Brain Death: Death and Dismemberment table for Psychic damage.

This is a table that supplements Tenfootpolemics' Death and Dismemberment rules, which are themselves based off of these rules from Hack & Slash. The 'Madness Point' system is taken from Goblin Punch, and interacts with this table slightly, but if you want to ignore the madness points you probably can without 'unbalancing' the rolls. I personally like the madness rules a lot, but maybe you don't want to make things TOO complicated. I also use the 5E insanity tables to supplement the Goblin Punch 'Breakdowns' and 'Permanent Madness' results.

A additional thing for the 'balance' issue raised above: Remember, without this table, the character would basically already be dead or at least unconscious. It's ok to put them through the wringer at this point. It SHOULD feel somewhat arbitrary and capricious, while still having some predictable markers (my players know when they start pushing 12-15+, they're gonna get screwed)

Some of the entries, especially the later ones, are a bit weird & out there. There's one where you transcend to pseudo-godhood (but in an useless way that amounts to character death). Flavour to taste. If you wanted to change any of the entries, I'd recommend adding more nosebleeds.

Also, like the original table, some of the entries are kinda gross and horror-y. I like to pass the sheet to players and get them to read aloud what happens so we can find out together!

Psychic

1	The fear passes over and through you, leaving you unscathed
2	Stigmata. Develop a small mark, like a skull shaped scar or a white shock of hair, of the player’s choosing.
3	Your mind goes numb for a moment, and your limbs follow suit. Drop held objects.
4	The force of the attack sends you reeling. Prone
5	You develop one of those creepy nosebleeds. Bleed 1.
6	Your mind is enveloped in darkness and creeping things seem to writhe against your mind. Pain 1, Madness 1
7	A low hum rises through a whine and into a devastating shriek only you can hear. Pain 1, deafened this turn, and subsequent turns until you make a save.
8	Everything seems grey and far away. Is it even real? Slowed, Pain 1d4
9	The flesh-goblin, it’s skin sloughing off in ribbons, lashes at you with it’s knife-sharp fingerbones. Attack a random ally. Madness 1.
10	Your brain is an unlocked chest, and you cannot stop your psyche ransacking itself Your attacker learns one of your important secrets. You gain a permanent nervous twitch. Pain 2.
11	Your mind is barren. Nightmares alight like crows. One by one they take wing again, each carrying a piece of yourself. Bleed 1d4. Confused until you gain HP (1, Stand there quietly. 2, Scream at the top of your lungs. 3, Attack nearest target. 4, Hurt/attack self.)
12	Your eyes begin to bleed (tar, blood, milk, or another substance) Blinded. Bleed 2, Pain 1.
13	Nothing happens. Everything is still for a moment. You know with a moment of utmost certainty that you are going to die. Trauma 2, Madness 1.
14	Your jaw snaps wildly and you bite off your tongue. Can’t speak (affects spellcasting), Bleed 2, Pain 1, Trauma 1.
15	You are caught in the centre of the cold, and all the heat and energy drain from your body. You suffer serious burns on all exposed skin. Second Degree Burns. Bleed 1. Pain 1d4.
16	Your mind disconnects slightly from your body, before re-aligning somewhat imperfectly. Stunned 1 round. Arms or legs (50% of either) are useless until you gain HP. Pain 1.
17	Your brain begins to fold in on itself like wet tissue paper, and all kinds of black and scaly insects come pouring out. Prone. Short-Term madness. Shock - Save or Die. If you succeed, double Pain Tokens. Madness 1d3.
