d6 fantasy materials

Had these gathering dust in a text file somewhere, but The Alexandrian's post on fantasy materials (like "elfin gold" and "liquid light") finally got me to translate, develop and post what I had.

Some of these get pretty in-depth. Some... don't. For now, at least.

For some reason this was "reported as spam" and Blogger took down the article. Not sure why. I've edited the post so that image/blog post credits no longer link back to the creators.

1. Magewater

A slightly opaque liquid, seeming to be red, green and blue all at once, shining like motor oil.

It is arcane residue, found in concentrated form in natural reservoirs below the earth (from when the world was young and charged with magic), and in diluted but still useful form in ancient spell-scarred battlefields. It can also be created on purpose, by an exhausting, demanding, years-long process involving spell-infusions.
Magewater is of great value as ink for magical scrolls, rune or glyphs, as fuel for arcane machinery, and (most of all) as a highly flexible potion ingredient.

Touching magewater with your bare hands is a one-way ticket to mutation town. Touch it with a staff, or a quill, drag it up and out, and it will become viscous. Drag viscous magewater outward, and it will hover in the air like a tube of shifting jelly, following your instrument into the air, the tendril bending at sharp angles and making loops with no regard for gravity. A tendril of magewater may grow for a dozen feet if drawn from a diluted potion, a dozen yard from a diluted pool, and a good half-mile from a pure vein.

Magewater tendrils sometimes form by themselves. Do not approach natural magewater tendrils near large pools, especially the pure reservoirs found underground. The last few who've been grabbed off and dragged into the pools were never seen again. Not in any recognizable form, at least.

Video by David Ridlen.

2. Meteoric bronze

An alloy of bronze and sky-fallen iron, it could be mistaken for ordinary metal if not for the way it sparkles an iridescent blue.

Meteoric bronze is bound to the heavens and intensifies any star- and moon-light it reflects. Any respectable mage-astronomer's telescope will make heavy use of meteoric bronze.

Elves sometime use meteoric bronze to create lanterns, which bathe their gardens in refracted star- and moonlight. A sufficiently powerful set of bronze reflectors can also concentrate such light into blinding beams, but if such a strange weapon has already been considered, it has yet to be forged.

(In my game, meteoric bronze can also be used as a portal to the Night World, an alternate dimension where no sun shines. I might talk about it in a future post.)

3. Scalesteel

Steel, blurry and indistinct to mortal eyes.

Dragons are sanguine creatures in more ways than one. A dragon's feelings flow not through its head, but through its blood. Few people know this.

Dragons are creatures of fate, inextricably tied to it. Only the most erudite sages know this.

A dragon's disgust and hatred carries magical power. As its claws and fangs tear through flesh, its grudges can tear through a soul and sever its fate-strands. One who miraculously survives a dragon's true anger thus becomes a walking, living, breathing ghost, unaffected by gods and prophecy. No mortal knows this, though certainly dragons do.

It is not uncommon for oracles to foresee the rise of a dragon-slayer. When the news reach the dragon, its obedient followers are given gifts of scalesteel - weapons bathed in the dragon's grudge-bearing blood, and consecrated in white-hot fire.

To strike such a prophecized hero with scalesteel is to tear at the hero's future as if you were the dragon itself, as long as the dragon's anger holds true. 

If the dragon's high priest's downfall is, too, prophecized, that devout, trusted follower could receive a shield or armor of scalesteel, which will protect them against fate as if it were the dragon's own scales, as long as the dragon's trust holds true.

And a dragon's feelings hold true even in death, as long as its spirit lingers.

4. Saint Orthon's stone

White marble. Pink veins intensify in color and become hot to the touch as nearby creatures fall deep in thought or meditation.

Saint Orthon's stone is used by many to reach a trance-like state. Its only other property, other than its soothing, fluctuating shade of pink, is its ability to jog memory. If you've forgotten something, if you've lost your way, if you left your possessions somewhere just minutes ago and can't remember where, Saint Orthon's stone will help.

