PARS FORTUNA Discount and the Zwunkers

December 18, 2010March 23, 2021 / jstater

I present the Zwunker from the aforementioned PARS FORTUNA as a playable race.

Zwunkers (Sea Dogs)

Zwunkers are black-skinned dwarves with long manes of gold hair. Their eyes are faceted and resemble yellow diamonds.Zwunkers stand anywhere from 3 to 4 feet tall, and they are heavier than they look. Zwunkers are usually found working as sailors or hired muscle, so they tend to dress simply and prefer to let their arms be bare to show off their mighty thews.

In the PARS FORTUNA setting, Zwunkers seemingly have no home. Most ports have an itinerant population of the little buggers working as sailors, bodyguards, thugs or laborers. Zwunkers like to move around, and in fact often need to move around to stay ahead of the trouble they get into. When they do settle down, it is usually to dwell in caves overlooking the sea. These caves are decorated with flotsam and jetsam and all the bric-a-brac you would expect a person to collect in the course of dozens of sea voyages.

Zwunkers are wanderers and, often, troublemakers. They enjoy stirring things up and seeing what happens – introducing a little chaos into otherwise staid and steady lives. Although not overly fond of alcohol, they are downright obsessive over gambling and wagering, and most of the trouble they get into starts as a dare-turned-wager. Zwunkers are hard, diligent workers, taking great pride in out-working other folk. This makes them popular with Oraenca. Their disregard for authority makes them popular with the Kyssai. Most other races see them as a nuisance.

Zwunker adventurers aren’t much different from normal zwunkers – they like to see new things, annoy new people, walk further, climb higher, etc. Many Zwunker adventurers got their start when somebody bet them they wouldn’t climb into a hill or plunder a tomb.

Zwunker names are little more than nicknames. They are usually monosyllabic – names like Zurk, Yan or Gord for males and Tua, Offa or Zee for females.

RACIAL ABILITIES
Zwunkers have a knack for seamanship, including navigation (even away from the sea – they have an excellent sense of direction), climbing and swimming. Zwunkers are also very anti-magical in nature, receiving a +1 bonus to save vs. magic, and actually creating a zone of magical interference within 30 feet that creates a 5% chance of spells cast in that zone or into that zone going awry and not working.

CLASS ABILITIES

Prime Requisite: Constitution, 13+ (5% experience)

Hit Dice: 1d6+1 (+2 hp per level after 9th level)

Armor Restrictions: Zwunkers can wear light and medium armor and use shields.

Weapon Restrictions: Zwunkers can use any weapon except two-handed swords and pole arms.

Special Abilities: A Zwunker character’s anti-magic zone increases in power as they increase in level, adding a 1% chance per level of spells going awry (i.e. a 1st level zwunker’s zone has a 6% chance of ruining spells, while a 10th level Zwunker’s zone has a 15% chance of doing so). Once per day, a zwunker can control winds (and only winds) per the spell Control Weather. A 10th level Zwunker gains the ability to use the Control Weather spell, as written, once per day. Finally, Zwunker characters are skilled at climbing, navigating and other nautical tasks.

Zwunker Advancement

Level	Experience	Hit Dice	Hit Bonus	Saving Throw
1	0	1	+0	15
2	2,000	2	+0	14
3	4,000	3	+1	13
4	8,000	4	+1	12
5	16,000	5	+2	11
6	32,000	6	+3	10
7	64,000	7	+3	9
8	128,000	8	+4	8
9	256,000	9	+5	7
10	350,000	+2 hp	+5	6
11	450,000	+4 hp	+6	5
12	550,000	+6 hp	+7	4

NOD 6 – Ready for Sale … Finally

December 18, 2010March 21, 2021 / jstater / 7 Comments

Well, NOD #6 put up a terrific struggle, but I’ve finally put it into print. You can download it HERE for free, or purchase for $11 HERE. 136 pages, it includes …

Western Venatia hexcrawl

Level 3 of the Pleasure Palace of Izrigul – an odd level both figuratively and literally

The Traveler class

Holiday Magic

Gods of the Motherlands

Another installment of Phantastes

Merry Christmas and enjoy!

