Spes Magna Games

Merry Christmas!

Last post, I mentioned the eerie Cliff of Crypts and the Ossuary Coven, three undead hags who possess terrible magic power and know the secrets of crafting magic weapons from bone and sinew. It sounds like a good idea, so I whipped out some graph paper, pencils, and Paper Mate pens. Here’s the initial results:

As you can see, there are four levels within the cliff. Each level is the final unresting place of important members of the upper five social classes of the people who built the crypts. The most important social class occupies the uppermost level, and each subsequent lower level represents a lower social class. The priest and warrior levels are connected by means of a ladder, which represents that these two classes shared leadership and that mobility between the two classes was possible.

The lower three levels represent the traders, scribes, and merchants. The traders were distinct from the merchant class by virtue of the former voyaging to other lands in order to bring in wealth. Merchants did not travel. They represented mercantile interests by running shops, warehouses, et cetera. The scribes worked with all of the other classes to ensure accurate records of treaties, laws, accounts, and so on were maintained.

When the crypts were built, the valley had not yet been flooded. Some time ago, torrential rains created enormous mudslides that deforested sections of the valley’s highlands. The resulting logjam blocked the normal course of the valley’s river, creating a lake and flooding the merchant level of the crypts. During the rainy season, water levels in the lake rise sufficiently to flood the scribes’ level as well.

As you can see, I’ve penciled the priests’ level. I leaning toward adding ghoul tunnels in the space around the level. These tunnels could provide other connections to the lower levels as well as natural caves. After all, what’s a crypt complex without claustrophobic ghoul tunnels?

Tags: maps, place of power

Merry Christmas!

Today for For Gold & Glory, I offer up three new magic weapon. I’m still using Aegis Studios for the stock art, but this time the artists are Heather Shinn and J. M. Woiak. The weapon illustrations come from the ItWoR Stock Art Pack. (Nota Bene: Those are affiliate links.)

Within the eerie Cliff of Crypts, the covetous dead jealously guard what should be their final resting places. Somewhere among the twisting tunnels and lightless chambers lurks the Ossuary Coven, three undead hags who possess terrible magic power and know the secrets of crafting magic weapons from bone and sinew.

+1 Bone Jambiya: This magic dagger is made from the humerus of a human, demi-human, or humanoid. Its hilt is wrapped with sinew. Although it is a slashing weapon, it inflicts normal damage against skeletons. (XP: 525)

+1 Dread Sickle: This magic sickle is made from a sharpened rib, part of a jaw bone, and the femur of a human, demi-human, or humanoid. The weapon is wrapped with thick sinew. It inflicts piercing or slashing damage, as the wielder chooses. Its normal enchantment bonus is quadrupled when used in combat against the same creature type from where the femur came. Thus, a dread sickle made with an dwarven femur is +4 to hit and damage against dwarves. (XP: 650)

+1 Ghoul-Fang Club: This magic club is made from a jagged length of wood rammed through the base of a ghoul’s skull. Thick sinew holds the skull in place. If the wielder scores a hit with an unmodified roll of 18-20 while using this club in combat, the target must successfully save versus paralyzation or be frozen in place for 1d6+2 rounds or until subject to a remove paralysis spell. Elves and creatures of huge-size or larger are immune to the ghoul-fang club’s paralysis. (XP: 3,500)

Tags: For Gold & Glory, magic items, place of power

Merry Christmas!

Today’s gift from me to you is a new magic item created For Gold & Glory and presented in glorious black and white in another picture from Aegis Studios. Once more, the artist is Jack Badashski, and the picture comes from Necrobyss Stock Art #1. (Nota Bene: Those are affiliate links.)

Elemental Hammer (XP: 750)

Crafted by the Dwarven Elementalsmiths of Feldspar, an elemental hammer is a stout warhammer linked by a flexible tube to a metal container carried on the back like a backpack. Runes of elemental binding decorate the container, which holds the essence of an elemental. The warhammer and container each way six pounds.

The warhammer is a +1 weapon, and its container holds elemental power. Roll 1d4: air (1), earth (2), fire (3), or water (4). The type of elemental essence within the container grants the warhammer further powers as long as the weapon remains connected to the container by its tube.

Air: The weapon has a +3 to hit and damage bonus against elemental earth creatures. Once per day upon command, the warhammer unleashes a gust of wind, as if cast by a 6th-level wizard.

Earth: The weapon has a +3 to hit and damage bonus against elemental air creatures. Once per day upon command, the warhammer projects minute meteors, as if cast by a 6th-level wizard.

Fire: The weapon has a +3 to hit and damage bonus against elemental water creatures. Once per day upon command, the warhammer casts flame arrow, as if cast by a 6th-level wizard.

Water: The weapon has a +3 to hit and damage bonus against elemental fire creatures. Once per day upon command, the warhammer casts water breathing, as if cast by a 6th-level wizard.

An attacker can target the tube connecting the warhammer to the container with an edged melee weapon. This requires an attack roll with a -4 penalty. If the tube is severed, the elemental essence within the container is harmlessly released. The warhammer itself remains a +1 weapon, but it loses its other magic properties.

Tags: For Gold & Glory, magic items

Merry Christmas!