Many easily-distracted wizards, troubled friars, and elves would pay good money for a head-sized chunk of Saint Orthon's stone, let alone a beautiful statue carved in it.

Reduced to a fine powder, Saint Orthon's stone is an overly expensive but effective treatment for headaches, and serves as an ingredient to cure amnesia and madness.

   

Edit of "Blue marble", by Dawn Hudson, CC0

5. True ice

Like aurora borealis, frozen solid.

Anything kept inside a block of true ice is perfectly, cryogenically preserved - certain to last millennia, for true ice melts under nothing but the heat of volcanoes, flaming swords, and dragonfire, releasing the trapped, benevolent aurora-light spirit within in the process.

True ice is a vista into the era it was originally formed in. Gaze into true ice, and you will see what stood behind it thousands, if not millions of years into the past. A slab of true ice is a historian's dream come true.

True ice can be worked into weapons; wounds inflicted by such a weapon do not heal, unless the victim is bathed in the heat of fire strong enough to melt it.

6. Chrysomele

(Okay, this one isn't really a material. Sue me.)

A golden scarab-fruit. Chrysomeles grow in far-off, forgotten jungles, and those who bite through the egg-like shell and into the soft, sticky, sour flesh underneath find themselves blessed with the gift of tongues for a day and a night.

Chrysomeles, properly dried and preserved, are of interest to many, including scholars and mages. They are also rarely served in banquets foreign nations hold with each other. More than one peace treaty has been brokered with the help of chrysomele juice, liquor, puree or sorbet, earning it the name of "diplomat's delight".

Edit of hand vectors by freepik

House rules

In handy "changes from B/X" format because you all already know what B/X is.

CHARGEN
-No stat restrictions or prime requisite XP bonuses, but you don't get to adjust your stats.

COMBAT
-Gridless, often full ToTM, I want to get away from wargamey skirmishes. (I use metric measurements, so this also removes the need for 1.5 meter squares.)
-30' move speed for everybody. Your move speed bonus/penalties are now "move roll modifiers" (1 per 5 feet, so someone with 40' move speed gets +2).
"Move rolls" are d20 checks, called for when a character tries to "move far in combat" (deliberately vague) or tries to flee/chase another (beat your opponent by 10+ and you escape/catch up, assuming no head start).

WEAPONS
-Weapon list has been cut down into four general types (barring exceptions and weird weapons like riding lances or holy water):
Small (forearm size or less) = d4, often throwable.
Medium (arm size) = d6.
Large (leg size) = d8.
Huge (man size or more) = d10, often with reach.
-Range penalties are granular, not tier-based. Weapons get -1 to hit per 3/6/9/12 feet (1/2/3/4 meters), beginning at 6 feet, up 1 category per size, down 1 category if throwable.
-No penalties or bonuses for firing at point blank, but then you automatically lose initiative.

INVENTORY
-Slot based inventory. All objects take up 1 space barring exceptions. Some objects are trinkets, which stack up to 10 before taking up a space.
Common exceptions include: weapons (d4 = trinket, d6 = 1 space, d8 = 2 spaces, d10 = 3 spaces), armor (light/medium/heavy take 1/2/3 spaces when worn), coins (10 coins = 1 trinket), people (15 spaces).
A slot is approx. 10 lbs but don't look too hard into it.
-Slot limit = Strength score. Each item above your limit imposes -1 on attack rolls, saves, some skills, and movement rolls.
-You get 3 quick slots. If you pull an item from a quick slot in combat, you can use it and still take your turn. You can get more quick slots by encumbering yourself with quivers, pouches, bandoliers...

SAVES
-Single save.
-Roll 14+ to save. Default +0 bonus for all, except Dwarves and Hobbits who get +4. Everyone gets +2 to avoid death.

DEATH
-If you hit 0 HP, Save or die.
-If you survive, Save or get some kind of permanent damage. (I want to encourage retiring characters.)
-Currently experimenting with two further saves downed but surviving players must make: Save not to slowly bleed to death, and Save to stay conscious and able to (barely) act for a moment.
It's nice to have some dice to roll when you can't do anything else, for sure.

