Spes Magna Games

Aggressive and territorial, bunyips hunt wild swamplands. Combining features of a hippo, a crocodile, and a great cat, a bunyip has a bulky body covered by thick flesh and dark fur. A bunyip’s legs are squat, ending in broad paws with webbed toes. Its stubby, wide tail is used as a rudder when it swims. At the end of its powerful neck is a fearsome head with strong jaws full of sharp teeth. The bunyip is most active at night when it uses its tremorsense to detect prey moving through the water.

Roars in the Night. Bunyips are largely solitary and territorial, and a bunyip aggressively defends its territory against other predators. A bunyip’s first line of defense against trespassers is its terrifying roar. Swamps that are home to bunyips often echo from sundown to sunrise with distant roars.

A Sudden Attack. Bunyips are ambush predators. Although not especially nimble or quiet when moving, a bunyip can lurk still and silent, often submerged, for long periods of time until suitable prey is detected. Then, the bunyip surges to attack with its powerful jaws.

Bunyip
Huge beast, unaligned

Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 57 (6d12+18)
Speed 25 ft., swim 50 ft.
Ability Scores STR 23 (+6), DEX 9 (-1), CON 17 (+3), INT 3 (-4), WIS 10 (+0), CHA 7 (-2)
Skills Stealth +2 (in natural habitat when motionless)
Senses tremorsense 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages —
Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Ambush Predator: When motionless in its natural habitat, a bunyip is difficult to notice. Wisdom (Perception) checks to notice a hidden bunyip are made with disadvantage. If a bunyip surprises a creature and hits it with an attack during the first round of combat, the target takes an extra 11 (2d10) damage from the attack.

Hold Breath: The bunyip can hold its breath for 30 minutes.

Actions

* Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d10+6) slashing damage.

* Roar (Recharge 5-6): The bunyip emits a terrifying roar. Each creature within 60 feet of the bunyip and able to hear the roar must make a saving throw. Each creature that fails a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw is frightened for 1 minute. A frightened creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Tags: 5E D&D, monsters

A charvog is a squat, broad-shouldered goblinoid. Its facial features somewhat resemble a cross between a human and a cat or an ape. It has powerful arms, noticeably thicker and longer than its legs. A charvog’s most noteworthy feature are the sword-length projections of serrated, spiked bone that grow from its forearms past the elbow. Note only does a charvog use these bony growths in combat, smashing and stabbing with berserk ferocity, the monster races quickly across ice by dropping to all fours. It uses the bony growths like sled runners, pushing itself with its legs.

Charvog
Medium humanoid (goblinoid), chaotic evil

Armor Class 14 (leather armor)
Hit Points 13 (2d8+4)
Speed 25 ft.
Ability Scores STR 12 (+1), DEX 16 (+3), CON 14 (+2), INT 9 (-1), WIS 11 (+0), CHA 8 (-1)
Skills Stealth +7
Damage Immunities cold
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Goblin
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)

Furious Attack: At the start of its turn, a charvog can gain advantage on all melee weapon attack rolls during that turn, but attack rolls against it have advantage until the start of its next turn.

Actions

* Skate: Ice does not count as difficult terrain for charvogs. When on ice, a charvog can take the Dash action as a bonus action.

* Multiattack: A charvog makes two attacks with its bony spikes.

* Bony Spike: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d8+1) piercing or slashing damage.

* Javelin: Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) piercing damage.

Tags: 5E D&D, monsters

The steaming jungles of equatorial wildernesses teem with myriad forms of life, most mundane, some bizarre, and few more bizarre that the grotesque apoapọju. This large, slow-moving insectile horror has a swollen, transparent abdomen in which wriggle dozens of toxic larvae.

Apoapọju
Large monstrosity, unaligned

Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 102 (12d10+36)
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
Ability Scores STR 14 (+2), DEX 10 (+0), CON 17 (+3), INT 3 (-4), WIS 10 (+0), CHA 6 (-2)
Skills Perception +3, Stealth +6
Saving Throws CON +6
Senses tremorsense 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages —
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)

Actions

* Multiattack: The apoapọju makes two attacks with its disgorge larva attack.

* Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d8+2) piercing damage.

* Disgorge Larva (Recharge 5-6): Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one or two targets. Hit: 2d6 (7) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution save against poison or become Paralyzed for 10 minutes. The target can repeat the saving throw every minute, ending the effect on itself on a success. Disgorged larvae quickly die.

Tags: 5E D&D, monsters

…to make Farmer Vincent Fritters!

In the salubrious spirit of Thanksgiving feasting and fun, the family-owned businesses of Farmer Vincent Fritters and Motel Hello welcome your investigators to their table.

Your Hosts

Motel Hello and its famous Farmer Vincent Fritters are family-owned and operated by the Smiths for decades.

Farmer Vincent
Tall and elderly but still handsome with a warm smile and a welcoming demeanor, Vincent is the patriarch of the family.

