Nuts and Bolts V (Character Creation)

• Atrributes

Str
Dex
Con
Int
Will
Per
Cha

Roll 3d6 for each

• Skills

You have 3 points to spend on skills. Each point represents a level. You may spend them in any combination. You could even place them all in the same skill, and start with it at 3. Whatever.
Sample Skill list,
Gambling
Climb
Track
Pick lock
Pick Pocket
Stealth
Spot
Listen
Ride
Swim
Balance
Intimidate
Charm
Haggle
Weapon (Pick one, such as Knife, pistol, rifle, or club)
Drive
Pilot
Boating
Brawling
Writing
Research
Artist
History
Science (pick one, such as chemistry, physics, or engineering)

• Special Ability

Special abilities are special abilities that not everyone has. Sometimes characters are a sort of natural savant when it comes to a skill. Or have a special power. Here is a sample list of a few.
Sharpshooter
Fast Reload
Quick Draw
Born behind the Wheel
Ace
Old Salt
Academic
Sprinter
Hard to Kill
Knock Out King
Eye for Detail
Photographic memory
Contacts
Duelist
Wealthy
Lucky
Jockey
Inspired
Combat Veteran
Mage

Characters may pick one special ability. They may pick a second, if they pick two disadvantages.

• The Rest

The rest is just the sundries. Name, age, sex, physical description, and equipment.

This is all very rough at the moment. I want to spin it about and see how it all shakes out.

As always comments welcome.

Nuts and Bolts IV (Sanity, or lack there of)

Horror/Fear/Sanity check
Some times people encounter an act of violence, or entity that floors them. Some thing truly horrific, weird, or strange. So seeing an angry savage dog wouldn't require it. But seeing an angry savage dog foaming at the mouth, the fur on its head slicked back by blood and gore, yes. Seeing someone shot, no. Finding a pile of corpses that have been machine gunned, yes. A group of people walking at night, no. Encountering the "Nightmarchers", yes. Reading about Kahōʻāliʻi, no. Encountering Kahōʻāliʻi, yes.
When making a check the character must roll under their Willpower. If successful, they have pulled themselves together and operate normally. If they fail they must runaway or stand frozen in horror. They also temporarily lose 1 willpower point till they have slept. Characters regenerate one point of temporarily lose will every time they sleep. So if they lose more than one in a day it takes days to regain them. Now if they a roll a 20 it is an automatic failure. In addition to the effects of a normal failure they also permanently lose one point of willpower, and gain a mental disorder.

(From here on out its a real rough draft. But thats the purpose of this to get it down. So I can look at it and mess with it more) roll 1d8 and consult the table
(Though I have a roll here. I think that this can be a good guide with out rolling as well.)

1	Psychosis
2-3	Phobia
4-6	Anxiety

Psychosis or Psychotic break the character suffers from abnormal social behavior and failure to recognize what is real. Common symptoms include false beliefs, unclear or confused thinking, auditory hallucinations, reduced social engagement and emotional expression, and lack of motivation.

Phobia is an irrational fear of x. The phobia gained should have something to do with the experience that traumatizes the character. If attacked by a demon posses dog, one should not gain a fear of flying for example.

Anxiety is a grouping of stress related disorders. Suck as panic attacks, OCD, and PTSD. Roll randomly or pick one.

Now obviously this is all very rough as far as the mental disorders go. But its a good starting place.

(As always comments welcome)

Nuts and Bolts III (Or how do I shoot this mook in the face)

