Folks who follow this blog might remember the vote I held to determine which PARS FORTUNA monster I would commission an illustration of from Russ Nicholson. In the end, the Eight-Headed Creeper, a monster originally created by my daughter when she was 3 or 4 years old won the day. A few days ago, I received the finished illustration …
I’m very happy with it, and I have to thank Russ for his work – he was very kind.
Yeah, somewhere in between all my other projects (rpg and otherwise) I’m still cranking away on Western Venatia, which will be the centerpiece of NOD #6, the free (pdf) holiday issue that will publish in December. On to the weirdness …
1414. The small farming village of Gormen rests here on the outskirts of Blackpoort’s domain. The folk of Gormen are hard-working an industrious and have a very low opinion of adventurers, merchants and the rascals that populate Blackpoort. Still, their militia consists of a mere 15 men in piecemeal armor and wielding farm implements (1d4 damage) and slings, so the regular patrols by Blackpoorts soldiers and tax collectors are hard to resist. The village is ruled by a selectman named Eblith, a heavily weathered and creased old man with bushy white eyebrows and hooked nose. Eblith is a brewer by trade, and his brews are renowned throughout this corner of Nod.
1435. The Skrink kobolds live in extensive silver mines that were abandoned by the gnomes many decades ago. The mines consist of five different levels, each level consisting of anywhere from 3 to 6 galleries and one or two shafts leading down to the next level. The kobolds number 150 warriors, 20 females and 60 young and are led by a Niknit and his 20 closest relatives, all 1 HD kobolds.
Treasure: The Skrink’s entire treasure consists of 60 gp worth of silver nuggets, each nugget being carried on a separate kobold to avoid losing the entire treasure to plunderers.
| Niknit, Thief Lvl 3: HP 13; AC 2 [17]; Save 12; CL/XP 3/60; Special: Backstab for double damage, decipher writing, thievery.
1450. A particularly dangerous sea serpent that goes by the name of Illweather dwells under the waves here in the wreck of a sleek greatship that was once the pride of Tremayne’s navy. The Golden Ark was lost many years ago after receiving an illicit cargo from a galley that originated in the port of Ophir. The cargo was a silvery sphere that, when held, glows in a swirl of turquoise and taupe and causes the hair on one’s body to stand on end. The holder of this relic of the ophidians gains the power to control wind and weather in an 9 mile radius (i.e. 3 hexes in diameter). The sea serpent has learned of this power and uses it to raise storms in the hopes of sinking an easy meal.
| Illweather, Fanged Sea Serpent: HD 8 (40 hp); AC 0 [19]; Atk 1 bite (1d10 + poison); Move 12; Save 8; CL/XP 9/1100; Special: Poison.
1537. The steaming carcass of an ogre lies here covered by maggots. There are no tracks (not even the ogres) in the immediate area, and no apparent cause of death.
1606. Several days ago a barge was tossed ashore by an errant wave (or perhaps an ill tempered water elemental). Whatever the cause, the barge’s cargo of exotic musks was spilled all over the forested shore and the crew were forced to seek shelter in the boughs of the trees from the parliament of great horned owlbears that have come to investigate the aroma. The five surviving crewmen are exhausted, hungry and completely miserable.
| Great Horned Owlbear: HD 7+1 (40, 31, 22 hp); AC 5 [14]; Atk 2 claws (1d6), bite (2d6); Move 12; Save 12; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Hug for additional 2d8 damage if to-hit roll is 18+.
1611. Some 200 feet from the shore of Blackmere Lake a crag rises from the dark waters. Atop this crag the wizard Delorian chose to build his manse. It is here that he observes the stars, records his thoughts, putters about in his laboratory and does all the other things one expects of wizards.
Delorian is one of the the most powerful mages in the Motherlands. He is capable of rending the very fabric of reality with his incantations and imposing his will on nature by dint of superior intellect; naturally, this means his tower is subject to almost weekly raids by robbers and adventurers and so is well defended by magical tricks and traps. Deep beneath the surface of Blackmere, the crag is honeycombed by caves that serve as the lair of a family of three mist dragons, allies of the wizard.
