Spes Magna Games

Back in the day, one of our favorite games was TSR’s Marvel Super Heroes. It was a simple, flexible system that handled heroes and villains of various power levels, from street-level crime fighters like Moon Knight to galactic defenders like Silver Surfer. TSR published several adventures for use the game. Almost all of them were pretty sparse if not closer to horrible, but they featured a variety of comic book characters. Part of the fun of the game was collecting the stats for published characters.

In our games, we never ran published heroes. Instead, we made up our own heroes, who the GM-of-the-Week pitted against a combination of original characters along side Marvel’s plethora of supers. In one fight atop a Manhattan skyscraper, my character, tired of Captain America’s moralizing, grabbed the Star-Spangled Avenger and tossed him off the roof. Another character went to toe to toe with the Rhino in a bare-knuckle brawl that ended in a draw.

And it’s that last point that leads to what I think is the one big flaw in the system. A hero with an Excellent (20) Strength does 20 points of damage with a punch. It’s simple. No dice roll required. Did you hit? 20 points of damage. You might get a Slam or Stun result, but you might not, especially if your foe has too much Body Armor.

Which was the problem in the fight with the Rhino. My character (an early version of the Mighty Jethro) was a nigh invulnerable cello player. He was kind of strong and sort of handy in a fist fight, but he wasn’t superhuman in either regard. Jethro squared off against the Rhino. Jethro couldn’t hit hard enough to hurt Rhino, and Rhino couldn’t hit hard enough to hurt Jethro. There were some clever moves (such as impaling a fire extinguisher on Rhino’s horn to temporarily blind him), and Rhino knocked Jethro through more than one wall, but, when all was said and done, neither character had inflicted a single point of damage on the other.

To an extant, this fits the genre. In a fist fight, no matter how hard he tries, Daredevil isn’t going to put a scratch on the likes of, say, Annihilus. Some villains are just too tough for some heroes to face head-on. That’s why the Avengers have relative light-weights like Black Widow fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with folks like Thor and Iron Man. Those two deal with the major threats, leaving Black Widow free to mop the floor with mooks and put her espionage skills into play.

In MSH, a d100 roll determines success or failure. The higher the number the better. I’ve been mulling over a way to add some variety to MSH’s static damage (and defense) values without adding more dice or dice rolls to the game. Here’s my initial idea:

Roll the d100. Determine success. Subtract the one’s digit from the ten’s digit. The difference modifies the acting character’s static value.

For example, the Mighty Jethro has an Excellent (20) Strength. He swings and hits with an 84. 8 – 4 = 4, and so Jethro’s punch does 24 points of damage. He throws another punch, and gets a 59. Still a hit, let’s say, but 5 – 9 = -4, and so his punch does 16 points of damage. Then, on the third round, he really connects with a 100. 10 – 0 = 10, and his punch does 30 points of damage.

I think this is a pretty solid idea. I’m also toying with the idea that the color result on the FEAT table would further modify the value. A white would still be a failure. A green would be no modifier, whereas yellow would equal +X and red would equal +X+Y. I’m not sure what X and Y would equal. Probably +5 and +10, respectively, just to keep the math a bit easier to mentally calculate.

Thus, with that 100 dice roll, Jethro would score a red result with his punch, adding 20 points to his Strength damage. For that one punch, he’d hit as hard as Spider-Man does with an average result.

Tags: Marvel Super Heroes

Thanks to the generosity of a friend, I got me a copy of the Mutants & Masterminds Deluxe Hero’s Handbook by Green Ronin Publishing, LLC. (Nota Bene: That’s an affiliate link.) It’s a lovely book. Great art throughout, easy-to-read double-column format, et cetera. It’s got some neat stuff, including a spiffy Quickstart Character Generation section, which I’ve used to help me figure out hero creation. The MMDHH is the third edition of Mutants & Masterminds, and it bills itself as “The World’s Greatest Superhero RPG!” It’s not, but it’s still a solid system that I’d love to play, but probably less-than-love to GM.

