Spes Magna Games

In late 1972, legendary British rock band Uriah Heep released The Magician’s Birthday, a somewhat chaotic story of sorts about magic, love, hate, and hope. The title track is a 10-minute long prog rock ballad about how the Magician’s birthday party is interrupted by the forces of evil, which the Magician defeats in contest of spell versus counterspell.

Epic.

“First I’ll give you fire!” / “I turn your fire into a sleepy stream.” / “Yes, now I give you darkness!” / “From your horror I’ll create a dream.”

“You cannot fight me / For I have the sword of hate!” / “But one thing you can’t see, / My answer is simply / An impenetrable fortress / Of love.”

Thain’s Gift of Fire (Evocation)
Level: Magic-User 2
Range: 3″
Duration: Special
Area of Effect: One target
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 4 segments
Saving Throw: Special

By means of this spell, the magic-user creates a magic javelin that speeds itself to its target as if hurled by of a fighter of the same level as the magic-user casting the spell. The javelin is equal to a +1 weapon for hit determination purposes, but the effect of a hit might inflict damage on the target even if it would normally be harmed by a javelin or a magic weapon of only +1 value. This is due to the fire. The javelin itself does 2-5 points of damage. The fire which bursts forth when it hits inflicts 2-8 hit points damage in a 1-foot diameter. The fire burns for one round’s worth of damage for every 3 levels of experience the caster has above 3rd, so that damage occurs over two rounds if the spell cast is from a 4th-6th level magic-user, unless the target can extinguish the flames.

The material components are a sharpened stick and the seeds of a chili pepper.

Thain’s Sword of Hate (Evocation)
Level: Magic-User 2
Range: 0
Duration: 1 round/level
Area of Effect: 3′ long, sword-like blade
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 3 segments
Saving Throw: None

When a magic-user casts this spell, he or she causes a crackling ray of ineffable darkness to spring forth from his or her hand. The blade-like ray is wielded as if it were a melee weapon used by a fighter of the same level as the magic-user casting the spell (to include multiple attacks per round when applicable). If the magic-user scores a successful hit, the creature struck takes 5-8 points of damage, unless the creature’s alignment is the opposite of the caster’s on either the law-chaos or the good-evil axis. In this case, the blade-like ray is treated as a +2 magical weapon, improving “to hit” and damage rolls. Otherwise, the blade is not a magical weapon in the normal sense of the term, so other creatures that can be struck only by magical weapons are not harmed by the spell.

The material components are a small bone of some sort and a drop of the caster’s blood.

Hensley’s Fortress of Love (Abjuration)
Level: Magic-User 4
Range: 0
Duration: 5 rounds/level
Area of Effect: 20′ diameter sphere
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 6 segments
Saving Throw: Special

When a magic-user casts this spell, he or she creates a globe of protection identical to protection from evil, except that it encompasses a much larger area for a greater duration. Any evil creature that enters the area of effect must make a saving throw versus magic each round it remains in the area of effect in order to take any hostile action. If the saving throw fails, the evil creature cannot take a hostile action that round, but the creature may perform other activities. The caster cannot take hostile action during the spell’s duration, but he or she may use non-attack spells or otherwise act in ways that do not violate the prohibition against offensive action.

The material component is a garland of flowers.

Tags: AD&D, prog rock, spells, ThursdAD&D

This week’s Tuesday Terror can be viewed with caution by clicking on the monster’s name below. The illustrator is Bobby Rebholz. Check out his ArtStation portfolio. His style and subject matter reminds me a bit of Wayne Barlowe.

The karphanoid is a huge creature with stilt-like legs, a short body, and a long whip-like tail. It appears to be a monstrous combination of insect and reptile. Aggressive and predatory, the karphanoid feeds on blood, draining it from its prey by means of a spiked proboscis.

Karphanoid
Huge monstrosity, unaligned

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 85 (9d12+27)
Speed 45 ft.

STR 21 (+5), DEX 11 (+1), CON 17 (+3), INT 2 (-4), WIS 12 (+1), CHA 7 (-2)

Saving Throws CON +6
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages —
Challenge 5 (1,100 XP)

Keen Sight. The karphanoid has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

Actions

Multiattack. The karphanoid makes three attacks with its stomp, its tentacle or its blood drain, and its tail.

Stomp. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 23 (4d8+5) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8+5) bludgeoning damage plus 9 (2d8) piercing damage. If the target is Large or smaller, it is grappled (escape DC 15) and restrained until the grapple ends, and the karphanoid cannot use its tentacle against another target.

Blood Drain. At the start of each of the karphanoid’s turns, it drains blood from a creature grappled by the karphanoid’s tentacle. The target loses 17 (5d4+5) hit points due to blood loss.

Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 27 (5d8+5) bludgeoning damage.

Tags: 5E D&D, monsters, Tuesday Terror

This week’s Tuesday Terror isn’t really a terror. Dan May is an artist who has created a “Gentle Creatures” series of paintings. Take some time to browse through the galleries on his site and blog.

