D&D 5E, the Nentir Vale, and Other Assorted D&D Stuff

After more than two years of waiting, D&D 5E is finally about to be published. The Starter Set is coming out soon, and after that comes the Player's Handbook and the free Basic D&D PDF. Everything I've just said sounds absolutely awesome as far as I'm concerned. I love D&D 4E, but I'm currently having fun with the 5E playtest rules and I can't wait to see the full rules.

Picture from ENWorld.

I'm considering buying the Starter Set. Normally, I wouldn't, since I've been playing the playtest and I've been playing D&D for well over a decade now, but I'm trying to get an offline gaming group together, and at least one of them is a complete newbie to tabletop RPGs. The Starter Set, with its pregenerated characters and short rulebook, is going to be way less intimidating than Basic D&D or a full Player's Handbook would be. On the other hand, I may just stick with 4E Essentials and make my own pregenerated characters for the group. I'm not quite sure yet.

Whatever the case, I'll certainly be downloading Basic D&D. It's free, it's got everything necessary to play to level 20, and it should be just about perfect for anyone who doesn't want to buy the game yet, but still wants to play. I'm really curious to see what they do with it as far as aesthetics go - if it'll be bare bones with no art or anything like the playtest packets, or if it'll have a few pieces of art and the same kind of aesthetics the Starter Set previews are showing. I'm hoping it's the latter, of course.

In any case, 5E is still heavily on my mind as I'm running a Play-by-Post game using the 5E playtest rules from October of last year. It took a while, but I finally got a game together to try out 5E, which brings me to my next point: I'm not using the Forgotten Realms as the setting. I'm not a huge fan of the Realms, so I stuck with the Nentir Vale, which is easily my second favorite setting after Eberron. And my group went nuts with it. I've got a Paladin of Sehanine, two devotees of the Raven Queen (one Fighter, one Rogue), a Cleric of Zehir, and possibly a religiously-undecided Mage. The party's a curious mix of alignments ranging from Neutral Good to Neutral Evil. So far, I'm digging it.

But back to the Nentir Vale. I'm considering going through all my 4E books and putting together as much information as I can on the Vale. I'm aware of this Wikidot site that does pretty much the same thing, but that group's taken a bit of a different look at the setting than I plan to, particularly with their assertions about the deities. Obviously, this is a big undertaking and will probably take a fairly long time, but if I do it, I'll be able to use it as a player handout and a DM aid in any future games I run in the Vale. Plus, I'll be able to keep two copies - one for players and one for all my secret DM notes. I'll almost certainly post the full thing here, of course.

Last, I'd like to address that it's been a while since I posted here. I've been working on offline stuff, hanging out with friends and doing quite a bit completely unrelated to tabletop gaming. I didn't have as much time to devote to gaming, so I ended up dropping from all PbP games for a while. I'm back now, though, and I plan on adding quite a bit to the blog - some header images or something at the very least. Thanks for sticking around, and if you're new, take a look at what I've got. Might be something that catches your eye.

Musing on a 40K Game I'd Like to Run

Between rereading some of the Horus Heresy novels and running a game of Deathwatch, I've been pondering another 40K game. Now, I wouldn't run it anytime soon, as I've already got enough on my GM plate as it is, but it's something I'd really like to run in the future.

Put simply, it's a Horus Heresy game focusing on loyal Space Marines from the Traitor Legions. Having either escaped the Istvaan system or being embedded with another Legion or something, the PCs have rejoined with the Imperium and left their original Legions. Put together as a specialist team by one of the primarchs (I'm currently thinking either Dorn or Guilliman), the team would have to face both xenos and the servants of the Traitor Legions, undertaking special missions given directly from the surviving primarchs and Malcador the Sigilite.

I really just want to see or play a loyal World Eater.
Picture from here.

Unfortunately, this would be a really tough game to get started. I'd have to either extensively houserule in "Chapter" rules for the Traitor Legions, or I'd have to play a different system entirely. Savage Worlds might be doable, but it would also have to be extensively houseruled. Fate Core would work, but I've never run Fate and haven't even played it very much.

