Spes Magna Games

brood: (adj.) kept for breeding

A fumgaji (plural, wafumgaji) haunts the outskirts of civilization, lurking in shadowy places, emerging at night to hunt and breed. Wafumgaji practice a horrible form of brood parasitism in which a pregnant female fumgaji sneaks into the home of a sleeping, pregnant humanoid and magically swaps its gestating offspring for the humanoid’s unborn child.

The humanoid victim likely remains unaware of this monstrous switch for weeks, as pregnancy with a gestating fumgaji almost totally resembles a normal pregnancy. Eventually, the unborn fumgaji’s wicked intelligence awakens, and it starts to communicate with its host via telepathy (while she is awake) and vivid dreams (while she sleeps). During this time, the host usually grows increasingly insane. By the time she is ready to give birth to the fumgaji, the host has fallen completely under the monster’s psychic domination, and she will do whatever she must do to protect her “child” until it can return to its true family.

The stolen, unborn humanoid continues to develop within the fumgaji’s womb, and, barring unforeseen circumstances, he or she will be born. At that time, the newborn’s nightmare existence as a “domesticated pet” begins. Raised to amuse and serve evil masters, the child almost certainly grows to become evil as well due to years of physical and mental torture too horrible to speak of.

At first glance in dim light, a fumgaji might appear human, but a second glance likely reveals the truth. Wafumgaji have sickly, pale gray flesh. Anger, hatred, and disgust twist their facial features, sliding uncontrollably from one bestial expression to another. Razor sharp fangs fill their mouths, barely concealed by ragged, blood-red lips.

Wafumgaji attack with these fangs, preferably by surprise. All wafumgaji are telepathic; they have no spoken language (although they are capable of terrifying vocalizations). If a fumgaji does nothing else for the round, it can telepathically assault its victim. A saving throw is permitted against this psychic attack, modified by the fumgaji’s age (+2 for toddlers, +1 for children, +0 for adolescents, and -1 for adults). A failed saving throw causes the affected victim to be confused (as the spell) until the end of its next turn.

Fumgaji
Hit Dice: 1 (toddler), 2 (child), 3 (adolescent), 4 (adult)
Armor Class: 9 [10] (toddler), 7 [12] (child), 5 [14] (adolescent), 3 [16] (adult)
Attack: 1 bite (1d3, toddler); (1d4, child); (1d6, adolescent); (1d8, adult)
Special: surprise opponents on a 1-3 (1-4 for toddlers), telepathy
Move: 6 (toddler), 9 (child), 12 (adolescent), 15 (adult)
Saving Throw: 17 (toddler), 16 (child), 14 (adolescent), 13 (adult)
Alignment: Chaos
Number Encountered: 1d3 toddlers and/or children, 1d4 adolescents, 1d6+1 adults, plus a number of enslaved humanoids of various ages equal to one-half the number of non-adults present
Challenge Level/XP: 2/30 (toddler), 3/60 (child), 4/120 (adolescent), 5/240 (adult)

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

Another April is upon us, which means it’s time for another A to Z Blogging Challenge. (Nota Bene: Click on the pic to the right for more information about the challenge.) This will be the third year in a row I’ve picked up this particular gauntlet. If you’d like to review my previous efforts, please do so:

* A to Z 2012

* A to Z 2013

This year, I’m shooting for a theme. Since it’s April and the first letter is A, I’m going to build that theme around adjectives, with each blogpost featuring a different monster, villain, et cetera, each one characterized by a different adjective that starts with the day’s letter and focusing on OSR game systems, especially Swords & Wizardry and Stars Without Number. So, for example, if I weren’t copping out today with this introductory post, I might have instead written up some sort of atrocious villain.

Anyhoo, that’s it for today. See you tomorrow.

Tags: A to Z 2014, Stars Without Number, Swords & Wizardry

If you’ve never played Fiasco, you owe it to yourself to try it. You might not like it; it’s not an RPG for everyone (but what is?). I won’t bother reviewing the game. It’s been reviewed bunches by better reviewers than me. Also, check out this, this, and this (in that order) to watch Wil Wheaton and friends play a complete demo of the game.

