Spes Magna Games

We jump right into today’s Wastri-centric post!

Wastri is the demigod of amphibians, bigotry, and self-deception. This week’s posts have hit the first two. There’ve been monster frogs, “false human” hunters, and jumping priests. But what about self-deception? What is it, and why would anyone emulate a deity who encourages it? Let’s start with a definition taken from the on-line Stanford Encylopedia of Philosophy:

What is self-deception? Traditionally, self-deception has been modeled on interpersonal deception, where A intentionally gets B to believe some proposition p, all the while knowing or believing truly that ~p. Such deception is intentional and requires the deceiver to know or believe that ~p and the deceived to believe that p. One reason for thinking self-deception is analogous to interpersonal deception of this sort is that it helps us to distinguish self-deception from mere error, since the acquisition and maintenance of the false belief is intentional not accidental.

In other words, that aspiring Hopeful of Wastri knows that Wastri’s doctrine about human superiority is not true, but he deliberately chooses to believe and act as if the doctrine is true. In the Hopeful’s mind, we find two conflicting beliefs:

p: Humans are superior to all other humanoids.
~p: Humans are not superior to all other humanoids.

Resolving this contradictory set of beliefs is the function of bigotry. Bigotry helps the Hopeful generalize and specify in ways that explain the contradiction between his beliefs and reality. Euphemisms likely help this process. For example, consider what a simple change in terms accomplishes:

p: Humanity is superior to false humanity.

The first step in Wastri’s doctrine of self-deception must be to redefine terms. “Humans” is too specific. “Humanity” is abstract enough that the term becomes elastic, capable of stretching to reach whichever conclusions are most desired. Changing “all other humanoids” to “false humanity” not only creates a useful euphemism, but it also turns p into a statement that verges on self-evident. By definition, it seems, “false humanity” must be bad. “Humanity” is the opposite of “false humanity”; therefore, since “false humanity” is bad, “humanity” must be good. The Hopeful knows this is really just a semantic trick, but it creates a powerful motive for rationalizing his self-deception.

As the Hopeful progresses in his devotion to Wastri, he becomes more adept at rationalizing away the contradiction between p and ~p. Everything good about “false humanity” becomes a flaw obvious to the properly indoctrinated Hopeful. A dwarf’s ability to see in the dark? That’s not an example of a dwarf being superior to a human. Dwarves can see in the dark because they are creatures of darkness, hiding their wickedness from human eyes out of fear of just judgment. An elf’s centuries-long life span? This enables elves to both inflict their wickedness of the world for a long time and also encourages the vice of sloth. Why accomplish something today when one has decades to spare?

Et cetera.

The Hopeful’s process of rationalization also explains Wastri’s doctrines of self-improvement. The Hopeful sees his personal failures as sins related to not fully embodying humanity’s innate superiority. Thus, the Hopeful must study more, exercise more, work more, sacrifice more. Wastri’s followers who’ve advanced further along the path to personal perfection are there to help. Imagine a caste system of Wastrian self-improvement coaches, croaking out inspiring aphorisms to motivate the faithful and entice the curious.

Which bring us to Wastri’s alignment: lawful neutral (evil). Wastri’s worshipers are either lawful neutral or lawful evil. (See Dragon 71 from March 1983.) Now picture Wastri missionaries, all lawful neutral, establishing schools and gymnasiums, available for humans only, of course. As enrollment at the schools and gymansiums increases, so too does the revenue they generate, which Wastri’s faithful put back into the community, building better homes, improving infrastructure, providing employment, et cetera, but, as always, only for humans.

