Troll Lord Games

The problems with incorporating "Celtic" religion into a game are manifold. Firstly, The term "Celtic" is primarily linguistic, and includes a wide variety of different cultures who only shared a few similarities. Additionally, Native Celtic sources (Irish and Welsh) say very dif...

Ancient Greek "Dragons" were essentially giant snakes. They are depicted on ancient vases as either wholly serpentine, or with a mixture of serpentine and human parts. Sometimes they had feathered wings, but usually they were considered terrestrial and aquatic in nature. Germanic (and Engl...

I'm a little leery of the potential for abuse. As it seems a first level Magician could cast sleep 5 times before taking a point of damage, taking out 2 to 8 HD of creatures each shot! At sixth level you could fire off 5 Fireballs (6d6 each) for three hit points and 15 subdual damage. The Incantati...

I confess to an abiding love for magic items with strange, random effects. I also have a deep affection for things Cthuloid. Therefore, I really like the "Tsathogga" items (and the Insidious Bone Flute). Good work!

Thank you for the great work!

As an incorrigible mixer of fantasy and sci-fi, I think you've got a great idea. One idea I explored in a 3E Campaign (set on Atlantis before it sank for good) was that humans actually were native to Mars, but that Martian civilization was the victim of an interstellar war with the chromatic dragons...

I think you've created a well-reasoned explanation for continuing to bury and entomb the dead, given the basic assumptions of most popular fantasy RPGs. Your explanation is actually consistent with the real-world beliefs of the ancient Egyptians regarding the connection between the corpse and the so...

Personally, I don't track separate XP awards for monsters and treasures, but award a flat amount of XP per session played. Using as a baseline the XP a Fighter needs to advance to his next Level, I divide that number by as many sessions as seems appropriate, and award the resulting amount to each ch...

treant_on_fire wrote:So what if each race better than the default race had a xp racial debt to pay off?

I think that's an elegant solution, and I'd love to see an implementation worked out.

This is utterly fascinating stuff, and randomly, makes me want to go listen to 2112 again. I think it's the talk about the 'Cosmic Federation', reminding me of the Solar Federation ... like I need an excuse to listen to Rush. A lot of the old Rush catalog springs to mind when thinking about the Arc...

Of course, there's always the system of "Sympathies" and "Correspondences" that was actually used in the Middle Ages. Basically, you first classified the purpose of your "talisman" (or magic item) under one of the seven Astrological planets: Saturn: Death, Time, Darknes...

For those who wish to include a measure of conspiracy in their Campaign's reality, I present the Cosmic Archons. They incorporate ancient Gnostic, medieval Neoplatonic, and modern UFO lore into a multifaceted class of spirits that are equally likely to be adversaries or benefactors to the Player Ch...

First, let me recommend KaiserKris' excellent re-imaginings of the SRD Devils and Demons. I am particularly fond of his version of the Nalfeshnee (old Type IV), and his complete reworking of Demogorgon. As previously stated by other posters, my own work on the topic has been primarily translating th...

I've been following this thread (as well as your others regarding the infernal creatures) with interest. I enjoy seeing the different take on the Angels, and how your work both compliments and contrasts with my own. In particular, your presentation of lower-HD Angels allows such beings to become a p...

The idea of a temple or church solely as a place to pray came in with Christianity (it was also adopted by Islam) - the notion that worldly concerns were inappropriate for a "house of G-d" was an outgrowth of 1st century Christian aestheticism. It's even younger than that, only really get...

One thing I have been looking for was something mentioned many moons ago on the Wizards of the Coast forums (when you could still access them by newsreader... late 90s, early aughts). Someone posted something that he called "the beer theory of economics" which said that, in the average ye...

The Serpent People (disguised as human beings) are engaged in a secret war for control of history. Not just the recording of history, the actual history itself. They aren't doing it through time travel, because until the past is defined it doesn't actually exist as a singular entity that can be visi...

Something important to remember is that in the pre-industrial world an employer was expected to provide meals appropriate to his employee's social status. Any payment in coin is in addition to being fed for the time actually worked. So, if you employ a laborer for 12 hours a day, he will expect 1 or...

Instances of human souls returned to the world in animal bodies are widespread in folklore, particularly in Gaelic stories . ZOOMORPHIC REVENANT The restless spirit of a dead person, returned in animal form NO. ENCOUNTERED: 1 (Rarely 1-6) SIZE: As Animal Form HD: As Animal Form MOVE: As Animal Form...

I would not allow the Paladin's aura to be suppressed by Dispel Magic, or any other spell. Nothing in Creation can suppress it as long as the Paladin keeps faith. I prefer to think of the aura being more mysterious in nature than mere magic. It's something other , a puzzle with no solution. Of cours...

Ouch! That's one nasty beast! I'd love to see your stats on the Leviathan as well.

I've considered stating up the actual Tarasque (single "r") of French legend, but don't know when I'll get around to it.

Thanks! Since my overall Campaign takes place across a wide range of cultures and historical/technological periods, work like this (and your PDF on helmets) is especially useful to me.

Inspired by one of the more bizarre speculations of medieval natural philosophy, the Antipodeans are a great way to change a ordinary encounters with NPCs into a head-scratching WTF moment for your players! ANTIPODEANS Strange people who are perpetually upside-down. NO. ENCOUNTERED: 1-12 SIZE: Medi...

The warhammer should be much cheaper than a sword. Historically, swords were prestige weapons that indicated the social status of their wearer. In medieval Europe, you would only expect to see nobility wielding swords, because a properly made sword is difficult and costly to create. The same situati...

Inspired by old African-American folktales, the Deluded Revenant will add a touch of dark comedy to your Campaign. It's definitely a monster best played for (disgusting) laughs. DELUDED REVENANT A walking corpse that refuses to believe it is dead. NO. ENCOUNTERED: 1 SIZE: Medium HD: 1 (d20) MOVE: 2...

If there's any interest, it might be fun to post stats for famous Magicians of legend and history, folks like Apollonius of Tyana, Merlin, Morgan Le Fey, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, John Dee, Count de St. Germain, Cagliostro, and Aleister Crowley. Any of them might have somehow found their way into ...

This is getting very badass. (a compliment) I love it. My quick read, like a week ago, was that the talismans seem expensive for the amount of power they grant, I much prefer the optional rule of allowing a number of spell levels = caster level. (that's just me) I can't think of any problems, and l...

This is probably the best incarnation of this particular Demon to date. I particularly like the intro flavor text. The sense of comedy is something that often gets left out of game treatments of demons, yet historically demons are often portrayed as having a sense of humor that verges on the silly. ...

Thanks for all the great work! I'd love to see many of these incorporated into the spell lists of the Magician class.

Here are some options for Magicians. The last two were suggested by comments made by Serleran. Enjoy! OPTIONAL RULES FOR MAGICIANS The following optional rules would allow CKs and players to tailor the Magician to their own Campaigns. Some create role-playing challenges, some replicate the qualitie...