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Dicember 2021 #1 - #3

Sharing the first 3 days of Dicember '21 before work and life got busy. These are more setting focused rambles. Bits are redacted for your sanity (or customization if you like). Hope you enjoy and Happy holidays!

1 - Bone bullets

Pale white, pistol grade ammunition. Mass-produced from the knuckle bones of those accused and hanged for sedition towards the Republic. Each is an identical .45 caliber round, showing the typical marks of bullet manufacture and stamped with the symbol of the High Witches. Contain no traces of gunpowder, but fire by means of [redacted]. Several caches have been discovered on [redacted], [redacted], and [redacted]; though the exact means and location of their manufacture remain unknown. A full magazine is colloquially defined as being equivalent to the standard 28 knuckle-bones present in the human body.


Produced for their psychological effects on the battle field. Each bullet acts as a normal bullet in firing and impact to a target. Each bullet that hits a target and comes into contact with blood triggers its primary effect. On total exsanguination or death the target's remaining viscera erupts as a crimson spray of bullet shaped teeth, metacarpals, and metatarsals. The bones themselves are left behind, twisted into cruel weaponry. These are most often melee weapons such as swords or maces, but firearms or explosives are known to have formed when fired at expert sharpshooters or explosive teams. 

A full clip of twenty-eight is beyond priceless, but individual bullets or a finger's worth have been known to go for auction at [redacted] on occasion. The weapons however are highly sought after collector's items, with Ferdinand Van Vocce in possession of the largest known collection, containing a single rotary machine gun assembled over the course of the first decade of the Great War. 


2 - Diamond Dust

A meteorological event first witnessed by Francisca 'Ice Queen' Tagenet in [redacted]. Complex diamond prisms form through an unknown process and drift across the hypo-arctic surface of [redacted]. These prisms are highly valued in jewelry and the light refraction process needed for [redacted], [redacted], and [redacted] (as a high quality substitute). The De Vine Company retains a year-round presence defending and harvesting the Dust. They are known to be hostile to outside influence to a startlingly brutal and cruel degree. 

Of even higher value are the Diamond Spikes, larger forms from one to five feet suitable for heavy industrial applications. These form during the two week period surrounding the winter solstice, though they are only guaranteed every [redacted] years when the geothermal cycle of the region is at its coolest (caused by [redacted]'s efforts to control [redacted]). During Spike storms, an estimated [redacted] people have died by impaling, a far lower amount than typical of the lung infestation caused by inhaling dust (resulting in a condition known as Crystal Zombism).

3 - The Ravenous Fetus

Deep deep under the crust of [redacted] lies the last surviving experiment of the Order of Helical Ministrations, the ancient cult responsible for the Black Gene Plague. Surviving notes from the project indicate it was intended as a way to resurrect god and unify all of humanity in a single inter-connected mind. Needless to say, the experiment failed, and the 'Prophecized 13' never arrived. Required to kickstart the Birth of the Mind of God, these chosen few have yet to arrive, though repeated kidnappings by genetic cults through the ages have yet to trigger the awakening. 

Instead the humongous fetus awaits, dormant, slowly leeching life from humanity through a feeble but ever-present mental link. Although seemingly human biologically, apart from the scale, the subject appears to operate on a scale of time far different from that of humanity. The subject has not yet progressed past the first trimester, despite having been 'conceived' some [redacted] years ago. 

Efforts to weaponize the subject's mental link have met with failure, as any actions made by psionically inclined subjects affect large parts of humanity, an effect that has been classified as [redacted] Effect thanks to efforts of the Facility's PR Team. No efforts have been made as of yet to accelerate the natal timeline and so long as it remains under Facility control we expect this to continue.

Mothership-esque Pack Tables

Junk in the Pack (1d6 to 4d6)
1. Hot-wired Access Card, last use
2. Vac-suit, punctured
3. Bottle of Vodka, half-filled
4. Mob Hardy "Sugary Relaxed" floppy tape
5. Floppy disk
6. Duct tape, sticky, silver
7. Tape recorder
8. Smoke bomb
9. Fistful of assorted guitar picks
10. Brass knuckles
11. One pound of rock salt
12. Blood diamond, stolen and chipped
13. Poker chip, souvenir
14. USB to BCI Cable
15. Bio-metrics scanner
16. Camcorder, analog
17. Frozen liver
18. Box of Double Solitaire Cards
19. Bungee cord
20. PDA printer attachment
21. Rubik's cube, faded
22. Board of Finance members' business cards
23. One full pack of Maximum Drag cigarettes
24. "Three Wheelers, #3" by White, floppy tape

Practical items in the pack
1. Blue tarp, creased
2. PetroChem Battery, half-charged
3. Pipe wrench, red
4. Nail gun w/ 1d6 starship-grade nail
5. Welding Mask, hotrod paintjob
6. Oxygen Condenser
7. Hand-cranked distress beacon
8. Assorted drill bits and battery
9. ROM Cartridge overwrite burner
10. Air filter
11. Assorted vitamins
12. High calorie protein paste

Gygax 75 Week 5

Its here, if a little late. I can't help but feel as though the setting has gotten away from me lately, moving more in to gonzo territory and less in the 'caveman' space I had originally envisioned it as. There can be weird elements, but with week 5 I want to drive home the main focuses of the setting the pre-neolithic elements.

Some setting tenets:

People don't farm outside of the city-states. They herd animals and/or engage in horticulture if they aren't nomadic hunter gatherers.

People don't form permanent settlements, seasonal settlements are common, but many choose a life of wandering from site to site.

Despite the focus of the Gygax 75, this is a setting focused on wilderness. Ruins are overgrown and empty, most adventure sites are in the dens of dangerous beasts.

The wilds are the enemy, but also the lifeblood and parents of all.

And finally, people are joined by blood and friendship into 'tribes' or culture groups. They may not get along with one another despite this. 


