What's in this bog? [D12]

Swamplands and bogs, while seemingly full of life, with all it's frogs, snakes and mosquitoes, don't have much to offer for an adventuring party apart from the wet, sticky and smelly obstacle of the swamp itself. But this time, the party stumbled upon something.

What's in this bog? [D12]
1	A magical abomination covers the whole bog bed, it's tentacles look like vines.
2	A group of partially submerged swampfolk preying on unsuspecting travelers.
3	A creature, covered in decomposing bandages, releasing spores everywhere.
4	Nothing apart from the really bad smell that makes you gag (disease?)
5	A cyst covered bog witch collecting ingredients for her potions.
6	Nutritious looking mushroom covering every tree, some have bite marks.
7	An altar to some long forgotten gods, swarming with fireflies and mosquitos.
8	A boat-sized hollow log filled with green-glowing frog egg-like things.
9	A body of a trapper, covered in maggots, his equipment mostly intact.
10	An abandoned rowboat in decent shape. With a lantern still lit sitting in it?
11	A hermit. He can aid the party, if they promise that to leave him alone.
12	Sealed barrels with rusted chains, they must have been anchored here.

Savage Witcher - free mini supplement in progress

Being Polish, I had access to the Witcher saga long before the pc/xbox games came into existence. There was a big Witcher boom in Poland about in the 2000s. I have read loved the short stories (they are also available in english) and (only) liked the saga. Unfortunately it turned more into politics later on, and lost it's focus on action and exploring Geralt's story, but it was a good read nevertheless... but I digress.
Apart from the books, there was a tabletop roleplaying game, a movie and a TV series released in Poland. While the RPG was decent, the movie and the TV series was generally shunned by the fans, and it's nothing to write about. 

Now, thanks to the PC/Xbox games, the idea of Witchers was introduced to an English speaking world, and by extent was introduced into tabletop RPGs. I have read many Witcher conversions for various systems, but all of them where somehow lacking or missing the point of Witchers. With this in mind I decided to introduce the Witcher to Savage Worlds system, in a form of a free pdf supplement - the Savage Witcher.

The Savage Witcher mini-supplement will be mainly based on the books and the pc/xbox games. I will take some cues from the official tabletop rpg as well, and I will try to stay as true to the original material as possible.

This is what you can expect in the near(by) future from the Savage Witcher pdf:

Witcher Baground - Fluff chapter explaining what witchers are, their place in the world and how to include them in your game.

Witcher race - yes, a race, because of how witchers are "created", they require their own race for Savage Worlds.

Witcher Edges - the witchers in stories are an experienced lot. So it is understandable that most of their skills comes from training and experience. The edges will be available only to witchers and will cover such aspects like making and using elixirs, witcher signs, and monster hunting. This way, players can create different types of Witchers, and even start as a Novice Witcher.

Witcher Signs - a new arcane background adapting witcher signs to the Savage Worlds system.

Witcher Equipment - Few paragraphs on the equipment used by witchers. Especially weapons and elixirs.

Creatures from the World of Witcher - A bestiary like chapter about creatures and monsters from the book and games. It will include new and revised monsters.

This post was originally created some time ago. Soon after I have lost interest in blogging and the idea of creating this mini-supplement fell into oblivion. But now, after my blog-come-back, and with the Witcher 3 at the horizon, I am giving this pdf another shot.
Any words of encouragements would greatly help me to finish this thing, so please, don't be afraid to post a comment, even just saying that you would like to see the final pdf.

Remembering TheForge.pl

So, here's something you probably don't know:

There was a company, started by few amazing artists, that created high quality system-agnostic, fantasy RPG products. It was known as TheForge.

TheForge was usually releasing products describing locales, from towns to taverns, and everything in between. The pdfs were full of very atmospheric pencil drawings, showing vistas, items and floor plans of the described places (that you could use and handouts during session). Each product was loaded with adventure hooks, and simply perfect for low/no-prep gaming - just drop the players into one of those locales and let them explore. I have used their products heavily during my Savage Worlds Fantasy campaign and in early 2000s even done some writing for them. 

Sadly, this company is no more. Well, they still have an RPGnow store running with some of their work (mostly art to use in your games, not the good stuff) - but that's it - no website, no contact with the original creators. Maybe they have moved with their lives, maybe the market wasn't ready for their products, who knows? But TheForge had released some awesome products. Best of all? Their best pdfs were free!