Visitors can reach the castle by a small dingy tied to a post on the shore. Upon reaching the crag, one must climb a ladder that leads to a small antechamber. At this point the image of the wizard appears before them, questions them and does his best to discern their true motives. If they do not seem to be a threat, he invites them in (the doors are wizard locked). If they do present a threat, all of the items in the antechamber animate and attack, including a richly woven rug, three tapestries, a chest-of-drawers and two suits of armor.
Groups that try alternate means of entry are attacked by a flock of twelve gargoyles. Delorian monitors all such battles and summons the mist dragons if the gargoyles seem to be outmatched. If necessary, he involves himself in the combat.
Within the confines of his modest home there is a small kitchen, a plush living room, a library closet with a secret door to a laboratory and observatory, and several guest chambers tended by automatons of polished steel with owl faces and sepia tunics bearing the three-handed glyph of Delorian.
Delorian is a very lawful man, though he is no prude or stick in the mud. He barely tolerates the presence of the “city of thieves” so close to his tower, and has thought seriously about moving it.
Treasure: Delorian’s treasure is kept in a sealed vault located 20 feet below his home. It can only be reached via teleportation and contains several beams that increase the liklihood of materializing within solid stone. The treasure is 11,700 gp and a bronze statue of a portly woman wearing a viking helmet worth 115 gp. Delorian’s grand grimoire contains the following high level spells: Contact Other Plane, Extension II, Teleport, Wall of Stone, Control Weather, Disintegrate, Legend Lore, Limited Wish & Phase Door.
| Delorian, Magic-User Lvl 15: HP 30; AC 4 [15]; Save 5; CL/XP 18/3800; Special: Spells (7th). White robe, staff of wizardry, ornate titanium dagger, three silver darts, potion of healing, bracers of AC 4 [15].
| Small Animated Object: HD 1; AC 5 [14]; Atk 1 slam (1d4); Move 15; Save 17; CL/XP 1/15.
| Medium Animated Object: HD 2; AC 5 [14]; Atk 1 slam (1d6); Move 12; Save 16; CL/XP 2/30.
| Large Animated Object: HD 4; AC 5 [14]; Atk 1 slam (1d8); Move 9; Save 13; CL/XP 4/120.
| Gargoyles: HD 4; AC 5 [14]; Atk 2 claws (1d3), bite (1d4), horn (1d6); Move 9 (Fly 15); Save 13; CL/XP 6/400; Special: Fly.
| Mist Dragon: HD 10 (40 hp); AC 0 [19]; Atk 2 claws (1d6) and 1 bite (4d6); Move 9 (Fly 30); Save 5; CL/XP 17/3500; Special: Gaseous form, breath weapon, spells.
Today is Election Day in the Land of Nod – in particular, the deadline for Golden Age patrons of the Mystery Men! project to get their votes in for which heroes are to be illustrated for the game. To pique interest in this monumental election, I present the current front runners …
If you’re a Golden Age patron and you haven’t voted yet, get to it – especially if your favorite isn’t on that list above! At midnight (Pacific time) the polls will close and I’ll send the official commission to Joel Carroll.
Celestial4ever – aka Melissa Ismail Celestial – has a great, quirky style. I could see her taking a traditional fantasy project and spinning it somewhere interesting – and injecting loads of personality into character portraits. Not the traditional fare of old school aficionados, but I think worth a look. You can read her blog here.
Here’s a nice piece of prose by George MacDonald from his story The Princess and the Curdie.
“All this outside the mountain! But the inside, who shall tell what lies there? Caverns of awfullest solitude, their walls miles thick, sparkling with ores of gold or silver, copper or iron, tin or mercury, studded perhaps with precious stones – perhaps a brook, with eyeless fish in it, running, running ceaselessly, cold and babbling, through banks crusted with carbuncles and golden topazes, or over a gravel of which some of the stones arc rubies and emeralds, perhaps diamonds and sapphires – who can tell? – and whoever can’t tell is free to think – all waiting to flash, waiting for millions of ages – ever since the earth flew off from the sun, a great blot of fire, and began to cool.