NOD #6 Now Available to Download

December 17, 2010March 21, 2021 / jstater / 11 Comments

Rant begins now …

Yes – NOD 6 is ready to download, but not to purchase in print. Yet. I’m telling you what – I’m so frustrated right now, I don’t know what to do with myself. Just one problem after another. I put all my documents together in Word and then convert to PDF. This is a major pain in the butt, but I’m not exactly running a business here, and Word is what I’ve got, so Word is what I use. Anyways – there are so many hassles involved with going Word to PDF – you have to physically (digitally?) embed all the fonts, many of which are “hidden”, so I have to add invisible characters to a document so I can find them and embed them, PNGs look like crap when you convert to PDF, so I have to use BMP and JPG, and this time around they look like crap as well, which in itself is immensely annoying when you work your butt off to create a nice looking document. So I do my conversions after hours at work because I have the full Adobe suite there, get home to make the actual Print-On-Demand thing at Lulu and discover that the document has an un-embedded font in it – Arial Bold Italic. Yes, the arial and times new roman fonts, which do not actually appear in the document (well, arial does in the OGL) will not self embed – pretty much every other font will, but not the TWO MOST BASIC FONTS KNOWN TO MANKIND!!! Aaaahhhhh!!! So, long story short – nothing to purchase tonight, but the e-book for NOD 6 is a free download as my holiday gift to the gaming community that has helped make my dream of being a writer/publisher come true. So, while I go outside and punch a tree for a couple hours, please enjoy the fruits of my labors in their slightly mangled form courtesy of Adobe and Microsoft, my two best friends and two worst enemies tonight.

End of ranting

NOD in 2011
Well, my fervent hope is that I can sell some ad space in the magazine next year and make the PDF downloads free. I’m charging $2 for quarter page ads, $4 for half page ads and $8 for full page ads. My last free issue, NOD 1, has been downloaded between 750 and 800 times, so the exposure to the old school community should be pretty good for the money you spend. My email address is in my profile, so send me an email if you’re interested. If there isn’t enough interest in ad space, I’ll just keeping doing like I’ve been doing – around $10 for print, $3.50 for e-books.

NOD 7 in February will feature three city-states – Lyonesse, Antigoon and Blackpoort – in the same format I’ve done with Ibis and Ophir. Knights and dames and merchant princes and thieves and assassins and troll bridges, pigeon pie – something for everybody!

NOD 8 in April is slated to feature JD Jarvis‘ MutantFront. First guest contributor, and I’m very excited to see what he comes up with. Art will be commissioned for this one, and it will be chock full of mutated Great War goodness! Check out Aeons & Auguries for more MutantFront goodness.

NOD 9 in June will launch some coverage of Mu-Pan, the realms of the Dragon Kings. I’ve been done some pseudo-European and pseudo-Arabian material with Venatia and the Wyvern Coast/Nabu material, and now I feel like dipping my toes into Asian myth and folklore. It’s also a great excuse to use some of great material in Ruins & Ronin, Mike Davison’s take on Asian adventures for Swords & Wizardry. NOD 10 in August will continue with Mu-Pan.

NOD 11 in October is slated to feature another guest contributor – my good friend Luke DeGraw. Luke worked up some conversions of Castles & Crusades for playing Robotech, and he’s going to put together something that involves no challenges to legal copyrights or intellectual property, but does involve old school rules and giant freakin’ robots. Should be awesome.

And back to December and NOD 12, where I’ll feature a city of Mu-Pan and God only knows what else. Hey – I’m amazed I’ve thought this far ahead! Hopefully I’ll throw some support for PARS FORTUNA and Mystery Men! in there along the way, and if anyone else wants to contribute something, let me know! Oh – and look for Hexcrawl Classics from Frog God Games – I wrote ’em. They’re hexcrawls (yes, not just a clever name) without a setting, though I’m kinda sorta inventing one as I go. The maps are based on locations in North America, so Huzzah!s will be awarded if you can guess the locations.

So, until tomorrow when I’ve had time to fix my #$%@#$@ PDF and post NOD 6 for sale – enjoy the free download and keep on gaming!