SPELLCASTING
-Recovering spells takes a week. A day always seemed too short to me.

EXPERIENCE
-In addition to the usual methods:
100*(dungeon level) xp per dungeon level discovered, trap found, trap disarmed or secret door found.
10*(dungeon level) xp per room discovered.
5 xp to the group's cartographer for each room drawn.
10 xp per session for time-keeping, for handling hirelings and the likes, or for keeping track of the session's events.
100 xp per character level, to your next character, if your current character retires rich or otherwise gets a wholesome ending.
XP for downtime activities (numbers are a WIP):
1 xp per gp spent on a PC funeral (capped to the dead PC's xp).
1 xp per 2 gp spent on feasts and luxury (may have good or bad consequences).
1 xp per 4 gp spent on charity (generally good consequences).
1 xp per 10 gp spent on Great Projects (building a castle, restoring a road, generally useful stuff).

LEVELING UP
Save and to-hit progression has been smoothed the fuck out. (It gets wonky at higher levels but I'm not running high level stuff.)
-All get +1 to save at odd levels.
-Fast to-hit progression classes (fighter and demihumans) get +1 to hit at even levels.
-Everybody else gets +1 to hit at odd levels (since it kicks in at level 3, they're always trailing 1 level behind). Even MUs (might change this).

FIGHTERS
-Monopoly on heavy armor (might change this) and d10 weapons.
-Start with +2 to hit and Chop 'til you drop
-+1 damage every odd level

THIEF
-d6 hit dice
-Get stronger variants of common skills e.g. "Perfect silence" instead of "Move silently" but no bonuses, they're still 1 in 6 (might change this).
-On level up, put 2 skill points in 2 different skills, but they can't get higher than your current level (so no maxing out stuff at 5 in 6 until you're level 5).
-Ranger variant. Exactly as Thief but swaps some skills for others, and backstabbing becomes +2 to hit and +1 to damage vs last type of creature you've studied (e.g. bears, bandits).

MU
-No changes.

CLERIC
-No changes.

DWARF
-Start with +1 to hit
-Infravision becomes cavern-song. Works like echolocation. Only useful underground. Risk of random encounter upon use. More flavorful and no longer trivializes darkness IMO.
-+1 HP every level

ELF
-Start with +1 to hit
-Infravision becomes forest-song. Works like echolocation. Only useful in forests. Risk of random encounter upon use. Same reasoning as cavern-song.

HOBBIT
-I don't use individual initiative so instead, at the beginning of a round, a hobbit can try for a 1 in 6 chance to ignore group initiative and go before everyone, even when surprised.
-+1 to said chance at odd levels
-+1 to AC bonus vs large foes at even levels.

Spells as encumbrance

What if spells took up inventory space?

Spells must be imbued into appropriate material. Each spell has an associated "typical material".
Higher level spells require bigger or heavier materials.
A magic-user preparing spells somewhere civilized can procure materials at no cost.
When preparing spells, the magic-user must imbue the spell's material with the spell.
The material must then be brought out to cast the spell.

Other than that, no changes to the magic system.

Example: Welby the Wizard (level 1 MU) is in town, preparing for adventure.
He decides he wishes to prepare Light, which he knows and has a spell slot for.
Light requires a bundle of incense (about 1 kg) which he procures, imbues, and puts into his inventory.
In the wilderness, Welby carries the bundle of incense around. When he reaches the dungeon, he takes it out to cast the spell, rendering the incense inert.

Potential advantages :
1) I feel like it'd be really nice to have all of a character's options in the same list. Rather than flipping between a spell page and an inventory page, Welby knows he has "Light-spell Incense" written down along with, "vial of glowing poison-fungus juice".
Encouraging the use of spells for "item problems" and items for "spell problems" sounds like a good idea to me.

2) It'd also make spell-users more burdened than other classes, which I like.
A high level MU or Cleric could have an apprentice tasked with carrying all those imbued materials.