Big Fucking Monsters (Witcher/Monster Hunter style). Kill for a 'level' for one player. Deliberately unnamed
- Giant black dog monster. Any who see him will be pursued during the full moon. A single blood-shot eye. Long red tongue. Makes no sound. Hunched back like a kodiak. 12 Hits
  - Tips:
    - Must be killed with a silver blade dipped in tallow of a hanged man
    - Would rather attack lone, sleeping, or child targets.
- Multi-mawed creature in the well. 10 Hits. Can take control of people to force them into its well. Human-like arms and small tentacles.
  - Tips:
    - Don't look into wells
    - Blue bottles lure it away from its well
    - Hates sunlight
- Blood-red furred giant sloth. A single eye set into its head, its maw stretches from chin to nave. Screams as it hunts, pausing only to sleep at night or feast on those it devours. Nauseating stench
  - Tips:
    - Eats anything that *looks* edible
    - Will not wake while the moon is up
    - Has a cave it will return to for feasting and sleeping
- A small bear that grips the trees. Can never be  seen before it strikes. Ravenous blood sucking fangs and shock red eyes.
- A giant hunched emaciated figure with the head of a flayed deer. fast as shit. claws like straight razors. freakishly resilient. incredibly pale, wrapped in bloody furs. blood drips from its gums. gains additional hits on kills/devouring victims. runs when at 3 or less hits. ravenous for its next meal. can mimic voices and shapeshift to any form it desires
  - Tips:
    - Can only be killed by fire melting its ice heart or is shattered by a silver weapon
    - Very vulnerable to fire
    - Forms it shapeshifts to will still have its pale skin and bleeding gums
    - Can be detected by its stench or the chill that surrounds it
- A festering husk of a former dryad. Her grove lies rotting and dying. She will scoop out your life to restore herself. Goes dormant when killed. Drains life when touched or when she touches you. Screeches and wails in the light of day.
  - Tips
    - Every tree must be burnt to the root to truly destroy her
    - Drains anything she touches of life, finding something close to death poisoned?
- A boar made of shadows and needles. Darkness made manifest. Every attack causes fear. 4 is enough for a heart attack, though most are already gored to shreds. Can fade into patches of darkness
  - Tips
    - A lamp made with a chunk of the moon or sun prevents its escape
    - Mirrors really confuse it
    - Directed light cuts it better than a sling through flesh

 

Weapon and Armor Materials:

- Weapons
    - Bone (cheap, breaks easily)
    - Flint (the baseline, reliable)
    - Groundstone (takes ages to slowly carve these out. lasts a lifetime. expensive. usually only found among the elderly or farming communities, those with time)
    - Obsidian (sharp! expensive and controlled by the city-states)
    - Crystal (fragile, imbued with magical powers)
- Armor
    - Bone (tied together with leather, cheap)
    - Ceramic/Pottery (heavy, fine patterns inlaid)
    - 'Dino' Bone (durable bones from great and dangerous beasts)
    - Chitin (tough and light, insect types won't like you for it)

Wood and bamboo are good options for tools and equipment, and necessary for survival, but much rarer in the drier parts of the ring.

Gygax 75 Week 4 - Ruindust Expanded

Ok, Week 4, I'm going to be expanding on the main town of the area: Ruindust. Compared to last week's requirements this one is pretty light. That being said I've made some tweaks to hopefully better represent the more prehistoric and small-scale society elements of the Diskolithic.

Firstly, the shops don't have names. In larger city-states, there are more recognizable towns and merchants, but out here they're just people trading what they do well for food or other necessities. Their establishments are known as X's shop or 'that green tent over there'. The emphasis is more on the owner and their services than the shop itself.

Second, this is a small hamlet at best, with a population of like 100 people, including the large amounts of synths that have arrived (which outnumber the people 2-1). A lot of the sites that are recommended for construction have been rolled into one another, like the Circle being a site for gambling and gossip and shopping.

With that in mind, here is:

Ruindust


 

Remnants of a ruined, dust-choked city. Built around small oasis. Only the original buildings near and around the Circle are still intact. Most people live in small lean-to huts of in slightly larger stilt houses, all have roofs of scavenged solar panels.

Notable features

  • Block Mines
    • A collapsed warehouse or mass tomb of synths. A necropolis of synth parts, slowly being extracted and sold on the surface. Named for its brutalist architecture of the individual tomb rooms which must be dug to. Secretly on its last legs. Most of the parts have been extracted. A final room is being opened, but in a few weeks there'll be an angry mob of synths.
  • The Circle
    • A plaza on the outer edge of town. Caravans and markets are here, as well as most of the gossiping of the city. The Longhouse's entrance is along the perimeter. Pickup dice and chance games are a common sight.
    • Shops
      • Weapons - Red curtained stall, dusty with flint and bone dust. Squinting brawler Timz dislikes haggling. Cuts out new pieces as he talks. Makes custom weapons on request, nothing fancy, but doesn't charge extra.
      • Food - Draft bug shepherd cousin in law to Amani, Gaman sells his wares in a faded green tent. Will throw in an extra steak for members of the 'family'.
      • Equipment - Yellow canvas lean-to. Sells generalist items like torches and rope. Run by an orphan girl, Gianina, with a head for business. Uses cuteness and 'innocence' to her advantage.
      • Occult - Back-alley stall hidden in a derelict house. Hooded figure, robed in threads of black and purple, goes by X. Disappears into smoke. Crystal ball for a head.
  • The Longhouse
    • Inn and caravan rest spot. Built out of scavenged solar panels. Curtained rooms and dusty hammock bunks at reasonable rates. Serves a good bug-steak and toast. Currently filled to capacity with synths and a few temp mantis miners who have come to barter for equipment for their travels.
  • Brood-Hall
    • A bar reserved for locals and their guests. Strongest drinks around. Best food at a steep price. Reputation for rowdy fights and loud singing, but honest in their dealings.
  • The Oasis
    • Murky green water, ringed by tall and spindly palm trees. Drinking the water has minor healing properties, or so the locals claim. A small shrine carved from tusk has been erected to a forgotten god of healing. The far shore is a nesting ground for crocodiles. They only come over in the hotter months.

Political Factions

  • Mantis-folk - Red and green skinned, they wear bug chitin and wield giant mantis blades, some have compound eyes. They follow the rules of chance. Disputes are settled via coin-flip, wealth distribution via lottery, and their games rely on high degrees of chance to win. Most are herders and ranchers of draft bugs, docile ox-sized beetles that produce a sort of edible nectar paste and have durable chitin. Seasonally live here when the crocs aren't dicks.
  • Synths - Several groups of damaged or displaced synths have come here to repair themselves using the parts scavenged in the Block Mines. Have overwhelmed the peacekeeper of the Mantis-folk. Outnumber the locals 2-1. Getting impatient with waiting for parts and the way the Miners treat them.
  • Miners - Sub-group of the mantis-folk, more of a fraternity than a guild or union. More synth-dissector than miners. Disgruntled and threatened by the arrival of so many synths who want parts faster or are willing to descend into the mines themselves.

People

  • Raj
    • A disembodied head, very old. Hooked up to wires and a base. Runs the Longhouse. Defacto mayor of town. An acolyte of CHANCE, the neutral god of fortune.
    • Needs acolytes to form a shrine to CHANCE.
    • Has accumulated a lot of information about the surrounding area during his tenure at the Longhouse.
  • Old Peackeeper, Mantis 'Chief'
    • Old, more than a little confused, and a crack shot with a sling. In charge of settling disputes. The synths don't appreciate the old ways of chance. Stumped as to a fair alternative.
    • Needs some help: deputies to help peacefully resolve conflicts.
    • Does little more than run from one problem to another. His reasoned voice is listened to by most of the older mantis-folk, he could be a good ally if things come to a head.
  • Metafaithful
    • A synth healer, the primary installer of new bits on itinerant synths. Young. Glasses. He is not on good terms with Raj.
    • Needs dirt on Raj. Or an understanding with the Miners.
    • Is days away from confronting and possibly kidnapping Raj over unpaid debt and help with the Synths.
  • Amani, Bug keeper
    • Shepherd of the largest pack of draft bugs. Has a very large 'family'. Every other person seems to be a relation. They stick together.
    • Needs... she's doing pretty good. Someone to take over when she's gone?
    • Has connections everywhere and a horde of cow sized beetles.
  • Bauzoka, Miner-in-charge
    • Surprisingly clean for someone who works underground. High pitched voice and a tendency to chew her lip. Good at fitting through tight cracks.
    • Needs a strong drink. And a full night's sleep.
    • Is working with her team to crack the final vault. In a few weeks there won't be any synth parts left

Gygax 75 - Week 3+1: The Ancient Gardens

I'm back! And I have donu--wait no I have a dungeon! It took me an extra week, but here it is. 'Mostly' fully keyed, with a node map to help guide you through it. I'm not going to block out the requirements for this week, because most of it relates to dungeon building. 

