Lets Go Shopping!

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"well hello overdressed stranger, see anything you like?"

Players are going to try and buy stuff in Sigil or some other horrible layered, swarming insane fantasy city.

The player, their character setting off to find a good tattooist , palm reader, riding pig, or opium den, chooses from charisma , intelligence or wisdom to make a roll under check. The other 2 un-chosen stats apply their modifiers to the roll. If you doing a group shopping trip, choose one character to roll their stat , all other members of the group apply their modifiers.

(you might consider letting the roller add there level onto this as well. I'm still undecided)


(this is assuming you are spending a couple of silver pieces on a tout. If you are not, -4 to this roll)

Then the d.m looks up how much you succeed or failed the roll  on this table.

This roll represents one day of navigating the city and searching the markets, street vendors and shops. IF you do well enough on this roll you can roll again, thus having a choice of shops.
If you have been to a shop before , you get +4 to the roll, and assume any positive result is the shop. Once you succeed twice in a row on finding a particular shop, you can automatically find it, in addition to any other searches.

Some of these results might have to hand waved, modified or played out on the spot, depending on the players/characters.

Failed by 11+ Ambushed
maaan someone went into the wrong neighbourhood. Roll on some urban monster encounter and assume surprise

Failed by 10,9 Mislead
The character gets lost, confused, distracted and the whole day goes by without finding anything.

Failed by 8,7  Pickpocketed
Half your carried wealth is gone! Deft hands have seen to it!

Failed by 6,5 Scammed
The character just spend 2d6x10 gold pieces on some completely useless crap. They can search again this day though. See table below for some examples of useless crap.

Failed by 4,3 Hustled
 1d6x10 gold pieces is spend on a "toll", bribes, "fines" , charity for poor orphan etc
The player can roll again today though

 Failed 2,1 Waylaid
Roll on a random urban encounter table, like the one in Vornheim
or this one here http://www.rolang.com/archives/316
This caps a perfectly futile day. Ie the player can't roll again today

Got exact number Distracted
Roll on a random urban encounter, but the player can roll again today.

Succeeded by 1,2 Pisspoor
Find what you are looking for , but its sorely wanting. Roll on the piss poor table.

Succeeded 2,3 Pisspoor +
As above but the character has time enough  to roll again as well and try and find something less lousy

Succeeded by 4,5 Adequate
At the end of a long day, the character finds what they are looking for. Roll on the adequate table.

Succeeded by 6,7 Adequate +
As above but time enough left for the player to roll again.

Succeeded by 8,9 Excellent
Oh sweet. This is most acceptable most acceptable indeed! Roll on the excellent table

Succeeded by 10+ Excellent+
As above  but time enough left for the player to roll again.

PISSPOOR
1. Roll on the intrigue table (reposted below) and again on this table
2.This place is filthy, low down, crawling with gods knows what, stinky, cramped and rotten.
Make a con check or character catches a minor disease
3.Shopkeeper/service provider is absurdly unhelpful. Character can only get one of what ever you wanted (service or goods)
4.Overpriced because shopkeeper/service is prejudice to character in a variety of colourful and petty ways. Double cost of what ever you wanted.
5. Seems legit, but whatever they pay for , does not work at all
6.Shopkeeper/service provider is batshit insane. Roll on the shopkeepers/service provider memorable traits and ham it up to an absurd degree
7. The thing or service is substandard but functionally, -1 or half effect or flawed in some slight way
8. Actually not so bad , roll on adequate table

ADEQUATE
1. Roll on the intrigue table (reposted below) and again on this table
2.Half priced but the thing or service is substandard but functionally, -1 or half effect or flawed in some slight way
3.You will never,ever be able to find this shop again
4. Triple price of what they were looking for, but it's of a most fine quality/conduction, Increase any relevant mechanics by a small amount.
5. It's what they where looking for but of bizarre construction and/or materials or the service is provided in extremely idiosyncratic way.
6-7 Nothing special, typical selection, quality etc
8 Saaay this is pretty good, roll on excellent 

EXCELLENT
1 Roll on the intrigue table plus roll again on this table
2. Sale! Half price on everything
3. The shopkeeper/service provider thinks you are the bees knees and offers a 2 for 1 deal.
4,5 Masterwork quality at standard prices
6. Offered a one off special deal some minor magic item or otherwise rare item at half normal price
7.They have like an amazing selection or range of techniques. They have like 12 different subtle specialities that offer a small mechanically advantage in specific circumstances
8 Roll twice combine results