Retro-Engineering: Creature Catalog

December 17, 2010March 14, 2021 / jstater / 1 Comment

Every so often I wander over to the Creature Catalog to see what they’re up to. Besides being the source of the very excellent Tome of Horrors (without which NOD would be much less interesting), the CC has converted hundreds of old school creatures for use in 3rd edition games. Many years after 3rd edition going out of print and the end to the first phase of the d20 revolution, CC is still cranking out these conversions, often of monsters I had never even heard of. Here’s their ten latest conversions retro-engineered into a more old school format.

Tirichik
Tirichiks look like a hybrid of white dragon and centipede, with two tentacles tipped by sharp spikes. Tirichiks are an apex predator of the tundra. They attack from ambush, hiding in snowdrifts or crevasses and then springing out at their prey. They can momentarily detach their skull from their spinal column, allowing them to make quick strikes from 10 ft away. These quick strikes score double damage if they hit, but attempting them lowers the tirichik’s AC by 2. Sensory organs on the beast’s tentacles give it a heightened ability to detect foes, lowering its chances to be surprised to 1 in 1d8. Tentacles can be attacked separately from the body, having an AC of 0 [19] and 2d6 hit points. They are severed when reduced to 0 hp, though severed tentacles are regrown in 2d10+10 days. Tirichiks are immune to cold and can walk on ice with no penalties to movement.

Tirichik: HD 13; AC 1 [18]; Atk 1 bite (3d6), 2 tentacles (1d6); Move 12 (B6); Save 3; CL/XP 14/2600; Special: Elongate neck, ice-walking, immune to cold.

Shee (Banshee Rider)
Shee look like eyeless fey maidens with long, white hair. They wear highly ornamented plate armor and ride long-maned, eyeless horses. Shee always carry long, insubstantial lances composed of shadow-stuff. Shee are undead creature. Although they appear to be a rider and mount, they are in fact a single creature, inseparable without the use of a sharp axe backed up by mighty thews. Shee can ride over any surface, including water, without penalty. Shee exist to destroy – even attacking other undead when there is nothing else to slay. A turned undead will not flee, but only turn its attention to a different creature. A shee that is struck in combat utters a terrible scream that kills the four nearest creatures unless they pass a saving throw. The scream can only be uttered once every 1d4 rounds and no more than 3 times per day. After screaming, the shee vanishes, moving magically to a distant place. Creatures that are struck by a shee and survive are treated as being blessed, but only against other undead. This effect is permanent, although it can be removed with a wish spell. A shee’s shadow lance ignores non-magical armor and, in addition to normal damage, inflicts 1d3 points of strength damage. If separated from the shee, the lance disappears and reforms in the shee’s hand the next round.

Shee: HD 9; AC -2 [21]; Atk 1 lance (1d10 + Strength drain) or 2 hooves (1d6); Move 24 (F20); Save 6; CL/XP 13/2300; Special: Death wail, shadowlance, vanish.

Opinicus

An opinicus is a griffin with the head and wings of an eagle, the body of a lion and the tail of a camel. They wander alone or in pairs in desert wastelands and are champions of They can use the following psychic powers as a 7th level psychic: Astral projection, id insinuation, mind thrust and telekinesis. They can also cast spells and turn undead as a 7th level cleric. The gaze of an opinicus flames with divine fire; all wicked creatures within 30 feet who meet this gaze suffer 2d6 damage and are blinded for 1 round (save negates blindness). The opinicus can use its gaze once every 1d4+1 rounds.

Opinicus: HD 7; AC 2 [17]; Atk 2 claws (1d6), beak (1d4); Move 20 (F30); Save 9 (8 vs. mental effects); CL/XP 10/1400; Special: Psychic powers, spells, sun sparkles, turn undead.

Netherbird
Netherbirds are the black, grotesque carion crows of Hell, serving devils and demons as messengers. They dwell on craggy moors in flocks of 3d10 birds. Their eggs are black and leathery and hatch unattended, being warmed by an inner hellfire. Netherbirds are 3 feet long and have wingspans of 6 to 7 feet. They are intelligent and can speak.

Netherbird: HD 2; AC 7 [12]; Atk 2 claws (1d4), bite (1d3); Move 6 (F24); Save 16; CL/XP 2/30; Special: Immune to fire.