The first and second editions of Mutants & Masterminds are both too fiddly and too slow (in my opinion) to be a really enjoyable superhero RPG from a GM’s perspective. Those editions aren’t as fiddly and slow as Champions, but few games I’ve played over the past four decades can match Champions in slow fiddliness.

The third edition Mutants & Masterminds resembles the first two editions in big ways at first glance. It’s still sort of a d20 System game, but it deviates from that system enough that it’s closer to its own system than not. It feels like gameplay would be faster than the earlier editions, but only once the differences are learned. I’ve only run a short trial combat with one player to try to get a feel for the new edition. We both had plenty of questions about how to do this, that, or the other thing. Thus, our brief playtest had numerous interruptions, but, like I said, that’s more due to the newness of the edition as compared to what we’re accustomed to with Mutants & Masterminds.

One thing that’s still the same is how much I enjoy making up heroes using the system, and I do think the third edition improves on the earlier ones in this regard. There’s still more math and accounting than I’d normally want to bother with to make up a character, but it’s math and accounting that’s kind of enjoyable. It’s fun to come up with a character concept, to take 150 points, and then to figure out how to turn those 150 points into that character. This is, I think, the strongest feature of the system in any edition, especially when I consider the system as a GM.

I am not a fan of having to crunch numbers in order to come up with adversaries and what not for a group of players. That sort of ciphering is the major factor that turned me off on GMing Pathfinder. It’s too much like work, and, for me, the simplicity of an AD&D stat block wins the day against the complexity of a Pathfinder stat block. I’m also not a fan of systems in which adversaries are built using the same rules used for player characters.

But, because I enjoy making up Mutants & Masterminds characters, that sort of number-crunching doesn’t bother me with Green Ronin’s superhero game. Taking a villain from concept to finished product with Mutants & Masterminds both amuses and relaxes in ways that creating a level-appropriate NPC in Pathfinder ceased doing months before I retired from that game system.

I want to play the new Mutants & Masterminds. If that happens, it probably means I’ll end up having to GM the game. My gaming group’s track record with superhero games is spotty at best. The most success we had was with the excellent Marvel Heroic Roleplaying. That campaign went on for a good while (and then we lost half the players). Our two or three attempts at superhero campaigns using earlier editions of Mutants & Masterminds and even my own Four Color Hack all fizzled out pretty quick.

But I digress.

The main point of this point is show off that great picture of Double-Header. The artist is Chris Schweizer, who graciously agreed to let me use the piece for this post. This sentence is a link to Mr. Schweizer’s Patreon site. This sentence links to an article about Mr. Schweizer with links to places related to his work.

Double-Header stands out in the category of wannabe superheroes. He had the will but not the ability. Among Double-Header’s liabilities? In addition to his complete lack of superpowers or noteworthy skills, Double-Header was a member of an alien race who “twin” as they mature, eventually separating into two adults. Double-Header isn’t a guy with two heads. He’s two guys sharing a body until such a time as they reach a level of maturity resulting in separation. Among Double-Header’s people, twins love and help each other. Not in Double-Header’s case. They couldn’t stand each other.

My version of Double-Header can function as a superhero. They’ve got powers and abilities suitable for the gig. While they’re not terribly fond of each other all the time, they do get along well enough to function as a team. Also, my version isn’t an alien. They’re human mutants, super-powered conjoined twins.

If you click on the pic of Double-Header, it opens up a PDF of their character sheet.

Tags: Mutants & Masterminds, superhero games, TFCH

Today, I take a break from converting creatures found in the AD&D Monster Manual. Instead, I look within the pages of TSR’s Star Frontiers. (N.B. Those are affiliate links.) I’ve drawn inspiration from Star Frontiers once before, retooling the rasties for use with 5E D&D. You can check that post out here. As usual for Savage Wednesday, I’m using Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorer’s Edition. (N.B. That’s an affiliate link also.)

