THE GREEN - Magical Adventures Beneath the Canopy

[Simlasa]

The Green is excellent. The setting is very inspiring, reminding me of the "Lost World" adventure novels of Burroughs. (snip)...The ecology of the Green is very interesting. Monsters run from dinosaurs through mamalian Megafauna along with some interesting 'chaos' creatures.

Oh! This sounds interesting... I'd assumed The Green was more along the lines of some proto-Exalted setting... Young Olympians or somesuch... now I'm not sure why I was under that impression.

[Puck]

Oh! This sounds interesting... I'd assumed The Green was more along the lines of some proto-Exalted setting... Young Olympians or somesuch... now I'm not sure why I was under that impression.

I think the introduction or advertisement lines of the Monograph could give that impression.

"Some say it began as a garden planted by the old gods when the world was young, so they might shade themselves from the fiery sun and take rest from their divine pursuits".

I was trying to write something that sounded cool rather than something that actually explained what the monograph was about.

[Puck]

Well, it looks like Drums Along the Frogtoe, a campaign for the Green, is going to be released as a monograph. There is a lot of editing, formatting, page numbers and fiddly bits left to do so it may be a little while yet, but I should have the copy into Chaosium within the next couple of months. Following is a rough outline:

Welcome to Verduria, a land of primordial forests and misty swamps, a lost land of forgotten civilizations and wild vistas were nature still holds the upper hand…a land known as the Green.

This book is intended as an expansion of the core book “The Green”. The scope of this book will focus on the swampy headwaters of the Frogtoe River running north and west of the Tundell River. Where ‘The Green’ painted the entire forest with broad strokes, this supplement will attempt to use a more detailed brush to paint a smaller area and introduce gamers to more particulars of the verdant land- specifically the lands surrounding the headwaters of the Frogtoe River. While it is possible to use this book without ‘The Green’ it will be difficult because there are numerous references to the core book.

Drums along the Frogtoe offers a “sandbox” style format where the various story elements, personalities and adventures are offered, but the campaign does not follow a story pattern that is set in stone. Although certain events should follow others in a logical manner to enhance the story, most of the order of action is determined by the players or the GM. An easily customizable story arc is also included to add structure and focus to the campaign if the Gm so chooses.

Each section of this work is broken down in a manner that gives you tools to run a successful campaign in the troubled region of the Frogtoe River. The first section provides a little background on the area, filling in the history of the region. It also describes marshy landscape and the difficulties of traveling through the area. Furthermore, there are helpful hints and suggestions of how the GM may get the intrepid adventurers to the swampy bogs of the Frogtoe basin and the inception of the campaign.

There are number of indigenous tribes in the region. The second section outlines the various factions and tribes of the upper Frogtoe as well as a bit of their culture, agendas, and motives.

The third section describes the Set Locations of the Frogtoe. These are the building blocks of the entire campaign. Most of locations included in this section are villages and strongholds of the major factions or key scenarios to develop a story arc or both. Many selections include details of the key actors in the story and colorful Npcs for the characters to interact with.

The fourth section is a treasure trove of non specific locations, events and encounters to drop in as needed. If the previous two sections were the building blocks, think of this section as the mortar to bond the blocks of your campaign together and fill in the cracks.

The fifth section is a series of random encounters to color the campaign. This section also includes statistics for most of the NPCs and antagonists. Sections 1-4 often refer the GM to the statistics provided in this section. Many encounters and statistic can easily be reworked and adapted to multiple varieties of the same encounter.

The sixth chapter is the blueprint of a suggested story arc for the campaign. Although the ‘Drums Along the Frogtoe’ takes a sandbox approach to the setting, scenarios and events can be arranged to make a linear adventurer. There are even certain locations and events that need to follow a bit of a timeline for the sake of consistency.

The appendix is of course all the information that couldn’t be jammed into another section. It includes an entry for using boats, a new magical tradition, and new trade products.

Unfortunately, this monograph does not focus on some of the cooler things in the Green. It does not deal with the cultures in the treetops, but rather the river and swampy cultures so there are few references to Tree Children or Mamprusi, Instead it focuses on Gwali, Bog Trolls, and the Wazzaka Crocodile Clans. It also pretty local and does not explore many places that were described in the Green. Who knows I may get around to filling in some of these other things someday.

The whole thing is very modular though and filled with ideas and mini-adventurers that could be placed virtually anywhere in the Green.

[Chaot]

Hot damn!

Puck, you just made me a very happy Chaot.

[Agentorange]

You can put me down for a copy !

