Swords & Stitchery - Old Time Sewing & Table Top Rpg Blog

Saturday, February 21, 2026

Barrows & Borderlands Rpg Monster Encounter - The Titan Protocol aka The Titan Find

If you’re bringing the Titanian (the creature from the 1985 cult classic Creature, also known as The Titan Find) into your Barrows & Borderlands campaign, you’re looking at a perfect high-lethality "stalker" encounter.

The creature isn't just a physical threat; it’s a parasitic puppeteer. Here is a breakdown of its biology and how to stat it for your game.

The Creature: Titanian Parasite

In the film, the creature is an ancient, tall, insectoid-amphibian hybrid discovered in a dormant lab on Saturn’s moon, Titan. It is remarkably agile, surprisingly strong, and has a terrifying way of "recycling" its victims.

Physical Attributes

Appearance: A towering, slender humanoid with slick, dark skin. It has a distinctive elongated cranium, glowing eyes, and a mouth full of needle-like teeth.
Movement: It moves with a jerky, unnatural speed. It can cling to walls and ceilings, making it a nightmare in tight dungeon corridors or abandoned space hulks.
Durability: It is highly resistant to standard physical trauma. In the film, it shrugs off small-arms fire and only yields to massive structural damage or high explosives.

Unique Mechanics: The Mind-Control Parasite

The most iconic trait of the Titanian is its ability to produce synaptic parasites.

The "Face-Hug" variant: The creature can attach small, fleshy organisms to the heads of deceased or unconscious victims.
Puppet Mastery: These parasites tap into the nervous system, allowing the Creature to control the victim's body. These "zombies" retain their basic motor skills and can even use weapons or speak simple phrases to lure their former allies into a trap.

B&B Stat Block Concepts

Since Barrows & Borderlands thrives on dangerous encounters, treat the Titanian as a Mini-Boss or a Roaming Terror.

Attribute	Suggested Focus
Type	Aberration / Alien
Primary Save	Agility / Reflex (to dodge its lightning-fast leaps)
Weakness	Extreme Heat or Electrical Overload
Signature Move	Neural Hijack: If a player is reduced to 0 HP, the creature can attempt to attach a parasite instantly.

Special Abilities

Stealth Camouflage: The creature gains a massive bonus to stealth checks in dim light or metallic environments.
Ventriloquism: It can mimic the screams or voices of its previous victims to cause Fear or Confusion saves in the party.
Carapace Armor: Heavy plating that reduces incoming non-magical (or non-energy) damage by a fixed amount.

Campaign Hook: "The Titan Protocol"

The party discovers a derelict research outpost. They find logs of a crew that went mad, only to realize the "crew" is still walking around—but their movements are stiff, and there’s something pulsing on the back of their necks.

Pro-Tip: Don’t show the monster right away. Let the players fight the "puppets" first. When they realize the corpses are being remote-controlled, the true horror sets in.

If your players actually manage to take down a Titanian, they’ve earned more than just experience points. Because this creature is an ancient, space-faring biological anomaly, the "loot" ranges from valuable organic components to remnants of the high-tech civilizations it has consumed over the eons.

Here is a d100 Loot Table for harvesting or searching the Titanian’s lair.

The Titanian Harvest & Salvage Table

d100	Rarity	Result
01–40	Common	Hardened Chitin Shards: 1d6 plates of obsidian-like armor. Can be forged into +1 Shields or light armor that grants resistance to vacuum/cold.
41–60	Common	Preserved Neural Parasite: A dormant "slug" in a biological sac. An Alchemist or Artificer could study this to create Potions of Telepathy or Mind Control antidotes.
61–75	Uncommon	Corrosive Gland: A fragile organ. If thrown, it acts as a high-potency Acid Flask ( $3d6$ damage). If harvested carefully, it can coat 1d4 blades with permanent corrosive properties.
76–85	Rare	Vocal Mimicry Box: A strange, fleshy organ near the throat that still vibrates. Can be fashioned into a Cloak of Deception or a device that grants +5 to Charisma (Deception) checks.
86–93	Rare	Ancient Saturnian Data-Core: A crystalline shard embedded in the creature's flesh from a previous victim. Contains maps of "The Borderlands" or codes to an ancient vault.
94–98	Very Rare	Hyper-Reflex Nerve Bundle: If consumed (risky!) or integrated into gear, the user gains an extra Reaction per round or a permanent +2 to Initiative.
99	Legendary	The Alpha Parasite: A golden-hued slug. If bonded to a willing host, it provides "Hive Sight" (360-degree vision) but requires the host to consume raw meat daily to prevent it from eating them.
100	Mythic	Titanian Egg: It’s unhatched. It’s heavy. It’s worth a fortune to the wrong people... or it’s a ticking time bomb for the party’s home base.

