Spes Magna Games

fearful: (adj.) feeling afraid; showing fear or anxiety

Nota Bene: Saturday, I posted a mutant monster for 1st edition Gamma World. Today’s monster fits Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying, specifically the iteration found in the 4th edition of Stormbringer. Inspiration for this creature came from a conversation with my son Christopher about what fainting goats might evolve into in the far future.

Balo, Jester of Chaos, does not make himself felt in the Young Kingdoms with the same force as, say, Arioch, Pyaray, or Chardhros, but that doesn’t mean Balo’s peculiar sense of humor leaves the world untouched. Case in point: Balo’s goats, which are most often encountered in Argimiliarian outlands.

These magical animals appear very much like ordinary goats, except for their purple fur and that curious shine to their eyes. Like normal goats, Balo’s goats are largely inoffensive herbivores. When threatened, they prefer to run away. Of course, since that’s not very funny, Balo has blessed his goats with an unusual power that manifests when these beasts panic.

When a Balo’s goat panics, it emanates a 20-foot radius aura that affects non-Balo’s goat creatures. Compare the goat’s and the victim’s POW attributes. For every point the goat’s POW is higher than the victim’s, add 5% to the base 50% that the victim will be affected. For every point the goat’s POW is lower than the victim’s, subtract 5% from the base 50% that the victim will be affected. If affected, the victim’s extremities become paralyzed for 3d10 combat rounds. During this time, Balo’s goats tend to run away, leaving the paralyzed to whatever fate may be lurking nearby.

Balo’s Goats
Attributes
STR 2d6
CON 2d6+3
SIZ 2d6
INT 1d6
POW 3d6+7
DEX 2d6
Hit Points CON

Skills
Dodge 20% + 1d10
Panic 80% + 1d10
See 50% + 1d10
Scent 25% + 1d10

Weapon (Attack | Damage)
Butt (20% + 1d6 | 1d4)

Tags: A to Z 2014, Basic Roleplaying, monsters, Stormbringer

epileptic: (adj.) of, relating to, or having epilepsy

Nota Bene: Today’s mutant creature is designed for TSR’s 1st edition of Gamma World, the greatest post-apoc RPG of all time. The panyar was made with the help of my scuffed and marked 1981 gamebook. Enjoy!

Panyar
No. Appearing: 5-40 (plus females equal to males and young equal to 50% of females in a burrow)
Armor Class: 6
Movement: 12
Hit Dice: 4

Panyars (also called quake rats) are sentient (intelligence 12-15, mental strength 10-13) and peaceful mutated naked mole rats. They live in elaborate burrows connected by twisting passages best suited for four-legged creatures. An adult panyar is about 2 meters long and half as tall. Wrinkles and blotches distort the panyar’s brownish-pink, nearly hairless flesh. A panyar has squat legs, a stunted tail, and a flat, almost shovel-like head with two tiny, nearly sightless eyes. Despite their fearsome appearance, a panyar’s teeth are seldom used for anything more than chewing roots and bugs. (If hard-pressed, a panyar can bite for 2d6 points of damage.)

Panyars require only about one-fourth as much oxygen as other mammals, making them well-adapted to life in their burrows, which tend to have high concentrations of carbon dioxide due to poor ventilation. These mutants have diminished eyesight, but also have heightened hearing and heightened smell. Consequently, panyars are nearly impossible to surprise. Once every four melee turns, a panyar can generate a burst of high-frequency sound waves that damage exposed tissues within 10 meters of the panyar, inflicted 3d6 points of damage. Panyars are immune sonic attacks.

Fully 85% of panyars suffer from stress-induced epilepsy. An epileptic panyar has a 25% chance immediately preceding any combat situation of having a paralyzing seizure that lasts for 1d6+4 melee turns. During an epileptic seizure, a panyar’s sonic attack ability intensifies, creating a 10-meter radius burst of intense sound waves that inflict 6d6 points of damage every melee turn. These sound waves are so powerful that they can crack stone and cause underground tunnels to collapse.

Panyar burrows are protected by non-epileptic leaders. A panyar leader has 1d4-1 additional beneficial mutations, divided as evenly as possible between physical and mental mutations.

Tags: A to Z 2014, Gamma World, monsters

dandy: (adj.) excellent

The Baron Calogero, wealthy effete aristocrat, lives in an elegant chateau, surrounded by the finest luxuries money can buy and waited on by a platoon of the finest servants ever to grace a noble’s household. He is witty and stylish, and invitations to his parties are much sought after by aristocrats and successful merchants. His wife, the Baroness Lamya, possesses stunning beauty and all of the social graces. Nearly everyone admits that few men have life better than Calogero.

Unknown to most, Calogero, a master of disguise and swordsmanship, fights for justice against the forces of chaos under the nom de guerre of the Crimson Rose. Assisted by an elite team of trusted allies, the Crimson Rose engages in daring incursions, striking against those forces that would oppress and tyrannize.

Calogero is one of the most accomplished swordsmen in the land. He fights with a long sword, attacking up to three times per round. Calogero’s attack bonus and the damage he inflicts with his sword depend on how many attacks he makes.

If he makes three attacks in a round, he does so with a -1 penalty to attack rolls, and each attack inflicts 1d4+1 points of damage. If he makes two attacks in a round, his attack rolls are unmodified, and each attack inflicts 1d6+2 points of damage. With a single attack per round, Calogero has a +1 attack roll bonus and inflicts 1d8+3 points of damage.

