Quick & Dirty Guide to Creating Published Settings

As I mentioned in my previous post about Using Published settings Publish settings have a few problems. I could be wrong but I don't feel this is unique to me. They give the impression that you are using someone elses setting, which of course is true. But in the spirit of DIY gaming the GM needs to get over that and make the thing their own. There is no reason the setting can't use and work with this assumption.

Back in the late 80s there was a book called A Quick & Dirty Guide to War. The authors James F. Dunnigan and Austin Bay went over all of the political flashpoints of the day (late 80s) and listed out the problems, the factions, and gave a number of likely outcomes (80% chance Iran attacks Iraq, 10% chance Israel bombs and diffuses the conflict, 5% status quo continues, etc). They gave a lot more detail on each one. The interesting thing is you could tell a lot about the factions by the possible outcomes.

Poetic Kaldor, map
used without permission

Now I imagine the same thing with a Published Setting. I'll use Hârn again. Instead of just saying it is 720 and go for it (which was sort of revolutionary in the day) they could have said:

Kaldor Possible Outcomes

• 60% by 725 increasing by 10% every year after.  Succession Crisis. The old King dies and the Earl of Pendath grabs for the throne. Having prepared for years his loyalists quickly take Tashal and Gardiren. The remaining nobles side against him. Mercenaris from all around flood into the Kingdom.
• 30% by 725 that Gargun raids (Hârnic Orcs) unit the nation behind the Earl of Olakane and the old King makes the Earl his heir prior to passing a few years later.
• 2% by 730 War with Dwarves of Azadmere. In order to fix national finances, and assuming the Dwarves would never leave their holes, the Royal Treasurer announces all debt to the Dwarves are nullified. The Dwarves do not take this well and march on Getha. 10% chance the Elves get involved on the side of the Dwarves.

Anyway, I'm not up on my Hârn stuff right now so the Earl might be conquering his own property in my example but hopefully you get the point. By providing jumping off points the Published setting would make it easier for a GM to make the setting their own, as well as provide lots of scenario ideas. Say the GM decides for the succession crisis, they could put the game right before it starts and play it out, or have it take place a decade later with a lot of new history that players wouldn't be able to Google.

This also gives an outlet for that little bit of novel writing that exists in every Publisher so that hopefully they can avoid putting that sort of garbage into their adventures.

Using Published Settings

Not long ago I'd considered starting up a campaign in the Hârn Setting. I was a huge fan of Hârn in the day. I even played HârnMaster for awhile before returning to my HouseRuled RuneQuest 2. I had everything published including the Ivínia and Shôrkýnè Regional modules. I never used those module and I may have only gotten the map of Shôrkýnè without any kind of Hârndex on the thing. My gaming ended about that time.

Poetic Players map
Used without Permission

So years later I got interested in gaming again and looked at the pile of Hârn stuff as a good place to jump in again. The place had beautiful maps of the environment, the kingdoms, every major city and a number of castles so it would save a lot of time staring there. 

But the vast amount of data to re-absorb was daunting. It wasn't so bad initially as it was provided in books that appeared all too seldom but now it was all there in one giant pile. A pile I was vaguely aware of but felt compelled to re-read to run Hârn right, but...

First I thought, although I wanted to run it right I kept thinking why? Hârn is like Anglo-Saxon England with no plate mail. Back in the day this was appealing, now I liked the idea of plate armor. They have plate on the mainland if I remember correctly but the Wizards in Melderyn wouldn't allow it on Hârn for some reason. But what is running it right? It's my game. I bought the stuff, I'd be the one running the game. I can do what I want.

Second I thought, players have access to all the info as well. This has benefits and negatives. It can take away surprises but also they can learn the background of the world using Google without my doling it out bite by bite. They don't even need to buy the thing. 

This is a problem that is not unique to Hârn. In fact it's thousands of times worse for some settings that have novels and far more backstory. Some even had cataclysm to temporarily fix the problem and get folks to buy everything again. And that's the fix I was looking for but the idea of a cataclysm? Well that wasn't right.

