Spes Magna Games

I dig goblins. They’re great little monsters. I liked them way back in may OD&D and AD&D days. When I got my hands on TSR’s excellent Oriental Adventures, I came to love goblins more thanks to the bakemono, those “cousins to the western goblins”. The bakemono are cool because “unlike the goblin, [they] come in a variety of differents shapes and sizes. No two [bakemonos] are alike.”

I have several goblin-related posts. There are the bakemono for the wonderful Fate Accelerated. For 5E D&D, I have ash goblins, goblin hags, two-headed goblins, and arctic charvogs. For AD&D and 5E, I’ve got goblin bombers. For OSR games, I’ve got That’s a Goblin!?, a supplement that presents 23 goblin mutations, 15 fey goblin abilities, 3 goblin subspecies, and 6 goblin tactical specialties.

And, for today, I’ve got the goblin swarm.

Large swarm of Small humanoids (goblinoids), neutral evil

Armor Class 15 (leather armor, shield)
Hit Points 44 (8d10)
Speed 30 ft.

STR 14 (+2), DEX 14 (+2), CON 10 (+0), INT 10 (+0), WIS 8 (-1), CHA 8 (-1)

Skills Stealth +4
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, slashing
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, prone, restrained, stunned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 9
Languages Common, Goblin
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

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

Swarm. The goblin swarm can occupy another creature’s space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a Small humanoid. The goblin swarm can’t regain hit points or gain temporary hit points. A creature in the goblin swarm’s space treats the goblin swarm’s space as difficult terrain.

Actions

Multiattack. Against creatures adjacent to the goblin swarm’s space, the goblin swarm can make up to three scimitar attacks. Against non-adjacent targets, the goblin swarm can make up to three shortbow attacks. Against a target in the swarm’s space, the goblin swarm can make one slashes attack. The goblin swarm cannot make more than one slashes attack on its turn. It cannot make more than three attacks on its turn. If the goblin swarm has half of its hit points or fewer, it cannot make more than two attacks on its turn.

Scimitar. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6+2) slashing damage.

Slashes. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 0 ft., one in the swarm’s space. Hit: 21 (6d6) slashing damage, or 10 (3d6) if the goblin swarm has half of its hit points or fewer.

Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6+2) piercing damage.

Tags: 5E D&D, monsters

I can count on one hand the number of Kickstarters I’ve backed. I don’t remember most of them. One that I remember produced a nice PDF (the level I bought in at), but I’ve never used it, and I’ve only ever skimmed it. The virtual book just didn’t grab me like I thought it would.

I’ve also backed James M. Spahn’s The Hero’s Journey (THJ hereafter). I’ve gotten PDFs of THJ, The Hero’s Companion, and The Hero’s Grimoire. I’m waiting on the print-on-demand copies. I also have the GM screen. I’ve not played THJ…yet. (Note Bene: The first THJ link is an affiliate link; if you click and buy, I get a few coppers.)

But I’m going to.

THJ started out as a variation on Swords & Wizardry: White Box (itself a great game). While vestiges of its White Box roots still show, THJ has moved into its second edition and become its own thing.

And I think it’s a great thing, and its greatness shows even in THJ’s introduction. Mr. Spahn concludes the introduction with these words:

“It’s not a perfect game but is a love letter to heroic fantasy and a heartfelt expression of gratitude to every player, Narrator, and fellow gamer that has walked with me on this long, strange journey we’ve taken together.”

THJ is heroic. It’s an expression of love and gratitude. It uses Oxford commas. Fabulous.

THJ has nine chapters, an appendix, and a character sheet. The first four chapters deal with character basics, character creation, and equipment. Chapter 5 covers how to play the game, covering about 19 pages with about half of those covering combat. Chapter 6 explains spells, divided into three groups: Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master. Chapters 7-9 are for the Narrator (the GM), and include how to be Narrator, a respectable selection of folk and foes, and many magic items, including Heirlooms, character-created items tied to the character’s Lineage.

So, let’s make up a character.

My character has six basic Attributes: Might, Finesse, Resolve, Insight, Bearing, and Weal. The values of the Attributes are determined by rolling a pool of d6s, and my character’s Lineage determines the number of dice in each pool. My character’s profession is also influenced by Lineage.

Lineages are changeling, dwarf, elf, half-elf, halfling, or human. I’m going dwarf. Two tables tell me about Attribute dice pools and Archetypes. Attributes are first.

Might: 2d6+6. I rolled a 13.
Finesse: 2d6+1. I rolled an 8.
Resolve: 2d6+6. I rolled another 13.
Insight: 3d6. I rolled a 10.
Bearing: 2d6+1. I rolled a third 13.
Weal: 3d6. I rolled yet another 13.

