Spes Magna Games

Benchleydale Academy is (to quote the group’s description) “the NSFW hardcore gonzo 1st edition AD&D chills, spills and thrills” game masterminded by Timothy Connolly. The public face shines on Facebook via Benchleydale and Beyond. I’m more a lurker than a participant in Benchleydale Academy, at least so far. One of these days, a Benchleydale event will happen at a time when my schedule permits me to get stuck in the interwebs for a few hours.

The Academy has a number of a partners, many of whom offer prizes to Academy members who participate in on-line contests. Each contest consists of a themed challenge, a sort of mini-creative writing exercise that requires a response of exactly eleven words. Recently, I won two of these contests. I’ve yet to receive the prizes, but surely when I receive them pictures shall be shared.

I’m receiving “a sealed deck of Atmar’s Cardography”, specifically the Break Through the Icy Divide, “a 52 card dungeon crawl module for use with your favorite roleplaying game”, produced by Norse Foundry, provider of “quality products such as Role playing Game Dice, Game Mats to shield your table from any damage, and the finest of dwarven currency to carry everywhere you go.” To win this prize, I had to charm a frost giant and describe what it would do for me. My eleven-word description? He will call me George and love me and pet me.

I also won the contest sponsored by Antediluvian Miniatures, purveyor of fine figures “[i]nspired by the lost worlds of Jules Verne, HG Wells and other illuminating tales”. From Antediluvian Miniatures, I shall receive a few figurines cast in pewter. The contest attached to this prize was to name and create a dinosaur. Here’s mine: Umbrasaurus: Dead dinosaurs come back as incorporeal spirits that haunt primordial places. (Nota Bene: The name does not count against the eleven-word limit.) See below for the monster stats of sample umbrasaurus.

Umbrasaural Deinonychus
Frequency: Very rare
No. Appearing: 1-3
Armor Class: 4
Move: 21″ (MC: A)
Hit Dice: 4+1
% in Lair: Nil
Treasure Type: Nil
No. of Attacks: 3
Damage/Attack: 1-2/1-2/2-8
Special Attacks: See below
Special Defenses: +1 or better weapon to hit
Magic Resistance: See below
Intelligence: Semi-
Alignment: Neutral evil
Size: L (12′ long)
Psionic Ability: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil/nil
Level/XP Value: V/290 + 5/hp

In life, this monster was a fast carnivore that used its speed, grasping forearms, large teeth, and fierce rear talons to bring down prey. Whatever dark necromancy transforms a dead dinosaur into an umbrasaurus has altered the form and function of the deinonychus, granting into horrible powers and a dim, evil intelligence.

The incorporeal umbrasaural deinonychus has most of its existence on the negative material plane. It still moves swiftly, but now it flies, even moving through solid matter (albeit at two-thirds its normal speed). So swift and silent does the umbrasaural deinonychus move that it surprises opponents 50% of the time. Its claws and fangs inflict icy wounds, and its bite is so cold that each hit drains 1 point of the victim’s dexterity. If a living opponent reaches 0 dexterity, the victim becomes paralyzed and helpless. Note that dexterity returns to a creature 2-8 turns after being drained.

Sleep, charm, hold, and cold-based spells cannot affect the umbrasaural deinonychus. Poison and paralyzation are likewise ineffective. A vial-full of holy water inflicts 2-8 points of damage if it hits the umbrasaural deinonychus. Treat the umbrasaural deinonychus as a wraith for purposes of turning the undead.

Tags: AD&D, monsters

Merry Christmas!

The twelve days of Christmas are almost over, which means Santa’s Holiday Bag of PDFs for 5E D&D will be going away soon. If you’ve not gotten your bundle yet, there’s still time. Also, The Lady in the Shoe, a short adventure for 5E D&D, received a four-star rating today. That’s cool. I dig four stars. I’m a bit curious, however, since it’s just a rating, not a review, but still that’s four stars.

