d30 Feature of the Week: Troll Mutations

Recently, while working on my most recent Monster Index (MX6 Monster Index: Trolls), there was one thing that became more and more evident... there are so many kinds of trolls because they are so disposed to mutating (which is called out in a lot of articles on trolls, but almost as a throwaway line. So I started making a list of simple troll mutations that could almost act as a substitute for the Monster Index (applying a simple mutation or two to the standard troll). Which brings me to this week's d30 Feature... d30 Troll Mutations.

I like the idea that even one troll from a group of trolls could be different from the others. It's easy to say that a mutated troll who is stronger than others might be the group's leader (for an in absentia female troll chieftain). But what if the troll has a "weakness" (e.g., is cycloptic, or is the runt of the group). What's that relationship like? How does he fit into the context of a group where every member is stronger/better than him? To me, this chart isn't just a list of monster variations, it's a chance for storytelling.

So what are you waiting for? Download it from the link below.

Click here to download a free PDF of the
d30 Troll Mutations from MediaFire.

d30 Feature of the Week: Plant Monster Generator

Welcome to the 2nd 2014 installment of the d30 feature of the week. Today's chart is a fairly straightforward plant monster generator, sort of like the giant generator from July of last year, and the sea creature generator from just about one year ago.

I don't think this is perfect by any means (e.g, it really only creates "flower" type plant monsters, as opposed to bushes, trees, etc.), and I've probably missed a few glaring typos, but I think what's here is definitely workable. If you're going to download this, you might as well use yesterday's New Monster Worksheet to detail your results and flesh out the other details.

Click here to download a free PDF of the
d30 Plant Monster Generator from MediaFire.

d30 Feature of the Week: Lithic Location Generator

First off, welcome to the re-boot of Friday's regular d30 feature. This should be the first of a good run for a while (as I have some more concepts in the can, ready to flesh out).

I'm a huge fan of the show Ancient Aliens. Actually, I'm a fan of H2 in general. It is a constant source of good gaming ideas, regardless of what idiocy comes out of the mouth of Giorgio A. Tsoukalos. Anyway... last week, I was watching a rerun of Season 5's "finale" about monoliths, and thought to myself, "Hey! d30 Lithic Locations Generator!"

Okay, you got me. I didn't say that exactly, but that's what I was thinking.
The actual name didn't come until later.

So what are you waiting for? Download it from the link below.

Click here to download a free PDF of the
d30 Lithic Location Generator from MediaFire.

d30 Feature of the Week Bonus Edition: Adventure Seed Generator Part II

Today is a bonus edition of the d30 Feature of the Week, and is Part II of yesterday's Part I post of my d30-based Adventure Seed Generator. As I mentioned yesterday, this was something I felt like was missing from the d30 Sandbox Companion, but is now slated as one of the lead-off items.

I KNOW THEY LOOK A LOT A LIKE, BUT EACH PAGE (PAGE I AND PAGE II) HAVE DIFFERENT TABLES. THIS IS THE SECOND PART OF A 2-PAGE GENERATOR!!!

Again, if you need an excuse to use them, try creating something for William's Roman-themed adventure design contest over at his Ramblings of a Great Khan blog! And maybe you'll win a copy of one of the book's that inspired Tolkien.

Click here to download a free PDF of Part II (of II) of the
d30 Adventure Seed Generator from MediaFire.

d30 Feature of the Week: Adventure Seed Generator Part I

I know I've been slacking on the d30 Feature posts around here lately, but considering the d30 Sandbox Companion is in more of a proofing stage than a "creation" stage, that's not so odd. But the book felt like it was missing something really important, and I finally figured out what it was...
AN ADVENTURE SEED GENERATOR!!! (Slap self in head and say, "I coulda had a V8!")

As I worked on it, I realized it it needed two pages. And guess how many "blank" pages I had left in the book. Yup! TWO! So today, I present Part I of the Adventure Seed Generator. Part II will be coming tomorrow, so be on the lookout. (Part II includes tables for: phenomena, villain goal/reason, artifact/relic, theme, and key NPC).

