The Dragon's Egg
A System agnostic TTRPG by Larry Heyl
Licensed CC BY
The goal of the game is to steal the dragon's egg.
The game includes exploration, combat, and puzzles.
Exploration
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The DM adjudicates actions and decides when the dragon is going to attack the party.
When not in combat the party travels together to try to find the dragon's lair so they can steal the dragon's egg. The DM chooses the rules for exploration using any published system or their own system. The players make a character sheet for the chosen system.
The players encounter NPCs who can be good or bad on their travels who they can talk to. They also encounter animals or monsters on their travels that are more difficult to talk to. Every encounter should contain clues to the location of the dragon's lair.
The players act in any order saying what they would like to do and the DM adjudicates their success. The DM might use dice rolls to determine the difficulty of the action or the DM might not need dice rolls for this.
The DM just says yes you can do that or they can tell the player what to roll to suceed in the action.
The DM never says you can't do that. Instead they say that will be really difficult. To do that you'll have to roll a critical success and if you don't roll a crit bad things might happen.
And the story begins.
You are all drinking in a tavern called The Dragon's Egg. You've been staying here for over a week partying every night, sleeping in every day. It's already dark when you realize you don't have enough money left to pay for a room for the night. You call the barkeep, Olaf Cranberry, over to the table and explain your situation. You've been good customers and he doesn't really want you sleeping in the common room so he says, "You've been good customers so I'll put your room on the tab for tonight. But on one condition. I'll wake you early in the morning and off you go to steal the dragon's egg. After you sell the egg you'll be rich so you have to promise to come back and settle up with Olaf." You're all drunk so you agree and after one more round you trundle off to bed.
At the crack of dawn there's Olaf, waking you up and putting you out. Oh no, you think, barely remembering what you had agreed to do last night. Once Olaf has you out of his tavern he says, "Go north. All the dragons are in the north."
All of the above are just suggestions. It's totally up to the DM to decide how they are going to run exploration and start the story.
Combat System
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All players start with 5 d6 dice. The dragon starts with 5 plus the number of players d6 dice. Other antagonists will have fewer d6 dice to start with.
A Turn
The players attack in any order. They describe what they are going to do and they roll all of the dice in front of them. If they have n dice left they have to roll 3n to hit. If they hit the dragon puts one die in the middle of the table. If a player hits, the dragon shoots a firebolt at that player. If the dragon rolls n dice, a total of 3n or better hits. If the dragon hits, the player puts one die in the center of the table.
After the players roll the dragon uses her breath weapon. If the dice roll is not critical all players move one die to the center of the table.
Critical success is all sixes. Critical success gives double damage. Two die go into the middle of the table. If there is only one die left a six is a critical success.
Critical failure is all ones. One die goes into the middle of the table. If there is only one die left a one is a critical failure.
Combat ends when either the players have no dice left or the dragon has no dice left.
There is no death in combat. When a player has no dice left they are unconscious. If all the players are unconscious they wake up imprisoned in a dungeon. If the dragon has no dice left she flies away.
Combat with NPCs or monsters is the same except when their turn comes at the end of a round of cambat they attack with whatever weapons or spells they have.
If the players win the NPCs or monsters are unconscious and the players can safely leave without fear or worries about being followed. Their defeated enemies will not strike again because they don't want another whooping.
If the players lose they wake up where they are with no money, food, or weapons except knives, daggers, walking sticks, or other small weapons. Anything from a crossbow up is gone. Magic users still have their staff, books, and scrolls.
Imprisonment
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If the players wake up in a dungeon they must escape the dungeon before they can continue the quest. Every dungeon is a puzzle.
(Sample dungeons should be included. Also a way for people to submit their dungeon puzzles. The dungeons can be as simple as a three room dungeon with a monster guarding the exit to classic logic puzzles or magical runes and lore.)
The End Of The Game
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The final combat is in the dragon's lair. If the players win the dragon flies away, the players steal the dragon's egg, and they win. Now that they have the egg they can Rule The World but they don't really want to do that so they sell the egg and party until they run out of money.
If they play again they are on a quest to steal another dragon's egg.
If the dragon wins the players wake up in the dungeon under the mountain and it's the end of the game.
If they play again they must escape from the dungeon under the mountain, an even harder puzzle. The dungeon under the mountain is a cave with no entrances or exits so when the players solve the puzzle they are teleported to an unknown destination. From there they continue their quest to steal the dragon's egg.
