Spes Magna Games

Our every-other-Sunday 5E D&D game is scheduled for this weekend. The heroes’ forays into the quarry tunnels met stiff resistance from goblins, bugbears, mudtigers, and a pair of priests of Wastri the Hopping Prophet. Judicious use of eldritch blasts, illusions, and arrows dropped the monsters’ leadership, cracking goblin morale, and doing so with little time to spare. For the second session in a row, the heroes avoided total defeat.

After their second brush with death, the heroes returned to Dark Quarry to recuperate, gather information, and report their findings to the village’s head-man. By noon the following day, quarry workers returned bearing frantic news. The quarry’s entrance had collapsed. Booby traps had injured several men. The quarry’s small keep stood abandoned.

The heroes made haste to the quarry to discover that its master, the mysterious Bazili Erak, had pulled up stakes. The keep was empty. The quarry mines were empty. The heroes set free several captives, but did not find Kwon, the brave monk who first attempted to discover the quarry’s secrets. In the quarry’s second level, the heroes found a strange shrine, a stone pyramid adored with carved eyes. Foxrad Stormseeker recognized the pyramid as a symbol of the Elder Elemental Eye, an ancient and unspeakably evil cult.

And so, the Danger at Darkshelf Quarry has ended, but the heroes are left with more questions than answers. Not all is lost, however, for the heroes have learned the Bazili Erak has contacts in Highport, farther to the south. What awaits the heroes in that rough and lawless city?

In other gaming news, I recently received 1975, written by Bill Webb for Frog God Games. I’ve not given it a detailed read yet. The adventure is a hex-crawl, a format in which a group explores travel through unknown wilderness areas, searching for Something Important. It looks like fun, but a few things about it puzzle me:

1. The font size for the main text is too small. It looks about 8- or 9-point. This isn’t first time I’ve run across new gaming products opting for under-sized fonts. One of the reasons I’ve not read 1975 yet is that I’m not fond of straining my eyes.
2. The few illustrations are good, but, combined with what seems like a too-wide bottom margin on many pages, I must wonder. If the illustrations were a wee bit smaller and the margins consistent, could that main-text font had been bumped up a point or two?
3. Neither the player nor DM wilderness maps have either a scale or hexes, the latter of which seems a strange omission for an adventure billing itself as a hex-crawl.
4. Bill Webb provides stats for the giant beaver, and it’s just a big, unaligned beast. This bugs me perhaps more than it should, but I’ve long been fond of the fact that giant beavers in AD&D have low to average intelligence, which reminds me of my evil druid beavers.

Priest of Wastri
Medium humanoid (human), lawful evil

Armor Class 14 (chain shirt)
Hit Points 22 (5d8)
Speed 25 ft., swim 25 ft.

STR 10 (+0), DEX 12 (+1), CON 10 (+0), INT 13 (+1), WIS 16 (+3), CHA 13 (+1)

Skills Nature +3, Persuasion +3, Religion +3
Senses passive Perception 13
Languages Common, Bullywug
Challenge 2 (450 XP)

Bane of False Humans. As a bonus action, the priest can expend a spell slot to cause its melee weapon attacks to magically deal an extra 10 (3d6) radiant damage to a non-human humanoid target on a hit. This benefit lasts until the end of the turn. If the priest expends a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the extra damage increases by 1d6 for each level above 1st.

Hold Breath. The priest can hold his breath for 15 minutes.

Spellcasting. The priest is a 5th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). The priest has the following cleric spells prepared:

Cantrips (at will): light, sacred flame, thaumaturgy
1st level (4 slots): cure wounds, guiding bolt, sanctuary
2nd level (3 slots): lesser restoration, spiritual weapon
3rd level (2 slots): dispel magic, spirit guardians

Standing Leap. The priest’s long jump is 20 feet and its high jump is up to 10 feet, with or without a running start.

Actions

Glaive. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d10) slashing damage.

Conjure Frogs (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). The priest conjures eight giant frogs, which appear in unoccupied spaces the priest can see within 60 feet. Each beast disappears when it drops to 0 hit points. The summoned frogs are friendly to the priest and the priest’s companions. Roll initiative for the summoned frogs as a group, which has its own turns. They obey any verbal commands the priest issues to them (no action required). If the priest doesn’t any commands to them, they defend themselves from hostile creatures, but otherwise take no actions. The frogs remain until killed or until the priest takes a short or long rest.