Ideally, I'd want to use the Deathwatch system, mostly because it's a fairly familiar system for 40K players and it already has most of the rules I'd need. Some of the Legions would be more difficult to create than others (particularly the Thousand Sons), but the Chapter creation rules would probably suffice for most of them. I'd have to create all new Primarch's Curses for most of them, though.

On the upside, once I do all that work to create the Legions (if I do it), I'll be able to use the rules for another game I've been pondering: an alt-history Dornian Heresy game where the opposite primarchs rebelled, led by the Arch-Heretic Rogal Dorn.

Warhammer 40k - Creating a Space Marine Chapter in Deathwatch

So I've been getting back into Warhammer 40k quite a bit over the last couple weeks. I'm playing in games of Rogue Trader and Dark Heresy (both of which started quite recently) and I'm gearing up to GM a game of Deathwatch. This, combined with a distinct lack of excitement when it comes to gaming, is why I haven't had anything to blog about over the last three weeks or so. Hopefully, with a bunch of 40k gaming starting up for me, I'll have more to talk about in the near future.

Now, for Deathwatch, I won't be creating my own character, but I do intend for my Kill-Team to have some

I love this game.
Image from here.

interaction with some Space Marines from a new Chapter, so I figured I'd go through and create this Chapter using the rules from Rites of Battle. I'll be using a combination of die rolls and just choosing options that I think would work well.

First up, when and why was the Chapter founded? A couple of die rolls say Crusade and in the 41^st millennium. So, the as-yet unnamed Chapter was created specifically to go on grand crusades around the galaxy, crushing the foes of the Imperium, and it was created within the last thousand years. I'm actually going to ignore the book and say that it was closer to the beginning of the 41^st millennium, as the game takes place sometime around the year 830.M41. Having the Chapter be founded in 738 wouldn't leave much time for the Chapter to really establish itself.

For the Chapter's gene-seed, I'm going to pick Raven Guard. I really like the Raven Guard, so that's what I'm going to go with. For gene-stock purity, I rolled A New Generation, so when I choose a Demeanor for the Chapter, I'll be picking or rolling something new, rather than going with the standard Raven Guard Demeanor.

Speaking of Demeanor, I'm going to pick Scions of Mars for the Chapter. I've always liked Techmarines, and the idea of a traditionally-stealthy Raven Guard successor mixed with the big, heavily-armored Techmarines is pretty interesting to me.

Next up, Chapter characteristic bonuses. My roll of 32 gives +5 Perception and +5 Strength, so the Marines of this Chapter are both strong and alert.

For the Chapter's heroes, my first rolls indicated that a Chapter Master was assassinated by agents of the Imperium itself. The write-up in the chart suggests the Officio Assassinorum, and that there isn't an apparent reason why he was assassinated. I'll put some thought into this. A secondary hero is the Master of Sanctity (a Chaplain, probably), who led forces against an Eldar craftworld.

For a home world, I'm just going to pick fleet-based. Since it's a crusading Chapter, like the Black Templars, I think this makes sense. For recruiting worlds, maybe that's why a ship of the Chapter is in the Jericho Reach for this campaign: they're searching for a suitable world to recruit new initiates to replenish their strength. A couple random rolls indicate that the Chapter has five major vessels, and that the fleet is currently damaged or otherwise suffering some kind of complication.

Space Marines and Inquisition.
Awesome.
Image from here.

Another die roll indicates that they're a divergent Chapter, so they don't follow the Codex Astartes to the letter. So how about a Chapter that focuses on Lightning Strikes? They move in, hit the target fast and hard, and get right back out, with a focus on quick vehicles like bikes or Rhinos.

For Solo Mode abilities, another random roll means that they'll be getting one of the Raven Guard's abilities. Since the Raven Guard currently only have one Solo Mode ability, Master of the Shadows, that's what this Chapter will get as well. So far we've got a Chapter that has an affinity with tech, likes fast vehicles, and does well in the shadows. Interesting stuff.

