Spes Magna Games

So, got off to a late start with posts this week. Say, “La vee.” “La vee.”

Continuing with my slow romp through the AD&D Monster Manual, I left behind the anhkheg for another giant arthropod. Yes, that’s right. The giant ant. Giant ants are scary. They’re fast, hard to hurt, and often encountered in large numbers. Among those large numbers? Giant warrior ants that will sting you (probably) to death. Oddly (to me), Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorer’s Edition doesn’t have giant ants already statted.

(Even more oddly, there are no gorillas or killer apes, but that’s a later post. Also, nota bene: Those previous two links are affiliate links. If you click and buy, I get a few pennies.)

And so, without further ado:

Giant Ant

Giant ants are, well, ants that are really big. Giant warrior ants are even bigger and have a venomous sting. Giants ants are territorial aggressive. It is doubtful that any of them would make a good pet.

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d6
Skills: Climbing d6, Fighting d4, Notice d6
Charisma: —
Pace: 9
Parry: 4
Toughness: 6 (2)
Special Abilities:

Armor: +2.

Bite: STR+d6.

Pheromones: The giant ant communicates via pheromones. It can convey simple messages (“Danger!” or “Attack!”, for example) as well as lay down a trail for other giant ants to follow. The giant ant gets a +4 bonus to Notice rolls when detecting pheromones.

Size -1: The giant ant reaches lengths of about a yard.

Wall Walker: The giant ant can walk on vertical surfaces at Pace 9.

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Giant Warrior Ant

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d8, Strength d10, Vigor d8
Skills: Climbing d6, Fighting d6, Notice d6
Charisma: —
Pace: 9
Parry: 5
Toughness: 7 (2)
Special Abilities:

Armor: +2.

Bite: STR+d4. If the giant warrior ant hits with its bite, it may sting without the multi-action penalty.

Sting: STR+d4 plus Venomous Poison.

Pheromones: The giant warrior ant communicates via pheromones. It can convey simple messages (“Danger!” or “Attack!”, for example) as well as lay down a trail for other giant ants to follow. The giant warrior ant gets a +4 bonus to Notice rolls when detecting pheromones.

Size -1: The giant warrior ant reaches lengths of about a four feet.

Wall Walker: The giant ant can walk on vertical surfaces at Pace 9.

Tags: monsters, Savage Wednesday, Savage Worlds

I started watching season one of Cleverman on Netflix. I’m two episodes in, and it’s pretty good. Australian history and mythology blend with science-fiction, dystopia, and a bit of horror. Central to the story are the Hairypeople (or Hairies), a non-human humanoid people who entered the “real world” from the Dreaming on what is called Emergence Day.

The Hairies are drawn from Australian mythology, such as from the Gamilaraay and Bundjalung peoples. Stronger and faster than humans, heavy facial and body hair cover Hairies, who also have thick, almost talon-like fingernails as well as brightly colored eyes. A Hairy is sufficiently human in appearance to pass as human with shaving, nail-trimming, and the wearing of tinted contact lenses.

Of course, watching the first two episodes this week reminded me of Chaosium’s Terror Australis for Call of Cthulhu. So, with that in mind, here are the Hairyfolk. (N.B. Those previous two links are affiliate links.)

Hairypeople (Lesser Independent Race)

STR 3d6+6 (16-17)
CON 3d6+3 (13-14)
SIZ 2d6+6 (13)
INT 2d6+6 (13)
POW 3d6+3 (13-14)
DEX 3d6+6 (16-17)
APP 3d6 (10-11)
Hit Points 15-16
Move 10

Weapon (Attack %, Damage)
Fist/Punch (50%, 1d3+1d4)
Kick (25%, 1d6+1d4)
Nails (35%, 1d4+1d4)

Armor 1 point of skin and hair
Spells Hairyfolk with a POW of 14 or more will know spells at the discretion of the Keeper. At least 1d4 spells will be known by such exceptional Hairyfolk.
Skills Climb 55%, Hide 25%, Jump 40%, Listen 35%, Sing 25%, Sneak 25%, Spot Hidden 35%, Swim 55%, Throw 30%, Track 35%
SAN None

Tags: Call of Cthulhu, horror, monsters

Okay, let’s be upfront. Today’s Tuesday Terror is not a terror, unless you’re evil or, worse yet, an evil cat. Mighty Mouse was created by Paul Terry to parody Superman. Mighty Mouse’s original name was Super Mouse, and he first appeared in an animated story titled The Mouse of Tomorrow. Super Mouse became Mighty Mouse in 1944, about two years after his creation, and he became an opera-singing hero in 1945, in part due to the widespread popularity of Mario Lanza.