3) Flavor. I don't think I need to elaborate why it'd be cool to require incense, odd ingredients and the likes for a spell to take effect. Uh... I don't think I'd require guano for Fireball though.

4) Balancing factor. If you think Charm Person is too good and needs to be toned down, but don't want to mess with the numbers, then making its ingredient take up five times as much space as the usual spell could be an answer. If you think Ventriloquism just isn't appealing, make it use lightweight cloth in the shape of a sock puppet.

Hey wait, isn't this exactly like that old ugly concept of "spell materials"?

Hopefully not! Here are the main differences in the way I'd handle it:
1) No fetch quests. If you're in civilization, you can get the item. If you're not, you can't. No having the game devolve into guano gathering. (In my house rules at least it doesn't matter whether you can grab the material in the wilderness, anyway, because you need to be somewhere civilized to prepare spells, in any case. Wizard's lab and all that.)

2) Actually taking up space. No copper coins or weirdly shaped twigs or whatever. No, those are actual heavy items that should, hopefully, matter.

3) Focus on the spell AS the imbued item. You don't "have Fireball prepared", you carry a large piece of volcanic rock. You don't "use Hold Portal", you bring out a fitting lock and key.

4) Flexibility. If you can procure the item, and it's thematically fitting, and it takes up enough inventory space (the spell has to fit!), you can use it. An ice-based spell may use actual ice in a mountain, and night-time oasis-water in the desert.

Number-crunching : How many with class levels among ordinary folk?

I use a really simple formula to figure the demographics of classed characters among ordinary people:

• A man-at-arms (i.e. someone with just enough training to use armor and weapons) : 1 in 100
• A level 1 character: 1 in 200
• A level 2 character: 1 in 400
• A level 3 character: 1 in 800

etc.

Which means:
1) Characters with class levels are literally the 1%.

2) If you go by 1200s demographics (300 million people worldwide), there are 12,000 name-level-and-up characters worldwide (a single guy holds the record at level 17).
Which seems like a lot, obviously, but scale that back to, say, medieval France (approx 12 million people, largest European country by then) and that's 400 name-level-and-higher characters in the entire country. That sounds good to me.
If you assume 25% are fighters and 25% are magic-users, then there's about 100 lordly strongholds and 15 wizard towers in the country (taking into account the harsher tower-building requirements). 15 guys with the ability to sling 6th level spells in the whole country feels like it's just enough.
Something the size of Languedoc (1/25th of the country's area, approx. the area of the Isle of Dread for comparison) has 4 lordly strongholds and 0.5 wizard towers.
If you go with 1600s demographics you can just double the numbers above (barring the fact that France's population didn't double, plague and all). And have a guaranteed wizard tower I guess!

3) With all of this I can eyeball how many classed characters a location has.
Village with 300 people? One level 1 character, probably a knight and his squire. It took about 150 to fully support 1 trained dude in armor and all that; numbers check out.
A fort like Flint Castle (guarded by 120 men)? Let's say they're half ordinary folks, half men-at-arms or higher. That's 30 men-at-arms, 15 level 1s, 7 level 2s, 3 level 3s, two level 4s, and one level 5.
A large army or really big castle like Krak des Chevaliers or Kerak Castle would house hundreds if not thousands of classed characters and a half- or full dozen of name level PCs. In my opinion, that's alright. Those castles were involved in the Crusades, isn't that perfect high-level-play material?

4) I get to tell my players exactly how rare those hard-earned levels are. Might be cool to know you're a one-in-ten-thousand deal when you finally retire.

Sources:

https://web.archive.org/web/20060113004308/http://www.io.com/~sjohn/demog.htm
The article lists its own sources.

Underworld trail equipment

Anonymous writing prompt.

