Spes Magna Games

Over in the OSR Google group, Iacopo Maffi suggested folks create an OSR Christmas calendar. He also suggested a specific theme for each day. Here’s my first day, presented in both 1E and 5E flavors.

In the woods not too far from the village? Strange happenings. Animals are more skittish, and no one has heard birdsong for at least a fortnight. Nights seem darker, colder. Animals are more skittish, and no one has heard birdsong for at least a fortnight. On the nights of the full moon, an impossible metal tower rises among the trees. A monstrous women dwells in the tower. What does she look like? Who knows? We know she’s there. Everyone has heard her hellish screams echoing in the tower’s bulbous superstructure. Those brave enough to approach the tower during the night when the moon is full have heard pounding and scratching, trying to break free. What are we doing about it? We’re farmers and herders. What can we but wait?

Rapunzhel is the tormented revenant of a young woman drowned in a water tower due to a cruel prank perpetrated by several of her classmates in the 1960s in a small town in southern Georgia. The water tower became unmoored from any specific reality, and now it shifts from world to world, seemingly at random. The tower always appears near a rural community of modest size. It remains for several months, but only becomes visible and material during the nights of the full moon. Most nights, Rapunzhel remains trapped in the tower, raging against her fate and her captivity. She always manages to escape, however, and, driven by her mad rage, she fills the night with blood and horror. When dawn breaks after her rampage, she and the tower vanish, shifting to another world.

Rapunzhel is a water-bloated corpse, moist and rotting. Her white hair writhes and flails, twisting and stretching and seeking. Her weeping eyes blaze with feral hatred.

1E Stats
Frequency: Very rare (unique?)
No. Appearing: 1
Armor Class: 5
Move: 15″//15″
Hit Dice: 8
% in Lair: 90%
Treasure Type: Nil
No. of Attacks: 2 + special
Damage/Attack: 1-6/1-6 + special
Special Attacks: Entangle
Special Defenses: See below
Magic Resistance: Standard
Intelligence: Average
Alignment: Neutral evil
Size: M (5-1/2′ tall)
Psionic Ability: Nil
Attack/Defens Modes: Nil
Level/XP Value: VII/1,075 XP + 10 XP/hp

Rapunzhel attacks with her talons and her wildly flailing hair has grown to impossible lengths in her undeath. Her hair attacks up to 1d4 medium-sized targets within 10 feet. A small-sized target counts as 1/2 a target, and a large-sized target counts as two targets, et cetera. Targets struck by her hair must make a saving throw versus paralyzation or become entangled in a mass of squirming, constricting hair. One per round on its turn, an entangled target may attempt to escape the hair by making a successful bend bars/lift gates check; otherwise, the target takes 1d4 points of damage from constriction. A creature not entangled in hair may use an edged weapon to cut the hair, which is AC 5 and takes 8 hit points to cut through; all hit points must be inflicted by same creature.

Rapunzhel cannot be harmed by nonmagical weapons. Once per round, when she is missed by a melee attack, Rapunzhel may immediately teleport without error to another spot she can see that is no farther than 9″ away. Being undead, she is immune to sleep, charm, poison, and effects that require a living target. She swims quickly and easily, and she has no need to breathe. Rapunzhel can be turned as if she were a vampire.

5E Stats
Medium undead, neutral evil

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 127 (15d8+60)
Speed 40 ft., swim 40 ft.
Ability Scores STR 18 (+4), DEX 16 (+3), CON 18 (+4), INT 10 (+0), WIS 15 (+2), CHA 13 (+1)
Saving Throws Dex +6, Wis +5
Damage Immunities necrotic, poison; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, poison
Senses darkvision 90 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages English
Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)

Actions

* Multiattack: Rapunzhel makes three attacks: twice with her claws and once with her hair.

* Claws: Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+4) slashing damage and 7 (2d6) necrotic damage.

* Hair: Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d4+4) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 15). Until this grapple ends, the creature is restrained. Rapunzhel’s hair continues to constrict each grappled target once per round at the end of Rapunzhel’s turn for 1 minute or until the target escapes.