Mr. Trouble never hangs around, when he hears this Mighty sound, “Here I come to save the day!” That means that Mighty Mouse is on the way! Yes, sir, when there is a wrong to right, Mighty Mouse will join the fight! On the sea or on the land, he’s got the situation well in hand! We know that when there’s danger, we’ll never despair; because, we know that when there’s danger he is there, on the land on the sea in the air. We’re not worrying at all. We just listen for his call, “Here I come to save the day!” That means that Mighty Mouse is on the way. When there is a wrong to right, Mighty Mouse will joint the fight. “Here I come to save the day!” That means that Mighty Mouse is on the way!

Mighty Mouse
Tiny humanoid (mouse), neutral good

Armor Class 19 (natural armor)
Hit Points 170 (20d4+120)
Speed 40 ft., fly 90 ft. (hover)

STR 20 (+5), DEX 20 (+5), CON 23 (+6), INT 11 (+0), WIS 16 (+3), CHA 18 (+4)

Saving Throws STR +10, DEX +10, CON +11, WIS +8
Skills Athletics +10, Insight +8, Intimidation +9, Investigation +5, Perception +8
Damage Resistances acid, force, necrotic, psychic, radiant; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from magical attacks
Damage Immunities cold, fire, lightning, poison, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 18
Languages Common
Challenge 15 (13,000 XP)

Flyby. Mighty Mouse doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks when he flies out of an enemy’s reach.

Flying Charge. If Mighty Mouse flies at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits with a slam attack on the same turn, that target takes an extra 7 (2d6) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Super-Senses. Mighty Mouse has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks related to sight and hearing. As a bonus action, his sense of sight works like a ring of x-ray vision with no danger of exhaustion.

Super-Strength. Mighty Mouse is treated as Gargantuan for purposes of using the Attack action to grapple or shove a creature. Mighty Mouse’s lifting and carrying capacities are equal to his Strength score multiplied by 120. Mighty Mouse deals double damage to objects and structures.

Actions

Multiattack. Mighty Mouse makes four attacks using his Slam, Cape Contrail, and/or Whirlwind attacks.

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d6+5) bludgeoning damage.

Cape Contrail. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: The target is grappled (escape DC 18). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained. It remains grappled for 1 minute or until it escapes the grapple. Mighty Mouse does not need to maintain the grapple.

Whirlwind. Mighty Mouse flies at least 40 feet in a circle to create a 5-foot-radius, 30-foot-tall cylinder of swirling air magically forms on the point around which he flies. The whirlwind lasts until the end of Mighty Mouse’s next turn. Any creature but Mighty Mouse that enters the whirlwind must succeed on a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be restrained by it. A creature can use its action to free a creature restrained by the whirlwind, including itself, by succeeding on a DC 18 Strength check. If the check succeeds, the creature is no longer restrained and moves to the nearest space outside the whirlwind.

Tags: 5E D&D, NPCs, Tuesday Terror

Archaeological evidence of specific persons and events from the ancient Near East is spotty and some of the time sketchy. For example, the Seal of King Ahaz. If memory serves, the Seal is now part of a private collection, and, as it was acquired via the antiquities market, its provenance is difficult to demonstrate conclusively. That said, the Seal is likely authentic. It bears an inscription that indicates it belonged to Ahaz, son of Jotham, and king of Judah.

Ahaz was king of Judah circa 732-716 B.C. He rejected an alliance with Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Damascus to oppose the Assyrians. Acting against the advice of Isaiah, Ahaz allied with the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III. Israel and Damascus both fell to the Assyrians. Ahaz swore fealty to Tiglath-Pileser III and the Assyrian gods, and he defiled the Temple and even sacrificed one or more of his sons to Moloch. Ahaz died at about the age of 36. His son Hezekiah became king, and Ahaz was refused burial in the sepulchre of kings. Hezekiah had the priests and Levites repair and reconsecrate the Temple. According to rabbinic literature, Hezekiah was saved by Abi, his mother, who annointed him with salamander blood, thus making it impossible for Moloch’s fire to harm him.

