Dungeon Bash Mods

[ardak2000]

Stefan- I'm Just learning about the existence of Dungeun Bash(via Boadgame Geek, while searching for other Dungeon Crawlers), and I must say that your visionary product has exceeded my wildest dreams! I'm an old hand at D&D and familiar with D20 rules, so I wonder at the difficulty level of porting the rules over to another d20 genre? Of course Horror, and Sci-Fi would be top choices, but there are others. It would be interesting indeed to see a team of investigators (ala Call of Cthulhu)crawling thru an old Victorian Mansion to discover the Horrors that await them...

In any case, I imagine that some sections of the rules would require a major rewrite, but I think at it's core (combat) level, not much would change...

Your thoughts?

 

[Flyspeck23]

Stefan- I'm Just learning about the existence of Dungeun Bash(via Boadgame Geek, while searching for other Dungeon Crawlers), and I must say that your visionary product has exceeded my wildest dreams! I'm an old hand at D&D and familiar with D20 rules, so I wonder at the difficulty level of porting the rules over to another d20 genre? Of course Horror, and Sci-Fi would be top choices, but there are others. It would be interesting indeed to see a team of investigators (ala Call of Cthulhu)crawling thru an old Victorian Mansion to discover the Horrors that await them...

In any case, I imagine that some sections of the rules would require a major rewrite, but I think at it's core (combat) level, not much would change...

Your thoughts?

Glad you like the game

Yes, combat would pretty much work the same way, although some specific horror rules couldn't hurt.

As for the "Mansion crawl", that could be done too. One of the things I'm trying to do with the first expansion is a house generator. I'm still struggling with the best solution - right now I've got the problem that either there are too many sub-generators or the layout of the house doesn't feel like a house... tough nut to crack, I tell you. But I'm certain that I'll work it out.

Anyway, if you ever do a SciFi or horror "mod", keep me up-to-date

 

[Skarn Rapajya]

Hive Crawl

Actually, I'm using DB almost exactly as is for a D20 Future Bug Hunt.

Use the Klick as presented in the Campaigns chapter of D20 Future under the Star*Drive campaign. I've leveled the Klick Warrior down to a Strong Ordinary 1 so that I can handle the lower levels on the encounter chart, and I use multiples for higher levels (above CR 2) as the description claims that they like overwhelming numbers. When I get to where I need above CR 8 encounters, I'll level them up with a few more levels of Strong & Tough Ordinary.

I ignore any GP amounts as wealth is handled differently; I just give a +1 Wealth bonus after every mission for "Hazard Pay". The dungeon generator is used as is to create a Klick hive. I use the equipment requisition rules to equip my characters as mercenaries, so I've got a chance to get pretty much any equipment that I want.

I basically wind up with a cross between Colonial Marines (Alien universe) and Starship Troopers. (Klick look almost exactly like the bugs they used in the Starship Troopers movie.)

I'd post my conversions, but unfortunately the Klick are not open content and I don't want WotC jumping out of a dark corner at me.

I did, however, find a conversion of Aliens for D20. It IS open content, and free, so I've attached it to this message. The dungeon generator would also work perfectly for a xenomorph hive, but they're CR 8 critters. I'm not quite ready for 'em yet. There should be a link inside the PDF to the creater's website where he also has conversions for Terminator, Predator, Ghostbusters, and The Matrix.

 

[Flyspeck23]

Actually, I'm using DB almost exactly as is for a D20 Future Bug Hunt.

Almost? I'd like to know what you've changed.

If I would convert DB to SciFi, the first thing I'd change would be the Dungeon Generator - if you want to venture into anything but a hive. A Spaceship Generator comes to mind... now that would be cool.

But I agree, nearly everything else would work as it is (minus the "fantasy flavor" of quest descriptions). A few new SciFi quests would be neat though.

 

[Skarn Rapajya]

Almost? I'd like to know what you've changed.

Basically, I just wing it. The first two adventures I just came up with my own ideas for quest, but then when I thought about it, I realized that what I came up with equated to the Fight the Warlord and Capture the Warlord quests.

I rolled for subsequent quests and came up with Monster Infection, which I took as is, and Scattered Symbols, which I didn't think quite fit, so I rerolled and came up with Monster Hunt. For the hunt, I simply assumed that the quest room would have the toughest group of critters on that level's table.

