Pocket Troll Zine Open For Submissions!

Be sure to check out the new Pocket Troll Page here at Troll Hammer (see page tab above) for the details on how to submit your art or article to Pocket Troll, A T&T Microzine.

Pocket Troll is a fanzine, so submissions are open to EVERYONE, so don't be shy, send in your work!

Go West Young Gamer

Weird West
Roleplaying Game Basic Rulebook
by Stuart Robertson
Published by Robertson Games
http://strangemagic.robertsongames.com/2011/05/weird-west-roleplaying-game-basic.html

Stuart Robertson's Weird West is about, you guessed it, fantasy adventure in a Weird Western setting. Reminiscent of Old School D&D set in a strange and haunted old western USA, this pocketmod basic rulebook packs a whole lot of wallop for its size. Streamlined yet complete, it has all you need to quickly create unique and intriguing characters in minutes. Characters are made up of four attributes (Fighting, Grit, Magic, and Skill) and they may choose one of four Paths (classes) to follow (Adventurer, Gifted, Fighter, or Magician). Characters with a rating in Magic may choose special abilities for their character. Combat is fast and easy, similar to early D&D, based on a d20 roll on a matrix with modifiers to the roll, and weapon damage varies according to weapon type and Character Path. There are also rolls for Difficult Tasks, which reminds me of T&T Saving Rolls.

Weird West can be purchased for only $1, including both the pocketmod and regular sized pdf versions, at: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/91122/Weird-West-Roleplaying-Game-Basic-Rulebook

In other exciting news, Weird West exceeded its Indiegogo goal, and will be releasing a full line of miniatures. I showed my support with a token donation.
http://www.indiegogo.com/Weird-West-Miniatures

Since its release, a few fans of the game have come up with their own ideas:

Risus Monkey gives us West Words for inspiration:
http://www.risusmonkey.com/2011/08/westwords-inspiration-for-your-weird.html

Some AWESOME Weird West pregens and an adventure setting:
http://www.stargazersworld.com/2011/05/11/%E2%80%9Cyou-are-all-travelling-in-a-stagecoach%E2%80%A6%E2%80%9D-weird-west-pre-gens/

Dry Gulch, setting outline, npcs, and map for a small Weird West town:
http://fictitiousentry.posterous.com/dry-gulch-a-weird-west-town

Of course, I've also had my own fun with the game.

I converted a few of my favorite old school creatures for Weird West from the AD&D1e Deities and Demigods book and the D&D Rules Cyclopedia, based on Stuart's suggestions for converting Swords and Wizardry creatures.

Shoggoth
Fighting: 20
Defense: 8
Stamina: 20d8
Weapon: 3d10/3d10
Shoggoths attack with two appendages per round. When a charcter first sees a Shoggoth, they must roll a Grit 3 Difficult Task or go insane.

Otyugh
Fighting: 6 to 8
Defense: 6
Stamina: 6 to 8d8
Weapon: 1d8/1d8/1d4+1
Otyughs have limited Telepathy. Bite infects victim with a debilitating (80%) or fatal (20%) disease unless they can make a Grit 5 Difficult Task roll.

Owl Bear
Fighting: 5
Defense: 4
Stamina: 5d8
Weapon: 1d8/1d8/1d8
Owl Bears attack with two claws and a bite. If both claw attacks are successful, the Owl Bear hugs for an additional 2d8 damage.

Troll
Fighting: 6
Defense: 5
Stamina: 6d8+3
Weapon 1d6/1d6/1d10
3 rounds after it is damaged, trolls regenerate 3 Stamina points per combat round, even if dismembered or killed. They do not regenerate damage from fire or acid. They attack with their two talons and a bite, and many also like to carry a blunderbuss (1d10, 2 handed, 1d12 in close combat, single shot)

Goblin
Fighting: 1
Defense: 3
Stamina: 1d8-1
Weapon: varies
Goblins use medieval weapons and any guns they may steal or scavenge. Goblins can see in the dark, but  receive a -1 to their combat rolls in full daylight. Goblins sometimes keep Dire Wolves (Fight 4, Def 3, Sta 4d8+1, Bite 2d4) as pets and mounts. each Goblin Tribe has a king (Fight 3, Def 5, Sta 15, Weapon +1 damage) and his 2d6 bodyguards (Fight 2, Def 4, Sta 2d6, weapon). Kings and bodyguards do not suffer the full daylight penalty. Goblin bands are 2d8 in number, and tribes are 6d10 in number.

