Spes Magna Games

yappy: (adj.) inclined to talk foolishly or at length

Most ettins, two-headed giant-like creatures, dwell only in remote areas in underground lairs, for these monsters prefer darkness. They revel in savagery and live at a level barely above the Stone Age. Some, however, have greater than intelligence, and they develop something more like a civilized attitude.

These advanced ettins lack the base savagery of their less intelligent relatives. Many advanced ettins possess skills such as metalworking or agriculture. This is not to say that advanced ettins cannot be cruel, even evil. Sophistication and culture do not preclude moral depravity. Indeed, most advanced ettins cannot be trusted unless dealt with carefully, preferably from a position of strength.

An advanced ettin’s most remarkable trait are his two personalities. Both heads have their own intelligence, name, personality, et cetera. These two heads do not always get along with each other, and they tend to carry on lengthy, often strident conversations with each other. The monster’s left head controls the right side of the ettin’s body, whereas the right head controls the other side.

Even though an advanced ettin has a single body (and corresponding hit point total), it acts as if it were two different creatures. Often, one head focuses on thrown weapons, acting during the Movement and Missile portion of the round. The other head concentrates on melee attacks, or, rarely (10% chance), casts spells. An advanced ettin spellcaster is able to cast 1d4 1st-level Magic-User spells, 1d3 2nd-level Magic-User spells, and 1d2 3rd-level Magic-User spells.

Advanced Ettin
Hit Dice: 10
Armor Class: 3 [16]
Attacks: 1 weapon (2d8) plus 1 weapon (3d6)
Special: Surprised only on a 1, two personalities
Move: 12
Saving Throw: 5
Alignment: Neutrality or Chaos
Number Encountered: 1d3
Challenge Level: 11/1,700 (13/2,300 for spellcaster)

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

unflagging: (adj.) tireless; persistent

A revenant rises from the grave to destroy its killers. It appears somewhat as it did in life, but decayed and with pallid skin, cold and clammy, tight against its bones. Its sunken eyes blaze with fevered hatred, and an aura of sadness, anger, and determination hangs about it. No matter how decayed a revenant might be, its killers can always recognize it for who it was. A revenant is an intelligent, cunning, and implacable foe.

When it finds its killers, the revenant attacks, using its claw-like hands with deadly effect. If a single claw’s attack roll is 5 or more better than needed to hit its target, the revenant’s steely grip clamps shut on the victim’s throat. The revenant then strangles the victim, automatically inflicting claw damage each round. Any living creature that meets the revenant’s gaze must make a saving throw or being paralyzed by fear for 2d4 rounds.

Until it has claimed its revenge against its killers, a revenant proves difficult to stop. It regenerates 3 hit points of damage per round, except for damage inflicted by fire. It is immune to acid and to attacks that otherwise cannot affect the undead, such as charms, poison, et cetera.

A revenant’s severed parts continue to act, as if controlled by the revenant’s mind. Even complete dismemberment cannot destroy a revenant. It must be killed with fire, or else it will recover from any damage eventually and resume its hunt for its killers. A revenant is undead, but it is motivated entirely by a single-minded desire for vengeance. As a result, holy water, holy symbols, and the like do not affect a revenant. It cannot be turned by a cleric.

A revenant always has as many Hit Dice as it did in life. Furthermore, it usually retains whatever abilities it possessed in life.

Revenant
Hit Dice: As original creature
Armor Class: As original creature
Attacks: 2 claws (1d8)
Special: Gaze causes paralysis, immune to acid, immune to sleep and charm spells, regenerates, strangulation
Move: As original creature
Saving Throw: As original creature
Alignment: Neutrality
Number Encountered: 1
Challenge Level: As original creature +4

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

splenetic: (adj.) bad-tempered; spiteful

Everyone who has ever been in love has had this thought, but most reject it. They dismiss this thought as dangerous or wrong or unnecessary. A few, however, embrace this thought. They nurture it and let it grow until it takes on a life of its own.

“What is this thought?” you ask.

It is this: If I can’t have you, no one can.

And when this thought takes on a life of its down, a vishindo is born.

Vishindos serve Moannah*, the Goddess of Desire, and they exist to fulfill the twisted thought that creates them. These creatures appear as coal-black pudgy, diminutive humanoids with oversized heads, bulging eyes, and paw-like hands and feet. About the size of a human infant, a vishindo moves slowly but with great stealth. Furthermore, it crawls up walls and across ceilings as easily as it skulks along the ground.

