especially Greg. Part of the problems is just the difficulty of getting tables to format correctly when moving from word to blogger to the readers browser, (and I'm working on that), and some from bloggers odd decision to truncate at least one post (thus the duplicates); but the other part are some omissions by me.

 So, here's some corrected text:

Ruler

None	Might makes right; the strong do as they will, and the weak do as they must.
Family	Rule  and law applied on a family by family basis
Tribal	Clan based, families have common rule and decision making
Council	A small group of rulers make laws and policy.  Membership is generally quite open,  and terms limited.
Oligarchy	As Council but membership is limited to a small subgroup  of the demos.  Entry into the subgroup is possible, but limited or difficult. May be obvious or covert, defined by law or custom.
Autocracy	As Oligarchy, but the subgroup is generally small, socially  defined, and closed to new members; Terms are often defined by the members. Invariably obvious, generally legally defined
Factional	No one authority controls the polis.
Conquered	The Polis is a conquered possession of another; rule is imposed by the conqueror with little input locally.
Dictator	Rule by a single person, generally chosen to deal with a crisis, with limited term but unquestioned power and support. Ruler type should be rerolled at +2 once term ends.
Dynastic	As dictator, but it has become inherited, either thru families (as with a king)  or institutionally (as with a theocracy), and potentially of unlimited term.
Tyrant	As dictator, but with unlimited term, and support is irrelevant; often replacing a Dynasty, and/or the start of a new one.

Polis is the city (or town) Demos is the population of the Polis. Term is the time any one member can expect to remain in power.

Secondary characteristics are always rolled with an unmodified D6, and represent ways the primary characteristic can be expressed.  These should only be used when one does not have a clear idea of the characteristic in question, AND have a need for its expression in the game.  If needed, each primary characteristic has several additional descriptors, with each having a range of values; for example, Population can have the additional descriptor of Morale: defeated vs jingoistic.  If this is needed, simply roll a d6 to determine where on the range the city is for that secondary characteristic. A roll of 2might indicate a sullen, pessimistic general mood, whereas a 5 might indicate extreme patriotism and belief in their citries superiority.   Optionally, if this is not granular enough, roll 2d6-2; this gives a more detailed range, but also usually produces middle values, which, while likely more realistic, for me isn't very helpful, nor in keeping with the goal, which is generating cities for adventure, not sociological description.

Primary	Secondary(roll 1d6 for range)
Population	Openness vs. Insularity
	Religion: Few vs. Many
	Morale: defeated vs jingoistic
Wealth	Source: Trade vs. Treasury (wealth is mobile/situational vs. hoarded)
	Military quality: Poor vs. elite
Size	changes in size: Declining vs. Expanding
	Age: Ancient vs. new
Ruler	Complacency vs. Aggression
	Allegiance: local vs. distant
Law	Ruler: stability vs. instability
	Consistency: arbitrary vs absolutely codified and inflexible
Influence	Diplomacy vs. Military means of control of neighbors

Dungeons for Adventurer: Traveller style ! (the UDP) part 1.

In fact, developing a UDP  (universal dungeon profile) was one of the first things I did for adventurer.

Towers, Temples and Terrors

What is the point of realms and cities if there is no room for profitable adventure free from city guards and the king’s army? What hero of worth in a sword and sorcery yarn has failed to delve into a wizards tower for forbidden gold ortreasure ?  Labyrinthine hallways, locked portals, magical constructs, terrible monsters of myth and legend, all await within.  And, as ever, the nemesis!  The mage at the center of his construct, the spider in the web!  But that's not all!  When the wizards tower is missing, or looted, there are the ruined cities, hidden lairs (of thieves, pirates and  bandits), lost dungeons deep beneath the earth along with  caves caverns and the underworld all draw the hero like a magnet.  Glory, gold and artifacts of unspeakable power all await amidst terrible guardians, and cunning traps.  Evil cults and pretenders to thrones must be ferreted out and overthrown –or contacted and joined! 

The cunning GM must always consider that a well stocked ruin is a far better investment of time than a detailed exposition of a ruler’s family in a distant realm.

In general, one cannot go far wrong with a wizards tower or ancient ruin (subterranean or not).  The Tower may have an active plotting inhabitant, with organized patrols, reset traps, and well hidden treasures, or the master may be gone, and the keep simply a convenient lair for his surviving minions and lesser evils.  Ruins will be inhabited by survivors or squatters, and make excellent lairs for fantastical creatures (which may well be the cause of the ruin).  Tombs too should abound in plenty, stocked with the grave goods of dead kings wizards and conquerors; protected by fiendish traps, hidden areas and terrible spirits.