Critical Failure on Harvesting

In Barrows & Borderlands, harvesting an alien should be dangerous. If a player rolls a Natural 1 on their skill check to harvest the creature:

Contamination: The player is sprayed with pressurized acidic blood ( $2d6$ damage).
Latent Infection: A microscopic parasite enters the player's bloodstream. They don't feel it now, but in 1d4 days, they start hearing the "Mother" calling to them from the stars.

How to use the "Ancient Data-Core" (Result 86–93)

If they find the Data-Core, it’s a perfect bridge to your next quest. It could contain:

Coordinates to a Crashed Research Vessel.
The "Off" switch for a Security Grid in a nearby dungeon.
A recorded message from the last survivor of the Titan mission, warning of something even bigger than the creature they just killed.

During tonight's B&B game the player's ran across a delerict crashed space craft. Two of the player's PC's became hosts for the zombie worms of the Titan Find. And we were able to escape after dropping some radium grenades that we picked up from last game Barrows & Borderlands Rpg Play Session - Night of the Manta Session Report One

The Deep Space & Frontier Encounter Table For Stars Without Numbers & Other OSR Science Fiction Rpg's

Standard OSR sci-fi (think Stars Without Number, Mothership, or Traveller) thrives on high stakes, weird ecology, and the cold indifference of space.

Here is a d100 Random Encounter Table designed to provide a mix of social friction, environmental hazards, and "what the hell is that?" moments.

The Deep Space & Frontier Encounter Table

d100	Encounter Type	Description
01-05	The derelict	A silent transport ship. Gravity is off; the interior is coated in frozen, crystallized blood.
06-10	Space Junk	A cloud of high-velocity debris. Requires a Pilot check or takes $1d6$ hull damage.
11-15	The Taxman	A Sector Authority cutter demanding "transponder calibration fees" (a bribe).
16-20	Void Fauna	Shimmering, translucent "space whales" that disrupt electronics with their song.
21-25	Distress Signal	An escape pod containing a person in cryo. They were a prisoner of war 100 years ago.
26-30	Solar Flare	Radiation spike. All unshielded electronics malfunction for $1d4$ hours.
31-35	Mercenaries	A "security" squad looking for a runaway bounty. They think you look suspicious.
36-40	The Monolith	A perfectly smooth obsidian cube floating in the void. It emits a low hum in the crew's minds.
41-45	Gas Giant Miners	Grimy laborers in a massive rig offering to trade fuel for fresh rations or booze.
46-50	Automated Probe	An ancient survey drone that insists your ship is "unauthorized" and tries to board.
51-55	Pirate Ambush	A "disabled" ship acting as bait. Two fighters are hiding in a nearby asteroid shadow.
56-60	Religious Zealots	A luxury yacht full of pilgrims who believe technology is a sin—except their yacht.
61-65	Spatial Rift	A tear in reality. Looking at it requires a Sanity/Morale check.
66-70	Medical Emergency	A small shuttle with a crew suffering from a fast-acting, glowing blue fungus.
71-75	Smugglers	They offer you high-grade "stimpacks" (illegal combat drugs) at a 50% discount.
76-80	Nano-Cloud	A swarm of "disassembler" bots eating a defunct satellite. They’re hungry for more.
81-85	The Ghost Ship	Your own ship's transponder signal reflects back, but the "other" ship is 20 years older.
86-90	Wandering Merchant	A junker ship selling "Artifacts of the Pre-Scream." Most are literal trash; one is lethal.
91-95	Military Blockade	A planetary lockdown is in effect. "Turn around or be fired upon."
96-99	Black Hole/Anomaly	Extreme gravitational pull. Time dilation occurs: 1 hour here is 1 week outside.
100	The Mothership	An alien vessel the size of a city. It ignores your hails but begins scanning your DNA.