Years ago, in a 3E D&D campaign, I used Wastri, redefining his alignment to lawful neutral. In 3E’s rules, a cleric’s alignment could be “‘one step’ away from” his deity’s alignment (3E PH 29). So, a cleric of Wastri in that campaign could be lawful neutral, lawful evil, or lawful good. Based on this idea, I introduced into the campaign a lawful good paladin of Wastri, a missionary working hard to establish within the city a zone for humans to live and thrive along side other humans. The so-called “false humans” were not to be persecuted. The paladin encouraged “false humans” to live among their own kinds, to establish their own “racially pure” communities. Of course, the humans would occupy all important positions in the city’s government, and strict rules would be implemented to ensure that “false humans” did not infect the city with their inferior ways of living.

The players had to make a decision about what to do with the paladin. Despite his racist doctrines, he was a paladin. He was a lawful good man genuinely motivated to help the human community. He really believed that his program of racial segregation within a city ruled only by humans would ultimately benefit everyone — human and “false human” alike. The paladin was popular among the city’s humans as well as personally powerful with a small army of faithful at his command. The war waged by the forces of Hextor and his allies (the campaign’s major focus) was drawing closer to the city with each passing week. Compared to the slaughter looming on the horizon, could the PCs afford to not forge an alliance with Wastri’s paladin?

Unfortunately, we never answered that question. Due to player loss, the campaign sort of fizzled out. Among the PCs was another paladin, a human champion of Hieroneous. I had hoped that the clash of ideologies between the paladins would led to a situation in which Wastri’s doctrines of self-deception might have been undone. Maybe our current campaign can feature the return of this conflict? Only time will tell!

Tags: 5E D&D, game play

I added priests of Wastri the Hopping Prophet pretty much on a whim while running Danger at Darkshelf Quarry for our Sunday game. Wastri doesn’t figure into the adventure at all, but that’s no reason not to tweak things. As the heroes move toward Highport to delve deeper into the slavers’ machinations, why not feature the demigod of amphibians, bigotry, and self-deception?

The current party consists of Animo, human monk; Foxrad, dwarf druid; Peidro, wood elf rogue; Falgin, halfling warlock; Morgan, human warlock; and Skye, aarakocra ranger. Wastri loathes what in AD&D sources are categorized as demi-humans: elves, dwarves, halflings, and gnomes. These races are “false humans”, and Wastri’s faithful hunt and kill them.

Based on Wastri’s dogmas, Foxrad, Peidro, and Falgin are fit only for death. Skye may serve as a slave at best. Animo and Morgan likely deserve profound punishments for betraying their humanity by associating the “false humans”.

Official sources on Wastri that I’ve read do not mention half-elves and half-orcs. I imagine Wastri intensely dislikes the former but might tolerate the latter. Humanoid races such as goblins and orcs may serve Wastri, but always in subordinate roles. Amphibious creatures and races, such as grungs and bullywugs, occupy a place between humans (at the top) and humanoid races (near the bottom, but still higher than “false humans”). Wastri admires amphibious creatures for their versatility. Such creatures occupy the land, but may retreat to the water when necessary.

Last post, I offered stats for priests of Wastri. These “Lesser Servants” occupy a middle rung in Wastri’s hierarchy. Beneath them are humans who seek higher service in Wastri’s ranks. These folk are called “Hopefuls”. At the top of Wastri’s hierarchy is the “Immaculate Image”, who is served by “Greater Servants”. In AD&D, the Immaculate Image was a 12th/6th-level cleric/monk).

Wastri himself has three special magical powers, each of which I’ve retooled as cleric spells.

Dampness
1st-level conjuration

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

You create a 20-foot radius sphere of chill, damp mist centered on a point within range. The sphere spreads around corners, and its area is lightly obscured. Normal fires in the area are extinguished. Targets in the area make saving throws against fire-based effects with advantage. A creature in the area using a bow makes its attack rolls with disadvantage. These effects last for the duration or until a wind of moderate or greater speed (at least 10 miles per hour) disperses it.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the radius of the mist increases by 20 feet for each slot level above 1st.

Plague of Warts
1st-level transmutation

Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M (a piece of amphibian hide)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour

This spell affects a creature that you can see within range, causing large, rough warts to cover its skin unless the target makes a Constitution saving throw to avoid the effect. The transformation lasts for the duration, or until the target drops to 0 hit points or dies.

