Spes Magna Games

This morning, I watched 2011’s execrable Conan the Barbarian. In a perfectly just universe, those responsible for this film would never have been permitted to make the movie, or, at a minimum, they would have to refund the 113 headache-inducing minutes I spent suffering through the cinematic excrement. On the plus side, Conan’s fight against those ninja sand monsters was kind of spiffy. So, in that vein:

The kummuai inhabit desert regions, lurking at the edges of inhabited places. They haunt the outskirts of towns and the routes between oases. In its natural form, a kummua is invisible and incorporeal. They cannot affect material creatures or objects in this form, but they are also immune to almost all attacks. Cleric spells and undead turning can affect a kummua in its natural form, assuming the monster can be detected.

All kummuai hate living creatures and seek to destroy them. To do so, a kummua “possesses” a quantity of sand and earth taken directly from the ground. It shapes this material into vessel resembling an emaciated humanoid body endowed with remarkable speed and agility. On the round a kummua forms a vessel, it can make only one attack and move only at half speed. After that, the kummua moves at full speed and makes two claw attacks per round. On any round after it forms its vessel, a kummua may dissolve its vessel and instantly form a new vessel from suitable materials within 60 feet of the kummua’s original position. A kummua who chooses this tactic may make only one attack and move only at half speed, either before or after it dissolves and reforms elsewhere.

A kummua whose vessel is destroyed (reduced to 0 hit points) must make a saving throw to avoid having its natural form destroyed as well. If the saving throw is successful, that kummua cannot reform a new vessel until (4d4 minus HD) nights have passed.

Swords & Wizardry

Hit Dice: 1-3
Armor Class: 5 [14] (1 HD); 4 [15] (2 HD); 3 [16] (3 HD)
Attacks: 2 claws (1d4 plus additional damage equal to HD)
Saving Throw: 17 (1 HD); 16 (2 HD); 14 (3 HD)
Special: form vessel, immune to sleep and charm spells, invisible/incorporeal natural form
Move: 12 (15 flying in natural form)
Alignment: Chaos
Challenge Level/XP: 3/60 (1 HD); 4/120 (2 HD); 5/240 (3 HD)

Tags: Conan, monsters, Swords & Wizardry