Kupuk
Kupuks look like large dogs (6′ long, 3′ tall at shoulder) with walrus-like hides, grey or yellowish fur and spiked tails.The people of the tundra and taiga use them as pack animals, for they are very loyal companions. Kupuk’s are egg-layers, like the platypus. When defending its eggs or pups, the kupuk gains a +1 bonus to hit and damage. Training a kupuk is fairly easy, taking about six weeks to teach them a trick. Kupuk young are worth 1,000 gp, and professional animal trainers charge 500 gp to train them. Kupuks can carry up to 200 pounds without losing any speed.

Kupuk: HD 5; AC 3 [16]; Atk 2 claws (1d4), bite (1d8), tail (1d12); Move 9 (S18); Save 12; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Frenzy, immune to cold.

Gorse
A gorse looks like a 3″ tall elf child with delicate wings. They carry small bows and swords and quivers of tiny arrows. They live under gorse bushes, and although secretive, they are friendly towards folk who bring them fruit, bread or milk. Gorse are fond of magic potions, and usually have 1d3 in their lair. Gorse have several magical abilities they can use once per day: They can create magical distractions (save or look away); magically exterminate small vermin within 20 feet (save or die); cast Mirror Image and cause thorn bushes within a 5-ft square area grow rapidly. These thorn bushes slow people moving through them to one half-speed and cause 1d3 points of damage. Gorse tip their arrows with a poison that causes confusion for 1d4 rounds unless a saving throw is passed. All gorse can cast the spell Mirror Image once per day. Once

Gorse: HD 1d2; AC 3 [16]; Atk 1 sword or bow (1 dmg); Move 3 (F12); Save 18 (16 vs. spells); CL/XP 1/15; Special: Poison, sprout, exterminate.

Bramble
Brambles resemble tiny (3″ tall) elves with swarthy, wrinkled skin and long nails on its hands and feet. They wear plate armor, the back of which is covered in a brace of spines. They are among the most vicious and aggressive of the fair folk, taking delight in hunting pixies and sprites and other small fey. They can charm small animals into serving as their mounts. Brambles are fierce warriors, and charging bramble scores an additional 3 points of damage with its attacks. A brambles spines inject a poison that causes a sickened condition (-1 to all rolls) for 2d4 rounds (save applies). Once per day, they can target the wings of a small creature with a net of entangling thorns. With a successful ranged attack, the creature’s wings are bound and useless for 6d6 rounds.

Bramble: HD 1d3; AC 3 [16] or 1 2 [17] in plate armor; Atk 1 lance (1 dmg) or spines (1 dmg + poison); Move 3 (F12); Save 18 (16 vs. magic); CL/XP 1/15; Special: Poison, charm mount, spines.

Behemoth (Giant Hippopotamus)
Behemoths are massive hippos (12′ long, 3 tons), capable of overturning good-sized boats. They are as aggressive and territorial as their smaller cousins.

Behemoth: HD 10; AC 3 [16]; Atk 1 bite (3d6); Move 9 (S15); Save 5; CL/XP 10/1400; Special: None.

Pseudo-undead (Template)

Pseudo-undead are living humanoids who resemble specific types of undead creatures. You can turn any humanoid into a pseudo-undead by altering its stats as follows:

– A pseudo-undead gains any claw and bite attacks of the undead creature is resembles, dealing 1d4 points of damage with its claws and 1d6 points of damage with its bite.

– Pseudo-undead can see in the dark.

– Pseudo-ghouls have a paralyzing touch (save or paralyzed for 1d3 rounds).

– Pseudo-ghasts have a paralyzing touch (see above) and are surrounded by an overwhelming stench; creatures within 10 feet must pass a saving throw or be sickened (-1 to all rolls) for 1d6+4 rounds.

-Pseudo-wights spread a disease with their touch. This fever deals 1d4 dexterity and constitution damage each day until the afflicted succeeds at a saving throw vs. disease at a -5 penalty.

– Pseudo-wraiths have physical forms, but always wear wispy shrouds or robes to obscure their bodies. They walk so lightly as to leave no trace. Their claw attacks are poisonous, causing 2d4 points of damage on a failed save.

– Pseudo-spectres have physical forms surrounded by a faint luminosity. Their claw attacks are poisonous, the poison weakening (-2 to hit and damage) a person for 1 day.