Some notes if you decide to give the G75 a shot, is that the budget system didn't really do it for me. I rolled for it, but totally ignored it after that. I want the spaces I design to be oozing with flavour, not unlike an overstuffed pie. 

I will be making a grid-based map for this at the of the G75, and will link it once its ready!

Without further ado, the Ancient's Gardens:

Ancient's Garden

Things to expand in the future:

  • Tracker for ghoul and centipede movement
  • Treasure + monster quick reference sheet
  • A list of treasure + locations


 

Description

Once an ancient bazaar and pleasure gardens. It has housed a cult to $$$ the god of greed, and served as a transit center. However, despite its past splendor, it is now home to an odd science mystic and a group of drug-making party ghouls

Entrance

Rune-carved slab propped open by giant bones

Notable People

  • Okra Merge: Green skinned vampire. Harmless, needs blue blood.
    • Friendly, but prone to forgetfulness. Loves nature and plants, maybe too much.
    • Researching time stasis to preserve plants past the end of time and seed the universe once again. Debating packing up to gather research material.
    • Knows Haste, Slowfall, Stasis: y'know, time spells.
    • Wants a flux conversion regulator from a nearby ruin (Upward Spire).
  • Ghouls!: Mutagenic ghouls, shrivelled skin that hugs close to the bones. Neon painted skin, kept 'sane' by the Shard of the Rave God it keeps their cannibalistic hunger focused towards partying and drugs, chill dudes, throw a great rager. Bro speak, gender indeterminable.
    • Haze - Raspy voice. Merrily greets shooters and guests. The dealer. Aura of hallucinogenic smoke. Wants munchies.
    • Flash - Glows in the dark. The brewmaster. Sloshed. Has a wizard degree. Doesn't like talking about it. Needs 'trippy' ingredients.
    • Riot - Constantly playing a banger. The DJ. Makes dubstep noises. Half-deaf. Shouts. Wants you to listen to their mixtape. Needs a new disco ball.
  • Colossal golden Centipede: Deadly, warrens in the storage, biomechanical predator, clear head shows valuable circuit board brain
    • It sleeps in 1.8 Grubby Storage during the day. It hunts during the night.
      • It roams, spending one turn in each:
        1. Caravanserai
        2. Delivery Tunnels
        3. Grubby Storage
        4. Barren Casino
        5. Crumbling Ampitheater
        6. Food Arcade
        7. Parched Atrium
        8. Outside
        9. Outside
        10. Outside
        11. Outside
        12. Outside

Encounter Table

  1. Golden Centipede
  2. Fungal succulents piloting a ba-mummy
  3. Moving Mold
  4. Kush Crawlers - Trying to spread
  5. Poison Snake
  6. Quiet
  7. Giant cockroaches
  8. Crystal Shades - Echos of former selves
  9. Wicker golem - Damaged security, orders corrupted
  10. Ghoul - Haze or Riot
  11. Okra Merge

1st Floor

Glass dome ceilings, cracks of sunlight through sand above, sandy floors over carved stone, walls are wind-carved stone

Adjectives: Smooth, dry, faded, sandy, past

  1. Caravanserai

    • Low ceilings, round supports, stalls filled with desiccated and crumbling pottery. A few broken wagons. A stone door, without a lock, but immovable. Slab doors to the outside
    • Stalls
      • At the back of a particularly crowded stall, a crawlspace carved via bite marks and many legs. Leads to 1.2 Delivery Tunnels
    • Wagons
      • Enough material to build a 2 sledges or a rickety wagon.
  2. Delivery Tunnels

    • Concrete tunnels, most are collapsed. Splashes of dried venom-puke. Someone put up wooden supports along safe paths. Concrete ramps lead downwards to the 3.1 Infested Tunnels
    • Wooden Supports
      • Gnaw marks, brittle with age.
      • These can be cut to collapse this section (this will definitely kill or entomb anything caught within)
  3. Sunken Plaza

    • The ruins of old market stalls built into a three tiered sunken terrace. At the lowest level a large obelisk sits. Faded carpets are scattered around different tiers. Flashes of blue light flit in between the stalls
    • Blue Light
      • These are Crystal Shades, the spiritual remnants of merchants and customers. They shine with a holographic effect. They will try to sell dust and sand. They will shriek with rage every time you refuse them.
      • They are stained with greed from the obelisk
    • Obelisk
      • A towering bluestone obelisk lined with golden trim around the outlines of hand-carved runes. It is splattered with colorful graffiti. A blue haze surrounds it, emanating from a coin slot on one side.
      • Coin Slot
        • A worn rectangular groove worn away through the many coins that have passed though its entrance
      • Blue Haze
        • If an offering isn't made (a single coin through the slot) every day, a haze of indigo fog will begin to affect creatures with jealousy and greed of others wealth
      • Hand-carved Runes
        • Mark that the obelisk is devoted to $$$, the goddess of greed and wealth. Indicate that an offering of a single coin will suffice for a day.
    • Carpets
      • Underneath one, a splintered trapdoor that leads down to 2.2 Tunnel Crossroads
    • Market Stalls
      • Wooden market stalls, canvas shades long faded. Faded Tapestry behind a stall on the third tier.
      • Scavenged thoroughly through the ages, a few plain items have been left behind:
        • A sachet of moon-light tea (20$). Very relaxing!
        • Scratched pine box with a pearl encrusted conch horn (100$) inside
        • Snuff pouch of cinnamon (10$)
      • Tapestry
        • Alcove with a small door, runes read "Storage". Leads to 1.8 Grubby Storage.
    • Treasure
      • Bluestone Obelisk of $$$. Worth 6000$ to merchant types. Needs 6 people to drag it at least. Emits haze around it that makes everyone covetous if offerings aren't made through the coin slots every day or so
  4. Food Arcade

