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Wednesday 31 October 2018

SJWs Demand D&D Must Have 70 Genders But Only ONE Political Party

RPGnet has now declared it will BAN any posters that are even suspected of not hating President Trump enough.

This is not a new trend for that forum, this is where putting politics INTO the RPG hobby literally STARTED.

They have always been fanatical promoters of SJW politics, since before the term even existed, and ever-increasing censors of anything that wasn't SJW politics.

Here's a little history lesson courtesy of Uncle Pundit:



RPGPundit

Currently Smoking: Lorenzetti Half-Volcano + C&D's Morning Drive 

Tuesday 30 October 2018

Just in Time for Halloween: "The Ladystone" a Medieval-Authentic Adventure

So right in time for Halloween, RPGPundit Presents #52: The Ladystone presents you with a Medieval-Authentic supernatural adventure scenario.  It's got a sinister stone in a bog, a demon,  ancient curses, old northman magic, a legend about an elf-maid, two villages once friends but now on the verge of slaughtering each other, sinister magic, a weapon of Chaos, mysterious Cymri gypsies, and more.



As always, the adventure-scenario is written up with Lion & Dragon in mind, but is playable with ANY OSR system or any rules based on D&D.

You can pick up The Ladystone right now, for just $2.49 at DTRPG or at the Precis Intermedia Webstore!



And while you're at it, be sure to pick up the rest of the great supplements in the RPGPundit Presents series:


RPGPundit Presents #1: DungeonChef!

RPGPundit Presents #2: The Goetia  (usable for Lion & Dragon!)

RPGPundit Presents #3: High-Tech Weapons


RPGPundit Presents #5: The Child-Eaters (an adventure scenario for Lion & Dragon!)









RPGPundit Presents #17: The Hunters (an adventure for Lion & Dragon!)




RPGPundit Presents #21: Hecate's Tomb (an adventure for Lion & Dragon!)





























Stay tuned for more next week!



RPGPundit

Currently smoking: Brigham Anniversary + Image Latakia

Monday 29 October 2018

Pictures From Uruguay... No, Actually From Argentina!

So this weekend I had occasion to visit Buenos Aires (which explains the lack of posting these last couple of days).  It's a very inexpensive ferry ride away from Montevideo, so it's a very convenient location to travel to.  And I was getting some business done, and staying at a hotel in, my favorite Buenos Aires neighborhood of all: San Telmo.

Now I'm going to say, I didn't take these pictures. I took quite a few pictures while I was there this weekend, but I felt that they just weren't up to snuff.  So here's some other pictures that better photographers than me have taken:




San Telmo is in the downtown area, and it's an area that has largely been preserved with much older buildings than the surrounding downtown. It's just beautiful.  It's the oldest neighborhood in Buenos Aires, and was originally a prosperous working class neighborhood. It later (in the late 19th century) became impoverished and grand houses became tenements. It eventually became a haven for bohemians and artists, and is also thought of as a birthplace of the Tango (though there are other places with that claim, including the Old City of Montevideo). 



Today it's one of the most popular tourist locations, filled with hotels and youth hostels, and a lot of tourist attractions.  The old stately houses that had become tenements have now become hotels or artist's markets.



The old San Telmo market has become a massive bazaar with a big focus on Antiques (along with many antique stores throughout the neighborhood).



Every Sunday the San Telmo street fair happens; it was originally centered around the Plaza Dorrego, but has now stretched out for blocks, getting longer and larger every year (to the chagrin of some local residents, but for the most part it's a huge economic boon to the place, and it's amazing to spend a Sunday afternoon wandering it).



On every day of the week, the neighborhood (and especially the Plaza Dorrego) is the best place to get a coffee in the entire city. Also the best place to sit and people watch, or meet with friends.





Anyways, I just figured I had to be fair and present some of the best of my second-favorite South American city. Hope you liked it.

