Spes Magna Games

…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

Newly docked in the ebay:

Rare, complete boxed set of Bunnies & Burrows designer B. Dennis Sustare’s Heroes of Olympus, the combination ancient Greek wargame and mythic heroes roleplaying game. All original components are in the box: the maps, the rulebook, and the counters (most of them unpunched). The maps have seldom been unfolded. The rulebook has grayed a bit, and it does have a few pencil marks and the pen mark showed in the pic. The bottom right of the front cover has some slight but noticeable tattering. It almost looks like maybe a rodent nibbled at it (I once owned hamsters). The box lid has been neatly taped on two corners, and there is a white file label affixed to the top to cover an obscenity scrawled on the box by a jerk I used to game with. The box bottom has cracked some on an edge. I’ve also thrown in a tourist map of Athens circa 1973.

Path of Legend for Fantasy Flight’s Dawnforge campaign setting. I wrote this adventure shortly after contributing a chapter to the campaign setting itself. Path of Legend introduces players and their new heroes to the Dawnforge world with an epic quest that combines location and event-based encounters that include roleplaying, puzzle-solving, and, of course, combat. The book is most gently used. It is one of the complimentary copies I received for writing the adventure. It’s never been used for play, and it’s almost like new.

GURPS Imperial Rome, published 1992, by Steve Jackson Games. Signed by Steve Jackson, Jeff Koke (editor), and Ruth Thompson (illustrator). Some what used. Noticeable scratch on cover. Some wear on corners. Some yellowing of pages. No interior marks.

That said, here’s more on the theme of (belated) October spookiness.

From an article on the always interesting Public Domain Review about Jacques Collin de Plancy’s Dictionnaire infernal.

A few pages later there is Amon, a horrific hell beast with globular pitch-black eyes, a “great and powerful marquis of the infernal empire” who appears as a “wolf, with a serpent’s tail . . . [whose] head resembles that of an owl, and its beak shows very sharp canine teeth.” As if le Breton’s rendition of the beast wasn’t terrifying enough, Collin de Plancy reminds us that this nightmare creature “knows the past and the future”.

The illustration to the right comes from the 1863 edition.

Amon is demonic nobility. His domain is a blighted expanse of treacherous hills and canyons across which howl burning winds that often roar together, forming tornadoes of fire and ash. Amon sees things as they actually are. Amon sees through normal and magical darkness, notices things or creatures hidden by magic, sees through illusions, and sees the true form of polymorphed, changed, or transmuted things. He knows the past and the future, but the full extent of his knowledge is not known. Amon cannot be easily lied to, tricked, or surprised. He uses the following spells at will, one at a time, once per round, as if he were a 12th-level Magic-User: Charm Monster, Levitate, Pyrotechnics, Read Languages, and Suggestion. Once per day at will, one at a time, once per round, Amon may cast Fireball, Fly, Polymorph Self, and Teleport.

Amon: HD 20; AC -3 [22]; Atk 2 claws (1d6) and 1 bite (2d6); MV 9; SV 3; AL C; CL/XP 30/7,400; Special +1 or better weapons to hit, immunity to fire and poison, magic resistance (80%), spells, telepathy 100 ft., truesight

Tags: horror, monsters, Swords & Wizardry

First, an update. If you’re one of those few people who obsessively keeps track of the progress of Spes Magna projects, the reason nothing has been completed and released lately is due almost entirely to my real job. In short, I’m teaching about a dozen classes across five grade levels in a seven-period-a-day schedule. My committment to my students takes priority over Spes Magna Games, which, to be honest, is more of a hobby than a real business venture.

In other news, and before we get to some October horror, please note that I have a couple of items for sale via ebay:

1. The first edition of Cyberpunk from R. Talsorian Games, complete in its original box. The box is good shape considering it’s nearly 30 years old. Some corner wear. Some yellowing. No split edges or tape. Includes all the original books: Friday Night Firefight, View from the Edge: The Cyberpunk Handbook, Welcome to the Night City: A Sourcebook for 2013, and the player reference sheets. These materials are almost new as this game has only ever been gently used.

2. Path of Legend for Fantasy Flight’s Dawnforge campaign setting. I wrote this adventure shortly after contributing a chapter to the campaign setting itself. Path of Legend introduces players and their new heroes to the Dawnforge world with an epic quest that combines location and event-based encounters that include roleplaying, puzzle-solving, and, of course, combat. The book is most gently used. It is one of the complimentary copies I received for writing the adventure. It’s never been used for play, and it’s almost like new.

And now, let’s meet the Masks of Nyarlathotep.

Hit Dice: 2-5
Nota Bene: The Masks of Nyarlathotep, insane cultists who serve the Crawling Chaos, are kept in asylums under the care of loyal servants. When enemies of the cult require correction, the keepers of the Masks release their charges with necessary instructions, monies, equipment, et cetera. Masks vary in skill and deadliness, but even the weakest are a cut above the norm. In combat, they fight with mundane weapons, preferring razor-sharp blades so that they can better see the looks of terror in their victims’ eyes. A Mask wears a grotesque configuration of straps that affixes a leather strap across his or her mouth. Painted on this strap are a pair of smiling lips. While not monstrous enough to threaten Sanity, this accessory holds dark power. A Wisdom Save is necessary to see the accessory as anything other than a normal part of a trustworthy face. All Masks can cast a number of random spells equal to half his or her Hit Dice.

Tags: horror, monsters, The Cthulhu Hack

Yesterday, I watched Be Afraid, a new-to-Netflix, painted-by-the-numbers monster movie starring TV’s Brian Krause as Dr. John Chambers, a dedicated family man who contends with sleep paralysis, things bumping in the night, and dark secrets in a sleepy town. It’s not a good movie, but it’s not horrible either. If you’re looking for a minimally suspenseful film that faithfully walks in the footsteps of dozens of other movies, you could do worse.

Also, here’s another movie monster for The Cthulhu Hack.

Shadow Men
Hit Dice: 3
Nota Bene: Shadow men, humanoid in form, have moist, hairless flesh that appears wrinkled and scarred, as if they had been skinned and burned. They have skull-like faces with hollow eye sockets and pointed jaws with ragged fangs. Their heads have no visible ears, and their long fingers end in talons.

Shadow men avoid light, coming out to terrorize and hunt at night or to defend the lightless entrances to their lairs. They exist only partially in our reality, and are able to move through shadows and darkness unseen and unimpeded by physical obstacles such as walls or distances. Shadow men attack with their claws and fangs (2d4 points of damage). They can be seen only via peripheral vision (Save with disadvantage when appropriate).

It is believed those killed by shadow men become ghosts of sorts, perhaps under the control of the shadow men.

Tags: horror, monsters, The Cthulhu Hack