Dralasite

Dralasites are short, rubbery aliens that have no bones or hard body parts. Their skin is a flexible membrane that is very tough and scratchy. It is generally dull gray and lined with dark veins that meet at the Dralasite’s two eyespots.

The internal structure of a Dralasite is very different from the other races. The Dralasite’s central nerve bundle (brain), numerous small hearts and other organs float in a pudding-like mixture of protein and organic fluids. Dralasites breathe by absorbing oxygen directly through their skin, so they have no lungs. They are omnivores, but eat by surrounding their food and absorbing it, so they have also have no digestive tract or intestines.

All Dralasites go through male, female and neutral stages during their lives (these phases can be controlled with medicines). Males release spores into the air, which drift until they become attached to a female. A young Dralasite then “sprouts” from its mother, eventually maturing and dropping off.

Elasticity. A Dralasite’s skin is stretchable and supported by a complex muscle structure. A Dralasite can change the shape of its body, growing arms and legs to use for walking and handling tools or weapons. The Dralasite reabsorbs limbs when they aren’t needed. A Dralasite can have a number of limbs equal to 1 plus half Agility. Growing or absorbing a limb takes five minutes. Only one limb can be grown or absorbed at a time. A limb can be up to 1 yard long. Regardless of the number of limbs, a Dralasite with more than two arms is limited to one extra non-movement action that incurs no multi-action penalty.

Hard to Kill. A Dralasite’s lack of internal organs and bones lets a Dralasite ignore wound modifiers when forced to make a Vigor roll due to Incapacitation.

Keen Olfactory Senses. Since a Dralasite breathes directly through its skin, that entire membrane is an olfactory sensory organ. A Dralasite gets a +2 to Notice when using its sense of smell or taste.

Lie Detection. A Dralasite has an innate sensitivity to spoken falsehoods. A Dralasite gets a +2 to Notice when to see if other characters are lying.

Slower. A Dralasite has a Pace of 5.

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Vrusk

Vrusk look like large insects. Eight legs grow from their abdomen, four on each side. Their torso is upright in front of the abdomen. The torso is humanoid, with two arms connected at the shoulders. The head is above the shoulders. Vrusk hands are circular pads with five fingers spaced evenly around the edge. A Vrusk’s shoulders are double-jointed, so they can rotate their arms in a full circle without straining any muscles. They can reach any point on their abdomen or behind the backs easily.

A Vrusk’s body is covered by a carapace (hard shell). This shell is jointed at the Vrusk’s elbows, hips, knees, etc. The carapace protects the Vrusk from bruises, cuts, scratches and other minor injuries. Unlike insects, Vrusk have an internal skeleton to support their bodies. Young Vrusk have a blue carapace with bright orange near the joints. As the Vrusk gets older, its carapace changes to dull green with yellow joints.

Vrusk have large eyes that are protected by a hard, clear covering. The mouth is surrounded by four eating mandibles. The two larger mandibles hold food while the small ones tear it apart and place it in the mouth. They are omnivores. Vrusk have lungs, and breathe through many small nostrils under the abdomens. This arrangement makes it difficult from Vrusk to swim.

Ambidexterous. A Vrusk can use both hands equally well and does not suffer the normal -2 penalty when performing physical tasks with the off-hand.

Carapace. A Vrusk’s carapace provides +2 Armor. Armor-piercing weapons may negate this protection.

Comprehension. Vrusk society is a complicated maze of mercantile and family structures. A Vrusk is adept at navigating social situations. A Vrusk has a free d6 in Persuasion or Streetwise (player’s choice).

Scuttle Quickly. A Vrusk has a Pace of 10.

Trouble Swimming.. A Vrusk has a -2 penalty to Swimming rolls.

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Yazirian

Yazirians are tall, thin humanoids. They have long arms and legs and slender torsos. Two large flaps of skin grow on either side of their bodies, attached along their arms, torso and legs. When a Yazirian raises its arms, this membrane is stretched tight and forms a sort of wing.