A few of the characters I created:

Johnny Paladin
Path: Fighter
Level: 1
Fighting: 1  He can use his guns
Grit: 1        and take a punch;
Magic: 2    He's quick, and has God on his side,
Skill: 0       but he still has a lot to learn.

Stamina: 5
Defense: 0

Magic/Special Abilities
Fastest Gun In The West
Rosary Beads (Medicine Bag)

Weapons
2 handguns
sword
knife

Johnny Paladin is a fledgling monster hunter and destroyer of evil. His faith in God in unquestionable.


Little Bear
Path: Gifted
Level: 1
Fighting: 1  He is learning his spear and knife
Grit: 1        and his spirit is strengthening.
Magic: 1    The animals are his friends
Skill: 1       and they teach him their ways.

Stamina: 5
Defense: 1

Magic/Special Abilities
Horse Whisperer

Weapons/Stuff
spear
knife
loincloth
1 dose of mescaline
flint & steel
small pouch

Little Bear is a young brave heading out for his Rite of Passage. He must travel to the Sacred Place, take a Spirit Journey, and discover his Totem Spirit.

I also created a gang of 4 Goblin brother outlaws, using one of each of the four Paths, as an interesting group of characters for playing Weird West from the perspective of the 'Weird' part. These four do not suffer the daylight combat penalty as regular goblins.

Ghorbul Dulfimph
Path: Fighter (Goblin)
Level: 1
Fighting: 2  He lives for his sixguns,
Grit: 1        and an outlaw's image.
Magic: 1    He's fast on the draw,
Skill: 0       and isn't interested in much else.

Stamina: 6
Defense: 0

Magic/Special Abilities
Goblins can see in the dark
Fastest Gun in the West

Weapons
2 revolvers

Duzol Dulfimph
Path: Gifted (Goblin)
Level: 1
Fighting: 1  He can shoot,
Grit: 1        and will stand his ground,
Magic: 1    but he'd rather study machines
Skill: 1       and learn how they work.

Stamina: 2
Defense: 1

Magic/Special Abilities
Goblins can see in the dark
Scientific Mind

Weapons 
revolver

Burkul Dulfimph
Path: Adventurer (Goblin)
Level: 1
Fighting: 0  He'll avoid a fight if he can,
Grit: 1        but will defend himself if he must,
Magic: 2    Lady Luck is his friend,
Skill: 1       and he loves to gamble and carouse.

Stamina: 3
Defense: 0

Magic/Special Abilities
Goblins can see in the dark
Lucky Tie Tack (Medicine Bag)

Weapons/Stuff
revolver
derringer
boot knife

Shuzgul Dulfimph
Path: Magician (Goblin)
Level: 1
Fighting: 0  He can't shoot a gun,
Grit: 1        but he's not yellow.
Magic: 3    He spends most of his time with musty old books,
Skill: 0       and not much else.

Stamina: 4
Defense: 0

Magic/Special Abilities
Goblins can see in the dark
Magic Lore (Scientific mind)
Electromancy

