Waspgonnes

Did you miss me? The last year has been a whirlwind, but I start a new job soon which should give me a little more breathing space for things like running (and playing!) more games. Never mind Secret Santicore, which I did lots of layout work for. There is so much good stuff this year, it's going to blow your mind! It just has to work its way through a final editing pass and then it will be out in the wild, raiding campsites and eating tourists. And now, a little new content for the Jungles of And, west of Ig and full of nasty critters.

The jungles of And burst with life. Fifty creatures vie for every inch. The glittering scale wing, air grouper, and howling gribbon all compete to survive among the green canyons. Buzzing in the dappled light are dozens of wasps in variegated hues and all sizes.

The folk of And turn this riot to their own ends. Local hunters carry long-barreled air-powered fusils they call waspgonnes. Each is a work of art, hand-tooled from tropical hardwood, sinew, and polished chitin. Waspgonnes use a small bellows to fire a large wasp at their target. The weapon is pressurized, a glass jar containing a wasp is loaded into the firing chamber of the waspgonne, which draws the insect into the firing chamber, and the weapon is ready to fire whenever the trigger is squeezed. Activating the weapon accelerates the wasp along the barrel at whatever the hunter is aiming at. The flight and ensuing impact enrages the insect, which furiously bites and stings whatever it strikes. The wasp is not expected to survive, but the damage it inflicts is usually sufficient to dispatch a target. A waspgonne is also almost silent, only a quiet hiss announces its use.

Hunters raise the insects in mesh cages beside their lodges. Before an excursion the cages are flooded with woodsmoke allowing the wasps to be collected. Note: only females have stingers. Their wings are clipped and then they are sealed into individual glass jars. The hunters carry these jars in belts and bandoliers.

a waspgonne

Insects used for a waspgonne include the biter, stinger, libertine, and redeater. A biter is any small calibre wasp without venom. A stinger has a deadly venom. A libertine is smaller wasp with unclipped wings. The hunter makes an initial shot with a pheremone packet, then fires the libertine which will inexorably seek out the packet. The redeater is any oversized or especially vicious wasp. There are other, stranger types of wasp used by the most experienced hunters like the gall wasp, paper tiger, and black ghost, but they are rarely used.

A Waspgonne has the range of a longbow and must be wielded with both hands. The bellows takes 5 minutes to fill, and is good for 10 shots once charged. Wasp jars save at -2 due to their fragility, should the occasion arise.

Almost all waspgonnes are one-off pieces built by hunters, but they may be talked into selling an older piece for 60 gp. Wasps cost 5 gp, but are rarely for sale.

Wasp Ammunition

Biter (1d6)

Stinger (1d6 + poison, CON save or 1d4 damage for 1d6 rounds)

Redeater (1d8)

Pheremone packet (0, lasts 3 rounds, +5 to-hit with Libertines)

Libertine (1d4)

Beast Kings

The Nemean lion, Jaws, the White Hart, all exemplar animals of extreme rarity and potency. These kind of singular creatures are common in story and myth. Outside of dire whatevers D&D doesn't have a lot of monsters like this, and that just makes a critter grouchy and cro magnon. We need more weirdness! When your players go into the deepest, darkest part of the forest in pursuit of something Old King Boar lies ready to repel invaders in his kingdom, and he needs more heft! This requires tables. When you create a legendary monster, beast king, ornery old thing, or what have you, roll on the Legendary Features table.

Legendary Features (roll 1d12)

1. 
   This creature is enormous for its breed, up to double the size of a normal specimen. Roll an extra 1d4 hit dice. How did it get that way? Roll 1d6, 1 Cannibalism, 2 Divine Parentage, 3 Extreme Age, 4 Eating Children, 5 Worship, 6 The King’s Sin
2. Blood-colored eyes roll madly in protruding sockets seeking life to rend and tear. +2 to hit.
3. Slavering jaws curl back from a maw packed with needle-sharp teeth. Increase bite damage by one die type (1d4 becomes 1d6, etc) or gain a bite attack at 1d4 damage
4. Baroque and terrible horns crown this animal’s brow, far larger and more ornate than its mundane kin. Increase horn damage by one die type or gain a horn attack at 1d4 damage.
5. This creature leads a group of similar animals and is always found with 1d6+1 who act as guards and concubines.
6. Many have tried to slay this beast, all have failed. Embedded in its hide are spears and arrows from ancient battles like a grim mantle. Add 1d4 to armor class
7. The flesh of this beast has turned toxic from strange sustenance or hate. Save versus poison on each blow or take an extra 1d6 damage.
8. After being wounded in battle this animal will inexorably follow its attackers. Nothing will sway the creature from its task until it has killed its targets. Whether it acts with restraint in its hunt or cuts a gruesome path depends entirely on the animal in question.
9. Sprouting from this beast's neck are 1d10 extra heads. Each two heads gives the creature an extra bite attack.
10. This creature has 1d6 extra pairs of limbs. Each pair adds an extra 5’ to its movement. Each two pairs gives the beast an extra +1 to hit.
11. When slain there is a 75% chance the creature will rise again immediately at half its original hit points. It also grows new heads and limbs if any were dismembered.
12. This creature has a strange weakness, a bane that will drive it away or destroy it utterly.