The target has disadvantage of Charisma checks. The target’s disfigured hands are clumsy and painful. The target had disadvantage on Dexterity checks as well as melee or ranged weapon attacks that involve the hands.

Wastri’s Croak
4th-level enchantment

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 90 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

This spell’s effects duplicate those of the confusion spell, but amphibians are immune. A human target makes its initial Wisdom saving throw against the spell with advantage. A dwarf, elf, gnome, or halfling target makes its initial saving throw against the spell with disadvantage.

Tags: 5E D&D, spells

More than two centuries ago, stars fell from the night sky, bringing with them the Ancient Ones, conquerors who commanded terrible technologies. Wars raged for decades. Cities fell. Alien energies burned forests and reduced grasslands to dust. Little by little, Oerth’s defenders turned back the blood-dimmed tide. The stellar invader’s defenses failed, and they either retreated back to the stars or vanished into the Nether Gloom.

A few weeks ago, I started running a sporadic DCC/MCC mashup set in a post-apocalyptic World of Greyhawk. The funnel adventure took place in the Hommlet on a dark, stormy night during which a mob of bullywugs attacked the village. Below are the stats for the bullywugs and two mutant forms of bullywug. Enjoy!

Bullywug

Bullywugs, vicious humanoid frog-men, primitive and violent, live in wetlands and rainforests, venturing forth to raid and kill. These creatures are given to religious mania, and charismatic leaders find bullywugs useful servants. This is especially true among followers of Wastri the Hopping Prophet.

Bullywugs speak their own language. Leaders often speak one or two other languages as well. It is rumored that perverse matings of bullywugs and humans produce degenerate humans afflicted by froggish features and behaviors.

#APP 10d8 (20% in lair); Init +1; Atk as weapon +1 melee or tongue spike +2 ranged (1d4 plus poison); AC 11 + armor; HD 1d8+1; MV 20 ft., 20 ft. climb, 30 ft. jump, 20 ft. swim; Act 1d20; SP camouflage, jump, tongue spike; SV Fort +2, Ref +2; Will -1; AL C.

Camouflage: Skin coloration varies from light to dark shades of gray, green, or brown. If motionless, a bullywug is 75% like to be unseen.

Jump: A bullywug’s jump clears a vertical distance equal to half the horizontal distance. With a standing jump, a bullywug can leap 15 feet straight up.

Tongue Spike: Range 20 ft. with no range modifers. Fort SV DC 10 or paralyzed for 1d5 melee rounds.

Armor & Weapons: Bullywugs seldom wear armor heavier than leather or use shields. They prefer spears.

For every 10 bullywugs: 1 bullywug with 9 hit points.
For every 10 bullywugs: A cumulative 10% chance of a tribal shaman with 3+3 hit dice who has the abilities of a 3rd-level Cleric.
For every 20 bullywugs: 1d5-1 tad-things and 1d3-1 bull bullywug.
For every 30 bullwugs: 1 leader with 2+2 HD and at least 10 hit points.
If 60 or more bullywugs: 1 great chief with 4+4 HD and at least 16 hit points. A great chief has an effective STR bonus of +2.

Bullywug, Bull

A bull bullywug (sometimes called bullywug ogres) grows to greater size and strength than normal for even the healthiest bullywugs. Normal bullywugs fear these mutant bullywugs, and bullywug chiefs reward bulls with special privileges. Bulls have all the abilities of normal bullywugs.

#APP 1d3-1 per 20 bullywugs; Init +0; Atk as weapon +5 melee (+3 damage) or tongue spike +3 ranged (1d6 plus poison); AC 12 + armor; HD 4d10+8; MV 30 ft., 20 ft. climb, 30 ft. jump, 20 ft. swim; Act 1d20; SP camouflage, jump, tongue spike; SV Fort +4, Ref +2; Will +2; AL C.