BTW, if you need an excuse to use them, try creating something for William's Roman-themed adventure design contest over at his Ramblings of a Great Khan blog! And maybe you'll win a copy of one of the book's that inspired Tolkien.

Click here to download a free PDF of Part I (of II) of the
d30 Adventure Seed Generator from MediaFire.

d30 Feature of the Week: Magical Instrument Generator

I know that this week's d30 feature is a day later than normal, but it's been a busy week. Between work, personal life, and trying to finalize/finish/proof/etc. the d30 Sandbox Companion, I've slacked on my attention to the blog.

With the d30 Sandbox Companion near completion, I decided I need to figure out where my "focus" would be on upcoming d30 posts. I've decided to put some attention toward magic items. I feel like there's plenty of fertile ground there, especially if you consider what I think some of my d30 charts do best... take actions that normally require a bunch of rolls (like creating a sage) and reducing them to as few rolls as possible (like my d30 Sage Generator). Imagine being able to create a magic sword in just a couple of key rolls.

Anyway, today's d30 chart started as a simple "list" of instruments. I had the extra space on the page, so I went ahead and added magical effect information and--voila! A Magical Instruments Generator.

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Magical Instrument Generator from MediaFire.

d30 Feature of the Week: Temple Generator + d30 Sandbox Companion Update

I'm getting so freakin' close to finishing the content for the d30 Sandbox Companion! But that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of proofreadin' and introduction writin' to be done. I did make good headway this week, though. The Hireling/Henchman Recruitment pages (at left) took a lot of work to get right (though I still got some splainin' to do). And the Temple Generator (above) took longer than I thought it would, but also feels pretty detailed considering its essentially only 2 very "straightforward" d30 tables (as opposed to something more structurally complicated like the Hireling/Henchman Recruitment pages).

So what's left?
- Master Wilderness Mapping Key
- Suggested Monster Lairs by Geography/Level
- Shop Stocker
- "How to Use This Book" Section
- Back Cover copy
- Proofreading/Polishing

Yep! That's it!

Click here to download a free PDF of the d30 Temple Generator from MediaFire.

d30 Feature of the Week: Weather Events + d30 Sandbox Companion Update

I can't believe I finally finished the freakin' d30 weather charts!!!
Yes, good people of Rhombictriacontahedronland, it's been tormenting me since the inception of the the d30 Sandbox Companion, but it's finally done. This week's d30 feature is the second of the two weather pages I finished this week. It presents a system for determining precipitation events based on the "class" of precipitation for the locale; the class determines both chance for precipitation, and type of precipitation that may occur. The accompanying page from the book (pictured below, but not part of today's download) is the "reference document" you really need for the most effective use of today's precipitation generator download (though the download is still quite usable without it). That reference doc gives mean temperatures (and daily temperature determination options), as well as type of precipitation (by class), for the various climate/terrain/season combinations.

Click here to download a free PDF of today's d30 Weather Events (Precipitation) Generator (pictured at the top of this post) from MediaFire.

---

So what does that leave to complete for the d30 Sandbox Companion?

Not much, but more than you'd think:
- Master Wilderness Mapping Key
- Temple/Shrine Generator
- Suggested Monster Lairs by Climate/Geography and General Level
- Shop Stocker
- Hireling Henchmen Recruitment

I think we'll be looking at a total of 52 pages, compared to 36 pages in the d30 DM Companion. That's 16 more pages of d30 goodness!

d30 Sandbox Companion: A Report from the Front

From my point of view, one of the most interesting things that occurs when I develop something like the d30 Sandbox Companion or the d30 DM Companion, is the way things evolve -- evolution which often happens unknown to even the closest followers. One of the other things that seems to happen is the ongoing exclusion/inclusion of certain materials. Finally, I seem to generate so much d30 content on an ongoing basis, that I sometimes forget I have something else that should have been included. This past weekend was a case of "all of the above."

