Spes Magna Games

Among the gems of my game collection is the third edition of RuneQuest, a Chaosium Game published by The Avalon Hill Game Company. The boxed set astonishes with its detailed character creation and its overview of a wonderful, pseudo-historical campaign setting. Magic fills the world, and most RuneQuest characters have some ability to use magic. For example, the sample character Cormac, a Pictish hunter from a culture little above the Stone Age in terms of tools, has two spell-points and knows three spells.

RuneQuest takes seriously the ancient idea that malevolent spirits cause at least some ailments, both physical and mental. These spirits as described in the Creatures Book sound much like the medieval Scholastics’ descriptions of intellectual beings such as angels. In a RuneQuest world, a character suffering from brain fever may be possessed by a disease spirit. Another character with chronic pain may have fallen victim to a passion spirit.

The RuneQuest magic system includes spells that summon, command, bind, and dispel spirits. Some spirits can be captured and used as tools. Others may impart knowledge to those who can subdue them. It’s a robust system that shaman, priests, and sorcerers may exploit to grow in power and skill, but not without risk. Successful dealings with spirits are seldom sure things, and failure often results in spirit possession.

For purposes of this post, I want to give the B/X D&D treatment to two spirit types: disease and passion. These spirits are always malevolent.

Common Spirit Traits

Spirits are not undead. Clerics have no special ability to turn spirits.

Spirits are naturally invisible and incorporeal. When a spirit attacks, it manifests a visible, but still incorporeal form. This form’s appearance varies from spirit to spirit, but it is always grotesque and obviously malevolent. If a manifested spirit does not attack for a round, it becomes invisible again.

Only magical weapons or spells can damage a spirit. Spirits are immune to sleep, charm, and hold spells.

Spirits fly at a speed 240′ (80′), and mundane barriers pose no obstacle to them. A spirit can fly through doors, walls, et cetera, as easily as it flies through the air.

Spirits only make noise when they want to or when they attack. Spirits seldom communicate in any known language. They surprise others on a roll of 1-5 (on 1d6).

Disease or Passion Spirit (Spirit, Chaotic)
Armor Class: 8
Hit Dice: 1-4** (S or M)
Move: Fly 240′ (80′)
Attacks: 1 possession attack
Damage: Special
No. Appearing: 1 (1)
Save As: Fighter 1-4
Morale: 10

A spirit attacks an intelligent, living creature within 10 feet per HD the spirit has. The target must make a saving throw against death with a penalty equal to the spirit’s HD. Success means the target is immune to that spirit’s possession attack. If the target fails the saving throw, it takes 2 points of damage per HD the spirit has. If this damage reduces the target to 0 or fewer hit points, the target falls unconscious and becomes possessed by the spirit. The target regains consciousness in 1-4 turns with as many hit points remaining as it had before the spirit’s attack. The effects of possession depend on the type of spirit.

A disease spirit infects its host with a horrible malady:

Wasting Sickness: The victim loses 1 point of Strength per day. If the victim’s Strength is reduced to less than 3, the victim becomes comatose. If the victim’s Strength reaches 0, the victim dies.

Creeping Chills: The victim loses 1 point of Constitution per day. If the victim’s Constitution is reduced to less than 3, the victim becomes comatose. If the victim’s Constitution reaches 0, the victim dies.

Brain Fever: The victim loses 1 point of Intelligence per day. If the victim’s Intelligence is reduced to less than 3, the victim becomes comatose. If the victim’s Intelligence reaches 0, the victim dies.

Soul Waste: The victim loses 1 point of Wisdom per day. If the victim’s Wisdom is reduced to less than 3, the victim becomes comatose. If the victim’s Wisdom reaches 0, the victim dies.

Shakes: The victim loses 1 point of Dexterity per day. If the victim’s Dexterity is reduced to less than 3, the victim becomes comatose. If the victim’s Dexterity reaches 0, the victim dies.

Lost ability score points recover at the same rate, but only after the victim has been freed from spirit possession.

A passion spirit damages the host’s mind:

Fear: The victim grows fearful, suffering a -2 “to hit” penalty on all attack rolls. When faced with numerically superior opposition or an unnatural foe, the victim must make a saving throw versus spells or be affected by cause fear (the reverse of remove fear). The victim automatically fails saving throws against other fear-based effects.

