The Lost Valley of Bones

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19162/19162-h/19162-h.htm

“A Lost Valley: The perfect hideout in the Victorian bush, but full of bones.

“Yet here was wattle as far as the eye could reach. It looked as if a generous scientist, like the man in H. G. Wells’ “Food of the Gods,” had let loose some power capable of forcing on this abnormal growth. The valley itself was in an undulating sea of vegetation. Had it been early in September the place would have been a vast expanse of golden glory, but as it was late March the dominant color note was that of grey-green. Under the circumstances it was as clear as daylight how the elder man had missed the place. It was buried under the rank growth, and all definable features, as we learnt later—everything that could be used as a leading mark—had disappeared or been swamped by the wattles. The bushes were not so thick about the lower entrance to the funnel as to impede Cumshaw’s movements, and so he began to look about him in the hope of locating the one thing that would definitely identify the place. The horses had been shot close to the wall of rock, and it was a practical certainty that some trace of their bodies would be found in the vicinity. Ten minutes’ close search brought to light a pile of bones that might or might not be those of the missing animals”

On bunyips


“‘A stockman in the employ of Mr. Baxter was fishing in the Eumeralia, when he was suddenly startled by what he at first imagined to be a huge black fellow swimming in the river, but which I think must be the Bunyip. I went with the stockman the next day, and was fortunate enough to get a good view of him. He was of a brownish colour, with a head something the shape of a kangaroo, an enormous mouth, apparently furnished with a formidable set of teeth, long neck, covered with a shaggy mane which reached halfway down his back; his hind quarters were under water, so that we could not get a full view of him, but if one may judge by what was seen, his weight must be fully equal to that of a very large bullock. On trying to get a closer examination, he took alarm and immediately disappeared; and although a strict watch has since been kept, he has never again been seen, but it is hoped that the exertions now being made by Mr. Baxter to catch him will be crowned with success.’ ”

http://home.yowieocalypse.com/Rosa_Praed_The_Bunyip/

Mokuy Backgrounds

I am considering three broad backgrounds for this, or even alignments they could be, taking a bit of inspiration from England Upturn’d.https://expanduniver.blogspot.com/2014/04/cavaliers-and-roundheads.html

These are :-

  • Indigenous
  • Currency
  • Sterling

Indigenous – Traditional landowners

Currency – 1st generation children of European (or even the occasional American or Asian) immigrants.

Sterling – European (largely British or Irish)


Vampire Kangaroos: Are they still around?


Vampire kangaroo, partial skull

Rumours of soldiers on expeditions dragged away at night…drained corpses found. One retrieved body brought to the colony surgeon and the verdict was “definite exsanguination”

Mokuy Evolution

The idea started after I saw the statues below. I thought, hmm, why not an OSR setting of bushranger era Australia, say around 1820? Could have lots of things apart from bushrangers: pulp vigilantes, monsters, exploration, super science cities, time travel….