It all started with a chart I did in November of last year (one of the charts that really kicked off the d30 thing for me, just weeks after launching this blog.) Sure, that chart had its issues, and it was out of place in the d30 DM Companion, but it was one of the things that led to the idea of a d30 Sandbox Companion. Ironically, I don't think I ever gave the chart serious consideration for inclusion in d30 Sandbox Companion. I even did a visual refresh of it as recently as this past August. I say "visual" refresh because I didn't really do much other than a type/layout update; the content stayed essentially the same... until this weekend, when I was making sure there was nothing completed that I thought should be included in the d30 Sandbox Companion.

So I pulled out this chart and gave it another look, especially with the insight of making GREAT progress on the weather charts. (Be on the lookout for this Friday's d30 Feature of the Week!!!) In looking at this chart again, that little light bulb over my head came on! First, I changed the determination of severity (formerly a 1d3) to a calculated set of impairments (thus the addition of the "Impairments" sub-table at bottom left). I also changed the numbering of the "hex-protractors" for the final die roll; before it was pretty much left-to-right. Now, the higher the die roll result, the more "off course" the party will actually be. I also added the ability to make adjustments to the off-course roll for any overriding skills/knowledge on the part of the PCs. What I ended up with is something that feels "complete," and much less like the space filler it could have been.

Here's some more irony for you... in the post from August as part of a "d30 Sandbox Week" theme, I had planned on a "Vegetation Generator" but didn't have time to complete it, so I did that "visual refresh" of the "Off-course" chart that I mentioned above. Now that this "Off-course Determination" chart works so well (IMHO), I'm scratching the inclusion of a "Vegetation Generator" (which was added to the list of inclusions as recently as last Friday's d30 Sandbox Companion update.)

Check out the complete evolution of the "Off-course Determination" chart below...

d30 Feature of the Week: Terrain Features + d30 Sandbox Companion Update

First off, a warning: The image at the top of this post is a preview of what will appear in the d30 Sandbox Companion, but the image to the left is a preview of this week's d30 feature download. I put A LOT of time into developing the full page that will appear in the Companion, and I think it would be unfair to those folks who'll actually shell out the dough for a print or PDF copy of the final book. Especially because this is a page I could see people using... a lot. So today, instead of getting a working version of the full page (which is my norm), I'm afriad you'll only be getting a "sampling" (thus the alternative visual format) that includes terrain features and phenomena for hills, swamp, and coastal terrains. Yes, the mountain and forest tables have been excluded from this download on purpose. Sorry. I hope you'll understand, especially since holding back like this is a rarity for me.

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Natural Features & Phenomena Sample from MediaFire.

Now for that update I promised you...

Since the last major update, the Natural Features & Phenomena page is done (obviously), as well as the City Guards, City Watch, Border Patrols page. The NPC background section is also completed and includes the following pages:
- NPC Motivations, Persona, Drivers, Aptitudes, Habits, and Burdens
- NPC Family History, Personal Inspiration, and Talents/Skills
- NPC Physical Traits, Personality, and Quirks

The Weather Generator is well underway; I've finally admitted to myself "it's just going to take 2 pages to do right." I was hoping for 1, but... no such luck.

The Temple Generator page is blank, but I know what I'm doing there; I'm just trying to get the Weather Generator done first since I know it will take a lot more of my attention to complete.

The Shop Stocker is about half-done, but it's probably going to be one of the last pages I finish (especially since it's sort of a no-brainer).

The two Hireling/Henchmen Recruitment pages are in-progress. My thoughts are together on these, but the focus required for finishing them has had me procrastinating on them for months. Really... MONTHS!

Finally, I'm adding a couple of new pages...

First, is a Vegetation Generator. I started this a while back, but felt like it was a bit of filler. With the Natural Features & Phenomena having shaped up the way it did, it now seems more like an expansion of that. (Plus, I have to keep the number of pages to a multiple of 4, so the room for this one "availed" itself.)

