Thursday 7 March 2013

100 grimdarkling personal features, minor mutations, gifts, devices, body mods and stylings (head, /1000)




I may not be fond of using tables in play, especially in tactical roleplaying, but I still like big, baroque tables, most of all for prep. This is a fairly big one, and baroque in content.

It was inspired by Lasgunpacker's random warband generator for Inquisitor and the idea of crowdsourcing a d1000 table, but helped along by the recent musing re John Blanche.

Put simply, Inquisitor is a 'narrative wargame' published by Games Workshop in 2001, a blend of skirmish game and RPG set in the 41st millennium. Officially it uses 54mm miniatures, but actual play looks to be heavily 28mm (see INQ28). Inquisitor may be the loftiest crag in GW's modern history, the magical moment when it all came together and the nature of the drop became clear. But that's an argument for another day.

I'm game for a d1000 table whether or not anyone else is, and this is a first 100 entries, for the head only. They're personal features, minor mutations, gifts, devices, body mods and stylings for characters in a grimdarkling world - like 40K's - but system-free. They assume a human, or standard humanoid at least, but the list shouldn't be hard to adapt.

It's a d100 table, which usually means rolling 1d10 twice, once for the tens and once for the units. If you don't have a d10 but have a d6, you can use the method described here.

Beware: there's some weirdness, a fairy tale-bad dream darkness and light body horror.
 
Personal features, minor mutations, gifts, devices, body mods and stylings (head, 1d100)

  1. Scarf, wrap or skull cap
  2. Topknot, bun, mohican or crest
  3. 1d6 ponytail(s), pigtails and/or plait(s) - roll 1d6 once for all: on a 6, 1d6 in-woven censers
  4. Dreadlocks
  5. Cranial fibre bundle(s)
  6. Articulated cranial arm(s) or tentacle(s), either 1d6 or with 1d6 minor tool endings
  7. Toupée or wig, possibly powdered
  8. Pronounced, possibly unruly cowlick
  9. 1d100% bald pate
  10. Completely hairless head - roll 1d6: on a 4+, whole body too
  11. Cone head - standard headwear may not fit
  12. Crescent moon head - standard headwear will definitely not fit
  13. Perfectly flat crown
  14. Large concave impression
  15. Coronal wiring
  16. 1d6 subtle horns
  17. Third eye
  18. Facial chronometer or other gauge
  19. Crenellated forehead
  20. 1d6 modular mounting points
  21. Post-surgical scaffolding
  22. Brain hatch - roll 1d6: on a 6, held shut with wax, tape or cord
  23. 1d3 jack ports
  24. 1d3 service studs
  25. Serial number
  26. Barcode
  27. Bulging temples
  28. Intracranial portal, possibly webway slit, warp tendril, braner extension, Weak Point or similar
  29. Daemonic taint from failed possession bid
  30. Subvocal servoconscience - ongoing moral guidance, apparently from region of own shoulder
  31. 1d3 skull plates - roll 1d6: 1-2. medical; 3-4. decorative; 5-6. both
  32. 1d3 skull etchings - roll 1d6: 1-4. below skin; 5-6. exposed
  33. Visible seams - roll 1d6: 1-2. stitched; 3-4. welded; 5-6. riveted
  34. Unibrow
  35. Bushy eyebrows
  36. 1d2 eyebrows missing 1d100%
  37. 1d2 sunken eyes
  38. 1d2 bulging eyes
  39. 1d2 wandering eyes
  40. 1d2 permanently bloodshot eyes
  41. Lacrimal induction - eyes weep continuously
  42. Heterochromia iridium - 1d3 eye colours spread across 1d2 eyes
  43. Unusual eye colour or construction - roll 1d6: on a 6, shifted visible spectrum
  44. 1d2 missing eyes - roll 1d6 for each: on a 2+ replaced, on a 2-3 with glass, on a 6 with a bionic
  45. 1d3 facial scars
  46. 1d3 facial tattoos - roll 1d6: on a 4+, whole face
  47. 1d3 forms of facial piercing
  48. 1d6 piercings in each of 1d2 ears
  49. 1d2 pointed ears
  50. 1d2 cauliflower ears
  51. Very hairy ears - roll 1d6: on a 6, 1d3 plaits each
  52. 1d2 missing ears - roll 1d6 for each: on a 2+ replaced, on 2-3 with cloth, on a 6 with a bionic
  53. 1d3 tame ear, nose and/or throat worms
  54. Fungal growth, possibly Orkoid - roll 1d6: 1-3. in 1d2 ears; 4-5. behind 1d2 ears; 6. in skin fold
  55. Gills - roll 1d6: 1-3. no function; 4-5. weak function; 6. owner effectively aquatic
  56. Sideburns
  57. Greasepainted face
  58. Face smeared with unguents or similar
  59. Scorched or melted skin
  60. Confectiodermis, 1d100% - roll 1d6: 1-2. preserved; 3-4. stale; 5-6. rancid; and again: on a 4+, whole body
  61. Porcelain visage - roll 1d6: 1-3. solid; 4-5. segmented; 6. animated; and again: on a 4+, cracked
  62. 1d2 highly pronounced cheekbones
  63. 1d2 crushed cheekbones
  64. 1d2 pendulous jowls
  65. 1d3 large boils
  66. Faint suggestion of unusual facial structure - roll 1d6: 1-2. snout; 3-4. beak; 5-6. trunk
  67. Refreshment, snuff or other tube
  68. 1d2 nasal filters
  69. Very hairy nostrils - roll 1d6: on a 6, 1d3 plaits each
  70. Revelatory olfactor - nose extends/retracts according to truth of own statements
  71. Broken nose
  72. Missing nose - roll 1d6: on a 2+ replaced, on 2-3 attached to spectacles, on a 6 with a bionic
  73. Pencil, toothbrush, handlebar or Dalí moustache
  74. Walrus, horseshoe or Fu Manchu moustache
  75. Incense stick whiskers
  76. 1d2 subtle tusks
  77. In-sewn respirator hose or rebreather
  78. Voxbox
  79. Mechanical jaw
  80. Secondary maw
  81. Lipswitch - can wake and sleep only when kissed
  82. Stained lips, gums and/or teeth
  83. Leech-like sucker 
  84. Protrusible proboscis
  85. Prehensile tongue
  86. Forked tongue
  87. No tongue
  88. Heightened gag reflex
  89. Foul breath - roll 1d6: on a 6, mildly toxic
  90. Fangs - roll 1d6: on a 6, with venom sacs
  91. Filed teeth
  92. Wooden teeth, or a set of a comparable material
  93. 1d6 missing front teeth - roll 1d6: on a 2+ up to 1d6 replaced, on a 6 with 1d3 special
  94. Vindaloovian eye
  95. Capped, spiked or sharpened chin
  96. Van Dyke, goatee or forked beard
  97. Chinstrap or full bushy beard
  98. Plaited beard - 1d6 plaits; roll 1d6 once for all: on a 6, 1d6 in-woven censers
  99. 1d6+1 chins or dewlaps
  100. Neck frill