Last week, I decided to try using certain parts of the Fiasco Quest for the Golden Panda Playset for a lesson on story-writing. I pulled up the linked PDF on my laptop. I then asked a series of students to each provide me with a number between one and six, inclusive, dividing these numbers between the standard elements of a story: characters, setting, and problem. We ended up with these results:

Characters: Clandestine collaborators, and an old wise man and a curious child.

Setting: The vintage armor room.

Problem: To get the truth about the golden poppy flower that was left on the doorstep.

Students worked in pairs with the instructions that they had to:

1. Name the characters.
2. Take turns establishing a scene and working with their partners to determine what happens.
3. Compromise when they cannot agree.
4. Keep notes about each scene.
5. Work through two scenes per character, with each scene requiring a different character be present.

Students were also told to invent other characters and settings as needed.

The students worked for about an hour. Most of them seem genuinely engaged in the activity, but there were a couple of problems that popped up. First, one group had trouble compromising, and they required some redirection to get back on track. Also, the groups worked at wildly different speeds, a few completing a story in an hour while most hadn’t made it through half of their scenes. I should’ve been more explicit about the pacing for the scenes.

This week, we’re going to return to the assignment. Students will get to finish their collaboration, and then everyone can take the results and produce a rough draft short story. I can hardly wait to see what the results are.

Tags: Fiasco, gaming and teaching

Session three of our Sons of Liberty Marvel Heroic Roleplaying campaign met last night. Since I’d already written about playing MHR, I figured it made sense to provide a session recap.

Eagle Eye, the Mason, and the Protector had defeated Pearl-Feather, rescuing Paul Revere and William Dawes, and enjoyed the hospitality of the mysterious storyteller Iagoo. The heroes also learned that Pearl-Feather spoke of a “powerful weapon” being built at Fort Ticonderoga in Vermont. Iagoo told the heroes that the Pearl-Feather likely escaped into his swampy domain, an evil land full of disease and guarded by dragon-like Kenabeeks.

After some discussion, the heroes decided to investigate the rumor about the weapon. Eagle Eye led the way through the spirit world of Appalachia to the outskirts of New York City. The Protector donned civilian gear. The Mason and Eagle Eye skulked through the city’s substructures, rightly figuring that the Mason’s rocky appearance would attract too much attention. The heroes planned to rendezvous at the Protector’s offices at United Pearson Shipping near the waterfront.

In the wharf-side tavern Niko’s, the Protector was surprised to find Miss Jenny, whom the heroes had met in Lexington. Miss Jenny claimed to be a traveling tinker, but Black Dynamo, who had secretly investigated her wagon, was of the opinion that her claim was a front.

The Protector, as wealthy shipping magnate Mr. Pearson, learned from Miss Jenny that at man named Gwynn Prichard was in charge of the fort and whatever was being built. She had also heard talk of a mysterious figure known only as the Doctor. Large shipments of iron plating had regularly been received at the fort. The Protector asked if Miss Jenny could help him meet Prichard, and she gave the Protector a simple lady’s ring, saying, “Present this to Mr. Prichard and tell him Miss Jenny sent you.” Perhaps inexplicably, the Protector trusted Miss Jenny with near total confidence.

While this was going on, the Mason and Eagle Eye heard strange, howling winds in the sewers where they were hiding. Eagle Eye identified the howling as a sign of the Pauguk, a vengeful spirit that seeks to punish those who’ve violated Iroquois sacred sites. Fortunately, it was still day time, and the Pauguk supposedly hated sunlight. Eagle Eye left the sewer and shortly bumped into the Protector, who’d left Niko’s and was on his way to his offices. The Mason plodded his way under the harbor and entertained himself by wreaking havoc with the anchors of British ships.

The heroes left New York City for Vermont and the hamlet of Ticonderoga, there to meet up with Ethan Allen, a local businessman who had contacts with the fort. Along the way, the heroes were attacked by the Pauguk, a howling whirlwind of ghosts. The fight was brief but fierce, with Eagle Eye striking the final blow after he’d shifted into the spirit world to fight the monster (but not before the Pauguk had stolen Eagle Eye’s mystic senses).