RPGpundit

Currently Smoking: Lorenzetti Egg + Gawith's Navy Flake

Friday 26 October 2018

So I've Got a Patreon

Well, I'm still not sure what I feel about this. I've always felt having a Patreon has been something that was done by hipsters.  But the fact is, people have suggested it would help me with raising funds for me to do more YouTube videos.

So here's the deal, I have a Patreon now. If you like my videos, and want me to produce more of them, and especially to do more pre-programmed Livestreams, and maybe end up doing special livestreams for patrons if I get enough of them, then please go and put a few bucks in there to encourage me to do more.

Thanks!  And thanks to everyone who has been subscribing to my YouTube channel!

RPGPundit

Currently Smoking: Lorenzetti Poker + Gawith's St. James Flake

Thursday 25 October 2018

The Modern Novel was a Mistake, and is Bad for RPGs too

It might be too soon to tell, after only about three centuries, but I'm going to call it and say that the Modern Novel was a big mistake, at least compared to ancient Myth.
And in your D&D game, running it with the styles of a novel is a mistake, compared to running it with the symbols and archetypes of Myth.

Plus, I give my thoughts about the latest episode (and season thus far) of Doctor Who, and my part in the design of the Doctor Who RPG.

Also, there's an unexpected catfight.



Currently Smoking: Masonic Meerschaum + Elizabethan Mixture

Wednesday 24 October 2018

An OSR Magical Drug Pharmacopoeia

Looking for a collection of weird magical drugs for your OSR game?

We've got you covered with RPGPundit Presents #51: Highbay's Magical Drug Pharmacopoeia

It's a collection of over 20 magical, supernatural or weird Drugs for use in any Gonzo fantasy OSR campaign. Each drug is detailed with a full description of effects, duration, and side-effects, as well as cost and availability, and level of addictiveness.

These are proper drugs, not magic potions, and while not all are addictive, all of them have effects that are useful but almost all include the risk of side-effects or problems that develop with continued use. Perfect to give your PCs a potentially appealing "devil's bargain" and see what they do with it!



So check out the weird and wonderful drugs like Beholder Eyedrops, Chaos Fruit (complete with random effects table), Golem Shavings, Mageworm, Really Magic Mushrooms, Troll Jelly, Weretiger Blood, and much more!

Also, you get a Random Drug Weird Effect table to help with what happens when your PCs pop some random pill!



You can get RPGPundit Presents #51: Highbay's Magical Pharmacopoeia at DTRPG for just $2.99, or at the Precis Intermedia Webstore.


And while you're at it, be sure to pick up the rest of the great supplements in the RPGPundit Presents series:


RPGPundit Presents #1: DungeonChef!

RPGPundit Presents #2: The Goetia  (usable for Lion & Dragon!)

RPGPundit Presents #3: High-Tech Weapons


RPGPundit Presents #5: The Child-Eaters (an adventure scenario for Lion & Dragon!)









RPGPundit Presents #17: The Hunters (an adventure for Lion & Dragon!)




RPGPundit Presents #21: Hecate's Tomb (an adventure for Lion & Dragon!)





























Stay tuned for more next week!



RPGPundit

Currently smoking: Brigham Anniversary + Image Latakia

Tuesday 23 October 2018

Wild West Campaign Update: the Fire of Tombstone



Kid Taylor is returning to Tombstone after an unsuccessful search for a suitably menacing horse he was hoping to offer to Crazy Miller as a peace offering. Along the way he runs into Wyatt Earp and the actress Sadie Marcus, who claim to have just 'run into each other' while horseback riding, though it's pretty obvious to him that they had gone out together. The trio also ran into mayor John Clum, who was returning to Tombstone from a conference for territorial local government.  It was already dark when they approached the town, only to find that it was alight with a terrible fire!



The great fire in Tombstone started when someone accidentally dropped a lit cigar into a barrel of whisky in the Arcade Saloon. It would ultimately burn down 66 buildings in the downtown heart of Tombstone, including the cosmopolitan hotel, the OK corral, the County Sheriff's office, the new courthouse, and a large number of saloons including the Argent (owned by the Millers).  The Oriental Saloon took some fire damage but was mostly intact.