Many of Mr. May’s pieces feature humanoid creatures, horned and with small eyes, whatever other facial features they might have lost in soft fur. These creatures vary in size, ranging from what looks to be small child to ponderous giant. In almost all of the pieces, these creatures appear gentle, thoughtful, even contemplative, but there is also a protective, mentoring dimension to several of Mr. May’s pieces that makes me wonder how such a beast may act when what it loves is threatened.

The kruhafifa live in deep forests and rugged hills. They seldom interact with creatures other than beasts or fey, although stories of lost children being led back to civilization by a kruhafifa have been told for generations. These gentle beasts forage for fruits, nuts, and roots, and they avoid confrontation whenever possible.

Kruhafifa
Medium fey, neutral good

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 114 (12d8+60)
Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.

STR 19 (+4), DEX 12 (+1), CON 21 (+5), INT 7 (-2), WIS 14 (+2), CHA 12 (+1)

Skills Insight +4, Perception +4
Damage Resistances cold
Senses darkvision 90 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages Sylvan, speak with animals always active
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Beast Friend. Unaligned beasts never attack the kruhafifa unless magically controlled or the kruhafifa attacks the beast. A magically controlled beast compelled to attack the kruhafifa must make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the beast must choose a new target or lose the attack.

Charge. If the kruhafifa moves at least 15 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a ram attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 5 (2d4) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Magic Resistance. The kruhafifa has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Size Alteration. As a bonus action, the kruhafifa can grow larger or smaller for 1 minute. Everything the kruhafifa is wearing and carrying changes size with it. Any item dropped by the kruhafifa returns to normal size at once.

When the kruhafifa enlarges, its size doubles in all dimensions, and its weight is multiplied by eight. This growth increases its size by one category. If there isn’t enough room for the kruhafifa to double its size, the kruhafifa the maximum possible size in the space available. Until the effect ends, the kruhafifa has advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws. The kruhafifa’s weapons also grow to match its new size. While these weapons are enlarged, the kruhafifa’s attacks with them deal 1d4 extra damage.

When the kruhafifa reduces, its size is halved in all dimensions, and its weight is reduced to one-eighth of normal. This reduction decreases its size by one category. Until the effect ends, the kruhafifa has disadvantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws. The kruhafifa’s weapons also shrink to match its new size. While these weapons are reduced, the kruhafifa’s attacks with them deal 1d4 less damage (this can’t reduce the damage below 1).

Actions

Multiattack. The kruhafifa makes two slam attacks or one ram attack.

Ram. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d4+4) bludgeoning damage.

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+4) bludgeoning damage.

Tags: 5E D&D, monsters, Tuesday Terror

Last week, I presented my version of the hisser queen, inspired by the Gamma World mutant. To recap: “This 3-meter long half-man-half-snake inhabits the more arid regions…, often settling near an oasis or well. … Their society is matriarchal, one female leading a group of…males and young. She, like a queen bee, lays all the eggs for eat settlement, and all of them hatch as males.”

(Nota Bene: I’ve updated the hisser queen’s stats a bit.)

This week, as promised, here’re the hisser drone and the hisser warrior. Enjoy!

Hisser Drone
Frequency: Rare
No. Appearing: 8-35
Armor Class: 5
Move: 12″
Hit Dice: 2
% in Lair: 10%
Treasure Type: Nil
No. of Attacks: 1
Damage/Attack: by weapon type or 1-4
Special Attacks: Nil
Special Defenses: See below
Magic Resistance: Standard
Intelligence: Average to Very
Alignment: As queen
Size: M (6′ long)
Psionic Ability: 105-150
Attack/Defense Modes: B/FGH
Level/XP Value: II/36 + 2/hp

The hisser drone attacks either with a weapon or else with his bite. Drones are immune to fire/heat and sound-based attacks. The hisser drone is psionic. He has only the telepathy psionic ability. Hissers have no spoken or written language.

If found in their lair, there will be double the number rolled plus 1 hisser warrior for every 5 drones. A hisser lair always has one queen who resides in the lair’s egg chamber. The queen’s treasure is kept here as well. The queen is guarded by 2-20 drones and 2 warriors who fight with special ferocity, gaining a +2 on “to-hit” rolls to defend their queen.

Hisser Warrior
Frequency: Rare
No. Appearing: 1 per 5 hisser drones
Armor Class: 4
Move: 12″
Hit Dice: 6
% in Lair: 75%
Treasure Type: D, Q (x3)
No. of Attacks: 2
Damage/Attack: by weapon type (x2) or by weapon type/1-6
Special Attacks: Paralytic poison
Special Defenses: See below
Magic Resistance: Standard
Intelligence: Average to Very
Alignment: As queen
Size: L (10′ long)
Psionic Ability: 126-175
Attack/Defense Modes: B/FGH
Level/XP Value: V/425 + 6/hp

The hisser warrior attacks either with two weapons or else with one weapon and his bite. If the bite hits, a saving throw versus poison must be made to avoid being paralyzed for 2-12 turns. Warriors are immune to fire/heat and sound-based attacks. The hisser warrior is psionic. He has the clairvoyance and telepathy psionic abilities. Hissers have no spoken or written language.