Mokuy statue

Significant Dates in Australian Colonial History

1486Diaz rounds Cape of Good Hope.
1497Vasco da Gama sails to India via the Cape.
1512Portuguese discover the Moluccas.
1520Magellan enters the Pacific.
1567Alvarez discovers the Solomon Islands.
1595Cornelius Houtman pilots Dutch ships to the East Indies.
1598Dutch established at Java.
1606Quiros discovers the New Hebrides.
Discovery of Torres Strait.
The DUYFKEN in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
1611Brouwer’s new route to the East.
1616Dirk Hartog on the Western Australian coast.
1622English ship TRIAL wrecked off the west coast.
1627Nuytsland discovered.
1636Van Diemen Governor of Dutch East Indies.
1642Tasman discovers Van Diemen’s Land and New Zealand.
1644Tasman in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
1688Dampier in the CYGNET in Australian waters.
1699Dampier in the ROEBUCK in Shark’s Bay.
1768Cook’s ENDEAVOUR voyage.
1770Cook’s discovery of New South Wales.
1772Cook’s RESOLUTION voyage.
1779Banks suggests founding a convict settlement at Botany Bay.
1782End of the American War of Independence.
1783Matra’s plan of colonization in New South Wales.
1785Sir George Young’s plan.
1786Determination to found a settlement at Botany Bay.
1788Foundation of Sydney.
Laperouse in Botany Bay.
1789Establishment of New South Wales Corps.
Settlement of Norfolk Island.
1792End of Phillip’s governorship.
1792-5Administration of Grose and Paterson.
1795Hunter Governor of New South Wales.
1795-6Bass and Flinders make voyages in the TOM THUMB.
1797John Macarthur buys merino sheep.
Discovery of coal.
1798Bass discovers Bass Strait and Westernport.
Bass and Flinders circumnavigate Tasmania in the Norfolk.
1800King Governor of New South Wales.
Voyage of the LADY NELSON from England.
Flinders’s voyage in the INVESTIGATOR.
1802Murray discovers Port Phillip.
Flinders meets Baudin in Encounter Bay.
1803Flinders circumnavigates Australia.
Wreck of the PORPOISE.
Flinders imprisoned in Mauritius.
Collins’s Port Phillip Settlement.
1804Foundation of Hobart.
Settlement at Port Dalrymple.
1806Bligh Governor of New South Wales.
1807Arrest of John Macarthur.
1808Mutiny in New South Wales; deposition of Bligh.
1809Macquarie Governor of New South Wales.
1810Extinction of New South Wales Corps.
Liberation of Flinders.
1813BlaxIand discovers a way across the Blue Mountains.
Evans discovers the Bathurst plains.
Davey Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen’s Land.
1814Death of Flinders.
Establishment of Civil Court in New South Wales.
1816Bank of New South Wales founded.
1817Oxley explores the Lachlan.
1818Oxley explores the Macquarie.
1819Commissioner Bigge in New South Wales.
1821Brisbane Governor of New South Wales.
1823New South Wales Judicature Act passed.
Oxley in Moreton Bay.
1824Wentworth’s AUSTRALIAN.
Foundation of Brisbane.
1824Annexation of Bathurst and Melville Islands.
Hume and Hovell’s expedition to Port Phillip.
1825Alteration of western boundary of New South Wales.
Lockyer explores the Brisbane River.
Arthur Governor of Van Diemen’s Land.
1826The ASTROLABE at Westernport.
Settlement at Westernport.
Darling Governor of New South Wales.
1827Lockyer’s Settlement at King George’s Sound.
Darling’s law to regulate the press.
Alan Cunningham explores the Liverpool Range and the Darling Downs.
Stirling examines the Swan River.
1828Enlargement of the Legislative Council of New South W ales.
Westernport Settlement abandoned.
Sturt discovers the Darling.
1829Annexation of the Swan River.
Whole of Australia claimed as British territory.
The PARMELIA conveys first immigrants to Swan River.
Publication of Wakefield’s LETTER FROM SYDNEY.
1830Accession of William IV.
Act establishing trial by jury in New South Wales.
Sturt explores the Murray to the sea.
Perth founded.
Governor Arthur’s ‘Black Drive.’
1834Act to establish Colony of South Australia.
The Hentys settle at Portland.