– Pseudo-vampires are like feral savages clad in the silk finery of civilization. They usually wear armor and fight with weapons. They have claw and bite attacks. Their bites cause persistent bleeding that saps a person of 1 hit point per round until staunched or magically healed. Their claws spread the “red ache”, a disease that robs a person of 1d6 points of strength each day until they succeed at a saving throw vs. disease at a -6 penalty.

Some Holiday Magic for the Season

December 14, 2010March 21, 2021 / jstater / 1 Comment

Here’s a little preview of an article appearing in NOD #6 (any time now – almost there).

Bag of Goodies
The bag of goodies works in much the same manner as a bag of tricks, save instead of producing small animals (other than kittens and puppies), it produces small, simple toys. The prospective recipient of a gift must reach into the bag while making a wish, pulling out either a small toy made of wood or tin or, if they are chaotic or evil, a lump of coal. Wishes for swords will produce wooden swords, which can be used as clubs in combat. The bag operates once per year per person.

Chimney Charm (Spell, MU Level 2)
By touching one’s finger to one’s nose (but not placing it inside – different charm), they ascend through any chimney-like tube or hole, regardless of size and unharmed no matter what other material (smoke, water, acid) might be coursing through said concourse.

Dreidel of Fortune
This clay top can only be made by a lawful cleric of at least 3rd level. The dreidel is inscribed with the glyphs that mean “Nothing”, “Half”, “All” and “Put In”. When a gold piece is offered (it disappears when the top is spun) and the top is spun while chanting a charming ditty, the dreidel has the following effects (roll 1d4):

1. Nothing – Nothing happens to the spinner
2. Half – All spells and powers used by the spinner work at 50% efficacy for the next 24 hours
3. All – All spells and powers used by the spinner work at double efficacy for the next 24 hours
4. Put In – The spinner loses 1d6 x 100 XP to the top

And a petty god for the season …

Saint Nick (Demigod)
Saint Nick is the fey demigod of just desserts. He appears as a jolly gnome, dwarf or human (as he chooses) with white hair, a long white mustache and beard, a large, red nose and twinkling eyes, dressed in red robes and wearing a pointed red cap. Saint Nick carries a large, green bag from which he can pull any desire of a good creature who petitions him with a sacrifice of milk and cookies (per limited wish), but for wicked creatures he instead pulls out a large whipping stick and beats them to within an inch of their life (i.e. 1 hit point). Saint Nick is as strong as a frost giant and as nimble as a sprite. He can use the following spells at will: Animal Summoning (8 reindeer), Charm Monster, Chimney Charm, Detect Evil, ESP, Know Alignment, Magic Snow Ball and Uncontrollable Laughter.

Saint Nick’s clerics dress like their patron, with red robes over their armor and a whipping stick at the ready. They can learn the spells Chimney Charm and Magic Snow Ball when they learn to cast cleric spells of the equivalent level. Saint Nick’s clerics must pass on 50% of all treasure they collect to the poor and needy. At 9th level, they build fortified orphanages and hospices, conducting waifs and the sick from cities via caravan to their palaces of generosity.

Coming Up For Air …

December 13, 2010March 21, 2021 / jstater / 4 Comments

It’s been a busy weekend – daughter’s birthday party (’80s theme, because, you know, the ’80s was a looong time ago – feeling elderly now) and working on getting NOD #6 out. In the process, I made a quick index to some of the monsters, races, classes and spells that have appeared in the series so far. You can find it on Google Docs HERE if you’re interested. I think there’s supposed to be some way I can embed it in Blogger, but I haven’t figured it out yet. When I do, I’ll just make a new page on this blog with the index. So – hopefully by the 14th (late) or 15th (early) I can have the last issue of 2010 published, and then get to work on Mystery Men!, Hexcrawl Classics #3 and NOD #7. Like anyone in real estate will tell you, it’s a good thing to be busy!

Cheers!

Oh – current line-up for NOD #6: Western Venatia, Gods of the Motherlands, The Traveler PC Class, Random Owlbear Tables, Holiday Magic, Phantastes, Pleasure Palace of Izrigul (3rd Level).

