Spes Magna Games

The rubble from a long destroyed tower helps conceal the narrow flight of descending stairs that are the entrance to Bosukumo the goblin spider’s lair. Bosukumo’s vicious humanoid servants creep forth on the darkest nights to do their master’s bidding.

The Entry Level

The aforementioned stairs lead down to a chamber shaped somewhat like half an octagon. The stench and smoke makes breathing difficult. Most of Bosukumo’s followers are goblins, and this level is overcrowded with those squabbling, cowardly, vile humanoids. There are two exits from this chamber.

The exit closest to the stairs’ terminus opens to a columned bridge leading to a second half-octagon room. The bridge is 20 feet higher than the floor below, which is where most of Bosukumo’s goblin followers lair. The stench and smoke from the wafts up from the lower floor.

The goblin rank-and-file set up their beds of dirt and rags along the walls, leaving the floor open for fighting, cooking, et cetera. There is little airflow through Busokumo’s lair. Smoke and stink hang in the air, and the floor and lower walls are smeared with filth.

Thirty feet to either side of the bridge, there are two steep stone staircases leading up from the lower floor to square rooms. Under the bridge, the goblins store a half dozen crudely fashioned ladders long enough to reach up to the bridge.

The Outer Archways

All four geomorphs have archways on their outer walls. Each archway leads to a twisting tunnel carved through stone. Those who constructed these tunnels and the four levels of Bosukumo’s lair imbued their work with strong teleportational magic. Consequently, to where each tunnel leads is determined randomly. The specifics of how this magic works will be detailed next Wednesday.

The Eight-Pointed Star Level

This level is dark and cold, and an oppressive, sub-audible quavering tone hums ceaselessly. The original architects built this level as a storehouse for otherwordly trophies. The L-shaped halls in each corner of the level have bizarre artifacts displayed in cases arranged along the outer walls. The square chamber in the center of the level has shelves holding books and scrolls collected from numerous non-good planes of existence.

All of the doors on this level are magically locked. Attempts to force the doors open may trigger wards designed to rout, disable, or kill would-be robbers.

Halls and Rooms Level

The air quality here is bad, but not as bad as the entry level. Tougher humanoids in Bosukumo’s service lair here, so adventurers will encounter boss goblins, some orcs, and shamans who believe/claim they gain their spells from Bosukumo itself. The humanoids in this area are tougher and more disciplined than the rank-and-file goblins in the Entry Level.

The Water Pit Level

Bosukumo lairs here. This level is divided into four separate sets of rooms around a center square pit that drops down to well of cold water. Bosukumo can scurry along walls and across ceilings, so its movement here is not hindered by either the central pit or the thick webs that line the floor, walls, and ceilings. In one of the chamber is a secret door in the floor. If found and opened, a shaft descending into darkness is revealed. This shaft leads down to another set of magically connected geomorphs.

Tags: Goblin Spider Lair, Wednesday Lore

Well, it’s been a bit since I’ve posted anything here. So, let’s see if some structure can help. On Mondays, I’ll post a map. On Wednesday, I’ll post about what can be found in the areas mapped. On Friday, I’ll post a monster. That might work.

Today, I present four artisanal dungeon geomorphs. Each geomorph has been loving crafted by hand, drawn first with a freshly sharpened Dixon Ticonderoga soft HB 2 pencil and then carefully inked with both a black TUL Fine Liner and a black Paper Mate Flair M felt tip pen. The final step involved using an eraser to remove stray pencil lines while at the same time avoiding as much as possible smearing the ink. I’ve used this method to produce maps for nigh on four-and-a-half decades. The results speak for themselves.

N.B. One square equals 10 feet.

Tags: Goblin Spider Lair, maps, Monday Map

Today, I shift away from Chaos Goblins and the Undead and toward the Fimir, found on pages 218-219 of the 1989 Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WHF).

WHF tells us that the Fimir might be “part Human and part Demon” and that they “haunt bogs, fens and desolate moorlands throughout the northern and western wastes of the Old World.” While usually fond near coasts, Fimir dwell “anywhere that is suitably dank and dismal”, where they live in “strongholds [that] are typically forbidding, craggy piles of rock, crudely built in the semblance of human castles on jutting headlands and other rocky eminences”. These strongholds are “constantly wreathed thick, writhing mist”.

“The Fimir are creatures of mist and darkness, and shun bright light.” They live in communities populated “almost entirely of males”. These creatures have a caste system. From lowest to highest, these castes are the Shearl (thralls), “a cast of servitors and menials”; the Fimm (warriors), “to which the bulk of Fimir nobility belongs”; the Dirach (demonfriends), “a small but powerful cast of magicians”; and the greatly feared Meargh (hags), “the witch-queens that rule over Fimir strongholds. The Meargh are the only female Fimir.”

Fimir live by raiding isolated communities to seize food and prisoners. Since the Meargh are sterile, Fimir “abduct Human women” with which to breed; offspring of these blasphemous pairings are always fully Fimir whose castes are obvious at birth. Very few female Fimir are born, and most of those are killed by the stronghold’s reigning Meargh.