In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree. (The Second Book of Kings 16:1-4)

Seal of the Traitor King
Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)

This stone seal possesses dread magic. When smeared with blood and pressed against a surface, it invokes certain powers, depending on the type of blood used. In all cases where applicable, targets of one of the seal’s effects must make a DC 16 saving throw. The seal has 3 charges. Each use of the seal expends 1 charge. The seal regains 1d3 expended charges daily at dawn.

Beast Blood: The seal protects wards up to 2,500 square feet of floor space with the seal in the center of the warded area. This power duplicates the effects of guards and wards.

Monstrosity Blood: The seal creates explosive runes (see glyph of warding) as if cast using a 6th-level spell slot.

Humanoid Blood: The seal protects an area as a glyph of warding, but a creature who triggers the seal is targeted by bestow curse as if cast using a 6th-level spell slot.

Whenever a non-evil creature attunes to the seal, it must make a DC 16 Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, the creature’s alignment shifts one step closer to neutral evil, moving from lawful or chaotic before moving from good or neutral. For example, a lawful good creature who fails the saving throw becomes lawful neutral. A chaotic good creature who fails the saving throw becomes neutral good. Whenever the attuned creature expends a charge from the seal, the creature must make a DC 16 Charisma saving throw or suffer the same effect.

Tags: 5E D&D, Catholic, magic items

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned Ms. Marvel’s 1978 encounter with a race of lizard people who had mutated into an intelligent society from common desert reptiles due to atomic bomb testing. So-called saurians have been a staple in fantasy and science fiction for further back than the late 70s. For example, Edgar Rice Burroughs had the frightening Mahars, intelligent pteradon-like creatures with deadly psychic powers. (Click here for a look at one of these malevolent beasts.)

But back to Ms. Marvel. If memory serves, she held her own pretty well against those mutated lizards when it came to fisticuffs, but not so well when targeted by a psychic attack. Different saurians had different abilities, and some were capable of a sort of bolt of psychic energy. For last ThursdAD&D, I presented the sollersaurus, an intelligent raptor-like creature. Today, I add the cogitasaurus, which I see as a sort of behind-the-scenes leadership for saurians.

Cogitasaurus
Frequency: Rare
No. Appearing: 1 (1-6 in lair)
Armor Class: 5
Move: 12″
Hit Dice: 6+6
% in Lair: 45%
Treasure Type: Q, S, T
No. of Attacks: 2
Damage/Attack: 1-4/1-4
Special Attacks: See below
Special Defenses: See below
Magic Resistance: Standard
Intelligence: Exceptional
Alignment: Lawful neutral
Size: M (3′ tall, 6′ long)
Psionic Ability: 70-100
Attack/Defense Modes: A, B/F, G, H
Level/XP Value: VI/850 + 8/hp

The cogitasaurus is an intelligent saurian carnivore of exceptional intelligent. It possesses powerful psionic abilities, which is prefers to use in lieu of its claws. The cogitasaurus is bipedal, and it more closely resembles a humanoid-form that the sollersaurus. The cogitasaurus often rule over sollersauruses, using them as guards and mounts. It is unlikely (only 20% chance) that a cogitasaurus will be encountered outside its lair without 1-4 sollersauruses. A cogitasaurus lair is always protected by 1-4 sollersauruses per cogitasaurus.

The cogitasaurus has keen senses and infravision of the 90-foot variety. It is surprised only 1 in 6 times. The cogitasaurus has the following psionic abilities (performed at 6th-level mastery): animal telepathy, domination, and energy control. While the cogitasaurus cannot cast spells per se, it can read magic at will and utilize scrolls of all sorts as if it were a 6th-level caster.

The gaze of the cogitasaurus poses a special threat. Any avian or mammalian creature that meets the gaze of the cogitasaurus must make a saving throw versus paralyzation. Failure results in the victim being stunned for 2-8 rounds, dropping anything held in manipulative members. Creatures with more than 6 levels or hit dice receive a +4 bonus on the saving throw to resist the cogitasaurus’s gaze.

The cogitasaurus speaks the same tongue as the sollersaurus. The cogitasaurus has a 75% chance to understand 1-4 other languages, although the cogitasaurus lacks the vocal apparatus to speak most other tongues. Despite its intelligence, the cogitasaurus seldom makes use of much more than the simplest of tools.

Tags: AD&D, monsters, ThursdAD&D