[Agentorange]

As it's set along the Frogtoe river will there be stats for the giant carnivorous frogs mentioned in The Green ? ( I'm hoping for more than one species you know )

Actually I've written up three species including an Une corrupted one

[Puck]

OOps, the Frogtoe is a reference to the shape of the river, not that there is a lot of giant frogs there. Although there are some. There is at least one giant froglike thing called a tongue demon. (It is not a true demon but a natural creature).

Tongue Demon

Tongue Demons are actually giant relatives of toads. They are huge and half their bulk is in their enormous heads. They have very course mottled skin that blends perfectly with their surroundings. Strange sticky moss grows from the skin giving them the appearance of a living pile of mud, roots and marsh weed. They capture and swallow their prey using their enormous tongues.

Tongue Demon

STR 41 Move 6/8 Tail 1-3 6 4

CON 40 HP 40 Rleg 4-5 6 5

SIZ 41 Maj Wo 20 Lleg 6-7 6 5

INT 4 PP 12 Abdm 8-10 6 5

POW 12 Fatigue 81 Chest 11-13 6 6

DEX 8 Damage Rarm 14-15 6 3

Bonus 4d6 Larm 16-17 6 3

Head 18-20 6 5

Armor: 8 point skin

Attacks: Tongue 55%, 2d6

Bite/Swallow 80% 1 hp per round per location.

Claw: 35% d3+4d6

Frog demons attack with their tongues which does damage equal to half its Damage bonus. If the attack is successful, the following round the tongue will retract bringing the victim into the toad’s enormous mouth (Strength resistance test followed by a swallow attack). Once a character is inside the toad’s mouth he will be immobilized and take 1 hit point of digestive damage per round to each hit location. Armor will protect locations until it is dissolved. If the amphibian’s mouth is full it will attack with its claws. The second round after a character is in the mouth he will be swallowed allowing the monster to attack with its tongue again.

Skills: Climb 65%, Dodge 15%, Hide 75%, Stealth 65%, Sense 75%, Spot 65%.

I would love to see what you have come up with. Especially the Unec Frog. That sounds particularly interesting.

[Agentorange]

sounds formidable..what are the species stats ? STR, CON etc

ps did you get my PM ?

[Puck]

I did not see the PM at first. Then I replied and the message was lost aaarg! I think got it this time.

Here are the original rough stats for the tongue demon. I wrote them a while ago and it is seeming a little to tough now. I may have to tone it down some.

Tongue Demon

Average Roll Average

STR 6d6+20 41

CON 3d6+20 33-34

SIZ 6d6+20 41

INT 4 5

POW 3d6 10-11

DEX 2d6+3 10

Move: 6 (8 Swimming)

Hit Points: 38

Damage Bonus: 4d6

Armor: 8 point skin

Attacks: Tongue 55%, d3

Bite/Swallow 80% 1 hp per round per location.

Claw: 35% d3+1/2 db (2d6)

Notes:

Frog demons attack with their tongues which does damage equal to half its Damage bonus. If the attack is successful, the following round the tongue will retract bringing the victim into the toad’s enormous mouth (swallow attack). Once a character is inside the toad’s mouth he will be immobilized and take 1 hit point of damage per round to each hit location. Armor will protect locations until it is dissolved. If the amphibian’s mouth is full it will attack with its claws. The second round after a character is in the mouth he will be swallowed allowing the monster to attack with its tongue again.

Skills: Climb 85%, Dodge 15%, Hide 95%, Stealth 65%, Sense 75%, Spot 65%.

Edited February 10, 2012 by Puck

[Puck]

I have just realized that the stats are pretty messed up. I have some editing work to do.

[Agentorange]

I have just realized that the stats are pretty messed up. I have some editing work to do.

That's one tough frog ! ( well, frog like creature ) Imagine if a frog cultist had one as their familiar....I don't see why you can't have something that tough in the game, after all they'd be pretty uncommon I'd imagine. Actually a frog cultist trying to gain one as a familiar would make a nice adventure hook.

[Puck]

I just added the VENTURERS GUIDE to the download section

Venturers Guide (The Green) - Downloads - Basic Roleplaying Central

This introduces a number of new traditions that can be used with the Green. These may be of interest to anyone running a fantasy campaign. Many of the traditions can work well in any type of fantasy world and should be able to be ported over pretty easily. Hopefully, the Green should have a large adventure/campaign out in monograph form soon as well.

[Agentorange]

Cool stuff, Really enjoyed reading the venturers guide....you know you're going to have to stat up a whole range of Turtle based critters now ?

[Mankcam]

Yes The Venturers Guide has got to be one of the best freebies I have seen. I'm definably buying The Green now, thanks for posting it Puck!

[Chaot]

Puck, did Trogod's not have noses in the first book?

Just had a chance to scan but it looks very lovely.

I'm definably buying The Green now

I highly endorse The Green. Great book. I plan on working it in when I get around to a Freeport game.