INTRIGUE

1. It's run by talking animals/constructs/undead/discards
2. recently been repaired after magic attacks
3. Weird glowing mushrooms cover it's roof
4. Subject to mysterious, arcane and threatening graffiti
5. Has elaborately carved façade from buildings last incarnation. Rumour that it was made from petrified monsters/people/animals
6. Burned out ruins, cursed to remain that way, normal service still applies, just run from basement or attic via ladder
7. been fumigated by dabus
8. Being run by faction that it does not really make much sense for them to run
9.Occupant has collection of weird shit like crazy/crazed bottled things, ears , candles, glass flowers
10. Fortified and paranoid about attacks from mysterious forces
11.Murder has happened, peace keepers or muttering mob investigating/"investigating"/jumping to wild conclusions
12. Infestation of Verminous Slaad/Cranium rats/Flits (blink lizards), abyssal cockroaches, celestial singing mice
13. All of the occupants have been replaced by anarchists/athar/doppelgangers. They all think that they are the only one, and no-one actually has any idea what they should be pretending to be, and so are all following each other
14. Has a suspicious door leading to the basement/attic/closet. "That door? Oh That Door. We dare not speak of it"
15. There's a portal here and a smuggling operation going on
16.Owner threatens players or tries to fine them or otherwise shake them down
17. Someone or thing emerges from portal (d6 1 disruptive animal 2 clueless 3 monster 4 thief on the run 5 substance from plane like water or lava or ooze or flowers 6 roll twice)
18. Someone here has a connection to a players past , like a family member or a dance school rival
19. Robbery in progress/about to happen/has happened
20. Dangerous accident is about to happen/happening/has happened

Useless Crap

1 A property deed for somewhere in limbo

2. A portable hole! Oh no wait, clever slight of hand, it's a circle of very matt black fabric.

3.Undead Repellent! See any undead around? No? That's because it works. Actually just kerosene.

4."invisible, weightless" cloak in a gift wrapped box

5. Ghost whistle! Only heard by ghosts!

6.Potion of minor rehydration 

7.Boxing glove arrow

8. Helmet of "dark" vision actually a regular helmet with covered up eye slits

9.Magic wand of negation. Actually just a stick.

10. Tanar'ri book of protocol. Detailed and thorough but completely useless due to the nature of tanar'ir

11. Modron joke book. Pages and pages of random numbers

12. Map of negative material plane. It's just a black sheet of paper.

AND 

here is a determine what/who the shopkeeper is, table , if it is needed. (NPCS IMMA RIGHT?)

roll once or 3 times, split table style

    name:                   species:            memorable trait:

1. Bastard Philips   |    human          | Wears all white

2. Oats                    | Baurier            | Smokes absurdly complicated pipe

3.Kazakhstan          | lizardman        |Always looks to 4 sagely nodding owls for confirmation

4.Melody                | Tiefling           | Obvious false beard

5. Charles Brass     | Giant animate chess piece | Very formal

6.Citizen                 |rogue modron     | gives everyone crap nicknames

7.Zeezee                  |outsider elf        | surreally racist

8.Morris Focker        |Undead             | painfully slow and delibrate

9.Chee Chee             |Discard             | Communicates by talking stuffed bird

10. Ashen Woe         |Githzerai          |Dramatic. Very.

11.Petuania               |Gensai             | manic

12.Hogsly Piggins      |Halfling            |Cheerful , always eating

13. Lorelei                |elf, generic       | composing music on strange organic instrument

14.Grun                    |Dwarf                | Suspicious. Winks a lot

15.Dingus                  |Crow                 |Blind but seemingly aware of everything in the shop

16.Zenith                  |Aasimar            | Drunk, argumentative

17.Laminar                |human              |Mutters furiously

18.Heatherly              |ragdoll             |Obscenely fat

19. Singer                   |Thri Kreen       |Knows far too much about you

20.Oblove                 |Brain in jar attended by monkeys | everything seems stolen

Monster encounters:

1 1d6 apes, escaped from gladitor ring, seeking vengence

2 1d4 ghouls

3 Gang, as http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.co.nz/2011/12/barbaric-tribe-generator.html

4 Glutton (wild sewer boar) 1d4

5 1d10 verminous slaadi

6 Rare flesh eating otyugh

7 Shadow fiend

8 1d6 +3 level zero thugs, block exits with trash fires, rain stones down from roof tops

9 Puppeteer spiders (uses corpses as puppets to attack you)

10 2d6 elves with a pet carrion crawler

11 7 wild dogs infected with a hive intelligence

12 1d10+4 giant rats

\

Oh and ages ago with the Slum golem I mentioned making a random urban maze generator.