18	The shadows around you seem to stir- your companions notice it too. Your madness has given them life! Summon 1d4 hostile Shadows for every two allies, and 1d4 for yourself. Madness 1d4.
19	There is a searing pain in your mind and then nothing. You fall, the world spinning around you, mere shapes and noise. Prone. Permanently loose 1d6 Intelligence. Immobile until you gain HP. Bleed 1d4. Pain 1d4.
20	The nightmares dig into your mind, teasing apart it’s threads like a fraying tapestry. Short term and long term madness. Shock - Save or Die. On success, double Pain Tokens. Pain 1d4.
21	The nightmares grip into your brain, tearing, unraveling, separating each colour into a different spool of thread. Short term and long term madness. Shock - Save or Die. On success, double Pain tokens. Pain 1d4. Trauma 1.
22	The force upon your mind causes your skull to crack, blood trickling out the seams. Third and Fourth Degree Burns. Shock - Save or Die. On success, double Pain tokens. Pain 2. Bleed 1d4. Trauma 1d4.
23	Nightmare insanity seeps into your very soul. Your life begins to be blotted out by the pressure, a memory and soon not even that. Permanently halve all stats. Shock - Save or Die. On success, double all Pain tokens. Pain 1d4. Trauma 4. Bleed 2.
24	The red fear causes your heart to stop, and you die 1 round later, leaving a terrified looking corpse.
25	The vacuum left within your body by your ravaged soul invites a host of other things to take up residence within you. You are permanently possessed by a demon, or perhaps several demons. Permanently become a CE NPC, unless exorcised with a potentially deadly ritual. Trauma 1.
26	You are shunted from your body, which dies instantly and crumples to the ground. You remain in the world for 1d6 rounds as a ghost, exploding to minutes on a 6 (roll again), then hours, then days, then permanent. You have no powers, but you can whisper to people who are sensitive to spirits, or are asleep.
27	You reach inside your skull and scoop out your brain. All living creatures who see are stunned for 1 round. You are dead, but your body keeps standing there for 1d6 rounds, smiling and gibbering.
28	You go stiff as a board, and a moment later, you fall over backwards as your soul separates from your body.
29	The attack doesn’t appear to hurt very much, but all your veins are ruptured A moment later your nose begins to bleed, and then your ears and mouth, and then your eyes, as you die over the next 1d6 rounds.
30	You become irreparably suicidal, throwing yourself off a cliff, on your sword (auto crits) etc, for 1d6 minutes unless forcibly restrained (even then you try to bite out your tongue and bleed to death).
31	Your head forcibly explodes, dealing 1d4 in skull-shrapnel damage within 10 ft killing you instantly.
32	In the moment your soul and mind are forcibly ejected from your body, you find enlightenment. Transcending the mortal plane to an astral realm of pure thought, you wonder what could ever have mattered to you about the petty struggles of mortals down there among the stars. You leave the material plane, never to return.
33	You die, but your soul refuses to leave your body. You are fully aware (but unable to communicate) as you are buried, burned, your body decomposes, etc.
34	You fade away, but continue to exist as a memory-ghost within the mind of an old friend (likely one who saw you die.) You retain your personality and knowledge, but find it hard to learn new things or retain information.
35	You disappear, and even the memory of you fades from the world. 1D4 of your closest friends might remember you.
36+	Your memory is scoured from creation. You are gone, and none but the most faithful of gods could ever remember you.