Underworld trail equipment:
1. A horrible-looking bird mask, between witch doctor and plague doctor's, beak filled with blessed herbs to filter the poisonous gas that fills some of the tunnels.
2. Spiked boots, to keep your footing in the frozen passages, fitted with distinctive treads unique to you, so that you may leave tracks and find your way back
3. An iris flower, known among scholars as the "underworld's compass". It will help you find the right way, avoiding illusions and traitorous paths. It'll last for a few days until it withers. After that, you're on your own.
4. Memories of home. Absolutely necessary to muster enough willpower to make the trip back. Can take the form of delicious food (but see below), a letter from a loved one, or just a depiction of something you love on the surface.
5. Underworld rations. Does not contain the flesh or bone of once-living beings. You really don't want to bring the flesh or bones of once-living beings down there. Trust me on this one.
6. Stone tablets and chisels. The waters down there will try to erase your mind and ruin your scrolls when you cross them, so keep your knowledge on something they cannot touch.

2d10 magic item stories

ORIGIN
What makes that +1 thingy or Orb of Whatever special?
1. It was worn by a champion of far-away lands.
2. It was created to prevent a great disaster.
3. It was a hero's belonging, before the hero fell to evil.
4. It belonged to an ancient man or creature that terrorized the land.
5. It is from a long lost empire, fallen into ruin.
6. It was created to end a specific problem (monster, disaster...)
7. It is a heirloom of an order, passed from one grandmaster to the next.
8. It was gifted to a worthy wielder by a spirit or power.
9. It comes from another reality or time. (An intelligent weapon may wish to flee from, return to, cause the genesis of, or prevent this time/reality.)
10. It was property of the dungeon's creator, caretaker, or previous owner.

And now it's here, in the dungeon. Why?
1. Roll again. Then roll once more: instead of "here", pick a random location. This is an extra step in the item's journey from its original owner to the PCs' hands.
2. It was lost here.
3. The wielder died here.
4. It was given as a gift to a creature here.
5. It was given as a bribe to a creature here.
6. A creature here stole it.
7. It was lost here in a duel or contest of wits.
8. It was left behind by its owner as they fled from here.
9. It was hidden here, its owner planning to return some day.
10. It was partially or entirely created here, actually.

Slot based encumbrance (D&L edition)

Everybody and their grandmother has their own version of this, right?

If you have a backpack, you have slots equal to your Strength score. Otherwise you've just got your hands, sorry. (Hands are separate from your inventory.)
Double slots for big or beefy creatures: orcs, ogres, mounts. Half for tiny things like familiars.
You can carry a little over your max with slight penalties, double that with big penalties, or triple that and be practically useless. (I just reuse exhaustion rules.)

With a few exceptions, everything takes up 1 slot, from a club to a day's ration to a book. A slot is something between 1 and 10 kilograms, 5 on average. It's supposed to be abstracted, so don't look too closely.

The exceptions are as follows:

• Trinkets. Ten trinkets take up one slot, otherwise they take up no space. Anything that fits in your mouth is a trinket. (I don't remember where that's from, but I like it.) If it's really light it's also a trinket. Examples: a piece of ammunition, a fruit, a pendant, a set of light clothes, a sheet of parchment.
• A single coin or sheet of paper is 1/10th of a trinket
• d4 weapons are trinkets.
• Weapons take up 1 extra slot per die size above d6. (2 slots for d8, etc) 
• Worn armor takes up 1 extra slot per category above "none". (1 slot for light armor, 2 for medium, etc) Double if it's not being worn.
• If it's got a long melee reach or qualifies as furniture, it takes 4 slots regardless.
• Human size things weigh 20 slots: a statue, a man with no possessions. You can carry them but you're basically guaranteed to get huge penalties.

3 of your slots are quick slots: stuff that's in a pocket or on your belt, whatever. Grab it for free on your turn if you want to, but it's open to damage from enemies, falls, hazards...

Some things take up space in your inventory to convert other, existing slots to quick slots, like quivers, big pouches, ammo belts... (Generally, something like a quiver takes up 1 slot and turns 3 slots into quick slots.)

(I'm not so sure about the "quick slots" rule. I feel like it might discourage inventive use of items stored in one's backpack.)

