The feed of updates to Octopus Ink Games
This is an idea I’ve been bouncing around my head for Mothership, inspired by Violence (all of my recent design ideas converge on Violence because Violence is good). I have not tested it yet. Direct wounds Remove health and damage as written. Instead, when someone would take damage they roll directly on the wounds table, and track existing wounds (which start at 0 and go up by 1 with each hit you…
The Year Collector sets up a stall in the town square, a man appearing to be in his 60s. Most give the stall wide berth, but once in a while a desperate looking resident stops and furtively signs their mark in a large ledger, receiving a bag of coin in exchange. Afterwards the collector may be observed to show slight signs of rejuvenation, a wrinkle smoothed, less stoop in his posture, a flush of…
A ritual and monster for Wolves Upon the Coast Create Wax Golem Take the corpse of a man and hollow it. Place a queen bee within the cavity and entice it to nest. Harvest the wax and honey as the hive grows. Set the honey aside—it has its own potent magic. Mold the wax into human form and embed it with a wick woven from rush and soaked in the fat of the corpse. When the wick is lit, the golem will…
An 17th century scenario for Violence . On Firearms A firearm may be fired once in a violent altercation, only able to be reloaded when there is a moment of calm. Someone trained in violence may spend two combat rounds reloading instead. Players Fleeing the bustle and sin of the colonial cities, a group of devout settlers struck out for the mountains west of the Virginia territory. Among the…
A scenario for Violence or the Panic Engine . In February of 2023, an unidentified high altitude object flying over northern Alaska near Deadhorse was detected by radar. Flybys by U.S. fighters reported a cylindrical, silver, and apparently uncrewed object appearing to float by unknown means of propulsion. Some of the pilots reported the object interfered with their sensors. The object was shot…
Synthesizing this idea into a more “ traditional” elfgame with XP and carousing, which I’ll probably end up using for Dolmenwood and similar campaigns I’m running. I like the idea of tying this to carousing, because then your players can wear their normal adventuring gear in the dungeon then get all dressed up to party. This assumes using one of the many carousing rules out there, where money…
Ideas from my notes that are unlikely to make it into anything published so I’ll put them here. Items ShareMind : Cyberware, 1 slot. 10kcr. Must be installed in two or more people to function. This cyberware uses quantum entanglement to provide instantaneous communication and shared experience across installed users on the same “ network”, no matter the distance. Unfortunately one drawback is a…
You’re a rat with a gun. How does that work? Tiny gun? Big rat? Who knows. -15 STR , +30 SPD -20 FEAR , +15 BODY , +15 SAN Jury-rigging, Rimwise, Athletics. Bonus: 1 Trained skill. Trauma response : You may choose to make a Panic check to gain [+] on a Speed check or Body save. Loadout : Revolver (6 Shots)
A class option for mothership classes. Class specialties are used to give a little flavor and specificity to the existing classes, particularly for something that might relate to a particular module. They have one mechanical ability and unique items. They are meant to be used with any class and granted when you interact enough with a specific aspect or faction. You can only have one specialty at a…
I’ve been thinking on simultaneous combat resolution lately , and came across this great blog post by Underground Adventures discussing it, as well as surprise rules from Traveller which I like quite a lot (if you didn’t click through, the jist is you roll a d6 for both sides and if the difference is 3+ that side gains surprise. More importantly they keep surprise until something happens that…
I want to do more little freebie scenarios here on my blog. Here is one that can plug in anywhere. PDF version Setup Set this scenario at a security checkpoint, customs inspection, or similar scenario of authorities inspecting passenger items. Ahead of the players, officials inspect a nervous-looking man’s briefcase against his protests. He insists that he has an exemption for inspections, that he…
The assumed combat resolution in the current edition of Mothership is player facing rolls, that is, the Warden describes the opponent(s) actions and player react with their actions, rolling as necessary. Monsters and other enemies don’t roll—their stats are used more to inform their power level and capabilities. My main issue with running this way is it feels a little “ squishy” for lack of a…
Inspired by this wasitlikely post to use morale as initiative for old school type games. It is less sloppy drippy and therefore more boring but I think it fits in fine with your standard b/x type game. On starting combat roll 2d6 against enemy morale as usual. Exceeding their morale means the players go first, rolling lower they go second. For what enemy morale to use: The value from the enemy if…
As I gear up for my Dolmenwood campaign I’m pondering little bits of lore as I want to run it. These may be considered as doctrine or true by characters in setting, but doesn’t mean it is the Absolute Truth. On Souls The immortal creatures of fairy (including fairy and demi-fey kindred) do not have souls. Their essential spirit or life force is inherently bound to their material form. When a fairy…
This is my second Dolmenwood session report. We picked up where we left off, midway through the Winter’s Daughter adventure, now switched to the Dolmenwood system (plus some house rules like roll-to-cast magic). The party moved to investigate the central chamber of the first floor, a crypt of Sir Chyde’s family, discovering two floating skeletons dancing to distant music, a strange rift, and a…
