Wandering Monster "Rolling" table
Roll 1D6 + (1 per room traversed)
1 - 1D3 Rats
2 - 1D3 Centipedes
3 - 1D4 Orcs
4 - 1D6 Goblins
5 - 1D4 Evil Elves
6 - 1D6 Hobgoblins
7 - Geletinous Cube
9 - Ghoul
10 - 1D6 Gnolls
11 - Harpys
12 - Doppleganger
Wandering Monster "Rolling" table
Roll 1D6 + (1 per room traversed)
1 - 1D3 Rats
2 - 1D3 Centipedes
3 - 1D4 Orcs
4 - 1D6 Goblins
5 - 1D4 Evil Elves
6 - 1D6 Hobgoblins
7 - Geletinous Cube
9 - Ghoul
10 - 1D6 Gnolls
11 - Harpys
12 - Doppleganger
The Sick Room is a tarot-driven solo journaling game. The following is a very short game that I played
The game forces you to engage your imagination, drawing tarot cards for inspiration. Each card has been allocated specific inspirational text to help you explore the horrors to be found in the Sick Room.
---
Tuesday,
I'm in the bathroom, I'm hiding! Hiding from my living room. No, that's not right. I'm hiding from the room, from the door. There's a door in there, it wasn't there before. It just appeared. Am I mad? The door is wrong, it shouldn't be there. I opened it, god forgive me. The door felt cold and there was a strange meaty smell when I opened it.
I can't explain it there's a living room from the 80s behind the door. But it shouldn't, can't be there. The other side of that wall is an empty show shop. I took a step in there, saw the TV, and the wallpaper just like when I was a kid. And, there was a feeling, like someone was standing in there watching me. But there wasn't anyone there. I kept turning round, it was like there was someone being me. I ran up here, I'm still shaking.
Wednesday,
I had to know it was real, had to know I wasn't mad, I went in there again. I stood in the middle of the room. I looked at the TV, it's like the one my grandmother had. I got the feeling I was being watched again. When I turned round they were sitting on the sofa. I don't know what they were, I mean it was a man, woman, and a girl, only they weren't people, not really. I rubbed my eyes, but it wasn't my eyes, the people were blurry. They were talking, laughing I think. They were quiet, I couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Their words warbled, fading in and out. I think they could see me. But I felt there was someone behind me, and when I turned round, there was no one there. I turned again as the people were gone. I couldn't stay there. I moved the table in front of the door when I came out.
Thursday,
I heard a knocking on the door, from the other side. I stared at it, I was shaking. I've never felt fear like that before, I WAS shaking. I stared at the door and ate a whole pack of biscuits, staring the whole time. In the end I moved the table and opened the door. There was no one there. I balled up the biscuit wrapper and tossed it in. It landed on the carpet. Nothing happened. I really didn't want to go in but I had an urge and took two two quick steps. That someone's-here feeling instantly engulfed me. The room, it was, well, it felt close. There was a glow in the middle of the TV screen. I crouched next to it and could here something in the speaker. It warbled like the people had. I turned the volume dial, I only touched it, turned it the tiniest amount. The speaker blared, shouted "fat fuck" at me. I fell back from it horrified, then scrambled-ran out the door, slammed it shut and pushed the table back in front of it. Then I threw up.
Friday,
I woke up determined to master my fear. I stomped downstairs, dragged the table out of the way and opened the door.
There was a packet of bisuits. Where I'd left the wrapper was a full packet. I think it was the same packet, at least the one I balled up was gone, and this was in its place.
I went in picked it up, it felt good in my hand. I don't know why or how, somehow it felt right. I felt confidence while I held it. And that feeling of someone else in the room faded. It didn't go, just felt less invasive. I sat on the sofa facing the TV and ate all the biscuits. I drifted off, I don't know how long, I was staring at the TV. I remember it had shadows moving on the screen but i don't recollect anything about them in particular.
I picked up the biscuits and ate them all. And watched the shadows.