1d10 categories of treasure

Could work for lairs or for wandering humanoids. Odds not intended for actual play.
1d10:
1. Weapons, armors, ammunition (in lair, maybe even a siege engine).
2. A prisoner, slave, or the likes. Could offer help, information, expertise...
3. Water and/or food
4. Non-vital supplies (rope, torches, adventuring gear)
5. Job supplies (artisan's tools, etc)
6. Medicine. (healing herbs, bandages)
7. Trade goods. (stone, lumber, glass)
8. Actual treasure (gold, ore, gems, coins, art objects)
9. Knowledge (map, letters, theories, secrets)
10. Magical material (ingredients for crafting, alchemy, or spellcasting) or magic item

Modifiers (opposite entries cancel each other out)
1d5:
1. Shoddy quality/fake/imitation/disliked source
2. Fragile
3. Exotic
4. Well-made/masterwork/100% the genuine thing/trusted brand
5. Slightly magical (or slightly more magical)

Settlement and faction events

In one of the games I'm DMing, my players are settlers on a tropical island. To spice things up a bit, there is a 2 in 6 chance of a settlement event happening every day, as an alternate result to an encounter. This can kick off a quest, give or take resources away, or simply breathe life into the settler NPCs. They just can't be weather or encounters.

It's been working nicely so far, and in the future I'll be rolling events for nearby NPC factions too.

Numbers have been pulled out of my nose and have yet to be playtested. Changes to morale last until the end of the next day unless otherwise noted.


1-3. An atmosphere of camaraderie. +1 to morale.
4-6. Festival, birthday, similar attempt to lighten the atmosphere. +2 to morale. Settlers will work less 7-9. or not at all.
10-12. Religious or cultural fervor. +1 to morale, +2 if the settlers have a proper place of worship/culture.
13-15. Great talent revealed. Random settler advances in their job or gains an additional job. 10% chance of gaining a level instead.
16-18. Bountiful land. Difficulty of food-gathering decreases. This will restock nearby over-exploited hexes.
19-21. Exotic resource found: unusual plant, strange ore... (worth 1d100 gp)
22-24. Treasure found (worth 1d4 x 1d100 gp). +1 to morale.
25-27. Strange mood. A settler is inspired by a beautiful or significant sight and creates a work of art worth 1d100 gp. +1 to morale.
28-30. Peculiar mood. A settler does an exceptional job and creates a masterwork (tool, weapon, building...).
31-33. Fragments of an ancient map. A random hex's obvious and hidden features are revealed, and so are the obvious features of the surrounding hexes.
34-36. Rise in loyalty. 1d10 settlers are now willing to risk life and limb to help their leaders (they will go into dungeons).
37-39. Good health. There's something in the air. In the settlement, double HP recovery rates and reroll failed saving throws against disease for the next week.
40-42. Hard at work. Rather than resting, 2d10% settlers spent the day on a random activity benefiting the colony, in addition to normal work-hours.
43-45. A miracle. Something small yet incredible happens. DM rolls on favorite blessings table.
46-48. Internal tensions. -1 to morale.
49-51. Depressing event, like the death of a beloved mascot. -2 to morale. Settlers will work less or not at all.
52-54. Splinter colony. 2d10% settlers contest the local authority and plan to leave the colony to make their own, with blackjack and hookers, or join an existing splinter colony if there is one.
55-57. A settler has an accident or breakdown and can't work for a week.
58-60. Local ecosystem collapse. Difficulty of food-gathering increases. This can empty nearby hexes of resources.
61-63. Cursed object or poisonous plant found. A random settler rolls on the DM's favorite curse table or poison table.
64-66. Shoddy work. 2d10% settlers automatically fail their job for the day.
1d6 rooms of a random building collapses from a quake, fire, other hazard, or wear. 50% chance of injuring 2d10% settlers. -1 to morale.
67-69. Addiction. 2d10% settlers turn to alcoholism or addictive substance from the DM's favorite drugs table.
70-72. Betrayal. A member or sub-faction of the settlement or an allied faction betrays you or them. Roll twice on this table to determine what they sabotaged. The effect of these rolls will happen very soon, but not immediately, and may be stopped.
73-75. Crime. A settler commits a crime for selfish, petty, or noble reasons, or simply out of incompetence. Roll on this table to determine what the settler is responsible for.
76-78. Logistics disaster. Resources are misplaced due to error, lack of care, theft, simple rotten luck, or some other reason. Lose 1d100gp of resources. These may be recovered with enough effort.
79-80. A quake, fire, other hazard, or wear closes a nearby route. Travel time in a random nearby hex is doubled until 100 work-hours are put into fixing the problem.
81-83. Heresy or false prophet. 2d10% settlers now follow a splinter of the dominant religion or have turned to another.
84-86. Hearsay. Roll 1d4 times on a random location's rumor table.
87-89. A settler writes a biography or a book about the settlement. Perhaps one day it might sell or become historically significant.
90-92. Local opinion-setter changes. Settlers' opinion on a random number of factions adjust at random.