The Dorsetshire labourers transported.
1835John Batman in Port Phillip.
1836Mitchell explores Australia Felix.
Adelaide founded.
Lonsdale takes charge of the Port Phillip Settlement.
Bourke’s grazing licences policy.
1837Accession of Queen Victoria.
Melbourne named.
House of Commons Committee on Transportation.
1837-40George Grey’s explorations in Western Australia.
1838Gawler Governor of South Australia.
Military settlement at Port Essington.
1839Latrobe appointed superintendent of Port Phillip.
Strzeleeki finds traces of gold.
1839Death of John Batman.
Lord Durham’s report on the state of Canada.
McMillan’s first expedition to Gippsland.
Abandonment of Moreton Bay Settlement.
1840Order in Council discontinuing transportation to Australia.
Eyre starts for the centre of the continent.
Strzelecki’s journey through Gippsland.
1841Grey appointed Governor of South Australia.
1842Robert Lowe in New South Wales.
Act for the Government of N.S.W. and Van Diemen’s Land passed.
1843Ridley invents the stripper.
1844Convicts shipped to Port Phillip.
Sturt’s journey to the interior.
Leichhardt’s first exploring expedition.
1845Grey appointed Governor of New Zealand.
Burra copper mine discovered.
1846Fitzroy ‘Governor-General’ of Australia.
Lieutenant Yule hoists British flag in New Guinea.
1847Gold found in Port Phillip.
The Gladstone Colony at Port Curtis.
1848Melbourne elects Lord Grey to the Legislative Council.
Leichhardt’s last expedition.
1849The RANDOLPH in Hobson’s Bay: resistance to convict immigration.
Port Essington abandoned.
1850Western Australia becomes a penal colony.
University of Sydney founded.
Australian Colonies Government Act passed.
Railway from Sydney to Goulburn built.
1851Separation of Victoria from New South Wales.
Hargreaves digs for gold on Summerhill Creek.
Gold found at Ballarat.
The diggings commence.
1852University of Melbourne founded.
1853Tasmania named.
Town of Gladstone founded.
French annexation of New Caledonia.
1854The Eureka Stockade.
Hobson’s Bay railway built.
1855Transportation to Norfolk Island ceased
1855New constitutions come into effect in New South Wales, Victoria,
South Australia, and Tasmania.
Ballot Act passed in Victoria.
First anti-Chinese legislation passed.
1858Torrens Real Property Act passed.
1859Colony of Queensland proclaimed.
Kingsley’s GEOFFREY HAMLYN published.
1860McDouall Stuart reaches the centre of the continent.
1861Burke and Wills expedition.
Cowper’s quarrel with the New South Wales Legislative Council.
1862McDouall Stuart crosses the continent to Port Darwin
Duffy’s Land Act.
1863South Australia undertakes to administer the Northern Territory.
New Caledonia a convict colony.
1865McCuIloch proposes protection in Victoria.
1867End of transportation to Western Australia.
Gold discovered at Gympie.
The Darling grant controversy.
1868First Queensland Act to regulate Kanaka labour
1869John Forrest’s journey in search of Leichhardt.
1870British troops withdrawn from Australia.
Adam Lindsay Gordon died.
1872Overland telegraph line from Adelaide to Port Darwin constructed.
1873John Forrest explores the interior.
Moresby’s discoveries in New Guinea.
Stephens’s ‘free, compulsory, and secular’ Education Act.
1874University of Adelaide founded.
John Forrest’s journey from Perth to Adelaide.
Fiji annexed by Great Britain.
Clarke’s FOR THE TERM OF HIS NATURAL LIFE published.
1875Ernest Giles’s inland journey.
1877Dispute as to payment of members in Victoria.
High Commissionership of the Pacific established.
Brunton Stephens’s poem, THE DOMINION OF AUSTRALIA, published.
1878Black Wednesday’ (January 8).
1879First Australian Trade Union Congress.
1880Capture of the Kelly Gang.
1880Payment of members carried in Victoria.
1881Reform of the Victorian Legislative Council.
1882Discovery of Mount Morgan.
The Kimberley gold rush.
Henry Clarence Kendall died.
1883Silver discovered at Broken Hill.
McIlwraith annexes New Guinea.