I picked up the biscuits, again. That was when I realised I'd changed. I don't know how many packs I'd eaten but my god I filled the whole sofa, I'd grown fat, hugely big. Shocked I tried to stand, and unbalanced by this new weight I fell. Gasping for breath on the floor I sucked in air that stank. It took a couple of breaths before I realised it was my body that was giving off the stink. I nearly threw up. I couldn't get up, I crawled to the door dragged myself out of the room, rolled over and kicked the door shut. The stink was so bad I couldn't catch my breath it was choking, choking.
I woke up the next morning on the floor. The door was gone. No sign of it at all. I wasn't fat but I felt drained. I got up went to the kitchen, and threw away the biscuits I had in the cupboard.
Name: Ra In the Rough
Level 1 Halfling Thief
Alignment: Neutral
Age: 52
STR: 16 (+1)
INT: 10
WIS: 9
CON: 15 (+1)
DEX: 12
CHA: 15 (max: 5 loyalty: +1)
HP: (3)
AC: 7 [12]
SAV: 14
BHB: 0
Thievery: 2
XP Bonus: 5%, 279
Armor: Leather
Shield: None
Helm: None
Weapons:
Mace [1d6]
Dagger [1d6-1]
Equipment:
6 torches
backpack
bedroll
large sack
waterskin
thieves' tools
5 days dried rations
flint & steel
50' hemp rope
158 GP
Racial Abilities:
Giants, ogres, and similar giant-type creatures such as trolls are not
good at fighting small creatures such as Halflings, and only inflict
half the normal damage against them.
Halflings receive a +2 to-hit when firing missile weapons in combat.
When not engaged in combat, Halflings can be quite stealthy, making
themselves hard to spot and moving in almost total silence. The
success of this ability is determined by the Referee.
Halflings receive +4 on saving throws vs. magic (even if the "Saving
Throw Matrix" is used).
Name: Merciggo
Level 1 Elf Fighter/Magic-User
Alignment: Neutral
Age: 251
STR: 14
INT: 9
WIS: 6 (-1)
CON: 7
DEX: 7
CHA: 14 (max: 5 loyalty: +1)
HP: (7)
AC: 6 [13]
SAV: 14
BHB: 0
XP Bonus: None , 265
Spells: Charm person
Armor: Leather
Shield: Yes
Helm: Yes
Weapons:
Warhammer [1d6]
Sling [1d6]
Equipment:
5 torches
backpack
bedroll
waterskin
5 days dried rations
flint & steel
10' pole
96 GP
Pouch & 20 stones
Racial Abilities:
Elves may use either the Fighter or Magic-user class advancement
charts, to be announced at the start of an adventure.
When an Elf adventures as a Magic-user, the character has the same
weapon and armor limitations as a Magic-user. The exception to this
would be magic armor, which may still be worn even when the Elf is
acting as a Magic-user.
Elves gain an +1 to-hit and damage when fighting goblins, orcs,
intelligent undead, and lycanthropes. Elves are also immune to
paralysis caused by undead such as ghouls.
Elves are good at spotting hidden and concealed doors (1-4 on a d6
when searching, 1-2 on a d6 if just passing by).
Elves can speak with gnolls, goblins, orcs, and hobgoblins.
Name: Arer the Icthic
Level 1 Halfling Fighter
Alignment: Neutral
Age: 56
STR: 10
INT: 16 (+1)
WIS: 13
CON: 6 (-1)
DEX: 8
CHA: 8 (max: 3 loyalty: -1)
HP: 1
AC: 2 [17]
SAV: 14
BHB: 0
XP Bonus: None, 265
Armor: Plate
Shield: Yes
Helm: Yes
Weapons:
Club [1d6]
Short Bow [1d6-1]
Equipment:
6 torches
backpack
bedroll
waterskin
5 days dried rations
flint & steel
10' pole
144 GP
Quiver & 19 arrows
Racial Abilities:
Giants, ogres, and similar giant-type creatures such as trolls are not
good at fighting small creatures such as Halflings, and only inflict
half the normal damage against them.
Halflings receive a +2 to-hit when firing missile weapons in combat.
When not engaged in combat, Halflings can be quite stealthy, making
themselves hard to spot and moving in almost total silence. The
success of this ability is determined by the Referee.