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Pictured – The coat of arms of Antigoon, City of the Sun made with Inkwell Idea’s Coat of Arms Design Studio.

Random Musing – The March of Progress in a Campaign World

December 10, 2010March 21, 2021 / jstater / 10 Comments

This notion just struck me a few moments ago, so I figured I’d put it down on pixel while it was fresh in my mind. I was thinking about the transition of a medieval-style fantasy campaign world, my own in fact, to a Renaissance level of technology and society – nation states, masses of firearm-armed men-at-arms, printing presses – and then to higher levels of advancement – the Victorian Age, etc. Invention in most fantasy game rules, at least in terms of invention by PCs, is relegated to the creation of new spells. Naturally, a Referee’s NPCs can invent anything they want, but if we assume that everybody in the world uses the same spell creation rules, the more high level magic-users there are, the more spells will be invented. In my own world, I have the Scientist class, so the same concept would hold in NOD for pseudo-scientific inventions.

Therefore, while invention in our world has generally relied on the strength of civilizations and their ability to share information and amass resources, the march of progress in a fantasy world would rely on the existence of powerful monsters and hidden treasures – the very things that provide experience points for adventuring magic-users and scientists. Now, again, I know that NPCs aren’t shackled by the same rules as PCs in most old school fantasy, but bear with me – this is just a matter of a guy following an idea around to see where it goes. So, if we take the necessity of powerful monsters as the basis for invention, as a campaign world’s PCs gradually whittle down the powerful adversaries, the pace of new inventions should slow down. As civilization expands in a campaign world, invention slows down – an interesting concept.

It also occurs to me that as all those high level and mid-level monsters – the more unique sorts that don’t multiply like rabbits (or goblins) – are killed off and as large treasures are discovered, the ability of any PC to advance in level becomes restricted. Once you get past the lower levels, not being able to take out mid-level monsters means getting through those mid-levels becomes much harder, and it makes those few powerful monsters that avoided the old high-level PCs more secure. Maybe the natural evolution of a fantasy world would be:

1. Small civilizations, lots of wilderness, many monsters, high potential for high level advancement.

2. Mid-sized civilizations, less wilderness, fewer powerful monsters, less potential for high level advancement.

3. Large civilizations, very little wilderness, very few powerful monsters, almost no potential for high level advancement.

Once you enter stage 3, the likelihood of powerful monsters laying waste to civilization might be pretty high, sending the fantasy world back to stage one and setting the scene for all these old school campaigns where low-tech civilizations always seem to be built on the ruins of ancient high-tech civilizations.

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Illustration by Alexander Leydenfrost

Deviant Friday – Dave Johnson Edition

December 10, 2010March 21, 2021 / jstater / 1 Comment

Dave Johnson (Devilpig) has quite a resume – work for Marvel and D.C., a couple d20 Modern covers, some stuff for Ben10 – comics, cartoons and RPGs, all fodder for a blog like mine. He has a style that takes a pat subject and veers off at the last moment to make it interesting, and he creates from very stylish covers for comic books. Enjoy.

DDSC Octoman

Freedom Fighters

These guys recently showed up on a great episode of Batman: Brave and the Bold

Punisher Max 12

DDSC Goora

This one is my favorite – looks like an illustration that would have appeared in an old pulp magazine of the 1930’s.

Ben 10 Mutant Frog

It’s not froghemoth, but still nothing to sneeze at …

Robot dump

DDSC Elf girl

D20 role playing game cover 5

Cover to d20 Modern, I think. I’ll probably do something with d20 Modern in my retro-engineering series one of these days.

Batman Samurai Armor

Homemade costume – nice job.

Dejah Thoris convention sketch

Managed to get Dejah in this time, but not Red.

Venatia – Alien Mazes, Tranquil Ponds and the Castle of the Beast

December 8, 2010March 13, 2021 / jstater / 2 Comments

NOD #6 is written – it will probably be around 100 pages. Now I just need to edit and illuminate, fix some maps (it’s always something with the dang maps) and get this puppy out there. If anyone out there would like to advertise something in this issue (gratis), let me know. I can’t promise to accommodate everything (nor can I expect to get anything), but contact me and I’ll see what I can work out. My goal is to publish by the 14th, so consider the 12th a hard deadline.