Yazirians have muzzles and high foreheads, giving them an animal-like appearance. Their heads are surrounded by manes and collars of hair, which varies in color from glossy black to pale yellow. Their skin color ranges from gray to light tan. Because their bodies do no sweat, Yazirians pant to keep cool. They are omnivores.

Yazirians have four knuckles (one more than Humans) on their fingers and toes. The inside toe is opposed like a thumb, allowing them to grasp things with their feet. The tips of their fingers and toes end in broad, ribbed pads, giving them excellent grip. These characteristics, combined with their animal-like appearance, earned them the nickname “monkeys.”

Agile. A Yazirian starts with a d6 in Agility.

Battle Rage. A Yazirian may become enraged in combat. This ability is equivalent to the Berserk Edge.

Excellent Climber. A Yazirian has a free d6 in Climbing.

Gliding. Yazirians can glide short distances using the membranes along their sides. To do so, a Yazirian must start at least 5″ (10 yards) above the ground. A Yazirian glides up to 1″ (2 yards) for every inch of altitude at the start the start of the glide. Glide speed equals Pace.

Low-Light Vision. Yazirians are nocturnal. A Yazirian can see in all but pitch black conditions and ignores penalties for Dim and Dark lighting. A Yazirians eyes are sensitive to light. Without protective goggles, a Yazirian has a -2 penalty to attack rolls and cannot see targets farther away than 10″ when lighting is not Dim or Dark.

Tags: Savage Wednesday, Savage Worlds

Many, many years ago, I had a stable of AD&D characters. The chief among them was the dwarf fighter/thief Lord Korbok, about whom I’ve written here. Another character of mine that saw play up until the late-80s was a high cleric named Morgaf. His claim to fame was his gauntlets of ogre power and magic hammer. Morgaf made it to about 7th or 8th level as a cleric. He was as likely to wade into melee as he was cast a spell. One of Morgaf’s favorite spells was sticks to snakes, especially against an enemy archer. A quiver full of arrows suddenly holding a bit more than a half dozen snakes (about 35% of them venomous) tended to spoil the enemy archer’s aim.

For some reason, 5E D&D doesn’t include sticks to snakes in the Player’s Handbook. The spell might appear in one of the many additional books published for 5E, but, if so, I don’t own that book. So, here’s my 5E version of the classic AD&D cleric spell plus a new spell.

And which of you, if he ask his father bread, will he give him a stone? Or a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he reach him a scorpion? (The Gospel According to St. Luke 11:11-12)

Sticks to Snakes
1st-level transmutation

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a small piece of bark and several snake scales)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

By means of this spell, you change one stick or stick-like wooden object that you can see within range into a constrictor snake. As long as you concentrate, you can use a bonus action to verbally command the snake to move and attack on your turn. If you don’t issue any commands to the snake, it defends itself from hostile creatures, but otherwise takes no actions. If your concentration is broken, the snake does not disappear. Instead, it is no longer under your control, and it will act as the DM determines. Regardless, the snake reverts to its original form 1 minute after you transmuted it or when it is dropped to 0 hit points.

The stick or stick-like object you target cannot be larger than a javelin and it must be nonmagical. If the stick or stick-like object is in the possession of a creature, that creature is permitted a Will save. If successful, the spell has no effect. Otherwise, the snake moves immediately into a space adjacent to the creature.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a slot of 2nd level or higher, you can target an additional stick or stick-like wooden object for each slot level above 1st. Roll 1d6 for each object transmuted. On a 5-6, the spell transmutes the object into a giant poisonous snake instead of a constrictor snake.

Venomous Banquet
3rd-level transmutation

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a snake’s fang)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour

Choose a point you can see within range when you cast this spell. An amount of food sufficient to sustain three humanoids or one steed within 15 feet of the point you chose transmutes into either a swarm of poisonous snakes or a swarm of scorpions (use swarm of poisonous snakes statistics for both, but the swarm of scorpions has no swim speed). A swarm created by this spell reverts to its original form when it drops to 0 hit points or when the spell ends.