Then there are caverns full of water, numbingly cold, fiercely hot – hotter than any boiling water. From some of these the water cannot get out, and from others it runs in channels as the blood in the body: little veins bring it down from the ice above into the great caverns of the mountain’s heart, whence the arteries let it out again, gushing in pipes and clefts and ducts of all shapes and kinds, through and through its bulk, until it springs newborn to the light, and rushes down the Mountainside in torrents, and down the valleys in rivers – down, down, rejoicing, to the mighty lungs of the world, that is the sea, where it is tossed in storms and cyclones, heaved up in billows, twisted in waterspouts, dashed to mist upon rocks, beaten by millions of tails, and breathed by millions of gills, whence at last, melted into vapour by the sun, it is lifted up pure into the air, and borne by the servant winds back to the mountaintops and the snow, the solid ice, and the molten stream.”
—
Image by Charles Folkard via Golden Age Comic Book Stories.
Found this comic book scanned on Golden Age Comic Book Stories (I highly recommend the site).
Makes for an interesting early version of the “Gamma World”. Here, we have an alien invasion instead of nuclear war – even better, an alien invasion after everybody disarmed. The volta men are ragged looking aliens sporting pickelhauben, talking like Yoda and fretting over another group of aliens from Venus – the sponge people (no, not this guy). If I’m being completely honest, I think I prefer this to nuclear apocalypse-land.
This was a new one on me – check out dozens more images at Monster Brains! That, cats and kittens, is straight up D&D – unadorned, unofficial, driven by imagination and full of wonder.
Now if Risus Monkey can just turn those dungeons into some geomorphs, we’ve really got something!
A few more encounters from Western Venatia. Enjoy …
1416. On the fringes of the domain of Blackpoort lies the castle of Elsien, a barbaric fighting-woman. Elsien’s manse is a motte-and-bailey castle built of white stone. A famed warrior woman in the Gaestly Hills, she has an uneasy alliance with Blackpoort that was sealed by her marriage to the son of Lord Mayor, a scrawny little complainer called Twearne who spends most of his time undermining Elsien’s authority and going on about life at court. In truth, his father was glad to be rid of him, and half hopes that the baroness will kill him, ridding him on an ineffectual heir and giving him a casus belli to launch a conquest of the barony. Elsien keeps seven storytellers in her castle – each living in a comfortable cell barred by a copper grill and emerging only at the behest of Elsien to recount some ancient legend or invent a new tale. The storytellers want for nothing in their cells – women, wine, etc. It is a strange life, but they seem to be satisfied with it. Elsien commands 20 men-at-arms in chainmail hauberks and winged helms armed with spears, short swords and short bows. She also has an elite corps of berserkers, all tall men with white hair and ritually scarred faces – veterans of campaigns against the hobgoblins in the Klarkash Mountains and natives of the barbarian tribes of that terrifying place. The elite berserkers wear black kilts and iron bracers and carry long-handed battle axes and dirks. Among their number is a wild cleric of Mars called Resek. Of late, Elsien is growing bored of her pathetic husband, annoying subjects and her retirement from adventure. She could easily be persuaded to take up her axe and once more descend into the dark places of the earth.
The castle is surrounded by a large, sprawling village of sheapards and farmers known for their love of a good fight (assuming somebody else is doing the fighting). Visitors will be goaded almost constantly into fisticuffs with other visitors through the use of innuendo and other acts of subterfuge. The village proper is surrounded by a wooden stockade and water is drawn from a number of wells.