Hit Dice: 3 (2d4 damage)
Notes: Vincent is an extremely high-functioning psychopath. He is a clever hunter and has a real talent for mechnical engineering. Saves to detect his lies and evade his traps are made with Disadvantage. He is proficient with a shotgun and a carving knife, but its with a chainsaw that he shows real skill. Strength Saves to avoid Vincent’s chainsaw attacks are also made with Disadvantage.

Ida, His Sister
Heavy set and childish even in her 30s, her facade of normalcy quickly becomes strained when frustrated or threatened.

Hit Dice: 2 (1d6 damage)
Notes: Ida is Vincent’s right hand. She has difficulty presenting herself as a normal, functioning adult, but as long as she’s under Vincent’s influence, she’s unlikely to be pegged as anything other than socially awkward. Despite her weight and clumsy appearance, Ida is remarkably stealthy. Saves to notice her when she’s being sneaky are made with Disadvantage. Ida is a competent nurse and can perform even simple surgery.

Bruce, His Brother
Tall with the physique of faded high school athlete, his sheriff’s uniform is always neatly pressed and his boots spit-shined.

Hit Dice: 2 (1d6 damage)
Notes: Bruce is the youngest of the siblings, and he is the least insane of the trio. This doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous. He’s not only a cannibal, but he’s also a duly-elected county sheriff, popular with and generally respected by his constituents.

Places to See

The Motel: Set a few miles off the nearest highway, Motel Hello presents a rustic, homey charm to patrons. The rooms are clean and neat, and prices are reasonable. The motel is set on several acres of rural countryside that includes copses of trees, hiking paths, a man-made pond, picnic areas, and a small farm where Vincent grows alfalfa.

The Pens: Vincent keeps hogs and chickens. Free bags of feed for children staying at the motel are available in the lobby.

The Smokehouse: This building is kept locked to keep visitors from discovering the secret ingredient in Farmer Vincent Fritters. A small but well-appointed slaughterhouse is adjacent to the smokehouse. There’s also a large walk-in freezer.

The Pond: Of modest size, visitors are welcome to take out a small rowboat or bob about in an inner tube, enjoying the cool water on those hot days. There are picnic areas near the pond as well.

The Garden: Hidden within a copse of trees, surrounded by a camouflaged fence that is kept locked, Vincent “grows” his most secret ingredient here. He and Ida “plant” people after surgically disabling their vocal chords. Buried up to their necks, Vincent feeds this “crop” a nourishing mix of special ingredients through funnels attached to snorkels. Vincent’s victims are usually travelers captured on the nearby highway with the help of one of Vincent’s clever traps.

The Traps: Vincent loves to come up with clever traps to get drivers to pull over so that he can capture them. He and Ida use a potent knock-out gas carried in thermos-sized canister with an attached anesthesia mask to knock out their victims. The gas works rapidly to render a victim unconscious. Constitution Saves to avoid unconsciousness after breathing the gas are made with Disadvantage.

Tags: horror, monsters, The Cthulhu Hack

My entry for James Holloway’s first Monster Man contest.

Oruka

Frequency: Rare
No. Appearing: 5-20
Armor Class: 6
Move: 12″/15″
Hit Dice: 3+3
% in Lair: Nil
Treasure Type: Nil
No. of Attacks: 1
Damage/Attack: 1-6
Special Attacks: Slice
Special Defenses: Two-dimensional
Magic Resistance: Standard
Intelligence: Semi-
Alignment: Neutral
Size: S (1′ diameter)
Psionic Ability: Nil
Attack/Defens Modes: Nil
Level/XP Value: IV/110+4/hp

Oruka are strange, ring-shaped creatures with dim intelligence that are native to the Astral Plane, but partially exist on the Prime Material Plane at the same time. Their senses extend into both planes simultaneously. They move by rolling or by flying. On the Astral Plane, oruka are maneuverability class A, but on the Prime Material Plane they are much clumsier (maneuverability class E).

Oruka have height and width but no depth. They can make a sideways turn and become invisible, detectable only via true seeing or similar means. In this state, oruka can move (but not attack), passing through the thinnest of spaces as long as the space is wide enough to admit the oruka’s diameter. With another sideways turn, an oruka becomes visible again, and these creatures can make one sideways turn per melee round. When an oruka is turned and invisible, it cannot be affected by any attack that does not also reach into the oruka’s other plane of existence. When visible, oruka suffer triple damage from piercing and slashing weapons.

Oruka attack by slicing through their targets, which are treated as AC 10. Dexterity and magical bonuses modify the target’s AC, but armor itself provides no protection.

Oruka travel in flocks that move about in elliptical paths, searching for food on the Prime Material Plane. These monsters seem to be carnivorous given their aggressive behavior, but exactly how they feed is not clear. Scholars theorize that oruka somehow absorb blood from prey that they slice.

Tags: 1E AD&D, monsters