Even as the fire was still burning, John Clum made good on his decision to fire Kid Taylor and made Virgil Earp (already a US Marshal for Cochise County) into the city Marshal of Tombstone.  Virgil deputized several people (including the Millers, Jeff Young, and Kid Taylor, as well as Wyatt Earp and Texas Jack Vermilion) as deputies to keep the peace and prevent looting after the fire. He also made Other Miller his town Deputy and offered the same to Kid Taylor, but still stinging from his firing declined the offer to come back as Virgil's underling. Jeff Taylor would have rather just worked full time as a gambler, but when it was clear there was no other good candidate available to Virgil, decided to agree to work as his other Deputy for the next two months.



The fire had caused devastation, but also opportunity. The very next day, the telegraph office was full to the brim with people making orders to start to rebuild; and the registry office was filled with people trying to sell and buy the lots that had burned down. This caused at least a few fisticuffs as tempers flared that required Virgil Earp to intervene. Among the exciting new projects being presented for rebuilding was an ice house and the first Ice Cream Parlor in Arizona.

The Millers joined in on the property speculation, buying up five different burned-down lots at generous prices, and making plans for what they would build. Meanwhile, Kid Taylor and Buckskin Frank Leslie got together to discuss whether or not they would rebuild; Taylor wanted to, but Frank had blown all of his considerable share of the profits from the hotel and didn't have the cash to do his part, plus he was just bored. The hotel business had stopped being fun for him. At one point he was courted by Crazy Miller for his share of the lot, but at the same time Kid Taylor had talked to the hotel's former administrator Jim Vogan, and Tom was interested in buying up Buckskin Frank's share. But a luxury hotel would be beyond Vogan's financial abilities, and he had a different dream: he wanted to open a bowling alley, which had recently become popular back east.  After hearing him out, Kid Taylor was convinced, and they decided to go into business together.  Crazy Miller decided not to try to outbid the pair, and Vogan managed to purchase Buckskin Frank's share.

While this was happening, Mayor Clum passed the town ordinance he had planned to implement as soon as Virgil was Marshal: gun control! From this point on, within the city limits of Tombstone, no one could carry a gun (visible or concealed). Town citizens could keep guns in their home, while visitors to Tombstone had to deposit their firearms in lock-boxes in hotels, boarding houses or saloons (or for short-term visitors, the Wells Fargo office).  Naturally, just about everyone was outraged, but Virgil made it clear that it was the law, and that the law would be strictly enforced. To make a point of that, Wyatt Earp was the first one to hand in his guns.



A test case came up almost immediately. When it looked like everyone had their guns locked up, Johnny Tyler decided it might be a good moment to kill Doc Holliday. Tyler had been humiliated by Doc, and had tried to seek revenge once before only to end up having half the fingers of his hand blown off and his leg shot up so bad he had a permanent limp. He got into the Oriental Saloon, with a gun in his good hand, ready to kill Doc; only to find that Doc (never much of a believer in the law) had been carrying a second gun concealed. Crazy Miller had spotted Tyler heading into the Oriental and thought something might be up, so he came in behind them just as the two were threatening gunplay, and was ready to arrest them both. Except the Oriental's bartender and part-owner Milt Joyce offered them all a way out by claiming that Tyler and Doc were both just about to hand over their guns to the saloon.  Tyler was already shitting his pants over the fact that Doc was armed, so he quickly conceded; while Doc, not really wanting to get himself arrested, eventually did likewise.



But naturally, it didn't end there. Johnny Tyler immediately went out to get a new pistol. He got back to the Oriental, only to find Doc wasn't there. But Crazy Miller was, and advised Johnny Tyler to cut his losses and get out with his life. Tyler berated him, said that this time he was going to kill that lunger freak, and finally get his revenge. Crazy Miller didn't take kindly to that and the two got into a bar fight. They fought for about half a minute until both were bruised and pretty exhausted, and that's when Doc came in. With another gun.