Pro-Tips for the Referee

Reaction Rolls: Don't assume every encounter is a fight. Roll $2d6$ . On a 2-5 they are hostile, 6-8 they are wary/neutral, and 9-12 they are surprisingly helpful.
Distance: Roll $1d6$ to determine how far away the encounter starts.
- 1-2: Right on top of you (immediate action).
- 3-4: Short range (visuals clear).
- 5-6: Long range (sensor ghost only).

A Note on Lethality: In OSR play, if the players roll the Nano-Cloud or the Black Hole, remind them that running away is a valid—and often the only—tactic.

Friday, February 20, 2026

A Deep Dive Into Nightshift: VTSW (Veterans of the Supernatural Wars) Rpg By Jason Vey & Timothy Brannan

Nightshift: VTSW (Veterans of the Supernatural Wars) is a love letter to the gritty, urban fantasy horror of the 80s and 90s. If you grew up watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, or Supernatural, or if you spent your nights playing the classic World of Darkness, this game is aimed squarely at your nostalgia.

It’s designed by Jason Vey and published by Elf Lair Games. Here is the breakdown of what makes it tick.

1. The Vibe: "Blue Collar" Horror

Unlike some games where you play as demi-gods, Nightshift focuses on the Chosen, the Tainted, or just the brave and unlucky. You are the people who see the things that go bump in the night and decide to bump back—usually with a silver-loaded shotgun or an ancient incantation.

The setting is modular. It can be:

Grim and Gritty: Street-level monster hunting.
Cinematic: High-action, "Big Bad of the week" style.
Splatter: Over-the-top gore and horror.

2. The Mechanics: OSR Meets Modern

The game is built on an OSR (Old School Renaissance) skeleton, specifically the SIEGE Engine (similar to Castles & Crusades). It feels familiar if you've played older versions of D&D, but it’s heavily modified for a modern setting.

Classes: You have archetypes like the Veteran (combat specialist), the Survivor (tough and resourceful), the Occultist (magic users), and the Supernatural (vampires, werewolves, or ghosts who fight for the good guys).
The Check System: Most things are resolved with a d20 roll against a target number, modified by your attributes.
Compatibility: Because it’s OSR-adjacent, it is incredibly easy to kitbash. You can pull monsters or spells from almost any 1e/2e or BX-style game and drop them in with minimal math.

3. Character Roles (Archetypes)

The game uses a "Class and Level" system, but the classes represent your role in the hidden war:

Archetype	Description
The Chosen	Destined heroes with supernatural luck or divine backing.
The Inquisitor	Experts at finding the truth and exposing the dark.
The Teche	Modern wizards who use gadgets and hacking to fight spirits.
The Witch	Traditional spellcasters dealing with spirits and rituals.
The Warlock	Those who have made "deals" for their power.

4. Why People Like It

Ease of Use: You can teach the core mechanics in about 15 minutes.
Versatility: The rulebook includes "Nightmare Levels," which allow the GM to scale the power of the world from "Slightly Spooky" to "Apocalyptic."
No "Meta-Plot": Unlike World of Darkness, there isn't 30 years of dense lore you have to memorize. You build your own secret world.

A Note on Tone: While the game is "Rules Light," it is "Flavor Heavy." It assumes the players are the underdogs. You aren't the predators; you're the ones keeping the predators at bay.

Character creation in Nightshift: VTSW is designed to be snappy. Since it’s an OSR-style game, it focuses on getting you a functional "Veteran" in about 20 minutes so you can get straight to the monster hunting.

Here is the step-by-step process for building your defender of the night.

1. Roll Your Attributes

The game uses the classic six ability scores. You generate these by rolling 3d6 for each (though many GMs allow for a "4d6 drop the lowest" or a point buy if they want the characters to be slightly more "heroic").

Strength (STR): Physical power and melee.
Dexterity (DEX): Agility, reflexes, and ranged combat.
Constitution (CON): Health and stamina.
Intelligence (INT): Knowledge and logic.
Wisdom (WIS): Perception, willpower, and intuition.
Charisma (CHA): Leadership and social influence.

2. Choose Your Archetype (Class)

This is the most important decision. Your Archetype determines your Hit Die, your Combat bonuses, and your Special Abilities.

