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    Canonfire :: View topic - Dustdiggers?
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    Dustdiggers?
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    Journeyman Greytalker

    Joined: Jan 21, 2010
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    Fri Jul 05, 2013 9:43 pm  
    Dustdiggers?

    I tried to google them and there's some information on the Internet, but nothing clear. Greywiki doesn't have a page on them either.

    Do my fellow Greyhawk-fans have any information about the 'diggers? What do you think about them? Used them in your adventures?

    The way I see the Dustdiggers:
    They are Yeomanry's secret agents, specialized in the art of treasure hunting. They are essentially government sanctioned adventurers, but they are required to keep low profile. This secrecy is needed because they mainly search around the Sea of Dust (hence the name) using secret tunnel(s) and Suels around the world would get very upset indeed if they are discovered (some already are). This is why Suels are not recruited to their ranks.

    The selection process is tough and few survive it. In 591, there are just 45 Dustdiggers and their levels range from 3 to 10.
    Master Greytalker

    Joined: May 12, 2005
    Posts: 933
    From: Woonsocket, RI, USA

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    Sat Jul 06, 2013 4:42 am  

    Is this what you're looking for, Sutemi, or do you already have this?

    Quote:
    Subj: A new Greyhawk kit, 1
    Date: 97-03-27 23:36:07 EST
    From: TSR Roger

    Just for the heck of it, here are some notes I have floating around my desk
    about a possible character kit specific to the Flanaess. I made this up
    purely for fun while working on another project on kits--not for the Greyhawk
    campaign, though.

    I've been eyeing the Yeomanry for some time as a jump-off point for
    exploration beyond the Flanaess. The Yeomanry has previously expressed
    interest in the Sea of Dust just beyond its borders, as have the Sea Princes.
    One expedition sent out from the Yeomanry prior to 576 C.Y. returned with
    treasure from an ancient Suloise city in the "sea," an event alluded to in my
    article on Dragon Orbs in Dragon Magazine. Then, around 576 C.Y. or so, the
    Passage of Slerotin is discovered--a titanic (and hazard-filled) tunnel
    straight through the Hellfurnaces to the Sea of Dust.

    Fast-forward to 585 C.Y. Despite the Yeomanry's involvement in fighting back
    giants from the mountains, interest in the Passage has continued to grow. A
    small boom town, Gateway, has now appeared by the eastern terminus of the
    Passage, and adventurers arrive here every week to locate partners, form up
    adventuring groups, and head into the depths beyond in search of the western
    end and the Sea of Dust beyond. Contact with the degenerate Lerara culture
    has become frequent, and contact with other fell denizens of UnderOerth has
    also become commonplace, leading to savage, no-quarter battles as the
    adventurers fight to clear the tunnel and seal off side passages allowing
    monsters and evil races entry. The tunnel is easy to map--a straight line
    miles long. Side passages are harder to locate and map, and many maps are
    floating about Gateway claiming to be the one true maps of the tunnel.

    In this growing chaos, a new sort of adventurer is appearing....

    Subj: A new Greyhawk kit, 2
    Date: 97-03-27 23:43:20 EST
    From: TSR Roger

    In Loftwick, high elven wizards have teamed up with various adventurers to
    set up an informal college teaching certain proficiencies that those probing
    ancient Suloise ruins will need. Nicknamed the "dustdigger school," this
    little-known group of teachers is taking in roguish students they deem to be
    trustworthy enough to return with knowledge and materials from the ruins.
    They also take in students willing to pay back their educational costs
    ("student loans") by accepting geases to return sufficient treasure to their
    teachers within a limited time of the completion of their schooling (usually
    about 3 months).

    The students they produce are called dustdiggers. They are rogues, variant
    thieves with some abilities replaced by others, and with an assortment of
    introductory proficiencies.