Milt Joyce was sick of this crap, and pulled a gun of his own to try to stop the fight before it started, but Doc shot the gun right out of his hand. Tyler swung around and aimed at Doc, but Doc switched target and shot Tyler; Johnny got his shot out, but missed, and Doc blew his brains out with his second shot. Jim Flynt, who was working the Faro table (Wyatt had gone out, presumably to see Sadie Marcus again, or all of this would probably have been avoided) came rushing at Doc; Doc by then was in combat mode and assuming Flynt was going to attack him too shot Flynt in the leg. Milt Joyce jumped over the counter to try to tackle Doc but Doc swerved out of the way.

Then Deputy Jeff Young, one of a tiny handful of shootists who might just be as fast as Doc, came through the door of the Oriental, armed and shouting at Doc to drop his weapon. Doc turned and smiled, "Why Jeff Young, that is a hell of a thing to say" and for a moment it looked like they were going to shoot it out too, but Deputy Other Miller came through the door right behind Young. Doc figured killing two deputies (or more unlikely, getting himself killed by two deputies) would probably not go well for him, so he finally relented and gave himself in. Joyce and Flynt were furious at Doc and Tyler was dead, but Crazy Miller saw the whole thing and quickly confirmed that it was more than a fair fight.  Even so, the two Deputies disarmed Doc and took him in for violating the new town ordinance.

No sooner was Doc put in jail then Johnny Behan, the corrupt County Sheriff, showed up with an arrest warrant for him (Behan had clearly been waiting for a moment where he could catch Doc definitely unarmed). He was accusing Doc of having been one of the perpetrators of a stagecoach robbery a few months earlier, one that the PCs had been involved in trying to investigate. Behan claimed that he had a signed witness statement confirming that Doc had admitted to the robbery; the statement was from Doc's long-term and recently-estranged girlfriend, Big Nose Kate!



The PCs immediately got to investigating the case, and brought in the Earps for help. Doc denied the accusation, and had stated that during the time of the robbery he was gambling in the town of Purgatory. Wyatt Earp decided he was going to head down there to confirm the alibi.  Meanwhile, Crazy Miller and Other Miller decided to go confront Big Nose Kate, who'd been staying at the Grand Hotel.

Big Nose Kate was surprised at the news that she'd signed anything, but admitted that Johnny Behan had visited her several times, and that on most occasions she'd been drunk out of her mind courtesy at his devising. She could have signed just about anything.  The Millers tried to convince her to sign another witness statement testifying to the fact that she'd been tricked and was profoundly inebriated at the time she signed the earlier statement. And Kate was willing to do so, but first, she said that Doc had to give her what she felt she was owed.

That turned out to be a significant amount of money.  Doc was reluctant, but Miller's top-quality lawyer made it clear that without that, Behan wouldn't even need Kate at the trial, and might even arrange for something to happen to make it impossible for Kate to be there, if you know what I mean. On the other hand, if Kate provided a statement denying the earlier one, even without anything else that should get Doc off free, since none of the other evidence was more the presumption.

So Doc relented, and paid Kate off with $5000, on the condition that he never had to see her again. Kate agreed, and took the morning stagecoach out of town, and just like that was gone from their lives forever.

RPGPundit

Currently Smoking: Stanwell Deluxe + Elizabethan Mixture

Monday 22 October 2018

Modern Literature Is NOT Better Than Ancient Stories

I think that after a few hundred years to consider, it might still be too soon to tell, but it's starting to look to me like the invention of the modern novel was, in the final balance, a big mistake.