Madness: In any stressful situation (e.g., combat), or at least once per day regardless, the victim must make a saving throw versus spells. Failure reduces the victim to incoherence. The victim can do nothing else except scream, giggle, lapse into catatonia, et cetera, for 1-20 hours.

Pain: The victim suffers from chronic, debilitating pain, incurring a -1 “to hit” penalty on all attack rolls and on saving throws against effects that cause damage. Damage from any source forces the victim to make a saving throw versus paralysis to avoid being rendered incapable of actions other than writhing in agony, whimpering, et cetera, for 2-5 rounds.

A remove curse cast by a Lawful cleric forces the spirit to make a saving throw versus spells with a -2 penalty. Failure forces the spirit out of the host, banishing the spirit from the material realm. Remove curse cast by others might have the same effect, but the spirit makes its saving throw with no penalty.

Tags: B/X D&D, RuneQuest

Hello! Long time no post. I return with a brief post that features two links and one monster. The first link is a reminder that I have a teacher blog called The Knights of the Mightier Pen. The second link is to the RPG Stock Art patreon of Jeshields. I like his work, an example of which is below, and I talked with him for a few minutes at North Texas RPG earlier this year. He seemed like a good guy, and I’m happy to now be one of his patrons.

And now, a new monster for B/X D&D, the illustration of which was done by Jeshields.

Four segmented legs end in three-toed feet, the center toe of each foot noticeably wide and longer than the other two, and each toe ending in a soft pad. Two tentacles of mottled, gray-green flesh. A serpentine body, muscular and smooth, dark gray to black, tapering down to a short, segmented tail, each segment covered in chitin. Its head, more bestial than humanoid, is fringed with short horns. Its wide mouth grins, revealing jagged, ill-spaced fangs, between which writhes a three-pronged tongue nearly as long as a man’s arm from shoulder to fingertip. Its black eyes reflect light like polished obsidian.

Corpse Creeper (Monstrous, Chaotic)
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 6+1** (L)
Move: 150′ (50′)
Attacks: 2 tentacles/1 tongue
Damage: 1-4/1-4/2-5 + special
No. Appearing: 1-2 (2-5, B)
Save As: Fighter 6
Morale: 7

The corpse creeper feeds on decaying flesh. Highly intelligent, a corpse creeper often speaks and reads several languages. Stealthy, it moves equally well on a floor, wall, or ceiling, surprising others on a roll of 1-3 (on 1d6). If both tentacles hit a man-sized or smaller target, the corpse creeper seizes that target, constricting for 2-8 points of damage each round thereafter until the creeper is killed, releases its victim, or the victim escapes. The prongs of the corpse creeper’s tongue conceal wicked barbs. On a hit, the target must make a saving throw versus Paralysis, which lasts 2-8 turns if the saving throw fails. Against a victim being constricted, the tongue strikes with a +4 “to hit” bonus. Corpse creepers are immune to disease, poison, and the paralyzing touch of ghouls and ghasts.

Tags: B/X D&D, monsters

Nota Bene: Those product links below are affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I get a few coppers.

For several months, I’ve played Kid Avenger in a Savage Worlds post-apoc campaign. Kid appears to be a normal lad in his early to mid-teens, but his speed, strength, and agility belie that appearance. He claims he’s the result of an attempt to recreate the Super Soldier Serum created by Abraham Erskine, and that the truth of his origins are the subtext of his collection of pre-apoc comic books. Kid’s compatriots think Kid is insane, which he might be, but just because someone’s paranoid doesn’t mean nobody is out to get them.

I ended up with Kid Avenger as my character concept because I wanted to play a superhero game, but the majority of players wanted to play post-apoc in the U.S. South, and so I pretty much went with my original concept, tweaked to make him fit the setting. I’m getting a kick out playing Kid. He’s hell on wheels in combat, and his delusions (or clouded memories?) make him fun to roleplay as well.

Pinnacle Entertainment Group recently released the Savage World Super Power Companion, and I purchased the PDF. It’s my favorite expansion to Savage Worlds. It hits most of the right notes with the supers genre, and builds well on the core Savage Worlds rules.

And I say this as someone who has something of a love-hate relationship with Savage Worlds. What the game system does well, it does very well, but, ye gods, it can get fiddly and slow, especially in combat involving one or more villainous Wild Cards, at which point the fight degenerates into a contest to see who has the most Bennies. (But, this might be more a function of my erratic attention span than the game itself.)