Several such sites should be premapped, generally at least one each of tower, ruin and tomb.  Practically, it is recommended each level or specific area be limited to a single piece of paper, with maps and encounter keys all upon one side. 

Generally, such adventure havens come in two types: organized and haphazard.  Organized sites generally have a well defined overall purpose, and inhabitants and contents that support this mission.  The inhabitants and contents (traps, treasures, and access) tend to cooperate towards a specific goal –although factions may exist!  Traps are often complex and well maintained, and generally make allowance for safe passage for those who have the authority. 

Haphazard sites tend to be abandoned and generally anarchic, with random inhabitants that may or may not cooperate, compete or ignore each others.  Much is simply the detritus of absent inhabitants, or loot from deeper in.  The stronger monsters will tend to have the best and most isolated lairs, seeing the lesser as cheap protection.  Traps will tend to be very long lasting and self resetting, or simple and crude, set by the new inhabitants. 

Challenge

Code	A	B	C	D	E	X
Theme	Epic Foe	Tribal; unified	Tribal, balkanized	Horde	Undead	Beasts
x/36	3	7	11	5	4	6
2d6 Roll	2-3	4-5	6-7	8	9	10-12

 

 

Epic Foe	The Site is inhabited by a single foe of  great power , possibly with useless but annoying  minions
Tribal, Unified	The site is inhabited several unified cooperative groups of threat rating -4 (min 1)
Tribal, Balkanized	The site is inhabited by a several hostile or at least uncooperative groups equal to 1d6+11
Horde	The site is inhabited by a large and shifting number  of groups equal to threat rating *2 with little or no overall  organization or interaction
Undead	The site is inhabited by leaderless undead, summoned and bound abominations or unspeakable constructs, all acting entirely reactively and without regard to the other inhabitants.
Beasts	The site is inhabited by a variety of beasts and/or dangerous pests.

Once the Theme of the Site is determined, generate the key variables to guide its design:  Type, Size, Denizens, Hoard, Reputation and finally, Threat.  The series of values coded from 0-A make up the UDP, or universal dungeon profile.

	Denizens	Type	Size (guidelines)
	2d6 -2	2d6-7 +Denizens	2d6-7+Denizens
0	1	Lair	100-600 sqft x Denizens
1	2-4	Cave	1d6*1d6 acres
2	5-10	Tower or temple, active	2d6 *2d6 acres in 1d6 levels
3	11-20	Tower or Temple, buried	1d6*1d6  acres in 2d6 levels
4	21-50	Tower or Temple, Ruined	2d6 *2d6 acres in 1d6 levels
5	51-100	Catacomb, tunnel complex, Dungeon	2d6 *1d6 acres  in 1d3*1d6 levels
6	100-250	Necropolis	d6*d6   *2d6 structures
7	251-500	City, Ruined	((2d6*d6 )) ^2
8	500-1000	City, Buried	(d6*d6)^2 in 1d6 levels
9	1001-10,000	City, Lost, inhabited	((d6*d6 )) ^2
A	10,000 +	Lost Kingdom	Frikkin  huge

* yes, square it.  This actually covers the range from troy (~4 acres) to  50% bigger than ancient (augustian) rome. The average size is bigger than would be reasonably expected  from a survey of classical cities, but, 1. It’s a ruin, and 2.  For adventure, the bigger the better.

	Reputation equivalent	Protection (example)	Strategy
	2d6-2	2d6-7 + Reputation	2d6-7+Protection
0	Pwell’k’arn-deloth*  (I made this up)	Wide open	None
1	Rhyleh	Sock under mattress	Passive
2	Atlantis	Buried in back yard	Guerilla
3	Dragons Horde	Average Bank	Reactive
4	Shipwreck s mine	Prison	Indominable
5	Lost dutchman’	Coldiz	Aggressive
6	Local wizards tower	Supermax facility	Berserk
7	Mint building	Titan II Missile silo	Cunning
8	Kings castle	Area 51 secret labs	Tactical
9	Part of general creation myths/literature	Bond villain lair	Relentless
A	False story	Gates of hell	Vengeful

[more to come]

Denizens A rough guide to how many opponents are inhabiting the site, and often, but not always guarding the site.  Note that more powerful creatures can count as multiple inhabitants.  Thus while a huge ancient dragon would most likely be rating 0 denizen (1) , it could also be as strong as a hundred men and count as a rating 6 denizen.  This is useful to keep in mind when considering the Theme of the Site in relation to its population. .

Type Type is further described in its own table, below. More denizens imply bigger and more complex sites.