1. The touch of a virgin

2. A willow switch

3. Silver

4. Being bound in red string

5. Fresh cucumber

6. The sound of bells

7. The beast’s heart is hidden in a strange part of its body

8. Flute playing puts the beast to sleep

9. Mesmerized by an object of beauty

10. Burned by smooth river stones

Stellar Piracy

The Hulks & Horrors rules mention pirates as a relatively common occurrence while surveying systems, but outside of the "Sentient Crew" encounter at the top of every table leaves the specifics up to the DM to adjudicate. I say why adjudicate when you can roll on a sweet table during system generation! Append this to your system generation process and roll out the six-inch mass drivers. And dice.

Step 3a: Determine Pirates in System
Roll 1d4, on a 1 pirates have a large presence in the system.

Roll 1d6 for each orbit, on a 1 pirates have a base at this location. Terrestrial/Dwarf: 1-2 on surface, 3-4: on moon, 5-6: space station. Gas Giant: 1-2 cloud city, 3-4 on moon, 5-6 space station. Belt: 1-2 hollow asteroid, 3-4 space station, 5-6 repurposed hulk. Deep Space Station: inside station. Artificial World: 1-5 inside construct, 6 space station.

Check for pirate encounters each time a PC vessel moves to a new orbit. Roll 1d6, on a 1 pirates have detected your vessel. If this orbit contains a pirate base an encounters occurs on a 1 to 3. The lead vessel of the crew will hail the PCs, roll on the Pirate Reaction table to determine their attitude.

Pirate Reactions (1d6)
1-2: Attack, the pirates make dire threats and engage.
3-4: Extortion, the pirates demand 1d6x1000 credits to ensure safe passage, parties unable to pay will be attacked.
5: Neutral, the pirates are kind of bored and looking to chat.
6: Friendly, the pirates are willing to impart the PCs with some system data or an item if they have the cash.

Pirate Encounters
Roll 1d3 for the number of vessels in the encounter. Roll 1d5 for the Hull Class of each pirate vessel. The total value of each should be no more than (1d4 + Hull Class) x 100,000 credits. That number is entirely arbitrary and possibly terrible, I ain't got time to stat those ships for you.

Jacking In

Hulks and Horrors is a scifi retroclone combining the human-scale ruleset of D&D with a stripped down Traveller stellar model. It comes equipped with some amazing tables for generating adventuring locations, from the macro game of sector exploration to the smallest underground bunker or space station. You can be a bearman or a floating squid and pilot a Winnebago bristling with nuclear missiles. It is the best, and I've just started running it! H&H paints its universe with a broad brush, so when I see at the bottom of Complex room table an entry for "VR Access Node" and nothing more it demands I make a table for what terrible misfortune befalls whoever jacks in!

Accessing VR Nodes

The Ancients left behind technological wonders of infinite variety, some of the more common pieces of tech are virtual reality systems. These sophisticated systems were used for education, simulation, entertainment, even basic maintenance of the facilities they were part of.

Node Technology (1d6) 

1. Headset and Gloves
2. Holographic Interface
3. Cranial Jacks (1 damage/use)
4. Psychic Mechanism
5. Cybernetic Cocoon
6. Memetics

Figuring out the Ancient technology and successfully accessing a node requires a INT check.