    Subj: Re:A new Greyhawk kit, 3
    Date: 97-03-28 00:11:35 EST
    From: TSR Roger

    Dustdiggers are archaeologists in the mold of Indiana Jones, treasure hunters
    who go armed into monster-ridden ruins and return with not only treasure but
    detailed knowledge as well. Money, jewels, and bars of precious metals are
    useful but secondary to them; they seek real power--magical knowledge,
    historical knowledge, tomes, books, scrolls, artifacts, arcane devices,
    things that sages and wizards would murder each other to study for the
    insight and potential power it could grant. Everyone knows the tale of
    Slerotin, Hollower of Mountains, savior of the Suel; Suloise-descended folk
    in the Yeomanry tell it to their kids at bedtime. Everyone knows what it
    means to lay hands on a page that tells how to become a Mage of Power.
    Heroes, villains, and commoners armed with hayforks are willing to head into
    the screaming blackness of the Passage in hopes to reaching the far side and
    achieve immortality in their own lifetime.

    Dustdiggers are initially generated like thieves, with modifications. Only
    Yeomanry citizens (and a handful of others checked by ESP) can go through
    this school and emerge a year later as 1st-level dustdigger rogues. Humans,
    high elves, half-high elves, dwarves, and some halflings have taken the
    course from the Yeomanry. Multiclassed characters are allowed. Some humans
    take the dual-class route and enter as low-level wizards (levels 1-4) capable
    of casting important spells like read magic and detect magic, which will aid
    them later as they gain more abilities as dustdiggers and can use their
    wizard spells.

    Initial weapons of 1st-level dustdiggers are limited to normal thieves'
    weapons, plus the warhammer and footman's pick--the hammer and pick, of
    course, being used in digging and chiseling out items or passages through the
    hardened layers of dust beneath the surface.

    Special nonweapon proficiencies taught at the school include: ancient history
    (Suel Imperium), ancient languages (Suloise), read/write languages (Suloise),
    and a new skill called Excavation. Excavation allows the user to recover
    buried items without damaging them, or preserve and pack brittle documents in
    metal containers for later examination. All the ruined papers that
    adventurers keep finding in old ruins that fall apart when touched now have a
    chance to be preserved and studied, their secrets revealed. Recovery of a
    brittle or endangered item takes 10d6 rounds, so it had better be worth it.

    The elf wizards of Loftwick have a new device they are having their
    dustdiggers "field test": <mirror paper>. <Mirror paper> consists of
    apparently regular sheets of large paper that can be pressed to any surface
    on which writing or drawing appears. The <mirror paper> instantly makes an
    exact copy of the writing on the surface on its own face; it is then stored
    away in metal scroll tubes for later examination. [Minor technical flaw: The
    use of <mirror paper> will automatically trigger any explosive runes, magical
    glyphs, and related traps on the surface being copied. This flaw is not yet
    known to anyone, even the papers' creators.]

    Subj: Re:A new Greyhawk kit, 4
    Date: 97-03-28 00:25:47 EST
    From: TSR Roger

    Dustdiggers are advised as to which proficiencies they will likely find
    useful in exploring the old Suloise ruins, which are known to be
    monster-ridden. The following list of proficiencies is suggested:

    Alertness, animal handling (pack animals), appraisal, blind-fighting,
    direction sense (a.k.a. orienteering), endurance, engineering, fire-building,
    mining, mountaineering, rope use, survival (mountains/Hellfurnaces), survival
    (UnderOerth/Hellfurnaces), survival (Sea of Dust).

    Sadly, the last three proficiencies are usually possessed only by Yeomanry
    mountain and hill dwarves who have been living in and mining the
    Hellfurnaces. Player characters may be of this sort of dwarf. At the DM's
    discretion, another sort of PC with a past history of delving into the
    Passage, Hellfurnaces, or Sea of Dust can gain one of these survival
    proficiencies, if the experience was deemed sufficiently trying to grant the
    knowledge.

    Other proficiencies that Yeomanry characters gain automatically are (pick 4
    only): local history (Yeomanry), modern languages (Elvish), modern languages
    (Dwarvish), modern languages (Common), modern languages (Keolandish),
    reading/writing (Common), reading/writing (Dwarvish), reading/writing
    (Elvish).

