An addendum of sorts to the year-in-review post. Here’s a quick rundown of the most notable content and rules I homebrewed in 2024 for my ongoing sword & planet classic D&D campaign, Planet Karus. My players may not want to read further for fear of spoilers. I mostly post this as a reminder to myself. It’s nice to be reminded of all the small and large things that get created as we go.
Gaming Content
Adventuring sites, monsters, and items created for the Planet Karus campaign.
The Abyssal Sanctum: A small dungeon comprising 22 rooms across three levels. A natural cave system that serpent men once used for study and worship, now infested by a slime god outer being. The entrance to this dungeon is hidden inside the farmers’ guild hall in the players’ hometown. Players have yet to explore this one.
Plasma Elemental, Harmonic Convergence Chamber: A custom elemental that roams the third level of The Balok, our campaign’s tentpole dungeon, made up of the same stuff as the massive power source that is located at the center of this level.
The convergence chambers are the mechanisms by which these elementals were brought into this world by the Balok’s builders. These are now malfunctioning, allowing the elementals to roam free. Players have yet to encounter these.
Regeneration Machine, Space Crab Cloak, Possessed Visitor Claw: Various magic items that I created in response to players’ actions.
The machine is a thing they plan to build from parts found in the main dungeon. It does what it says on the tin.
The cloak was commissioned from the town tanner, using shells from a defeated giant space crab.
The claw is… a long story. It was originally attached to the zombified remains of a space alien, who was destroyed by the players, the claw taken as a trophy. Then, in session 24, they managed to complete a ritual that transplanted the soul of a deceased retainer that one player character was carrying around in their cranium to the claw and attach it to the arm of another player character. I modeled it after an OD&D-style intelligent sword. Can’t wait to see them try it in action.
Ruined Serpent Man Citadel: Work in progress. This is intended to become a new small, highly lethal dungeon inside the ruined remains of what once was a serpent man citadel, now buried beneath desert sands. I am going to try and use Finch’s method for creating dungeon maps for this one for the first time.
Rules & Procedures
Expansions, adjustments, and additions for Hackbut, my homebrew classic D&D ruleset.
Hex-Crawl Tools: Procedures for generating lairs on a wilderness hex map, a similar one for generating settlements, and for determining the number of monsters and amount of treasure in ruins.
Movement Rules Tinkering: Adjusted encumbrance levels for armor, adjusted movement rates for mounts, triangulating between Delving Deeper, OED, and other sources.
Rationalized Jellies, Puddings, Slimes, Oozes, and Molds: Streamlined rules for the various gooey entities one finds in a typical OD&D dungeon, in particular for handling their grab, hold, and dissolve attacks.
Misc Refereeing Tools: Rolls for equipment costs, inspired by The Black Hack, but usable with classic D&D rules. Six difficulty level descriptors that can be used with the cleric’s turn undead table, converting it into a general task resolution system.
Mighty Deeds of Arms: Rules for fighters’ stunts and combat maneuvers, adapted from Dungeon Crawl Classics but adjusted for a classic D&D sensibility. (Posted here.)
Expanded Colored Races of Man Table: Inspired by Skerples’ table of races for his glog rules, this takes Carcosa’s colored races of man and adds a description for each, inspired by new age parapsychological color theory, a stat reroll, and a bonus and a weakness. (Posted here.)
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Those are the highlights. If anything piques your interest, do comment, and I might post more details in the future.