All of what preceded really serves as an excuse to introduce two Savage Worlds supers: the Human Fly and the Fly. The former is built as a beginning character. He could be introduced into a street-level Savage Worlds superhero game as is. The Fly, however, is built as a villain, and so I wasn’t particularly worried about point costs. He’s roughly equivalent to a Power Level III character, but would likely give a Novice Power Level III hero a hard time in a fight.

Trivia Moment! Marvel’s Bill Mantlo had a hand in creating the Human Fly and the Fly for publication.

The Human Fly
Power Level II Hero

Rick Rojatt suffered serious injuries in the car crash that claimed the lives of his wife and children. A benefactor paid for multiple surgeries aimed at restoring Rojatt to health by replacing 60% of his damaged skeleton with metal bones. Even still, Rojatt was an invalid for years before a combination of physical therapy and raw will regained for him full mobility. Enhanced by his metal skeleton, Rojatt dedicated himself to training in order to develop the skills needed to become the world’s greatest daredevil stuntman. Costumed as the Human Fly, Rojatt is less a crimefighter and more of a philanthropist, using his abilities to raise awareness and money for a variety of noble causes.

Rank: Novice
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d8, Vigor d10
Skills: Athletics d10, Common Knowledge d4, Driving d6, Fighting d10, Notice d6, Persuasion d4, Stealth d6
Pace: 8; Parry: 8; Toughness: 8
Hindrances: Environmental Weakness (minor – electromagnetism interferes with metal skeleton), Pacifism (minor), Vow (major)
Edges: Martial Artist, Nerves of Steel, Super Powers (30)

Powers

Dodge (2): Direct ranged attacks are at -2 to hit the Human Fly. Trapping: Training.

Fearless (2): Immune to Fear checks. Trapping: Training.

Leaping (2): 4″ (8 yards) vertical, 8″ (16 yards) horizontal. Trapping: Training.

Pace (2): Base Pace and running die type +2. Trapping: Metal Skeleton.

Parry (2): +2 Parry. Trapping: Training.

Super Attributes (10): Agility +2, Spirit +2, Strength +2, Vigor +3. Trapping: Metal Skeleton.

Super Skill (7): Athletics +3, Fighting +4. Trapping: Training.

Super Edge (2): Nerves of Steel. Trapping: Training.

Toughness +1 (1): Trapping: Metal Skeleton.

The Fly

Richard Deacon, small-time thug, ran afoul of Spider-Man during an attempt to gain ransom for two kidnapped persons. Deacon was injured and fell into the river, and authorities presumed he died. Deacon survived, and he happened to overhear J. Johan Jameson and Dr. Harlan Stillwell discuss the creation of a new hero that Jameson hoped would get rid of Spider-Man. Deacon later forced Stillwell to transform him into a metahuman by grafting onto his DNA the genetic coding of a common housefly. Thus Deacon became the Fly, a supervillain who has met little lasting success despite his amazing powers. Nevertheless, even an experienced hero ought to avoid underestimating the Fly.

Attributes: Agility d12, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d12+6, Vigor d12
Skills: Athletics d16, Common Knowledge d4, Driving d4, Fighting d10, Focus d10, Notice d12+2, Persuasion d4, Shooting d6, Stealth d6
Pace: 6; Parry: 7; Toughness: 12 (4)
Hindrances: Distinctive Appearance (minor), Greedy (major), Mean (minor)
Edges: Alertness, Extraction, No Mercy, Quick, Super Powers

Powers

Armor (2): Augemented muscles and bones. Trapping: Mutation.

Dodge (3): Direct ranged attacks are at -3 to hit the Fly. Trapping: Mutation.

Extra Limbs (2): Wings grant a +2 Gang Up bonus when used to fight. Modifier: Not Prehensile. Trapping: Wings.

Flight (8): 90″ (60 MPH). Trapping: Wings.

Push (3): Wind blast from wings. Cone template. Modifier: Strong (-2 Strength to resist and 2d6″ knockback). Trapping: Wings.

Ranged Attack (9): Sonic blast from wings. 4d6 damage. Modifier: Cone Template Optional. Trapping: Wings.

Super Attributes (16): Agility +3, Strength +3, Vigor +2. Trapping: Mutation.

