Spes Magna Games

Merry Ninth and Tenths Days of Christmas!

I got distracted by Things yesterday and didn’t get a post posted, which means today we get two new magic items rather than just one. How exciting.

Even though Epiphany’s official date is 6 January, Epiphany was celebrated yesterday at my parish. One of the themes of Epiphany is the invisible becoming manifest, a word the Latin roots of which lean heavily toward meaning “caught in the hand”. While you can’t catch them in the hand (because they’re PDFs), you can get four of my OGL OSR publications at a 57% discount by purchasing the Epiphany Bundle. This bundle includes these Swords & Wizardry-compatible treasures:

Demi-Human Adventurers: The Dwarf, the Elf, the Gnome, and the Halfling presented as old-school race-as-class options.

El Mariachi de Combate: The character class for those who want to combine musical prowess, dazzling showmanship, and martial skill.

The Bard: Knower of untold wonders and secrets who survives by cunning and charm. The Bard includes new spells and new magic items as well as a full character class.

The Magus: Adventure as a student of hidden star signs, dreams, and the movements of both smoke and fire. The Magus also offers several new spells.

World War Weird Classes: Add some weirdness to your WWII: Operation WhiteBox game with ten classes ranging from Demi-God to Gremlin to Zombie.

And now for two new magic mirrors!

The Manifest Mirror: This mirror is tall and wide enough to fully show two humans standing side by side in front of it. It is meant to be attached to a wall as it is far too heavy and unwieldy for easy transport. The mirror’s magic shows clearly the true reflections of invisible, ethereal, or polymorphed creatures and objects. Shape-changing creatures, such as doppelgangers and lycanthropes, have their true selves shown in the glass as well. Usable By: All Classes.

Altar Mirror of Steadfast Purpose: This sacred mirror, set into a decorative box meant to be displayed atop an altar, aids Clerics in their daily devotions. The mirror is aligned to either Law or Chaos, and only a Cleric of that alignment can benefit from the mirror. A Cleric who prays for spells before the mirror gains a +1 bonus to-hit modifier to melee attacks and a +2 bonus on saving throws against charm and fear. These bonuses last as long as the Cleric does not cast the last of his highest level spells prepared for the day, but the bonuses do not last for more than one day in any event. Usable By: Clerics.

Tags: Christmas, magic items, Swords & Wizardry

Merry Eighth Day of Christmas, and welcome to the first day of a Happy New Year!

In keeping with today’s numbers of eight and one, I’m taking a familiar theme (the monstrous spider) into new terror-tory. Well, new to me. For Christmas, I picked up Green Ronin’s Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook and Fantasy AGE Campaign Builder’s Guide. Below is my first ever attempt at making a new monster for Fantasy AGE.

The ng’urud, a monstrous arachnid, live in arid regions, preferring rocky terrain. Intelligent and clever, it monitors game trails, paths, and roads. It prefers to hunker down, perhaps camouflaging itself with sand or scrub, bursting from its hiding spot to ambush its prey. The ng’urud usually hunt alone, but several ng’urud may band together in order to stalk and kill more effectively.

Ng’urud

Abilities (Focuses)
3 Accuracy (Bite)
0 Communication
3 Constitution (Stamina)
4 Dexterity (Stealth)
3 Fighting (Leg Spike)
0 Intelligence
2 Perception (Tracking)
4 Strength (Intimidation)
2 Willpower (Morale)

Speed 14, Health 40, Defense 14, Armor Rating 5

Attacks
Bite: +5 attack roll, 2d6+4 damage
Leg Spike: +6 attack roll, 2d6+4 damage

Special Qualities
Favored Stunts: Knock Prone, Lightning Attack (2 SP), Poison Spit (2 SP), Skirmish

Exoskeleton: The ng’urud’s hardy exoskeleton provides an AR of 5.

Frenzied Attack: The ng’urud makes one bite and one leg spike attack as a single attack action. Both of these attacks can generated stunt points.

Lightning Quick: The ng’urud performs the Lightning Attack stunt for -1 SP.

Many Legs: The Knock Prone stunt used against an ng’urud requires 1 more SP than normal to work.

Poison Spit Stunt: The ng’urud spits venom at a visible enemy within 12 yards as a special stunt costing 2 SP. The venom numbs the target’s higher brain functions and senses as well as causes searing pain. The target must make a TN 13 Constitution (Stamina) test or suffer the venom’s effects. An affected target takes 1d6 penetrating damage. The target also incurs a -2 penalty to Communication, Intelligence, and Perception, which remain until the end of the encounter or until the target receives magical healing.

Talent: Quick Reflexes (Journeyman)

Wall Crawler: The ng’urud can walk up walls and even on ceilings.

Threat: Moderate

Tags: Christmas, Fantasy AGE, monsters