    Dustdiggers have two of their thieving skills replaced by new skills. Picking
    Pockets is replaced by Detect Ambush, allowing the user to realize that
    circumstances are ripe for a surprise attack (thus negating all surprise if
    attacked). Read Languages is replaced by Detect Secret/Concealed Doors, as
    per the elven talent, though now on a percentile scale. The other thief
    talents of climbing walls, opening locks, detecting and removing traps,
    moving silently, and hiding in shadows are left as is. The usual 2nd edition
    point-allocation system is used. Dexterity does not affect either Detect
    Ambush or Detect Secret/Concealed Doors; elves get a +20 bonus to the latter,
    and half-elves get a +10 bonus.

    The most useful missile weapon for dustdiggers was felt to be the sling, as
    rocks are plentiful and the sling will not encumber the user (though it
    cannot be used in a tight space--perhaps a slingshot would do better). The
    hand crossbow is always welcome, of course, in narrow confines, though its
    ammunition is limited.

    Subj: Re:A new Greyhawk kit, 5
    Date: 97-03-28 00:42:09 EST
    From: TSR Roger

    There's the rough outline of the kit. It's very limited to a specific setting
    at a specific time, but it could be expanded by modifying the nature of some
    proficiencies to fit many other areas full of ancient ruins--such as the
    ruins of the Baklunish Empire in the Dry Steppes, or the mysterious city high
    in the Griff Mountains, Skrellingshald. Ancient tombs of the ur-Flannae may
    be found in the caves surrounding the city of Roland, and who knows what will
    be found in the Amedio's Tamoachan or the Forbidden City of Hepmonaland.

    But for now, there's the mad, frontier town of Gateway, and the tension that
    accompanies every party-forming and Passage send-off. Wealth has already
    begun to flow out of the Passage, and prices in the area are climbing to the
    moons. Urchins will sing prayers to the gods to favor the adventurers for a
    handful of silver pieces; the price for raising the dead in several of the
    newly created temples here causes everyone to blind and rub their eyes.
    [Designer's note: Few better ways to burn off cash than boom-town
    inflation--and local taxes, thieves, and thugs.]

    Once any party gets into the Passage, the DM should throw the book at them.
    The derro are having a Uniting War, ghouls are battling the drow, mind
    flayers are coming up to see what all the noise is about, the Lerara are
    fleeing for the Yeomanry, everything is in total chaos. Just reaching the Sea
    of Dust is an achievement now. And in the Sea of Dust is one particularly
    large ruined city about 120 miles west of the western terminus--and it is
    CRAWLING with horrors, evil adventurers, Suel liches, and worse, all roused
    to wakefulness by dozens of looters invading its long slumbering halls. The
    heroes would have done better to visit the Abyss.

    Hope this looks interesting to you. :)
    GreySage

    Joined: Jul 26, 2010
    Posts: 2695
    From: LG Dyvers

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    Sat Jul 06, 2013 8:46 am  

    Thanks for posting that fan-made kit, DMPrata! It's a great one. Happy

    SirXaris
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    Master Greytalker

    Joined: May 12, 2005
    Posts: 933
    From: Woonsocket, RI, USA

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    Sat Jul 06, 2013 9:07 am  

    SirXaris wrote:
    Thanks for posting that fan-made kit, DMPrata! It's a great one. Happy

    SirXaris
    You're welcome, but I wouldn't consider it "fan-made" when the fan is Roger E. Moore ("TSR Roger"). Cool
    GreySage

    Joined: Oct 06, 2008
    Posts: 2788
    From: South-Central Pennsylvania

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    Sat Jul 06, 2013 9:26 am  

    Do you have Living Greyhawk's "Players Guide to the Yeomanry?" The Dustdiggers are associated with the "Academy of Lore."

    The Academy of Lore

    Members of the Academy of Lore (or Dustdigger College) are scientists, archaeologists, and treasure hunters who serve the Yeomanry League in an official capacity. Members are charged with exploring, mapping, and bringing back artifacts from the extensive number of Suel (and other) ruins that dot the Yeoman countryside. As a secondary task, they are expected to protect these same sites from those who would exploit those treasures for personal gain and without permission of the Academy or the Yeoman government.

    Prerequisites:

    • A character must have the Yeomanry listed as her home region. In addition, entrance into the Academy of Lore requires a minimum of 1 year's study (real time) at the University at Loftwick. Switching regions from the Yeomanry results in expulsion from the group and all the benefits that come with it.