Combat
Lets face it, eventually your gonna have to punch some jackass in the face.
First we start with initiative. The order of the combat. This is determined by rolling a d20. Lowest acts first. Then you go up the line so to speak. Now if two opponents roll the same they act simultaneously. Both would act normally. Damage or other effect taking place after both have finished.
So an example.
Our character is jumped by two thugs outside of a gambling den. Initiative is rolled. Our man rolls a 5. Thug A rolls a 7, and Thug B rolls a 5. Both our character and Thug B act simultaneously. Both punch each other doing damage. Even though they both take damage neither assumes the appropriate penalties from the damage in the melee between them. Now we move to the next attack Thug A. Now our character suffers any penalties gains from the melee with Thug B.
Some examples of combat modifiers are as follows,
In hand to hand or melee combat the opponents positive dexterity bonus acts as a negative to the attackers to hit roll/attribute.
Light Haze -1 to hit
Thick fog -3 to hit
Darkness -6 to hit
Aiming for a specific body location
Head -5
Hand -6
Arm -4
Leg -3
Foot -5
Ranged combat
Point Blank +1
Short +/-0
Medium -2
Long -4
Extreme -6
Target has Cover
Partial -3
Full -6

Now damage. If a hit is successful your roll the appropriate dice as indicated for that weapon. This is subtracted from your characters hit point total. Once you have lost half your hit points (and every time you receive damage thereafter) you must make a willpower roll. If you fail you pass out till you make your willpower roll. You then must wait till the next round to make an action.
Any damage to the head you must make a willpower roll or be knocked out.

Armor reduces the amount of damage taken.

Automatic weapons
Short burst does x2 damage if successful
Long burst is -3 to hit and does x5 damage
If attacking multiple targets. Attacker must make successful attack roll as per usual. But the defender gets a chance to dodge. They must roll under the attackers roll or take normal damage.

(as always comments welcome)

Nuts and Bolts II (the meat of it)

OK, to the meat of it. Yeah I probably should finish out character creation. But that will have to wait a minute. Lets face it the mechanics are the biggest deal breakers right?
Tasks (ones that require a roll) are resolved by rolling a d20. It must be equal or under the appropriate attribute. Yeah a roll under system. I know that's a deal breaker some folks. I'm good with either. But your mileage may vary. The attribute may be modified by difficulty of the task or circumstance. For example the character has a dexterity of 14. They are picking an old skeleton key lock with proper tools so they get a bonus of +3. So they would have to roll a 17 or lower. Now the same character trying to pick a high security custom lock suffers a -3. So they would have to roll an 11. Besides difficulty other factors can effect things as well. So the same character attempting to pick the high security lock in a violent thunder storm would be an addition -3. So they would have to roll an 8 or lower.
Now skills modify the attribute as well. So referring to our example above say the character has a lock picking skill of +2. Using the storm example again. Instead of having to roll an 8 or lower. They would have to roll a 10 or lower.
Now regardless of skill or modifiers, a roll of a 20 is always a failure. While a roll of 1 is always a success.
Now combat uses the same unified mechanic. Having its own little quirks. But that's next time.

(as always comments welcome)

Nuts and Bolts

So the nut and bolts of it. I'm cooking up a system to use with my Hawaiian Noir game and more than likely my Empire game. So I figured I would start laying it out. Putting pen to paper as they say. Im going to start with the attributes. (Oh and as always, if not more so now. I welcome any kind of feedback) Its sort of old school, sorta not. It will be a unified system though. More on that later.

So the attributes,
Strength
Measure of a characters physical strength, and physical power
Dexterity
Represents the characters agility and manual dexterity
Constitution
Physical hardiness, how well a character deals with damage, disease, poison, and etc
Willpower
The measure of one mental strength and endurance. How well one deals with the adverse, weird, and madness
Perception
Represents a characters ability to perceive the world around them
Charisma
How well a character interacts with others

These attributes or stats are generated by rolling 3d6 for each of the attributes.
Depending on the number rolled it may generate an additional bonus, or penalty associated with that attribute. To be used in appropriate situations. (More on that later.)

3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
-3	-3	-2	-2	-1	-1	0	0	0	0	+1	+1	+2	+2	+3	+3

(The Table gets cut off but you get the idea)

Next time I will deal with skills and task resolution.

Whats it all about?

Hawaiian Noir, what is it all about?

It can be summed up in three basic concepts,

Hawaiian Paradise

Noir

Supernatural

OK, that's great. But what does that mean?

