4d6 Drop the lowest with Inspiration Pad Pro

While setting up tables to generate PC pre-gens, I ran into trouble while trying to roll up attributes, so I made this. Just call a roll on the table and it will roll 4d6, pick the 3 highest, and return the total.

Table:Roll
Type:Dictionary
Set:  die1 = {1d6}
Set:  die2 = {1d6}
Set:  die3 = {1d6}
Set:  die4 = {1d6}
Set: roll4 = {die1 + die2 + die3 + die4 - min(die1,die2,die3,die4)}
Default:{roll4}//4d6 drop the lowest

Here's a less readable but more compressed version. The table typt and default are also optional, since this only includes one method.

Table:RollCompressed
Type:Dictionary
Set: roll4 = {{die1 = {1d6}} + {die2 = {1d6}} + {die3 = {1d6}} + {die4 = {1d6}} - min(die1,die2,die3,die4)}
Default:{roll4} //4d6 drop the lowest

DCC 83.1: Tales of the Shudder Mountains Review

I'm not quite sure why Goodman Games thought people would pay $10 ($7 pdf) for this. Frankly, I wish I hadn't paid $5 for it. It's 20 half-pages (booklet), and that's with a lot of padding.

The booklet describes itself as 3 mini-adventures, but each mini-adventure is really just a single encounter with an extra fight or two tacked on. They're supposed to be supporting adventures for DCC 83: The Chained Coffin, but there's nothing tying them to it. You could easily drop these anywhere.

Each adventure takes up about 6 pages, including a completely unnecessary map, but could have been covered just as well in one. The long descriptions and irrelevant backstory could have been replaced by actually fleshing out the encounters with more content. Or even better, giving us more gamable information on the intelligent creatures. Some motivations beyond just killing the PCs.
Everything attacks on sight, except for a mute quest-giver who will attack if you are rude or can't understand his poor pantomime.

That said, I wouldn't actually call the book bad. There is some nice prose. The description of the bleeding ghost is particularly evocative, as are the quotes at the beginning of each adventure.
The underlying ideas have potential.

1. A pond in the forest that bring the dead back to life, but the locals don't want to share because they're afraid that it's a limited resource.
2. A ghost who needs laying to rest, but can't tell you what he needs because his throat was slit.
3. A wizard with lightning zombies who's got magic berry bushes but is completely dependant on them.

But rather than take these ideas and run with them, they just frame a series of combats. And frankly those descriptions are a little charitable.

I think the book is still salvageable. It was a enjoyable read and the pertinent details are sticky enough you could easily use them as off the cuff encounters. Good luck trying to run from the book at the table though.

Restocking Table

I find the default restocking table a little limited. Here's a slightly expanded one, along with notes/examples of how I use it to restock Stonehell Dungeon.

Roll two d6s. If the first demands a monster or special, use the second to determine which.

1d6	Restock	Monster	Special
1	Monster	Same Level	Hidden Treasure
2	Monster & Treasure	Same Level	Trapped Treasure
3	Special	Same Level	Trap/Trick
4	Nothing	Other Level	New Room
5	Nothing	Other Level	Local Color
6	Nothing	Outside	Encounter

Monster: Usually just repopulated from the wandering monster table of the selected level. If not from the current level, 50/50 up or down, and a 50/50 chance of picking from that level or going one further.
Outside means a new denizen has wandered in. If you have overland encounter tables, you can roll on that or just grab any random monster.

Traps: Obviously something that should be reasonably mobile or could have been quickly constructed.

New Room: Room is substantially changed. Expanded or caved in, new exit, repurposed, or entirely new. On the upper levels of Stonehell, this would probably be the work of the kobold fixin' crews, while on the lower levels, it'd be warped by the nixis' influence.

Local Color: Something small to set the tone. Evidence of the goings on of the other inhabitants like spoor or graffiti, or details of the ecology or just something weird. In Stonehell, I'd roll on that d100 table in the back.

Encounter: The kind of things that are too specific for a monster table, but don't require a room remodel. Quests, NPCs, a unique monster, etc.

Formula for BD&D Ability Score Bonus

While working on an initiative tool, I worked out a formula for your Ability Score bonus using the Basic D&D bell curve spread. (18 = 3, 16-17 = 2, 9-12 =0, etc.)

It works well, with the bonus past 18 increasing by 1 for ever 2 points in your score, until you hit a score of 24, which is a third value of 5 instead of moving on to 6. You can't really push the breakdown point higher unless you're willing to get fancier than I am. However, unless you're playing 3rd ed (with its own bonus spread) you're unlikely to come across Ability Score that high anyway, so this should probably serve you.

Anyway, here's the formula. The symbols surrounding it refer to the floor function, meaning you round down. The forward slash means division.

Bonus = ⌊(Ability Score - 10.5) / 2.3⌋

Or spelled out:

1. Subtract 10.5 from your ability score.
2. Divide by 2.3
3. Round down. That's your bonus.

Here's the Excel formula. ROW() is the Abiltity Score, just replace that if you want to do it by value instead of row.

=ROUNDDOWN((ROW()-10.5)/2.3,0)

Here it is in C#, the whole reason I wanted a formula.

int bonus = (int)Math.Truncate((18 - 10.5) / 2.3d)

Cumberland County: Deputies in the Fantasy Deep South

AKA: Rural Fantasy, Backwoods Detectives, Swamp Noir
Major Influences: Fantasy Redneck Adventure Generator, The Andy Griffith Show
Minor Influences: Southern Gothic, D&D
System: Roll for Shoes
Campaign: Series of one-shot mysteries. 2.5 so far

Upon discovering the Fantasy Redneck Adventure Generator, I was so enamored with the mashup I knew I had to run it. Check it out. It's fantastic.
While the actual entries from the generator haven't made much impact, the flavor caries through.

Players are deputies, investigating crimes in a mashup of tropes from standard fantasy and the Deep South. Schoolmarms, moonshiners, jalopies, and southern plantations meet miracle performing priests, orcs, giant crabs, and magic.

Adapted from the Pokethulu map