Spes Magna Games

While caecilians appear worm-like or snake-like, they are limbless amphibians. The largest reach lengths of five feet. Their smooth, moist skin hides calcite scales, and the secretions that keep their skin moist contain a hemolytic toxin that destroys red blood cells. Caecilians are largely blind, able to perceive the presence of light. They burrow, using their strong skulls to force their way through soil. In water, they swim much like an eel. Caecilians have acute olfactory senses.

Caecilia are 30-foot-long wormlike creatures found in the D&D Expert Rulebook. They swallow their prey whole 10% of the time. This monster does not seem to have made the transition to later editions of D&D. Perhaps the Powers That Be didn’t see them as sufficiently different from the more dangerous purple worm, which appears in the same rulebook.

Whatever the reason, I figure a GM can’t have too many giant, voracious predators.

Caecilia
Huge monstrosity, unaligned

Armor Class 14 (natural)
Hit Points 126 (12d12+48)
Speed 25 ft., burrow 20 ft., swim 30 ft.

STR 24 (+7), DEX 11 (+0), CON 18 (+4), INT 1 (-5), WIS 10 (+0), CHA 4 (-3)

Saving Throws Con +7, Wis +3
Damage Resistances piercing from nonmagical weapons
Senses tremorsense 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 10
Languages —
Challenge 6 (2,300)

Amphibious. The caecilia can breathe air and water.

Keen Smell. The caecilia has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

Tunneler. The caecilia can burrow through solid rock at half its burrow speed and leaves a 5-foot-diameter tunnel in its wake.

Toxic Secretions. A creature that touches the caecilia or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 2 (1d4) poison damage.

Actions

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d6+7) piercing damage plus 5 (2d4) poison damage. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be swallowed by the caecilia. A swallowed creature is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the caecilia, and it takes 15 (6d4) acid damage at the start of each of the caecilia’s turns.

If the caecilia takes 15 damage or more on a single turn from a creature inside it, the worm must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, which fall prone in a space within 10 feet of the caecilia. If the caecilia dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse by using 20 feet of movement, exiting prone.

Tags: 5E D&D, monsters

Last week, Kiai! joined The Ways Of… in my DriveThruRPG store. Kiai! details a 20-level samurai class for 5E D&D, complete with samurai weapons, samurai armor, three samurai archetypes, and a dozen new spells.

In other similarly themed news, I’ve outlined the Bushi, Wu Jen, Shugenja, Sohei, and Yakuza as archetypes for core classes, but I’ve not made much progress on that document…so far. In a fit of boredom, I updated the dragonborn to fit an Oriental Adventures milieu, and I have vague plans for updating or creating other races, perhaps to include a plethora of humanoid animals inspired by the Japanese zodiac.

Our videoconference foray into The Lost City with four 3rd-level monks, each one using a different archetype from The Ways Of…, went well last week, but last night’s session got canceled due to me not feeling well. We’ll try again this coming Monday, and that session will likely see the inclusion of a fifth player running a samurai. It’ll be easy enough to work the new PC in by saying he was part of the original caravan that got caught in the sandstorm, with the samurai arriving at the lost city ahead of the others and eventually being taken in by the Warrior Maidens.

In other news, I’ve long enjoyed the OpenD6 Gaming System, and I adore the Mini Six version put about by AntiPaladin Games. You can get the Mini Six PDF for free, and, for at least the next week or so, you can get the print-on-demand softcover and PDF for less than $3 US.

Mini Six is less a complete RPG than it is an RPG toolkit. The system is easy to grok, and its major elements are modular, which means they can be used as-is, modified, or even ignored, depending on what sort of gaming experience you’re looking for. By way of example, Mini Six characters have four attributes: Might, Agility, Wit, and Charm. Do you want to run a high-magic game where every character is a wizard? Well, you can add Wizardry as an attribute. Going science fiction? You might want to include Tech as an attribute. Want to go minimalist? Reduce the attributes to two: Physical and Mental. Off a bizarre tangent and inspired by Freudian fever dreams? Id, Ego, and Superego might work as attributes.

In my spare time (which I have too much of this summer), I’ve started putting together a Mini Six player’s guide inspired by unequal parts of Mini Six, basic D&D, and RuneQuest. For this untitled project, I’ve expanded the attributes to the classic six from D&D and included themed perks related to class, race, and background. With class and race abilities turned into perks, it is possible to simulate a multi-classed character or a character with a multi-racial family tree.

(Nota Bene: Those last several links are affiliate links. If you click and buy, I get a few copper pieces.)