Its an exotic paradise. Warm weather, lush tropical setting, even a bit exotic. Beautiful beachs, humid jungle, and wild volcanoes.
But its also dark, gritty, slums, poverty, criminals, double crosses, murder, lost hope, and when things get bad they seem to turn even worse.
Then theres the dark other side. Things in the shadows. Corrupting magic. Spirits, and lore come over the veil to this side.

Its Red Harvest, Dark Passage, Kiss Me Deadly, Key Largo, and The Gun Runners. Combined with the supernatural, hawaiian folklore/mythology, spirits, corrupting magic, and madness.
Mixed with the Hawaiian Islands in the 1950's.

How much magic?

One of the considerations I have made about the Hawaiian Noir setting is how much magic? At first I was thinking balls out D&D/Weird Adventures level of magic. But I think I'm going to go with a more limited subtler level. Like CoC, where magic is unknown/thought not to be real by the vast majority of people. Its out there, and even a few in government know about it. Some governments secretly tried to harness it for their goals. But magic, and spirits are fickle things. It didn't always work out well. Certainly not enough to change the war let alone the outcome. More evil bent creatures, and such did have a heyday in the chaos though. Now that the world has returned to a relative calm. They have retreated back into the shadows. Weaving their conspiracies and plots to torment the earth.



Oh, as a side note.
Feel free to comment. Like it? Hate it? Whatever, feedback welcome.

Hawaiian Noir

So I've been thinking more about this. Having a lot of time on my hands taking my wife to several appointments. Now don't worry people out there in internet land. I will be returning to "Empire". But I really want to get this written down, before it fades out of my brain.

So I don't know about you folks, but when I start to put together a setting campaign. i write out a list of themes, concepts, and things I want included. So here is my Hawaiian Noir brain storming list:

1950's
Noir
Supernatural
Dark
Hawaiian Paradise
City
Slums
Jungle
Mountains
Volcano
Sugar Cane
Criminals
Beach
Liquor
Cocktails
Native Hawaiians
Polynesians
Samoans
Japanese
Spirits
Shinto
Pacific Ocean
Cool old cars
Cool old boats

So then of course the big question comes up. What system? Again I'm torn. Use the home brew I've been jacking with. Or perhaps use "Mean Streets" (Which I do like quite a bit) and tack on some sanity, magic, and supernatural rules. Then again one could easily clip the mythos out of CoC and use that. Might be the way to go. Things to think about.

Edit/Addition
Another thought of system. If I can scratch up the coin, "Silent Legions" might be great for this.

Hawaiian Dick

I've been doing a bunch of reading about Weird Adventures by Trey Causey. You can check out his blog here. Its full of awesome. Anyways, before you say it. Yes I'm way behind the curve. Weird Adventures has been out for a while now. Man have I been missing out. Next pay period that I have some spare loot, I'm definitely getting it. So I've been scouring his blog, absorbing every little bit of it I can. It got me thinking. I would like to do something like this. Not this, but like this. So I started day dreaming at work. Something urban-ish, fatasy-ish, pulp-ish. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, Hawaiian Dick.

Which by the way is an awesome comic. Its had three mini series released. I believe theres a fourth in the works. I'm not really much in the know any more as I dont collect comics like I once did. Regardless, I thought to myself this has everything I want in a game. 50's, noir, Hawaii, and supernatural.  Its fucking win, win. So Empire might need to go on hold for a little bit, while I get this out of my head and onto the page.

The Ursa

The Ursa live in the foothills and mountains north of the Empire. The Ursa are bear like humanoids. Not anthropomorphic bears, but shaggy haired humanoids. They are extremely strong and large in stature, with a slightly muzzled mouth. While they do possess sharp canines they are completely concealed with their mouths closed. They have regressed claws that are not sharp, and more like really thick finger nails, with a slightly rounded point.
The Ursa live in large clan groups. If you enter a town it will be controlled by a single clan. Marriage must come from outside the clan, and are gigantic affairs involving two towns. They are known as fine smiths. But are not yet capable of the industrialization possessed by the Empire. Technology wise they are capable and do carry flintlock weapons. Most of which are of large calibers. Definitely unusable by races of smaller stature, like geck. Their traditional ranged weapon is the levered shot. Which is a piece of shaped granite, with an iron handle attached. Obviously this is a thrown weapon. In the realm of hand to hand weapons they favor axes, and broad swords. Besides iron working, they are known for their woodworking, brewing, and distilling.
Ursa are generally a very friendly lot. It is said that to become a friend of an Ursa is to become a friend for life. While not typically violent. When roused to such a state. they are fearsome fighters, of great power.

