Session #46: In the Valley of Beasts

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Conversion of Red & Pleasant Land's "Alice" for Type V D&D

Play an entirely accidental adventurer who makes their way through the weirdness of dungeons with nothing but exasperation and unshakeable self-belief.

I made this a while back and found recently found it again.  It's entirely derivative of work by others like David Brawley and of course based on the super inspiring (though in my experience underused) Red & Pleasant Land book of vampires in wonderland by Zak Smith.

Anyways, here's my tweak on it.

The Alice (or Allardyce):  

A Carrollian Character Class of Wit and Whimsy

Hit Die: d6

Saves: Dex, Cha

Weapon: Simple weapons

Armor: None

Skills: Pick any three

Tools: All gaming sets and musical instruments.

Language: Common and one other

Equipment:

• One simple weapon
• Three trinkets
• A game set or instrument
• A purse

Level 1 - Exasperation (d4)

Level 2 - Class Feature

Level 4 - Ability Score Bonus, OR Class Feature

Level 5 - Exasperation (d6)

Level 6 - Class Feature

Level 8 - Ability Score Bonus, OR Class Feature

Level 9 - Exasperation (d8)

Level 10 - Class Feature (roll twice)

Level 12 - Ability Score Bonus, OR Class Feature

Level 13 - Exasperation (d12)

Level 14 - Class Feature

Level 16 - Ability Score Bonus, OR Class Feature

Level 17 - Doubly Exasperated

Level 18 - Class Feature

Level 19 - Ability Score Bonus, OR Class Feature

Level 20 - Class Feature (roll twice)

Exasperation: Once per real-time hour, Alice may become exasperated with the situation and roll a d4 against the chart (in the RPL book) for the result.  The die type increases at 5th, 9th, and 13th level.

Doubly Exasperated: Once per session, you may roll twice on the Exasperation table and choose which result you'd like.

Class Feature:

Roll 1d100.   Most class feature can only be chosen once.  If one is rolled, select the next.  The Exception is the “Red Knight” ability.

At 10th and 20th level, roll twice and gain both features.

1-5 Alice was then reminded of something she’d noticed before...

Gain proficiency in one Save you are not proficient in.

6-7 “I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it.”

Gain the Keen Mind feat

8-9 “Speak English!” said the Eglet. ”I don’t know the meaning of half those words and what’s more I don’t think you do either!”

Gain the Linguist feat

10-11  Falling down wells really improves the hand-eye coordination:

Gain the Athlete Feat

12-13 Again she heard a little pattering of footsteps in the distance.

Gain the Alert feat

14-15 Alice was not a bit hurt, and jumped up in a moment.

Gain the Dungeon Delver feat

16-17 Soon her eye fell on a very small glass box

Gain the Observant feat

18-19 “That was a narrow escape!” said Alice

Gain the Mobile feat

20 “Well, now that we have seen each other," said the unicorn, "if you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you.”

Gain the Lucky feat

21-25 She noticed the Red Knight always feinted to his left— she was a very perceptive girl.

Gain 1 use of Inspiration after each use of Exasperation.

26-30 Alice liked pies, although sometimes people did not want her to have them.

Alice can cast Goodberry once per day.  The goodberries look like tiny pies.  

30-35 She closed her eyes and said the words just as she’d been taught...

Gain the Magic Initiate feat, only acquired once.

36-39 Oh, I do so apologize...

Once per foe, you may use a bonus action to "accidentally" trip.  This check is made at advantage.  Only acquired once.

40 Her sister had mentioned they were dreadful people...

Gain the Favored Enemy feature, but it applies to one organization instead of a type of creature.

41-42 All that hiding in the dumbwaiter has finally paid off.

The Alice knows a secret.  Once per session, she may make an Intelligence check (DC 15) to replicate the effects of a Legend Lore spell.  

43-44 It seemed nearly everything was dangerous if handled improperly.

Gain the Tavern Brawler feat.

45-46 It was very shiny and stuck out like a soup spoon...

On a successful mêlée hit, the Alice may use a bonus action to make a Sleight of Hand check to grab an item (other than the target’s weapon) off a target. This won’t work twice on anyone above zombie-intelligence who sees it.  

46-50 She was not such a mouse as she used to be.

+1 Dexterity to racial max, excess goes to Strength or Constitution.

51-52 Alice then did something quite astonishing...

Alice may add her Charisma bonus to her Armor Class.

53 The blue one certainly did make the Alice taller, of that Alice was certain...

Become proficient in the poisoner and herbalist kits.

54 She could be very charming when she needed to be.  

Gain the Actor feat.  Social rolls against nobility are made at advantage.  

55-60 “I do hope it will make me become large again!”

Alice may Use all Magic Devices.

61-62 “It really was curious,” she thought— “How many times could this kind of thing happen?”

The Alice may escape death or another equally awful fate exactly once. The Alice must spend at least a round playing possum to build tension but...surprise, the Alice jumped out of the way just in time!

63 She knew to curtsey at times like this, and so she did.

Gain the Uncanny Dodge Ability

64-67 It was so lovely, and— according to the book— it was right there.

Whatever the thing that the Alice always wanted is, it’s there. 4 sessions worth of adventure away or less. (there are some more rules, just read the RPL book)

68-71 She had not known her mother’s cousin very well, and decided that it was a bad thing that she had died...

The Alice has been willed 5,000 gp in assets: art, libraries, lands, or other eldritch strangeness.

72-73 They kept talking as though Alice was a rhododendron in a pot.

Gain the Skulker feat.

74 She knew from school what the word meant, but did not know if it was rude or not.

Alice may attempt to speak to any creature with a successful Intelligence 10 roll.