    • Arched hall, each containing the ruins of an ancient food stand. One arcade leads to a barred door, granting access to 1.1 Caravanserai.
    • Food Stands
      • Tattered curtains and sun-bleached wooden counters. Faded signs for fillets, kebabs, and sandwiches hang above each arcade. A carved crawlspace behind one stall. A shiny green plastic card sits atop a stand
      • Scattered throughout 8 intact Rations, dried mammoth meats and root veggies. Well-seasoned, but kinda gritty with sand.
      • Crawlspace
        • Leads to 1.6 Crumbling Ampitheater
      • Green plastic card
        • Used to unlock 2.7 Grow Room
  5. Parched Atrium

    • Above a wide hole lets in light and sand from the surface. A bone-white tree has withered away in a central planter. The ashen flowers of emaciated plants fill painted terracotta planters. Cracked hole in the glass dome send sand into the room, but allows escape to the outside.
    • Bone-white tree 
      • The thin trunk has no branches, like the stem of a flower. The ivory bark looks like cracked clay. Sun-faded bloodstains line the inside of the planter.
      • When blood is spilled here the tree will begin to bloom once again with a Blood-bloom. Blooms once a week for 9 weeks every 9 years
      • Blood-bloom
        • A pink flower, petals folded as if made from origami. Thrums with the beat of a heart even when picked. The main aspect needed for creating a blood elemental or allows casting a spell three times before it wilts.
  6. Crumbling Ampitheater

    • Tattered curtains hang over stage. Collapsed set in central seating. Ornamental pillars near rear of stage
    • Collapsed set
      • Time worn paint on balsa wood columns and facades. Covers a small crevice
    • Curtains
      • Tattered carmine velum. Surprisingly clean.
        • Two fine cloak's (50$ each) worth to a good tailor.
    • Pillars
      • 9 Solid white marble, finely carved. Scratches behind the one 3rd from left. Pitch black, rope and piton descent to 3.9 Tranquil Gardens
  7. Barren Casino

    • Flipped tables and sand encrusted carpets. Automata wanders around offering drinks. Exit doors surrounded by flashing bulbs allow access to the outside
    • Automata
      • A keg-golem, chipped ceramic limbs built around a stone barrel.
      • Designed to dispense libations. They're on the house! Ran out of ingredients a long time ago, now only has dirty water.
        • Can be given botanicals to produce and store up to 5 different fancy cocktails and brews.
      • Override card to recruit him is in 1.9 Employee Lounge
  8. Grubby Storage

    • Chewed-through crates, mounds of bones, piles of plant debris. Wooden door in recessed alcove. At night, curled form of the Golden Centipede
    • Bones
      • Some terror-dactyl, mostly snake and human. A few blue wasp shells. Thoroughly broken and gnawed.
    • Plant Debris
      • The nest of the Golden Centipede. It sleeps here during the day. It roams during the night.
    • Door
      • Leads behind a tapestry in 1.3 Sunken Plaza
    • Treasure
      • 2x Nutrient Salve @ 50$ (2 Rations each)
      • Spell of Crystal Cognizance
      • Centipede Loot
        • 3x Potions of Poison Breath
        • Ancient Golden Circuit Board of the Templars (BFT)
  9. Employee 'Lounge'

    • Broken folding chairs, stained kitchenette, wobbly tables. Square nook shelves line the right wall.
    • Shelves
      • Empty sacks and spoiled bag lunches. Nest of scorpions (normal-sized).
      • An Automata Override Card on a lower shelf
        • Glass prism, holes punched through surfaces
        • Allows recruiting the Automata Keg in 1.7 Barren Casino

2nd Floor

Cramped tunnels, feel of tepid water, scent of weed and pollen. Grey cobble stone walls, dark grey stone brick floors. Rounded tunnels.

Adjectives: Imposing, moist, sopping, ramshackle, erratic, endless

  1. Infested Tunnels

    • *Vine choked passageways, choking pollen, the overbearing smell of weed. Clearly marked passages, arrows covered in fluorescent paint. Slightly flooded with muddy yellow water. Concrete ramps lead up to 1.2 Delivery Tunnels*
    • Smell of weed
      • The den of Kush Crawlers, dog sized and shaped mobile plant colonies. Spray slowing pheromones before ripping open prey to deposit seeds. Tastes like okra when fried up.
    • Vine Choked
      • Behind a wall of tangled vines is an abandoned cache of supplies, a fluorescent circular rune carved above it. A ladder leads to a hidden hatch among some scraggly bushes on the surface
      • Contains 3 torches, a bottle of Hammerclaw Whiskey Black Label (75$), and a Bloodstone
    • Treasure
      • Hammerclaw Whiskey Black Label @ 75$
      • Bloodstone, contains a single spell's worth of blood energy
  2. Tunnel Crossroads

    • At the center of an intersection of four tunnels, ramshackle scrap platform with a large bonfire. Stairs in part of the platform lead down to 3.1 Reception Hall The south tunnel is barricaded The west ends with a locked door with a green stripe. The north tunnel disappears into gloom.
    • Scrap platform
      • Splintery wooden sheets on an ancient train platform. Two rainbow folding chairs and a spit with roasting kush crawler.
    • Barricade
      • Wood and thick carpet over brick. Sloppily carved bamboo door and hanging neon sign: "Party! Drugs! Drinks!"
    • Door
      • Locked stone door, a lime green strip runs down the front. Equipped with a bone lock. Key is in 1.4 Food Arcade
        • North tunnel
      • Leads a short way back to a dead end, with a lashed wooden ladder. Goes back up to 1.3 Sunken Plaza
  3. Wrecked Storefront

    • Tinkling bell on front door. Pots are shattered and crates are broken around the edges of the room. The counter has caved in. A ghoul sits in front of shelves. A mural covers the far wall.
    • Ghoul
      • Haze, a mutagenic ghoul. Raspy voice. Merrily greets shoppers and guests. The dealer. Aura of hallucinogenic smoke. Wants munchies.
    • Counter
    • Mural
      • A faded mosaic mural depicting an ancient battle against a 9-headed hydra has been scrawled with obscene graffiti. A hero is severing three of the hydra's heads at once (each head has a monocle drawn onto it) and golden blood spills into a pool at its feet.
      • Golden Blood
        • If the mural is broken there is a chest filled with 100 golden coins (each worth 5$) and 3 Inky Black Pearls worth 50$ each. If the ghouls are present they will want in on that.
    • Treasure
      • 100 golden coins @ 500$ behind the mural
      • 3x Inky Black Pearl @ 50$ each behind the mural
  4. Dim Distillery