In homefront gaming news, our Saturday game, diminished to a mere two players (excluding me as GM) finished our year-long d20 Modern/Call of Cthulhu campaign that featured time travel, mind/body swapping, space stations, the return of the Old Ones, and rocket-building followers of Nyarlathotep working with Nazis in a secret base within an Egyptian pyramid.

Grant and Kelly, the last two active PCs, infiltrated the pyramid. Using a combination of stealth, memory-clouding magic, and disguises, they made their way to the payload module of the rocket. Kelly being a literal rocket scientist modified the rocket’s telemetry so that it would not complete its decades long flight toward the Sun to create the apocalyptic solar event that started the campaign in our somewhat distant future. Grant and Kelly realized they had little chance to sneaking back out of the pyramid without being detected. So, they concealed themselves in the rocket, which blasted off on schedule. Grant and Kelly died by the time the rocket left the Earth’s atmosphere, confident that they had averted the end of the world that they had witnessed from the decks of Space Station Alpha.

Our next Saturday campaign kicks off in a couple of weeks. It looks like we’re turning to Savage Worlds with elements of Broken Earth adapted to what will likely be a sandbox-style campaign. From the Broken Earth Player’s Guide, the main focus will likely be on the equipment and the community building rules. I’ve not read through much of the Broken Earth core rules, so I don’t how much that will come into play, but since I’m not GMing, I guess I don’t need to worry about that too much.

I’ve not abandoned the Cliff of Crypts. I’ve completed maps for each level of the crypts, including ghoul tunnels leading to caves. I’ll likely use the maps for a new adventure, but at the moment I’m up in the air about the adventure’s system. Not sure where I’m going to land, but possibly my feet will alight upon For Gold & Glory.

Nota Bene: The links in the previous three paragraphs are affiliate links. If you clink and buy, I get a few pennies.

Tags: game play, maps, place of power

Welcome to 2021, and Merry Christmas!

Let’s kick off the New Year with another For Gold & Glory monster. This is inspired by Jack Badashski’s Reaper.

Arrach

Climate/Terrain: Any
Frequency: Rare
Number Appearing: 1d8+2
Organization: Squad
Activity Cycle: Night
Intelligence: 13-14
Treasure: C (magic items are armor or weapons only)
Alignment: Lawful evil

Armor Class: 3
Movement: 12, fly 24 (MC 2)
Hit Dice: 6+6 (33 hp)
THACO: 15
Attack: 2 by weapon
Saving Throws: Fighter 7
Special Traits: Dancing weapons, magical weapons needed to hit, snares, spell immunities
Magic Resistance: None
Size: Man-sized (about 6′ tall)
Morale: 15
Experience: 3,000

The arrach are semi-corporeal undead, shadowy figures of bone, tattered robes, and blood-stained weapons, held together by malice and bloodlust. By day, the arrach wait impatiently in sunless places. After the sun sets, the arrach rush from hiding, seeking victims in a vain attempt to sate their hunger to inflict pain and death.

Arrach hunt in squads that operate with martial discipline. They fight intelligently and ruthlessly, not hesitating to retreat in order to survive long enough to fight again.

Arrach speak whatever languages they knew in life. Most arrach were evil soldiers of some sort who died violently.

Combat: Arrach attack with weapons, favoring swords, scythes, and spears. Each arrach carries 1d4+2 weapons and 1d3 bear traps. These weapons and traps are carried by folds of tattered cloth, skeletal limbs, et cetera. The round after an arrach’s weapon inflicts damage against a living foe, the weapon animates, flying up to 30 feet per round but never moving more than 30 feet from its owner. An animated weapon attacks once per round for four rounds, using the arrach’s THAC0. After four rounds, an animated weapon returns to its owner. The arrach’s dancing weapon attacks are in addition to its normal attacks.

The arrach’s bear traps pose a more subtle threat. Each trap functions much like a snare spell cast by a 6th-level priest, except that the arrach cannot use a tree, and the beartrap inflicts 1d6+1 points of damage. Each beartrap can be used once per night, and the arrach must spend three rounds setting the trap for it to function.

