Ok so Le Donjon de Naheulbeuk was a lot of french peoples' introduction to tabletop gaming. It's a silly parody setting that freely remixes ideas from LotR, D&D, Warhammer Fantasy and the Dark Eye. It started off as a radio drama, and later became an actual free-to-play tRPG. Besides being released for free, 90% of its mechanics make it a Dark Eye 1E hack. Now here it is with way less rules.
All art by Marion Poinsot
THE BASICS
STATS: Throw a d6 five times in order, only recording 1s/6s.
- Coward/Brave
- Stupid/Smart
- Ugly/Hot
- Clumsy/Quick
- Weak/Strong
FATE: Throw a d4, minus 1. That's how many fate points you get to burn when something horrible happens to your character to avoid it. Some people start with none, tough luck.
STARTING MONIES & SOCIAL BACKGROUND: Throw 2d6 x10, get this many gold pieces.
The Referee gives you equipment based on your starting monies and Origins and/or Job.
SKILLS: Your origins or job gives you a bunch of skills. Some are self-explanatory, some I'll explain the first time they come up. After every successful adventure (not necessarily every session), you can develop a new advanced skill for your character. Because this is a comedy setting, characters are not expected to be as competent as in, say, OD&D. Look at the skills, consider what not having it says about most adventurers. There's one called "decent aim", for example.
ORIGINS & JOBS (must be, must not be)
Here's a hot take for all of you Race as Class vs Race + Class: why not los dos?
Here at Underground Adventures, we don't give a rat's ass about balance. So you can be a Human and be defined mostly by your Job. Or you can be a non-human (or barbarian which is kind of a job but you have to be human, it's weird!) and be defined by your origins. OR you can be a non-human AND have a job. As long as the requirements work together and stuff is coherent (no barbarian wizards, for example), it's all good, go have fun. Sheesh.
Oh, and in case your starting character sucks so bad they can only be human and have access to no job, then they're a basic adventuring human with two random skills, and treat basically any skill as an advanced skill if they can reasonably learn it between adventures. Fun!
HUMAN
Anyone can start out as one, they don't get any special abilities or restrictions.
BARBARIAN (Strong, Brave)
Barbarians are extremely tough and can withstand cold, heat, and pain.
They dislike anything complicated and do not trust magic or wizards.
Arms & Armour: any but crossbows, shields and full armour.
Starting Skills: ambidextry, looking for trouble (you usually go first in fights), smelly feet (your comrades don't rest as well when you camp together), empty head (you're too dumb for psi powers to hurt you), +2 advanced skills
Advanced Skills: brutal weapons (you can wield two-handers efficiently), fisticuffs, riding, climbing, scary, swimming, tracking, decent aim, armour is for weaklings (your naked skin counts as wearing armour if you're revealing at least 2/3 of your body).
DWARF (Strong, Coward)
Dwarves are obnoxious little creatures with two arms, two legs, a beard and a helmet.
They enjoy mining, drinking, and singing about mining, drinking, and pissing elves off.
Arms & Armour: No 2H (human) weapons (too short). No bows or crossbows (too elfish).
Starting Skills: call of the barrel (you can barely resist indulging in alcohol when you know it's available), treasure instincts (you have a nose for gold, literally), obnoxious (dwarves are well-known for being annoying dicks to all non-dwarves, especially elves), stingy (dwarves have a very hard time sharing and caring when it comes to treasure).
Advanced Skills: call reinforcements (good at running away), scam artist (good at bartering), fisticuffs, savvy (tinker, small repairs, light engineering), looking for trouble, blather, blacksmith, paranoia (guess when NPCs are lying), armour is for weaklings, decent aim (with axes specifically)
HIGH ELF (Hot, Quick, Strong, Smart)
Have you heard of the high elves? They're the fanciest, most pompous, most magical of the knife-ears. Most usually think they're better than anyone else, and some actually are, which make them even more of a target for jealousy and hatred.
Arms & Armour: no 2H weapons unless it's elven made. No throwing axes or rocks (too dwarfish). No heavy armour.
Starting Skills: scholar, weird glyphs (read magic stuff), falling into traps (dungeons hate elves, they're always the first getting hurt if there's the slightest chance for it making sense)
Advanced Skills: party leader (when debating what to do next, their voice counts double), riding, dancing & juggling, swimming, first aid, decent aim
HALF-ELF
Humans treat them like elves, elves treat them like humans. They usually sulk in a corner.
Arms & Armour: no 2H weapons unless it's elven made. Don't care about looking dwarfish.