Size Size defines the general area occupied by the site: this differs depending on actual type, mainly based on being underground, a single structure, or more spread out types such as ruined cities and catacombs.

Reputation A general measure of how easy it is to find out facts about the site, hear about it at.  Half the Reputation is the equivalent of a players reputation for determining how well known the site is, and also the Positive DM applied to attempts to locate the general location of the site, typically the standard 1 week campaign hex.   The specific location is modified by access.

If the rating is A, however, the site does not actually exist, although rumor and myth have its stats as otherwise rolled.  Reroll Rep as 1d6 for purposes of hearing the false leads and finding the purported  general location of the non-existent site.

Protection How hard it is to get into, and to locate the site itself once the correct wilderness hex is found.  Once the hex is located (by Reputation) the site must be found, either by game play with higher values of Protection  being harder to find.  Alternately, an appropriate task check can be made (Recon, Knowledge, etc) with Half the Security rating (round down)as  the negative DM to locate the site within the campaign hex. Note that if the site doesn't exist (see above) a successful location roll simply means you’ve figured out the joke. 

Entering the site can be handled by a 2d task throw using stealth type skills as modifiers and half the security rating as a negative modifier(round up).  Alternately, and preferably, use the Access as a guide to setting up security, with higher values being harder and more dangerous.

The assumption linking this to Reputation is that well known sites need tight security to survive, and for lost sites, protection is slacker.

Strategy  An approximation of how the denizens protect the site it is a complicated enough topic to deserve its own section (below) The strategy rating determines the chance to encounter random denizens each turn (see below).

The assumption linking this to protection is that draconian security tends to make more well trained and aggressive guards.

Threat: Is the general danger associated with the site. Obviously highly reliant on the gm to operationalize.

After generating, tweaking and fudging the basic UDP, the Hoard is then generated.

Hoard

Finally, the reason we are here ! The sites’s horde rating is the final measure of its value, both in the main cache of the biggest boss,, and spread around and hidden throughout. Basic procedure is: roll 1d6 and add modifiers from table.  The main horde consists of final number on the Hoard table.  This is the big one, the one the whole thing may be protecting – or the main dumping ground for undead who dislike silver (say).  This treasure is in one place.  All lower coin values are also found, but spread out through the rest of the dungeon and its denizens. Similalry, roll once more on the gems,jewels and magic items at Hoard -1, and distribute any that result as with coins.   Now that’s a place worth getting you neck snapped for, right ?  Hmmmmm.  Your characters neck.  Sound better ?

	Challenge	Denizens	Size	Type*	Reputation	Protection	Strategy
0			+1	-2	+1	-2	-3
1				-1	+1		-2
2							-1
3				+1
4
5				+1
6				+1
7							+1
8		+1		+1	+1		+1
9		+1		+1	+1	+1	+2
A	+4	+1	+1	+2	+6 *	+1	+2
B	+2
C	+1
D
E
X

*Remember, it’s a fish story…….

1d6 + mods	Metal	Gems : d6 x (rating+1)	Jewelry: d6 + rating	Minor magic: d3	Magic item: H -L	Artifact: 1
0	Copper  2d6 *10	10+	12 +	10+	12 +	12 +
1	Copper  2d6 *100	10+	12 +	10+	12 +	12 +
2	Bronze 2d6 *100	9+	11+	10+	12 +	12 +
3	Silver 2d6 *100	9+	11+	10+	12 +	12 +
4	Bronze 2d6 *1000	8+	10+	9+	11+	12 +
5	Silver 2d6 *1000	8+	10+	9+	11+	12 +
6	Gold 2d6*100	7+	9+	9+	11+	12 +
7	Silver Talents 2d6	7+	9+	9+	11+	12 +
8	Silver 2d6 *10000	6+	8+	8+	10+	12 +
9	Gold 2d6 *1000	6+	8+	8+	10+	12 +
A	Silver Talents 2d6 *10	5+	7+	8+	10+	12 +
B	Gold Talents 2d6	5+	7+	8+	10+	12 +
C	Gold 2d6 *10000	4+	6+	7+	9+	12 +
D	Silver Talents 2d6 *100	4+	6+	7+	9+	12 +
E	Gold Talents 2d6*10	3+	5+	7+	9+	12 +
F	Silver Talents 2d6 *1000	3+	5+	7+	9+	12 +
G	Gold Talents 2d6 *100	3+	4+	6+	8+	12 +
H	Silver Talents 2d6 *10000	3+	4+	6+	8+	12 +
J	Gold Talents 2d6 *1000	3+	3+	6+	8+	12 +