Classes or the lack there of

So something I've been pondering about in the rule set that I've been cooking up. Class or classless? Classes really are straight forward and make building and leveling easy. Classless allows for easier customization, and concept building. I'm leaning toward classless with a play selecting choices appropriate to the concept. Playing a soldier pick soldiery abilities and skills. It also allows people not to be straight jacketed to a single thing. Soldier or thief. Where classless would allow you to play a soldier that used to run the streets and knows how to pick locks, or whatever. Seems like it would give a bit more freedom. What do you folks think?

Linky

Have you seen this? Its sweet. Gonna steal parts/it for a game yet to be determined.

Books

Sorry don't have much to say today.

Crazy day, pretty tired.

So in lue of actual content, I present the covers of these three books.

You should read them all in order.

Good, stuff.

Real good.

The United Saqar Socialist Republic

Mexican Cactus People

by Lysol-Jones

The United Saqar Socialist Republic lies far to the south of the Hyden desert. Populated by a race of humanoid cactus. It is a very different place than the Empire. People in the Empire have heard of the Saqar, but very few have actually met one. They live in scattered communes, governed by a travelling central body. They have built a socioeconomic system based on the common ownership of the communes means of production. They have a distinct lack of social classes and money. This is helped by the fact of their unique physiology. They feed by absorbing sunlight. As well as going dormant and  rooting into the ground for a period time. The time the individual must root for varies depending on the physical characteristics of the individual. (Their attributes) This leaves them with more time to help one another and the community. Now their are exceptions to this, not all are altruistic members of this society. But it is true for the majority.These exceptions tend to be thieves, and explorers. More likely to be found outside of the Saqar lands. They tend to live in mud brick houses covered by stucco. With bare dirt floors, and no roof. This allows them to bask in sunlight and root easily in their abode. They are about late 18th century in technology. Blades and flintlock weapons are common. They have a tradition of smithing fine metal objects. But do not mine for it. They trade for it. Typically with the boat people, who in turn trade with the Empire. One thing you will never see a Saqar with, or using is a wooden object. They find it mentally disturbing, and will not use it. They do use coal for their smithing though.Game note   Saqar have a player class unique to the race. The Commissar. Treated as a bard. But instead of being a story teller or singer/musician. They issue commands, and inspirations. Created the same effects. As all in the world of the Empire they do not cast spells. But Commissars do gain thief skills as a bard as well.

The Boat People

The boat people towns lie deep in the eastern Hyden desert. The town consist of pre fall ships. The Hyden desert used to be a sea. These ships where trapped after the fall. The ships/town are in various conditions. Some are derelict hulks, mere skeletons. Others have been meticulously maintained. Almost to the point if the water returned they could float, and move away under there own power. This is part of the boat peoples religion. They pray to Poseidon, to bring back the water. So that they may travel to to the legendary safe harbor. Technology varies from town/ship to town/ship. Some that inhabit the hulks are mere hunter gathers. Others still have fully operational fusion power reactors, and limited technology on the ancients. Armed with a mix of black powder cartridge weapons, and laser rifles. But they all follow the ancient naval/maritime traditions. The two largest and most prosperous are the USS Zmwalt III (former destroyer), and MV Global (container ship).

Power of the Empire

Been quiet for a minute. Sorry, work has been crazy. Being the lone gun man for a 6 day work week sucks.