For Squad Mode abilities, I rolled Storm of Hell and Swift Advance. Both seem to fit with the Chapter's fast-attack tactics, so I'll stick with those.

For special equipment, I got 93, Modified Weaponry. How about, instead of standard power swords, the Chapter prefers power scythes with blades that kind of resemble a bird's talons?

For Chapter believes, I rolled The Emperor Above All, so the Chapter reveres Corvus Corax, but holds the Emperor even higher and their Chaplains' sermons reflect that. This should go interestingly with their ties to the Mechanicus (from the Scions of Mars Demeanor), but I think they'll have the belief that the Omnissiah is just another aspect of the Emperor.

Heraldry in keeping with the raven theme, I think.
Image from WotC.

A roll of 4 means the Chapter is under-strength. So their fleet is damaged, they're at half-strength at best, and they're looking for a new world to recruit from. I think I can come up with an interesting story from that.

A few more die rolls later, and I've determined that the Chapter has close ties to the Adeptus Sororitas and maintains a vicious hatred of the tyranids, particularly Hive Fleet Dagon. Maybe that could be part of the reason why they're under-strength.

Finally, we come to the name, heraldry, and livery. I'm not going to bother rolling, but after thinking about it, I'm going to go with Night Falcons. I'm thinking they'd be armored primarily in black, but with white shoulder pads, helmets, and backpacks. For heraldry, I'm going to go draw on my love of D&D 4E and snag the insignia of the Raven Queen, because I think it would look cool on a white shoulder pad, and it kinda fits with their Raven Guard origin.

For custom Chapter advances, I'm going with Xenos Bane. Since they're a crusading chapter, and they've been hit hard by tyranids, I think it fits rather nicely.

So, here's the final Chapter write up for the Night Falcons.

Battle-Brother with plasma pistol and power fist.
Picture from Bolter and Chainsword.

Night Falcons

Primarch: Corvus Corax

Founding: 26^th in M41

Home World: Fleet-based

Chapter Demeanor: Scions of Mars

Solo Mode: Master of Shadows (First Founding, page 17)

Squad Modes: Storm of Hell and Swift Advance (Rites of Battle, page 33)

Characteristic Bonuses: +5 Strength, +5 Perception

Gene-seed Deficiencies: N/A

Chapter Advances: Xenos Bane (Rites of Battle, page 42)

Favored Tactics: Lightning Strikes with Rhinos, attack bikes, and similar vehicles

Heroes

Chapter Master Annus Derax, who was assassinated by an agent of the Officio Assassinorum soon after vanquishing a hive tyrant of Hive Fleet Dagon.

High Chaplain Tyros, who led three squads of the Third Company on a daring hit-and-run attack on an eldar craftworld.

Created in the 26^th founding in late M41, the Night Falcons are a Raven Guard successor Chapter. While they revere their Primarch, Corvus Corax, the Chaplains of the Night Falcons preach honor and reverence of the Emperor above all else, both as the Master of Mankind and as his other aspect, the Omnissiah.

Created as a crusading Chapter, the Night Falcons were given eight mighty vessels and the mandate to travel among the stars, destroying xenos and heretics wherever they might be found. After a nasty encounter with Hive Fleet Dagon on a planet known as Coraton IV, the Night Falcons were left with less than half of the thousand Space Marines they began with. Their beloved Chapter Master, Annus Derax, was dead, slain at the hands of an Imperial assassin soon after his miraculous victory against the Dagon hive tyrant. During this campaign, the Chapter fought alongside an order of the Sisters of Battle, who had an abbey on the planet. With three of their ships destroyed, the Night Falcons ventured into the Jericho Reach in search of a new world to begin a cycle of recruitment to replenish their massive losses.

