Spes Magna Games

Gorillelephantaur
Hit Dice: 8+3
Armor Class: 6 [13]
Attacks: 2 stomps (2d6) and 2 claws (1d6), or 2 stomps (2d6) and weapon (1d10)
Saving Throw: 8
Special: Rending
Move: 15
Alignment: Chaos
Challenge Level/XP: 9/1,100

Half gorilla, half elephant, the mighty gorillelephantaurs rule the tropical plains they call home. They fight with their columnar forelegs and powerful claws, or else use a weapon instead of their claws. If a gorillelephantaur strikes a foe with both claws, it does an additional 1d12 points of rending damage.

Tags: monsters, Swords & Wizardry

Soon to be released, That’s a Goblin!?, Spes Magna’s first OSR game supplement. Written as compatible with Swords & Wizardry but usable with other OSR fantasy RPGs, That’s a Goblin!? introduces ways to make your game’s goblins different.

The free preview PDF at this link presents 23 random goblin mutations. The final version of the PDF in the works includes not only the goblin mutations but also goblin types, tactics, weapons, and stat blocks for sample goblins.

Tags: monsters, Swords & Wizardry

The Gaatji (gah’-ti-jee) dwell in the same watery environs as the Fombui, but unlike those strange, peaceful creatures, the Gaatj are fearsome worshippers of chaos. These monsters build crude villages out of rocks and coral, constructing their squat buildings so that they clump together, interconnected and maze-like. A Gaatj appears to be a bizarre sort of squid, but with two “feathered” tentacles and numerous lateral fins projecting from either side of its oblong body. Its bulbous eyes project from the skull on squat stalks. An adult Gaatj measures between 5-7 feet long from skull to tail with tentacles a foot or so shorter than overall body length.

A Gaatj attacks with its tentacles. After a tentacle hits, it automatically does 1d8 points of damage per round instead of the initial 1d4. Also, there is a 20% chance that the tentacle pinions one of the victim’s limbs (roll randomly for left/right arms and legs to see which is immobilized). Gaatji cast both Magic-User spells (3/1) and Cleric spells (2). They are also vulnerable to electricity-based attacks, suffering a -2 on their saving throws and taking +25% damage from such effects.

Swords & Wizardry

Hit Dice: 3+3
Armor Class: 6 [13]
Attacks: 2 tentacles (1d4) (see below)
Saving Throw: 14
Special: Constriction, spells, vulnerable to electricity
Move: 3/12 (swimming)
Alignment: Chaos
Challenge Level/XP: 6/400

Tags: monsters, Swords & Wizardry

This morning, I watched 2011’s execrable Conan the Barbarian. In a perfectly just universe, those responsible for this film would never have been permitted to make the movie, or, at a minimum, they would have to refund the 113 headache-inducing minutes I spent suffering through the cinematic excrement. On the plus side, Conan’s fight against those ninja sand monsters was kind of spiffy. So, in that vein:

The kummuai inhabit desert regions, lurking at the edges of inhabited places. They haunt the outskirts of towns and the routes between oases. In its natural form, a kummua is invisible and incorporeal. They cannot affect material creatures or objects in this form, but they are also immune to almost all attacks. Cleric spells and undead turning can affect a kummua in its natural form, assuming the monster can be detected.

All kummuai hate living creatures and seek to destroy them. To do so, a kummua “possesses” a quantity of sand and earth taken directly from the ground. It shapes this material into vessel resembling an emaciated humanoid body endowed with remarkable speed and agility. On the round a kummua forms a vessel, it can make only one attack and move only at half speed. After that, the kummua moves at full speed and makes two claw attacks per round. On any round after it forms its vessel, a kummua may dissolve its vessel and instantly form a new vessel from suitable materials within 60 feet of the kummua’s original position. A kummua who chooses this tactic may make only one attack and move only at half speed, either before or after it dissolves and reforms elsewhere.

A kummua whose vessel is destroyed (reduced to 0 hit points) must make a saving throw to avoid having its natural form destroyed as well. If the saving throw is successful, that kummua cannot reform a new vessel until (4d4 minus HD) nights have passed.

Swords & Wizardry

Hit Dice: 1-3
Armor Class: 5 [14] (1 HD); 4 [15] (2 HD); 3 [16] (3 HD)
Attacks: 2 claws (1d4 plus additional damage equal to HD)
Saving Throw: 17 (1 HD); 16 (2 HD); 14 (3 HD)
Special: form vessel, immune to sleep and charm spells, invisible/incorporeal natural form
Move: 12 (15 flying in natural form)
Alignment: Chaos
Challenge Level/XP: 3/60 (1 HD); 4/120 (2 HD); 5/240 (3 HD)

Tags: Conan, monsters, Swords & Wizardry

The Fombu (pl. Fombui) is a strange crystalline creature that dwells in the dark and muck of lake bottoms and sea floors. They are seldom encountered as the Fombui have little reason to leave their aquatic abodes. A Fombu appears to be a five stems growing from a central clump. Frail-seeming projections grow upward from these stems, creating a sort of comb-like structure. The longer, more mature projections end in sensory nodules. No one is quite sure how large Fombui grow. Individuals with stems reaching lengths of six feet have been reported. Fombui are filter feeders, sucking water into their bodies and straining out tiny shrimp, algae, and so on. They move slowly by crawling about on stubby feet. Once every 1d6 rounds, a fombui can generate a powerful jolt of electricity. Creatures within 5 feet of the fombui suffer 4d8 points of electricity damage and are stunned for 1d6 rounds. Those within 10 feet suffer 2d8 points of electricity damage and are stunned for 1d3 rounds. Creatures no farther away than 15 feet suffer 1d8 points of electricity damage and are stunned for 1 round. A successful save halves this damage and negates stunning. Fombui cannot be harmed by electrical attacks.

Fombui are remarkably intelligent. They communicate with each other via targeted electrical impulses, doing so over distances as great as two or three miles. While the Fombui lack most trappings of civilization, they have eidetic memories and a rich, complex oral history.

Swords & Wizardry

Hit Dice: 4
Armor Class: 6 [13]
Attacks: electrical jolt
Saving Throw: 13
Special: immune to electricity
Move: 3
Alignment: Lawful
Challenge Level/XP: 6/400

Stars Without Number

Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 4
Attack Bonus: NA
Damage: electrical jolt
No. Appearing: 1d6
Saving Throw: 13
Movement: 10 ft.
Morale: 7

Tags: monsters, Stars Without Number, Swords & Wizardry