Now – time for the final Western Venatia preview …

2846. Sometime in the mists of antiquity, the alien tsalakians, for reasons known only to them, constructed a vast maze of corridors, tunnels and vaults plucked from the sea floor beneath the waves. As the waters of Nod receeded, this maze came closer to the surface, so close in fact that it now lurks just beneath the calm surface of the Tepid Sea. The maze is difficult to spot, and many a ship has been dashed against its walls, the inhabitants of the dungeon’s upper levels preying on the shipwrecked sailors. Denizens of the maze include aquatic ogres and trolls, sharks, a team of squid-man adventurers and a veritable zoo of alien aquatic predators.

3023. There is a tranquil pond here filled with lily pads and surrounded by tiny cottages woven from grass, leaves, twigs and reeds. A village of 200 of frog fairies is situated around the pond. The frog fairies are ruled by Queen Anabeth. Although they are not welcoming of most strangers, those of lawful alignment will be allowed to rest and refresh themselves and give tribute to the queen. Besides its warriors, the village is protected by a dozen giant frogs.

| Queen Anabeth, Illusionist Lvl 8: HP 24; AC 3 [16]; Save 8 (6 vs. illusions); CL/XP 8/800; Special: Spells known (4th), spell points 28, silver tongue, +3 to hit with darts, magic resistance 20%, frog fairy spells.

| Frog Fairy (100): HD 1; AC 3 [16]; Atk 2 darts (1d3) or 1 dagger (1d4); Move 9; Save 14; CL/XP 1/15; Special: +3 to hit with darts, magic resistance 20%, cast hold person, invisibility and pyrotechnics.

| Giant Frog: HD 1; AC 7 [12]; Atk 1 bite (1d3); Move 3 (or 150’ leap); Save 17; CL/XP 1/15; Special: Leap.

3106. In the southern reaches of the forest, not far from the banks of the Danu, lies the infamous Castle of the Beast. The castle’s inhabitants were cursed years ago, its master twisted into the form of a beast (treat as a werewolf in hybrid form but without lycanthropy) and the souls of his servants trapped inside objects, unable to speak but still capable of carrying out their duties. Here, the beast broods and hunts and prays that someday the curse will be lifted.

The castle has a sinister cast to it. It is surrounded by well-tended gardens and vineyards, but the fields surrounding the castle are fallow and wild pigs and cattle can be found in the surrounding woods. There is a dilapidated landing and boat house on the Danu about 1 mile away from the castle. The landing is connected to the castle with an overgrown stone path. Warnings have been carved on the boathouse walls by the claws of the Beast himself.

Those who would storm the castle for its treasures will be sorely disappointed, for though the castle holds many valuable items (see below), those who possess them for more than a day have their souls trapped within them (per Magic Jar spell) until the curse is removed by a cleric of at least 10th level.

Treasure: The Beast’s treasure is in multiple trapped chests. It consists of 11,000 gold pieces. There is a winter wolf rug worth 1,000 gp stretched in front of the hearth of his great hall. The Beast wears an ivory broach carved in the image of his mother (worth 500 gp) and a weapon belt held with a silver belt buckle (worth 250 gp). Above his torn and tattered bed hangs a now-inverted holy symbol made of silver and platinum worth 750 gp.

| The Beast: HD 4 (26 hp); AC 3 [16]; Atk 1 bite (2d4); Move 15; Save 13; CL/XP 4/120.

| Animated Object (Small): HD 1; AC 5 [14]; Atk 1 slam (1d3); Move 15; Save 17; CL/XP 1/15.

| Animated Object (Medium): HD 2; AC 5 [14]; Atk 1 slam (1d6); Move 12; Save 16; CL/XP 2/30.

| Animated Object (Large): HD 4; AC 5 [14]; Atk 1 slam (1d8); Move 9; Save 13; CL/XP 4/120.

3211. A deep, natural trench in this hex holds thousands of writhing man-sized giant centipedes, attracted, apparently, to a magic helm at the bottom of the trench. The helm is made of gold, and thus heavy and offering little protection. It is shaped like a skull-cap with a nasal guard and a crest composed of a number of rounded nubs. Wearing the helm makes it possible for you to communicate with vermin and for them to communicate with you. In addition, you gain the ability to “turn” vermin and oozes as a 3rd level cleric, but at the cost of 1d6 points of temporary wisdom damage.