So, lets get back into it eh? What is truly the real power of the Empire? The army? Yes, partially. Psychics? No, not really there are those outside of the Empire. Advanced technology? Yes, but not in the black powder cartridges, and relics of the past. No, the true power of the Empire can be summed up in one word, railroad. Mass transit. The ability to project power across the Empire. Not just delivering troops in a remarkable speed, in comparison to horses. Mighhty steam locomotives plying the continent. But the the support elements, and supplies needed by the army. Then there is the economic impact of the railroad. Goods, and passengers whisked about the Empire. This is the true power of the Empire. Tracks crisscross the Empire. Spurs lead to the front on the southern coast delivering troops and supplies. A spur leads into the northern mountains to the Ursa Clans territory. In the far south it leads to the Hyden Desert. Here it ends. The railroad is no match for the shifting sands of the desert. From here goods are transported via camel caravan to the Boat People towns, and even farther south to the United Saqar Socialist Republic. (Yeah, I named it the USSR. It fits, you'll see in a later post).

Rule Sets

Been thinking of the future campaign. Need to decide something important. The rules. My go to is RC. (Thats Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia for those of you not in the know) But then I think maybe should use S&W, or Microlite 20. I find both of those super easy to hack, spindle, fold, and mutilate into any shape I like. Then I think, well get away from the D&D/OSR sets and go different. Like open D6 or Uni-system. Then finally I think well why not use one of the couple different rules sets that I've written or pondered for myself. So many choices need to decide....... Tough choice.

The Sewers of Septure

The Sewers of Septure is an adventure I wrote back in 2008 for a little fanzine that I was the lead editor and publisher of. Which back then I described as, "This fan-zine is like a homegrown Dragon magazine, a grass roots local gaming resource. Each issue is full of articles, adventures, campaign ideas, reviews, and inspirational material.". Get this not only was it printed, I gave it away for free. I had a deal with three of the local game shops to distribute it from them. I know crazy right? I still think this is a fun little intro adventure. I've used it couple different times with a couple groups. So I thought I would re post it here for other to enjoy.

The Sewers of Septure

This adventure like the rest I have written for the supplement has been written loosely so it can be adapted as the GM sees fit for their game. I've decided to go old school with this one though. I'm using Labyrinth Lord which is a simulacrum game. A simulacrum game is any game, currently in production or legally available for free, which attempts to reproduce or support the look, feel, game mechanics and/or play style of the classic Dungeons & Dragons or Advanced Dungeons & Dragons games. Which is a fancy way of saying a classic D&D clone, that you can publish material for. Labyrinth Lord is freely available and can be found at http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.htm

     Now this can start any way the GM sees fit. Perhaps the characters start in the traditional fashion, meeting and joining up together in the tavern. Or perhaps they are already a group, riding into town after a long journey through the wilderness. Regardless, the town should be a pleasant respite from the dreary wilderness. And regardless where the characters go. Be it the tavern, inn, magic shop, or general store the locals of Septure are filled with rumors. About how there's something in the sewers.

    Eventually the group will be approached by the mayor. He will explain that something or things have taken residence in the sewers. Strange sounds have come from the sewers, and a few of the townsfolk animals have gone missing. So Swen and Ollie were picked to go down into the sewers and set traps. They have been down there two days. The town folk fear for their safety. The town would like to hire the group, a stout assembly of adventurers, to go into the sewers, find out what's down there and hopefully rescue Swen and Ollie. They don't expect the characters to do this out of the goodness in their hearts. They have taken a collection and come up with a hundred gold pieces. Plus, anything they find in the sewers they can keep. (Remember these are first level characters, so one hundred gold pieces even divided is big money.)

    They will be taken down to the sewer entrance at the river. Leading from the river into the sewer is a black iron bar gate. Inside the sewer is built from simple grey stone blocks, with an arched ceiling. Moist and covered in moss and slime, it feels slippery to the touch. The center of each corridor is a 4 foot wide trench which the refuse flows in. Each side of the trench there is a three foot wide cobblestone walkway. Thru the trench flows murky, stinking water.

1. This tunnel contains foothold traps, spring loaded jaws--bear-trap style, well traps. 1d4 traps. Save vs Petrification or 1d4 damage.

2. The catch basin, multiple clay pipes empty into this room. Where the tainted water collects and flows out. It's also the home to a group of Devil Frogs. Searching the murky water will reveal 4d6 copper pieces.

