Spes Magna Games

Aggressive, territorial, covered in spiked chitin, these insects grow as large as ponies.

Krekel

Init +2; Atk antenna +2 melee (1d4) or kick +2 melee (1d6); AC 15; HD 2d8; MV 30′; Act 1d20; SP charge, chirp; SV Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +2; AL N.

Krekel live on windswept grasslands, which provide these herbivores with plentiful food. They are solitary most of the time, but during mating season, the female congregate while the males compete with combative courtship displays and cacophonous chirping that can be heard for miles.

A krekel charges when threatened, doubling its move, gaining a +2 “to-hit”, and inflicting double damage as it rams an antenna home like a lance on the first round of combat. Each round after the first, a krekel has a 2-in-6 chance of emitting an ear-splitting chirp. Creatures within 10 feet of the krekel take 1d8 points of damage and must make a DC 12 Fortitude save or be deafened for a number of hours equal to the damage sustained.

Tags: DCC, monsters

“It was a monster boar indeed–one as huge as a bull, with tusks as great as an elephant’s; the bristles on its back stood up like spear points, and the hot breath of the creature withered the growth on the ground. The boar tore up the corn in the fields and trampled down the vines with their clusters and heavy bunches of grapes; also it rushed against the cattle and destroyed them in the fields. And no hounds the huntsmen were able to bring could stand before it. And so it came to pass that men had to leave their farms and take refuge behind the walls of the city because of the ravages of the boar.”

From “Atalanta the Huntress” in The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived before Achilles by Padraic Colum.

Boar, Monster

AC 5 [14], HD 6* (26 hp), Att 2 x tusk (2d4) or 1 x trample (2d6) or 1 x breath (2d6), THAC0 14 [+5], MV 180′ (60′), SV D10 W11 P12 B13 S14 (6), ML 11, AL Neutral, XP 500, NA 0 (1), TT None

▶ Charge: If disturbed or threatened, will charge to attack. Requires a run of at least 20 yards. Make a tusk attack that inflicts double damage on all in the path.
▶ Fearsome Aura: Animals within 30 feet affected by fear (save versus spells resists).
▶ Scalding Breath: 3-in-20 chance per round of exhaling scalding air. 15′ long, 15′ wide, 15′ high cloud. Save versus breath for half damage.
▶ Trample: 10-in-20 chance of trampling each round. +4 to hit human-sized or smaller creatures.

Tags: monsters, Old School Essentials, OSE

To create the giant vulture, I took the dire wolf’s stats and tweaked them a wee bit, indulging in a variation on the Just Use Bears idea.

Vulture, Giant
Large, scabrous, semi-intelligent birds. Dwell in remote places.

AC 6 [13], HD 4+1 (19 hp), Att 1 x bite (2d4), THAC0 15 [+4], MV 90′ (30′) / 150′ (50′) flying, SV D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (2), ML 8, AL Neutral, XP 125, NA 2d4 (4d4), TT None.

▶ Keen Senses: Acute vision and olfactory senses. Can track by scent. Surprised only on a 1 (in 6).

▶ Mounts: Sometimes trained as mounts by goblins.

▶ Training: At the referee’s discretion, captured chicks may be trained like falcons. Giant vultures are rebellious and extremely difficult to train.

And because they’re in the picture: Goblin vulture-riders often bomb their victims (Core Rules 132). The two most common bombs goblins use are described below.

▶ Bomb: Explodes on impact. Inflicts 2d4 damage in a 5-foot radius. Successful save versus breath halves damage.

▶ Slime Sack: Bursts on impact. Entangles targets in a 5-foot radius. Open doors check to break free. Successful save versus breath grants +1 on checks to break free.

Tags: B/X D&D, monsters, OSE

In years past, I’ve done Advent and/or Christmas-themed posts once December rolls around. For example. I’m not doing that this year, but I am doing something similiar via social media. For example, in the Old-School Essentials (OSE) public Facebook group, I’m participating in the Dicember challenge to follow the Dicember calendar and come up with something for each day of December. I’m going to stick to OSE content for those posts, which I’ll compile into a document of some sort once January hits.

Speaking of OSE, a long time ago, some Germans coined the term Öhrwurm, which was a compound of dried, ground insects used to treat ear ailments. I think in the 1970s, some author used the English translation of Öhrwurm to mean a bit of music so catchy that it metaphorically burrows into your ear and keeps humming away, which brings us to today’s creature.

Ondlibi Worm Infestation
Found in the steaming Ondlibi rainforests, these gray-brown, psionic maggots that hatch from tiny Ondlibi fly eggs, usually deposited in narrow, warm orifices, such as ear canals. Wise travelers wear headgear that covers the ears.

AC 9 [10], HD 1 hp, Att NA, THAC0 NA, MV 3’ (1’), SV D14 W15 P16 B17 S18 (NH), ML 12, AL Neutral.

• Infest: 4-16 eggs hatch in 1-6 hours. Worms burrow into host right after. Symptoms include itchy rashes, low-grade fevers, and psychic cacophony (see below).
• Just a Maggot: No threat at all in combat. At its largest, it’s a fat worm about the size of a human pinky’s terminal knucklebone.
• Psychic Cacophony: Worms detect and mimic host’s thoughts, mentally echoing snippets of them repeatedly. Host cannot concentrate or sleep. Cure disease kills the infestation.

Tags: B/X D&D, monsters, Old School Essentials

Hello! Long time no post. I return with a brief post that features two links and one monster. The first link is a reminder that I have a teacher blog called The Knights of the Mightier Pen. The second link is to the RPG Stock Art patreon of Jeshields. I like his work, an example of which is below, and I talked with him for a few minutes at North Texas RPG earlier this year. He seemed like a good guy, and I’m happy to now be one of his patrons.

And now, a new monster for B/X D&D, the illustration of which was done by Jeshields.

Four segmented legs end in three-toed feet, the center toe of each foot noticeably wide and longer than the other two, and each toe ending in a soft pad. Two tentacles of mottled, gray-green flesh. A serpentine body, muscular and smooth, dark gray to black, tapering down to a short, segmented tail, each segment covered in chitin. Its head, more bestial than humanoid, is fringed with short horns. Its wide mouth grins, revealing jagged, ill-spaced fangs, between which writhes a three-pronged tongue nearly as long as a man’s arm from shoulder to fingertip. Its black eyes reflect light like polished obsidian.

Corpse Creeper (Monstrous, Chaotic)
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 6+1** (L)
Move: 150′ (50′)
Attacks: 2 tentacles/1 tongue
Damage: 1-4/1-4/2-5 + special
No. Appearing: 1-2 (2-5, B)
Save As: Fighter 6
Morale: 7

The corpse creeper feeds on decaying flesh. Highly intelligent, a corpse creeper often speaks and reads several languages. Stealthy, it moves equally well on a floor, wall, or ceiling, surprising others on a roll of 1-3 (on 1d6). If both tentacles hit a man-sized or smaller target, the corpse creeper seizes that target, constricting for 2-8 points of damage each round thereafter until the creeper is killed, releases its victim, or the victim escapes. The prongs of the corpse creeper’s tongue conceal wicked barbs. On a hit, the target must make a saving throw versus Paralysis, which lasts 2-8 turns if the saving throw fails. Against a victim being constricted, the tongue strikes with a +4 “to hit” bonus. Corpse creepers are immune to disease, poison, and the paralyzing touch of ghouls and ghasts.

Tags: B/X D&D, monsters