Murdersoup - Tales of High Adventure

MURDERSOUP - TALES OF HIGH ADVENTURE!

LEGENDS ARE MADE, NOT BORN
YOU MET IN A TAVERN YEARS AGO AND HAVE BEEN INSEPARABLE EVER SINCE
YOUR ONLY HOME IS THE COMPANIONS YOU JOURNEY WITH
YOUR ONLY DESTINATION IS ADVENTURE

MAKE AN ADVENTURER
Roll a d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20 on the charts from pages 1 to 3, then name your character.

d4 ORIGINS (or pick HUMAN)
1 HUMAN - Your kin is everywhere and carved bastions of life into the wilderness
2 DWARF - Your skin like stone, you eat gold and gems and are driven to work always
3 ELF - You have animal and plant or fungi-like features, death is alien to your kin
4 GNOME - Cousins to dwarves, your hearts are full of whimsy and guile

d6 TRAIT
1 STRONG - you can bend bars, lift gates and other exceptional feats
2 QUICK - you have excellent reflexes, hand-eye coordination and balance
3 TOUGH - you are hard-to-kill and may withstand adversity
4 CLEVER - you have quick wits and intuitively think outside the box
5 WISE - you are a scholar, with decades worth of knowledge to share
6 MAGNETIC - you have an intense and appealing personnality

d8 QUEST
1 VENGEANCE - who harmed you or your own?
2 GOLD - what nearly priceless thing do you seek to buy?
3 GLORY - what do you want to be remembered for?
4 POWER - what price are you willing to pay for power?
5 REDEMPTION - what made you decide to try and right the wrongs you had done?
6 KNOWLEDGE - what great secret would you die to uncover?
7 ADVENTURE - who inspired you to live a life of adventure?
8 DEATH - what great shame or sorrow do you hide?

d10 TRADE (ignore if not human)
1 MERCENARY - take a scimitar, bow & arrows, and a set of ragged leather armour
2 KNIGHT - take a longsword, shield and a set of heavy metal armour
3 THIEF - take a knife, lockpicks and an enchanted rope
4 ENGINEER - take a toolbox and two gadgets (you can make more with time and resources)
5 RAT-CATCHER - take a cudgel, crossbow, net and a small but vicious dog (of course)
6 NECROMANCER - take witchbags, a miséricorde and the summoning names of two ghosts
7 SUMMONER - take a crown of antlers, a decorated spear and three bound spirits
8 CULTIST - take a sacrificial dagger, large hooded robes and the favor of an Elder God
9 MONSTER-HUNTER - take javelins, a vial of monster scent and a short sword
10 SWASHBUCKLER - take a rapier, a sign of nobility and a wicked scar

ELVES get bow & arrow, rapier and a three pieces of elven bread
DWARVES get an axe, craftsman’s tools and a magnificent gemstone
GNOMES get a shiv, a cookbook and a pipe with wyrd herbs

d12 SECONDARY SKILL
1 TRACKING - take a spyglass
2 ARCHITECTURE - take mathematical tools
3 ARTISTIC EXPRESSION - take a writing or painting set, or costumes, or a powerful voice
4 COURTLY ETIQUETTE - take haute couture regalia and an air of nobility
5 HERALDRY & WAR - take a tabard with family arms and a horn
6 ANCIENT HISTORY - take massive tomes filled with half-truths and outright lies
7 RITES - take body paints, oils and incenses
8 ALCHEMY - take a crucible and a slingbagful of ingredients
9 CONTORTIONNISM - take manacles and a bag of marbles
10 BUSKING - take a harp, lyre or pan flute
11 SAILING - take a pet parrot and an old memento
12 ANIMAL HUSBANDRY - take a loyal beast companion