Tags: AD&D, Gamma World, monsters, ThursdAD&D

We completed session three of The Kids’ Game campaign this past Saturday. The session began with the heroes attempting to interrogate Devris Poyer, the doppelganger assassin captured at the end of session two. Since we’re all learning the rules, I decided to treat the interrogation as a Dramatic Task. Lander Foxglove, fearsome rakashan warrior, took the lead on the interrogation. It was less dramatic than it was a resounding failure. A club suit card came up on the second action, and the player’s dice proved most treacherous. The heroes discovered too late that Poyer had concealed a poison capsule in his mouth. He died after choking out, “You’re too late. They’ve reached the Valley of the Dead by now.”

As I noted last Savage Wednesday post, the fight against Poyer was way more one-sided than I imagined it would be, in part because of my remarkable run of bad dice rolls, but also because I didn’t pay a bit of attention to the guidelines about balancing conflicts using Combat Ratings. I decided to remedy that latter problem this session.

The heroes raced toward the Valley of the Dead. The sun was setting by the time they reached the general area. The road heading north had dwindled to an overgrown path, and the trees’ branches intertwined overhead, blocking out most of what little sunlight remained. (Nota Bene: Remember lighting modifiers for heroes who can’t see in the dark.) The heroes heard an angry shout and a scream of pain. They left the trail and soon found themselves atop wooded hill looking down into a small slave labor camp.

Overseen by three goblins, more than a half dozen poorly clad humans labored in a large pit, exhuming bones which they piled up near one corner of the pit. Two larger tents and two small tents stood to the south of the pit. Light shone from one of the larger pits, and more angry shouts and sounds of violence were heard from that tent. The heroes split up. Haldir of Elveim moved toward the smaller tents. Foxglove stalked toward the lit tent. Dark Halo skirted the camp to come up on the near the other larger tent and close to one of the goblin guards.

Haldir made the decision about how events would progress by stepping out from behind cover and shooting an arrow deep into the heart of a goblin guard, who dropped with nary a sound that could be heard over the slaves’ labors in the pit. Foxglove burst into the tent to find a massive orc beating a human man whose tunic bore a constable’s badge. Foxglove roared and attacked.

During the ensuing battle, Dark Halo took out the skaven alchemist and a skaven warrior. Haldir dealt with the other two goblin guards and a second skaven warrior. Foxglove found himself alone in the tent facing a foe whose Combat Rating was a bit more than twice Foxglove working solo. The fight did not go well for Foxglove. The constable attempted to aid Foxglove, and he did help a little. By the time Dark Halo entered the fight against the orc, Foxglove was seriously injured. The orc put his Sweep Edge into play. Foxglove, then the constable, then Dark Halo all succumbed to their injuries.

The slaves revolted, charging the orc in a suicidal bid for freedom. They managed to delay the orc long enough for Haldir to make two Called Shots. The second arrow to the head killed the orc.

At the end of the session, more than half the slaves had been killed. The constable was dead. Two-thirds of the heroes were unconscious and seriously battered, one with an injury to the guts, the other with an injury to an arm. Remarkably, Haldir was unhurt. Haldir made Dark Halo and Foxglove as comfortable as possible. The slaves told Haldir that the constable was a regular visitor to the slave camp. He’d been cahooting with the orc, who had the slaves digging for some sort of tablet that was part of a map to something called the “Chalice of Possibilities”. The orc had grown impatient with the perceived poor quality of the constable’s information about the tablet’s precise whereabouts. The skaven were assisting the orc in exchange for the bones and the corpses of slaves who died during their labors. The bones and corpses were taken an irregular intervals by skaven deeper into the woods in the direction of the dreaded Caves of Chaos.

And so we ended the session after a considerably more challenging fight and now faced with the slow rate of healing in Savage Worlds. Both Dark Halo and Foxglove are out of action. (Haldir blew the Healing rolls.) With Vigor rolls for healing permitted every five days, Dark Halo and Foxglove are suffering some degree of injury for possibly weeks. None of the heroes can perform magical healing.

The lengthy recovery time isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It does take a long time to recover from serious injuries. That said, it certainly doesn’t seem cinematically heroic. I hesitate tossing in convenient healing in the form of potions or what not. So, what I am considering it tweaking the healing rules so that they are less applicable to Wild Cards. I’m not sure exactly what this might look like. Making everyone a Fast Healer is a possibility. Reducing the time between Vigor checks to heal for Wild Cards is another. What I’m leaning most heavily toward at the moment, however, deals more directly with the nature of the campaign.

Foxglove, Dark Halo, and Haldir aren’t really Foxglove, Dark Halo, and Haldir. They’re really rather ordinary middle school students from Miami, Florida, who have found themselves thrust into a strange fantasy world in which they become heroic members of the Guard. The heroes have yet to find out what the book given to them by Mr. Sutherland does. The book opens portals between worlds. So, next session, I could have Haldir figure out how to use the book and return the children to Miami and their normal forms, at which time they’re all conscious. The session could then deal with the aftermath of the attack at Mr. Sutherland’s home.

Tags: Savage Wednesday, Savage Worlds, The Kids' Game