Why not just advance the timeline? Everything published for Hârn takes place in the year 720. After that the world is owned by the GM, so why not bump up the timeline to 820 or 1520 and invent some of my own history. Don't like the Elves, well they left. Yes they were there but now are myth. Want plate? Without the Elves the pressure to keep plate off the island disappeared and it came in naturally through trading and spread of knowledge. And the wars? Oh the wars. Western Hârn is a balance of three powers, that can be mixed up any which way. Don't like the Roman Republic aspect of Tharda, write a change into the new timeline.

I guess the point is the Publish setting is the GMs, so why not truly make it yours, including outright creating some additional history on top to ensure the place retains secrets and to cement the idea that it is yours now.

The funny thing is when I first got the Hârn setting I was far less slavish about following things. I imported characters from Greyhawk and used Gods from some Dragon Magazine article and ignored the plate restriction. It was only as I got a bit older that I got wound up in the purity of the location which became a straight jacket later.

Visibility

I stumbled across the blog Cyborgs and Sorcerers and started poking around and found an interesting post. It was one of those, why don't we talk about that more? The post talked about Visibility in different conditions. It was called You're Doing Vision All Wrong and included a table from the 2E Players Handbook showing vision at different ranges. The table is sloppy. It didn't include alternate visions (Infravision, Ultravision at that time, or Torches burned into the table or something else useful) but had the seed of a really good idea, a seed that grew in my brain until I had to vomit something out.

First I felt Captain Caveman's advice about re-arranging the table by distances and dumping the Fog and mist rows was good. Second I wanted to reduce the number of columns so Spotted was out, and so was detail as that seemed irrelevant and something easily winged by the DM.

3E they had Darkvision for baddies and Dwarves and Low Light Vision for Elves. In 5E everyone got Darkvision. I wanted a compromise so I kept Low Light Vision and gave it to Elves and Dwarves. I also wanted Darkvision to work backwards so I had the ranges decrease the better the light.

Anyway it needs work, how does stealth work into this for example, but it's something.

Best of the Web - Interesting Rooms, Trailing Gouls, and Fiona's 122 Questions

Captain Caveman at Cyborgs and Sorcerers has a post called Making Dungeon Rooms More Tactically Interesting. It's a great idea, one I found while looking for exactly that sort of thing. I'm surprised there aren't more posts around the blogrealms about exactly this, especially from the 4E era. So he has a 1d20 table with useful results, some a bit sci-fi. Sooner or later I'll have to do one of my 6-packs if I can figure out 6 new items that don't step on the same territory.

Trollsmyth has a wonderful post called Trailing Ghouls in which he creates a quick system to disrupt long rests with ghouls drawn to the corpses Adventurers inevitably leave about. I can't see doing this all the time but in the right campaign it would create a wonderful since of horror and unease.

Fiona Geist made two lists on Twitter and Throne of Salt combined them in a blog post titled  Fiona's 122 Questions (Plus a Challenge).  The first entry on the list made me think it was unserious but further entries seemed like they might be useful in defining a lot of little things in a campaign world. I'm sure I'll use it, and I'm also sure I'll trim the list down significantly when I do. Still I like this sort of thing because each entry forces a bit of thinking about how this campaign world works and even if you only provide the most basic answer it will send you in the right direction when that event comes up.

Found in a Box Part 11: Finish Him! Critical Hits in Grappling

Again, not actually in a Box, but more of a computer folder.

I don't think the D&D rules make grappling very interesting. That's where this idea began. My players never really got into fist fights. They prefer to slice and dice, so this isn't really tested stuff but it's been on my mind a lot so I thought I'd post it.

I'm not sure if these tables could be used as the finishing move in unarmed combat, or they could be used anytime a Critical Hit occurs, in addition to extra damage or whatever. Anyway here are tables for Chops/Punches and Kicks, and Unique... Depending upon how these tables are used the blow could stun the target for a round or drop them to the ground.