    • A prospective student must be of good repute (never convicted of a major crime, for instance) and have a certain number Influence points with Yeoman institutions - 3 from the Dustdigger College and 1 from a member of the Council of Common Grosspokesmen.

    • In order to be considered for entrance, a PC must have at least 10 ranks in any combination of these Knowledge skills: Arcana, Architecture, Geography, History, Local, Nature, Religion. In addition, at least 5 of those ranks must be concentrated in one particular area.

    • An Academy student must also be able to speak and read / write one of the following languages: Ancient Suloise, Old Oeridian, Flan, or Ancient Baklunish.

    Requirements:

    • Students must pay a tuition of 500 gp per year and spend 10 Time Units (TUs) per year for TWO years to graduate from the Academy. It is possible for students to reduce their tuition on a gp-for-gp basis in exchange for bringing archaeological artifacts to the College while a student (instead of gaining Influence for them as below); however, time units may NOT be reduced. TUs, gold, or artifacts spent towards graduation should be recorded by the DM both on the PC's log sheet AND the back of their Academy certificate. Once these prerequisites are achieved, the PC is considered to have graduated from the Academy of Arcane Lore and becomes a full-fledged Dustdigger. At this time, contact the regional Triad for further instructions.

    • Abuse of Academy membership or actions unbefitting of a member of the Academy can result in the expulsion of the student in question.

    Benefits:

    • Any treasure considered to have archaeological or historical significance (as determined by the DM) may be given to the Academy and not sold for profit by the PC. The PC gains one Dustdigger Influence point for each 500 gp of "finds" submitted. Items acquired outside of the Yeomanry also may be applied in this manner if the DM approves, as per above. These donations should be tracked on the PC's Adventure Certificate for that particular module and on the back of their Academy certificate.

    • Dustdigger-related Yeomanry adventures may be put towards the TU cost required for graduation. Whether or not a regional adventure counts towards this will be clearly indicated in the module.

    • Students and alumni have free access to the Library of the Academy of Arcane Lore in Loftwick. To represent this, once per regional adventure a PC may add a +5 circumstance bonus to any Knowledge check related to Arcana, Architecture, Geography, History, Local, or Religion if they are willing to spend 1 TU to make the trip to Loftwick and circumstances dictate their ability to make the trip.

    • Any Dustdigger influence points used or redeemed by an Academy student count as double. Here are some examples of what Influence Points can grant a PC: IPs

    Example of Use:

    1 • One IP gives a 10% discount on a mundane or magical item that a PC already has access to. One IP can also be used to sell magical (and only magical) equipment to the Academy at a 10% higher price than would be normal. Up to three IPs may be used at a time in these manners, and IPs may be used by more than one PC for the cumulative effect. Both of these must be used after Yeomanry regional adventures only.

    • One IP also gives a PC High Lifestyle for one regional or metaregional adventure.

    • One IP gives a PC a one-time +4 competence bonus on the following skill checks:

    o Appraise
    o Bluff
    o Diplomacy
    o Gather Information
    o Knowledge (Any)

    2 For two IPs, a member of the Academy can receive a Luxury Lifestyle for one regional or metaregional adventure.

    3 For three IPs, a member of the Academy agrees to teach the PC access to one of the following Builder Book feats:

    • Alluring (S&S)
    • Charlatan (S&S)
    • Jack of all Trades (S&S)
    • Multicultural (S&S)
    • Obscure Lore (S&S)
    • Resist Disease (MotW)
    • Resist Poison (MotW)
    • Throw Anything (S&F)

    An empty feat slot must be available, however.