Reactions

* Defensive Teleport: Once per round, when a creature misses Rapunzhel with a melee attack, Rapunzhel may teleport up to 20 ft. as a reaction, doing so at the end of the turn of the creature that triggered this ability.

Tags: 1E AD&D, 5E D&D, horror, monsters, OSR Christmas Calendar

Aggressive and territorial, bunyips hunt wild swamplands. Combining features of a hippo, a crocodile, and a great cat, a bunyip has a bulky body covered by thick flesh and dark fur. A bunyip’s legs are squat, ending in broad paws with webbed toes. Its stubby, wide tail is used as a rudder when it swims. At the end of its powerful neck is a fearsome head with strong jaws full of sharp teeth. The bunyip is most active at night when it uses its tremorsense to detect prey moving through the water.

Roars in the Night. Bunyips are largely solitary and territorial, and a bunyip aggressively defends its territory against other predators. A bunyip’s first line of defense against trespassers is its terrifying roar. Swamps that are home to bunyips often echo from sundown to sunrise with distant roars.

A Sudden Attack. Bunyips are ambush predators. Although not especially nimble or quiet when moving, a bunyip can lurk still and silent, often submerged, for long periods of time until suitable prey is detected. Then, the bunyip surges to attack with its powerful jaws.

Bunyip
Huge beast, unaligned

Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 57 (6d12+18)
Speed 25 ft., swim 50 ft.
Ability Scores STR 23 (+6), DEX 9 (-1), CON 17 (+3), INT 3 (-4), WIS 10 (+0), CHA 7 (-2)
Skills Stealth +2 (in natural habitat when motionless)
Senses tremorsense 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages —
Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Ambush Predator: When motionless in its natural habitat, a bunyip is difficult to notice. Wisdom (Perception) checks to notice a hidden bunyip are made with disadvantage. If a bunyip surprises a creature and hits it with an attack during the first round of combat, the target takes an extra 11 (2d10) damage from the attack.

Hold Breath: The bunyip can hold its breath for 30 minutes.

Actions

* Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d10+6) slashing damage.

* Roar (Recharge 5-6): The bunyip emits a terrifying roar. Each creature within 60 feet of the bunyip and able to hear the roar must make a saving throw. Each creature that fails a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw is frightened for 1 minute. A frightened creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Tags: 5E D&D, monsters

A charvog is a squat, broad-shouldered goblinoid. Its facial features somewhat resemble a cross between a human and a cat or an ape. It has powerful arms, noticeably thicker and longer than its legs. A charvog’s most noteworthy feature are the sword-length projections of serrated, spiked bone that grow from its forearms past the elbow. Note only does a charvog use these bony growths in combat, smashing and stabbing with berserk ferocity, the monster races quickly across ice by dropping to all fours. It uses the bony growths like sled runners, pushing itself with its legs.

Charvog
Medium humanoid (goblinoid), chaotic evil

Armor Class 14 (leather armor)
Hit Points 13 (2d8+4)
Speed 25 ft.
Ability Scores STR 12 (+1), DEX 16 (+3), CON 14 (+2), INT 9 (-1), WIS 11 (+0), CHA 8 (-1)
Skills Stealth +7
Damage Immunities cold
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Goblin
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)

Furious Attack: At the start of its turn, a charvog can gain advantage on all melee weapon attack rolls during that turn, but attack rolls against it have advantage until the start of its next turn.

Actions

* Skate: Ice does not count as difficult terrain for charvogs. When on ice, a charvog can take the Dash action as a bonus action.

* Multiattack: A charvog makes two attacks with its bony spikes.

* Bony Spike: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d8+1) piercing or slashing damage.

* Javelin: Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) piercing damage.

Tags: 5E D&D, monsters

The steaming jungles of equatorial wildernesses teem with myriad forms of life, most mundane, some bizarre, and few more bizarre that the grotesque apoapọju. This large, slow-moving insectile horror has a swollen, transparent abdomen in which wriggle dozens of toxic larvae.