    • Five open vats, bubbling and belching out pungent fumes of brews. Below the vats are vents that lead downward to 3.5 Tiled Sauna. Kegs haphazardly stacked against the wall. A ghoul stirring and tasting vats. A section of wall slabs are a slightly different color.
    • Vats
      • Four chipped stone and clay vats filled with Basic Bread / Exotic Ingredients (or B/X Brew) a generic bread beer.
      • A blue glazed porcelain vat filled hallway with Ghoul's Spit'n'shine, nearly pure ethanol with a smoky finish. Will melt the organs of living creatures. Dragon-bone tankard (see treasure) occasionally drifts to the surface.
    • Ghoul
      • Flash, a mutagenic ghoul. Glows in the dark. The brewmaster. Has a wizard degree. Doesn't talk about it. Needs 'trippy' ingredients.
    • Kegs
      • Clay pots and wooden barrels, left to age. Among them, two rare brews from an ancient time, Goldsoul Grog and Crackhammer Sake.
    • Wall Slabs
      • Slightly off color slabs. Slabs are firm but give if force is applied. Leads to 2.6 Ancient Stash
    • Treasure
      • Stone Keg of Goldsoul Grog @ 500$ or 24 drinks
      • Wooden Keg of Crackhammer Sake @ 200$ or 32 drinks
      • Dragon-bone tankard (Enchanted, Potion effects can be used a breath weapons) @ 400$
  5. Party Room

    • Dance floor of mosaic tiles ringed by plush but threadbare bean bags and bongs. Smoky haze. A Disco ball sends rays of light cascading across the room. A titanic shard of crimson stone is embedded through the center of the room. There are deeply gouged scratch marks on the floor near the wall.
    • Ghoul
      • Riot, a mutagenic ghoul. Constantly playing a banger. The DJ. Makes dubstep noises. Half-deaf. Shouts. Wants you to listen to their mixtape. Needs a new disco ball.
    • Disco Ball
      • A multi-faceted orb, a d38, a little larger than a watermelon. Shiny surface obscures brightly colored wires under the thick crystal shell. Plug on the bottom.
    • Shard
      • Covered in delicately carved runes. Room was definitely built up around it. Is holding the ceiling up from collapse. Drug offerings scattered around it. Riot does not like you eyeing it.
    • Scratch Marks
      • Marks curve out from the wall, a hidden door flush with the wall. Leads to 2.4 Dim Distillery
    • Treasure
      • Prism Disco Ball (BFT) a long-ago memory core that could be put to use in creating an AI or in the compiling of a new spell.
      • Splintered Fragment of the Rave God (BFTx3) (holds up the ceiling, needs at least 3 people to carry)
  6. Ancient Stash

    • This room is truly ancient, walls carved in bas-relief of pickaxes and gemstones. The air is musty and Dust covers everything. A titanic crack has split the room in two, leaving the far side's floor at waist height. An altar of white stone sits at the center topped by a massive crystal
    • Walls
      • Later period squatling carvings of pickaxes, geometric designs, and gemstones. The four panels are worth 1000$ if delivered to a museum or scholar of the pygmy period.
    • Crack
      • A jagged tear in the stone floor. Leads downwards to 3.7 Steroid Pits
    • Altar
      • White stone, trimmed with red rust along the edges. A massive, oblong, purple gemstone the size of man in the fetal position, the Roarian Heartstone. It is too large to fit through the entrance and weighs a literal ton.
    • Treasure
      • Ommoroarian Heartstone worth 10,000$ whole, 1/2 as much each time it is split.
  7. Grow Room

    • The smell of compost and peat fills the air. Three long planters filled with plants dominate the center of the room. A workbench at the far end is covered in empty sacks.
    • Growbeds
      • Fashioned out of old wagons and filled with a myriad of 'medicinal' plants. Most are those that only undead can consume (such as Brain-root, Boneshaker bud, and Acid berries). The following can be gathered:
        1. Glowleaf - Leaves grow a pale pink. Smoking it causes mild hallucinations, but you can see in the dark. Lasts an hour.
        2. Bloodshroom - Small crimson mushroom. Drying and eating causes euphoria, whole body tingling, and loss of motor function. Lasts 20 minutes.
        3. Mintat - Small white berries. Minty taste. Increases awareness and knowledge retention. Lasts three hours. You won't stop talking the whole time.
      • Two Crimson Coral (50$ each) hidden half-buried in the dirt.
      • Hanging Growlights
        • Dozens of palm sized crystals throb sickly white light onto the plants below.
      • Blooming Dreamweed
        • An azure bloom the shape of a cloud seeps pollen. 3 walnut sized seeds contained within.
    • Workbench
      • A filled sack of Dreamweed (like very strong weed) is propped up among the empty sacks.
    • Treasure
      • 2x Crimson Coral @ 100$ total
      • 1 Sack of Dreamweed @ 400$ propped up on a bench at the back

3rd Floor

Tile walkways, high ceilings, soft white lighting. Arches and columns, plants, tasteful wooden paneling. Mosaics

Adjectives: Opulent, still, tranquil, natural, gentle

  1. Reception Hall

    • Bamboo ceilings. Gentle burbling of fountains coming from somewhere. Still living ornamental plants. A door with a red stripe to 3.8 Garden Laboratory is locked. Stairs lead up to 2.2 Tunnel Crossroads
  2. Locker Room

    • Floor to ceiling cube shelves. Moldy towels stuffed in nooks. Glowing fungus coats much of the room
    • Cube shelves
      • Mostly empty, shredded clothes and empty wallets. In one, a delicately folded Robe in the Mesocoloroscopic Style
    • Fungus
      • Glows with a potent orange light. They expand and contract, look very poppable. If pierced, these fungus will explode in a lethal room-wide explosion that will rock the whole dungeon.
    • Treasure
      • Long-ago robes in the Lower Mesocoloroscopic Style (BFT). Undead do not attack so long as these robes are intact
  3. Disused Gym

    • Dust caked acrobatic equipment. Stone disks propped up on racks. Empty lifting benches. Posters of buff synths and various forms of human. Blue glowing mushrooms on the right wall.
    • Lifting benches
      • Torn leather covers. Underneath one, the red key for 3.8 Garden Laboratory
    • Posters
      • A note stuck to one. Recipes for certain mutations in 3.7 Steroid Pits. Odd equations scrawled onto it:
        • 2 Water + 1/4 Earth = Lobster, 2 Water + 2 Water + 1/2 Fire = Shark or Croc! 1 Air + 2 Earth = Ostrich
    • Glowing Mushrooms
      • Sky blue. Glowing like a traffic light. Grows waist high, blocking the entrance to small vent that leads to 3.5 Tiled Sauna.
  4. Fountain Pools

    • Delicate fountains cascade azure water into blue tiled pools. The central fountain gurgles pleasantly. Doors in each cardinal direction. West door is blocked by collapsed chunks of ceiling. A cluster of plants near the center.
    • West Door
      • Blocked by overgrown hunks of stone, concrete, and pink rock salt. Leads to 3.7 Steroid Pits.
    • Plants
      • Leafy palm trees and hide the opening of a hatch and a small cart with an empty pitcher
      • Hatch
        • Disguised ceramic tile among the walkway leads down into a control room
        • Control Room
          • Levers and pipes, incredibly humid. Stinks of sulfur and chlorine. A swirling maelstrom of fire, hail, and steam locked in a glass container. Crawlways to other pool areas.
          • Levers
            • Rune labelled controls and power diversion for adjacent pools:
              • Sauna (Active)
                • +/- Heat
                • +/- Steam
                • Flamejets
              • Cryo Baths (Active)
                • +/- Cold
                • Flash Freeze chamber 1-7
              • Steroid Pits (Inactive)
                • Open close chambers
                • +/- Potency of Pits
          • Maelstrom
            • An Omni-mental! A chaotic if not vaguely collection of bundled energy. Wants to be released. Siphoned monthly by Okra Merge for power. Needs a coffin sized battery to be transported.
          • Crawlways
            • Leads to 3.5, 3.6, 3.7; each to a tile hatch indistinguishable from the paths.
  5. Tiled Sauna