1d6	Chops/Punches
1	Backhand - the attacker strikes with a powerful backhand blow to the head.
2	Cross-chop - The attacker uses two hands to hit the defender on both sides of their neck.
3	Headbutt - The attacker strikes the defenders in the head using it's own forehead.
4	Overhead Strike - The attacker chops their hand down on the top of the defenders head.
5	Spinning Blow - Attacker spins and strikes the defender with a roundhouse punch.
6	Throat thrust - The attacker stabs with their fingres into the defenders throat.

1d6	Kicks
1	Bicycle Kick - The attacker jumps and kicks with one foot to the defenders body, and then the second into the defenders face.
2	Dropkick - Attacker jumps up and kicks the defender with the soles of both feet.
3	Legsweep - The attacker goes low and sweeps the legs of the defender, knocking them to the ground.
4	Roundhouse Kick - The attacker spins and kicks the defender with a lot of power.
5	Spin Kick - The attacker spins and kicks the defender.
6	Superkick - Attacker delivers a kick to the defender's face or chest.

1d6	Unique
1	Battering Ram - The attacker uses their head to spear the defender in the chest or stomach.
2	Body avalanche - The attacker just runs up and runs into a defender standing near a wall, slamming them against the wall.
3	Bodyslam - The attacker lifts the defender above their head and slams them to the ground.
4	Lariat Takedown - Attacker runs forward, wraps their arm around defender's kneck and pulls the defender backwards to the ground.
5	Living Shield - Attacker grabs the defender and uses them as a shield to defend against others
6	Piledriver - Attacker grabs the defender, turns them upside-down, and drops into a sitting or kneeling position, driving the defender head-first into the ground.

Of course if you use them for a Critical Hit that causes problems for similar tables for weapons as the results would be so different. Oh, and I don't particularly like wrestling, I just imagined it would be fun to have an Ogre pull a pile-driver on a character.

Bestiary - Ogre

Art taken from Warhammer Armies
and used without permission

There are few Ogre Warbosses (not smart enough) but nearly every Warboss has a a squad of Warboss bodyguards (loyal and super-intimidating).

A typical adult ogre stands 10 feet tall and weighs roughly 650 pounds. They are bald and tend to have super-thick short necks.

Ogres are Chaos Worshipers (see Chaos Gods table). Although solid worshipers they never become Shamans. Also their love of combat means most have wounds and scars (see Scars & Wounds table).

Proficiency Bonus +2
Proficiencies: All Armor, Simple Weapons
Speed 40 ft.
Senses darkvision 60 ft.,
Passive Perception 8
Languages Common, Orc

1d6	Ideals
1	Whatever my Warboss tells me is my ideal.
2	Strength! Through strength others will see my worth.
3	Dominate. It is not enough to be the best, others must know I'm the best even if I have to kill them to convince them.
4	Loyalty, to my warboss at least.
5	Deathcount. The more the merrier. Had to learn basic math to keep count.
6	Independence. I hate taking orders from others and I'm only happy when unleashed to act upon my own.

1d6	Bond
1	The Warboss is Boss. I follow the Warbosses orders and you better as well!
2	My Chaos Lord will take care of me when nobody else will. I do as his Shaman's command.
3	I worship the Warbosses number one man and I'll do whatever he says, even if he goes so far as to suggest replacing the Warboss.
4	Destruction of the Dwarves and Elves for an endless list of reasons I can't remember right now.
5	Combat. I live for combat. There is nothing else so exciting.
6	Treasure is good. it is the best way to make the Warboss happy and the Warband powerful.

