I finally got around to ordering Patrick Wetmore's gonzo* megadungeon, the Anomalous Subsurface Environment. It is just as fun and inspiring as everyone else said it was a few years ago.
The modules are written for Labyrinth Lord, and as a B/X fan, that should have been good enough for me. But I'm an idiot with poor time-management skills, so instead I wrote a Microlite20 variant for it.
I also wrote it as a DCC-style meat-grinder. This obviously owes a huge debt to both the DCC funnel and Austin Schaefer's AES Character Tumbler. By huge debt, I mean "look! I can hit copy and paste!"
* I love that "gonzo" is a precise genre descriptor. It shows that we're doing something right.
The modules are written for Labyrinth Lord, and as a B/X fan, that should have been good enough for me. But I'm an idiot with poor time-management skills, so instead I wrote a Microlite20 variant for it.
I also wrote it as a DCC-style meat-grinder. This obviously owes a huge debt to both the DCC funnel and Austin Schaefer's AES Character Tumbler. By huge debt, I mean "look! I can hit copy and paste!"
Backgrounds
1-3 Acolyte of an orbital god (1d20 to
determine deity)/ Mace / Sacred symbol, Book of Orisons
4-6 Acolyte of
Science / Broken Robot Arm (as club) / Religious tattoos
6-8 Acolyte of Starry Wisdom / Sacrificial
dagger / Incense burner, foul-smelling incense
9 Apprentice
Scribe / Penknife / Bottle of Ink, 10 sheets of paper
10 Artist / Copper wire (as garrote) / 1d6
for materials: 1) paint pots and brushes; 2) lump of grey clay; 3) uncarved
ivory tusk; 4) spools of colorful thread; 5) 3d10 sheets of origami paper; 6)
300-page proposal for conceptual installation
11 Baker /
Rolling Pin (improvised weapon) / Basket of bread
12-14 Barbarian / Club fashioned from giant jawbone /
Bronze medallion
15 Barber / Razor
(as knife) / Brass bowl, diagram of latest hairstyles
16 Barkeep / Sword / 1d4 bottles of hooch
17-19 Blacksmith /
Hammer / 3d6 horseshoes
20-22 Bodyguard / Flail / Collection of teeth on a
string
23-24 Butcher / Cleaver
(as hand axe) / Bag of smoked ceratops meat
25 Cartographer / Knife / Maps of Denethix
and Environs
26 Ceratops Ranch
Hand / Prod (as spear) / Overalls, tall rubber boots
27 Cheese Monger / Big steel ladle
(improvised weapon) / Collection of foul-smelling cheeses
28 Civil Servant
/ Baton / Brush, can of paint
29 Cook / Iron pan (improvised weapon) / 1d6
meat pies
30-33 Cutpurse / Dagger
/ Locket, ivory ring, 3d4 coppers
33-34 Dandy / Rapier / Stylish clothes
35 Disreputable
Bookseller / Sword / 1d6 scrolls of farcical drawings
36 Ditchdigger / Shovel (as staff) /
Wheelbarrow of sod
37 Drover / Whip
/ 1d6 for livestock: 1) Donkey; 2) Mule; 3) Horse; 4) Cow; 5) Sheep; 6) Goat
38 Farmer / Hoe (improvised weapon) /
Wheelbarrow, 1d6 for contents: 1) Dirt; 2) Onions; 3) Potatoes; 4) Dead rats; 5) Turnips; 6) Empty sacks
39 Farmer /
Pitchfork (as spear) / 1d6 for livestock: 1) Hen; 2) Goat; 3) Pig; 4) Calf; 5)
Sheep; 6) Duck
40 Farmer’s Son or Daughter / Hand axe / 1d6
for livestock: 1) Goose; 2) Dog; 3) Rooster; 4) Barn cat; 5) Ox; 6) 3
