Spes Magna Games

Salmagunderland presents an inhospitable mixture of dark canyons, rushing rivers, and rugged highlands covered in all but impenetrable rainforest. The hazards are legion. Biting insects carry horrible tropical diseases. Venomous lizards that grow as long as man’s leg wait in ambush. Degenerate dwarfs hunt for the heads of their enemies, eager to feast on the flesh of their conquests in order to gain supernatural power. Lost cities, demon-haunted and choked by vegetation, still hold the treasures of long-vanished peoples. Volcanoes spew up rivers of molten rock that burn their way through the jungle before plunging in fiery falls into the canyons, giving rise to thick clouds of steam that cling beneath the canopy.

Rarely, mbweha crystals are mined from the basalt shores of these lava rivers. In the hands a skilled weaponsmith who knows the necessary runes, these crystals can be fashioned into magical weapons. Unfortunately, few mbweha crystals are large enough to be fashioned into even a dagger. Mbweha blades channel their wielders’ force of personality, making them powerful weapons in the right hands.

When creating a mbweha blade as a treasure or reward for your players, choose one from each of these categories:

Base Description: Axe, Dagger, Spear, Sword. (Nota Bene: All but the dagger are base weight 2. The dagger is base weight 1.)
Range: Hand, Close, Reach
Enhancements: Perfectly Weighted (add precise), Serrated Edges (+1 damage), Sharp (+2 piercing), Versatile (choose an additional range)

When used for hack and slash, on a 10+, you may treat the result of 7-9, inflicting CHA+1d6 damage but also exposing yourself to your enemy’s attack.

When you channel your personality through your mbweha blade, roll+CHA. *On 10+, hold 3. *On 7-9, hold 1. As long as you wield the mbweha blade, you may spend hold, 1 for 1, to choose an option:

* Force a target to make a move.
* Awe or frighten a target, granting you a +1 forward against that target.
* Encourage an ally, granting that ally a +1 on their roll as if you aided the target.
* Discourage an ally, causing that ally to take a -2 on their roll as if you interfered with him.

Tags: Dungeon World, magic items, place of power

A few days ago, I posted stats for the man-owl. As usual, I shared the post’s link via Facebook and G+. Not too long after, Eric Webb posted a picture in response, stating “A challenger appears”. The picture is to the right of these words, and my game stats for this alleged challenger appear below. Again, I offer the stats for three different games.

Spiky Golem

The spiky golem is an animated construct made of cuir bouilli with iron fastenings and hundreds of iron spikes, all fashioned around the skeleton of an executed criminal. It is given life by its creator, who summons and binds an infernal spirit to the man-like construct. As a result of this binding, a spiky golem has a dull, malevolent intelligence. Due to enchantments on its intelligence, the golem’s creator forces the monster’s obedience while earning its hatred.

A spiky golem attacks savagely with its powerful arms, delivering blows that both crack bones and tear flesh.

Stats for Barbarians of Lemuria:

Attributes
Strength: 4
Agility: 2
Mind: -1

Combat Abilities
Attack: 2 clubbing blows +0 (damage d6)
Defense: 2
Protection: d6 (rugged materials)
Lifeblood: 14

Special
A spiky golem takes half-damage from spells, and it is immune to mind-affecting spells. Due to the magical enchantments that strengthen its materials, roll 2d6 and take the larger of the two rolls when determining protection.

Stats for Dungeon World:

Construct, Group
Clubbing Blows (d8+2 damage, 1 piercing)
10 HP
2 Armor
Close, Forceful, Messy
Special Qualities: Covered in spikes
Instinct: To crush

* Detach animated spike
* Follow orders hatefully

Stats for Swords & Wizardry:

Hit Dice: 6 (30 hit points)
Armor Class: 6 [13]
Attacks: 2 clubbing blows (2d6)
Saving Throw: 11
Special: Hit only by magical weapons, immune to most spells
Move: 9
Alignment: Chaos
Number Encountered: 1d4
Challenge Level: 9/1,100

Only +1 or better magic weapons can harm a spiky golem. Magic Missile inflict normal damage to a spiky golem. An evil reversal of a Cure Light Wounds or Cure Serious Wounds spell heals a spiky golem a number of hit points equal to half the damage it would normally inflict. No other spells affect a spiky golem.