Weapons/Stuff
staff

~~~
Copyright © 2012, Paul Ingrassia


The title 'Go West Young Gamer' is an homage to the Western RPG genre, with a particular nod to TSR's old Boot Hill game, and the article of the same name by Steve Winter from way back when in Polyhedron (Issue 13 - Jul 1983). This may grow into a series covering Weird West, Boot Hill, and a few others.

THP now on Twitter

Troll Hammer Press is officially Twitterpated!

Paul Ingrassia@TrollHammerPres

Super Beings in the T&T Universe: Part 4

Super Beings in the T&T Universe
by 'Mad' Roy Cram

Professor Whenn and Yorrdamma Vrash are doing research on entities of the Troll World that possess unusual or extraordinary talents and/or abilities which make them superior to ordinary beings. If anyone has comments or questions they may trollmail Yorrdamma Vrash via Trollhalla, who will be happy to respond to any inquiries.

Puma Woman: Hellcat

This is the sad tale of Katlin Kloot, a poor peasant woman whose village was overrun one night by a gang of Uruks and bandits and other scum. She saw her husband and children murdered and then was sexually abused and left for dead. She woke up in the hut of the old crone who lived nearby in the forest. As the hag tended her injuries, she asked Katlin three times what she most wanted, and three times the pain and grief crazed woman could only cry “Revenge! I want the monsters who killed my loved ones!” After the third request, the powerful old witch put the spirit of a female Puma that had been slain defending her cubs into Katlin, and transformed her into a shape changer who could take the form of a Puma at will. She immediately set out in pursuit of the villains who had done her wrong and hunted them down one by one. I will spare you the grisly details of their bitter demises.

Her village gone, and loved ones avenged, Katlin then went to the city to live. She works there in various menial jobs in taverns and inns to support herself. Though she has avenged her children and her husband, the angry spirit of the Puma inside her still demands blood. So, late at night, she again takes on her cat form and goes hunting for those who would harm others, especially the ones who abuse women and children.

Her depredations have put quite a damper on late night life in the town.

Katlin is about 5’ 10” and about 180 pounds. She has black hair and eyes. She is not unattractive, but cannot form new relationships for love or friendship for fear they will learn her secret. When she witnesses any act of cruelty or meanness against any innocent or helpless person, she must respond to the beast inside her and hunt down the person who committed that evil act. But she is very smart, and never takes any risks of exposing her Puma side to any person.

Her attribute stats are as follows:

               STR    CON    INT    WIZ    DEX    SPD    LCK    CHR   Combat adds

Human   15       20        14      14       12       12      18        11             9

Puma      45       60        14      14        3        36    18      terrifying      63

She attacks with teeth and claws and gets 7 dice plus adds in combat. Her Puma pelt takes 6 hits as armor. She heals her injuries at the rate of one point per hour of rest. If her CON is reduced to zero or less she will appear dead, but will regenerate unless her body is burned and the ashes are scattered.

The city authorities have offered a large reward for anyone who can hunt down and kill the Hellcat. If Katlin feels really threatened she will flee to the woods, where it will be much harder for her hunters to find her.

She does not work with anyone else. A lonely and sad woman, but a very dangerous one if provoked.

Copyright © 2012, 'Mad' Roy Cram
Artwork is free for use clip art

M'OSKQORRG'S ODDITIES #3

M'OSKQORRG'S ODDITIES
Discoveries from Time in Exile
by David Moskowitz

Little Known Dwarven Enchantements

Your father’s/mother’s an elf - in the days of the 500 year war, those words were grounds for a fatal duel amongst the dwarves. In the immediate generations following the 500-day celebration ending that war, war fatigue and frequent accuracy kept the brawling pretty much blood-free. But some members of both species never lost the taste for the exotic, and even dominant genetics purged the elvish looks from those of mixed blood, such heritage would reveal itself in the most un-Eleven of locales, the mines. The following spells were (mostly) designed to help them cope.

Casters with at least one-half dwarvish blood may reduce the INT and DEX requirements by 4 as well as the per-level WIZ cost by 2.  Others cast the spells with INT and DEX requirements of a level higher than the spell’s base, and +5 to the basic WIZ cost.

LEVEL 2
Rock Breaker [Combat]
WIZ Cost:  10
Range: Touch. Caster need not be using the tool, but if the user transfers the tool to another user the enchantment ends.
Duration: Eight hours or until the player wielding the tool stops using it--in combat or for mining—for more than 10 minutes (or transfers it as detailed above).
Power up? No.