And it's hilarious to see articles being published (like this one here) suggesting that somehow modern literature is better because in pre-modern literature heroes just went and did stuff, and you didn't get a lot of information by the author (like you would in a novel) explaining what they were feeling or how their inner monologue was going or what their motivation was.  As if having some author who thinks himself extra-clever telling you some wordy detailing of someone's inner psychology is better than creating a multi-level myth full of symbols and archetypes far more ancient than the author, far more powerful than what the author could write, and far  more intelligent than what the author imagines xirself to be.

Modern "literature" has become so, so much more shallow than ancient legend, myth, and chronicles. That's because modern literature has all but abandoned Archetype, and because the selfsame explicit exposition of inner feelings that the link seems to be praising is actually a kind of 'cheat' that cheapens everything.   It essentially turns an accounting from something that can be observed through a vast variety of perspectives and at a vast varieties of levels into a kind of 'propaganda' where the author is telling you directly what everyone feels and thus why they're doing things.



So keep all that in mind while you run Lion & Dragon!  That is, make sure you run your Medieval-Authentic game in a way that doesn't look like a product of modern literature, obsessed with overt explanations of people's motivations or feelings. Work with archetypes and stories based on actions, and leave the players to create debate/discussion over meanings.


RPGPundit

Currently Smoking:  Lorenzetti Solitario Egg + Barking Dog



Sunday 21 October 2018

Lords of Olympus Campaign Update: "I Think I Ate a Guy!"

So it's time for another guest post, from Aetos' player, summarizing the previous session of my Lords of Olympus campaign. Here we go:



In the Misty Mountains.
After her vision of her and Toilette on a post apocalyptic setting, Helena continued her quest. She found some of the survivors who escaped Corey’s genocide on the Lands of Happiness, and tried helping them find a new home. She protected them from a feral grizzly bear who appeared using her high ego to control the bear and have him escape. Toilette returned from helping Latrine, leaving him healed on the cave. Toilette used her world walking to move with the remaining happiness survivors, and after debating on options for possible planets, they decided to move them to an almost harmless, very few life form sustained planet. As she left them to their devices to find a new future on a mostly harmless planet, they gave her sweets, candy gifts and made the dance of good bye to thank their savior.
Showing her vision to Toilette, she took Helena to a place where they could rob some supplies, as she knew where the place on Helena’s vision was, but she understood that the radiation was too much even for them. When they came to the desolate apocalyptic wastelands, all in full anti-radiation gear, they were attacked by some mutants, but managed to keep them away.



At the Oracle of Delphos.
Arrit was bored out of her mind, and had already driven her teacher, Apollo, almost to suicide in his attempts to civilize her, so she decided to go for a walk in the Pythia’s forest. She took with him one of the stableboys, telling him it was his destiny. The poor stableboy, being the voice of reason, warned him that the Maenads, Dionysus' crazy followers who killed men by eating them alive after having sex with them, lived in this forest. Arrit ignored his advice, left the man and entered the forest anyway. She found the Maenads, and they invited her to do some crazy mushrooms, have orgiastic pleasures while wanting to connect to the God who Comes, and kill some dudes by snu snu. Not being one to refuse to do drugs with complete strangers, Arrit accepted. Apparently, she ate human meat. Yum.



In the Nautilus, In Thalath
As the party ensued, in the coasts of Thalath, Fito left his daemon servant, Sam (named after the Samsung cellphones) spying on Elon Musk inside the Nautilus, while he was doing some sort of adhesive formula he asked him to do. But the brothers of the mutant shark men with head lazers from Evil-Twitter earth took the Nautilus over in search for vengeance! Fito jumped at the chance of combat, desperate for adventure. As he stole a green peace yacht from some poor dudes with Poseidon and boarded the Nautilus, he managed to take all of the sharks out, ending the Twitter menace.
Afterwards, Fito convinced Poseidon that he could convince Triton to go with them in an adventure, so they took an aquacopter in secret, and decided to infiltrate Atlantis in disguise to reach Triton. Yes, effectively, Poseidon is so scared of his wife, that he is willing to enter his own home in disguise just to avoid her annoyance.