I'm going to add a note here, even though I'm sure most folks stopped reading after the table: I've been using these death and dismemberment rules in my 5E-based game, and they work quite well. I think this hodgepodge ruleset is one of the most flexible I've seen, in that it can be plonked down with basically zero additional considerations inside of basically any D&D-like game mechanics.

its only bad if you make it bad (or maybe it's just bad)

Responding to this over at Hack and Slash, but also the things HE links to as responding to...

I run a lot of 'rail-roady' adventures (stacks of old Dungeon Mags, bits a and pieces I find online, etc). It's pretty trivial to break the railroad before you bring it to the table. I use them more as an aid, but if I can't find something in the wall of text, I make it up. It helps that I have a pretty good memory, but it also helps that I've read and re-read a lot of the material, in bits and pieces, over many years. So when it comes time to mash up three or four different half-baked adventures on the fly, it all kinda clicks into place. Or falls apart stupendously.

Example: I ran the first installment to the Age of Worms adventure path, an adventure called 'the Silver Skeleton,' AND another adventure called 'the Devil Box' all at the same time. Individually they're kinda weak in places, but taken all together it's a kind of sandbox. And then I added some stuff with unique traps, and showdowns at high noon, and long cons gone awry, and it was pretty great.

So I don't think it's an either/or thing, in every case. People do use those things for reading, yes, but it's not just idle daydreaming. It's a kinda ADD way of prepping things to run at the table, it's something that's accessible as training wheels for novice DM's to IMAGINE what DMing would be like before they sit down with the players, it's good for experienced DMs who can retain and filter and ad-lib around that information. Is it my favourite format? Definitely not, as I've learned more about what I like and what's most effective for me, I've gravitated to the kinda stuff Bryce Lynch likes in his reviews... but I still sprinkle in old ideas I gleaned from those poorly-designed monstrosities.

 I just don't think it's as clear-cut a design space as we would like to think. Maybe there's room for some kind of 'inspiration module' type of thing to evolve? Or maybe it just has to stay muddy and we muddy through as we find out what we like. Sounds familiar.

Encounters for the Isle of Dread

Altho some good points have been raised about having a concise random encounter table, I think for the strange, alien environs of the Isle I'm gonna want something more sprawling. That said, it's easier to start with something self-contained for the little area they're exploring (re: trying to get out of) right now, and add on to it as it becomes necessary.

Table is un-weighted (no bell curve) so I can add onto it easily, and to increase the chaotic swinginess I want for the Isle.

1.  Rainbow Crow. 10-foot wingspan creature shaped like a crow, but with scintillating feathers and snake tail. Sunning itself on a rock. Light radiating from it's feathers saps colours, turning anything and anyone within 30 feet black and white, and dealing 3d8 radiant damage and one point of radiation poisoning, blinds within 10 ft (Charisma save 15 for half and no poisoning or blinding). Other stats as a coatl. It can turn the radiance down to 5-ft, but it's really enjoying sunbathing right now. Route around leads through twisty canyons in the rock and danger of getting lost, or through a really muddy swamp.
2. A fulgurite elemental trying to find a thunderstorm to throw itself in front of. Isn't 100% sure what a thunderstorm is, thinks it'll know it when it sees it. Got a good (very brief) look at the surrounding area back when it was lightning, 2-in-6 chance it will know about a given geological feature, but only from above
3. 2d6 Gargelsaurs (day) or 1d6 wraithform (night)
4. The Mound Witch. Demands 'god things' via the mouths of her screaming myna birds- technically an extirpated species, other than these followers of hers.
5. A howler. Or 1d4 howlers if the poor fools are travelling at night. Players should know at least several hours before the encounter that they're being hunted, and they'll know howlers are in the area days in advance. The howlers don't really want to attack, they just follow the group for as long as possible, howling until the fear emanating from the group gets delicious enough.
6. Broken down mech. Has enough power in it's sunstone to sustain 2d6 rounds of combat, and fire it's laser 1d4 times (as Scorching Ray). Use stats for iron golem. Sunstones can be salvaged but are volatile and will explode on a failed check (proficient characters will automatically know this is a possibility)



By Jason Felix 

7. Wizard hermit of doubtful honour 
8. Some weird shit from deeper in the forest

Automecha 

Large construct, unaligned

Armor Class 18 (Natural Armor)

Hit Points 110 (20d10+100) (-100 damaged)

Speed 20 ft.

STR 24 (+7)  DEX 8 (-2)  CON 20 (+5)  INT 3 (-4)  WIS 11 (+0)  CHA 1 (-5)

Damage Immunities Poison, Psychic; Bludgeoning, Piercing, And Slashing From Nonmagical Weapons That Aren't Adamantine

Damage Resistances Acid, Cold, Radiant

Damage Vulnerabilities Lightning

Condition Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned

Senses Darkvision 120 Ft., passive Perception 10

Skills Stealth +3

Languages Understands Olman But Can't Speak

Challenge 16 (15,000 XP)

-----------------------

Shielding. When the mech is hit by an attack, it gets +5 AC against that attack, and any other attacks until the beginning of its next turn. This ability is then depleted until the mech goes a full round without taking any damage.

Immutable Form. The golem is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form.

Magic Resistance. The golem has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Magic Weapons. The golem's weapon attacks are magical.

Clumsy. Because the mech is so large and slow, it takes a -5 on melee attacks against Medium-sized and smaller targets.