    Available Prestige Classes
    Arcane Trickster (DMG)
    Dungeon Delver (S&S)
    Dustdigger (Regional--pending)
    Horizon Walker (DMG)
    Lasher (S&F)
    Loremaster (DMG).
    Available Feats
    Alluring (S&S)
    Charlatan (S&S)
    Jack of all Trades (S&S)
    Multicultural (S&S)
    Obscure Lore (S&S)
    Resist Disease (MotW)
    Resist Poison (MotW)
    Throw Anything (S&F).
    Available Spells
    Corpse Candle (T&B)
    Feign Death (T&B)
    Filter (T&B)
    Listening Coin (S&S)
    Available Mundane and Magical Items
    Arcane library (T&B)
    Crossbow (covered hand and grapple-firing) (S&S)
    Expandable Pole (S&S)
    Longreach Tongs (S&S)
    Portable Writing Desk (T&B)
    Bag of Holding (any)
    Chime of Opening
    Everburning Torch
    Ring of Feather Falling
    Immovable Rod
    Periapt of Proof Against Poison
    Rope of Climbing
    Rod of Metal and Mineral Detection

    Background and Description:

    The Academy of Lore (known as the Dustdigger College by students, alumni, and local residents) was founded in 541 CY by the Council of High Magic. The Academy was originally intended to teach students the skills necessary to explore ancient ruins with care and respect while still bringing back treasures. It selected students thought to be trustworthy enough to return from sites with knowledge and materials for the wizards to study. The Academy worked in relative anonymity until 576 CY, when a long tunnel was discovered under the Hellfurnaces - a cavern which shoots for hundreds of miles, intersecting huge caverns and tunnels hundreds of feet below the surface. Early explorers of the tunnel believed that it was the legendary Passage of Slerotin that was said to link Yeoman territory to the Sea of Dust, the old Suel Empire, all the way on the other side of the Hellfurnaces. The College's mission of Suel archaeology had an exciting new field for study, and with the assistance of Theodain and other prominent Yeomen, funding was received and work began on a permanent home for the Academy. The natural threats of the Underdark made the College's first excursions short and limited in scope.

    In 590 CY, however, a group of Yeoman adventurers known as the Defenders of the Spear emerged from the tunnel with strange weapons, armor, and other treasure that disintegrated upon contact with sunlight. They also returned with tales of great riches and wondrous magic located inside the tunnel.

    Despite the huge effort of defending the Yeomanry from invading giants, the Council of Common Grosspokesmen and then-Freeholder Crispin Redwell took a true interest in the Passage shortly after the return of the Defenders of the Spear. They gave new Headmaster Lillith Sedgewick the charge of exploring, mapping, and recording any findings from the Passage of Slerotin. In exchange, The Academy of Lore was decreed an official state institution, was given an annual budget by the Council of Grosspokemen, and was given sole authority to explore the extensive archaeological sites on Yeoman soil. Exploration of the tunnel continues to this day, and knowledge about it and its denizens has grown tremendously since the Academy of Arcane Lore has become involved.

    Though the Academy is not entirely happy with the glut of adventurers trooping through the Passage from Dark Gate, it acknowledges that the area is entirely too dangerous to explore without significant resources dedicated to clearing it of threats and sealing off many of the side passages. There is a substantial Academy presence in Dark Gate - some go on expeditions themselves and others try to harness, regulate, and recover important artifacts from the many other treasure hunters venturing into the region.

    As the Academy is relatively new, it has difficulty keeping adventurers and poachers from plundering sites, but official permission from the Academy of Arcane Lore is required to search historical sites in the Yeomanry.


    Guess it's time I got off my duff and started submitting articles to the Wiki again. Next project: "Dustdiggers!" Laughing
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    GreySage

    Joined: Jul 26, 2010
    Posts: 2695
    From: LG Dyvers

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    Sat Jul 06, 2013 9:57 am  

    DMPrata: So the fan is that Roger, huh? Cool

    Mystic-Scholar: Nice find! Smile

    SirXaris
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    Journeyman Greytalker

    Joined: Jan 21, 2010
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    Sat Jul 06, 2013 10:11 am  

    What I did today on Canonfire.com:
    1. Made a thread.
    2. Waited a while.
    3. Thread was full of Win.

    Thank you guys!
    GreySage

    Joined: Oct 06, 2008
    Posts: 2788
    From: South-Central Pennsylvania

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    Sat Jul 06, 2013 11:52 am  

    SirXaris wrote:
    Mystic-Scholar: Nice find! Smile


    Thanks. Actually, I have just about all of the Living Greyhawk materials, for the Yeomanry and elsewhere.

    There's more I could produce, but Sutemi specifically asked for "Dustdigger" information, so . . . Evil Grin

    Enjoy! Wink
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