All of those Attributes fall into the “average” range of 7-14 and have no attribute bonuses. The thirteens are near the upper range of average. Finesse is on the opposite end of the range. So, my character is fairly strong, durable, and charming. Fate has almost noticed him enough to matter (that’s a function of Weal), but he’s a tad on the clumsy side. I revisit the Professions table and roll a 72, which makes my dwarf a stonemason. This gives him a large hammer, a chisel, and 2d6 x 10 gold pieces. I roll and get 90 gold pieces. I make note of my character’s Lineage abilities: By Axe and Hammer, Artisan’s Eye, Tough As Nails, Underground Senses, Magic & Poison Resistance, and Dark Vision.

Now for Archetype. As a dwarf, my character can be a Bard (4), Burglar (6), Knight (3), Ranger (4), Swordsman (7), Warrior (10), or Yeoman (6). He can’t be a Wizard. The numbers in parentheses are his level limits for each Archetype. I skim through the Archetypes. He has the Attribute requirements needed for any of the permitted Archetypes. Let’s go obvious and make him a Warrior.

That gives him 8 Endurance, a +1 attack modifier, and a saving throw of 15. He has no armor or weapon restrictions. Archetype abilities useful at 1st level are A Greater Valor Against Lesser Foes, Shattered Shield, Terrible Blows, and Weapon Specialization. He also gets Advantage on saving throws versus Grievous Blows and poison (the latter of which he already had from being a dwarf). Since he’s got a hammer, Weapon Specialization in hammer seems a no-brainer. It’s not the best weapon for damage out there, but if he wields it two-handed, his hammer does 1d8+2 damage, thanks to Terrible Blows and Weapon Specialization.

I spend 50 gold on plate armor and another 10 gold on a small shield. That leaves me with 30 gold for other equipment, which I’ll worry about later.

Tags: reviews

While caecilians appear worm-like or snake-like, they are limbless amphibians. The largest reach lengths of five feet. Their smooth, moist skin hides calcite scales, and the secretions that keep their skin moist contain a hemolytic toxin that destroys red blood cells. Caecilians are largely blind, able to perceive the presence of light. They burrow, using their strong skulls to force their way through soil. In water, they swim much like an eel. Caecilians have acute olfactory senses.

Caecilia are 30-foot-long wormlike creatures found in the D&D Expert Rulebook. They swallow their prey whole 10% of the time. This monster does not seem to have made the transition to later editions of D&D. Perhaps the Powers That Be didn’t see them as sufficiently different from the more dangerous purple worm, which appears in the same rulebook.

Whatever the reason, I figure a GM can’t have too many giant, voracious predators.

Caecilia
Huge monstrosity, unaligned

Armor Class 14 (natural)
Hit Points 126 (12d12+48)
Speed 25 ft., burrow 20 ft., swim 30 ft.

STR 24 (+7), DEX 11 (+0), CON 18 (+4), INT 1 (-5), WIS 10 (+0), CHA 4 (-3)

Saving Throws Con +7, Wis +3
Damage Resistances piercing from nonmagical weapons
Senses tremorsense 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 10
Languages —
Challenge 6 (2,300)

Amphibious. The caecilia can breathe air and water.

Keen Smell. The caecilia has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

Tunneler. The caecilia can burrow through solid rock at half its burrow speed and leaves a 5-foot-diameter tunnel in its wake.

Toxic Secretions. A creature that touches the caecilia or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 2 (1d4) poison damage.

Actions

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d6+7) piercing damage plus 5 (2d4) poison damage. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be swallowed by the caecilia. A swallowed creature is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the caecilia, and it takes 15 (6d4) acid damage at the start of each of the caecilia’s turns.

If the caecilia takes 15 damage or more on a single turn from a creature inside it, the worm must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, which fall prone in a space within 10 feet of the caecilia. If the caecilia dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse by using 20 feet of movement, exiting prone.

Tags: 5E D&D, monsters

Last week, Kiai! joined The Ways Of… in my DriveThruRPG store. Kiai! details a 20-level samurai class for 5E D&D, complete with samurai weapons, samurai armor, three samurai archetypes, and a dozen new spells.

In other similarly themed news, I’ve outlined the Bushi, Wu Jen, Shugenja, Sohei, and Yakuza as archetypes for core classes, but I’ve not made much progress on that document…so far. In a fit of boredom, I updated the dragonborn to fit an Oriental Adventures milieu, and I have vague plans for updating or creating other races, perhaps to include a plethora of humanoid animals inspired by the Japanese zodiac.

Our videoconference foray into The Lost City with four 3rd-level monks, each one using a different archetype from The Ways Of…, went well last week, but last night’s session got canceled due to me not feeling well. We’ll try again this coming Monday, and that session will likely see the inclusion of a fifth player running a samurai. It’ll be easy enough to work the new PC in by saying he was part of the original caravan that got caught in the sandstorm, with the samurai arriving at the lost city ahead of the others and eventually being taken in by the Warrior Maidens.