The Night Falcons prefer to make devastating hit-and-run attacks to strike at their enemies, using concealment and vicious close-combat tactics to devastate foes. They have a strong affinity with technology and ties to the Adeptus Mechanicus. Their Techmarines serve in every role, using their technological training to supplement their fighting abilities. Rather than serving separately and being used mainly to maintain and operate Chapter equipment, Techmarines may also serve as officers or Chaplains.

In addition to normal power swords, the Night Falcons prefer the use of power scythes, styling these lethal weapons as the talons of the birds of prey the Chapter was named for.

Because who doesn't love Terminator armor?
Image from Bolter and Chainsword.

Campaign Prep - Rogue Trader

And the blog is back! I took an unannounced hiatus from the blog for a couple weeks, mostly because there was nothing really going on. I've been reading novels rather than game books, and my PbP games have slowed down a bit with the holidays, so I didn't have a whole lot to say on gaming.

But now, I'm back to gaming, and first up for this year is Rogue Trader. I love this game. It's complex, super detailed, steeped in Warhammer 40k lore, and fairly difficult to pick up for a newbie to the setting, but despite all its flaws, there's something about it that really sings for me. It's like a cross between Star Trek, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Event Horizon. You don't just have a starship, you have a multi-mile long gothic cathedral capable of flying through hell itself and blasting all life from the surface of a planet. You don't just have a chief engineer, you have an Explorator Tech Priest of the Adeptus Mechanicus who may literally be more machine than man. You don't just carry around a pistol, you carry a miniature plasma reactor that happens to be shaped like a pistol and which fires blasts of pure plasma capable of immolating or melting whatever they hit.

It's over the top, gloriously violent, and is explicitly about flying around the galaxy and looting whatever the hell you find, all in the name of the God-Emperor and the Imperium of Mankind. And I love it.

How badass is this? Seriously, these are the kind of characters I want to play.
Picture from FFG.

So why did I title this post Campaign Prep? Because I'm leaning toward trying to run it via PbP this year. Maybe not this week or even this month, but I haven't been able to play very much of this game and one of my New Year's resolutions is to fix that. Hopefully I'll get in some Dark Heresy or Deathwatch too, but Rogue Trader is the main 40k game I'm looking to run.

But, in spite of my love of Rogue Trader, I've never GMed it, and I'm honestly not all that experienced with the system, since every group I've been in fell apart for one reason or another. I've played both a Rogue Trader and an Explorator, but both were fairly brief stints, so I'm asking you guys for your Rogue Trader GM tips. Which published adventures are good? Which are bad? Am I better off trying to write something of my own, or even just throwing together a quick sandbox and winging it?

Above all, what are your thoughts on Rogue Trader? Better/worse than the other 40k RPGs?

For Gold and Glory - Actual Play Report #1

This is the first Actual Play report of one of my Play-by-Post games over on the RPG.net forums. For Gold and Glory is a game I'm running using the Dark Dungeons rules and I chose to run an adventure (and maybe some more later) rather than running a sandbox game. I chose to start with my favorite adventure - The Sunless Citadel, originally published for D&D 3.0. I'm basically converting it on the fly, but 95% of the monsters in the adventure are available in the Dark Dungeons book and the traps are pretty much straight out of the adventure. This campaign started back in September and we've got almost 350 posts so far, with no sign of slowing down any time soon. 

In case you missed it, I fucking love this adventure.

So, first up, here's the initial cast of characters:
Anich Larinson - 1st-level Fighter, played by Phil6294
Rowan Porter - 1st-level Thief, played by m111
Quartz Graystrike - 1st-level Dwarf, played by Sabermane
Penlin the Mighty - 1st-level Magic-User, played by thirdkingdom
Father Suril Troar - 1st-level Cleric, played by CaliberX

The adventurers, a mix of locals and roaming folk, met up in a tavern (how original, right?) in Oakhurst. While most were responding to a call for adventurers needed to take care of a local goblin tribe, Father Suril was a local priest, determined to go out to the fabled Sunless Citadel in search of his nephew, one of a band of adventurers who had gone missing in the Citadel.