A few weeks ago I asked the Interwebz if there were any retro-clones of 2E AD&D. After weeding through the answers that didn’t go with my question, I discovered For Gold & Glory (FG&G hereafter) from God Emperor Games. I downloaded the PDF for the most reasonable price of $0. I’ve not given it a detailed read yet, but I like what I’ve skimmed.

FG&G is recognizably 2E AD&D, but it’s been streamlined, condensed a bit, and clarified. If your curious, click over via the link above. (Nota Bene: That link is an affiliate link.) There’s a 20-page preview available. The rules cover character creation and advancement, combat (including THAC0), skills (the FG&G term for proficiencies), and other player topics.

There are also sections for the DM covering magic items and monsters. The bestiary starts with aerial servant and ends with zombie. Along the way, you meet some familiar faces with new names: the corpse ravager (carrion crawler), gazer (beholder), and tunnel lurk (umber hulk). The PDF comes in at 384 pages from virtual cover to virtual cover with art drawn from public domain sources, mostly paintings that one might find hanging in museums.

If I were to start up a 2E AD&D campaign, each player having a copy of FG&G would suffice quite well. One can get the PDF and a black-and-white softcover book for about $11, or $15 for the hardcover. That’s a good price. Books with color art cost more, of course, depending on whether the color is standard or premium (whatever that means).

From what I’ve read, FG&G conforms so closely to 2E AD&D that all of my 2E AD&D stuff would work quite well with FG&G without modification. Since 2E AD&D was pretty close to 1E AD&D, that opens up a lot more of my old stuff for use as well.

I opened up another drawer in that virtual treasure chest of stock art from Aegis Studios that I purchased. Today’s monster is written up for FG&G with another piece of art by Jack Badashski, found in Necrobyss Stock Art #1. (Nota Bene: That’s also an affiliate link.)

Xinjirow

Climate/Terrain: Tropical land
Frequency: Rare
Number Appearing: 2d4
Organization: Nest
Activity Cycle: Night
Intelligence: 3-5
Treasure: B
Alignment: Neutral evil

Armor Class: 2 body, 7 eye
Movement: 9, burrow 6
Hit Dice: 8 (36 hp)
THACO: 11
Attack: 3 claws 2d6
Saving Throws: Fighter 8
Special Traits: Eye blast, surprise
Magic Resistance: None
Size: Huge (about 20′ long)
Morale: 12
Experience: 2,000

With its chitinous plates, spines, three segmented appendages ending in bony claws, and single massive eye, the xinjirow looks as if it squirmed from a nightmare into the waking world. The xinjirow burrows through the rich soil of tropical lands, using its spines to detect vibrations as well as to push it through the earth. When it detects possible prey, the xinjirow bursts from the ground and attacks.

Xinjirows live in subterranean nests. They drag unconscious or dead prey back to the nest in order to feed in the dark. The xinjirow has infravision with a range of 60 feet.

Combat: Xinjirows are intelligent enough to coordinate their attacks. When ambushing prey, the xinjirow imposes a -5 penalty to their foes’ surprise rolls. This monster burrows even through solid stone. It moves through soft earth at a movement rate of 6. Solid stone slows the xinjirow to half its burrow speed.

It attacks with its bony claws, but its first attack is with its fearsome eyeblast, which is 5′ wide and up to 100′ long. The searing heat of the eyeblast inflicts 6d8+6 points of damage, but a creature may save versus breath weapon to take half damage.

The xinjirow’s single eye can be targeted separately from its body, and the eye has 4d8 hit points. Damage inflicted to the eye does not count toward the damage needed to kill the xinjirow.

Tags: AD&D, For Gold & Glory, monsters, reviews

This Christmas Eve, don’t forget the tomte’s bowl of porridge topped with a buttery pat.

Tomte

This fey creature appears as an elderly man the size of a young child. It wears simple albeit often brightly colored clothing. One seldom encounters a tomte, and this encounter most often occurs on or near a farm or perhaps in a barn or livestock pen.

A farmer who believes a tomte resides on his property enjoys a mixed blessing. If the tomte is treated well, it helps protect the farm and its creatures from harm. Unfortunately, the tomte has a short temper and is easily offended. An angry tomte may pull pranks on the farm’s residents, break farm equipment, or even harm livestock.

Small fey, neutral

Armor Class 12 (16 with barkskin)
Hit Points 18 (4d6+4)
Speed 25 ft.

STR 16 (+3), DEX 14 (+2), CON 13 (+1), INT 11 (+0), WIS 13 (+1), CHA 12 (+1)

Saving Throws STR +5
Skills Athletics +5, Perception +3, Stealth +4
Damage Immunities cold
Condition Immunities charmed
Senses passive Perception 13
Languages Common, Sylvan
Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Great Strength. The tomte possesses supernatural strength. It counts as one size larger when determining its carrying capacity and the weight it can push, drag, or lift. The tomte makes Strength checks and Strength saving throws with advantage.

Innate Spellcasting. The tomte’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 11). The tomte can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:

At will: barkskin, druidcraft, light, mending, shillelagh, speak with animals
3/day each: animal friendship, cure wounds, expeditious retreat, silent image
2/day each: animal messenger, enlarge/reduce (self only), invisibility
1/day each: bestow curse, plant growth

Actions

Club. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) bludgeoning damage, or 7 (1d8+3) bludgeoning with shillelagh

Tags: 5E D&D, Christmas, monsters