Overgrown. Covered in moss and vines, the mech gets +5 to Dex (Stealth) checks involving hiding.

Actions

Charge. the golem moves up to 40 ft. in a straight line and attacks recklessly, giving itself advantage on the attack and granting advantage on all attacks against it until the start of it's next turn.

Multiattack. The golem makes two melee attacks.

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d6+7) bludgeoning damage, and push target 15 ft.

Sword. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 23 (3d10+7) slashing damage.

Laser Barrage (Recharge 5-6). Ranged Spell Attack: + 6, range 120 ft, 10 targets. Hit: 2d6 radiant damage.

This is the best.

This apparently on a real, famous, historic cathedral in Scotland. With a slightly newer gargoyle.

It's also now definitely the main design motif of the next cathedral I place in a game

Detect Magic Variants

Going to make up another neat little chapbook once I have enough of spell variants.

Detect Magic is boring. There's no story there. I recommend using it as a template, and altering it to be more interesting. Some examples follow.

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Wizard Eyes

1st-level divination (ritual)

Casting Time: 1 action

Duration: Varies

Range: Self

Components: V, S, M (Kalamanthis or equivalent)

You open your awareness to the presence of magic in the world. This can have a deleterious effect on your mind.

For the duration, you see images that reflect the spirit world and the true nature behind all things. You might see an imp-like demon attached to someone’s ear for a charm spell, or note a river of blood beneath your feet that channels power to a fell purpose.

You sometimes have trouble telling what is ‘real.’ Make a roll-under Wisdom check whenever this is tested, with a -1 penalty for each time you’ve used this today.

The spell (and hallucinations) last until you make a successful Charisma saving throw to dismiss it. You may attempt to do this as an action on your turn.

If the caster lacks the material component, they can meditate for 10 minutes (casting the spell as a ritual) to waive the requirement.

Tune Gemstones

1st-level divination (ritual)

Casting Time: 1 action per target

Duration: 1 hour

Range: Self

Components: V, S, M (gemstones, see text)

For the duration, a number of gemstones of your choice will begin to glow if in the presence of a certain kind of magic. The kind of gem determines what magic triggers the glow- Ruby=evocation, Emerald=enchantment, opal=illusion, onyx=necromancy, sapphire=divination, pearl=transmutation, Amber=conjuration. The strength of the glow depends on the strength of the magic detected, from a flickering ember to as bright as a torch. Magic of 9^th level or higher may cause the gem to crack, rendering it useless.

Pendulum 

1st-level divination (ritual)

Casting Time: 1 action

Duration: 1 hour

Range: Self

Components: V, S, M (a gold pendulum)

You enchant a pendulum that will swing in the direction of magical fields. Holding the pendulum in front of you will allow you to determine the direction and strength of the nearest magical field- trace, weak, minor, strong, and major. As an action, you can make a roll-under intelligence check tune it to a specific kind of magic, or to ignore a specific kind of magic.

Dungeon: the Fulgurite Pillars

My first posted dungeon! It shall not be the last.

Player o'mine: obviously, shove off. This one ain't FOR you!

I designed this as a hexcrawl feature for my players exploring the isle of dread. They came across a crater, and were wondering what made it. I had a vague idea, so I fleshed this out quickly before the next week's session. I originally ran it with just the drawing, no text. The notes are supposed to be short & usable at the table. I may do up an appendix later detailing more about the Glass Star and the crater, but...

I didn't include rules for radiation, but I'd use the one where exposure basically gives you -1 natural healing, permanently, plus Skeples supernatural mutation table if things get real bad. I can't remember where I got the -1 rule, someone let me know so I can link to it :)

Because some of the areas are kinda hard to describe, I found it useful to just show the map, with the as-yet unexplored areas covered. So here's a text-free version of the above image:

And here's another reference photo of fulgurite: what it looks like inside the dungeon. I imagine those walls are pretty difficult to climb.

Random Advancement (Robot)

Robots! Also works for homuculi, warforged, golems, etc (with a lil tweaking for flavour)

Previous random advancement tables by me: Human and Very Good Dog.