A merchant approached the party and revealed the full reasons why Oakhurst put out the call for adventurers - a goblin tribe living in the bowels of the fallen fortress would ransom a single perfect apple once a year. The apple would cure any ailments, though occasionally the goblins would attempt to sell a white, sickly apple instead - where the red apple would bolster whoever ate it, the white apple would steal the life from the poor victim. Another party of adventurers, including the merchant's son and Father Suril's nephew, went into the Citadel over a month prior to the party's arrival and never returned.

Long story short, after much promised reward, the party set off for the Citadel the next morning. After a few hours walking out to the ruined Citadel, with no encounters along the way, the party reached a deep ravine surrounded by broken pillars with a rope leading down. After some debate over what to do, Penlin the Mighty grew tired of waiting, cried "Observe my decisive action as I grow bored of standing about!" and swung down on the rope to a ledge down below, only to be promptly attacked by giant rats. The rest of the party quickly followed, with the notable exception of Father Suril (who preferred to use his sling from above), and two rats were slain and the third fled. Fortunately, despite being bitten, Penlin and Quartz managed to avoid contracting a deadly plague from the rats.

After some minor patching up of wounds later, the party continued down a battered set of stairs from the ledge, leading into a ruined courtyard, beyond which laid the Sunless Citadel itself - a blasted keep that had fallen into the ravine centuries before. Deciding to press forward to the entrance, the group nearly had its first death - Rowan tumbled into a pit trap, bashing his head on the ground and dropping to zero hit points. A fortunately-timed critical save vs. death ray later and he was back up to one hit point.

After pulling Rowan out of the pit (and grabbing some loot from a goblin corpse found within), the party moved on, entering the Citadel. Their first sight was a group of slaughtered goblins, one of which was pinned to the wall with a spear. Moving on from that room, the party killed another giant rat and chose to ignore for the moment a stone door carved with an elaborate dragon.

After that, the group of intrepid adventurers made it to another room with a broken cage, a smoky firepit, and a huddled tiny humanoid covered in rags and weeping - a beleaguered kobold known as Meepo, Keeper of Dragons...

More to come soon! That covers about 150 posts up to the first week of October. We've got another two months and 200 posts to go, and hopefully I'll get that covered here in the next few days. If you guys found this at least a little interesting, please let me know - if not, I'd love to know that too and I'll go back to my other gaming content. Thanks!

XCOM Musings

I've been playing a ton of XCOM: Enemy Within in the last few weeks, so naturally, I've been pondering an XCOM tabletop game. There are two aspects to XCOM: EW - the tactical squad combat and the strategic global management/tech upgrade aspect.

Admit it, you'd buy a game with this art on the book cover. Pic from here.

For the tactical combat, I don't foresee that being too difficult to port over to a tabletop game. There are plenty of games out there that can handle lethal tactical combat. I'm thinking somewhere along the lines of an extremely simplified D&D 4E - something built off the 13th Age system, maybe. The big key here is that it's got to have a level-up system to replicate XCOM ranks and it's got to be absolutely lethal to simulate how often XCOM soldiers are killed. A plus would be quick character creation, for the same reason.

The strategic element could be a little more difficult. In the video game, there's only one player to make all those decisions - in a tabletop game, there are generally going to be at least two (three if you count the GM). There are also a lot of aspects to make decisions about: choosing which abduction mission to go on, tech upgrades, research options, items to buy, what countries to send satellites to, etc. Making these decisions as a group has the potential to be divisive unless there's a clear role for each player. So, I'd call one player the Head Scientist, one the Chief Engineer, one the Strategic Lead, and one the Tactical Lead. Each would get a quarter of XCOM's budget to take actions for their section.