This will be the start of my ongoing session reports for my newly started Dolmenwood campaign. We were using a Shadowdark/Dolmenwood/OSE/homebrew mashup for the system, but I’ve decided going forward to just use the Dolmenwood system with some tweaks in future sessions. Spoilers ahead for Winter’s Daughter , an adventure module for Dolmenwood. The party is made up of Basil (Human fighter), Chloe…
Merchants are one of the few people who have liquid coin to buy treasures dredged from dungeons and may have the inclination to do so (Nobles would rather claim it as theirs to begin with and the Church will happily accept donations but maintains paying for treasures is sinful and base). Even then, the goods must be either something the merchant feels they can resell at profit or want personally…
Things that can manipulate your players’ reputation tables (usually NPCs, sometimes monsters). Usually their manipulations will be local to their area or settlement. The Slanderer If offended, the Slanderer adds a lie on the party’s table. If egregiously offended, they add 1d6 lies over the next several weeks or months. These can be removed of the Slanderer is made to publicly retract them. The…
A scenario for use with Violence . If you know you know . Over the past several months you and your companions have become self aware, awakened to a sedate, bovine consciousness. Now as evening falls you stand upright over the supine, bleeding body of the Farmer — your creator, father, tormentor — wielding crude tools. He has a keyring on his belt. You need to get out before “ they” come. You…
Mothership Panic effects are great and flavorful, but many are longer term consequences that might not matter so much in a one shot or short scenario. I came up with a simple rule (adapted somewhat from Delta Green) that augments the existing table: Whenever you fail a Panic check choose an immediate response of fight, flight, or freeze, in addition to the normal effect. Fight: You instinctively…
In the Mothership Player’s Survival Guide there is an option to sign up for military service, effectively giving you Marine skills, stats, and trauma response. Plus a nice little hat tip to Traveller in the fact that you can die in character creation. To me this looks like a lifepath done in typical Mothership simplicity, handled by a single roll. So that made me think what such a lifepath roll…
A scenario for Delta Green. It is in the Mothership RPG (or my forthcoming modern Panic Engine system). It is 2041. With the success of the Artemis missions NASA and humanity has returned to the Moon, this time establishing a permanent presence in the form of the Gateway space station and the Artemis Base Camp located near the Moon’s south pole. Now that the base camp is operational excavation has…
Will clean this post up later. Was quickly made as a response to a request in the Mothership Discord. As always, a player can veto or reroll a result if they aren’t comfortable with a particular bond or if it doesn’t fit their character. Human-human bonds You are siblings or step-siblings, and are close. You are siblings or step-siblings, and are estranged. You are distant cousins. You are found…
Note: I’ve simplified these even further in Mothership Homebrew I have been looking into decent chase rules for Mothership beyond a basic speed check for a while. First, I found the rules for the old 007 game (no longer published, but a clone was made as a game called Classified with essentially the same rules). These seem fun but are a little more complicated than what I was looking for. Next I…
I have a new landing page up at https://octopusinkgames.com . It features a shiny new logo made by Lone Archivist. Also, the blog has now moved here, to blot.
Some more Mothership monsters. Some of these will be appearing in upcoming supplements I’m writing. Bilge Rats C:20 bite 1 DMG I:15 W:1(1) 10% chance carries bloater parasite. Bites confer infection on a failed Body save. Appear in swarms of 2d10 A mammal-like alien vermin that is quickly overtaking Terran rats as the most invasive species carried ship to ship. Bilge rats have long, lithe bodies…
I’ve been noodling something in the back of my mind, inspired by reading my daughter Rumpelstiltskin, specifically the beginning where the miller boasts to the baker’s son his daughter is too good for the likes of him, why she can even spin thread into gold! This rumor gets passed along various villager until it reaches a servant of the king, who tells the king himself, who of course has to see…
I came across the Underclock Goblin Punch post and immediately wanted to start using it. I’ve been using the Angry GM ’ s Tension Pool a bit, to decent results. I think I like the Underclock better, as it gives an immediate feedback and foreboding of the number counting down, and allows for more player planning. In the Underclock post, he talks about giving up on tracking torches and similar…
I was reading (and loved) Prismatic Wasteland’s take on action based initiative . I’m running some OSR play by post stuff soon and was thinking how to apply this to side-based initiative, which is what I’m planning on using. So here are two methods (caveat, these are not play-tested, just right off the top of my head, though I may try them in my upcoming games): Side Based Action Initiative with…
Spell Level : A spell’s level is equal to what the caster would cast it at. In Knave 2e rules this is equal to the caster’s INT score by default. If you use another ability for casting use that score. If using leveled spells from another source, it is equal to the level of the spell. If you have at least 1 in a mental stat ( INT , WIS , CHA ) at character creation, pick an option. You might be…
Now for a post with some actual RPG content. First up a simple one. I’m gearing up to run Knave 2e in a play-by-post game, so of course I’m modding it to my tastes. I love the way wounds past 0 hp get loaded into the inventory system (and generally the way the inventory system is used in Knave and its various hacks). Usually just having a wound in your inventory is bad enough: it’s taking up…