93-99 Roll twice more.
100 Roll thrice more.

1d10 monster motivations

Roll:
1d2 for ooze and plants (Grey Ooze)
1d4 for animals (Owlbear)
1d6 for very beastly creatures (Ghouls)

2d10 take lowest for savage creatures (Troglodyte)
1d10 for mostly civilized creatures (Hobgoblin)
2d10 take highest for sophisticated creatures (Vampire)

The monster seeks...
1. Safety (lost, wounded, poisoned, cursed, evading predators, out of torches; good opportunity to foreshadow the nearest hazard/monster)
2. Food or water (hunting, hungry)
3. Own species (a mate, a pack, a pack member, to impress, to hurt rivals)
4. Comfort (shelter, rest, warmth, going home after a mission)
5. Territory control (patrolling, tracking intruders, conquest)
6. Catharsis (sadism, anger, grief, defiling, zealotry, revenge)
7. Luxury items (gold, magic items, alcohol, slaves, fancy thing PC has)
8. Knowledge (news, directions, lore)
9. Allies or assistance (roll again for deeper purpose)
10. Satisfaction of higher needs (independence, freedom, spirituality)

Simplified weapon table

I suspect houserules of this sort are fairly popular.

Weapon types:
Small/light (forearm sized): d4. 1 inventory slot. Easily concealed.
If it works in melee, it can most likely be thrown 15 feet.
If it's thrown, it most likely works in melee.
If it's ranged, it can fire up to 30 feet. Ammo stacks up to 10.
Examples: Dagger, darts, hand axe, shuriken. Sling, hand crossbow, blowgun.

Medium (arm sized): d6. 2 inventory slots. Can be used by all but Magic-User.
If it's ranged, it can fire up to 60 feet. Ammo stacks up to 5.
Examples: Club, mace, rapier, spear, shortsword, flail. Shortbow, light crossbow.

Large/heavy (leg sized): d8. 3 inventory slots. Can only be used by Fighter.
If it's ranged, it can fire up to 90 feet. Ammo stacks up to 5.
Examples: War hammer, greatsword, greataxe. Longbow, heavy crossbow.

Huge (man sized): d8, reach, d6 in very close combat. 4 inventory slots. Can only be used by Fighter.

Examples: Polearms, pike, lance.

Exceptions and special weapons:
Unarmed attack: d2, d4 if you're a Fighter or a non-MU using something like brass knuckles.
Javelin: a Large/heavy weapon, which only deals a d6 but can be thrown with a range of 30 feet.
Whip: a Small/light weapon which deals a d6, but cannot bring a target below 1 HP in normal combat, and only affects creatures that can feel pain.
Riding lance: a Huge weapon which deals a d10 and has reach, but is treated as improvised unless you're riding.

Some rules:
You take a -5 to the roll if:
-You attack with a weapon you can't use
-You attack with an improvised weapon
-You use the weapon in an improvised way (bashing with a bow or shield, throwing a sword)
-You fire a ranged weapon in melee
-Your target is beyond your weapon's range (-5 per 30 feet beyond range, cumulative)

Improvised throwing weapons have a range of 15 feet.