[Puck]

Thank you. It means a lot to me that people enjoy it and drives me to keep trying to write stuff.

.you know you're going to have to stat up a whole range of Turtle based critters now ?

Yep, as a matter of fact I thought about putting the stats for the Giant Turtles in an appendix at the end. Then I forgot about it. I will get to work on the turtles as soon as I have a little time.

Puck, did Trogod's not have noses in the first book?

I have tried to make their lower faces (nose, mouth and jaw) pushed out- similar to a chimp or planet of the apes prothsetic. They generally have nostrels or nose slits. One of the best examples of how they should look is on p.51 of The Green. Depending on the positioning of the face and the way I scupt the picture they sometimes look different. I see that the in the picture of the trogod on page 25 of the Venturer's Guide the nose slits have vanished. They were there originally, but the contrast was not enough, and the final picture did not read the difference in color . That being said, I believe the Togod should have a wide variation in the way they look depending upon their racial type and totem.

[Puck]

you know you're going to have to stat up a whole range of Turtle based critters now ?

Welbolng (The Green) - Downloads - Basic Roleplaying Central

Well, here is a quick writeup of the Welbolng turtles. Large creatures are kind of hard for me and a couple of times I have been way off the mark with the siz stat. Many times I feel like there should be different sizes of creatures. I put in two set of stats for this one, one for smaller turtles and one for the real giants. I kept pretty close to brontosaur stats with the big ones as I figured would be roughly that size...not as long or tall but much thicker with the shell.

[Puck]

I just added a Green specific Character sheet to the downloads section.

Character Sheet (The GREEN) - Downloads - Basic Roleplaying Central

This was something I always wanted to do, but always became frustrated with the programs I was trying to use.

It is a very busy and chaotic sheet as each heading is different looking, but I find it is easier to find what you are looking for that way. Most of the necessary stuff is on the front page. I just put the back page together to make it seem more complete.

[Chaot]

I must look!

[Chaot]

Nice.

Something I missed through the Green read through. You use Major Wounds and Hit Locations. Mind talking about how that shakes out? I've never done that before.

[Puck]

Something I missed through the Green read through. You use Major Wounds and Hit Locations. Mind talking about how that shakes out? I've never done that before.

Well, I have always used hit locations myself, but it seemed like a lot of people prefer Major Wounds. Both have their charms. Although I usually focus on hit locations in the Green, I have always included a line for major wounds for people who use that option. I think I did this in Drums Along the Frogtoe as well, where there are a lot of statistics.

I do wonder about these options a lot:

Simply going with Major Wounds would save a lot of time and space in supplements. I have no experience using this in actual play though.

on the other hand...

There is something really nice about detailed hit locations, especially when varying armor types are worn on different locations. It seems to add a little extra character. Hit Locations was a thing I always really liked about Runequest when I first started playing it.

[Agentorange]

I must admit I've always liked detailed hit locations. Like Puck I came from a Runequest background as well.

[Mankcam]

I finally got around to purchasing a copy of The Green, and all I can say is 'Wow!' This monograph is excellent, a very highly detailed fantasy setting, this would certainly appeal to old RQ3 and to recent BRP BGB fans looking for a fantasy setting to sink their teeth in. I would really love to see Chaosium support it with a fully published line, its got so much potential. Highly recommended!

[Mankcam]

Oh, and BTW I really like the way it supports both the Major Wounds and the Hit Location options. BRP feels so much more tactile with Hit Locations, it's great for settings with a focus on melee combat. Thanks for going down this route Puck!

[Chaot]

I do wonder about these options a lot:

Simply going with Major Wounds would save a lot of time and space in supplements. I have no experience using this in actual play though.

on the other hand...

There is something really nice about detailed hit locations, especially when varying armor types are worn on different locations. It seems to add a little extra character. Hit Locations was a thing I always really liked about Runequest when I first started playing it.

Honestly, if you like hit locations I say keep supplying them. I know a lot of other BRPers are probably really grateful to see them supported and it's easy for me to just sub major wounds and random armor.

It's been a while since I read the book and I couldn't remember if you had created some sort of unholy amalgam of the two. Something like doubling hit point locations but having a major wound when total hit points lost equaled half the character's Con or something like that.

I finally got around to purchasing a copy of The Green, and all I can say is 'Wow!' This monograph is excellent, a very highly detailed fantasy setting, this would certainly appeal to old RQ3 and to recent BRP BGB fans looking for a fantasy setting to sink their teeth in. I would really love to see Chaosium support it with a fully published line, its got so much potential. Highly recommended!

Isn't it great? When I get around to that Freeport game I want to run, The Green is in, no doubt. If I end up running Magic World before then, The Green is STILL in, no doubt.