75 Alice quite liked drawing, and had an impressive box of crayons at home.

Become proficient in the forgery kit and painter's tools.

76-78 She thought it might be a saltcellar, or at least that seemed like a good word.

The Alice can accurately appraise treasure to a nontrivial and nonboring degree:

The value of nonmagical things can be estimated flawlessly.  With a successful Arcana check, Alice knows if a magical item has something off about it.

79 She did seem to offend people (and animals) wherever she went.

Gain proficiency with any one weapon.

82-85 They all listened attentively as Alice told her tale.

+1 Charisma to racial max, excess goes to Wisdom or Intelligence.

86-88 They began to throw stones, and Alice began to avoid them.

Gain Evasion  Only acquired once.

89-93 She began to feel somewhat neglected.

If the Alice is attacked in a round that she spends doing nothing but dodging and her attacker misses, the attacker will not only miss but fumble and lose his or her next turn (if s/he or it has multiple attacks, s/he will lose a number of attacks equal to the Alice’s level). This only works once per foe on anything of better than zombie intelligence that sees it happen.

94 She tried to remember what she knew about stoats.

Become proficient in Handle Animal checks. And may Speak with Animals

95-00 Alice had seen so many unusual things lately, it had become usual.

Immune to Fear, Insanity and Confusion effects.  

Barrowmaze #30-31: Down Nergal's Throat

DM Commentary
The party has the "Fount of Law", they are mostly 5th level and they know of the Pit of Chaos.  But they search blindly, ransacking a room of burial crypts here or there.  And this is only the mid game of the dungeon.  What next?  If they succeed in a goal do I offer them another dungeon?  Perhaps the Abbey of St Clewd or the Croaking Fane?  Do they then enounter a mad harpy escapee raving of the deathly serpent within the eastern tunnels while waving an enchanted gauntlet?  We will see.  Lucky for me my two players (playing three characters each in my home brew Uncommon ruleset seem happy enough to grind through a couple rooms every week.  Suits me fine!

Barrowmaze Saga
Two recent explorations of the undersprawl: the discovery of a new entrance, a bronze door depicting the horned visage of Nurgal lead to a dark pool.  A spell of Water Breathing and a deep dive later saw the party soaking wet and descending a stair beyond the pool to the dungeons below.  The exploration was careful, fastidious.  Crypts were uncovered.  Gold gathered.  Then a passage was traversed quickly and two stalwarts fell into a spike filled pit.  Grack the Half Orc took a spike through the knee.  The group retreated only to return two weeks later during a heatwave.

The small town of Helix was busting with activity.  The duke's men under Sir Dangar has roused the populace to fell nearby trees from the Black Dolmenwood in order to construct a palisade, while the duke's son Korthos remained resolutely drunk despite his mandate to strength the town defense.  Rumour trickled in to taverns telling of a zombie massacre in Bogtown to the south.

Helix was a bummer and dame Merde was not doing much better so the group rounded up their two dwarves and Helga the Elven Cleric and returned to the Underworld.   Many burial tubes ransacked, two secret doors discovered, the hunger of stress and burnt torches, finally pushing one step beyond, then, breaking into a long sealed chamber, a pair of putrid grub infested living corpses are discovered, two Sons of Gaxx, full of hatred for the living, lunge forward their very presence inspiring such revulsion and fear that both clerics and the wizard flee piteously while the warriors are left behind to hack at the writhing mess, chopping and burning both the wights and them selves until the undead and writhing grubs both are snuffed.

The horror!

20 Questions for the Barrowmaze Saga

Eh.

What is the deal with my cleric's religion?
There is the Church of Law, with many saints. Some call it the Church of the One True God but all shrines are dedicated to a saint. St. Ygg is popular as is St. Cuthbert. Also St. Ahleena. St Clewd is mostly forgotten. Old gods such as Crom, Arcantra and Silvanus are paid respects, but they have no church. The Death gods Orcus and his sister Set are worshipped in secret or far from Lawful society. There are other less known Chaos Cults as well, such as Khorne and Slaanesh.

Where can we go to buy standard equipment?
Barrelgut the Blacksmith, Turgen the Trader

Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended?
Dwarves of the the Moonpeak Mines

Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?

Perhaps the Drune in Dolmenwood, or Ygraine the Sorceress.

Who is the greatest warrior in the land?
Sir Wolverhampton the Wanderer, Red Knight of Blackburn

Who is the richest person in the land?
It is said the Dwarf King is the richest, but it is actually Duke Kell Ironwood

Where can we go to get some magical healing?
Shrine of Ygg in Helix. Church of Law in Ironwood Motte

Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?
Church of Law in Ironwood Motte

Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?
No.  Mazzah the Magnificant has a few to sell. 

Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?
Twisted Tower of Mazzah the Magnificent

Where can I hire mercenaries?
League of Ordinary Gentlemen Hiring Hall in Helix

Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?
Within the walls of Ironwood Motte.

Which way to the nearest tavern?
Center of town

What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous?
Ravenous Zombies and Steel Skeletons, Crypt Things and Sons of Gaxx, Barrow Wights and Gehennian Goats

Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?
Up north in the Forbidden Lands, and army of Chaos grows. Also, there's some crazy stuff in the Underworld.

How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?
Perhaps in the Dolmenwood? Or East in the Slumbering Ursine Dunes?

Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?
Chaos Cults, the Drune, Black Hand Thieves Guild

What is there to eat around here?
Mutton

Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?
The Font of Law

Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure?
In the BarrowMaze or in Skull Mountain

What is Neradia

Neradia is my first name spelled backward, with -ia added for sense of place. As such, this blog will be about my imaginary worlds, and playing Dungeons and Dragons.