The Combatant: The soldier or street brawler. High HP and best hit bonuses.
The Survivor: The "Final Girl/Guy." They have incredible luck and are hard to kill.
The Occultist: The scholar of the dark arts. Good at research and rituals.
The Teche: The modern-day hacker or gadgeteer who uses science against ghosts.
The Theosophist: The holy warrior or priest (think Father Karras from The Exorcist).
The Witch/Warlock: Powerful spellcasters who tap into raw, often dangerous, magic.
The Supernatural: If you want to play a "reformed" Vampire, Werewolf, or Ghost.

3. Select a Life Path (Background)

While your Archetype is what you do now, your Life Path is what you did before the "Supernatural Wars" found you. This provides you with starting skills and flavor.

Example: A "Law Enforcement" Life Path might give you bonuses to tracking and firearms, regardless of whether you are now a Combatant or a Witch.

4. Calculate Secondary Statistics

Based on your rolls and Archetype, you'll fill in the "crunchy" bits:

Hit Points (HP): Roll your Archetype’s Hit Die and add your CON modifier.
Armor Class (AC): Usually starts at 10, modified by DEX and any armor (like a Kevlar vest).
Saving Throws: These are based on your Archetype’s primary attributes.

5. Skills and Masteries

Nightshift uses a Check system. You have a "Primary Attribute" (based on your class) which makes certain rolls easier. You’ll choose a few areas of expertise—like Occult Lore, Streetwise, or First Aid—that give you a bonus when you're trying to investigate a haunting or patch up a teammate.

6. Gear and "The Van"

You don't start with much, but you start with what's "logical."

The Veteran's Kit: Usually involves a signature weapon (a silver-plated 9mm, a blessed crowbar, etc.), a flashlight, and a cell phone.
The Group Resource: Often, the GM will have the group decide on their "Base of Operations" or vehicle during this stage.

The "Secret Sauce": The Fate Point

Every character starts with at least one Fate Point. These are your "get out of jail free" cards. You can spend them to:

Automatically succeed on a check.
Reduce incoming damage.
Cheat death for one more round.

Pro-Tip: In Nightshift, your attributes aren't just numbers; they define your Check Target. If you have a Strength of 15, you usually need to roll a 15 or higher on a d20 to succeed at a Strength-based task (modified by the difficulty the GM sets).

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

More Kull era Encounters & Treasures Table For a Sword & Sorcery Castles & Crusades rpg Campaign - Mini-Adventure: The Red Debt of Al-Zaman

In the spirit of classic Sword & Sorcery, these encounters prioritize peril, atmosphere, and moral ambiguity. These aren't just "monsters to kill"; they are fragments of a dying world where the environment is as dangerous as the steel in a mercenary's hand.

This blog post picks right up from

Kull era Encounters & Treasures Table For a Sword & Sorcery Castles & Crusades rpg Campaign - The Encounter: The Chronomancer's Debt

The D100 Sword & Sorcery Encounter Table

D100	Encounter Type	Description
01–10	The Desperate	A band of 2d6 starving deserters from a forgotten war. They will trade information for food, but will slit throats for a single gold coin.
11–20	The Unnatural	A shimmering, oily mist rolls in. Anyone caught inside hears the whispers of dead relatives. (Save vs. Fear).
21–30	The Arcane Toll	A lone sorcerer atop a sedan chair carried by four mindless thralls. He demands a "tribute of memories" to pass.
31–40	Ancient Hunger	A Giant Scorpion (or similar beast) dragging a local noble's corpse toward a sun-bleached ruin.
41–50	The Grim Discovery	An oasis or clearing filled with statues of warriors. Their faces are frozen in absolute terror; the stone is still warm.
51–60	Civilization’s Rot	A traveling caravan of "Relic Merchants." They are actually slavers selling captives to a nearby cult.
61–70	The Celestial Omen	A meteor streaks across the sky in broad daylight. Local wildlife begins acting with human-like intelligence for 1d4 hours.
71–80	Blood Feud	Two rival mercenary bands are mid-skirmish. They both pause to see which side the players will bolster—or loot.
81–90	The Thirsty Blade	A lone, dying warrior offers a beautifully jeweled khopesh. The sword is cursed; it grants $+3$ to hit but requires a "drink" of the user's blood daily.
91–99	Eldritch Geometry	A monolithic slab of black obsidian pulsing with a low hum. Touching it teleports the party 1d10 miles in a random direction.
00	The Apex	A weary, ancient Dragon-Serpent or Winged Ape. It doesn't want to fight; it wants to discuss the "end of the current Age" over wine.