Starting Skills: call reinforcements, detect traps, pickpocket, paranoia
Advanced Skills: savvy, riding, scholar, climbing, dumpster diving (you find the best stuff!), crying and begging (if you surrender, intelligent creatures usually don't kill you on the spot), swimming, decent aim
WOOD ELF (Hot, Strong)
Like high elves but instead of being pompous magical arseholes, they're cute innocent buggers who spend their days braiding their ponies' manes and talking with birds and rabbits.
Arms & Armour: no 2H weapons unless it's elven made. Favour bows and daggers. No heavy armour.
Starting Skills: riding, touching naivete (so cute! people will usually target them last in a fight), first aid, decent aim, falling into traps
Advanced Skills: understanding animals, silent move, dancing & juggling, swimming, tracking, empty head
DARK ELF (Quick, Smart, Strong)
Underground elves, tend to like underground stuff like seeing in the dark, having grey or white hair, wearing sexy leather stuff and sulking. Other elves hate them for some reason, while dark elves are like "whatever, hmpf".
Arms & Armour: as other elves, although they like any throwing weapons, and poisons.
Starting Skills: agoraphobia, silent move, detect traps, decent aim
Advanced Skills: ambidextry, pickpocket, scholar, swimming, blacksmith, backstab, paranoia, tracking, weird glyphs
ORC (Strong, Stupid, Hot)
Green-skinned barbarians with pig-like features, often found guarding dark dungeons, although they do hate wizards, like any sane person should.
Arms & Armour: any weapon or armour save for crossbows, nunchakus or blowdarts (too fragile).
Starting Skills: agoraphobia, call of the wild (might turn your back on the party if faced with a pack of blood-crazed green-skins in a dark dungeon), call of the barrel, fisticuffs, survival instincts (you have a great nose for food and drinks), smelly feet, empty head
Advanced Skills: brutal weapons, looking for trouble, dumpster diving, scary, armour is for weaklings
HALF-ORC (Strong, Smart, Quick)
Like half-elf but with even shittier childhoods. Good luck.
Arms & Armour: same as orcs.
Starting Skills: agoraphobia, looking for trouble, survival instincts, smelly feet, empty head
Advanced Skills: brutal weapons, fisticuffs, climbing, dumpster diving, scary, swimming, decent aim, armour is for weaklings
GOBLIN (Smart, Ugly, Brave, Weak)
Tiny weird buggers with sharp teeth and green skin. Usually do not speak common and require a wizard translator.
Arms & Armour: small weapons only, no heavy armour. Goblin-crafted handguns, sometimes.
Starting Skills: agoraphobia, call reinforcements, call of the wild, priority target (monsters want to smash you first), survival instincts, treasure instinct, smelly feet, empty head
Advanced Skills: savvy, disarm traps, climbing, blacksmith
OGRE (Strong, Stupid, Quick, Hot)
Massive green-skins, half-giants, calm temperament but kind of like violence. Attracted by food and pretty things. Like giant murderous children. Need a translator, usually a wizard.
Arms & Armour: only custom-made armour, any big and simple weapon.
Starting Skills: call of the stomach (like call of the barrel but with food), call of the barrel, brutal weapons, survival instincts, scary, smelly feet, empty head
Advanced Skills: fisticuffs, looking for trouble, dumpster diving, monsterspeak, armour is for weaklings
HAFLINGS (Brave [the others don't go adventuring], Stupid, Strong)
You know these guys. Talking food tubes? Lollipop guild? Yadda yadda.
Arms & Armour: same as dwarves, although they don't have anything against elves.
Starting Skills: call of the barrel, priority target, cook, survival instincts, unremarkable (NPCs tend to forget about you and your boring face and/or personality)
Advanced Skills: call reinforcements, pickpocket, scholar, blather, dumpster diving, backstab, treasure instinct, crying & begging, decent aim
NORTHERN WOODS GNOME (Quick, Stupid, Weak)
Tiny blabbering critter, kind of a wood elf that you can't understand, though less naive. Like to jump around, dance, and generally being a nuisance, though a well-meaning one.
Arms & Armour: tiny and/or custom-made stuff only.