Tags: 5E D&D, monsters

I’m participating in NaNoWriMo 2020. I’m not quite following the rules since I’m taking back up my story about Jared, psychopomp and assassin in the employ of Management. I’ve started out with some revising and editing of what I’d already written.

Here’s part of chapter 1.

Tony opened The Supply Room at oh-seven-hundred every day except Sunday. By oh-seven-thirty, people sat on at least half the stools at the bar. That early, they were all regulars, and all men. Guys getting off a graveyard shift, looking for a beer before heading home to sleep the morning away. Guys heading to work, hoping a morning beer or a couple of shots will help get them through the day.

I pulled into the parking lot, maneuvering around the worst of the potholes to park in the spot marked Reserved for Auction Winner. There’d never been an auction. I hadn’t won anything. As I walked through the front door, Tony gave me a nod. A moment later, he set two fingers of Scotch and a manila envelope on the table in front of me.

“Morning,” he said.

“Yeah, it’s morning, alright.”

Tony gave me another nod and returned to the bar. I downed the Scotch with a swallow per finger, and then bent up the metal fastener on the envelope, lettings its contents slide onto the table. There was a letter-size envelope, a Ziploc baggie, and a manila folder. I peaked in the envelope. Cash, like always. The baggie held a gold chain with a heart-shaped charm on it. A bit of glass mounted in the center of the heart. Costume jewelry. Maybe gold-plated at most. I put the cash and the baggie back in the envelope. I didn’t need to count the money, and I’d touch the necklace back home.

I opened the folder. Two photographs were paper-clipped to the inside front. One showed a pretty young lady. Medium length blond hair, green eyes, a confident smile. A slight tilt to her head, and the shine of laughter in her eyes. I unclipped the photo, flipped it over. An adhesive file label on the back. On the label, a typed name and date of birth: English, Priscilla. She’d celebrated her birthday for the last time about a month ago. She’d been eighteen.

The other photo showed a man in a dark suit, red tie, white shirt with cuff links. Certainly not gold-plated. His watch was the real thing as well. He looked in his mid-30s. Gym membership to be sure, but the thickness under his clean shaven chin told me he wasn’t too zealous about working out. Treadmill, maybe a little racquetball with the bosses, who’d he let win. Professional haircut. Dark brown hair with a little gray. Light brown eyes. The label told me his name, work address, and home address. Prestigious law firm and a high-end neighborhood. He didn’t earn that neighborhood with his salary. Probably born into money.

Paper-clipped to the inside back of the folder was a neatly typed dossier on the girl and her killer. I put the photos back in the folder, closed it, returned it the envelope. I’d read through the dossier when I got home before I touched the necklace. I’d need to know how to explain things. Explain what had happened, and what was going to happen as a result.

“Yo,” Tony said from behind the bar closest to me. “You want another?”

I nodded, and Tony took the bottle from the shelf. One of the regulars commented on how it wasn’t fair some people got special treatment. I ignored him, and Tony asked who the hell ever said life was fair.

Tony slid onto the bench across the table from me, setting the bottle between us. I’d known Tony for the better part of a two decades. We’d met as privates at Bragg, full of piss and vinegar and ready to make the world safer for democracy. Tony hadn’t changed much. Sure, his face sported a few more wrinkles, especially when he laughed, which he didn’t do too often, and his hair, what there was of it, was grayer. Still sported a high-and-tight, still wore combat boots and his dog tags. I was about four inches taller, not that I’m that tall, but Tony’s shoulders and chest were wider than mine. So was his gut. He tapped the bottle with his prosthetic hand.

“You expect me to pour it?”

I shrugged. “You’re the bartender. I’m the customer.”

“Customer my ass,” he said, pouring two more fingers in my glass. “You haven’t paid for a drink since I opened this place.”

Two more swallows emptied the glass. I set it down, and put my hand over it when Tony reached for the bottle again.

“What you got planned for the day?” he said.