My favorite new addition (should I get it to work) is a new page titled Suggested Monster Lairs by Climate/Geography and General Level. This isn't a d30 chart/table per se, but rather a general reference sheet similar to the bottom of the Ruins Generator; it suggests types of monsters and lairs by terrain and party level. This may require a second page (which could possibly supersede the inclusion of the Vegetation Generator).

Oh, I almost forgot...
I still have to finish the Master Wilderness Mapping Key, like the Master Dungeon Mapping Key.

I feel like I'm SO close, but that there's still so much left to do.

And now... so you don't have to scroll back up...

Click here to download a free PDF of today's
d30 Natural Features & Phenomena Sample from MediaFire.

d30 Feature of the Week: NPC Personality Generator

This week's d30 feature will appear in the "NPC" section of the d30 Sandbox Companion, and will appear alongside the likes of the NPC Traits Generator, the Sage Generator, and the Quick Magic Item Generator.

The main section of the chart is loosely based on the Myers Briggs personality types. And though some of you might look at that section and say, "Hey! That's not a d30 chart! That's a bunch of d10 charts!", the idea is that over time DMs start to know which 3 sub-areas to use (to create a "custom" d30 chart) to round out they game they want to play.

Some of you may also recognize the column on the left from the d30 DM Companion. The d30 Sandbox Companion takes the NPC items that were included in a measly 2-page spread in the d30 DM Companion (like the ability score "slot" tables), and really "blows them out" to the extent needed by a DM running a sandbox game (16 pages total if you include things like the language determination page, as well as the hireling/henchmen recruitment pages which have yet to be completed.)

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 NPC Personality Generator from MediaFire.

To get an update on the d30 Sandbox Companion, read the post from 10/08/12.

Another d30 Sandbox Updated: Content Listing

Last week, I revealed the new cover image for the d30 Sandbox Companion. Today, you're getting a look at the re-drawn back cover image, originally intended for the back cover of the d30 DM Companion, and then for the front cover of the d30 Sandbox Companion. The original was done at a time when I was just getting back into the illustration thing, and I was testing out various pen types and tips, and it just ended up being a little too... "chunky" for my tastes. I'm much happier with the re-draw (as is usual for me.)

I know, I know... you're asking...
"Where's the damn content listing you promised me in the title of this blog post?"

Here you go...

FORMS/TEMPLATES
Wilderness Mapping Master Key
Hex Crawl Worksheet
Settlement Worksheet
NPC Record Sheet

WILDERNESS AND LOCALES
Hex Terrain Generator
Natural Features, Phenomena, and Locales
Weather Events
Foraging & Hunting by Terrain & Season
Caves & Lairs Generator
Ruins Generator
Temples & Shrines Generator
Cult Generator
Magical Places
Pilgrims Generator
Road Encounters (2 pages)
Castle Stronghold Generator (2 pages)
Heraldry Generator
Expanded Heraldry Generator

SETTLEMENTS
Settlement Background: Government, Disposition, Economy, Issues, and Threats
Misc. Settlement Encounters: Attacks, Annoyances, Propositions, and Observances
City Guards, City Watch, Border Patrols
Methods of Torture & Execution
Settlement Suppliers by Size of Settlement
Shop Stocker
Tavern Name Generator
Tavern Accommodations, Features, Reputation, and Food

NPCs
NPC Attribute Generator
Classed NPCs
Quick Character Inventory: Weapons, Armor, and Class-specific Equipment
Quick NPC Magical Item Determination by Class/Race
NPC Motivation and Personality + NPC Family Background
NPC History by Class/Race + Added Skills
NPC Physical Traits, Personality, and Quirks
NPC Height Determination by Race
Freeman NPC Occupations
Nobles and Noble Household Personnel (Villani/Bordars)
Sage Generator (2 pages)
Quick Language Determination & Languages Spoken Crib Sheet
Advanced Language Determination
Henchmen/Hirelings Recruitment (2 pages)

Obviously, this is subject to change, re-arrangement, and what not. But I'm feeling like this is pretty close. Last week, I thought I'd be looking at about 44 pages. Now I'm feeling like it's going to be 54. After talking to my co-conspirator Welbo, we felt like we might need as many as 3 pages for the "How to Use This Book" section, and 2-pages for the index. (These sections took only 1 page each in the d30 DM Companion.)

