Introducing MECHA NAM

I've been tapping away at a scifi mecha RPG, sort of Starship Troopers with more grit. I call it MECHA NAM, but that's a placeholder name for now. Picture man-sized powered suits stomping through jungle planets fighting enemy mecha for meaningless hills to make ideological points for the generals back home.

Players roll up characters with simple histories, inspired by Traveler, detailing the tours of duty they took part in before the game begins. The rules are designed with squad-based action in mind, with each character's skills adding to the total efficiency of the group. It uses a die pool system with d6's. It's currently incomplete, with the glaring omissions being how to get rid of Stress Dice, what guns you start with, and who exactly it is you're trying to kill. These changes will appear soon! If all goes as scheduled I'll be playtesting this thing next Monday with my meatspace group.

Interested? Read MECHA NAM here!

Epic LEGO mecha by tattun.

The Dungeon Diaper

Collected for easier perusal from an epic G+ thread, with creative assistance from Jeff Rients, Aaron Gordon, Matthew Burack, Ray Case, and Nick Peterson. Adventurers, being an unseemly and greedy lot, will check anything for treasure. This table answers the timeless question:

What’s inside this diaper I found in the dungeon?
001: The diaper grabs hold of you. It's a mimic!
002: The diaper is actually a heavily folded scroll wrapped around wadding. Roll 1d4 to determine the number of spells, and 1d4 to determine their level; there is a 35% chance that the scroll is soiled in such a way that the effects of the spells are reversed against the user. 
003: That's no baby. It's a kobold. 
004: Golden egg worth d4 x 50gp
005: Color pool
006: Living Poop (As 1/2 HD Black Pudding, but greenish-yellow.)
007: False alarm, or so it seems. So long as the diaper is worn, it is never apparently soiled. 
008: Diaper of Holding: Contents spew forth when removed.
009: Contents are magenta. Be concerned. 
010: This diaper conceals an alchemical trap. It bursts into flame when removed.
011: What the f have you been eating?!? - odd color
012: What the f have you been eating?!? - odd smell
013: What the f have you been eating?!? - odd texture
014: What the f have you been eating?!? - odd sound
015: What the f have you been eating?!? - odd taste?!?
016: Psychic poop inspires strong, inappropriate emotion in all observers.
017: That shit is radioactive...literally.
018: How did that get in there? - avocado.
019: How did that get in there? - rubber ball.
020: How did that get in there? - fake poop - made of plastic.
021: How did that get in there? - fun size candy bar - still in the wrapper
022: How did that get in there? - hot wheelz car
023: How did that get in there? - live goldfish swimming in a puddle of urine
024: It's shaped like a turd, but made of solid copper.
025: It's shaped like a turd, but made of solid silver.
026: It's shaped like a turd, but made of solid electrum.
027: It's shaped like a turd, but made of solid gold.
028: It's shaped like a turd, but made of solid platinum.
029: It's shaped like a turd, but made of solid mithril.
030: It's shaped like a turd, but made of solid adamantine.
032: It's shaped like a turd, but made of lead.
032: It's shaped like a turd, but made of wood.
033: It's shaped like a turd, but made of charcoal.
034: fluorescent green play doh
035: It's shaped into a perfect dodecahedron.
036: It's shaped into a perfect cube.
037: It's shaped into a perfect tetrahedron.
038: A saint's portrait - very lifelike.
039: Your portrait - very lifelike.
040: A caricature of you - captures your essence in humiliating detail.
041: Golden poo encrusted with gemstones.  All who see it must Save vs. Spell or are overcome with a sudden murderous greed. Those who make the save are forever immune to the charms of the turd. Those who fail the save will stop at nothing in order to possess, protect, and hide the golden poo; new save is rolled each time they sleep until the greed curse breaks.
042: No contents, but opening the diaper creates a sound that only the opener can hear. Save vs Illusion; upon failure, the character believes they now know the secrets to life, and will rush out to tell everyone else within sight their secret. 
43: Cloudkill
044: upon opening, contents are subject to Enlarge. 
045: Baby is affected by reduce person for 1d6 hours. Poop left behind is equal to the difference in mass.
046: When diaper is removed baby flies around the room like a deflating balloon, lands safely in your arms at the end.
047: Opening the diaper creates a Gate to somewhere; everyone within 10 ft must roll Save Vs. Spell or be pulled inside. 
048: Friendly Poo Golem: Oh no! Mr. Bill!
049:  Color Spray! (hint: the color is yellow)
050: A clay that can be molded into any shape desired and then will harden into the actual item fashioned within 1d4 hours
051: Right before you close the new diaper, another turd comes out. (Repeat this 3d6 times.)
052: The smell is irresistible to (random creature type): all within 500 ft will obsessively try to get that diaper and wallow in the contents.
053:  A tiny corked bottle with a speck of paper inside.  If the paper is magnified a plea for rescue can be read.
054: A perfect sphere of obsidian, perfect for scrying and worth 2d6x5 gp.
055: 1d6 small pearls worth 1d10 each. Each pearl has a random effect if swallowed.  Roll 1d8:

1 - heal 1d6+6,

2 - hair changes to a random non-hair color,

3 - smoke billows out of your ears - obscuring other's vision in a 20 ft radius for 1d6 minutes.