In the hamlet, the heroes met with Ethan Allen, who agreed to have this Green Mountain Boys ready to assist. The Protector and Eagle Eye entered the fort, using Miss Jenny’s ring to get an audience not only with Gwynn but also with his two younger brothers Aneirin and Andras. The Mason “earth swam” beneath everyone’s feet.

In the fort, the Protector and Eagle Eye were escorted by Gwynn to a wooden building attached to a much larger, barn-like structure. Gwynn showed Miss Jenny’s ring to his brothers, and all three men agreed that it was time for the heroes to die! The heroes thus discovered that Miss Jenny was a British spy.

Thus began a pitched battle pitting the three heroes against two platoons of Redcoats and the Alchemists Three, who were intent of capturing the Mason alive so that he could be turned over to a mysterious figure known only as the Grand Witch. During the fight, something large and powerful was launched from the barn-like structure. The heroes eventually prevailed, but Gwynn escaped by using his alchemical knowledge to transform into air and fly away.

The last revelation of the evening was the heroes watching an enormous robot rocket away into the morning sky, heading southward.

Tags: Marvel Heroic Roleplaying

Lately, I’ve been playing a lot of Marvel Heroic Roleplaying by Cam Banks and Margaret Weis Productions. I’m running a twice-monthly, Friday-night MHR game set during the American Revolution. I run a “World without Heroes” mini-campaign for several of my 5th-grade students as an on-campus extracurricular activity. Also, I’ve run MHR one-on-one for my son Christopher.

MHR is an interesting game system. The presentation of the rules in the basic book (linked above) seems a bit disorganized to me, but the disparate pieces start to come together in actual play (which is always the best way to learn a game). The system focuses on narrative elements to determine how actions are resolved. The system is incredibly versatile, and there are oodles of reviews out there for those interested.

For those interested, here are several different MHR datafiles, most of them for the Watcher:

Batroc’s Brigade: My version of Batroc’s Brigade includes Batroc the Leaper (of course), Porcupine, and Whirlwind. My son Christopher’s hero Kanik faced the Brigade in a solo adventure. Of the three, only Batroc proved to be anything approaching a real threat. Porcupine and Whirlwind were more of a nuisance factor. In hindsight, I dropped Batroc to Combat Expert, and changed his Savate Prowess SFX to permitting stepping up or doubling Combat Expert. These changes aren’t reflected in the linked PDF.

The Cricket: At school where I teach, I facilitate Ludi Fabularum, a story game club. The Cricket is one of the heroes run by one of the 5th graders who participate in the club.

Deadly Nightshade: My son’s MHR hero Kanik found out the hard way that an acquaintance is really a super-villain.

The Enforcers: Here’s my version of the original Enforcers, including the Big Man, Fancy Dan, Montana, and the Ox.

Fafnir the Dragon: Thor’s city-smashing villain is ready for action. Use with care.

The League of Terror: I put together a horror-themed group of villains that includes Black Talon, the Grim Reaper, Nekra, the Swarm, and Death-Stalker.

Mister Hyde: I retooled Marvel’s Mister Hyde for use against Kanik. The soon-to-be-run adventure will also include the full unveiling of Deadly Nightshade.

The Ratcatcher: Way back when I introduced Christopher to Mutants & Masterminds, he made up his own hero called Kanik, who faced the Ratcatcher in his first adventure. The Ratcatcher eluded capture that time. When we converted Kanik to MHR, we had to bring the Ratcatcher back for a rematch. Kanik narrowly defeated the villain, who now sits in custody, nursing a new grudge.

The Sinister Six and the Octobots: For the aforementioned story game club at my school, we’re playing MHR. The characters are all rookies in a world without heroes. New York City has been conquered by the Sinister Six, which includes Doctor Octopus, Electro, Sandman, Kraven the Hunter, the Vulture, and Mysterio.

Tags: Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, Watcher Datafiles