Duplicates or contradictions could be rerolled, or better yet reworked for use together.

Feel free to comment or post with new entries - we need 900 more for the whole body...
_

9 comments:

Lasgunpacker said...

This is an excellent post for two reasons, ONE because it provides for a d100 table that should prove useful in the determination of scifi heads, and TWO because it is NOT the same as the system I was thinking about, which means that we can work concurrently (possibly ending up with a d2000 system).

Ynas Midgard said...

Sounds cool :)

Porky said...

Yes it does. Anything the big boys can do we can raise by an order of magnitude or two, working together and playing to our strengths, and we can bring in bold crossovers and radical new thinking to boot. I'd say 2,000 is conservative, especially if at least part of it is going to be system-free.

I'll repeat the call: if we're counting in the thousands now, everyone's welcome - post away, whether your own full millennium or just five, ten entries: it's plenty. Make it your own.

Porky said...

Update: check out Lasgunpacker's categories here.

Lasgunpacker said...

d40,000 does have a nice ring to it...

zhu bajiee said...

I have a list of 60ish mostly mundane minor mutations here, written for AD&D but based loosely on Rogue Trader / RoC mutations. Also some musings in the small-print. Feel free to steal.

Porky said...

@ Lasgunpacker - We're well on the way too. Since I posted this I've come up with another couple of dozen for the head alone.

@ zhu bajiee - I think that list fits right in and should also be easy enough to adapt to other systems. There are some very inspired ideas in there, plenty I wouldn't have thought of that's for sure. I count only half a dozen or so duplicates or potential duplicates so far, and while that number might creep up over time, we can just smooth out the wrinkles and plug any gaps when we put together a working structure. For now the juices should flow freely.

Porky said...

Another update: 100 bionics care of Lasgunpacker - 250+ and counting.

Porky said...

This has been expanded with 100 more here.