Tags: Barbarians of Lemuria, Dungeon World, monsters, Swords & Wizardry

Earlier this week, I was working with a student during reading tutoring. Our topics for the day were idioms and common sayings, such as “It’s raining cats and dogs!” or “The cheese done slid off of his cracker.” (The latter must be said with an accent appropriate to the U.S.’s South.) One of the expressions that popped up during the lesson was “lick of sense”, which made me think of a possible spell to be created for use in a game.

Or, in this case, three different games.

Lick of Sense

For Barbarians of Lemuria:

Magnitude: First
Cost: 4
Requirements: Obvious technique
Minimum Cost: 2
Difficulty: Tricky (-1)

This spell’s arcane lick removes negative mental effects, including flaws that affect mind actions, so long as those negative mental effects are either natural (meaning innate to the target or the result of mundane circumstances such as poison) or are caused by magical effects no stronger than a first magnitude spell. Negative mental effects not innate to the target are removed entirely. Mental flaws (such as Fear of Fire) are suppressed for about an hour.

For Dungeon World:

Level: Cleric 3, Ongoing

You give your target’s skin a blessed lick. One of the target’s mental debilities is immediately removed. For the spell’s duration, the target takes +1 forward to avoid negative mental effects. While this spell is ongoing, you take a -1 to cast a spell.

For Swords & Wizardry:

Spell Level: Cleric, 3rd Level
Range: Touch
Duration: See below

With a lick, the target’s negative mental effects, including magically inflicted ones, are removed. For the next hour, the target enjoys a +1 bonus to saving throws against negative mental effects.

Tags: Barbarians of Lemuria, Dungeon World, spells, Swords & Wizardry

The man-owl is a malignant monster that seeks to spread fear and chaos. It flies magically and in total silence. Those who meet a man-owl’s gaze often fall into the grip of crippling apprehension. To help the man-owl terrorize more adventurers and spread even more fear and chaos, its stats are presented below for both Swords & Wizardry and Dungeon World.

Man-Owl
Hit Dice: 3+6
Armor Class: 6 [13]
Attacks: 2 claws (1d6), 1 bite (1d4)
Move: 12 (Fly 15)
Special: Doom gaze, flies silently, -2 to all die rolls in bright light
Saving Throw: 14
Alignment: Chaos
Number Encountered: 1
Challenge Level: 5/240

Doom Gaze Effects: If the victim fails his saving throw, he suffers a -2 penalty to attack rolls and saving throws. Every day, a victim of the man-owl’s doom gaze is permitted a new saving throw (with the -2 penalty) to overcome these baleful effects.

Man-Owl
Intelligent, Solitary, Stealthy
Claws (d6+2 damage)
10 HP
0 Armor
Close, Messy
Special Qualities: Look causes crippling apprehension, magical flight
Instinct: To spread fear and chaos

* Make eye contact
* Rend and screech
* Pull someone into the air

Tags: Dungeon World, monsters, Swords & Wizardry

Here are several more hybrid animal science projects. Mixed in with the pics of the projects is one of me posing with a torat, the cat/tortoise hybrid that one of the students made to accompany his display. I have two left to grade, both of which were done as PowerPoint presentations. I can upload those to Google Docs and post the links, but I’m leery to do so. As Lord Acton observed, “Power tends to corrupt; PowerPoint corrupts absolutely.” (buh-dum-ching!)

All in all, this assignment was a success. If I’m teaching science next year, I’ll definitely have to repeat this one.

Tags: Weird Science Projects