3. This tunnel contains foothold traps, spring loaded jaws--bear-trap style, well traps. 1d4 traps. Save vs Petrification or 1d4 damage.

4. This tunnel has a group of Devil Frogs gathered here.

5. This catch basin, is the lair of the Giant Devil Frogs. Searching the murky water will reveal 4d6 copper pieces, 2d6 electrum pieces, and a ruby worth 25 gold pieces.

    Any time the water is entered there is a 5% chance the character contracts a disease. Saving throw vs. poison is permitted if they fail they die 1d6 days later. If successful the character gets ill and is bed ridden for 30 days. At the end of which there is a 25% chance the disease proves fatal. The spell Cure Disease will cure this infection.

Devil Frog

No. Enc.: 3d6 (3d10)

Alignment: Neutral

Movement: 60' (20')

Armor Class: 7

Hit Dice: 1d4 hit points

Attacks: 1 (bite)

Damage: 1d3

Save: F1

Morale: 8

Hoard Class: XIII

XP: 5

These are huge red skinned frogs. Minimally 2' long, and weigh 10-15lbs. They do not have teeth. But the jaw bone protrudes though its gums. This jaw bone is serrated like a hacksaw blade. They are carnivorous, and very aggressive.

Devil Frog, Giant

No. Enc.: 1d4 (1d4)

Alignment: Neutral

Movement: 90' (30')

Armor Class: 7

Hit Dice: 2 + 2

Attacks: 1 (bite)

Damage: 1d6

Save: F1

Morale: 6

Hoard Class: XIII

These immense frogs can grow to the size of a donkey, and weigh up to 250lbs. The are bright red like their smaller brethren and have the same hacksaw jaw bone teeth. The giant frogs have 15' long tongues, and on a successful hit they are able to yank any being the size of a dwarf or smaller toward their mouths for a bite attack. Victims no larger than a halfling may be swallowed on an attack roll of 20. Any creature swallowed will suffer 1d6 hit points of damage per round as the frog digests it.

Firearms

Some stats for firearms in my Empire campaign.
(All range increments are in yards)

Williams Rifle
Damage: 1d10
Range Increment: 30/50/100

Danforth Double Action Revolver
Damage: 1d8
Range Increment: 15/30/50

Danforth Single Action Revolver
Damage: 1d8
Range Increment: 15/30/50

Kepler Pistol
Damage: 1d8
Range Increment: 15/30/50

Howda Pistol
-Damage: .45 Williams 1d10
Range Increment: 15/30/50
-.60 1d12
Range Increment: 15/30/50
-12 gauge shot 1d10/1d8/1d6
Range Increment: 10/20/30
-12 gauge slug 1d12
Range Increment: 15/30/50

Shotgun
Single or double barreled
-20 gauge
shot1d8/1d6/1d4
Range Increment: 15/30/50
slug 1d10
Range Increment: 20/40/60
-12 gauge
shot 1d10/1d8/1d6
Range Increment: 15/30/50
slug 1d12
Range Increment: 20/40/60
-10 gauge
shot 1d12/1d10/1d8
Range Increment: 15/30/50
slug 2d6
Range Increment: 20/40/60
-8 gauge
shot 1d20/1d12/1d10
Range Increment: 15/30/50
slug 2d10
Range Increment: 20/40/60

.600 Double Rifle
Damage 2d10
Range Increment: 30/60/200

Smith Revolving Rifle
Damage 1d8
Range Increment: 30/40/60

These are just my basic quick thoughts. My info, and rules to go along with these to come.

Empire Army

The Empires army is the largest, best equipped, and finest fighting force on the continent.  Clad in khaki with pith helmet. The typical soldier is equipped with belt and cross belts with ammo pouches. Armed with a Williams rifle. A single shot, falling block breach loading, .45 caliber black powder brass cartridge rifle.

Officers carry pistols that they have purchase on their own. Popular pistols are, Danforth .45 caliber double action revolver (standard issue revolver of the Empire army).

Kepler's pistol a four barreled break open pistol. Typically chambered for the .45 Danforth.