In other news, I’ve long enjoyed the OpenD6 Gaming System, and I adore the Mini Six version put about by AntiPaladin Games. You can get the Mini Six PDF for free, and, for at least the next week or so, you can get the print-on-demand softcover and PDF for less than $3 US.

Mini Six is less a complete RPG than it is an RPG toolkit. The system is easy to grok, and its major elements are modular, which means they can be used as-is, modified, or even ignored, depending on what sort of gaming experience you’re looking for. By way of example, Mini Six characters have four attributes: Might, Agility, Wit, and Charm. Do you want to run a high-magic game where every character is a wizard? Well, you can add Wizardry as an attribute. Going science fiction? You might want to include Tech as an attribute. Want to go minimalist? Reduce the attributes to two: Physical and Mental. Off a bizarre tangent and inspired by Freudian fever dreams? Id, Ego, and Superego might work as attributes.

In my spare time (which I have too much of this summer), I’ve started putting together a Mini Six player’s guide inspired by unequal parts of Mini Six, basic D&D, and RuneQuest. For this untitled project, I’ve expanded the attributes to the classic six from D&D and included themed perks related to class, race, and background. With class and race abilities turned into perks, it is possible to simulate a multi-classed character or a character with a multi-racial family tree.

(Nota Bene: Those last several links are affiliate links. If you click and buy, I get a few copper pieces.)

Tags: 5E D&D, Character Classes, Mini Six

The Ways Of…, which presents seven new monastic traditions for seven core races, seems to be doing well. I’ve gotten one three-star rating, which is okay, but also a bit irritating. Not that it’s three stars, mind you, but because I don’t know why it’s three stars instead of two or four. Tomorrow, I continue running The Lost City for four 3rd-level monks, each one using a different archetype from The Ways Of…. The first session went well, the only real problem due to laggy videoconferencing. (Nota Bene: That last link is an affiliate link. If you click and buy, I get a few copper pieces.)

I recently mused about what a 20-level samurai class for 5E D&D might look like. Those musings have been fleshed out into a document that includes said 20-level samurai class, three samurai archetypes, 12 new spells, and sidebars that briefly discuss samurai armor and weapons. I’ll be revising and editing the document more today and/or tomorrow before it too goes up on DriveThruRPG as a PWYW playtest supplement.

I have a few other Oriental Adventures-inspired ideas outlined. I’m probably going to put together a third OA-themed document, this one detailing subclasses. The bushi and sohei are fighter subclasses, the shugenja a cleric subclass, and the wu jen a wizard subclass. Likely the yakuza will get added in as a rogue subclass, but I’ve not outlined that one yet. I’m not sure about an OA-style barbarian subclass, and the assassin rogue archetype hits most of the ninja. More mulling over those that two must occur.

But none of that is what this post is about. This post is about a new 5E D&D monster.

Have you seen The Art of Stefan Koidl. No? Into the circle of shame you go. “Shame! Shame! Shame!” Now that those who deserve punishment have eaten their just desserts, let’s move on to the new monster. Since I don’t have the artist’s permission, I’m linking to today’s inspirational work of horror. If your SAN is low, don’t click here.

Hatiyara

The hatiyara is an undead monster that lairs in abandoned buildings or tunnel systems. In life, the hatiyara was an outcast, one who lived on the fringes of society, often surviving by begging and theft. In undeath, it survives by murder in order to consume the hands of its victims.

Medium undead, neutral evil

Armor Class 15 (natural)
Hit Points 90 (12d8+36)
Speed 30 feet

STR 17 (+3), DEX 12 (+1), CON 16 (+3), INT 8 (-1), WIS 13 (+1), CHA 15 (+2)

Skills Athletics +6, Sleight of Hand +4, Stealth +4, Perception +4
Damage Resistances cold, necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing not made with silvered weapons
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities exhaustion, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages the languages it knew in life
Challenge 5 (1,800)

Dimension Door. As part of its move, the hatiyara can pass through a portal (such as a doorway or a window) and appear in another portal within 60 feet. The hatiyara does not need to be able to see the destination portal.

Regrowth. The hatiyara regrows severed arms after a short or long rest. When it regrows a severed arm, its detached limbs cease to be active.

Actions

Multiattack. The hatiyara makes three attacks with its claws.

Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (2d4+3) slashing damage plus 2 (1d4) necrotic damage.

Reactions

Severed Arm. When the hatiyara takes slashing damage, it can choose to have one of its six arms be severed by the attack. The hatiyara takes no damage from the attack. As a bonus action, the hatiyara can control its severed arms as long as they remain within 30 feet of it. If more than 30 feet separates the hatiyara and a severed arm, the severed arm “dies” at the end of the hatiyara’s turn. A severed arm has a base speed of 15 feet. It has the hatiyara’s AC, resistances, and immunities. A severed arm has 9 hit points, and it can make one claws attack on its turn.

Tags: 5E D&D, Character Classes, monsters, samurai