VR Effects (1D12)

1. All doors on this floor unlock.
2. All doors on this floor open.
3. All doors on this floor lock.
4. Knowledge floods your brain. +2 to all checks to use technology in this complex.
5. Alarm sounds, attracting nearby monsters. They arrive in 1d3 turns.
6. Location of the nearest loot.
7. Psychedelic mimetics fry your psyche for 1d6 damage.
8. Simulation of infinite space populated by Precursor ghosts.
9. Defense protocol summons 1d4+1 Servicebots to repel intruders. They arrive in 1d4 turns.
10. A map of this level is downloaded into your brain.
11. The defense system activates. Roll a hazard for this room.
12. The node temporarily overwrites your language centers, you speak only a forgotten Precursor dialect for 1d6 hours.

Prismatic Wings

I desperately want a better word for butterfly than butterfly to use in this post. Butterfly is like the limpest name for a critter that, at least in my campaign, is big and scary and cast spells willy-nilly. Lepidopterans sounds too formal, and using foreign words just seems cheap. However, the Russian babochka is far and away the coolest sounding word for them I could find.


The wizards of Ig don't wear pointy hats. Wizards wear robes and capes and turbans and queer haberdashery of iridescent moth-wing  This is because butterflies and moths are natural spell casters not out of any knowledge of their own, but due to the markings on their wings. The pattern of colorful scales on their wings form mandalas, sigils, and the true names of all things. A solitary normal butterfly or moth is harmless, but a sufficiently large swarm (rabble) resonates magically, so many wings brushing together builds up an esoteric charge that can be released at any shock to the group. The spells released scale in proportion to the amount of number of individuals in the rabble. A wizard wearing specially fashioned robes, cloaks, or masks will find his mystical abilities heightened by the wings.

Moth-wing Gear
Any gear crafted from butterflies or moths is lumped together in the catch-all of "moth-wing." This type of clothing can only be crafted by a wizard, and at no small cost. However, a wizard wearing a full suit gains a +3 to resist offensive spells and +3 to all spell checks as well as providing several mystical abilities. Moth-wing provides no bonus to AC.
Moth-wing Hat: Often taking the form of a turban bedecked in scintillating wings or simply the decapitated head of a giant moth hollowed out and made into a cap. A moth-wing hat provides a +1 bonus to all spell checks and saves. The wearer can also be used to cast Speak with Insects 2/day Cost: 400gp and 5 HD in butterflies/moths
Moth-wing Cloak: Usually made from giant wings sewn in a fashionably gaudy cape. A moth-wing hat provides a +1 bonus to all spell checks and saves. The wearer can also cast Color spray 1/day. Cost: 600 gp and 10 HD in butterflies/moths
Moth-wing Robes: A moth-wing hat provides a +1 bonus to all spell checks and saves. The wearer can also cast Featherfall 2/day. Cost: 900 gp and 15 HD in butterflies/moths




Butterfly Rabble: Init +4; Atk none (but see SP); AC 9; HD 1d8+; MV fly 40'; Act special; SP random spells, half damage from non-area attacks; SV Fort +0, Ref +6, Will +0; AL C.

For DCC the rabble can cast a random spell of a level up to the number of HD they have. It casts this spell with a spell check bonus equal to half its current HP. For mores standardized systems, consider it to have spell slots equal to a magic user of equal HD, with the spell taking up as many slots as possible.

Carapace Crafting

Spurred to action by Anarchycore and challenged by the inestimable Ian Johnson for what you see below. I present two systems for crafting weapons and armor from giant insects!

The Boring Way
Kill a number of HD of bugs of the appropriate armor class, spend some gold on other necessary materials like straps and hooks, and spend days equal to the AC bonus crafting and BOOM armor. This is boring. Don’t use it.

Armor Type	Type of Insect	Cost (gp)	HD required
Leather	AC10+	10	3
Studded Leather	AC11+	23	4
Hide	AC12+	15	5
Scale Mail	AC13+	40	6
Chainmail	AC14+	75	7
Banded Mail	AC15+	125	8
Half-Plate	AC16+	225	9
Full-Plate	AC17+	600	10
Shield	AC12+	5	2

The Epic Risky Way
Each slain giant insect can be carved down to its raw material (chitin) for crafting. Each carcass breaks down into chitin plates equal to its HD-1d6 (the Beat to Death by Ruffians Tax). A certain amount of chitin is required for each type of item, but extra plates may be included in the attempt. Each extra plate increases the chance of success by 5%. All materials are consumed whether the attempt is successful or not.