Starting Skills: ambidextry, call reinforcements, riding, pickpocket, silent move, treasure instinct
Advanced Skills: understand animals, disarm traps, detect traps, climbing, dancing & juggling, crying & begging, swimming, locksmith
WARRIOR, GLADIATOR (Strong & Brave)
Starting Skills: brutal weapons, fisticuffs
Advanced Skills: ambidextry, looking for trouble, riding, blacksmith, scary, decent aim, armour is for weaklings
NINJA, ASSASSIN (Quick)
No heavy armour
Starting Skills: silent move, backstab, decent aim
Advanced Skills: ambidextry, looking for trouble, riding, scholar, climbing, paranoia, swimming, unremarkable
THIEF (Quick)
No heavy armour
Starting Skills: call reinforcements, pickpocket, silent move, detect traps, locksmith
Advanced Skills: scam artist, disarm traps, scholar, climbing, dumpster diving, backstab, paranoia, unremarkable
PRIEST (Hot)
Starting Skills: scholarly, paranoia, spells (based on your God)
Advanced Skills: scam artist, riding, cook, blather, first aid, stingy, weird glyphs
WIZARD (Smart)
Staves, daggers or cudgels only, no armour.
Starting Skills: scholarly, weird glyphs, spells (based on your School)
Advanced Skills: call reinforcements, party leader, riding, blather, monsterspeak, first aid
PALADIN (Ugly, Brave, Weak)
Starting Skills: riding, scary, spells (based on your God)
Advanced Skills: brutal weapons, looking for trouble, scholar, blather, first aid
RANGER (Clumsy, Ugly)
No heavy armour.
Starting Skills: silent move, detect traps, riding, swimming, tracking
Advanced Skills: ambidextry, party leader, understand animals, disarm traps, scholar, climbing, paranoia, first aid, decent aim
MINSTREL (Clumsy, Hot)
No armour. Only use staves, daggers and cudgels.
Starting Skills: priority target, riding, scholar, blather, dancing & juggling, touching naivete
Advanced Skills: paranoia, crying & begging, first aid, weird glyphs, decent aim
PIRATE (Clumsy, Coward)
No heavy armour or two-handed weapons.
Starting Skills: call reinforcements, call of the barrel, scam artist, pickpocket, climbing, swimming
Advanced Skills: detect traps, dumpster diving, treasure instinct, paranoia, crying & begging, decent aim
MERCHANT (Smart, Ugly, roll at least 100 starting GP)
No heavy armour or two-handed weapons.
Starting Skills: call reinforcements, scam artist, scholar, blather, paranoia
Advanced Skills: party leader, riding, cook, blacksmith, treasure instinct, weird glyphs
ENGINEER (Clumsy)
No heavy armour or two-handed weapons.
Starting Skills: savvy, disarm traps, blacksmith, unremarkable, locksmith, engineer stuff
Advanced Skills: call reinforcements, cook, riding, scholar, swimming, first aid
There's actually a whole supplement for engineers, it's pretty fun, maybe I'll try and FKR it if there's interest. In the mean time, just treat that as a gadgeteer kind of class.
NOBLE (roll 120 starting GP, so 12 on 2d6)
No restrictions - nobles can do ANYTHING (well, they believe they can)
Starting Skills: call reinforcements, priority target, riding, scholar, obnoxious
Advanced Skills: scam artist, party leader, dancing & juggling, paranoia, swimming, weird glyphs
There's all sorts of weapons and armour restrictions, if you're familiar with AD&D it shouldn't be too hard to ad-lib that stuff. Ya know. No heavy armour except for Warriors and Paladins and such. Minstrels use silly weapons like staves and darts. Etc.
RANDOM SKILLS FOR LOSERS HUMAN "ADVENTURERS"
1 Ambidextry
2 Agoraphobia
3 Call Reinforcements
4 Call of the Wild
5 Call of the Barrel
6 Call of the Stomach
7 Brutal Weapons
8 Scam Artist
9 Priority Target
10 Fisticuffs
11 Savvy
12 Luck of the Basket-Weaver (whenever you should die, something stupid happens instead)
13 Party Leader
14 Looking for Trouble
15 Riding
16 Pickpocket
17 Understand Animals
18 Cook
19 Silent Move
20 Disarm Traps
21 Detect Traps
22 Scholar
23 Climbing
24 Blacksmith
25 Backstab
26 Blather
27 Dumpster Diving
28 Survival Instinct
29 Treasure Instinct
30 Scary
31 Dancing & Juggling
32 Monsterspeak
33 Paranoia
34 Crying & Begging
35 Swimming
36 Touching Naiveté
37 Obnoxious
38 Tracking
39 First Aid
40 Stingy
41 Unremarkable
42 Weird Glyphs
43 Smelly Feet
44 Locksmith
45 Empty Head
46 Decent Aim
47 Falling into Traps
48 Armour is for Weaklings
49 Spells (from a Priest's list)
50 Spells (from a Wizard's list)
Combat & Equipment, Wizard Schools
Priest & Paladin Spells
0 Yorumlar