“Usual. Go see the Sergeant. Go home and do some work. Talk to the client.”

Tony frowned. He never said it out loud, but what I do scared him. He’d left the life behind after catching bullets in the elbow and bicep. Opened The Supply Room, got married to his high school sweetheart, had two beautiful kids before cancer took his wife. I’m sure Management paid Tony well when he mustered out. I never asked Tony, and I hadn’t spoken directly with Management since they’d hired me.

“How’s the Sergeant doing?”

“Shitty most days, but he’s been like that as long as I’ve known him.”

The next part of the conversation went unspoken. Tony knew my father was a sore spot, and he didn’t poke it. I slid out of the booth, putting the manila envelope under my arm.

“Catch you later.”

“Roger that,” Tony said, policing the table before returning to the bar.

Tags: fiction

Our every-other-Sunday 5E D&D game continues today. Terry DMed the first part of the campaign, running our characters through 5E conversions of AD&D’s Against the Cult of the Reptile God and the laughably bad The Forest Oracle. I’m DMing the game now with everyone running new characters.

In terms of campaign continuity, the first group of heroes are still out and about dealing the The Forest Oracle. Our new group of heroes have traveled to Dark Shelf (a site found in another AD&D adventure that I’m converting more or less on the fly) to investigate strange goings on at the quarry. So far, the heroes have discovered that the dwarven night shift at the quarry is actually a mob of goblins (moblins?). Among those goblins are a number of tunnel goblins, the second of three new monsters I’ve statted up for the game.

The heroes’ first foray into the quarry tunnels didn’t go well. A lack of common sense alerted goblin and human guards, and the heroes quickly found themselves outnumbered and nearly overwhelmed while enemy reinforcements could be heard echoing in the tunnels. With unconscious allies in tow, the heroes beat feet and found a hiding place in the wooded hills northeast of the quarry. Later the next day, the heroes limped back into Dark Quarry. They regrouped, recovered, and hired a couple of river guides. Heading up the river from the coast, the heroes found a way into what they rightly believe to be the lowest levels of the quarry. They defeated a couple of ooze para-elementals without too much trouble, and then the session ended.

Since Jesús, one of the players and a former student whom I taught many years ago, plays a parrot-themed aarakocra ranger whose favored enemies are goblins, the heroes have a solid idea about the capabilities of tunnel goblins even though they have yet to face them in combat. That’s likely to change today. Also, as the party has leveled up, I can pull out some tougher opposition for them. Might be a good excuse to try out a goblin swarm or two. Cue evil laughter.

Tunnel goblins excel at mining and underground construction. Goblin tribes use tunnel goblins as a skilled labor force as well as scouts and guards. With their innate nimbleness and magical ability to move through rock, tunnel goblins may prove to be more than a nuisance to unwary trespassers.

Goblin, Tunnel
Small humanoid (goblinoid), neutral evil

Armor Class 12
Hit Points 5 (2d6-2)
Speed 30 ft., climb 15 ft.

STR 8 (-1), DEX 14 (+2), CON 9 (-1), INT 9 (-1), WIS 12 (+1), CHA 7 (-2)

Skills Perception +3, Stealth +6
Senses darkvision 90 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages Common, Goblin
Challenge 1/8 (25 XP)

Keen Hearing. The tunnel goblin has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing.

Light Sensitivity. While in bright light, the tunnel goblin has disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

Nimble Escape. The goblin can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of its turns.

Actions

Multiattack. The tunnel goblin makes two attacks with its rocks. It makes the second rock attack roll with disadvantage.

Mining Tool. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2 (1d4) bludgeoning damage.

Rock. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 20/80 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4+2) bludgeoning damage.

Reactions

Rocky Step. When a tunnel goblin uses Nimble Escape and ends its turn out of line of sight of an enemy, it may make a rocky step as its reaction. The tunnel goblin merges with a stone surface. At the start of its next turn, it uses its reaction to exit a stone surface within 30 feet of its point of entry.

Tags: 5E D&D, AD&D, monsters

Well, my last blogpost was 4 August. It’s mid-October now. I might have set a new personal best for unproductivity. So, let’s review what’s been going on in my neck of the woods.