Bullywug, Tad-Thing

Tad-things are not immature bullywugs as many assume. They are a strange bullywug mutation. A tad-thing has a ball-like body roughly the size of a grapefruit. A half dozen or so sinuous tentacles grow from the body, which is split by a sphincter-like mouth full of sharp teeth. Bullywug raiders often carry buckets holding water and 1d3 tad-things. Bullywugs throw the tad-things as a ranged weapon with range increments of 10/20/30.

#APP 1d5-1 per 20 bullywugs; Init +2; Atk tentacles +1 melee (1d4 plus blood drain); AC 12; HD 2d6; MV 10 ft., 10 ft. climb, 30 ft. swim; Act 1d20; SP blood drain (automatic 1d4 damage after bite), tentacles (10-ft. reach), zombification; SV Fort +0, Ref +2; Will +0; AL C.

Zombification: A humanoid creature killed by a tad-thing rises as a 1-HD zombie in 1d5 rounds (DCC 431).

Tags: DCC, MCC, monsters

So, it seems there’s a lot of internet drama about a certain game company and certain people associated with that game company who’ve done and said Bad Things. Since social media’s main function is to encourage gossip and conclusion jumping in order to drive up ad revenue for Very Rich People, many gamers are gossiping and griping and leaping from one place to another. I made the mistake of wandering into a social media thread complaining about the ubiquity of this gossip, griping, and leaping, and about how such things have taken over the content of at least one social media subgroup.

Two thoughts wandered into my head as I read the often stupefying comments:

1. There’s no good reason to read any of this.
2. Social media content of This versus That is a ratio. Tired of That? Then post some of This.

It’s been a while since I posted anything related to either frogs, Swords & Wizardy, or Mutant Future. Regarding the first topic, it appears I like posting about frogs. Here’s a froggy-themed index of previous posts:

OSR Games

The Anuran Antres of the Sinister Salientians

Firefrog

Frog Wraiths

Giant Heliotrope Frog

Hypnotoad

Kung Frogman

Lesser Servants of Wastri

Mutant Frogs

Savage Worlds

Bullywugs

Wastri & Minions for 5E

Killer Frog

Hopefuls & Skewers

Priest of Wastri

Wastri the Hopping Prophet

And now for an old monster made new again for two of my favorite OSR systems, I summon forth the grippli from AD&D’s Monster Manual II, published way back in 1983:

The grippli resemble small, intelligent, humanoid tree frogs. They eat insects and fruit. Grippli hands and feet are adapted for easy movement through tree branches. They have 700-year life spans and produce few offspring. Grippli live in swamps and rain forests. Their gray-green skin gives them natural camouflage…. Grippli are not warlike. They love bright colors and have been known to make raids to steal bright colored clothing for their huts. They defend themselves with snares, nets, poisoned darts and bolts, and occasionally a sword or dagger. Grippli see equally well during the day and night, but they cannot see in total darkness. A grippli lair is built on the ground and consists of mud and wood huts (Monster Manual II 71).

For Swords & Wizardry

Hit Dice: 1+1 (2+2 for guards, 3+3 for tribe mother)
Armor Class: 9 [11] (8 [12] for guards, 7 [13] for tribe mother)
Attack (Damage): Weapon
Move: 9/15 swimming
Save: 17, 16, or 14
Alignment: Neutrality
Challenge Level/XP: 1 HD (2/30), guards (3/60), tribe mother (5/240)
Special: Surprise on 1-4

A tribe mother leads a grippli lair. A tribe mother is immune to poison. Once per day, she can emit a noxious cloud of musk. The cloud spreads to a 20-foot radius around the tribe mother. Grippli within the cloud become fiercely inspired, gaining a +1 bonus on to-hit rolls for 1d4+1 rounds. Other creatures caught in the cloud must make a saving throw to avoid being rendered helpless for 1d4+1 rounds due to nausea. Those who make the saving throw are helpless for as long as they remain in the cloud plus one more round. The cloud lasts for three rounds unless dispersed by strong winds.