Well using the drop d4 system ala vornheim

(drop a number of d4 onto a page 

draw a number of straight lines from the centre of the d4 , the number dictated by the die result, and the line running parallel to the pages height and width

) 

Anyway I was tutuing around with using addition d6s dropping on the map, every couple of minutes or something. If the die lands on a wall, have that wall move in the direction of the nearest other wall. If the die rolls a one , drop another d4 to make new walls. A 5 a trap door opens in the floor and a 6 a gap opens in the ceiling. 

Played around with it , the redrawing the wall is fiddly and dunno. Anyway I mention here for someone else to run with it if they have a better idea.

scrawling over the classics planescape number .7SiGIL

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THIS POST WILL HAVE A SEQUEL WITH SIGIL RANDOM TABLES FOR MAKING SIGIL DO STUFF AT SHORT NOTICE BUT FOR NOW IT'S FLUFF FLUFF FLUFF BECAUSE SOMEONE ASKED ME TO RUN PLANESCAPE ON G+ AND I WANTED TO HAVE SOMETHING TO POINT THEM TO

SIGIL

Sigil is planescape really. So of course I would not  suggest any changes.

JOKES I will totally make changes! I will tamper with everything! I am a gremlin on special sauces with my scribbling markers and screw drivers and tamper hammers.

SIGIL , oh to go back  in time in and throw a copy of vornheim  through the window of the writers.

 But alas, time travel is only an option for advanced iguanas. My attempts will be a poor shadow of this not-to-have-been thing.

I'm just going to mentioned the changes I'm making, anything else, presume its the same. And refer to the original source material.

Anyway the torus shape of Sigil spinning atop the spire.
 I personally always found this made it seem small to me. 


So arbitrary change number 1, making the city entirely enveloping itself, until its a sphere, with the spires and rooftops jutting inward and the maze of sewer pipes and catacombs spidering out in all directions on the outside, like a ball smashing into glass but the cracks splintering out in dimensions rather than just one plane.

The city is entirely made of city. 
Sigil slowly grows , streets widen , stretch and sometimes sinking like continental plates.
 Underneath the streets are old streets and under these older streets, and under these even older.
 Pipes run through these streets taking waste and trash on a long winding journey before they void their contents into the void where Sigil ever spins.

Dabus occasionally descend into the depths to scrounge building materials. But mostly the depths are haunted by gangs and cults and human refuse that could not make it on the streets above. Ghouls and otuyghas occasionally rip into the pipes to provide a ready food source.


 Buildings that are marked with a white filled circle containing things that the Lady Of Pain does not wish to see the light of day. Disturbing these risks raising the Lady's peril. However it seems  anything she wishes truly gone would be never be found, so the  white circled buildings existence is suggestive of a perverse form of bait. 


Buildings further nearer the surface sometimes get used as dumps and junkyards , for areas the dabus don't reach. The building will be filled with rubbish from the top down, the contents then spilling onto the understreets. Sometimes a trash vein is abandoned and then later hollowed out by others.

The understreets are surprisingly deserted compared bustle above. Only the desperate or the mad really make a home down here. The reason for this is simple "out of sight, out of mind" . No dabus , no various peace keepers, not even mob justice. Fiends tiring of holding back their murderous urges come down here to hunt.
 Things escaped from wizards and vile priest labs lurk here. All the multiverse can lead here and so anything from anywhere can wind up below.


A both less and more subtle danger is present, as sigil grows and strains things below can get compressed and crushed without warning.

There is very rare marbled mineral that is created by these forces, like coal becoming diamonds, a cobble stone, skull, or trinket can be crushed and crushed again into it becomes this dark dark grey stone, like a thunderhead , with floating ribbons of red and purple in its opaque yet deep form. It is known as gutter pearl.

One more thing. The Drills. Two legged beetle things the front limbs and mandibles twisted forward and flared into scooped viscous ploughs. They work with the slow slow tides of the city, with the extrusions and the withdraws of the streets. Sometimes a disturbance in the undercity will bring them tearing up , to dig pits below the disturbs, plunging them down where the Drills with rush on them and mangle them to mortar.