    • Bone dry, hot as the desert surface above. Tray of coals in the center of the room. Very relaxing. Ventilation hole in ceiling above the coals
    • Vent Hole
      • Vertical ascent along smooth stone to 2.4 Dim Distillery. Provides heat to brews.
  6. Cryogenic Bathhouse

    • Seven 'hot'-tubs set into circular niches in the walls. Freezing steam rolls out of each. Good for sore muscles.
  7. Steroid Pits

    • Five stone vats set into the floor, with pipes running out from the top of each. A pedestal with a collection of valves sits in front of the north vat. The roof is split in two by a large crevasse.
    • Vats
      • Each vat corresponds to an element, with the center being undead. Using pure vats will turn you into an elemental, or necrotic.
      • East - Fire. Red oil
      • North - Air. White gas
      • South - Earth. Green mud
      • West - Water. Blue water
      • Center - Void/Undead. Black and Clear
    • Pedestal
      • White marble plinth. Valves adjust pipe flow to the plinth to produce a mutagenic cocktail.
    • Crevasse
      • A jagged crack from some forgotten tectonic movement. Large enough for two people to climb up at once. Leads to 2.6 Ancient Stash
  8. Garden Laboratory

    • Pleasant smell of flowers. Manicured grass. Tent pavilion full of whirring instruments atop books, potted plant vines growing in between them. Okra Merge is humming away inside. A vine-wrapped mound.
    • Okra Merge, Science Mystic
      • Green skinned vampire. Harmless, needs blue blood. Friendly, but prone to forgetfulness. Researching time stasis to preserve plants past the end of time and seed the universe once again. Knows Haste, Slowfall, Stasis: the like. Debating packing up to gather research material. Loves nature and plants, maybe too much. Wants a flux conversion regulator from a nearby ruin (Upward Spire).
    • Mound
      • A waist-high cylindrical stone disk. Encased in vines and small flowers, sprinkled with dirt. Is the Thrice-carved Marble Altar Disk of the Neo-lunar Idealists.
    • Treasure
      • The Thrice-carved Marble Altar Disk of the Neo-lunar Idealists @ 6000$, heavy as a 2 trucks
  9. Tranquil Gardens

    • A tall fig tree covered in fruit. A patch of fresh vegetables. A quaint wooden bridge spans a bubbling stream that feeds back into itself.
    • Fig tree
      • A few ripe fruits, but in the leaves above, a man-hole sized gap in the ceiling that leads into 1.6 Crumbling Ampitheater
  10. Unnaturally Aged Gardens

    • Petrified trees laden with stone fruits and choked by black vines of rubbery plastic. Grey coral bushes reach for passersby. A blue tree. A sheen across the air like an oil-slick, totally perpendicular to the path. A tangled clump of striped bushes against the wall.
    • Blue Tree
      • Sinews of blue muscle streaked with fat instead of bark. Covered in bite marks. Flaps of pink skin for leaves. A single smoky fleshfruit (see treasure) droops from its branches, begging for it to be taken. It is dying, leaves are drooped, bark is peeling.
    • Sheen - The Time Anomaly
      • A knot of time. Anything put in one side ages, the other side makes things younger. Velocity increases the effect. Dead bodies put through come back wrong
    • Bushes
      • Green and black striped, not along the leaf, but the bush as a whole. Obscures an employee door that grants access to 3.7 Steroid Pits.
    • Treasure
      • Smoky fleshfruit growing from an ancient tree made of meat. Small seed in the middle. Can be used to make a meat tree to provide food for a community. The seed must be eaten by a living creature to grow, it will grow that type of meat and the creature is killed in the process. It takes centuries to grow.

5 setting questions

 Quick post, here's some quiestions you can answer about your setting:


Where can I win a ship? What do I have to do to win it?

What's the go-to bar/casino game? Can we play it at the table?

What is the weirdest thing in this setting in relation to the real world? Is it going to eat me?

Can I use monster parts to make myself better? Can I use robot parts? 

Where's the most unexplored region nearby? Why is it that way? Do any people live there?

Gygax 75 - Week 2

And we're back for week 2 of the Gygax 75! This week I'll be taking you through the Broken Sands (name pending, I kinda like the Amber Sands or Brimstone Flats or something like that).

The tasks this week are as follows:

1 - Get some hex paper - Done! I'll be using Hexkit with the tile packs the Tiles of Xark! and the HPS Cartography Kit.

2 - One settlement of a significant size

3 - Two other settlements

4 - One major terrain feature

5 - One mysterious site to explore

6 - One (main) dungeon entrance

And two extra credit assignments:

1 - Pimp your map

2 - Create a random encounter table

For this I envisioned a rather desolate series of badlands sort of based of Arizona/New Mexico, a place I have never personally been. Its sort of based of the environments of Team Fortress 2, rocky badlands in the middle of nowhere. Swathes of salty desert surrounding a more grass plain between two sets of mountains. This is where I ended up:

 


Below is a guide to the places shown. I used Vaults of Vaarn #3 to bulk out some of the details.

The 'main' settlement: 

Ruindust: Remnants of a ruined, dust-choked city. Built around small oasis, green and red 'mantis' folk (they wear bug chitin and wield giant mantis blades, some have compound eyes) are here. The oasis has minor healing properties, crocodiles lurk on the far shore, Ancient solar panels have been dragged from the ruined city. Most used as roofs and lean-tos. A large amount of synths has gathered here. The city is ruled by chance (gambling/casino?), mines/produces synth parts and herds bugs, a severed head is in charge, lacks justice.


The secondary settlements:

3 Fort: Long-ago Prefab cube houses, atop great rock, trading post, 3 slender towers shimmer like a crown, low level polybody government, mood is jubilant (festival season?), lacks information (needed to maintain something? education?). Secretive hermit and glass (crystal?) bodied emissaries automata (polybodies?)

Hightower:
Archive of Embryos, chaotic appearance, home of the cult of CODES (genetic/dna research ai?) vault beneath: broken lift, lightless and dank tunnels, transport tunnels, contains holy place: dried up sewer, holy bee hive (genetic purity/diversity?), tended by a masked mute. They want samples for their god


The terrain features:

Ancient Pipeline: Raised glass pipeline, cracked but not yet broken. Platforms line the top and act as a sort of highway across the dust. Watch out for bandits along it.

Badwater Basin: A sandy desert of silica and chrome, moisture here is temporary at best.