Some are armed with Howda pistols. These are double barreled break open pistol. Chambered typically for large calibers, such as .45 Williams, .60 Crowder, or 12 gauge shot shells.

All officers are issued a sabre. Although more prosperous individuals have them embellished to their tastes.

The army is now field testing several new weapons in the southern coast war. One of which is the Milton Gun. A multi-barrel weapon of rapid volley fire. Chambered for .45 Williams, it lays out a devastating barrage of fire.

The tried and true support weapon of the Empires army is the 2.75 pack howitzer. Firing a 2.75 inch explosive shell, it is destructive force used against mass formations and emplacements.

The Southern Coast

I've been fleshing out a campaign setting for some time now. this is a small piece of it.

The Bushlands and the Southern Coast.
  These are the domains of the Lizard Folk tribes. A vast wilderness of savanna leading to desert in the south. Jungle to temperate in the north. Lying on the southern edge of the Empire. The Empire claims to want to bring dominion and religion to the lizard folk. But truth be told the Empire is more interested in the abundant natural resources, as well a technology of the ancients. Some of the best condition technology of the ancients has been found in the Bushlands. But the lizard tribe are a proud people not willing to submit to the Empire.
  The Lizard folk are split into many different tribes. Which have slightly varying customs. But are very similar. To the average refined Empire citizen they are all the same, savage.
  The Lizard tribes are of a relatively low technology level. Limited agriculture, and animal husbandry. Supplemented with hunter/gathering. The typical tribe member wears only a loin cloth, belt, a drawstring pouch, and spear. Champions, and shamans have been seen using weapons stolen from the Empire, and rarely relics of the ancients.
  Tribes are led by their Shaman. Who receives instruction and converse directly with their god, Olympian. Olympian, full name Cray XKV-21 Olympian is an ancient sentient super computer. Powered by a fusion reactor drawing fuel from the air. It is located deep underground somewhere in the bushlands. the Lizard folk build shrines to Olympian out of old computers and technology of the ancients. Which is usually directly linked to Olympian.
  Each Shaman carries an interface, a link to Olympian. The interface is a tablet like device. Encased in a cover that varies from shaman to shaman. Some are made to look like a hardcover book. Others are in a briefcase, or wooden chest. Some are so large they require porters to move them around.
  These interfaces are powered and connected to Olympian by a broadcast system. If moved out of the areas covered by the broadcast. They lose power/contact. The Tribes are trying to expand their god influence by building new shrines/broadcast nodes. Especially with the Empire now encrouching on their lands.

Minor Item

An inconspicuous looking small leather coin pouch. Brown leather with a simple draw string. The pouch contains five gold pieces. These five pieces once removed will return magically to the pouch one hour later. No matter where there the pouch possessor is or where the gold pieces go. Even if they change multiple hands. Any coins added to the pouch besides the magic five will disappear.

Magic Sword

So magic sword. Let face it a lot of times they tend to be +1 and done. Pretty generic and vanilla. I mean it has its place. Definitely a little better than a normal sword. But really its pretty boring. Course you could jazz it up. Make it call lightning 3 times a day or something. Still its a bit blah. Or you could make it a flaming sword. Definitely better. But not really unique. I mean its a magic sword, these should be rare and wondrous right? Well how about this then. Make it a flaming sword, but instead of a blade surrounded with flame. What if the blade was completely made of high intensity flame. So say a long sword 1d8, have it do 2d8 (total) fire damage per strike with a 50% chance of setting combustibles ablaze for an addition 1d6 of damage for 1d6 rounds. But with all good things there's a catch. The sword uses a magic scabbard. Because it is pure fire all the time. Not something you can just leave out all the time. Then what happens when you encounter a creature/opponent, that is made of water or ice? Double damage right? Wrong, it will damage as normal. But if strike is successful, 50% chance the blade is doused. Leaving a bare hilt in the characters hand. Sword will relight, in 1d4 hours. Since it has no blade with the fire out. You cant just put it back in its scabbard, not just something you want to drop in your pocket and forget about either.