Spes Magna Games

Cursed Matundu gapes in the southern wilderness of Salmagunderland like a rocky gullet that swallowed a few hundred acres of jungle. Matundu’s opening covers roughly one-half a square mile (which is a bit more than a square kilometer), and it drops nearly 600 feet to a deep pool of foul water littered with boulders and detritus, the latter washed into the pit by frequent rains.

Generations ago, this dark pit did not exist. Instead, a village stood on the site, ruled by dwarfish witchdoctor called Matundu. Chilling evil twisted Matundu’s heart, and he ruled his people through fear and poison until a heroine rose up to put an end to Matundu’s wicked reign. This heroine, Shujaa, led several adventurers in a rebellion against Matundu. After days of conflict that raged throughout the jungle around the village, Shujaa and her companions eventually gained the upper hand.

Matundu retreated to his stone huts, guarded by his most elite and fanatical warriors. In this sanctuary, Matundu proved impossible to reach, and so Shujaa called upon the powers of the heavens. Angelic creatures answered her prayers, roaring around Matundu’s stone huts like a tornado until their walls buckled and their roofs collapsed.

Still, Matundu did not die. Trapped beneath the rubble of his sanctuary, the witchdoctor bound his foul soul to his ruined body with terrible necromantic spells. When the angelic creatures pronounced their final judgement, Matundu should’ve been sent screaming into the underworld, but only the wicked dead can suffer such a fate. And, so, the very land itself retreated from the heavens, collapsing into the massive pit that now bears the name of that evil witchdoctor.

Undead Matundu seethes in darkness, trapped in twisted tunnels and caves accessible through the pit. Matundu’s will, however, is not as confined as his body. It reaches out, slithering through those tunnels and caves, and even up the walls of the pit to the surrounding jungle. By means of his will, Matundu seeks to lure those with more courage than sense into the pit. Sooner or later, someone is bound to free Matundu.

Impulse: To draw in the weak-willed

Grim Portents
* Tuur Wöllem of Imperial Cartographical Society receives a vision of Matundu’s location.
* Wöllem hires adventurers to help find Matundu.
* Adventurers descend into the pit.
* Matundu is freed.

Impending Doom: Matundu, undead and vengeful, escapes from his prison.

Description & Cast
* Tuur Wöllem and his hired adventurers
* Navkdol, orc shaman
* Cirkad, cursed wanderer

Custom Moves

When you stand at the edge of Matundu for the first time, roll+WIS: *On a 10+, you recognize the dangerous nature of Matundu’s attractions. Take +1 forward when acting upon this recognition. *On a 7-9, choose 1.

* Matundu reveals to you a safe way down to the bottom of the pit.
* Matundu grants you a vision of a desirable treasure’s location within the pit’s caverns.
* Matundu warns you of a monster or monsters lairing within the pit’s caverns.

Tags: Dungeon World, place of power

Check your conscience before you go to bed. Check under your bed, and in your closet as well, especially if your conscience isn’t clear. And I mean really clear, not just rationalized into something you think qualifies as clear. The sudden feaster smells your sins, and their stench whets its appetite for flesh. Your flesh. When a sudden feaster appears, seemingly out of nowhere, its fanged maw gapes wide and snaps shut fast and hard enough to sever limbs, making it all the easier for the feaster to gorge itself on your blood.

A sudden feaster is a fearsome, ogre-like creature driven by dark urges to hunt and devour the wicked. This monster is not, however, some righteous avenger of wrongs. Rather, it delights in the pain it inflicts, in the seeds of terror it sows in its victim’s life before it strikes.

Stats for Barbarians of Lemuria:

Attributes
Strength: 4
Agility: 1
Mind: 1

Combat Abilities
Attack: bite +0 (damage d6+2)
Defense: 2
Protection: d3-1 (magical hide)
Lifeblood: 14

Special
A sudden feaster can appear from and disappear into spaces too small to accommodate its bulk, doing one or the other once per round. If its victim cannot see it, a sudden feaster may make a check, modified by its mind and opposed by its victim’s mind, to create a sense of dread in the victim.

Stats for Dungeon World:

Intelligent, Large, Solitary, Stealthy, Terrifying
Bite (d10+1 damage, 1 piercing)
16 HP
1 Armor
Close, Forceful, Reach
Instinct: To eat the wicked

* Appear from or disappear into surprising places
* Make scary noises
* Sniff out the wicked

Stats for Swords & Wizardry:

Hit Dice: 6+2
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Attacks: 1 bite (1d10+1)
Saving Throw: 11
Special: appear/disappear, sow terror
Move: 9
Alignment: Chaos
Number Encountered: 1
Challenge Level/XP: 8/800

A sudden feaster can disappear into or appear from spaces too small to accommodate its bulk, doing so once per round. If it is unseen, it can sow terror by scraping its nails slightly on a solid surface, causing a board to creak ever so lightly, rapping on a window pane, et cetera. The victim’s idea that something might be lurking nearby festers in the subconscious. The victim must make a saving throw or suffer a fear-induced –2 penalty on attack rolls and saving throws for 1d4 rounds.

Tags: Barbarians of Lemuria, Dungeon World, monsters, Swords & Wizardry

Salmagunderland presents an inhospitable mixture of dark canyons, rushing rivers, and rugged highlands covered in all but impenetrable rainforest. The hazards are legion. Biting insects carry horrible tropical diseases. Venomous lizards that grow as long as man’s leg wait in ambush. Degenerate dwarfs hunt for the heads of their enemies, eager to feast on the flesh of their conquests in order to gain supernatural power. Lost cities, demon-haunted and choked by vegetation, still hold the treasures of long-vanished peoples. Volcanoes spew up rivers of molten rock that burn their way through the jungle before plunging in fiery falls into the canyons, giving rise to thick clouds of steam that cling beneath the canopy.