In addition to the intro and index page additions, there was a point a while back when I took out 2 pages of "Road Encounters" as well as a "Pilgrims Generator" page from the d30 Sandbox Companion layout; they just felt like they were out of place and interrupted what I call "conceptual chunking" of pages (really, just the natural flow/connection of content). However, I found a natural way to work those pages back into the layout (such that I'm happy with their placement, and they don't feel like they impede the flow/use of the other content.) That being said, it doesn't mean I'm not still considering a d30 Encounter Companion!!!

d30 Feature of the Week: Abridged Castle/Stronghold Generator

While I use the word "abridged," this week's d30 feature isn't terribly so... abridged, I mean.

In the d30 Sandbox Companion the full Castle/Stronghold Generator is only 2 pages, and the majority of the first page (80% or so) is taken up by a chart that creates patrol size/composition (based on the resident type for the castle/stronghold). Otherwise, this contains the entirety of those 2 pages (though, it technically is only 60% of the total content of the 2 pages).

I was considering adding a line to give the option of allowing the level of the resident/owner to determine the size of the castle/stronghold, but I think it's much more interesting to let fate decide. For example, "How did that relatively low-level fighter get such a big castle?" (Do I detect the legacy of a coup d'état?) Or maybe, "Why doesn't that high-level fighter have a bigger castle?" (Is he wasteful? A spendthrift? Did he lose a great portion of wealth somehow?) This is something that I think is nicely inherent in the results of the table. Take the following results as an example...

Results: 15th-level cleric; 14-level round keep; old portion=good condition/some age, new portion=newly completed. He's got a rather large place that's mostly new or in good condition; that seems to fit with being a 15th-level cleric. Implications/overall take: this guy's got his shit together.

Results: 16th-level fighter; 2-level round keep; old portion=partially inoperational*/destroyed, new portion=in need of major repair. What's up with this guy? A 16th-level fighter with a crumbling ass keep? Possibilities: 1) he's crazy, 2) he's cursed, 3) it's a retreat of sorts and he's got a better one somewhere else, 4) there's 14 dungeon levels hidden underneat, 5) it's an illusion... and, honestly, I could keep going.

See what I mean?

Click here to download a free PDF of this
d30 Abridged Castle/Stronghold Generator from MediaFire.

To get an update on the d30 Sandbox Companion, read yesterday's post.

*I know this should be "inoperative," as "inoperational" isn't really a word.
This will be fixed for the d30 DM Companion, but will most likely stay incorrect in this PDF/post.

d30 Sandbox Companion Update

Somehow, someway, I've been making pretty good headway on the remaining items for the d30 Sandbox Companion. On the heels of finishing up the Ruins Generator last week, I finished up the castle generator yesterday, and as of right now, it's looking to be 44 pages of d30 goodness. That's 8 more pages than the d30 DM Companion!

So here are the major items I have left:
- Master Wilderness Mapping Key
- Weather Generator
- Natural Features, Phenomena, and Events
- Temple Generator
- City Guards, City Watch, Border Patrols
- Sale Items (Shop Stock Items by Type)
- NPC History by Class/Race
- Hireling/Henchmen Recruitment (2 pages)

I also still have to draw all the interior illustrations, and re-draw the back cover illustration (that used to be the cover illustration), but- hey... check out that snazzy new cover illustration!

I'm a little behind my original schedule (August/September), but I had some personal and work commitments that just seemed to keep putting this project on the back burner. Not to say other things won't come up, but I've renewed my commitment to finishing this thing up... soon!