I’m back in the classroom, teaching 7th and 8th grade English and literature. Good times. The COVID procedures are working, but they have also proven to have a sort of mental weight. We’re a bit more than a month away from Thanksgiving. We’re finishing up our first quarter this week. It’s been close to exhausting.

The number of games I’m participating in has doubled thanks to remote gaming. For good or ill, this is not a pace I can maintain now that I’m back to work full-time. Consequently, I fear the week-day evening games must fall by the wayside. That means the Tuesday night Microlite and the Thursday night Fate Condensed games are likely defunct, which is a shame. They were both fun.

The every-other-Saturday d20 System game mashing together 3.5 D&D, d20 Modern, and Call of Cthulhu continues. We’ve been at it for several months. The PCs have gone from beginners to double-digit levels. I still envision the Grand Finale before Thanksgiving. Either the heroes will have gone back in time to save the future (which is their present), or else the Great Old Ones shall return and bring an end to everything.

The every-other-Sunday 5E D&D game also continues. Terry finished up running a couple of 1E adventures (Against the Cult of the Reptile God and the laughably bad The Forest Oracle) not too long ago. I took over the DMing, and everyone made up new characters, forming a group of adventurers who set out to tackle new problems while the original group Terry DMed are still engaged in The Forest Oracle. Along the way, we’ve got a nice little corner of a campaign world taking form. The new group of heroes have traveled to Dark Shelf to investigate strange goings on at the quarry.

Last of all, I celebrated the ninth anniversary of my heart attack this past weekend. Huzzah.

But back to 5E D&D. During our last Sunday session, the party found a slaughtered Traveling Folk family. The party was also ambushed by lynx spiders. My son Christopher’s character was paralyzed by spider venom and then dragged into a burrow. While the party was rescuing their paralyzed comrade, another PC was rendered helpless by spiders and dragged away into the darkness of their caves. Fortunately, the rest of the party managed to save both characters.

Lynx spiders hunt in packs, preferring to hide in tall grass or other similar vegetation in order to ambush their prey. These monstrous arachnids are indiscriminate eaters, just as likely to prey on wild animals as they are on unwary travelers. As hunting spiders, these creatures do not typically spin webs except to line the tunnels into their burrows.

Lynx Spider
Small beast, unaligned

Armor Class 14
Hit Points 9 (2d6+2)
Speed 40 ft., burrow 10 ft., climb 40 ft.

STR 10 (+0), DEX 18 (+4), CON 12 (+1), INT 3 (-4), WIS 13 (+1), CHA 6 (-2)

Skills Perception +3, Stealth +6
Senses blindsight 20 ft., darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages —
Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)

Grassy Camouflage. The spider has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide in grassy terrain.

Keen Sight. The spider has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

Pack Tactics. The spider has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the spider’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.

Spider Climb. The spider can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

Web Sense. While in contact with a web, the spider knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.

Web Walker. The spider ignores movement restrictions caused by webbing.

Actions

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2 (1d4) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw, taking 5 (2d4) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. If the poison damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, the target is stable but poisoned for 1 hour, even after regaining hit points, and is paralyzed while poisoned in this way.

Spit Venom. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 10/40 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (2d4) poison damage and blinded on a failed save (Constitution DC 11), or half as much damage on a successful one and not blinded. A blinded target repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the blinded condition on a success.

Tags: 5E D&D, Heart Attack, monsters

A new spell and a new monster, both inspired by crustaceans.

Cavitation of Bubbles
4th-level evocation

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M (a crustacean’s claw)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

You create a dome of bubbles on a solid surface within range. The dome is a hemisphere with a 20-foot radius and 1-foot thick walls. The multitude of bubbles make the dome opaque to sight, although light does refract through the bubbles.

When the dome appears, each creature within a square through which the bubbles pass must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature ends up inside dome in the space nearest to its starting space. On a successful save, the creature ends up outside the dome in the space nearest to its starting space.

The dome is an object that can be damaged and thus breached. Each 5-foot section of dome has AC 10 and 3 hit points, and it is vulnerable to piercing damage. Reducing a 5-foot section of dome to 0 hit points destroys that section. Each creature within 10 feet of the destroyed section must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 5d6 thunder damage and is stunned until the end of its next turn. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and is not stunned.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 4th.