In the Palace of Thalath.
Guillermo Hudson received a scythe from Thalasa, and two big invisibility cloaks. One of them, he used to cover his new Daemon, a huge rhinoceros-sized green dragon, Pepe. He tried scrying to look for Arrit, and he saw her with her face completely blood soaked from a poor dude she just ate. He managed to see she was…allright, I guess. Just before cutting communications, a moon arrow shot through one of the Maenad’s crazy faces. Guillermo transmitted this info to Fito and Elon Musk.
Guillermo then scryed to Pontus, asking him to contact Hecate to go to the underworld. Hecate used a scrying portal and brought Guillermo back to the underworld, where he met her and Hades himself. He told them he wanted to go to Erebus, as Paneb and him where both in a dream and he knew that he was actually a primordial. Hades allowed this and made Guillermo immortal, but asked him to tell him of any information that he found out anyone else was hiding, as well as to keep him informed about his advancements in discovering his divine parents.

At the Oracle of Delphos.
Arrit was met by Artemis, trying to rescue her from the Maenads. Apollo rushed in and helped. When the Maenads died, they had a long conversation, but seeing Arrit was too crazy even for her, Artemis decided Arrit couldn’t stay with her. Apollo came rushing to find her, and both brothers discussed. They arranged for Arrit to be treated by Sydney Greenberg, Aphrodite’s lover and psychologist.



In Hades.
While Paneb and Frank healed, Ralph tried to go with Bob Shoggoth to find some adventure, as he was bored and uneasy in the underworld, being an adventurer in his world. He received a scrying call from Prometheus, who asked him to free Roman from Hecate’s grasp in exchange for his friendship. While he was very polite in his reply, he ended the call, then said “fuck that guy” and continued his way. Another scrying call came, this time from Hecate, who needed his help back in the underworld. She wanted him to accompany Guillermo Hudson to Erebus.



In Olympus.
At the big party that ensued, Corey, now chosen as the Goddess of Dirty Tactics, and Aetos, now known as the God of Negotiation, celebrated. They talked and assured each other that, while Corey was Ares' daughter and Aetos was Athena’s ward, they would not have their issues trickle down to them.
Ares brought Thor, the Viking God, to Olympus to celebrate. While Thor was bored of Asgard and its constant drinking, fighting and fucking and just wanted to paint his art, Ares missed it precisely because of that. He proudly presented Thor to his daughter, and Aetos tried to avoid the conversation. Aetos talked with Hephasteus, and he told him that he might be able to make a weapon for him if Athena so desired. Aetos asked Athena, and she gave him a magical lance, but told him that for now, he shouldn’t seek Hephasteus' enchantments, the magical lance being a symbol of the potential of what he’s meant to be.
Hera canceled her quest to Aetos, since Corey was there, and she wanted to test her wits, but she said that Aetos could still talk with her at any time, and would reward valuable information.
Corey was sent to straight up subdue or kill Arrit if she showed to be too much of a problem, and she managed to convinced Ares to go on a STEALTH mission, even though he complained and wined that couldn’t smash things quickly.

Will Arrit get proper mental health treatment? Can Ares actually manage a stealth mission? Will Poseidon ever feel welcome in his own house?
ONLYYYY FATEEE TRULY KNOWWWSSSS…

Saturday 20 October 2018

RPGPundit Reviews: The S'rulyan Vault



This is a review of the RPG Supplement "The S'rulyan Vault", written by Venger Satanis, published by Kort'thalis Publishing. This is a review of the print edition, which actually appears to be a combined book containing what was originally two different books (the S'rulyan Vault I & II).  It is a thin softcover book of about 30 pages.



The front cover is a full-color work showing what is (for Venger) a surprisingly classic image of some adventurers fighting a dragon in a dungeon, with the back cover featuring a much more Venger-esque cover of some women covered in slime, with a tentacle monster looming over them.