The summoned swarm is friendly to you and your companions. Roll initiative for the swarm, which has its own turns. The swarm obeys any verbal commands that you issue to it (no action required by you). If you don’t issue any commands to the swarm, it defends itself from hostile creatures, but otherwise takes no actions.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell with certain higher-level spell slots, you cause more swarms to appear: two swarms with a 5th-level slot, four swarms with an 7th-level slot, and six swarms with a 9th-level slot.

Tags: 5E D&D, AD&D, Catholic, spells

It’s been months since I cracked open my AD&D Deities & Demigods. When I last did, I presented from the Finnish Mythos the Son of Pohjola, an evil hero and one of the few entries from the Deities & Demigods that I ever used as a villain while DMing. Today, I finish up the Finnish Mythos with Ukko’s warriors, the wise and fierce air maidens.

(Nota Bene: The link the previous paragraph is an affiliate link. You click and buy, I get a bit of money.)

These powerful warriors will be sent by Ukko only when his worshipers face certain death at the hands of demons, devils or very powerful evil characters. … An air maiden appears as a winged human with a sword, garbed in flowing robes, and glowing with a brilliant light. … When sent by Ukko, a maiden will first advise the worshiper as to the best course of action, using telepathy; if necessary, a maiden will enter combat thereafter. … Should an air maiden be slain before her mission is completed, another will immediately appear. If a maiden is slain, she and all her possessions (including [her] sword) will vanish. (Deities & Demigods, page 62).

Air Maiden
Medium celestial, lawful good

Armor Class 19 (natural armor, shield)
Hit Points 136 (16d8+64)
Speed 60 ft., fly 120 ft. (hover)

Ability Scores STR 20 (+5), DEX 18 (+4), CON 19 (+4), INT 18 (+4), WIS 19 (+4), CHA 19 (+4)

Saving Throws STR +9, CON +8, INT +8, WIS +8, CHA +8
Damage Resistances fire
Damage Immunities cold
Skills Intimidation +8, Insight +8, Medicine +8, Perception +8, Persuasion +8, Religion +8
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 18
Languages Auran, Celestial, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 11 (7,200 XP)

Air Maiden Sword. The air maiden’s sword attacks are magical. They inflict an extra 4d8 cold damage (included in the attack).

Extinguish Flame (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). As a bonus action, the air maiden can extinguish all nonmagical flames within 30 feet.

Innate Spellcasting. The air maiden’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 16). She can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

2/day each: fog cloud, thunderwave
1/day each: call lightning, gust of wind, shatter, sleet storm

Magic Resistance. The air maiden has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Spellcasting. The air maiden is a 7th-level spellcaster as both a cleric and a wizard. She can prepare both 11 cleric spells and 11 wizard spells in slots up to 7th level. Her spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 16, +8 to hit with spell attacks). The air maiden has the following spells prepared:

Cantrips (at will): dancing lights, friends, guidance, mending, message, ray of frost, sacred flame, thaumaturgy
1st Level (4 slots): alarm, bless, detect evil and good, detect magic
2nd Level (3 slots): aid, find traps, misty step, prayer of healing, see invisibility
3rd level (3 slots): dispel magic, fear, lightning bolt, slow, speak with dead
4th level (3 slots): death ward, freedom of movement, greater invisibility
5th level (2 slots): cure wounds*, confusion*
6th level (1 slot): conjure minor earth elementals*
7th level (1 slot): ice storm*

*The air maiden prepares these spells and typically casts them using the higher level spell slots.

Actions

Multiattack. The air maiden makes three sword attacks. The air maiden’s sword scores a critical hit on a roll of 18-20.

Sword.. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8+5) slashing damage plus 18 (4d8) cold damage.

Turn Undead (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). The air maiden can channel divine energy to turn undead. Each undead that can see or hear the air maiden within 30 feet must make a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage. Undead of CR 1/2 or lower are destroyed rather than turned.

Tags: 5E D&D, Deities & Demigods, monsters, Tuesday Terror