These raiding parties “generally consist of a dozen or so Fimm and a roughly equal number of Shearl”. Along coastlines, Fimir “travel in low-hulled, black longships.” For important raids, a Dirach leads the Fimir. Meargh are seldom encountered outside their strongholds. Fimir favor “great heavy maces and axes, which a Human would need both hands to wield; some Fimir, especially the nobility, go into battle with one of these weapons in either hand. Fimir do not generally use missile weapons, since the fog which is their natural element precludes missile fire.”

“Fimir dress in an almost Human fashion, but always leave the legs, arms and tail bare. The Fimm often weapon shirts of chainmail in battle, and nobles favor long cloaks fastened at the shoulder by heavy brooches of gold set with gems.” Fimir nobles love blood-colored gems. “Dirach and Meargh wear long, drab-coloured robes and cloaks.”

Fimir resemble large humanoids with powerful chests, short legs, feet with three clawed toes, and long arms that nearly reach the ground. Fimir are quite strong, with strong muscles hidden beneath a flabby layer of fat covered by leathery skin. They have large, mostly bald heads that resemble a cross between a boar and a lizard, with a single lidless eye. Fimir have no exterior ear structures. The average Fimir stands about eight feet tall, but they typically stand hunched over. Fimir also have “powerful, snake-like tails, which average about 6 feet in length.”

Fimir

Magic: Dirach cast spells as an 8th-level wizard. Dirach always know summon lesser monster. Due to their pacts with hellish powers, a Dirach can summon a specific type of monster, as desired, and the summoner can communication with its summoned monsters. Meargh cast spells as 10th-level wizards. Furthermore, a Meargh can prepare cleric spells of up to 3rd level in place of wizard spells of the same level. These cleric spells are gained through devotion to evil deities.

Furthermore, once per day, Dirach and Meargh can cast fog cloud. The bilious fog created by this ability is centered on and moves with the caster.

Strength Bonus: Due to their size and strength, Shearl, Dirach, and Meargh receive a +2 bonus to melee weapon damage (including tail lashes). Fimm receive a +4 bonus to melee weapon damage.

Tail Lash: In place a melee weapon attack, a Fimir may lash out with its tail, striking at a creature no farther away than 10 feet. A The tails of Shearl, Dirach, and Meargh inflict 1d6+2 points of damage. Fimm have stronger tails that end in bony knobs or spikes for nobles. These tails inflict 1d10+4 points of damage.

Twilight Vision: No type of fog — natural or magical — obscures a Fimir’s vision. Fimir dislike bright light. They suffer a -2 attack roll penalty in bright light as well as a -2 penalty on saving throws against fear while exposed to bright light.

Tags: C&C, monsters, Warhammer

Yeesh. It’s been about a month and a half since my last post. That’s probably not my worst lag, but it’s an impressive anti-accomplishment nonetheless.

So, I had been posting about converting content from the 1989 Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WHF) for use with Castles and Crusades. Today, at long last, is no exception. I took the Mutation tables from the Chaos Beastmen (WHF 216) and Warrior of Chaos (WHF 230) to create a Chaos Goblin Mutations table.

Enjoy!

Tags: C&C, monsters, Warhammer

The 1989 Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WHF) has few undead not already part of Castles and Crusades. Last post, I converted the Carrion. This post? The Marshlight.

Marshlight
Size: Small to Medium
HD: 1 (d8)
AC: 12
Saves: M, P
Move: Fly 40 ft.
Attacks: None
Special: Darkvision 60 ft., Incorporeal, Mesmerism, Undead Instability
INT: None
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Type: Undead
Treasure: 1
XP: 15 + 1/hp

From WHF 252: “Marshlights are ethereal creatures which take the form of glowing lights; they can appear to be lanterns, vaguely humanoid figures or other crude shapes. …. They are dangerous not because of any physical damage they cause, but because of the compelling hypnotic effect, by which they lead mesmerised characters to their deaths. It is thought they feed in some vampiric way upon the ebbing life forces of their victims.”

Combat: A living creature with greater than animal intelligence must make a successful charisma save upon seeing a Marshlight that is within 300 feet. Elves and half-elves apply their resistance to charms to his save. If the save is successful, the creature is immune to that Marshlight’s mesmerism for 24 hours. Mesmerised victims walk toward the Marshlight, taking the most direct route available. Mesmerised victims takes no actions other than to defend themselves and move toward the Marshlight. A mesmerised victim who takes damage or who loses line-of-sight to the Marshlight is freed from that Marshlight’s enchantment.

Incorporeal: Marshlights exist only partially within the mortal realms; most of their essence resides in the ethereal. A creature in the mortal realms cannot attack a Marshlight except with magical weapons of +1 or better. Marshlights are immune to cold- and fire-based attacks.

Tags: C&C, monsters, undead, Warhammer