Time Gnomes - New Race/Class for Old School Games

Time Gnomes are always born on some time-important date; Most are born on the first of a year or an equinox, but there are smaller numbers born on leap years, dates having to do with moon cycles, or even seemingly random days that have some sort of multiversal or metaphysical importance.

They resemble normal gnomes, but with softer features (for a gnome of course!) and all have large white beards. Another significant difference from normal gnomes is that they do not live underground; rather, they make wooden villages in forests or hilly grasslands, with a clocktower in the center.

Time Gnomes advance as Elves in basic- and original-derived games, with the following changes:

Prime Abilities: Intellect and Constitution 13 or higher: +5%, Int 15 and Con 14: +10%


Alignment: Time Gnomes MUST be lawful; their attachment to the mechanisms of the universe prevents other alignments.

Time Gnomes do not have Infravison, and are not resistant to Paralysis from undead. In addition, they may not wield Two-handed weapons. However, for weapons about the size of a longsword, they must use two hands. Time Gnomes may not wear armor heavier than chainmail.

Time Gnomes are IMMUNE to any effect that magically ages them, either forward or backwards. Likewise, they have a 3-in-6 chance of knowing exactly what time it is, and never lose count when deliberately timing something or counting objects (though it still takes them the normal time to count the objects.)

Should a Time Gnome be slain, he has a 50% chance of reincarnating in 1 week as another Time Gnome. Reroll the character as normal, but the player may elect keep 1 of the Time Gnome's previous ability scores (if your GM allows you to rearrange your scores after rolling them, you may not swap this score.)

Reaching 9th Level: A Time Gnome who reaches 9th level may establish a Clocktower in some natural forest clearing or rolling plains. This Clocktower will always display the exact time on one face. The other 3 faces are up to the Time Gnome. Some put the alignment of planes, planets or moons, while others simply put the day, time, and year. The tower is wooden by default, but a rich Time Gnome may elect to use other materials, at GM discretion.

Upon construction of the tower, other Time Gnomes will flock to it, establishing a walled village. Other lawful creatures related to time may come offering their services in exchange for favors. The Time Gnome is free to expand his influence, and play the "domain game" as it is called, and is not restricted to merely controlling this one town.

In Advanced Editions: Time gnomes have the same features outlined above. In addition, they gain +1 to Int and -1 to Str. Time Gnomes may be Fighters (6), Magic-Users (10) or Thieves (Unlimited). The number in parenthesis is the maximum level, if used.

Multiclass options are:
Fighter/Magic-users
Magic-user/Thieves
Fighter/Magic-user/Thieves

Some Kind of Kobold Thing

Have some art!

What form your character's leftover starting gold is in

Uses a standard playing card deck.

What form your character's leftover starting gold is in:

Diamonds (Jewelry)
2-4: 9d3 brass trinkets
5-8: 4d2 copper necklaces
9-10: 2d4 silver talismans
J: 1d2 electrum pendants
Q: 1 miniature marble statue
K: 1 gold ring
A: 1 gem

Spades (Metals)
2-4: 9d3 chunks of lead ore
5-8: 4d2 bronze lumps
9-10: 2d4 iron bars
J: 1d2 silver ingots
Q: 1 gold nugget
K: 1 vial of platinum dust
A: 1 coin of special metal not normally used as coinage in the campaign (e.g. adamantite, starmetal, glassteel...)

Hearts (Food)
2-4: (gold*2) potatoes
5-8: (gold) loaves of bread
9-10: (gold*.75) pounds of beef
J: (gold*.1) live chickens
Q: 1d3 kegs of hard liquor
K: 1d2 live goats
A: 1 bottle of wine

Clubs (Misc Equipment)
2: Remaining gold is spent on fishhooks
3-4: Remaining gold is spent on buckets
5-8: Remaining gold is spent on bags/sacks
9-J: Remaining gold is spent on oil
K-Q: Remaining gold is spent on rope
A: Remaining gold is promised as pay for 1d3 Hirelings over 1d30 days.

Black Joker: All money remaining converted to copper pieces.
Red Joker: All money remaining stays as is.

Volume 1: Princesses & Powers - Battle Princess Draft

1st Draft. Replaces the Fighter, and I'm going to try and not use the OGL. Hackmaster did it, so I'm gonna try and make my stuff different enough to warrant it. Thoughts?

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BATTLE PRINCESS

There are those princesses that take more interest in fighting and kicking butt than proper table manners and the right way to curtsy. These princesses are BATTLE PRINCESSES! More comfortable wearing 60 pounds of metal than fine silks, Battle Princesses tend to have higher strength and constitution than other classes.

Bonus Stat: Strength

Armor/Weapons Competent: All

Typical Magic Items Permitted: Weapons, Armor, Potions.

Level	Exp Needed	HP Dice	AR	Title
1	0	1d8	2	Tomboy
2	1,300	2d8	3	Scrappy
3	2,900	3d8+1	4	Battle Maiden
4	3,900	4d8	5	Fighter
5	8,900	5d8	6	Swordswoman
6	16,400	6d8+1	7	Heroine
7	31,900	7d8	8	Amazon
8	63,900	8d8	9	The Red
9	119,900	9d8+1	10	Superheroine
10	239,900	10d8+1	11	Battle Queen
11+	+120,000	Add 4	11	Battle Queen

Class Abilities:

1st Level: If a Battle Princess hits an enemy, and the attack causes the foe to be killed or knocked unconscious, then the Battle Princess gains an immediate extra attack against an enemy within reach.
3rd Level: When fighting foes with HP Dice equal to 2 or more less than her own, the Battle Princess can attack every such foe within range once each in a single round.