Tags: 5E D&D, Character Classes, Mini Six

The Ways Of…, which presents seven new monastic traditions for seven core races, seems to be doing well. I’ve gotten one three-star rating, which is okay, but also a bit irritating. Not that it’s three stars, mind you, but because I don’t know why it’s three stars instead of two or four. Tomorrow, I continue running The Lost City for four 3rd-level monks, each one using a different archetype from The Ways Of…. The first session went well, the only real problem due to laggy videoconferencing. (Nota Bene: That last link is an affiliate link. If you click and buy, I get a few copper pieces.)

I recently mused about what a 20-level samurai class for 5E D&D might look like. Those musings have been fleshed out into a document that includes said 20-level samurai class, three samurai archetypes, 12 new spells, and sidebars that briefly discuss samurai armor and weapons. I’ll be revising and editing the document more today and/or tomorrow before it too goes up on DriveThruRPG as a PWYW playtest supplement.

I have a few other Oriental Adventures-inspired ideas outlined. I’m probably going to put together a third OA-themed document, this one detailing subclasses. The bushi and sohei are fighter subclasses, the shugenja a cleric subclass, and the wu jen a wizard subclass. Likely the yakuza will get added in as a rogue subclass, but I’ve not outlined that one yet. I’m not sure about an OA-style barbarian subclass, and the assassin rogue archetype hits most of the ninja. More mulling over those that two must occur.

But none of that is what this post is about. This post is about a new 5E D&D monster.

Have you seen The Art of Stefan Koidl. No? Into the circle of shame you go. “Shame! Shame! Shame!” Now that those who deserve punishment have eaten their just desserts, let’s move on to the new monster. Since I don’t have the artist’s permission, I’m linking to today’s inspirational work of horror. If your SAN is low, don’t click here.

Hatiyara

The hatiyara is an undead monster that lairs in abandoned buildings or tunnel systems. In life, the hatiyara was an outcast, one who lived on the fringes of society, often surviving by begging and theft. In undeath, it survives by murder in order to consume the hands of its victims.

Medium undead, neutral evil

Armor Class 15 (natural)
Hit Points 90 (12d8+36)
Speed 30 feet

STR 17 (+3), DEX 12 (+1), CON 16 (+3), INT 8 (-1), WIS 13 (+1), CHA 15 (+2)

Skills Athletics +6, Sleight of Hand +4, Stealth +4, Perception +4
Damage Resistances cold, necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing not made with silvered weapons
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities exhaustion, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages the languages it knew in life
Challenge 5 (1,800)

Dimension Door. As part of its move, the hatiyara can pass through a portal (such as a doorway or a window) and appear in another portal within 60 feet. The hatiyara does not need to be able to see the destination portal.

Regrowth. The hatiyara regrows severed arms after a short or long rest. When it regrows a severed arm, its detached limbs cease to be active.

Actions

Multiattack. The hatiyara makes three attacks with its claws.

Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (2d4+3) slashing damage plus 2 (1d4) necrotic damage.

Reactions

Severed Arm. When the hatiyara takes slashing damage, it can choose to have one of its six arms be severed by the attack. The hatiyara takes no damage from the attack. As a bonus action, the hatiyara can control its severed arms as long as they remain within 30 feet of it. If more than 30 feet separates the hatiyara and a severed arm, the severed arm “dies” at the end of the hatiyara’s turn. A severed arm has a base speed of 15 feet. It has the hatiyara’s AC, resistances, and immunities. A severed arm has 9 hit points, and it can make one claws attack on its turn.

Tags: 5E D&D, Character Classes, monsters, samurai

It’s no secret I like making up new monsters or adding my own twists to classic creatures. Often, my inspiration comes from an illustration. Other times, I’ve taken inspiration from W. B. Yeats (Aengus Wandero’er in Chance Encounters III), wonderfully bad movies (the shark storm in Shallows & Sharks), and medieval bestiaries (the cinnamologus in Chance Encounters II and the bear-ape in Chance Encounters IV).

Bestiaries inspire today’s new monster. You can read a summary of the pard’s history by visting Atlas Obscura. If you want AD&D stats for the monster, they’re on my Google Drive. Enjoy!

The Pard

The pard bears a superficial resemblance to a great cat, such as a lion or leopard. From its whip-like tail to its almost-human face, from its sinuous neck to its curved talons on raptor’s feet, the pard’s unnatural origins cannot be missed. In the Nine Hells, pards roam in packs, hunting lesser creatures for sport. In the Material Plane, the pard uses its powers to mate with female great cats, especially lionnesses. Females cubs born from such a union are leopards; males are juvenile pards, which immediately abandon their mother and siblings. A juvenile pard reaches full maturity in a matter of days, at which time it plane shifts to the Nine Hells.