Potential combat styles:
Fighting with two weapons: You roll the damage die twice and take the best one. Each weapon must be Small. If you're a Fighter, each weapon must be either Small or Medium.
Fighting with a free hand: You get infinite item interactions. (You can open the door, close it, toss a friend a potion... as long as it could happen during the round)
Fighting with a shield: You get the extra AC the shield provides.

Random table: Weather

For your standard temperate wilderness, or something.

2d20 weather
1-9 default: good weather, meaning some clouds, no wind, no rain
10 mist (if stacked: fog)
11-12 rain or snow
13-14 cloudy (can't see the sun; lowers heat)
15-16 sunny (increases heat)
17-18 windy
19 grey skies, thunderstorm in the distance (if stacked: thunderstorm at location)
20 roll twice more

The results stack. For example, if you get "default" and "rainy", it's just rainy. If you get "rainy" and "rainy", for example, that's heavy rain. Stacking good weather means excellent weather.

If you get three 19s, use a natural disaster instead of a thunderstorm (choose what fits best or roll 1d4: tornado, seismic activity, heat wave, flash flood). Elementals of the relevant type might show up.

Cloudy and sunny together means temperature changes frequently.

Revisited on 08/10/19:

Random table: While the adventurers are away...

Every month or week (depending on how active the monsters are) the monsters heal and/or reset their traps.
In addition, roll a d12, or multiple d12s if the monsters are particularly threatening.

D12 - RESULT
1 Nothing.
2 Monsters roam the countryside, raid farms, capture people. Nearest village's economy affected, local prices go up, some things unavailable.
3 Monsters raid or destroy nearest village significantly.
4 Monsters improve their war assets, roll 1d4: create new traps, build a siege engine or similar, get better equipment, use better tactics.
5 Monsters succeed on magical research, roll 1d4: create magic traps, summon guardians (e.g. demons), learn spells, learn alchemy or similar.
6 Monsters gain a tough leader (use a new monster or upgrade an existing one) with a specialty from the war assets or magical research above
7 Monsters gain reinforcements.
8 Monster faction allies with another faction from inside or outside the dungeon. Turning them against each other will be difficult.
9 Monsters establish a foothold outside the dungeon, become more of a threat.
10 Monsters move on to a better, badder dungeon, take all the treasure with them.
11 A faction (roll for faction) or adventuring party (roll for alignment) delve into the dungeon. Roll 1d6 for result below.
12 Roll two more times.

Faction delve results:
D6 - RESULT
1. Total failure (enslaved, ransomed, killed; the monsters take their stuff, 50% chance of a lone survivor)
2. Desperate retreat (as above with more survivors)
3-4. Middling results (remove 2d6 unexplored rooms of monsters and treasure from the dungeon)
5. Decent success (4d6 unexplored rooms)
6. Triumphant return (6d6 unexplored rooms)

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EXAMPLE (for my own reference; using a standard necromancer lair and filling out the details.)

Week 1
9 - FOOTHOLD: The necromancer's apprentice now lairs in the deserted village of Oldberry.

Week 2
10 - MOVED: Necromancer abandons his lair for the ruined fortress of Kara-ang.

Week 3
9, 4 - FOOTHOLD, WAR ASSETS (TACTICS): The apprentice builds a tower outside the village. Meanwhile, the necromancer improves its undead's intelligence and battle tactics.

Week 4
5 - MAGICAL RESEARCH (SUMMON): The necromancer reanimates a giant's skeleton to act as a guardian.

Week 5
10, 11, 8  MOVED, FACTION DELVE, ALLIANCE - The apprentice moves back into the necromancer's old lair. Following these news, the Lord's Men venture into the lair and... (6) clear it out entirely (17 rooms), slaying the apprentice! During that time, the Necromancer allies with the bandits that lair around the ruined fortress.

Week 6
5 - MAGICAL RESEARCH (TRAPS): The necromancer creates a terrible field of magical wilting around his domain.

Week 7
4 - WAR ASSETS (ENGINE): The skeletons atop the ruined towers of Kara-ang now man ballistas.

Hello World

This is probably going to be a D&D blog. Stay tuned I guess?