Dungeon Fantasy in Discworld

[tylrlsaa]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf23k

For Elves, one could introduce a race of Half-Elves to fill in the "mortal pointy-eared nature-lover" role, with a sketchy connection to normal Discworld elves..

ISTR that in one of the stories, the main character (Buddy) was asked by a troll if he was Elvish because of his looks. Soul Music, IIRC. Maybe not.

Regardless, instead of being Half-Elf, you could be Elf-Blooded. You have a streak of elf blood somewhere in your anscestry.

Could give you DX +1, a bit of Appearance, a bad attitude, and a fairly severe Secret.

[tylrlsaa]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

The lack of magical healing is a bind, but a competent witch can provide something of a workaround, and I suspect that any self-respect barbarian hero with a taste for extended plunder raids would take Very Rapid Healing.

The level of medicinal tech that can be brought to bear by your average witch (if any witch can be called 'average') is fairly impressive for Tech Level 4, without factoring in magic.

Magrit is stated in the books to be an excellent herbalist, and is the best of the three Lancre Witches.

[vitruvian]

For Elves, one could introduce a race of Half-Elves to fill in the "mortal pointy-eared nature-lover" role, with a sketchy connection to normal Discworld elves..

I recall now that Discworld Also had a template for 'Elfkin', that are just called Elves in some locales. With that in mind, Discworld Dungeon Fantasy would have the following playable races, once templates are updated to 4e:

Humans (including borderline cases like Igors and Nobby)
Dwarves
Trolls
Gnolls
Gargoyles
Goblins/Gnomes (including Nac Mac Feegle)
Elfkin
Golems (or should that be golemim?)
Werewolves
Vampires
Zombies

Have I missed any? Some of the more powerful types, such as Golems and Vampires, might need to be 200-250 templates, with the option of just taking a professional lense as opposed to a full professional template.

Notes on professional templates:

Barbarian - might need to make the Gigantism and SM-1 optional, since many examples of barbarian heroes in the books were either never that large, or shrank with age. Actually Bravd might be the only one I *know* to be large enough to justify it... otherwise, this should require only minor tweaking.

Bard - there's no evidence that many if any Discworld bards have these kinds of magical abilities, but on the other hand I don't see many problems with having more experienced folks from Llamedos or other locales gain them.

Cleric - as we've already mentioned, there are issues with the idea of Discworld gods granting their followers consistent magic, let alone magical healing. On the other hand, there could be a gaggle of 'activist' gods interested in poaching on the more established gods' territory and worshippers (note that of course Blind Io will actually be one of them in one of his many guises), and while healing with magic is a recipe for disaster when attempted by wizards, it might not be so problematic for gods - especially if there's an Asclepius-like figure among them who invented the concept of homeostasis in relation to morphic fields. I'd still probably impose nasty or humorous effects on critical or even normal failures, though.

Druid - Of course, the druids of Llamedos are more interested in the latest lithic technology than tree-hugging, but there could always be another locale on the Disc where 'nature-priest' Druids do exist. On the other hand, we could replace this template with a Witch template, replacing Power Investiture with Magery, restricting the spell college choices in slightly different ways (or maybe just deprecating most 'flashy' magic regardless of college), and adding Headology skill and Signature Gear for witchy hats and broomsticks.

Holy Warrior - basically the same notes basically apply as for Clerics.

Knight - no problems here, really.

Martial Artist - just vary which abilities are taken (or if new ones like Time-Slicing become available) based on which Hubland monastery the character hails from.

Scout - no problems here, although the power of narrative will almost certainly determine either that you are a long-lost descendant of kings or that you keep running into problems with local sherrifs.

Swashbuckler - as written.

Thief - If operating in Ankh-Morporkh, one will need membership in the Guild or a lot of chutzpah and luck. Not sure if membership counts as more than a Perk, though - maybe a combined Patron and Duty? Those taking the Assassin lense belong to a different guild, of course, and almost require a bumped up Status.

Wizard - Will just require minor tweaks along the lines of what spells are appropriate to the Disc, how to value staffs with a knob on the end as Power Items, etc. Probably make a whole bunch more disadvantages such as Gluttony, Laziness, etc. available...

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by vitruvian

and more locally to Ankh-Morpork, the dwarves seem to have dug a huge network of tunnels under the city that, at least until they put the golem-powered subway lines in, could serve as a most admirable dungeon crawl.

For that matter, putting the golem-powered subway lines in could serve as a most admirable dungeon crawl (if not a typical one), and could be expanded to an entire campaign.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by vitruvian

I recall now that Discworld Also had a template for 'Elfkin', that are just called Elves in some locales.

Not really my invention, by the way. It fits some throwaway references in the source novels.

[vitruvian]

Not really my invention, by the way. It fits some throwaway references in the source novels.

Oh, sure - I saw that.

Anyway, the Disc is big enough that there could even be some backwater area just the other side of the Hub where Elfkin are called Elves, and everybody but dwarves, trolls, and the wiser witches are taken in by their press and whatever glamour they're able to muster to believe that they're truly a noble, ancient race... would it be beneath me to suggest it be called Hubwards Elrondia?

[LoneWolf23k]

Decided to rez this thread, 'cause I'm liking this concept a lot. I could see spellcasting clerics as a new rising trend for gods wanting to draw worshippers through flashy miracular "publicity stunts". Holy Warriors could be recruited by more militant deities along the same lines.

As for a good place for Dungeon Fantasy campaigns on the Disc, one place comes to mind: Uberwald (I dunno how to type the two little dots on my keyboard, sorry). It's described as a HUGE country, with no single dominant rulership or culture, and with a wide variety of climates across the countryside.

Who's willing to bet it's landscape is also dotted with numerous ancient ruins filled with monsters and treasures, all just waiting for adventurers to come in to kill and plunder?

[vitruvian]

As for a good place for Dungeon Fantasy campaigns on the Disc, one place comes to mind: Uberwald (I dunno how to type the two little dots on my keyboard, sorry). It's described as a HUGE country, with no single dominant rulership or culture, and with a wide variety of climates across the countryside.

Well, anywhere up in the Ramtops or their foothills works pretty well, actually. And as long as you're some distance spinwise from Lancre, you can even justify people not really knowing about how nasty Elves truly are, and therefore calling Elfkin by that name unironically and being willing to deal with them. Just don't have them in the same party with dwarfs, trolls, or witches, unless you want internecine struggles to blow up eventually.

There's also the point that Lancre is almost certainly not the only country bordering on the Ramtops with 'gnarly ground', where whole unknown kingdoms can hide in the nooks and crannies between two seemingly adjacent points.

But yeah, Uberwald has a lot of adventuring potential. Just off the top of my head, you've got your standard Haunted Castle of the (very traditional) Vampire Count, your Den of the Werewolf Overlords, your Caverns of the Dwarfs, your Lair of the Mad Scientist complete with newly created monster, and quite likely a few out-and-out dungeons stocked by an up and coming Evil Overlord whose surname just might be Dread....