d20 TRINKETS & GIMMICKS
1 TELEPATHY - you can read surface thoughts when touching, probe deeper if intimate
2 CURSED SHADOW - your shadow is alive and mischievous but needs you alive
3 WOLF HEAD - you have the head of a wolf, and a bounty of a thousand crowns
4 PACK GOAT - you have a trusty pack goat, warm, loving and eerily lucky
5 TEMPEST IN A BAG - you have a small burlap sack filled with Neptune’s fury
6 BROKEN HOURGLASS - it can stop time for up to a minute before becoming worthless
7 BLACK SWORD - you are the owner of a bloodthirsty and powerful enchanted blade
8 HAG HEAD - the living head of a witch you killed. She will cackle and bite fingers at times.
9 GAUNTLET OF KORAD - whoever wears the other one is on their way to kill you.
10 DWARVEN INGOTS - can only be melted in a dwarven forge. Enough to make a blade.
11 MAP SKIN - A goat skin with a map of a location unheard of.
12 VAMPIRE SKIN - covering yourself in fresh blood restores your vitality.
13 LUMBER JACK - you can fell a tree as thick as your biceps with a single blade swip.
14 HANDS OF THE TREE FROG - your fingertips are flat and sticky, great grip strength.
15 DREAMS OF DOOM - every night, you see how you may die the following day.
16 DAVE - you are haunted by a depressed ghost named Dave. He just wants to hang out.
17 IDOL'S TEETH - you wear the dentures of a witch-dentist. You can chew through bones.
18 SHAPESHIFTER - your soul is mingled with an animal spirit which you can transform into.
19 DRAGON EGG - large as a hen and hard as a rock. Who knows when it will hatch?
20 BAG OF FAIRY DUST - anyone with fairy dust in their eyes see their innermost desire.


ADVENTURING RULES (for OSR-type play. For FKR, just do your thing, I trust you.)

It’s a conversation. The Dungeon Master describes a situation and environment and the Players ask questions and say what their characters say or do. When the outcome of an action is uncertain, the DM will ask for a saving throw (or attack roll). The target is usually 7+ or 9+.
In combat, which side surprises the other if at all is determined by an opposed 1d6 roll. The party with a difference of 3+ over the other may ambush or avoid the other side altogether. Afterwards, initiative is an opposed d6 roll, ties mean both sides act simultaneously. Roll 7+ to hit, 9+ against a heavily armoured (or extremely fast) opponent. STRONG characters add 1 to melee attacks, QUICK characters add 1 to ranged attacks, and anyone using a shield removes 1 from attacker’s attacks (and can sacrifice the shield to avoid a hit altogether). PCs begin with 12 HIT POINTS. NPCs and Monsters may have between 1d6 (average), 2d6 (fighter) or 3d6 (elite/monster) HIT POINTS, sometimes even more. Mundane foes deal 1d6 damage, although warriors and PCs with a fighting background using their trade weapons (DWARF, ELF, MERCENARY, KNIGHT, MONSTER-HUNTER, SWASHBUCKLER) deal 2d6 damage per hit. Monsters may deal 3d6 damage per hit or more if they are particularly fearsome. A natural roll of 12 means double damage, while a natural 2 means one’s opponent gets a hit through while counter-attacking. NPCs and most monsters reduced to 0HP are dead or dying. PCs must make a saving throw (+1 if you are TOUGH, +1 if you are a DWARF) when reduced to 0HP to be knocked out instead of killed. If they pass, their maximum HP increases by 1.

CHARACTER “ADVANCEMENT”

Slay a famous and powerful foe, collect the bounty, fund further expeditions, get laid, throw parties, invest in a side gig or business enterprise, raise an army, build a fort or castle, try to make the world a better place, or carve yourself a better spot in it. Marry or trick your way into nobility, befriend the King, become a knight or other official, do battles, win wars, rescue people, free slaves, research magic, learn new summoning names, make better weapons, name your stuff, explore and map a dungeon or the uncharted wilderness, make powerful or interesting friends, make enemies and rivals, find out about the world, die a worthy death or retire.

EXTRA LOGISTICS

Torches and lanterns light 30’ ahead, candles light 10’ ahead. Candles and torches last an hour, a flask of lantern oil lasts four hours. The party can explore about 240’ per (10 minutes) turn, half if heavily armoured or carrying a heavy load (like treasure). Every (hour) six turns, the party has to rest for a turn or suffer a penalty (-1) to every future roll. Characters can carry twelve significant items, +2 if TOUGH, +2 if DWARF. Significant means stuff like a sword or chainmail. Stack fist-sized stuff by 6 and arm-length stuff by 3. A sack with 100 gold is significant.

A wilderness turn lasts a day, during which you can cross 24 miles (4x6 miles hexes) or find out the hidden features of a given hex (sometimes more, sometimes less depending on terrain). At the end of each day every party member must consume a ration and drink a waterskin’s worth or become HUNGRY (-1). The next day they are FAMISHED (-2) then STARVED (-3), then die.