The only special quest that I've tried for is "We're the Best", for which I raise the reward from +1 Wealth each to +2 Wealth each. So far I've ignored all of the GP fees and rewards as printed because they have yet to equate to 350-500 GP per character for anything, and $350 - $500 is the DC 14/DC 15 Wealth check cutoff where a point of Wealth is automatically gained or lost.

On my first two encounter tables, I left out NPCs, but once I revised the APL 2 table when I down-leveled the Klick Warriors, I used Injured Adventurer and Prisoner. I use a Fast Hero for the Injured Adventurer, and a Smart Hero for the Prisoner. I haven't yet thought of what might be appropriate for any other NPCs encountered in the hive.

I've attached an example of my encounter table for APL 3. The Klick Warriors are armed with natural armor and a Plasma Rifle. The Klick Officer is an heroic GM character that I've created which takes the first 4 levels as Charismatic Hero, 1 of Dedicated Hero, and then moves into the Field Officer advanced class. I'm still experimenting with the officer bug, so that's why they're in so few entries on the table.

Since I'm using the equipment requisition rules, that replaces the check to see if an item is available. For equipment my characters purchase, I'm allowing the standard Wealth check to serve for availability. The exception is a maximum of 10 items each between adventures for things like Plastiflesh (a PL8 1d4 HP Healing spray of purchase DC 6). Its so cheap that I don't need to roll for it, but they're the only equivalent to a healing potion available, and the Plasma Rifle does 3d10 damage (ouch!), so a single hit can be devastating.

Instead of looking at how I could twist DB into SciFi, I looked for what SciFi I could mangle to fit DB. That made it a lot easier to work it out. In that vein, I'm anxiously awaiting the DB-Urban city tables so I can escape the hive and maybe try to counter a Klick invasion in the streets.

 

[Skarn Rapajya]

One more thing I just realized I'd forgotten to add -- I'm not using traps.

 

[Flyspeck23]

Thanks! Seems like your way of playing DB is a straight-forward fun

The first two adventures I just came up with my own ideas for quest, but then when I thought about it, I realized that what I came up with equated to the Fight the Warlord and Capture the Warlord quests.

"Fight the Warlord" is the most basic of quests - it's even more generic than the other standard quests. (Btw: In hindsight I should've called it "Fight the Dungeon Lord" or something like that... ah well...)

I guess most of the standard quests would work for your scenario, with the exceptions of "Treasure Hunt" (unless you'd be willing to give the PCs some items without wealth checks... a stack of Plastiflesh perhaps), "A Race Against Time" (in a SciFi world I don't see any reason to be forced through a dungeon/hive), and "Curse that Item!" (no cursed items, right?). Anything else should work with a little tweaking.
"Blow the Dam" could mean that your party is supposed to plant a bomb at the center of the hive - then again, why don't they always do that? Perhaps because it's too dangerous to do on a regular basis, or because the bomb is too expensive to use more often.
"Scattered Symbols" would send the party after three random McGuffins. And the artifact from "Retrieve the Artifact" is not really an artifact but a very powerful prototype weapon.
And so on.

Instead of looking at how I could twist DB into SciFi, I looked for what SciFi I could mangle to fit DB. That made it a lot easier to work it out. In that vein, I'm anxiously awaiting the DB-Urban city tables so I can escape the hive and maybe try to counter a Klick invasion in the streets.

Streets and buildings

 

[Skarn Rapajya]

"Blow the Dam" could mean that your party is supposed to plant a bomb at the center of the hive- then again, why don't they always do that? Perhaps because it's too dangerous to do on a regular basis, or because the bomb is too expensive to use more often.

That bomb is a nuke. Weapon of last resort and all that. If they make it out in time it means that they've managed to board a dropship in time to reach minimum safe distance.

"Scattered Symbols" would send the party after three random McGuffins.

I'm still not quite sure how I'd handle this one, as the bugs are usually only after our extermination or (in the case of the LV-426 bugs) impregnation. I suppose it could be used at VERY high levels to hunt down queens for royal jelly.

Impregnation would fold "Race Against Time" into "Rescue Mission", as you'd need to recover the VIP >BEFORE< a facehugger gets to them.