6th Level: When fighting creatures both significantly larger and with more than 3 hit dice above her, the Battle Princess gains +2 to hit. Additionally, she can now attack twice normally in a round.

9th Level: The Battle Princess can attract a prodigy, who is also a Battle Princess of a level equal to 1d3+1. Evil Battle Princesses attract a body of henchman instead. Roll on the table below, adding +1 if the Battle Princess's Charisma is 15 or higher.

1d6	Henchmen
1	Posse of 2d4+2 mooks. Treat as level 1 Battle Princesses with no class abilities.
2	2d2 level 1 mooks (see above) and 1d2 level 2 mooks
3-4	1 level 1 mook, 1 level 2 mook, and 1 level 3 mook.
5	2 level 3 mooks.
6	1 level 4 mook.
7	1 level 5 Battle Princess prodigy.

10th Level: The Battle Princess can gain a section of land for her own uses, establishing a castle or other fortification and attracting a body of soldiers (treat as mooks, see above). 10 x 1d5 level 1 soldiers will enlist, with a level 2 lieutenant for every 10, and a level 3 captain for every 25. They will expect to be paid, but the Battle Princess will gain taxes from the villages and towns in her realm as income (12gp per year is a good baseline.)

Orcus on his throne.

Just chillin'.

Some Drawings

Visions from my brain decided to buy condos on the nearby paper real estate.

Small Hex Map vs Large Hex Map

So I'm pseudo-randomly generating a hex map using Wilderness Hexplore, and I'm using a map 25wide x 17 tall. I noticed that in the intro to the book, as well as other places around the net (e.g. welsh piper) that they use a much smaller map.

Can anyone tell me the advantages and disadvantages to making/having a small (<10 to a side) vs a large (>10 to a side) hex map? The obvious point is the amount of work involved, but I'd like to hear what else everyone has to say.

Review: DCG1 - Insidious

"The once peaceful town of Sheridan Springs is in dire trouble.
Several rownsfolk are missing. Strange creatures have been
seen moving in the woods around town. at night, sounds that
chill the soul can be heard coming from the town cemetery
and the ruins north of the town. Some even say that the dead are
restless and walk again.

The town sheriff has sent an urgent request for aid. Will your
young and inexperienced group of adventurers heed the call?
Fame and reward await those who can identify and defeat the
evil menacing the town of Sheridan Springs."

Author: Devon Hibbs
Published by Die Cast Games

Ok, this is a Level 1-3 module (3-6 characters) for "1st edition advanced" as the cover states. The main sections of the adventure are the town of Sheridan Springs and the old manor of the mayor.
*Spoilers after here*


It turns out one of the farmers dug up a strange, squat obelisk with glyphs on it while plowing his field, and the townfolk just thought it looked so nice they decided to put it in the town square. The obelisk is what's attracted a necromancer (featured on the cover) to the town, who is employing Orcs to dig up the graveyard and do his dirty work. The PCs are employed by Sheriff Olob to figure out what's going on and put a stop to it.

The module features some read-aloud text which, while not liked by everyone, in this module I think does a good job conveying nescessary information and was quite useful for a novice DM like myself, who I think is one of the target audiences. There's definitely some jokes and references to things grognards would probably get, but I don't have the background to spot most of them. Yes, this module has silly bits. If you don't like a bit of humor, snark, and absurdity in your modules, you won't like this one. I however, do.

The module starts with the players in a pub, playing "Dwarves, Nymphs, and Dinosaurs" and the bartender gives them a message from the Sheriff of Sheridan Springs (the next town over) that says the town is in trouble, and they offer a reward. The town has a few locations listed, one of which is Harold Johnson's Inn (which serves as a bit of a base for the adventure.)

The rumor table provided is actually used twice, once with a d6 and once with a d12. One-out-of-two of the rumors regarding the obelisk are stated as given anyway, even if they aren't rolled. (As well, one is a dig at Lorraine Williams.)

The mayor of the town died a few years ago. You see, he liked making magic items, and accidentally blew up half his manor. A few of the items he made are found in the ruined parts of his house.
The Manor is where the necromancer and the Orcs are holed up, and the long path out of town to it  is where wandering monsters are found, including an owlbear and a new tree-type monster. The rooms in the manor are really quite well done, with a "nest" of stirges, and enemies actually doing things instead of standing around, waiting to be killed. There's also things to search through, and interact with, along with some great nonstandard treasure.

I haven't mentioned this, but the players MUST play smart if they're to make it through the adventure. On top of the two strong wilderness monsters, the Necromancer is a level 10 magic-user(!!) and aided by the Orc captain and a Zombie. Tough, tough end fight.

Overall, this module can make for a pretty fun start to a campaign, assuming the players survive, and even if they don't it puts the town on the map as a badguy base for future adventures, as is what happened in my game when I ran it.

First Post

Welcome! This is where I'll be posting about gaming stuff.

Some things about me, as of writing this I'm 20 and from New Jersey. I will probably mostly talk about old-school style games, as that's the kind I've found I really like, but I started gaming with D&D 3.5 when I was in middle school.

I may also post a bit of art from time to time.

Thanks for reading!