Rarely, mbweha crystals are mined from the basalt shores of these lava rivers. In the hands a skilled weaponsmith who knows the necessary runes, these crystals can be fashioned into magical weapons. Unfortunately, few mbweha crystals are large enough to be fashioned into even a dagger. Mbweha blades channel their wielders’ force of personality, making them powerful weapons in the right hands.

When creating a mbweha blade as a treasure or reward for your players, choose one from each of these categories:

Base Description: Axe, Dagger, Spear, Sword. (Nota Bene: All but the dagger are base weight 2. The dagger is base weight 1.)
Range: Hand, Close, Reach
Enhancements: Perfectly Weighted (add precise), Serrated Edges (+1 damage), Sharp (+2 piercing), Versatile (choose an additional range)

When used for hack and slash, on a 10+, you may treat the result of 7-9, inflicting CHA+1d6 damage but also exposing yourself to your enemy’s attack.

When you channel your personality through your mbweha blade, roll+CHA. *On 10+, hold 3. *On 7-9, hold 1. As long as you wield the mbweha blade, you may spend hold, 1 for 1, to choose an option:

* Force a target to make a move.
* Awe or frighten a target, granting you a +1 forward against that target.
* Encourage an ally, granting that ally a +1 on their roll as if you aided the target.
* Discourage an ally, causing that ally to take a -2 on their roll as if you interfered with him.

Tags: Dungeon World, magic items, place of power

A few days ago, I posted stats for the man-owl. As usual, I shared the post’s link via Facebook and G+. Not too long after, Eric Webb posted a picture in response, stating “A challenger appears”. The picture is to the right of these words, and my game stats for this alleged challenger appear below. Again, I offer the stats for three different games.

Spiky Golem

The spiky golem is an animated construct made of cuir bouilli with iron fastenings and hundreds of iron spikes, all fashioned around the skeleton of an executed criminal. It is given life by its creator, who summons and binds an infernal spirit to the man-like construct. As a result of this binding, a spiky golem has a dull, malevolent intelligence. Due to enchantments on its intelligence, the golem’s creator forces the monster’s obedience while earning its hatred.

A spiky golem attacks savagely with its powerful arms, delivering blows that both crack bones and tear flesh.

Stats for Barbarians of Lemuria:

Attributes
Strength: 4
Agility: 2
Mind: -1

Combat Abilities
Attack: 2 clubbing blows +0 (damage d6)
Defense: 2
Protection: d6 (rugged materials)
Lifeblood: 14

Special
A spiky golem takes half-damage from spells, and it is immune to mind-affecting spells. Due to the magical enchantments that strengthen its materials, roll 2d6 and take the larger of the two rolls when determining protection.

Stats for Dungeon World:

Construct, Group
Clubbing Blows (d8+2 damage, 1 piercing)
10 HP
2 Armor
Close, Forceful, Messy
Special Qualities: Covered in spikes
Instinct: To crush

* Detach animated spike
* Follow orders hatefully

Stats for Swords & Wizardry:

Hit Dice: 6 (30 hit points)
Armor Class: 6 [13]
Attacks: 2 clubbing blows (2d6)
Saving Throw: 11
Special: Hit only by magical weapons, immune to most spells
Move: 9
Alignment: Chaos
Number Encountered: 1d4
Challenge Level: 9/1,100

Only +1 or better magic weapons can harm a spiky golem. Magic Missile inflict normal damage to a spiky golem. An evil reversal of a Cure Light Wounds or Cure Serious Wounds spell heals a spiky golem a number of hit points equal to half the damage it would normally inflict. No other spells affect a spiky golem.

Tags: Barbarians of Lemuria, Dungeon World, monsters, Swords & Wizardry

Earlier this week, I was working with a student during reading tutoring. Our topics for the day were idioms and common sayings, such as “It’s raining cats and dogs!” or “The cheese done slid off of his cracker.” (The latter must be said with an accent appropriate to the U.S.’s South.) One of the expressions that popped up during the lesson was “lick of sense”, which made me think of a possible spell to be created for use in a game.

Or, in this case, three different games.

Lick of Sense

For Barbarians of Lemuria:

Magnitude: First
Cost: 4
Requirements: Obvious technique
Minimum Cost: 2
Difficulty: Tricky (-1)

This spell’s arcane lick removes negative mental effects, including flaws that affect mind actions, so long as those negative mental effects are either natural (meaning innate to the target or the result of mundane circumstances such as poison) or are caused by magical effects no stronger than a first magnitude spell. Negative mental effects not innate to the target are removed entirely. Mental flaws (such as Fear of Fire) are suppressed for about an hour.

For Dungeon World:

Level: Cleric 3, Ongoing

You give your target’s skin a blessed lick. One of the target’s mental debilities is immediately removed. For the spell’s duration, the target takes +1 forward to avoid negative mental effects. While this spell is ongoing, you take a -1 to cast a spell.

For Swords & Wizardry:

Spell Level: Cleric, 3rd Level
Range: Touch
Duration: See below

With a lick, the target’s negative mental effects, including magically inflicted ones, are removed. For the next hour, the target enjoys a +1 bonus to saving throws against negative mental effects.

Tags: Barbarians of Lemuria, Dungeon World, spells, Swords & Wizardry