Super Skill (10): Fighting +3, Focus +4, Notice +3. Trapping: Training (or Mutation for Notice).

Uncanny Reflexes (3): Excels at avoiding area attacks. Trapping: Mutation.

Wall Walker (1): Trapping: Mutation.

Tags: NPCs, Savage Worlds, superhero games

Jim Kitchen who will be hosting a charity auction for Aaron Koel via the Goodman Games Twitch Channel. If you have the ability, please consider attending the on-line auction and/or donating. Mr. Kitchen posted the following information (which I’ve cut-and-pasted from Tenkar’s Tavern):

A friend of mine, Aaron Koelman, is currently fighting a battle with Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer. Aaron’s spent most of the last year undergoing grueling chemotherapy sessions and doing his best to win a battle that has some pretty steep odds.

Aaron’s a single dad to an amazing little boy. His son means everything and when Aaron revealed his cancer to me in March one of the things we talked about was fatherhood, particularly in his current circumstances.

Aaron is trying to put together a college fund for his son. To help with that effort I’ve organized a charity auction next week on Friday. It will be a virtual auction on Twitch. Joseph Goodman has been kind enough to donate the space on his companies channel. (As well as some pretty amazing things!)

We will have a lot of RPG items, original art and some great and unique items. I am still working on collating donations but here’s a list of fine people who have already donated:

Michael Badolato/NTRPG
Julian Bernick
Hector Cruz
Jen Brinkman & Bob Brinkman
David Baity
Joseph Goodman
Jon Hershberger
Kenneth Kessenger
Jim Kitchen
Doug Kovacs
Ian McGarty
Peter Mullen
Erol Otus
James Pozenel
Yorkus Rex
James Michael Spahn
Dak J. Ultimak
Loz The-Eye

If I have somehow missed you please send me an email, PM or smoke signal. Work has had me extremely busy and I worry I have missed something somewhere.

If you have zero interest in RPG’s or original artwork then you can still help. Donations can be made via Jon Hershberger’s company Black Blade Publishing. Donations can be sent to tacojohndm@yahoo.com via Paypal.

100% of all monies raised are going directly to Aaron. Winners of auction items will be pay shipping charges but no handling fees or premiums.

If you can skip a few coffees or a lunch for a week please know that it would mean a great deal to me. Aaron is a dear friend.

I don’t know Mr. Koel. I don’t Mr. Kitchen. I do know what it’s like to be a father who’s worried about his children. If you choose to donate via PayPal as described above, please leave a comment on Tenkar’s Tavern at the link above. Tenkar is matching the first $250 donated.

Tags: Black Blade Publishing, charity auction, Goodman Games

Well, June came, stayed for a bit, and has moved on. It’s July. Pretty much a month went by without me posting a thing.

I acquired the player’s book for the second edition of Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea. This game has been on my radar for a while. It fits in somewhere between B/X and AD&D in terms of rules, complexity, et cetera, but it is more compatible with the former rather than the latter. I really like AS&SH.

Last week while vacationing in northest Texas, I took my laptop and my AS&SH book. When it was time to relax in the cabin, I entered player character information into Foundry VTT, which does not have an AS&SH game system, but does have Old School Essentials. So many OSR games are so close to each other that it’s possible to run multiple systems at the same time. The areas where AS&SH are not directly compatible with OSE are numerous but also largely insignificant.

Nota Bene: Each pic below embiggens when clicked.

First up, we have the Wavekisser, a two-masted sailing ship on which the PCs have set sail with Captain Three-Pistols and her motley crew.

Next are a couple of sites, the first a jungle camp and the other a mysterious cave. In the first site, Desdemona and Bridger face a giant crab.

In the second site, an incomplete PC fights undead.

Testy fires his bow and scores a natural 20!

The dronis malmorta takes 5 points of damage!

I added the character classes (and their respective class features) as items that can be clicked-and-dragged onto a character sheet. I also programmed an attribute roller that uses a combination of 4d6-drop-the-lowest and 3d6 to roll a PC’s scores.

Where a class feature requires an die roll, that function is included as part of the feature. For example, a 1st-level monk moves silently on a 5 or less on 1d12.

Some class features mimic weapons, such as the cryomancer’s icicle ability. In this case, it is set up as both a melee and a missile weapon.

Tags: AS&SH, Foundry VTT, OSE