Compilation of tables can be found here, courtesy of the estimable Jeff Rients. I believe the original idea comes from Zak S.

by Phil Foglio

01-03: Can a robot learn.... to love? No. Well, not you. You're immune to emotional shenanigans, both magical and mundane.(by default robots aren't: flavour it like the magic is messing with their programming)
04-06: You're becoming more and more human, for better or for worse. Roll on the human table.
07-09: You're all tech-y and well travelled and stuff. Roll on the Traveller table.
10-12: This is some Pinocchio shit. Roll on the Fool table.
13-15: let's be honest, if you ended up as an adventurer, you were probably designed as a killbot. Roll on the fighter table.
16-17: You got more dynamos and wires added to your brainbox. Or maybe pins and needles, and now your brain is pretty SHARP. +2 Intelligence, +1 each time you roll this again

18-19: new understanding of these meat creatures who surround you makes you less hard to relate to. +1 Charisma
20-21: new understanding of what your existence really MEANS gives you +1 Wisdom
22-23: gotta upgrade that machinery sometime! +1 Strength
24-25: extra RAM and hard drive space (or like, mauve crystals of you're a magic robot) gives you +1 intelligence!
26-29: Mechanical reliability. Once per short rest, when you would roll a d20 you can instead just make it an 11 (plus whatever stuff you would add to that normally,ofc)
30-33: +1 AC. Stacks.
34: you have a little heads-up display or arm thingy. For each gemstone you install in it, you can detect a kind of magic. Ruby=evocation, Emerald=enchantment, opal=illusion, onyx=necromancy, sapphire=divination, pearl=transmutation, Amber=conjuration.
35: jet boots/pack. You can fly, but only for one turn at a time. If you reroll this, that's an extra turn you can stay up in the air.
36: extradimensional storage. As a built-in bag of holding.
37: "the possibility of successfully navigating this dungeon is approximately 3,720 to 1." You can calculate probability. You probably constantly spout depressing info like that, but once per session this translates to knowing the DC for a effect, the CR of a monster or challenge, the 'level' for a dungeon/adventure, or some other 'unknowable' DM-only metric of balance and design.
38: you've learned how to tell jokes. Gain the 'humour' skill, and the desire to use it at every opportunity.
39: Universal translator. Not actually universal, just programmed with a lot of languages. Easy (10-15) intelligence check when you encounter a new language to see if you already know it.
40-42: you can record sounds, voices, music, any play it back at will. Doesn't duplicate the effects of spells (or DOES it?). Rolling this again lets you capture video as well. And then... Smells?
43: you can finally identify birds. Gain the Identify Birds skill. Rolling this again means you can identify other critters too!

by Matt Dixon

44-46: every time you miss, you get a +1 attack and damage against that target, stacking til you hit it. Roll this again and it's +2, then +3, etc
47: You can emit an EMP that disables spells and robotics. Works as dispel magic, robots are effected as if by hold monster (but robots only) 1/day.
48-50: Flashlight eyes. If you get this again, you can use them to blind opponents by shining the light right in their faces (20-ft line, 5 ft wide; DC 8+proficiency+intelligence bonus). If you get this a third time, you can increase the light to deal 1d4 radiant damgage a round (no save, surprisingly useful to get around regeneration.)
51-52: Ablative armour. Attacks that deal less than (5+your level) in damage instead deal no damage to you. Rolling this again adds 5, then 2, then 1, to the total damage you can prevent
53: you have a flexible human suit or hologram that you can use to pass yourself off as human. If you're a big or weirdly shaped robot, to can fold yourself down to fit in your disguise.
54: you have a robot animal form you can assume. Pick from the druid wild shape table for a character of your level. You're still a robot when you're in that form, obvs.
55-56: machine gun. 2d6 damage in a ten-foot wide area, Dexterity saving throw for half damage. Rerolls of this add 1d6.
57-59: you're super solar powered! You get +1 to all ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws when you're in direct sunlight. Takes a few rounds to kick in and wear off, but only a few
60-61: you have an alchemical version of grease (an oil slick) and fog cloud, which you can deploy as a bonus action once per short rest
62-63: turbo-boosters give you the effect of Expeditious Retreat once per short rest.
64-65: you have an extra arm, it's like a utility-grasper. You can use it to hold stuff and manipulate things, but not for combat
66: you have befriended a small animal, like a mouse or a bird, that has made a nest inside of you or on your head. This doesn't let you communicate with it in any special way, but it ties to be helpful. Just having it around gives you a +1 to reaction rolls (cuz it's so cute) and +1 to initiative and perception checks (cuz it tries to warn you about stuff)