Why am I writing this? Because I want to share and showcase their work. The website is still accessible trough the wayback machine - not all of it, but enough to get your hands on some of those awesome and FREE pdfs! And maybe, just maybe, someone out there will read this and find a way to contact the original creators - because quite frankly, I would be privileged to team up with them and write products like that in the future. And with OSR on the rise, I bet, that pdfs like that would be popular.

So head to TheForge.pl wayback machine and grab yourself some of those awesome products; you and your players won't be disappointed! Start with Fish Side and go from there - many of the pdfs describing buildings, are about places from Fish Side. All of them combined make for a fine mini-setting.
And if you like what you see - go to their RPGnow store and buy something as a thank you, even if they don't know why, I am sure they will appreciate it greatly!

I tip my hat to the guys from TheForge.pl

Where does the blood trail lead to? [2D6]

Doesn't matter if it's in the wilderness, city or some gods forgotten dungeon - it is easy to miss a small blood trail. But, when you found one, you know that it leads to something interesting.

Where does the blood trail lead to? [2D6]
2	A ferocious monster finishing eating it's last victim. It's still hungry!
3	Straight into bandit ambush. They clearly outnumber you.
4	A blood covered obelisk, it's starts to siphon your blood as you get closer.
5	A harmless looking woman covered in fresh eldritch scars. She's got a knife.
6	An Unconscious messenger with a crude arrow in his knee. His bag is gone.
7	Dead peasants, they where clearly attacked by some kind of animal.
8	A strange creature, not native to this land; died here of a poisoned arrow.
9	A family is hiding here, they rush you to get down and stay quiet.
10	A blood stained magic tome on the ground. The trail ends here.
11	A dying adventurer – his plan to slay [wandering monster] has gone south.
12	A wounded nobleman. He will do anything in exchange for your help!

What are those bandits doing? [D10]

Bandits have lives too, they don't just wait around to attack everybody they encounter. 
Roll D10 to see what are they doing as you notice them:

What are those bandits doing? [D10]
1	Sleeping? Nope – it is an elaborate ambush!
2	Looking angrily back at you, their weapons drawn.
3	Guarding the camp and waiting for rest of the band to come back.
4	Preparing an ambush you up ahead, there is still time to back away.
5	Just a off day at the camp – talking, resting, washing clothes.
6	Unloading some heavy loot from a stolen cart.
7	Getting ready to leave the camp, leaving only few sentries behind.
8	Drinking heavily from barrels full of wine and dancing half-naked.
9	Treat their wounded after a recent robbery.
10	Fighting among each other for loot from a recent robbery.

Introducing Randomday

NEW! As seen on the Internet! Saves Times and Money! 

RANDOMDAY RANDOM TABLES

What?

Randomday is a random table "feature" of this blog that will take place on a random day at least once a week. It even has a tag and everything - so you know it is official and professional. Randomday is a place for system agnostic tables for role-playing games spanning across different genres... but will probably start with generic fantasy.

While OSR in it's nature, I believe that even non OSR games can benefit from some fine narrative randomizer (as written here). I will try to create each random table based on a question that can show up during play, and make results interesting enough that they'll spawn at least an interesting scene. I am using tables like that to add some fluff and detail to my games, but feel free to use them as you wish.

How?

The rules are simple. You have a detail that needs filling, either for a pre-planned scenario, or something that came up on the spot. You get a random table that has a question/topic that you need, you check the die/dice needed for it, roll them and you get your detail! ...or you can just choose whatever you fancy. The rule of thumb is, that high results are good for the players and low are bad.

BUT WAIT! That's not all! You can use the tables as inspiration for your games, maybe scene/adventure seeds, maybe idea for a magic item, or an NPC? Use it in any game you want, as the tables are supposed to be a narrative and system-agnostic fuel.

Why?

I decided to create Randomday for many reasons; because I feel random tables (when used correctly) create great RPG experiences, because I appreciate your readership and something like random tables is a quick way for me to give something to you that you can use during your games, and because I want to keep myself motivated to post more often. I have few big('ish) projects going on now and it would take weeks, if not months, before I can deliver something worth sharing... so in the meantime, I will make myself create some random fluff for RPGs, hopefully you'll find Randomday tables as much fun to read and use, as I have them to read.

I like it! What should I do?

Feedback is always a great reward, comments make me happy and motivated, but if you would like to help, drop a comment with a topic idea for a random table - the more eclectic collection of random tables we will have, the better; I am also planning on periodically releasing a free Randomday pdf, collecting those tables - so you will be able to see your name/nickname in a electronic booklet that will probably reach tens, if not dozens, of readers!

So check-in on a random day each week, for some random fun!