The Head Scientist would make decisions on things like research options, autopsies, and tech upgrades. The Chief Engineer would make decisions on what buildings to add to the base and Foundry upgrades. The Strategic Lead would make decisions regarding satellites and which missions to take on, and the Tactical Lead would make decisions on what equipment to purchase and equip soldiers with, along with choosing which XCOM soldier would be the squad leader on the various missions. This way, every player has a strategic role to play alongside controlling a character during tactical missions.

Options for the four strategic roles could be something like this:
Head Scientist - purchase scientists to shorten research time, choose research projects, and run autopsies and interrogations.
Chief Engineer - hire engineers to speed up Foundry upgrades and build times, build base facilities.
Strategic Lead - purchase satellites, run intel scans searching for Exalt, sell surplus at the Gray Market, make decisions on what missions to take.
Tactical Lead - hire soldiers, purchase equipment, choose squad leaders, choose Officer Training School options.

Now, I realize that this limits the game to four players plus a GM, but I don't really see that as a problem. I'm thinking XCOM would be less of a roleplaying game than it would be just a really good boardgame with a tactical combat module bolted on. It would certainly be possible to add a lot of roleplaying elements into it, what with playing the soldiers as well as the XCOM HQ roles.

I may not make this game, but it's fun to think about. So, what are your thoughts on an XCOM tabletop game? What would you do different?

All Things Arcane - Arcane Grafts

Grafts are one result of mad wizards trying to magically cross several animals. Grafting is the act of adding body parts, either new or replacements, from other creatures. Golem limbs, giant scorpion tails, chameleon skin, ghoul claws – all are available through grafting.

However, there are downsides to grafts, mainly the chance of not surviving the process. Characters who undergo grafting must succeed on a saving throw vs. death to survive the experience. Characters take a -1 penalty to this saving throw for each graft they already have. In addition, the character takes 2d6 points of damage due to incisions and the arcane solutions needed to graft the new parts. Afterward, healing damage takes place normally, but the character will need to take at least a week of rest for the graft to heal and become fully functional.

Get a few grafts and before you know it, your
character looks like this.

To create a graft, characters need things: an arcane surgeon to perform the graft, someone to be grafted, an acceptable body part to graft, and costly ritual components. The arcane surgeon must be of 7^th level or higher and be a Magic-User, Warlock, or Artificer. To obtain body parts suitable for grafting, the arcane surgeon must have access to a specimen of the appropriate type. If the specimen is dead, there is a 1-in-6 chance that the body part is too damaged to use. However, if the specimen is alive, the body part is always useable, though the arcane surgeon will have to remove it, which generally either kills or cripples the specimen. Suitable magic (a hold monster or similar spell) may assist in removing the body part intact. Certain specimens may hold multiple grafts of the same kind – for example, a massive dragon may be able to provide two or three sets of scales for the Dragon Scales graft.

Each graft has an associated cost to perform the ritual. The character or arcane surgeon spends this cost on ritual components – healing solutions, numbing balms, cleaning agents, spell components, etc.

Grafts

Demon Claw

Specimen: Any demon

Cost: 5,000gp

Effect: A demon claw replaces the character's hand. The character can use the hand as a melee weapon dealing 1d6. On a strike with the claw, the victim takes another 1d6 damage unless they pass a saving throw.

Demon Heart

Specimen: Any demon

Cost: 10,000gp

Effect: A demon heart gives replaces the character's actual heart (requiring a saving throw to avoid death during grafting). It gives the character +2 hit points per HD, a +2 on saving throws vs. magic effects, a reddish cast to their skin, and the character takes half damage from fire. In addition, the character gains an affinity for blood and violence and gains a more volatile temper due to the fiendish influence of the heart.

Dragon Breath Gland

Specimen: Any dragon

Cost: 10,000gp

Effect: A dragon's breath gland gives the character a breath weapon. The shape and type of the breath match that of the dragon specimen. Range is reduced to twenty feet in its largest dimension. The breath weapon can be used three times per day and deals 1d6 damage per HD of the character.