Medium fiend (devil), lawful evil

Armor Class 15 (natural)
Hit Points 52 (8d8+16)
Speed 50 feet

STR 19 (+4), DEX 15 (+2), CON 15 (+2), INT 10 (+0), WIS 14 (+2), CHA 14 (+2)

Saving Throws STR +6, CON +4, WIS +4
Skills Stealth +4, Perception +4
Damage Resistances cold, poison; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nomagical attacks not made with silvered weapons
Damage Immunities fire
Condition Immunities poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages Infernal, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 4 (1,100)

Devil’s Sight. Magical darkness doesn’t impede the pard’s darkvision.

Innate Spellcasting. The pard’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 12). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components.

At will: animal friendship, detect evil and good, speak with animals
3/day each: charm person, phantasmal force, suggestion, teleport
1/day: animate dead, fear

Keen Smell. The pard has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

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

Pounce. If the pard moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a talons attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, the pard can make a talons attack against it as a bonus action.

Running Leap. With a 10-foot running start, the pard can long jump up to 25 feet.

Summon Devil (1/Day). The pard has a 20% to summon another pard.

Actions

Multiattack. The pard makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its talons.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8+4) piercing damage.

Talons. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) slashing damage.

Tags: 1E AD&D, 5E D&D, monsters

So, if I’m heading toward a new campaign starting circa October of this year, and if this campaign is to use the 5E D&D ruleset but with influences from early edition Oriental Adventures and Birthright, that means renaming, tweaking, and rewriting a certain amount of material. For example, no OA-inspired setting would be complete with a samurai character class. After rummaging through my bookshelves, I found five books, each one with a version of the samurai. To wit:

Oriental Adventures (1E): This character class starts with katana specialization and the possibility of specializing in daikyu, making samurai the only class allowed two weapon specializations. As they advance in levels, samurai become proficient in horsemanship, the bow, calligraphy, painting, and poetry. They gain multiple attacks at higher levels. Samurai can focus their ki via a “loud, fierce shout” that increases attack and damage ability. As samurai earn levels, they become more able to damage foes, gain immunity to fear, are harder to surprise, and can cause fear in their enemies.

The Complete Fighter’s Handbook (2E): This warrior kit grants bonus weapon and nonweapon proficiencies that focus on samurai weapons and skills. The kit grants the “loud, fierce shout” ability found in 1E OA.

Oriental Adventures (3E): This character class grants an ancestral daisho at first level. The daisho becomes more powerful as the samurai earns levels. Starting at 2nd level, the samurai gains bonus feats drawn from a list of feats associated with the different samurai clans.

Complete Warrior (3E): Another take on the samurai as a character class. This time the samurai gains daisho proficiency at 1st level, but the samurai’s daisho do not gain power as the samurai advances in level. At 2nd level, the samurai learns to fight with both katana and wakizashi at the same time. After that, we see a return of the “loud, fierce shout” theme coupled with a gradually improving ability to cause fear in enemies.

Xanathar’s Guide to Everything (5E): The samurai is a fighter subclass, available starting at 3rd level. The samurai gets a bonus skill proficiency and a “fighting spirit” to start. The latter improves a single weapon attack and grants bonus hit points. At higher levels, the samurai becomes an “elegant courtier” and his fighting spirit ability expands and improves.

Out of these five options, I prefer the samurai be its own class rather than an add-on (2E) or a subclass (5E). These abilities seem a must:

1. Emphasis on the daisho.
2. Skills that combine martial and courtly foci.
3. Some sort of “loud, fierce shout” ability.
4. Some sort of ability to cause fear, perhaps related to the “loud, fierce shout” ability.

Samurai subclasses (available starting at 3rd level) might focus on different different fighting styles. For example, a Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryu style would focus on fighting with two swords, using one for offense and the other for defense, whereas a Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu would focus on drawing and cutting with the sword as a single motion. What might these look like in game terms and modified for a fantasy world? Well, I’m not sure about that.

My initial thoughts involve basing different subclass abilities on the themes of eight or so samurai fighting styles. To fit the subclass pattern of things, each style would need to grant an ability at 3rd, 7th, 10th, 15th, and 18th levels. Since I’m not even going to attempt create 40 different abilities, I’d combine fighting styles, ignore this, emphasize that, et cetera. My goal isn’t historical accuracy.

If I whittled down, say, eight fighting styles to three or four, I could then create a “menu” of character options for the aforementioned levels. A samurai who focuses on a single style would have greater ability within a narrow field, whereas a samurai who dabbles a bit in different styles would have a wider range of weaker abilities.

Perhaps over the next few days, I’ll put together a rough-draft samurai class?

Next up, to repeat myself, for the first time in a while, I’ve finished a new Spes Magna product, this time for 5E D&D. The Ways Of… presents seven new monastic traditions, each one available to a different core rules race.

Tags: 5E D&D, Character Classes, samurai