Spes Magna Games

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

Still at home due to Hurricane Harvey. I report back to work this coming Tuesday. One hurricane homebound activity included watching Tall Men, a 2016 slow-paced psychological thriller starring Dan Crisafulli as Terrence Mackleby and Kay Whitney as Lucy, Terrence’s sort-of girlfriend. It’s not a bad movie. Quirky in a way reminiscent of David Lynch. To keep it brief, after Terrence declares bankruptcy, he applies for the Card, impressed by its low interest rate and his compulsion toward debt. Terrence buys a new car, and then his first bill comes due. He can’t pay, and it turns out not reading the fine print has some pretty serious consequences, enforced by the movie’s eponymous tall men.

Here is a version of the tall men for The Cthulhu Hack.

Tall Men
Hit Dice: 2
Nota Bene: Tall men, some sort of lesser servitor race perhaps, appear very much as one would expect. Dressed in suits, always somewhat disheveled and often stained by dirt, these creatures stand at least seven feet tall, but their height seems to vary, as if they can grow taller at will. Their faces are never clearly seen, either obscured by shadows or else wrapped tightly in gray cloth. They never speak. Tall men are remarkably strong. Strength saves against tall men are made with disadvantage. Tall men are not particularly fast, but they move with stealth (Wisdom saves to notice them are made with disadvantage), and these creatures can somehow disappear and reappear as long as they are not viewed directly.

Tags: horror, monsters, The Cthulhu Hack

Today’s mash-up smooshes together From Unformed Realms and Mutant Future. I let the randomness of the former determine the mutations from the latter. The results ended up being two mutants because that just seemed like a fun idea.

Vertebral Dominator
Number Encountered: 1d6+1 (3d6+3)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 60′ (30′)
Armor Class: 4
Hit Dice: 3+3
Attacks: 1
Damage:
Save: L3
Morale: 7
Hoard Class: IX, XVIII
XP: 170

Mutations: Dual Cerebellum (limited), Natural Armor, Pain Sensitivity, Parasitic Control

A vertebral dominator resembles a disembodied spinal column that slithers much like a snake. Thick, bony body segments provide good protection against attacks. Nerve clusters at its head approximate normal senses, but the mutant’s exposed nerves make is very sensitive to pain. Fortunately for it, a vertebral dominator can parasitically control a host organism. While latched onto its host, the vertebral dominator controls the hosts actions and reactions. The merged parasite-host creature enjoys the benefits of having two cerebellums.

Scolopendra
Number Encountered: 1d4+1
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 150′ (50′)
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 9
Attacks: 1d4+1 (pincers or thrown spines)
Damage: 1d10 or 1d6
Save: L5
Morale: 9
Hoard Class: None
XP: 3,800

Mutations: Aberrant Form (20 legs), Aberrant Form (pincers), Spiny Growth (medium spines), Toxic Weapon (Class 11)

A scolopendra is a large, predatory arthropod whose body is divided into ten segments, each segment sporting two legs, half of which end with powerful, tripartite pincers. The mutant’s chitinous exoskeleton is covered with sharp spines, each two to three feet long. It can break off these spines and hurl them like daggers, attack in melee with its pincers, or a combination of the two attack forms, making 1d4+1 attacks each round. Against creatures to its rear or rear flanks, a scolopendra may spew forth of a gout of toxic fecal matter in a cone 30 feet long and 15 feet wide at its base. Those hit that fail their saving throws are paralyzed for 2d6 rounds, while those who make their saves move at half speed for 1d6 rounds. Vertebral dominators prefer scolopendrae as host organisms since they appear especially suspectible to the vertebral dominator’s control.

Tags: monsters, Mutant Future, The Cthulhu Hack