Description: This enchants any pick, shovel, or hammer-type weapon to gain extra power on the down stroke/follow-through. In addition to making any mining activity 20% more productive, in combat, spite damage occur on any roll of 5 or 6. Additionally, all rolls of 6 will permanently reduce the opponent‘s armor effectiveness by one. (Adjudicate which piece according to relative heights of combatants).

LEVEL 3
Mask Enchantment [Cosmic]
WIZ Cost: 8
Range: That of the enchantment masked.
Duration: If a follow-up spell is not cast within 10 minutes, the protection fizzles, and the WIZ is lost. Otherwise, until the masked enchantment vanishes or the spell is negated. (See below for additional rules regarding negation and power ups).
Power up? Yes, see below:
Description: With the exception of elven heritage , nothing is more shameful than needing performance enhancing magics to perform basic dwarven tasks. If successfully cast, this spell will block the next enchantment cast from Detect Magic and Omnipotent Eye spells. Of course, it will not affect the basic senses, so if the user casts a Hellbomb Burst afterwards, only magic detection will be fooled as to the nature of the destruction.

If an Omnipotent Eye is cast directly at the object of enchantment, the Eye still reveals nothing, but the Mask vanishes. Every level higher level of the spell provides an additional layer of protection. So if a caster uses a fourth-level Mask (i.e. one above base), it will take two Omnipotent Eyes to make the enchantment vulnerable to magical detection.

Burning Beard [Conjuring]
WIZ cost: 8
Range: 20 feet.
Duration: Until the caster—who must be within range--cancels it, or the affected dwarf loses consciousness. (Prevents smoking-in-bed style accidents and is a sure-way of judging who loses a drinking contest.)
Power Up? No.
Description:  What was designed as a permanent and particularly nasty curse for a former lover of Lady S-- now survives in a more utilitarian form. The dwarf’s beard burns, giving off heat and light, but neither consumes the beard nor hurts the dwarf.  Keep in mind only extreme circumstances might cause a dwarf to cast this on himself—or others, for elven magic, if not quite taboo, is certainly gauche.


(Un)fairer Sharer [Conjuring]
WIZ Cost: 10
Range: 50 feet radius +25 per caster’s level.
Duration: Until cancelled or target goes out of sight or hearing range of the caster.
Power Up? Yes, details below:
Description: Designed for the mines but usable on fishing boats, in the fields come harvest time, or when diving into the kind of loot pile seen only in illustrations. This one gleans the wealth from other carts/baskets—spiriting away percentages of a particular element/food item from the target’s container to the caster’s. The base is 5% per hour, at the end of which the target makes a fourth-level saving roll on IQ to see if he notices the missing metal.

In terms of powering the spell up, for every additional level, the caster can:
1.    Add another target.
2.    Increase the gain from one target by 5%, also giving the target a +3 on the saving roll.
3.    Add two levels to any one target’s saving roll.
A wise caster will use these options to maximize gain, minimize risk.

A few notes:
1.    While multiple instances of the spell can co-exist, each must select a single targeted metal/food item.
2.    Because of the potential for taxation without notification and the resultant uprisings, most urban areas invest significant resources insuring the spell is neither cast, nor taught, nor learned.
3.    Accordingly, as severe as the punishment may be for using this spell, in the interest of maintaining civic order, making an unsupported accusation of its use should be a capital offense. (GM’s can adjudicate what defines sufficient support.)

{Thanks to Kopfy, Cartomancer, and the press agent of M’ozzesss for unknowingly providing inspiration. They are not to be held responsible for results of my research.}


Copyright © 2012, David Moskowitz
Artwork free for use clip art

Pocket Troll Logo Stuff Now Available!

Pocket Troll Microzine Golf Shirts, Buttons, and Stickers now available at the Troll Hammer Press Store:

http://www.cafepress.com/TrollHammerPress

Pocket Troll #0 Now Available!!!

I am happy to announce, Troll Hammer Press is finally open for business - Pocket Troll #0 is available at RPGNow:

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/102276/Pocket-Troll-%230?cPath=8673

I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did putting it together. Will be announcing a Call for Submissions for Issue #1 really soon, so keep an eye right here on Troll Hammer.

This special 0 issue was an invitational issue, all the contributors are Trollhallans that were personally invited by me to contribute. I wanted to give a feel for the Microzine before I opened it to general submissions.

Contributors:

Jeff Freels (cover art)
Ken St. Andre
'Mad' Roy Cram
Mike Eidson
Tom K. Loney
Mark Evans
Dan Hembree
Paul Ingrassia

Included are two booklets, Issue 0a (articles) and 0b (a complete T&T solo), and each booklet comes in two formats: a pocket-sized booklet that prints on a single page, and a traditional full-sized pdf, all included for one download price!

Tunnels & Trolls written by Ken St. Andre. Tunnels & Trolls and T&T are trademarks of Flying Buffalo Inc. and are used with permission.