Halflings receive +4 on saving throws vs. magic (even if the "Saving
Throw Matrix" is used).
Name: Kracvak Do
Level 1 Human Cleric
Alignment: Lawful
Age: 37
STR: 12
INT: 9
WIS: 12
CON: 14
DEX: 14
CHA: 8 (max: 3 loyalty: -1)
HP: 2
AC: 2 [17]
SAV: 15
BHB: 0
XP Bonus: None, 265
Turn Undead:
Skeleton: 10
Zombie: 13
Ghoul: 15
Wight: 17
Armor: Plate
Shield: Yes
Helm: Yes
Weapons:
Staff [1d6]
Sling [1d6]
Equipment:
6 torches
backpack
bedroll
waterskin
5 days dried rations
flint & steel
10' pole
wooden holy symbol
scroll
84gp 10 gems(10gp each)
Pouch & 20 stones
With those generated I start a session, which quickly got into combat, here are the session notes:
Session
Call to Action
The mayor (Paur Armstrong) of the village Elderglen makes a speech in the Inn looking for heroes. Monsters have been attacking the washer women down by the river. They've taken up residence in an old bear cave near the river. Clear it out for 10GP each.
Travel
Walk to river, 1 in 6 for encounter: 4, no encounter.
The Cave
Arrive at riverside. 1D6 rooms in cave, 2.
Ra sneaks to cave mouth, Thievery (2) , 5, sneak fails.
What's in the first room 1D12, 7, Zombie #appearing 1D8, 6
HD 1, AC [12], Move 6, Damage 1D6-1
Are Zombies surprised? 1D6, 3, not surprised.
Round 2, initiative, PCs 1, Monsters 4, monsters go first
Round 3 initiative, PCs 3 monsters 6
Round 4
The 2 remaining zombies will flee beyond range and never return.
XP award for defeating the zombies (30 * 6) = 240.
Treasure roll, 6 (value of treasure is 960gp) made up of: 720gp, 1400sp, 10 gems worth 10gp each
Post Combat
The PCs light a torch, enter the cave and search for what lured the zombies here. 1-4 (Merciggo being elvish) ,4, success. The party find the treasure buried in the dirt floor of the cave. Assume each character can carry additional 20lbs so that's 200 coins each. The remaining treasure of 1400sp will be reburied in the cave against a future return.
Merciggo 200gp, Ra 200gp, Arer 200gp, Kracvak 120gp 10 gems(10gp each), will be worth addition 820xp if it gets back to town.
Returning to village, 1 in 6 for encounter: 4, no encounter.
Each character gains xp, 240 for monsters, 820 for treasure a total 1060 divided between 4 is 265 each.
Getting set up
Rent a "wing" of the Inn, including 2 rooms, full health restored, and stabling for 4 (non existing) horses for a month, 40gp, Merciggo pays.
How many horses are available for purchase during the month, 1D8, 7. Purchase 6 horses for 40gp each (240gp, 60 each)
Hire a groom/Horse-holder 2gp a week for 8gp for the month. Hired by Merciggo (+1 Loyalty) Da Jur a dwarf
Hire a torch bearer 2gp a week for 8gp for the month. Hired by Ra (+1 Loyalty) Risor Lem an Elf
The dolls were made by the last of the humans, and they imbued them with their will, soul, spirit, and something else. The human's wishes and desire has somehow passed into these dolls.
Long after humanity is gone, the robots continue turning Earth into a wasteland where nothing lives. Into this world the dolls appear , with the objective of bringing down the The Computer.
Armed with a rather poor Snub-E station-safe pistol, and a frying pan (hey don't judge its practically armour and packs quite a wallop if you give it a good swing). Checking the bounty board, I spotted there was one of those horrid B3AR-BOTs on the loose. The furry little bastards!
I headed out and started the hunt. It was not a good time, people were either lying to me or just plain stupid. I was wandering all over the place even ended up on the observation deck. Wouldn't you know it, I spotted both Argent-6 and Dexio, two unluckier moons do not exist (-2 in combat). Despite that bad luck I popped into the deck security office and my buddy Deckard was on duty. He let me use the security cams, and I found my target toddling around the cryo-deck peeking at the sleepers. I promised Deckard a beer and headed down to cryo.