The interior is in black and white, featuring only a couple of well-drawn illustrations, and the back page even has a very well-drawn generic-D&D character sheet (technically, for 5e, being as it has a 'proficiency' stat on it).

As I've done before, I want to state for pure transparency that Venger Satanis is my co-host on the youtube RPG-themed talk show "Inappropriate Characters". I don't think this will affect the nature of my review (I've certainly not been afraid to be critical in past reviews of his work), and I do not have any other business association with Venger nor did I have anything to do with the creation of this book or profit from it in any way.

The basic backdrop of the product is presented in the credits page, describing it as "a collection of random tables and guidelines for using the corresponding megadungeon map". And that "this work is compatible with most roleplaying games that fall into the Old School Renaissance category".  In a slightly odd choice, the map is not included in the product itself, possibly because of its size, though even a reduced-scale version of it might have been a good idea to include. However, I was informed by Venger (when I asked him about this) that the electronic version of the map will be provided to anyone who buys the print edition (though I guess you might have to ask for this). The maps are made for printing on a fairly large scale.



The book proper starts out with "a brief history of the S'rulyan Vault". It talks about an ancient Demon Lord, served by Snake Men, who once almost wiped out humanity. But a group of adventurers managed to destroy the demon lord and the Snake Men were defeated inside their dungeon. But 75 years later, due to the foolish ambition of a queen, the demon lord was raised up again and now threatens the world. Now the king of the land where the S'rulyan Vault is located offers a million gold piece ransom to whoever brings him the head of the demon lord from the vaults.

After this, we get right into the random tables. Pretty much the rest of the product is random tables; which generally is something I quite like, but I've had a mixed history with Venger's tables, so we'll see how this turns out.

The first is a 10-item table to use, if the characters are locals, to determine whether they have a personal stake in the mission. Largely, this has to do with a plague the Demon Lord caused in the kingdom, and determines whether any loved ones of a PC died in the plague.

Second, there's a 12-entry table of Rumors about the vault, with the recommendation that every PC get to roll once. It's suggested that the rumors should become focal points of the campaign; whether or not they are true.  It is left up to the DM to decide if a rumor is true or not.

After that we get a brief description of the entrance to the Vault, and then guidelines for searching and wandering monster checks. This is followed by a table called "What's in the Dungeon"; this is a 20-entry table, with a result and then descriptions of what the result means.
Frankly, this table confuses me; if taken at face value it seems to be meant to suggest what the entire contents of the dungeon are. But the content is so limited that it doesn't really make much sense; it MIGHT make a bit more sense if what it really meant was what's found in a dungeon ROOM, but at the same time some entries suggest that this can't really be right either. It may be to describe a region of the dungeon? We're provided with no guidelines, one way or the other.
Example entries include things like "trap with monster" (sounds like a room description), "Doom!" (explained as 'unkillable monsters, death rays, the end of the world), "science fantasy" (described as the great robot war, synthoid uprising, etc).

I think maybe some of the descriptions are unclear; really the majority of entries would make the most sense as being meant to describe room or local area contents.

Then there's a much more straight-forward 20-entry table of "what are humanoids doing when encountered", which is just fine. This is followed by a 100-entry table of "what do PCs find when they search", advising that any time PCs spend 20 minutes searching a room or dungeon area they should get 1d4-1 rolls on the table. The contents are a mix of the mundane/useless (a rusted gauntlet, some dung), the valuable (2d8sp), the useful (a crimson cloak that might provide protection from death rays), to the gonzo (a note scrawled in chalk saying "beware of sleestak" or a broken circuit-board). This is a really fine table of random items.

The next section involves an encounter with a weird apocalyptic monk, who believes the world has come to an end on the surface; the GM is left the choice as to whether that's actually true or not! A random table is provided, in case the GM wants this to be the apocalypse, to determine just what happened on the surface.

Next there's a brief section detailing an encounter with a spy for the snakemen that the PCs might also meet in the vault.