1d6	Flaw
1	I don't really like the other races in the Horde. Weaklings all.
2	Ashamed of Ogre society. We haven't built anything, all we do is destroy. Looking around at the Dwarven Vaults we've captured just makes me sad sometimes.
3	Ale, ale, ale. Can't get enough.
4	Appetite. I have trouble controlling my hunger, especially when I'm exerting myself, and I've been known to stop and nibble a corpse during a battle.
5	Absolute trust in authorities. This includes the Warboss, and Shaman's. They are smarter than me, I'm smart enough to listen.
6	I fart frequently, loudly, and it is said that my farts could kill.

1d8	Chaos God
1-3	Cthulhu the Great Old One
4	Dagon, Prince of the Sea
5	Hastor the Unspeakable
6	Jubilex the Faceless Lord of Slime
7	Nyarlathotep the Crawling Chaos
8	Yog-Sothoth

1d6	Scars & Wounds
1	Limbs hurt when its cold
2	Missing 1d6 fingers/toes
3	1d6 scars on face and  neck
4	Burns along the back prevent wearing clothes or armor
5	Missing an Ear or eye
6	Part of scalp is a mass of scar tissue

Ogre Hero
AC: 14 (Scale) HP: 89
STR 21 (+5) DEX 10 (+0) CON 18 (+4)
INT 09 (-1) WIS 07 (-2) CHA 10 (+0)
Greatclub. To hit +7, Damage 2d8 +5

Ogre Bruiser
AC: 13 (Scale) HP: 75
STR 20 (+5) DEX 09 (-1) CON 17 (+3)
INT 07 (-2) WIS 07 (-2) CHA 09 (-1)
Greatclub. To hit +7, Damage 2d8 +5

Ogre Grunt
AC: 11 (hide) HP: 59
STR 19 (+4) DEX 08 (-1) CON 16 (+3)
INT 05 (-3) WIS 07 (-2) CHA 07 (-2)
Club. To hit +6, Damage 1d4 +4
Javelin (x2). Melee to hit  +6, Damage 2d6 +4, Ranged to hit -1, Range 30/120 ft., Damage 2d6 -1

Ogre Bonded
AC: None HP: 59
STR 16 (+3) DEX 07 (-2) CON 17 (+3)
INT 04 (-3) WIS 06 (-2) CHA 05 (-3)
Battleaxe To hit +5, Damage 1d8 +3
Javelin (x2). Melee to hit +6, Damage 2d6 +3, Range to hit -2, Range 30/120 ft., Damage 2d6 -2

Bestiary - Hobgoblin

The Hobgoblin nation was conquered by the horde some time ago and provide a balance against the Orc forces in the horde. Hobgoblins are smaller than Orcs but tend to stick together better. You fight one Hobgoblin you fight them all. That doesn't go for their smaller Goblin cousins.

Hobgoblins are Chaos Worshipers (see Chaos Gods table).

Proficiency Bonus +2
Proficiencies: All Armor, Martial Weapons
Martial Advantage. Once per turn, the hobgoblin can deal an extra 7 (2d6) damage to a creature it hits with a weapon attack if that creature is within 5 feet of an ally of the hobgoblin that isn't incapacitated.
Speed 30 ft.
Senses darkvision 60 ft.,
passive Perception 10
Languages Common, Goblin

1d6	Ideal
1	Nature. Being inside an occupied Dwarven Vault all the time is depressing. The beauty of the stars, and forests are worth the risk of Elven archers.
2	Faith. My Chaos Lord is my everything.
3	Fame. Through hard work and occasional risk I can become famous and thus satisfy my bond.
4	Honor, at least towards other Hobgoblins.
5	Destruction. Sometimes I smash things for no reason, but I don't need a reason. The joy of smashing is enough.
6	Be prepared. There is no point racing off to battle only to realize that in your haste you've forgotten your weapons.