"Seek the Antidote" is looking for a cure to a biogenic plague, probably a bioweapon that wasn't perfected before it was used so it can harm both species (wow!) and so the Klick have an antidote just in case any of them are infected. Drum up a few brainiac types who are helping to defend the cure and you're all set. Some of the Smart Hero talents can get rather nasty.

In fact, this leads to at least one way to incorporate "Curse that Item". One of the PCs was infected with the Klicks' bioplague, so the cure becomes very important, as the infected PC is already suffering the effects of the first failed Fort save, and there is no other known cure. Its not a cursed item . . . its worse.


Hmmmmmm . . . a little bit more work and maybe come up with our own bugs and I see a potential web enhancement in the works. Especially once the town & building generators are ready. (WE1 for DB-Urban?)

 

[Flyspeck23]

That bomb is a nuke. Weapon of last resort and all that. If they make it out in time it means that they've managed to board a dropship in time to reach minimum safe distance.

Of course, a nuke. Great idea.

I'm still not quite sure how I'd handle this one, as the bugs are usually only after our extermination or (in the case of the LV-426 bugs) impregnation. I suppose it could be used at VERY high levels to hunt down queens for royal jelly.

Impregnation would fold "Race Against Time" into "Rescue Mission", as you'd need to recover the VIP >BEFORE< a facehugger gets to them.

"Seek the Antidote" is looking for a cure to a biogenic plague, probably a bioweapon that wasn't perfected before it was used so it can harm both species (wow!) and so the Klick have an antidote just in case any of them are infected. Drum up a few brainiac types who are helping to defend the cure and you're all set. Some of the Smart Hero talents can get rather nasty.

In fact, this leads to at least one way to incorporate "Curse that Item". One of the PCs was infected with the Klicks' bioplague, so the cure becomes very important, as the infected PC is already suffering the effects of the first failed Fort save, and there is no other known cure. Its not a cursed item . . . its worse.

Great stuff. That's the way to go.

And your knowledge concerning these "bugs" is superior to mine. I don't know anything of the creatures' habits, and in fact haven't heard of them before you mentioned them.

Hmmmmmm . . . a little bit more work and maybe come up with our own bugs and I see a potential web enhancement in the works. Especially once the town & building generators are ready. (WE1 for DB-Urban?)

That would be one huge web enhancement. For those I'll stick to the "mildly flavored" concept of the Goblinoid Dungeons, the first web enhancement: themed encounter tables (plus new opponents) and major villains.
But the whole SciFi thingie would work as a (stand-alone) expansion. I won't tackle that before both planned DB expansions are out.

That said, if you want to score yourself some major DB Credits, go ahead and write it

As a side note, I once did a project named "Rogue Trader", a variant of Warhammer Quest for 40K (IIRC using 40K's 3rd edition rules). For obvious reasons I can't publish that - I did it for my own amusement. Still there had been some valuable lessons learned. And I intend to put that knowledge to good use in the future... but not necessarily the near future. I'm drowning in projects already.

 

[Skarn Rapajya]

And your knowledge concerning these "bugs" is superior to mine. I don't know anything of the creatures' habits, and in fact haven't heard of them before you mentioned them.

Well, the LV-426 Xenomorphs are straight out of the Alien movie saga. The Klick, as presented in D20 Future, are basically the bugs from Starship Troopers by Heinlein, with one slight alteration. (The book, not the movie.)

That would be one huge web enhancement.

Actually, from my admittedly amateur perspective where such things are concerned, I don't see it being so huge. The modifications are really minor, with the biggest thing being the opponents file. For a straight hive crawl its mainly copy and paste plus leveling up the bug of choice.

But the whole SciFi thingie would work as a (stand-alone) expansion. I won't tackle that before both planned DB expansions are out.

That said, if you want to score yourself some major DB Credits, go ahead and write it

I might just consider it. The most difficult part is coming up with either a unique +0 CR bug, or else finding something suitable in pure OGL to adapt. I've never been very adept at creating new critters for D20, just putting together the pieces others have provided.

I'll see what I can come up with. Once I decide on what bug to use, I'll run it by you before I go writing up the rest of the adaptation. OTOH, the layout'd be all you. I can make it work, but I can't make it pretty. Too bad WotC didn't make the Klick OGL. :\