A tribe mother has 1d3 guards who also serve as her mates. These guards have a +1 damage bonus due to the size and strength.

For Mutant Future

Number Encountered: 1d10 (5d6)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 90′ (30′), Fly 150′ (50′)
Armor Class: 8 (7 for guards, 6 for tribe mother)
Hit Dice: 3 (5 for guards, 7 for tribe mother)
Attacks: 1 (weapon)
Damage: weapon
Save: L3 (L4 for guards, L5 for tribe mother)
Morale: 7
Hoard Class: XIII
XP: 80 (500 for guards, 1490 for tribe mother)

Mutations: Chameleon Epidermis, Night Vision

A guard has a +1 modifier on to-hit and damage rolls due to his greater strength. A tribe mother is immune to poison. Once per day, she may release a toxic cloud that fills a 20-foot radius with Class 10 poison. Grippli are not only immune to the cloud, but the musk grants them a +1 to-hit bonus due to increased aggression. These effects last for 1d6 rounds.

Tags: monsters, Mutant Future, Swords & Wizardry

Before heading once more unto the OSRIC, let’s detour a bit through 5E D&D. I’ve been DMing a 5E D&D game every other Sunday for several sessions. We started out with AD&D’s Slave Pits of the Undercity. I tweaked things a bit to fit our shared-DM world and to inject the horrid followers of Wastri the Hopping Prophet into the mix. I converted the AD&D module more or less on-the-fly. It proved to be a challenging scenario made lethal by a single foolish decision by one of the players.

As is my way, I turned the total-party-kill into a choice: your character can survive (but with consequences) or you can make up a new character (but with consequences). Three players kept their characters; the other two brought in new ones. The consequences? Starting out naked and equipmentless on a small lake island that served as the sacrificial place for a froghemoth. The heroes escaped the froghemoth after discovering a hidden stairwell leading deep into the island and the lake bed itself.

At this point, the heroes found themselves in Descent into the Depths of the Earth. Out of the frying pan, and all that. They faced drows, bugbears, gargoyles, a purple worm, a giant slug, and trolls. They befriended a group of flumphs. The heroes explored carefully, finding their way into what turned out to be the prison of a demon, which one of the heroes freed in exchange for its “blessing”. From the demon prison, the heroes discovered a path back to the surface.

Thus ended the most recent arc in a 5E D&D campaign that started with Against the Cult of the Reptile God run by Terry, our other DM. In short, we’ve been using AD&D material with 5E D&D for many months, and it’s worked like a charm. We’re probably switching DMs again for the next session, which will likely see us reverting to the the first group of heroes, those who saved Orlane and defeated the Reptile God’s cult.

And now a clumsy segue from 5E D&D into OSRIC territory.

Character advancement in 5E D&D moves quickly from 1st to 2nd to 3rd level. All 5E D&D classes use the same XP chart, and it takes 300 XP to reach 2nd level, 900 XP to reach 3rd level, and 2700 XP to reach 4th level. Put another way, a 5E D&D character reaches 2nd level after earning 1/9 of 4th-level XP and reaches 3rd level after earning 1/3 of 4th-level XP.

As both a player and DM, I prefer lower to mid levels, but I’m not a huge fan of 1st and 2nd levels. For me, the sweet spot in the game kicks in around 3rd level and lasts until about 9th, although I have enjoyed greatly both lower and higher level play. I like the way 5E D&D treats 1st-3rd levels as a sort of apprenticeship of sorts, moving the PCs along quickly before slowing the march toward 4th level.

So, what might this look like for OSRIC? Let’s compare the four main classes via the table below.

Using these modified numbers, PCs progress to 3rd level more quickly than normal, but the distinction between classes stays in place. The magic-user still needs more XP to gain a level than the thief does. After 3rd level, the old-school differentiation between each class’s level advancement would kick back in.

Tags: 5E D&D, OSRIC