1d6	Bond
1	My loyalty is to the Warboss. I'll do whatever commanded even if it leads to injury or death.
2	My life is dedicated to my Chaos Lord, I'll do as the Shamans says even if it goes against the Warboss's wishes.
3	The Hobgoblin Nation will be free. I'll work with other Hobs of different Warbands if necessary to make that happen.
4	My unit is all I have. I have no love for the Hobgoblin nation that sold me to endless war, or for the Chaos gods or Warboss we fight for.
5	There is this female Hobgoblin... Id' do anything for her.
6	Gold is good. With Gold the Hobgoblin nation can buy our freedom from the Dark Elves. I save my booty for the cause.

1d6	Flaw
1	I hate to wear metal armor, it is too heavy and noisy.
2	I don't like magic, including magical healing, as it reduces my soul. If given the chance I'll fight whomever tries.
3	Tend to challenge friend and foe to fights over minutia.
4	I hate groups of non-Hobgoblins. I can tolerate my squad, but go crazy if we go into common areas with other members of the Warband.
5	Hate Ogres. Giant stupid unthinking Warboss lackies.
6	Can't tolerate cooked food. Freshly killed is my thing.

1d8	Chaos God
1	Cthulhu the Great Old One
2	Dagon, Prince of the Sea
3	Hastor the Unspeakable
4-6	Jubilex the Faceless Lord of Slime
7	Nyarlathotep the Crawling Chaos
8	Yog-Sothoth

Hobgoblin Hero

AC: 18 (Mail, shield) HP: 16

STR 15 (+2) DEX 12 (+1) CON 14 (+2)

INT 10 (+0) WIS 10 (+0) CHA 09 (-1)

Scimitar. To hit +4, Damage 1d8 +2.

Crossbow, heavy (x12). To hit +1, Range 100/400 ft., Damage 1d10 +1

Hobgoblin Nyarlathotep Shaman

AC: 12 (Padded) HP: 16

STR 10 (+0) DEX 13 (+1) CON 12 (+1)

INT 14 (+2) WIS 15 (+2) CHA 11 (+0)

Flail. To hit +2, Damage 1d8.

Level	Nyarlathotep Shaman Spells
Cantrip	Guidance, Mending, Sacred Flame, Thaumaturgy
1	Bane, Guiding Bolt, Inflict Wounds
2	Aid, Enhance Ability, Silence
3	Speak with Dead, Spirit Guardians

Hobgoblin Warriors

AC: 18 (Mail, shield) HP: 15

STR 13 (+1) DEX 12 (+1) CON 12 (+1)

INT 10 (+0) WIS 10 (+0) CHA 09 (-1)

Scimitar. To hit +3, Damage 1d8 + 1

Hobgoblin Bonded

AC: 12 (Padded) HP: 11

STR 10 (+0) DEX 11 (+0) CON 13 (+1)

INT 11 (+0) WIS 15 (+2) CHA 07 (-2)

Shortbow (x6) To hit +2, Range 80/320 ft., Damage 1d6.

Bestiary - Goblins

Art taken from Warhammer Armies
and used without permission

Goblins are always on the short-end of the stick. They are beaten and abused and many joined the Horde hoping for protection but things are not much better as now they have Orcs beating and abusing them.

Goblins are Chaos Worshipers (see Chaos Gods table). They tend to be zealots and the only Goblins that raise to lead a Warband are Shamans leading a mass of fanatics.

Proficiency Bonus +2
Proficiencies: Light Armor, Simple Weapons
Nimble Escape. The goblin can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of its turns.
Speed 30 ft.
Darkvision 60 ft.,
Passive Perception 9,
Languages Common, Goblin

1d6	Ideal
1	Loyalty. I'm fiercey loyal to my bond.
2	Knowledge. Through knowledge we gain power.
3	Comfort. Give me some food and a nice place to sleep and I'd be happy.
4	Death. What is the point of comfort if my enemies live. It hurts me to think they might actually be happy, somewhere.
5	Control. Power, now matter how petty, is to be grabbed and accumulated.
6	Destruction. I don't need to kill my enemies, destroying their hard works, their art and such, makes me happy.