3310. A seemingly abandoned village in this hex contains a remarkable sight – dozens of villagers and twenty ogres frozen into statues of quartz by some unknown agency. Some searching will reveal one robed individual, on hands and knees in a doorway looking out at the slaughter, hand raised as though in the process of casting a spell. In fact, the wizard is responsible for the spell and the attack. The ogres had been tracking him for several days, he being injured in a previous encounter and seeking healing. The villagers took him in, and he rested for a few days before the ogres arrived. The quartz effect is merely an optical illusion of people frozen in time until some other equally powerful wizard (Morthern is a level 9 wizard) can undo the incantation (known colloquially as Morthern’s Moment in Time).

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Illustration by N. C. Wyeth

Two Bad Brothers That We Know So Well

December 7, 2010March 21, 2021 / jstater / 7 Comments

One of my favorite game mechanicians of the d20 era was Erica Balsley. She was a monster gal – did some great stuff for the Tome of Horrors and Creature Catalog and did some neat conversions for Bard Games’ old Atlantis setting. Years ago, I came across a template she wrote for the “Mephit Lord”. The mephit lord template was applied to mephits to make high-powered elemental baddies like the Steam Lord, Smoke Lord, etc. All mephit lords had an attack called a “clutch”, which tipped off their origins …

Now, I’ve long since lost track of that original template – it was on some message board somewhere – but it eventually showed up in the Book of Templates Deluxe Edition. I still have the stats for Heat Lord and Snow Lord, though, and here they are in Swords & Wizardry format.

Fire Lord: HD 12; AC -3 [22]; Atk 2 claw (1d6+4) or 1 clutch (4d6); Move 15 (Fly 24); Save 3; CL/XP 18/3800; Special: Fire mephit abilities + breath weapon (4d4), clutch, regenerate 4 hp/round, only harmed by +2 or better magic weapons.

The clutch of the Heat Lord deals 4d6 points of fire damage to living opponents, and instantly melts or incinerates any non-living, non-magical matter of man-size or smaller. Magic items are allowed a saving throw to resist this effect.

Ice Lord: HD 12; AC -3 [22]; Atk 2 claw (1d6+4) or 1 clutch (4d6); Move 15 (Fly 24); Save 3; CL/XP 18/3800; Special: Ice mephit abilities + breath weapon (4d4), clutch, regenerate 4 hp/round, only harmed by +2 or better magic weapons.

The clutch of the Snow Lord deals 4d6 points of cold damage to living opponents and instantly freezes and shatters any non-living, non-magical matter of man-size or smaller. Magic items are allowed a saving throw to resist this effect.

Mephit Lords are always accompanied by 2d6 mephits of the appropriate type. They can summon 1d6 mephits with a 75% chance of success.

The relevant mephit stats are:

Fire Mephit

A fire mephit breathes a 15-foot cone of fire that deals 1d8 damage (saving throw for half). Once per hour it can cast burning hands, and once per day it can heat metal. A fire mephit regenerates if it is touching a flame at least as large as a torch.

• Fire Mephit: HD 3; AC 2 [17]; Atk 2 claw (1d6); Move 12 (Fly 21); Save 14; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Harmed by magic weapons, breath weapon, burning hands, heat metal, regenerate, summoning.

Ice Mephit

Ice mephits breathe a 10-foot cone of ice shards that deals 1d4 damage (saving throw for half) and imposes a -2 penalty to AC and attack rolls. Once per hour an ice mephit can cast magic missile and once per day they can chill metal. An ice mephit regenerates if touching a piece of ice of or if the ambient temperature is 32°F. or below.

• Ice Mephit: HD 3; AC 1 [18]; Atk 2 claw (1d6); Move 12 (Fly 21); Save 14; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Harmed by magic weapons, breath weapon, chill metal, magic missile, regenerate, summoning.

And if you use these guys against your players, make sure you have them do the song and dance first – it will make the TPK that much more satisfying. Nobody likes to get their butt kicked by a song and dance man.

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Image from Patrick Owlsley – check out his blog if you love old cartoons!