Flavoring the Mechanics

In this genre, magic is never "safe." If your players engage with the arcane during these encounters, consider applying a Corruption Die.

For every spell cast, the player rolls a $d20$ . If the result is a $1$ , the spell succeeds but leaves a physical mark (e.g., eyes turning yellow, hair whitening, or a sudden chill that follows them).

Running the Encounter

The Hook: Don't start with "roll for initiative." Start with a smell (copper, rot, heavy jasmine) or a sound (the scraping of chitin on stone).
The Stakes: Low-fantasy characters are usually motivated by Gold, Glory, or Survival. Ensure the encounter threatens or promises at least two of these.
The Twist: The "damsel in distress" is likely a cultist; the "monster" might just be protecting its stolen idol.

Mini-Adventure: The Red Debt of Al-Zaman

This is a "roadside tragedy" adventure designed for a party of hardened mercenaries. It explores the classic Sword & Sorcery trope: power comes at a gruesome price.

The Hook: A Final Request

While traversing a desolate stretch of scrubland or a windswept mountain pass, the party discovers a man slumped against a jagged rock. He is Kaelen the Exile, a warrior of renown now reduced to a husk. His armor is battered, and his right arm is withered and grey, as if the life has been sucked out of the bone.

Across his knees lies Sanguis, a khopesh of breathtaking craftsmanship. Its blade is etched with weeping eyes, and a massive, unpolished ruby sits in the pommel.

"Take it," Kaelen wheezes, his voice a dry rattle. "It won't let me die while I hold it, but it won't let me live either. It craves a younger heart."

The Artifact: Sanguis, The Thirsty Blade

The sword is an intelligent, semi-sentient weapon from a pre-cataclysmic era.

The Benefit: In combat, the wielder gains a $+3$ bonus to attack and damage rolls. On a Critical Hit, the blade shears through armor, treating the target’s AC as 10.
The Price: The sword must "drink" every 24 hours.
- If the blade has not tasted the blood of a sentient foe by sunset, it feeds on the wielder.
- The wielder must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution Save or take $2d6$ permanent HP damage (only restorable via high-level magic or a blood sacrifice of an innocent).
- The Curse: Once grasped in combat, the wielder cannot voluntarily discard the blade until they perish or a Remove Curse is cast by a sorcerer of significant power.

The Conflict: The Vultures Arrive

Kaelen wasn't just dying; he was being hunted. Moments after the party interacts with him, his pursuers arrive: The Crimson Slayers, a cult of blood-binders who believe Sanguis is a holy relic of their dead god.

The Enemies:

1 Cult Leader (Zar-Thul): A sorcerer who uses "Blood Boil" spells to dehydrate opponents.
4–6 Zealots: Fanatics armed with jagged flails who prioritize disarming the person holding Sanguis.

The Twist: If a player draws Sanguis to defend themselves, the blade hums with a sickening, euphoric vibration. The first time it draws blood, the player feels a rush of unnatural strength, but their vision turns a permanent shade of crimson.

Resolution & Rewards

If the party defeats the Slayers, they are left with a dying man and a cursed masterpiece.

Choice	Result
Keep the Blade	The party gains a powerful weapon, but one PC is now "tethered" to it. Future encounters will involve more cultists and the constant need for violence to sate the sword.
Bury the Blade	If buried with Kaelen, the "Red Debt" is temporarily settled. However, grave robbers will likely dig it up within a week, and the sword may "find" its way back to the party later.
Destroy the Blade	Requires casting it into a volcanic vent or a pool of holy acid. Doing so releases a Wraith (the trapped spirit of the sword's first victim) which must be defeated.

Stats: The Thirsty Blade (Sanguis)

Type: Khopesh (1d8 Slashing)
Properties: Versatile, Finesse, Cursed.
Sentience: The blade communicates through hunger and pulses of heat. It prefers the blood of "worthy" foes (kings, heroes, sorcerers) over common beasts.