In its natural form, a vishindo is hardly a physical threat. It can, however, become a 4-foot-diameter spider. In this form, gains a tough exoskeleton and a venomous bite. In its natural form, a vishindo has a dangerous magical ability. It sneaks into the presence of its sleeping victim, and then it haunts the victims dreams in an invisible, ethereal state. The victim suffers tormenting dreams that wreak havoc on the victim’s health. The victim loses 1d4 Constitution points upon waking.

Vishindo
Hit Dice: 2+2
Armor Class: 8 [11] (6 [13] in spider form)
Attacks: Bite (1d6 + poison) (in spider form only)
Special: Dream haunting (in vishindo form only), poison (+1 save or die), spider form, surprise opponents on a 1-5
Move: 6 (18 in spider form)
Saving Throw: 16
Alignment: Chaos
Number Encountered: 1
Challenge Level/XP: 7/600

* Moannah, the Goddess of Desire, she who gently kindles the embers of desire, nurturing the warmth of wanting. She adds fuel to the fire, stoking it with jealousy, greed, and obsession. She turns desire into an all-consuming fire.

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

oppressive: (adj.) unjustly inflicting hardship and constraint

Ogres have long been a threat to civilized peoples. Strong, brutish, given to looting and pillaging, gangs of ogres are menaces that cannot be tolerated for long. Ogres revel in the misery of others. When smaller races aren’t available to crush between meaty fists or defile in blood-red lusts of violence, they turn to each other for entertainment. It takes a forceful leader to keep an ogre gang focused.

Within ogre tribes, few leaders prove more forceful than harridans. An ogre harridan rules by fear and violence, using her superior strength, intelligence, and magic powers to keep her underlings in line. Most especially it the harridan’s magic that elicits the most terror, for harridans practice gut magic.

Whenever a harridan succeeds with a bite attack against a living foe, she gains 2 gut-magic points. The harridan cannot have more than twice her Hit Dice in gut-magic points. She uses stored gut-magic points to cast spells from the lists that follow. Gut-magic points fade at a rate of 2 points per minute.

1 Gut-Point Spells: Charm Person, Magic Missile, Shield, Sleep

2 Gut-Point Spells: Darkness 15-Foot Radius, Levitate, Mirror Image, Pyrotechnics

4 Gut-Point Spells: Dispel Magic, Fly, Lightning Bolt, Slow

Harridan
Hit Dice: 8+2
Armor Class: 3 [16]
Attacks: 1 bite (1d6), 1 weapon (1d10+1)
Special: Gut-magic
Move: 9
Saving Throw: 8
Alignment: Chaos
Number Encountered: Up to 1 harridan per 15 ogres
Challenge Level/XP: 10/1,400

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

mystic: (adj.) having seemingly supernatural qualities or powers

Today’s post strays a bit away from the general theme of monsters and NPCs, but that’s okay. It’s my theme, and I’ll stray from it if I want. Right? I pulled TSR’s Faiths & Avatars off a shelf in order to convert its mystic priest class into a form more amenable to Swords & Wizardry.

Numinous

Whereas Clerics are warrior-priests and -priestesses in the service of the gods, the Numinous serve Lawful powers in less martial roles, finding and unlocking the traces of the divine that lay hidden in the natural world. Many Numinous travel the lands, giving aid to the sick and oppressed. Others serve in royal courts as advisors and diviners. Through their mystic insights, the Numinous create elixirs and candles that mimic the effects of magical spells. They may also benefit from flashes of intuitive knowledge and manifestations of blessed charisma.

Prime Attribute: Wisdom 13+ (the character gains a +5% experience bonus if their Prime Attribute is 13 or higher.)
Hit Dice: 1d6/level (A Numinous gains just 1 hp/level after 11th level.)
Armor/Shield Permitted: Numinous may not use armor or shields.
Weapons Permitted: Numinous may use daggers, darts, and staffs only.
Race: Only elves, half-elves, halflings, and humans may become Numinous.
Alignment: Lawful only

Class Abilities

The Basics: Numinous use the same attack matrix as Clerics. They gain a +2 saving throw bonus against charms.