1884German annexation of Kaiser Wilhelm’s Land, the Bismarck
Archipelago, and Samoa.
1885Federal Council established.
Soudan contingent from New South Wales.
1887Anglo-French Condominium in the New Hebrides.
First Colonial Conference.
1888Intercolonial Conference on Chinese immigration.
ROBBERY UNDER ARMS published.
1890Great maritime strike.
University of Tasmania founded.
1891First Federal Convention.
1892Coolgardie gold-field discovered.
1893Corowa Conference on Federation.
1894Women’s enfranchisement in South Australia.
1895Victorian Wages Board system established.
Paterson’s THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER published.
1896Henry Lawson’s IN THE DAYS WHEN THE WORLD WAS WIDE published.
1897The second Colonial Conference.
1897-8The Federal Convention.
1898First Federal Referendum.
1899Second Federal Referendum.
First Labour Government (Queensland).
Australian contingents sent to South African War.
1900The Commonwealth Constitution before the Imperial Parliament.
1901(May 9) First Commonwealth Parliament opened.
1902Immigration Restriction Act passed.
Third Colonial Conference.
1903First Deakin Government.
Amended Naval Agreement.
1904The Watson Government.
Reid-McLean Government.
Dalgety selected as site for federal capital.
1905Second Deakin Government.
1906Amended Anglo-French agreement as to New Hebrides.
1907Act for construction of Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta railway passed.
Imperial Conference.
1908First Fisher Government.
Revocation of choice of Dalgety. Canberra finally selected as site of federal capital.
1909Third Deakin Government.
Imperial Defence Conference.
Compulsory military service instituted in Australia.
Lord Kitchener’s report.
1910University of Brisbane founded.
Second Fisher Government.
1911Referendum for amendment of constitution.
Admiral Henderson’s naval report.
Imperial Conference.
1912University of Perth founded.
1913Cook Government.
Referendum for amendment of constitution.
The AUSTRALIA completed.
1914Third Fisher Government.
Great European War.
Fight between the SYDNEY and EMDEN at Cocos (November).
1915Hughes Government.
Anzac.
1916First Conscription Referendum.
1917Second Conscription Referendum.
Transcontinental Railway opened.
1918Great battle on the Somme (August 8); capture of Mont St. Quentin by Australian forces.
Defeat and surrender of Germany.
1919Ross and Keith Smith fly from England to Australia by aeroplane.
1920Visit of the Prince of Wales to Australia.
1923End of Hughes Government.
Stanley Bruce Prime Minister.
1924Visit of Special Service squadron of the Royal Navy to Australia.
1927Federal Parliament opened by Duke of York at the Commonwealth capital, Canberra.
1928Flight by Bert Hinkler from England to Australia, and by Kingsford
Smith and Ulm from America to Australia and from Australia to New Zealand.
1929J. Scullin Prime Minister.
1930First Australian-born Governor-General appointed: Sir Isaac Isaacs.
1931Statute of Westminster.
1932Opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge.
J. A. Lyons Prime Minister.
Imperial Conference at Ottawa.
1934Victorian Centenary celebrations attended by the Duke of Gloucester.
1935Italy attacks Abyssinia.
Jubilee of King George V.
1936Death of King George V
accession and later abdication of King Edward VIII
accession of the Duke of York as King George VI.
1938The ‘Munich Crisis.’
1939Death of J. A. Lyons; R. G. Menzies becomes Prime Minister.
Second World War begins.
1940Australian forces share in North African campaigns.
1941Tobruk.
A. W. Fadden Prime Minister, August-October.
John Curtin Prime Minister.
1942Darwin bombed and Rabaul captured by Japanese
Battle of El Alamein.
1943Italy defeated and Mussolini overthrown.
1944Invasion of Europe and Battle of Normandy.
Defeat of Referendum on increased powers for Commonwealth.
General MacArthur lands in the Philippines.
1945Defeat of Germany (May).
United Nations’ Charter signed.

