CASTLE OLDSKULL – Oldskull Monster Generator is a role playing game supplement written and published by Kent David Kelly. This is a monster generator that is intended to be used to create monsters for Dungeons & Dragons, specifically the 1st and 5th Editions. It is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result. The monsters created are not intended to be regular ones, but more unusual types.
This is a 418 page PDF that is available from DriveThruRPG for $3.99 but was purchased at the reduced price of $0.99 during a sale. One page is the front cover, five pages are the front matter, five pages are the Table of Contents, one page is the Dedication, about one page is About the Author, ten pages are ads for other products and three pages are the Open Game License.
Codex I – Introduction introduces the supplement and what it is intended to do. There is a hyperlinked quick reference table leading to various different parts of the PDF. This section states that the supplement is intended to introduce new monsters, but ones that are eldritch horrors and Lovecraftian in nature. The author does not have a terribly high opinion of the modern game, as is made clear throughout and in other supplements. The aim is to create new, often dangerous monsters, instead of waiting for the official releases of existing ones as they are updated to Fifth Edition. Some sources of ideas are also given.
The monster created are called, in the book and the Oldskull Campaign, Abominations. They are beings that are not native to the Material Plane, are hinted at in elder lore and are neither divine nor infernal in origin, and predate most beings, including some gods. The present is said to be the Age of Awakening, when Abominations appear again. There is also a short piece of prose on the subject.
This codex ends in suggestions on how to begin and Worksheets for creating monsters. The entries on these worksheets are referred to in the relevant parts of the PDF.
Codex II – Monster Design is the actual design process and starts with Nomina, or monster name, and has some random ideas for creating such – these are not your typical names, for the monsters are intended to be Abominations.
Taxon has a table for determining the Abomination’s monster type, following the standard 5E types.
Phyla has fourteen tables for body types, each table based on the monster type determined in Taxon. These have descriptions, keywords on abilities that the Abomination may have, and what each possesses in the way of arms, legs and tail.
Codex III – The Detailed Conception is on fleshing out the design more. Natura explains that there are parts of a monster’s nature, such as life cycle, history, reproduction etc. that are outside the parameters of the book, given the possible cast variations, and that these details can be developed through gameplay. There are also explanations as to the diet, which references keywords that will have cropped up in the earlier stages.
Denizens is essentially how many monsters will be discovered, assuming they are not unique, which will vary by location.
Protagonists has calculations for the average party level, with examples. Monster created via this book are intended to be used with a GM’s current campaign; in situations where that is not the case the monster creator will need to base it around fictional levels.
Antagonists discusses the Base Lethality Rating (BLR). It starts by explaining that monster created through this process are often not refined and play tested as standard monsters are. However, the author feels that Abominations shouldn’t be safe; they should be weird and unorthodox. BLRs do relate to Challenge Ratings, but not at this point for the monster is still being designed.
Delerium uses the Fifth Edition madness system. Only Neutral and Evil aligned Abominations are advised to be capable of inducing madness during combat. There are options here on inflicting madness and its effects.
Kinaesthesia is senses of different types and ranges.
Dimensions is for calculating the monster’s size.
Lifeblood is how to determine an Abomination’s average hit points, using size and Base Lethality Rating, with notes for 1E GMs.
Vitality is for determining the actual hit point totals, with different methods and again notes for 1E GMs. The BLR and size are again used here.
Potentiality is the ability score ranges for Abominations, using the six standard abilities. The BLR and size come into play here once more.
Aptitude is determining an Abomination’s actual ability scores, again with different methods and using the BLR and size.
Agility is for determining the movement modes and Abomination can use. Keywords generated earlier in the process result in different movement types.
Celerity is how fast an abomination can move. This is based on size, movement type and Dexterity.
Ethos is the alignment of Abominations. Despite the name, they are not necessarily evil, and the author recommends Chaotic Neutral as the base alignment, although one that are of very low intelligence or unintelligent will often be neutral. There is a discussion on primal alignment and a table for determining species and individual alignment.
Code IV – Descriptors and Powers starts with a random table that is used to generate two Descriptors for each Abomination. These Descriptors then lead to rolls on 29 different random tables to gain powers, although these are adjusted by the Abomination’s BLR; if the required BLR for a power is too high, a lower level one should be used. This could be called a quasi-random system. This section ends with discussions on immunities, resistances and vulnerabilities and whether more need adding after the powers part of the design process is finished. There is a table aligning such with Descriptors.
Codex V – Descriptions and Details first considers an Abomination’s armour class, melee attack types, including damage calculation, and how it will behave when encountered.
Next is describing what the Abomination looks like; large parts of this will be determined by its abilities and type. There is also a table of random descriptions. Where the Abomination lives, such as dungeons, other planes, fortresses, dreams etc., what languages it can speak, minor details and putting everything together finish off this section.
Code VI – Encounters & Campaign Integration is on using the newly-created Abomination in a campaign. How encounters with Abominations should be done, and that they shouldn’t be wandering monsters and why. There is another worksheet on developing encounters. Some Abominations will have disciples, adding an extra level of threat. Some may have been summoned, which is generally not good in the long run for the summoner.
This also covers setting the scene for Abominations, to make them more important before they are encountered, speaking with them – for many like to speak – running away, harvesting them for useful and valuable parts on defeat and dealing with character deaths. Finally there is a section on introducing the dream worlds.
The brief Afterword is simply extracts from various books.
The Appendices cover how to calculate Abomination Challenge Ratings and has a suggested reading list.
CASTLE OLDSKULL – Oldskull Monster Generator in Review
The PDF is decently bookmarked with major and minor sections linked, although subsections are not included. The Table of Contents is to a similar level of depth and is also hyperlinked. In addition, there are various internal hyperlinks linking to relevant sections. Navigation is good, although it could be better.
The text maintains a single column format and appeared to be nearly free of errors. There are a variety of illustrations; the black and white headers and footers seen in recent titles and a combination of the often used colour and black and white public domain images as well as colour and black and white stock images. The styles and types of these are often not complementary, nor is their placement as good as it could be. Presentation could be better.
This is an extensive way of creating new and unusual monsters that will surprise players, as the results are not of a type they will be familiar with. Using the tables will take a bit of practice to get right. Initial attempts may well lead to Abominations that are more of a collection of random results than a coherent whole. The examples of the author using the tables in the text will help with this. It looks like, with practice, some unusual and interesting creatures could be created, but it will probably take said practice to accomplish this. A would-be monster creator might be advised to run through the process a few times before actually creating a monster that is intended to be used.
CASTLE OLDSKULL – Oldskull Monster Generator is an interesting, and different, method of monster generation and it can be found by clicking here.
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