Apoapọju
Large monstrosity, unaligned

Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 102 (12d10+36)
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
Ability Scores STR 14 (+2), DEX 10 (+0), CON 17 (+3), INT 3 (-4), WIS 10 (+0), CHA 6 (-2)
Skills Perception +3, Stealth +6
Saving Throws CON +6
Senses tremorsense 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages —
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)

Actions

* Multiattack: The apoapọju makes two attacks with its disgorge larva attack.

* Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d8+2) piercing damage.

* Disgorge Larva (Recharge 5-6): Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one or two targets. Hit: 2d6 (7) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution save against poison or become Paralyzed for 10 minutes. The target can repeat the saving throw every minute, ending the effect on itself on a success. Disgorged larvae quickly die.

Tags: 5E D&D, monsters

…to make Farmer Vincent Fritters!

In the salubrious spirit of Thanksgiving feasting and fun, the family-owned businesses of Farmer Vincent Fritters and Motel Hello welcome your investigators to their table.

Your Hosts

Motel Hello and its famous Farmer Vincent Fritters are family-owned and operated by the Smiths for decades.

Farmer Vincent
Tall and elderly but still handsome with a warm smile and a welcoming demeanor, Vincent is the patriarch of the family.

Hit Dice: 3 (2d4 damage)
Notes: Vincent is an extremely high-functioning psychopath. He is a clever hunter and has a real talent for mechnical engineering. Saves to detect his lies and evade his traps are made with Disadvantage. He is proficient with a shotgun and a carving knife, but its with a chainsaw that he shows real skill. Strength Saves to avoid Vincent’s chainsaw attacks are also made with Disadvantage.

Ida, His Sister
Heavy set and childish even in her 30s, her facade of normalcy quickly becomes strained when frustrated or threatened.

Hit Dice: 2 (1d6 damage)
Notes: Ida is Vincent’s right hand. She has difficulty presenting herself as a normal, functioning adult, but as long as she’s under Vincent’s influence, she’s unlikely to be pegged as anything other than socially awkward. Despite her weight and clumsy appearance, Ida is remarkably stealthy. Saves to notice her when she’s being sneaky are made with Disadvantage. Ida is a competent nurse and can perform even simple surgery.

Bruce, His Brother
Tall with the physique of faded high school athlete, his sheriff’s uniform is always neatly pressed and his boots spit-shined.

Hit Dice: 2 (1d6 damage)
Notes: Bruce is the youngest of the siblings, and he is the least insane of the trio. This doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous. He’s not only a cannibal, but he’s also a duly-elected county sheriff, popular with and generally respected by his constituents.

Places to See

The Motel: Set a few miles off the nearest highway, Motel Hello presents a rustic, homey charm to patrons. The rooms are clean and neat, and prices are reasonable. The motel is set on several acres of rural countryside that includes copses of trees, hiking paths, a man-made pond, picnic areas, and a small farm where Vincent grows alfalfa.

The Pens: Vincent keeps hogs and chickens. Free bags of feed for children staying at the motel are available in the lobby.

The Smokehouse: This building is kept locked to keep visitors from discovering the secret ingredient in Farmer Vincent Fritters. A small but well-appointed slaughterhouse is adjacent to the smokehouse. There’s also a large walk-in freezer.

The Pond: Of modest size, visitors are welcome to take out a small rowboat or bob about in an inner tube, enjoying the cool water on those hot days. There are picnic areas near the pond as well.

The Garden: Hidden within a copse of trees, surrounded by a camouflaged fence that is kept locked, Vincent “grows” his most secret ingredient here. He and Ida “plant” people after surgically disabling their vocal chords. Buried up to their necks, Vincent feeds this “crop” a nourishing mix of special ingredients through funnels attached to snorkels. Vincent’s victims are usually travelers captured on the nearby highway with the help of one of Vincent’s clever traps.

The Traps: Vincent loves to come up with clever traps to get drivers to pull over so that he can capture them. He and Ida use a potent knock-out gas carried in thermos-sized canister with an attached anesthesia mask to knock out their victims. The gas works rapidly to render a victim unconscious. Constitution Saves to avoid unconsciousness after breathing the gas are made with Disadvantage.

Tags: horror, monsters, The Cthulhu Hack