Treasure: 4,500 gp, five 2 lb ingots of silver worth 20 gp each and 2 casks of olive oil (100 lb each, worth 60 gp each).
| Elsien, Barbarian Lvl 11: HP 60; AC 3 [16]; Save 4; CL/XP 11/1700. Chainmail, shield, battle axe. Grave, short and sturdy, bossy, light skin, blue eyes, platinum hair, square jaw.
| Resek, Cleric Lvl 4: HP 27; AC 9 [10]; Save 12 (10 vs. poison and paralysis; CL/XP 5/400; Special: Spells (2nd), command undead. Black kilt, flanged mace, holy symbol. Tall, white hair, scarred face and back, gold tooth.
1443. This hex and sometimes those that surround it are home thousands of small, luminous jellyfish. The jellyfish mostly dwell in the depths, but at night, especially when the moon shines down, they come to the surface and dance just beneath the surface like thousands of little stars. The jellyfish often form strange, hypnotic patterns and have an effect on sailors or divers similar to a magic spell (i.e. save or fall into a trance). Entranced people cannot move until a dispel magic or remove curse spell is cast on them.
1513. Blackpoort is a large human port on the shores of Blackmere Lake. It is a rival to Antigoon and controls trade on the lake and beyond. Blackpoort is ruled by guilds, the most powerful being those of the thieves and assassins. Most of Blackpoort’s manors are located near the River Swiven or its tributaries. One might encounter fishermen, herdsmen and farmers in these villages, along with the odd craftsman.
[Blackpoort will be featured in NOD #7 along with Antigoon and Lyonesse – a triple city edition – Lord, what am I getting myself into with that?]
1516. This narrow canyon is hemmed by limestone cliffs that resemble towers and battlements. The shallow caves are inhabited by a great multitude of giant vampire bats. These bats become active at night, and will be encountered there at double their normal numbers (i.e. 6d6). One cave (1% chance of finding per day of searching) contains a partial map of the upper level of the the infamous Dungeons of the Mad Mage and a scroll of protection from oozes.
A small altar has been erected at the entrance to the canyon in honor of Camazotz, the demonic prince of bats. It is visited (during the day) by a small cult. The cult is located in Blackpoort and consists mostly of students and thieves. The cultists hold raucous orgies at the altar, spilling wine and a little blood in honor of Camazotz. Desecration of the altar has a 5% chance of attracting the attention of Camazotz, who will send a flock of 20 demonic bats ridden by demonic monkeys armed with obsidian swords to punish the heretics. There is a 1% chance he will investigate himself.
| Demonic Bat: HD 1; AC 7 [12]; Atk 1 bite (1d4); Move 3 (Fly 24); Save 17; CL/XP 2/30; Special: Only harmed by magic weapons.
| Demonic Monkey: HD 1; AC 6 [13]; Atk 1 bite (1d4) or 1 weapon (1d6); Move 9 (Climb 9); Save 17; CL/XP 2/30; Special: Only harmed by magic weapons.
| Camazotz: HD 15 (300 hp); AC -3 [22]; Atk 2 claws (2d10) and 1 bite (3d10); Move 30 (Fly 30); Save 2; CL/XP 17/30; Special: Immune to normal weapons at night, magic resistance 75%, charm monster 2/day, comprehend languages, detect evil, plane shift, geas, teleport without error, deific powers. Camazotz appears as a huge bat surrounded by an aura of grey flames and 1,000 normal bats.
1529. This portion of hills is haunted by three in-famous dwarf robbers, the Kolldens. The Kolldens are highwaymen of the first order, preying on traffic on the Swiven River. Their names are Broon, Droon and Zoot. The Kollden’s lair is a hidden cave in a dry gulley, the entrance trapped by a tripwire to cause a cave-in (2d6 points of damage).
The lair consists of a dirt tunnel that slants downward for about fifteen feet and then drops into a crevasse 4 ft wide and 40 ft long. At the end of this crevasse there is a 2 ft wide crack that runs back ten feet before emptying into a spacious cavern that has been improved by the brothers.