The sun shines above all this. But the sun in sigil is in the middle of the sphere. It blooms into existence signaling the morning , swells to an angry red bloat at noon, and begins to wane and burn out, finally winking out signalling dusk.

THe Halfway to Everywhere, the Gate road is where it starts.
 A octagonal space spanning nearly a kilometre, the stone paving here is worn almost skin smooth and the gates scrap the haze of  weak cloud cover. The gates are rusted archs like weaponized fossils.  They lead to the gate towns corresponding to gehenna, abyss, pandemonia, grey wastes, baator,bytopia , mechaneus, mt celestial, elysium, beast lands, ysgard, canceri, limbo, archon, arcadia, bytopia, and arborea.

Everything from the outer planes makes its way to here. A constant stream of trade , vistors and lost clueless come in through the 16 great archs. Still the Gate Road always seems kind of empty, quiet even.

The Harmonium have the peace keeping position here. It took a lot of manoeuvring for them to do so, but it's mostly a show job. Anyone starting shit here is going to get mazed reaaaaal fast.

The main vein of trade goes to grand bazaar, merchants and traders operating from upper ward have runners that skim the best of the best. The rest go to the bazaar. Both the fated and the indeps are big here. The fated set up merchants cartels and the indeps set up unions against them. Both factions provide peace keeper here. The fated are easier to bribe but the indeps are more inclined to look the over the way for crimes that could be seen as "class war"

There is many many other portals in Sigil. Duh. But these are hidden or guarded or obscure.

I keep talking about Peace keepers. I've never liked the harmonium enforcing  the law in all of sigil. Sounds like a good way to have a civil war every other day. So let's make it a civil war in a tense cease fire.

 Sigil is divided up  (barring the hive and undersigil) under a myrarid of peace keepers forces. Of the factions Harmonium,and the Mercykillers, are most represented, then Belivers of the source (around the foundry), Doom guard ( in a couple distrincts in the lower ward), Indeps ( not so good with inter district cases), Athar (near their Sanctums), and Cipher ( without any formal structure). Peacekeepers funded by trader guilds, militarized residence associaltions, Clerics serving justice, law or community focused dietys, Gangs, or "community groups" take the rest of Sigil. The Guvners act as arbiters and mediators. Mercy killers as bounty hunters, taking commissions from applicants at their Grimhouses. Peace keepers operate either with the invitation and ongoing negotiation of residency associations, a previous long standing arrangements or as a dressed up protection racket.

Quick run down of what the rest of the factions do in the city:

Doom guard run a arena, various blood sports, weapons testing ranges, gladiator fights and anything involving the refinement of destruction

Bleakers, asylum

Dustmen, the mortuary

The Believers of the source run the foundry , which handles the big deal industrial building jobs and the wider city.

Xaostict make a mess and make the hive even more "interesting"

Sign of One, have the biggest autobiography library and public square

Athar run Sanctums, where they provide services that religons would. As well running a "witness relocation program" for people that are fleeing the wraith of their gods. Gosh they make enemys faster than the Fated

Ciphers, the gymnasium

Senstates, the library of all sensation (or whatever they call it).

Anarchists, also making a mess like the xaostects, but they will spend far longer explain why they do it.

Local colour of Sigil:

All kinds of detritus from everywhere plus

some animal native to just Sigil:

Lemure pigeons:

Pigeons that have stupid little human faces, as a defence mechanism there faces shift to look like someone loved by the predator. Sometimes they take face of someone that person will love but will have not meant yet. For anything that does not give a shit up about its stupid human face it relies on tasting like rotting cigarette butts

Dustbats: (or blunders, dizzes , fuzzbirds)

Fuzzy little balls of cute little fuzz the size of a fist, will nest in groups of dozens or so under roof eaves, behind wardropes, anywhere really. The name refers to the resemblence to a dust ball, not to any elemental aledgence. They are some what reckless flyers , maneuvarable but prone to crashing into stuff. The thick fuzz protects them from impact. This uncanny ability to crash into anything and everything makes them less welcome in houses that their insectivore habits would normal allow.

Roof Donkeys:

A donkey the size of a dog, wiry and cunning, and prestigious jumpers and climbers, one of the few thing capable of eating razor vine. Instead of the donkey hee-haws the Roof donkey has a surprisingly delicate warble.

Gutterhound:

A breed of whippet with a frog tongue. Somehow manages to look snobbish while licking up vomit

Doubletom:

A 2 headed cat. Can projectile vomit at will. Foul tempered.

