Lost Galmagia (D23)

Basic Ideas

This is the home for the compiled ideas in the Dungeon23 Challenge megadungeon "Lost Galmagia" in the campaign milieu "The Giants Shadow". Campaign system is D&D B/X, and while the blog posts will present it straight, I'm going to indulge my tinkering a bit here. 

From my initial Mastodon posts

First things first: the dungeon is set on the plains of Tarmalania, upon which a generation ago the giants descended, tearing apart cities and leaving the edict that within their sight no stone shall rest upon stone. Now the children of the survivors who found refuge in the coastal forest return to their homeland to recover the treasures hidden in the basements and catacombs of the city to avoid the giant-kin’s rapacious scavenging. 

"The PC will be heading from the newly founded towns in the dwarf hills and elf woods to the west, striking back east along the plains, to one of the smaller cities a few days ride away. Along the way they might encounter horseclans and centaurs who live on the plain in nomadic tent cities, Orc raiders (orcs are the smallest giant-kin, and grow as long as they live, eventually becoming giants themselves), and animals long since gone feral on the plains 

This particular city has several rumors: that an a caravan bearing holy relics from the wave of destruction never made it out of the city and all its treasures rest deep in the vaults; that the wizard Sregor Viridian would often appear from spots below the city, suggesting he had a lab, or a gate to a lab, within. That the mad patriarch of the Galmagian bloodline refused to flee, stashing their wealth in caches below before riding out to joust the giants….

Inside the catacombs there are factions: the debased Galmagian kinfolk reduced to Neanderthal status by curses and inbreeding; goblin folk who crept in at night to colonize these ready made homes; undead crypt guardians turned mad by loss of families; escaped creations of lesser wizards now feral; other human reading parties; Orc scavengers testing their adulthood  to bring back trinkets; ogres, ettins and Cyclopes growing in the dark between feedings."

System

This will be run in B/X, with some modifications to further drive my preferences in play. Classes will see a little expansion on and considerable clarification of their powers, but the concepts will remain the same. 

Humans are both Variable and Gregarious

Humans have two special powers: they have Variable Classes (Cleric, Fighter, Magic-User, Thief) and each of those classes has something that emphasizes human social ability. Thieves learn more rumors; Fighters more easily recruit henchmen (and get bonuses on commanding them); Clerics can draw aid from their devout followers; Magic-Users can call on old treaties and lore to change initial reactions. 

X in 6 Chance, but on different dice

When you roll dice it's normally for a 50%, 33% or 16% (i.e. 3, 2 or 1 in 6) chance. The DM first determines the die type based on the situation: the more chaotic and dangerous, the higher the die used (d6, d12 or d20), and the less useful any bonuses are. After setting the die type, the DM determines difficulty: standard (50%), challenging (33%) and difficult (17%). In some circumstances the DM can decide there is no chance without training or superior characteristics, and set targets above 6/12/20 (called ‘incredibly (7/14/23)’ or ‘amazingly (8/16/25)’ difficult tests.) 

Monsters gravitate towards armor classes of 18, 15 and 11 for heavy, moderate, or light armor equivalent (i.e., hit 1, 2, or 3 times in 6). Yes, in play I’ll be using ascending AC; I’m willing to revert back a lot, but I’m not giving up that. Unarmored AC is now 8, for a 66% chance of being hit. 

No Extra Rolls

When possible the natural roll on the d20 double as the determiner for the X in 6 chances. For example, Fighters have combat advantages that apply 2 times in 6; they occur on natural attack rolls of 1-7, or 15-20. These are both 2 in 6 chances, and the Fighter's player now knows with the single attack roll which of their advantages apply. 

To bring back the use of henchmen in the party, NPC attacks are handled with a single d6 roll: they hit unarmored opponents on 3+, lightly armored opponents on 4+, moderately armored ones on 5+, and heavily armored on a 6. If they hit, they do the natural roll as damage. This is a reduction of the complexity of the combat rules keeps play quick: the fighter's mercenary company can be handled with the toss of a few d6.