Spes Magna Games

So, got off to a late start with posts this week. Say, “La vee.” “La vee.”

Continuing with my slow romp through the AD&D Monster Manual, I left behind the anhkheg for another giant arthropod. Yes, that’s right. The giant ant. Giant ants are scary. They’re fast, hard to hurt, and often encountered in large numbers. Among those large numbers? Giant warrior ants that will sting you (probably) to death. Oddly (to me), Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorer’s Edition doesn’t have giant ants already statted.

(Even more oddly, there are no gorillas or killer apes, but that’s a later post. Also, nota bene: Those previous two links are affiliate links. If you click and buy, I get a few pennies.)

And so, without further ado:

Giant Ant

Giant ants are, well, ants that are really big. Giant warrior ants are even bigger and have a venomous sting. Giants ants are territorial aggressive. It is doubtful that any of them would make a good pet.

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d6
Skills: Climbing d6, Fighting d4, Notice d6
Charisma: —
Pace: 9
Parry: 4
Toughness: 6 (2)
Special Abilities:

Armor: +2.

Bite: STR+d6.

Pheromones: The giant ant communicates via pheromones. It can convey simple messages (“Danger!” or “Attack!”, for example) as well as lay down a trail for other giant ants to follow. The giant ant gets a +4 bonus to Notice rolls when detecting pheromones.

Size -1: The giant ant reaches lengths of about a yard.

Wall Walker: The giant ant can walk on vertical surfaces at Pace 9.

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Giant Warrior Ant

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d8, Strength d10, Vigor d8
Skills: Climbing d6, Fighting d6, Notice d6
Charisma: —
Pace: 9
Parry: 5
Toughness: 7 (2)
Special Abilities:

Armor: +2.

Bite: STR+d4. If the giant warrior ant hits with its bite, it may sting without the multi-action penalty.

Sting: STR+d4 plus Venomous Poison.

Pheromones: The giant warrior ant communicates via pheromones. It can convey simple messages (“Danger!” or “Attack!”, for example) as well as lay down a trail for other giant ants to follow. The giant warrior ant gets a +4 bonus to Notice rolls when detecting pheromones.

Size -1: The giant warrior ant reaches lengths of about a four feet.

Wall Walker: The giant ant can walk on vertical surfaces at Pace 9.

Tags: monsters, Savage Wednesday, Savage Worlds

Last week, I took the aerial servant from the AD&D Monster Manual and statted it up for Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorer’s Edition. If you missed that installment of Savage Wednesday, you can click here to make amends.

(Nota Bene: The first two links above are affiliate links.)

I kind of enjoyed writing the aerial servant post, and so I asked myself, “Self, why not do the same thing for the next monster?” I couldn’t think of a good reason to not do so. The AD&D Monster Manual remains a classic among the host of roleplaying game collections of monsters. Sure, some of the art is a bit uninspired. (I’m looking at you, Brachiosaurus.) Some of the monsters are perhaps a bit odd or even unnecessary. (Now I’m looking at you, Mule. You’re not a monster.)

Other entries, however, are classics, and the anhkheg (note the correct spelling) is a classic. An giant burrowing arthropod that attacks by surprise and spits acid? What’s not to love?

Anhkheg

The anhkheg burrows through the earth like an earthworm, preferring soil rich in minerals and organic matter. Thus it will usually be found in forests and choice agricultural land. This causes farmers great consternation, since the anhkheg likes to supplement its earthly diet with a bit of fresh meat, human or otherwise. The anhkheg has a chitinous shell which is brownish in color. Its underside is pinkish. The creature’s eyes are glistening black.

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d6, Strength d12+4, Vigor d10
Skills: Fighting d8, Notice d8, Shooting d6, Stealth d8
Charisma: —
Pace: 6
Parry: 6
Toughness: 14 (3)
Special Abilities:

Armor: +3.

Bite: STR+d10.

Burrowing: The anhkheg has a Burrowing Pace of 3. When burrowing, the anhkheg gains a +2 to Stealth rolls.

Spray Acid: The anhkheg sprays acid using the Cone Template. Every target within this cone must beat the anhkheg’s Shooting roll with Agility or suffer 4d8 points of damage. The anhkheg can spray acid once every 1d6 hours.

Size +4: The anhkheg reaches lengths of 20 feet.

Tremorsense: The anhkheg tends to lurk underground and attacks by ambush. The anhkheg detects vibrations within 6″, gaining a +2 to Notice rolls.

Tags: monsters, Savage Wednesday, Savage Worlds

The Kids’ Game campaign using Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorer’s Edition is on a brief hiatus. Last Saturday would have been our next session, but folks were out of town or otherwise unavailable. This is probably a good thing. The next session looks to be a bit, well, busy. The kids in the forms of their pulp hero characters are holed up in Watusi, a small African town at the edge of Leopard Man territory. Pharaoh Doctor Mobius has a detachment of stormtroopers moving toward the fabled Temple of Tears, presumably to ambush the heroes when they show up with the Tiles bearing the secrets to finding the Chalice of Possibilities.

Realizing forewarned is forearmed, the heroes beat the streets and broke into some offices to gather intelligence. One of Mobius’s lieutenants, the inscrutable and deadly Wu Han, is en route via airship with more stormtroopers. Elements of the Resistance have allied themselves with the heroes while collaborators make ready to welcome Wu Han. In short, the heroes sit on a powder keg of potential insurrection. Hundreds of lives hang in the balance.

Like I said: busy. On the plus side, the next session presents a great opportunity to test out the Allies and Mass Battles rules, so I got that going for me.

And now, for no particular reason, the first monster in the AD&D Monster Manual. (Nota Bene: The links above are affiliate links.)

Aerial Servant

The aerial servant is a semi-intelligent form of an air elemental, typically encountered only due to conjuration by a cleric.

Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d4, Spirit d8, Strength d12+2, Vigor d8
Skills: Fighting d10, Notice d10
Charisma: —
Pace: —
Parry: 7
Toughness: 9
Special Abilities:

Elemental: An aerial servant takes no additional damage from called shots. It is Fearless, and immune to disease and poison.

Flight: An aerial servant flies at a rate of 12″ with a Climb of 3. It may not run.

Ethereal: An aerial servant cannot be harmed by nonmagical attacks.

Invisibility: An aerial servant is naturally invisible. Its presence can be detected due to disturbances in the air. A character may detect an aerial servant with a Notice roll at -4. Once detected, an aerial servant may be attacked, but with a -4.

Size +3: An aerial servant is about 8 feet tall.

Slam: STR+d6.

Tags: monsters, Savage Wednesday, Savage Worlds, The Kids' Game

The Kids’ Game campaign continues. The heroes left behind Miami, Florida, in the 1980s and entered the Nile Empire, a strange mixture of ancient Egyptian society, Depression-era pulp noir, weird science, and masked men of mystery. Transformed from 8th-graders into men of action, the heroes found themselves thwarting attempted murder by giant scorpion, matching wits and bullets and fists against a master of disguise, and racing against the agents of the diabolical Wu Han, servant of Pharoah Doctor Mobius, to retrieve a set of mysterious tiles stolen from the Temple of Tears deep in be-jungled Leopard Man territory. The tiles, it is said, must be restored to their original configuration in the Temple in order to reveal the location of the fabled Chalice of Possibilities, an obscure but allegedly powerful artifact that several would-be world conquerors seek to possess.

Among foes faced by the heroes were a Priestess of Sobek and an Avatar of Sobek, a monstrous crocodile. Between the Avatar’s jaws and the Priestess’s fear magic, the heroes nearly met defeat.

Avatar of Sobek (Wild Card)

Larger and more powerful than most Nile crocodiles, the Avatar of Sobek bears the hieroglyph of Sobet on its head, branded between its eyes. It obeys its mistress’s orders.

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d8, Strength d12+4, Vigor d12
Skills: Fighting d10, Notice d12, Swimming d10
Charisma: —
Pace: 4
Parry: 7
Toughness: 12
Special Abilities:

Aquatic Pace: 6

Bite: STR+d6

Tail: STR+d6. The Avatar of Sobek cannot target the same creature with its bite and its tail.

Death Roll: With a raise, the Avatar of Sobek inflicts +2d4 damage.

Size +4: The Avatar of Sobek is more than 20 feet long.

Priestess of Sobek (Wild Card)

Scaly fleshed and wearing a crocodilian mask, the Priestess of Sobek is a fearsome enemy.

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d8, Spirit d10, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Fighting d10, Notice d12, Swimming d10
Charisma: +0
Pace: 6
Parry: 6
Toughness: 7
Special Abilities:

Aquatic Pace: 5

Crocodile Fang Sword: STR+d6

Crocodile Paw Throwing Knife: STR+d4 (3/6/12 range)

Miracles of Sobek: The Priestess has 10 Power Points to spend on Beast Friend and Fear. She gets a +2 to influence reptiles, but has a -2 to influence other animals.

Scaly Blessing: +2 TOU

And, just because I did it for two other game systems, here’s a third version of the bearboar:

“Everybody died,” the scientist claims. The grizzly boar charged through the grounds and impaled the rich hunters, one after the other, on its sharp tusks. Though it was shot a few times, the creature seemed to have no problem absorbing bullets.

Mad scientists in a lab with poor security? Of course. Sheesh, what fresh hell will it be this time?

Bearboar

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6 (A), Spirit d8, Strength d12+4, Vigor d12
Skills: Fighting d8, Notice d8, Swimming d6
Charisma: —
Pace: 8
Parry: 6
Toughness: 10
Special Abilities:

Bear Hug: A bearboar that hits with a claw and gets a raise has pinned its foe. The foe may only attempt to escape the “hug” on his action, which requires a raise on an opposed Strength roll.

Bulletproof: The bearboar’s mutated hide negates up to 4 AP from bullets and provides +4 protection from them as well. This bonus is not added to the bearboar’s Toughness above.

Claws: STR+d6

Improved Frenzy: The bearboar can make two Fighting attacks each action at no penalty.

Tusks: STR+d6. If the bearboar can charge at least 6″ before attacking with its tusks, it adds +4 to its damage total.

Size +2: The bearboar is more than 8 feet long and weighs more than 1,000 pounds.

Tags: monsters, NPCs, Savage Wednesday, Savage Worlds, The Kids' Game

Johnny Appleseed (Wild Card)

Johnny is an eccentric entrepreneur. He travels the country, usually on foot, pretending to be an impoverished vagrant. In truth, he is quite wealthy. Kind-hearted, pious, and generous, Johnny uses his skills and uncanny powers to help others. He is not a man of violence, however, preferring to overcome hostility with his wits and words.

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d8, Spirit d10, Strength d6, Vigor d10
Skills: Gambling d6, Healing d8, Knowledge (horticulture) d10, Persuasion d10, Repair d8, Survival d10, Swimming d6, Tracking d6
Charisma: +2
Pace: 6
Parry: 2
Toughness: 7
Special Abilities:

Animal Lover: Johnny can speak with animals. Animals won’t attack Johnny unless he attacks them first.

Elan: When Johnny spends a Bennie on a Trait roll, add +2 to the total.

Pacifist: Johnny is a pacifist. He won’t fight living creatures.

Plant Control: Johnny can control plants. He has 20 Power Points that he can spend on the Barrier and Entangle powers.

Tags: NPCs, Savage Wednesday, Savage Worlds