“Crabmen are man-sized intelligent crabs. They walk upright on two pair of legs. The small pincers tipping the short arms above their legs are used for fine manipulation. The two longer arms end in large claws. Two slender eyestalks bob above the beak-like collection of mandibles which makes up the crabman’s mouth. Male crabmen are often brightly colored and females may be reddish-brown, green, or black” Monstrous Manual, page 47. (Nota Bene: That’s an affiliate link.)

Coastal Hunter-Gatherers. Crabmen live in tribal groups in coastal regions. Most of the time, crabmen are peaceful, content to hunt sealife and gather molluscs and aquatic plants for food. Crabmen may raid coastal towns, especially during times when food is scarce or their territories are threatened. Crabmen covet shiny metal, especially silver-colored metal. Crabmen lair in coastal caves and some of the time dig burrows into seaside cliffs. These burrows consist of tunnels radiating from a common chamber, each tunnel leading to a crabman’s lair.

Xenophobes. Crabmen speak only their own language of hisses and clicks. Humanoids lack the anatomy to speak the crabmen’s tongue in anything other than the most rudimentary manner. Even then, crabmen seldom listen. They have little to no desire to communicate or associate with other intelligent creatures.

Predator and Prey. Sahuagin view crabman legs and claws as tasty delicasies. Crabmen in turn hate sahuagin more than any other creature.

Crabman
Medium monstrosity, neutral

Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 32 (5d8+10)
Speed 25 ft., swim 15 ft.

STR 17 (+3), DEX 10 (+0), CON 15 (+2), INT 8 (-1), WIS 11 (+0), CHA 9 (-1)

Skills Survival +2
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Crabman
Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Amphibious. The crabman can breathe air and water.

Regrowth. After a long rest, the crabman regrows severed limbs and damaged eyestalks.

Actions

Multiattack. The crabman makes two pincer attacks.

Pincer. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) bludgeoning damage.

Crabman Hunter
Medium monstrosity, neutral

Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 75 (10d8+30)
Speed 25 ft., swim 15 ft.

STR 18 (+4), DEX 10 (+0), CON 16 (+3), INT 10 (+0), WIS 13 (+1), CHA 11 (+0)

Skills Perception +3, Stealth +2, Survival +3
Damage Resistances bludgeoning from nonmagical weapons
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages Crabman
Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Amphibious. The crabman hunter can breathe air and water.

Keen Sight and Smell. The crabman hunter has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight or smell.

Regrowth. After a long rest, the crabman hunter regrows severed limbs and damaged eyestalks.

Actions

Multiattack. The crabman hunter makes two pincer attacks. If the crabman hunter is grappling a creature, the crabman hunter can also use its bite once.

Pincer. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+4) bludgeoning damage. The target is grappled (escape DC 13) if it is a Medium or smaller creature and the crabman hunter doesn’t have two other creatures grappled.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4+4) bludgeoning damage. If the target is grappled, the crabman hunter attacks with advantage.

Crabman Elder
Large monstrosity, neutral

Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 142 (15d10+60)
Speed 25 ft., swim 15 ft.

STR 20 (+5), DEX 10 (+0), CON 18 (+4), INT 12 (+1), WIS 15 (+2), CHA 13 (+1)

Skills Perception +5, Survival +5
Damage Resistances bludgeoning
Senses blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages Crabman (may understand one or more other languages)
Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)

Amphibious. The crabman elder can breathe air and water.

Keen Sight and Smell. The crabman elder has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight or smell.

Regeneration. The crabman elder regains 10 hit points at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point. After a long rest, the crabman elder regrows severed limbs and damaged eyestalks.

Actions

Multiattack. The crabman elder makes two pincer attacks. If the crabman elder is grappling a creature, the crabman elder can also use its bite once.

Pincer. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6+5) bludgeoning damage. The target is grappled (escape DC 15) if it is a Large or smaller creature and the crabman elder doesn’t have two other creatures grappled.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d4+5) bludgeoning damage. If the target is grappled, the crabman elder attacks with advantage.

Tags: 5E D&D, monsters, spells