Collaborate On Crates With Hairy Larry
Turn this jazz trio into a quartet
Recorded Live at HairyLarryLand on 2024-01-04
In a nutshell
Play along while listening on headphones.
Record to phone or tablet in vertical mode (portrait not landscape).
Share your video with hairylarry@gmail.com.
I will add your video to the left side of this video and post the finished video.
Details
Your shot
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Pick a good background in a well lit room.
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Collaborate On Crates With Hairy Larry
Turn this jazz trio into a quartet
Recorded Live at HairyLarryLand on 2024-01-04
In a nutshell
Play along while listening on headphones.
Record to phone or tablet in vertical mode (portrait not landscape).
Share your video with hairylarry@gmail.com.
I will add your video to the left side of this video and post the finished video.
— Permalink
I played this on my twitch livestream on October 17, 2021, with an arrangement designed for collaboration. Collaborators play over a piano trio with the bass and drums provided by an irealpro script with the chords for my original song, "Malaysia". The irealpro app can be viewed running on my tablet on the right side of the video screen.
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Drucilla's Horrid Hobby
Drucilla Alexandra Fenworth-Covington was a disappointment, a source of great frustration to her parents and siblings alike, and a delicious monster. The family couldn't understand or relate to Drucilla, and lived in a constant state of trepidation regarding family gatherings and public functions. When dainty footwear and tailored outfits of linen were required, Drucilla might arrive in black shiny knee-high punk goth boots, torn fishnet stockings, and a dress perhaps best described as an industrial explosion of black lace, taffeta, and faux-patent leather. Where her twin sisters wore understated pearl necklaces, light lipstick and imperceptible blush, Drucilla was likely to wear a wide stainless-steel choker with a ring, black shiny lipstick, and a piecing in her nose. It was very unsettling at best, and nobody in her family knew what to do about her.
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This is Hairy Larry inviting you to enjoy Something Blue every Saturday night at ten. This week we’re featuring Geri Allen and Kurt Rosenwinkel, Nigel Harpur, and ADHD. For more about the show visit the Something Blue website at sbblues.com.
Don’t miss Something Blue, Saturday night at 10:00 PM CST, at kasu.org.
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Bebop Beatniks Live At Blues Fest Craighead Forest Bandshell Jonesboro, Arkansas September 24, 2023
Songs
00:00 African Violet 11:24 Thanks Mr. Cloud … 12:14 The Blue Crane 21:20 The dance floor is open … 21:42 Low Earth Orbit 31:08 Honky Tonk Jazz … 31:54 Sail Boats 38:37 In the audience … 39:15 Freddy’s Blues 45:34 Silence … 45:19 Malaysia 55:53 Introducing the band …
All songs by Larry Heyl
Personnel
Tyler Remagen - sax and flute Hairy Larry - piano and vocals Jeremy Jackson - bass Alex Washam - drums Conley Hunt - percussion and vocals
Bebop Beatniks Larry Heyl Composition Recital ASU Band Room September 10, 2023
Songs
00:00 African Violet 14:30 The Blue Crane 23:30 introducing the band … 24:24 Low Earth Orbit 33:32 Sail Boats 42:22 Freddy’s Blues 52:35 Malaysia
All songs by Larry Heyl
Personnel
Rike Robinson - trombone and vocals Tyler Remagen - sax and flute Cody Daugherty - trumpet Sophie Hacker - guitar and vocals Craig Collison - drums Jeremy Jackson - bass Conley Hunt - percussion and vocals Hairy Larry - piano and vocals
Livestreamed to Youtube from my Samsung Galaxy S10
Bebop Beatniks At Beatles Park Walnut Ridge, Arkansas May 27, 2023
Songs
00:00 We are Bebop Beatniks … 00:23 The Blue Crane 08:53 What a wonderful audience … 09:00 Candles 16:43 I’m going to rap … 17:04 African Violet 28:24 When Conley was a percussion student … 28:48 Low Earth Orbit 38:17 OK, here’s a swing song … 38:25 Sailboats 45:11 Crates is the companion piece to Candles … 45:20 Crates 53:36 One more song … 53:46 Malaysia
Personnel
Hairy Larry - piano, vocals Alex Washam - drums Conley Hunt - percussion Rike Robinson - trombone
Bebop Beatniks
On The Twitch Porch
April 2, 2023
Songs
00:00 Stardust by Hoagy Carmichael, public domain
08:27 African Violet
17:05 Sail Boats
24:26 Malaysia
33:37 Low Earth Orbit
42:37 The Blue Crane
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