Due to his enormous skill with a sword, Calogero can divide his attacks between multiple targets, moving as far a 5 feet between attacks. If the damage roll from a successful attack yields the minimum result (2 points with three attacks, 3 points with two attacks, 4 points with a single attack), Calogero not inflicts that damage, but also forces his foe to make a saving throw. If the saving throw fails, Calogero can disarm his foe, knock his foe prone, or leap 10 feet away from his foe (Calogero’s choice).

Due to his enormous wealth, Calogero seldom lacks whatever equipment he needs. He can easily afford the best weapons, armor, horses, et cetera. Among his most prized possessions is his magical quizzing glass.

Baron Calogero
Hit Dice: 5+5
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Attack: up to 3 sword attacks (damage varies)
Special: +2 AC against melee attacks, master swordsman
Move: 12
Saving Throw: 12
Alignment: Law
Number Encountered: Unique
Challenge Level/XP: 7/600

Magical Quizzing Glass: This normal seeming monocle on a stick has two useful magical powers. Once per round, the owner may look through the glass and either use Detect Evil or Detect Invisibility.

Tags: A to Z 2014, NPCs, Swords & Wizardry

causal: (adj.) of, relating to, or acting as a cause

The causality virus, designed by the Highbeam Multistellar’s most skilled engineers on Bellatrix, carries on the in the same weapon-of-mass-destruction tradition as the Bellatrixian plague fungus. Despite its name, the causality virus is not an organism of any sort. Instead, it is a nanotech weapon system built to infiltrate energy systems and disrupt the causality of energy transfer within those systems.

Like almost all nanotechnologies, the causality virus is self-replicating. The initial payloads are delivered to the target areas via conventional means, such as a missile. The virus then spreads, seeking out energy systems. It “infects” these systems, disrupting energy transfer by using that energy to fuel the nanotech’s self-replication. Once the “infection” within a system reaches the point at which no further energy transfer occurs within that system, the virus seeks out a new target.

The virus devastates target areas. Obviously, it shuts down all technology more sophisticated than simple machines such as waterwheels. Organisms also have energy systems, and the causality virus attacks biological processes as well. The effects on a human, for example, produce blindness and deafness almost immediately, rapidly followed by paralysis and then the complete cessation of all biological functions. Death is swift and almost painless.

After the causality virus has done its deadly work, coded broadcasts from orbital assets signal the nanotech to self-destruct by shutting down its own energy systems. This permits invading forces to move into the previously infected areas to clean up the dead and reactivate technologies affected by the virus.

Tags: A to Z 2014, Stars Without Number, Tiamat's Throne

brood: (adj.) kept for breeding

A fumgaji (plural, wafumgaji) haunts the outskirts of civilization, lurking in shadowy places, emerging at night to hunt and breed. Wafumgaji practice a horrible form of brood parasitism in which a pregnant female fumgaji sneaks into the home of a sleeping, pregnant humanoid and magically swaps its gestating offspring for the humanoid’s unborn child.

The humanoid victim likely remains unaware of this monstrous switch for weeks, as pregnancy with a gestating fumgaji almost totally resembles a normal pregnancy. Eventually, the unborn fumgaji’s wicked intelligence awakens, and it starts to communicate with its host via telepathy (while she is awake) and vivid dreams (while she sleeps). During this time, the host usually grows increasingly insane. By the time she is ready to give birth to the fumgaji, the host has fallen completely under the monster’s psychic domination, and she will do whatever she must do to protect her “child” until it can return to its true family.

The stolen, unborn humanoid continues to develop within the fumgaji’s womb, and, barring unforeseen circumstances, he or she will be born. At that time, the newborn’s nightmare existence as a “domesticated pet” begins. Raised to amuse and serve evil masters, the child almost certainly grows to become evil as well due to years of physical and mental torture too horrible to speak of.

At first glance in dim light, a fumgaji might appear human, but a second glance likely reveals the truth. Wafumgaji have sickly, pale gray flesh. Anger, hatred, and disgust twist their facial features, sliding uncontrollably from one bestial expression to another. Razor sharp fangs fill their mouths, barely concealed by ragged, blood-red lips.

Wafumgaji attack with these fangs, preferably by surprise. All wafumgaji are telepathic; they have no spoken language (although they are capable of terrifying vocalizations). If a fumgaji does nothing else for the round, it can telepathically assault its victim. A saving throw is permitted against this psychic attack, modified by the fumgaji’s age (+2 for toddlers, +1 for children, +0 for adolescents, and -1 for adults). A failed saving throw causes the affected victim to be confused (as the spell) until the end of its next turn.

Fumgaji
Hit Dice: 1 (toddler), 2 (child), 3 (adolescent), 4 (adult)
Armor Class: 9 [10] (toddler), 7 [12] (child), 5 [14] (adolescent), 3 [16] (adult)
Attack: 1 bite (1d3, toddler); (1d4, child); (1d6, adolescent); (1d8, adult)
Special: surprise opponents on a 1-3 (1-4 for toddlers), telepathy
Move: 6 (toddler), 9 (child), 12 (adolescent), 15 (adult)
Saving Throw: 17 (toddler), 16 (child), 14 (adolescent), 13 (adult)
Alignment: Chaos
Number Encountered: 1d3 toddlers and/or children, 1d4 adolescents, 1d6+1 adults, plus a number of enslaved humanoids of various ages equal to one-half the number of non-adults present
Challenge Level/XP: 2/30 (toddler), 3/60 (child), 4/120 (adolescent), 5/240 (adult)

Tags: A to Z 2014, monsters, Swords & Wizardry