http://gutenberg.net.au/timeline.html

DIY Discord Gygaxian Democracy Archive

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qfldIb_3rgEo68LkVg5MUePbIADWN7AkE4dc1TSNn_o/edit#heading=h.6dxb2sz7qgww

There are a lot of weird and wonderful tables here.

D13 Complications from selling your henchperson into slavery
D24 How you ended up on a spaceship stranded between dimensions
D11 Weird stuff you find in a land made of felt, plushies and patchwork cloth
D23 things that can go wrong on the Shield Helicarrier that aren't the whole thing crashing
D10 stuffed plushies fantasy themed but weird
D20 Weird Dimensions Whose Descriptions Are One Sentence Long
D12 Legendary foods
D12 sad and pointless jobs in the cyberpunk future
D10 Encounters in the forest / in a swamp / on the road that you are equally likely to a) fight b) talk to c) run away from
D10 Greco-Roman style deities that aren't Greco-Roman deities but just as boring
D10 Weird Reasons for Adventurers to be Adventuring
D10 things that could replace a severed foot
D10 unpleasant/dangerous missions you kinda have to finish, but definitely didn't sign up for
D10 Weird Goblin Treasures
D11 Reasons the Party Needs to Catch the Biggest Fish in the River
D10 You are fighting through a dangerous maze for the entertainment of some decadent nobles. They are watching from a balcony high above. Horrible stuff that happens when they get bored and spin the wheel.
D10 things the worm wants to eat that isn't you
D10 Barbarian/Amazon clan names that can also work as metal band names
D30 ways a poncy NPC aristocrat inadvertently dooms the peasants (or PCs)
D10 uses for gaseous byproducts of chaos magic experimentation
D10 things you can see happening elsewhere in the hex-crawl
D10 things found in an abandoned mine working
d100 Carpentry or Woodwitchery Spells
D10 changeling forms (creatures switched by faeries at birth) each with 1 special ability, and 1 weakness
D10 Wizard Henchmen
D10 situations where exactly one PC is in serious danger
D10 cult initiations
D19 ways these guns aren't like real guns
D10 hot one liners the monster says after killing a PC
D10 good reasons to become a triple-agent
D13 brick wizard spells
D100 Dragon breath weapons
D8 Domains (Paradises) of Mad Gods
D30 unusual quirks of your pet axe
D8 Questions to Embarrass an Extra-dimensional Oracle Masquerading as a Magic-8-ball
D11 weird people who got a bounty put on their head by an evil mafia boss
D10 reasons Why This Golem Is Different
D5 Monster ecology generator
D10 what is the monster doing when you come across it?
D10 Creators/Masters and Created/Servants
D29 wizard body mods
D30 spell critical hits (like, super-gore spell-death-blow things. Go nuts)
D10 Decrees from the gods
D12 Stone age supe
D12 Stone age superheroes
D10 echoes from the fading of the light
D10 things that a drunken wanderer has totally spotted out in the forest, you should go check them out
D4 accidental innuendos that the adventurer could say when asking about rumors about mazes
D10 omens of a god's presence
D10 security countermeasures
D12 Signs of Inevitable Decay (caused by mummy rot or some such)
D10 forms of transmission for an eldritch plague
In an ancient forgotten pyramid
d7 Encounters (in the Pyramid)
d6 Traps (in the Pyramid)
d6 Treasures (in the Pyramid)
D10 NPC reactions when faced by the inevitability of their own demise (gimme that sweet existentialism, people, let the death in, 'cos there's snow on the ground, and the world won't wait here forever)
Hundreds of mutant undead fuse together… D10 forms that this fusion might take
D10 reactions from the insulted knight after diplomacy
D10 Turkey Day themed Random Encounters for when my family does the inevitable and doesn't follow the preconstructed adventure from the starter kit
D10 "aesop fable" / "just so" style tales
D10 space-fantasy gargantuan dwellers in the void (big ol’ creatures)
3D10 "X" people or weird humanoids
D20 foodstuffs of the decadent rich
D10 fancies of the decadent rich
D11 other adventuring parties in the Giant's Lair
D20 events on the frontier, in 10 words or less
D10 Plants of the Underdark