The living chamber is furnished with piles of furs for beds, a long, narrow trunk locked with an expert lock and trapped with a deadly poisoned needle. One corner of the chamber holds several small barrels and sacks containing ale, flour and dried fish (treat as four weeks worth of iron rations for three people). In the middle of the chamber there is a fire pit and roasting spit. A very narrow chimney in the roof allows the smoke to escape.
Treasure: The Kolldens keep their treasure in the trunk. It consists of 345 sp, 390 ep, 200 gp.
| Broon Kollden, Dwarf Thief 5: HP 16; AC 6 [13]; Save 10; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Back stab for triple damage, decipher script, thievery, cant. Pistol (treat as light crossbow), short sword, pouch containing 23 gp and 18 sp and a four leaf clover.
| Droon Kollden, Dwarf Thief 3: HP 11; AC 9 [10]; Save 12; CL/XP 3/60; Special: Back stab for double damage, decipher script, thievery, cant. Musket (treat as heavy crossbow), thick club, pouch containing 15 gp and 67 sp.
| Zoot Kollden, Dwarf Assassin Lvl 1: HP 4; AC 9 [10]; Save 15; CL/XP 1/15; Special: Cheat death, decipher script, disguise, sneak attack for double damage, skullduggery, poison. Pistol, short sword, silver dagger, dog whistle, pouch containing 16 gp.
—
Image via Golden Age Comic Book Stories. To be honest, I have forgotten the name of the artist, curse my metal hide.
Most folks have seen the 15 games in 15 minutes meme floating around. Up till now, I haven’t participated because, frankly, I don’t think I could list 15 games that were influential on me. I’ve played most of the editions of D&D and AD&D, and they obviously have had some influence on me, for better or worse. I played some Warhammer Fantasy Battle and enjoyed it, likewise with Marvel Superheroes. That about sums up my wargaming and roleplaying gaming history. As a kid, I loved Battleship, Stratego and Risk, which are nominally about wargaming. Chess was enjoyable, but never really caught my attention – it mostly made me feel smart to say I was “playing chess”.
I’ve tended to fall backward into what one might called Geekishness (though I was always social awkward). When I was younger, I watched Star Trek with my dad and enjoy it to this day, though the spin-offs and reboots don’t really interest me. I was there for the beginning of Star Wars – had the action figures, watched the movies, etc. I started playing D&D before I discovered Tolkien and fantasy literature, and I was introduced to comic books after a friend convinced me to run Marvel Superheroes for him – up till then my only contact with superheroes was TV.
So, what are my chief influences?
Batman
Still my favorite Batman, although Brave and the Bold comes close. I like fun superheroes more than dark and serious superheroes. So sue me.
Superfriends
We played lots of Superfriends on the playground in elementary school. Most popular hero – Green Lantern. He could make anything with that ring!
Wonder Woman
Watched this one every week on TV.
Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman
Another one we watched every week. The robot people who could remove their faces scared the crap out of me as a kid.
Incredible Hulk
Another one we watched regularly – and by “we” I mean my family. This was back in the days of one TV per house and watching it together more than apart.
Underdog
My first favorite superhero.
Battleship
Yeah, I had the electronic version. Took forever to set it up – and God forbid you screw up, because then you had to start entering your coordinates all over again.
Dungeons & Dragons
Started with Moldvay red box and in many ways it is still my favorite set of basic rules. The embed code has been disabled, so you’ll have to click to see.
Thundarr the Barbarian
Watched Thundarr before I encountered Gamma World, and in truth my first perception of Gamma World was “Wow, it’s like a Thundarr RPG”.
Jonny Quest
For my money, still the best adventure cartoon ever made. The high tech is make believe but feels real, the attention to detail is great – just love it.
Star Wars
As a kid, it was the alpha and omega.
Star Trek
I watch and enjoy them to this day, probably for the same reason I still love the 60’s Batman.
Oh – and a bonus video here (the embed has been disabled). For years I thought that I must have imagined that this existed because I could find no sign of it.
Land of Nod 