Arrach are immune to normal weapons and cold-based attacks. Nonmagical silver weapons inflict only half damage to them. As undead creatures, they cannot be affected by charm, hold person, and sleep spells. Poison and paralysis are likewise powerless against them. Holy water inflicts 2d4 points of damage per vial to an arrach, and sunlight renders this monster powerless and vulnerable to mundane weapons.

Tags: AD&D, For Gold & Glory, monsters, undead

Merry Christmas!

It’s been quite some time since I posted anything about The Four Color Hack. The last time I did so was may back in May 2019 when I posted a villain glommed from Ms. Marvel.

Therefore….

The Doorman
Level 4 Metahuman

Quote: “Enjoy your stay.”
Real Name: Jacob Endo
Identity: Secret
Place of Birth: Seattle, Washington
Height: 5 ft. 6 in.
Weight: 145 lb.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

Hit Points: 23 (4 Vigor)
Base Damage: 2d4
Powers: Acrobatics d8, Enhanced Senses d10, Karate d8, Teleportal d12

Background: Jacob Endo works serves the Doorman for the mysterious Metaplex, a interdimensional five-star resort hotel that caters to metahuman guests. The origin of Jacob’s powers and how he came to work for the Manager are topics of much speculation but few definitive answers. Jacob remains politely circumspect about his past. In the performance of his duties, Jacob is discreet, professional, and friendly. He works closely with the Metaplex’s staff, especially the Concierge and the Desk Clerk. With those two employees, Jacob is the Metaplex’s first line of defense, helping to ensure that guests have a peaceful stay.

Powers: The Doorman’s main power is his ability to create teleportals out of any sort of access point (such as a door or window) between the Metaplex and its exterior as well as within the Metaplex. By means of this power, the Doorman teleports himself, guests, et cetera. The maximum range of his teleportation is about 100 yards, sufficient to grant him access to any location within the Metaplex. People and material teleported must move through the teleportal in order to be instantly transported to the location chosen by the Doorman. He can also open a teleportal that moves through interdimensional space, thus exiting the Metaplex entirely. The Doorman can also seal the Metaplex’s interdimensional entrances, whether to affect a total lockdown or just to exclude a troublesome guest.

While he is loathe to do so, the Doorman is not incapable of using physical force to emphasize the importance of following the Metaplex’s rules. He is a skilled acrobat and martial artist. The Doorman’s senses of hearing and sight are superhumanly acute.

Tags: superhero games, TFCH

Merry Christmas!

Last post, I mentioned the eerie Cliff of Crypts and the Ossuary Coven, three undead hags who possess terrible magic power and know the secrets of crafting magic weapons from bone and sinew. It sounds like a good idea, so I whipped out some graph paper, pencils, and Paper Mate pens. Here’s the initial results:

As you can see, there are four levels within the cliff. Each level is the final unresting place of important members of the upper five social classes of the people who built the crypts. The most important social class occupies the uppermost level, and each subsequent lower level represents a lower social class. The priest and warrior levels are connected by means of a ladder, which represents that these two classes shared leadership and that mobility between the two classes was possible.

The lower three levels represent the traders, scribes, and merchants. The traders were distinct from the merchant class by virtue of the former voyaging to other lands in order to bring in wealth. Merchants did not travel. They represented mercantile interests by running shops, warehouses, et cetera. The scribes worked with all of the other classes to ensure accurate records of treaties, laws, accounts, and so on were maintained.

When the crypts were built, the valley had not yet been flooded. Some time ago, torrential rains created enormous mudslides that deforested sections of the valley’s highlands. The resulting logjam blocked the normal course of the valley’s river, creating a lake and flooding the merchant level of the crypts. During the rainy season, water levels in the lake rise sufficiently to flood the scribes’ level as well.

As you can see, I’ve penciled the priests’ level. I leaning toward adding ghoul tunnels in the space around the level. These tunnels could provide other connections to the lower levels as well as natural caves. After all, what’s a crypt complex without claustrophobic ghoul tunnels?

Tags: maps, place of power