Armor Type	% to Craft	Materials required
Leather	40	4
Studded Leather	35	5
Hide	30	6
Scale Mail	25	7
Chainmail	20	8
Banded Mail	15	9
Half-Plate	10	12
Full-Plate	5	15
Shield	50	2

Weapon Type	% to Craft	Materials required
Battleaxe	20	5
Blackjack	85	2
Blowgun	85	2
Club	80	3
Dagger	70	2
Flail	60	3
Handaxe	60	2
Javelin	50	3
Lance	40	4
Longbow	40	5
Longsword	50	5
Mace	75	3
Polearm	20	4
Shortbow	50	5
Short sword	70	3
Spear	45	3
Staff	70	2
Two-handed sword	20	5
Warhammer	45	5
Dart	80	1 (per 6)
Arrow	75	1 (per 4)

Edge-cases of Supreme Insight
If the crafter rolls 99~100 some quirk of the crafting process or the material has created an item of incredible quality. Weapons counts as +1 to hit and damage. Armor counts as one rank better.

Magical Sandwiches

2. Ham and Save or Die, save or die
3. Aboleth Tartine, counts as potion of ESP
4. Witch Hoagie, cursed!
5. Dragon Dagwood, causes dragon breath!
6. Vampire Sub, lose 1d4 hp from bloodloss
7. Goblin Dip, catch a disease
8. Beholder Club, eyes project antimagic field for one hour
9. Elfaletta, succulent but lacking in substance
10. Sloppy Jackalwere, Polymorph Self
11. Grilled Ooze, you just ate a grey ooze
12. Ethereal BLT, counts as oil of etherealness
13. Flumpher-nutter, Stinking Cloud
14. Gorgon BBQ, 10’ cloud, save vs. spell or turn to stone
15. Myconid Burger, it’s vegan! Trip balls for 1d6 hours
16. Devil Torta, save versus spell or change to CE alignment
17. Unicorn Wrap, regain all HP, if you call that living
18. Kobold slider, disagrees with you terribly
19. Doppleganger Dip, it looks delicious, but it’s not! Take the form of a random being within 100’
20. Blue Chicken club, your head takes on the appearance of a large blue chicken
21. Reuben sandwich, perfect in every way
22. Crow gyro, you feel nauseous for the next 1d6 hours
23. T-rex steak and entire loaf of bread, save versus poison, on a fail you throw it all up, on a success you gain 1d3 points of Strength
24. Fried Brain, any mindflayers within 5 miles can inerrantly track the smell of your breath
25. Monty Cristo, gain 1d10x250 gp and xp

For +Ian Johnson's ANARCHYCORE full-frontal Santicore rip-off plus insult comedy plus random RPG content wunderthread. I drew the lidless eye of +Claytonian JP who requested this mess.

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.

Fixing Things

This week I had a smaller turnout. We didn't have any Hangout players, so that experiment will have to wait till later. I added some new house rules to the campaign, Jack and Matt's slot-based inventory system and a tightening up the temporal wiggle room I'd given the players. Partly due to the (one-way) design of my early adventures and partly due to my bleeding heart weaksauce DMing I'd start every session where the last ended, with whomever's character who happened to be in attendance and damn the torpedoes to explaining how or why characters could pop in and out of existence within a dungeon. It made it easier to ensure the game kept going when we were short a few players, but it's made increasingly less sense as the campaign has continued. That will no longer be the case. It's expected that the party will have to make it out of whatever death trap they've been tramping through if they want to add characters to the mix. If they can't make it back to town or base camp or whatever than they won't be able to add new characters. Obvious in retrospect, and almost guaranteed to make some players complain, but I'm willing to do the bookkeeping.

So on with what happened last session! The party finished exploring the the reservoir dungeon, scoring some loot in a side tunnel they found at the water level. Waiting for them at the top of the spiral staircase in the basement was the witch, surrounded by her cats. In repayment for discovering what was causing the village to sink, the giant crab statue had been raising the water table with sea water, she offered to translate the octagonal books they'd found. One was a historical text, the other a manual of giant insects, and the last a manual for the machinery in the reservoir. With the book, the witch, and a craftsman from Snim they were able to repair the machinery and activate it, draining the reservoir and pumping the water away from the town.

Then they all went to a bar and the dwarf got eaten trying to wrestle a boa constrictor in a pit fight.