Charm: As Numinous gain levels, they acquire the ability to manifest increasingly powerful instances of blessed charisma. At 1st level, Numinous can use Sleep once per day. At 4th level, they can use Charm Person once per day, and they also gain another daily use of Sleep. At 9th level, Numinous can use Charm Monster once per day, and they gain one additional daily use of lower level charm abilities. Finally, at 16th level, Numinous can use Charm Plants once per day, they gain one additional daily use of lower level abilities.

Intuition: As Numinous gain levels, they benefit from flashes of intuitive knowledge. At 2nd level, Numinous can use Detect Magic once per day. At 5th level, they can use Detect Evil once per day, and they also gain one more daily use of Detect Magic. At 10th level, Numinous can use either Clairaudience or Clairvoyance once per day, and they gain one additional daily use of lower level intuition abilities. Finally, at 17th level, Numinous can use Find the Path once per day, and they gain one more daily use of lower level intuition abilities.

Numen: Starting at 3rd level, Numinous learn how to mix nonmagical ingredients to create elixirs and candles can mimic magical effects. The ingredients needed for an elixir cost 1,000 gold pieces per “level” of the numen for an elixir or twice that for a candle. For example, a sleep elixir’s ingredients cost 1,000 gold pieces. It takes one day to start the process, and during this time the Numinous may not travel or work on more than one elixir or candle. Once the ingredients are mixed and sealed in a proper container, the rest of the process occurs more or less automatically unless the contents are spilled or otherwise fouled. It takes one week for an elixir or two weeks for a candle to reach potency, and no Numinous can keep an eye on more in-process elixirs and potions than one third of his level at a time (drop fractions). The different elixirs and candles Numinous can make at different levels are explained below.

Numinous candles all burn for 90 minutes before being totally consumed. A candle must be burned for at least 10 minutes before its effects can be felt. A partial burning, such as for 4 or 6 minutes, does not activate the candle, but it does count as a usage. The subjects of a candle must remain within 10 feet of the candle throughout the burning to be affected.

Elixirs lose their potency after one week. A candle loses its potency after a two weeks.

* Numen 1 – Sleep Elixir: This can either be an ingested liquid or a concoction that be used on weapons. The former version has four doses, and each dose works like a Sleep spell against a single target who drinks the liquid. The latter version can coat up to six darts, bolts, or arrows, or one bladed weapon. It also works like a Sleep spell against a single target who is injured by the coated weapon.

* Numen 2 – Truth Elixir: When a person ingests a truth elixir, he must make a saving throw or fall into a stupor for 1d4 rounds, during which time he will answer one question per round truthfully. The stupor acts like a Slow spell for the duration of the elixir.

* Numen 3 – Love Elixir & Love Candle: A love elixir causes a person who drinks it to fall madly in love with the first creature he or she perceives after consuming it. If a romantic attraction is possible toward the first person viewed, the drinker falls in love with that person. Otherwise, the drinker’s love is a platonic adoration. The effects of the philter are permanent unless removed by appropriate magic. A love candle has the same effects, but it can target more than one person at a time.

* Numen 4 – Healing Elixir: This elixir has the same effect as a potion of healing.

* Numen 5 – Extra-Healing Elixir & Protection Candle: An extra-healing elixir has the same effect as a potion of extra-healing. A protection candle acts as a double-strength Protection from Evil on affected persons.

* Numen 6 – Healing Candle: This candle heals 1d6 points of damage per turn of burning per affected person. All healing occurs at once at the end of the burning.

* Numen 7 – Telepathy Candle: This candle mentally links the affected persons for 1 hour per 10 minutes of exposure to the candle, divided by the number of affected persons. Communication via telepathy occurs over any distance on the same plane, and it transcends language barriers. Falsehoods and evasions are not possible via telepathy. A person may make a saving throw to resist the effects of this candle.

* Numen 8 – Fortune Candle: For every 10 minutes of exposure, affected persons enjoy good luck for 1 hour, divided by the number of affected persons. These persons enjoy a +1 or +5% bonus on all rolls related saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, et cetera. Damage rolls are not affected.

* Grand Numen 9 – Purification Candle: This candle can affect only one person, who is chosen from those within range by the one who snuffs out the candle. For each turn the candle is burnt, it has a 10% cumulative chance of blessing the target with Remove Curse, Cure Serious Wounds, and Restoration. The one who snuffs the candle incurs any negative results imposed by these effects.

Tags: A to Z 2014, Character Classes, Swords & Wizardry