1d6	Bond
1	My loyalty is to the Warboss. I'll do whatever commanded even if it leads to injury.
2	My life is dedicated to my Chaos Lord, I'll do as the Shaman commands hoping that I'll die in the survice of the Chaos Lords!
3	My tribe. Taken as a youngling I still remember the tribe and hope to return to them someday.
4	Swine. I group in a Swine-rider tribe and think they are perfect beasts even if I've still got some tusk scars from my childhood.
5	My Squad. They'll keep me alive, I'll do my best to keep them alive.
6	Only with treasure can I improve my lot. I'll slice and dice anybody (at least those I can get away with) to get more.

1d6	Flaw
1	Don't trust anyone other than other Goblins, and I don't trust most of them when I think about it.
2	Psychotic. After a lifetime of being thrashed by larger creatures I pretty much hate everyone and everything and will kill if I can get away with it.
3	Coward. Why should I die so the Warboss can please his Dark Elf masters? I didn't pick this life and I'll slip out, if possible, if confronted with battle.
4	Hot head, but can't back it up. I get excited and will rage and yell and provoke a fight whenever the opportunity presents, as long as bigger tougher folk have my back.
5	Constant nightmares. I need twice normal sleep and usually I have to be away from anyone else trying to sleep.
6	Fleas. Constantly itchy, and anyone in proximity will become itchy as well. This problem applies to mosquitos as well, if they are near they'll find me and bleed me dry.

1d8	Chaos God
1	Cthulhu the Great Old One
2	Dagon, Prince of the Sea
3	Hastor the Unspeakable
4-6	Jubilex the Faceless Lord of Slime
7	Nyarlathotep the Crawling Chaos
8	Yog-Sothoth

Goblin Jubilex Shaman

AC: 10 (leather) HP: 05

STR 07 (-2) DEX 09 (-1) CON 08 (-1)

INT 14 (+2) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 15 (+2)

Stealth +5

Staff. To hit +0, Damage 1d6 -2

Level	Jubilex Shaman Spells
Cantrip	Guidance, Light, Mending, Resistance
1	Bane, Command, Healing Word
2	Blindness/Deafness, Protection from Poison, Silence
3	Glyph of Warding, Meld into Stone

Goblin Fanatic

AC: 10 (leather) HP: 04

STR 06 (-2) DEX 09 (-1) CON 07 (-2)

INT 14 (+2) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 15 (+2)

Stealth +5

Morningstar. To hit +0, Damage 1d8 -2

Level	Goblin Fanatic Spells
Cantrip	Light, Mending, Resistance
1	Bane, Healing Word

Goblin Cavalry (Swine Rider)

AC: 13 (Scale) HP: 07

STR 08 (-1) DEX 14 (+2) CON 10 (+0)

INT 10 (+0) WIS 08 (-1) CHA 08 (-1)

Stealth +5

Javelin (x2). Melee to hit +1, Damage 1d6 +-1: Ranged to hit +0 Range 30/120 ft., Damage 1d6

Scimitar. To hit +1, Damage 1d6 -1

Goblin Hunter

AC: 13 (leather) HP: 04

STR 07 (-2) DEX 14 (+2) CON 10 (+0)

INT 08 (-1) WIS 08 (-1) CHA 07 (-2)

Stealth +6

Shorbow (x6). To hit +0, Range 80/320 ft., Damage 1d6 -2

Goblin Skirmisher

AC: 12 (leather) HP: 05

STR 08 (-1) DEX 12 (+1) CON 10 (+0)

INT 08 (-1) WIS 08 (-1) CHA 08 (-1)

Stealth +5

Spear. To hit +1, Damage 1d6 -1

Goblin Bonded

AC: 10 (Padded) HP: 04

STR 08 (-1) DEX 09 (-1) CON 11 (+0)

INT 10 (+0) WIS 07 (-2) CHA 08 (-1)

Stealth +5

Handaxe (x3). To hit +1, Damage 1d6 -1