Unless my plan changes at the last minute, tomorrow's d30 Feature of the Week will be the castle generator, and another update should follow next week.

d30 Feature of the Week: Ruins Generator

This week's d30 feature is one of the main reasons I've been slow to update the d30 Sandbox Companion. I cannot believe that something that, at first, seemed like a no-brainer to me, ended up being so difficult. Honestly, it's been three or four months (off-and-on) of looking at it, putting it down, and coming back to it... just to figure out the inhabitants thing. In the end, the answer was so simple, I couldn't believe it took me this long to come to it. Instead of trying to create an overly-detailed inhabitant chart, I've opted for a "generalized" one that allows the DM to "shift" the results as need be, to fit the locale/campaign or, most importantly, the party level!

To download a free PDF of this d30 Ruins Generator from MediaFire, click here.

d30 Feature of the Week: Expanded Cult (and Adventure Seed?) Generator

This week's d30 feature is part of the ever-updated-and-slowly-but-surely-going d30 Sandbox Companion. It's also an updated/expanded version of the d30 Cult Generator originally posted back in March of this year.

I realized the "Mantra" portion of the original table was a little goofy, and a bit of a waste in the context of the d30 Sandbox Companion. Instead, I thought a name generator for the cult/secret society (like the d30 Tavern Name Generator) would be a bit more useful. Additionally, I've added a component to the generator that handles the immediate goals of the cult. To me, this expanded chart works much more like an adventure seed generator (give the cult a name, a leader and a goal... and you've got a nuisance that any local leader would hire adventurers to get rid of.)

To download a free PDF of this updated/expanded
d30 Cult Generator from MediaFire, click here.

d30 Feature of the Week: NPC Magic Item Determination

This week's d30 feature is part of the ever-updated-and-slowly-but-surely-going d30 Sandbox Companion. This chart is a major contributor to the "ever-updated-and-slowly-but-surely-going." I don't think it's quite there yet, but I think I'm close. It's been difficult finding a way to keep things to as few rolls as possible, while providing an amount of variety in results and avoiding to much repetition. Ultimately, I think the charts on the left hand page (showing which tables to use by class and level) will have to be "broken out" a bit more, and a couple of more magic item sub-tables added. But the general idea is working for me (just getting to this point was a bit of a battle), and just feel like its a matter of refinement at this point.

To download a free PDF of these d30 NPC Magic Item Determination charts from MediaFire, click here.

d30 Feature of the Week: City Encounters (4 Types)

This week's d30 feature is part of the ever-updated-and-slowly-but-surely-going d30 Sandbox Companion. This page of 4 charts creates the following type of city encounters:
1) Unprovoked attacks: misunderstandings, malevolence, and mental impairment
2) Annoying encounters: from beggars & buffoons to prostitutes & performers
3) Criminal solicitations: guaranteed to get your PCs in trouble!*
4) Festivals and celebrations: game, political, popular, and religious

To download a free PDF of these d30 City Encounters charts from MediaFire, click here.

* The management wishes to express this in no way is a certified guarantee of any sort.

d30 Feature of the Week: NPC Traits Generator

This week's d30 feature began as a few NPC charts that were originally going to be included in the d30 DM Companion. However, as I fleshed out that volume and realized that a accompanying sandbox companion was necessary, I moved a few things over, including half of this chart. The original chart included only the "other" traits, personality, and quirks. With the addition of complexion, hair color, and eye color, just a few rolls gives you a total of 729,000,000 possible combinations!

To download a free PDF of this d30 NPC Traits generator from MediaFire, click here.

d30 Feature of the Week: 30 Named Magic Swords

This week's d30 feature was supposed to be part of last week's "incomplete" d30 Week. Long story short, I was unexpectedly out for a few days, which interrupted both regular work deadlines as well as my blogginly duties.

All of the named swords on this chart do come from either history or legend/myth, but probably aren't nearly as strong/powerful as they could be for magic swords of their reputation — there's only so much info you can get on 1 page. Without getting into a multi-page, full-blown description of the items, what's on this chart should get the broad strokes across. Obviously, feel free to enhance, add to, or otherwise expand upon these.

To download a free PDF of this d30 Named Magic Swords chart from MediaFire, click here.