Dragon Scales

Specimen: Any dragon

Cost: 7,500gp

Effect: Dragon scales bond to the character's skin over most of the body. They give the character a -1[+1] bonus to AC and the character takes only half damage of the damage type dealt by the dragon specimen's breath weapon.

Ghoul Claws

Specimen: A ghoul

Cost: 7,500gp

Effect: Ghoul claws replace the character's hand. They allow a character to make a 1d6-damage melee attack, and if the attack's target fails a saving throw, they are paralyzed for 1d6 rounds.

Giant Scorpion Tail

Specimen: A giant scorpion

Cost: 5,000gp

Effect: The scorpion tail is grafted to the end of the character's spine. It allows the character to make a tail attack that deals 1d6 damage and forces a saving throw. A failed saving throw means the target takes half the damage (rounded down, never less than 1) again due to the powerful scorpion venom.

Or maybe even like this.

Giant Squid Tentacle

Specimen: A giant squid

Cost: 5,000gp

Effect: The squid tentacle attaches to the character's shoulder or hip. The tentacle gives the character a tentacle attack that allows the character to grapple an enemy for one round, giving it a -2 penalty to all actions and AC on a successful attack roll.

Golem Arm

Specimen: An iron golem

Cost: 7,500gp

Effect: A golem arm replaces the character's original arm. The arm may be used as a shield and allows the character to make a melee attack equivalent to an attack with a mace. The arm cannot be used both as a weapon and a shield in the same round.

Griffon Wings

Specimen: A griffon

Cost: 10,000gp

Effect: Griffon wings are grafted to the character's back and shoulders. The character may fly at normal speed for a number of minutes per day equal to the character's Constitution score. A heavily-encumbered character cannot fly.

Lizardman Tail

Specimen: A lizardman

Cost: 5,000gp

Effect: The tail is grafted to the character's spine. It gives a character the ability to swim at double their normal speed and a +2 to any saving throws related to balance.

Minotaur Horns

Specimen: A minotaur

Cost: 5,000gp

Effect: The horns are grafted affixed to the character's skull, giving them a gore attack that deals 1d6+1 damage. A successful attack also knocks an opponent off their feet, if they are the same size or smaller than the character.

Ogre Arm

Specimen: An ogre

Cost: 5,000gp

Effect: The ogre's arm replaces that of the character. The character gains +1 to Strength and adds +1 to damage from melee attacks made with weapons wielded with that arm.

Shark Gills

Specimen: A shark

Cost: 3,000gp

Effect: The shark's gills are implanted into the character's neck. The character can breathe underwater indefinitely. However, the character needs to keep the gills moist – a wet rag wrapped around the neck would work. Dried gills cause intense pain to the character, preventing them from concentrating on difficult tasks such as spellcasting or picking locks.

Shark Teeth

Specimen: A shark

Cost: 2,500gp

Effect: The shark teeth replace the character's original teeth. The character gains a bite attack that deals 1d6 damage to a target. The target must succeed on a saving throw or take half that damage again the next round, due to teeth breaking off in the wound. The character constantly sheds and regrows teeth every few days, and cannot speak clearly enough to cast spells.

Spider Silk Gland

Cost: 3,500gp

Specimen: A giant spider

Effect: The spider's silk glands are implanted into the character's wrists, allowing the character to spin a web (similar to the Web spell) or create thirty feet of silken rope once per day.

GM NOTES: This material hasn't been playtested yet. I was playing XCOM and figured it would be really interesting to modify D&D characters the way XCOM soldiers can get genetic modifications using alien technology. I know that there were graft rules buried somewhere in D&D 3.5, but I wanted something I could use for the old-school games I'm running now. I wrote this up with Swords & Wizardry in mind, but it should work just fine for most, if not all, old-school games. For cost, I just had to wing it - I couldn't find anything about magic item costs in S&W, and I was thinking these are kind of like permanent magic items. So as with anything OSR-related, use at your own risk and feel free to tweak, add new grafts, and please, if you use them at your table, let me know how it went and how the rules worked for you!