Party Like it’s 3999: Ripping off Jeff’s Gameblog

I am trying to get my game going again. Being abroad has made it difficult to keep my group(s) together for more than a few sessions. I am trying two different approaches to getting re-started: DM-ing a home mini adventuring party (my daughter and my wife) and “…getting the band back together!” i.e. getting some old buddies to play a regularly scheduled G+ game. I am focusing on streamlining and defining my D&D Home-School as much as I can before I get going again. I hope that the holiday season will give me enough of a break from work to get some momentum going.

As I first started digging into my D&D roots a few years ago, I was lucky enough to discover Jeff’s Gameblog, even though Jeff Rients has stopped posting regularly as he is busier now than he was a few years back, his blog is a source of continuing inspiration. His body of work (hacks, play reports, and anything else Old School D&D) is vast.

One of Jeff’s rules, which I have ripped and used many times, is his carousing rule. I am just repeating his post with a few minor modifications.

Joesky’s Tax: Carousing

System: PCs, to earn extra XP, can choose to go out carousing between sessions. At the beginning of a session the PC starts off the evening by hanging out at his favorite inn with a sack full of silver pieces (sp); typically PCs may only go carousing if they ended the previous session in some sort of settlement (village, town, or city). The PC rolls some dice and earns XP based on how well he debauched (below):

Village: 1d6 x 100sp spent

Town:   1d8 x 150sp spent

City:     1d12 x 250sp spent

*Thieves may spend an extra 25sp to gain an extra pip on their roll if they are connected to any local criminal organizations (guilds, gangs, etc.)

*All PCs may spend an extra 50sp to gain an extra pip on their roll

If the die roll is equal to or less than the PCs level, the evening results in nothing more than a headache and some foggy memories of good times. But if the die roll is above the PCs level, things get out of hand and he must roll 1d20 and consult the chart below.

If a PC cannot afford to pay for his good time, he loses all of his cash but only gains XP equal to half of what was spent. Other PCs may pay a PC’s tab. Henchmen will only cover a PC’s tab after successfully passing a loyalty check and even then only to avoid imprisonment or death.

Getting Out of Hand:

1) Make a fool of yourself! Gain no XP. Roll CHA check or gain local reputation as a drunken lout.
2) Brawl! Roll STR check or start adventure 1d3 hit points short.
3) Minor Misunderstanding with the Authorities. Roll CHA check. Success indicates a fine of 2d6 x 25sp. Failure or (inability to pay fine) indicates 1d6 days in prison.
4) Romantic Entanglement. Roll WIS check to avoid nuptials. Successes roll 1d6, 1-3 scorned lover, 4-6 angered parents.
5) Gambling Losses. Roll the dice as if you caroused again to see how much cash you lose; gain no XP for the second roll.

6) You Party Machine! Unless a CHA check is failed, all future carousing in this burg costs double due to barflies and other parasites.
7) You insulted a local person of rank. A successful CHA check indicates the personage is amenable to some sort of apology and reparations.
8) It burns when you pee. Roll PPD save check to avoid venereal disease.
9) New Tattoo! Roll 1d6, 1-3 it’s actually pretty cool, 4 it’s lame, 5 it could have been badass, but something is goofed up or misspelled, 6 it says something insulting, crude or stupid in an unknown language.
10) Beaten and Robbed!  Lose all your personal effects and reduced to half hit points.
11) Gambling Binge! Lose all your cash. Roll WIS check for each magic item in your possession. Failure indicates it’s gone.
12) Hangover from the Hells. First day of adventuring is at -2 to-hit, saves, and spell-casting.

13) The target of a lewd advance turns out to be a witch. Save versus polymorph or you’re literally a swine.
14) One of us! One of us! You’re not sure how it happened, but you’ve been initiated into some sort of secret society or weird cult. Roll INT check to remember the signs and passes.
15) You invest all your spare cash in some smooth-tongued merchant’s scheme. Roll 1d6, 1-4 it’s bogus, 5 it’s bogus and the authorities think you’re in on it, 6 actual money making opportunity returns d% profits in 3d4 months.
16) You wake up stark naked in a random local temple. Roll 1d6, 1-3 the clerics are majorly pissed off, 4-6 they smile and thank you for stopping by.
17) Major Misunderstanding with the Authorities. Imprisoned until fines and bribes totaling 1d6 x 1,000sp are paid. All equipment is confiscated.
18) Despite your best efforts, you have fallen head over heels for your latest dalliance. 75% chance that your beloved is already married.
19) While in a drunken stupor you asked the gods to get you out of a stupid mess and they heard you! In payment for saving you, you’re under the effects of a quest spell.
20) The Roof! The Roof! The Roof is on Fire! You have accidentally start a conflagration. Roll 1d6 twice. 1-2 burn down your favorite inn, 3-4 some other den of ill repute is reduced to ash, 5-6 a big chunk of town goes up in smoke. 1-2 no one knows it was you, 3-4 your fellow carousers know you did it, 5 someone else knows, perhaps a blackmailer, 6 everybody knows.

First I want to say “thanks” to Jeff Rients. Second, I am going to link this post and others to a DM Tools link, which will aid in quickly jumping to posts and which might interest DMs. I want only game-able material linked there because I am going to use it to help me run my own games.