4 - imparts darkvision for 1d4 months - however you are partially blinded by bright light (-4 to hit, etc),

5 - you throw up and are nauseous for 1d6 hours

6 - your charisma is permanently increased by 1

7 - due to a strange odor that stays with you, your charisma is temporarily decreased by 4 for 1d6 days.

8 - you are cured of a single affliction such as poisoning or blindness.

056: Diaper bursts apart into a flock miniature white doves...each with a brown skidmark across it's back.
057: Diaper goes poof, harmless smoke released. Even: contents disappear Odd: contents left behind
058: Diaper is made of marshmallow fluff - contents are not.
059: Diaper sticks to your hand as if super-glued.
060: Every time you open your backpack, this diaper is on top - remove curse to rid yourself of it
061: When thrown, this diaper explodes into a stinky brown version of the Web spell.
062: Is that a gemstone in there? You won't know for sure unless you dig through it. Odd: You were mistaken. Even: It's a gemstone!
063: Diaper becomes harder than steel when removed from baby. Can be used as a +1 helmet.
064: Diaper turns to acid 1d6 rounds after being removed. Burns hole 10' deep, right through whatever it was sitting on - stone, metal, anything.
065: Diaper grows dozens of little legs and scurries off like a centipede.
066-099: It's crap.
000: Roll twice on this table, or DM's choice.

Ik'tik'buboe, the Drowned Sultan

Woo! That's a long absence! So sorry for the long dry spell here on Carapace King, but between a bunch of truly murderous projects at work and having a human child I've had trouble rubbing enough brain cells together to get content written down. I can't promise I'll get back to the regularity I was before, but I've got a few things to post soon. Now on with the gamestuff!

Ig is a land untouched by gods. Perhaps they existed once, but died and were consumed by the earth, for the ground itself holds power. The power that only clerics can call down in other worlds are available to anyone of inscrutable means should they hunt out places mystically attuned. It lies within standing stones and untouched forest glens and natural springs.

There are still ineffable powers at work in the world, but they take forms malevolent and alien. Humans call them the Seventy-Seven Lords of Decay. Often these "lords" are nothing more than a name to curse when some minor misfortune occurs, but others do exist. Falling somewhere between demon, spirit, and gremlin, each  has panoply over an aspect of the world with which to vex and war with civilization.

Ik'tik'buboe is one of these beings. It goes by many names across Ig, some call it the Drowned Sultan, others the Serene Face of the Deep. It exists to bring about perpetual deluge across the land. The crab, the salt marsh, and the hurricane are its domain. Where there is flood, it is there. Where there is sea, it is there. Where there is rain, it is there. Anyone on the edge of death in these conditions may be approached by an avatar of Ik'tik'buboe in the shape of an enormous crab with seven serene, human faces. It offers survival and power to those who swear fealty. These vassals must tend to the ocean's crabs and sow saltwater wherever they go. They are compelled to vandalize bridges, dams, and to never go out with head covered in a rainstorm.

Invoke Patron check results:
12-13: Ik'tik'buboe is barely deigns to listen to its supplicant. A acrid salt spray blasts into the caster's face for 3 rounds, -5 to hit.
14-17: The caster finds himself teleported to the nearest body of water large enough to hold him. Upside down.
18-19: Sudden cloudburst dumps a briny acidic rain 100' around the caster. It deals 1d3 damage per turn for 1d6 turns to anyone except the caster.
20-23: Hundreds of tiny crabs boil up from the earth. Each has a single serene human face. They cover the body of the caster and grant +5 AC.
24-27: The caster's dominant arm becomes a huge thorny crab claw, causing him to drop whatever he was carrying. It is +2 to hit and deals 1d8 damage.
28-29: Everyone within 30', except the caster, fall into the ground with a splash. It acts like water, and anyone who falls immediately begins drowning and descends 5 feet per turn. After 3 turns anyone affected finds themselves entombed in solid earth.
30-31: A bronze idol of Ik'tik'buboe appears out of nowhere and fights for the caster. It remains for 1d4+CL rounds. Bronze Idol: Atk 2 claws (1d8+2); AC 16; HD 5d10; MV 20'; SV Fort +10, Ref +2, Will +6; AL E.
32+: 1d4+1 bronze idols appear. See above.

Patron Taint
1: The caster's skin grows thick and calloused, as well as faintly mottled.  If this is rolled a second time his skin grows even thicker and deeply mottled. On the third time the caster's skin becomes distinct plates made of crab shell.
2: The caster is compelled to salt the nearest well, and must pass a DC 15 Will save to resist the command. The second time this is rolled the caster must pass a DC 20 Will save. After the third he must make the roll for every well he comes across.
3: The caster's face grows pale and rigid, slurring his speech. The face becomes progressively less mobile with repeated rolls. The third time the roll occurs the caster's face becomes a porcelain mask, rendering him mute.
4: a rain shower breaks out around the caster, lasting for 1d6 turns and making all actions have a -2 modifier.
5: When casting a spell any water in containers up to a gallon turn salty. The second time this is rolled it will affect amounts up to 5 gallons, and on the third time anything smaller than a pond.
6: A brood of tiny crabs pour out of the wounds of everyone within 20 feet.