by Guillaume Menuel

67-69: you can read & memorize books and other written materials just by flipping through em really fast. You can mentally reference them for the information they contain. You can have a # of books stored equal to your intelligence SCORE- any books post that either replace a book of your choice, or impose a stacking -1 to all intelligence saves and checks.
70-71: self repair function. Once per short rest, when you take damage, you may gain a Repair point. As an action you may go into repair mode until the beginning of your next turn: your speed drops to 0, you get +2 AC, and you can't take reactions. You heal as if you'd cast cure wounds on yourself, as a cleric equal to your level.
72: you have a wireless transmitter that lets you communicate with other robots within 100 ft. Non robots can get a special chip implantef in their brain that lets you communicate with them too. This costs 25 coin, and hopefully a medical professional.
73-75: taser! As the cantrip shocking grasp. Rolling this again adds another dice to the damage. If you drop someone to 0 with this attack, they're knocked out instead of dying.
76: cloaking device. When you remain perfectly still you can turn invisible. You can also turn invisible as a bonus action until the beginning of your next turn once per short rest.
77-81: you have an alarm system. When you're resting and powered down you can make perception checks normally. You can set the alarm so that it has loud klaxons and flashing lights, or have it be silent. Either way, you get advantage to initiative if your opponent doesn't know you can do this. Also works when people try to pick your pockets. If you roll this again, reroll.

by Ian McQue

82-83: shield batteries. You have 5 temporary HP, +1 per level, and you regain them at the beginning of your turn if you haven't taken damage since last turn.
84: if you die but your head is still intact, your head can be removed and carried around and you can still talk to people. Resurrecting you just means building you a new body or repairing your old one.
85: you have a mini version of yourself that you can launch and send out, like a drone. It can fly and is tiny, and has half your HP. During this time your big body is immobile and offline, altho it can still watch and remember what went on around it
86-88: you get expertise in a skill you have. If you roll this again you get mega-expertise (triple your proficiency bonus instead of double.)
89-90: hacking dothingy. Totally lets you upstage the thief, but only on mechanical/electronic/magic-tech locks. And computers & computer-analogues. Like the knock spell except it takes you 1d6-int bonus rounds (min 0 rounds)
91: insufferably superior. Anytime one of your friends fails a knowledge, research, intelligence check (stuff like that) you get a free tool at a +2 to see if you know the answer. If it doesn't make sense why you didn't volunteer the info earlier, it's because they 'never asked'
92: every time you take damage in combat you have a 5% stacking chance of flipping out like a barbarian in a rage.
93-94: your clockwork brain lets you predict perfectly any timing based things like traffic lights or smashing hallway traps of doom. You have to have time to study the full pattern; if you have to rush it and the DM calls for a safe or a roll you at least have advantage.
95: you can edit out and jettison parts of your memory, at will. Useful for preventing insanity and mind reading. If you roll this again, you can also partition your mind, effectively having different consciousnesses that might know different things, and can exchange memories, go dormant, etc.

by Filip Burburan

96: your robot-based dance moves give you the performance (dance) skill
97: your eye is quicker than the hand. You see 'fast' enough to count a hummingbirds wing feathers in motion. This gives you advantage vs sleight of hand/pick pocket kinda things, and lets you deflect missiles like a monk (reaction, 1d10+Dex+level damage reduced) but you can't throw em back cuz that's a ki thing, which you don't have. Or DO you???
98-99: You have proficiency in saving throws vs. Devices.
100: You're made of adamantine. Your unarmed attacks and any built-in physical weapons bypass adamantine resistance, deal double damage to objects. You are immune to thunder damage, critical hits, and any effect that would sever a limb or break you into pieces, including vorpal weapons.