snow-white lambs
41 Fisher / Knife
/ Bag of salt cod
42 Flagellant / Whip/ Pot of salve
43 Fortune Teller
/ Stiletto / Polished chunk of quartz, Book of Prestidigitation
44 Gangster / Pistol, 1d6 bullets / 2d6
doses of drug, 1d6 for type: 1) Stimulant; 2) Depressant; 3) Euphoric; 4)
Hallucinogen; 5) Anesthesia; 6) Soporific
45-47 Graduate Student
/ Pocket knife / Book, 1d6 for title: 1) Economics in the Worthless North; 2) Snails
in Post-History; 3) Aetheric Aesthetics; 4) Transcendental Unity of
Apperception & You; 5) Mi-Go Architecture; 6) Squamous Horror Kinesthetics
50 Grunkie Vendor / Net / 2d6 baby grunkies,
wooden crate
48-49 Herbalist /
Sling, 2d10 stones / Sheaf of dried herbs
50-52 Hunter / Bow and 2d6 arrows / Pelt
53 Itinerant
Gamer / Sling, 2d10 stones / Sack of polyhedral dice, deck of cards
54 Janitor / Broom (improvised weapon) /
Bottle of cleaning fluid
55-57 Laborer / Crowbar
(improvised weapon) / 50 ft. rope, chalk
58-59 Locksmith / Dagger / Lockpick set
60 Merchant’s
Spoiled Progeny / Silver Dagger / 3d20 silvers, 1d6 for pet: 1)Trained monkey;
2) Talking bird; 3) Juvenile ceratops; 4) Lion cub; 5) Lap dog; 6) Large,
jewel-encrusted beetle
61 Messenger / Flag of Truce (as staff) /
Vial of poison, sealed treaty
62 Metallurgist /
Iron rod (as club) / Tongs
63-65 Military Student / Wooden practice sword / Tin
of boot polish
66 Miller / Club
/ Sack of flour
67-68 Miner / Pick (as hand axe) / Pigeon in a wicker
cage
69-70 Monastic Initiate
/ Staff / Prayer beads, begging bowl
71 Mushroom Vendor / Shovel (improvised
weapon) / Mushroom, 1d6 for type: 1) Stimulant; 2) Depressant; 3) Euphoric; 4)
Hallucinogen; 5) Anesthesia; 6) Soporific
72 Orphan /
Kitchen knife / Rag doll
73-75 Pickpocket / Cudgel / 2d6 coppers, wide-brimmed
hat
76-78 Pit Fighter /
Surgically-implanted brass knuckles / Loincloth
79 Plumber / Giant wrench (as club) /
Toolbox
80 Poet / Staff /
1d6 half-finished poems, gold ring
81 Professional Beggar / Crutch (improvised
weapon) / Makeup kit, begging bowl
82-83 Sailor / Belaying
Pin (as club) / Spyglass
84 Shaman / Sling, 2d10 stones / Colorful
feathers
85-86 Shepherd / Staff
/ 1d6 for livestock: 1) Dog; 2) Mule; 3) Pig; 4) Calf; 5) Sheep; 6) Goat
87 Slave Hunter / Bolas / Leather armor,
manacles
88 Slumming Noble
/ Pistol, 2d6 bullets / 3d6 silvers, fake beard
89 Smuggler / Dagger / Waterproof sack
90-91 Sorcerer’s
Apprentice / Dagger / Spellbook of Cantrips
92 Street Performer / 1d4 throwing knives / juggling balls
93 Tailor /
Shears (as knife) / Bolts of fine cloth
94 Tattoo Artist / Brass Knuckles / Needles,
colored inks
95 Tinker / Hand
axe / Clay, solder, ball-peen hammer
96-98 Unyielding Fist Grunt / Spear / Chainmail shirt
99 Wandering
Musician / Dagger / 1d6 for instrument: 1) Ukulele; 2) Concertina; 3) Pipes; 4)
Harmonica; 5) Lyre; 6) Wind-up Theremin
100 Woodcutter / Hand axe / Bundle of wood
* I love that "gonzo" is a precise genre descriptor. It shows that we're doing something right.
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