I spotted the shit-rig before it saw me., but my shot went wild. It rushed me but I only got grazed as I jumped up onto a cryobed. My next shot took out the bot's control centre. It started running around randomly, and I missed it with all three capture bolt. I smacked it with the pan. That stopped it, but with the head crushed I'd be lucky to get half the bounty. Fekkin robots.
I like what I found in here. An intro to solo playing, then a straight into a useful table for determining a mission objective. This table is short but it gives a nice variety of mission types. It then guides you into generating some VIPs for your mission. They might be NPCs, officers, targets, or otherwise. There are tables for theatre of operation and then significant places for the mission.
Next we move into "Planning" which takes you the player through the design process of what you want to do when playing, and what sort of NPC you might want to prepare.
It also introduces a mechanic called "Tension". This is a great idea. Its a ticking timebomb for a disaster. As you play it ticks down to something very bad happening. You never quite know when this bomb will go off or what form of DOOM it will take.
Then there's a guide on how to ask/answer the questions that drive the game, and gives you simple "oracle" to get your answers. It's a simple D10 mechanism ... but ... its variable, and you you can tailor it to the situation, ... and ... it drives that Tension mechanism.
Another great set of tables provide you inspiration and flavour for answering questions and feeding into your story. Talking of which, there is an nice set of NPC names tables, tailored to various nations involved. Beyond these, the book gives you plenty of advice on story telling and handling a team of players rather than a single character.
To sum up, I'm really happy with this product, its a perfect fit for Operation Whitebox, and I'm going to be using it tonight! My only gripe, is that I'd like to own this as physical book.
My characters:
Move 1, Moving into the +0 Zone
Toadun makes tracking roll to get a peak at the Helmet location to see what's there, but he fails
We move into the Helmet location and reveal the encounter to be 2 Orcs
Bowman Attempts an Ambush, but fails.
Round ~1~
Round ~2~
4 treasure have been earned!
Move 2, Moving into the +1 Zone
Encounter a Werewolf, HP 22, Melee Attack +1, Melee Defence +1, Damage Bonus 1D4.
Bowman attempts Ambush, fails.
Round ~1~
Round ~2~
Earned 6 Treasure (10 total)
Move 3, +2 band
Encounter Village,
Draygon visits the Blacksmith and spends all the party Treasure to gain a +1 Sword (Melee Attack bonus)
Move 4, +3 band, to a "?" space
Roll 1D6 to determine encounter category, result =Helmet Category
Constrictor, HP 12, Melee Attack +2, Damage Bonus +1
Round ~1~
No Treasure :(
Move 5, +4 band
Toadun makes a Tracking attempt on the Helmet encounter success "There be spiders ahead". Toadun suggests we go to the Cave encounter instead
Iron Eater HP 12, Melee Attack +3, Melee Defence +1, Damage Bonus +1
Round ~1~
Move 6, +5 band, to a "?" space
Roll 1D6 to determine encounter category, Helmet Attack
OwlBear,HP 18, Initiative +2, Melee Attack +3, Melee Defence +2, Damage Bonus 1D6
Bowman Attempts an Ambush, Success.
Round ~0 (Ambush)~
Round ~1~
10 Treasure!
Move 7, +6 band
Campfire,
Move 8, +7 band, The Lair
Nightmare HP14, Melee Attack +2, Melee Defence +1, Damage bonus 1D6
5 x DarkElves HP 8, Melee Attack +4, Melee Defence +2
Bowman attempts Ambush, fails
Round ~1~
Round ~2~
Round ~3~
Concede, because 4 melee attacks on last character that he could not fend off
Summary: Killed by the End Boss' but did manager to stash 5 treasure for use in next run. Got much further in this run than the last. I put this down to some lucky rolls, but mostly down to some very good skills. Melee Defence was critical, and Ambush proved very powerful. Spells at first level seem pretty low power which is appropriate. I'm happy with how it went.