CobbleCrabs:

Actually a type of slater, when curled up look identical to a cobble stone.

(picture of ibis, but this is what an oil stork looks like)

Oil Stork:

a goofy looking sickly greasy stork. Can eat oozes , mold and puddings. Sticks eggs to gaps underneath roofs with weird goo like a horrible frog.

MOcker:

A trouble causing type of crow that's a near perfect mimic

Shadrows:

A shadow of sparrow, eats the shadow of food. Food with no shadow tastes like crap.

Some plants! Plants are exciting!

Blackapple tree, a small scrubby tree that ignores gravity and on the side of buildings

Rust Blossum, a flowering bush that grows on metal and is made of rust, smells a little like jasmine and a bit more like menses. But in a nice way.

Arsonist's pillow, a bright yellow moss, that grows in dark , wet places (AND ITS A MOSS CRAZY!) which is good because it responds to sudden impact by bursting into flame.

New Player races!

Rag Dolls:

Cloth constructs that are capable of self replication ie baby making. No bones,but human organs and circulatory system. Flesh is stuffing, skin cloth, are sewn together, facial features either painted or sewn on, but as change as easy as meat faces. Can restore body if have access to sewing materials and fabric. Very difficult to tie up , can squeeze through tiny gaps. Can count as size modifier 1/2 when needed. More damage from fire.

            agility, luck +, awareness, int -

Ghuls:

MAybe people tainted with negative plane energy? Maybe the descendants of some worshippers of a death god? Anyway these guys live in Sigil. They look like a person but with lips  torn off and black evil orbs for eyes, and fiendish piranha teeth. Hairlessness is common but not universal.

immune to disease, poison and paralysing  can only eat spoiled food and water, can't restore body points through healing magic, can't be raised or reincarnated.

           

Plane touched: sometimes planar travel can contaminate people . SOmetimes it can only show up a few generations later. Your saw bones advisers not travelling while pregnant

Gensai:

 Earth: have 3 faces like weird stone idols or some other earth type creature thing. Heavy builds, and or     grey 
                   skin. Protruding angular bones

                        strength, health +, agility, social -

            
Fire: swavy dwarves with beards of thick smoke that bursts into flame when they are anger or excited

                        agility, spirit +, luck, health -

            
Water: Marbled eel skin, rows and rows of evil fish teeth

                        spirit, health +, strength, social -

            
Air: hair moves slowly as if in wind, small sypth wings, clouds are seen in eyes

                        awareness, agility +, strength, health -

           

             


Salt: Skin cracked like a river bed in a long drought, eyes shriveled up to little sullen raisins , hair    bleached white or verypale

                                    awareness, health +, social, sprirt -

            
Ash: Grey skin, sunken in look , mouth cavity always pitch black, teeth like coal

                                    intelligence, luck +, health, social -

            
Dust:Skin like sandstone, raspy voices, sweat dust, hair falls out all the time, grows back and breaks down real fast

                                    strength , intelligence +, health, agility -

            
Vacuum: cracks in skin lets show a void that seems to suck at the light. Eyes pour out darkness. Always seem quieter around them

                                    agility, intelligence +, health, social -

           

            
Ooze: Always looks wet and sick. Eyes leak weird fluids, weird rubbery boneless movements

                                                social, agility +, health, luck -

            
Ice: Look like you froze to death.

                                                intelligence, health +, agility, social -

            
Smoke: Burnt black lips, glowing eyes, dark hair

                                                spirit, awareness +, health, strength -

            
Magma: Flowing movements, no outlines of bones, light shines out of mouth and eyes

                                                health, spirit +, awareness, social -

            
Mineral: Hair like spun silver or gold, eyes like gemstones, quartz shimmers in skin

                                    luck, spirit, +, social , awareness -

            
Steam: skin seethes and ripples, little vents open up releasing little puffs of steam. Always wet look.

                                    awareness, luck, +, strength, health -

            


Lightning: Eyes crackle with lightning, sparks play along skin. HAir stands up like near a telsa coil

                                    agility, luck +, social, health -

            Radiance: Coloured light pulse from under skin depending on mood. Its like light has been jammed under your skin. YOur   hair is freaking rainbow.

                                    spirit, intelligence +, strength, health -

           

Tieflings and Aasimar: as written

tieflings roll twice on random mutation table

Intelligence, agility,  +, social, luck, -

Aasimar:

social, luck +,awareness,health -

+1 on all saves, food can be only be  digest if the person liked making the meal