Magic Items is the next table, detailing a random list of 12 magic items, including various magic weapons and some miscellaneous items. The table is fine, and each item has some additional qualities. It's just large enough to potentially be useful.
There's also a much shorter random table of 3 relics. These three are good too, but they aren't really at the "D&D Relic" level of power.
Finally, there's a table of 7 cursed items (with a result of 8 being 'roll twice', which seems way too big a frequency to find 2 cursed items with). The cursed item table also isn't actually an item table, just a list of curses, though I guess these could mostly be tacked on to any number of otherwise useful magic items.

After this we get a set of tables for generating fortune telling. This includes a table to see who the fortune teller is, the method used, the reading (a combination of three tables) and the payment expected. These tables are pretty good.


At this point we get to the start of the second part of the book. It begins with an introduction (that would have been more useful at the start of the book as a whole, though I suppose that in this case Venger wanted to keep each section separate). This introduction touches on three crucial points: first, the importance of "Gygaxian Naturalism", which Venger describes as 'providing a realistic background for adventuring'. Second, to have a compelling reason why the PCs are down there. Third, the opportunity to show off one's own GMing style and creativity.

After this, there's a table (4 entries) that describe how loud humanoids are being in the dungeon. Then, a mechanic and 30-entry table for what happens if the PCs sleep in the dungeon; where on a 2/6 they don't have any encounter, a 3 or 4 means they have a wandering monster encounter, and on a 5 or 6 they roll on the table. The table has some very unusual entries, including machete-wielding clowns, radiation, a PC becoming an undead, a stairway appearing out of nowhere, and other such things. There are several entries here that suggest something essentially character-killing happening to a PC without any chance to avoid it, so as usual I have some issue with that little detail of Venger's writing style.

Next there's a table for random monster parts the PCs might find. It's a 30-entry table, which is fine, but most of the entries are just things like "teeth", "horn", "stinger" or "tentacle".
  This is then enhanced with tables to determine how hard they are to remove from a corpse, a table to explain 'why take it' (with different special powers it might have), and a final table for how long any benefit might last.


Next there's a table to determine the particular quirks of any given faction.  It's a 100-entry table, and it's quite good; basically a long list of strange behaviors, but suitable for crazy gonzo cults or weird tribes.

Next, a useful section on "restocking the dungeon", for when PCs clear out a section of the Vault and return that way later. There's a 6-entry random table, but in this cases six entries is enough for the basic idea; plus a couple of additional small tables to see if traps have been reset, if there are new traps, or treasure, or evidence of sorcery (with a subtable to determine if there was 'sorcerous evidence').

Next there's a 20-entry table to generate random hirelings. This table is fine, generating the name, race, class and a miscellaneous detail about the hireling in question.  A secondary 4-entry table is meant to generate the hireling's loyalty; this table is pretty simplistic, though I guess it does the job if you don't use 'retainer morale' rules OSR-style.  It does mean that if you go by the table, a hireling will betray you 25% of the time.

The last page of the book presents a dangerous dungeon creature called a 'glitter worm', and a strange magical slime known as "zoth", which has a variety of qualities.

So what to conclude about this product?  It is pretty unusual for a 'megadungeon'. It has a map with no room key, no set locations or content. It has a set of random tables that can let you generate dungeon rooms or areas, and some of the random tables are pretty good.

I guess if what you want in a megadungeon is set (or even semi-set) structure, then you're not going to like this product.  If the idea of a megadungeon generated entirely with random tables and your own creativity is appealing to you, then you MIGHT like this, but I suspect you'll find that even with the two parts together in one product, the S'rulyan Vault is still a little light.  I think that if there were twice as many random tables, but only GOOD ones, then this concept could work better. Even then, I would personally think something along the lines of Castle Gargantua, which has mostly random generation but with various differently-themed "sections" of the dungeon having their own set of random tables, plus a few set-piece locations, is a better concept to go with.

Even so, there's certainly a few tables here that could act as useful play aids for dungeon adventures in general.

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