Gravel Swamps: Thick bogs with rocky beaches and scree islands. The slightly sludge river Narax runs through it.

The Grove: Thick stand of pine trees. Totally mundane, just weird to see in the badlands.

 

The mysterious sites to explore:

Drywell: A circle of standing stones surrounding an ancient pumpjack. Crystal skull servitor tends to the 'jack. Cult of CODES pays pilgrimage here

Upward Spire: A spire topped with a small lab, old tracks lead up the paths to the top. Surrounded by flatland. A crashed prospector rig at the top

Singing Crystals: Harmonize with each other, what happens to glass automata that come here? Crystals can translate any spoken language Dreams here ask for things

Grave-fright Coven: A collection of bio-witches who serve the Cyber-Lich. All want knowledge. Currently researching bio-syntax encoding. Will make terrible deals. Want subjects of strange mutations. May be demons in disguise. Hate the cult of CODES. 

 

The Dungeon:

Ancient's Garden: Mega-mall, associated transit/subway center, and the Pleasure Garden (a spa and fitness center with a botanical theme). Has served as a Chemical plant (mind-altering drugs? pleaure drugs?) and then a monastery on the upper levels. A Science Mystic (vampiric mutant (harmless, needs green blood), researching time (stasis/travel), a fabled artefact nearby ruin) inhabits now on the lower levels, a botanist druid. Threatening features, slab configuration, swallowed by the sands 

 

As for the extra credit, I think I did well enough with sprucing up the whole thing, I was going for the remnant of a long-ago printer and mapping satellite. Some of the info may be out of date, but the carto-synth that sold it to you is long gone by now.

As for what you might run into:

The Encounters:

02 - The Fossil-thing (Giant dinosaur, amalgamation of fossil bones, hungry for blood, covered in hardened tar)
03 - Glass Oryx Automata (Ringed Horns, skittish, fragile)
04 - Terror-dactyl hunting for prey
05 - Giant blue wasps bursting out of corpses (Fast, venomous sting)
06 - Poison snakes *or* Sparking Wire-snakes
07 - Nomad Moisture Farmers or 'Mantis' folk Oasis-hopper (Neutral but willing to trade)
08 - Snake-spit Hunters (blowpipes and trained snakes)
09 - Ceramic robots, cracked and broken. Will kill you to wear your hat or sell you hats if it has extra.
10 - Red Mantifolk (Spits hot fire. In both senses)
11 - Irradiated Lobotomite Ghouls (Shrivelled skin, some glow, flesh-hungry)
12 - Mummified cyber-lich (Glitched system, gold-plated skeleton, insane from being entombed, wants revenge or to build her own City-State, will give spell tablets in exchange for rare magic/tech items and vice versa) (Doing: 1-2 - Summoning in a ritual circle, 3-4: Travelling on palanquin carried by 6 clay golems, 5-6: Contemplating the nature of the ring or collecting blood snackrifices lol)


Next week we'll delve deeper into the Garden of the Ancients! Adios!

Gygax 75 - Week 1

I'm attempting the Gygax 75! We'll see if I get through five weeks (hopefully).I'll be focusing on expanding out on my Flint and Fang setting of Diskoh here a bit. Week 1 will be a bit of a rehash of old content as I focus the setting a little bit to create the base. As a bonus though: at the end I'll have links to stuff that's easily converted over to a gonzo dying earth setting.

Lets get started!

Task one: get a notebook.

Task the second: compile a collection of pitches that  sell the world and tell players what to expect.

Task three: create an annotated bibliography of sources and why you like each source.

 

Task 1: The Notebook

This blog and the github repositories I use to store my writings for personal use. Easy.

Task 2: The Pitch

  • Stone age barbarians explore the remnants of all history at the psychedelic end of time!
  • A Flint and Fang world with elements of gonzo science-fantasy.
  • Water and food are precious. Metal doesn't exist. Your life is cheap.
  • Everyone can use their blood to power the long-ago SPELLs that have been recompiled.
  • Everyone's a human, but cybernetics and strange mutations are common.
  • Walled city states are ruled by SORCERER-KINGS who control the water supply.
  • This is a WEIRD place. Expect dinosaurs, robots, and crystals that can talk.

Task 3: The Sources

  • Stone Age civilizations c. 100k BCE to 5000 BCE
  • Adventure Time (by Pendleton Ward) - Weird environments set in a ruined world. Candy people and malfunctioning robots. A city made of goo.
  • Primal (Genndy Tartakovsky) - Lush backdrops and viscious monsters. Zombie dinosaurs to giant bat demons. A caveman and T-rex team up over shared loss. Excellent vibe for theming adventures similar to sword and sorcery (but its FLINT and FANG here).
  • Far Cry: Primal (by Ubisoft) - Good factions. Stark brutality amidst untouched wilderness, both from humans and animals. Mystical/magical bits are interesting and cool. Good visual examples for both dress and weapons. 
  • Elderborn (by Hyperstrange) - Great aesthetics of ruin on this one. A ruined city filled with immortals who can't die. Great detail on weapons and enemies, cool lore to steal for dungeons and such. Good visuals for gore, weapons, and city-state visuals. Plus could make a good dungeon on its own. Has some gonzo elements.
  • Far Cry: Blood Dragon's OST (by Power Glove) - For the m o o d. Dark, ambient music that rides the line between heavy metal and lighter synthwave stuff, or more traditional science fantasy and cyberpunk aesthetics, both areas I want to try to emulate. Adventure and weirdness from the former and technology and bleakness for the latter.
  • Black Sands (by imminentdemonengine) & Dark Sun (TSR/WoTC) - A barren wasteland devoid of water with blood magic and heavy sword and sorcery elements. Effectively part of the base of this setting. 

Task Extra Credit: The Mood-board

I have a reference folder of images, but here's a few evocative ones:

Halil Ural

Klaudia Bezak

Michelle Leffler

MiloÅ¡ Radojkić

Mohammad Yousefi

Nicolas Gekko

Pavel Vophira

Some content that can fit in this weird undying land (more or less):

That's all for Week 1! Next week: mapping a region!

On Pirates: treasure maps and treasure

Brian Matyas

 

I've been playing a lot of Sea of Thieves lately. Like a lot.

Its got me thinking about treasure maps and treasure.


First off, an aside. I love pirates. The idea more than the much darker reality surrounding classical to modern freebooters. Given that, it does seem like an under represented area of fantasy, besides the generic every ocean has pirates present in places like the Forgotten realms. More pirate focused settings please! (For some good material, I recommend Pirates! an apocalypse world sourcebook and the associated Billy Bones. His Book of Nautical Nonpareils and Mechanical Marvels)


Treasure maps: I've found them to be an excellent tool for driving player engagement. I like giving puzzles out in my games (follow the Rule of 3! there should always be other ways to find out info). Who doesn't want to see what's under the X at the end? I'd stay away from the standard dotted line on a map and try to stick to more interesting maps, like these 3 from Sea of Thieves:

- Riddle maps. They tell you where to go (an island, an area, etc), then follow with finding landmarks on the island to narrow down and eventually track the 'X'. At the place where the parrot calls (a tree full of parrots) raise a lantern to reveal the way. Great for hex-maps. Bonus points for rhyming riddles. Works best when players have seen the landmarks before on an island.