3D29 Potion/Spell/Fetish effects to discover from combining shit together
When combining herbs, salts and animal bits together
When combining symbolically potent things together
When combining angel dust, dream fragments, other worldly materials and so forth
D20 interesting jungle hexes!
D20 Shakespearean plot elements
D15 table of fallen angels
D10 Dungeon Rooms lost to space and time
D10 Room Hazards Hidden In The Lowest Depths of The Desert Archive
D20 contacts you made before you became an adventurer, organisations or people
D10 portal/gateway/dimensional door sites and where they lead
D6 Table of d100 Interesting but terrifying Tables that should never be attempted to preserve the sanity of gamers.
D12 voices of the divine
D4 Psychedelic effects/generalized mechanics of said effects caused by a magical super-drug
D4 Things who offer you said drug
D4 terms of agreement for the offer of drugs
D8 Examples of Weird Skin (maybe that a druggy also buying from that dealer happens to have?)
D10 things you got from your stint in the army
D12 nautical superstitions
D12 boat names and their greatest voyage
D5
D12 boat names and their greatest voyage
D5 ramblings/rants of the drunkest person in the tavern
d20 things you gave up for power
D25 serpent themed encounters
d100 simple weapons, common tools or household useful objects
D100 Adjectives that can apply equally to exotic D&D creatures, items and places
Gain a bonus to your DEF if… (d12)
d20 nonboring nonstandard humanoid races that could fill the kobold-goblin-hobgoblin-bugbear-gnoll niche
1d20 rumors about the haunted forest (not too gonzo preferred)
1d12 strange witch houses
d12 reasons for hirelings to be seeking adventure
d29 ways to imbue yourself with magic that don't involve snorting the ground-up remains of a wizard
d100 tactically interesting dungeon features
d16 half-completed minor mechanical creations the Inventor class starts with
1d10 ways to find a shop in a city
What is this Wizard's secret weakness? 1d12
2d96 list of forest encounters + a modifier that can be substituted into other encounters
well, THE FOREST WENT OFF THE RAILROAD, DIDN'T IT?
Secret Bonus Forest encounters
2d40 adjectives / encounters in an incredibly boring kafkaesque small town
d13 pieces of loot found in the mansion of a wealthy and eccentric noble
(d43) vague character backstory elements
d10 topics of unnerving folk songs being sung in the local tavern
d12 kinds of paladins
[5:50 AM] zak/Langouste: d12 Unusual Motivations for a Murder
d12 Ways the Yakuza will take revenge on you without resorting to physical harm
10 methods to learn the "Backstab" skill that don't involve levelling up or spending money
D12 evil fairies and their quirky outfits
d100 interesting outdoor encounter features
1d10 tiny dungeon layouts/structures (not what is in the rooms, just how they are arranged)
4d21 Alien generator
D10 over blown noble titles
d52+2 results from the Deck of Many OSR Things
HEARTS (Enhancement and Magic)
DIAMONDS (Wealth and Knowledge)
SPADES (Combat and Mishaps)
CLUBS (Disaster and Death)
JOKERS
And d20 secondary replacement results
1d20 random house rules to add to your game
d10 Bad Things You Heard From A Sentient Christmas Tree
d10 Consequences of a spacetime paradox
1d20 plots, schemes, plans and siege weapons the minor demons have made for when the archdemon arrives
1d12 ways to get to Hell
d10 Mercenary Companies
D12 magical pearls from the sea garden of the Queen of the Mermaids
Since gunpowder no longer works, what is powering that cannon? (1d20)
d78 shiny levers and the effect of pulling them
This Ancient Robot
What is powering this an
[5:50 AM] zak/Langouste: What is powering this ancient robot? (1d12)
Who built the ancient robot? (1d12)
d100 Loot items from a 20th century ruin useful to a murder hobo from a medieval culture/tech level
20 odd location in this swamp, and what's going on there
magic items that have class abilities attached
d10 things that can go wrong when rescuing your prisoner friend during a jail transfer in the 1960s
d12 standard traps with an amusing twist

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