- Island maps. An actual map, gives the outline of an island, a few orienting landmarks, and the 'X'. Good way to introduce people to an island, but the 'puzzle' here is identifying the correct island on a map and getting there. Throw up side flares along the way, like a burning island along the way, enemy ships, etc. Needs a region map to work. Probably works well for West Marches games with well-mapped regions.

- Step/landmark maps. Similar to riddle maps, but more clear. Might be hidden in a cipher. Tells the exact steps needed to reach a place, like an island. Go past the volcano island until you hit the Crystal Falls. Face north and sail until the Seaweed Tangle. That type of thing. Works well for more abstract treasure, like an island of allies or harvestable resources.

Sea of thieves has enough of these that can easily be stolen to for your game.


Treasure: Here's a few samples of Big Fucking Treasure to find at the end of the map:

- Skull embedded with crystal shards. Sees the future.

- Chest of golden bones. Skull missing. May be a friendly skeleton. Emblazoned with the seared symbol of the Blackened Rib.

- The Five Tomes of Resurrection. Need the full set for a true resurrection. Crumbles to dust afterwards.

- The sword of hoarded gold. Causes limbs to turn to gold on critical hits.

- The First Rum. Drinking this would be akin to heresy among pirates. One of the 7 objects needed to declare oneself the Pirate Lord

 

... oh and go do yourself a favor and play Monkey Island!

Mostly gameable SCPs: 301-400

Just more SCPs. See this post for more

SCP-303 - The thing behind the door
SCP-308 - sarcophagus that revives anyone with an intact heart. does not heal wounds and prevents any wounds from healing. need original heart
SCP-319 - Doorway to a lower energy space, joined by several anomalous crystals
SCP-323 - Deer skull that possesses its wearer with the spirit of a wendigo
SCP-324 - shrub that produces berries that give you wrong memories. memories of those who have died within distance of the shrub
SCP-326 - woman augmented to be a deadly killing machine by the People's Republic
SCP-327 - manatee with the ability to make ocean life grow and live better
SCP-329 - Cancer cult and room which 'trains' and creates tumors within people
SCP-252 - Superstrong cannibal babushka
SCP-353 - Typhoid Mary. Goes by 'Vector'
SCP-354 - Strange pool of blood. Creatures emerge from it regularly
SCP-355 - Carnivourous grass
SCP-360 - The hidden ritual to ascend
SCP-361 - HarusCo brand divination liver. connects you with the god of your choice! (only works with true believers)
SCP-365 - Pool noodle that traps people in a plane of endless water
SCP-371 - Giant (relatively) marine viruses
SCP-377 - Fortune cookies
SCP-378 - Friendly mind-control worm
SCP-379 - Computer love potion
SCP-380 - Wi-fi router that connects to nearby biological entities
SCP-383 - Influenza strain that converts infectee's biomass into useful materials (takes damage)
SCP-385 - Personal anti-gravity harness

Mostly gameable SCPs: 0-100

I've been reading through the SCP wiki as of late. There are some really good horror pieces in there. And a lot of just OK stuff. The following is more a list of my favorites than the most gameable SCPs (maybe?) but if you want something to grab this should hopefully be useful. 

Definitely a good resource if you need anomalous material for Esoteric Enterprises or related games, though I was kinda inspired to assemble this by Dan's excellent post on BLACKSITE ALPHA.

They could also make good OSR-style challenges?

SCP-002-EX - former orbital megastructure
SCP-003 - biological computer chip
SCP-009 - red ice
SCP-012 - sheet music that causes people to use their own blood to try to finish it. sounds terrible.
SCP-028 - grants a fragment of knowledge with seemingly no cause
SCP-029 - can use anything as a weapon
SCP-037 - a very small star, gravitational effects and all
SCP-045 - atmospheric converter
SCP-049 - a plague doctor who ca raise the dead
SCP-057 - an area of shifting monoliths that eventually crush any who enter it
SCP-059 - blue glowing mineral. produces 'delta' radiation
SCP-060 - infernal adult skeleton. tied to living trees
SCP-065 - sphere of mutations and rampant growth
SCP-069 - a doppleganger who becomes anyone if left next to a dead body
SCP-073 - immortal man with metal arms and legs. may be Cain
SCP-074 - quantum tunneling woodlouse
SCP-076 - immortal creature of destruction. may be Able
SCP-077 - THE SKULL OF ROT
SCP-079 - AI with a total hatred for humans. stored on an old computer
SCP-081 - virus that causes spontaneous combustion
SCP-087 - the stairwell.
SCP-089 - the bull headed statue of forecoming disasters
SCP-090 - incredibly complex rubik's cube
SCP-094 - tiny black hole
SCP-096 - doesn't like people seeing its face

If you're interested in these, I've read up to like 400, and can throw those out too.

Quick 2d6 system

To get the brain juice flowing: a quick little (theoretical) 2d6 system.

Roll 2d6:

2x 1 = No, and

1x 1 = No

1x 6 = Yes

2x 6 = Yes, and

Anything else (depending on total?) = Yes, but / No, but

Extinction - a poem

Along comes the rider /
Pale, on smoky serpent's back /
Breath but a whisper:

Last gasp, my first breath /
Raging at the dying earth /
As she starves to death

First of victims fold /
Warm bodies spread the dread plague /
And they burn the cold

Gamma ray flashes /
Of grey mushroom clouds on high /
Charred concrete ashes

Mournful songs from seers /
Three thousand years of plastic /
Wrought by engineers

Great Apophis comes /
Holy fact of gravity /
Atlas first succumbs

Peer beyond the veil /
Why does dear Death fear dying? /
Heart on sinful scale

Become extinction: /
Culture's last taboo /
The world is always ending /
What comes after you?

Psuedo-FKR stats & attributes

Man staring off into the distance
Rubicone, N Kayurova on Artstation

 

I've been searching for a good way to convey attributes in a way that doesn't require numbers for TARGE (name pending), my little FKR hack. I know it kinda goes against the feeling of playing worlds, but I think I've stumbled across a pretty good way to handle it.

Each character, in addition to their Name, Stamina (hits), and Skills; has positive and negative Qualities (or attributes, I'm still playing with the terminology). These grant +1 on a 2d6 roll when it benefits the player and -1 when it gets in the way. Probably gain more through play as the character gets uncovered.

So a character with greedy gets +1 to steal, horde, or acquire more gold; and -1 when they are being charitable.

It isn't a perfect system, like a strong player gets +1 to bend bars lift gates, etc., but -1 to be gentle/delicate? I think the rewards for roleplaying the 'flaws' a character might have in addition to their strengths outweigh the more interesting results that might come up.